_WE MAY NOT LIVE IN SIN, FOR WE ARE DEAD UNTO IT, AS APPEARETH BY OUR BAPTISM. NOR ARE WE TO LET SIN REIGN ANY MORE, BECAUSE WE HAVE YIELDED OURSELVES TO THE SERVICE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS: AND DEATH IS THE WAGES OF SIN._ _Anno Domini 58._ ST. Paul's design in this and the two following Chapter s, was t... [ Continue Reading ]
_ROMANS 6:1_.— The Apostle having now proved, by three distinct arguments, that both Gentiles and Jews can be pardoned, and made partakers of the privileges and blessings of the kingdom of God under the Messiah, no otherwise than by the grace of God, through faith alone; he next proceeds, in proper... [ Continue Reading ]
HOW SHALL WE, THAT ARE DEAD, &C.— The objection which carnal minds are naturally apt to make against justification by God's free grace, through the infinite merit of Christ, is not to be answered by allowing that our own righteousness is to be joined in part with his to justify us; for, on that supp... [ Continue Reading ]
BURIED WITH HIM BY BAPTISM— As the ordinance of baptism seems plainly to be sometimes represented, by _sprinkling_ or _pouring_ water; as particularly when God is said to _save us by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our... [ Continue Reading ]
IF WE HAVE BEEN PLANTED TOGETHER— _Planted_ does not completely express the Apostle's sentiment. The expression τα συμφυτα, means such plants as grow the one upon and in the other, deriving sap and nourishment from it; as mistletoe upon the oak, or the scion upon the stock intowhich it is grafted. S... [ Continue Reading ]
OUR OLD MAN— Our wicked and corrupt fleshly self, Galatians 5:24.Ephesians 4:22. Colossians 2:11. 1 Peter 4:1. The utter destruction of the body of sin in us, is certainly intended in the Gospel; but the particular import of the Greek word καταργηθη, is, _to make void, debilitate, enervate, disannul... [ Continue Reading ]
HE THAT IS DEAD IS FREED FROM SIN— St. Peter seems to paraphrase this verse, 1 Peter 4:1. _He that hath suffered in the flesh, hath ceased from sin;_ as if he had said, "The Christian who is so resolute, by the power of the Spirit of God, as to resist all temptation to sin, and chooses rather to suf... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR IN THAT HE DIED, &C.— Dr. Doddridge translates and paraphrases the passage thus: _"For whereas he died, he died once for all,_ as a sacrifice _for sin,_ to atone the injured justice of God, and repair the honours of his violated law: _and as he liveth he liveth to God_ for ever; his immortal lif... [ Continue Reading ]
LIKEWISE, &C.— _Thus then reckon ye yourselves,_ &c. See Colossians 3:3.... [ Continue Reading ]
LET NOT SIN THEREFORE REIGN IN YOUR MORTAL BODY— Sin is here spoken of as a person; a _prosopopoeia_ made use of throughout this and the following chapter; which must be observed if we will understand them right. See 1 Peter 4:1. Dr. Heylin renders this verse, _Let not sin therefore reign in your mo... [ Continue Reading ]
YOUR MEMBERS AS INSTRUMENTS— Sinful lusts, at least those to which the Gentiles were most eminently enslaved, seem so much placed in the body and the members, that they are emphatically called _the members._ See Colossians 3:5. The word οπλα, rendered _instruments,_ properly signifies _weapons;_ and... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR SIN, &C.— That is, "Sin shall not be your master, to dispose of your members and faculties in its drudgery and service as it pleases: you shall not be under its controul, in subjection to it, unless by your own free choice you enthral yourselves to it, and by a voluntary obedience give it the co... [ Continue Reading ]
OBEDIENCE— That which he calls here simply _obedience,_ in other places he calls _obedience of faith,_ and _obedience of Christ;_ meaning a reception of the Gospel of Christ. The Apostle explains the obligations of Gentile Christians in their present state, in opposition to the Gentile or heathen st... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT GOD BE THANKED— Here the Apostle thanks God, that whereas they had been _heathens,_ and so ranked among the _servants of sin,_ they were now become Christians, and consequently ranked among the servants of the Gospel, or such as were obedient to it. This he explains by a metaphor taken from the... [ Continue Reading ]
I SPEAK AFTER THE MANNER OF MEN— There was a necessity for some little kind of apology for a figure of speech, which he dwells upon quite to the end of this chapter. This first clause should be read in a parenthesis.... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH— The _wages of sin_ does not here signify the wages which are paid for sinning, but the wages which sin pays. This is evident not only from the opposition which is here put between the wages of sin, and the gift of God; namely, that sin rewards men with eternal death fo... [ Continue Reading ]