Chapter VI
A general division of the corruption of man a nature into the several parts of
it, a privation of all goodness, and an inclination to all evil. That there
is in man fallen, an emptiness of all that is good, proved ; and that all the
faculties vf his soul are void of that righteousness which ought to be in thetn.
For when we were yet without strength, in due lime Christ died for the ungodly.
But God commendeth his love totcards tis, in that, while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to
CHAP. VI.] IN EESPECT OF SIN AND PUNISHMENT. 85
God by the death of his Son: much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved
by his life. ROM. V. 6, 8, 10.
I have demonstrated the greatness of the sinfulness of the natural inhe
rent defilement in man, which is here called flesh, of which I have dis
coursed more generally, and but comparatively only, both as compared with our gross sins ; or, secondly, as compared with all a man s other sins. Now we will consider it in the parts of it, more absolutely as it is in itself.
It is our present business to view and cut up and anatomize this body of sin, which, viewed in the Inmp and gross only, seems not so ugly ; which anatomy is either into the more general parts of it, which express the nature of it, as it is in all the faculties ; or, secondly, into the particular
parts of it, as it hath diversely corrupted each faculty, as it is darkness in
the understanding, lust in the will and affections, &c. And so I shall cut
up every particular vein, and let you see what corrupt blood runs there ; in each severally. Now the more general parts of it, which express its general nature, are (as they are usually dissected by divines) two.
First, A total and utter emptiness and privation of all that righteousness and true holiness which God first created in man, and which the law of God
requires.
And, secondly, a positive sinful inclination to all that is contrary to grace, namely, a proneness to all sin, of what kind soever, which any law of God
forbids ; which positive sinfulness is divided into two parts
: 1, the inordi
nate lustings of the faculties after things earthly, fleshly, sinful ; 2, an en
mity unto God, and unto what is holy. Or, if you will, you may quarter this our inherent sinfulness into four parts, and that according to the sec
tion of the most curious anatomist, the apostle Paul, as it is to be seen Rom. v. ver. 6 to 11, where, to set forth the greatness of the love and
grace of God in Christ, he aggravates the disease of our natures and condi
tion, of which grace was the remedy ; for, as the greatness and desperateness of the disease commends the remedy, so God commends his love
(they are his words, ver. 8), in that whilst, first, without strength,
( sinners, ver. 8, yea, enemies, ver. 9, Christ died for us.
secondly, ungodly, ver. 6, thirdly,
Which may seem to import out four degrees of the corruption of their
natures and lives, for whom Christ died, especially of their natures, as the
first of them, without strength, implies ; which gradation plainly compre hends the full distemper of man in the general nature of it. And these
degrees may come under our former division, wherein are distinguished the
corruption of nature into that, which is (1.) privative, which the apostle s
words, ungodly and without strength, import ; (2.) the positive part of it, which includes, 1st, the inclination and disposition of sinners to all evil ;
2dly, enmity to God, and all that is good ; but we will take them as the
apostle hath set them down, in so many several degrees of our sinfulness.
The first and lowest degree is weakness, aaQevtia, which implies want of
power and ability, as to help itself, and to come out of that condition, so
unfitly* to be used in the service of God ; for, 1 Cor. xv. 43, the same word
is used to express a dead carcase, that is buried and sown in weakness, so
as that dead trunk is unable to stir, and is unfit to be used any way, and is
fit for nothing but to be buried ; so are we as dead in sins and trespasses, Eph. ii. 1, so as we could stand God no way in stead, nor help ourselves, but were fit for nothing but to be buried in hell, which is our own place.
* Qu. unfitness ? ED.
? S GUILTINESS BEFORE GOD, [BOOK II.
86 AN UNREGENERATE MAN
The second is ungodliness, as being wholly cut off and estranged from God, and all the life of grace, which was the cause of our impotency ; and
as there is not one spark of grace left, so there is an awkwardness and un-
appliableness to what is good, yea, a renunciation, denying of what is good, as well as a weakness and unfitness for it ; both which, as being primi tive,* I make the two parts of the first general head, viz., an emptiness of
all good.
The third degree is, that they are sinners. As they have nothing in them
selves which leads them to God, or which can be employed for God, they are thereby also become prone and inclined to sin, and nothing else ; for
sinners properly notes out one in whom the habitual disposition to sin
prevails.
The fourth degree, which is further than this, is, that they are enemies, and that is in their natures too, enemies in their minds, Col. i. 21, as
fighting against all the means that should deliver them out of this condition,
opposite to God and all godliness, in themselves irrecoverable. They are not simply such as are ungodly, and so will do nothing for God, or without
strength, as unable only, but enemies to him and all his ways.
And both these last are positive acts, and so to be reduced as the parts of the second general head.
The first branch of inherent corruption is an emptiness of whatever is
holy and good in the several degrees of it. Rom. vii. 18, that which is here
called fl,esh, is an emptiness of all good and grace ; and is not this a great accusation laid to the charge of our natures, if it can be proved that there is
nothing good in them, not a spark or dram of the least godliness, or grace,
or power to do any good ? Hath riot this cause to humble a man, and pull down all the fly-blown conceits of ourselves, that by nature thou hast nothing in thee which should make thee acceptable in the eyes of God, but that thou
art a lump of terra damnata, as the chemists call it, namely, that which is the
dross of their distillations, out of which they have distilled all that is good or useful, or rather, to use the Scripture comparison, cursed earth ? Heb.
* For the earth, which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth
vi. 7, 8,
blessing from God : but that which beareth thorns and briars is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing ; whose end is to be burned. Cursed earth, I
say, which hath not one good seed in it, able to bring forth nothing but
briars and thorns, not one good herb meet for the dresser s use ; this is
nigh to cursing, and the end of it is to be burned. Our natures are like the basket of rotten figs, as God compares the Jews, Jer. xxiv. 2, 3, which were
bad, and very bad, as they could not be eaten, good for nothing but to be
seized on as bad wares, and openly burned ; for you use to preserve nothing but that which hath some goodness in it ; neither would God destroy infants and damn them for ever, if there was any goodness in them. As in Isa.
