Man through the perswasion of the Devil transgressed and hence is our corruption and misery derived Thirdly the first sin of man sprang not from God but from the instigation of the Devill and from the free will of man For the Devill provoked Man to fall away from God Man yeelding to the enticeing allurements of the Devil freely revolted from God and wilfully forsook him Fourthly the effects of mans first sin are first guiltinesse of death and privation of Gods image in our first Parents Secondly originall sin in us their posterity that is to say the guilt of eternall death and the corruption and aversnesse of our whole nature from God Thirdly actuall sinnes which are sprung of originall for quod est causa causae est causa causati That which is the cause of the cause is also the cause of the effact But the first finne in man is the cause of his originall and originalâ— sinne is the cause of his actuall sinne Fourthly all the evills of punishment are inflected for sinnes Therefore the first sinne of man is the cause of all other his sinnes and punishments Fifthly originall sinne is a want of originall righteousnesse which should be in us for originall righteousnesse was not only a conformity of our nature with the law of God but also it comprehendeth in it Gods acceptation and approbation of this righteousnesse Now by the fall of man instead of conformity there succeeded in mans nature deformity and corruption and guiltinesse instead of approbation And thus much briefly by way of explication what sinne in generall is The generall nature of sinne the difference or formall essence of sinne and the property which cleaveth fast unto it What the first sinne was the causes of it the effects of it and what originall sinne is Come we now to prove the position That this sinne originall sinne will have a being in the best of men so long as their souls have a being in these houses of clay And thus we prove it First that the spirit by the law intitleth us to Adams sin as a derivation from the root to the branches as poyson is carried from the fountaine to the Cisterne and as the children of traytors have their blood tainted with their fathers treason and the children of bondslaves are under their parents condition John 3.5 6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh c. Rom. 5.12 16 17 18 19. Wherefore as by one man sinne entred into the world and death by sinne and so death passed upon all men for that all bad sinned and not as by one that sinned so is the gift for the judgment was by one to condemnation but the free gift is of many offences unto justification For if by one mans offence death reigned by one much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reigne in life by one Jesus Christ Therefore as by the offence of one judgement came upon all men to condemnation even so by the righteousnesse of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life For as by one mans disobedience many were made finners so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous 1 Cor. 15. 37 48 49. The first man is of the Earth earthy c. By nature we are the children of wrath 2 Ephes 3.14 Job 4. Who can bring a cleane thing out of an unclcane 51 Psal 5. In sin was I conceived c. I called thee a transgressour from the womb Isa 48.8 G. p. 8. 21. The imaginations of a mans heart are evill from his youth We were all one in Adam In uno universi and with him saith S. Augustine In him legally in regard of the stipulation and covenant between God and him We were in him paries in that covenant had interest in the mercy and were liable to the curse which belonged to the breach of the covenant and in him naturally and therefore unavoidably subject to all that bondage and burthen which the humane nature contracted in his fall And herewith agree most of the Fathers Adde we hereunto these two Arguments First every thing which is borne carrieth with it the nature of that which bare it as touching the substance and the accidents proper to the speciall kind But we are all born of corrupted and guilty parents We therefore all draw by nature in our birth their corruption and guilt Secondly by the death of Christ who is the second Adam we receive a double grace justification and regeneration Therefore it followeth that out of the first Adam there issued and flowed a double evill I meane the guilt and corruption of our nature otherwise we had not stood in need of a double grace and remedy This then is the first charge of the Spirit upon us Participation with Adam in his sin Adams person being the fountaine of ours and Adams will the representative of ours Secondly In this sin there is universall corruption which hath in it two great evills First a generall defect of all righteousnesse and holinesse in which we were at first created And Secondly an inherent deordination evill disposition disease propension to all mischief antipathy and aversation from all good