Sermon VIL (continued, part 2)
easily pulled in pieces, but these stick ; they are the last repented of, when one comes to cast off the old man. And the ground of this is, because the
strength of a man lies in his reason, therefore to part with those lusts that
lie in the rational part, the strength of a man shews itself to the utmost
there. Therefore, in 2 Cor. x. 4, the Apostle speaks of reasonings, and high thoughts, and strongholds in men that are to be pulled down, when Christ comes to convert ; these are they that keep a man from turning. All the
great ordnance that natural corruption hath lies in this tower of the
mind, (as Aristotle called the soul, arx animce.) As for other lusts, reason
itself is against them, and the more reason a man hath, the more the folly of them is discovered ; but for these lusts there is a great deal of reason. A man shall lose but his humour in parting with the one j but he loseth his
honour, his repute, and the like, in parting with the other. Other lusts do not persuade by reason ; no, reason is fain to condescend unto them, because
they please the man and he can have no other happiness, but reason itself
is against them ; but now for the lusts of the mind, all the strength of reason takes part with them.
And therefore let me give you a third rule also, and that is this : That of
all lusts they are the deceitfulest. You have that phrase given in Scripture, deceitful lusts. Other sensual lusts do but deceive by promising more than they can perform, by tempting you ; but these, a man may live in them, and not see them, and so they deceive most, for natural men judge nothing sinful but what hath a gross action. Now all such aerial lusts as
these, which are the lusts of the mind, have no such gross action, nay, the
objects of them are things lawful, yea, commendable. Other lusts in the VOL. II. H
114 AN EXPOSITION OF EHI I-TLE [Sl-KMoN VIII.
sensitive part are more turbulent, more violent, and so more <lis, vrniblo, and
in that respect they deceive least. Like poison that is in tinl-u\\vls, which
makes a man roar, and so is more clilian poison taken in at the
nose, into the head, which kills before it is felt, because it strikes that part which should feel ; so the lusts of the mind, being seated in that part which
should discern, possessing that part, they take the senses away, and in that
respect deceive most. The eye sees not the bloodshed that is in itself, but
will see a spot that is on the hand, or upon another member. The uml< T-
standing doth not so easily, being corrupted, reflect upon itself; therefore
the lusts of the mind arc more deceitful.
And lastly, Of all lusts they arc the worst lusts, as having the most sin-
fulness iii them ; for the greatest idolatry is here. Therefore, both in the
Colossians and in the Ephesians, you shall find that when he speaks of
covetousness, which is an intellectual lust, still he puts a difference, and
* Covetousness, saith he, which is
an emphasis upon it, from other lusts.
idolatry ; because the greatest idol is that which the mind is set upon, and
because that is a lust of the mind, he puts that emphasis upon it. Other
lusts are idolatry too, but they are but outward idolatry ; this is inward, and so the worst of the two. And so much now in brief for that which I
thought to speak more concerning the fulfilling the desires of the flesh and
of the mind. I come now to the latter part of the verse : A ml were
l>\j nature tlie children of wrath, even as others. The general
scope of the Apostle in these words that I may give you that first is to make a general conclusion concerning the corrupt estate of man by nature, not only in respect of original sin, though that is eminently intended, but
as involving all that he said before. It is, I say, a general conclusion that
involveth all that he said before, with an addition of these three things
1. With an addition of the first cause of the corruption of all men s hearts
and lusts ; they are so by nature, saith he.
2. With an addition of the punishment that is due to men in this natural
condition, both in respect of their natures and their first birth, as also in re
* chil
spect of all their sins which in that state they continue in ; they are
dren of wrath. And
3. With an addition, or rather a conclusion, of universality. It is every man s case, saith he. He had parted it before ; some things he had said of
the Gentiles : You you Gentiles hath he quickened, who were dead in sins and trespasses, wherein in times past ye walked. Some things likewise he had said of the Jews :
* amongst whom we we Jews also had our conversa
tion. But now, hi the close of all, he puts them both, Jews and Gentiles,
: and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
together
I say it is, in the first place, a general conclusion that involveth all, not
only because it comes in at the last, and so is as it were the total sum, but
that same word XO/TO/ takes in all that went before ; and were as well as
others by nature thus and thus, namely, we were all by nature dead in sin . We are all by nature in the state of nature, for so
* by nature* is also tak< n,
as I shall shew you anon. We all by nature, one as well as another, walked
according to the course of the world, and were subjected to tindevil. In a word, whatsoever he had said before of lusts, or whatsoever a man is by
nature, his intent is to involve it here hi these words, and to bring down
Upon all, all that he had spoken.
