This is intimated plainly in this expression, - namely, that the will
3. This indicates a prevalence against the contrary actions of the will. This is intimated plainly in this expression, - namely, that the will advances against the working of sin. This the apostle declares in those expressions which he uses, chap. 7:15, 19, 20. And herein consists the "lusting of the Spirit against the flesh," Galatians 5:17; that is, the contending of grace to subdue it. The spiritual habits of grace that are in the will resist it; and the excitation of those habits by the Spirit are directed to the same purpose. This leading captive is against the renewed will. A man is taken captive against his will. Captivity is misery, and no man willingly enters it. Men choose it in its causes, and the ways that lead to it, but not in itself. So the prophet tells us, Hosea 5:11, "Ephraim was oppressed and broken in judgement," - that was his misery and trouble; but he "willingly walked after the commandment" of the idolatrous kings, who brought him there. Even if the soul consents to sin, the means of this captivity, it does not consent to the captivity itself. Hence these things follow: -
(1.) That the power of sin is great, - which is what we are showing; for it leads into captivity against the actions of the will for liberty. If it had no opposition, or that opposition was weak and slothful, it were no great evidence of its power; but its prevailing against diligence and the constant penitence of the will shows its power.
(2.) This leading captive implies many successes. Without that, it could not be said to lead captive. It might rebel and assail; but it cannot be said to lead captive without some successes. And there are several degrees of the success of the law of sin in the soul. Sometimes it carries the person to outward actual sin, which is its utmost aim; sometimes it obtains the consent of the will, but is cast out by grace, and proceeds no farther; sometimes it wearies and entangles the soul, so that it stops resisting, - which is a success also. Where captivity takes place, one or more, or all of these, must be. Such a course the apostle ascribes to covetousness, 1 Timothy 6:9, 10.
(3.) This leading captive shows it to be wretched. To be thus yoked,
against the judgement of the mind, the consent of the will, its utmost efforts, how sad is it! When the neck is sore from earlier chafing, to be compelled to bear the yoke again, this grieves, this even breaks the heart. When the soul is principled by grace to loathe sin, every evil way, to hate the least discrepancy between itself and the holy will of God, then to be imposed on by this law of sin, with all that enmity, that deadness, what more dreadful condition? All captivity is dreadful in its own nature. The greatest aggravation of it is from the condition of the tyrant to whom one is captivated. Now, what can be worse than this law of sin? Hence the apostle cries out, as one weary and ready to faint, chap. 7:24.
(4.) This condition is peculiar to believers. Unregenerate men are not said to be led captive to the law of sin. They may, indeed, be led captive to this or that particular sin, to serve it against the power of their convictions. They are convinced of the evil of it, - an adulterer of his uncleanness, a drunkard of his abomination, - and make some resolutions against it; but their lust is too hard for them, they cannot cease to sin, and so are captives to the sin. But they cannot be said to be led captive to the law of sin, because they are willing subjects. It has a rightful dominion over them, and they oppose it only when it disturbs their consciences; and then the opposition they make is not from their wills, but the mere acting of an troubled conscience and a convicted mind. They do not detest the nature of sin, but its guilt and consequences. But to be brought into captivity is what befalls a man against his will.
The fourth degree of the opposition made by the law of sin to God and the law of his will and grace, is in its rage and madness. There is madness in its nature: Ecclesiastes 9:3, "The heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart." The evil that the heart of man is full of by nature is that indwelling sin whereof we speak; and this is so in their heart, that it rises up to madness. The Holy Ghost expresses this rage of sin by a similitude: as Jeremiah 2:24; Hosea 8:9. It makes men as "a wild ass;" "she traverses her ways," and "snuffs up the wind," and runs whither her lust leads her. And he says of