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against a proud self-conceited people. But, the Apostle was not to be intimidated by any dislike, which men might testify against his doctrine, therefore he goes on to prove his position by the infallible word of God. "It is written," says he, "there is none righteous, no, not one. There is none that understandeth; there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way; they are altogether become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one." And then he proceeds to mention more particular instances of general and universal depravity.

As all men are included under the names of Jew and Gentile, and as there is but one way of salvation for all, viz. justification by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, I shall endeavour, in this discourse, to exhibit that corruption of human nature, on which the Apostle so much insists, and which must be known and felt by every one, before he can entertain any value for the redemption, which is in Christ Jesus. I shall include what I have to say on this subject at present under the following heads.

I. I shall shew, that, there is a constitutional and radical defect in every child of Adam, which preventeth him from doing that which is good. "There is none righteous, no, not one."

II. That, because of this defect, none understandeth, nor seeketh after God; and

III. As the necessary and lamentable consequence thereof, that "all are gone out of the way; they are altogether become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one."

1st, I am to shew, that there is a constitutional and radical defect in every child of Adam, which preventeth him from doing good. This is what Divines call Original Sin; and they, who labour under this dreadful evil, are said by Saint Paul, in another of his Epistles, to be " by nature children of wrath."* To understand how this defect took place, we must advert to the situation of our First Father in Paradise. He was created in the image and likeness of God,† and in him did God breathe "the breath of lives." So it is in the Hebrew not simply life, but lives, by which, I conceive, we are to understand that which is natural, and that which is spiritual, or that which belongeth to us, as mere animals, and depends upon the breath, which passeth through our nostrils; and that which is of an angelic nature, and is supported by constant communications from the spirit of

Eph. ii. 3.

+ Gen. i. 26.

.נשמת היים .7 .f Gen. ii

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God. The former of these is properly distinguished by the name of soul, and the latter by that of spirit.* Adam thus formed was

* In II Thes. v. 33, St. Paul says, "I pray God your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." These three parts of man (if I may be allowed so to call them) are distinguished in the Greek by the words wvevua, uxn and

,נשמה .נפש and דוהגשמת soula, and in the Hebrew by

or in Regimine signifies, according to Parkhurst, "the soul or spirit of man breathed into him at first by Jehovah Aleim, and supported by communication with the Divine Light and Spirit, as his natural breath by communication with the material light and air," (see Gen. ii. 7.) where the original stands thus: 0"N nn now)—the breath of the spirit of lives. The peculiar signification of this word, as distinguished from is strongly marked in the Book of Job. Thus, chap. xxxii. 8, There is a spirit (11) in man, and the inspiration (n) of the Almighty giveth them understanding." Aud xxxiv. 4, "The spirit (1) of God made me, and the breath (wa) of the Almighty hath given me life." Again, xxxiv. 14, “If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath, all flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust. So also we read, Is. xiii. 5, "Thus saith the Lord God, the Lord, he that created the Heavens, and stretched them out, he that spread forth the Earth and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people and spirit to them that walk therein. " pl.

air in motion, a breeze, breath, wind," is a more general name for every kind of spirit, and is used sometimes to signify the spirit of God, sometimes the spirit of man, once Eccles. iii. 21. the spirit of a brute, and sometimes, joined with, an evil spirit. I would call it, for distinction's sake, the perceptive and rational faculty, which receives and judges of that, which is conveyed to it by the senses, but which cannot attain to deep spiritual knowledge except it be enlightened by the now, the breath of the Almighty. See above, Job xxxiii. 8.

As every idea we can form of spirit must be very inade. quate to the thing itself, to talk of the division or parts of spirit must appear to many readers like holding a notion which is totally unintelligible; but, though we cannot exhibit a just delineation of that which we have never seen, yet, I think the passages cited will afford a proof,

the head of the human race; the stock of all future generations, who had in him their life or lives, and who were, by the appointment of God, to stand or fall by his obedience or transgression. This indeed is not particularly expressed in the book of Genesis, where the creation of mankind is spoken of, but it is plainly mentioned in other parts of the Sacred Writings, and is also fairly inferred from the nature of the Redemption, which is granted us through Jesus Christ. Thus we read, chap. 5, v. 12, of the Epistle, in the explanation of which I am now engaged, " By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men:" and are told, v. 19, "As by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so, by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." To the same effect is that also which is written

that what has been advanced is not contrary to Scripture; and if the reader will take the trouble to examine Whitby on I Thess. v. 23., and Bishop Bull's Works, as quoted by Parkhurst under nowa, he will perceive, that the doctrine is not new, but was maintained by several of the primitive Fathers, as well as by the more enlightened Heathens; and though I may seem to dissent in some measure from the latter in ascribing the name of Reason to the lowest faculty of the soul, yet we are perfectly agreed as to the existence of the two powers, or parts, or whatever they may be; only as Reason, in our language at this day, generally signifies the natural powers of the understanding, I thought it 1 would appear more intelligible to consider it as descriptive of them. W is, according to Parkhurst, "a living creature; a creature or animal that lives by breathing."

1 Cor. xv. 22, "As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." So that Adam and Christ are heads of their respective generations: the one bringing in sin and death, and the other righteousness and life, to the human race. Now, the death, which Adam brought in, causes that constitutional and radical defect, which I am endeavouring to prove; for it is the loss of man's life, not only of his natural life, by which he becomes subject to corruption, but also of his spiritual life, whereby he becomes deprived of the image of God, and sinks into the misery of a fallen creature. He is now" sensual," as Saint Jude speaks, "not having the spirit," and unless he regains it, he must be miserable for ever. Again; that the defect, of which I am speaking, has actually taken place, is further evident from this, that our Saviour says, John iii. 3, "Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God;" and when Nicodemus asks," How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" we find our Lord insists still more strongly upon his point: "Jesus answered, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water, and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the

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