flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. The wind

bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the spirit." Now, the communication of this spirit, by which the new creature is formed, is a transfusion of life from Christ into the soul; or, rather, it is a participation of Christ himself, who is "our life;"* and, agreeably to this, we find it written, Eph. ii. 1, "You hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins." Hear our Lord speaking to the same effect, John v. 24,

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Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life." Thus is Christ the life of every true believer, and thus, "As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive;"+ but, till the quickening spirit is imparted, the state of death continues, the image of God is wanting, and the soul, in all its actings, is incapable of doing good, and is led, more or less, by the spirit of disobedience, to self exaltation, and other transgressions of the

divine law. This is the judgment of Him, who always spoke truth. "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it more can ye, except ye

abide in the vine; no
abide in me.
I am

the vine; ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing.' From what has been said, I think it appears, that what is written in the 9th Article of the Church of England is agree

able to the word of God. Original sin standeth not in the following of Adam, as the Pelagians do vainly talk, but it is the fault and corruption of the nature of every man that naturally is engendered of the offspring of Adam; whereby man is very far gone from original righteousness, and is of his own nature inclined to evil, so that the flesh lusteth always contrary to the spirit; and therefore in every person born into the world, it de serveth God's wrath and damnation. And this infection of nature doth remain, yea in them that are regenerated, whereby the lust of the flesh, called in the Greek Φρόνημα σαρκός, which some do expound the wisdom, some the sensuality, some the affection, some the desires of the flesh, is not subject to the law

John xv. 5, 6.

of God. And although there is no condemnation for them that believe, and are baptized, yet the Apostle doth confess, that " concupiscence and lust hath of itself the nature of sin." So much for the doctrine,-but I shall not proceed without making some observations upon it.

First, I shall take this opportunity of noticing an objection, which is usually made against this scriptural truth. "It is very hard, (say some), and does not seem to be worthy of a God; who useth his creatures agreeably to the law of justice, to make the whole human race suffer for the sin of one man." Now, not to say, that whatever the righteous Lord ordains must be good, though we cannot discern the reason of it, yet it appears to me, that to the objection just mentioned such an answer may be given, as shall fully vindicate the honour of God, and shew the rectitude of his proceedings. In the first place, I would observe, if Adam, who came perfect out of the hands of his Creator, could not remain firm during the appointed time of trial, it is not probable that any of his posterity would be more stedfast; and, supposing life or death to depend upon the success or failure of obedience, it seems likely that all would plunge themselves into remediless ruin ; I say remediless, because

the promise of a Saviour was a mere act of grace, proceeding from the bounty of the Creator. But, secondly, since to fallen Adam a gracious declaration was made, that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head, and since a similar declaration is made through Christ to all his posterity, no man will perish by the sin of his first parent, but by his own deliberate choice, consisting in a refusal of the most gracious offer that ever was, or, as far as we know, could be made to a set of wicked and rebellious creatures. But, what, it may be asked, will become of the Heathens, and of children dying unbaptized, to whom the offer has never been made? To this I answer-1st, If the Heathens have no light they have no sin, for so our Saviour has decided John ix. 41. 2nd, If they have light, the rejection of which will render them inexcusable, it must come from the Father of Lights; and we know, from the 1st chapter of this Epistle to the Romans, that "that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God hath shewed it to them." But, does not this concession of the possibility of salvation to the Heathens depreciate the value of divine Revelation? By no means; for the latter exceeds the former as much as the noonday splendour does the twinkling of a star;

neither will it quench the flame of missionary zeal; for, who that possesses it, will be so cruel as to withhold the clear light of truth from him, who only gropes his way, and is in danger of falling at every step?

with

Concerning the happiness of unbaptized children, I think the Scripture is less decided, and though I cannot reconcile their damnation any ideas that I have formed of the goodness and love of God, yet I am afraid of maintaining their safety, independently of divine authority. But though the Sacred Writings say little upon this subject, I think they say sufficient to satisfy every humane and sincere inquirer. Jesus Christ is in some sense "the true light which enlighteneth every man that cometh into the world." This is in them, I conceive, a seed of 'life, which, if they were to come to years of understanding, might be penetrated by the beams of a brighter Sun than that which adorns the firmament, and spring up, and grow as a plant of righte ousness. It is a seed, not yet choked by the cares, the riches, and the pleasures of the world, and which, under proper culture, may produce its fruits to the praise and glory of Him that formed it. It is generally agreed that Baptism is that to the Christian, which Circumcision was to the Jew. It is a public

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