Part 2
sanctification in order for their admission to heaven. It therefore
teaches that all men are sinners.
The Scriptures moreover teach that the sinfulness of men is deep
seated; or consisting in a corruption of the heart, it manifests itself in
innumerable forms in the actions of the life. All the imaginations of
man's heart are only evil continually. Gen 6.5 God says of the human
heart that it is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Jer
17.9 All men by nature are the children of wrath. Eph 2.3 Therefore the
Psalmist says, Behold I was shaped in iniquity, and in sin my mother
conceived me. Psa 51.5
This corruption of our nature is the ground of the constant reference
of everything good in man to the Holy Spirit, and of everything evil,
to his own nature. Hence in the language of the Bible, the natural
man is a corrupt man; and the spiritual man alone is good. Hence
too the constant opposition of the terms flesh and spirit; the former
meaning our nature as it is apart from divine influence, and the latter
meaning the Holy Spirit, or its immediate effects. To be in the flesh,
to walk after the flesh, to mind the things of the flesh, are all
Scriptural expressions descriptive of the natural state of men. It is in
this sense of the term that Paul says, In my flesh dwells no good
thing; Rom 7.18 and that our Savior said, That which is born of the
flesh is flesh. Joh 3.6
This humbling doctrine is, moreover, involved in all the descriptions
which the Bible gives of the nature of that moral change which is
necessary to salvation. It is no mere outward reformation; it is no
assiduous performance of external duties. It is a regeneration; being
born of the Spirit; a new creation; passing from death to life. It is a
change never effected by the subject of it (the sinner), but has its
source in God. Therefore, the Bible is full of no doctrine more than
that which teaches that men are depraved and fallen beings, who
have lost the image of God, and who must be created anew in Christ
Jesus Eph 2.10 before they can see the kingdom of heaven. Joh 3.3
These Scriptural representations respecting the universality of sin
and the corruption of our nature, are abundantly confirmed by
experience and observation. Men may differ as to the extent of their
sinfulness, or as to the ill-desert 2 of their transgressions, but they
cannot be insensible to the fact that they are sinners, or that they
have sustained this character as long as they have had any self-
knowledge. As far back as they can go in the history of their being,
they find the testimony of conscience against them. As this
consciousness of sin is universal, and as it exists as soon as we have
any knowledge of ourselves, it proves that we are fallen beings; that
we have lost the moral image of God with which our first parents
were created. It is a fact, of which every human being is a witness,
that our moral nature is such that instead of seeking our happiness
in God and holiness, we prefer the creature to the Creator. It would
be just as unreasonable to assert that this was the original, proper
state of man, as to say our reason was sound if it universally,
immediately, and infallibly led us into wrong judgments upon
subjects fairly within its competency.
The proof, that man is a depraved being, is as strong as that he is a
rational, social, or moral being. He gives no signs of reason at his
birth; but he invariably manifests his intellectual nature as soon as
he becomes capable of appreciating the objects around him or of
expressing the operations of his mind. No one supposes reason to be
the result of education, or the effect of circumstances, merely
because its operations cannot be detected from the first moment of
existence. The uniformity of its manifestation under all
circumstances, is regarded as sufficient proof that it is an attribute of
our nature.
The same remark may be made respecting the social affections. No
one of them is manifested from the beginning of our course in this
world; yet the fact that men in all ages and under all circumstances,
evince a disposition to live in society; that all parents love their
children, that all people have more or less sympathy in the joys and
sorrows of their fellow men, is proof that these affections are not
acquired but original, that they belong to our nature and are
characteristic of it.
In like manner, the apostle reasons from the fact that all men
perform moral acts and experience the approval or disapproval of
conscience, that they have by nature — and not from example,
instruction, or any other external influence, but by virtue of their
original moral constitution — a law written on their hearts, a sense of
right and wrong. But if the uniform occurrence of any moral acts is
proof of a moral nature, the uniform occurrence of wrong moral acts
is proof of a corrupt moral nature. If the universal manifestation of
reason and of the social affections, proves man to be by nature a
rational and social being, then the universal manifestation of sinful
affections proves him to be by nature a sinful being. When we say
that anyone is a bad man, we mean that the predominant character
of his actions proves him to have bad principles or dispositions. And
when we say that man's nature is depraved, we mean that it is a
nature whose moral acts are wrong. And this uniformity of wrong
moral action is as much proof of a depraved nature, as the acts of a
bad man are proof of the predominance of evil dispositions in his
heart. This is the uniform judgment of men, and it is sanctioned by
the word of God. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither
can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Therefore by their fruits
shall you know them. Mat 7.18, 20 This illustration was used by our
Savior with the express design of teaching that the predominant
character of the acts of men, is to be taken as a certain index of the
state of the heart; and hence the uniform occurrence of sin in all men
is a certain evidence of the corruption of their nature. Indeed, there
is no one fact with regard to human nature, which consciousness and
observation more fully establish than this: it is depraved.
Section II. The sins of men are numerous
and aggravated.
The Bible not only teaches that all men are sinners, and that the evil
is deeply seated in their hearts, but moreover that their sinfulness is
very great. The clearest intimation which a lawgiver can give of his
estimate of the evil of transgression, is the penalty which he attaches
to the violation of his laws. If he is wise and good, the penalty will be
a true index of the real demerit of transgression; and in the case of
God, who is infinitely wise and good, the punishment which he
denounces against sin, must be an exact criterion of its ill-desert. If
we are unable to see that sin really deserves what God has declared
to be its proper punishment, it only shows that our judgment differs
from his; and it is no matter of surprise that it should thus differ. We
cannot know all the reasons which indicate the righteousness of the
divine threatenings. We can have no adequate conception of the
greatness, goodness, and wisdom of the Being against whom we sin;
nor of the evil which sin is suited to produce; nor of the perfect
excellence of the law which we transgress. Therefore, that sin
appears to us less evil than God declares it to be, is no evidence that
it is really undeserving of his wrath and curse.
There is a still more operative cause of our low estimate of the evil of
sin. The more depraved a man is, the less capable he is of estimating
the heinousness of his transgressions. And the man who in one part
of his career looked at certain crimes with abhorrence, may come at
last to regard them with indifference. That we are sinners is therefore
a sufficient explanation of the fact that we look at sin in a very
different light from that in which it is presented in the word of God.
Nothing then can be more reasonable than to bow before the
judgment of God, and acknowledge that sin really deserves the
punishment which he has declared to be its due. That punishment is
so awful, that nothing but a profound reverence for God, and some
adequate conception of the evil of sin, can produce a sincere
acquiescence in its justice. Yet nothing can be more certain than that
this punishment is the proper measure of the ill-desert of sin.
