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put in opposition to the weakness of the law through the no obedience; for it is sin, and the very principle of rebelflesh. lion; and therefore it cannot be subject, nor subjected; for it is essential to sin to shew itself in rebellion; and when it ceases to rebel, it ceases to be sin.

It is very likely that the concluding clause of this verse, which is the very same as that found in the common text of the first verse, has been transferred to that verse, from this place. Condemned sin in the flesh] The design and object of the incarnation and sacrifice of Christ were to condemn sin, to have it executed and destroyed; not to tolerate it as some think; or to render it subservient to the purposes of his grace, as others; but to annihilate its power, guilt, and being,|| in the soul of a believer.

From this we learn, that the design of God, in the economy of the gospel, is not to weaken, curtail, or lay the carnal principle in bonds, but to destroy it. As it is not subject, and cannot be subject to the law of God, it must be destroyed; else it will continue to rebel against God. It cannot be mended, or rendered less offensive in its nature, even by the operations of God; it is ever sin, and sin is ever enmity; and enmity, wherever it has power, will invariably shew itself in acts of hostility and rebellion.

Verse 5. For they that are after the flesh] And here is the great distinction between Jews and genuine Christians: the former are after the flesh; are under the power of the Verse 8. So then] Because this carnal mind is enmity carnal, rebellious principle; and consequently mind, povou- against God; they that are in the flesh, who are under the cw, relish the things of the flesh; the things which appertain|| power of the workings of this carnal mind, (which every merely to the present life; having no relish for spiritual and soul is, that has not received redemption in the blood of eternal things.

But they that are after the Spirit] They who are regenerated, who are born of the Spirit, being redeemed from the influence and law of the carnal mind; these relish the things of the Spirit; they are spiritually minded, and pass through things temporal, so as not to lose the things which are eternal. And this, which in these apostolic times distinguished between the carnal Jew, and the spiritual believer in Christ, is the grand mark of distinction between the nominal and the real Christian now. The former are earthly minded, and live for this world; the latter are spiritually minded, and live for the world to come.

the Lamb,)

Cannot please God.] Because of the rebellious workings of this principle of rebellion and hatred. And, if they cannot please God, they must be displeasing to him; and consequently in the broad road to final perdition.

Verse 9. But ye are not in the flesh] Ye Christians who have believed in Christ Jesus, as the sin-offering which has condemned sin in the flesh; and having been justified by faith, and made partakers of the Holy Spirit, are enabled to walk in newness of life.

If so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you] Or seeing that, map, the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. The flesh, Verse 6. For, to be carnally minded is death] To live the sinful principle, dwelt in them before; and its motions under the influence of the carnal mind, is to live in the state were the proofs of its indwelling but now the Spirit dwells of condemnation; and consequently, liable to death eternal:|| in them; and its testimony in their conscience, and its powerwhereas, on the contrary, he who is spiritually minded, has ful operations in their hearts, are the proofs of its indwellthe life and peace of God in his soul; and is in full prospecting. God made man in union with himself, and his heart of life eternal.

Verse 7. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God] Because it is a carnal mind, and relishes earthly and sinful things; and lives in opposition to the pure and holy law of God: therefore, it is enmity against God, it is irreconcileable and implacable hatred.

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was his temple. Sin being committed, the temple was defiled, and God abandoned it. Jesus Christ is come by his sacrifice and Spirit to cleanse the temple, and make man again habitation of God through the Spirit. And when this Almighty Spirit again makes the heart his residence; then the soul is delivered from the moral effects of the fall. And, It is not subject to the law of God] It will come under that this is absolutely necessary to our present peace, and

Genuine Christians are not obliged

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A. D. cir. 58. An. Olymp. cir. CCIX. 2.

of Christ, he is none tal bodies by his Spirit that dwell- A.U.C.cir.811. eth in you.

10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

11 But, if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he

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12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.

