John Trapp on Romans 7

CHAP. VII. Verſe 1. Know ye not Brethren]

BEllarmine ſaith of his Romans (more true perhaps of theſe) Romani ſicut non acumina, ita nec impoſturas habent. As they are not very knowing, ſo not cunning to deceive.

Verſe 2. She is looſed, &c.] And ſo at liberty to marry again, though Hierom compare ſuch to the unclean beaſts in the Arke, and to veſſels of diſhonour in an houſe, yea to dogs that return to their vomit, which was his errour. Patres legendi cum veniâ, ſaith one.

Verſe 3.M. Edwards his Gange. par. 2. p. 141. So then if] The Sectaries then are out, that ſay now-a-daies, that if they have husbands and wives that will not turn Saints, that is Sectaries, they may leave them, and marry others.

Verſe 4. That we ſhould bring forth fruit] The Miniſtery of the Word, ſaith one, is the bridall-bed; wherein God by his Spirit doth communicate with our ſouls his ſweeteſt favours, and maketh them be conceived with fruits of righteouſneſſe to everlaſting life.

Verſe 5. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. In the fleſh] In our pure naturals.

The motions of ſin] Thoſe maladies of the ſoul.

By the law] By the irritation of the law.

Did work] Gr. D[illegible: 1 letter]d inwardly work. [non-Latin text not transcribed].

Verſe 6. Not in the oldneſſe of the letter] That is, Not in that old kinde of life that we lived under ſubjection to the law, to the irritation, coaction, and curſe of it.

Verſe 7. I had not known luſt] Involuntary evil motions. The Apoſtle calleth concupiſcence ſin, ſaith Poſſevine the Jeſuite: but we may not ſay ſo.Poſſevin. Apparal ſa[illegible: 1 letter] verbo. Pat. Antiq. Moſt of the moſt dangerous opinions of Popery ſpring from hence, that they have ſlight conceits of concupiſcence, as a condition of nature. But inward bleeding will kill a man, ſo will concupiſcence, if not bewailed. The Councel of Trent ſaith, That it is not truly and properly a ſin, albeit it be ſo called, becauſe it proceeds from ſin, and enclines a man to ſinne. Neither want there amongſt us that ſay, That originall ſinne is not forbidden by the law: Directly indeed, and immediately it is not: but forbidden it is, becauſe curſed and condemned by the law.

Verſe 8. By the commandment] Not Commandments. Papiſts aboliſhing, or at leaſt deſtroying the ſenſe of the ſecond Commandment by making it a member of the firſt, that they may retain the number of ten words (ſo loth are heretikes to have their Aſſes ears ſeen) they divide this laſt; which yet Paul here cals the Commandment; and ſure he knew better then they, the Analyſis of the law.

Verſe 9. For I was alive] As being without ſenſe of ſin, and conſcience of duty.

Sin revived] ſc. In ſenſe and appearance.

And I died] ſc. In pride and ſelf juſtice.

Verſe 10. Ordained to life] By life and death, underſtand peace and perturbation.

Verſe 11. Deceived me] Irritated my corrupt nature, and made me ſin the more, per accidens, as Pharaoh was the worſe for a meſſage of diſmiſſion.

Verſe 12. The Commandement] Vis legis in mandando & praecipiendo. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. The word properly ſignifieth an affirmative precept.

Verſe 13. Exceeding ſinſull] Sin is ſo evil that it cannot have a worſe Epithite given it. Paul can call it no worſe then by it's own name, ſinfull ſin.

Verſe 14. Sold under ſin] But yet ill-apaid of my ſlavery, and luſting after liberty.

Verſe 15. I allow not] Gr. I know not, as being preoccupated, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Gal. 6.1. wherried and whirled away by ſin before I am aware, or have time to conſider.

Verſe 16. I conſent unto the law] I vote with it, and for it, as the rule of right, I wiſh alſo well to the obſervance of it, as David did, Pſal. 119 4.5.

Verſe 17. It is no more I] Mr Bradford Martyr, in a certain Letter thus comforteth his friend; At this preſent, my dear heart in the Lord, you are in a bleſſed eſtate;Act. and Mon. fol. 1497. although it ſeem otherwiſe to you, or rather to your old Adam; the which I dare now be bold to diſcern from you, becauſe you would have it not only diſcerned, but alſo utterly deſtroyed.M. Harris. Sam. Fun. God (ſaith another reverend man) puts a difference between us, and ſin in us, as betwixt poiſon, and the box that holds it.

Sin that dwelleth in me] An ill inmate that will not out, till the houſe falleth on the head of it. As the fretting leproſie in the walls of an houſe would not out, till the houſe it ſelf were demoliſhed. Sin, as Hagar will dwell with grace, as Sarah, till death beat it out of doors.

