It is of the Moral Law that the Apostle principally speaks in my text : for it was that law which forbad all the different kinds of immorality which he pro- ceeds to specifyh. And this law was not, so to speak, " made for the righteous," but, as all human laws are, for the prevention of evil : and hence, with the ex- ception of the fourth commandment, the whole Decalogue consists of prohibitions, rather than com- mands ; and tells us rather what we are not to do, than what we are to do.
Now this law also is good, if used lawfully —
[It is good, in that it restrains us from the commission of evil, whether towards God or man. It is good, also, in that it shews how much sin has abounded in the world, and what reason we all have to humble ourselves on account of it. It is good, in that it points out to us the necessity of a Saviour, and leads us to welcome that Saviour to our hearts. Still further it is good, in that it directs us how to walk and to please God, when we have obtained mercy with him through his dear Son. These are the proper uses for which it was designed : and, when improved for these ends, we may well account it " dearer to us than thousands of silver and gold1" ]
But, if perverted, even this also ceases to be good —
[True, in itself it is, and ever must be, " holy, and just, and goodk:" but, in its use, it proves an occasion of death to many souls. Many there are who seek to establish a right- eousness for themselves, by their obedience to it. But to fallen man it never could answer any such end as this : and to attempt to make any such use of it, to set aside the whole Gospel, and to make void all that Christ has done and suffered for us, in this very way it proved fatal to millions amongst the Jews1, and still becomes an occasion of death to millions amongst ourselvesm. If we will follow it as " a schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ," it will prove an inestimable blessing to our souls : but if we will set it up against Christ, and found our hopes of salvation on our obedience to it, we shall despoil it of its true excellence, and make it only a stumbling-block to our eternal ruin.]
h ver. 9, 10. • Ps. cxix. 72. k Rom. vii. 12.
1 Rom. ix. 31, 32. »» Gal. v. 4.