Rom 6:6-11, 1Cor 7:39, Gal 6:14, 1Pe 2:24 | JFB | STEP | 6-7. Knowing this, &c.-- The apostle now grows more definite and vivid in expressing the sin-destroying efficacy of our union with the crucified Saviour. that our old man-- "our old selves"; that is, "all that we were in our old unregenerate condition, before union with Christ" (compare , ; ; ; 5:24; ). is-- rather, "was." crucified with him-- in order. that the body of sin-- not a figure for "the mass of sin"; nor the "material body," considered as the seat of sin, which it is not; but (as we judge) for "sin as it dwells in us in our present embodied state, under the law of the fall." might be destroyed-- (in Christ's death)--to the end. that henceforth we should not serve sin-- "be in bondage to sin."

‏ Romans 6:6-11

6-7. Knowing this, &c.--The apostle now grows more definite and vivid in expressing the sin-destroying efficacy of our union with the crucified Saviour.

that our old man--"our old selves"; that is, "all that we were in our old unregenerate condition, before union with Christ" (compare Col 3:9, 10; Ep 4:22-24; Ga 2:20; 5:24; 6:14).

is--rather, "was."

crucified with him--in order.

that the body of sin--not a figure for "the mass of sin"; nor the "material body," considered as the seat of sin, which it is not; but (as we judge) for "sin as it dwells in us in our present embodied state, under the law of the fall."

might be destroyed--(in Christ's death)--to the end.

that henceforth we should not serve sin--"be in bondage to sin."

8. Now if we be dead--"if we died."

with Christ, &c.--See on Ro 6:5.

9-11. Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him--Though Christ's death was in the most absolute sense a voluntary act (Joh 10:17, 18; Ac 2:24), that voluntary surrender gave death such rightful "dominion over Him" as dissolved its dominion over us. But this once past, "death hath," even in that sense, "dominion over Him no more."

‏ 1 Corinthians 7:39

39. bound by the law--The oldest manuscripts omit "by the law."

only in the Lord--Let her marry only a Christian (2Co 6:14).

‏ Galatians 6:14

14. Translate, "But as for me (in opposition to those gloriers 'in your flesh,' Ga 6:13), God forbid that I," &c.

in the cross--the atoning death on the cross. Compare Php 3:3, 7, 8, as a specimen of his glorying. The "cross," the great object of shame to them, and to all carnal men, is the great object of glorying to me. For by it, the worst of deaths, Christ has destroyed all kinds of death [Augustine, Tract 36, on John, sec. 4]. We are to testify the power of Christ's death working in us, after the manner of crucifixion (Ga 5:24; Ro 6:5, 6).

our--He reminds the Galatians by this pronoun, that they had a share in the "Lord Jesus Christ" (the full name is used for greater solemnity), and therefore ought to glory in Christ's cross, as he did.

the world--inseparably allied to the "flesh" (Ga 6:13). Legal and fleshly ordinances are merely outward, and "elements of the world" (Ga 4:3).

is--rather, as Greek, "has been crucified to me" (Ga 2:20). He used "crucified" for dead (Col 2:20, "dead with Christ"), to imply his oneness with Christ crucified (Php 3:10): "the fellowship of His sufferings being made conformable unto His death."

‏ 1 Peter 2:24

24. his own self--there being none other but Himself who could have done it. His voluntary undertaking of the work of redemption is implied. The Greek puts in antithetical juxtaposition, OUR, and His OWN SELF, to mark the idea of His substitution for us. His "well-doing" in His sufferings is set forth here as an example to servants and to us all (1Pe 2:20).

bare--to sacrifice: carried and offered up: a sacrificial term. Is 53:11, 12, "He bare the sin of many": where the idea of bearing on Himself is the prominent one; here the offering in sacrifice is combined with that idea. So the same Greek means in 1Pe 2:5.

our sins--In offering or presenting in sacrifice (as the Greek for "bare" implies) His body, Christ offered in it the guilt of our sins upon the cross, as upon the altar of God, that it might be expiated in Him, and so taken away from us. Compare Is 53:10, "Thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin." Peter thus means by "bare" what the Syriac takes two words to express, to bear and to offer: (1) He hath borne our sins laid upon Him [namely, their guilt, curse, and punishment]; (2) He hath so borne them that He offered them along with Himself on the altar. He refers to the animals upon which sins were first laid, and which were then offered thus laden [Vitringa]. Sin or guilt among the Semitic nations is considered as a burden lying heavily upon the sinner [Gesenius].

on the tree--the cross, the proper place for One on whom the curse was laid: this curse stuck to Him until it was legally (through His death as the guilt-bearer) destroyed in His body: thus the handwriting of the bond against us is cancelled by His death.

that we being dead to sins--the effect of His death to "sin" in the aggregate, and to all particular "sins," namely, that we should be as entirely delivered from them, as a slave that is dead is delivered from service to his master. This is our spiritful standing through faith by virtue of Christ's death: our actual mortification of particular sins is in proportion to the degree of our effectually being made conformable to His death. "That we should die to the sins whose collected guilt Christ carried away in His death, and so LIVE TO THE RIGHTEOUSNESS (compare Is 53:11. 'My righteous servant shall justify many'), the gracious relation to God which He has brought in" [Steiger].

by whose stripes--Greek, "stripe."

ye were healed--a paradox, yet true. "Ye servants (compare 'buffeted,' 'the tree,' 1Pe 2:20, 24) often bear the strife; but it is not more than your Lord Himself bore; learn from Him patience in wrongful sufferings.