13. What is meant by the seal of a covenant, and what was the seal of the covenant of works ?
A seal of a covenant is an outward visible sign, appointed by
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God as a pledge of his faithfulness, and as an earnest of the bless- ings promised in the covenant.
Thus the rainbow is the seal of the covenant made with Noah, Gen. ix., 12, 13. Circumcision was the original seal of the cove- nant made with Abraham, (Gen. xvii., 9-11 ; Kom. iv., 11,) in the place of which baptism is now instituted, Col. ii., 11, 12; Gal. iii., 26, 27. The tree of life was the seal of the covenant of works, because it was the outward sign and seal of that life which was promised in the covenant, and from which man was ex- cluded on account of sin, and to which he is restored through the second Adam in the Paradise regained. Compare Gen. ii., 9; iii., 22, 24, with Kev. ii., 7 ; xxii., 2-14.
CHAPTER XVI.
THE NATURE OF SIN. — THE SIN OF ADAM, AND THE CONSE- QUENCES THEREOF TO HIS POSTERITY.
1. How is sin defined in our standards ?
Confession of Faith, Chapter VI., Section 6, L. Cat., ques- tion 24, S. Cat., question 14.
Sin is any want of conformity either of the moral state of the soul, or of the actions of a man to the law of God. Vitringa's definition is, " Forma peccati est disconvenientia, actus, habitus, aut status hominis cum divina lege," 1 John iii. 4.
2. What is the primary signification of the Hebrew and Greek words used to express the idea of sin in the original Scriptures ?
The radical meaning of both the Hebrew and Greek words for sin is to miss, to fail, not to hit the mark, then to err from a rule or law (atan, fA[iaQidv(,)y hence d^agrla and dvofiia, want of confor- mity to the standard of the law).
Thus sin is not represented as a new, positive quality diffused in the soul, but as originating in a disordered action of the natu- ral principles of the soul, leading thus to positive desires and affections contrary to the law of conscience, since that defect which consists in the absence of right desires leads immediately to the presence of sinful ones.
3. What are the three senses in which the term sin is used in Scripture ?
1st. As the moral state of the sinner's heart, a power which controls, and a corruption which defiles him. — Ps. li., 2-5; Kom. vii., 8.
2d. As an act transgressing or failing to fulfill the law of God. — James i., 15.
234 sin.
3d. As guilt or just liability to punishment. — Ps. xxxii., 1; 2 Cor. v., 21 ; Heb. x., 2.
4. What is meant when it is said that all sin is voluntary ?
It is meant that all sin has its root in the perverted disposi- tions, desires, and affections which constitute the depraved state of the will ; this darkens the mind and controls the actions. If the will, as to moral states, is conformed to the law of God, then the man will be without sin. Disease, physical derangement in the essence of soul or body, can not be of the nature of sin.
Pelagians hold that sin consists solely in actions, and is vol- untary in the sense that only volitions transgressing known law are sin.
5. How can it be proved that the depraved moral condition of the heart (or will) is as truly sin as the actions which flow from it ?
1st. It is the universal judgment of men, (1), that the dispo- sition which determines an act is that which gives the act its moral character ; (2), that the heart of a man who habitually per- forms sinful actions is itself corrupt. This is what is understood by character, and it is this character, and not the mere act, which men regard as the principal object of moral approbation or dis- approbation.
2d. This principle is distinctly asserted by our Saviour. — Luke vi., 43-45;
3d. That state of the heart which gives rise to sinful actions is expressly called sin. — Eom. vii., 7-17 ; John viii.; 34.
6. What are the conditions necessary to constitute any act a sin ?
Only a nioral agent, or one endowed with intelligence, con- science, and free will can sin. Any act of such an agent, which is not conformed to the law of Grod, as far as that law has been revealed to that agent, is a sin.
Deliberate intention to sin is an aggravating element, the com- mon quality of what the Scriptures call " presumptuous sins," (Ps. xix., 12, 13,) but it is not essential to constitute any act a sin. For it is evident that those spontaneous, undeliberate movements
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of lust called " secret sins," which spring from the corruptions of the heart, are sinful also.
Clear knowledge of the sinfulness of an act is also an aggra- vating element in any sin, but not essential to constitute an act a sin, except in case of involuntary ignorance of some positive command of God. Because moral blindnesss, leading to ignor- ance of the essential principles of natural conscience, is itself a condition of aggravated depravity.