which the Scripture calls the flesh The wisdome of the flesh the body of sin Earthly members the law of the members the works of the devill the lusts of the devill the hell that sets the whole course of nature on fire John 3.6 Rom. 8.6.7 James 3.15 Ephes 4.22 Col. 3.5 Rom. 7.23 1 John 38. And this is an evill of the through malignity whereof no man can be more sensible and distinctly convinced as in the evidence of that conviction to cry out against it with such strange and bitter complaint then Paul himself Rom. 7.24 O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death Untill his understanding was opened to conceive the spiritualnesse penetration and compasse of that holy law which measureth the very bottome of every action and condemneth as well the originalls as the acts of sin Luke 24.25 Rom. 7.14 Heb. 4.12 Psal 119.96 Luke 10.27 But for more cleare satisfaction let us consider the universality of this sin First the universality of times from Adam to Moses even when the law of Creation was much defaced and they that sinned did not sin after the similitude of Adam against the cleare Revelation of Gods holy will for so I take the meaning of the Apostle in these words Rom. 5.13 14 20 21. For untill the law sin was in the world but sin is not imputed when there is no law Neverthelesse death reigned from Adam to Moses even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adams transgression who is the figure of him that was to come further see 20. and 21. Vntill the law sin was in the world but sin is not imputed where there is no law verse 13. Though the law seemed quite extinct between
Adam and Moses by the wicked of the world and with it sin because sin hath no strength where there is no law Though men had not any such legible characters of Gods will in their nature as Adam had at first And therefore did not sin after the similitude of his prevarication Yet even from Adam to Moses did sinne reigne over all them even that sinne of Adam and that lust which that sinne contracted Secondly there is universality of men and in men universality of parts All men and every part of man shut up under the guilt and power of this sinne And both these the Apostle notes at large Rom. 3.9 19.23 What then are we better then they no in no wise for we have before proved both Jewes and Gentiles that they are all under sinne Now we know that what things soever the law saith it saith to them who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God Rom. 11.32 for God hath concluded them all in unbeliefe that he might have mercy upon all So also Gal. 3.21.22 If there had been a law given that could have given life verily righteousnesse should have been by the law but the Scripture hath concluded all under sin c. This shewes the universality of persons in the 3. to the Rom. 13.14.15.16.17 c. The Apostle addes their throat is an open sepulcher with their tongues they have used deceit c. And the 6. Gen. 5. and the 8. and the 21. The imaginations of the heart are evill continually These particulars are enough to make up an induction and to inferre an universality of parts That from the understanding as it were the Crown of the head to the affections as it were the sole of the foot there is nothing but loathsomnesse A lively description whereof you may read in the 16. of Ezehiel In the understanding there is a sea of ignorance uncapable of good things but wise and witty in wickedness The conscience full of blind feares and terrors or else seared and senselesse The memory slippery to retaine good impressions but of a marble firmnesse to hold fast that which is evill The will pliable and obsequious to the devill in his hands as wax but as stiffe and hard as clay in Gods All our affections are inverted we love what we should hate and hate what we should love we are bold where we should feare and feare where we should be bold we remember what we should forget and forget what we should remember And so of all the rest c. Thus the whole frame of mans heart is evill continually The rout and rabble of impure and impious thoughts and desires are not to be expressed Thus we see how universall a corruption originall sinne is Therefore in scripture the whole man is called flesh Now because in carnall works we work secundum hominem when we are carnall we walk as men 1 Cor. 3.3 As our Saviour saith of the devill John 8.44 when he speaks a lye he speaks de suo of his own that is according to his own nature So when men walk after the flesh they work of their own they walk according to themselves For of our selves we can doe nothing as the Apostle speaks but only sinne 2 Cor. 3.5 when we doe any good it is by the grace of God 1 Cor. 15.10 But by the grace of God I am what I am and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vaine but I laboured more abundantly then they all yer not I but the grace of God which was with me Secondly consider the closenesse and