there must necessarily be some reason either expresly or tacitly implied for God is here declaring his purpose to take a more gracious and mercifull way now that he had given such a dreadfull demonstration of his justice and anger against sinne already Some then make the reason to be ab incommdo that if God should destroy the world because of mans original corruption breaking forth daily there would never be an end we should have flouds upon flouds Therefore as the Psalmist saith He remembreth that we are but dust he knoweth our frame Psal 103. 14. therefore he will not alwayes pour cut his wrath Thus say they it is here and this is probable Others make it an Argument ab aeqno to which Pererius inclineth as if God did hereby declare That being man is thus originally polluted and incurably sinfull as to his own power therefore God would pity him so that though formerly God looked upon it as the matter of his wrath now as the matter of pity being sinne maketh us miserable so some think David Psal 51. urgeth his natural corruption as an Argument to move God to pity him but this is not so probable because this doth directly contradict Gods former proceedings when his wrath was poured out on the world because of this sinne breaking forth into actual rebellions I rather therefore go with those that take the particle Ci adversatively Although God would not again destroy the world although mankind was of such a corrupt frame and thus it is to be taken in many places the neglect whereof hath caused many Disputes about some Texts of Scripture whereas the rendring of this particle adversatively would easily have cleared it as might be shewed if it were to my purpose Vide Tarn Exerc. In the next place we are to consider the words absolutely and they are very emphatical the Heart the Imagination and is evil In the former place Chap. 6. 5. there is a greater aggravation Every Imagination and only evil and all the day long but one supposeth the other here in this Text in stead of continually or every day as in the Original we have From the youth and therefore doth more palpably demonstrate the original filth or all men by nature Neither can the Adversaries to this Doctrine of original sinne put in the exception to this place as they did to the former for there they would evade by saying it was spoken of those evil and wicked men who had in a more notorious manner corrupted all their doings But how can they open their mouth against this place for God speaketh this as true at that present of all mankind by nature when yet the great prophane ones were destroyed and Noah with his family was preserved So that this is a perpetual and inseparable qualification from the nature of man more than actual death For Enoch and Elijah did not actually die yet they were born with original sinne As for some Expositors who would limit to the time of youth when a man is past his Infantia and Pueritia his infancy and childhood arrived at his Adolescentia his youth that is not to be admitted for the word is to be applied to his whole time since he was born The word Nagnar doth signifie one cast or shut out and properly belongeth to a new born Infant and so doth signifie the tender Infancy of a child although we grant that it is sometimes extended to the youth as Genes 37. Joseph is called Nagnar a youth when he was seventeen years old feeding the flock So 1 Kings 3. sometimes it 's applied to a Disciple or Servant because they were ordinarily young 2 King 9. Isa 37. which the Septuagint render 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and it is applied to Christ and therefore whereas Acts 4. 27. it is rendred Thy holy child Jesus Some think it better according to the use of the word by the Septuagint Thy holy servant for so Christ is sometimes in respect of his Mediatory Office called the servant of God But it is plain that children are capable of sinne before their youth and therefore we are not to limit it but to expound if of their very first being in original sinne which doth vent it self actually in after years Some make the Plural number to be observable they render it à pueritiis as containing the whole age of a man from his tender years till he be grown up Hence Grotius will extend it to the very time from the womb but then runneth to his Socinian Hyperbole which hath been sufficiently confuted To determine the time indeed when Infants begin to be capable of actual sinnes is very difficult but that is not my work here Now though it is said to be evil from the youth yet that is some limitation It is not evil from Gods first creation of mans heart not from its original being and therefore the essence of a man is not evil So that it is an horrible calumny of Tirinus the Jesuite upon this place to say That from this Text Luther and Calvin do inferre That the heart of a man is essentially evil Illyricus his dotage is sufficiently disowned by them As then the Leprosie got into the wals of the house and that could not be scraped off there was no way to get it out but by demolishing the wall yet was not to be attributed to the Artificer that made the wall but to some other supervenient cause So likewise neither is original sinne though now so closely adhering to mans nature to be attributed to God who first created mankind but to Adam's voluntary Apostasie from God The Text thus explained there are two Doctrines contained in it First Original sinne is an heavy and grievous sinne Secondly That there is a particular original sinne in every one which breaketh out into its actings betimes From which we shall take occasion to discourse of the equality and inequality of original sinne in every man Let us begin with the first Original sinne is a most grievous and heavy sinne In the Text is put an Although upon it God will not destroy the world although this sinne be in man implying the infinite mercy of God that is not provoked by this utterly to cut of mankind Hic est insiguis locus de peccato originali c. saith Luther on the place This is a famous place concerning original sinne which whosoever extenuateth saith he like blind men in the Sunne they do truly erre and do not see what they daily doe and may have experience of It is from our senslesnesse and stupidity or rather from our self-love and pharisaical disposition that we do not more afflict our selves under the apprehension of it for this is the highest offence the like whereof said Luther unless in the Devils cannot be found SECT II. The Aggravaiions of Original Sinne. ¶ 1. Of Adam's Actual Transgression NOw for the aggravation of original sinne we may speak either of Adams actual iransgression which is our
that which yet is of Gods appointment and if true would necessarily condemn marriage as unlawfull So that as he observeth The words do properly relate to the child afterwards in the womb when formed and nourished there A second Objection is That what David saith here is hyperbolical Thus the Socinians David doth not mean as if he were born in sinne but doth hyperbolically aggravate his wickedness in that from his youth up he did quickly fall into sinne and they compare two places amongst others Psal 58. 3. Isa 48. 8. where wicked men are said to be transgressors from the womb But first Seeing David intends to abhorre himself before God there is no sense to go from the plain words otherwise we might turn all the Scripture into tropes and figures and so make no certainty at all And as for those two places they confirm this Text for how come men to be transgressors from the womb to act wickedness so early to sinne as soon as ever they are able to act any thing Doth not all this demonstrate they were born in sinne Besides those places are not parallel for they speak of the facts of men after they come out of the womb and in such particulars an Hyperbole may sometimes be admitted but this relateth to David while in the womb and not to his own action but that wherein he was passive Lastly Another Socinian saith It is to be understood of actual sinnes and not original because it is in the Plural number whereas original sinne is but one The Answer is That indeed the Septuagint and so the Vulgar Latine they render it in the Plural number in iniquities c. And thereupon it 's disputed by the Schoolmen Whether original sinne be one or more sinnes Some though but few say it 's more Others but one and excuse their vulgar Translation by saying that it may be called sinnes in the Plural number because it is the root of many or because it being a body of sinne hath as it were many parts and members Arminius likewise among other exceptions brought this against their publick Catechism because it said Innata peccata in the Plural number as if original sinne were many sinnes But all this Discourse is needless for in the Hebrew it is in the Singular number and so our Translators render it and that David cannot mean actual sinnes is plain because he was born in this iniquity he speaketh of The Text then thus vindicated first from the note of Attention Behold Observe That the true Doctrine about original sinne is not only to be believed but we are diligently to meditate and consider about it Behold saith David I was shapen in iniquity c. Great will be the spiritual advantage that a man may reap hereby but because I have mentioned many already I shall now name but two or three not spoken before SECT III. More Advantages accruing from the Belief and Meditation of this Truth FIrst The man who deeply considers this he will dwell at home much he will much commune with his own heart his work will be to rectifie his inwards much to attend more to his heart-work Alas how many do you see spend all their time in disputes about Religion in quarrellings and strises about this opinion and that opinion whereas if he were deeply sensible of that wound upon him by original sinne and how his whole soul is out of order he would presently give over that way he would say I have greater work in hand I have more necessary business to do If a mans house were on fire he would give over any disputes he had with his neighbour and go presently to quench that Thus the Pilot when the ship is leaking he would not attend to needless cavils and in the mean time endanger his Ship when thy vitals yea thy very heart is diseased thou standest disputing about the cure of thy fingers end Oh how much better were it to be searching into your hearts diving into the bottom thereof then to spend thy time in useless disputes Again If we did meditate on this more We should not be so forward to judge and censure others to be alwayes medling and talking of other mens infirmities for we should find our selves had enough at home Yea further When men accuse in and falsly slander us charging this sinne and that upon us Now though we may bless God and appeal to him because of our innocency yet we must withall confess that if men knew all that stirreth in our hearts as God doth they would abhor us Even Socrates though an Heathen when he was told how men reviled him What would they say saith he if they knew all by me Certainly there is no godly man but loatheth himself more in Gods eyes because of this depth of pollution within him then all the world can despise him he is not more abominable in their eyes than he is in his own Lastly Hereby a godly man is provoked to walk with more fear and trembling because David had this birth-sinne therefore was he so quickly tempted to those foul sins Oh if God should not keep down and by his Spirit mortifie this body of sin it would quickly break out even into a very hell Thou carriest therefore fit fewel for any sinne Oh take heed how thou comest near the fire of any temptation SECT IV. That we are sadly to bewail and be humbled for this Original Sinne all our dayes VVE have considered the Introductory Note of Attention and now proceed to the Matter it self which is acknowledged and bewailed and that is not actual sinne but the sinne he was born in even before ever his understanding and will could put forth any actions David you heard doth not here hyperbolize he speaks it not only humiliter but veraciter he doth in his own experience find that there is such a bitter root within him such a corrupted nature that if left to it self would immediately flame out into most accursed and abominable transgressions and therefore David knowing that the strength of all his actual sins was in this original he composeth himself in a serious and affectionate manner to acknowledge that That we are not only to believe there is such a thing as original sinne in us but we are sadly to bewail it and to be humbled for it all our dayes This is not a truth in Divinity that is to be in a speculative and barren manner disputed about but we are to descend into our own hearts to discern the wofull and bitter effects of it upon our own souls It is not enough for you to be of this saith That there is original sinne that it is the sinne of the whole world and of all mankind but you are to take notice of and to be affected with that particular and proper original sinne which difsuseth it self over thy whole man Original sinne is not one sinne as there is one Sunne and all partake of the light
