Commentary on Romans, Biblical exegesis 1 · Chapter 7 · Section 3

Commentary on Romans · Biblical exegesis 1 · Chapter 7 · Section 3

p. 3133. The questions and doubts discussed.

Quest. 1. How the law is said to hauehave dominion ouer a man as long as he liueth.

1. We must here distinguish betweene these two, cessare legem, the law to cease, and dominionem legis cessare, the dominion of the law to cease: Theodoret thinketh that the Apostle treateth of the ceasing of the law, so also Gorrhan: but that the law is not ceased, the Apostle sheweth afterward, giuing an instance in one of the commandements, Thou shalt not lust: but the dominion of the law is ceased, which serued to condemne, but we are vnderunder grace, which hath deliuered vsus from the bondage of the law: Tolet. annot. 1.

2. By the lawe: 1. neither with Sedulius doe we vnderstand the lawe of nature: for he speaketh vntounto the Iewes, that knewe the lawe, whereas the lawe of nature was knowne also vntounto the Gentiles. 2. neither with Ambrose by the lawe, doe we meane the Gospel, for we are not dead vntounto this lawe, as the Apostle saith, v. 4. we are dead to the law. 3. neither is the lawe of the members here vnderstood, as Origen, which is alwaies euill, rebelling against the lawe of the word: but the lawe which the Apostle here speaketh of, is holy and good, ver. 12. 4. nor yet doe we vnderstand the ciuill lawe of the Romanes, to whom the Apostle doth write, as knowing their owne lawes: as Haymo and Lyranus indifferently vnderstandeth, Lex Mosaica vel Civilis, the Mosaicall or Ciuill lawe. p. 3145. The Apostle then maketh mention of the morall law of Moses, as is euident by that instance, which afterward he bringeth in, of that commandement, Thou shalt not couet: Tolet. Mart. Pareus.

3. These words, while he liveth, are diuersly interpreted. 1. some referre it to the law, as long as the lawe liveth or remaineth: so Origen, Ambrose, Erasmus, and Origen addeth this reason, because the man is afterward resembled to the lawe, who beeing dead, the woman is free: but this reason sheweth, that it must be referred rather to the man, then the law: 2. and so indeede, it is more fitly said of the man, while he liueth, then of the lawe: and in grammaticall construction, it is better referred to the nearer word, then the further off, Beza. 3. some doe ioyne it vntounto man, which word because in the Greeke signifieth both sexes, Chrysostome thinketh that the death of both is insinuated: for if the woman be free when her husband is dead, much more, when she is dead also: but then this verse should be confounded in sense with that which followeth: whereas the Apostle speaketh first in generall of the lawe, which onelyonly beareth rule ouer a man, while he liueth, and then of the particular lawe of matrimonie. 4. some thinke that these words, while he or it liueth, are indifferently referred either to the lawe or man: for both we are said to be dead to the lawe, v. 4. and the lawe also is said to be dead, v. 6. Mart. but it is better ioyned with man, as the nearest word.

4. Tolet thinketh, that the Apostle speaketh not here generally of the law of Moses, but of the particular law of matrimonie, annot. 4. but, as is before shewed, it is better to vnderstand the Apostle to speake generally here of the law, which bindeth a man onelyonly while he liueth: and so we are dead in Christ, and no longer bound to the law: and then he doth illustrate the same by the particular law of marriage: the law was as the man, or rather sinne that receiued strength by the law, we as the wife, the law beeing dead in Christ, in respect of the bondage thereof, we are free: Pareus.

2. Quest. Whether the woman be simply free, if the man be once dead.

v. 3. If the man be dead, she is free. Lyranus giueth this note, that if the man should chance to die, and yet be raised againe, as some were, the woman were not bound in that case to receiue the man as her husband, nisi de condecentia, but in decencie onelyonly, and supervenienti novo consensu, by a new consent and contract: Pererius affirmeth the same, and giueth instance of Lazarus, that if any should rise againe as he did, non futuram vxorem eius, quae ante fuerat, disput. 1. num. 2.she should not be his wife, that was before, but vponupon a new contract.

Contra. Though this be but a curious and vnnecessarie question, yet because the occasion is ministred by them, it shall not be amisse herein to examine the truth. Indeede when we shall rise againe to an immortall state, as in the generall resurrection, neither the man shall be bound to the wife, nor the wife to the husband, because they shall neither marrie, nor be giuen in marriage: but when any is miraculously raised againe to the mortall state and condition of this life, the case is otherwise, as may appeare by these reasons.

1. Other coniunctions, which are not so neare, as betweene the father, or mother, and the children, doe not cease, neither are extinct by such a temporall death: as it is saide, Heb. 11.35. The women receiued their dead raised to life: that is, the mothers acknowledged their children raised againe, as the widow of Sarepta, and the Shunamite, had their sonnes restored vntounto them againe beeing dead, the one by the Prophet Elias, the other by the Prophet Elisha: the question is, whether those children so raised, were freed from the obedience of their parents: I thinke not: no more is the wife in that case freed from her husband; because the coniunction is nearer betweene the man and wife: as Gen. 2.24. Therefore shall a man leaue his father and mother, and cleaue to his wife.

2. When the Sadduces put the question to Christ, of a woman that was married to seuen brethren, whose wife she should be in the resurrection: our Sauiour answered them not, that the woman was free from them all by death, but because that in the resurrection they neither marrie, not are married, but are as the Angels in heauen, Matth. 22.30. So then the reason why they are free after death, is, not simply because they are dead, but because they shall rise to an incorruptible state, and not returne from death againe to their former mortall condition.

3. Pererius himselfe confesseth, that if one that is baptized, or hath receiued orders should be raised from death, he should not neede to be baptized or consecrated againe, because those Sacraments do imprint in the soule an indeleble character, & so doth not matrimonie.

p. 315But this may serue as an argument against his conceit: that matrimonie in this case shall no more be iterated then the other: for there is no such character imprinted more in them, then in matrimonie: for he which is baptized or consecrated may vtterly fall away, and become an Apostata from the faith, what then is become of this badge or character? See further Synops. Cent. 2. er. 96. if then there is no more character left in the one then in the other, if by a temporall death for a time, the efficacie of baptisme and orders be not extinguished, neither is the bond of matrimonie loosed: for such is no perfect death, but a kind of slumber or traunce for a while, which I hope they will not say, dissolueth the mariage bond.

Quest. 3. Whether that the woman hauehave not the like libertie and freedome in respect of the bond of mariage, as the man hath.

v. 3. But if the man be dead, the woman is free, &c. The woman is not free but by the death of the man: because this is affirmed onelyonly of the womans freedom, & not of the mans, it may seeme, that the man may be otherwise free, then by the death of the woman: And indeed Ambrose is of this opinion, writing vponupon the 7. chap. of the 1. to the Corinthians: that the man may marrie againe, his wife beeing lawfully repudiated, euen while she liueth, but so cannot the woman, and his reason is, quia inferior non omnino hac lege vtitur, qua superior, the inferior is not to vse the same lawe or priuiledge which the superiour doth: Caietanus herein agreeing with Ambrose alleadgeth the custome which the Iewes had: it was lawfull among them for the man to giuegive his wife a bill of diuorcement, but not for the woman to giuegive it vntounto the man.

Contra. 1. S. Ambrose opinion herein is contrarie to the Apostle S. Paul, who saith, that the man hath not power ouer his owne bodie but his wife, as the wife hath not power ouer her owne bodie, but the husband, 1. Cor. 7.4. so in matrimoniall duties he maketh them both equall, as Lyranus well inferreth here, idem est iudicium de viro, the same law or iudgment also is for the man.

2. Herein then I rather subscribe to Hieromes opinion, quicquid viris iubetur, hoc consequenter redundat in foeminas, that which is commanded vntounto men redoundeth also vntounto women: for an adulterous woman is not to be dismissed, and an adulterous husband to be retained, aliae sunt leges Caesarum, aliae Christs, aliud Papinianus, aliud Paulus noster praecipit, &c. the lawes of Caesar and of Christ are diuerse, one thing Papinianus prescribeth, an other thing Paul, Hierm. ad Occan.

3. And that libertie among the Iewes was granted vntounto them for their hardnes of heart: it was a permission, no dispensation, a toleration, not a concession: and yet the woman had libertie by that custome, beeing sent away by a bill of diuorcement, to marrie againe, as the man did.

4. Yet thus much must be acknowledged, that whereas it was permitted, that many of the fathers should hauehave diuers wiues, yet it was a monstrous thing, and neuer tolerated for a woman to hauehave many husbands, that there is some difference herein betweene the condition of the man and woman: that in respect of the generall law of nature for procreation, the man is more priuiledged, who may beget by diuerse women, whereas one woman cannot conceiue by diurse men: so that in the woman such change should shew her lust onelyonly and wantonnes, which in the man was exercised for the desert of procreation: yet the speciall law, and couenant of matrimonie considered, the man hath no more libertie to goe vntounto strange flesh then the woman.

Quest. 4. Why the Apostle saith, we are dead to the law, v. 4. and not rather, the law is dead to vsus.

1. Some thinke, that in this similitude the man is compared to the law, and we are resembled to the woman, and so the Apostle in the application of the similitude, should hauehave rather said, the law is dead to vsus, because the man is free, when the man is dead: but the Apostle chaungeth of purpose his speach: he would not say the law is dead, but we are dead to the law, imbecillitaris Iudaeorum rationem habens, &c. hauing respect vntounto the weaknes of the Iewes, left they might hauehave beene offended, beeing so much addicted to the law: and last he might hauehave giuen occasion to those heretikes, which are enemies to the old Testament, thereby to accuse the law: Theodoret: so also Calvin, comparing the law to the husband, voluit exigua inversione &c. he would a little deliuer the envie of so hard a tearme, auandae offensionis causa, noluit exprimere, he would not expressely say the lawe is dead to avoide offence: Bucer, so also Pet. Martyr, Pareus: But Beza misliketh this exposition, for p. 316the lawe cannot be said to be dead, vnlesse the ceremoniall lawe be vnderstood, which the Apostle speaketh not of but of the morall lawe: Tolet addeth this reason, because the Apostle expressely distinguisheth these three, virum, mulierem, & legem, the man, the woman, the lawe, and concludeth that by the death of the man, we are freed from the lawe.

2. Chrysostome salveth the matter thus: that the Apostle speaketh of a double libertie, both by the death of the man and woman together: for if the woman be dead as well as the man, she is much more free: and so in the application, the Apostle indifferently putteth the case, of the death of vntounto the lawe, as the woman, or of the lawe to vsus, as the man: But the similitude onelyonly runneth vponupon the freedome of the woman by the death of the man: the application should be so likewise.

3. Haymo vnderstandeth here two husbands, and one woman or wife: the law is one husband, vnderunder whom the woman, that is, the soule is said to be, the other is sinne, whereof the Apostle speaketh, v. 3. while the man liueth, for while sinne liueth in man, he is subiect to the lawe: But the other husband which the Apostle speaketh of, is Christ raigning in vsus by his spirit, as v. 4. that we should be vntounto an other, vnlesse he will say that the Apostle speaketh of three husbands, which he doth not, for an other, doth insinuate but one beside.

4. Some thinke that in the application of this similitude, we are not so curiously to insist vponupon the particular points of this resemblance betweene the man and wife: whether the law be as the husband, or the man regenerate as the wife: by the death of either of them indifferētly followeth freedom, if either we be dead to the law, or the law to vsus, Faius: But the Apostle in the similitude presseth onelyonly the death of the man, whereby the woman is free: likewise Gorrhan expoundeth, ye are mortified, or dead to the lawe, that is, ye are no m… bound to the lawe, as if the law were dead: but to be dead to the lawe, and the lawe to be dead to vsus, though in effect they are all one, yet the sense is d…lerse.

5. Hugo Cardinal. maketh three in the similitude, the man, the wife, and the lawe of matrimonie, and three in the application, the lawe as the man, the soule as the wife, and sinne as the mariage: but saith he in this is the diuersitie in the similitude, the man dieth, but in the application the woman dieth, that is, the soule vntounto sinne: But if this difference and dissimilitude be admitted, then the Apostle should not hauehave fitly applyed to his purpose the similitude which he had propounded.

6. Augustine better by the husband vnderstandeth sinne, by the wife man, lib. 83. qu. 66. but this is not a full explication of the Apostles minde: for here it is not expressed, what part the lawe beareth in this similitude.

