+I. The state in which the apostle describes himself to be.+--"I am
dead to the law." Not the moral law of God. Every rational creature
in the universe is under its dominion, the believer as well as
others. He must escape from existence before he can escape from the
law of God. The apostle means he is dead to it as a covenant between
God and himself. There still stands the law before him in all its
primitive authority, purity, and majesty; he honours it and strives
to obey it, and often rejoices in the thought that the time will come
when he shall have his soul in a state of perfect conformity to it,
but this is all. Its life-giving, death-bringing powers are utterly
at an end, and he knows they are at an end. He is dead to all hope
from the law, dead to all expectation of heaven or of salvation from
it. He builds no more hope on his obedience to it than as though the
law had ceased to exist, and no more fear has he of condemnation from
it. The believer, dead to the legal covenant, rests from it. The
connection between him and it is over, and with it are over the
feelings within him, the painful, perturbing, apprehensive, slavish
feelings arising out of it.
+II. The means whereby the apostle has been brought into the state he
describes.+--"I through the law am dead to the law." Suppose a man
anxious to pass from one country to another, from a dangerous and
wretched country to a safe and happy one. Directly in his road stands
a mountain which he cannot pass over, and which he at first imagines
he can without much difficulty climb. He tries, but scarcely has he
begun to breast it when a precipice stops him. He descends and tries
again in another direction. There another precipice or some other
obstacle arrests his course; and still ever as he begins his ascent
he is baffled, and the little way he contrives to mount serves only
to show him more and more of the prodigious height of the mountain,
and its stern, rugged, impassable character. At last, wearied and
worn, heart-sick with labour and disappointment, and thoroughly
convinced that no efforts of his can carry him over, he lies down at
the mountain's foot in utter despair, longing still to be on the
other side, but making not another movement to get there. Now ask him
as he lies exhausted on the ground what has occasioned his torpor and
despair; he will say that mountain itself: its situation between him
and the land of his desires, and its inaccessible heights and
magnitude. So stands the law of God between the Christian and the
land he longs for. The impossibility of making our way to God by
means of the law arises from the extent of its requirements, and the
unbending, inexorable character of its denunciations. We can do
nothing but die to it, sink down before this broad, high, terrific
mountain in utter despair. While through the law the believer dies to
all hope from the law, through the cross of Christ he also dies to
all apprehension from it.
+III. The design of this deadness to the law in the Christian's
soul.+--"That I might live unto God." This living unto God dethrones
self, discovers to the man the base, degrading idol to which he has
been bowing down, makes him ashamed of the worship he has paid it,
and places on the throne of his heart his Saviour and his God. His
renunciation of his self-righteousness has gradually brought on other
renunciations of self. The law driving him to Christ has been the
means of driving him out of self altogether. It has brought him into
the sphere of the Gospel and among those soul-stirring principles,
feelings, and aspirations connected with the Gospel. There is no
greater mistake than to imagine that the Gospel has destroyed the law
or loosened in any degree its hold on men. The Gospel rests on the
law. But for the law and its unbending, unchangeable, external
character the Gospel had not existed, for it would not have been
needed. Dead to the law and alive unto God are two things that go
together; the one springs out of the other. The more completely we
die to the law as a covenant, the more fully, freely, and happily
shall we live unto God.--_C. Bradley._
_Dead to the Law by the Law._
+I. The person justified is dead to the law.+--Here the law is
compared to a hard and cruel master, and we to slaves or bondmen, who
so long as they are alive are under the dominion and at the command
of their masters; yet when they are dead they are free from that
bondage, and their masters have no more to do with them. To be dead
to the law is to be free from the dominion of the law. 1. In respect
of the accusing and damnatory sentence of the law. 2. In respect of
the power of the law. 3. In respect of the rigour of the law,
exacting most perfect obedience for our justification. 4. In respect
of the obligation of the conscience to the observance of ceremonies.