The term commonly employed to designate this punishment is
death; death not merely of the body, but of the soul; not merely
temporal but eternal. It is a comprehensive term, therefore, to
express all the evils in this world and the world to come, which are
the penal consequences of sin. In this sense, it is to be understood in
the threatening made to our first parents: In the day you eat of it you
shall surely die; Gen 2.17 and when the prophet says, The soul that sins
shall die; Eze 18.4 and when the Apostle says, The wages of sin is
death. Rom 6.23 The same general idea is expressed by the word curse,
As many as are of the law are under the curse; for it is written, cursed
is everyone who does not continue in all things written in the book of
the law, to do them; Gal 3.10 and also by the word wrath. We were by
nature the children of wrath. Eph 2.3 The wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.
Rom 1.18
These and similar passages teach that sinners are the objects of the
divine displeasure, and that this displeasure will certainly be
manifested. As God is infinitely good and the fountain of all
blessedness, his displeasure must be the greatest of all evils. The
Scriptures, however, in order to impress this truth more deeply upon
our minds, employ the strongest terms human language affords, to
set forth the dreadful import of God's displeasure. Those who do not
obey the gospel, it is said, shall be punished with everlasting
destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his
power. 2The 1.9 Our Savior says, The wicked shall be cast into hell, into
the fire that shall never be quenched; where their worm does not die
and the fire is not quenched. Mar 9.43-44 At the last great day, he tells
us, the judge shall say to those on his left hand, Depart from me you
cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. Mat
25.41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather
out of his kingdom all things that offend, and those who do iniquity,
and shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and
gnashing of teeth. Mat 13.41-42 In the last day, all who are in their
graves shall hear his voice and come forth; those who have done
good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the
resurrection of damnation; Joh 5.29 or as it is expressed in Daniel 12.2,
to shame and everlasting contempt. Whatever explanation may be
given of the terms employed in these and many similar passages,
there can be no doubt that they are intended to convey the idea of
endless and hopeless misery.
Where this misery will arise from, or what it consists in, are
questions of minor importance. It is sufficient that the Scriptures
teach that the sufferings spoken of here, are inconceivably great in
degree, and endless in duration. The most fearful exhibition given of
the future state of the impenitent, is that which presents them as
reprobates, as abandoned to the unrestrained dominion of evil. The
repressing influence of conscience, of a probationary state, of a
regard to character, of good example, and above all, of the Holy
Spirit — all of these will be withdrawn, and unmingled malignity,
impurity and violence will constitute the character and condition of
those who finally perish. The wicked are represented as constantly
blaspheming God, while they gnaw their tongues with pain. Rev 16.10
The God who pronounces this doom upon sinners, also said, As I
live, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Eze 33.11 The most
fearful of these passages fell from the lips of the Lamb of God, who
came to die, that we might not perish, but have eternal life.
It must be remembered that it is not against the chief of sinners that
this dreadful punishment is denounced. It is against sin, one sin, any
sin. Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things written in
the book of the law, to do them. Gal 3.10 Whoever would keep the
whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. Jas 2.10 As far
as we know, the angels were punished for their first offense. Adam
and his race fell by one transgression. Human governments act on
the same principle. If a man commits murder, he suffers death for
the one offense. If he is guilty of treason, he finds no defense in his
freedom from other crimes. Sin is apostasy from God; it breaks our
communion with him, and it is the ruin of the soul. The displeasure
of God against sin, and his fixed determination to punish it, are also
manifested by the certain connection which he has established
between sin and suffering. It is the undeniable tendency of sin to
produce misery; and although in this world the good are not always
happier than the wicked, this only shows that the present is a state of
trial and not of retribution. It affords no evidence to contradict the
proof of the purpose of God to punish sin, derived from the obvious
and necessary tendency of sin to produce misery. This tendency is as
much a law of nature as any other law with which we are acquainted.
Men flatter themselves that they will escape the evil consequences of
their transgressions, by appealing to the mercy of God, and obtaining
a suspension of this law in their behalf. They might as reasonably
expect the law of gravitation to be suspended for their convenience.
He that sows to the flesh, will reap corruption from the flesh, as
certainly as he who sows tares will reap tares. The only link which
binds together causes and effects in nature, is the will of God; and
that same will, no less clearly revealed, connects suffering with sin.
And this is a connection absolutely indissoluble save by the mystery
of redemption.
To suspend the operation of a law of nature (such as stopping the sun
in its course) is a mere exercise of power. But to save sinners from
the curse of the law, required that Christ should be made a curse for
us; that he should bear our sins in his own body on the tree; that he
should be made sin for us and die, the just for the unjust. It would be
a reflection on the wisdom of God to suppose that he would employ
means to accomplish an end more costly than that end required. If
our redemption could have been effected by corruptible things, such
as silver or gold, or if the blood of bulls or of goats could have taken
away sin, who can believe that Christ would have died? The apostle
clearly teaches that it is to make the death of Christ vain, to affirm
that our salvation could have been secured another way. Gal 2.21 Since,
then, the death of Christ was necessary in order for the pardon of sin,
it is evident that the evil of sin in the sight of God must be estimated
by the dignity of the one who died for our redemption. Here we
approach the most mysterious and awful doctrine of the Bible. In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. All things were made by him; and without him nothing was
made that was made. And the word was made flesh and dwelt among
us, and we beheld his glory as the only begotten of the Father full of
grace and truth. Joh 1.1,3,14 God therefore was manifested in the flesh.
Being in the form of God, He did not think it robbery to be equal with
God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form
of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men; and being found
in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross. Phi 2.6-8 He then, is the one
declared to be the brightness of the Father's glory and the express
image of his person, upholding all things by the word of his power;
Heb 1.3 whom all the angels are commanded to worship; of whom the
Scriptures say, your throne O God is forever and ever; You Lord, in
the beginning have laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens
are the work of your hands; They shall perish, but you remain; they
shall wax old as does a garment; and as a vesture you shall fold them
up, and they shall be changed; but you are the same, and your years
shall not fail Heb 1.8-12 — even He who is God over all and blessed
forever, Rom 9.5 inasmuch as the children were partakers of flesh and
blood, himself also took part of the same; that through death he
might destroy the one who had the power of death, that is the Devil,
and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime
subject to bondage. Heb 2.14-15
It is the doctrine of the Bible, that the infinite and eternal Son of God
assumed our nature, that he might redeem us from the curse of the
law by being made a curse for us. It is obvious that no severity of
mere human suffering; no destroying deluge; no final conflagration,
not hell itself can present such a manifestation of the evil of sin and
of the justice of God as the cross of his incarnate Son. It declares in
language which is heard by the whole intelligent universe, that sin
deserves God's wrath and curse, and that none who refuse
submission to the appointed method of pardon, can escape its
condemnation.