And as it holds forth a general conclusion, involving all that wont before ;
so, secondly, it shews especially the o ..round of all that rorni; that is in men s lu-a::< : it is
l>y natu: J 1-irth, and it is our nature.
Em. II. 3.] TO THE EPHESIAN.--. 115
For it is clear and plain that his scope all along is to bold forth the cause of all the corruption that is in men : therefore he calls it the wills of the flesh and of the mind. The flesh is the cause of lusts, lusts are the cause of action, and nature is the cause of both, of all. And therefore In the third place, you have the punishment due to men in the state of
nature, yea, to men in their very first birth. They are children of wrath in that state, for all the lusts and sins they commit ; and they are children of wrath even in the very womb, before they commit any actual sin.
And, lastly, he speaks universally of all, both Jew and Gentile ; we were all by nature. <fcc. So you have the general scope cleared, and the reason of it. I shall now come to open the phrases.
First, for this phrase, by nature.
Pelagius, who was against original sin, gave this interpretation
: that by nature was meant vere et germane, aXrrfus xcti yvqaiu:, they were truly,
really, children of wrath ; so the Scholiast hath it, and so Cyril reads it also! And that interpretation we will not omit, although it is not the utmost meaning of what is here intended. For by nature in Scripture is meant
oftentimes, truly, really ; as, for example, in Gal. iv. 8, Ye worshipped those that by nature were no gods ; that is, those that were not truly gods, that were gods only in opinion, not really so. So by being children. of wrath by nature, is to be really and truly such. But that which makes this opinion fall short of the true sense is this : for to what end should the Apostle say they were really and truly the children of wrath ? There were none held they were in opinion children of wrath ; but there were those who held that they were so, not by nature, but by imitation or custom ; therefore
it is to no purpose it should be brought in here to that sense.
The Syriac translation adds this : they were plane, plene, wholly children of wrath, not in one part, but in the whole nature. But that is held forth, as I have said, in the words before. For it was an observation I made, grounded upon the words in the last discourse, that it is seated in the whole man.
But to come to that meaning which indeed the Apostle aims at, and therefore I will call it the first, for I do but mention the other, which though they are true, yet they are not the ultimate scope of the Apostle here.
1. Therefore by nature is in opposition to imitation or to custom, which yet is altera natura, as Aristotle uses the word (and so does the Scripture too) in the second book of his Ethics. Virtues, saith he, are not pva-t, arc not by nature, as notitice, as the common seeds of knowledge in the minds of men are. So that what is innate in us, bred with us, which we have from the principles of nature, which is interwoven with our natures, that is said to be by nature. And therefore now, in one word, according to all lan guages, that which is the inclination of any one, the natural disposition, that which a man is naturally addicted unto, is said to be by nature. The Apostle therefore, having spoken of the lusts of the mind and of the flesh in the words before, his meaning here is that these are natural unto men ; they are the very inclination of their minds, the natural frame of their hearts. And so now it hath an emphasis in it, that what we are by reason of original corruption, which he had called flesh before, is nature in all men. And though he only saith, we are children of wrath by nature, yet this wrath must be for something ; for God is not angry for what is not sin ; therefore it implies that our natural disposition, all those lusts which he had men
tioned, and that flesh which is the mother of these lusts, that is that which is man s nature. And so now the scope of the Apostle is plainly and clearly
110 AN EXPOSITION OP THE EPISTLE [SERMON VIII.
this: further to aggravate and set out that corruption and sinfulnoss that is
in the hearts of men. Ye are not only children of wrath/ saitli In-, and de-
serve eternal damnation, which was that that hung over your heads for all the
actual sins you have committed, of which he had spoken before, but further.
even by nature, and for your very natures, and the inclinations thereof, even for the very nature that is in you, he brings it in as a further addition and aggravation, even for this also you are the children of wrath.
- IU
nature; it is that which a man doth being left to nature; as in Rom. ii. 1 I.
the Gentiles do by nature the things of the law, from their natural princi
ples that are in them ; so by nature is that principle that is in a man
that is principium motus, the principle of all his actions. For everything works according to its nature, as Aristotle tells us.
