John Trapp on Romans 6

CHAP. VI. Verſe 1. Shall we continue]

QƲaſi dicat, That were moſt unreaſonable, and to an ingenious nature, impoſſible. To argue from mercy to liberty is the devils Logick. Should we not after deliverance yeeld obedience, ſaid holy Ezra? Chap. 9.13, 14. A man may as truly ſay, the ſea burns, or fire cools, as that certainty of ſalvation breeds ſecurity and looſneſſe.

Verſe 2. Live any longer therein] Fall into it we may and ſhall: but it is not the falling into the water that drowns, but lying in it: ſo it is not falling into ſinne that damns, but living in it.

Verſe 3. Baptized into his death] Hoc eſt baptizaripro mortuis, ſaith Beza, to be buried with Chriſt in baptiſme, Col 2.12. in putting off the body of the ſinnes of the fleſh verſe 11.

Verſe 4. We are buried] Buriall is a continuing under death; ſo is mortification a continuate dying to ſinne, Mors quaedam perpetuata; Sin is by degrees abated, and at length aboliſhed, when once our earthly tabernacles are diſſolved.

Walk in newneſſe of life] Reſurrectione Domini configuratur vita, quae hic geritur. Walk as Chriſt walked after his reſurrection.

Verſe 5. For if we have been planted] Burying is a kinde of planting.

Verſe 6. The body of ſin] For whole evil is in man, and whole man in evil.

Verſe 7. Is freed from ſin] Anacreon ſaith the like, [non-Latin text not transcribed]; Death is the accompliſhment of mortification. It doth at once, what death doth by degrees. Herbs and flowers breed worms, which yet at laſt kill the herbs and flowers: So ſinne bred death: but at laſt death will kill ſin. A mud-wall whiles it ſtandeth, harboureth much vermine; which when it falleth, flee away: So doth corruption, when once theſe cottages of clay fall to ruine.

Verſe 8. We ſhall alſo live] Then we are ſaid properly to live, when our regeneration is perfected in heaven. To live here, is but to lie a dying.

Verſe 9. Death hath no more, &c.] Chriſt, being life eſſentiall, ſwallowed up death in victory, as the fire ſwalloweth up the fuell, and as Moſes his ſerpent ſwallowed up the Sorcerers ſerpents.

Verſe 10. He died unto ſinne] That is, To aboliſh ſinne, as Chap. 8.2.

Verſe 11. Reckon ye alſo] By faith, reaſon and reckon your ſelves wholly dead in and through Chriſt, who once died perfectly to ſin, as a common perſon.

Verſe 12. Let not ſin therefore] As if the Apoſtle ſhould ſay, we preach purity and not liberty, as the adverſary ſuggeſteth, v. 1. of this Chapter with Chap. 3.8.

Verſe 13. Ʋnto ſinne] As Satans Generall, who hath his trenches, 2 Cor. 10.4. His Commanders, as here, and his fighting ſouldiers, 1 Pet. 2.11. His weapons, as here.

Verſe 14. Sinne ſhall not have dominion] Rebell it may, but raign it ſhall not in any Saint. It fareth with ſin in the regenerate, as with thoſe beaſts, Dan. 7.12. they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a ſeaſon and a time.

Ye are not under the Law] i.e. Under the rigour, irritation, curſe of the Law, Quatenùs eſt virtus peccati.

Verſe 15. Shall we ſinne, becauſe, &c.] Some Antinomian Libertines would perſwade men, That God is never diſpleaſed with his people,See M. Calamies Serm. to the houſe of Cummons, Octob. 22 an, Dam. 1644. though they fall into adultery, or the like ſin, no not with a fatherly diſpleaſure: That God never chaſtiſeth his people for any ſin, no not with a fatherly chaſtiſement.

Verſe 16. His ſevants ye are] Sinners, though not drunk, yet are not their own men, but at Satans beck and check, whom they ſeem to defie, but indeed deifie.

Verſe 17. That form of doctrine] Gr. That type or mould; The Doctrine is the mould, hearers the mettall, which takes impreſſion from it in one part, as well as another. And as the mettall hath been ſufficiently in the furnace, when it's not only purged from the droſſe, but willingly receiveth the form and figure of that which it is caſt and poured into: ſo here.

Verſe 18. Verſus eſt planus, ſaith Pareus.

Verſe 19. After the manner of men] That is vulgarly, Craſſiùs & rudiùs loquor, by a ſimilitude drawn from humane affairs of eaſie and ordinary obſervation.

To uncleanneſſe, and to iniquity] Mark the oppoſition: there are three To's in the expreſſion of the ſervice to ſin: but in the ſervice of God only two. Wicked men take great pains for hell: would they but take the ſame for heaven, they could not, likely, miſſe of it.

Verſe 20. Free from righteouſneſſe] That is, Utterly void of grace, and did therefore ſin luſtily and horribly, earneſtly oppoſing with creſt and breſt, whatſoever ſtood in the way of their ſinnes and luſts.

Verſe 21. Whereof ye are aſhamed] Where ſin is in the ſaddle, ſhame is on the crupper. Men would have the ſweet, but not the ſhame of ſinne, and the credit of religion, but not goe to the coſt of it.

Verſe 22. Become ſervants to God] Phraſis vulgatiſſima eſt, Deum colere. Non ſecùs at que agri fertiles inprimis & optimi, ſic Deicultus, fructus fert at vitam aeternam uberrimos.

Ye have your fruit unto holines] Every good work encreaſeth our holines, and ſo hability for obedience.

Verſe 23. For the wages of ſin] The beſt largeſſe or congiary that ſin gives to his ſouldiers, is death of all ſorts. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. This is the juſt hire of the leaſt ſin. The Jeſuites would perſwade us, that ſome ſins againſt which the Law thundereth and lightneth, Chemnit. de thoel. Ieſuitar. are ſo light in their own nature, Ʋt factores nec ſordidos, nec malos, nec impios, nec Deo exoſos reddere poſſint. But as there is the ſame roundneſſe in a little ball, as in a great one: ſo the ſame diſobedience in a ſmall ſin, as in a greater. Indeed there is no ſin little, becauſe no little God to ſin againſt.