7. Therefore Tolet thus explaineth this similitude: he saith by the Apostle here, triplicen distingui, there is distinguished a threefold state of man, the old man, the newe man which is regenerate, and the naturall man, considered as Gods creature, which was first vnderunder the condition and seruitude of the old man, and then vnderunder the newe: the old corrupt man, and the newe regenerate man he maketh the two husbands, and man considered in himselfe is as the wife; so we are said to be mortified to the lawe, that is, the old man is dead were sinne, and so vntounto the lawe, because sinne beeing destroyed, the dominion of the lawe also is abolished; to this purpose Tolet. annot. 5. Beza somewhat diuersly thus applyeth the similitude, he maketh two mariages, in the first, sinne is as the husbād, which had the strength by the lawe: the flesh was as the wife, and the particular sinnes were the fruits … in the second mariage, the spirit of grace by Christ is as the newe husband, the regenerate man the wife, and the children the fruits of holines, and in this sense we are said to be mortified to the law, in respect of the first husband, which is within vsus; These two expositions much differ nor but in this, that Tolet maketh one and the same wife, which was before married vntounto sinne, and afterward to the spirit; Beza maketh two wiues, the first, the state of the vnregenerate, the second of the regenerate man; But the Apostle seemeth to speake of one and the same wife, which is the soule of man, first subdued vntounto sinne, and then in subiection to Christ so then not the wife is said to be mortified, for how then should she be ioyned to an other husband? but the first husband, that is, the old man is mortified to the lawe, because when sinne liued, the lawe did beare dominion in accusing & condemning vsus: Now that the law is not as the husband, but sinne, the Apostle euidently sheweth, v. 5. When we were in the … the motions of sinne which were by the law had force in our members to bring forth fruit was death: here the Apostle expresseth fowre things in this first mariage: the wife, we are the flesh, the husband, the motions of sinne, for that is the husband, which begetteth children p. 317which are the evill fruits vntounto death: the fourth thing is the lawe of the man, touched before in the similitude, v. 2. and here, the lawe is that which gaue strength vntounto sinne.

7. But an other reason also may be yeelded, why the Apostle saith, we are mortified to the lawe: because in this reddition, he ioyntly applyeth the two similitudes before alleadged: the one, that the lawe hath no dominion ouer one, but while he liueth, v. 1. the other that the woman is bound to the man, but while he liueth: in the application, he putteth both together: to answear to the first, he saith we are mortified to the lawe, and so it hath no more power ouer vsus: and touching the second, he saith, that beeing dead, wherein we were holden, namely, sinne, v. 5. we should be now for an other husband.

Quest. 5. How we are said to be mortified to, and freed from the lawe.

We are not freed from the lawe, in respect of the obedience thereto: for the morall law is in force still, and Christ came to confirme the lawe, not to destroy it: but we are freed from it, as the bare letter of the lawe is set against the spirit: 1. because the lawe commanded onelyonly, but gaue no grace to performe, as the Gospell doth. 2. the law onelyonly manifested our sinnes, in not beeing able to keepe the lawe, which are healed in the Gospel: 3. the law commanding, made the froward nature of man, so much more sinnefull, in crossing the commandement. 4. Men then obeyed the lawe for feare, and by constraint, which nowe they doe willingly by grace. 5. but in these two things chiefely consisteth our libertie and freedome from the lawe, à rigida exactione, we are freed from the strict obseruation of the lawe, which Christ hath fulfilled for vsus. 6. & ab ea qua inde sequitur maledictione, and from the malediction and curse which followeth thereupon, which Christ hath freed vsus from, being made a curse for vsus, Calvin. 7. Pareus sheweth how in these three things the servitude of the lawe consisted. 1. in the declaration of sinne. 2. in the condemning of it. 3. in encreasing sinne, per accidens, by an accident, because our corrupt nature is carried to do that so much the more, which is forbidden: So the libertie of the lawe consisteth in these three points opposite to the other three. 1. the lawe doth not now set forth our sinnes, which are not imputed vntounto vsus beeing iustified by faith in Christ. 2. it condemneth vsus not, for there is no condemnation to those which are in Christ. 3. neither doth it stirre vsus vp to sinne beeing dead to sinne in Christ: the two first parts of libertie we doe fully enioy in this life: but the third is onelyonly begunne here, because we are still compassed about with many infirmities, but it is not fully perfited vntill the next.

Quest. 6. What is meant by the bodie of Christ, v. 4.

1. Some vnderstand by the bodie of Christ, completionem veritatis, the fulfilling and accomplishment of the figures of the lawe (which was but a type of things to come) in exhibiting the truth, Gorrhan: 2. some, incarnationis mysterium, the mysterie of the incarnation of Christ, gloss. interlin. 3. Lyranus, incorporationem cum Christo in baptismo, our incorporating with Christ when we were made his members in baptisme. 4. Beza readeth in corpore, in the bodie, to shewe our conformitie with Christ, that we as his members are in him & by him dead vntounto the law: Pet. Mart. also approueth this sense, effecti iam membra Domini, &c. beeing made the members of our Lord, we doe followe our head. 5. But by the bodie of Christ, rather we vnderstand the passion of Christ in his bodie vponupon the crosse: that is, per victimam Christum, &c. by Christ our sacrifice, who satisfied for vsus: Melanct. by the bodie of Christ, dum cruci affixum est, while it was nailed to the crosse, where he tooke away the handwriting of the lawe, which was against vsus, Calvin, so Oecumen. by the bodie of Christ, pro nobis interemptum, slaine for vsus: so also Ambrose, tradens corpus suum Servator mortem vicit, & peccatum damnavit, our Sauiour deliuering vp his bodie ouercame death, and condemned sinne, &c. So we are dead vntounto the lawe in the bodie of Christ: because he in his body was made a curse for vsus, to redeeme vsus from the curse of the law, Par.

Quest. 7. Of the meaning of these words, v. 6. beeing dead vntounto it.

There are 3. readings of these words. 1. some reade foreign, we are deliuered from the law (of death:) so the vulgar Latine, and Ambrose, with Anselme, Haymo, and Origen also maketh mention hereof, though he approoue an other reading: But the morall lawe, is not properly called the law of death, which title better agreath vntounto sinne, which indeed is the law of death: & Beza obserueth that no Greek copie, but one which he had seen so readeth.

2. Some read foreign, being dead in the nominative, which some expound thus, in the p. 318which we were held as dead, Origen: but here is a traiection or transposing of the words, which stand thus in the originall, dead, wherein, &c. not wherein we were dead: some vse a harder kind of traiection, we which are dead are deliuered: whereas the order of the words is this, we are deliuered from the lawe beeing dead, &c. some vse no traiection at all, but supply the pronounc it, or that, dead vntounto it, wherein, &c. and they vnderstand the lawe, Theophylact, Erasmus, Bucer, Calvin, P. Mart.

3. But the better reading is in the genetive, foreign, and some ioyne it with the word foreign, lawe, the lawe beeing dead, wherein, &c. but it is rather put absolutely, and the pronoune that or it must be supplyed, that beeing dead wherein we were holden: not in Oecumenius sense, who vnderstandeth it actiuely, we are dead by sinne, but passiuely with Chrysostome, that beeing dead, namely, sinne, wherein we were holden, id quod detinebat, peccatum, &c. that which did hold vsus, namely, sinne, hath now nothing to hold vsus with.

Quest. 8. What is meant by the newenesse of the spirit, and the oldnesse of the letter.

1. Origen vnderstandeth by the oldnes of the letter, the ceremonies of the lawe, as circumcision, the Iewish Sabbaths, by the newenesse of the letter the spirituall and allegoticall sense; so also Haymo saith, he serueth God in the newenes of the spirit, that spiritually practiseth the circumcision of the heart, not the carnall obseruation of the ceremonies: But S. Paul treateth here of the morall, not the ceremoniall lawe, as Tolet well obserueth, annot. 18.

2. Chrysostome, and Theophylact following him, vnderstand the oldnes of the letter, of the externall obedience which was practised vnderunder the law: the newenesse of the spirit they expound to be the inward obedience of the heart, wrought in vsus by the spirit of Christ: But we must here take heede, that we doe not so thinke, that the literall sense of the lawe onelyonly concerned outward obedience, for it required the perfect louelove of God, and our neighbour, and restrained the verie inward concupiscence: Neither must we imagine, that all they which liued vnderunder the lawe, onelyonly serued God in the oldnes of the letter, yeelding onelyonly externall obedience: as Chrysostome seemeth to insinuate: that they were commanded onelyonly to abstaine from murther, adulterie, and such like: but we are restrained from anger, wantonnes, the inward motions: for many of the holy men vnderunder the lawe, had the newenesse of spirit in the renovation of their inward desires, as the faithfull hauehave vnderunder the Gospell.

3. Some by the oldnesse of the letter vnderstand sinne, which was not reformed by the letter of the lawe: by the newenesse of the spirit, the fruits of righteousnesse, as Hierome epist. ad Hedib. quest. 8. vivamus sub pracepto, qui prius in modum brutorum, &c. let vsus liue vnderunder the precept, which before as bruite beasts said let vsus eate and drinke, &c. so also Tolet. annot. 8. but if by the oldnes of the letter, we vnderstand sinne, how can any be said to serue God in sinne.

4. Ambrose by the newenesse of the spirit doth vnderstand, legem fidei, the lawe of faith, by the oldnes of the letter, the law of works: but the Apostle here speaketh of our obedience and sanctifie which is the fruits indeede of iustification, rather, then iustification it selfe.

5. Wherefore the Apostle rather by the oldnes of the letter vnderstandeth the outward and externall obedience onelyonly, ot iosam legis notitiam, the idle and fruitlesse knowledge of the lawe, without the true conuersion of the heart: the newenes of the spirit is the true sanctitie both of bodie and soule wrought in vsus by the spirit of God: which is called newe, compared with our former state and condition vnderunder the old man, and in respect of our newe mariage with Christ, Pareus: so Calvin, non habemus in lege, nisi externam literam, &c. we hauehave not in the lawe, but onelyonly the externall letter, which doth bridle our outward actions, but doth not restraine our concupiscence: so Pet. Martyr vnderstandeth quoddam obedientia genus, a certaine kind of outward obedience, but not such as God requireth: to the same purpose Osrander, the newenes of the spirit is when we serue God, move & spontaneo spiritu, with a readie and willing spirit: they serued God in the oldnes of the letter, that is, indignabundo spiritus, with an vnwilling mind: And the law, as Beza well noteth, is called the letter, quia surdis canit, because it speaketh as vntounto deafe men, till they be regenerate and renewed by the spirit of grace.

6. So here are three things set one against the other: solutio contra detentionem, libertie or freedome against detayning or holding: the newenesse against the oldnes, the spirit against the letter, Gorrhan.

p. 319Quest. 9. How S. Paul beeing brought vp in the knowledge of the law, could say, I knew not lust, 7. and I was aliue without the law, v. 9.

1. The occasion of this question is, because elswhere the Apostle professeth his integrity, as Philip. 3.6. touching the righteousnesse, which is in the law, I was vnreproouable: and Act. 23.1. he saith, I hauehave in all good conscience serued God vntounto this day: how then could he be ignorant of the law, or be without the law?

Ans. 1. It may be answered, that either S. Paul spake of his first age in the time of his childhood, when he knew not the law, or he speaketh figuratiuely in the person of an other: But neither of these is likely: not the first, for the things, which the Apostle here toucheth, show the law wrought in him all manner of concupiscence, are not incident into the age of children or vnexperienced young men: nor the other, for thoroughout this whole chapter the Apostle giueth instance in himselfe, as v. 24. O wretched man that I am, and 25. I thank my God, and so he doth here: the Apostle then speaketh here neither of his present state, nor yet of his first age, but of the middle part of his life when he liued a Pharisie.

2. That commendation then, which S. Paul giueth of his former life, while he was a Pharisie, did onelyonly concerne his outward cariage, which was to the iudgement of the world without reproofe; and he kept a good conscience, according to his knowledge, yet was it farre from a pure conscience: because he had no knowledge then of our faith in Christ, whose way he persecuted, whereby the heart is purified, Act. 15.9. Notwithstanding then his outward shew of obedience, his heart and affections were not right within, and so he had not the true vse and vnderstanding of the law: as Augustine saith, lib. 1. ad Bonifac. c. 9. potuit intus esse in affectionibus pravus prauaricator legis, &c. he might inwardly in his peruerse affections be a transgressor of the law, and yet outwardly fulfill the workes of the law, &c. So Saint Paul himselfe confesseth, Tit. 3.3. We our selues were sometime vnwise, &c. seruing lusts, &c.

Quest. 10. What law the Apostle speaketh of, v. 7. is the law of sinne.

1. Some thinke that the Apostle by the law, here vnderstandeth the precept which was giuen to Adam in Paradise, not to eate of the forbidden fruite: of this opinion was Methobus, in Epiphanius haeres. 64. and Heirome maketh mention of it, epist. ad Hedib. qu. 8. but he reiecteth it: Theodoret hath the like conceit: that the law is here vnderstood to be the law of Moses, mandatum vocat, quod Adamo datum est, but that he calleth the commandement which was giuen to Adam: Theodoret in Commentar.