very usefull to name them for hereby God is wholly cleared although he created man and fore-knew he would fall yea permitted him to fall yet he was no cause of his fall neither did God make Adam that he might sinne as some would calumniate the Orthodox Doctrine with such consequences Even as Austin's adversaries said he did Sub nomine gratiae asserere fatum because we do not make God an idle Spectator as it were of Adam's fall or make it wholly uncertain and casual as it were to God but acknowledge his permission and ordination of Adam's evil to a better good than his evil could be evil therefore it is that some do so paratragediate Take we heed then that in the acknowledging of this Doctrine we have no froward or foolish though â—s rising against God Adam's destruction and of all his posterity was of and through himself The next thing considerable in the Description is the propagating and communicating of it to all his posterity that naturally descend from our first Parents This also is very material to open the nature of this sinne that it 's by propagation Adam's sinne was not personal as ours are but common to the whole nature Therefore the Apostle Rom. 5. putteth it upon one sinne or offence and that by one man The Pelagians were vehement opposers of this and therefore called the Orthodox Traduciani because they hold the traduction of this original sinne Adam being a common person and he as our Head being in Covenant with God when he became a Covenant-breaker then we all forfeited all in and by him So that it 's the Covenant of God that is the foundation of communicating original sinne as farre as sinne can be communicated to all mankind yet natural generation is the medium or way of conveying it But of this more in it's time It followeth in the Description That this original sinne as it is by propagation so to all and every one of mankind who were in his loins for Christ was not properly in Adam 's loins and so his sinne could not be imputed to Christ because Adam was not in Covenant for him otherwise not the Virgin Mary or any other is exempted from this universal pollution So that here we have the Subjectum praedicationis as formerly inhaesonis that subject of whom this sinne may be predicated and that is every Infant new born as soon as he hath a being so soon doth he become thus all over stained and abominable and this should make Parents have sad and serious thoughts about their children there is that corruption planted in their souls which no instruction no discipline can eradicate nay the grace of God sanctifying doth not wholly expel in this life Although the grace of God in some Obed-Edoms and Timothies appear in them from the youth yet these were by nature dead in sinne and children of wrath onely Gods grace was very wonderfully conveyed unto them in their youth or infancy Do not therefore think that because thou hast a more ingenuous civil and moral nature that therefore original sinne is not in thee yea many times the actings and workings of it are more mortiferous and pestilential than in grosse sinners But let us proceed to the parts as it were essential and intrinsecally constituent of this depravation and that is said to be the losse of Gods glorious Image and thereby a proneness to all evil we need not say more to explicate these particulars As in hell there is a privative part the losse of the enjoying of God and then a positive punishment through the torments of hell fire Thus in original sinne we are without the Image of God There is not that light or holiness he created us in and withall an impetuous inclination to whatsoever is evil So that now all the powers of the soul they move inordinately and with great precipitancy as Seneca saith of old men because of their feebleness Dum ambulare volunt currunt they do not walk but runne Thus our affections our will they do not so much go as tumble headlong to their objects Hence Tanrellus Tryumphus Philos pag. 18. maketh original sinne to be nothing but impotentia naturam cohibendi that we cannot stop nature in the impetuous motions thereof to sinne no more than we can the violent torrents and streams of water in excessive floods In these two things then lieth the whole venom and poison of this natural filthiness we are without all good and under the dominion of all evil and this is to speak all the misery that possibly a man can be capable of In the last part we adde in the description a two-fold effect of this natural defilement which although they are to be treated of in a more large manner with all the particular effects of this sinne or some of them at least yet in the general something is to be said that we may affect our souls with them And First Hereby we are made obnoxious to the curse and wrath of God Even before any actual sin is ever committed for this Infants dying immediately upon their birth may justly be damned to all eternity This is that which carnal reason strometh at This is that which the nature of man will hardly yeeld to Therefore the position of many have been That there is nothing damnable in Infants And although some would not admit them into the Kingdom of Heaven yet freed them from the place of the damned but we must submit our humane reason and our humane affections to the Scripture if so be that Gods word saith We are by nature children of wrath If Jesus Christ be a Saviour to Infants as well as to men if he came to redeem them as well as actual sinners then of themselves their condition was damnable for Christ came to seek that which was lost and the whole need not the Physitian but the sick Oh then let us all humble our selves under this sentence of condemnation passed upon us God might say of every Infant In the day thou art born thou shalt be damned and it is the meer gracious favour of God that deferreth the execution of this sentence for till a man be in Christ he is not freed from this curse only God in much patience doth put off the execution The second effect is To be under the power and dominion of the Devil Eph. 2. The Devil is said to rule in the hearts of men and is therefore called The Prince of this world regeneration is not only subduing of corruption in us not only repairing the glorious Image of God which we have lost but also a dispossessing of the devil who had a throne in every mans soul By nature therefore because thus polluted we are vassals and bondslaves to Satan we are of him we do his works The bodily possessed by Satan were not more miserably agitated by him then our souls are spiritually by him what he tempts us to we obey what he suggests to us we
would not have been any privation of such light as was necessary but it would have been meer nesciency and so no sinne and therefore such a nesciency was in Christs humane nature while and Infant Luk. 2. 52. He encreased in wisdome and stature as also Isa 7. 15. Butter and honey shall be eat that he may know to refuse the evil and choose the good that is he should eat on childrens usuall food till he did encrease in knowledge but all this was without sinne This Proposition may satisfie that Infants cannot have any actual sinne while meerly so because the want of use of reason in them is no sinfull imperfection neither are they under the commands of God to beleive and know him as also to love him with all their soul Therefore it is absurd in the Lutherans to say that these commands of actual knowledge fear or love do bind them while thus under a natural nesciency that floweth from their very nature as nature not as vitiated and defiled Prop. 3. The reason why Infants have not the actual use of reason as soon as they are born ariseth not from their soult but the constitution of their bodies As in natural fools mad men or men in sleep there is no defect in their souls but in the body which is the organical instrument of the soul Therefore when Infants die as soon as ever their souls are seperated from the body they have perfect knowledge and reason but the want of the use of reason ariseth from the abundance and overflowing of humours whereby the sensitive powers of the soul are make indisposed for their operations Prop. 4. Seeing therefore that the soul cometh to work rationally by the successive alteration of the complexion of the body as the organs are disposed which in some is sooner in some later it is impossible to give not only the metaphysical indivisible instant but even the moral time wherein a child doth first begin to have an actual sinne As we cannot observe it in our selves when we first had any use of reason so neither can we in another and therefore the limiting of the works of understanding to the fourth sixth or seven years is altogether uncertain only we are to conclude That children sinne long before they know what sinne is or can understand what it is to offend God for those peevish 〈◊〉 vexations which are in little ones even while sucking are not to be freed 〈◊〉 some kind of guilt for such things would not have been in the state of innocent◠And if you say Why should we think those are sins seeing they do not flew from the use of reason and free-will Therefore The fifth Proposition is That contrariety to the Law of God is of the essence of a sinne not voluntariness in actu secundo as they say as if immediately elicited by the will For habitual sins are not voluntary in that but because they are the effect produced by voluntary acts of sinning that did precede therefore they have as much voluntariness as is required to make an habitual sinne and thus original sinne with the immediate effects that flow thence have as much voluntarness as is required to make them sinnes for as habitual sinnes are therefore sins because contracted by our own personal will so original sinne is voluntary because descending upon as by his will who was our Head both quoad esse naturale and morale as it is in time more to be explained Therefore that Position of Socinians and others That nothing can be a sinne which is not committed by the voluntary consent of our own personal will is to be rejected as that false foundation upon which they build so many erroneous Doctrines The sixth Proposition is That even young children very early have imperfect workings of understanding and will So that those obscure actings of a rational soul begin farre sooner to put themselves forth then many do think Hence it is that they know and love those that give them suck we must then consider that there are imperfect workings of reason and perfect formed ones These later indeed are not so soon but the former are very early Lapide in Psal 25. speaketh out of Gregory of a child but five year old guilty of blasphemy And certainly Austin in his Confessions doth much bewail his sins while he was a child he was but tantillus puer yet tantus peccator a little boy but a great sinner This truth is very usefull not only to confute Pelagiant and Socinians who make in a child an indifferency to good or evil or with Aristotle a blank table to receive any impression but especially to quicken up Parents to their duty in diligent admonition and institution of them For Solamon wiser than any Pelagian saith Prov. 22. 