* one says, Destroy
Ixv. 8, a vine that hath but one cluster of grapes on it,
it not, for there is a blessing in it, some good and blessed thing which it is a pity to have destroyed. And so likewise, in 1 Kings xiv. 13, because
Abijah, the son of Jeroboam, had some good thing in him towards the Lord his God, therefore God had a care of him to keep him from the evil
that was to come, and brought him to the grave in peace. Ay, but thou
hast no good thing towards the Lord thy God in thee, and therefore thou
hast cause to judge thyself not worthy to live, and mayest wonder that thou wert not destroyed ere this ; and it may humble thee, for nothing lifts up but an opinion of some goodness in one ; and, therefore, the contrary may * Q,u. privative ? JD.
CHAP. VI.J IN RESPECT OF SIN AND PUNISHMENT. 87
bring thee as low as nothing, to reckon every creature in their kind better than thyself ; for they retain most of their native goodness which God put into them, and are good for those ends they were at first appointed ; but thou
(to use Christ s comparison) art as salt whenas it hath lost all its savour, and is fit for nothing but the dunghill, because, though it hath a being still,
yet it hath lost its goodness to that good end for which it was appointed. And so thou, being at first seasoned with grace, whereby thou shouldst have
glorified God, which was the adequate end for which thou wert created,
having now lost that seasoning, art now good for nothing (though thou hast
a being in thee still), for, bonum et finis convertuntur, nothing is good far
ther than it tends to its end ; and so far as it is unfit for its end it is said
to grow naught. Now thou art by nature altogether unserviceable for God, to glorify him ; and therefore all that is in thee is naught ; yea, and as thou hast cause to humble thyself, and think ill of thyself for this, so also to hate
thyself ; for we naturally love nothing but what is good. Now to prove and make this good unto you,
First, Consider that one place, Eom. vii. 18, For I know that in me
(that is, in my flesh) dwells no good thing
: for to will is present with me ; but how to perform that which is good I find not. Says St Paul,
* In me (that is, in my flesh) dwells no good thing, that is, no grace ; for the
goodness he there speaks of is a spiritual goodness, opposite to sin: ver. 17,
* Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. And St Paul speaks this of his unregenerate part, which he calls flesh, and though he being regenerate, and having another / in him, as he says in the 17th verse, which gave ground to that blessed distinction,
* In me (that is, in my flesh) dwells no good thing, as implying that there was something in him that was not flesh, that had some good thing in it ; yet take a man as born into the
world, and not born again, and he is nothing but flesh : That which is born of flesh is flesh, that is, there is not that thing in him which is not flesh, and therefore there is no good at all in him. And therefore, Job xi. 12, he
is called empty or hollow man, as it is in the original, and in the margin so noted ; void and empty of all wisdom, much more of spiritual wisdom,
grace, and goodness ; and this by birth, for it is said, that he is born as empty of it as a wild ass s colt. In the next words, he is a mere empty thing in respect of any good. And answerably the apostle speaks, Rom. iii. 10-12, As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one : there is none that understandeth ; there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable ; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. There is none righteous, none that hath the least
* The
spark or part of righteousness or true wisdom ; for, ver. 18, he says,
fear of God is not before their eyes, which yet you know is the {.beginning and first step to wisdom, Prov. i. 7, that is, to grace and righteousness. And if you will see reason for it,
1. Adam lost all grace and goodness by his fall, and therefore we too, and
so our natures must needs be brought forth stripped of all. Now if Adam
did not lose all grace at his first sinning, then it must have been with him
as with a regenerate man now in the state of grace when he sins, of whom
the apostle says, The seed of God remains in him, 1 John iii. 9. And if
so, then Adam needed not to have been born again, and so nor we, if any such seed remained, which was not wholly expelled ; for to be born again is
to have the immortal seed put into us, 1 Peter i. 23, and Christ says, there
* must be born again, that is, by a new work of the Holy Ghost. We must have this seed sown anew in us, because we are nothing but flesh, which flesh hath no good in it; and therefore it is said, the new man must
fore we
88 AN UNREGENERATE MAN S GUILTINESS BEFORE GOD, [BOOK II.
be created again, Col. iii. 10, which is renewed in knowledge after the image wherein God created him at first, as having now in his corrupt state wholly put it off, as was the condition of Adam after his fall ; who says of himself, Gen. iii. 10, that he was naked, as having lost every piece of that image, and so had no goodness to cover him, as I proved afore.
2. If Adam, then we all by nature have not the Spirit of God dwelling in
us, and then we have no grace, not the least spark dwelling in us ; and so
e contra, if we had the least grace, then also we must have the Spirit dwelling in us ; for as the sun maintains light, so the Spirit, grace ; and as, take the sun out of the world, and all the beams of light vanish, so take the Spirit away, and you take all grace away also, for he is the Father of lights, and God of all grace. Now what saith the apostle? Rom, viii. 9,
* You are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if so be the Spirit of God dwell in you. And so if the Spirit of God dwelt in us by nature, then (according to the apostle s
argument) by nature we were not in the flesh ; but so we are all in the flesh, and in the gall of bitterness, as a fish in water, even flesh itself. For being in the flesh is used to express our natural estate, as Rom. vii. 5, For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work
in our members, to bring forth fruit unto death. Whilst we were in the
flesh, that is, whilst we were unregenerate in our natural condition, and
therefore during that state the Spirit of God dwells not in us. And in Jude
19, speaking of carnal men, he says, they are sensual and have not the
Spirit, that is, dwelling in them; and if so, then no good thing, no grace dwells there.
And if this be true, have you not cause to humble yourselves for this nature of yours, as above measure sinful ? For it is not a bare negation of
grace that is in you, but an emptiness and privation, which is carentia en-
titatis debitcB inesse, the want of a goodness which you ought to have ; for
this grace which thou wantest ought to be in thee, and that not only by the mere law of nature, as the power of seeing ought to be in that eye that is born destitute of it, but it ought to be there by the law of God, which re
quires that all grace should be in thee, and that you should be filled with
grace, and abound therein, enriched with every grace, and nothing wanting. But now in thy nature there is not any one kind of grace, nor any one
degree, no, not the least ; and therefore thou art to humble thyself, as in this
respect guilty of as many sins as there are graces and degrees of graces wanting, for the want thereof is a sin, be it but of the least. If that servant was condemned that did not increase the talent given him, though he brought his master his own again, Mat. xxv. 24, how much more thou who hast lost
it all ! especially seeing every grace is so precious a talent, which God gave man at first, and no creature else. As faith is called
* precious faith, 2 Peter i. 1, so love may be called precious love, which also he gave him as a token of his dearest love, as his image and picture to remember him by.
