The second thing much insisted upon is, That the person here spoken of, is said to be carnal and sold under sin, which (they say) is made by the Scripture a certain property of a wicked man. Thus it is said of Ahab, Thou hast sold thy self to do wickedly, 1 Kin. 21. 10. yea of all the children of Israel, 2 Kin. 17. 13. They caused their children to pass through the fire, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord. But first, Calvin doth grant, that this is spoken of Paul, while unregenerate, and therefore beginneth his Exposition at the 15th verse of a sanctified person: yet that cannot well be, because there the Apostle beginneth to alter the tense; There he saith, I am carnal, I am sold under sin, whereas before he had used the past time. We grant it therefore, that Paul saith this of himself, though regenerated, that he was sold under sin. But then we say, The expressions above named, and this is not a like; here it is in a passive sense, there in an active sense; of those wicked men it is said, They sold themselves, which denoteth their wilfulness and obstinacy; of this, he was sold, which implieth it to be done against his will, as captives are; there it is absolutely, here it is limited to the flesh: And if this phrase did denote a wicked man in an high degree, then how can they apply it to a man under legal convictions, and in a preparatory way to conversion? It would be very hard to say of such men, that they sold themselves to do evil. Besides, there is a two-fold bondage and captivity under sin, even as the Israelites had a two-fold one they were born in, that of Egypt, and another they voluntarily by their sin sell into, which was that of Babylon. Thus there is a bondage unto sin, we are all ⟨p. 494⟩born in; for in Adam we were all sold to sin, and so needed a Christ, Redeemer. And secondly there is a bondage unto sin, by our own voluntary transgressions; It is true a regenerate person cannot be sold under sin in this later sense, but he is in the former, and so it is no more injurious unto the grace of God, as Austin noteth, then that he is yet mortal and corruptible. Thus you have this great and necessary truth established: Paul speaketh here of a regenerate person, and that not only of him, as he is in the lowest estate, and initials of grace, as Musculus thinketh;
The second thing much insisted upon is, That the person here spoken of, is said to be carnal and sold under sinne, which (they say) is made by the Scripture a certain property of a wickedman. Thus it is said of Ahab, Thou hast sold thy self to do wickedly, 1 Kin. 21. 10. yea of all the children of Israel, 2 Kin. 17. 13. They caused their children to pass through the fire, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord. But first, Calvin doth grant, that this is spoken of Paul, while unregenerate, and therefore beginneth his Exposition at the 15th verse of a sanctified person: yet that cannot well be, because there the Apostle beginneth to alter the tense; There he saith, I am carnal, I am sold under sinne, whereas before he had used the past time. We grant it therefore, that Paul saith this of himself, though regenerated, that he was sold under sin. But then we say, The expressions above named, and this is not a like; here it is in a passive sense, there in an active sense; of those wicked men it is said, They sold themselves, which denoteth their wilfulnes and obstinacy; of this, he was sold, which implieth it to be done against his will, as captives are; there it is absolutely, here it is limited to the flesh: And if this phrase did denote a wicked man in an high degree, then how can they apply it to a man under legal convictions, and in a preparatory way to conversion? It would be very hard to say of such men, that they sold themselves to do evil. Besides, there is a two-fold bondage and captivity under sin, even as the Israelites had a two-fold one they were born in, that of Egypt, and another they voluntarily by their sin sell into, which was that of Babylon. Thus there is a bondage unto sin, we are all ⟨p. 494⟩born in; for in Adam we were all sold to sinne, and so needed a Christ, Redermer. And secondly there is a bondage unto sinne, by our own voluntary transgressions; It is true a regenerate person cannot be sold under sinne in this later sence, but he is in the former, and so it is no more injurious unto the grace of God, as Austin noteth, then that he is yet mortal and corruptible. Thus you have this great and necessary truth established: Paul speaketh here of a regenerate person, and that not only of him, as he is in the lowest estate, and initials of grace, as Musculus thinketh;
