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death because of our offences, and was raised again from the dead because of our justification.

CHAP. V.

1 THEREFORE, having been justified by faith, we have

surrection, we need not doubt of God's being reconciled to us of obtaining the pardon of our sins, the acceptance of our persons, the sanctification of our hearts, the salvation of our souls; we (which is always to be supposed and understood) performing the conditions required of us; all these benefits by our Lord's resurrection, as a certain seal, being ratified towards us, and in a manner conferred upon us-for, as he was delivered because of our sins, so he was raised again because of our justification. As God, in the death of our Lord, did manifest his wrath towards us, and execute his justice upon us, so in raising him thence correspondently, God did express himself appeased, and his law to be satisfied. As we in his suffering were punished, the iniquity of us all being laid upon him, so in his resurrection we were acquitted, and restored to grace. As Christ did merit our justification, the remission of our sins, and acceptance of our persons, by his passion, so God did consign them to us in his resurrection, it being that formal act of grace whereby, having sustained the brunt of God's displeasure, he was solemnly and manifestly reinstated in favour, and we representatively or virtually in him; so that (supposing the qualifications requisite on our parts) we thence become completely justified, having not only a just title to what justification doth import, but a real instatement therein, confirmed by the resurrection of our Saviour."- Barrow. "By his death we know that he suffered for sin; by his resurrection we are assured that the sins for which he suffered were not his own; had no man been a sinner, he had not died; had he been a sinner, he had not risen again; but, dying for those sins which we committed, he rose from the dead to show that he had made full satisfaction for them; that we believing in him might obtain remission of our sins, and justification of our persons. God, raising up our surety from the prison of

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the grave, did actually absolve and manifestly acquit him from the whole obligation to which he had bound himself; and, in discharging him, acknowledged full satisfaction made for us."-Bishop Pearson. "His body, which by natural condition was corruptible, wanted the gift of everlasting immunity from death, passion, and dissolution, till God, who gave it to be slain for sin, had, for righteousness' sake, restored it to life, with certainty of endless continuance."-Hooker. (Isa. liii. 10-12; Acts iii. 13, 15; ii. 24).

CHAP. V.

Verse 1. Our justification consists chiefly in our being acquitted from condemnation and punishment, by free pardon and remission of our sins in our being dealt with as just and innocent. God, of his infinite goodness and mercy, in consideration of what his beloved Son, our blessed Lord, hath done and suffered, in obedience to his will, for the redemption of mankind, is become reconciled to them, pardoning all offences committed by them against him. God's enmity, justly conceived against us for our sins, which Iwould have been an eternal bar to the efflux of his grace upon us, having been taken off by the atonement made to his justice, the fountain of divine grace, which our sins had shut up, is now unlocked and opened, and the streams of holiness and true goodness from thence freely flow forth into all faithful souls that thirst after them. The work of our justification was completed, on our Lord's part, when he exclaimed upon the cross, "It is finished!" and bowed his head, and expired (see verses 9, 10; Eph. ii. 13-16; Col. i. 20); but to make that work available to Christians, steadfast faith on their part is essential. Our justification, and all the other benefits which, by his precious bloodshedding, our Lord hath obtained for us, would be unavailing without faith on our

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part.

We love him because he first loved us, but until our hearts feel assured of the mighty love wherewith he loved us, no corresponding emotion towards him can be awakened in them. When thus felt, the warm sun of divine love (to adopt the language of Smith) comes upon us with healing in its wings; it exercises the mighty force of its own light and heat upon our dark and benumbed souls, if we shut it not out by unbelief; and it will at last enlighten all those regions of darkness that are within us, and lead our souls to the light of life, blessedness and immortality. Christ having made peace through the blood of his cross, the heavens shall be no more as iron above us, but we shall receive freely the vital dew of them-those influences from above which souls truly sensible of their own misery and imperfection incessantly long for, that righteousness of God which drops from the unsealed spring of free goodness. This is that free love and grace in which the souls of good men so much triumph; this is that justification which begets in them lively hopes of a happy immortality, in the present anticipations thereof which spring forth from it in this life: and all this it is which is sometimes called the justification of Christ, sometimes the justification of God, and here justification by faith. In heaven it is a not-imputing of sin; in the souls of men it is a reconciliation of rebellious natures to truth and goodness. In heaven it is the lifting up of the light of God's countenance upon us which begets a delightful satisfaction in the souls of men, and holy reciprocations of love, divine love towards us, as it were, by a natural emanation, begetting a reflex love in us towards God; it is thus that we obtain a steady peace of mind, peace with God, present assurance of his favour, and delight in his service, and joyful hope of future bliss.

ness.