Yea, and further, look how many parts and branches of graces there were
at first implanted, and they are innumerable, so many sins art thou guilty of. Now there are innumerable graces
: 2 Peter i. 3, * According as his
divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godli ness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue. There is a bundle of them, all things belonging to godliness ; he speaks of them as of many, these many, several limbs of that glorious image. And
Christ tells us, that a good man hath a good treasure in his heart. A
treasure notes out variety and abundance; yea, look how many several branches there are of the law affirmative, look how many several duties God
requires, so many several graces there are, for grace is but the law written
CHAP. VI.] IN RESPECT OF SIN AND PUNISHMENT. 89
in the heart. So many sins art thou to humble thyself for, in that thou
wantest all these graces through the ungodliness of thy nature.
And now as for these particular parts of it before mentioned, wherein this
emptiness consists, first, a want of strength ; secondly, ungodliness ; I will
speak something of them, though not much.
First, You see it is a want of strength to anything that is good, attQsveia, which word being taken from a dead corpse, as the word is used, 1 Cor.
xv. 43, may well befit us, in regard of this emptiness of all that is good.
For, 1, it is not only the weakness of men in a consumption or sickness, that have some life or strength, though joined with much feebleness, for this
* Wherefore lift up the hands that
is said of regenerate men, Heb. xii. 12,
hang down, arid the feeble knees. Strengthen the hands that hang down, as unable to stir to what is good, and the feeble knees, which is spoken of such as were regenerate men, that had some strength, yet feebleness joined with it. That as a man that is weak, and yet hath some life, yet through weakness is scarce able to stir, or when he comes to raise himself, falls down
again in a swoon ; such may be the case of regenerate men, that have some
lii e, as being indeed more than flesh, as was the case of St Paul, Rom.
vii. 18, To will is present with me ; but how to perform I know not, not
having strength wherewithal, for in my flesh dwells no good thing, that is,
110 strength to do an} 7 good. Neither, 2, is it only as the weakness of a man out of joint, all his bones
being displaced, though this also is most true : for, Gal. vi. 1, when a man
falls into sin, set him in joint again, says the apostle, xorogrsrf, for that
fall breaks all, and so weakens a man for whatever is good.
But, 3, it is as the weakness of a dead man, for so the word aaOsveta is
used, 1 Cor. xv. 43, and so we are said to be dead in sins, Eph. ii. 1, not
having the least principle of life to stir to what is good.*
Yea, 4, it is not only a want of an active principle to stir, but also a want
of a passive fitness, an unwieldiness and unfitness to be used or employed. So it is with a dead man, and so with us ; therefore it is said of us, 2 Cor.
* Not that we are sufficient, oux /xai/o/ ecptv, of ourselves to think any
iii. 5,
thing as of ourselves ; but our sufficiency is of God. Unapt, unfit for to think anything, it is not only a want of sufficiency, as if we had strength, but only so weak as it were not sufficient ; but, further, it is inidonietas,
inaptitudo (as Beza reads it), an unwieldiness to it. Therefore we are said not to be meet vessels till this corruption is purged out, for God s use, to be employed for him : 2 Tim. ii. 21, If a man therefore purge himself from
these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the Master s
use, and prepared unto every good work. And in Ps. xiv. 3, and Rom.
iii. 12, we are said to become unprofitable, f)%gtttafai(fo, unfit for use ; and
in the Hebrew of the psalm it is, spumes instar putrue-runt, as Beza observes, become even as putrefied froth. Froth in itself is unfit for anything, much more putrefied froth, which until sweetened can be put to no use. Or, as
the prophet compares us, Ezek. xv. 3, 4, we are like the wood of a vine which you cannot make a pin of to hang anything on, so nor of our nature, but we are
* They profess that they know God ; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and
* reprobate to every good work : Titus i. 16,
disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate. And this the word
aofavtia plainly imports.
Secondly, A second and further degree of emptiness of good is, that our natures are ungodly. As the other notes out an impotency and weakness to
* See his exposition on Eph. ii. 1, in vol. i. of his works. [Vol. II. of this Edition. ED.]
90 AN UNREGENERATE MAN S GUILTINESS BEFORE GOD, [BOOK II.
any good in general, agreeable to any part of the law, this more particularly an unability and averseness of mind to sanctify God (for whom and by whom are all things), either in our hearts or lives; so that suppose we have
strength to do any good things, tending to the good of ourselves and others, to be good subjects and good commonwealth s men ; suppose we had strength andjieart to all duties of righteousness to men and ourselves, and do them
as exactly as ever Adam should have done, and should give our bodies to be burnt for the common good (as some of the heathen Romans sacrificed their
lives for the good of their country) ; yet, as St Paul says of wanting charity,
it is nothing, so may I say, we still being without godliness, may truly be
said to be empty of all good, and all this to be nothing. For as God him
self is said by way of eminency to be only good, There is none good but God, Mat. xix. 17, (for no creature is good otherwise than as it hath a derived
goodness from him), so indeed nothing in man can be said to be good, un
less it ariseth from a principle of godliness in us, which springs from God, and tends to him again. Therefore is that distinction made, 1 Kings. xiv. 13, And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him ; for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward the Lord God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam. Abijah is
* some good thing in him ; but how ?
* Towards the Lord his God. And oppositely it is expressed of Israel, Hosea x. 1, Israel is an
said to have
empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself : according to the multitude
of his fruit he hath increased the altars ; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images. Israel is said to be an empty vine, whenas yet in the next words it is said to have brought forth fruit to itself; how then empty ? Because, though it was fruitful, yet it was not fruitful to
* Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ ; that
God, as those are who are united to Christ : Rom. vii. 4,
ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. So let what goodness soever be
in thee, either of ingenuousness of nature, or parts of wisdom or moral
virtues, as Hosea vi. 4, hypocritical Ephraim is said to have goodness in
him, as empty ears of corn on the house-tops are called corn, yet if godli ness be wanting, which is as the kernel in the husk, a man is empty of
goodness still ; and the reason is, because finis et bonum convertuntur, all
things that tend to any end receive goodness from their end they tend to. Now God was the immediate adequate end for which our nature was made,
viz. to sanctify him ; and therefore .if that be wanting in thy nature which should carry thee on to him as the end, then all thy nature ceaseth to be
good, notwithstanding that any other goodness, serving for other subordinate
ends, may seem to be in it.