15. Folly is bound up in the heart of a child The word signifieth is close bound to his soul as if it were with ropes Now if besides this natural folly there be wicked education and evil example this will be such a three-fold cord that will not easily be broken Oh then do not think it is no matter what children do their sins are but sports and jests you will not have them displeased or corrected for this is contrary also to Solomon's counsel Prov. 22. 5. Train up a child in the way he should go c. Some render it dedicate some instruct it cometh all to one sense but who must be thus trained Even a child in the Hebrew it is Gnal pene super es viae which causeth divers Interpretations Some understand it of the very first beginnings of a childs course when he in bivio whether he shall take to virtue or vice Some for the very time that any entrance can be made upon them for children are to learn many things by meer memory before they have understanding neither is that though in holy things a taking of Gods name in vain but a serving of God according to their capacity Some understand it according to the capacity of the child as a vessel with a narrow mouth must have liquour poured into it by degrees all these senses tend to the same purpose viz. that Parents should not put off the instruction of their children or to think because they are children therefore their sins are not to be much regarded for you have Job sharply bewailing these Job 13. 23. What were those iniquities for which God did so severely chastice Job Why did God write such bitter things against him it was because of the sins of his youth the same word in the Text And Psal 25. 7. David in great affection prayeth God would not remember the sins of his youth the same word also in the original as is in my Text And certainly we have a dreadfull example of Gods anger even against the sins of little children 2 King 2. 23. for such came out of the City and mocked the Prophet saying Go up thou bald head and there presently came two she-bears
welcome out of a dark gloomy cloud one contrary doth more illustrate another He compareth their present state of Grace with their pristine condition of misery and wretchedness which is summarily expressed That they were dead in sinnes and trespasses a farre more dreadfull estate than if they had been dead and rotting in their graves This internal corruption is amplified from a twofold external cause 1. The course aud custom of the world 2. The power and efficacy of the Devil the Prince of the power of the Air working in them Now lest this should be thought true only of the Ephesians because Gentiles he brings in himself also and the Jews equal with them both in actual sinnes 1. We all had our conversation in times past in lusts of the flesh c. 2. For original sinne both Jew and Gentile were all plunged in the same original gulf of misery And this Proposition is asserted in the words read SECT III. IN which words are considerable the Subject and the Predicate with the Manner of its attribution The Subject is We that is we all as in the beginning of this verse For seeing the Jews were Abraham's children in which they so much boasted and therefore are called Jews by nature Gal. 2. 15. and the natural branches Rom. 11. 21. They might easily think others indeed were by nature sinfull yet for themselves they would think that glorious discent they had from Abraham might be a priviledge to them but here it is true though Jews by nature yet sinners by nature as the Gentiles were 2. There is the Predicate Children of wrath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is an Hebraism and signifieth one wholly exposed to wrath as if wrath were the mother and gave them their whole being Thus the children of Belial and the sons of death are often in Scripture By wrath is meant Gods wrath Now because Gods wrath is just and doth alwayes presuppose sinne Hence is inevitably deducted That we are also by Nature full of sinne So that though wrath be immediatly the misery here spoken of yet sin is supposed as the necessary antecedent 3. There is the Manner how 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by nature We have it by our birth it 's not by imitation and action or custom but by Nature This word doth clearly pass a sentence of condemnation upon every one while in the swadling-cloaths though as yet guilty of no actual transgression But because the strength of our Argument for Original sinne lieth on this word and the Adversaries to it especially the Socinians would weaken this Testimony Let us remove their exceptions SECT IV. ANd first Gretius rejects this Interpretation of Original sinne as nothing to the Apostles meaning and therefore saith the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is as much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 truly and indeed opposite to what is in opinion and esteem comparing this place with Gal. 4. 8. Which by nature are no gods In this following Pelagius his Exposition of old as if he would take his errour by imitation as Pelagius said we did sinne from Adam This interpretation of Pelagius taking prorsus for the same with nature Austin refuseth for the novelty of it Lib. 6. contra Julia cap. 4. and indeed nothing now is more ordinary then such an Exposition with the Adversaries to original sinne as Castellio and others But this Exposition is not opposite it 's only subordinate we will grant that the word will bear this sense That we are truly and wholly the children of wrath but this is not all we are so because we have this misery by nature and the parallel instanced in will abundantly convince it for therefore they were not truly and indeed Gods because they were not so by nature So that the Text makes against him and not for him Besides the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being used about twelve times in the New Testament doth alwayes signifie that which is nature or according to natural inclination or what we have by natural birth For nature so 1 Cor. 11. 14. Doth not nature teach you And Jam. 3. 7. Rom. 1. 26. For natural principles and inclinations so the Gentiles Rom. 2. 14. are said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To do the things of the Law or by natural descent Rom. 2. 27. Vncircumcision is said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so Rom. 11 21 24. The natural branches are called the Jews descending of Abraham and thereby enjoying Church-priviledges and Gal. 2. 15. Jews by Nature Insomuch that it is a manifest falshood to say the word never signifieth that which we have by birth And indeed as is well observed by Zanchy The phrase Children by Nature must necessarily imply by descent as the sonne of a man supposeth descent from him Adam was a man but not the son of a man he had it not originally from another whereas we are by nature children of wrath and so have it from our parents Hence it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which doth relate to our nativity and in the original it is more emphatical than in our Translations for there it is not by nature children of wrath but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Children by nature of wrath So that children by nature is opposite to children by Custom Imitation Adoption or any other way Thus the first exception is removed Object In the next place The Socinian puts in his Caveat after this manner That must be understood by the phrase Children of wrath by nature which the Ephesians were now by the grace of God freed from for the Apostle speaks in the time past You were by nature children of wrath but now are quickned by the grace of God therefore the Ephesians were now freed from that estate But according to the Doctrine of those who maintain Original sinne that abideth in every man though regenerated and is not abolished but by death Answ But this stone is easily removed For although original sinne abide in the godly yet the guilt of it is not imputed So that though by nature we were obnoxious to the wrath of God through its guilt yet when grace cometh this guilt is taken away so that though it be in us yet it is not imputed to us Object Lastly They object It must be understood of actual sins for the Apostle spoke of such before and to be a sonne of a thing denoteth the quality inherent in a man as given to such a way so in the former verse the Children of disobedience that is those who voluntarily give themselves to such rebellion Answ But to this it is answered That in the former expression is not the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So that the Apostle doth here lay the Ax to the root of the Tree and because the Jews might be thought by the priviledges they enjoyed as soon as born to excell the Gentiles Therefore he demonstrateth the Fountain and Well-head of their iniquity though secret and under-ground as
thee than a child new born yet that is a child of wrath till cleansed Oh then be 〈◊〉 of thy condition SECT V. Objections against this natural Uncleanness answered THe Doctrine of our natural uncleanness and sinfulness by traduction from Adam being established out of these words we come to answer some Objections That as the shaking of the Tree makes it root faster and deeper so doubts about it when cleared may the more confirm us The first Objection which I shall bring seemeth in express terms to deny any such uncleanness at least to Infants of bellevers So that it should seem Because believers are clean Therefore their children are brought clean out of them The place that gives fuel to this Argument is known being much vexed and discussed in these dayes especially in the controversie about Poedobaptism it is 1 Cor. 7. 