2. By nature imports not only that it is a man s nature, but that his
birth is a cause some way or other, or a foundation, of his being thus corrupt.
p6<ft/, and it is all one with
By nature ; it is taken for the nativity ; it is
birth. As now, in llom. ii. 27, the Gentiles are called the uncircumcision
by nature, that is, by birth, not in respect of their constitution, but in
respect of a privilege that the Jews had by birth which the Gentiles had not ; as privileges you know go by birth, so in Gal. ii. 15, in opposition there
unto, saitli he, we who are Jews by nature, that is, who have the privilege of Jews by birth. And so Paul saitli he was born a Roman, that is, he was Roman by nature. In the same sense the Gentiles were called uncircum
cision by nature, too, that the Jews were called Jews by nature. Now to me that is evidently the meaning of the Apostle here, and that for these rea
sons : (1.) Because he changes the phrase, which is an observable thing. In
the second verse he had said they were children of disobedience, Iv ro?s u/o/fc
rJj; acr/0/a;, but here rexva ; which though it signifies a child at large, yet, more expressly and properly, it signifies a child begotten. His using that
phrase here, in distinction from the other in the second verse, when he speaks of disobedience, imports that they were thus by birth. I will not trouble
you to confute a criticism which Zanchy hath, because the confutation of it
is obvious. Then, (2.) he adding besides that, and were by nature the begot ten children of wrath/ as I may so interpret it. And, which is observable
too, he doth not say, which are the children of wrath by nature, but in the Greek it is, which were children by nature of wrath; so as by nature comes in between, to shew that they were thus by birth. And there is this
third reason, too, why when he saith by nature he specially means by birth : because it is spoken plainly and clearly in opposition to that pride of the Jews in the privileges they had by their birth : for the Jews, you know, stood much upon it that they were the children of Abraham. Now the Apostle, as
is evident, speaks point-blank in opposition to that. We, saith he, na i we Jews, though we pride ourselves that we have Abraham to our father, we are children of wrath ; that Is, we are so by birth, as well as others ; namely, as well as the poor Gentiles, whom the Apostle, in Gal. ii 15, speak ing according to the vulgar opinion of the Jews, calls, sinners of the Gent Though you stand upon it that you are the children of Abraham, and that
yon are Jews by nature, that is by birth, yet, as God told the Jews aft. -r-
wards, you had a father before Abraham, in whom ye sinned, and so you are
children by nature that is, by birth of wrath as well as
3. By nature is taken here for the whole state of natinv. from a man s
birth until God turn him. He shews what the\ t only in resp
>t 1 in 1< imv they were conv.-ru-.l, which we call ththis is an
1 birth, but of that continued State \\hidi they
EPH. II. 3.] TO THE EPHESIANS. 117
place for the confirmation of that phrase. He doth not simply mean only their estate by birth, for the Apostle s scope, and the Holy Ghost s, is always
general, and in a latitude, but he doth comprehend their whole state from
their birth all their days, while they fulfilled the lusts of the flesh and of the
mind. Whatever state they had by birth, whatever state they stood in dur
ing the time of their unregeneracy, it was all a state of nature; and they were in that state of nature children of wrath. So nature is taken, and so
it is clearly taken here. For by nature here in ver. 3 is spoken in oppo sition to what the Apostle afterwards saith, as Erasmus well observes, in the
5th verse, by grace ye are saved. So that now the state of nature, and
the state of grace, is that which the Apostle here intends. And that he
speaks of an unregenerate condition, the words were by nature import
clearly; that is, while they were in a state of nature. His scope is therefore
to shew what naturally, without grace, their condition was ; and therefore,
t Remember, saith he, that ye were once Gentiles. And thus the Scripture always speaks. Ps. Mii. 3, They are gone astray from the womb ; they were not only cor
ver. 11, in the winding up of all, he speaks of the whole estate :
rupt in the womb, but gone astray from the womb. So in Gen. viii. 21,
speaking of original corruption, saith he, the imagination of man s heart is
evil from his youth ; that is, even from a babe, as in Exodus the phrase is
used, as I shall shew afterwards.
