from without to compel him to will or do what was good or what was evil whether it were in things Natural Civil Moral or Divine CHAP. XI Concerning the Covenant of Works and the Fall of man § 1. MAN being made in a Gen. 1.27 Gods Image Adam had a knowledg of Gods will perfâ—ct in its kinde had a perfect b Col. 3.10 knowledg of Gods will not that c Isa 40.13 Rom 11.33 34. absolute and secret will of God which is the Cause of all Being but that d Deut. 29.29 conditional and revealed will of God What the Law to Adam which is the e Psal 143.10 Mat. 6.10 rule of mans working Which will of God was to be a law to man How the same with the Decalogue and Adam in his creation had this f Psal 40.8 Jer. 31.33 Rom. 2.15 law written in the table of his heart the same in substance with the Decalogue g Exod. 34.28 that law of the ten Commandments which afterwards Israel had written in tables of stone § 2. God having given man a law What the Covenant of Works he further entreth with him a a Exod. 34.28 Deut. 9.10 Jer. 31.31 32. Heb. 8.9 13. Covenant This call'd the Covenant of Works In which the b Lev. 18.5 Ezek 20.11 Rom. 7.10 10.5 Gal. 3.12 promise on Gods part is the confirming man in his created estate of life holiness and happiness The c Lev. 18.5 Ezek. 20.11 Rom. 7.10 10.5 Gal. 3.12 condition on mans part is perfect obedience unto the d Deut. 27.26 Luke 10.25 26 27. Gal. 3.10 Jam. 2.10 whole law of his Creator according to the full extent of his revealed will What the seal of the Covenant This Covenant God seals in a solemn ratification with that Sacramental Tree the e Gen 2 9. 3.22 Prov. 3.18 Tree of life § 3. Thus God having made firm his Covenant The trial of mans obedience he doth put man upon the trial of his obedience a Gen. 2.16.17 forbidding him to eat of the tree of knowledg setting on the prohibition with this commination b Gen. 2.17 that in the day he eateth thereof he shall surely dye So that as upon mans performing the condition God freely promised by covenant a Blessing of life so upon his breach of the Covenant God severely threatned in justice the curse of death Man left to the use of his freewil § 4. Now God having entred a Covenant and seal'd it enacted a probatory law and publish'd it he leaveth man a Eâ—cles 7.28 furnish'd with sufficient power to the use of his free will for the trial of his obedience Tempted by Satan And here the b John 8.44 Devil in malice to God and envy to man making use of the c Gen. 3.1 2 3 c. 2 Co. 11.3 Serpent by the subtilty of his suggestions deceiveth Eve and by the plausible importunity of her d Gen. 3 6. 1 Tim. 2.14 perswasions Transgresseth in eating the forbidden fruit seduceth Adam to a breaking the Covenant of his God by eating the forbidden fruit Satans bait to catch men § 5. That which Satan in his temptation doth labour by subtil Sophistry to perswade is this That man should not dye though he did eat but should be like God The subtilty of Satans temtation when he had eaten This poyson the Devil first presents unto Eve in a cover'd cup words of a dark dubious and perplex'd sense by a Gen. 3.1 way of interrogation yea hath God said the better to catch at her answer His order and progress in it and pursue his design And when by his questioning he hath b Gen. 3.3 brought Gods Command into question he presently c Gen. 3.4 takes away the commination which God hath set as a bar to his law lest man should break in and transgress his command and to Gods severe threatning he d Gen. 3.5 opposeth an enticing promise which he sets on with a false crimination cast upon God and as a gloss to his lye he gives a rare commendation of the fruit The Tree of knowledg of good and evil why so called seemingly made good by the very denomination of the Tree the e Gen. 2.17 Tree of knowledg of good and evil which name it had of God not from the constitution of its nature but of his ordinance with respect to the event of mans sin foreseen § 6. wherein the hainousness of Adams transgression doth consist The enormity and hainousness of Adams sin is not to be sought for in the tast or in the fruit or in the tree which present but a low estimation of the sin to a seeming meanness of the fact but it is to be sought for in the a Gen. 2.17 3.11 Exod. 20.1.2 high contempt of the Divine Majesty and Law in the b Gen. 3.5.6.22 proud affectation of the Divine Dignity and Likeness yea in the horrid Apostacy of preferring Satans word before Gods and thereby turning from God in his truth to a siding with Satan in his c John 8.44 lie The sin then of our first Parents it was no light trivial or single sin but indeed a mass or heap of hainous horrid and manifold impieties even to a violation of the whole Decalogue how a violation of the whole Law in a total breach of that d Jam 2 8 Royal Law of love which doth e Mat. 22 36 37 38 40. Rom. 13.10 fill up both tables in what concerns God our neighbour and our selves § 7. In this transgression of Adams What was mans fist sin is doubtful and so difficult to determine the concourse and complication of many sins it is doubtful and difficult to determine which was the first sin the erroneous a Jer. 4.22 Psal 14.2 judgment of the understanding that must necessarily go before the evil election of the will in order of nature yet we conceive the understanding and will What the first internal principle of evil in man by error and evil choise did in one and the same instant compleat the sin and thereby became the first internal principle of evil in man whether that evil were a sin either of vain confidence or infidelity or of pride or of covetousness one of which most probably was which is not necessary to be determined the first sin committed by Adam in his Apostacy Adams sin was from himself freely without force And thus that Adam sinned was not by any a Jam. 1.13 enforcement either of positive decree in God or of b Jam 4.7 irresistible temptation in Satan or of c Eccles 7.29 evil disposition in himself But at the suggestion of the Devil Adam misusing the liberty of his will of his own accord did d Rom. 5.14.15 transgress the command of his God and thereby became guilty of
evils which they commit in their executing this punishment are all from their own corrupt and vile affections It is no excuse to the wicked that they fulfill Gods secret will when they disobey his will revealed and why § 5. And though true it is the wicked do perform a Rom. 9.19 Gods secrets will his will of purpose even when they disobey b Acts 2.23 his revealed will his will of precept yet because Gods revealed will is the Rule of our obedience to disobey that though we perform the other it c 1 Iohn 3.4 is sin So that it can be no excuse of sin in man or imputation of unrighteousnesse in God that the wicked whil'st they sin yet not in their sin actually do what he by his secret counsel eternal decree hath appointed to be done d Acts 4.27 Isai 10.5 c. because they do it not in obedience to Gods just will but in pursuance of their own unjust wilfulnes God wills the permission not the commission of sin and why § 6. Besides Gods purpose and foreknowledge is not the cause of what he hath decreed to permit but of what he hath decreed to effect seeing God then doth not wil the commission but the permission of sin he cannot be the cause of it And that God should wil the permission of sin is most just for that otherwise he should lose the glory of his Justice yea and of his mercy too of this we may be confident God is so infinitely good that he would not permit evill were he not withall so infinitely powerfull as to a Rom. 8.28 5.20 order that evill unto good How God is said to harden in sin § 7. Further yet when God is said to a Exod. 9.12 Deut. 2.30 Isai 6.10 29.10 63.17 Rom 9.18 harden malicious sinners he doth it not by adding more sin or infusing more malice but by further withholding or quite withdrawing his Grace and so in just judgement b 1 Sam. 16.14 Psal 109.6 1 Tim. 1.20 giving them up unto Satan and their own c Rom. 1.24.26.28 vile affections they truly and really d Exod. 9.34 Mat. 13.14 15. Heb. 3.13.15 Acts 28.26 27 harden themselves Sin then is not prompted or caused by God but suggested by Satan or raised by lust and through consent of the will committed by man § 8. And as sin hath no efficient What sin is in its privative Being but a Rom. 3.23 1 Cor. 6 7. deficient cause so hath it no positive but a privative Being and so cannot properly be an action which is a naturall good but the obliquity and error of the action which is a morall evill it is not the work but the evill of the work What in its proper nature in a deviation from the rule of righteousnesse the b Rom. 4 5. Law of God which is the sin And sin being in its proper nature the c Rom 5.15.17.18 Job 34.31 Jam. 3. ◠offence of Gods Justice in the d Isa 48.8 Job 31 33. Isa 35 5. 