14. Else were your children unclean but now are they holy where it is positively said That the children though but of one believing Parent are not unclean 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that answereth the Hebrew word in the Text yea the contrary to this is affirmed That they are holy I shall not range into all the controversal Disputes about this point only in the general we may say That this place doth not at all contradict my Text for Job saith That by nature none can bring a clean thing out of an unclean but if God by grace doth it that doth not oppose Job yea we told you some render the later clause interrogatively Art not thou he alone viz. that can bring a clean thing out of an unclean Certainly though no humane or Angelical power can thus sanctifie yet God can For what do all those glorified Saints in Heaven made perfectly holy but proclaim this for they were once unclean and impure but now God hath made them fully clean without the least spot or blemish Thus there is no contrariety between these two Texts for one speaketh of what we are in a natural way the other what some are by a gracious and supernatural way But yet in the second place It 's good to have a more thorow discussion of these words though not so amply as polemical Divines have enlarged it and the rather because the Lutheran Divines do boldly and peremptorily charge it upon the Calvinists as if they denied original sinne in all the children of believers And although they cannot be ignorant in what sense the Calvinists do explain this holiness of believers children yet they constantly calumniate in this point as if something would stick upon them howsoever Therefore in the third place there are three or four Interpretations that are competitors about this Text. The first is of those who by uncleanness do mean a spurious bastard-brood and by holy a civil sanctity as it were that is true and legitimate as if the Apostles meaning was in answering the doubt of a believer Whether they might continue in marriage with unbelievers for in Ezra's time all the Jews that had so married were commanded to put away their wives did inform them that their marriage would be lawful otherwise their children would be bastards but they were legitimate Thus the Lutherans generally some of the Ancients are alledged also and Musculus upon second thoughts cometh off to this Interpretation confessing he had formerly abused it against Anabaptists But this might easily be rejected if it were our business in hand For 1. Marriage even among Heathens is true lawfull marriage and their children are legitimate for although their very marriage as all things else are unclean to them in a sanctified sense because they are impure yet marriage in it self is a lawfull thing to them so that it is not to be judged fornication And 2. The Apostles argument would not conclude for those that doubted whether their marriage was lawful would also have doubted whether their children were legitimate and therefore this could not be an argument to prove their marriage lawfull In the second place There are some who understand this holiness of inward true inherent purity so that their judgement is that the Apostle saith all godly parents have holy children and if it fall out otherwise in some cases they say it 's an indefinite not an universal proposition which if it be true for the most part it is enough but experience seemeth to confute this Neither is believer here taken strictly for one who did in a saving way believe but largely for one that did profess faith in Christ and therefore is opposite to an Infidel Now all that were not Infidels were not presently truly godly though they did believe as some are said Joh. 2. To whom yet Christ would not commit himself 3. Therefore there are those who understand this of Heathenish uncleanness and Idolatry and so they say One born of believing Parents is free from that especially if we do regard the hopes that are in his education Therefore some expound this holiness only in respect of the designing and dedicating of such unto real holiness Hence Estius he understands this De filiis adultu of children grown up For it may be supposed That if the unbelieving husband will not leave his wife but abide with her that therefore he will yeeld to her and let her educate her children in the faith of Christ and be no enemy or opposet thereunto and 1 Pet. 1. 3. is brought to expound this place so that they make this holiness to be only quoad spem and disciplinam For the believer may by an holy godly life gain both the unbeliever and the children and thus Hierom is said to answer a Question proposed by Paulinus concerning this place Lapide consents to this and opposeth Calvin and Beza concerning this foederal holiness as also Tirinus on the place because the Church is not like a civil Commonwealth but is a supernatural Society saith Lapide This is no Reason for though it be a supernatural Society yet God may give what spiritual priviledges he pleaseth to them and theirs and therefore Salmeron he understands this holiness of a Church-holiness that they are esteemed children of that And in his Comment on that place brings that Promise which the Calvinists use to do I will be thy God and the God of thy seed Hence the fourth and last Interpretation which is justly deemed most genuine and orthodox is to expound this holiness of a Covenant and foederal holiness of a Church-priviledge That being born though but of one believing parent yet they are not unclean as Heathens and their children who have no right or claim to any Church-Ordinance but are holy by the gracious favour and Covenant of God who taketh in believers and their seed When parents are taken into the Church their children also or Infants are received in with them not that all are made internally holy only they have a right to Church-membership and therefore the initial sign ought not to be denied to them So that the hope of godly
Behold and take heed of it for you see even David betrayed by it the holiest man that liveth may quickly and suddenly fall into the most enormous sins because of it In the next place we have the thing it self confessed and that is in two things He was shapen in iniquity that is the first The word is many times applied to the bringing forth of a child and doth properly signifie to bring forth with sorrow and pain Hence some render it I was born in iniquity and so it may very well be translated but if we render it shapen or formed then this sheweth That in the forming of the parts of the body and disposing of it for animation even then sinne is there initially so that before we are born as soon as that mass is enlivened and animated so soon is original sinne in a man The other expression is That in sinne did his mother conceive him The Hebrew word is Did warm him or nourish him So that this doth not so much relate to the actual conception as to that whole time his mother did bear him in the womb all that while this pollution was in him Hence Aquila renders it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Septuagint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which though happily some might think it a fault in writing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet there are those who make that word emphatical and say it 's a metaphor from the fowl that is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pica the Pie that while building of her nest is with great vehemency and violence compiling of it breaking off the tops of twigs and flying from place to place as if some inward heat did transport her Others make it to signifie a multiform appetite from the colour of that Bird. Well howsoever it be the word from the Hebrew is to be extended to that whole time the child is carried in the mothers womb being warmed and nourished there So that not only as Ambrose of old we may say Hominis ortus in vitio est a mans birth is in sinne but as soon as ever that mass of flesh in the womb is informed and animated so soon it becomes sinfull It is true indeed the parts of the body are along while in forming before the soul be inspired and sinne is not properly till the soul be united to the body yet because that is part of man and tends to it we may say sinne is there inchoatively and imperfectly because it is in tendency to make up man and therefore it was that Christ being to be man yet without sin was to be conceived by the holy Ghost The very corpulent substance of the Virgin Mary from which his body was made to be purified and sanctified by the holy Ghost In the last place we are to take notice in what he is thus formed and born and that is also in two words Gnanon and Cheteh both which signifie that which is truly and properly a sin So that it 's plain when David could have no actual will or consent of his own yet then sin and iniquity was truly in him This place therefore is very evident and unanswerable to prove this That all by nature are born in sin The Fathers of old before Pelagius arose did expound it so and generally after Austin's time The Popish Interpreters also grant it a clear place to prove this truth yea the Rabbins they from hence also prove original sinne and say it hath seven names in the Old Testament whereof two that they mention viz. The fore-skin of the heart and an heart of stone are without all doubt applicable unto it Insomuch that they who deny this Doctrine in these dayes must needs wilfully put a veil before their eyes It is true Clemens Alexandrinus hath a passage which would seem to enervate the force of this place which the late Writer Vnum Necessar pag. 395. maketh use of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lib. Stromat 3. sub finem But how much his Authority herein is to be regarded appeareth in that he maketh the mother here spoken of to be Eve he calleth his mother Eve prophetically saith he though happily that doth hint something of original sinne else why should he name Eve Besides this Clemens doth a little before speak strangely which passage is taken notice of by the same Author as speaking home to the point 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Let them tell us Where an Infant did fornicate Or how he who had done nothing could fall under the curse of Adam Bellarmine thinketh these words to be the objection of Hereticks and truly those books do well deserve their name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for there is so much confusion we can hardly tell when the Author himself speaketh Some would interpret him of actual sins but the learned Vossius Histor Pelag. l. 2. pars 1. pag. 160. saith Clemens did not fully understand the Doctrine of original sinne And Coccius Tom. 2. Artic. 2. the Catholick-Treasurer from this very passage saith Clemens parum novisse de peccato originali videtur SECT II. Objections against this Ineerpretation answered BUt let us hear what is objected by the Adversaries to this clear Text And First It 's said by some That David doth not here bewail his own sins but his parents in begetting of him as if it was their sinne he acknowledged and not his own This is a miserable shift for First David was not begotten in adultery neither were his parents unlawfully joyned together therefore in begetting of him they did not sinne for Marriage is honourable if the bed be not defiled with adultery or fornication Therefore if Adam had stood in the state of integrity there would have been procreation of children so that his parents did no more sinne in this than in eating and drinking or any other lawfull act God hath appointed either for the propagating of the species or conservation of the individuums Secondly This Interpretation is against the scope of David in this Psalm which is to debase himself to humble himself from what is in him not what is in others I will acknowledge my sinne and my iniquity is alwayes before me and so proceedeth to bewail this original or birth-sinne Thirdly If his intent were to confess his parents sins why doth he instance in his mother only In sinne did my mother conceive me he saith Why did he not rather bewail the sinne of his father who begat him who would have been a greater sinner than his mother in that matter if it had been a sinne at all Lastly It 's good to take notice of what Bellarmine in the Exposition of this place though a Papist saith It may be to prevent such calumnies that future Hereticks would raise the holy Ghost in this Text would use no word that did properly and directly relate either to the fathers begetting or the mothers immediately conceiving thereupon for this might seem to attribute sinne to