Verſe 18. Dwelleth no good thing] Horreo quicquid de meo eſt, ut ſim meus, ſaith Bernard. It was no ill wiſh of him that deſired God to free him from an ill man, himſelf. For,Domine, libera me à malo bomine meipſe. though engraffed into Chriſt, yet we carry about us a reliſh of the old ſtock ſtill. Corruption is though dejected from it's regency, yet not ejected from it's inherency: It intermingleth with our beſt workes.

How to perform] Gr. To do it thorowly; [non-Latin text not transcribed]. though I am doing at it, as I can.

Verſe 19. For the good, &c.] Nature, like Eve and Jobs wife is alwaies drawing us from God. As the ferry-man plies the oar, and eyes the ſhore homeward, where he would be, yet there comes a guſt of winde that carries him back again: ſo it is with a Chriſtian. Corruption edg'd with a temptation, gets as it were the hill, and the winde, and, upon ſuch advantages, too oft prevaileth.

Verſe 20. It is no more I] Every new man is two men. See the Note above on Verſ. 17.

Verſe 21.Tota vita bani Chriſtiani ſanctum deſiderti[illegible: 1 letter] eſt. Aug. When I would doe good] Something lay at the fountain head, as it were, and ſtopt him when he would do his duty. But God valueth a man by his deſires.

Evil is preſent] We can ſtay no more from ſinning, then the heart can from panting, and the pulſe from beating. Our lives are fuller of ſins then the firmament of ſtarres, or the furnace of ſparks. Eraſmus was utterly out, that ſaid with Origen, Paulum hoc ſermone balbutire, quum ipſe potiùs ineptiat, ſaith learned Beza. So Joannes Sylvius Aegranus, a learned, but a prophane perſon, reprehended Paul for want of learning, and ſaid, Quòd uſus ſit declamatorijs verbis, non congr[illegible: 2 letters]ntibus ad rem[illegible: 1 letter], &c.Joh. Manl. loc. com. 165, 486. Nominabat ſophiſma, quod diceremus homines non poſſe implere legem, &c.

Verſe 22. I delight] Germanicus reigned in the Romans hearts, Tiberius but in the Provinces. So here.

Verſe 23. A law in my members] Called the deeds of the body, Rom. 8.13. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Pla[illegible: 1 letter]o [non-Latin text not transcribed] appellat. Phoedro. becauſe corruption acteth and uttereth it ſelf by the m[illegible: 1 letter]mbers of the body. The [non-Latin text not transcribed] (vox Empedoclea) is within, but eaſily and often budgeth and breaketh out.

Warring againſt the law] The regenerate part. Plato in Cratylo pulchre ait: Ʋt mentem appellamus [non-Latin text not transcribed], ita legem dicimus [non-Latin text not transcribed], quaſi [non-Latin text not transcribed], alioqui mens hominum vagatur.

And bringing me into captivity] The ſins of the Saints (thoſe of daily incurſion) are either of precipitancy, D. Preſton. as Gal. 6.1. or of infirmity, when a man wreſtles, and hath ſome time to fight it out, but for want of breath and ſtrength, fals, and is in ſome captivity to the law of ſin. This is the worſe.

Verſe 24. O wretched man] We muſt diſcontentedly be contented to be exerciſed with ſin, while we are here. It is ſo bred in the bone, that till our bones, as Joſephs, be carried out of the Egypt of this world, it will not out. The Romans ſo conquered Choſroes the Perſian, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. that he made a law, that never any King of Perſia ſhould move warre againſt the Romans. But let us do what we can to ſubdue ſin, it will be a Jebu[illegible: 1 letter]te, a falſe borderer, yea, a rank traitour rebelling againſt the Spirit. Only this we may take for a comfortable ſign of future victory, when we are diſcontent with our preſent ill eſtate. Grace will get the upper hand, as nature doth, when the humours are diſturbed, and after many fits. And as till then there is no reſt to the body: ſo neither is there to the ſoul.

Who ſhall deliver me] Nothing cleaves more pertinaciouſly, or is more inexpugnable then a ſtrong luſt.

From this body of death] Or, this dead body, by an H[illegible: 1 letter]braiſme, this carcaſe of ſin to which I am tied and lungold: as noi[illegible: 1 letter]ome every whit to my ſoul, as a dead body to my ſenſes; and as burdenſome, as a withered arm, or mortified lim, which hangs on a man, as a lump of lead.

Verſe 25. I think God, &c.] The Grecians being delivered but from bodily ſervitude by Flaminias the Roman [illegible: 1 letter]enerall, called him their Saviour: and ſo rang out, Saviour, Saviour, Plutarch. that the Fowls in the a[illegible: 1 letter]r fell down dead with the cry. How much greater cauſe have we to magnifie the grace of Chriſt, &c.

So then, with the minde, &c.] The ſtars by their proper motion are carried from the Weſt to the Eaſt: And yet by the motion of obedience to the firſt mover, they paſſe along from the Eaſt unto the Weſt. The waters by their naturall courſe follow the center of the earth, yet yeelding to the Moon, they are ſubject to her motions: So are Saints to Gods holy will, though corrupt nature repine and reſiſt.