: 1. That their
So that by nature eminently importeth these three things
natures were denied with all sorts of inclinations unto evil ; all those lusts of
the flesh and of the mind which he had spoken of before, were natural unto
them, for which they were children of wrath. 2. That the way of convey
ing this to them, or how they came to be so at first, how their natures were thus originally corrupted, it was not by imitation or custom, but it was by birth. And, 3. that all the while they walked in those lusts they were in a
state of nature, under which, and in which, while they continued, till such time as they came into a state of grace, they were children of wrath. This, I say, I take to be the comprehensive meaning of the Apostle in this con
clusion of his discourse of lusts. So that now I have opened to you that first
phrase, and ivere by nature.
The second phrase is, children of wrath; Which, as I have formerly said, is a Hebraism; and so, according to
the Hebrew language, you read of a child of captivity, a child of the resur
rection, a child of disobedience, and the like. It is either taken actively or
passively.
1. Actively, thus: what a man is addicted to, what he seeks after, he is
said to be a child of. As a man is said to be a child of wisdom, Wisdom
is justified of her children, so wicked men are said to be children of dis
obedience, ver. 2 ; that is, addicted to disobedience, it is taken actively. So, in a way of opposition, Peter exhorts them, in 1 Pet. i. 14, that they would be children of obedience, so the phrase is in the Greek, we translate it
obedient children, it conies all to one ; but, I say, in the Greek it is children
of obedience, as here in ver. 2 it is children of disobedience, that is, addict
yourselves, as children to such a father, to do the will of God.
2. Passively, thus : a child of the captivity ; that is, one led into cap
tivity. So Jesus Christ is called the Son of God s love, or the child of his
love, Col. i. 1 3. We translate it, his beloved Son ; but in the original it
is, the Son of his love, because that God hath cast his love upon him. So
in 2 Pet. ii 14, one that is accursed to death is called (we translate it
* cursed children/ but it is) children of the curse, as here, children of
118 AN EXPOSITION OF THE EPISTLE ION VIII.
wrath. So in Matt, xxiii. 15, he is made a son of 1 a than lu
before ; that is, one whose due hell is. As we use to say, such a one the
gallows is his due; that is, if we should speak according to tinHebrew
Language, one that is the child of the gallows ; so a son of lull, a son of
wrath, a son of the curse. You have it also in 1 Sain. xx. 31, and in 2 Sam.
xii 5. So no\v, as before it is taken actively, a child of disobedience ;
*,>
* child of wrath is taken passively
: and both according to the ana!
here, a
of the Hebrew phrase.
It doth sometimes imply one that is designed by God s decree to death and damnation; as, in John xvii. 12, Judas is called a son of perdition; that
is, one who is ordained by God to perdition ; as Christ was called the Son of
his love, because he was ordained to be the object of his love. But so it is not here meant that they were the children of wrath by God s decree, because he speaks of men that were converted. Therefore the meaning is plainly
this, that they were in a state in which they were not only worthy of wrath, but wrath was due to them, yea, according to a just sentence, wrath was pro nounced against them ; it was not only their desert, but they were in that
state wherein wrath went out against them, they stood under the sentence of
wrath, and were so adjudged. You have the phrase plain and express in
* If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto
Deut. xxv. 1,
judgment, that the judge may judge them ; then they shall justify the
righteous, and condemn the wicked. And it shall be, if the wicked man be
worthy to be beaten, the judge shall cause him to lie down,
<fcc. In the
original it i.s, If he be a son, or a child, of beating ; that is, if he be one
that is found that it is his clue to be beaten, and that the judges have con demned him. So now, to be a child of wrath, it is one not only to whom wrath is due, but one that, according to the sentence of the great Judge, wrath is pronounced against, sentence is given forth. So in that place I mentioned before, 2 Sam. xii. 5, saith Solomon there, He shall surely die ; in the original it is, He is a son of death. It was a sentence pronounced by the king, as of a judge that gave out a sentence. Therefore we translate
it, He shall surely die ; he was not only one that deserved death, but one
that was appointed and sentenced thereunto.
So now you have what is meant by a child of wrath. It is one that is
passively under, and obnoxious unto, and over whom the wrath of God
hangeth, unto whom, and to which estate, the sentence of wrath and con demnation is gone out from the great King ; so that he must alter his estate
if he will get out of wrath.