1 John 3.4 transgression of his Law doth bring upon man a guilt a pollution and a punishment § 9. In The severall adjuncts of sin that 1. It is Guilt The guilt of sin is that whereby a Mat. 6.12 23 16. Rom. 1 32. 3.19 4.15 man becomes debtor unto God bound over unto the penalty of that law which he hath transgress'd From this guilt doth proceed an b Gen 3 10. Heb. 10.31 horror From whence proceeds horror attended with despair The c Rom. 1.32 2.15 Conscience terrifying the Soul with a selfe-accusing and condemning sentence d Gen. 4.13 Heb. 2.15 Heb. 10 31. made more dreadfull by despair 2. It s Pollution § 10. Besides this guilt of sin which relateth unto the punishment there is a a Mat 15.11 Rev. 22.11 pollution Whereby God abhors man which cleaveth unto the soul Which pollution doth make God to b Prov. 3.32 6.16 Isai 1.15 Jer. 16.18 b Isa 59.2 Hab. 1.13 abominate and abhorre man and Man himselfe with a confuon of face c hiding his face from him and doth make man d Ier. 3 25 Dan. 9.7 8. with confusion of face to loath and e Ezek. 6.9 Iob. 42.6 abhorre himself and to f Gen 3.8 Ier. 32.33 flie the divine presence 3. It s Punishment Gods vindicative Justice diversly exprest § 11. The punishment of sin that is an a Prov. 13.21 Ier. 18.8 Amos 3.2 6. evill of misery inflicted by God in the execution of his vindictive Justice Which Justice as it is provoked by sin is call'd b Ier. 7.19 Mich. 7.18 anger and wrath as it is more hotly incens'd to severity it is call'd c Deut. 29.20 Ierem. 7.20 fury and jealousie as it denounceth sentence and executeth punishment upon sin it is call'd d Deut. 32.35 Ierem. 51.6 Rom. 2.5 judgement and vengeance Why the guilt punishment of sin is infinite § 12. The weight of the offence committed is to be measured according to the greatnesse of the person offended The a Gal. 3.10 Matth. 5.22 12.36 least violation then of an infinite Majesty must incurre the guilt of an infinite punishment How all punishment is equall and how unequall which is b Rom. 6.23 Eternall Death And thus all punishment becomes equall extensively in duration of time though not Matth. 5.22 11.22 24. intensively in degrees of torment yea as is our obligation to the duty such is our transgression of the command and as is our transgression of the command such is the punishment of our sin all of equall extent the transgression infinite because the breach of an infinite obligation and so the punishment infinite because the penalty of an infinite transgression The duration of punishment is correspondent to the duration of sin and how § 13. Thus the duration of punishment doth become correspondent to the duration of sin of the sin not in respect of its Act which is transient but of its pollution and of its guilt which are permanent and so a John 8.24 permanent as that they are eternall Wherefore seeing the least sin without the grace of the Spirit to sanctifie and the mercy of God to pardon is eternall in its pollution and guilt it must needs be so too in its b John 3.36 punishment c Rev. 21.27 certainly excluding the sinner from life and glory and d Ezek. 18.20 eternally subjecting him to death and misery How Gods Justice doth punish and his mercy pardon sin § 14. When Gods justice executeth the punishment of wrath a Lam. 3.39 Jerem. 9.9 it is with respect to the guilt of sin And therefore when Gods mercy doth pardon the sin he b Heb. 8.12 remits the punishment by acquitting from the guilt So that if God should
require penall satisfaction when he hath forgiven the sin Penall satisfaction is inconsistent with sins remission it were as if a man should demand the debt when he hath c Col. 2.41 cancelled the bond an act this of absolute power if not of direct injustice and cannot be supposed in the most holy God who doth forgive sin God doth not punish man for the sin he forgives him but with respect to the d Rom. 3.23 5.11 all-sufficient satisfaction of Christ who hath e Heb. 9.28 1 Pet. 2.24 born away our sin by bearing of our punishment So that the punishment of sin and its forgiveness are inconsistent both in the nature of the thing and by vertue of the satisfaction of Christ § 15. The afflictions then of the godly What is formal punishment and why the afflictions of the godly are not such punishments they are not formal punishments because inflicted of God not as an avenging Judg but as a a Heb. 12.9 10 provident Father and so are not intended for the satisfaction of his justice which is the nature of punishment but either for the abolishing and preventing of sin by way b Heb. 12.7 Rev. 3.19 of correction or for the proof and approbation of grace by way c Job 1.8 9 12. Zech. 13.9 of trial or for the testimony and propagation of the truth by way of d Phil. 1.29 2 17. 3.10 martyrdom And thus the afflictions of the godly have in them the nature of e Heb. 12.11 healing medicines not destructive punishments f Heb. 12.6 they are the issue of a fatherly love not the effects of an avenging wrath § 16. To say that God punisheth sin with sin is a saying so improper To say God punisheth sin with sin is very improper and why that unless candidly interpreted cum grano salis with a due proportion of Prudence and of charity it is very sinful even unto blasphemy for that God and God alone is the a Isa 45.7 Amos 3.6 prime Author of punishment but no ways and in no sense the b 2 Chro. 19.7 Author of sin Besides punishment and sin are as inconsistent in their formal being as light and darkness for seeing privatives are best known by their opposite positives as the good to which the evil of punishment is opposite and that to which the evil of sin is opposed cannot be one and the same good so no more can punishment and sin be one and the same evil yea sin is an evil as being from the will whereas punishment is an evil altogether against the will § 17. True it is that the same a Psal 79.27 thing How that which is sinful may be the punishment of sin which is sinful may be the punishment of sin yet not a sin as a punishment nor yet a punishment as a sin That any thing is a punishment inflicted is from the just ordination of Gods Providence but that the same thing is a sin committed is from the evil deordination of mans perversness Thus the b 2 Chron. 36.14 15 c. slaughter and spoil of the Caldeans was a punishment inflicted by Gods justice upon Judahs sin yet the c Isa 47.5 6. 50 7 11 17 18. 51.24 34 35. cruelty and covetousness of the Caldeans was a sin committed by their own malice in Judahs punishment Yet not sin the punishment God then doth often punish sin with that which is sinful but not so as to make sin the punishment How sin and punishment are formally inconsistent § 18. Indeed punishment being the a Deut. 32.4 execution of Gods Justice and sin b John 3.4 the transgression of Gods law these two cannot possibly so consist together as to make one to be the other and thereby God to be the Author of both or the Author of neither which is equally absurd and impious Besides sin being the c Gen. 6.5 6 7 11 12 13. disorder of the Universe is reduc'd into order by punishment God repairing the breach of his law by the execution of his justice the transgression by the penalty And seeing God doth order sin by punishment sure he doth not punish sin with sin Gods wisdom and power in ordering sin and punishment for that were more disorderly No here is the wisdom and power of God in his providence so to order the same thing which is d 1 King 12.19 sinful in respect of mans wickedness to be e 1 King 12.24 righteous in respect of his justice f 1 King 11.31 33 35 37. even in the just judgment of sin and this without any such absurdity and impiety of making sin to be formally a punishment Punishment the concomitant or consequent of sin but not the same with it § 19. Wherefore true it is that sin which is the a Job 4 8. Lam. 3.39 meritorious cause of punishment may sometimes be its b Rom. 5.10 concomitant or c Rom. 1.24 28 consequent but not the same with it nor yet any proper effect of it for as darkness is the consequent not the effect of the Suns with-drawing or with-holding his light so is sin the consequent not the effect of Gods with-drawing or with-holding his grace CHAP. XIII Concerning Original Sin § 1. What Original sin is Original Sin is that guilt and pollution which seizeth us in a Psal 51.5 Isa 28.8 our mothers wombs in the first Original of our humane being and is either imputed or inherent according to our legal or natural capacity in the first Adam How imputed and inherent As we were b Rom. 5.12 legally in Adam he representing all mankinde we have Original Sin in c Rom. 5.18 his actual disobedience imputed to our person And as we were d Acts 17.26 Heb. 7.9 10. naturally in Adam he the root of all mankinde we have Original sin The unhappy consequent and effects of both in his e Job 14 5. John 3.6 propagated corruption inherent in our natures by that imputed disobedience we are wholly deprived of f Rom. 5.19 1 Cor. 15.22 all Original righteousness and by this inherent corruption we are habitually g Gen. 6.5 Mat. 15.19 enclined unto all actual wickedness § 2. We affirm Original sin doth formally consist in the privation of original righteousness that Original Sin in Adams Posterity doth formally consist in the privation of Original righteousness as it is an evil defect a Gen. 2.17 3.6 through Adams default we not having through the demerit of his Sin what we ought to have b Gen. 1.16 Eccles 7.29 Rom. 7 10.14 by the law of creation and the c Deut. 6.4 5. bond of Covenant with our God by the breach of which law and Covenant in Adam it is that whosoever descends from him by d John 3.6 Ephes 2.2 3. natural generation even the