The penalty then, which God has attached to the violation of his law,
the certainty with which that penalty is inflicted, the doom of the
fallen angels, the consequences of Adam's sin, and above all, the
death of Christ, are manifestations of the evil of sin in the estimation
of God, which it is the highest infatuation for us to disregard.
However obdurate our hearts maybe in reference to this subject, our
reason is not so blind as not to see that our guilt must be exceedingly
great. We cannot deny that all the circumstances which aggravate the
heinousness of sin concur in our case. The law which we transgress is
perfectly good. It is the law of God; the law of right and reason. It is
the expression of the highest excellence; it is suited to our nature,
necessary to our perfection and happiness. Opposition to such a law
must be in the highest degree, unreasonable and wicked.
This law is enforced not only by its own excellence but by the
authority of God. Disregard of this authority is the greatest crime of
which a creature is capable. It is rebellion against a being whose right
to command is founded on his infinite superiority, his infinite
goodness and his absolute propriety in us as his creatures. It is
apostasy from the kingdom of God to the kingdom of Satan. There is
no middle ground between the two. Everyone is either the servant of
God, or the servant of the devil. Holiness is the evidence of our
allegiance to our maker; sin is the service of Satan. If we could form
any adequate conception of these two kingdoms, of the intrinsic
excellence of the one and the absolute evil of the other, of the
blessedness attendant on the one and the misery connected with the
other; if we could, in short, bring heaven and hell in immediate
contrast, we might have some proper view of the guilt of this
apostasy from God. It is the natural tendency of our conduct to
degrade ourselves and others, to make Eden like Sodom, and to
kindle everywhere the fire that never shall be quenched. This cannot
be denied, for moral evil is the greatest of all evils and the certain
cause of all others. Therefore, he who sins is not only a rebel against
God, but a malefactor, an enemy to the highest good of his fellow
creatures.
Again, our guilt is great because our sins are exceedingly numerous.
It is not merely outward acts of unkindness and dishonesty with
which we are chargeable; our habitual and characteristic state of
mind is evil in the sight of God. Our pride, vanity, and indifference to
his will and to the welfare of others, our selfishness, our loving the
creature more than the Creator, are continuous violations of his law.
We have never, in any one moment of our lives, been or done what
that law requires us to be and to do. We have never had that delight
in the divine perfections, that sense of dependence and obligation,
that fixed purpose to do the will and promote the glory of God, which
constitute the love which is our first and highest duty. It is in this
sense that mankind are said to be totally depraved; they are entirely
destitute of supreme love to God. Whatever else they may have, is as
nothing while this is lacking. They may be affectionate fathers or
kind masters, or dutiful sons and daughters, but they are not
obedient children of God; they don't have those feelings towards God
which constitute their first and greatest duty, and without which they
are always transgressors. The man who is a rebel against his
righteous sovereign, and whose heart is full of enmity to His person
and government, may be faithful to his associates and kind to his
dependents, but he is always and increasingly guilty as it regards his
Ruler. Thus we are always sinners; we are at all times and under all
circumstances in opposition to God, because we are never what his
law requires us to be. If we have never loved him supremely; if we
have never made it our governing purpose to do his will; if we have
never been properly grateful for all his mercies; if we have never
made his glory, but some other and lower object, the end of our
actions — then our lives have been an unbroken series of
transgressions. Our sins are not to be numbered by the conscious
violations of duty; they are as numerous as the moments of our
existence.
If the permanent moral dispositions of a man are evil, it must follow
that his acts of transgression will be past counting up. Every hour
there is some work of evil, some wrong thought, some bad feeling,
some improper word, or some wicked act, to add to the number of
his offenses. The evil exercise of an evil heart is like the ceaseless
swinging of the pendulum. The slightest review of life is therefore
sufficient to overwhelm us with the conviction of the countless
multitude of our transgressions. It is this which constitutes our
exceeding sinfulness in the sight of God. While conscience sleeps, or
our attention is directed to other subjects, the number of our
transgressions grows like the unnoticed pulsations of our heart. It is
not until we pause and call ourselves to an account, that we see how
many feelings have been wrong; how great is the distance at which
we habitually live from God, and how constant is our lack of
conformity to his will. It was this that forced the Psalmist to cry, My
iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up,
they are more than the hairs of my head, therefore my heart fails me.
Psa 40.2
Again, we may judge the greatness of our guilt before God, by
considering the numerous restraints of His truth, providence, and
spirit, which we habitually disregard. The simple fact that sin is
wrong, that our conscience condemns it, is a constant and powerful
restraint. We cannot avail ourselves of the plea of ignorance, because
we have a perfect standard of duty in the law of God. We cannot
resist the conviction that His commands are righteous; and yet,
despite this conviction, we live in constant disobedience.
We are, moreover, fully aware of the consequences of sin. We know
the judgment of God that those who do such things are worthy of
death, and yet continue our transgressions. We are surprised at the
drunkard who indulges his fatal passion in the very presence of ruin;
yet we are blind to our own infatuation in continuing to disobey God
despite threatened death. We stupidly disregard the certain
consequences of our conduct, and awake only in time to see that
madness is in our hearts. This insensibility — notwithstanding the
occasional admonitions of conscience and the constant warnings of
the word of God — constitutes a peculiar aggravation of our guilt.
Nor are we more mindful of the restraining influence of the love of
God. We disregard the fact that the Being against whom we sin, is He
to whom we owe our existence and all our enjoyments; who has
carried us in his arms, and crowned us with loving kindness and
tender mercies; who is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and
plenteous in mercy; who has not dealt with us according to our sins,
nor rewarded us according to our iniquities, but has borne with our
provocations, waiting that His goodness might lead us to repentance.
We have despised his forbearance, deriving from it a motive to sin, as
though He were slack concerning his promises, and would not
accomplish his threatenings; thus treasuring up for ourselves wrath
against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of
God. Besides all this, we disregard the love of Christ. He came to save
us from our sins, and we will not accept his mediation, or reciprocate
his love. There stands his cross, mutely eloquent; at once an
invitation and a warning. It tells us both of the love and justice of
God. It assures us that He who did not spare his own Son, is ready to
be gracious. All this we disregard. We count the blood of the
covenant, an unholy thing; we act as if it were not the blood of the
Son of God, shed for us for the remission of sins. Or it may be, we
turn the grace of God into licentiousness, and draw encouragement
from the death of Christ to continue in sin. This unbelieving rejection
of the Savior involves guilt so peculiarly great, that it is often spoken
of as the special ground of the condemnation of the world. He that
does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed
in the only begotten Son of God. When the Spirit of truth comes, he
will convince the world of sin, because they do not believe in me. If
he that despised Moses' law died without mercy, under two or three
witnesses, how much sorer punishment do you suppose he is thought
worthy of, who has trodden underfoot the Son of God!