+II. The justified person is dead to the law by the law.+--By the law
of Moses I am dead to the law of Moses. The law accuses, terrifies,
and condemns us, and therefore occasions us to flee unto Christ who
is the cause that we die unto the law. As the needle goes down and
draws in the thread which sews the cloth, so the law goes before and
makes a way that grace may follow after and take place in the heart.
+III. The end of our death to the law is that we may live to
God.+--We live to God wisely in respect of ourselves, godly in
respect go God, justly in respect to men. That we may live godly we
must: 1. Bring ourselves into the presence of the invisible God and
set all we do in His sight and presence. 2. We must take knowledge of
the will of God in all things. 3. In all we do and suffer we must
depend on God for success and deliverance. 4. In all things we must
give thanks and praise to God.--_Perkins._
Ver. 20. _The Believer crucified with Christ, and Christ living in
the Believer._
+I. The believer is conformed to the death of Christ.+--1. The nature
of this crucifixion. It is figurative, not literal; yet real, and not
chimerical. It not only signifies suffering and dying to sin, but
also to effect this by the efficacy of Christ's cross. 2. The objects
to which the Christian is crucified, and the principles which thereby
expire: (1) The law considered as a means of justification. (2) The
world--its applause, treasures, gratification. (3) Self. 3. The
sufferings which accompany this crucifixion. Severe conviction and
mortification. The complete surrender of heart is attended with many
pangs. The continuance of the struggle is grievous.
+II. The believer participates in the life of Christ.+--1. The
principle of the life--Christ living in the soul. 2. The evidences of
this life--holy tempers, spiritual conversation, benevolent actions.
3. The instrument by which this life is introduced and maintained in
the soul--faith.
+Lessons.+--1. _This subject furnishes a test to try the reality of
our religion and the measure of our attainments._ 2. _Exposes the
delusion of Pharisees, hypocrites, and antinomians._ 3. _Exhibits the
dignity, felicity, and exalted hopes of the real believer.--Delta._
_The Religious Life of the Apostle_--
+I. Was characterised from the beginning by promptitude of action.+
+II. Was marked by a constant solicitude for his own personal
salvation.+
+III. Was eminent for its spirit of devotion.+
+IV. Was one of high fellowship with the Divine.+
+V. Had its foundation and power in a living faith in Christ.+
_Truths to live on._--Some one has said, "Give me a great truth that
I may live on it." And the preacher may well say, "Give me a great
truth that I may preach it." There are many great truths in this
verse. And yet how simply are they put! The first great truth taught
in this verse is the _oneness_ between Christ and those who believe
in Him. What St. Paul means is this, that having died with Christ on
the cross, he has in Christ paid the penalty of sin, and it is no
longer his old self that lives and rules, but Christ lives in him.
And is not this the Christ I want? Not only a Christ to copy, not a
Christ outside me, but a Christ living and reigning within. The
believer lives by faith, and faith lives on the promises, for faith
is a loving trust. The presence or absence of faith rules the whole
destiny of every man. The man who believes will live one way. The
unbeliever will live in another way. If you have this simple trust in
Christ, you may appropriate the last clause of the verse, "He loved
me, and gave Himself for me." When did that love begin? Never. When
will that love end? Never.
"Every human tie may perish,
Friend to friend ungrateful prove,
Mothers cease their own to cherish,
Heaven and earth at last remove;
But no changes
Can attend the Saviour's love."
For those Christ loves He will undertake altogether. He gives them
His peace, His joy, His smile, His arm, His hand, His home. For _He
gave Himself._ There are all treasures in Him. Strength for every
need, wisdom for every question, comfort for every sorrow, healing
for every wound, provision for every day. "For _me,_" so
insignificant, unworthy, so bad; for me, whose iniquities have
darkened the blue heavens; for me, a slave of sin.
"Why was I made to hear Thy voice
And enter while there's room,
While thousands made a wretched choice,
And rather starve than come?
'Twas the same love that spread the feast,
That gently forced me in,
Else I had still refused to taste,
And perished in my sin."