e Luke 1.47 blessed virgin the mother of Christ not excepted is therefore a child of â—â—â—â—h because a child of Adam communicating in his sin by f Mat. 7.16 17. Jam. 3 11. partaking of his nature How we become deprived of Original righteousness § 3. That Adam then and his posterity become deprived of Original righteousness is not because God doth forcibly withdraw it by his power but deservedly withhold it in his justice a 2 Chr. 15.2 God doth not desert but being first deserted And therefore it was not God that spoyled man but it was man b Eccles 7.29 Hos 13.9 who made voide to himself the integrity of his nature by the guilt and pollution of his actual disobedience which disobedience was indeed a complication of the most hainous transgressions of pride ingratitude Why this deprivation is a sin rebellion c. So that the first loss of Original righteousness being by Adams transgression yea in Adam a sin the after privation thereof in himself and his posterity must needs be sinful Why the punishment of Gods withholding righteousness is no excuse for mans sinful waste and want of it § 4. Though true it is that man having first cast away that rich treasure of Original righteousness by his sin God after a Isa 59.2 withholds it in his justice by way of punishment yet doth not this just punishment from God excuse the sinful privation in man his Original sin in the privation of Original righteousness being though a necessary consequent yet not a proper effect of that punishment much less the formal punishment it self Sin in the privation of righteousness doth follow Gods withholding his grace as darkness being the privation of light doth follow the Suns withholding his beams not as a proper effect but as a necessary consequent And though to be deficient in necessaries is equivalent to an efficiency be true where there is an obligation of law natural or positive to require the assistance yet it is not so where the obligation is broken by his default in whose behalf the assistance is required as it is â—â—â—e in the Case of mans Original sin in the prâ—â—â—â—ion of Original righteousness § 5. Original Sin then is not from God he is no waies the Author of it How we become by nature children of disobedience and children of wrath nor it formally a punishment from him it is properly the effect of Adams disobedience and the consequent of Gods wrath whereby we are become by nature children a Ephâ—s 2 23. of disobedience and children of wrath otherwise neither should children conceived and quickned b Rom. 5.14 dye in the womb nor ought they How proved that we are such being newly born be baptized c Rom. 6.3 6. into the remission of sins As sin d Rom 6.23 doth inseparably bring forth death so doth death infallibly presuppose sin which in the quickned Embryo and new born Infant can be none other then this of Original Sin § 6. How Original sin is a repugnancy to the whole law Which Original sin not onely as the depravation of corrupt nature but also as the deprivation of primitive righteousness it is not barely a 1 John 3.4 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a transgression of the law in some one or some few particulars but is more fully b Rom. 7.23 8.7 Gal 5.17 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an enmity or opposition against the whole Law in general For the Law is not onely the rule of our life and of our works but also c Psal 19.7 Mar. 12.33 Rom. 7.14 of our nature and of our faculties requiring integrity and holiness in these as well as purity and righteousness in them The same precept which commands love requires strength otherwise the Law hath said in vain d Luke 10.27 Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy strength seeing e Rom. 5.6 we have no strength to love him so that not onely to want righteousness in our lives but even to want integrity in our natures is opposite to the Law yea the whole Law of God and therefore must be sin § 7. Seeing that in original sin The contagion of original Sin extends to the persons of all mankinde and the parts of the whole man the evil deprivation of primitive righteousnes is accompanied with a total deprivation of humane nature therefore as the whole man and all mankinde is become guilty so is a Rom 5.12.13 c. Gen 6.5 Isa 1.6 all mankinde and the whole man become polluted And as this Original corruption of mans nature doth extend to all mens persons so doth this corruption of the whole man extend to all the parts and how spreading its contagion into b 1 Cor. 2.14 2 Cor. 3.14 the understanding by ignorance into c Deut. 32.18 Psal 106.21 the memory by forgetfulness into d Mat. 23.37 John 8.44 the will by perverseness into e Tit. 1.15 16. Heb. 10.22 the conscience by confusion into f Rom. 1.24 26 Jam. 4.6 the affections by disorder and into the g RoÌ„ 3.13 c. 6.13 19. very members of the body as the instruments of sin What Original corruption is call'd in Scripture § 8. This Original corruption is called in sacred Scripture sometimes a Rom. 7.7 Jam 1.14 lust and concupiscence sometimes b Rom. 7.8 13 the sin the c Rom. 7.17.20 inhabiting sin the d Heb. 12.1 encompassing sin and sometimes the e Rom. 7.23 8.2 law of sin It is sometimes called the f Rom. 6 6. Ephes 4 22. Col. 3 9. old man g John 3.6 Rom. 7.5 9.8 Gal. 5.19 and the flesh even as flesh is put for the whole man And therefore we read of the h Col. 2 18. Rom 8 6 7. 2 Cor. 1.12 understanding mind and wisdom of the flesh the i Ephes 2.3 Gal 5.24 will affections and lusts of the flesh yea that this man of sin inhabiting in sinful man might be the more fully described this flesh is said to have its k Col. 2.11 body and that body its l Col. 3.5 members The analogy between Christ and Adam in respect of the righteousness and disobedience imputed § 9. Thus as there is an antithesis so is there an a Rom. 5.14 1 Cor. 15.45 analogy between the disobedience of Adam and the righteousness of Christ in that as b Rom. 5.18 19 1 Cor. 15.22 the righteousness of Christ the Head of his Church is imputed to his members for their justification so equal it is that the disobedience of Adam the head of his posterity be imputed to his members to their condemnation and as by the obedience of Christ many even his whole spiritual Generation are made righteous so equal it is that by the disobedience of Adam many even his whole carnal race be made sinners
