The Pulpit Commentary — Romans — Section 199

I. To L.t.w M UVBALING SIN. "For," says the apostle, "I had not known sin, except through the L&w; I had not known ooveting, except the Law had aaid, Thou ehalt not covet.'' Here we have a general principle, and a special instance. L&w, by saying, " Thou !'halt not," brings home to our conscience the knowledge that oerta.in tendencies, which we had followed unoonsciously before, are wrong; the separate oomm&ndments of the Law stamp this character of _wrongness on eaoh eepgrate tendency respectively, Thus we learn the great distinctions of right and wrong; the particular distinotione in particular cases. To us, then, as fallen creatures, there is a great revelation of wrong. When Law first speaks, we awake to find ourselves sinful, i.e. dead I Till then? Alive, without law; yes, even as the brute beasts are alive, not being conscious of any moral disharmony or disorder. They may covet and strive and fight, but to them this is not wrong. Law is silent, and therefore sin, in its recognized character, ia uot-it is dead. So with us. But Law comes; sin revives; fD6 die I II. Tm!: LAW AS AN EXCITANT TO SIN. To innocent creatures law would be directive, and restraining; to corrupt creatures it is galling, and incentive to yet worse outbreaks. Illustrat.e, unruly horse. The very curbing makes it spring forth more furiously. So sin works in us, through the commandment, all manner of coveting. And surely nothing shows the exceeding sinfulness of sin more strikingly than this, that a Law which is acknc-wledged as holy and good should be the means of making it more rampant and riotous I Sin works death "through that which ia good." And we, meanwhile? Slain! slain, that we may desire a better life. Law the necessary preparative for redemption. But when are these successive experiences realized? When are we "alive without law"? In the days of irresponsible infancy, when we are sinful indeed, but uncon- sciously sinful, yielding k> the wrong tendency even as we yield to the right, not knowing. not refiecting. More or less, though only partially, this is the case among the untaught heathen also; only partially, for there is law written on the heart. To some extent the case even amongst the enlightened, even amongst the regenerate; for it is only by degrees that the Law of Christ unfolds to us its sublime perfection. And when, and to what extent, are we dead, when sin revives? As childhood develops int.o fuller life, and the La.w without awakes the law within. Also, as the heathen, the uninstructed, are t.augbt the fuller truth. And, in a.ccordauce with above, as the Christ unfolds t.o ua his perfection, and we do not at once respond. And so it is that •They who fa.in would serve thee best Are conecioUB moet of wrong withm." Bat "'he giveth more grace! "-T. F. L. Ver11.14-25.-" &ild under Ml" Buch is the deplorable result of the action of God's Law on man: sin is made to stand out blackly, in all its hideous evil; nay, it seems even stimulated to increased malignity of working. How so? Because of the intense opposition between the holy Law and an unholy nature: "For we know that the Law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin." But man's nature is not with- out its witness for the Divine; the spiritual is captive, but not destroyed; it is capable of apprehending and desiring, though not of really purposing and performing the good: and therefore, not merely is there a conflict between the spiritual Law and man's carnal nature, as described above, but between the spiritual nature of man himself, when quickened by the spiritual Law, and that carnal nature to which it is enslaved. These verses depict this opposition, and we have therefore-the desire for the good ; the 1ubjection to the evil; the bopeleBB conflict. L Tmi: DEBll!.E FOR THE GOOD. Repeatedly, through this whole passage, the apostle speaks of those who are touched by the quickening action of the Law as desiring, and half purposing, the good. Thus, "I consent unto the Law that it is good; " "To will la pre-sent with me;" "I delight in the Law of God after the inward man;" "With the tniod I aerTe the Law of God." And is not this verified by our experience? Our very nature coillltraina us to approve, to admire, the good. We have the witneee in ou111elves. The spirit made after God'a image recognizes God. The llght of oonecience .t,ugglee upwards to its kindred light. Nay, more than this. If we do not stubbornly IOlia, the 1&ir ililage of goodnells commandB, not roercly our approval, but our deairea. <!rt. vn.1-25.) THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 10 THE ROMANS. 191