it is a necessity of nature that once a sinner, always a sinner; even as once dead, always dead: for sin can never so re-act upon itself as to produce holiness, any more than death can so re-act upon itself as to recover life. The one "law of sin and death" is that of mutual and unceasing perpetuation. Therefore it is that sinful man, left to his unaided nature, under the dominion of moral law, must remain for ever under the curse of the first transgression, with all its terrible consequences. But he has not been so left; and we must now direct attention, II. To that sphere within which liberation has been provided for him from this terrible law, namely, "In Christ." On this point we will not here dilate, but simply remark, 1. That in Christ the double necessity of man's case has been provided for; the twofold difficulty has been solved; the one by the death of the Son of God, the other by His life. In Him, God has fully accomplished for us that which the law could not accomplish, "in that it was weak through the flesh." Sending His own Son "in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin," God "condemned sin in the flesh." The condemnation due to us, the actual sinners, (verse 1,) was laid upon Him, the sinless One. (Verse 3.) In Him, as our Representative, and Substitute, our sin was condemned and punished,* that we, being released from condemnation, might be admitted to fellowship in His recovered and glorious life, and henceforth walk, "not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." The provision was that He was delivered for or on account of our offences, dià тà ñаρаñтóμаra, and was raised again for or on account of our justification, dià tùy dikalwσiv ýμôv. (Rom. iv. 25.) That justification is a justification of (which springs) life, both to Him and to us; (Rom. v. 18;) and so "grace reigns through righteousness [or justification] unto eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Rom. v. 21.) That provision was made for us in Him, but, • Dean Alford objects to this interpretation, "1. That the Apostle is not speaking of the removal of guilt, but of the practice of sin. 2. That the context shows that the weakness of the law was its having no sanctifying power. 3. That the following verse clearly makes the fulfilling the dixalwua of the law no matter of mere imputation, but of repinaтeîν катà пveÙμа." All of which, though true, does not prove that by the expression, "condemned sin in the flesh," the Apostle simply meant that sin in believers, both in principle and practice, is doomed to destruction. He is specifying something as done in order that (iva) this result might be insured. But the Gospel cannot, any more than the law, introduce the new principle of life till the old condemnation has been met and removed. Before the sanctification of the Spirit is possible, there must be a sanctification by blood; and the perfect discharge from condemnation accorded by the Gospel to the believer, on the ground of the propitiation which is through the blood of Christ, is therefore a justification of life, because the new spiritual life ensues immediately upon it; it is indeed its direct legal consequence. 2. The actual liberation is conferred on men only as they become united to Christ. It is indeed true that, because the great Deliverer participated in the nature of all alike, there has come a dispensation of grace and renewed probation to all men; but the actual discharge from condemnation, and the liberty from the "law of sin and death," do not come to any but to those who are found in Christ by faith. For we are "blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ," (Eph. i. 3,) having been "chosen in Him," (verse 4,) and "accepted" in Him, (verse 6,) "in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins," (verse 7,)" in whom also we have obtained an inheritance" of heavenly glory, (verse 11,) and in whom also we have been. "sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the carnest of our inheritance." (Verses 13, 14.) All this great salvation comes to us as we are found in Him; and thus it is that the prayer of the one Mediator between God and man is fulfilled: "That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us ;......I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me." (John xvii. 21-23.) For "the Church is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all," (Eph. i. 22, 23,) and is so identified with Him as that St. Paul speaks of Him, and believers in Him, as together constituting THE CHRIST. (ó Xplorós, 1 Cor. xii. 12.) We proceed to observe, III. That, for all those who are in Christ, the liberation is actually accomplished. For, 1, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ:" He was condemned on their account, and they were condemned in Him. He died for their sins, and they died in Him. He was buried in the grave, and they were buried with Him: he, the man, that is dead "hath been freed, 'justified,' from sin," (ὁ αποθανών δεδικαίωται ἀπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας,) and they have been “ justified" in Him. (Rom. vi. 7, 8.) Being in Him, they are with Him "justified from all things,"-as fully justified-as He Himself; so that it may be boldly demanded concerning them, Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? seeing it is God that justifieth them. Who is he that shall dare to condemn ? seeing it is Christ that died [to free them from condemnation], yea rather, that is risen again [in proof of their discharge], who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for them. (Rom. viii. 33, 34.) Such is the provision which has been made for the appeasement of awakened, alarmed, and self-accusing consciences; and for all sincere penitents and true believers it is sufficient. "For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh; how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" (Heb. ix. 13, 14.) For that man who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ "with the heart unto righteousness," conscience ceases from its foreboding criminations, and becomes a fountain of triumphant joy. For we "joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement,” rǹv karadλayǹv, the reconciliation. (Rom. v. 11.) Then, 2. The liberation from sin is secured to believers in the active life; "for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." Observe that tho law of sin is a law of death; and that the "law of the Spirit" is a law of life. Sin deals death, and thereby perpetuates both itself and its punishment; but "the Spirit" inspires life, and thereby liberates both from sin and death, and insures everlasting victory and blessedness. But what" Spirit " is this by the "law" of which our liberation is secured? Is it the Holy Spirit of Christ, proceeding from Him, and giving new life to all who are in Him? Or is it that new life itself, which is originated in us by the quickening power of the Holy Spirit? as Jesus said to Nicodemus, "That which is born of the Spirit is spirit;" (John iii. 6;) and which is spoken of elsewhere as a new," ," and a "right" spirit? (Ezek. xxxvi. 