Commentary on Romans

life, between the law and grace: it hence appears that our evils, however vast they are, are swallowed
up by the infinite mercy of God.
He proceeds in the sixth chapter to mention the sanctification which we obtain in Christ. It is
indeed natural to our flesh, as soon as it has had some slight knowledge of grace, to indulge quietly
in its own vices and lusts, as though it had become free from all danger: but Paul, on the contrary,
contends here, that we cannot partake of the righteousness of Christ, except we also lay hold on
sanctification. He reasons from baptism, by which we are initiated into a participation of Christ,
(per quem in Christi participationem initiamur;) and in it we are buried together with Christ, so
that being dead in ourselves, we may through his life be raised to a newness of life. It then follows,
that without regeneration no one can put on his righteousness. He hence deduces exhortations as
to purity and holiness of life, which must necessarily appear in those who have been removed from
the kingdom of sin to the kingdom of righteousness, the sinful indulgence of the flesh, which seeks
in Christ a greater liberty in sinning, being cast aside. He makes also a brief mention of the law as
being abrogated; and in the abrogation of this the New Testament shines forth eminently; for together
with the remission of sins, it contains the promise of the Holy Spirit.
In the seventh chapter he enters on a full discussion on the use of the law, which he had pointed
out before as it were by the finger, while he had another subject in hand: he assigns a reason why
we are loosed from the law, and that is, because it serves only for condemnation. Lest, however,
he should expose the law to reproach, he clears it in the strongest terms from any imputation of
this kind; for he shows that through our fault it is that the law, which was given for life, turns to be
an occasion of death. He also explains how sin is by it increased. He then proceeds to describe the
contest between the Spirit and the flesh, which the children of God find in themselves, as long as
they are surrounded by the prison of a mortal body; for they carry with them the relics of lust, by
which they are continually prevented from yielding full obedience to the law.
The eighth chapter contains abundance of consolations, in order that the consciences of the
faithful, having heard of the disobedience which he had before proved, or rather imperfect obedience,
might not be terrified and dejected. But that the ungodly might not hence flatter themselves, he
first testifies that this privilege belongs to none but to the regenerated, in whom the Spirit of God
lives and prevails. He unfolds then two things — that all who are planted by the Spirit in the Lord
Jesus Christ, are beyond the danger or the chance of condemnation, however burdened they may
yet be with sins; and, also, that all who remain in the flesh, being without the sanctification of the
Spirit, are by no means partakers of this great benefit. He afterwards explains how great is the
certainty of our confidence, since the Spirit of God by his own testimony drives away all doubts
and fears. He further shows, for the purpose of anticipating objections, that the certainty of eternal
life cannot be intercepted or disturbed by present evils, to which we are subject in this life; but that,
on the contrary, our salvation is promoted by such trials, and that the value of it, when compared
with our present miseries, renders them as nothing. He confirms this by the example of Christ, who,
being the first-begotten and holding the highest station in the family of God, is the pattern to which
we must all be conformed. And, in the last place, as though all things were made secure, he concludes
in a most exulting strain, and boldly triumphs over all the power and artifices of Satan.
But as most were much concerned on seeing the Jews, the first guardians and heirs of the
covenant, rejecting Christ, for they hence concluded, that either the covenant was transferred from
the posterity of Abraham, who disregarded the fulfilling of the covenant, or that he, who made no
better provision for the people of Israel, was not the promised Redeemer — he meets this objection