II. OF ORIGINAL SIN.

That mankind are considerable siijferers in conse- quence of the fall of Adam is not denied ; but alt the evils which Moses specifies as affecting his po- sterity on that account, are of a corporeal and tem- poral nature, viz. labour, sorrow, and death. It is- possible, indeed, that, the body being more subject to . disease, the mind may be more feeble, and therefore more prone to comply with some temptations j. but .1 — :. -u~.,]j a ] so De considered, that a sickly con- favourable (o many virtues, and we see of confirmed health is often highly dan- moral respect; so that upon the whole it that our condition is more favourable to that of Adam. That the sacred, writers nsiiler it as, upon the whole, worse thin ' hi*,
illustrated. SI
Tiis, is" evident from their never giving the least hint, that any allowance will be made to men for that na- tural disadvantage. Nay, many oF the sinful posterity of Adam are blamed more severely than he was for -bis sin ; and if we consider his situation and the cir- cumstances of his fall, we cannot suppose that he had greater strength of mind to resist temptation than we are now possessed of. Since, however, Bome particular texts are alleged, to prove that the nature of man is totally depraved by the fall, insomuch that all mankind, without exception, are now altogether incapable of any good thought, word, or action ; and, moreover, that we are all subject to the everlast- ing wrath of God. on account of the sin of Adam, I shall give a brief explication of the principal of those tests.
Gen. vi. 4. " And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth ; and that every imagina- tion of the thoughts of his heart was only evil conti- nually." If we understand this passage literally, it will be contradicted by the character which is im- mediately afterwards given of Noah, of whom it is said, *er. 9. " that he was a just man, and perfect in his generation, and that he walked with God." But it is plain that this wickedness of mankind v owing to any natural depravity, which their tion from Adam rendered necessary, but that i voluntary corruption, and had its rise from selves onlyj for it is said, ver. IS. that"
8 9 Passages of Scripture
upon the earth, and behold it was corrupt ; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth." Be- sides, this state of the world is alleged as a justifica- tion of the divine proceedings against them; whereas, if they had been corrupt by the necessity ofnatwre f it mutt hare operated as a plea in their favour, with that being who considers our frame, and remembers that we are but dust. If he makes suitable allowance fur the infirmities of our bodies, much more would he consider the natural and necessary disorders of our minds.
Job xiv. 4. "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean f not one." This is a proverbial expres- sion, signifying that nothing can be more perfect than its original ; but Job is not speaking in this place of the guilt and pollution of man, but of his sorrows and mortality.
Psalm li. 5. "Behold I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me." This also has very much the air of. a proverbial expression, signify- ing great depravity of heart, and very early habits of vice. That it was not intended to express a natural and invincible propensity to vjee, is plain, because that would be inconsistent with the tenor of the whole malm, in which the humble author seems disposed to rather than, to extenuate his offences, to u last- mentioned consideration would have mtributed. t. \Sa 13, H. "Where/ore, as, by on*
I
illustrated. S3
man sin entered into the world, an& death by sin ; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned, &c."
I think a careful and impartial reader will observe,. that the. apostle speaks not here of the death of chil- dren, whom he does not once mention, or refer to, through the whole argument. But he speaks of those who were not only capable of sinning, but had actually ginned, and refers us to the Mosaic history of man-, kjnd in the ages between the fall of Adam and the giving of the law by Moses. Sin and death entered . into the world by Adam, and death hath passed upon. . all men, fqr that all have sinned) consequently must baye transgressed some law, ver. 14, " For, before, the. giving of the law by Moses, sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed where there is no law :" and the law of Moses they could not sin against before it; was given,. " Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam * tp Moses, even over them that had not sinned aftgr the similitude, of Adam's transgression/' i. e. by eat* ing the forbidden fruit, or violating any ppsitive law of .life, given to them. What law then had they sin- ned against ? Most evidently, the law of righteous* ne.ss which God had written on their hearts ; the, sanction of which tbey were also well apprized of,, (3$ the aposjtle. speaks of the Gentiles in general, cb^** 32. of this epistle,) " who knowing the judgement Gq4, (thftt they which commit such things are of qe#tt},) not only do thesanie, btt* have plej %W„ttoM,Q 4hw- w HeAceiv aj>pe**a.