13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do deeds of the body, ye shall live.

mortify the

a 1 Cor. 3. 16. & 6. 19.— John 3. 34. Gal. 4. 6. Phil. 1. 19. 1 Pet. 1. 11. Acts 2. 24.

final salvation, is proved from this: that if any man have not the Spirit of Christ; the mind that was in him, produced there, by the power of the Holy Ghost; he is none of his, he does not belong to the kingdom, flock, or family of God. This is an awful conclusion! Reader, lay it to heart.

Verse 10. And if Christ be in you, &c.] This is the criterion, by which you may judge of the state of grace in which ye stand. If Christ dwell in your hearts by faith, the body is dead because of sin; di' auapriav, in reference to sin; the members of your body no more perform the work of sin, than the body of a dead man does the functions of natural life. Or the apostle may mean, that although, because of || sin, the life of man is forfeited; and the sentence, dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return, must be fulfilled on every human being, 'till the judgment of the great day; yet, their souls being quickened by the indwelling Spirit of Christ, which enables them to live a life of righteousness, and gives them a full assurance that their bodies, which are now condemned to death because of sin, shall be raised again to a life of immortal glory.

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III. And as the affair of suffering persecution was a great stumblingblock to the Jews, and might very much discourage the Gentiles; he introduces it to the best advantage, ver. 17. and advances several arguments to fortify their minds under all trials: as- -(1.) That they suffered with Christ—(2.) In order to be glorified with him in a manner which will infinitely compensate all sufferings, ver. 17, 18.(3.) All mankind are under various pressures, longing for a better state, ver. 19-22.-(4.) Many of the most eminent Christians are in the same distressed condition, ver. 23.(5.) According to the plan of the gospel, we are to be brought to glory after a course of patience, exercised in a variety of trials, ver. 24, 25.-(6.) The Spirit of God will supply patience to every upright soul under persecution and suffering, 26, 27.-(7.) All things, even the severest trials, shall work together for their good, ver. 28. And this he proves, by giving us a view of the several steps which the wisdom and goodness of God have settled, in order to our complete salvation, ver. 29, 30. Thence he passes to the affair of our perseverance; concerning which he concludes, from the whole of his preceding arguments, that as we are brought into a state of pardon by the free grace of God, through the death of Christ, who is now our mediator in heaven; Lo possible cause, providing we continue to love and serve God, shall be able to pervert our minds, or separate us from his love in Christ Jesus, ver. 31–39. Therefore, apa ouv, is the grand inference, from all that he has been arguing in relation to sanctity of life, both to the Gentiles, chap. vi. and to the Jews, chap. vii. and viii. to this verse, where I suppose he begins to address himself to both, in a Verse 12. Therefore, brethren, &c.] Dr. Taylor is of body, to the end of the chapter. Taylor, pag. 317. opinion that the apostle, having spoken separately both to Verse 13. For, if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die] Jews and Gentiles, concerning holiness, and the obliga-Though μɛλλεte añolvoxa may mean ye shall afterwards tions to it, now addresses himself to both conjointly, and, || die, and this seems to indicate a temporal death; yet not

Verse 11. But, if the Spirit, &c.] This verse confirms the sense given to the preceding. He, who here receives the grace and Spirit of Christ, and continues to live under its influence a life of obedience to the Divine will; shall have a resurrection to eternal life and the resurrection of Christ shall be the pattern, after which they shall be raised.

By his Spirit that dwelleth in you.] Instead of dia Tou ενοικούντος αυτου πνεύματος, because of the Spirit of him who dwelleth in you, DEFG. a great many others, with the Vulgate, Itala, and several of the Fathers, have dia To EVOIXOUV AUTOU TVEUμa, which gives almost no variety of meaning. The latter may be neater Greek, but it is not better sense than the preceding.

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exclusively of an eternal death; for both, and especially the his adopting father, he possessed his estates. If a person, aflatter, are necessarily implied.