Now I will but in brief explain to you what this ungodliness is, which I
will do,
First of all, in the general.
Secondly, In the particulars.
I. In general. It is a want and emptiness of those dispositions and
abilities in our natures, whereby once we were enabled and inclined to
sanctify God as God.
1. I call it a want of that which once we had, for otherwise we could no more be called ungodly, than the stones can be termed blind. And there
fore at the first God planted in our natures such dispositions, whereby we were inclined thus to sanctify him, which he planted in no creature else
except the angels. But as in the body, to the other members it is necessary there should be an eye to behold things without itself ; so besides, among
CHAP. VI.] IN RESPECT OF SIN AND PUNISHMENT. 91
the rest of the creatures it was requisite that there should be some made, that might behold God in all his works, and sanctify him in all, which men and angels were made to do. Therefore I express what this ungodliness is
* Because
a want of, namely, to sanctify God as God ; for so, Rom. i. 21,
that when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were
* they worshipped him not as God ; for
thankful, &c. It is expressed,
as if we do not fear, reverence, and honour a king as a king, we dis honour him ; so if we do not so sanctify God as we ought to do, we do it
not at all. Now, then, God is sanctified as God when he is known and
* Be
exalted above all, in all the faculties of soul and body : Ps. xlvi. 10,
still, and know that I am God : I will be exalted in the earth ; that is, conceive and apprehend of me as I am in myself, with such thoughts as are
fit to be had of my greatness, holiness, majesty, &c., and accordingly exalt me above all, set me up above all things in your desires, fears, loves, and
rejoicings, and as a commander of all, as your chiefest good and chiefest
end. When you do so, then you sanctify him as God. Now because the mind and heart of man is no way able, nay, utterly unwill
ing to do this, therefore we are by nature ungodly persons, without religion, and therefore also without God in this world : Eph. ii. 12,
* That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. As a blind man is said to be without the sun, because he sees it not, or an evil servant without a master, when he is not disposed to love, fear, or do anything in reverence to him ; so now are we so cut oft from God every way, and estranged from him, as Col. i. 20, that it is with us as if there were no such God in the world, and it is thus with us as to
every faculty. So the apostle Paul, applying that place of the psalmist to
this corruption of man s nature, Bom. iii. 11, 18, There is none that under-
standeth, there is none that seeketh after God. There is no fear of God before
their eyes. He says, there is none of them who either understands God, or seeks after him, or fears him; neither, first, are their understandings capable of such sanctified thoughts as are to be had of him ; neither,
secondly, are their wills capable of being moved to set the man a-work to seek after him ; neither, thirdly, will his affections be stirred with sanctified
fear, or love, or joys in him ; for if any affection was apt to stir, it would be fear. Now, he says, that the fear of him is not before their eyes ; so as
all faculties are empty of this ability to sanctify God at all as God, till God
by his exceeding precious promises in Christ makes us again partakers of a
divine and God-like nature, 2 Peter i. 4, and by a new covenant makes us new hearts to be able to know him, Jer. xxxi. 33, 34, and xxiv. 7, and puts his fear into our hearts, Jer. xxxii. 40, for by nature there is none of these
there, but we are lumps of all ungodliness, and every faculty, we see, is empty of all good.
II. And for particulars, it were infinite to go over all the ungodliness in the nature of man.
1. For the speculative judgment and understanding is so far corrupted and darkened as it would of itself, if left to itsell, think there is no God : Ps.
xiv. 1, The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Fools, not idiots, but all unregenerate men (for he speaks there of the universal corruption of man s nature), having sayings in their hearts, there is no God. And if such thoughts be dispelled by light put into corrupt nature, as Rom.
i. 19, 20, by God himself manifested out of the creatures, his eternal power and Godhead, yet by nature they are but as men groping in the dark, Acts
xvii. 27, and the wisest of them confessed but an unknown God, ver. 23 ;
90 AN UNREGENERATE MAN S GUILTINESS BEFORE GOD, [BOOK II.
any good in general, agreeable to any part of the law, this more particularly an unability and averseness of mind to sanctify God (for whom and by whom are all things), either in our hearts or lives; so that suppose we have
strength to do any good things, tending to the good of ourselves and others, to be good subjects and good commonwealth s men ; suppose we had strength andjieart to all duties of righteousness to men and ourselves, and do them as exactly as ever Adam should have done, and should give our bodies to be burnt for the common good (as some of the heathen Romans sacrificed their
lives for the good of their country) ; yet, as St Paul says of wanting charity,
it is nothing, so may I say, we still being without godliness, may truly be
said to be empty of all good, and all this to be nothing. For as God him
* There is none good but God, Mat. xix. 17, (for no creature is good otherwise than as it hath a derived
self is said by way of eminency to be only good,
goodness from him), so indeed nothing in man can be said to be good, un
less it ariseth from a principle of godliness in us, which springs from God, and tends to him again. Therefore is that distinction made, 1 Kings, xiv. 13, And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him ; for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward the Lord God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam. Abijah is
* Towards the Lord his God. And oppositely it is expressed of Israel, Hosea x. 1, Israel is an
said to have some good thing in him ; but how ?
empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself : according to the multitude
of his fruit he hath increased the altars ; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images. Israel is said to be an empty vine, whenas yet in the next words it is said to have brought forth fruit to itself ; how then empty ? Because, though it was fruitful, yet it was not fruitful to
* Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ ; that
God, as those are who are united to Christ : Rom. vii. 4,
ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. So let what goodness soever be
in thee, either of ingenuousness of nature, or parts of wisdom or moral
virtues, as Hosea vi. 4, hypocritical Ephraim is said to have goodness in
him, as empty ears of corn on the house-tops are called corn, yet if godli ness be wanting, which is as the kernel in the husk, a man is empty of
goodness still ; and the reason is, because fails et bonum convertuntur, all
things that tend to any end receive goodness from their end they tend to. Now God was the immediate adequate end for which our nature was made,
viz. to sanctify him ; and therefore .if that be wanting in thy nature which should carry thee on to him as the end, then all thy nature ceaseth to be
good, notwithstanding that any other goodness, serving for other subordinate
ends, may seem to be in it. Now I will but in brief explain to you what this ungodliness is, which I
will do,
First of all, in the general.