Verse 3.-We exult not only in the hope of glory, but even in our tribulations; not that a man can take any sensible pleasure in affliction or adversity. The exultation here spoken of consists in despising present inconvenience, and looking through the cloud unto those graces, felicities, and glories, which are the effect of the cross (Heb. xii. 11). Christianity is the great school of patience, wherein we are trained up and tried to bear all things; which serves for our probation, our correction and improvement in goodThe cross is the badge of our profession; affliction is the way to happiness, and is necessary for us, both as a means of rendering us good, and an occasion of expressing our goodness. But little virtue could subsist or could appear without the trials of affliction; there could be no patience, if there were no adversities to be endured; no contentedness, if there were no wants to be felt; therefore (says Taylor) all the calamities of this life are incident to the most godly persons in the world; and since the king of heaven and earth himself was made a man of sorrows, it cannot be called unjust or intolerable that innocent persons should be pressed with temporal infelicities.

Verse 5.-The Holy Ghost, the Spirit whereby we are sealed to the day of redemption, is shed abroad in the hearts of all those who believe and obey the Gospel of Christ, confirming their hope, assuring them of God's love, and of their title to life eternal; in his strength and by his aid, as they do not doubt of the performance of the promise, so they zealously fulfil the conditions of the covenant (Psa. xxii. 5-in LXX. Psa. xxi. 5).

Verse 6.-"While we were yet without strength"-incapable of helping ourselves; our unsanctified nature unable to sustain

help ourselves in God's appointed time Christ died for us, ungodly as we were.

7 Now scarcely for a righteous man will one die; however, for the good man-the man of beneficent and generous nature- perhaps one would even dare to die.

8 But God proves his love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

9 Much more then, now that we have been justified by his blood, shall we be saved from wrath through him.

the dictates of conscience against the violence of appetite and passion, for without the aid of God's prevenient grace man cannot do a single act in order to his pardon and restitution"in God's appointed time"-the Redeemer was promised in the beginning of the world's sin (Gen. iii. 15), and when the fulness of time appointed by the divine wisdom was come, God sent forth his Son to die for us (Gal. iv. 4).

Verse 7-Is thus paraphrased by Bishop Jebb:- "Look round the world-where will you find one ready to die for a just man? is it more than a probability-a mere perhaps that you will find a person with magnanimity to die even for that rare character, the good man? but not such was the love of Christ. He died for those who not only were not good, but were not even just-for the weak and the ungodly-for sinners and for enemies."

Verse 8.-"We were angry with God -at enmity with the Prince of Life-but he was reconciled to us so far, that he then did the greatest thing in the world for us -for nothing could be greater than that the Son of God should die for us. Here was reconciliation before pardon, and God that came to die for us did love us first before he came-God pardoned us before we sinned, and when he foresaw our sin, even yours and mine, he sent his Son to

10 For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

11 And not only so -not only shall we be saved hereafter but we rejoice now in the contemplation of God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have already obtained reconciliation with our offended Father.

12 Thus, then, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death

die for us. Our pardon was wrought and effected by Christ's death above eighteen hundred years ago; his sufferings stood in the place of ours- - his death is to the church what the sacrifices for sin were to the Jews, and for the sins of to-morrow, and the infirmities of the next day, Christ is already dead-already risen from the dead-and does now make intercession and atonement."-Taylor.

Verses 10, 11.-It is a harder and more wonderful thing for a wicked man to be reconciled and become the friend of God, than for one who has been so reconciled to be carried up to heaven and made partaker of his glory. He who hath performed the greater work, will not fail in the lesser. His resurrection is a sure earnest that we, being reconciled, shall be saved from all the condemnation and the vengeance due to us, and not only shall we be saved from future punishment, but we now contemplate God with joy, as our reconciled Father; the terror which he must inspire when regarded only as a righteous and offended judge is removed-nay, converted into joy-when his glory is beheld in the face of Jesus Christ.

Verse 12.-The apostle never loses sight of the great theme of his epistle, that the Gospel is the mighty engine framed by divine wisdom and divine love for the salvation of all that believe, Gentiles as well

passed upon all men, for that all have sinned;

13 (For, from the hour of Adam's transgression until the law was given by Moses, sin was in the world; but sin is

as Jews. He has shown that Jews and Gentiles had equally incurred the wrath of God, but that divine love had found a way in which justice might be satisfied, and yet mercy have free course; that the law and the prophets had pointed to this great propitiation, by faith in whom the most guilty might obtain pardon and peace (chap. iii. 20-26). He now concludes this part of his argument, by comparing the justification obtained through Christ with the condemnation occasioned by the sin of Adam, alleging, that universally diffused as was the taint which the trans-gression of the first Adam communicated to his posterity, and the consequent condemnation to which they were subjected, the antidote provided by the obedience of the second Adam was equally universal in its application, and far more powerful in its efficacy. The train of thought is rendered somewhat obscure, by a long and involved parenthesis, which extends from the 13th to the 17th verse, and interrupts the comparison between Adam and Christ, and when this comparison is resumed in the 18th verse, it is in a form somewhat different from that adopted in the 12th; to these causes of obscurity may be added several elliptical forms of expression. Adam, by his diobedience to an easy command, introduced sin and death into the world, and transmitted to all his posterity that corruption of nature which he had brought upon himself, and thus death has passed upon all men-not through imputation of Adam's guilt, but because all inherit from him a tainted nature-so that all who have reached the age at which sin is possible have sinned, and by their own choice have followed the steps of their father Adam; and all those who died before the moral faculty was in any degree developed, and therefore before they were capable of sinning, yet had the germ of sin within them, which, in due time, would inevitably have fructified; and although from Adam to Moses there was no explicit promulgation of divine law, which might render duty more plain and sin more palpable, and,

