-- CHAPTER IX: That there is more guilt in the sin of our nature, than in all our actual transgressi
And look how many laws God hath in his word, so many contrary laws sin hath in thy heart. Rom. 7:22, 23 compared—'I delight in the law of God after the inward man: but I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members'—doth confirm both of these two last assertions. There in thy heart the devil's commandments are written, contrary to God's written in the two tables, explained by Moses and the prophets. Now, the Holy Spirit by David hath said, Ps. 119:96, 'I have seen an end of all perfection, but thy law is exceeding broad;' as much as to say, the particulars thereof are infinite, there is no end of it, as the same David speaks of God's knowledge. If therefore thou hast as many laws of sin in thee as there be laws of God, how above measure must thy nature be sinful!
Again, 8, consider that that gross sin was committed haply but by some one member, used as a weapon and instrument of unrighteousness; but this sin of thy nature is spread through all, and thereby all parts and members are made weapons ready formed, fashioned, and sealed to be employed in the service of sin. This, as concerning acts of sin, you have in Rom. 6, the other in multitudes of scriptures; as when this sin is styled 'the man,' 'the old man,' a whole entire man, 'a body of sin,' 'from the crown of the head to the sole of the feet,' the sin that 'encompasseth us round,' Heb. 12:9. And if one member, the tongue, be arraigned to be the seat of 'a world of iniquity,' what is the whole and every member and faculty of soul and body? And thus much for the first branch of this comparative way, viz. comparing the sinfulness of corrupt nature with any one particular act of sinning, the grossest.
CHAPTER IX:
That there is more guilt in the sin of our nature, than in all our actual transgressions put together
I now come to the second head, the comparing of our inward corruption with all our actual sins put together. Truly some have affirmed it in their writings. Dr Sibbes, in that which he hath printed himself,* that it is worse than all our actual sins. So, then, at least it may prove a question, whether of the two hath the greater sinfulness; and so which of the two (take actual sins abstractly considered from this root) thy soul ought to be humbled for most. And I alone have not started this query unto the discussion, though I confess I had, long before I saw that of his, enlarged upon this head in sermons upon original sin.
I shall proceed in this point:
I. By way of explication or stating of it.
II. By the demonstration of it.
I. For explication. When I say the question is, For whether of these two as apart considered we should be humbled most, or whether has the greater sinfulness?
1. I grant we must allow a far greater enlargement unto the confessing of actual sins, and a far larger humiliation for actual sins; we must insist on them more, which the apostle's pattern instructs us to, by viewing the first and third of the Romans. In the first he speaks of actual sins, and spends a whole chapter thereupon, and that as in the Gentiles, as in the second chapter he insists upon the sin of the Jews; and in the third speaks of this corruption, and there he narrows his discourse about it, he doth that briefly. And the reason why we should do so is plain: actual sin is original sin, drawn out in words at length (as I may so say); but original sin by itself is our sins but in figures, yea, but as in semine, though it summarily contains all. Our humiliation therefore should extensively be superexceedingly more for actual sins, but intensively our souls should be as deeply humbled and stricken for this of our natures as for those others.
2. Our humiliation and confession of the sin of our natures, should be commixed with that other of actual sins. Original sin should be either laid first for a foundation, or actually carried along with us in the confession of actual; or at least virtually supposed, though not always expressed, as that which is conjunct with every one of our sins; it is to be, as it is, the burden of every sin.
3. Every actual sin, to be sure, in a man unregenerate, increaseth the corruption of nature (there is, or may, perhaps, a question be raised, whether in a man regenerate or no, because grace is an 'incorruptible seed,' and therefore habitual sin is not in the totality of it augmented in such an one by an act of sin, the seed of God keeping an habitual possession of what room in the soul it hath gained, though the operation is obstructed and weakened for the present); but in an unregenerate man, every actual sin increaseth a farther corruption of nature unto some degree. It is a root, and roots grow under ground, as much as the branches do in bulk above ground; and corruption in the heart increases, as actual sins increase; Rom. 6:13, 19, 'Yield not your members servants of iniquity, unto iniquity;' but on the contrary, 'have your fruit unto holiness.' The fruit of doing things holily, is to be made more holy; and the fruit of doing a gross act of sin (of which he there speaks, or of such that have dominion), is to be made more sinful, and to enlarge corruption unto a greater degree of it. Hence a wicked man's sinfulness, and corruption of nature, is improved to a wonderful increase, in comparison of what it was simply by nature. When, therefore, I in this comparative set it with all actual sins, there must a few abatements or considerations be made.
The first, that I do not restrain it purely and only to what corruption of nature you had at first, but withal as it is increased, and so complexly corruption of nature as it now is grown up in us; for the indwelling sin, in Paul's sense, is the whole stock of it, new or old.
The second is, that we take corruption of nature, as distinct from actual sin, to consider that apart with all its cursed augmentation.
Original sin is the first stock, the old stock; but all the increase put to that first stock makes up the present whole stock, as merchants speak in companies.
Yet, thirdly, so as though the first stock be less in degree, yet still in kind it is one and the same.
Fourthly, It must be allowed, or considered also, in a man truly regenerate, that the power and dominion of both original sin at first, as also of what has been added, is abated unto what it was whilst a man was unregenerate. Now it is the whole of thy wickedness, first and last, that is found dwelling in thee, and that for which I now exhort you to be humbled.
4. There are many respects wherein actual sin hath the greater guilt, as being the fruit and product of our wills, which original sin is not, and therefore the Scripture insists more upon them. Yet this I must say, that this of corruption of nature hath its respects also wherein it exceeds, and we are to give due weight unto everything in either. But this I shall after speak unto in answering objections.