e Rom. 7.25 Ephes 4.23 weakned by grace shall be perfectly f 1 Cor. 15.53 Rev. 7.14 abolish'd in glory What concupiscence is as spoken of in sacred Scripture § 16. This propagated corruption inherent in our natures is called sometimes in Scripture a Rom. 7.7 Jam. 1.14 15. concupiscence which concupiscence is nothing else but that depraved disposition or habitual propension of our corrupt nature b 1 Thes 4 5. Jam. 1.14 inordinately and actually inclining unto evil and this not onely in the unbridled desires of the sensitive appetite Why seated in the superior as well as in the inferior faculties but even in the inordinate lustings of the will and so is seated not c Gal. 5.19 20 21. only in the inferior but also in the superior faculties of the soul as appears in those sins of envy hatred heresie idolatry and the like From whence concupiscence in its inordinacy is § 17. Concupiscence then in its inordinacy as sin is not from the natural condition of our primitâ—ve being but from the corrupt condition of our lapsed estate For though it is true that upon the union of the soul with the body a spiritual substance with a sensible matter there did necessarily follow in man whilst stated in integrity an a 1 Cor. 15.47 48. inclination and propensity to what was sensible and material yet that this inclination doth now become inordinate and rebellious this propension precipitate and vitious is from the b Eccles 7.29 Rom 7.17 20. corruption of mans nature lapsed into sin Why the sensitive appetite cannot be this concupiscencâ— Wherefore the sensitive appetite and natural affection they may be the c Rom. 7.18 23 sâ—â—t or subject of concupiscence but not formally d 1 Iohn 2.16 concupiscence it self which doth consist in an inordinacy and enormity e Deut. 10.16 Rom. 8.7 repugnant to Gods Law which law saith f Rom. 7.7 Thou shalt not covet What the sensitive appetite in m n is § 18. Further we must know that the sensitive appetite in man it is the faculty not of a brutish but of a rational soul and therefore in pure nature though the Spiritual part did desire carnal things And in pure nature how subordinate unto reason yet did not those carnal things return upon the spiritual part an inordinacy of its desires the sensitive appetite being an inferiour faculty of the rational soul and so subject to the dictate and command of the superiour faculties the Understanding and Will And thus in the state of integrity the rational Soul in its natural desires acting by its sensitive appetite Thereby specifically distinguish'd from that in the beasts it was not in a sensuality the same with the beasts but specifically distinguish'd from them as being seated in such a soul as was endued with the light and rule of reason and as being constituted in such an harmonious subjection as was without the least breach or jar of inordinacy and immoderation § 19. Concupiscence in its inordinacy is the issue of mas fall and why Concupiscence then as an inordinate inclination transgressing the bounds of reason is altogether repugnant to the natural constitution of man in his primitive purity and therefore must necessarily be the issue of mans fall as the sin of corrupt nature Indeed we cannot but with Saint Paul call a Rom. 7.7 8 9 11 13 c. concupiscence sin which exposeth to b Rom. 7.24 Ephes 2.13 death Wherefore call'd Sin and makes subject unto wrath yea certainly it must be sin in its self if made c Rom. 7.8 13. exceeding sinful by the law And how shall concupiscence d Jam. 1.15 conceive and bring forth sin if it be not it self sinful The e Mat. 7.17 20. fruit being evil doth sufficiently declare the tree to be corrupt CHAP. XIV Concerning Actual Sin § 1. AS the body which hath lost its health The privation of original righteousness is inseparably accompanied with the corruption of original uncleanness must needs be sick the member which hath lost its strength must needs be lame so man having a Eccles 7.29 lost his integrity must needs be wicked having lost b Eph. 4.23 24 his purity must needs be corrupt Which Original corruption doth break forth into c Rom. 7.5 23. Gal. 5.17 19 c. inordinate desires and actual lustings contrary to the rule of life the law of God so that Original corruption is to Actual Sin as d Gen. 6.5 fuel to the fire What original corruption is to actual sins or as the e Mat. 15.19 fountain to the stream or as the f Gal. 5 19. Mat. 13.17 tree to the fruit or as the g Jam. 1.15 womb to the child or as the h Col. 3.5 body to the members or as the i Rom. 7.5 habit to the act What actual sin is § 2. Actual Sin as it is formally a de-ordination a 1 John 3 4. in the transgression of Gods law cannot properly have any efficient cause but is rather the b 1 Cor. 6.7 deficiency of those causes which are the efficients of those acts wherein the sin is seated What the immeâ—iate internal causes of it and how The immediate internal causes of actual sin are the c Isa 27.11 Ephes 4.18 understanding and d Prov. 12.8 Isa 1.19 will as defective in their proper offices the former to give the later to observe the rule and direction of Right Reason The remote internal causes are the e Psal 94.8 Prov. 30.2 Jer. 10.21 Jam. 1.26 imagination and sensitive appetite moving and inclining the understanding and wil to what is evil f Rom. 7.5 Ephes 2.3 prompted on by the inordinate propension of Original Concupisence No inducement whatsoever can cause sin without a conspiracy in the inward man § 3. Evil Spirits wicked men and sensible objects may outwardly perswade but they cannot sufficiently induce to any sin a Psal 51.4 Jam. 4 7. Psal 1.1 Jude 16. without a conspiracy in the inward man b Jer. 4.22 Ephes 4.17 even of the judgement and will The external object by means of the imagination may provoke the sensitive appetite and the sensitive appetite by the judgment may tempt the will but neither truly necessitate nor effectually induce a man to sin without some c Gen 6.12 Prov. 1.16 2 Pet. 2 15 22. previous disposition in the inordinacy of the will No actual sin prevailing without the will consenting The Will not necessitated in its volition by any power but that of Gods whereby it consenteth unto evil So that the fort is not gained d Deut. 5.29 Prov. 4.23 23.26 Mat. 15 8. till the will by consent be surrendred the soul by temptation is not overcome till the will in its consent be surprised and God alone it is who in his wisdom and
power can so e Jer. 24.7 Phil. 2.13 encline the will as to necessitate f Psal 110.3 not enforce its volition the policy and strength of g 2 Tim. 3.6 13 1 Pet. 5 8. men and devils is all too weak in this attempt § 4. One sin is often the cause of another How one sin is the cause of another as when man by Sin makes forfeiture a Jude 4. 1 Thes 5.19 of grace and so laid b Psal 109.6 Rom. 1.26 28. open to Satans temptations and his own vile affections he c Psal 69.27 Isa 5.18 falls from sin to sin in a precipice of backsliding from his God Again when by his sin man doth d Psal 12.8 ambulare in circuitu run the round or maze of sin his sinful acts begetting evil dispositions those evil dispositions begetting customary habits and those customary habits bringing forth sinful acts yea when e Ephes 5 18. Rom 13.14 one sin prepares the way and brings fuel to another as when f 1 Tim. 6.10 Jam. 4.1 covetousness and ambition make work for strife and murther in wars arising about wealth and honour who shall possess and command most of this mole-hil the earth Yea when by way of finality one sin is committed in order to another as the means directed to the end Thus g Mat. 26.14 15 16. Judas betrays Christ to satisfie his covetousness and h 1 King 16 9 10 16. Zimri slays his master to satisfie his ambition § 5. What the least actual sin is Every the least actual Sin is a a 1 John 3.4 transgression of Gods law and b Gal. 3.10 every the least actual transgression of Gods law is a sin Sin is manifold in its kinde And though sin be a tree which spreads it self into many branches a fountain which divides it self into many streames whether it be in respect of the Subject or the Object All sin is either of omission or of commission in respect of the efficient or the effect yet is all sin whatsoever either a sin of c Mat. 25.42 43. Jam. 4.17 omission aâ—â— that either in thought in word or in work in not doing what Gods law doth command or of d Exek 5.6 33 18. Jer. 2 13. commission in doing what Gods law doth forbid and this either in e Mat. 12.34 35.36 15.19 Acts 8.22 Tit. 1.16 Jam. 3.2 thought in f Mat. 12.34 35.36 15.19 Acts 8.22 Tit. 1.16 Jam. 3.2 word or in g Mat. 12.34 35.36 15.19 Acts 8.22 Tit. 1.16 Jam. 3.2 work § 6. What is the formative power in original sin in respect of actual Original Sin being as the a Jam. 1.15 womb to actual hath its formative faculty to assimilate and make like in the privation of righteousness and corruption of nature Whereby sins of omission have with them something of commission and Sins of commission have with them something of omission every aversion from God being accompanied with a conversion to evil Sins of omission alwaies accompanied with sins of commission and b Jer. 2.13 every conversion to evil with an aversion from God Though the sin of omission then be a meer negative in its self yet considered in the Causes and concomitants of it it never goes without a c Isa 65.12 Jer. 25.7 sin of commission joyned with it never without some internal or external act inordinately evil either ushering it in or leading it by the hand This illustrated by instance § 7. Thus when a man wills the not attending Gods worship at the time he is required by God besides the omission of his duty he commits a sin in his will because he wills that omission and if he busie himself in some temporal affairs which though they necessarily detain him yet he might without any forcing of necessity