This great sin of rejecting Jesus Christ as a Savior, it must be
remembered, is an often repeated and long continued sin. It is also
one which is chargeable not merely on the openly wicked, but upon
those whom the world calls "moral." They too resist the claims of the
Son of God; they too refuse his love and reject his offers. It was when
all other messengers had failed, that the Lord of the vineyard sent his
Son to his disobedient servants, saying, They will reverence my Son.
Mat 21.37 The guilt of thus rejecting Christ, will never be fully
appreciated until the day when He sits on the throne, and the earth
and heaven will flee from his face, and no place be found for them.
Besides these restraints from without, we resist the still more
powerful influence of the Spirit of God. That Spirit strives with all
men; suggesting truth and exciting conscience, expostulating and
warning, and drawing men from sin to God. It is from Him that all
good thoughts and right purposes proceed. This spirit we quench; we
resist his gracious influences, not once or twice, but a thousand
times. Though He will not always strive with men, he strives long,
and returns after many insulting rejections, repeating the warnings
and invitations of mercy. All men are sensible of this divine
influence, though they may not be aware of its origin. They don't
know from where proceed the serious thoughts, the anxious
forebodings, the convictions of truth, the sense of the emptiness of
the world, the longing after security and peace of which they are
conscious. God sends these admonitions even to those who are most
contented with the world, and most happy in their estrangement
from Himself. He leaves no man without a witness and a warning.
These strivings of the Spirit are not only frequent, but often urgent.
Almost every man can look back and see many instances in which an
unseen hand was upon him, when a voice, not from man, has
sounded in his ears, when feelings to which he was a stranger before,
were awakened in his breast, and when he felt the power of the world
to come. The shadow of the Almighty has passed over him, and
produced the conviction that God is; and that He is an avenger.
From a review of what has been said, it is plain that the Scriptures
teach not only that all men are sinners, but that their corruption is
radical, seated in their hearts, and that it is exceedingly great. The
severity of the penalty which God has attached to transgression, the
certainty of its infliction, the costliness of the sacrifice by which alone
its pardon could be obtained, are all proofs of the evil of sin in the
sight of God. The greatness of our personal guilt is plain from the
excellence of the law which we have violated; from the authority and
goodness of the Being whom we have offended; from the number of
our sins; and from the powerful restraints which we have
disregarded.
CHAPTER III. CAUSES OF
INDIFFERENCE TO THE
CHARGE OF SIN.
Section I. Sin, lack of consideration,
striving against the Spirit.
The charge of sin is brought so directly in the word of God against
every human being, and is so fully sustained by observation and
experience, that the general indifference of men under so weighty an
accusation, is a fact which needs explanation. Indifference is no
proof of innocence, any more than insensibility to pain is a proof of
health. In ordinary cases indeed, a man cannot be ill without
knowing it; but his sensations are a very unsafe criterion of the
nature or danger of his disease. He may be most free from pain,
when most in peril. In like manner, the indifference of men to their
own sinfulness affords no presumption that their guilt is not great in
the sight, of God. The absence of the immediate consciousness of
guilt is no proof of innocence, unless attended by the joyful exercise
of all right feelings. When accompanied by indifference to duty and
the indulgence of sin, it is evidence of the depth of our depravity. All
men assume this to be true in their judgments about those more
wicked than themselves. To say about a man, he is a hardened
wretch, is not the language of extenuation or apology. It is the
language of aggravated condemnation. Those who feel this keenly
with regard to others — that their indifference is an aggravation of
guilt — strangely imagine in their own case, it is proof of comparative
innocence.
This insensibility of men, therefore, to the moral turpitude of their
character in the sight of God, so far from being an indication of
goodness, is the result and evidence of the extent of their corruption.
In bodily disease, when the seat of life is attacked, the sensibilities
are weakened. So it is in the disease of sin; insensibility is one of its
symptoms, and it increases with the increase of the evil. Sin produces
this effect both by blinding the mind and by hardening the heart. It
obscures our apprehensions of the excellence of God and of his law,
and it produces a callousness of feeling, so that what is seen is not
regarded. Experience teaches us that a mere change in the state of
the mind, produces an immediate and entire change in our
apprehensions and feelings in reference to our own sins. The man
who at one hour was indifferent, as the most careless of sinners, at
the next is filled with astonishment and remorse. Others think his
feelings are unreasonable and exaggerated; but he knows them to be
rational and even inadequate. This is not the result of any
hallucination or mistaken apprehensions of God or of his own
character. It is the natural effect of an enlightened mind and of an
awakened conscience. The ease and frequency with which the
indifference of men to their guilt in the sight of God is destroyed, is
itself a proof that their insensibility is not based on truth. It is the
effect of a darkened understanding and a hardened heart. And
though it may increase as sin gains the ascendency, it vanishes the
moment the light and power of truth are let in upon the soul.
Besides this general cause of the indifference of men to the
declarations of God regarding their sinfulness, there are others
which ought to be specified. When the prophet contemplated the
impenitent unconcern of the people, he exclaimed, Israel does not
know, my people do not consider. And when God would rouse them
to a sense of their guilt, he says, Now therefore, thus says the Lord of
hosts, consider your ways. It is this lack of consideration, more than
any difficulty in arriving at the truth, which sets men in such
opposition to God in their judgments of themselves, and which
hardens them in their indifference. This inconsideration is indeed
but an effect of the more general cause already referred to; but in its
turn it becomes a cause both of ignorance and unconcern. Men learn
little upon any subject by intuition; and the knowledge of their own
hearts is not to be obtained without painful self-examination. This
self-knowledge is the subject to which men generally devote the least
attention. They are engrossed by the cares or pleasures of the world.
They either float quietly down the stream of life, or are hurried along
its troubled course with scarcely an hour given to serious reflection.
That under such circumstances men should be ignorant of
themselves, and indifferent to their character in the sight of God, is
not only natural but unavoidable. It is, however, a lamentable thing
that they should make a judgment about themselves — formed
without consideration — the ground of their conduct; and confide in
it, in opposition to the judgment of God. If they would judge, let
them at least consider. If they would act on their own conclusions
respecting themselves, let them at least examine and decide
deliberately, and not venture everything on a hasty, unconsidered
estimate of their character which, it may be, could not stand a
moment's inspection, even in their own judgment.
