Secondly, I come now to the concession, ' The body is dead, because of sin.' Here observe the emphasis of the expression, ' the body is dead ; ' not only shall die, or must die, but is dead. He expresseth himself thus for two reasons, first, because the sentence is passed : Gen. ii. 17, Heb. ix. 27, ' It is appointed for all men once to die.' Therefore, as we say of a condemned man, he is a dead man, by reason of the sentence passed upon him ; so by reason of this sentence, our body is a mortal body, liable to death, sentenced, doomed to death, and must one day undergo it. The union between it and the soul after a certain time shall be dissolved, and our bodies corrupted. The execution is begun ; mortality hath already seized upon our bodies, by the many infirmities tending to, and ending in, the dissolution of nature. We now bear about the marks of sin in our bodies, the harbingers of death are already come, and have taken up their lodging aforehand. The apostle saitli, ' in deaths often.' How many deaths do we suffer, before death cometh to relieve us, by several diseases, as colics, meagrims, catarrhs, gout, stone, and the like ? All these prepare for it ; and therefore this body, though glorious in its structure, as it is the workmanship of God, is called a vile body, as it is the subject of so many diseases ; yea, and itself is continually dying : Heb. xi. 12, ' Therefore sprang tliere even of one, and him as good as dead.' We express it, a man hath one foot in the grave.
[2.] The reason is assigned, ' Because of sin.' Death is the most ordinary thing in the world, but its cause and end are little thought of. This expression will give us occasion to speak of both its meritorious cause, and its use and end ; both are implied in the clause, ' Because of sin.'
(1.) It implieth the meritorious cause. Death is not a natural accident, but a punishment ; we die not as the beasts die, or as the
14 SERMONS UPON ROMANS VUL [SeR. XIIL
plants decay ; no, the scripture telleth us by what gate it entered into the world, namely, that it is an effect of the justice of God for man's sin : Kom. v. 12, ' By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin.' And it is also by covenant, therefore called wages, Eom. vi. 23. Sin procured it, and the law ratifies it. Ay, but doth it so come upon the faithful ? I answer, though their sins be forgiven, yet God would leave this mark of liis displeasure on all mankind, that all Adam's children shall die, for a warning to the world. Well then, sin carries death in its bosom, and to some this death is but a step to hell, or death to come ; it is not so to the godly ; yet in their instance, God would teach the world the sure connexion between death and sin ; whosoever hath been once a sinner, must die.
(2.) Its end and use, ' The body is dead because of sin : ' that is, the relics of sin are not abolished but by death ; there is a twofold end and use of death to them that are in Christ.
First, To finish transgression and make an end of sin. We groan under the burden of it, while we are in our mortal bodies, Rom. vii. 2i. But when the believer dieth, death is the destruction of sin, rather than of the penitent sinner ; the veil of the sinful flesh is rent, and by the sight of God we are purified all in an instant ; and then sin shall gasp its last, and our physician will perfect the cure which he hath be£;un in us, and we shall be presented faultless before the presence of God.
Secondly, To free us from the natural infirmities which render us incapable of that happy life in heaven which is intended for us. The state of Adam in innocency was blessed, but terrene and earthly, a state that needed meat, drink, and sleep. If Christ would have restored us to this life, it may be death had not been necessary, and the present state of our bodies needed not to be destroyed, but only purified ; but our Lord Jesus had a higher aim : Eph. i. 3, ' Who hath blessed us witli spiritual blessings in Christ' Adam enjoyed God among the beasts in paradise ; we enjoy God among the angels in heaven ; it is a divine and heavenly life that he promiseth, a life like that of the blessed angels, where meat, and drink, and sleep hath no use. Now this nature that we now have, is not fitted for this life ; therefore Paul telleth us : 1 Cor. xv. 50. ' That flesh and blood cannot inherit the king- dom of God ; that is, that animal life which we derived from Adam cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Therefore we need to bear_ the image of the heavenly, which cannot be till this terrene and animal life be abolished. To this end God useth death. So that which was in itself a punishment, becometh a means of entrance into glory ; the corn is not quickened unless it die: 1 Cor. xv. 36, 37, 38. The believers that are alive at Christ's coming must be changed, ver. 51, 52. Christ himself by death entered into glory ; therefore whatever is animal, vile, and earthly, and weak, must be put ofl', before we are capaljle of tliis blessed estate.