But if ye, through the Spirit] If ye seek that grace and spiritual help which the gospel of Christ furnishes; resist, and by resisting, mortify the deeds of the flesh, against which the law gave you no assistance; ye shall live a life of faith, love and holy obedience here; and a life of glory hereafter.

Verse 14. For, as many as are led by the Spirit, &c.] No man who has not divine assistance can either find the way to heaven, or walk in it when found. As Christ, by his sacrificial offering, has opened the kingdom of God to all believers; and as a mediator, transacts the concerns of their kingdom before the throne: so the Spirit of God is the great agent here below, to enlighten, quicken, strengthen, and guide the true disciples of Christ; and all that are born of this Spirit are led and guided by it; and none can pretend to be the children of God, who are not thus guided.

Verse 15. Ye have not received the spirit of bondage] All that were under the law were under bondage to its rites and ceremonies; and as, through the prevalence of that corrupt nature with which every human being is polluted, and to remove which the law gave no assistance, they were often transgressing; consequently they had forfeited their lives, and were continually, through fear of death, subject to bondage, Heb. ii. 15. The believers in Christ Jesus were brought from under that law, and from under its condemnation; and, consequently, were freed from its bondage. The Gentiles were also in a state of bondage as well as the Jews; they had also a multitude of burdensome rites and ceremonies, and a multitude of deities to worship; nor could they believe themselves secure of protection while one of their almost endless host of gods, celestial, terrestrial, or infernal, was left unpropitiated.

But ye have received the Spirit of adoption] Ye are brought into the family of God by adoption; and the agent that brought you into this family, is the Holy Spirit; and this very Spirit continues to witness to you the grace in which ye stand, by enabling you to call God your Father, with the utmost filial confidence and affection.

The Spirit of adoption] Adoption was an act frequent among the ancient Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans; by which a person was taken out of one family, and incorporated with another. Persons of property, who had no children of their own, adopted those of another family. The child thus adopted, ceased to belong to his own family, and was, in every re-pect, bound to the person who had adopted him, as if he were his own child; and in consequence of the death of

ter he had adopted a child, happened to have children of his own; then the estate was equally divided between the adopted and real children. The Romans had regular forms of law, by which all these matters were settled.

Whereby we cry Abba, Father.] The reason why the Syriac and Greek words are here conjoined, may be seen in the note on Mark xiv. 36. to which the Reader is referred. The introduction of the words here, shews that the persons in question had the strongest evidence of the excellence of the state in which they stood; they knew that they were thus adopted ; and they knew this by the Spirit of God which was given them on their adoption; and let me say, they could know it by no other means. The Father who had adopted them,

could be seen by no mortal eye; and the transaction being purely of a spiritual nature, and transacted in heaven, can be known only by God's supernatural testimony of it upon earth. It is a matter of such solemn importance to every Christian soul, that God in his mercy has been pleased not to leave it to conjecture, assumption, or inductive reasoning; but attests it by his own Spirit in the soul of the person whom he adopts through Christ Jesus. It is the grand and most observable case, in which the intercourse is kept up between heaven and earth; and the genuine believer in Christ Jesus, not left to the quibbles or casuistry of polemic divines or critics, but receives the thing, and the testimony of it, immediately from God himself. And were not the testimony of the state thus given, no man could possibly have any assurance of his salvation which would beget confidence and love. If, to any man, his acceptance with God be hypothetical, then, his confidence must be so too. His love to God must be hypothetical, his gratitude hypothetical, and his obedi. ence also. IF, God have forgiven me my sins, then I should love him, and I should be grateful, and I should testify this gratitude by obedience. But who does not see that these must necessarily depend on the IF in the first case. All this uncertainty, and the perplexities necessarily resulting from it; God has precluded by sending the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, by which we cry Abba, Father: and thus our adoption into the heavenly family is testified and ascertained to us in the only way in which it can possibly be done, by the direct influence of the Spirit of God, Remove this from Christianity, and it is a dead letter.