26, and Psalm li. 10.) To us it seems clear that this latter is the true exposition, and that "the law of the Spirit of life" which liberates from the law of sin and death is that of the new life which we have in Christ, and which is manifested even in "our mortal flesh." (2 Cor. iv. 11.) But, as this life of Jesus in us is the product of the regenerating power of the Holy Ghost, (John iii. 6,) so also it is sustained and matured only by virtue of our continued fellowship with this Spirit that "dwelleth" in us. (Rom. viii. 9, 11; 1 Cor. vi. 19; 2 Cor. xiii. 14; Eph. iv. 30; 1 Thess. v. 19.) That Spirit was given to Christ without "measure," (John iii. 34,) and He, having died for our sins, and been "justified in the Spirit," (1 Tim. iii. 16,) was "quickened by the Spirit," (1 Peter iii. 18,) and restored to deathless life by "the glory of the Father," that we might "live by Him;" (Rom. vi. 1-11 ;) and by that same Spirit of life, proceeding forth from Him, we also are "quickened" together with Him, are "raised up" from the state of death together with Him, and are made to "sit" enthroned" together in heavenly places" in Him. (Eph. ii. 5, 6.) Hence the protest of St. Paul to Peter: "I through the law died to the law, that I might live unto God. I [have been and] am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." (Gal. ii. 19, 20.) Hence, also, the predictive assurance of the Master Himself: "Because I live, ye shall live also." (John xiv. 19.) For He is "our life." (Col. iii. 4.) But how does the law of this new life in Christ exert within us its liberating power? Does it seize upon us from without, as the Spirit of inspiration seized upon the prophets in the olden times, and rid us from ourselves and our sins without our own active concurrence? Or does it come upon us as a new constituent element of being, distinct alike from the law of the mind and the law in the members, and in which both these, with the nature in which they inhere, are caught up into a new and a higher personality? Or is it not the law of a new life which is infused into our spirit by the Spirit of God, and which acts through and by the law of the mind, becoming in fact one with it, and imparting to it the prevalence of power in addition to the claim of right? "The new creation is distinguished from the first in this, that the latter created man out of nothingness into existence; while the former finds the ungodly being of man in existence, and transforms it into a godly one. Its point of entrance is the conscience -the remains of "spirit" in the psychical man;' and it is completed by first of all changing the godlessness of man into fellowship with God," and then further by changing him, in the enjoy ment of this fellowship, into the image of the glorious Lord," from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Cor.iii. 18.) It should also be noted that the new law acts upon the conscience through the medium of the light and truth of the Gospel. For to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent, is "life eternal." (John xvii. 3.) "God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." (2 Cor. iv. 6.) And we are "born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." (1 Peter i. 23.) This living and abiding Word, which by the Gospel is preached unto us, supplies-1. That precious knowledge of the redemption in Christ which provides peace for the guilty conscience; 2. That knowledge of the royal and perfect law of liberty which is a sure and sufficient guide for conscience in the practical life; and, 3. That knowledge of God as a God of love, as our God and Father in Christ, which imparts joyous courage and prevailing power to conscience. For it is in this inner consciousness that God is reconciled to me in Christ; that He accepts and approves of me; that He is with me and in me; and that the fulness of * Dr. Delitzsch, Bib. Psy., p. 397. His living power is on my side, for the right and the good, and against the wrong and the evil; that I have an unfailing source of fortitude, courage, and power for the performance of any duty, however arduous, and for the endurance of any trial, however distressing. In this consciousness we may indeed boldly say, "The Lord is my Helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me." (Heb. xiii. 6.) By this new life in the Spirit, the law in the members is released from the grasp of the law of sin and death, and becomes more and more pervaded by spiritual influences through which every member is at length sanctified to its proper and Divinely-appointed use; the body itself is presented "a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God," in rational service; (Rom. xii. 1;) and the power of sinful propensity and habit is so broken, that the regenerate man no longer lives in actual sin. For "whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for His seed remaineth in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God;" (1 John iii. 9;) and thus the believer's liberty in Christ is complete. In conclusion, we would, 1. Affectionately entreat all to secure this glorious liberty. Addressing ourselves specially to those who are not yet earnestly religious, and who are living for this world only, being still held in bondage by the law of sin and death, we would ask them— (1.) To ponder well the terrible power of this law, and the dreadful consequences of remaining beneath its dominion. Bear in mind that its very essence is that it is relentlessly self-perpetuating. Sin infallibly kindles, sooner or later, a fire of shame and remorse within the guilty conscience, which no tears of the most bitter and protracted sorrow can ever quench. It induces a diseased craving after mere creatural good, which only increases with growing disappointment. Then, on the one hand, it smites with remorse on account of the past disobedience; and, on the other, induces a moral impotence, which precludes any effectual effort to recover the lost liberty and peace. By a fearful fascination it lures onwards to renewed transgression and more hopeless punishment. Under its tyranny, the unhappy offender must sink down, and still down, notwithstanding his occasional impulse to lay hold of something which may arrest his progress, till, like Milton's Satan, he may cry out, in the astonishment of utter ruin, "Me miserable! Which way shall I fly |