and liable to be utterly defeated, by man's free will, in all his most gracious designs,-including the salvation of the seed whom he has, in covenant, promised to his eternal Son, as the reward of his sorrows and shame. The introduction of sin was permitted by God,-not as the means of the greatest good to the greatest number; nor because he could not prevent it,—but because it so seemed good to him, whose right it is, unquestioned, to reign. Admitted, thus, by his sovereign will, it is employed, by his wisdom and goodness, as the means and occasion of revealing his own highest moral perfections. A moral agent made in God's image, is guilty of an aberration so extreme as to apostatize from and assail the very Fountain of life and being, itself. Such an action, atrocious as it is, constitutes a display of liberty and independence of will, which, however really limited and bounded, in the creature, by the Creator's power, is a most remarkable and significant proclamation of a corresponding attribute unbounded in God,—of a freedom of will, an irresponsible independence of purpose thought and action, which is absolute and entire; unlimited by any thing but himself; uncontrolled by aught but his own infinite nature. Further, the permission of sin gives occasion for the display of all those divine perfections, of holiness and wisdom, of justice and mercy, of long-suffering and wrath, which unfold themselves in harmonious action, in the history of the perdition of devils, the eternal blessedness of the elect angels, and the ruin and redemption of man. But for the occurrence of sin, Jehovah had never been known as the redeeming God; and man had never conceived an aspiration so exalted, as that of attaining to sonship to the Most High, of joint inheritance with God's eternal Son. 1. General view of the epistle. CHAPTER XIV. PAUL'S DISCUSSION OF ORIGINAL SIN. THE fifth, sixth and seventh chapters of the epistle to the Romans, contain the fullest and most detailed exhibition of the doctrine of original sin, which we have in the Scriptures. A careful exegesis of them will constitute our principal argument on the subject. matter of the entire epistle naturally resolves itself into a number of divisions, which, to our present purpose, may be enumerated as follows: The 1. First, are the introductory salutations, and announcement of the theme of the epistle, the gospel of Christ, the power of God unto salvation, to every one that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.-Chap. i. 1-17. 2. That by the deeds of the law no flesh can be justified, is proved, by appeal to the notorious wickedness of the Gentile world (ch. i. 18-32), the as unquestionable guilt of the Jew, when tried by the spirituality of the law, and the testimony of the Scriptures, (ch. ii. 1–29, iii. 1–20). 3. Justification by faith, without the works of the law, is then proclaimed. Its nature is stated, (ch. iii. 21-28). Its universal application is asserted:-"Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also; seeing it is one God which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and the uncircumcision through faith."-iii. 29-31. This is confirmed in the fourth chapter, by the case of Abraham, who was justified in uncircumcision, through faith. The excellence of this plan of grace is briefly set forth in the first eleven verses of the fifth chapter. 4. The apostle now proceeds to confirm and illustrate his doc trine, by a still wider induction of principles. He has already proved both Jews and Gentiles all under sin. He now ascends to the fountain, and shows that the sins of both spring from one source; the crime and corruption is one; and hence one remedy, the redemption of Christ, is equally requisite, and equally appropriate and applicable, to both. Here he takes occasion to display the principle upon which that remedy is based, and its consequent adaptation to the evil; and to it in all its forms and aspects, in all alike, whether Jew or Gentile. It was "by one man that sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so to all men death passed through him in whom all sinned." "So by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life." Thus, as the one sin and condemnation are common to Jew and Gentile, so the one righteousness is freely given to both. (ch. v. 12–21.) 