II. I come next to the demonstration of it, which consists in this, that take that inherent indwelling corruption, both original at first, and the increase of it (and unto the first original stock, all the increase is to be attributed and put upon the account thereof). Take that, I say, apart from all actual sins, and there are many respects that do aggravate the fulness of it above that of actual sins. As,
1. Original and indwelling sin is the universal cause of all sin, of every one as well as any, and in that respect hath more sinfulness in it than all the acts of sin put together. I say, in that respect it is a cause, and an universal cause. This is a true rule, the virtue of things is stronger in their causes than effects. A little of a venomous root, if boiled, is found to have more poison in it, and to infuse more thereof into the liquor, than many bunches, or fruits, or leaves of that root. But when a thing is an universal cause, this rule holds much more. The sun,
you know, is an universal cause of warmth, and life of plants, and cheering the earth, &c.; it hath the virtue of all plants in it, and much more. And why? Because it is an universal cause. You have heard of other similitudes, perhaps, to express this thing by.
As, first, this hath been one similitude, that the fountain hath more of water in it (take it as it runs, first and last, and all the water that feeds it and maintains it) than the streams. I add this scripture: 'Jer.
6:7, 'As a fountain casteth out her waters, so she casteth out her wickedness.' Yet you see in a fountain but a little water bubbling up, when the fountain hath all the water in the sea to maintain it and its streams; and so hath more water as in the cause than all the streams.
If that be not enough, take the similitude of the sea itself; that to be sure hath more water in it than all the rivers that come from it at first. Now look, Isa. 57:20, 'The wicked are like the troubled sea;' they have a sea of wickedness in them, which doth continually cast up mire and dirt of actual sinnings. The sea is the universal cause of all waters that are above ground, or under the earth, or of the vapours that fall from the heavens above. In like manner it hath been said, there is more of fire in fire itself, than in sparks. Now I will but give a scripture for that too: Hosea 7:6, 7, 'They have made ready their heart like an oven: their baker sleepeth all the night; in the morning it burneth as a flaming fire.' He compares them unto a fiery oven, in respect of their inward lusts (not only in respect of that burning lust of adultery, but of other lusts also, as when the tongue is said to be on fire of hell, James 3:6), and so the heart is as an oven set on fire with hellish fire that first came from hell. And there is a thousand times more fire in the oven than in the sparks that fly out of it.
Now then, that inherent corruption in thy nature is the universal cause of all sin, I will give you some scriptures for that. Mark 7:20,
21, I think an express place for it; others pitch on that in Matthew, I on that in Mark: 'He said (namely Christ), That which cometh out of the man defiles the man; for from within, out of the heart of men,
proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye (that is, an envious eye), blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.'
Wherein observe, 1. The heart within, out of which all proceeds, is evidently corruption of nature within, inherent there; and the reason is plain, for he speaks of that principle within, out of which the very first-born of actual sins do arise; for he speaks expressly of evil thoughts, which are the first-born, and it must be the inherent habitual corruption from whence they come. These are the motus primo primi, the very first motions, as we call them. Therefore corruption of nature is meant by the heart within as the cause of them; and under this general of evil thoughts, the most inward purposes, ends, and counsels are comprehended.
2. You may observe it is spoken of all sin, and not only of evil thoughts, or inward sins, the smallest; but his instances shew that all sins, outward acts which are the greatest, as adulteries, fornications, murders, blasphemies, &c. Now if all evil thoughts and gross sins do arise from that heart within, then that is the cause of all. Christ's instances hold clearly forth that division which takes in all, even the all of evils that defile the man.
The second scripture is Rom. 7:13, 'Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good, that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.' He styles it ἁμαρτωλὸς ἁμαρτία, sinful sin; it is a good interpretation given here by some to call it sinning sin, as an epithet given it, and you cannot call it by a worse name than its own, idem prœdicatur de seipso. But further, I judge it hath a more special respect to its being the cause of sins, or as it is a working or worker of sin; and that he speaks it of original sin and inherent corruption, plainly and eminently, as it is distinct from acts of sinning, which he there arraigns as the cause of all sin, appears,
(1.) That it is called the working sin, the pragmatical operative sin; so in the words before, ver. 8, 'Sin wrought in me all concupiscence,' and so is made contradistinct unto sins wrought, which are actual sins (and sins of concupiscence are the inward sins, and the firstborn of original corruption, James 1:15); and he plainly says it was the cause of all that concupiscence; and he doth not mention outward acts, for as in respect of them he had been according to the law, or outward acts of it, blameless, and yet all the outward acts which concupiscence brings forth, this sinning sin is the cause of; of which afterwards.
And then (2.) afterwards, ver. 20, he manifestly (as interpreting what this sinful sin was), putting all sin upon the indwelling sin in our nature: 'It is not I, but sin that dwelleth in me.' His inward man, with the inherent grace that was in it, could say, It is not I, but sin; the contrary sin that dwells in me.
And this was it that was the great humiliation to our apostle at his conversion. This sinning sin, above all else, humbled him. This was it was in his eye, καθʼ ὑπερβολὴν, above measure sinful; and this, because it was the cause of all sin.
This is argued also from the comparisons the Scripture sets forth in.
It is compared both to a root and to a mother; and what improvement we may make of that to humble us we shall see by and by.
First, It is compared to a root. There is no fruit, no, not on the top branch, never so far off the root, but it partakes of the root; and the root is the cause of all that fruit that grows upon the tree, as well as the branches that brings them forth. This nature and experience shews there is no fruit but doth grow from its proper root; and it holds true in all fruit, both good and bad: they all have their root in their kind, without which nothing can be brought forth. Our Saviour
Christ, having compared himself to a root, and then to branches, John 15:1, 2, says upon it, 'Without me ye can do nothing,' ver. 5; and