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Verse 13.-" Sin is not duly estimated when there is no law." Calvin, in his note on this verse, remarks that Cain, the Deluge, Sodom, Pharaoh, are so many proofs that sin was imputed to men by God before the law was published; their mutual complaints, recriminations, and excuses are so many proofs that they were themselves conscious of the distinction between moral good and evil; but for the most part they connived at their own misdeeds, and it was only when compelled by a positive law, that they imputed them to themselves as sinful. The apostle speaks comparatively, therefore, in saying that men sink into a moral torpor when conscience is not quickened by the suggestions of a positive law; and he introduced this observation in order that the Jews might better understand what a load of sin lay upon them whom the law plainly condemned."

Verse 14.-" Who was a type of Him that was to come." "Adam was a type of a better head, even Christ, for that as Adam, by his transgression, brought all men under the slavery of sin and the necessity of death, so was our Lord Jesus Christ the author of righteousness and immortality, and did reverse, for our advantage, what Adam had done to our prejudice; by His perfect obedience expiating the common guilt, suspending the fatal sentence, pacifying God's wrath, bringing back righteousness, and restoring life to all who would embrace them. As guilt, condemnation, and death, were the fruits of what Adam did, falling upon all, so

the penalty of sin, reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression-over them that had not disobeyed an express command of God, as Adam did,

pardon, grace, and life, were (in design) the effects of what our Saviour performed, relating unto all; nay, Christ has done us more grace and advantage than we lost in Adam; and as man lost paradise, and got heaven, so he lost the integrity of the first, and got the perfection of the second Adam -his living soul is changed into a quickening spirit, and his nature exalted above the seats of angels. No want of mercy in God, or of virtue in the passion of our Lord, is to be mentioned or thought of. Infidelity and obstinate impenitency, disappointing God's merciful intentions, and frustrating our Lord's gracious work, are the sole banes of mankind; and if grace be not equally dispensed to all-if the helps of some nations be not so great as those of others, their duty, also, is less high, and their account will be more easy, and the grace they receive is an effect of God's mercy procured and purchased by their Saviour. God is reconciled to us; it only remains that we be reconciled to him, and hearken to his entreaties; a competency of grace and spiritual assistance is imparted to every man, qualifying him to do what God requires and is ready to accept in order to his salvation. Our Saviour hath sent abroad his Holy Spirit, like the sun to shine, to warm, to dispense benign influence over the world, though not equally felt in every place, working upon the minds and affections of men, infusing good thoughts, checking evil designs-all deliverance from the prevalency of temptation and sin we owe to his grace and assistance. The work which our Lord Jesus Christ accomplished did respect all men as the common works of nature doas the air we breathe, the sun which shines on us-a gift they are to all, equally, though they do not prove to all a blessing, there being no common gift which, by the refusal, neglect, or abuse of it, may not prove a curse, and a savour of death. Out of the very company of believers and the redeemed, some are eternally saved,

who is a type of him that was to come-a type of Christ.

15 But not as is the offence, so also is the free gift; for if through the offence of the one (Adam), the many-the mass of mankind were visited with

because, by God's grace, they faithfully abide in their redemption, bearing the Lord's speech in their hearts, 'he that persevereth unto the end shall be saved;' others because they would not abide in the salvation of the faith which they at first received, and choose rather to frustrate the grace of redemption by evil doctrine or life than to keep it, do no wise arrive to the plenitude of salvation, and to the enjoyment of eternal beatitude. It is, then, a true doctrine that Christ is a Saviour of all professing Christians, and, by consequence, of all men; for what he did for men was not grounded on any special love, or any absolute decree concerning those who, in event, shall be saved, since it extends to many others, wherefore it proceeded from God's natural goodness and common kind affection towards mankind -from the compassion of a gracious Creator towards his miserable creatures; God's Spirit did long strive with the inhabitants of the old world, yet no more than one family was bettered or saved thereby (Gen. vi. 3, 5, 8; vii. 1); God, by his good Spirit, instructed the Israelites in the wilderness (Neh. ix. 20), yet no more than two persons did get into Canaan-that people afterwards had great advantages of knowledge, and excitements to piety, so that God intimates that he could not have done more for them in that regard than he had done, yet, 'there is none that understandeth, none that seeketh after God,' was a complaint of the best of times. The pagans had the means of knowing God, yet, generally, they grew vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened,' from all which we may infer, that divine grace might really have been imparted, although no effect corresponding to its main design were produced. Any man sincerely complying with the terms of the new covenant-sincerely believing and earnestly repenting, God receives him into grace and favour; and the man continuing to perform a faithful though im

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