174 An Expofition upon Chap.6, [that henceforth tbiy ferve not fin. ] Lafkly, a reafon thereof, becaufe they that are dead,are freedfromfinne, verfe 7. T t M. What is meant here by the eld man? S IL. The univerfall corruption of our nature as we are conceived and born in finne, whereby we are prone unto all evill,and undifpofed unto any good:the which corruption is therefore called old, becaufe it bath been in mans nature ever from our fiat parents Adam.Second- ly, becaufe it is in every child of God, before that new quality of holineffe,for which they change their old deformity at their new birth. And for other two relpeas the name of [ Man] is attribu- ted unto our finfull corruption. Firft,to thew how neerely the evill and poyfon of finne cleaveth to us,being as it were a mans felfe. Secondly,to note how men areaddi &ed unto it before they be fan - &ified, they doe not thinke themfelves to be men without it, fo Driving for the maintenance of their darling fnnes, as they would doe for the fafety of foule or body : one were as good pluck out a mans heart as feeke to pull him from his beloved fnnes, as good kill the man himfelfe as his finne. T a m. In what fenfe it our old man faid to 6e crucified? St t.To have our old man crucified, is to have the Drength of our finne en- feebled,weakned, and broken by little and little, as Chrifis body was weakned upon the Croffe till he dyed. Tim. What may that word Crucifie put us in winde of ? S t L. Of the kinde of death which Chrift fuffered ;namelÿ,thecoded death of the Crotie, by which death he defer - ved the holy -Ghof for us, to crucifie, that is, to pull downe the Drength of finne, that though it be,yet it may not rule in us. T t m. But how may weunderff and this, where it it written [that our old man de crucified with him,] fithence the death of Chriff w at pa ft long before this, how then crucified with him? S r t. We are to underftand it thus: that when Chrift fuffered upon the Croffe, the corruption of our nature was imputed to him as to our furety, who once bearing the punifhment of it, doth not onely for ever take away the guilt from us;but doth daily by his Spi- rit ( which by that death he merited for us) kill and crucifie that our old man, that it may not reigne in his members: therefore it is here written in the prefent time, that our old man is crucified with him, to teach us, that howfoever his death was but once fuffered,yet the me- rit thereof and efficiency is everlafling in all thole which are one with him by faith, therefore he is faid in Hebrews to have purchafed eternal] redemption. Tx m. What infiru5fion for manner.' and amendment of life,wifl arifefrom hence, that our old man it crucified with Chriff ? S 1 L. Firf, we can never fufficient- lyabhorre our corrupt nature and the tufts that fpring from it, fithence it was that which nayled Chrift to the Croffe. Secondly,wee mutt labour to feele the vertue of Chrift crucified in the mortify- ing offinne,and then we may affure our lelses of the benefit of Chrift crucified,in the forgiveneffe of finne.Lattly,as Chrift gave himfelfe wholly to the Croffe for our fakes,fo ought we to Drive againil all and every finne, not bearing nor nourifhingany one finne,but keeping under one as well as another ; teeing Chrift pared none of his members and parts of his body, which were all and every one pained for our finnes, even from his head to his feete. Ti m. What doth this word [body of finite] JIgnifie? S r L. The whole man ( body and foule) as he is born of his parents, and comes into the world corrupted by fin ; and albeit not the body alone but the whole man throughout, in his nrinde, will, affeaions, and all be infe&ed with finne : yet for good reafon doth the A- poDte liken finne to a body, calling it a body offinne,(that is,finne which is as a body.) Firi, to teach us that fin is a thing fubfifting and of force in us. Se- condly, becaufe it hath innumerable lulls, as it were fo many members an- nexed to it. Thirdly, though fin bee feated
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