Chapter 11: Of the Burden of Corruption, and that there is Corruption in the Saints
Consider this: when a man makes conscience of his ways, Christ sees a soul making every effort to follow Him, with the fear of God and concern for eternal life in his heart, labouring to do what he can. Yet, if he continues in this legal way, thinking it will make him righteous before God and grant him eternal life, Christ knows all his efforts will come to nothing. If such a soul persists in this way, he will lose all the value of his duties, and despite all the conscientious effort, he will perish in the end unless he comes to understand the way of the Gospel—the way sinners are justified before God, despite their duties.
In tender compassion for such a soul, who has done so much and gone so far, the Lord Jesus Christ calls them to come to Him, that they may have rest and peace. Through Him, they can find the righteousness that will allow them to stand before God with comfort and attain eternal life. But for our coming to Christ and resting in Him, that belongs to another point. This, then, concludes the explanation of the burden of legal performances.
Chapter 11 Of the Burden of Corruption, and that there is Corruption in the Saints.
Being a Burden:
1. Of Grief.
2. Of Shame.
3. Of Fear.
4. Of Care.
5. Of Labour and Toil.
The next burden is the burden of the remaining corruption in the saints—those who are godly, have a part in Christ, and have come to Christ already, but yet must come again and again. Though they are believers and have exercised faith to unite them to Christ, there still remains much corruption and sin in them. They must continually come to Christ to be eased of this corruption and exercise faith in Christ all the days of their lives to be relieved of the burden of remaining sin.
That the corruption which remains in the hearts of the saints is a burden, I believe every godly person can testify. There is no godly man or woman in the world who does not understand the meaning of this point. Perhaps the previous point about legal performances was one that many of you scarcely understood, but because I knew it was of great use to others, I could not let them lose their portion.
However, none who has even a spark of godliness will fail to understand what I mean, and what I shall now say about the burden of corruption that still remains in the godly—the best who live upon the earth. This is something that everyone acknowledges; it is on the lips of nearly everyone: "We are all sinners." But here is the difference between the wicked and the godly: the wicked have sin in them, but it is no burden to them. The godly, on the other hand, find that the remaining sin, however small, is a grievous burden. To these, I now speak from this text, and indeed, Christ Himself speaks to them: "Come unto me, you who are laden with the burden of corruption—the burden of sin that still remains in you—come to me, and I will give you rest from that burden."
To prove that there is remaining corruption in the godly which is a burden to them, I will refer you to just one scripture, which will serve instead of many others. It is found in Romans 7:24, where Paul says,
"O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from this body of death?" And then he thanks God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Here we have a commentary on this text: "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from this body of death?" There is the first part—the burden of corruption. Then he turns to Christ: "I thank
God through Jesus Christ." So then, with his mind he serves the law of God, but with his flesh, the law of sin. He finds ease and rest in Christ by running to Him. But note the scripture: "O wretched man that I am!" Paul, though a godly man and eminent in grace, still had a body of death—a body of sin remaining in him. He called his sin a "body of death" because it was deadly to his soul, and it was like a body because it was made up of many members, just as a body is.
Many sins remained in him, and all the faculties of his soul and members of his body were defiled with sin, which is why he called it a body of death.
Now, the apostle was so aware of this burden that he let out a grievous cry: "O wretched man that I am!" He considered it his misery, which shows that it was a burden. Just as a man or woman who has a heavy load on their shoulders might give a painful cry when they can no longer bear it, so does the apostle here. Observe further: the apostle Paul had as much of the burden of affliction as anyone ever did. No one suffered more afflictions than he did, as you can read in 2 Corinthians 11. Paul was stoned, shipwrecked, abused by his own countrymen, naked, hungry, and whipped as though he were the most notorious rogue in the land. He bore the burden of disgrace, being considered the off-scouring of the world, and the burden of poverty, having no food or clothing, and being forced to wander from place to place. Yet, despite all these burdens, you never
read that Paul counted himself a wretched man because of them. He never cried out, "O wretched man that I am, because I am hungry" or "because I have no clothes" or "because I am whipped and abused."