If you ask me whose wrath it is ; I answer, it is not indeed in the
text, but, as I shall shew you afterward, it is the wrath of God, working
eternal punishment. Wrath in Scripture signifies punishment as from a
judge ; as, for example, Rom. xiii. 1, u, Be subject to the higher po\\vi>. not for wrath, that is, not for punishment sake, wliich comes from tinwrath of the prince or the magistrate, but for conscience sake. So that
>
t<
be children of wrath is to be children of the punishment which tin-
Judge of heaven and earth hath ordained; and it noteth out that tin wrath
y>u wlu-n I come
of God is the author of that punishment* as I shall shew
to make observations. In Eph. v. G, that which is here the children of
wrath, is there called the wrath of God. The wrath nth he, cometh upon the children of disobedience ; for tinwrath f God, as it im
plies punishment, so it imports also that h 1.-, as tin autli"i and execution.-!
iiiuent S" that, in a w-rd. whilst that in-:i anin this OOH-
i take 111* i a.-, tlu-y aiu by nature in their very
II I 11. II. 3.] TO THE ErHESIANS. 110
first birth, and while they continue in that estate, they are children of the
v.-rath of God, and the wrath of God abides upon them, as John iii. 3G. AVruth is their portion from the Almighty. And as they are children of the wrath of God, so of that punishment which his wrath and indignation will
inflict eternally upon them, and they stand under the sentence of it. So that until their estate be altered, God himself cannot do otherwise, but he must out of wrath inflict punishment upon them. And let me give you one
place to open it; see Job xx. 23, 29, compared. He inentioneth there manifold curses that are upon men, over whom the wrath of God hangeth ; and saith he, ver. 23, When he is about to fill his belly, God shall cast the
fury of his wrath upon him, and shall rain it upon him while he is eating. And what is the conclusion in the 29th verse 1 This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed him. Mark, he is a child of wrath ; of whose wrath ? Of the wrath of God, that abideth upon him, that hangs as a cloud over his head, and God will rain it upon him while he is eating ; and this is his portion, it is his due, nay, saith he, it is the
heritage appointed unto him by God, a heritage which is gone out by a decree from God, either from his eternal decree, as Judas was a child of per dition, or at leastwise from a decree that goes forth out of God s court, out of his word, whereby he standeth under the sentence of wrath. And so now you have the second phrase opened, and were children of wrath. The last is this, even as others. The meaning whereof, in one word, is
this, only I shall give you a parallel phrase for it, We Jews as well as
Gentiles. So you have it, Epli. iv. 17, Walk not as other Gentiles walk;
or, even as others, that is, even as all the rest of mankind, of what nation soever they be, circumcised or uncircumcised, bond or free ; let them be born in what condition soever they will, noble or base, rich or poor, high or low, we are all by nature the children of M
rrath, we Jews as well as Gentiles. Which doth imply these two particulars
1. The commonness of this condition ; that it is the condition of all man
kind, one as well as another, Jew as well as Gentile.
2. The equality of this condition ; even as others, in the same manner, in the same degree ; others are children of wrath, so are we, we Jews, even as the profanest men in the world.
So you have the full scope and meaning, so far as the phrase goes, of these words : and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. I shall come now to the observations which do arise out of them, which will further open and explain them.
Obs. 1. The first observation is founded upon that first interpretation I gave you, which was to shew this : That that flesh or corruption, which was the ground of all those lusts, which were the ground of all the sins in men s lives spoken of before ; that this flesh and those lusts are man s nature. So, I told you, by nature is taken, both in Scripture and common acceptation. It is a saying that Austin quoteth out of Plato, though, I take it, the place is not now extant in the works of Plato, because it is perished
: Homines natura sunt mali that men are evil by nature. Neither can they ever be
brought, saith he, to seek after that righteousness which mankind ought to seek after. This was the speech of a heathen. It is, I say, a man s nature, as he is a man. 1 Cor. iii. 3, Whilst there are contentions among you, are
ye not carnal 1 That is, are you not flesh ? are ye not corrupt 1 And what follows 1 Do not ye walk Kitixartf-z according to men ? that is, ac
cording to your kind, according to that nature and disposition that is in men.