have avoided besides the breach of an affirmative precept by the omission of his duty he breaks a negative precept by the commission of a further evil For he that wils the occasion of any sin He that wils the occasion of sin by consequence wils the sin doth by consequence will the sin it self yea if through some preceding intemperance or carelesness he becomes indisposed or disenabled for the performance of Gods worship How sin is willed antecendently in its cause though not directly in its self and thereby neglects it though he wils not the omission directly in its self yet he will'd it antecedently in its cause and so becomes guilty of a double sin that of omission ushered in by that of commission Sins of commission and of omission having the same motive and end are not specifically distinct § 8. When the sin of commission is accompanied with that of omission they having the same motive and end cannot be specifically distinct Wherefore that the unjust Usurer a Neh. 5.2 3. c. Isa 3.14 gathers by griping extortion and scatters not in a relieving charity are streams from one and the same spring head of b Jer. 8.10 22.17 covetousness Proved by instances and run into the same c Ezek. 22 12. Hab. 2.5 6. Isa 56.11 gulf a satisfying his inordinate desire of riches or that the d Eph. 3.15 Isa 22.12 13. 58.3 gluttonous Epicure neglects the Church in her lawful feasts and fills himself with his riotous feasts issue from the same corrupt fountain of e Phil 3.19 2 Pet. 2.13 intemperance and tend to this one and the same end the satisfying his inordinate appetite § 9. The division of sin into that of thought What the division of sin into that of thought word and work is of word and of work is not a distinguishing it according to its compleat species or kinds but according to its incompleat parts and degrees For that the same sin which doth take its a Mat. 15.18.19 Iam. 1.15 conception in the heart may have its birth in the mouth and its full growth in the outward work Thus when the b Mat. 5.22 Ephes 4 31. wrathful person hatcheth revenge in his heart and his troubled thoughts break forth into contumelious words and injurious actions it is one and the same sin specifically consummated by several degrees and in its distinct parts § 10. Yea The first inordinate motions of lust contain'd under the evil thoughts of the hearâ— under the evil thoughts of the heart are contained the first a Gen. 6.5 Dâ—ut 10.16 30.6 Ier. 4.14 Mat. 15.19 motions of lust when inordinate So that concupisence not onely in the habitual inclination but also in the b Rom. 7.7 8. actual motions even in the first inordinate lustings is sin and this though c Rom. 7.21 those motions or lusts be never fully consented unto by the wil Though not consented to by the will yet are sin and why nor perfected by the outward act For
Acts 4.12 13.38 Christs all-sufficient satisfaction or the f Mat. 5.25 26 25.46 Sinners everlasting condemnation Wherfore seeing the poysonous guilt of the least sin is not expelled but by the Soveraign Antidote of Christs blood g Mark 1.15 Acts 20.21 Luke 24.47 Rom. 3.25 through repentance and faith it cannot be that any sin is veniall in its nature but in a respect to Gods mercy and Christs merits in the effect In what all sins are mortal yet not all equal § 27. In this all sins are mortall that by their guilt they meke liable to * Matth. 5.22 eternall death and though all are mortall yet are they not therfore a Ezek. 8.6.13.15 John 19.11 all equall some by their more b Mat. 5.22 11.22 24. Luke 12.47.48 hainous guilt making subject to a more grievous punishment in that death which is eternall How some sins mortall and some veniall That some sins then are said to be mortall and some veniall it is not in the nature but in the effect or rather the event of the sin in relation to the subject which is the sinner to c John 5.24 Rom. 8.1 Acts 13.39 whom through faith and repentance not onely the lesser but the greater sins become venial and d John 3.36 Gal. 5.10 without faith repentance not only the greater but also the lesser sins are mortall so that if we take the weight of sin From whence we are to take the just weight of sins guilt not from the deceitful scales of our own opinions but from the just ballance of the Sanctuary the truth of Gods word we find the least sin to have the greatest guilt so that e Mat 12.36 1 Cor. 4.5 every vain thought What the guilt of the least sin without Ghrist and idle word shal be brought to judgment and whatsoever sin Christ brings to the last judgement shall without Christ bring upon the sinner everlasting punishment § 28. Though all sin be in its nature mortall Though all sins be mortall yet most especially the sin against the Holy Ghost and so to be mortall is common to all sin yet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is appropriate to the a 1 John 5.16 sin against the Holy Ghost for its most deadly naure call'd in Scripture the sin unto death which excluding repentance depriveth b Math. 12.32 of forgivenesse even so as never to be forgiven What the sin against the Holy Ghost is not Which sin against the Holy Ghost doth not consist in any c 2 Kings 21.6 c 24.4 2 Chron. 33.12 13. 1 John 5.16.17 18. particular transgression of Gods Law nor yet in that blasphemy and persecution of Christ and his Gospel which ariseth from ignorance no nor in that Apostasie from the truth d 1 Tim. 1.13 and deniall of Christ which ariseth from e Mat. 26.70 72 74 75. infirmity though all of them sins of a deep die and horrid guilt § 29. But the sin against the Holy Ghost What it is is such a denying and rejecting of Christ as ariseth from malice in an hatred of Him and his Truth contrary to knowledge and conscience opposing and persecuting the Gospel of Christ as an imposture of Satan the power and grace of the Spirit as a work and designment of the Divell thus it was in the a Matth 12.24 c. Luke 19.14 20.13 c. Mark 3.30 John 7.28 Pharisees As in the Pharisees Also to sin against the Holy Ghost is to b Heb. 6.4 5 6 10.26 fall away from the faith of Christ by an universall Apostacy in wilfully denying and maliciously opposing Christ and his Truth yea in a contempt of his Sacrifice and an hatred of his Gospel persecuting his Church with an irreconcilable enmity Thus it was in Julian As in Julian thus in many in the Apostles times and thus in many in these our dayes of whom we cannot Why not now to be discovered by us we may not pass sentence of judgement wanting that so eminent a gift c Acts 5.3.9 8.32 13.10 1 Cor. 12.10 among the primitive Saints namely the discerning of the Spirits Why calâ—d the sin against the Holy Ghost § 30. This sin is said to be against the Holy Ghost in respect of his a Isa 12.2 Ephes 1.17 more immediate Office of illumination not as being any wayes the more eminent person in the Trinity all being b Isai 6.3 Matth. 28.19 coequall in their Unity of Essence and of Glory Seeing then it is the more immediate c 1 Cor. 12.11 Office of the Holy Ghost to illuminate in the truth of Christ a d Acts 7.51 wilfull hatred of Christ and his truth accompanied with a malicious opposition of his illuminating power is properly called a sin against the Holy Ghost and that this sin shall not be forgiven is not because it e Rom. 5.20 exceeds Gods grace Why this sin shall not be forgiven or out-vies Christs merits f Heb. 7.25 but because it excludes g Heb. 6.5 6. the work of Repentance in despightfully opposing the Spirit and rejects the h Heb. 10.26 Sacrifice of Christ in wilfully denying his truth Sins against Conscience lead the way to this sin against the Holy Ghost § 31. Sins against Conscience they a Psal 19.13 lead the way to this sin against the Holy Ghost Wherefore that this may be prevented those must be avoided avoid we not onely sins against conscience b 1 Tim. 1 19. when enlightned with the truth but also though c Rom. 14.23 seduced with error For that an Erroneous Conscience doth d Tit. 1.15 entangle and fetter in sin How an erroneous conscience entangles in sin but binds not to what is sinful though it doth not oblige or bind to what is sinfull So that he alwayes sins who e Rom. 14.5 23. acts any thing against the dictate of his conscience because the f Rom. 1.14 15. 1 Sam. 24.5 6 dictate of the conscience is by interpretation the precept of God And thereby it is that though the act be materially good yet it cannot be formally so the good is not done well because accompanied with so great an evill a contempt of God in the doing Wherefore whatsoever is good in it selfe if done against conscience though errour judging it to be evill it thereby becomes sin and a sin against Conscience deep in its guilt An erroneous conscience may somewat excuse but cannot wholly acquit § 32. Again the erroneous Conscience may a Acts 26.9 10. Phil 3.6 1 Tim. 1.13 mitigate but cannot make void it may somewhat excuse but cannot wholly acquit from what is sinfull whether it be in omitting what is good supposing it to be evill or in committing what is evill and why misdeeming it to be good Indeed impossible it is that