But 1. Photius in Oecummenius reiecteth this opinion, because no where doth the Apostle call that particular commandement giuen vntounto Adam the law. 2. Tolet further addeth these reasons: the Apostle speaketh of the verie inward desire and concupiscence: but the act was forbidden Adam, that he should not eate of the forbidden fruite: and againe the Apostle in saying, I knew not sinne but by the law, insinuateth, that sinne was before, but he knew it … but before that commandement was giuen vntounto Adam, it had beene no sinne in him, to hauehave eaten and receiued the fruite of the tree.

2. Some thinke that the Apostle speaketh not of the law of Moses, but of the law of nature: for before the witten law was giuen, men had knowledge of sinne, as Cain knew he had sinned, and Abimelech was not ignorant that adulterie was sinne: thus Heirome, and before him Origen.

But 1. Photius in Oecumenius thus refelleth this opinion: that the Apostle speaketh not of the law of nature: because the Apostle had said before, yee are dead to the law, v. 4. in this sense then some should be found, naturali lege priuati, depriued of the naturall law: and againe the Apostle saith, I was aliue sometime without the law: but neither Adam, nor any other liuing were at any time without the law of nature. 2. Tolet addeth, that if the Apostle had meant the law of nature, he would not hauehave said, I knew not sinne but by the law, but rather, sinne was not but by the law. 3. And concerning the obiection of Cain and Abimelechs knowledge of sinne, Chrysostome answereth, that the Apostle saith, omnem concupistratu…, vehementiam significans, sinne wrought in me all manner of concupiscence, signifying the vehemenencie of it, &c. that although these sinnes did raigne before, yet they appeared not to be so great sinnes, as afterward by the law; and Theophylact addeth, noscibatur peccatum, sed nondum erat concupiscentia interdicta, sinne was knowne before the law, p. 320that is, outward and notorious sinnes, but yet the inward concupiscence was not restrained.

3. Tolet thinketh that together with the morall law, the Apostle meaneth the ceremoniall and iudiciall law, because by them also were the knowledge of sinne: But the Apostle giuing instance of the inward vnlawfull concupiscence, which was not punished by the iudiciall nor ceremoniall law, sheweth, that he speaketh not of them.

4. Wherefore it is euident, that the Apostle meaneth none other, but the written morall law of Moses, because he giueth instance of the last commandement, thou shalt not couet, Martyr. Pareus.

Quest. 11. What lust or concupiscence the Apostle speaketh of: I had not knowne lust, &c. except, &c.

1. Some thinke, that here, by concupiscence, the Apostle intendeth all sinne whatsoeuer: as Anselme, and the ordinarie glosse following Augustine, bona est lex, qua …dum concupiscentiam prohibet, omnia peccata prohibet, &c. the law is good, which while it forbiddeth concupiscence, forbiddeth all sinnes, &c. Heirome epist. 152. refuseth their opinion, which take this for the commandement, and by concupiscence, he thinketh to be vnderstood, omnes animi perturbationes, all the preturbations, and passions of the minde whatsoeuer, as of feare, greefe, desire; But it is euident, in that the Apostle propoundeth the verie words of the line, that he hath reference to that precept, thou shalt not lust; whereby indeed all corrupt concupiscence and desire whatsoeuer is forbidden.

2. By this concupiscence is not vnderstood onelyonly the act of concupiscence, as Pererius holdeth, with other Romanists; we vnderstand not, saith he, ipsam concupiscendi facultatem, sed actum ipsum concupiscendi: the facultie of coueting, but the act it selfe; disput. 8. numer. 47. nor yet the second motions of concupiscence, onelyonly whereunto the will consenteth, but euen the first vnlawfull desires and motions, which hauehave not the consent of the wil. And that this may the better appeare; it shall not be amisse, further to shew what concupiscence is, and the diuerse kinds thereof; there is a threefold concupiscence, naturalis, sensitivus, voluntarius, the naturall, which is euen in stirps and plants, as to couet and draw vntounto them their food and nourishment, and this is properly called foreign, desire; the sensitiue is in bruit beasts, the voluntarie and sensitiue both in man, and they are called by the word foreign, concupiscence. 2. further this concupiscence is deuided into, foreign, and foreign, the facultie it selfe, and the exercising or act thereof: and both of them are considered, either physice, as they are naturall, as to couet meate, drinke, and such like, which are things indifferent, or morally as they hauehave relation to the commandement: 3. and herein there is to be considered, both the ma…ter and obiect of concupiscence, and the manner: as if either things vnlawfull be desired, as the wife, horse, seruant of our neighbour, which appertaine not to vsus, or if we exceed measure in desire of things vnlawfull, as of meate, drinke, apparell, riches, and such like, or desire them to an euill end.

3. Now to apply this, which hath beene said to our purpose. 1. neither the naturall desire, as of meate and drinke is forbidden by this commandement, as beeing a thing indifferent, nor yet the supernaturall, as to couet and desire such things, as concerne the glorie of God, and the saluation of our soules: for these are good desires, and conformable to the will of God: but the euil and vnlawfull desires are forbidden either in the matter, or manner. 2. not the act of concupiscence onelyonly, but the verie facultie it selfe, ipsa concupiscibilitas is forbidden, as it is corrupt, and auerse from God. 3. and not onelyonly the second motions, which hauehave the consent of the will, which the schoolmen call concupiscentiam formatam, the formed and perfite concupiscence; but euen the first motions, which hauehave not the deliberate consent of the will, which they call informem, the vnformed concupiscence: contrarie to the opinion of Pererius, and other Romanists, who thinketh concupiscentiam carnalem, sed vt à voluntate approbatam, &c. that carnall concupiscence onelyonly, as it is approoued of the will, to be forbidden in this commandement: disput. 8. numer. 47. but the contrarie shall appeare afterward, controv. 8. that the law forbiddeth, cupiditatem nudam, the verie base and naked concupiscence, as Beza calleth it, because prauas cupiditates, euill and disordred lusts and desires, the very law of nature reprooued: & Augustine saith, cupiditatē voco motum animi, &c. I call concupiscence the verie motion of the minde, to enioy either himselfe, or his neighbour, or any other thing, non propter Deum, not for God: de Doctrin. Christian. lib. 3. c. 10.

p. 321Quest. 12. Why the Apostle giueth instance in the tenth commandement, thou shalt not lust, and alleadgeth not all the words of the law.

1. The Apostle could not giuegive instance in the grosser, and more notorious sinnes which euen the wiser sort of the Gentiles abhorred, nor yet in the vile and corrupt affections of man, which the Philosophers also condemned; but he singleth out those corruptions, which could not be discerned by the light of nature, especially so much obscured, and darkned, and could not be perfectly knowne, but by the law of God: Tolet. annot. 9.2. And this the Apostle doth to shew the excellencie of the law of God, beyond both the law of nature, and the politike lawes of men: for the first; the law of nature is much obscured, obliterated, and empaired by the blindnesse and corruption of mans nature: but the written law though it were much depriued by the corrupt gloses of the Scribes and Pharisies, lex tamen scripta m… sit eadem, yet the written law remained the same, and beeing well examined was able to reprooue the false interpreters thereof: and it is more perfect, then other humane lawes, which onelyonly bridle the outward act of sinne, but they can not meete with the inward concupiscence as the law of God doth.

2. And S. Paul contenteth himselfe onelyonly to repeat the first words of the commandement, not adding the rest, thou shalt not couet thy neighbours house, &c. as Moses doth: for he hauing to doc in hominis durioribus, with a rude people, and of hard vnderstanding, giueth instance in some sensible, and particular obiects: but S. Paul writing, scientibus legem, to men knowing the law, thinketh it sufficient to giuegive them onelyonly an hint, by producing some words onelyonly of the law. Neither yet did Moses expresse all the particulars of this law, but hauing reported some, he concludeth with this generall clause, nor any thing that is his. And indeede in all the commandements Moses vseth the figure called synecdoché, by one part signifying the rest: and that both in the negative part, wherein forbidding the most notorious vices, he meeteth with the rest, as our Sauiour sheweth, Matth. 5. how the law bindeth not onelyonly the hands, but euen the heart and affections, in the sinnes of murther, adulterie, and such like: as also in the affirmative, the contrarie vertues in eueryevery commandement, beeing comprehended in the prohibition of the contrarie vices: so that Aristotles tenne predicaments are not so generall to containe whatsoeuer is in the world, as Moses tenne commandements are to comprehend all vices committed in the world. ex Martyr.

Quest. 13. What sinne the Apostle meaneth, v. 8. sinne tooke an occasion, &c.

1. Some by sinne here vnderstand the deuill, who taking occasion by the commandement, did tempt man more strongly to breake it, Methodius, Ambrose, Oecumenius, sauing that the first by the law vnderstandeth the commandement giuen to Adam in Paradise, the other two the law giuen by Moses; But in this sense, it cannot be properly said sinne reuiued, if by sinne we vnderstand the deuill: or thus sinne did dwell, in the Apostle, as he saith, v. 10.

2. Chrysostome vnderstandeth this sinne to be vitium de fidiae, the vice of flouthfulnes: that man hauing receiued a law, by his negligence, was not the better for it, but the worse: But he expresseth not the whole minde of the Apostle.

3. Anselmus will hauehave it to be peccati fomes, the matter or nourishment of sinne: which (as Lyranus) is called sinne, for that it is the cause of sinne, as the Sunne is said to be hoat, beeing the cause of heat: But the Apostle calleth it sinne properly, because it was forbidden by the commandement.

4. Hierom. epist. ad Hedib. qu. 8. taketh this to be the sinne, quod lege prohibetur, which is forbidden by the commandement: which while it is forbidden doth inflame the concupiscence the more: but the Apostle speaketh not of actuall sinne, before it is committed, but of sinne dwelling in him, v. 17.

5. This is none other but naturae corruptio, the corruption of our nature, Calvin. lib. 1. de peccand. the lust or desire of sinning, Hyper. peccatum regnans in homine, sinne raigning in man, Tolet. annot. 11. which is none other but the originall pravitie of our nature, called before lust or concupiscence, v. 7. it is pravitas nativa, our naturall pravitie: Pareus.

14. Quest. How sinne tooke occasion by the law.

1. The Greeke word foreign, occasion, is taken three waies: first, it properly signifieth foreign, the opportunitie of doing a thing: but so the law was not the occasion, as offering p. 322any opportunitie; for there can be no opportunitie to doe euill. 2. it signifieth, any circumstance or accident, whereby one is occasioned to doe any thing; as the burning of an house, may be said to be the occasion of building it againe. 3. an occasion is that which draweth a man from doing that he intended; as a rub in ones way turneth him beside the way: Both these last waies sinne tooke occasion by the law; for both the prauitie of our nature is more inflamed by the prohibition; and we seeke to build our ruinous house, which the law pulleth downe, and beside because the law standeth vp in the way of sinne, we decline it, as a thing which hindreth vsus in our pleasant and plaine iourney following after sinne, and therefore we wish that it were remooued, as a rubbe, or blocke out of our way, Faius.

2. Diuerse waies did sinne take occasion by the law. 1. the corruption of mans nature turneth good things to the occasion of euill: as the Pharisies by Christs comming and preaching had the more sinne: and the Apostle saith, Hebr. 10.29. Of how much more punishment suppose ye he is worthie, which treadeth vnderunder foote the Sonne of God: habet peius supplicium occasionem per exhibitum maius beneficium, the greater punishment is occasioned by the greatnes of the benefit exhibited; Chrysostome: sinne then is encreased by the giuing of the law, because of mens vnthankfulnes for so great benefite. 2. And beside such is the corruption of mans nature, vt ea quae prohibentur magis desiderentur, which are forbidden, are more desired, Origen: so was the commandement giuen to Adam, an occasion, that he coueted the more to eate of the forbidden fruite: and like as there are foure diseases, which are the worse for the applying of medecines vntounto them, as the gangrena, and the leprosie called elephantiasis: much like a restie horse, that the more he is spurred, & kicked, the more he giueth backe: or as if a sicke man-beeing forbidden to drinke cold water, should the more desire it: Martyr. 3. An other reason is, because mans nature desireth libertie, and therefore refuseth to be bridled by law: and yet it is destructio libertatis, the verie destruction and ouerthrow of libertie, for a man to doe what he lift, sine fraeno legis, without the bridle of a law. Lyranus. 4. And further by the law commeth the knowledge of sinne, and so mans corrupt nature, hauing sinne shewed it, doth then beginne to couet it, as the Sunne light sheweth the beautie of a faire woman, and then the lustfull eye is caried with a desire after her, Gorrhan: or like as Ambrose resembleth it, as the art of Physicke sheweth the nature of persons to auoid them, and yet one abuseth his knowledge in doing hurt by them: lib. 1. de Iacob, & vita brat. c. 4. And this was the reason, why Solon would make no law against parricides, least that men by that occasion might thinke of that sinne, which they did not dreame of before. 5. Adde hereunto that, as a circumstance may accidentally stirre vp that which is a cause of it selfe of the action; as Dauids walking vponupon his house carried his eye to looke vponupon the beautie of Bersheba, and so to desire her: the like occasion might sinne take by the law. Pareus. 6. And the Deuill tooke occasion by the law more strongly to tempt man, to make his sinne the greater in transgressing of the law. 7. And one contrarie accidentally is encreased by an other, as hoat water is more strongly congealed. Gorrhan. 8. And eueryevery nature adversantibus adversatur, resisteth that which resisteth it, as one stone breaketh an other, Hugo: so vice resisteth vertue.