understanding Another is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth desire in the general and is used in a good sense Psal 132. 13. in a bad sense Numb 11. 4. There is also the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is many times applied to the object desired as wives children houses c. Lastly there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Hebrews do commonly call evil concupiscence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But to return to the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Col. 3. 5. There is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Evil Concupiscence Though the English word Lust seemeth to be ordinarily taken in an ill sense yet Gal. 5. 17. our Translators render it The Spirit lusteth against the flesh Hence in the Scripture we may observe a three-fold lust or desire 1. That which is natural flowing from the appetite of nature Thus it is said of Lazarus Luk. 15. 16. he did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 desire to be satisfied with the crums of the rich mans table 2. There is in the Scripture mention of a good concupiscence or coveting and that is when a godly man doth earnestly desire to do or suffer the wil of God Thus Mat. 3 17. righteous men are said to desire to see those things which were to be seen in Christs dayes So Luk. 22. 15. Christ is there said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 greatly and earnestly to desire to eat the Passeover with them The godly then have a holy coveting an holy desiring after the things of God as carnal men have lusts after their sinfull objects and therefore they ought to nourish and cherish those affectionate desires They cannot go beyond their bounds and limits in this case the modus is sine mâ—de But then lastly There are evil covetings and desires sinfull lustings In which sense we read often of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes 1 John 2. 16. The lust of the world 1 John 2. 17. And men are said To walk after their lusts to be delivered up to their lusts There is then a natural concupiscence a good concupiscence and a sinfull wicked one And this again is two fold either when we desire such objects as are absolutely and simply sinfull Or secondly when the objects are lawfull and good yet we desire them excessively and for sinfull unlawfull ends SECT VI. A Three-fold Appetite in Man THe third particular necessary for the understanding of this Doctrine viz. That original sinne is lust or concupiscence in a man is To take notice of a three fold appetite Natural Animal and Rational Even inanimate bodies the stone and the fire have a kind of an appetite to descend the one downward the other upward In a man there is a natural appetite of eating or drinking 2. There is the animal or sensitive appetite whereby the sensitive faculties do desire their sutable objects Lastly There is the Rational Appetite whereby a man is carried out to desire those good things that are judged to be so by reason Now if we take these appetites substantially as it were or physically so they are good and the actions that flow from them are good but then take them Ethically and Morally with that Ataxy and Inordinacy that doth cleave to them as they are in man and so they do become polluted and defiled Insomuch that a man doth sinne till regenerated in all these things his eating and drinking became sinne and all other his actions because the principles from which they flow are all vitiated So that whatsoever principle we have of any action it being destitute of that original rectitude which adhered to it therefore it is that it moveth to every object sinfully So that this consideration may take off that calumny which the adversaries of original sinne would fasten upon the Orthodox herein as if we made man to be nothing but opus Diaboli the work of the Devil as if he were not the good creature of God Vide August lib. 2 do de nuptiis concupiscentiâ where the Pelagian saith Qui originale peccatum defendit perfectè Manichaeus est ne vocentur Haeretici fiunt Manichai as also this freeth them from the aspersion of â—â—ccianism though Cortzen the Jesuite saith The Calvinists by their principles cannot avoid it Necessario concedere coguntur substantiam esse peccatum qui concupiscentiam affirmant Com. 5. ad Rom. but very absurdly For we say take these faculties of the soul as they are naturally planted in the soul so they are good and of God The understanding the will the affections these are in themselves good but man having sinned away original righteousnesse which would have habitually disposed them to their due objects in a due manner for a due end hereby it is that they are only for sinne which were at first only for good SECT VII 4. VVHen we say That original sinne is habitual lust we must not take lust strictly but most largely as it comprehends any part of the soul in its motions to their respective objects Our English word lust is by custom almost limited to unclean desires as if those corporal burnings were onely lust Even as the Latine word libido though originally signifying quicquid libet any thing that pleased a man is for the most part also restrained to fleshly lusting but we told you that the word lust 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is in the Scripture used onely largely in a good sense in a bad sense and a neutral indifferent one Therefore in the affections there is this lust in the will there is this lust yea in the understanding and fancy which are apprehensive faculties only there is this lust For although Aquinas saith That we cannot properly in the understanding say there is motus ad objectum because a passive faculty yet in a large sense all faculties of the soul have their inclination and motion to their objects and so this original lust diffuseth it self through them all and therefore they also limit this concupiscence too much which confiae it only to the sensitive part the inferiour region of the soul For the more acute Papists do ingeniously confesse That Heresies Idolatries are sins of the mind and yet flow from this concupiscence so that this habitual lust is diffused and extended as farre as the soul hath any power or motion Oh but how few are there that do regard lust any further than bodily or sensible The spiritual the intellectual lustings of the soul are not apprehended as an heavy load or burden So that original sinne hath its upper-springs and its nether-springs the corporal chanel and the spiritual in which its filth runneth down In the gross prophane man there is original sinne acting carnally and bodily in the heretique in the proud Scholar there is original sinne acting mentally and intellectually So that as man doth consist of two parts one visible and the other invisible so also doth original sinne as it were consist of two ingredients the
a vanity upon mans mind To be pleased with stories and merry tales more then a powerfull and divine Sermon Is not this because mans mind is vain Since mans fall as the will though a noble part of the soul yet doth act dependently and slavishly to the sensitive appetite we will not what is good and the acceptable will of God but what our sinful affections suggest to us so the understanding though the satred faculty as it were of the soul yet acts dependently on the fancie and so what tickleth and pleaseth that the mind also is most affected with Austin did much confess and bewail this vanity of his mind whereby he did disdain the simplicity of the Scripture and desired to hear that eloquent Ambrose not out of love to matter but to words This is a childish vanity like Children that delight in a Book for the pictures that are in it not the matter contained therein This vain mind hath sometimes affected both Preacher and Hearer what applauded Sermons have there been and yet nothing in them but descanting upon words and affecting a verbal pomp being like the Nightingale Vox preterea nihil like Puppets stuft with bumbast having no life at all within them and all was accounted prating that was not such a wordy preaching And truely this vanity hath much infected the mind of hearers men coming to the Word preached not as to hear the Oracles of God with fear and trembling but as to the Schooles of oratory looking to the powdring of their words and the dressing of the language as much as to the setting and ordering of their own hair Is not this a great evil and vanity thus to regard the healing of the finger when the heart is deadly sick If thy mind be renewed in this it will also appear and for that vanity there will be solid gravity Fifthly Original sinne filleth the mind with exceeding great folly So that no man born a natural fool is more to be pitied then every man who by nature is a spiritual fool Those conceited wise ones of the world who condemne the godly for a company of fools they are fools in the highest degree as may easily be evinced If so be Job 4. 18. God is said To charge his Angels with folly and that as some expound even the good Angels themselves because that wisedome they have comparatively to Gods is but folly how much more is this true of man fallen who hath lost that wisedome God once bestowed upon him If you ask Wherein doth a natural mans folly appear Truly in every thing he doth Eccl. 10. 3 His wisdom faileth him and he saith to every one he is a fool Every oath every lie every drunken fit proclaimeth a man to be but a fool If he had the wisedome of Gods Word he could never do so especially the folly of man by nature is seen these waies 1. In making himself merry with sinne It is jollity and sport to him to be fullfilling the lusts of the flesh and is not this folly to be playing with the flames of hell as you see fools go laughing to the stocks so do they to hell Prov. 10. 23 It is a sport to a fool to do mischief herein then thy foolish mind is seen that thou canst laugh and sport it so in the actings of sinne which are the preparatoryes to those everlasting burnings in hell 2. Thy folly by nature is seen In preferring a creature before God what is this but the fools bable before the Tower of London as the Proverb is yet this folly is bound up in every man till grace make him wiser he loveth the creature more then God he had rather have a drop then the ocean earth then heaven dirt then gold Is not this greater folly then can be expressed yet till regenerated such a fool thou art though thou art never so wise in thy own conceit 3. We are naturally foolish In that we attend only to those things that are for the present and never at all look to eternity becoming herein like bruit beasts that regard only what is before them Moses doth in the name of God wish Oh that my people were wise Deut. 32. 29. that they would understand their latter end It is wisdome to look to the future hence they say Prudens is qussi porro videns he seeth a farre off but take any natural man doth all the wisdome he hath ever make him to attend to eternity what will become of him at the day of judgement now he is at ease and in good liking but what shall he do when that great day shall come he is farre from Hierem's temper thinking he heard alwaies that terrible noise sounding in his eares Arise and come to judgement Oh thy folly then who dost in effect say Give me that which is sweet here though hereafter I be tormented to all eternity 4. Thy folly is abundantly discovered in this that thou takest no paines to know the best things the chiefest things the things that most concerne thee Naturally thou knowest nothing of God or Christ or the way to heaven which yet is the proper end for which God made thee if folly did not reign in thy understanding thou wouldst not be so careless herein Thou art carefull to know how to live in this world but not how to live eternally in the world to come Thou knowest how to buy and sell how to plough and sow but knowest not the principles of Religion which must save thee Doth not this proclaim thy folly 5. Original sinne is discovered in our foolish mind By the inconsiderateness that it is guilty of It 's want of consideration that damneth a man Intellectus cogitabundus est principium omnis boni Psal 50. Oh consider this ye that forget God Did a man consider the majesty of God the dreadfullness of hell â—he shortness of the pleasures of sinne the mortality of the body and the immortality of the soul How could he sinne This foolish inconsiderateness maketh man though mortal to procrastinate his conversion he is alwaies beginning to repent beginning to reforme Inter caetera mala hoc habet stultitia seâ—per incipit vivere 6. Not to inlarge in this Thy folly in thy mind is seen By thy imprudence and injudiciousness Thou dost not judge godliness the favour of God and grace better then the whole world as the child thinketh his nut better then gold Sapiens est cui res sapiunt prout sunt if thou wert wise things would savour to thee as they are earthly as earthly heavenly as heavenly so that the folly of man naturally is seen in this that he savoureth not the things of God he hath no judgement to esteem of the true pearl and therefore will not part with the least thing to obtain it Sixthly The mind hath lost its superiority in respect of the other parts of the soul and its subordination to God both which were the great perfections thereof For