fetching down fire with a word both may be done by nature but not in that order and manner which is properly the miraculous operation of a divine power These several kinds of miraculous effects are one greater then another the first greater then the second and the second greater then the third all according to the several degrees they exceed the strength of Nature in her most powerful operations God's special Providence over Angels and men § 17. Besides that general Providence of God common to all the creatures there is his especial Providence over Angels and men correspondent to their so excellent condition How over Angels as being endued with understanding and will God's special Providence over the Angels in his a Psal 103.19 Heb. 1.6 subjecting them to his government b Psal 104 4. Heb. 1.14 appointing them their ministrations and c Psal 91.11 Mat. 6 10. ordering them in their services according to his will How ever men His especial Providence over men appears in his d Job 10 8. Psal 139.13 14 15. forming them in the womb and giving them birth in his e Job 7.1 14.5 numbring their daies and appointing their deaths in f Prov. 16.1 ordering their thoughts g Prov. 16 1. ruling their tongues and h Jer. 10.23 directing their paths God's peculiar Providence over the Church of his Elect. § 18. Besides this special Providence of God over Angels and men in general there is a peculiar Providence of God over the Church of his Elect in particula The dispensation whereof is committed of the Father unto a Psal 2.6 Isa 9 6 7. 1 Cor. 15.24 25 Christ the b Isa 9.6 Prince of Peace The dispensation hereof committed to Christ and how perform'd and c Psal 24.10 King of Glory and this as he is the d Ephes 1.20 21 22. Col. 1.18 Head of the Church which is his body the members of which body he governs by his Spirit e Ezek 36 27. putting his Law into their hearts and f Phil 2.13 working in them both to will and to do still leading them with his Counsels till he receives them unto glory § 19. God's Providence particularly applyed The Providence of God whether a Psal 113.5 6 generally extended or especially b Psal 139 16. eminent or c 2 Chro. 16 9. Psal 34.16 peculiarly gracious it is d Job 39.1 c. Psa 113 7 8 9. Psa 146.7 8 9. Mat. 6.26 28. particuliarly applyed Though generally extended to all creatures yet particularly applyed to every creature Every e Mat. 10.30 head and how yea every hair of the head f Mat. 10.29 every sparrow yea every feather of the sparrow every g Psal 147 8. pile of grass or h Mat. 6.30 bit of straw doth declare not onely the immediate presence but also the Almighty Providence of God and not onely in a general notion but even in a particular relation of providencial notice and regard § 20. This aptly illustrated God doth not do with the world as the workman with a watch when by the divine art of his al-powerful hand he hath finished each wheel and fitted each part then to wind it up by a law of nature and set it by him to observe how the time spends how the ages pass no but rather God doth with the world as David with his harp when artificially made and accurately strung he tunes the creatures as so many strings unto an uni-sone consent of divine harmony by an obediential power unto his holy will and then by his hand of Providence he strikes each string in its due place whereby it hath a particular note in the a Psal 103.22 Psal 148. universal melody of the World's Hallelujah § 21. Why God's Providence doth not admit Annihilation of the creatures Such is the Providence of God in his Government of the world and for the preservation of his creatures that there is no annihilation of them either by course of nature or miraculous power not by course of nature for in all the vicissitudes of generation and corruption the first matter as the subject of both remains incorruptible and not by miraculous power for the end of miracle as an act of divine power is to manifest the divine goodness and miraculously to annihilate is not correspodent to this end of Miracles which is attain'd by preserving rather then by annihilating CHAP. IX Concerning the Angels Elect and Apostate What the nature of the Angels is § 1. THE Angels in a Dan. 7.10 Heb. 12.22 number innumerable were created in b Job 38 7. chief excellency over all the creatures being c Heb. 1 7 14 Luke 20.36 spiritual and d Heb. 1 7 14 Luke 20.36 immortal substances beautified with a more e 2 Sam. 14 20. 2 Cor. 2.11 Ephes 6.10 excellent knowledg f Job 38.7 John 8.44 uprightness g Isa 6.2 Ezek. 1 7. Rev. 14 6. agility and h 2 Pet. 2.11 Mat. 12. â—0 strength How and when created § 2. Created they were all together and at once a Mat. 22.29.30 propagation being inconsistent with the Angelical Nature and proper onely to corporeal substances made the b Psal 103 21. Host of the invisible Heavens as the c Jer 33.22 Stars are the host of the visible and so a d Gen. 1.1 2.1 part of the Haxameron six daies creation Indeed the Angels being a part of the Universe were certainly created with the whole Universe of which they are part the whole consisting of creatures spiritual and corporeal Why and how immortal § 3. The Angels are therefore immortal because immaterial immortal intrinsecally in the constitution of their natures not extrinsecally in relation to Gods power which as it did produce them out of nothing by creation so can it reduce them into nothing by annihilation It is Gods property alone to be a Mal. 3 6. Jam. 1.17 absolutely unchangeable in himself and in relation to all outward Agents The trial of Angels § 4. For the Government of the Angels by his Providence God imprinted in them a a John 8.44 knowledg of his Truth at their creation and enacted them a Law for their trial to which law having annexed a promise of free reward upon obedience and a threatning of due punishment upon transgression The obedience and confirmation of the good Angels some of the Angels being firm in their obedience commanded became partakers of the reward promised being b 1 Tim. 5.21 Luke 9 26. confirm'd in grace c Eph. 1.10 22. Col. 2.15 20. through Christ and established in d Mat. 18.10 22.30 2 Cor. 11.14 glory with God according to their e Ephes 1.21 3.10 Col. 1.16 1 Thes 4.16 several offices and degrees enjoying his presence and doing him f Plas 103.20 Isa 6.3 Luke
though grace in the regenerate be powerful enough to d Gal. 5 16 24 suppress these inordinate motions yet that doth not excuse reasons being defective in its duty to prevent them They ought to be kept down by Reasons watchfulness and therefore cannot arise but in sins guilt What makes any act to be sin And whereas it may be pleaded that they are involuntary and so cannot be Sins we say How the motions of concupiscence are voluntary through the wils defect before they rise though not consented to when râ—ised it is e 1 Iohn 3 4. repugnancy to Gods law which makes the sin and that though it be against the wil that these inordinate lustings should be fulfilled yet it is from the will that these lustings in their inordinacy are not prevented the will neglecting or failing in her primitive powerful command to keep under what is rebellious How concupiscence it self is voluntary Besides concupiscence is voluntary as flowing from Adams wilful disobedience For in mortality quod ex voluntario causatur pro voluntario reputatur what is caused by a voluntary act is reputed voluntary in the acting The motions of concupiscence prov'd to be sinful by an infallable argument drawn from the indifferent nature of the wills consent § 11. Further yet That those motions of concupisence are sins when fully consented to by the will doth infallibly prove them to be sinful before the will doth give yea though the will doth not give its full consent For the consent of the will is a thing indifferent in it self neither good nor evil but according to its object If any thing be good it is not the consent of the will that makes it evil and if any thing be evil it is not the consent of the will can make it good but according to the nature of the object such is the act of the will whether it be in good or whether it be in evil wherefore if the first motions of concupiscence were not sinful in themselves they could not be made sins by the consenting of the will But seeing