Everything acts according to its kind ; thus to be carnal and subjected to
120 AN EXPOSITION OF TUE EPISTLE [SHIMON VIII.
lusts is the nature of man, it is according to his kind. Th< ivt.u, , to follow
this phrase a little more, in Mark vii. 20 our Saviour Christ saith, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within,
saith he, out of the heart of man, proceed evil thoughts, &c. That is, what cometh from the nature of man, from his natural disposition, from
the intriusical principles which his nature and heart is made up of, that
defiles the man. Therefore a man is said to sin de proprio, of his own, as the devil is likewise said to do, in John viii. 44. And a man s lusts, as
I said before, are called liis own lusts. And as what comes from within,
as all sort of sins do, argues this to be a man s nature ; so likewise what
a man takes in from without, what it is he lives in, what is his element,
argues his nature too. As a thirsty man, you may know what his disposi tion is within by what he takes in from without ; or, as it is with a fish,
it is natural to it to live in the water, to drink in water : so a man is com
pared to a fish, that doth continually drink in water, in Job xv. 10, How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like
water? And hence now it is that men are never weary of shining, nay,
though haply they may spend their natural spirits in shining, yet their
lusts are never weary. As they cannot cease from sin, as Peter saith, so
they are never weary in it. Why ? Because it is their nature, it is natural
to them to sin. As the eye, because it is natural to it to see, is never
weary of seeing ; the eye indeed may be weary thus, for want of bodily
spirits, and so men may be weary of sinning ; but if there could still come
spirits to the eye, it would never be weary of seeing. Why ? Because it
is natural to it to see. And so it is with all the lusts in the hearts of men,
it is their nature. Hence it is that infants will sin without being taught. A child left to himself, saith Solomon, Proverbs xxix. 15, bringeth his
mother to shame. Do but leave him to himself, and his very nature will
carry him on to it. And, Ps. Iviii. 3, The wicked go astray from the womb,
speaking lies. A child that never heard a lie in his life, never knew what
a lie was from another, yet he will tell a lie, he will do it from himself, and
he doth it from the very womb; the nature of man will seek out these
inventions, as Ecclesiastes hath it, chap. viL 29. You may see the reason therefore besides what is matter of humiliation,
whicli I shall mention afterwards why grace, though it be in a man s heart,
yet doth not thrive there, further than the Holy Ghost doth in a super natural way accompany it ; and why sin thrives so fast. The reason is, because sin is thy nature, it is that which thou hast as thou art a man ; thou walkest as a man whilst thou sinnest. That which ^Esop said to his
master, when he came into his garden and saw so many weeds in it, is
applicable unto this. His master asked him what was the reason that the
weeds grew up so fast and the herbs thrived not? He answered, The
ground is the natural mother to the weeds, but a stepmother to the herbs.
bo the heart of man is the natural mother to sin and corruption, but a
stepmother to grace and goodness ; and further than it is watered from
heaven, and followed with a great deal of care and pains, it grows not. And likewise, if it be thy nature, walk in a continual fearfulness of it ;
though thou hast mortified a lust never so much, yet there is a root re
maining, as Job hath it, chap. xiv. 8, Though the root thereof wax old in
; y. t through the scent
the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground
Cf water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant. So it Is with us. Whyt Because it is nature. Therefore fear in all thy ways. I was
afraid, saith David, Ps. xxxviil 1C, lest my foot should slip. And in vr.
EPH. II. 3.] TO THE EPHESIANS. 121
< I was sorry for my sin, I find that it is, I was
18, that which we translate,
cautelous, I was fearful for my sin, fearful still lest I should slip
<
: I will declare it, and confess it, use all means against it, because it is my nature.
And you see the reason also why that corruption is never got out of you ; no, not till you die. Why ? Because it is involved, it is blended, it is mingled with your nature ; it is like the ivy in the wall, it is the old com parison that the fathers used, but I shall give you another. It is like the leper s house in Lev. xiv. 45. The leprosy could never be got out till house and all were pulled down. It is a note of that sin that dwells in us, as the Apostle s phrase is, Rom. vii. 17. It is enwrapped in thy nature, that thpu wilt never get it out. Like a house that stancleth upon a foundation that hath saltpetre in it, it will never be got out, do what you can; so is it here.