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24 Passages of Scripture
apostle does not speak of the sin of Adam being im- puted to make men sinners, and subject them to death ; but of actual and personal sins, and of death as the re- compense of them. Now look into the Mosaic history of this period, and we find before the flood "lha$ the' wickednessofmen was great in the earth,"— -Gen. vi.5. " The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. For all flesh had cor- ! rupted his way upon the earth," ver. 11, 18. And after the flood, excepting the faith and obedience of Abraham, Isaac, and Jac*>b, we have little else re- corded besides transgressions of the law of righteous- ' ncss ; sins which men committed, though "not after the similitude of Adam's transgression." As to the death of infants : God, the great giver of life, hath, undoubtedly, a perfect right to resume it whenever it Eeemeth meet to his infinite wisdom. But I do not recollect that the sacred writers do any where re- present it as a punishment either for Adam's sin, or their own. In a few cases they speak of it as a pu- nishment of the sin of their immediate parents, but then, as a punishment to their parents who had sin- ned, not to the children who had not sinned. Rom. v. 6, 8. "For when we were yet without -*—- gth, in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. jod commended his tove towards us, in that : we were yet sinners Christ died for us." he intelligent reader judge for himself, whe- apostle doth not speak hereof the staieof man- articulariyof himself and the persons he writes
i.)
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■ to) before Christ's death, and the consequent publica- r .l tion of the gospel to the world, and intimate that the
ien\ ca8e ' s vcr y different **» , not plainly make the distinction in both verses, that
the/ we m 'g^ t not mistake his meaning, " when we were . 5. ' Y** without strength, and while we were yet sinners ? " *j, e | But doth the case continue the same, since Christ or I died, with those to whom the blessings of the gospel n A are imparted ? Then hath Christ died, and the gospel ff been published in vain. Yet some writers represent the state of those for whom Christ died, and who hatfe received the gospel, as just the same, as to strength, with them who had not received it, and who lived before it was published. Surely, any of us would be dis- pleased to have our words wrested to purposes so different from our intentions, especially when we had endeavoured to guard them from such abuse* God our maker hath given us intelligent capacities, suited to those discoveries which he hath made of hid will, whether by the light of nature, or revelation*; • he hath given us also freedom of choice and action for the conduct of ourselves ; he hath granted us the light and motives of the gospel for our fuller instruction and persuasion ; he is ever present with us and ready to assist our sincere endeavours to know and to do his wilt; •surely then, it i9 unjust and ungrateful to him that we are still without strength ; and if wer tiers, it is wholly our own fault. As for the teven the worst of them, the apostle no whfre their waAt of strength, to their not havijhg
s-
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S6 , Passages of Scripture
from their Maker sufficient abilities to know and do his will acceptably, but to their having voluntarily corrupted themselves and one another, and thereby lost the abilities which God had given them, and be- come dead in trespasses and sins. - Bom, vii. 7, 8. " Because the carnal mind is en- mity against God ; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then, they that are in the flesh cannot please God."
It appears to me that the apostle speaks here only ef persona] character and conduct, and the effects of them in producing governing habits; but not at all of any corruption or depravity of the nature, of man effected toy Adam's sin, whereby he is become inca- pable of doing that which is good, or of pleasing GotL Adam, jot his sin, is not mentioned by the apostle In treating of this subject. It is readily acknowledged, that a person who attaches himself to the gratification of his carnal or sensual appetites and passions cannot perform the will of God, but must daily become more and more alienated from him, and from his duty: but this is saying no more than that a wicked man cannot be a good man, or please God so long as he continues wicked. But it by no means follows that this man is unable to hear, understand, and receive salutary con- ions from the truths of God, revealed by his Son is Christ, and thereby become changed in his sen- cits, .dispositions, and conduct, and from carnally f ed become spiritually minded. The various forms eesb which the apostle uses in the preceding and
following
* illustrated, .ff
following verses seem only to express one and the same thing, viz. the change produced in the dispo- sitions and conduct of men by preaching the gospel to them, and their attention to it, and sincere recepj tion of it, together with the happy effects and con* sequences of it.
