What is the disease of original sin?
THE PORCH OF RELIGION
since God is merciful,. and Christ died for sinners?"
Thus, he remains a willing servant of sin, | content with the bondage of corruption; in-— wardly and outwardly unholy, and satisfied therewith; not only not conquering sin, but not striv- | ing to conquer, particularly that sin which doth so easily beset him'?
What is the disease of original sin?
This, therefore, is the first grand distinguishing point between Heathenism and Christianity. The one acknowledges that many men are infected
'with many vices, and even born with a proneness to them; but supposes withal, that in some the natural good much overbalances the evil: the other declares that all men are "conceived in sin," and "shapen in wickedness'—that hence there is in every man a "carnal mind, which is enmity against God; which is not, cannot be, subject to "his law'; which so infects the whole soul, that 'there dwelleth in" him "'in his flesh," in his natural state, "no good thing"; but "every imagination of the thoughts of his heart is evil," only evil, and that "continually."
Hence we may learn that all who deny this, ee
ealh ity 'original sin," or by any other 1 but Heathens still, in the fundamental which differences Heathenism from Christiani
They may, indeed, allow, that men have man ¥ vices; that some are born with us; and that, consequently, we are not born altogether so wise or so virtuous as we should be; there being few that —
will roundly affirm, "We are born with as much _ propensity to good as to evil, and that every man > os | is, by nature, as virtuous and wise as Adam was K at creation." But here is the shibboleth: Is man
' by nature filled with all manner of evil? Is hen f void of all good? Is he wholly fallen? Is his soul — ely corrupted? Or, to come back to the text, — is "every imagination of the thoughts of his ae heart only evil continually?"
Allow this, and you are so far a Christian. or , Deny it, and you are but a Heathen still.
We may learn from hence what is the ae a thus diseased. Hereby the great Physical souls applies medicines to heal this sickness: t restore human nature, totally corrupt in all
faculties. God heals all our Atheism by the k edge of Himself, and of Jesus Christ who:
THE PORCH OF RELIGION
and conviction of God, and the things of God— in particular, of this important truth, "Christ loved me, and gave Himself for me."
By repentance and lowliness of heart, the deadly disease of pride is healed; that of self-will by resignation, a meek and thankful submission to the will of God; and for the love of the world in all its branches, the love of God is the sovereign remedy. Now, this is properly religion,
"faith" thus "working by love': working the genuine meek humility, entire deadness to the world, with a loving, thankful acquiescence in, and conformity to, the whole will and word of God.
if man were not thus fallen, there ),/ would be no need of all this. There would be no occasion for this work in the heart, this renewal in the spirit of our mind. The superfluity of godliness would then be a more proper expression than the "superfluity of naughtiness." For an outside religion, without any godliness at all, would suffice to all rational intents and purposes.
It does, accordingly, suffice, in the judgment of those who deny this corruption of our nature.
They make very little more of religion than the famous ; Mr. Hobbes did of reason. According to
Mathes DA Povo, ke
BY JOHN WESLEY
him, reason is only "a well-ordered train of words'; 'according to them, religion is only a well-ordered train of words and actions. And they speak consistently with themselves; for if the inside be not full of wickedness, if this be clean is already, what remains, but to "cleanse the outside of the cup'? Outward reformation, if their supposition be just, is indeed the one thing needful.
But ye have not so learned the oracles of God.
Ye know that He who seeth what is in man gives a far different account of both nature and grace, of our fall and our recovery. Ye know that the great end of religion is, to renew our hearts in et _ the image of God, to repair that total loss of righteousness and true holiness which we susvig
tained by the sin of our first parents. Ye know f that all religion which does not answer to this
; end, all that stops short of this, the renewal of ; our soul in the image of God, after the likeness of iN Him that created it, is no other than a poor farce, and a mere mockery of God, to the destruction of our own soul.
O beware of all those teachers of lies, who would palm this upon you for Christianity!
--—Regard them not, although they should come } unto you with all the deceivableness of unrighte-
THE PORCH OF RELIGION
ousness; with all the smoothness of language, all decency, yea, all beauty and elegance of expression, all professions of earnest good will to you, and reverence for the holy Scriptures. Keep to the plain, old faith, "once delivered to the saints," and delivered by the Spirit of God to our hearts.
Know your disease! Know your cure! Ye were born in sin: therefore, "Ye must be born again,"
born of God. By nature ye are wholly corrupted: by grace ye shall be wholly renewed. In Adam ye all died: in the second Adam, in Christ, ye all are _ made alive. "You that were dead in sins hath He quickened": He hath already given you a principle of life, even faith in Him who loved you | and gave Himself for you! Now, "go on from faith to faith," until your whole sickness be healed, and all that "mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus!''s The disclaiming of our own righteousness .
. is acting according to truth, to the real nature of things. For, what is it more than to acknowledge with our heart as well as lips the true state wherein we are? to acknowledge that we bring with us' into the world a corrupt, sinful nature; more corrupt, indeed, than we can easily conceive, or ty
good: that we are 'full of page cic i mara _ passions, foolish desires, vile and inordinate affections; lovers of the world, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God? that our lives have been no. ' better than our hearts, but in many ways ungodly and unholy; insomuch that our actual sins, both megs siesiae in word and deed, have been as the stars of — j heaven for multitude; that, on all these accounts, we are displeasing to Him who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, and deserve nothing from Him but indignation and wrath and death, — the due wages of sin? that we cannot, by any of _ our righteousness (for indeed we have none at — all), nor by any of our works (for they are as the ~
"tree upon which they grow), appease the wrath of God, or avert the punishment we have justly
. deserved; yea, that, if left to ourselves, we shall | only wax worse and worse, sink deeper and deeper into sin, offend God more and more, both with © our evil works, and with the evil tempers of o é
Shas mind; till we fill ee the measure of; a