Obs. 2. The second observation is this : That to sin, as it is thy nature, thy natural inclination, so thou hast it by birth ; for so I told you, by nature is also taken for birth, and it is clear to be the Apostle s scope here. For he had shewn all the external causes of sin, the world and the devil; the internal cause, the flesh, which causeth lusts. Now what is the cause of this flesh ? Nature, saith he, your birth. And were by nature, that
is, by birth, children of wrath, as well as others. I need not quote many places for it, the Scripture is abundant in it. Man born of a woman, saith Job, is filthy and abominable. And, that which is born of the flesh is flesh. And not only that which is born, but that which is con ceived. So saith David, Ps. li. 5, I was conceived in sin. And his meaning is, to shew that not only as soon as he was born he was sinful ; but, saith he, I was sinful too in my very conception. Look, when first I had the nature of man communicated to me, then was I a sinner ; that which conveyed my nature to me, as birth doth, and conception doth before
birth, that which did constitute me a man, did constitute me a sinner like wise, made me a sinner. Therefore men are not only said to be transgres sors from the womb, as in Isa. xlviii. 8, and to go astray from the wonib, as in Ps. Iviii. 3, but in the womb also ; for so, you see, David speaks of himself. Austin, who was one of those that most cleared this doctrine of the corruption of man by nature, against Pelagius that called it in question, for God doth clear truths still as they are controverted, forbore on purpose to call it natural sin, or sin in man s nature, because if it should be so called, the Manichees, that held there was a God which was the cause of all evil in man s nature, would have been emboldened and encouraged by it in their error ; therefore he caUed it original sin : for he was the first that gave it that title, though it agrees with the Scripture; he might have called it the other, for it is all one. And he called it so, not only because it is the original of all sin else, the womb in which all sin is conceived, When lust hath conceived, saith James, chap. i. 15, it bringeth forth sin/ but
chiefly because it is ab origine in man, from the time that the foundation of a man s nature is laid. That which at once giveth him his nature, gives him sin with it; it is from the very first moment of conception, elder indeed than that which we call birth, or his being brought forth out of the womb into the world ; it is when a man begins first to be a man, and must neces
sarily be then.
_ Now when he saith, we are by nature meaning by nature a man s birth the children of wrath, it implies two things. It implies that what soever is sin is conveyed to a man in his conception , and that he hath it
100 AX ; X OF THE EPISTLE [StUMON Y11I.
by nature, one part of the sinfulness as well as the other. Both these I am
to open and to make good. The Apostle cloth not speak hnv im-ivly of our
inherent corruption ; but if there be any other sinfulness which a man con
tracts by birth, he hath it by nature. Now, you know that our divines do
make, and most truly and rightly according to the Scriptures, a twofold sin-
fulness, which we have hereditary to us, as from our first parents. The
first is, the guilt of that first act of sinning which Adam committed; and
the second is, an inherent corruption, or flesh, the inclinations to all sin,
derived as the punishment of the guilt of that fact. Here therefore lies
two things before us, for the Apostle plainly means both ; for whatsoever
makes a man a child of wrath, obnoxious to the wrath of God in his first
conception, that is it he intendcth. Now it is not only inherent corruption
that makes us children of wrath, but it is also the guilt of that first act.
Nay, we could never have had inherent corruption to be as a sin in us, if
we were not some way involved in the guilt of that first act; and both these
are by nature. Now, that we should have inherent corruption, that that
should be propagated by birth and generation, there is a more easiness in
it. Why ? Because everything begets its like ; out of an unclean thing
you cannot bring a clean ; it must needs be that such a nature as the
lather had, for inherent qualifications, such a nature the child must have.
But that a man should be guilty of that act that Adam committed, that this
should be by nature, and by the law of nature too, which yet to me clearly
the Apostle holds forth, not simply by a prerogative law of God, but by
a law of nature, this seems difficult. These two things therefore I would
open to you, though briefly, yet so as to clear the point. I will begin with
the first.
First, To speak in general, when we say the guilt of an act is conveyed
by birth, by nature
1. It is not, as some would have it, the sin of the act of generation in the
parents, it is not that which is conveyed to the child. Some would have
that the meaning of that of David, in Ps. li. 5, In sin my mother conceived
me, as if the guilt which cleaves to such actions were that which David in
tended But "that cannot be his meaning ; for it is most certain that when Adam did first beget his son Cain, he did not convey to him the sin of that act
of begetting, for the act itself is lawful, and whatsoever sin cleaves unto it is
not that which is conveyed ; but it was his first sin, the guilt of that, which
he conveyed to him. Now, if Adam himself did not convey the guilt of the
act of begetting, then certainly other parents do not ; and David would never
have humbled himself so for his mother s sin in conceiving of him, but it was
that sin he was guilty of, and that pollution of nature that arose from thence.