You never find him lamenting his afflictions in this way. In fact, he rejoiced in affliction. When he was cast into prison, he sang psalms.
When he was whipped, he rejoiced. But when it came to his sin, that was where he felt the weight of his burden, and he cried out: "Who shall deliver me from this?"
It is as if he were saying, "Lord, let me be afflicted as much as You will in this world. If only my soul could be delivered from the burden of my sin, I would consider myself a happy man." And yet, Paul was delivered from the guilt of his sin. He knew he would never go to hell because of his sin, and he was delivered from the dominion of his sin as well. Yet still, he cried out under the burden of the remaining sin in him: "Who shall deliver me?" I appeal to you: what closet or secret chamber of yours can bear witness that you have ever cried out in this way about your sin? "O wretched man or woman that I am! Who shall deliver me from this body of sin, from this wretched heart?"
Many of you cry out about your poverty, disgrace, or troubles in your families, but who among you cries out, "Who shall deliver me from this body of death, from the sinfulness of my nature?"
Some of you may not even know whether you are delivered from the guilt of your sin, nor whether any of your sins have been pardoned.
You are not delivered at all, and yet you do not cry out. But Paul, though delivered from the guilt of his sin, still cried out because of the remaining sin in his heart. There is much sin in many of your hearts, yet you do not cry out about it. Paul, being delivered, still cried out: "Who shall deliver me from this body of death?"
Now, to open this, I shall show:
First, how many ways the remaining part of corruption is a burden to the saints.
Secondly, what kind of burden it is.
Thirdly, I will open the particulars, showing that sinful nature is a burden, the stirring of corruption is a burden, and the prevailing of corruption is a burden.
Fourthly, why it is that God, in His providence, orders things so that His own saints remain under the burden of corruption. Then I will make some application of it.
First: In what respect the remaining part of sin and corruption in the hearts of the saints is a burden.
The First Burden of Corruption:
First, it is a burden of grief to them. You know grief causes heaviness and sadness. Now, the remaining corruption that they find in themselves is like lead, lying heavy upon their spirits with grief. It is the cause of their grief and trouble. Some might say to others, "Such and such people who profess religion go about very sadly and heavily. Once you become so strict in your way, you will lose all your comfort, for those people are always sad and pensive." But do you know the reason for their sadness? You have just as much cause to be sad as they do. The burden is not because they are religious, but because they are not more religious—not because they do more duties than before, but because they cannot find their hearts coming up to the level of their duties as they desire. Do not attribute their
grief to their godliness, but rather say to yourself: "If they, who do so much for God, are yet troubled and grieved because they do not do more for Him, how much more cause do I have for grief, who does nothing at all for God?"
The Second Burden of Corruption:
Secondly, the remaining corruption in the hearts of the saints is a burden of shame. Grief is a burden, and shame is a burden. Many people who can bear great burdens, like poverty, cannot bear the burden of disgrace. For those with the most sensitivity, shame is one of the greatest burdens in the world. Now, the saints are ashamed of the corruption that remains in them. They consider it a shame before the Lord, before His blessed angels, and in regard to themselves— what they know about themselves that the world does not. They regard it as shameful to the point of loathing and abhorring themselves, as Scripture says. Perhaps their lives are such that others honour and think highly of them, but being acquainted with their own hearts and looking into the secret workings of their own spirits, they see so much evil within that they feel much cause to abhor and loathe themselves and to lie down in shame before the Lord, knowing that He sees even more of the evil in their hearts than they do themselves.
I appeal to anyone who knows their own heart: if God were to open up your heart and reveal to your friends and acquaintances the evil in your heart in just one duty—whether in prayer or while hearing a sermon—would you not be ashamed? Now, God knows and sees all the baseness and vileness of your spirit. The godly know this, and so they cannot help but be ashamed and go under the burden of shame with heavy hearts.