Secondly, In the particulars.
I. In general. It is a want and emptiness of those dispositions and
abilities in our natures, whereby once we were enabled and inclined to
sanctify God as God.
1. I call it a want of that which once we had, for otherwise we could no more be called ungodly, than the stones can be termed blind. And there
fore at the first God planted in our natures such dispositions, whereby we were inclined thus to sanctify him, which he planted in no creature else
except the angels. But as in the body, to the other members it is necessary there should be an eye to behold things without itself ; so besides, among
CHAP. VI.] IN RESPECT OF SIN AND PUNISHMENT. 91
the rest of the creatures it was requisite that there should be some made, that might behold God in all his works, and sanctify him in all, which men and angels were made to do. Therefore I express what this ungodliness is
a want of, namely, to sanctify God as God ; for so, Rom. i. 21, Because
that when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were
thankful, &c. It is expressed, they worshipped him not as God ; for
as if we do not fear, reverence, and honour a king as a king, we dis honour him ; so if we do not so sanctify God as we ought to do, we do it not at all. Now, then, God is sanctified as God when he is known and
exalted above all, in all the faculties of soul and body : Ps. xlvi. 10, Be
still, and know that I am God : I will be exalted in the earth ; that is, conceive and apprehend of me as I am in myself, with such thoughts as are
fit to be had of my greatness, holiness, majesty, &c., and accordingly exalt me above all, set me up above all things in your desires, fears, loves, and
rejoicings, and as a commander of all, as your chiefest good and chiefest
end. When you do so, then you sanctify him as God. Now because the mind and heart of man is no way able, nay, utterly unwill
ing to do this, therefore we are by nature ungodly persons, without religion, and therefore also without God in this world : Eph. ii. 12, That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. As a blind man is said to be without the sun, because he sees it not, or an evil servant without a master, when he is not disposed to love, fear, or do anything in reverence to him ; so now are we so cut oft from God every way, and estranged from him, as Col. i. 20, that it is with us as if there were no such God in the world, and it is thus with us as to
every faculty. So the apostle Paul, applying that place of the psalmist to
this corruption of man s nature, Rom. iii. 11, 18, There is none that under-
standeth, there is none that seeketh after God. There is no fear of God before
their eyes. He says, there is none of them who either understands God, or seeks after him, or fears him; neither, first, are their understandings capable of such sanctified thoughts as are to be had of him ; neither,
secondly, are their wills capable of being moved to set the man a-work to seek after him ; neither, thirdly, will his affections be stirred with sanctified
fear, or love, or joys in him ; for if any affection was apt to stir, it would be fear. Now, he says, that the fear of him is not before their eyes ; so as
all faculties are empty of this ability to sanctify God at all as God, till God by his exceeding precious promises in Christ makes us again partakers of a divine and God-like nature, 2 Peter i. 4, and by a new covenant makes us new hearts to be able to know him, Jer. xxxi. 33, 34, and xxiv. 7, and puts his fear into our hearts, Jer. xxxii. 40, for by nature there is none of these
there, but we are lumps of all ungodliness, and every faculty, we see, is empty of all good.
II. And for particulars, it were infinite to go over all the ungodliness in the nature of man.
1. For the speculative judgment and understanding is so far corrupted and darkened as it would of itself, if left to itselt, think there is no God : Ps.
xiv. 1, The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Fools, not idiots, but all unregenerate men (for he speaks there of the universal corruption of man s nature), having sayings in their hearts, there is no God. And if such thoughts be dispelled by light put into corrupt nature, as Bom.
i. 19, 20, by God himself manifested out of the creatures, his eternal power and Godhead, yet by nature they are but as men groping in the dark, Acts
xvii. 27, and the wisest of them confessed but an unknown God, ver. 23 ;
92 AN UNREGENERATE MAN S GUILTINESS BEFORE GOD, [BOOK II.
and though men have this glimmering light, yet they became vain in their
imaginations, Rom. i. 21. If not thinking him, as the Gentiles did there, Acts xvii. 29, like the creatures, yet their hearts are filled with under-con-
ceits of him, they knpw him not as God, limiting his power, as they did, Ps. Ixxviii. 41,
* Yea, they turned back, and tempted God, and limited the
Holy One of Israel. How did they limit God ? Why, by lessening his
power: ver. 19, Yea, they spake against God : they said, Can God furnish us a table in the wilderness ? And though they saw he smote the rock, ver. 20,
yet can he give bread also ? thought they. Unregenerate men secretly deny God s providence : Hosea ii. 8,
* For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, &c. Unregenerate men are not able to see that it is God who is the great householder of the
world, that layeth in all the provision which the earth bears : or else they deny his omniscience, saying, as they in Job xxii. 13, 14, Thou sayest, How can God know ? can he judge through the dark cloud ? He walks in the circuit of the heavens, &c. And if these conceits be dispelled in the speculative part, as in us that know the word, yet Unregenerate men knowing God notionally, sanctify him not in their thoughts, according to their knowledge, for they think not of him daily : Ps. x. 4, God is not all in their thoughts. Men spend the
dearest of their thoughts on honours, pleasures, riches, but God is not found amongst all their thoughts ; and though they can remember and think
of every toy and trifle that belongs to them, Can a woman forget her
ornaments, as things she cannot be without ? but my people have forgot me days without number, Jer. ii. 32, yea, and if the thoughts of God will needs come in and thrust themselves upon them, yet the thoughts of him
are but, as Ahab spoke to Elijah, 1 Kings xxi. 20, Hast thou found me, mine enemy ? So they wish they could forget God, because he damps their mirth. Rom. i. 28, they like not to retain God in their knowledge ; or they say (as it is in Job),
* Depart from us, we desire not the knowledge of thy ways, Job xxi. 14.
2. For their practical judgments, those whereby their lives are guided and steered, it is most certain, that however they profess they know him,
yet they deny him, Titus i. 16. Deny him they do in their works, and there
fore first in their practical judgments, which is the court where all acts are
first passed ere they come forth to action ; and so those that can discourse
of God and all his attributes, are yet utterly ignorant of him : Jer. ii. 8, They that handle the law (open it and expound it, and God in it), yet knew me not. There are certain fixed principles which the whole man
is guided by, contrary to what else he knows of God ; and there are sayings in the heart, that there is no such God as the word describes him to be. Thus in Ps. x., what is the reason that is there given why a wicked man doth persecute the poor ? ver. 2 ; curseth and deceives, speaks lies, ver. 7 ; and secretly lies in wait to murder the innocent, ver. 8, 9. Why, ver. 11, He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten, he will never see it. And would men else commit sins in secret, which they dare not do before men,
if they had not this principle as most certain in their hearts ? And so in
Ps. L, the hypocrite who knew God well enough in his speculative under
standing, ver. 16, yet, ver. 1820, is full of theft, adultery, evil speaking and slander ; and what is the reason ?
