Romans 7:19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. The text is one of those hard places of St. Paul which, as St. Peter says, the ignorant and unstable wrest to their own destruction. For the proper stating of this case of conscience there must be considered — I. WHAT ARE THE PROPER CAUSES WHICH PLACE MEN AND KEEP THEM IN THIS STATE OF A NECESSITY OF SINNING, so that we cannot do the good we would? etc. 1. The evil state of our nature which we may know by experience. 2. The evil principles which are sucked in by the greatest part of mankind. We are taught ways of going to heaven without forsaking our sins, repentance without restitution, charity without hearty forgiveness and love, trust in Christ's death without conformity to His life, once in God's favour always in it, that God's laws are for a race of giants. No wonder, then, that men slacken their industry, and so find sin prevail. 3. Bad habits. An evil custom is as a hook in the soul which draws it whither the devil pleases. Thus evil natures, principles, and manners are the causes of our imperfect willing and our weaker acting in the things of God. But what then? Cannot sin be avoided? Cannot a Christian mortify the deeds of the body, or Christ cleanse us from our sins? The next particular to be inquired of is — II. WHETHER OR NO IT BE NECESSARY AND THEREFORE POSSIBLE FOR A SERVANT OF GOD TO HATE EVIL AND AVOID IT? "He that saith he hath not sinned is a liar"; but what then? Because a man has sinned it does not follow that he must do so always. "Go and sin no more," saith Christ. The case is confessed "that all have sinned"; but is there no remedy? God forbid. There was a blessed time to come, and it has long since come; "Yet a little while and iniquity shall be taken out of the earth, and righteousness shall reign among you"; for this is the day of the gospel. When Christ comes to reign in our heart by His Spirit, Dagon and the Ark cannot stand together — we cannot serve Christ and Belial. As in the state of nature no good thing dwells within us, so when Christ rules in us no evil thing can abide. "Every plant that my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up." "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." As there is a state of carnality in which a man cannot but obey the flesh; so there is a state of spirituality, when sin is dead and righteousness alive. In this state the flesh can no more prevail than the spirit could in the other. Some men cannot but choose to sin (Romans 8:7); but we are not in the flesh, and if we walk in the Spirit we shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh (see 1 John 3:9; Matthew 7:18). Through Christ that strengtheneth us we can do all things. So it is necessary and possible to mortify sin and escape the slavery of "the good that I would I do not," etc. III. IN WHAT DEGREE THIS IS TO BE EFFECTED, for no man can say he is totally free from sin. All men's righteousness will be found to be unrighteous if God shall enter into judgment with us: therefore after our innocence, we must pray for pardon. But concerning good men, the question is not whether or no God could not in the rigour of justice blame them for their indiscretion, or chide them for a foolish word and a careless action, a fearful heart and trembling faith; these are not the measures by which He judges His children; but the question is whether any man that is covetous, proud, or intemperate, can at the same time be a child of God? Certainly he cannot. But then we know that God judges us by Jesus Christ, i.e., with the allays of mercy; with an eye of pardon; with the sentences of a father. By the measures of the gospel He will "judge every man according to his works." These measures are — 1. In general, this. A Christian's innocence is always to be measured by the plain lines of the commandments, but is not to be taken into account by uncertain fond opinions and scruples of zealous or timorous persons. Some men say that every natural inclination to a forbidden object is a sin; if so, then a man sins whether he resists his inclinations or not. And there is no difference but this: he that yields, sins greatest; and he that never yields, but fights on, sins oftenest: hence the very doing our duty supposes sin. But God judges of us only by the commandment from without, and from the conscience within. He never intended His laws to be a snare to us. He requires of us a sincere heart and a hearty labour in the work of His commandments: He calls upon us to avoid all that His law forbids and our consciences condemn. 2. In particular — (1) Every Christian is bound to arrive at such a state that he have remaining in him no habit of any sin whatever. Our old man must be crucified; the body of sin must be destroyed. (2) He that commits any one sin by choice and deliberation is an enemy of God, and under the dominion of the flesh. (3) Every Christian ought to attain to such a state as that he shall never sin, even by passion, i.e., no passion ought to make him choose a sin. (4) The Christian must strive to gain so great a dominion over his sins that lie be not surprised on a sudden. This indeed is a work of time, and it is well if it ever be done, but it must be attempted. IV. BY WHAT INSTRUMENTS ALL THIS IS TO BE DONE. 1. Faith. He that hath faith like a grain of mustard seed can remove mountains: "All things are possible to him that believeth." We pray in the Te Deum, "Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this day without sin." Have we any faith when we so pray? 2. Watchfulness — by running away from temptation, being always well employed, and laying in provisions of reason and religion. 3. The mortification of sin, which should be so complete that no nest egg, no principles of it or affections to it, be willingly or carelessly left. But if sin be thus eradicated some argue that we shall become proud. But how should pride spring up if there be no remains of sin left? Will a physician purposely leave the relics of a disease and pretend he does it to prevent a relapse? Is not a relapse more likely if the sickness be not wholly cured? 4. Experiment. Let us never say that we cannot be quit of our sin before we do all we can to destroy it. Put the matter to the proof, and trust to the all-sufficiency of grace. 5. Caution concerning thoughts and secret desires. "Lust, when it is conceived, bringeth forth death"; but if it be suppressed in the conception it comes to nothing. 6. If sin hath gotten the power of you, consider in what degree it has prevailed; if only a little, the battle will be more easy, and the victory more certain. But then be sure to do it thoroughly. If sin has prevailed greatly, you have much to do; therefore begin betimes. Conclusion: Every good man is a new creature, and Christianity is a Divine frame and temper of spirit, which, if we pray heartily for and obtain, we shall find it as hard and uneasy to sin as now we think it to abstain from our most pleasing sins. (Jeremy Taylor.) Parallel Verses KJV: For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.WEB: For the good which I desire, I don't do; but the evil which I don't desire, that I practice. |
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