Ephesians ii. 3. " And were by nature children of wrath, even as others/*
If we compare the passages in which the apostle uses the word nature, we shall find that he did not mean by it that internal frame, constitution, or con- dition of being wherewith God our maker hath form- ed us; but that external condition, or those out-: ward circumstances (especially with relation to God' and religious concerns) in which Divine Providence hath caused us to be born and live. Human .nature, in our sense of the phrase, is the same in all mVnkind ; but different persons may be brought forth into life, and spend it under very different natural circum- stances, in the apostle's sense of the word nature. Thus Rom. ii. 14. he says, " When theGentile3, which have not the law, do" by nature fC the things contained in the law ;" and ver. 27. " Shall not uncircumcision y which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, &c." He here plainly speaks not of an internal frame, constitution, or powers, or what we call a natwtj which the Gentiles had, different from that ol Jews ; but of their external, moral, and religious and circumstances, as destitute of the insti and assistances of the law of Moses, by
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9t Passages of Scripture
were touch below .the Jews. Again, in the rea&ooa- fttmnce which he tells us he made to Peter, we find these words, Gal. ii. 15. "We who are Jews by aqtuve, and not sinners of the Gentiles;' 9 when certainly he doth «at mean to intimate that the Jews had a different sort of nature, or internal constitution, whereby they were Jews ; but only we who are natu- ral -born Jews, and have all along enjoyed the privi* kges of that people. So likewise in the text under •consideration, having spokeu of the Epbeaians as for- merly "dead in trespasses and sins, wherein, in time past, ye walked, according to the course of this world, acoordtnglo the prince of the. power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience; " he adds, ver. 3. " among whom alse we all had Q"? ^nuersation in times past, in the luat pfourftesjb, fcl filling the desires of the flesh and of the mind." Observe, hitherto he speaks of external condition 33d ^ircumatances, and of personal ehj&racter and actual vices, and not at all of internal constitution*, or a na- tins corrupted by the effects of Addon's sip. He adds : **md were by nature children of wrath, even a? Others," i. e. {conformable to his use of the word nq.- tyne in other places) in consequence of out birth apd situation among children of disobedience, where we V«e kept ignorant of the twtb* deceived by fols£ principles, and misted by bad examples, we ouiv qefeea were ckitdren of wrath, as others about us were,, many still continue. By ckUdpm of wrath I ap- Jttfifi the qpo%tte does not mean here a/facts of ife
wrath
itluslrerteck 99
wrath and displeasure of Gbct, but only describe* further the personal character of those whom he so denominates. As m the close of the former verse he had mentioned children, or sons of disobedience, i. £• disobedient children, (ami Peter, 1 Epist. i. 14. speaks of obedient children, in the original ft is children of obedience) so here he- mentions* children of wrath, u e. wrathful, furious, malignant, and mischievous per- sons. h\ a striking and beautiful figure, he represent* disobedience and wrath under the persons of two fruitful mothers, whose offspring they had been* Accordingly, when the apostle comes in the begin* ning of the fourth chapter to exhort the Ephesian christians to a conversation conformable to tkevoca* tion wherewith they were called, and quite the reverse character ami conduct, he begins with describing it thus, vet. 9,3. "with all lowliness and meekness * r *ith long-suffering, forbearing one another in love \ endeavouring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. He also concludes the chapter thus: "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking be put away from you ; with all malice : and be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, foi]giv- 4 ing one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath given you." Do we not see a greater propriety anoVfaif in these exhortations, when we consider them as dressed to persons who had formerly been c$t&fq| wrath ? tl
in.
30 Passages of Scripture
HI. OP ELECTION AND REPROBATION.
Rom. ix. II, &c. " For the children being not yet horn, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth, it was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger j as it is written, Jacob have I loved, . but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there unrigh- teousness with God ? God forbid ! For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will j
have compassion. So then it is not of him that :
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy," &c.
' These verses, and the whole of this chapter, relate ! $ot to the election of particular persons to eternal ] life, but to the calling of the Gentiles,, and the rejec- tion of the Jews from the privileges of the gospel; and it is manifest that the apostle is not speaking in this place of the final state, or indeed of the persons, of Easu and Jacob, but of their posterity, and that only with a view to temporal privileges and prerogatives. The whole body of christians, consisting of Jews ami. Gentiles, are frequently styled the chosen and etjftl ©/* God, on account of their external privileges, ie wiiole Jewish nation had been so named before te same account. This is an easy and plain sense wtion, reflects not at all on the perfections of /.is consistent with the offers and exhortations of
scripture,
illustrated. 3i
scripture, anJ preserves a harmony between the language of the Old and New Testament.
It must be ackn owl edged; however, that in order to vindicate the divine conduct in the calling of the Gentiles, the apostle alleges some facts, in which «ot whole nations but particular persons are spoken of, and which seem to imply that their minds were under supernatural influence in forming had as well as good resolution*; and there are other passages of scrip- ture which at first sight seem to look (he same way.
'Die hardness of Pharaoh's heart, Exod. \x. 16. Rom. ix. 17. the obstinacy of Sihon king of Hesh- bon, Dent. ii. 30. and the unbelief of many of the Jew*, I sa. vi. 10. Matt, xiii. 14. Mark iv. IS. Luke viii. 10. John xii. 40. Acts xxviii. 26. Rom si'.'fl- are all ascribed to the purpose, act, or decree of God, who had important designs to answer by means of these blameable determinations of men. On the other hand, when persons believe and obey the gospel, it is ascribed to the divine influence upon their mind).
