good. It cannot consent to anything that it knows is evil. Good is its
Next we consider the way that the deceit of sin gains the consent of the will, and conceives actual sin in the soul. 1. The will is a rational appetite, - rational as guided by the mind, and an appetite as excited by the affections; and so is influenced by both.
2. It consents to nothing, but as it has an appearance of some present good. It cannot consent to anything that it knows is evil. Good is its natural object, so whatever is presented to it for its consent must be presented under an appearance of being either good in itself, or good at present to the soul; so that, -
3. We may see the reason why the conception of sin is placed here when the mind has been drawn away and the affections entangled. Both these have an influence on the consent of the will, and the conception of actual sin thereby. Our way here is plain. We have seen how the mind is drawn away by the deceit of sin, and how the affections are entangled; - what remains is but the effect of these things; so to show this, we will give some examples of some of the deceits, and corrupt reasonings, and then show how they cause the will to consent to sin: -
(1.) The will is imposed on by that corrupt reasoning, that grace is exalted in a pardon, and that mercy is provided for sinners. The first deceives the mind, and opens the way to the will's consent by removing the sight of evil, which the will has an aversion to. In carnal hearts, this prevails so far as to make them think that their liberty consists in being "servants of corruption," 2 Peter 2:19. Its poison often taints the minds of believers; against which we are cautioned in the Scripture. There is a use and an abuse of the doctrine of the grace of the gospel. Grace is a twofold mystery, of walking with God, and coming to God; and the great design of sin is to alter the mystery of grace by applying considerations to one which belong to the other; so each part is hindered, and the influence of grace in them is defeated. See 1 John 2:1, 2:
"These things write I to you, that you sin not. And if any man sin, we