3. But it is further to be considered, that the words are, sinne, foreign, taking occasion: for the law indeede gaue not occasion, but sinne tooke it: Beza, Calvin.

15. Quest. Of what time S. Paul speaketh, when he knew not the law, and afterward sinne tooke occasion by the law, &c.

1. Methodius vnderstandeth it of the time, while yet Adam had not receiued the commandement of not eating the forbidden fruit: but it hath beene shewed before, that the Apostle speaketh here of the morall law giuen by Moses, as appeareth by that particular instance of the tenth and last commandement.

2. Origen will hauehave it vnderstood of the Apostles childhood, and so also Hierome, that then he knew not sinne: but these things, which the Apostle mentioneth, as the working of concupiscence, and the reviving of sinne, are not incident into the age of children.

3. Chrysostome vnderstandeth, the time before the law, when many sinnes were not knowne, till the law came: and so he thinketh that the Apostle in his owne person describeth the state of all those, which liued before the law: but in this sense, the person of S. Paul should be excluded, who liued not in those times.

4. Wherefore he aimeth at that time, when he was a Pharisie, before he had the true knowledge of the law: for the Pharisies contented themselues onelyonly with the externall observation p. 323thereof, as is euident Matth. 5. where our Sauiour deliuereth the law from their corrupt gloses: Pareus, Faius.

Quest. 16. What the Apostle meaneth by all concupisence. v. 8.

1. Chrysostome vnderstandeth augmentum concupiscentiae, the encrease of concupiscence, which was more inflamed. 2. Augustine, summā & consummatam, concupiscence perfected, which now after the law giuen did not onelyonly couet euill things, but lege prohibita, forbidden by law. 3. Ambrose, because after the law came, then all sinne came, before there was sinne, sed non omne, quia crimen prauaricationis decrat: but not all, because the sinne of transgression, and preuarication was not yet, ex gloss. 4. Martyr expoundeth it of all actuall sinnes: but the Apostle speaketh onelyonly of concupiscence. 5. By all concupiscence then we may vnderstand with Hierome, omnes perturbationes animae, all the passions and perturbations of the mind: epistol. 151. and with Anselme, cuiusque peccati contra quodcunque mandatum concupiscentiam, the concupiscence of euerie sinne whatsoeuer against eueryevery commandement: with Faius, eueryevery kind of concupiscence, not onelyonly the concupiscence of the flesh, but the concupiscence of the eyes, which Saint Iohn speaketh of, 1. epist. c. 2. with Gorrhan, eueryevery degree of concupiscence, cogitationem, consensum, opus, the thought, the consent, the action: with Pareus, all the vitious motions of the concupiscence, primas & secundas, both the first, and second: with Oecumenius, quas non noueram concupiscentias ex lege didici, &c. I learned by the law concupiscence, which I knew not, and those which I had learned, I committed.

Quest. 17. In what sense the Apostle saith, sinne was dead, and he aliue without the law. v. 8.

1. Methodius in Epiphan. haeres. 64. by sinne, vnderstandeth the time of mans innocencie, when the deuill lay as dead, because yet there was no commandement giuen, whereby man should be allured vntounto sinne: Ambrose by sinne likewise interpreteth the deuill, but he referreth it to the time before the law when the deuill was secure, hauing man sure enough in his possession: But this opinion is reiected before; for how could the Apostle say, v. 20. that sinne dwelled in him, if he meant the deuill by sinne; and he saith that sinne reuiued, when the law came; then in this sense the deuill must be supposed to hauehave beene aliue before, to hauehave beene busie in working before he tempted Adam.

2. Theodoret, and Caietane following him, doe vnderstand this to be spoken of the time of mans innocencie, when as sinne was dead, there was no sinne at all before the law was giuen; But beside, that man could not be said to be aliue in Paradise without a law, beeing created with the law of nature; the Apostle saying, that sinne by the law wrought in him all manner of concupiscence, supposeth some to hauehave beene before.

3. Hierome epist. 121, and Origen following him, do take this for the time of childhood: for then sinne is dead, because they hauehave no knowledge of it, for if a child smite his father, or mother, it is counted no fault: and when they come to yeares of discretion sinne reviveth: But the reviuing of sinne sheweth that it liued before, which cannot be said of children, that sinne first liued, and afterward died, and then reviued againe.

4. Augustine lib. 1. contr. 2. epistol. Pelag. thus vnderstandeth the Apostle, that before the lawe of Moses was giuen, man is said to hauehave liued as without lawe, and sinne then to hauehave beene dead, because it was not perfectly knowne before the lawe was giuen: so also Chrysostome, Haymo: But if all this be referred to the time before the lawe was giuen, Paul could not hauehave giuen instance in himselfe as he doth.

5. Wherefore S. Pauls meaning is, that he was aliue without the lawe: that is, vinere mi…ividebar, I seemed to be aliue vntounto my selfe, when as yet beeing a Pharisie, he had not full vnderstanding of the lawe: then sinne also seemed to be dead: because as yet he did not feele the burthen of sinne, nor his conscience did not pricke him, while he contented himselfe with the outward obseruation of the lawe: thus Pareus, Osiander, Beza, Calvin.

And further it is here to be considered, that there is a twofold death of sinne, non vera, a death not in truth, when sinne lurketh onelyonly and lyeth hid, and sheweth not it selfe: of this the Apostle speaketh here: and there is mors vera, a true death of sinne, when we truely die vntounto sinne in Christ, which death the Apostle treated of before, c. 6.

Quest. 18. How sinne is said to hauehave reuiued.

1. Origen here maketh mention of the error of the Pythagorian heretikes, who imagine p. 324that the soules of men, liued before in the bodies, some of birds, some of beasts, when they liued as it were without a lawe: and so sinne is said to reviue in the soule: But this is a grosse error: for in those creatures which hauehave no reason, sinne cannot be said to liue, or hauehave any beeing at all, and therefore not to reviue.

2. Bucer seemeth thus to vnderstand it, that sinne liued before, that is, qualis coram De… erat, apparuit, it appeared, such as it was before God, but now it is said to reuiue, because it is made knowne to vsus: but the liuing, and reliuing, or reuiuing of sinne, must be vnderstood in respect of the sinne.

3. The most doe vnderstand it simply, without any relation, a former life of sinne: capa apparere, it beganne to appeare, gloss. ordinar. interlin. apparnit delictum esse, it appeared to be sinne, Theophylact: incepit vires explicare, Mart. it began to shewe the strength: which sense is not much to be misliked.

4. Some hauehave here reference vntounto the first knowledge of sinne; which Adam had after his transgression; as Augustine, vixerat aliquando in Paradiso, quando contra datum praceptum satis apparebat admissum, &c. it liued sometime in Paradise, when it sufficiently appeared by the transgression of the commandement, &c. but afterward it lieth as dead in children, till they come to the knowledge of the law: then peccatum in notitia … hominis reviviscit, quod in notitia primi hominis aliquando vixerat, sin reviveth in the knowledge of man that is borne, which sometime was aliue in the knowledge of the first man, &c. to this purpose August. lib. 1. ad Bonifac. c. 9. which sense Pareus followeth, likewise Tolet. Haymo addeth further, that sinne liued not onelyonly in Adam, but in Cain, who said his sinne was greater, then could be forgiuen: but it died in their posteritie, which came vntounto that error, that they thought that to be no sinne, which was sinne: But seeing the Apostle speaketh of the reviving of sinne in himselfe, we must not goe further then the Apostle, to seeke out this first life of sinne.

5. Wherefore, as Beza well obserueth, a threefold state and condition of the Apostles life is here to be considered: when he liued sub ignorantiam legis, vnderunder the ignorance of the law, that sinne raigned: afterward he liued sub cognitione legis, vnderunder the knowledge of the law, but onelyonly of the outward letter, obseruing the externall works onelyonly of the law, whereas he before made conscience of no sinne: at this time sinne seemed to be dead, he pleased himselfe in his outward obedience: then he came to the sight of his sinne, and so he died, his conscience accused him, that he was worthie of eternall death.

Quest. 19. How sinne is said to hauehave deciued, v. 11.

1. The meaning is not, as Methodius, and Ambrose, likewise Haymo, that the deuill seduced Adam: for not Adam, but Eue was seduced, as Saint Paul saith, 1. Tim. 2.2. but the deceitfulnes of sinne, consisteth herein, 1. inducitur error practicus, there is brought in a practicall error: that the sinner is deceiued by the pleasantnes of the obiect, thinking that to be good, which is euill, Tolet annot. 14. as Eue was deceiued by the pleasantnes of the apple. 2. operit laqueum peccati, it hideth the poison and not the sinne, Hugo, it sheweth the baite, and hideth the hooke. 3. cogitationem auertit à supplicijs, it turneth aside our cogitation from the punishment of sinne, and perswadeth a man, that either the sinne is not so great, and shall hauehave either no punishment, or but a small: and so it bringeth a man to vnbeleefe, not to giuegive credit to the word of God, who threatneth sinners: as the Deuill first perswaded Eva, that she should not die at all. Martyr. 3. Some will hauehave this word expounded, non de re ipsa, sed de notitia, not of the thing it selfe, but of the knowledge: that at length he perceiued how farre he had beene deceiued, and lead out of the way, Hyper. But it rather sheweth the proper effect of sinne taking occasion by the law, which is to deceiue: the other to acknowledge our error, is the effect of the law, and not of sinne: as Pellican well vnderstandeth here sinne taking occasion by the law, doth draw vsus out of the way, as a sicke man taketh occasion to act those things which are forbidden, ex mandato medici, by the charge giuen by the Physitian to the contrarie.

4. Then the Apostle sheweth three effects of sinne taking occasion by the law: first it deceiueth, then it worketh all manner of concupiscence, and then it killeth, it bringeth death to the soule, Mart. so impostura causa est concupiscentiae, &c. imposture or deceit is the cause of concupiscence, and concupiscence of death, Oecumen. Thus eueryevery man is tempted, seduced, and entised by his concupiscence, as S. Iames saith, 1.14.

p. 325Quest. 20. How sinne is said to hauehave staine him.

1. Not occisum me esse ostendit, it sheweth that I was staiue and dead by the law; as Bucer, Hyper. for the Apostle speaketh of sinnes, not of the law, which sheweth the reward of sinne to be death. 2. nor yet is the meaning, it flie me, per perpeirationem peccati, by the committing of sinne, Hugo: inducendo ad opus, in bringing sinne into act, Lyran. for though one sinne may bring forth an other, yet sinne is one thing, death an other, which is the stipend or wages of sinne. 3. Osiander thus: lepit eum adigere ad desperationem, it begonne to driue him to despaire: but the Apostle speaketh not of his particulate case, but of the generall effect of sinne, whereof he giueth instance in himselfe. 4. therefore the meaning rather is, concilionit vnibi mortem, it procured death vntounto me, Pere. ad mortem eternam tradit, it deliuereth me ouer to eternall death; Gorrhan: addicit morti, maketh one guiltie of death; Fuius: which must be vnderstood of the proper fruit and effect of sinne, without the grace and merciemercy of God.

Quest. 21. How the law is said to be holy, iust, good, and likewise the commandement.

1. Concerning the first, the commendation and titles of the law, 1. Thomas and Caietane referre the holines of the law to the ceremoniall precepts, the iustnes to the iudici…s, the goodnes to the morall. 2. Lyranus, it was holy in teaching our dutie to God, iust in prescribing duties toward our neighbor, good in respect of our selues, teaching vsus what is good and right. 3. Haymo doth not distinguish these, but saith the law is holy, iust, good, because it commandeth holines, equitie, goodnes, and intendeth to make the obseruers such: so also Calvin, Martyr, with others. 4. But Theodoret better distinguisheth them thus, whom Oecomenius followeth: the law is holy, in respect of the matter, because it prescribeth holy things, iust, in propounding rewards and punishments, good, in respect of the end, to bring the obseruer vntounto goodnes of life. 5. Pareus distinguisheth them in like manner, but he addeth further, that all these titles are giuen vntounto the law in the foresaid respects, both with relation to the author, who is most holy, iust, and good, and to the doctrine it selfe, of the law, which is likewise holy, iust, and good, and in regard of the effects, of holines, goodnes, which is wrought in man before his fall, and it shall bring forth in the state of glorie, though now it faileth of the effect by reason of mans infirmitie.

