delivers us from all the duties it enjoins. Although such an example, indeed, is no where to be found among men, yet we must not regard the statement of the apostle to be an empty speculation, nor ought we to yield to despondency because we do not find ourselves among the number of those who have entirely crucified the flesh. For this work of God is not perfected on the first day when it commences its operations in us, but gradually increases; and, making daily advancement, is brought by little and little to its completion. To sum up all, "If you are a Christian, you must exhibit in yourself a sign of your communion with the death of Christ, and, as a fruit of this, your flesh will be crucified with all its desires." You must not, however, conclude that you have made no progress in this communion, if you find the remains of sin still continuing to live in you, but you must never cease to meditate on the best plans for increasing your participation of Christ's death, until you shall have reached the goal. It is well with the believer, if his flesh is continually mortified; and he has made great progress when the Holy Spirit has taken possession of the kingdom which has been acquired from the flesh. There is another participation of the death of Christ, mentioned frequently by the apostle, as well in other passages, but particularly in the 2 Cor. iv., namely, the bearing of the cross, which is followed by our becoming partakers of eternal life.

Now, if we be dead-He repeats this with no other design, but to subjoin the following declaration, that Christ, being raised from the dead, dieth no more; and he intends to teach us, by this passage, the necessity imposed upon Christians of their pursuing this newness of life during the whole of their mortal career. For, if they ought to represent in themselves the image of Christ, both by the morti

fication of the flesh and the life of the Spirit, the former must necessarily take place once and for ever, and the duration of the latter can never terminate. Not, as we have already observed, because our flesh can die in us in one moment, but no liberty is allowed for our going back in this mortification; since, if we again return to our wallowing in the mire, we deny Christ, for we can only become partakers of him by newness of life, as he now enjoys a state of incorruptible existence.

Death has no more dominion over him--The apostle seems to hint, that death had once enjoyed dominion over Christ, and when he indeed gave himself up to death for us, he submitted and subjected himself, in some measure, to its power; yet on this condition, that he could not possibly be held bound by its pains, yield to its authority, or be consumed by it. By undergoing its power, therefore, for a moment, he devoured death for ever, though, to speak more simply, the dominion of death is referred to the voluntary condition of Christ's death which was terminated by his resurrection. In fine, Christ, who now gives life to believers by his Spirit, or inspires into them from heaven his own life by a secret virtue, was exempted from the dominion of death when he rose from the dead to rescue his followers from the same.

He died unto sin once-The apostle adduces our perpetual deliverance from the yoke of death by the example of Christ, which he had already mentioned, as well suited to support his opinion that we are indeed no more subject to the tyranny of sin; and this truth is demonstrated by the final cause of the death of Christ, for he indeed died to accomplish the utter destruction of sin. The very form of expression, as applied to Christ, shows that he did not, like us, die to sin for the purpose of ceasing to commit it, but he died as a ransom for sin, thus annihi

lating its power and authority. The apostle says, Christ died unto sin once, not only because he sanctified believers for ever by the eternal redemption which he procured by his one oblation, and by the cleansing of sin accomplished by the shedding of his blood, but for the purpose of establishing a mutual resemblance between us and our Redeemer. For notwithstanding spiritual death makes continual progress in believers, yet we are properly said to die once, since Christ not only reconciles us to the Father by his own blood, but regenerates us also, at the same time, by the power of his Spirit. (Heb. x. 14.) But in that he liveth-The sense is not changed, whether the passage is translated unto God or in God, for it means to live, in the immortal and incorruptible kingdom of God, a life subject to no mortality; and a likeness of this ought to manifest itself in the regeneration of the pious. We must always keep in mind the proper meaning of the word likeness, as used by Paul; for he does not say we shall live in heaven in the same way as Christ does in that scene of happiness, but he makes the new life from regeneration, which we spend on earth, to resemble the heavenly life of our Saviour. The duty of our dying to sin, after the example of Christ, does not imply the same death with his, for we die to sin when sin dies to us; on the other hand, Christ, by dying, has completely destroyed sin. The word believe, used by the apostle, when he before said that we shall also live with our Redeemer, shows him to be speaking of the grace of Christ; for, had he been merely admonishing us of a duty to be performed, he would have used the following language: "Since we are dead with Christ, we ought, in like manner, to live with him." The doctrine of faith, founded on the promises, is evidently treated of in this passage by the apostle; as if he had said, " Be

lievers ought to fix in their minds that, by the benefit of Christ, they are so dead according to the flesh, as to have the newness of life continued to the end by the power of the same Saviour." The future tense, we shall live, does not relate to the last resurrection, but simply implies the perpetual course of a new life as long as we are pilgrims in the world.

Likewise reckon ye also yourselves-The apostle now adapts to our case, by analogy, what he said concerning Christ dying to sin once, and living eternally to God, and instructs us how we may now die by living, when we truly renounce our sins. But he does not omit mentioning the duty of our embracing once by faith the grace of Christ; for, provided the mortification of the flesh has only commenced in us, the life of sin will, by this very means, be extinguished, that the newness of the Spirit, which is divine, may continue for ever. For unless Christ destroyed sin in us once, so as to bring it to a final termination, his grace would have been defective in firmness and stability. The meaning of the passage is, "that in consideration of your own case, as Christ died once for the destruction of sin, so you are indeed once dead, that you may cease to sin for the future; nay, you must daily advance in the mortification of your flesh, which has been commenced, until sin shall be completely extinguished. Christ was raised to an incorruptible life, so you are renewed by the grace of God, that you may spend the whole of your life in holiness and righteousness, since the power of the Holy Spirit, by which you are renewed, is eternal, and will always flourish in strength and vigour." I prefer the translation in Christ, to that of Erasmus, by Christ, because it conveys more clearly the idea of spiritual engrafting, which makes us one with Christ.

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12 Let not sin, therefore, reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof: 13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

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Let not sin, therefore, reign-He now commences his exhortation, which naturally rises out of the doctrine delivered by the apostle, concerning our communion with Christ, in the following manner:— Though sin resides in us, yet there is an absurdity in supposing it to be vigorous and active in the exercise of its dominion; for the power of holiness ought to be much superior to it, so that our life may prove that we are truly the members of Christ." The word body, I have lately hinted, is not taken in the sense of flesh, skin, and bones; but means, if I may be allowed the expression, the whole mass of man. The present passage supports more clearly such an interpretation, for the other member of the sentence, which he afterwards adds, concerning the parts of the body, relates also to the mind. Paul thus means, in a gross sense, the earthly man, for the corruption of our nature prevents us from breathing any thing worthy of our origin. Thus God also, (Gen. vi. 3,) while he complains of man as well as brute beasts having become flesh, leaves him nothing but an earthly nature. The language of our Saviour, (John iii. 6,) "That which is born of the flesh is flesh," conveys the same meaning. It is easy to answer the objection, which some may propose, that the mind cannot be considered to be so earthly, since in our present degenerate state our souls are so fixed to the earth, and

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