It has been remarked that slaves were not permitted to use the term Abba, father, or Imma, mother, in accosting their masters and mistresses. The Hebrew canon, relative to this,

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ness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.

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18 For, I reckon that the sufferings of this

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ha hadin ve has the understanding is the proper medium of conveying the אין קורין אותם לא אבא פלוני ולא אימא פלונית

shephachoth ein korin otham, lo Abba N, velo Imma N. Men-servants and maid-servants do not call to their muster Abba, (father,) N. nor to their mistress Imma, (mother,) N. And from this, some suppose that the apostle intimates, that be ing now brought from under the spirit of bondage in which they durst not call God their Father; they are now not only brought into a new state, but have got that language which is peculiar to that state. It is certain that no man who has not redemption in the blood of the cross, has any right to call God Father, but merely as he may be considered the Father of the spirits of all flesh.

Some have supposed that the apostle, by using the Syriac and Greek words which express Father, shews the union of Jewish and Gentile believers in those devotions which were dictated by a filial spirit. Others have thought, that these were the first words which those generally uttered, who were made partakers of the Holy Spirit. It is enough to know that it was the language of their sonship; and that it expressed the clear assurance they had of being received into the Divine favour, the affection and gratitude they felt for this extraordinary blessing, and their complete readiness to come under the laws and regulations of the family, and to live in the spirit of obedience.

Verse 16. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit] AUTO TO TVεUpa that same Spirit, the Spirit of adoption; that is, the Spirit who witnesses this adoption, which can be no other than the Holy Ghost himself, and certainly cannot mean any disposition or affection of mind which the adopted person may feel; for such a disposition must arise from a knowledge of this adoption; and the knowledge of this adoption cannot be given by any human or earthly means; it must come from God himself: therefore, the AUTO TO TVEUa must have reference to that Spirit, by whom alone the knowledge of the adoption is witnessed to the soul of the believer.

With our spirit-In our understanding, the place or recipient of light and information; and the place or faculty to which such information can properly be brought. This is done that we may have the highest possible evidence of the work which God has wrought. As the window is the proper

Spirit's influence to the soul. We, therefore, have the ut most evidence of the fact of our adoption, which we can possibly have: we have the word and Spirit of God; and the word sealed on our spirit by the Spirit of God. And this is not a momentary influx: if we take care to walk with God, and not grieve the Holy Spirit, we shall have an abiding testimony; and while we continue faithful to our adopting Father, the Spirit that witnesses that adoption will continue to witness it; and hereby we shall know that we are of God by the Spirit which he giveth us.

Verse 17. And if children, then heirs] For the legitimate children can alone inherit the estate. This is not an estate to which they succeed in consequence of the death of a former possessor; it is like the promised land, given by God himself, and divided among the children of the family.

Heirs of God] It is neither an earthly portion nor a heaveny portion; but God himself, who is to be their portion. It is not heaven they are to inherit; it is God, who is infinitely greater and more glorious than heaven itself. With such powers has God created the soul of man, that nothing less than himself can be a sufficient and satisfactory portion for the mind of this most astonishing creature.

Joint heirs with Christ] Partaking of the same eternal glory with the glorified human nature of Christ.

If so be, that we suffer with him] Observe, says Dr. Taylor, how prudently the apostle advances to the harsh affair of suffering. He does not mention it, till he had raised up their thoughts to the highest object of joy and pleasure, the happiness and glory of a joint inheritance with the ever blessed Son of God.

We are heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with him-This, with the additional consideration, that we suffer with Christ; or, as he himself suffered, would greatly qualify the transitory afflictions of this world, and dispose them to attend to the other arguments he had to offer.

Verse 18. For I reckon that the sufferings, &c.] If the glory that is to be revealed be the enjoyment of God himself, (see above,) then the sufferings of this life, which, when compared with eternity, are but as for a moment; are not worthy to be

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put in competition with this glory which shall be revealed in observation, that throughout this whole place, the apostle us. This case is perfectly clear.