by the confession of all parties they are sin when the will doth give its consent therefore they must be sinful before the consent of the will be given What the Specifical distinction of sin into spiritual and carnal is § 12. Whereas Sin in respect of the Subject is specifically distinguished into spiritual and carnal Sins the distinction is taken from the end a 2 Cor. 7.1 Spiritual Sins being perfected in spiritual delight as pride vain-glory and the like b Rom. 8.1 Gal. 5.19 but carnal Sins in carnal delight How all sin is carnal as gluttony luxury and the like True it is all sin is carnal as arising from the flesh as flesh in Scripture is taken for Original Sin in mans corrupt nature and how Spiritual and all sin is spiritual as affecting the Soul in the commission and defiling the spirit of man with guilt What the true difference betwixt both But when spiritual and carnal Sins are contradistinguished as several and specifical sorts of sin by Spiritual Sins are meant those which affect and defile the soul immediatly in the body by carnall sins are meant those which affect and defile the soul immediatly by the body § 13. Sin in respect of the object What the specifical distinction of sin into that against God against our neighbours and against our selves How all sin is against God How said to be against our neighbours and our selves is specifically distinguished into sins a 1 Sam. 2.25 Luke 15.28 18.2 Acts 24.16 Tit. 2.12 against God against our Neighbour and against our selves For though it is common to all sin that it is against God as being formally a violation b Rom. 4.13 1 John 3.4 Jam. 2.9 of his eternal law and so properly the offence of his sacred Majesty yet sin materially considered in respect of the injury and dammage which accompanies it it may be against mans self or his neighbour Indeed all sins as they are inordinate actions do imply an acting something to the breach of Order The three-fold order which God hath established amongst men And seeing God hath establish'd among men a threefold order there are three kinds of sin according to their three-fold inordinacy The three-fold Order is 1. That of the inferior faculties unto reason in mans naturall constitution 2. That of one man in a politicall constitution unto another 3. That of all men in a religious constitution unto God Now the inordinacy which makes a breach of any of these orders is a sin against God as the c Exod. 20.2 Jam. 2 13. supreme Law-giver but in comparing one with another that sin sin which immediatly breaks the order of Religion as Blasphemy Heresie Infidelity and the like is said The threefold inordinacy in breach of this order making three kinds of sin to be a sin against God Again that sin which immediatly breaks the order of policy as theft oppression murder and the like is said to be a sin against our neighbour Lastly that sin which immediatly breaks the order of Nature in man as drunkenness gluttony and the like is said to be a sin against our selves yea some sins there are at once against our selves and our neighbours as d 1 Cor. 6.18 fornication adultery c. and some against God our neighbours and our selves as the e Rom. 12.19 prosecuting unjust revenge the persecuting Gods Church c. What the distinction of sin into that of infirmity of ignorance and of malice From whence this distinction is taken What is the inordinacy of the sensitive appetite What the inordinacy of the understanding What the inodinacy of the will § 14. That sin in respect of the efficient is distinguish'd into sins of infirmity of ignorance and of malice is taken from the three principles of all actions and so consequently of all actuall sins in man the sensitive appetite understanding and will which as they are the principles of all actions in their natural Beings so are they the principles of all actuall sins in their preternatural inordinacies The inordinacie of the sensitive appetite is in being irregular and immoderate in its affections the inordinacy of the understanding is in not knowing what it ought or in not actually dictating what it habitually knows the inordinacy of the will is in subjecting it self to the sensitive appetite or in following the understanding in its erroneous dictates or in opposing it in its right judgement Now when the will becomes inordinate through the sudden a Gen. 9.21 2 Sam. 11.2 3 4. Matth. 26.70.72 74. surprize and eager importunity of the sensitive appetite When a sin of infirmity is the sin is the sin of infirmity again when the will becomes inordinate through the defect of b Gen. 19.33.35 Lev. 5.17 Lev. 4.2 Psal 19.12 judgement in the understanding
have a disposition or purpose to kill another though he knew it were his Father if killing the man he knows him not to be his Father which yet after proves to be his Father it is not the ignorance that shall excuse but the depraved disposition and wicked purpose which shall make guilty of patricide For though ignorance had its Concomitancy with it yet it hath not any efficiency in it and so the malefactor cannot be said to offend out of ignorance but being ignorant For there What an affected ignorance is and how it aggravates the sin when a man will be a Ezek. 12.2 Zech. 7.11 12. 1 Cor. 14.38 ignorant on purpose that he may not suffer controll in his sin but have the greater scope to offend this ignorance is affected and becomes directly b Iob 22.14 2 Pet. 3.5 voluntary because it is wil'd upon design and for ends and therefore doth rather inhance then any way abate the guilt of the sin What ignorance is indirectly voluntary § 22. But that a Hos 4.1.6 1 Cor. 15.34 ignorance which comes by negligence in a sloathfull carelesnesse or through unnecessary imploiments not indevouring to attain that knowledge which a man ought and is able to attain and that ignorance which comes by b Gen. 19.32 33. intemperance in a sottish drunkenness a man being rob'd of his discretion or the use of it such an ignorance is truly though indirectly wilfull seeing he that wils the cause doth indirectly and by consequence will the effect and this ignorance thus wilfull c 2 Thess 1.8 Rom. 8.2 3. becomes it self a sin How it self sin yet the sins which issue from this ignorance d Luke 23.24 Acts 3.17 13.27 are lessened in their guilt having the less of reason and will in their act for seeing the understanding cannot pass a right judgement yet the sins issuing from it lessened in their guilt and why the will cannot be said to give a direct consent so that though the ignorance may be aggravated by circumstances yet is the consequent sin in it self lessened by the ignorance How the sin of malice is rightly discerned § 23. To discern aright what the sin of malice is we must know that though the will be determined by a Psal 142. Prov. 2.11 the understanding in the specification of its object yet hath the will this liberty intire in it self in the exercise of the act freely to chuse what is presented as good and freely to reject what is presented as evill So that though the will doth alwayes follow the last practical judgement of the understanding How men are said to sin wilfully and against conscience yet this last judgement being often after the right judgement and the right judgement first given by the understanding and repuls'd by the will b Exod. 8.10.15 19 28 32. 9.13 14.27 28 34 35 c. 1 Sam. 15.1 2.3 9 11 13 15 18 19 22 c. virtually remaining in the act of sin and even then actually renew'd by the checkes of Conscience men are hereby said to sin winfully on set purpose and against conscience which is the true nature of that we call the sin of malice § 24. That the will doth not necessarily follow the right judgment of the understanding clearly proved That the will doth not necessarily follow the right judgement though it doth the last judgement of the understanding is apparent in the Divels reprobate in the sin against the holy Ghost and in sins against conscience And indeed if the will did necessarily follow the right judgment of the understanding Especially from the work of Regeneration the whole work of Regeneration were perfected in the act of illumination and God needed not a 2 Cor. 5.17 1 Thes 5.23 throughly sanctifie fully to enlighten were sufficient for the new birth and the new man But this is altogether dissonant from the truth of Christ which tells us the b Eph. 4.23 24. Phil. 2.13 will is renewed In which the will is renewed as well as the understanding enlightned as well as the c Eph. 1.17 18 Col. 3.10 understanding enlightned in the work of regeneration The d Phil. 1.9.10 11. understanding is enlightned to give a right judgement to the will and the will renewed to follow that right judgment of the understanding to the bringing forth the works of holiness and of righteousness § 25. How we may distinguish sins of infirmity from sins of malice By this we may distinguish sins of infirmity from sins of malice In sins of infirmity this a Psal 40.8 Acts 11.23 Gal. 6.1 Matth. 