THE 2d objection, relating to the condemning power of sin under the Law, is this;

vii. 13. το εν αγαθον εμοι γεγονε θανατος ;

"Was then that which is good made death unto me?"

As if he should say, You have concluded "the Commandment to be holy, and just, and good;" and yet you have said just before, that "the Commandment which was ordained to life, you found to be unto death;" How are these things to be reconciled? Do you mean to say, that the Law, which is good, became the Cause of death to you

?

THE Apostle's answer is contained in ver. 13-20. God forbid, he says; the Law is not the Cause of death; but Sin is properly the Cause of death; and in this its exceeding sinfulness is manifested, that it wrought death to me by that which is good; viz. by the Law.

vii. 13. μη γενοιτο· αλλα ἡ ἁμαρτια, ἵνα φανῃ ἁμαρτια, &c.

"God forbid; but sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.”

THE Law therefore stands clear of all blame, as to its being the cause of death; and the objection is sufficiently answered: nevertheless, he proceeds, ver. 14-20. to shew the utter inefficacy of the Law to Sanctification, by an appeal to the actual state of the unregenerate Jew under the Law.

In the 1st place, he was a mere slave to his carnal lusts and appetites, in opposition to the plainest convictions of his reason and conscience:

vii. 14, 15. οιδαμεν γαρ ότι, &c.

"For we know that the Law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin: for that which I do, I allow not; for what I would, that I do not; but what I hate, that do I."

IN the 2d place, he was void of all strength, to carry into effect any purposes and resolutions of good which he might form:

vii. 18, 19. οιδα γαρ ότι εκ οικει εν εμοι, &c.

“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: for the good that I would I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do."

AND from both these instances, the Apostle draws the same conclusion, That the man, thus acting in opposition to his conscience, and best resolutions and endeavours, can hardly deserve the name of a free agent; but must labour under the influence of some fatal bias; some inbred, indwelling principle of sin:

vii. 17-20. vvvi de 8K ETL εyw, &c.

δε εκ ετι εγω,

"Now then, it is no more I that do it; but sin that dwelleth in me."

THE Conclusion to be drawn, from this wretched condition of the unregenerate man, is this-That however good, and suitable to our reason, the dictates of the Law may be; yet that

there exists in the nature of the unregenerate man a principle of evil, so strong and powerful, that it may almost deserve the name of a Law of sin; which perpetually fights against, and eventually overpowers, the law of the mind, or conscience; and gives the man up a bondslave to sin: and as the Law is provided with no antagonist principle, to counteract and remedy this evil, it must be allowed to fail as a means of Sanctification: And in this his extreme necessity, the Jew must have recourse for help to some other thing than the Law; which can be no other, than the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; which, in the sanctifying grace of the Holy Spirit, is furnished with abundant means of remedying this great defect of the Law.

vii. 21-25. εὑρισκω αρα τον νομον, &c.

"I find then a law, that when I would do good, evil is present with me: for I delight in the law of God, after the inward man; but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord."

CHAPTER VIII.

HAVING in the Seventh Chapter evinced the inefficacy of the Law to Sanctification, from the want of that Supernatural aid, which can alone enable us to overcome the inherent corruption of nature; and having, in ver. 25, pointed to the remedy provided in the Gospel of Christ; he proceeds, in the 8th Chapter, to develope and enforce the argument, advanced in Chapter vi. 14. for Christian Sanctification. "Sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye are not under the Law, but under grace."-The argument has its foundation in the superior efficaciousness of the means of grace afforded by the Gospel, and proceeds in this order; ver. 1-14.

THE Jew was not able to fulfil the righteousness of the Law, and to please God; because