* Thou thoughtest I was a God like
thee, that would approve of thy ways and courses, and as one who delights in the same ways himself. They imagined God like themselves, and by this principle they walk from day to day, and think their estates to be as
good as the best ; and this is the reason why men are secure and careless,
CHAP. VI.] IN RESPECT OF SIN AND PUNISHMENT. 93
and settled upon the lees of all kind of sins, and grow old in them : Zeph.
i. 12, They are settled on lees ; and say in their hearts, God will neither do good nor evil. Though indeed men speak not this, nor profess this, yea, know the contrary, yet this is the rule they go by, and therefore men grow
old in sin, secure and fearless.
And in their wills and affections they are utterly taken off from him ; seek him they will not, to inquire for him, Zeph. i. 6, much less draw nigh to him, as unto their chiefest good
* She drew not near to her God, but can be content to live estranged from him from the womb, Ps. Iviii. 3 ; and go a whoring from him, Ps. Ixxiii. 27 ; after their lovers, and after them they will go, Hosea ii. 5 ; loving of pleasures, even every
: Zeph. iii. 2,
vanity, rather than God, 2 Tim. iii. 4 ; forsaking God, Jer. ii. ; though a
spring, and that of living waters, that offers itself as a spring, and is per petual ; and they are so averse from God, as they will rather dig for water, for muddy water, and that in broken cisterns, than come to this spring, contemning all the goodness that is in him, and having empty pleasures in
this life to live upon, as it is in Job xxi., spending their days in wealth, &c., ver. 13. They say to God, Depart from us (we are well enough), ver. 14 ; We desire not the knowledge of thee or thy ways, whereby we may come to enjoy thee, ver. 14 ; for what is the Almighty, what excellency or
* that we should serve him ? that is, what worth
goodness is there in him,
is there in God that might allure us to serve him, and what advantage would
it be to us if we should pray to him ? What good is got by our acquaintance
and fellowship with him ? And as they contemn his goodness, so also his
greatness and power ; and as they care not for his friendship, so neither for his hatred and all he can do unto them. Therefore, Ps. x. 13, they are said to contemn God ; and Ps. xxxvi. 1, their daring to offend him shews as much, proclaims to all the world, that there is no fear of God before
their eyes. They say so in their heart, saith David, there is no fear of God before their eyes; and I cannot but judge so, saith he, for the thing speaks it. When men dare swear and be drunk, lie, whore, and break Sab
baths, contemn the saints, and do thus from day to day, it speaks in all un
godly men s hearts that there is no fear of God before their e}
Tes. They fear not to offend him to his face, when their consciences tell them he looks on. Thus they are said to sin to God s face, Gen. xiii. 13 ; they sinned before Jehovah, as it were before the presence of a judge, yea, hardening them selves against his fear ; and if they may be brought to fear or seek him (as out of self-love they may), yet it is not for himself: Hosea vii. 16, they
1 return, but not to the Most High. Fear his goodness they do not, and for himself they do not seek him, as godly men are said to do; and if they do draw nigh to him, yet it is out of flattery
* When he slew some of them, then they sought him, ver. 36, but they did but flatter him. They seek not his friendship for itself; ver. 87,
: Ps. Ixxviii. 34.
* their hearts were not right with him ; so as, though they draw nigh with their lips, yet their hearts are far from him, Isa. xxix. 13. It is not out of a delight in his goodness and holiness, so as to take him to be their portion : Job xxvii. 10, Will the hypocrite delight himself in the Almighty ? And though men may seem to delight, as Isa. Iviii. 2, they take delight in approaching to God, out of a carnal sweetness they find in his mercy, &c., yet it is no such de
light in God, as considered in his holiness and purity, and therefore they continue not to do so long.
* Will he pray always ? saith Job. And why not always ? Because he delights not in God, Job xxvii. 10. And for doing him any service, first, they cannot if they would : Rom. vii. 8, They that are in the flesh cannot please God. Serve him they may with a form of
90 AN UNREGENERATE MAN S GUILTINESS BEFORE GOD, [BOOK II.
things of the law, and shew the effect (or work) of the law written in their
hearts. For doth the law condemn sin ? So doth this light, and fights against it. Doth the law take part with what is good ? So doth this also, and cannot be bribed or hired to do otherwise ; so that eadem prastat officia, this light hath the same effects in the heart which the law hath, as appears from Rom. i. 18, For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all
ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteous ness. It is called truth, and that such as opposeth unrighteousness, and therefore men imprison it ; and it is not a principle of natural truth only, whereby we know the works of God, but such as whereby we know the divine truth, and many parts of the will of God, and therefore it must needs be good ; for verum et bonwn, truth and goodness, are twins. What is true is
good ; yea, and look what kind of truth anything hath in it, such a kind of
goodness. Now this being more than natural truth, must needs have more than natural goodness in it ; having the truth of the law in it, it must needs have the goodness of the law, and so be holy as the law is, and just and good. 2. There is in every man some part of this truth ; it is in all more or less, both in good and bad ; for the wrath of God is said to be revealved against
all men for detaining this truth. The Gentiles had it written in their hearts, Bom. ii. 14, and therefore some holy thing is in the nature of man. Yea, 3, as it should seem by nature also ; for he says, the Gentiles do by nature the things of the law, &c. And Jude 10, speaking of ungodly men that sin
* corrupt themselves in things they know naturally ; that is, commit such foul sins (for that is to corrupt them
against their light grossly, he says, they
selves, Deut. xiv. 15, 25) as are against the natural knowledge of their minds. And doth not nature teach you the contrary ? says Paul, 1 Cor.
xi. 14. Yea, 4, this abides there, dwells there, for it is written in their
heart; so as Augustine* saith, Non ipsa iniquitas delet, sin razeth it not out.