2. Whereas the Apostle speaketh both of the law, and precept or commandement, 1. Vatablus taketh them for the same, herein following Origen, but then the Apostle should seeme to commit a tautalogie. 2. Oecumenius taketh the law for Moses law, the precept for that which was giuen to Adam, but this opinion is refused before. 3. Theophylact will hauehave the commandement as generall, the law as the particular, because there are other commandements beside the law. 4. so also Osiander, Nazianzen, as Faius reporteth him, will hauehave the law so called in respect of vsus, because it containeth a rule of such things, as are to be done, and a commandement as it is prescribed of God. 5. The most of our new writers do thus distinguish them: the law, & quicquid ea pracipitur, & whatsoeuer is cōmanded therein, Martyr, Calvin, and before them Hugo Cardin. 6. But I preferre Beza his interpretation, whom Pareus followeth: who by the law vnderstandeth generally the whole decaloge, by the commandement, that particular precept, wherein he gaue instance before, namely, that, Thou shalt not lust: yet Haymo will hauehave one commandement here taken for all.

22. Quest. How sinne is said to be out of measure sinnefull.

1. Methodius in Epiphanius, whom Gorrhan followeth, still continueth his interpretation, vnderstanding here the Deuill, that he is this sinne out of measure, by his manifold temptations causing men to sinne; but the Apostle speaketh properly of sinne which is discerned, and knowne by the law, and so is not the Deuill: Pareus. 2. Ambrose as he is alleadged by Pet. Mart. doth inferre vponupon these words, out of measure, that there is a certaine measure and degree of sinne, the which if a sinner once passe, his punishment shall be no longer deferred, as he sheweth by the iudgement of God vponupon the Sodomites and Cananites: but this is not the Apostles meaning here. 3. Faius will hauehave this vnderstood not of sinne it selfe, but of the sinner, that he is become by transgressing the law in a manner sinne it selfe, foreign, the sinner is made as it were sinne: But the Apostle still speaketh of the fruits of sinne in the sinner: and as Origen saith, finxit personam peccati, he signeth a certaine person of sinne. 4. The meaning then is this, that sinne by the commandement was more inflamed and encreased, quia minus peccati est, si, quod non prohibetur, admittas, it is a lesse sinne to commit that, which is not forbidden: Origen: p. 326and so Ambrose, because sinne of knowledge is worse then sinne of ignorance, because it sheweth contempt, l. de Iob. c. 4. and hereby the multitude of sinnes is expressed, invalescenie cupiditate ruimus in omnia, concupiscence and lust encreasing, we rush into all sinnes, Martyr, and so Augustine expoundeth it of the abounding of sinne, lib. 1. quest. ad Simplic. qu. 1. the vehemencie and rage of sinne is hereby signified, which as it were rising against the lawe, sinneth so much the more: like as an horse that is vnbroken, the more he is curbed with the bridle, the more he stingeth out, Par. and as he which is sicke of a feuer is more inflamed by wine, which is by reason of the infirmitie, the wine is not properly the cause, Lyrā.

5. But whereas Hierome epist. ad Algas. thinketh that the Apostle committeth here: solecisme, because foreign, sinner, is of the masculine gender, and foreign, sinne, of the feminine; Erasmus well obserueth, that here is no solecisme at all: for it is vsuall in the A…o…e dialect, to ioyne an adiectiue of the masculine, with a substantine of the feminine: as Beza obserueth the like, Rom. 1.20. where foreign, is put for foreign, eternall, the other word foreign, power, beeing of the feminine gender.

6. But whereas, the Apostle saith the law is iust, it followeth not hereupon, that we are iustified thereby; for the Apostle else where saith, Gal. 3.11. that no man is iustified by the law: Gorrhan giueth this solution, that the Apostle meaneth the ceremoniall law; but euen the Apostle excludeth the morall law from beeing able to iustifie vsus: the best answer is, that the Apostle sheweth what the law is in it selfe, it was giuen to iustifie vsus: but that which was ordained vntounto life, is found to be vntounto death, as the Apostle said before, v. 10. by reason of the iufirmitie of man, and the corruption of his nature: And againe whereas the Apostle saith here the lawe is good, and yet the Lord by his Prophet saith, Ezech. 20.25. I gaue them statutes that were not good: Gorrhan here answereth, that they were good in themselues, but became euill, ipsorum vitio, by their fault: Iunius vnderstandeth that place of the hard iudiciall laws, and sentences of death both ordinarie and extraordinarie: But rather it is referred to the ceremoniall laws, which were as a yoke and burthen laid vponupon the people, which they were not able to beare, as S. Peter expoundeth, Act. 15.10.

Quest. 23. How the lawe is said to be spirituall.

1. Origen thinketh it is called spirituall, because it must be vnderstood not literally, but spiritually: But the Apostle treateth here of the morall lawe, where was no place for allegories. 2. Theodoret, because it was giuen of God, who is a spirit. 3. Ambrose, because the lawe directed vsus to the worship of God, who is a most pure spirit. 4. Augustine, because it cannot be fulfilled, nisi à viris spiritualibus, but of spirituall men: but no man in this life is so spirituall, that he can keep the law. 5. Thomas, because concordat cum spiritu hominis, it agreeth with the spirit of man, that is, reason: so also Lyranus, because it directeth: man to followe the instinct of the spirit, or reason: so also Gorrhan, spiritum hominis aleus, it nourisheth the spirit of man: But the verie spirit of man is corrupt and contrarie to the law by nature, and therefore the Apostle saith, Ephes. 4.23. be renewed in the spirit of your mind. 6. Pet. Martyr giueth this reason, why it is called spirituall, because it requireth not onelyonly the externall obedience in the outward workes, but the spirituall in the heart and affections. 7. But hereunto it may be added, that it is spirituall, because it requireth a spirituall, that is, a perfect obedience both in bodie and soule, and an angelicall and diuine obedience, to followe vertue and shunne vice: so Chrysostome and Theophylact, and Calvin, Pareus, Osiand. following them. 8. that seemeth to be somewhat curious which the ordinar. gloss. here obserueth, that the Lawe is onelyonly called spirituall, because therein are those: things: quae Dit sunt, which are Gods: but the Gospel is called lex spiritus, the lawe of the spirit, because there, Deus ipse est, God himselfe is.

Quest. 24. How the Apostle saith, he is carnall and sold vnderunder sinne, v. 17.

1. Pererius well obserueth here, that one may be said to be carnall two waies, quia ser… carni, because he serueth the flesh: or he which by reason of his corrupt nature procliuis est is prone vntounto concupiscence; to this purpose Pareus, that in the first sense the vnregenerate are said to be carnall; in the other the regenerate, because they are yet infirmitatibus abnox que subiect to infirmities, quia nondums habent spirituale corpus, because they hauehave not yet a spirituall bodie, freed from all infirmities, such as they shall hauehave in the resurrection: August. lib. ad Bonifac. c. 10. so we hauehave inchoatam non plenam liberationem, a deliuerance begunne in Christ, but not yet perfect, till our last enemie death shall be destroied.

p. 3272. Likewise where the Apostle saith, he was sold: 1. Some take the word properly for such a selling, wherein there is a buyer, a thing sold, and a price, which they referre either: vntounto Adams selling himselfe to the deuill for an apple, Lyran. gloss. ordinar. or to a mans selling of himselfe by his actuall sinnes, for the sweetnesse of pleasure, which is as the price which men sell themselues to the deuill for, Tolet. annot. 16. Gorrhan: But in this sense S. Paul beeing a spirituall and regenerate man, cannot be said to be sold. 2. wherefore this metaphor is not largely to be taken, as when Ahab is said to hauehave sold himselfe to worke wickednes, 1. King. 21.25. for there are two kinds of slaues, one that selleth himselfe into captiuitie, and willingly obeyeth a tyrant: or one which against his will is brought into servitude, as Ioseph was sold by his brethren into captiuitie: and this is S. Pauls case here, Pareus: And Augustine noteth that sometime selling in Scripture, is taken for a simple tradition or deliuering ouer without any price, lib. 7. in Iudic. c. 17. and so indeed the Hebrew word machar, signifieth, as well to deliuer as to sell, as Isay, 52.3. the Israelites are said to be sold for naught: and the Lord will redeeme them for naught: But these two are said in a diuerse sense: Men are said to be sold for naught in respect of God, he receiueth no honour, but rather dishonour by their selling ouer vntounto sinne: they are redeemed for naught in Christ, in respect of themselues, because they gaue nothing for their redemption: but yet in respect of Christ and his price, they were not redeemed for naught, but by the most pretious blood of Christ, Mart. Pererius thinketh they are said to be redeemed for naught comparatively, because that momentarie pleasure for the which a sinner selleth himselfe, is nothing to the price and dignitie of his soule, numer. 72. but rather selling is here taken for a plaine deliuering ouer, as is before shewed out of Augustine: Now two waies are the regenerate sold ouer to sinne, in respect of their originall corruption, and of their carnall infirmities which remaine still in their corrupt nature, to the which they are subiect still, Pareus: but the vnregenerate are said to be sold ouer, as Ahab was, because they giuegive themselues wholly ouer vntounto sinne: Beza doth well expresse these two kinds of seruitude or selling ouer, by the like difference in humane servitude: for some are slaves because they are borne of ser…ile and bond parents, others make themselues bond: like vntounto the first are the regenerate, and the vnregenerate as the second.

Quest. 25. Of these words, v. 15. I allow not what I doe, what I would, that doe I not.

1. Chrysostome thinking that the Apostle speaketh this in the person of an vnregenerate man, referreth this word foreign, I know not or vnderstand nor, to the vnderstanding, not that a sinner knoweth not when he sinneth, sed tenebrosa quadā vertigine obvoluor, but I am ouertaken with a kind of dizines, that I know not how I was ouertaken: so also Origen, non rem ipsam, sed causam rei dicitur ignorare, he is said not to know not the thing, but the cause thereof, that is, how, and by what means he came to sinne: But it is euident by the words following, what I would, &c. that the Apostle speaketh of his will rather then vnderstanding.

2. Pererius likewise inclining to thinke, that this is spoken in the person of a carnall man, will hauehave this vnderstood, of a generall and vniversall knowledge, will, and hatred; that men in generall knowe and will vertue, and hate vice, but not in particular: But the Apostle here speaketh of doing, and not doing, which must be referred to particular actions.

3. Augustine, verie well interpreteth, non agnosco, I know not, that is, non approbo, non consentio, I approoue not, consent not: but yet he vnderstandeth the Apostle onelyonly to speake of the first motions of concupiscence, which hauehave not the consent of the mind: concupiscere nolo, & tamen concupisco, &c. I would not couet, and yet I doe, but I consent not to concupiscence, &c. lib. 1. cont. epistol. pelag. 1.10. but this seemeth to be no fit exposition, facio, i. concupisco, I doe, that is, I couet, as the ordinarie glosse out of Augustine: and the Saints doe not onelyonly cupere, sed etiam facere, desire, but doe sometimes things which ought not to be done; yet we must not thinke that the Apostle here speaketh of grosse sinnes such as the faithfull sometime may fall vntounto, as was the adulterie of Dauid, for in such sinnes there is no resistance betweene the will, and the deede, but they which fall into them, are for the time giuen ouer.

4. Methodius agreeing with Augustine, that the Apostle speaketh of righteous men in his owne person, by this euil, which he would not, he vnderstandeth euill cogitations, quae occurrunt bene operanti, which come into the mind of him that is about a good worke, &c. This is true, but not al: for somtime a righteous mā, may in passion break out into some action which p. 328he would not, as he may say some things, quae non dicta vellet, which he would not had bin spoken: Osiander.

5. Cassianus collat. 33. c. 15. by the good, which he would, vnderstandeth the contemplation of the minde: from which he is hindred, occupatione rerum corporalium, by the busines of outward corporall things, which is called euill, not that it is sinne, but commeth of sinne, &c. He well also interpreteth this of the righteous man, yet this exposition is not so fit: for the Apostle speaketh of the proper effects and friuts of sinne in him, v. 17.

6. Oecumenius distinguisheth here the times: what I would, liber à peccato, when I am free from sinne, I doe, quando in peccato sum, when I am in sinne: But the Apostle speaketh of one, and the same time: as may appeare by the words put in the present tense, foreign, I will, foreign, I doe, foreign, I hate.