Verse 19. For, the earnest expectation of the creature] There is considerable difficulty in this and the four following verses: and the difficulty lies chiefly in the meaning of the word 2015, which we translate the creature, and creation. Some think, that by it the brute creation is meant ; others apply it to the Jewish people, others to the godly, others to the Gentiles, others to the good angels, and others to the fallen spirits, both angelic and human. Dissertations without end, have been written on it; and it does not appear that the Christian world are come to any general agreement on the subject. Dr. Lightfoot's mode of explanation appears to me to be the best, on the whole. "There is," says be, "a twofold key hanging at this place, which may unlock the whole, and make the sense plain and easy.

1. The first is the phrase waσa xTios, which we render the whole creation, ver. 22. and with which, we meet twice elsewhere in the New Testament. Mark xvi. 15, Preach the gospel, waoŋ ry nie, to every creature; and Col. i. 23, the gospel was preached, ev maoy ty XTIσe, to every creature. Now it is sufficiently apparent what is meant by waσa XTIσs in both these places, viz. all nations, or the heathen world. For that which, in St. Mark is, preach the gospel to every creature; is, in St. Matthew, go and teach, Tavra Ta sbv, all rations. And this very phrase in this place, lays claim to that very interpretation. And the Hebrew col haberioth, which answers to the Greek Taσa xτiois, every creature, is applied by the Jews to the Gentiles, and that, by way of opposition to Israel.

2. The second key is the word paraloTYTI, ver. 20. which is not unfitly rendered vanity; but then this vanity is improperly applied to the vanishing, dying, changing state of the creation. For paraurys, vanity, does not so much denote the vanishing condition of the outward state; as it does the inward vanity or emptiness of the mind. So the Apostle, speaking of the Gentiles concerning whom he speaks here, tells us suaraιwboar, They became vain in their imaginations, Rom. i. 21. and again, The Gentiles walk, ey μataιotyti, in the vanity of their mind, Eph. iv. 17. So also, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, oтi μatalos sol, that they are vain. 1 Cor. iii. 20. To all which let me add this farther

seems to allude to the bondage of the Israelites in Egypt, and their deliverance from it; with a comparison made betwixt the Jewish and the Gentile church. When God would deliver Israel from his bondage, he challenges him for his Son, and his first-born, Exod. iv. 22. And in like manner the Gentiles earnestly expect and wait for such a kind of manifestation of the sons of God, within, and among themselves. The Romans, to whom the apostle writes, knew well how many predictions and promises it had pleased God to publish by his prophets, concerning gathering together and adopting sons to himself among the Gentiles; the manifestation of which sons the whole Gentile world, with a neck as it were stretched out, as the word amoxapasoxia implies, (axo from, and xaça the head, and doxaw to expect,) doth now wait for." See the observations at the end of this chapter.

Verse 20. For, the creature was made subject to vanity] The Gentile world were subject to vanity of mind; but how? not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same. May we not say, it became vain willingly? but was made subject to vanity unwillingly. For, let us recur to the origin of Gentilism, the confusion of languages, by reason of the attempt to build the tower of Babel; and though there are some passages in the gloss of the Targumists upon this matter, that are sufficiently ridiculous; yet as to their scope and design they are worthy of notice. "They said, go to, let us build us a city and a tower, and let its head reach unto the top of heaven; and let us make a house of worship in the top of it; and let us put a sword in his hand that he may wage war for us against our enemies, before we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." It is an ancient tradition among the Jews, that this tower was built

an idolatrous account. The confusion of tongues, by which true religion was lost in the world, is a proof that the builders of this tower sinned against God in the highest degree. They were inclined to vanity, i. e. idolatry, WILLINGLY; but they were subjected to vanity UNWILLINGLY ; for this proceeded from the just indignation and vengeance of God. From this time, the world lay under heathenism, till the bringing in of the gospel upwards of 2000 years after. See Lightfoot.

Verse 21. Because the creature] This, and the preceding

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