false for did not many Jews following the righteousness of the Law at last believe in Christ Was not Paul once zealous for the works of the Law Yet afterwards an affectionate admirer of the righteousness by faith But we leave these bold Interpreters who do assume more to themselves in turning the sense of these words this way and that way then do allow God in the disposing of mankind as if the Text were like the Potters clay that they might make a sense of honour and a sense of dishonour Come we therefore more particularly to the words in hand and as appeareth by the illation So then they are an inference from Paul's preceding Discourse As for those though men of great Antiquity who suppose these words spoken not by Paul himself as in his own person but in the person of some opponent it is so weak that it is not worth the resuting For the Apostle in the beginning of the Chapter useth great asseveration and atteslation even with a solemn oath concerning his great affection to the Jews and their salvation to whom also he attributeth great Church priviledges and spiritual prerogatives and this he doth because he was to deliver most dreadfull matter which would be exceeding displeasing to that Nation and which might seem to come from hatred to them But this Preface is to mollifie them And whereas it might be objected If a greater part of the Jews who were once Gods people and to whom the promises did belong were rejected how could Gods word be true The Apostle dishtinguisheth of the Israelites and sheweth that the promise in regard of the spiritual efficacy did belong only to Abraham's seed after the promise or who were the children of Abraham in a supernatural way imitaâ—ing him and walking in his slept The other were Abraham's sonnes after the flesh not but that they were children of the promise also in respect of the Covenant externally administred they were circumcised as well as the other and called Act. 3. The children of the promise and if this were not so the Apostle should in the same breath almost have contradicted himself for he said of the Nation in the general That to them did belong the Covenants and the Promises Hence that whole Nation is sometimes called his sonne yea his siest born and sonne of delights But though Abraham's children thus after the flesh and in some sense of the promise also yet not in that sense as the Apostle meaneth here so as to be the blessed seed and elected by God in Christ Hence Paul sheweth That the promises in respect of the efficacy and gracious benefits flewing from them did belong onely to the elect And this he proveth first from Ishmael and Isaac And whereas it might be said Ishmael for his actual impiety deriding of and persecuting Isaac was rejected and also that he was born of Hagar a bond-woman then he further exemplifieth in Esau and Jacob born both of the same father and of the same mother and at the same time and yet before they had done good or evil The one even the younger was loved of God and the Elder to whom the birth-right did belong was hated Whether these instances be propounded as types only so that for all this both Ishmael and Esau might be elected as some have charitably thought of Elau that he repented of his cruel intentions to his brother changing his mind to him and so as they think dying a converted man or whether they be propounded as Examples also as well as Types viz. as those persons whom God had excluded from grace and therefore the Scripture giveth this Character of Esau that he was a profane man is not much material This is enough that the Discourse of Paul is carried on with great strength And whereas it might be objected That God was unrighteous in making such a difference between those that were equal the Apostle answereth from a Text of Scripture Exod. 33. 19. where Moses desiring to see the glory of God God grants his request giving this reason I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and mercifull to whom I will be mercifull Thus even Moses hath that great glory put upon him even to speak to God face to face and that not for any worth or dignity in himself but the meer gracious will of God Therefore there is no unrighteousnesse in this act whereby God receiveth one and leaveth another because this Assumption is an act of grace and savour and in things of favour and liberality there is no injustice If I meet two poor men equally indigent and I relieve one passing by the other there is no injustice in not relieving of him Now from this expression of God to Moses the Apostle maketh this inference in my Text removing all causes and merits of the grace of God from man and attributing it wholly to God In the negation we have a distribution It is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth It is not Here is much dispute what is meant by that But the Context maketh it evident that election is not nor the blessed effects of Election Conversion Justification and Salvation Some also adde The act of volition It is not of him that willeth to will for God worketh in us to will So that all is to be given to God for Voluntas bons is one of Gods good gifts to us Nelentem pravenit ut velit volentem subsequitur ne finstra velit A good will cannot precede Gods gifts seeing that it selfe is one of Gods gifts Not of him that willeth Here we see plainly the will of man so importent yea so polluted by sinne that it cannot put it self forth to any good Again It is not of him that runneth The Remonstrants limit this too much as if it were an allusion to Esau who neither by running when he wearied himself in hunting for venision nor by willing when with tears he so earnestly desired the blessing could obtain it for the Scripture doth usually compare Christianity to a race and our conversation to a running So that it is neither our inward willing or outward performing of duties though with much industry that make us obtain this grace from God Not that we are to sit still and to be idle but we are to wait on the means onely it 's Gods grace not our wils which do make us holy and happy Therefore you have the positive cause of all But it is of God that sheweth mercy It is then the meer mercy and compassion of God which maketh a diffrence between men lying in the same sin and misery he speaketh not of justifying mercy adopting mercy but of electing mercy converting and calling mercy This discriminating power and grace of God doth evidently appear every where there being two in a family one taken the other left Two hearing a Sermon one humbled and converted the other remaining blind and obdurate If to this it be replied that the meaning
thee see the dunghill in thy heart the general pollution of thy soul thou wilt cry out Oh how blind was I till now how sensless till this time Oh I am a damned man an undone man if God do not recover by his grace Therefore that of Austin though formerly mentioned can never enough be inculcated That in their controversie with Pelagians there is more need of prayer then syllogismes The truth of this Doctrine as it is primarily discovered by the Scripture so secondarily by the experience of the regenerated who as Paul said were alive once secure and blessed according to their own thoughts in the state they were in but when once convinced of the spirituality of the Law and their own carnality and contrariety therunto then sinne becometh out of measure sinfull and they die and are undone in their own thoughts Therefore concerning the Writers in this Controversie we are not only to enquire what acquired learning they have but what inspired grace what experimental workings of Gods Spirit in the humbling of them and to make them renounce all their own righteousness and fullness that Christ may be all in all Thus Austin who of all the Fathers hath most orthodoxly propugned this truth so none of them discover such an experimental conversion to God and a gracious change upon their hearts as he doth in his Books of Confessions I do not detract from the piety of the other Ancients only it is plain Austin discovereth a more peculiar and higher degree of an experimental knowledge of his own unworthiness and Gods gracious power in bringing him out of darkness into light and no question but the efficacy and power of this experience made him so orthodox and couragious in maintaining that truth which political and phylosophical principles did much gainsay but this is the wofull effect of original sinne that it taketh away all power to discover it self and as those deseases are most dangerous which take away the sense of them so is original sinne to be aggravated in this respect that it maketh a man insensible of it Fifthly The aggravation of this sinne is seen That it is the habituall aversion of the soul from God and conversion to the creature It is true original sinne is not an habitual acquired sinne but yet it is per modum habitus as Aquinas expresseth it That is the soul of every Infant born into the world cometh with an innate and habitual averseness to God and what is holy as also a concupiscential conversion to the creature so that the two parts expressed in an actual sinne of commission mentioned by the Prophet Jermiah Chap. 2. 