_Know ye not, brethren … how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?_ BELIEVERS NOT UNDER THE LAW AS A COVENANT OF WORKS I. All men are, naturally, under the law as a covenant of works. 1. As men. God made man capable of moral government; he was naturally bound to obey the wil... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ: that ye should be married to another._ THE SINNER MARRIED TO THE LAW--THE BELIEVER MARRIED TO THE LORD I. The sinner, before believing, is married to the law. 1. This marriage involves certain obligations that correspond to those that gro... [ Continue Reading ]
_But when we were in the flesh, the motions of sin, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death._ THE LAW AND SIN We often know that we are ill without knowing precisely what is the matter with us, and this was the case with the large mass of human beings in the p... [ Continue Reading ]
_What shall we say then?_ Is the law sin? God forbid. THE LAW I. Its nature-- 1. Moral. 2. Spiritual. 3. Exemplified by the particular commandment quoted. II. Its use-- 1. To describe the nature. 2. Detect the presence. 3. Reveal the sinfulness of sin. (_J. Lyth, D. D._) THE LAW VINDICATE... [ Continue Reading ]
TO WHOM DOES THE PASSAGE REFER? _To the unregenerate.--_ It has been much discussed whether this section describes a justified man, or a man still unforgiven. The latter view was held by Origen and the Greek fathers generally. The former was adopted by Augustine and the Latin fathers generally. It... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy: and Just, and good._ THE LAW I. Its nature. It is-- 1. Universal in its extent. It is binding at all times, in all places, and upon all. 2. Perpetual in its obligation: it can allow of no change. Other laws, the ceremonial laws, _e.g., _may b... [ Continue Reading ]
_Was then that which is good made death to me?_ God forbid. THE LAW VINDICATED The text is explanatory of two statements apparently contradictory, viz., that the law is holy, etc., and that this law worked death. 1. The apostle foresaw that a difficulty might arise, so, with his anxiety to be cl... [ Continue Reading ]
_For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not._ GRACE IN BELIEVERS WEAKENED BY THE FLESH I. There is no good thing by nature found in any unrenewed heart. And where there is no good there must... [ Continue Reading ]
_For the good that I would I do not: but the evil that I would not, that I do._ THE INWARD CONFLICT I. The two I’s; the I that wills; the I that does. II. The struggle between them. III. The result. (_J. Lyth, D. D._) CHRISTIANS NOT TO OVERLOOK THE GRACE THEY HAVE The sight Christians have of t... [ Continue Reading ]
_I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me._ THE INWARD CONFLICT There is no word with which we are more familiar than “conflict.” We see strife everywhere; amongst the elements of nature, the beasts and birds, nations and families. On the arena of political, mercantil... [ Continue Reading ]
_O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?_ SOUL DESPOTISM I. The soul’s oppressive despot. “The body of this death.” What is meant by this? Corrupt animalism. What is elsewhere called the flesh with its corruptions and lusts. The body, intended to be an instrumen... [ Continue Reading ]