7. Wherefore the Apostle sheweth here the strife that is in a righteous man, whose cheefe will and desire is to doe good, but he is often ouercome of his carnall affections, and doth that, which in his inward will and desire he would not: as Dauid in his hast did sweare he would put Nabals house to the sword, which afterward beeing well aduised he would not: Martyr. Now in that he saith, what I hate, that doe I: we must not thinke that the regenerate doe sinne as constrained against their wills, sed non tota voluntate, but it is not with their whole will: Pareus; that is also carnis voluntas, a will of the flesh, but the Apostle calleth that his will, quod pracipue cordis affectu appetebat, which he desireth cheefely, Calvin.

8. Hence then appeareth the difference betweene the regenerate, and the vnregenerate: they are so deuided, vt praecipue cordis affectu ad Deum suspirent, that in the cheefe desire of their heart, they doe sigh after God, and desire to doe his will, yet are hindred and pulled backe by the reliques of sinne: by the other, sine repugnantia in cupiditates feruntur, are caried after their desires, and lusts without resistance: and though they are sometime pricked in conscience, it cannot be gathered thereby, that there is in them any louelove of vertue, or hatred of vice, but God suffereth them to be tormented, vt iudicium suum demonstret, to shew his iudgement: Thus M. Calvin.

Pererius obiecteth against this exposition: that in this sense, etiam iniqui censen… sunt piorum nomine, wicked men shall be counted good, and godly: so that they hauehave some feare of God, and some desire to doe well; which may be found in the wicked: Pere. disput. 14. numer. 81. Contra. 1. Calvin requireth more in a righteous man, that there be in him a lone of vertue, an hatred of vice, and that his cheefe desire should be set vponupon God: I hope he thinketh not, that it is so with the wicked and vngodly. 2. neither can there be any true desire in the wicked to doe well, &c. as Tolet confesseth, imperfectam voluntatem ad … etiam fine gratia, &c. that an imperfect will vntounto that which is good euen without grace may be in a sinner and vnregenerate man: annot. 18. which is contrarie to the words of our Sauiour, Ioh. 15. 1. Without mee you can doe nothing.

Quest. 26. What the Apostle vnderstandeth by flesh, I know that in me, that is my flesh, dwelleth no good thing, &c. v. 18.

1. Lyranus by the flesh here vnderstandeth the sensualitie, which alwaies rebelleth against reason: and he saith there are these two parts in man, sensualitie, and reason, which are otherwise called the flesh and the spirit, the inward and outward man: so also Gorrhan interpreteth, in carne, i. homine sensuali, in the flesh, that is the sensuall man: of the same mind are present Romanists: as Tolet, who saith a man hath two parts, rationalem & sensualem, the rationall and sensual: likewise Per. disput. 15. Bel. de stat. peccat. l. 5. c. 7. their reasons are these.

1. Pererius vrgeth the Apostles words, v. 26. I in my mind serue the law of God, &c. that the Apostle manifestly distinguisheth the mind, that is the reason from the sensuall part.

2. The Apostle himselfe calleth these the outward and inward man. 2. Cor. 4.16. the outward man is the bodie, the inward the mind.

3. Tolet thus reasoneth, si in ratione habitaret malum, &c. if euill dwelled in the reason, then could it not will that which is good, as here the Apostle saith, to will is present with me.

Contra. 1. By the mind the Apostle vnderstandeth the mind regenerate by grace, as he saith, Ephes. 4.23. be renewed in the spirit of your mind.

2. By the outward man, the Apostle vnderstandeth all the inward and outward corruptions, which must daily decay: and by the inward man which must be renewed all the powers and faculties both of soule and bodie, which must be renewed.

3. In the naturall reason euill may dwell, as it is obscured, and darkned by sinne, and yet p. 329the will beeing reformed and regenerate by grace, may encline to that which is good.

2. Wherefore by the name of flesh, as Calvin well interpreteth, the Apostle comprehendeth omnes naturae dotes, &c. all the gifts of nature, and whatsoeuer is in man, onelyonly the sanctification of the spirit excepted; so that on the one side is signified totus homo, the whole man as he is vnregenerate, on the other, the whole man as he is regenerate, Martyr: as it may be thus shewed.

1. The Apostle writing to the Corinthians, which were beleeuers, distinguisheth between the naturall man, which perceiueth not the things, that are of God, and the spirituall man, 1. Cor. 2.14.15. and afterward he denieth that they were such spirituall men, but carnall, c. 3.1. yet were they regenerate: there is then in a regenerate man, somewhat that is carnall, and somewhat that is spirituall.

2. The feare of sinne is in the rationall part; but sinne is in the flesh, therefore euen in the reason there may be somewhat carnall; Tolet answereth that though sinne be in the reason, yet it hath the effect cheefely by the flesh. Contr. The will bringeth forth sinne, and that belongeth to the rationall part; the bodie doth but execute the edict of the reason and will: therefore the rationall part beeing the place and feare of sinne, is carnall: yea Tolets owne words may be vrged against himselfe: he confesseth, peccatum adeo infirmam fecit rationalem partem, that sinne hath made the rationall part so weake, as that it cannot of it selfe perfectly will that which is good, though the flesh should not contradict it, &c. there is then somewhat carnall in the soule, because there is sinne.

3. The Philosophers, as Aristotle, lib. 1. Ethicor. c. 13. made two parts of the minde; foreign, the reasonable, and foreign, that which is void of reason, where the affections, and passions of the mind are: If the Apostle should make no other difference between the flesh and the spirit, his Apostolicall Theologie would afford no greater comfort, then prophane Philosophie.

Quest. 27. How the Apostle saith to will is present with me, &c. but I find no meanes to performe, &c. v. 18.

1. Tolet, agreeing with those, which vnderstand the Apostle here to speake of a man vnregenerate, and in his sinne, thinketh that a sinner euen without grace may will that which is good, voluntate imperfecta, with an imperfect will, annot. 20. But the Apostle affirmeth the contrarie, Philip. 12.13. That it is God which worketh in vsus both the will, and the deed: therefore a carnall man cannot hauehave any good will of himselfe.

2. Pererius expounding the Apostle to speake here in the person of a man regenerate, restraineth this will of the Apostle to concupiscence: to will is present, that is, non concupiscere, not to couet that which is euill, but he could not performe this, that is, to hauehave no concupiscence, though he did not consent vntounto it: but this opinion is refused before, qu. 25.3.

3. But euen they which are regenerate doe faile in the verie good workes which they do, not that their will is altogether ineffectuall: sed efficaciam operis negat respondere voluntati, he denieth that the efficacie of the worke doth answer to his will: Calvin: he willeth and desireth being moued of the spirit, but he cannot perfit the worke as he would: he findeth alwaies some imperfection in the worke: therfore the Apostle vseth the word foreign, to perfit or performe: aliquo tenus progrediuntur sancti, &c. the Saints doe make some proceeding, but they are farre off from perfection. Obiect. But God worketh in his, both the wil, and the deed. Ans. God indeed worketh both, but not alwaies, not alike; the Saints sometime will and performe good things, sometime they are willing, but want strength; But the Apostle speaketh not here as though alwaies his will came short, but that ostner then he would his will was crossed in good things: and therefore he vseth the word dwelling; this grace and strength did not alwaies dwell and continue with him, Pareus.

4. But Pererius thus obiecteth: 1. if Saint Pauls will consented at any time to his concupiscence, how could he say, v. 17. it is no more I that doe it, but sinne? 2. how could he delight in his minde in the law of God, if there were sinne? 3. if S. Paul did those things, which he would not, then fornication, adulterie and such like.

Cont. 1. It was the part of the will vnregenerate, which consented not to the will renewed, which Saint Paul calleth his will, and not the other, because he cheifely desired good things. 2. in the regenerate part he delighted in Gods law, though in his vnregenerate, sinne remaine. 3. S. Paul speaketh not of such grosse sinnes, but of the secret force of concupiscence, which often carieth away euen the regenerate.

p. 33028. Quest. Of the meaning of these words, v. 21. I finde a law, &c.

1. Some doe vnderstand this lawe of the morall lawe giuen by Moses, some of the law of concupiscence, which afterward is called the law of the members: and of both sorts there are diverse opinions.

Of the first there are two sorts, some doe interpret it, as though the Apostle should commend the lawe, some that he setteth forth the weakenesse and want of strength in the lawe.

Of the former sort, 1. Origen would hauehave the words transposed thus: because when I would doe good, and evill is present, I finde a lawe, and I delight in the lawe, &c. But this traiection of the words seemeth somewhat hard. 2. Photius in Oecumenius, doth transpose them thus, I finde the lawe to be good vntounto me willing to doe, &c. so also Augustine lib. 2. cont. 2. epist. Pelag. c. 10. and Anselmus whom Bellarmine followeth, ioyne good with the lawe: but it may be gathered v. 19. I doe not the good thing I would, that good must be ioyned with the word doe, not with the law. 3. Chrysostome thus interpreteth, I finde the lawe, fave… tum, auxiliantem, favouring, and helping me: so also Theophylact, and Lyranus saith, that the Apostle sheweth the consent betweene the written lawe, and the naturall lawe, which mooueth him to doe that which is good: so also the Syrian interpreter, I finde the lawe to consent to my minde. 4. Some supply the word good, I finde the lawe to be good, Haymo, Hugo, Gorrhan, Pareus. 5. Pareus hath an other exposition, that the lawe is taken here for studium legis, the studie of the lawe, and he thinketh the word foreign, is present, or at hand, may be supplyed out of the latter part of the verse in this sense, I finde the studie of the lawe to be present with me, when I would doe good: But all these expositions tending to the commendation of the law, are remooued, because of the last words, because euill is present with me: for how can this be a reason, that the lawe helpeth or consenteth, or is good and profitable to him, beeing willing to doe good: to say with Pareus, that foreign, because, may be taken for foreign, although: or with Faius, for foreign, but, or that it is superfluously added, it seemeth not to be so fit.

Of the other sort, that hereby shewe the weakenes of the lawe, which serueth to discouer sinne, 1. Some giuegive this sense, invento legem, agnosco debilem, I finde the lawe, that is, to be but weake, it cannot helpe me or make me better, but though I would doe good, yet euill is present: Photius in Oecumen. 2. or I finde by the lawe, that when I would doe good, euill is present, Vatab. Genevens. Calvin: but here the preposition per, by, is inserted, which is not in the originall. 3. Erasmus to the same purpose, I finde the lawe this to worke in me, that I vnderstand, when I would doe well, that evill is present, &c. but here many words are added, not in the originall.

Of them that vnderstand the lawe of the members, 1. Beza thus interpreteth, I finde legem impositam, this lawe to be imposed vponupon me, by reason of the corruption of my nature: so also Mart. that when I would doe good, euill is present. 2. some directly vnderstand, legem carnis, the lawe of the flesh, the concupiscence, which hindreth him beeing willing to doe good: so Tolet, Osiand. and these two last expositions are most agreeable to the text, because it is added as a reason, because euill is present with me, in which words he sheweth what lawe he meaneth, that which is opposite vntounto him, which is further explained in the verses following.

Quest. 29. How the Apostle saith, v. 21. euill is present with me.

1. Ambrose hath here a curious observation: euill is said to be present adiacere, to be readie at hand, because it lutketh in the flesh, as at the doore, that when one is inclined and willing to do good, sinne is at hand to hinder: And he giueth this reason, why sinne hath the habitation in the flesh rather then in the soule, because the flesh onelyonly is deriued ex traduce, by propagation, and not the soule: which if it were propagated as well as the flesh, sinne rather should hauehave the feare in the soule, because it sinneth rather then the flesh, which is but the organe or instrument of sinne: likewise expoundeth Tolet, adiacet mihi, it is naturally resiant in my flesh, as he said before, that to will is present with me, that is, naturally in his minde, annot. 21.

2. But 1. Ambrose reason concludeth not: for though the flesh hauehave the beginning by propagation, and not the soule, and so the first pollution is by the flesh: yet sinne disperseth it selfe into the whole nature of man, both soule and bodie, as the Apostle sheweth, Coloss. 2.18. that there is foreign, a mind of flesh, or fleshly minde. 2. neither naturally is the p. 331mind willing or apt vntounto that which is good, for why then should the Apostle exhort, to be renewed in the spirit of the minde, Ephes. 4.23. the aptnesse and inclination of the mind vntounto good, is by grace: the meaning then of this phrase is nothing, else but to shewe, the readinesse and strength of our naturall concupiscence, which lyeth in waite, and is at hand to hinder euerie good worke, and to stirre vsus vp vntounto euill.

Quest. 30. Of these words, I delight in the law of God, &c. v. 22, 23. of the number of these lawes, and what they are.