Men, however, are not merely inconsiderate, they often make direct
efforts to suppress the rising conviction of guilt and danger. The
testimony of God against them is so plain; the authority of his law is
so obvious; their lack of conformity to it is so glaring, and the
influences of the Spirit are so general and frequent, that the
conviction of sin can hardly fail to obtrude itself even upon those
who in general are the most unconcerned. It is, however, a painful
conviction; and therefore, instead of being cherished, it is
disregarded or suppressed. The mind refuses to dwell on the subject,
or to examine the evidence of guilt; it either turns to other objects, or
by some act of levity or transgression, grieves away the Spirit of God
and hardens itself in unconcern. This is a frequently recurring
experience in the history of most men. They have more anxious
thoughts than they allow their most intimate friends to suspect; they
often mask an aching heart with a smiling face. They have a quick
foresight of what such feelings must lead to, if cherished. They see at
once that they cannot cultivate such sentiments, and live as they have
been accustomed. There are pleasures, and maybe sins, which must
be abandoned. There are companions who must be avoided. There is
the opposition of friends, the ridicule of associates, the loss of rank to
be encountered. All the horrors of a religious life present themselves
to the imagination, and frighten the half-awakened from considering
their ways, which they know to be but the first step in what appears a
long and painful journey. They therefore struggle against their
convictions, and in general, they master them. This struggle is
sometimes short; at other times, it is protracted and painful. Victory,
however, comes at last, and the soul regains its usual unconcern.
Such persons little know what they are doing. They little suspect that
they are struggling to elude the grasp of mercy; that they are striving
against the Spirit of God, who would draw them from the paths of
destruction, and guide them into the way of life.
Section II. Sophistical objections against
the doctrine of the Bible.
Another cause of the indifference of men may be found in the
objections which they urge against the truth. Such objections indeed
are more frequently and effectually urged to perplex the advocates of
religion, than to quiet the uneasiness of conscience. Still, men
endeavor to impose upon themselves as well as to embarrass others.
And the objections referred to, doubtless are often obstacles in the
way of the inquirer; or opiates to the consciences of those who desire
to be deceived. It is objected that we are what God made us; that our
character is determined either by our original constitution, or by the
circumstances in which we are placed; and therefore we cannot be
responsible for it; that inasmuch as neither our belief nor our
affections are under the control of the will, we cannot be accountable
for either; that it is useless to use means to escape the judgment of
God, since what will be, will be; that we must wait till God sees fit to
change our hearts, since this is declared in Scripture to be His work.
It will be observed that these and similar objections relate to the
reconciliation of different truths, and not to their separate validity or
evidence. The proposition that men are responsible for their moral
character, taken by itself, is so capable of demonstration, that all
men do in fact believe it. Every man feels it to be true with regard to
himself, and he knows it to be true with regard to others. All self-
condemnation and self-approval rest on the consciousness of this
truth. All our judgments regarding the moral conduct of others are
founded on the same assumption. It is, therefore, one of those truths
which is included in the universal consciousness of men, and in all
ages and nations, it has been assumed as certain. Men cannot really
doubt it, if they would. On the other hand, it is no less certain that
our character depends in a measure upon circumstances beyond our
control; upon our original constitution, upon education, upon
prevalent habits and opinions, upon divine influence, etc. All this is
proved by experience and observation. Here then are two facts
resting on independent evidence, each certain and each by itself
securing general assent. Yet we see men constantly disposed to bring
up the one against the other. They argue against their responsibility,
because they are dependent; or they argue against their dependence,
because they are responsible.
In like manner, the proposition that man is a free agent commands
immediate and universal assent, because it is an ultimate fact of
consciousness. It can no more be doubted than we can doubt our
own existence. However, side by side with this intimate persuasion of
our moral liberty, lies the conviction (no less intimate) of our
inability to change either our belief or our affections, by merely
willing to do so, for which every man knows himself to be
responsible, as stated before. Perhaps few men — perhaps no man —
can see the harmony of these truths. And yet they are truths, and as
such they are practically acknowledged by all men.
Again, all experience teaches us that we live in a world of means —
that knowledge, religion, happiness, are all to be sought in a certain
way — and that to neglect the means, is to lose the end. It is no less
true, however, that there is no necessary or certain connection
between the means and the end; that God holds the result in his own
hands, and He decides the issues according to his sovereign pleasure.
In all the ordinary affairs of life, men submit to this arrangement and
they don't hesitate to use means, though the end is uncertain and
beyond their control. But in religion, they think this uncertainty
about the result, is a sufficient excuse for neglect of the means.
It is obvious that this method of reasoning, or rather of cavilling,3
which consists in bringing up one well established truth against
another, is unworthy of a rational being. We ought to (and
practically, we must) receive every truth on its own evidence. If we
cannot reconcile one fact with another, it is because of our ignorance;
better instructed men or higher orders of beings may see their
perfect harmony. Our lack of such knowledge does not in the least
impair the force of the evidence on which they separately rest. In
every department of knowledge, the number of irreconcilable truths
depends on the progress of the student. Loose matter flies off of
revolving bodies, yet everything adheres to the surface of the earth,
notwithstanding its rapid revolution; these are irreconcilable facts to
one man, though not to another. That two rays of light should
produce darkness, or two sounds cause silence, are facts which many
may be entirely unable to reconcile with other facts of which they are
certain; while the philosopher sees not only their consistency, but
that they are the necessary consequences of the same cause.
If the evidence of the constant revolution of the earth round its axis
were presented to a man, it would certainly be unreasonable for him
to deny the fact, merely because he could not reconcile it with the
stability of everything on the earth's surface. Or if he saw two rays of
light produce darkness, must he resist the evidence of his senses
because he knows that two candles give more light than one? Men do
not commonly act this irrationally in physical investigations. They let
each fact stand on its own evidence. They strive to reconcile them,
and are happy when they succeed. But they don't get rid of
difficulties by denying facts.
If in the department of physical knowledge we are obliged to act on
the principle of receiving every fact on its own evidence, even when
we're unable to reconcile one with another, isn't it wonderful that
this necessity should be imposed on us in those departments of
knowledge which are less within the limits of our powers. It is
certainly irrational for a man to reject all the evidence of the
spirituality of the soul, because he cannot reconcile that doctrine
with the fact that a disease of the body disorders the mind. Must I do
violence to my nature in denying the proof of design afforded by the
human body, because I cannot account for the occasional occurrence
of deformities in its structure? Must I harden my heart against all the
evidence of the benevolence of God, which streams upon me in a
flood of light from all His works, because I may not know how to
reconcile that benevolence with the existence of evil? Must I deny my
free agency, the most intimate of all convictions, because I cannot
see the consistency between the freeness of an act, and the certainty
of its occurrence? Must I deny that I am a moral being, the very glory
of my nature, because I cannot change my character at will?