adherency of this sin it cleaves as fast to our nature as blacknesse to the skin of an Ethiopian which cannot possibly be washed off And therefore the Apostle cals it an incompossing sin Heb. 12.1 A sin that will not easily be cast off that doth easily occupate and pâ—ssâ—ss all our members and faculties A men may as easily shake off the skin from his back or poure out his bowels out of his body as rid himself of this evill Inhabitant It is an evill that is ever present with us Rom. 7.21 evill is present with me see verse 23. It will be ever present with us to derive a deadnesse a damp a dulnesse and an indisposednesse upon all our services an iniquity upon our holiest things which we stand in need of a priest to beare for us Exod. 28.38 And herein appeares also the contagion of this sin Such a pestilentiall humour there is in it that it doth not only cleave inseparably to our nature but derives venome upon every action that comes from us Obser For although we doe not say that the good works of the regenerate are sinnes and so hatefull to God as our Adversaries doe belie and misreport us for that were to reproch the Spirit and the grace of Christ by which they are wrought yet this we affirme constantly That unto the best work that is done by the concurrence and contribution of our own faculties Such a vitiousnesse doth adhere and such stubbornnesse of ours it superinduced as that God may justly charge us for defiling the grace he gave and for the evill we mixe with them may turn away his eyes from his own gifts in us Thirdly consider the fruitfulnesse of this sin to beget to conceive to bring forth to multiply and to consummate actuall sinnes James 1.13,14,15 where the Apostle sets forth the birth and progresse of actuall sin Every man saith he is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed of his own lusts There lust is the father the Adulterer and lust when it hath conceived bringeth forth sin There lust is the mother too And there is no mention of any seed but the temptation of lust it self Mark The stirrings the flatteries and dalliances of the sinfull heart with it self And thus suddenly this sin brings forth like summer-fruit Esay 66.8 We may see in our children this sin shewing it self before they have haire or teeth Vanity Pride frowardnesse self-love revenge and the like I have seen Aug. in confes l. 1. c. 7. saith Augustins a sucking Infant that was not able to articulate a word look with a countenance even pale for envy upon his fellow suckling that shared with him in the same miâ—k upon which consideration the holy man breaks forth into this pious complaint Vhi Domine quando Domine Domine Where ever was the place O Lord when ever was the time O Lord that I have been an innocent creature Fourthly this sin breaks forth unexpectedly instance Hazaell 2 Kings 8.13 Is thy servant a dog that he should doe this great thing c. Instance also Peter Mat. 26.33.35 Who could have expected or feared Adultery from such a man as David after such communion with God Or impatience from such a man as Jeremy after such Revelation from God Or
live well if they live without crime But he who thinks he can live without sin doth not thereby make himself free of sin but debars himself of the pardon of his sinnes There is a two fold perfection or righteousnesse first Imputed which is by way of relation and doth perfectly justifie us befor God Secondly Infused by way of inhesion subjectively in us and this is but inchoated and imperfect and therefore cannot justifie us in the sight of God Or I say with Zanchius that the perfection within the holy Scriptures or writings of the ancient fathers is ascribed unto the Saints of God for their righteousnesse and good works is either Extrinsecall or Intrinsecall First the Extrinsecall or adventitious is that perfection of condonation when our imperfection is freely pardoned for the death and passion of Jesus Christ according to that saying of August All the Commandements of God are reputed as done when that is remitted which is left undone And this righteousnesse consisteth rather in the remissions of sinnes than in the perfection of vertue Secondly the Intrinsecall is that perfection of inhesion and this is said to be either absolute or comparative First it is said to be absolute when our hearts are sincere and simple free from hypocrysie and double dealing with God so Job was a perfect man and David was a man according to Gods own heart Because his heart was ever seeking after God and sincere towards him though through his infirmity he sinned against him Secondly Comparative in respect of others so Noah is said to be perfect Gen. 6.9 but observe it was in generationibus suis that is in respect of all others that lived in those Godlesse daies And so St. Paul meaneth 1 Cor. 2.7 We speak wisdome amongst them that are perfect that is amongst those that have greater measure of knowledge and understanding than the rest of men have And for any other absolute perfection St. Paul is absolutely against it when he professeth of himself that he had not attained unto it as in the place before quoted Philip. 