13. My people have committed two evils they have forsaken me the fountain of life there is the aversio à Creatore and have hewed to themselves broken cisterns there is the conversio ad creaturam the same hath some representation in original sinne for every man by this hereditary pollution stands with his back upon God and his face to the creature Even as the child cometh bodily into the world with his face downwards and his back upon the heavens so it is with the soul of a man and this maketh our sinne of native pollution to be out of measure sinfull in that a man standing thus at a distance yea at enmity against God can never turn his face again towards God but by a supervenient grace from above Sixthly The great heightening of this sinne is In the deep radication of it It is so intimately and deeply rooted in all the powers of the soul that while a man is in this life he can never be freed from it hence it is that the ordinary determination of the Protestant Writers concerning original sinne even in regenerate persons is That it is taken away Quoad reatum though not Quoad actum There is original sinne in every man living yea in the most holy only it is removed from them Quoad reatum the guilt shall not be imputed and Quoad Dominum though it be in them yet it doth not reign in them only it is in some degree present there and therefore called by the same Divines Reliquiae peccati which expression though scorned by Corvinus yet both Scripture and some experience doth justly confirme such a phrase And although the late Adversary against original sinne Tayl. a further Explication of the Doct. of Orig. pag. 501. doth positively and magisterially according to his custome dogmatize that it is a contradiction to say sinne remaineth and the guilt is taken away and that in the justified no sinne can be inherent yet herein he betrayeth his symbolizing with Papists for all our learned Protestants have maintained this Position against Papists Bishops and others distinguishing between reatus simplex that is inseperable from sinne or the merit of damnation and Reatus redundans in personam which is when this is imputed There is therefore alwayes abiding in every man though justified original sinne in some measure it is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The sinne dwelling in us as the Apostle calleth it Rom 7. and therefore in regard of the immobility and inseperability of it from mans nature while here on the earth it is more to be aggravated then all actual and habitual sins For though in Regeneration there is an infusion of gracious habits whereby the habits of sinne are expelled yet this original depravation is not totally conquered by it And thus much may suffice for the aggravating of it because something hath already been spoken to this Point ¶ 3. An Objection Answered THere remaineth one great Objection against the hainousness of this sinne That it is wholly involuntary and therefore we are traduced in this particular that we charge our sinnes hereby upon Adam or God himself freeing our selves Thus we accuse others and excuse our selves Is not this to do as Adam who put off all to the woman whom God had given him so we to clear our selves put all upon Adam's score Therefore many Papists and others complain of us as aggravating it too much whereas one of them saith Rundus Tappor Disp de peccato origin that it is minus minimo peccato veniali lesse then the most least venial sinne But to answer this First As this Doctrine about original sinne is wholly by revelation so we are to judge of the hainousness of it according to Scripture-principles It is true as hath been said formerly the Heathens did complain of the effects of this original sinne but they did not know the cause so that as by the Word we come to know that from our descendency from Adam we do contract this original pollution thus also by the Word we are to passe sentence about the greatness of the sinne If the Scripture saith We are by nature the children of wrath If God in destroying of the world doth not simply look to actual sins but as they flow from such a polluted principle If by this we are in bondage to Satan and are
in every one by nature to what is good To consider this more throughly we are to take notice that original sinne doth not lye in a man asleep or like a sluggish and muddy pool that doth not send forth its noisome streames but by the Apostle Rom. 7. is described as a sinne that is alwayes acting and rebelling against the Law of God and therefore as soon as ever a child is capable of such sinfull actings this original sinne doth put forth it self it is not to be limited to yeares of discretion but even in the childhood of man much folly and vanity many actual motions of sinne do put forth themselves It 's often said by Divines that original sinne is peccatum actuosum though not actuale an active sinne though not an actual and this should make us look back to our very childhood and to mourn for all that folly and vanity we then committed How quickly did thy enmity to holy things begin to appear What a wild Asses Colt or what a young Serpent wast thou plainly manifesting that as thy parts of mind and strength of body should encrease so also would thy corruption break forth more powerfully But of this childhood-sinfulness more is to be spoken SECT V. How soon a Child may commit actual Sinne. WE are treating upon the second part of the Doctrine which is That the proper original sinne that is in every man doth break forth into actual evil betimes From the youth The word is observed by learned men to be used in the Plural number for Emphasis sake and therefore is not to be limited to such a time as when one cometh to years of discretion but even to our childhood therefore the Hebrew word is used of Infants as Moses Exod. 2. 6. and Sampson Jud. 13. 5. although we deny not but that it is also in Scripture applyed to those that are grown up Hence Divines have a Rule Secundum Hebraorum idioma Infans vocatur emnis filius ad comparationem parentum according to the Hebrew custome every son is called an Infant comparatively to his parents and happily we may adde a Disciple and servant respectly to their Superiours This word Obadiah applyeth to himself 1 Kings 18. 12. Thy servant feareth God from his youth This time then of sinning is to be extended further then usually it is imagined for commonly we look not upon the actions of young ones as sinnes till they come to some discretion or if we do we count them very little and venial they are matter of delight more then of humiliation so few are there who do rightly affect themselves with the vanity and folly as also enmity to holy things that they were guilty of even while little children But because this truth hath some difficulty in the doctrinal part thereof let us more exactly enquire into the nature of it which will be seen in several Propositions And First The Lutherans have a peculiar opinion that even Infants whether in the mothers womb or new born are guilty of actual sinnes for whereas they make the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Steg Photin dis de peccato Orig. Fewrborn disput 1a. to be applyed sometimes to the Infant in the womb Luk. 1. 41. sometimes to Infants new born 1 Pet. 2. 2. They conclude that even such as these before they have any use of reason are guilty of actual sinnes only concerning actual sinnes they distinguish that such are either taken strictly and precisely for those that came from deliberation and the will or largely for any motions or stirrings of the soul against Gods Law though without the act of will and reason and in this latter sense they say Infants partake of actual sinnes But although original sinne is an active quality in a man and doth begin to work very early yet it cannot be thought to produce actual sinne till the soul by its powers and faculties is able to produce operatins It is true we read of Timothy that he is said to know the Scriptures from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but that doth signifie Timothy something grown up and attaining to some understanding for the Lutherans are too peremptory who think a place cannot be brought where 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth signifie a child something grown up Timothy therefore is said 2 Tim. 35. To know the Scriptures from a child because his godly Mother and Grandmother did as soon as he was able to receive instruct him in the faith which could not be while a meer Infant Therefore In the next place A second Proposition is That even in the state of integrity had not Adam fallen children new born would have been without actual knowledge as well as in corrupted nature they would not have been born with perfect use of their reason no more then they would have been born with perfect and compleat bodies for such could not have been contained in the womb We take it for granted though some have been for the negative that in the state of innocency there would have been multiplication of children by generation which appeareth in the Creation of a woman for a man and if so then that the children at that time born though they would have been free from original sinne and all the general effects thereof yet would not have been born in a perfect ability actually to use their reason Indeed the Scripture is wholly silent what would have been done if man had not fallen and therefore nothing can be certainly determined unless we had some divine revelation about it yet there is a good Rule given that we must think God would then keep to that ordinary way of nature which we now find except where sinne and the effects thereof have made a difference we are not to make miracles and extraordinary workings of God unless some necessity of reason compell thereunto and thus it would be here if children new born should have had perfect actual knowledge It is true Austin doth seem to incline Vide Augustin de peccator Mer. Rmeist lib. 1. cap. 35 36. especially cap. 37. that as soon as ever the children were come forth from the womb God would have made them great and perfect bodies as he did Eve of Adam's rib immediately or at least made them fit for all motions of the body but this is so improbable that Austin cannot be excused unless we think he spake it doubtingly and by way of inquisition yea not only concerning the body but even the soul also that a child is so long without the use of reason he seemeth to make it not from meer nature but vitiated and polluted This we say hath no probability for we must not think that God would have alwayes in the state of innocency wrought miraculously in the constant propagation of mankind It is true the blindness that is habitually upon the mind of every Infant whereby it is indisposed to receive the Truths of God when grown up would not then have been in Infants There