It is impossible for any man to act, in any department of knowledge,
upon the principle on which these cavilling objections to religion are
founded. From youth to age, we are obliged to take each fact as it
comes, on its own evidence, and reconcile it with other facts as best
we may.
The unreasonableness of this method of arguing is further evident
from the consideration that if it were universally adopted, it would
render all progress in knowledge impossible. It would be tantamount
to a resolution to know nothing until we know all things; for our
knowledge at first is confined to isolated facts. To classify and
harmonize these facts, is the slow work of the student's life. This is a
most benevolent arrangement of providence. It at once stimulates
the desire of knowledge, and imposes on us the constant exercise of
faith. And it is by virtue of these two important principles of our
nature, that all valuable knowledge is obtained. The desire of
knowing not merely facts, but their relations and harmony, leads to
the constant effort to increase the number of known truths, and to
obtain an insight into their nature; and the necessity we are under of
believing what we cannot understand, or cannot reconcile, cultivates
the habit of faith — of faith in evidence, faith in the laws of our
nature, and faith in God. It is thus that our heavenly Father leads us
along the paths of knowledge; and the one who refuses to be thus led,
must remain in ignorance. God deals with us as children; though as
rational children. He does not require us to believe without
evidence; but he does require us to believe what we cannot
understand, and what we cannot reconcile with other parts of
knowledge. This necessity of implicit faith is not confined to any one
department of knowledge, but as already stated, it is constantly
demanded with regard to all. The simplest objects in the physical
world are surrounded with mysteries. A blade of grass has wonders
about it which no philosopher can clear up; no man can tell what
fixes the type of each species of plant or animal; by what process the
materials of leaf and flower are selected and arranged; where the
beautiful tints are borrowed from or how applied; what conducts the
silent process of formation of the eye or hand. Everything we see is,
even to the most enlightened, the index of something unknown and
inscrutable.
If the visible and tangible forms of matter are replete with things
past finding out, what may we expect when we turn our eyes on the
world of Spirits? Even that little world in our own bosoms, which is
pervaded by our own consciousness, the facts of which are most
intimately known, is full of wonders — of phenomena we can neither
comprehend nor reconcile. Who can understand the secret union of
the soul and body, which establishes their reciprocal influence? Why
should the emotion of shame suffuse the cheek, or that of fear send
the blood to the heart? Why does the soul suffer if the body is
injured? What conception can we form either of matter or mind
which is consistent with their mutual influence and communion?
The operations of our rational and moral faculties are not less
beyond our comprehension. We know certain facts, but cannot
understand the reason of them, or their consistency. We know that
certain feelings follow certain perceptions; the feeling of confidence
follows the perception of truth; the feeling of pleasure follows the
perception of beauty; the feeling of approval follows the perception
of what is morally right. Why these feelings should thus rise, no one
can tell. Such are the laws of our being; laws which we did not
originate and which we cannot control. That is, we cannot prevent
the feeling of confidence or faith attending the perception of truth;
nor that of pleasure in the perception of beauty, nor that of approval
in the perception of moral rectitude. Yet the consciousness of self-
agency mingles with all these operations. We are free in being
subject to the laws of our own nature.
The necessity under which we form such judgments or exercise such
feelings, produces no sense of bondage. In these involuntary or
necessary judgments or feelings, however, our moral character is
largely concerned. If two men see an act of cruelty, and the one
smiles at it, and the other is indignant, no sophistry can prevent our
condemning the former and approving the latter. The feeling excited
by the act arises in each spontaneously and by an inward necessity
which neither, at the moment, can control. The knowledge of this
fact doesn't interfere with our judgment in the case. And that
judgment is not merely that the feeling which produced the smile is
an indication of a state of mind, or of previous conduct worthy of
disapproval, but that the feeling itself was wrong. Moreover, the
feeling of disapproval which thus arises spontaneously in our bosoms
at this delight in suffering, is itself a moral feeling. We should
condemn ourselves if this disapproval did not arise, and approve
ourselves if it did. There are therefore, in our own breasts, enigmas
which we cannot solve, depths which we cannot fathom. Must we
then, in order to be rational, deny these facts? Must we maintain that
our nature is an illusion and our constitution a falsehood? Shall we,
on the one hand, deny that we are subject to the laws of our being, or
on the other, that the acts which result from those laws are not our
own, do not express our character, nor involve responsibility? This
happily cannot be done, for faith in our own consciousness is one of
the laws of our nature from which we can never effectually
emancipate ourselves.
If then there are in our own nature so many things which we cannot
comprehend, how can we expect to understand God, to know the
reasons and relations of his acts, or to be able to reconcile in all cases
his works with his attributes? To do this would require a more
thorough knowledge of God than we have of ourselves. It would
require a comprehension of his purposes and of the mode in which
he accomplishes them. It would require, in short, a knowledge which
no creature can possess.
For what man knows the things of a man, save the spirit of man that
is in him? Even so, the things of God no man knows, but the Spirit of
God. 1Cor 2.11 We then, who are the least and lowest of God's rational
creatures, may well expect to be required to live by faith; to receive as
true, on His authority, much that we cannot understand and cannot
reconcile. However, it is not blind belief which is required of us. We
are not required to believe anything without adequate evidence; but
on the other hand we are not allowed to reject anything simply
because we cannot understand it. We must not reject the existence of
God, because we cannot comprehend self-existence; we must not
deny his eternity, because we cannot conceive of duration without
succession; nor his omnipresence, because we cannot see how a
being can be equally and entirely in all places at the same time; nor
omniscience, because we cannot see how free acts can be foreknown.
In like manner, we are not required to believe in God's goodness
without abundant evidence of his benevolence; but we are required
to believe it, whether we can reconcile it with the existence of evil or
not. We are not required to believe in the providence of God without
evidence, but our being unable to reconcile his government with our
liberty, is no rational ground of unbelief. The same remark might be
made with regard to the apostasy of our race and the corruption of
our nature; our inability and obligation to obedience; the necessity of
divine influence and the use of means. We are required to believe
nothing on these or any other subjects, without adequate proof; but
we are not allowed to make our ignorance of the relations of these
truths, an excuse for either unbelief or disobedience. God gives the
glow-worm light enough to see its own path, though not enough to
dispel the darkness of the night. Thus too, He shows us where to put
our foot down in each successive step towards heaven, though he
may not enable us to comprehend the Almighty unto perfection.