The Third Burden of Corruption:
Thirdly, the remaining corruption in the hearts of the godly brings with it a burden of fear. Fear, as you know, is a great burden, just as grief and shame are. Though the evil may not be immediately upon them, if there is any anticipated evil, it causes great burden. Consider those who dare not go out at night because of fear, or who are afraid to be in the dark. When they are delivered from their fear, they acknowledge it as a great burden. Now, the godly live under a great deal of fear, and the truth is, the godly fear more what their own evil hearts might bring upon them than what all the devils in hell and all the creatures in the world could do to them. This is a good fear, but it causes them to walk heavily.
Others fear men, fear those who might come and take away their estates and ruin them, or fear their enemies or the devil. But one who is godly fears more the evil that may come to their soul from their own heart than all the harm that all the devils in hell can do. Devils cannot do more than afflict the body, but the evil of sin breaks the communion between the soul and God. Therefore, the godly fear sin before it comes. They have experienced the evil their hearts have done to them before, so they are afraid of failing again and are wary of the consequences their sin might bring. They do not know what mischief their sin might cause in the future, so they carry this burden of fear for a long time, even though they are truly godly.
The Fourth Burden of Corruption Fourthly, the remaining part of corruption in the hearts of the saints is a burden of care. For men and women to be always full of care is a great burden, as many of you are well acquainted. When you have a
great deal of business upon you, and much depends on you, your thoughts become full of care. Is this not a great burden? Many who have been full of business, and afterwards have got through it, regard that freedom as a great relief. The saints carry a burden of care because they find so much to do with their own hearts that they need to be watchful over them, day and night. They have experienced what happens when they have not kept a strict watch over their hearts, and so there is no child of God who, if he is in a right state, is not a careful person.
As long as we live in this flesh, our condition is full of fears, and therefore we must necessarily be full of care in this world. However, there is a great difference between the distracting care that wicked people have about their outward estate, and the care of the godly about keeping their peace with God, making peace with Him, avoiding the occasions and temptations to sin, and recovering themselves again when they have been overcome by sin. This must inevitably make them full of care. When a person has a great business to manage, they are full of care. No one in the world has as much business upon them as a godly man or woman. They know they have greater matters to handle than anyone else in the world—the care of their eternal state rests upon them.
Not only do they have important business upon them, but also a multitude of tasks. The life of a Christian is a busy life—a life full of significant tasks. A Christian woman has an abundance of duties to perform, and so it is vile for one who professes to be a Christian to be idle or spend time vainly. Have you nothing to do? You speak of "passing away time." A godly man or woman always has enough to do. They must prepare for eternity and make peace with God. In addition, there are multitudes of duties and many hindrances to overcome.
If you have important work to do, a multitude of tasks, and many hindrances—especially if your failure means you are undone—this will make you very careful. A man might fail in the world, and though that is not a great evil, it is far more serious for a Christian to fail in any duty they perform. When a Christian undertakes a duty, they think: I must now bring all the faculties of my soul to bear upon this duty that God calls for. And if they fail in that duty, they regard it as a greater evil than if they had lost their entire estate or health. Since they face many hindrances that may cause them to fail, they must be very careful.
Now, in Christ, there is a great deal of ease in this respect. Those who are acquainted with Christ's way find great relief from the burden of care. Those who perform duties but do not come to Christ will find that, as they are kept away from Him, the burden of care will increase. It is not only those who perform duties in a legalistic way who carry this burden of care, but even the godly.
The Fifth Burden of Corruption Fifthly, the corruption that remains in us brings a burden of labour and toil. There is no labour as intense as a Christian's struggle against their own corruptions. A Christian does not merely say, as many frivolous and superficial people do, "Lord, have mercy upon me, we are all sinners, and I wish I could do better, I have good intentions." No, a Christian knows that they must engage all the faculties of their soul and bend them against their corruption. If ever they toil, labour, and spend their strength, it must be in this effort to fight against their corruption.
However, there is also ease in Christ for this burden. Why? Because Christ gives power to overcome corruption. The way of rest in Him is