1 Rom. ii. 5. m Jude, ver. 21. n 1 Cor. vi. 20.
DEADNESS TO THE LAW, AND UNION WrITH CHRIST.
Rom. vii. 4. My brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
THAT the Gospel is hostile to the interests of morality, is an objection that has been raised against it, from the first promulgation of it by the Apostles, even to the present age. That the Gospel is a most wonderful display of grace and mercy, must be ac- knowledged : but it does not therefore encourage any man to live in sin : on the contrary, it teaches men, and binds them by every possible tie, to " live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world." To this effect the Apostle speaks throughout the whole preceding chapter. He begins with stating the objection urged against the Gospel ; " What shall we say then ? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?" And then he answers it at large ; and affirms, that the covenant of grace, so far from inva- lidating our obligation to good works, absolutely secures the performance of thema. In the chapter before us he is continuing the same argument, and putting it in a new light : he represents men as by nature married to the law, and bringing forth fruit to sin and death ; but afterwards, as separated from the law, and married to Christ, in order to their bringing forth the fruits of holiness to the praise and glory of God.
His words will naturally lead us to consider,
I. The state to which we are brought by the death of Christ —
We are all by nature bound to the law —
[God gave his law to Adam as a covenant, promising life to him if he were obedient, and denouncing death against him as the penalty of disobedience. Under that covenant we all
a Rom. vi. 14 — 16.