It may be said that we haven't answered even one of all the
objections to which reference has so often been made. We have done
far better than answer them, if we have made the reader feel the
necessity of a humble, trustful spirit towards God. This is the
appropriate state of mind for every learner, whether in the school of
nature or of Christ. It is that state which the feebleness of our powers
and the difficulty of the things to be learned, render not only
reasonable but indispensable.
A second impression which we have labored to produce, is that it is
one of our primary duties to submit to the truth, to form the purpose
and to cherish the habit of yielding the mind to evidence. Faith
without evidence is irrational; but unbelief despite the evidence, is
not less so. There is a great difference in the temper of different men
in relation to this subject. Some resist the truth as long as they can;
they cavil at it and oppose it. Others are candid and docile; they are
willing to admit the force of proof as far as they perceive it. This is
the only way in which true knowledge can be obtained. It is thus that
the philosopher is accustomed to act. He carefully interrogates
nature for facts; these facts are received; they are classified and
harmonized as far as the investigator is able thus to reconcile them.
But he rejects none because he cannot make it fit into a system. He
waits for further light. It is thus that we are bound to act. We too are
called upon to receive every truth upon its own evidence; to
harmonize our knowledge where we can, but to reject nothing simply
because of our ignorance of its consistency with other truths.
A third lesson which it is very important for us to learn is, what is
adequate evidence of truth, and when we are bound to rest satisfied.
This may be a question which it is difficult to decide; but as far as
religion is concerned, the case is sufficiently plain. By the laws of our
being, we are imperatively required to confide in the well-ascertained
testimony of our senses; to rely upon the veracity of our own
consciousness; to receive the unimpeachable testimony of our fellow
men; and to abide by those truths which are either matters of
intuitive perception, or the necessary conclusions of reason. These
are laws of belief impressed upon our constitution by our Creator;
and they are therefore the authoritative expressions of His will. To
refuse obedience to these laws, then, is not only unreasonable, it is
rebellion against God. They are the adamantine bars by which he has
closed up the way to universal skepticism; and those who break
through them, prematurely enter upon the outer darkness. So then:
we are obliged as rational beings, to receive every truth which rests
upon the testimony of our senses, upon the authority of
consciousness, the unimpeachable testimony of witnesses, or the
intuitive perceptions or necessary deductions of reason. Whether we
can systematize and reconcile all the truths thus arrived at, is a very
different question. Our obligation to receive them does not rest upon
this power, but upon the evidence afforded for each separate truth.
Our consciousness tells us that we are sinners; it also informs us of
our helplessness. We may fight against one or the other of these
truths, like the ocean chafes against the rocks; they cannot be moved.
When the mind has been drugged with false philosophy, it may
disbelieve for a time. But the infidelity lasts no longer than the
intoxication. As soon as the man is sober, the truth re-appears in
greater clearness and authority than ever. Therefore, nothing can be
eventually gained by resistance to the truth; and it is the part of
wisdom to submit at once to the laws of belief which God has
impressed upon our nature.
Besides this rule of faith (if it may be called that) which God has
given us in the constitution of our nature, we have his word and his
providence, authenticated by all kinds of adequate testimony. There
can be no higher ground of faith than the authority of God. Even
confidence in the testimony of our senses or the dictates of
consciousness, resolves itself into confidence in the veracity of God
by whom the laws of nature have been established. Any truth,
therefore, which is sustained by a well-authenticated revelation of
God, or upon the actual dispensations of his providence, must be
considered as fully established; and every objection which can be
shown to militate against either, must be considered as fully
answered. It was thus that the sacred writers answered objections. It
was enough for them that God asserted any truth, or actually
exercised any prerogative. Any further vindication, they deemed
unnecessary. We should act on the same principle and quietly submit
to all that God says and to all that he does. Some men complainingly
ask, Why were we born? Surely it is enough that they are born. The
fact cannot be denied, whether they can see the wisdom and design
of their creation or not. Or they ask, Why were we born in a state of
sin, or in a world in which sin is universal and inevitable? To human
reason, this may be a question that is impossible to answer. But as
the fact stares us in face, is there any use in denying it? It is further
asked, If we are born in such a state that, either from our nature or
circumstances, sin is inevitable and universal, then how can we be
responsible? Whatever difficulty there may be in showing how we
are responsible, there is no doubt as to the fact of it. We feel
ourselves to be responsible, and can no more free ourselves of the
conviction than we can get rid of the consciousness of existence.
Where then is the wisdom of quarrelling with facts? Why should we
spend our lives like a wild beast in a cage, forever chafing against the
bars of its prison, which nevertheless remain! Let us learn to submit
to what we see to be true; let us remember that our knowledge does
not embrace all truth; that things may be perfectly consistent with
each other and with the attributes of God, though we may not see
how. Our knowledge will continually increase; and those facts which
give us the most difficulty will be found to be so analogous to others,
the justice of which we are able to recognize, that if we never come to
see all things in their harmony, we shall at least see that they must
be consistent, being parts of that system which is everywhere
luminous with the manifestations of the wisdom and love of God. Let
us remember that we are children, the children of God, that He gives
us abundant evidence of everything which he requires us to believe,
though he renders it necessary for us to exercise confidence in him,
to feel assured that what he says is true, and that what He does is
right; that though clouds and darkness may be round about Him,
justice and judgment are the habitation of his throne.
The last general remark to be made in reference to these objections,
is that they are almost always dishonestly urged; that is, they are
urged with an inward conviction of their fallacy. As in many cases we
know things to be true which we cannot prove, so we often know
objections are fallacious which we cannot answer. If a man denies his
own existence, or the distinction between right and wrong, it is in
vain to argue with him. There can be nothing plainer than the truth
denied; and therefore, there can be no means of proving it. So also, if
to escape the charge of guilt, he denies his responsibility, he denies a
fact of consciousness, which cannot possibly be made plainer. Or if
he pleads his inability as an excuse for not repenting and obeying
God, he presents a plea which he knows has no validity; he knows
that however real this inability may be, it is of such a nature as to
afford no excuse for his continuing in sin, because the conviction of
its reality co-exists in his own consciousness, with a sense of guilt. It
is a plea, therefore, that does not avail at the bar of his own
conscience, and he knows that it will not avail at the bar of God. In
like manner, when men object to the strictness of the divine law, they
do so with the inward persuasion of the righteousness of that law. Its
requirements commend themselves to their conscience. They know
that as God is infinitely wise and good, it is right that we should
regard Him with supreme affection, and implicitly submit to all his
directions.
