And they that are Christ's
Not all as yet that are secretly so, who are chosen in him, and
by him, are given by the Father to him in covenant, and whom he
has purchased by his blood, and considers as his people, his
sheep, and his children, though as yet they are not called by his
grace; of these, as yet, what follows cannot be said, and
therefore must mean such as are openly Christ's, whom he has laid
hold on as his own in the effectual calling, who have his Spirit
as a spirit of regeneration and sanctification, who have truly
believed in Christ, and have given up themselves unto him.
Have crucified the flesh with the affections and
lusts:
by the flesh is meant, not the natural body to be macerated and
afflicted with fastings, watchings but the corruption of nature,
the old man and carnal heart. The Vulgate Latin version reads,
"their own flesh"; and so do the Syriac and Ethiopic versions;
their concern lying with their own, and not with the corruptions,
affections, and lusts of others. By "the affections and lusts"
are intended, not the natural affections and passions of the
soul, and the desires of it; but its vile and inordinate
affections, its corrupt inclinations, evil desires, and deceitful
lusts; all which are "crucified" first "with Christ", as the
Arabic version reads; see ( Romans 6:6 ) and which
are so abolished, done away, and destroyed, by the sacrifice of
Christ, that the damning power of them over his people is
entirely gone. And in consequence of this crucifixion of the body
of sin, with Christ upon the cross, when he finished and made an
end of it, sin, with its passions and lusts, is crucified by the
Spirit of God in regeneration and sanctification; so that it
loses its governing power, and has not the dominion it had
before: not but that the flesh, or corrupt nature, with its evil
affections, and carnal lusts, are still in being, and are alive;
as a person fastened to a cross may be alive, though he cannot
act and move as before, being under restraints, so the old man,
though crucified, and under the restraints of mighty grace, and
cannot reign and govern as before, yet is alive, and acts, and
operates, and oftentimes has great sway and influence; but
whereas he is deprived of his reigning power, he is said to be
crucified: and though this act is ascribed to them that are
Christ's, yet not as done by them in their own strength, who are
not able to grapple with one corruption, but as under the
influence of the grace of Christ, and through the power of his
Spirit; see ( Romans 8:13 ) .