--_F. Harper, M.A._
_The Love of the Son of God to Men._
+I. The existence of this amazing affection.+--Let not the
strangeness of the love stagger us into doubt or disbelief, but let
us receive and rest in the revealed fact. Viewed from the side of the
Divine, it is affection from a superior towards those vastly
inferior. Viewed from the side of the human beings beloved, it is an
affection altogether undeserved. The contrast between His dignity and
our demerit is the background on which His love stands out
conspicuously.
+II. The proof of affection He gave.+--Not left to assertion or
speculation, but proved by a public act. What he _did_ expresses what
He felt. He showed it openly by self-denial and self-surrender. He
gave not His substance or possessions, not another being, but to
procure our salvation and express His love He delivered up His own
person.
+III. The personality or individuality of the affection.+--He died
for all and for each. His love to each human being might be inferred
from that to the whole race, but it is affirmed directly. Each singly
had a distinct place in His loving death. Each was a unit before Him,
and had a personal interest in His affection.--_W. Smiley, B.A._
_The Life of Faith._
+I. The life which the apostle lived in the flesh.+--1. _His whole
life was a life of religious decision._ He made his choice and never
faltered in it. He saw what he had to do, and he began to do it at
once. He allowed no parley with the enemy. Nor was this resolution
fleeting; it continued through life.
2. _His life was marked by a solemn regard and care for his own
personal salvation._--There are two sources of religious danger of
which we are not always sufficiently aware--zeal for doctrinal truth,
and active employment in promoting the spread of truth. How possible
it is that, through the treachery of our hearts, even these may be
allowed insensibly to sap the very foundations of that solemn fear,
as to our own selves, which ought to influence us! Remember that
truth is not the substance of salvation but its instrument. Water
others, but neglect not your own vineyard.
3. _His life was truly a life of devotion._--His was a life of
prayer. Philosophy asks for a reason for the efficacy of prayer, and
waiting for an answer, never prays at all. Religion hears that God
will be inquired of by us, thankfully bends the knee, touches the
golden sceptre, and bears away the blessing. We always want; we must
always pray. And wish we for a model of high aspiration in prayer?
Let the apostle elevate and expand our languid desires.
4. _His life was one of heavenly-mindedness._--He lived indeed in the
flesh, but his life was in heaven. Heavenly-mindedness is the result
of three things--an assurance of present acceptance with God,
habitual intercourse with Him through His Son, and the extinction of
the worldly spirit. Our fears and aversions result from principles
directly opposite.
5. _His life was one of cheerful submission to providential
appointments._--His was no life of envied ease. In every city bonds
and afflictions awaited him. These dispensations operated on a tender
and delicate mind, for in him were united great energy and great
tenderness. Yet this man, hunted like a beast of prey, always
preserves and exhibits a contented cheerfulness. There was no sorrow
for himself, none allowed to others for him. The principle itself
reason could not furnish; but when furnished it is seen to be most
reasonable.
6. _His life was one of laborious usefulness._--He lived not to
himself, but to Christ Jesus his Lord, in the promotion of His will
in the moral benefit and eternal salvation of men. This was the life
he lived in the flesh, even to spread the light and influence of the
Gospel to all.
+II. The principle and source of his life.+--1. _It is Christian
faith._ Its object, the Son of God. It receives His words as true,
and regards Him as an atoning sacrifice. "He gave Himself for me."
2. _In its nature it is confiding and appropriating._--How does faith
connect itself with the results stated? (1) It regenerates as well as
justifies. (2) It produces vital union with Christ. (3) It is
habitual in its exercise. (4) It is realising. It gives a spiritual
apprehension of invisible and eternal realities.--_R. Watson._
_Self-abolished and Replaced._--Caroline Herschel, the sister of the
great astronomer, was through all her life the most attached servant
of her brother. She called herself "a mere tool, which my brother had
the trouble of sharpening." She learned the details of observing with
such success that she independently discovered eight comets. Her
devotion was most complete. Wherever her brother was concerned she
abolished self and replaced her nature with his. Having no taste for
astronomy, her work at first was distasteful to her; but she
conquered this and lived to help his work and fame.