All such cavilling objections, men know to be false. God has not left
himself without a witness. His voice has an authority which we
cannot resist. When he tells us we are sinners, we know it to be true.
When he tells us that we are worthy of death, we know it to be a
righteous judgment. When he tells us that we have no strength to
save ourselves and that our salvation depends upon his will, we know
it to be even so. Whenever he reveals himself, our mouths are shut —
not merely from fear, but from an intimate persuasion of the justice
of all his ways. It is then both foolish and wicked to urge objections
against the truth, which we ourselves know to be futile, whether this
is done with a view to perplex our fellow men, or in a vain endeavor
to silence the accusations of conscience and the word of God.
Such is the power of truth that neither the natural insensibility of the
heart, nor the lack of consideration, nor the direct efforts which men
make to suppress serious thoughts, nor the whole array of sophistical
objections, can avail to counteract the secret conviction in the breast
of the impenitent, that they are on the road to eternal death. This
conviction is often very weak. When men are engrossed in the
concerns of this world, it is overlooked. Still, it is there; and time and
again it wakes up to trouble them. The suggestion that God is
merciful, and perhaps will not be strict to mark iniquity, will not
quiet this uneasy apprehension. This suggestion, therefore, avails but
little. It is counteracted by the sense of ill-desert, by the irrepressible
conviction that those who commit sin are worthy of death — by the
plain declarations of Scripture, and by the evidence which even
providence affords that God is righteous. The vague apprehension of
coming wrath, therefore, in despite of all their efforts, still haunts the
path of the impenitent. It chills their joys and gathers strength
whenever the world seems to be receding from their grasp.
Most men are driven to enter the plea of guilty before the bar of
conscience, and content themselves with praying for a delay of
judgment. They are forced to admit that they are not fit to die in their
present state; that they are bound to comply with the requirement of
the gospel — but they plead for time. Go your way for now; when I
have a more convenient season, I will call for you. Conscience is
more easily deluded by this plea, which seems to admit its demands,
than by any other. It is therefore the most dangerous snare for souls.
Men do not reflect on the wickedness of pleading with God for liberty
to continue a little longer in sin; to be allowed to break His
commandments, to disregard his mercies, to slight his love, and to
injure the cause of truth and righteousness. They don't think of the
indignation with which they would reject such a plea from an
ungrateful and disobedient son or servant. Nor do they remember
that every such act of procrastination is a great aggravation of their
guilt, as it supposes a consciousness of the evil of their present
course, and a recognition of the righteousness of all the demands of
God. Nor do they consider that the difficulties which beset the path
of their return to God, are all increased by delay. If the work of
repentance is irksome today, it will be more irksome tomorrow. If
the heart is now hard, it will become yet harder by neglect. If the
power of sin is now too strong for us to resist, it will become still
stronger by indulgence. If the motives to repentance now fail to
secure obedience, they will act with constantly increasing
disadvantage hereafter. If God is justly displeased now, he will be
more and more displeased by continued disobedience. Every day's
procrastination therefore increases, at a fearful rate, the probability
of our final perdition.
CHAPTER IV. CONVICTION
OF SIN.
Section I. Knowledge of sin. Sense of
personal ill-desert.
Though men are generally so indifferent to their sinfulness and
danger, it often pleases God to arouse their attention, and to produce
a deep conviction of the truth of all that the Bible teaches on these
subjects. The effects of such conviction are very various, because they
are modified by the temperament, the knowledge, the circumstances
and concomitant exercises of those who experience it. A sentence of
death, if passed on a hundred men, would probably affect no two of
them alike. The mind of one might fasten particularly on the
turpitude 4 of his crime; another on the disgrace which he had
incurred; a third on the sufferings of his friends on his account; a
fourth on the horrors of death, or the fearfulness of appearing before
God. All these and many other views, in endless combination, might
operate with different degrees of force on each; and the result be still
further modified by their physical and moral temperament, their
knowledge, and previous history. The endless diversity, therefore, in
the experience of men when convinced of sin, is what might be
expected; and shows it is impossible to give any description of such
an experience that would be applicable to all cases. It will be
sufficient to briefly state what the Scriptures teach is necessary on
this subject.
There must be some correct knowledge of sin. It's clearly the
doctrine of the Scriptures, confirmed by universal experience, that
men naturally are exceedingly blind on this subject. They have very
inadequate ideas of the nature of this evil. Being ignorant of the
holiness of God, they don't regard the opposition of sin to His nature,
so much as its effects on themselves, or on society. They judge it by a
wrong standard; and hence all their judgments respecting it are
either erroneous or defective. Its real nature, or the real source of its
evil, in great measure escapes their notice. Hence a thousand things
which are unquestionably sinful, they in general overlook or
disregard. What they consider isn't so much the state of the heart
towards God, as the temper and deportment of one man towards his
fellow men. And therefore they often regard themselves and others
as really good, though they may be destitute of even one right
sentiment towards their Maker. Being ignorant of the true nature of
sin, they have no conception of the number of their transgressions.
They are disposed to estimate them by the number of positive or
overt acts of disobedience to the moral law — overlooking the
habitual state of the heart, the uniform lack of love, faith, and due
reverence towards God. Nor do they have any adequate idea of the
guilt of sin. To them, as it exists in themselves, it is comparatively a
trifle. Any great concern about it, they consider unreasonable; and
when manifested by others, hypocritical or fanatical. There is a
deceitfulness in sin by which men are deluded so as to form wrong
judgments as to its nature, extent, turpitude and power. This
delusion must be dispelled. The eyes must be opened to see sin as it
is represented in the word of God, as an exceedingly evil and bitter
thing, as extending not merely to overt acts or outbreaks of passion,
but as deeply seated in the heart, polluting the streams of life at the
fountain; as really deserving the punishment which God has
denounced against it; and as having such a hold on the inward
principles of our nature, that its power cannot be broken by any
ordinary exertion.
This insight into the Scriptural account of sin is attended with a firm
conviction of its truth; and this conviction is inseparable from the
kind of knowledge of which we are now speaking; because it is in fact
nothing but an insight into the nature of the Scriptural doctrine as
true, or as accordant with the moral nature which God has given us.
Men therefore are not thus convinced either by argument or
authority. They see and feel what God has declared concerning the
nature and evil of sin to be true. Hence the conviction is irresistible
even when most unwelcome. We often see it taking sudden and
powerful possession of the soul, when conscience is roused from its