1. Concerning the number: 1. some referre these laws vntounto two: the law of God, and the law of the minde, they make one and the same, the law of the members, and the law of sinne, also they thinke to be one: Pareus, Martyr, Tolet. annot. 22. 2. Photius in Oecumenius maketh three lawes, he distinguisheth the law of God, and the law of the minde: the law of the members, and the law of sinne he confoundeth. 3. But Hierom. epist. ad Hedib. qu. 8. and Ambr. in Luc. 17. doe recite fowre lawes, as they are here named by the Apostle, the law of God, the law of the minde, the law of the members, and the law of sinne: so also Calvin, Hyper. and the Apostle indeede setteth downe so many.

2. The like difference is, what these lawes should be. 1. Oecumenius thus describeth these lawes: two are without vsus, the law of God, the knowledge whereof we hauehave by the preaching of the Gospel, and the law of the members, which commeth by the suggestion of Satan ministring euill cogitations; two of them are within vsus, the law of the minde, that is the law of nature, which is imprinted in the minde, and the law of sinne, which is the euill custome of sinning. 2. Pererius will hauehave the law of God to be the written law, and the law of the mind the naturall law: the law of the members the naturall concupiscence, and inclination vntounto the seuerall proper obiects of the desire, the law of sinne, is deordinatio earundem virium, the disordering of the naturall faculties, and abusing of them vntounto euill. But all these faile herein: 1. the law of the minde is not naturall, for naturally the minde is not apt vntounto that which is good, without the worke of grace. 2. and the law of the members is internall and within vsus. 3. neither is this the naturall facultie of desiring, which is not euill, but the disordered pravitie of nature. 3. Pet. Mertyr as he maketh the law of God and the law of the minde to be the same, yet in a diuers respect: for it is called the law of God, in respect of the author, and of the minde, in regard of the subiect: so in his iudgement the same is called the law of sinne, because concupiscence in it selfe is sinne, as the efficient, and the law of the members, because they are as the instruments. 4. But I rather consent vntounto M. Calvin, who vnderstandeth the law of God, to be the morall law, the rule of equitie, and the law of the minde, to be the obedience and conformitie, which the mind regenerate hath with the law of God: and by the law of the members, the concupiscence, which is in the members, consenting to the law of sinne. 5. And further the law of the members, and the law of sinne, are not severed in subiect: they are both in the members: but thus they differ: Some thinke the law of the members to be the corruption, and pravitie of our nature, called before the bodie of sinne, c. 6.6. and the law of sinne, the euill concupiscence springing from thence: so Vatablus, the law of the members, is vis in carne, the strength of the flesh resisting the law of the minde: and the law of sinne, is affectus carnis, the carnall affections: so Haymo interpreteth the law of the members, onus & pondus mortalitatis, the burthen of mortalitie, and the law of sinne, to be euill concupiscence, custome, and delight in sinne: so Lyranus vnderstandeth by the law of the members, fomitem peccati, vel inclinationem pravam, the food and matter of sinne, or the corrupt inclination, and the law of sinne, consuetudinem pravam, the euill custome of sinning. 6. But I rather with Beza, by the law of sinne, vnderstand the corruption of nature, by the law of the members, the euill concupiscence springing from thence: for otherwise the opposition betweene the law of God and the minde, on the one side, and the law of the members and of sinne on the other, will not be correspondent and answerable together: for the law of the members must be set against the law of the minde, and the law of sinne against the law of God: like as then the regenerate minde is conformable to the law of God, so the vnregenerate members are captived to the law of sinne in the members, which is the corruption of nature, euen originall sinne.

31. Quest. Why these are called lawes, and why they are said the one to be in the inner man, the other in the members.

1. For the first: 1. Chrysostome giueth this reason, it is called the law of sinne, propter p. 332vehementem & exactam obedientiam, because of the exact and forced obedience which is giuen vntounto it: for the laws of tyrants, are so called abusive, though not properly, Calvin: lex quia dominatur, it is a law because it ruleth, gloss. 2. Lyranus, a law is called à ligando, of binding, ducit membra ligata ad mala, it leadeth the members, and holdeth or tieth them to that which is euill: they can doe no other. 3. Pererius, sicut lex dirigit, &c. as the law directeth to that which is good, so the lawe of sinne to that which is euill. 4. legitime factum est, it commeth iustly to passe, that illi non serviat suum inferius, t. caro, that mans inferiour, that is, his flesh should not serue him, seeing he serued not his superiour, namely, God, gloss. ordinar. Anselmus, so it is called a lawe, as in iustice imposed of God vponupon man for his disobedience.

2. For the second, the one is called the lawe of the minde and inner man, the other the lawe of the members and outward man: 1. not that the minde and reason onelyonly wherein the naturall lawe is written, is the inner man, and the sensitive part is the flesh, as Lyranus, Gorrhan, with others, which opinion is confuted before, quest. 26. for euen the minde is corrupt and so carnall in the vnregenerate, as the Apostle speaketh of some which were foreign, corrupt in their minde, 2. Timoth. 3.8. 2. But the regenerate part is called the inner man, and the vnregenerate both in soule and bodie the outward. 1. because intus potissimum regnat, it raigneth chiefely within, and is discerned chiefely and knowne in the mind, Mart. 2. quia in cordis conuersione, &c. because it consisteth in the heart, nec patet hominum oculis, and is not open and apparent vntounto the sight of men, Pareus: in which sense it is called the hid man of the heart, 1. Pet. 3.4. 3. and because non externa vel m… dana quaerit, it seeketh not things externall, belonging to the world, whereas appetitus carnis vagi sunt & extra hominem, the fleshly appetite is wandring, and as it were without a man, Calvin: and as Caietane, carnalibus officijs immersae sunt, the faculties of the outward man, are drenched as it were and wholly spent in carnall offices. 4. and the regenerate part is called by the name of the inner man, and the minde, per excellenciam, because of the excellencie: for as the minde is more excellent then the bodie, so is the spirit, then the flesh, Calvin.

Quest. 32. Of the Apostles exclamation, O wretched man that I am!

1. The word, which the Apostle here vseth, foreign, signifieth one, that is perpetus. pugnis fatigatus, wearied with continuall combates, Beza: like as a champion, which striuing along time, is like at last to be ouercome of his aduersaries vnlesse he be helped: the vulgar latine readeth, O vnhappie man, but that is not so fit. 2. neither doth the Apostle thus crie out, either as a man in despaire, or doubting, by whom he should be deliuered, but he sheweth his great desire: vox est anhelantis, it is the voice of one breathing and panting, desiring to be deliuered from this seruitude: Calvin. 3. and by this exclamation, certaminis gravitatem ostendit, he sheweth the greatnes of this combate, out of the which he was not able to wrestle by his owne strength: and if Paul were not able, who is? it is then a patheticall speach like vntounto that, Psal. 86. Who will giuegive me the wings, as it were of a done? Faius. 4. And in this crying out, the Apostle sheweth the state of all men in this life, into what miserie they are brought by their sinne: and likewise his desire, longing to be deliuered therfrom: Pareus.

Quest. 33. What the Apostle vnderstandeth by this bodie of death, from the which he desireth to be deliuered.

1. Ambrose by the bodie of death, vnderstandeth vniuersitatem vitiorum, a general collection of sinnes, which he called before, the bodie of sinne; but there was not in the Apostle such a gathering together and confluence of all sinne. 2. Pererius chargeth Calvin to agree with Ambrose, who vnderstandeth by the bodie of death, massam vel congeriem peccati, ex qua homo constatus, the masse and heape of sinne, whereof man consisteth, and thereupon he crieth out, ô hominem impurum at que impium, O wicked and filthie man, that is not ashamed so to charge the Apostle, &c. Whereas Calvin onelyonly saith, that there were in the Apostle, reliquiae peccati, some reliques of sinne, of that masse of sinne and corruption, which is in man: Calvin then and Melancthon do thus vnderstand the Apostle, naturam hanc carnalem immersam esse peccato, that this carnall nature is wholly drowned and drenched in sinne; so also Martyr, vitiatam & corruptam naturam intelligit, he vnderstandeth our corrupt nature: but the Apostle speaketh of death here, not of sinne. 3. neither is the bodie of p. 333death taken here properly for sinne, as Faius thinketh it was called before the bodie of sinne, c. 6. and it is considered, tanquam moles & onus incumbens, as a masse or burthen lying vponupon vsus: so also Roloch: it is taken for sinne in this place, which is in the bodie, and in the whole man: likewise Piscator, mortem intelligit peccatum inhabitans, by death he vnderstandeth the sinne that dwelleth in vsus: and so before them Vatablus, à concupiscentia; &c. he wisheth to be deliuered from concupiscence, which did make him guiltie of eternall death: and before him Photius in Oecumenius, applyeth it to the corporall and sinnefull actions, which bring the death of the soule: But in their meaning the Apostle should say in effect, who shall deliuer me from this sinnefull bodie? what could an vnregenerate man hauehave said more? 4. neither yet doe I approoue of their opinion, which referre it onelyonly to the mortalitie of the bodie, as Theophylact, morti subiecti, subiect to death: Lyranus, quia sancti resurgent, &c. because the Saints shall rise in an immortall bodie: and Pererius, à corpore mortis huius, from the bodie of this death, that is subiect to mortalitie and corruption: for the Apostle hath respect thus crying out vntounto the conflict between the flesh and the spirit, from which he desireth to be deliuered. 5. Cassianus by the bodie of death would hauehave vnderstood the terrene busines and necessitie, quae spirituales homines à coelestium meditatione retrahit, which draweth spirituall men from the meditation of heauenly things: but the Apostle spake before of the combate betweene the flesh and the spirit: and they are not all carnall, which are occupied in the necessarie affaires of this life. 6. Tolet ioyning the pronoune this vntounto death, not vntounto the bodie, reading thus from the bodie of this death, will hauehave reference to be made vntounto the tyrannie of the lawe of concupiscence, whereof he spake before: but the pronoune is better ioyned to bodie, as the Syrian interpreter, Erasmus, and Beza, well obserue: for of his flesh and members he spake before, but of death he made no mention: This demonstrative then this, is better referred to bodie. 7. Wherefore the Apostle calling his present state out of the which he desireth to be deliuered, this bodie of death, ioyneth both mortalitie and sinne together; he meaneth his mortall bodie subiect to sinne, as Hierome expoundeth, quod morti & perturbationibus est oppositum, which is opposed to death, and perturbations, apolog. advers. Ruffin. and so Beza, the Apostle by the bodie designeth, carneam corporis molem, the fleshie masse of the bodie, which is nothing else, but mussa mortis & peccati, a lumpe of death and sinne: so Origen, it is called the bodie of death in quo habitat peccatum, quod est mortis causa, wherein sinne dwelleth, which is the cause of death. 8. And this deliuerance which the Apostle longeth for, is not the spirituall deliuerance in this life from the captiuitie of sinne, as Tolet, but the finall deliuerance from the bondage of mortalitie and corruption which we looke for in the resurrection, as Augustine expoundeth, lib. 1. cont. epist. Pelag. c. 11. and so the Apostles meaning is, non finiri hoc confluctus, &c. that these conflicts cannot be ended, as long as we carrie this mortall bodie about with vsus, Pareus. And here we may consider a threefold state of mans bodie, the one in Paradise, cum non potuit mori, when it was in mans power, if he had not sinned not to die at all: vnderunder the state and condition of sinne, where non potest non mori, he cannot but die, a necessitie of death is laid vponupon all Adams posteritie: vnderunder the state of glorie, non possumus mori, we cannot die: we shall be exempted from the condition of all mortalitie, Pererius.

Quest. 25. Why the Apostle giueth thanks to God, ver. 25.

1. There is some difference in the reading of these words: the Latine interpreter thus readeth, the grace of God thorough Iesus Christ, so also Origen before, who maketh it an answear to the former words of the Apostle, who shall deliuer … likewise Augustine followeth this reading, serm. 45. de tempor. but all the Greek copies hauehave foreign, I giuegive thankes and the Apostle did not aske the question before, who should deliuer him, but suspirat pot…s, be sigheth, and sheweth his desire to be deliuered, Beza.

