- Lex vero intervenit, ut abundaret
delictum; ubi vero abundavit delictum,
superabundavit et gratia: - Moreover the law entered, that the offence
might abound.^177 But where sin abounded, grace
did much more abound: - Quo, sicut regnavit peccatum per mortem,
sic et gratia regnet per justitiam in vitam æternam
per Iesum Christum Dominum nostrum. - That as sin hath reigned unto death, even
so might grace reign through righteousness unto
eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
20.But the law intervened, etc. This subject depends on what he had said before — that there
was sin before the law was published. This being the case, then follows immediately this question
— For what purpose was the law given? It was therefore necessary to solve this difficulty; but as
a longer digression was not suitable, he deferred the subject and handled it in another place: and
now by the way he only says, that the law entered,^178 that sin might abound; for he describes not
here the whole office and use of the law, but only touches on one part, which served his present
purpose. He indeed teaches us, that it was needful that men’s ruin should be more fully discovered
to them, in order that a passage might be opened for the favor of God. They were indeed shipwrecked
before the law was given; as however they seemed to themselves to swim, while in their destruction,
they were thrust down into the deep, that their deliverance might appear more evident, when they
thence emerge beyond all human expectation. Nor was it unreasonable, that the law should be partly
introduced for this end — that it might again condemn men already condemned; for nothing is
more reasonable than that men should, through all means be brought, nay, forced, by being proved
guilty, to know their own evils.
That offense might abound,etc. It is well known how some, following Augustine, usually
explain this passage, — that lust is irritated the more, while it is checked by the restraints of the
law; for it is man’s nature to strive for what is forbidden. But I understand no other increase to be
intended here than that of knowledge and of obstinacy; for sin is set by the law before the eyes of
man, that he may be continually forced to see that condemnation is prepared for him. Thus sin
disturbs the conscience, which, when cast behind them, men forget. And farther, he who before
only passed over the bounds of justice, becomes now, when the law is introduced, a despiser of
God’s authority, since the will of God is made known to him, which he now wantonly tramples
under feet. It hence follows, that sin is increased by the law, since now the authority of the lawgiver
is despised and his majesty degraded.^179
(^177) , which means to grow more and more, to increase, to multiply: it is a different verb from that in the last clause. What
he calls “offense” or “fall” in this member of the sentence, he calls “sin” in the next. It is still “the fall” or “the sin” which caused
it: for that is the parent of every other sin. — Ed.
(^178) “Intercessisse legem — that the law came between,” i.e., Adam and Christ; from , with, besides, or between, and
μ , to enter. It occurs elsewhere only in Galatians 2:4, where it is rendered, “came in privily,” as required by the context.
But it cannot be so rendered here. Schleusner says, that it simply means to enter, and that it is so used by Philo. It is thus rendered
by the Syriac and Arabic versions. Erasmus has “obiter subiit, vel, irrepsit — came, or, crept in by the by;” Hammond has the
same; but Beza attaches the idea of besides to , — præterea introiit — entered in besides,” i.e., in addition to the disease under
which all men labored, having been contaminated by that of the first sin. “Intervenit — intervened,” is the rendering of Grotius;
that is, the law intervened between the beginning of sin and the beginning of new righteousness. “The law,” says Hodge, “was
superinduced on a plan already laid. It was not designed for the accomplishment of man’s salvation, that is, either for his
justification or sanctification, but for the accomplishment of a very subordinate part in the great scheme of mercy.” — Ed.
(^179) Chrysostom regarded here as denoting not the final cause, but the event, and thought the meaning to be, that the law
entered, so that the effect or event was, that sin increased. Its rendering would then be, so that: and this seems to be the meaning
given to it by Calvin. The law did not create sin, but made it known, and by discovering it, increased its guilt when persisted in,
and by discovering it showed the necessity of a Savior.