Matt. *i. as. " I thank ihee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou h from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight." John vi. 37. 'All [bat tli giveth me shall come to me." See also J Acts xvi II. " " And the Lord opened the, Lydia, that she attended tothethingsihat we of Paul." Mureover, everything of this expressly referred to the arbitrary disposition
39 Passages of Scripture
in Rom. ix. 18, 23/ " Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. Thou wilt say, then, uMo me, VVhy doth he yet find fault ? for who hath resisted his will } Nay but, O man, who art thou, that thou replies t against God ? Shall the thing formed say unto him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus ? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour ? What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction ; and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had before pre- pared unto glory."
To understand such passages as these, we should consider that, in the language of the scriptures, God* is said to do those things which come to pass accord* ing to the natural course of things, as well as to per- form things of a miraculous nature; because they take place in consequence of the laws which he has originally established. And certainly, if God had not made men liable to be seduced by tpmptation, they would not have sinned, any more than they could em- blpee truth without the means of becoming acquainted it} and it must depend upon the goodplcasute whether he will afford men more or fewer tages for attaining to knowledge, virtue, and Bess.* But, notwithstanding this, if the means eu such as would have been effectual, provided
there
illustrated. 3d
there bad been' no criminal prejudice to frustrate tbem,, men are blamed) and God is just and wise in punish- ing them, as well as in rewarding those whose minds are so disposed as to receive advantage from the means of virtue and knowledge which are afforded them.
Now, that in this sense the sacred writers consi- dered God as just to all mankind, is evident from the many earnest exhortations and expostulations address* ed to sinners in the books of scripture, and from the blame and reproach which men are represented as in- curring when they continue in vice and ignorance* It is hot possible that any persons could be so incon* sistent with themselves, as to exhort sinners to repent* and to blame and reproach them- for not repenting, if ; they did not consider them as having a natural power, to comply with the exhortation. Nay, in this very passage of the apostle Paul, which is, perhaps, the most fayourable to the doctrine .of absolute decree* of any thing in. all the books of scripture, GJd is repre- sented as. " enduring, with much long-suffering, th* vessels of wrath fit ted .to destruction/' which evident- ly implies that they had sufficient power and time to repent, and to prevent their impending destruction; and, therefore proves^bat 'their destruction was not iicreed, but in caseqf -?Jb£ir impenitence..
(low much soever, therefore, the sacred writers h$* fer to God. upon patticulat occasions, and whatever % ttte. they may stappose that his infinite wisdom wilt make of the errors and vices of some individuate' mankind, in order, to promote the interests of IHJ
i b 5 an
34 Passages of Scripture
arid virtue more at large, we cannot but conclude that they considered every man's own determination as final with respect to his future state ; and it is to be observed, that neither the obstinacy of Pharaoh nor even the infidelity of the Jews had any necessary connection with their state after death. The former might be hard-hearted with respect to the Hebrews, and either rewarded for other virtues, or punished for Other vices, in a future state ; and if the unbelieving Jews were in other respects such men as Paul, who had a seal for God, though not according to knowledge, they may find mercy in the day of judgement. Thtre is not a single passage in the scriptures wbich repre- sents the future misery of any imfrvulaal. of mankind as determined by an arbitrary decree of God ; but a thousand passages in which it is expressly said, that the future state of all mankind depends entirely upon their own vohmt*ry actions.
* After these observations, short remarks on another passage may suffice for the purpose of this section.
Rom. viii. 28. "And we know that all things toork together for good to them that love God, who are the called according to his purpose. For Wjbom he did foreknow, he did~also predestinate, to be con- formed to the image of his soo, that he might be the fest- born among many brethren. Moreover, whom ~ tdid predestinate, them he also called ; and whom
called, them he also justified ; and whom be jus*
W, them he also glorified."
Ill that we can fairly infer from this, passage is*
thai
illustrated. 35
ihit the end of the christian dispensation, or of (be catling of mankind to the faith of the gospel, is their Simplification and future glory ; for it is manifest that all who arc called are not justified. If this term called be restricted in its meaning, let it be restricted by St. Paul himself, viz- to those who bwe God ; which is sufficiently represented as depending upon men them- selves, by being the subjects of precept and exhorta- tion- "Thou sbalt love the Lord tby God with all thy heart," 8cc.