2. Answerable to these sparks of truth in the mind, there are also inclina
tions, dispositions, stamps, and impressions upon the will to some good, conformable to the law, that same upW, bona indoles, the philosophers observe and speak so much of, those good dispositions, of ingenuity, modesty, love to those that love them, as Christ says of the Gentiles, Luke vi. 32, the
characters of which appearing in the young man, made Christ love him, Mark x. 21 ; and these are indeed not transient, but habitual dispositions, as was of justice in Cato, of whom it is said, Cum recte fecerit, aliter facer* non potuit ; and therefore continency, as a common thing to good and evil men, is called a gift, 1 Cor. vii. 7. This seems to be a great difficulty, for much of this is true which hath been spoken ; it requires therefore a large digression to give answer there
unto, for which we will consider and inquire into these four things concern
ing this light of conscience and moral virtues.
I. What kind of goodness is in their true and proper nature, abstractly considered.
II. Their original and spring, whence they came to be in man s nature, whether as the endowments of nature, so as they may justly be called ours.
III. Their manner of inhering in man s nature, how entertained therein ;
for quicquid recipitur, recipitur ad modum recipientis.
IV. Their manner of working therein, whether their acts be properly and
truly good.
All which will clear the point, that there is no such good dwelling there
as seems to be objected.
I. Take this light at its best, abstractedly considered in its own true, * Lib. ii. Confess.
CHAP. VII.] IN RESPECT OF SIN AND PUNISHMENT. 97
naked, real, abstracted nature and essence ; and though I acknowledge it a
creature of God s, and therefore good with a natural kind of goodness, yet I
deny it to be good with that kind of goodness which the law hath in it, Rom.
vii. 12, whatsoever hath been said to the contrary notwithstanding.
To examine which, let us have recourse to the places alleged. We shall
find, and it is observable to this purpose, that the apostle calls not this
* the law written in the heart, but only TO tgyov rod ufy&oy
light, Rom. ii. 15,
ygaflrdv, the written work of the law ; that is, something which produceth many effects, which the law also hath, but yet it is not of the same nature with the law, for it is proper only to the works of regeneration to have the law written in the heart ; that is, such a light and disposition which hath
the same holy and spiritual nature that the law hath, as grace in a godly man s heart is said to have ; therefore, Jer. xxxi. 33, But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel : After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their
hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. Thus to write
the law in the heart, is said to be from the new covenant, &c. To illustrate
this by a similitude (which, though it doth not omnibus quadrare, as none
do, yet will explain the thing), we see that in some beasts that are sagaciores, of quicker fancies, there are some things more than sense, which are umbra
rationis, as we use to call them, as in elephants, &c. Yea, also, quadam umbra; of some virtues, as of chastity, &c., both which are so called, be cause by virtue of these they do many works of reason and above sense ; that is, the same things which reason in men produceth ; yet these shew not a true principle of reason written there, but only ra egya, the works of rea son ; that is, some effects answering to it. So in men s unregenerate minds
there is extant also umbra legis, a shining and glimmering of the law, a light that is the image of it, as lumen est lucis, as splendonr is of light, or which rather we may call the picture of it (the true real light of which is only written in the regenerate), whereby they do ra rou i/o/otou, things of the law, that is, some things about the law, or which the law commands, the out wards of it ; or as Beza hath it, eadem officia prastat, qua leyis sunt facit :
as it forbids sin, so doth this light ; as it condemneth for sin, so also doth
this light condemn them for sinning.
Now, to prove that this light that is thus in them is but as it were a shadow or picture of the law, and therefore not of the same nature with the
law, that word used, Rom. ii. 20, is observable : An instructor of the
foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law. Speaking of the light of the law in a learned Jew, being unregenerate, he says he -hath pogpuffiv, a form of knowledge, and of the truth of the law, which, as it signifies the system of the law in his brain, or the object of his knowledge, so also doth withal intimate the slightness of
his knowledge for the kind of it, that it is but a form, a picture, an idea of
it, and this he speaks of in comparison to the real thing itself and power of
it; for so in 2 Tim. iii. 5. the word f&6g<puais is used, and this so in respect of those answerable tinctures and impressions of piety and virtue which in the objection are said to be in the will. Having a form of godliness, says the apostle,
* but denying the power of it, that is, the thing itself, and the
powerful effects of it. As that goodness which is in their wills is there said to be but a form and picture of true godliness, so in this place of Rom. ii. 20 the light in their understanding is said to be but a fortn of knowledge. The word is the same. Now if the light that is engendered and lighted, as
it were, immediately from the law itself, be but /&ogpwff/, a picture of the
truth, then much more is the weak divine light of nature, that is but a weak
VOL. X. G
98 AN TJNREGENERATE MAN S GUILTINESS BEFORE GOD, [BOOK II.
resemblance or shadow of the law. And that it is no more, and not of the same real nature with the law, appears by the weak effects of it, for in ver.
21, 22, 23 all this knowledge did not enable them to keep the law, but they broke it notwithstanding. But though it should be granted to do the same
things which the law doth, yet the powerful energy of it is wanting, which is to sanctify the heart, which, when the real light of the law itself, the truth
itself, comes into the heart, it doth sanctify : John xvii. 17, Sanctify them
through the truth : thy word is truth. But here the very conscience itself
it is seated in remains (as I shall shew more fully afterwards) still impure
: Titus i. 15, Their consciences are defiled. And this is not said of it in
part only (as if in part only it remained defiled), for it is spoken in opposi tion to a regenerate man, whose conscience remains defiled but in part, but
this wholly ; whereas, had it a real contrariety to sin, as grace and true
* These are contrary, it could not come to
holiness hath, Gal. v. 17,
reside in man s nature till sin were in part mortified, and the conscience
purified by grace, which in an unregenerate man it is not, for both this light and those moral dispositions are symbolical with our natural defilement, and
are compatible with it in the conscience not yet emptied of sin.