2. It is not simply the coming as from Adam which doth thus defile our
natures, or by which we contract the guilt of that act of his. For if you
could suppose that a man or a woman had been made out of Adam after his
fall, as Kve was made out of him before his fall, mark what I say, if
had taken a rib from Adam after he fell, and made a man or a woman out <!
it, this man or woman would not have been sinful. The instant-. of Christ
is clear; for he is directly called the son of Adam, Luke iiL, in ivsprct of
the matter he was made of, and made in the womb too ; yt-t httMM he came
not into the law of generation and conception in the natural way, therefore
he was excepted, and sin could not seize upon him. S that it goes by
birth, and by nature, by generation, that is certain.
, Tht-i-elnre, to .-hew you how the inherent corruption is derived,
El H. II. 3.J TO THE EPHESIANS. 123
for these are but the two generals to both, that defilement of nature, that
flesh that is seated in us
1. It is not founded simply upon this, that there is a participation of like from like. That is not all the ground ; it is a partial cause, but it is not a
total cause. It is a cause, and therefore Job saith, Can a man fetch a clean
thing out of an unclean? But yet it is not the whole cause. Why? Be
cause then every father, according to the proportion of that inherent sinful-
ness that is in his nature, should beget a child in the like proportion. I
say, if that traduction were the total cause of like in the parent and like in
the child, if this were the rule simply and wholly, then take a wicked man
that begets children in his elder years, when he is more wicked, and hath more corruption of nature in him a hundred times than when he was young, those children would be proportionally more wicked than his elder children; and the more wicked men would still have the more wicked children. There
fore it must be by some other standing law of nature that is equal ; and the
standing law of nature, it doth not beget like in a gradual, but in a substan
tial way. Yet
2. It is the common law of generation that like from like is the ground of the propagation of inherent corruption ; and it was the justest law of nature that could be made. For God did put this difference between angels and men : angels should all be single persons, by and of themselves ; they were all immediately created by God himself, as Adam was ; but that which should convey the nature of man, the very substance of his nature unto man, should be generation, the same that should convey the substance of the nature of beasts to beasts ; though I do not say as the soul of these last is
propagated, we shall open that a little afterwards, but I say that which should make them men is the common law of generation ; and man, if he
will have his nature from man, he must be subjected to the common law of
generation, which all the rest of the creatures are. Now what is the com mon law to all the creatures ? Saith God, in Gen. i. 11, let everything bring forth in its kind. So you shall find it all along. He saith it of the very herbs, of the beasts ; they were all to bring forth of their kind. Now if that man must have, and shall have by God s ordination, the very substance of
his nature, the kind of it, as all other creatures have, then he must be sub
jected herein to the common law of nature, and like must beget like ; it
necessarily follows. Now, mark it, the law of nature hath its course, whe ther things prove good or evil. It holds in the common, it doth so in our
actions. The Lord s common providence was with man when he wrought holily ; the same common providence is with man now he works sinfully. He alters not the course of nature. So here, this being the law of nature, look what assistance there went for the propagation of man according to the
image of God at first in a common way, according to the law of nature concurreth in propagating man s own image. I do not say that God is alike the author of one as of the other, but the common law of nature holdeth as well in the one as in the other. I shall clear these things more, I hope, hereafter. Nay, my brethren, the law that man should beget his like was so
strong a law of nature, whether man s nature should prove good or prove evil, that God himself, unless by grace, could not help it. I speak according as God binds himself to the course of providence, for God works not by preroga tive. Let everything bring forth in its kind, was the common law given, and the course of nature must hold, as well when man is sinful as when he
is good. Help it God may by grace ; but if you will go according to the law
1 2 [ AX EXPOSITION OF THE EPISTLE [SEKMON VIII.
of nature, by the same law a beast propagateth his kind, by the same law
doth man propagate his like. Therefore by nature, and by the law of nature
and generation, which this is founded upon, a mail must be inherently sinful
if he come from parents inherently sinful; a sinful man must beget a sinful
EPH. 11. 3.] TO THE EPiJESIANS. 125