5. In the sixth and seventh chapters, the objection, that the doctrine of free grace-repudiating the law and self-righteousness—gives the reins to indwelling depravity, and tends to licentiousness, is met, by showing that the very purpose, naturand effect of the salvation of Christ is, to destroy the principle of sin, the native depravity of the heart. With this view, the triumphant power of the gospel plan is contrasted with the imbecility of the law, which, instead of destroying, only irritates and discovers sin. 6. The results of the work and grace of Christ are summed, in the eighth chapter, in justification, sanctification, adoption, the resurrection and immortality of the body, and eternal glory; all which are sealed by the most infallible purpose, promises and love of God. 7. In the ninth, tenth and eleventh chapters, Paul shows, that, in thus setting aside the law, in which his brethren trusted, and throwing open the doors of salvation to the world, whom they excluded, he was not actuated by indifference, or hostility to his people; but, by ardent love; and that, in so doing, he does not make the promises of none effect. On the contrary, of that generation, even, a remnant were chosen in Christ; and in the fulness of time "all Israel shall be saved," (ch. xi. 26,) God having in reserve for them a most eminent place in the glory of the gospel day. 8. The remainder of the epistle is occupied with exhortations, enforcing zeal and faithfulness in Christian duties; closing with salutations to the Roman disciples. A careful regard to this general scope and design of the apostle, is essential to a full appreciation of the argument of the fifth, sixth and seventh chapters, to which we now turn. verse 12. Chapter v. 12. "Wherefore as by one man sin 32. Chapter v. entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” "As by one man." By "as" is intimated a comparison, of which but one member is here given. We shall find it resumed, and the other member stated, in the eighteenth verse. That the "one man" is Adam, appears from the fourteenth verse, and is not questioned by any. "Sin entered the world." "Sin began, the first of the series of men's transgressions took place," say Stuart and Barnes. The verb sioje literally means, to gain access, by assault, or by stealth,-to enter upon adverse possession. Its nominative, &papria, sin,--and not the plural, sins, -as constructed with this verb, forbids the above interpretation. Beginning with this verse, the apostle engages in an argument which is closely wrought and continuous to the close of the seventh chapter. Its design is to unfold the nature of the evil for which the gospel provides, and the adaptation of the remedy to the precise nature of the evil as thus unfolded. The origin and extent of that evil he states in the twelfth verse:"By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." It would seem to be unquestionable that the word, sin, here expresses whatever moral evil entered the world by Adam, of which death is the penalty. To say that there is a depravity in man's nature, which came in by Adam, is sin, and is so described in the Scriptures, and the penalty of which is death; and yet deny that it is comprehended in the word here used and the statement here made, is a mere contradiction in terms. But the manner in which the apostle proceeds to handle the subject places the question beyond controversy. He begins by the assertion that "by one man sin entered into the world." This he confirms by the fact that, before and until the promulgation of the law from Sinai, "sin was in the world." He declares the law to have entered, (v. 20,) that the offence might abound. "But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." He describes sin as reigning unto death, (v. 21;) asks, “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?" (ch. vi. 1;) and repels the suggestion, upon the ground that "our old man is crucified with Christ, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin," (ch. vi. 6.) Throughout the sixth and seventh chapters the whole discussion of the apostle contemplates sin, that which by one man entered the world, the wages of which is death, (vi. 23,) as an indwelling principle, of which, having in the fifth chapter described the origin, he in the subsequent ones exhibits the power and evil. By the word, sin, therefore, the apostle unquestionably signifies that depravity of heart which, in the sequel, he describes as "enmity against God," (viii. 7,) and the consequence of which is death,—the wrath and curse of God upon the race. To the same conclusion we are led by the manner in which the preposition ei is employed in the connection. In the New Testament there is a broad line of demarcation observable between the sense of this preposition when repeated, and when used but once. In the former case, it has the force of our English double preposition into; whilst, in the latter, it commonly corresponds with on, to, at, by, &c. Of this an illustration occurs in the account given by John of his own and Peter's visit to the sepulchre:-"The other disciple did outrun Peter, (zai †101⁄2 пpõτos siç tò vnetov,) and came first to the sepulchre; . . . yet went he εἰς μνημεῖον,) not in. Then cometh Simon Peter, following him, (xai eioñ10ev eiç Tò μqueños,) and went into the sepulchre."-John xx. 4-6. So, in our text, whilst Paul describes death as coming to or on all men, (ɛiç návτaç àv0póñovę díñ20v,) on the other hand, of sin he says, that it came into the world, (ɛię tòv xóopov eloñλ0ɛ.) Evidently, that which is thus represented by the word, sin, is something of which entrance into, and continuance in, men, is |