that did tare in pieces two and fourty of them They were but little children and you would think none would regard what they said but behold the heavy judgement of God upon them Therefore let Parents be more deeply affected with the lies and sinfulness of their children then commonly they are The wicked man is said Job 20. 11. to have his bones full of his puerilities or as we translate it the sinne of his youth because sinne acted in the youth doth cleave more inseperably then other sins even as he who had been possessed with a Devil from his youth was more difficultly cured therefore the Text addeth Those sins lie down in the dust with him Thy youth-sins will go to the grave with thee if grace make not a powerfull change SECT VI. Whether Original Sinne be alike in All. THe last thing to be treated on is to answer that Question Whether original sinne be alike in all Do we not see some even from the very womb more propense to iniquities then others And if it be equal in all Why should not all be carried out to the same sins alike Why is not every one a Cain a Judas To this we answer these things 1. If we take original sinne for the privative part of it viz. the want of Gods Image so all are alike Every one hath equally lost this glorious Image of God none hath any more left of it in them then another Even as it is concerning those that are damned in hell They are all equal in their punishment in respect of the poena damni they lose the presence of the same God and are all alike cast out from his presence but there is a difference in respect of the poena sensus some have greater torments then others 2. Original sinne is alike in all in the positive part if you do respect the remote power of sinne that is there is in all equally an habitual conversion to the creature Even as all have the same remote power of dying alike though for the proxim power some die sooner and some later The seed then of all evil is alike in all all are equal in respect of the remote power of sinning 3. By original depravation all are alike in respect of the necessity of sinning There is no man in this lost estate but he doth necessarily sinne quoad specificationem as they say whatsoever he doth he sinneth though not quoad exercitium this sinne or that sinne one is more ingaged unto then another Neither is this necessity of sinning like the necessity of hunger and thirst for these are meer natural and not culpable but this necessity of sinning is voluntarily brought upon us and though it be necessary yet is voluntary and with delight also As Bernard expresseth it The voluntariness taketh not off from the necessity nor the necessity from the voluntariness and delight Lastly Original sinne is equal in all in respect of the merit and desert it deserveth death it deserveth hell There is none cometh into the world thus polluted but he is obnoxious to death and an heir of Gods wrath For although some are freed from hell yea and one or two have been preserved from death yet is wholly by the grace of God The desert of original sin is equal in all But then you will say How cometh it about that some are more viciously given then others some more propense to one sinne then another I answer 1. From the different complexions and constitutions of the body with their different temptations and external occasions of sinne as they meet with Though the remote power be equal in all yet the immediate and proxim disposition is the bodies complexion and other concurring circumstances For original righteousness being removed then a man is carried out to sinne violently according as his particular torrent may drive him Even as if the pillars or supporters of an house should fall to the ground every piece of wood would fall to the ground more heavily or lightly as the weight is or as you heard Aquinas his similitude when the mixt body is dissolved every element hath his proper motion the air ascends upward the earth downwards and this is the cause of the divers sins in the world and some mens particular inclinations to one sinne more than another And then 2. The grace of God either sanctifying or restraining doth also make a great difference It is God that saith to the sea of that corruption within thee Hitherto thou shalt go and no further Think not that thou hadst a better nature or lesse original sinne than Judas or Cain but God doth either change thy nature or else he doth several wayes restrain thee that thou canst not accomplish all that actual wickedness thy heart would carry thee unto CHAP. X. A Justification of Gods shutting up all under Sinne for the Sinne of Adam in the sense of all the Reformed Churches against the Exceptions of Dr J. T. and others SECT I. GAL. 3. 24. But the Scripture hath concluded all under sinne that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe THe Apostle having made an Objection against himself vers 21. Is the Law then against the promises of God He answereth it 1. With a detestation God forbid 2. He sheweth wherein the Law is so farre from being contrary that it is subservient to the Gospel Only we must distinguish of the use of the Law which is per se and which is per accidens The use of the Law per se is to give eternal life to such who have a perfect conformity thereunto but per accidens when it meeteth with lapsed man who must needs be cursed by it because he is so farre from continuing in all the duties thereof that he is not able to fulfill perfectly one iota or tittle thereof therefore it provoketh us to seek out for a Saviour as a man arrested for debt enquireth for some friend or surety to deliver him Now this subservient use of the Law is expressed in the Text mentioned wherein you have the condition of mankind declared viz. That they are shut up under sinne 2. The Universality All. 3. The Cause appointing and declaring of this The Scripture 4. The final Cause That the promise c. Let us briefly open the particulars And First The Condition of man is said to be shut up under sinne or concluded it is a Metaphor from those malefactors that are shut up in a prison and cannot come forth So that the word implieth partly the condemnation that is upon all mankind and partly the impossibility to escape it and then whereas it is said under sinne that denoteth both the guilt of it and the dominion of it and that both original sinne and actual for both are comprehended herein else Infants would be excluded from having an interest in Christ for whosoever are brought to Christ are necessarily supposed to be in a state of sinne Hence In the
soul the rational the irascible and the concupiscible which he calleth indignativum concupiscentivum In the irascible he speaketh of a good indignation and an evil one applying this Text to the later Cerda his Commentator illustrating this saith Tertullian's meaning is That we are by nature children to our passions we are not at our own disposing we are under their power adding That Paul mentioneth wrath rather than any other affection because of that anger and fury by which he once persecuted the Church of God Thus he mentioning also another Exposition That by anger is to be understood the Devil who may so be called because of the cruelty he exerciseth upon men but this is so improbable that it needeth no refutation The wrath then is Gods wrath which like himself is infinite and the effects thereof intollerable So that it is as much as to be Children of hell children of everlasting damnation even whatsoever the wrath of God may bring upon a man in this world and the world to come SECT II. What is meant by Nature THe second Question is What is meant by Nature As for those who would have it to signifie no more then prorstus and vere altogether or indeed we have heretofore confuted yet granting that this is part of the lease but not the principal For we are to take nature here for our birth-descent as appeareth partly because the Apostle useth the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which doth more properly relate to our nativity whereas before he calleth the children of disobedience 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 partly because the Apostles order is observable for in the original it is We were children by nature of anger that is natural children opposed to adopted ones and partly because the Iews pretended holiness by their nativity because they were the seed of Abraham which pride the Apostle would here abate making them equal herein to the Heathen Idolaters Neither by nature are we to understand custome only as if the Apostle meant by it the constant custome of our actual iniquities which useth to be called a second nature we are made children of wrath for the Apostle doth no where use the word so no not in that place 1 Cor. 11. 14. Doth not nature 〈◊〉 you c. For nature is taken both for the first principles and also the immediate conclusions deduced from them which later the Apostle doth call nature Therefore it is matter of wonder that the late Annotator in his paraphrase on Ephes 2. should take in the orthodox sense viz. And were born and lived and continued in a damning condition as all other Heathens did observe that born in a damning condition should yet referre to his notes on 1 Cor. 11. where he seemeth to contradict any such birth-damnation from this of the 2d to the Ephesians For he would understand 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the national custome of Idolatry amongst the Heathens and if so then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is not to relate to our nativity or birth as some translate it which he also noteth in the margin But though custome may be called nature yet there is commonly some limiting expression as when he quoteth out of Galen that customs are acquired natures or out of Aristotle custome is like nature Here are restrictive expressions whereas Paul speaketh absolutely And as for that instance which the learned Annotator hath out of Suidas which the late Writer maketh use of for the corrupting of this Text Vnum Necessar cap. 6. Sect. 2. it doth very fairly make against them For Suidas upon the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 inlarging himself and particularly making it to signifie the principle of motion and rest of a thing essentially and not by accident alluding happily to Aristotles definition doth after this adde But when the Apostle saith we we were by nature the children of wrath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he doth not speak of nature in this sense because this would be the fault of him that created us All which is very true and doth directly oppose Manicheism We do not say there is any evil nature or that the primordials of our nature were thus corrupted They that hold pure naturals cannot answer this reason of Suidas it doth militate against them But we affirm this corruption of our nature came in by Adam's voluntary transgression So that in this sense we call it naturale malum as Austin and quodammod◠naturale as Tertullian So Suidas his meaning seemeth to be That the wrath of God is not naturally due to us as the creatures have their natural principles of motion and rest within them but that Suidas doth not by nature wholly mean an evil custome appeareth in that he saith two things are implied in this expression The first is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an in dwelling abiding evil affection by which we may very genuinely understand that innate corruption in us that sinne which dwelleth in us And The second is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A continual and wicked custome These are not to be confounded as the same thing but one is the cause of the other Original sinne is that evil in-dwelling affection from whence proceedeth evil customs in sin But it is not worth the while to examine what the opinion of Suidas was in this particular Varinus doth better discourse upon the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 making it to be the individual property of a thing as the fire to burn and saith it differeth from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for this is the essence of a thing and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the power or efficacy of a thing and thus from him we may say original sinne is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 though still we must remember that it is not a primordial but a contracted property It 's made so upon Adam's transgression SECT III. That by nature through the original sinne we are born in all are heirs of Gods wrath all are obnoxious to eternal damnation NOw my purpose is to insist chiefly upon the Predicate in ths Propositon We are children of Wrath and that by nature even of Gods wrath So that thus Text doth contain the heavy doom of all mankind For it 's observed to be the form of speech which the Jewish Judges used when they passed sentence upon any capital offenders to pronounce That such were the sons of death From hence we may observe That by nature through the original sinne we are born in all are heirs of Gods wrath all are obnoxious to eternal damnation This is the most bitter herb in all this discourse of original sinne Here all the adversaries to it seem to be most impatient when you utter such words as these by nature deserving damnation as soon as ever we are born before any actual sinne committed it is just with God to throw us into hell that every Infant is obnoxious to