3. And saith Bernard super Cant. Serm. 50. Who dares arrogate that to himself which St. Paul denyeth Or I say that the intrinsecall perfection is two fold First of Parts Secondly of Degrees First the former is when a man hath respect as the Prophet David saith unto all the commandements of God and alloweth not in his heart the breach of any of them Secondly the latter is when a man exactly performeth all that the Law in its full rigour requireth And he that is perfect in the first sense may fitly be resembled to a weak and feeble child that hath omnes partes integrales but not integraliter all the integrall and perfect parts of a man yet not integrally or perfectly But he that is perfect in the second sense is like a strong and full grown man that hath all his parts in their perfection And we confesse that the true servants of God in this life may have the perfection of parts Because that in some measure they may love every good and hate every evill though not continually as touching the exactnesse of performance Yet habitually as touching a constant resolution But that a man should have the perfection of degrees we utterly deny because that he can neither love the good nor hate the evill as he should doe And as for those Testimonies of Scripture that the Jesuits Bellarm. Becanus and others doe wrest against us to prove the perfection of the Saints in this life We answer with August First That some of those places are exhortations shewing us what we should doe not proving what we can doe for admonitions doe not shew ut tantum praestari possit quantum suadetur that so much can be performed which is enjoyned but they shew us quousque conari oportet how earnestly we should strive to preserve them though we be not able perfectly to observe them Secondly That many of those places doe shew us not what we are now in via in the way but what we shall be hereafter in patria at the end of our pilgrimage when we shall be freed from the imperfection of our flesh and cloathed with the Garment of perfect righteousness Thirdly That the Scripture in many places terms them perfect and immaculate which have defiled their Garments or polluted their Consciences Mark not with no sinnes which is impossible with no gross sinnes or damnable enormities which as I said before is commendable When they fashioned not themselves unto the world nor suffered sin to reign in their mortall bodies Fourthly The Scripture pronounceth men perfect blameless and blessed not because they have no sinnes but because their sinnes are not imputed unto them as Psal 32.1 And therefore though the Saints are called righteous and perfect not only in regard of the imputative righteousness and perfection of Christ but also in regard of that inherent righteousness which is wrought in them by the spirit of Christ Yet we must understand in what sense they are thus inherently called righteous For we must not think them to be so perfectly righteous as to be void of sin or to be justified in the sight of God Because that together with the sanctification of the Saints there is still in them a remainder of originall corruption by the touch and stain whereof their best works are corrupted and defiled and therefore we say that although the Saints and holy men of God may and have lived sine scandalo without offence and sine querela without reproof or without complaint on mans part by the observance of all outward precepts Yet it is imposible that the best of them should live and die sine peccato without sin 1 John 1.8.10 and that remarkable place in 4. Rom. 2. If Abraham had to glory it was not before God We grant that the Saints of God in this life may be called righteous or perfect in a four fold respect First Intentionally because they aim at and desire perfection for resting in a good condition is contrary to grace Grow in grace Secondly Inchoatively because they begin and goe on more and more in the works of righteousness Thirdly Comparatively because that in respect of other mens unrighteousness they may very well be termed righteous Fourthly Acceptatively because God accepteth them though not as absolutely just in themselves by reason of their manifold sinnes and defects yet in Christ and for Christ his sake through whom all their imperfections are pardoned as just and righteous men And thus you see how the Saints and true Servants of God may be called righteous and perfect But still we deny that they are therefore without sin or that they are thereby justified in the sight of God The best perfection of man in this life is to finde and to acknowledge himself to be imperfect as August speaketh In the next place I shall lay you down some reasons for the confirmation of this position That sin will