2. For the meaning of the words. 1. some thinke that the Apostle giueth thanks for his redemption in Christ, Mart. that he is deliuered à reatu peccati, from the guilt of sinne originall and actuall, Roloch: and that his sinnes are not imputed, Osiander, and before them Oecumenius, quod me liberavit per mortem filij, that he hath deliuered me by the death of his Sonne: But this deliverance the Apostle had alreadie obtained: he speaketh in the future sense, who shall deliuer me? 2. Theophylact referreth it to the former benefit, quod viriliter adversatur peccato, that he did manfully resist sinne, which strength he had not either by the p. 334law of nature, or by the law of Moses, but by grace in Christ: So also Pareus thinketh the Apostle doth giuegive thankes, that he doth not succumbere in certamine, sed vincere, giuegive ouer in this combate, but at the length ouercommeth: But the Apostle wisheth yet a further deliuerance, which as yet he had not, because he speaketh of the time not to come, who shall deliuer me, and yet he giueth thankes for it, as enioying the fame in hope. 3. Tolet and Pererius thinke that the Apostle giueth thankes, that he was deliuered from concupiscence, quod non mentem trahit in consensum, that it did not draw his mind to consent: and so he was deliuered from it, as it was malum culpae, as there was sinne or fault in it, that is, to consent vntounto it, but not as it was malum poenae, a punishment, that is, concupiscere to couet or desire simply without assent: so also Lyranus: But if the Apostle did not sometime thorough his infirmitie giuegive consent vntounto his concupiscence, how could he say it did lead him captiue vntounto the law of sinne: & more it is prooued at large afterward, that the commandement, thou shalt not lust, whereof the Apostle confesseth himselfe a transgressor, v. 7.18. doth not onelyonly restraine the first motions of concupiscence, which hauehave not the consent of the will, but the second also which hauehave, controv. 8.4. Vatablus will hauehave this thanksgiuing to be referred to the deliuerance, which the Apostle expected in the life to come. 5. But it is better to ioyne them together, as Augustine doth, serm. 45. de tempor. the grace of God, nunc perfecte innovat hominem, &c. doth now perfectly renew a man by deliuering him from all his sinnes, & ad corporis immortalitatem perducit, and bringeth him also to the immortalitie of the bodie: Lyranus likewise comprehendeth both these deliuerances, that both the regenerate are here deliuered from their sinnes, and in the next life, shall be freed from all corruption, as the Apostle saith, Philip. 3.21. Who shall change our vile bodie, that it may be fashioned like vntounto his glorious bodie: so Chrysostome saith, the Apostle giueth thanks, quod non solum principibus malis liberamur, sed eorū, quae futura sunt, capaces facti sumus, that we are not onelyonly deliuered from the former euills, namely our sinnes, but are made capable of the good things to come: thus also Pellican, the Saints reioyce, se primitijs spiritus donatos, &c. that they are endued with the first fruits of the spirit, which giuegive them certaine hope of the inheritance to come: and Beza, the Apostle sheweth, that he resteth in that hope, quam habet in Christo fundatam, which he hath grounded on Christ.

35. Quest. Of these words, I in my minde serue the law of God, &c.

1. By the mind, the Apostle vnderstandeth the inner man reformed by grace, by the flesh, the part vnregenerate: so that in this speach of the Apostle a double figure is to be admitted: first a metonymie, in that the subiect is taken for the adiunct, the minde, for the sanctitie and holines wrought in the minde by grace, as Vatablus well interpreteth, secundum spiritum meum doctum à spiritu sancto, in my spirit taught by the holy spirit: and the flesh for the carnall sensualitie, whereby it is lead: there is also a synecdoche, the principall part beeing taken for the whole, the minde regenerate, for all the regenerate part both in the minde and bodie, because it chiefly sheweth it selfe there; and the flesh for that part which is vnregenerate in the whole man, both in the minde and bodie, because it is chiefly exercised, and executed by the bodie: see before Quest. 26.

2. We are not to vnderstand here two distinct and seuerall parts, the one working without the other: as the Romanists, which will hauehave the inner man to be the minde, and the sensuall part the flesh: for in this sense neither doth the minde alwaies serue God, wherein there is ignorance, infidelitie, error, nor yet doth the sensuall part alwaies serue sinne: for many vertuous acts are exercised thereby: see this opinion before confuted, Quest. 31. But these two parts must be vnderstood as working together, the flesh hindreth the spirit, and blemisheth our best actions. Faius.

3. And whereas the Apostle saith, that in my flesh I serue the law of sinne, we must not imagine, that the Apostle was giuen ouer vntounto grosse carnall works, as to commit murther adulterie; but he sheweth the infirmitie of his flesh, and specially he meaneth his naturall concupiscence, and corruption of nature, in the which he gaue instance before: against the which pugnabat, luctabatur, he did striue, and fight. Martyr.

4. Neither yet must we thinke, that the Apostle, seruing the spirit one way, and the flesh an other, was as a mutable or inconstant man or indifferent: like as Ephraim is compared to a cake but turned and baked on the one side Hos. 7.8. or as they, which Revel. 3. are said to be luke warme, neither hoat, nor cold: for these of a set purpose were such, and willingly did p. 335dissemble: but the Apostle setteth forth himselfe, as a man neither perfectly sound, nor yet sicke, but in a state betweene both: that although he laboured to attaine to perfection, yet he was hindred by the infirmitie of his flesh, like as an Israelite dwelling among the Iebusits: Faius.

5. And whereas the Apostle said before, v. 15. it is not I that doe it, but sinne that dwelleth in mee: and yet here he saith, I my selfe, &c. in my selfe serue the law of sinne: the Apostle is not contrarie to himselfe: for he speaketh here of his person that doth both, there of of the cause; Tolet. annot. 25. and so he sheweth, secundum repugnantia principia, se repugnantia habere studia, that according vntounto the contrarie beginnings or causes, he hath contrarie desires, Pareus.

36. Quest. Of that famous question whether S. Paul doe speake in his owne person, or of an other here in this 7. chapter.

There are of this matter diuers opinions, which yet may be sorted into these three orders. 1. Some thinke that the Apostle speaketh in the person of a man, not yet in the state of grace. 2. Some of a man regenerate, from v. 14. to the ende. 3. Some that the Apostle indifferently assumeth the person of all mankind, whether they be regenerate, or not. And in eueryevery of these opinions there is great diuersitie.

1. They which are of the first opinion, 1. Some thinke, that the Apostle speaketh in the person of a naturall man, and sheweth what strength a mans free will hath by nature without grace: so Iulianus the Pelagian, with other of that sect, whose epistles Augustine confuteth: so Lyranus, he speaketh in the person, generis humani lapsi, of humane kind after their fall. 2. Some will hauehave the person of a man described, sub lege, & ante legem degentis, not liuing onelyonly before the law, but vnderunder it, hauing some knowledge of sinne: so Chrysostome, Theophylact, whome Tolet followeth, annot. 4. 3. Some thinke that the Apostle describeth a man not altogether vnderunder the law, nor yet wholly vnderunder grace: but of a man beginning to be conuerted: quasi voluntate & proposito ad meliora conversi, as converted in minde and desire vntounto better things, Origen: so also Basil. … …egal. breviar. and Haymo saith, the Apostle speaketh ex persona hominis poenitentiam agentis, in the person of a man penitent, &c.

2. They of the second sort doe thus differ. 1. Augustine confesseth that sometime he was of opinion, that the Apostle speaketh in the person of a carnall and vnregenerate man, but afterward he changed his minde, vponupon better reasons, thinking the Apostle to speake of a spirituall man in the state of grace: lib. 1. Retract. c. 23. lib. 6. cont. Iulian. c. 11. but Augustine reteining this sense, thinketh that the Apostle, saying, v. 15. I allow not that thing which I doe, speaketh of the first motions onelyonly of concupiscence, quando illis non consenttatur, when no consent is giuen vntounto them: lib. 3. cont. Iulian. c. 26. which concupiscence the most perfect man in this life can not be void of: so also Gregorie vnderstandeth, simplices motus ceruis contra voluntatem, the simple motions of the flesh against the will: and hereunto agreeth Bellarm. lib. 5. de amission. grat. c. 10. Rhemist. sect. 6. vponupon this chapter. 2. Cassianus collat. 23. c. 15. vnderstandeth a man regenerate: but then by the inner man he would hauehave signified the contemplation of celestiall things, by the flesh, curam rerum temporalium, the care of earthly things. 3. Some thinke that the Apostle so describeth a regenerate man, as yet that he may sometime become in a manner carnall: we see in this example euen of Paul regenerate, etiam regeneratum nonnunquam mancipium fieri peccati, that a regenerate man, may sometime become the slaue of sinne. Rolloch. 4. But the founder opinion is, that the Apostle in his owne person speaketh of a regenerate man, euen when he is at the best, that he is troubled and exercised with sinnefull motions, which the perfectest can not be ridde of till he be deliuered from his corruptible flesh: of this opinion was Hilarie, habemus nunc nobis admistam materiam, quae mortis legi & peccato obnoxia est, &c. we hauehave now mixed within vsus a certaine matter, which is subiect to the law of death and sinne, &c. and vntill our bodie be glorified, non potest in nobis verae vita esse natura, there can not be in vsus the nature and condition of true life: Hilar. in Psal. 118. Of the same opinion are all our foundest new writers, Melancthon, Martyr, Calvin, Beza, Hyperius, Pareus, Faius, with others.

3. Of the third sort, 1. some are indifferent, whether we vnderstand the person of the regenerate, or vnregenerate, gloss. ordinar. and so Gorrhan sheweth how all this, which the Apostle hath from v. 18. to the end, may in one sense be vnderstood of the regenerate, in an other of the vnregenerate. 2. Some thinke that some things may be applied vntounto the regenerate, as I am carnall sold vnderunder sinne: but some things onelyonly can be applied to the regenerate, p. 336as these words, I delight in the law of God, &c. Perer. disput. 21. num. 38. and yet he rather inclineth to thinke, that the Apostle taketh vponupon him the person of a man regenerate: And Origen seemeth to hauehave beene of this minde, that sometime the Apostle speaketh in his owne person, as I thanke God through Iesus Christ, and sometime in the person of a weake man, and young beginner, as in the rest. 3. Some take all this discourse of the Apostle, neither to touch the regenerate, or vnregenerate in the particular, but the nature of mankind in generall: as Hierome noteth, that the Apostle saide not, O wretched sinner, but O wretched man, vt totam complecteretur naturam omnium hominum, & non tantum peccatorum, &c. that he might comprehend the nature of all men, and not onelyonly of sinners: lib. 2. cont. Pelag. so also Erasmus, humani generis in se personam recipit, &c. he taketh vponupon him the person of mankind, wherein is both the Gentile without the law, the carnall Iew vnderunder the law, and the spirituall man made free by grace: Annot. in hunc locum.

Now of all these opinions, which are tenne in all, we embrace the fourth of the second fort: and this diuersitie of opinion may be reduced to this point, whether the Apostle speake in his owne person of a man regenerate, or in an assumed person of a man vnregenerate: the other particular differences, hauehave beene dispersedly touched before. Now then the arguments shall be produced with their answers, which are vrged on both sides: and first for the negative, that the Apostle giueth not instance here of a man regenerate, and spirituall, but carnall and vnregenerate.

Argum. 1. Origen vrgeth these reasons: first the righteous man is not said to be carnall, 2. Cor. 10.3. We doe not marrie after the flesh: But the Apostle here saith, v. 14. I am carnall.

2. Of the righteous the Apostle saith, 1. Cor. 6.20. ye are bought for a price, but here the Apostle saith, v. 14. I am sold vnderunder sinne.

3. Of the righteous it is said, c. 8.9. the spirit of God dwelleth in you: but here the Apostle confesseth, that no good thing dwelleth in him.

4. Origen also presseth these words, v. …8. in my flesh I serue the lawe of sinne, if the Apostle should speake thus of himselfe, desparationem mihi videtur incutere, it were able to strike despaire vntounto vsus, that there is no man who doth not serue sinne in the flesh.

5. The regenerate, such as Paul was, doe not onelyonly will that which is good, but performe it also: but this man cannot doe, that he would, of whom the Apostle speaketh, ver. 15. Tolet.

6. The righteous and iust man cannot be said to be captiued vntounto sinne, as the Apostle saith of that man, whose person he beareth, v. 23. Cassianus collat. 22. in fine.

7. The Apostle speaking of himselfe, and of others which are regenerate, said before, v. 5.6. When we were in the flesh, &c. the motions of sinnes, &c. had force in our members, &c. but now we are deliuered from the law, &c. But here the Apostle speaketh of a man, that is captiued vntounto the motions of the flesh, so that the Apostle if he should speake here of a regenerate man, would contradict himselfe.

8. The scope of the Apostle is to shewe the invaliditie of the lawe, that it cannot take away sinne, but sinne rather is encreased thereby, by reason of the weakenes of mans nature: it is therefore more agreeable to the Apostles intent, to giuegive instance of a carnall man, in whom sinne yet raigneth, then of a regenerate man, that by grace is brought to yeeld obedience to the law, Tolet. c. 10. in tractat.

9. Hierome, and before him Origen thus shewe, that the Apostle here assumeth the person of an other: like as Daniel beeing a iust man yet prayeth in the person of sinners, saying, c. 9. we hauehave sinned, we hauehave done wickedly, Hierome epist. 151. ad Algasiam.