26.33 Luke 22.33 purpose and intention of the heart to please God in all things remains sincere so that though for a time the wil suffer a violation of her integrity an interruption of her resolutions through some b 2 Sam. 11.2.4 inordinate affections c Luke 22.56 c. violent passion or d 1 Chro 21.1 Luke 22.31 32 prevailing temptation yet after a while she returneth to her former good purposes by e Psal 51. Luke 22 61 62 1 Chron. 21.8.17 Prov. 24.16 repentance But in sins of malice the heart is f Jer. 13.23 Psal 10.4 Rom. 3 18. 1 John 3.8 habitually inclined unto wickedness the will is evill disposed in respect of the end There are not any sincere purposes of holiness no true aims at Gods glory and therefore the infection of the sin is the more permanent and destructive to the soul in a g Luke 7.30 Acts 7.51 stronger opposition of the good Spirit of grace in the work of repentance and faith § 26. What the distinction of sin into that of mortal and venial is The last distinction of sin is in respect of the effect into sins * 1 John 5.16 17. mortall and veniall we say in respect of the effect no sin being veniall in its nature For No sin veniall in its nature and why that any sin is pardoned doth denote an a Exod 18.20 Gal. 3.10 act of divine mercy which in b Exod. 34.67 severity rigor of Justice God might have not done But for any sin to be in its nature veniall as expiated by temporall punishment were to destroy this pardoning mercy of God and after temporall punishment to oblige him to an improperly called forgiveness lest he be tax'd with cruelty and injustice All sin is directly against no any meerly besides the law Which incurring the guilt of eternall death cannot be expiated by temporall punishment Yea c Rom. 4.15 1 John 3.4 whereas all sin is directly against not any meerly besides the law and that the violation of Gods eternall law doth incurre a guilt of d Ezek. 18.20 Rom 6.23 1 Cor. 15.56 eternall death There is no sin that can be expiated by temporall punishment but either it must be by e John 1.29
15. Yea some Bodies we acknowledg incorruptible either in respect of their Matter or of their Form or of their Efficient amongst which were the bodies of our first Parents How some bodies said to be incorruptible The Heaven of Heavens was created incorruptible in respect of its Matter as having no capacity of nor propension to any other Form then what it already hath The Bodies of the blessed shall be raised a 1 Cor. 15.42 53. incorruptible in respect of their form as having thereby conveyed to them such an endowment of immortality as shall preserve from all corruption and how the bodies of our first Parents And the Bodies of our first Parents were kept incorruptible in respect of the efficient God communicating to them a preservative power by effectual means the Tree of life appointed for the preventing of corruption whilst they continued in their innocency What and how great things God did that Man should not sin § 16. That man should not sin God gave him a a Col. 3.10 cleer knowledg and an b Eccles 7.29 upright Will he gave him a c Gen. 2.17 firm law fenc'd with a gracious promise upon obedience and a dreadful threatning upon transgression and he gave him a visible d Gen. 2.9 sacrament to signifie and seal what was promised and what was threatned All this God did that man should not sin and what he would have done that Man should not dye and had not man sinned more would God have done that he should not dy he would have preserved him from outward violence by e Psa 91.1 121. 34 c. divine protection and the f Psal 34.7 91.11 12. Ministry of Angels he would have supply'd him with continual food from the wholsom g Gen. 1.29 2.16 fruit of a pleasant Paradise he would have prevented all distemper decay and dissolution from sickness age and death by the vertue of temperance and the h Gen 3 22. tree of life yea after his temporal estate of an earthly happiness God would have i Gen. 5.24 Heb 11.5 1 Cor. 15.51 translated him to an Heavenly habitation of eternal blessedness § 17. Original righteousness was not such What original righteousness was as that thereby man had no power to sin for the a Gen. 3.6 11.12 17. event shews the contrary but such as that thereby man b Gen 1.27 2.17 had a power not to sin which Original righteousness was a * Gen. 1.26 Eccles 7.29 con-natural endowment no supernatural gift and therefore had it been transmitted from Adam in his standing as the privation thereof is propagated in his fall unto his whole posterity For that being the righteousness of mans nature not Adams person and how to hâ—ve bin transmitted to Adams posterity it did belong to an equal right unto his Posterity as to himself and so should have been transmitted not by vertue of any seminal power but of c Exod. 20 6. divine ordination to all after generations § 18. Why said to be a con-natural endowment Wherefore seeing Original righteousness was to have been propagated with the human nature if man had not fallen it could not be any supernatural gift and seeing Original righteousness is wholly lost and yet mans specifical nature retain'd in his fal it could not be from any natural principle therefore we say it is betwixt both a con natural endowment It did not flow from any principles of mans nature but was given to man with his nature to be a natural principle of Actual righteousness And seeing opposita sunt unius generis Original sin being opposite to Original righteousness as Original sin is become a natural deformity so was Original righteousness a natural integrity and with mans nature to have been transmitted by propagation to Adams posterity The will the chief seat of original righteousness § 19. The inseparable property of the will the chief seat of Original righteousness is this that it act freely without constraint either in choosing or in refusing what is presented unto it by the understanding What its essential liberty is And this is the liberty which is so essential to the will as that without it it were no will And therefore it is to be found in God and in Christ in the Angels and in Devils yea in man whether it be in his estate of innocency of sin of grace or of glory What the liberty of contrariety is and why not essential to the will The liberty then which is essential to the will doth not consist in a liberty of contrariety which implies an indifferency to objects specifically different as a Deut. 30.19 good and evil for then should not the will of God nor of Christ no nor the will of Angels or of the blessed have its liberty seeing they cannot will what is evil being b Heb. 12.23 Rev. 14.13 perfectly confirmed in good What that of contradiction is and why not essential to the will § 20. Yea it is not absolutely necessary to the freedom of the will that it have a liberty of contradiction being indifferent in the exercise of the act to will or not to will for that the blessed Angels and Saints in heaven do freely love and praise God yet can they not a 1 Cor. 13 8 12. Rev. 4 8. 7.15 forbear or suspend the acts of loving and of praising him sure the will as in the desire so much more in the enjoyment of its last end it necessarily wils and yet freely too It cannot but will yet without any external force or internal coaction being b Psal 16.27 11.15 36.8 wholly possest with a delightful complacency in its object In what it is necessary that the will have a liberty of contradiction That the will then be free in a liberty of contradiction is necessary onely in the use of means which admit of deliberations not in the desire or enjoyment of the last end and chief good to which the will is carried by a natural propension not a voluntary election and so excludes all preceding deliberation § 21. What 's the liberty of wil in God in Christ in the Angels and in the blessed What in the Devils and in the wicked What in man in the state of innocence and of grace Such a liberty of will then as is free onely to good is in a 2 Cor. 3.17 God and in Christ in the Angels and in the Blessed such a liberty of will as is free onely to evil is in the Devils and b Gen 6.5 Job 15.16 in the wicked and such a liberty of will as is free both to good and evil was in man in his state of innocency and is in him in c Gal. 5 17. Phil. 2.13 his state of grace In Adam then before his fall there was not any thing of coaction from within or of enforcement