Obj. If it be objected that this light fights against sin as an enemy, and likewise men s unrighteous natures against it, and therefore they are
contrary,
I answer, that it being but the picture of the law, it is contrary to sin,
representative, representatively, not essentialiter, essentially. It hath a verbal
testimonial contrariety in speaking against it, but not a real natural con
trariety to work against it, as one contrary doth against another, so as to
expel and overcome sin, for it is but the form of truth, it wants the power of it. And no wonder that though it be not the real law men yet hate it, for as grace makes a man hate the appearance of sin, so sin hates this shadow and appearance of truth and goodness ; as it is said of the panther, that it hates a man so deadly that it seizeth and preys not only upon a man but the picture of him. This ground thus laid, the answer to the former
objection is clear ; for whereas, Rom. i. 18, it is called truth, I expound it
by this Rom. ii. 20, that is, but as it were a form of the truth, the picture of the truth which was in the heart of our first parents. And if yon ask why hath it the same name, I answer, because that pictures used to have the same name given them that the persons they represent have. Yon say, that
is the king, that the queen, speaking of their pictures, and therefore I ac
knowledge in the same sense it is said to be truth, wherein also it is
called goodness, but being but the form of truth it is also but the form of
goodness. And so, Hos. vi. 4, the light tinctures of good that were wrought in Ephraim, which yet soon vanished, are called goodness : Thy goodness
is but as the morning cloud, &c., yet is really but the umbra of it thus
expressed ; not but that these moral dispositions and light of conscience are a real thing created by God, but that, being compared with the light of a
regenerate man s mind, they are but the picture of it, as aurichalclmm is a
real metal, yet but the resemblance of gold, and so called false gold.
And whereas it was objected that it is more than simply natural truth, and
therefore hath more than a natural goodness as other creatures have ; I answer, confessing it hath, but yet still falling short of the truth and
goodness that is in the law, and pure light of conscience in a godly man ;
for as in a picture there is a double truth and goodness, the one natural in
the colours which are laid on, when they are true and good, and the other
artificial as it is a picture, which is by so much the more said to be true and
good by how much it is more like him it was made for, but yet it cannot
CHAP. YIL] IN RESPECT OF SIN AND PUNISHMENT. 99
be said to have the goodness which is in the man himself, so this form of
truth hath not only a natural goodness which is in all creatures, but also a
further goodness which you may call moral, or what you please, so you do
not attribute the goodness of holiness to it, which is attributed to the law, whereof this is but the picture. And consider withal, what things of the law they are the resemblance of. As pictures represent but the outward
lineaments, so this but the letter of the law ; not the law itself comprehen
sively taken, but rd rov vopov, some things about the law, outward acts, and such light reacheth no farther. Therefore that Jew Paul speaks of he says was partaker of the letter of the law, Rom. ii. 27, as the Gentiles only of ra rov vfaov, that is, the outward rind of the precepts of it, in what is to be done for the matter, the corpse of it, as I may so speak, for, 2 Cor. iii. 6, the law is said to have been to them only the ministration of the letter, and
therefore St Paul says of himself, that when he was a pharisee, Rom. vii. 6, that he served God according to the oldness of the letter, not in newness
of the spirit. Now, the letter of the law, severed from the spirit of it, can not be said to be holy or good in that sense the law is (for, ver. 12,
* the
law, says he, is holy, spiritual, and good ), no more than the body of a man can be said to be living when the soul is gone, for when the perform ance of any duty is severed from the right end, and from right motives, to
God, it is but bodily exercise, not godliness, 1 Tim. iv. 8, and therefore
this light not directing unto, nor expressing the spirit of the law, and not
exciting a man upon right motives, nor raising up all in man to God, it is not
so much as the picture of the holiness of the law, but only of the letter, which, severed from the spirit is not holy, for the law is not totum homogenewn, but
hetewc/eneum, consisting of letter and spirit, body and soul, and therefore quicquid dicitur de toto, non dicitur de qiialibet parte, what is said of the whole to
gether is not said apart of every part. And suppose it did express the inwards of the law, yet still it is but the picture comparatively with the light in a godly man, which Christ calls the light of life, John viii. 12, that is, the living real spiritual law, whereas the other is but dead and lifeless, and can be said no more to be holy than the letters wherewith the holy and
spiritual law was written in upon the stones can have that name, which
comparison the scripture seems to allude to : Jer. xxxi. 32, 83, I will take away the heart of stone (alluding to the stone the law was written in),
* I
will write the law in your hearts, and make them hearts of flesh, sanctified,
altered, and made spiritual and holy as the law is.
Or, suppose it be the real law, as it may seem in troubled consciences it is by the real effects of it ; Rom. vii. 9,
t For I was alive without the law once ; but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. When it kills and condemns, yet this is only the literal effects of it ; so as still these effects may be called but literal effects, and occasional effects of it, for it is the
letter that kills ; the holy spiritual effects of it are to raise the heart up to God, to sanctify the heart, and these this light wants, 2 Cor. iii. 6.
Therefore, to conclude, this light of conscience and those moral disposi tions are no more acceptable to God, or good in his sight, than a Jew in the letter was to him, Rom. ii. 29. When the spirit in him was wanting, his praise is of men, not of God, and therefore, as the opposition shews, was not approved of by God. Nay, further, these appearing good dispositions, in regard of the persons they are in, may be said to be abominable : Prov.
xxi. 27, The sacrifice of the wicked (because a wicked man)
* is abomin
able, much more when he brings it with an evil heart.
U*e. These truths, though they seem but notions, yet they much serve and tend to practice ; for do not these acts of enlightened and natural con-
100 AN UNREGENERATE MAN S GUILTINESS BEFORE GOD, [BOOK II.
science deceive many therefore to think they have grace ? Many, because
they have been troubled for sin, therefore conceive their estate good, or
because conscience checks and fights against sin, so as the light which God
sets up as a candle to search the chambers of the belly, Prov. xx. 27, to
find out their sinfulness, occasionally deceives them ; but let them consider
that this m*.gues no holiness or sanctification, for you see it falls short of it. But especially men do think their estates good, if they follow their con
science in anything that is right ; but consider that we may do so, and yet not be holy men ; for the sampler cannot be better than the copy ; no man s
actions are better than his light which is the rule of them ; they may be, and are, worse. The light itself you see is not holy, suppose your actions were framed exactly to it, as some think St Paul s were, by that speech, Acts xxiii,, yet as .he did sin in all he did, for all he kept to the rules of bis
conscience, yea, he says,. he was the greatest of sinners; so may you be.
Therefore content not .yourselves with that light, and practice answerable, as civil men do, but get the light of life, the law written in the heart, and to be transformed in your minds, to prove what is the acceptable will of God ;
get the newness of the spirit, that you may serve God, who is a Spirit, in
spirit and truth.