[9.] That Christ came not to dissolve our obligation to God, or ever intended it, but to promote it rather. Not to dissolve it : if he came de jure to free us from obedience to the law, it is to make us gods ; for no creature is sui juris, his own to dispose of; it is impossible any created thing can be without a law, for that were to make it God, to make the creature supreme and independent, that his own will should be his rule, without liableness to another. Nor de facto, to set us free while we are creatures ; for that were to make us devils, to live in a direct opposition to God. But rather to. promote holiness ; partly as his design was to restore us to obedience : Luke i. 74, 75, ' That we, being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, might serve him with- out fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.' And partly as Christ was a pattern, and came to do what he hath commanded : Mat. iii. 15, ' For thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness ; ' Mat v. 17, ' Think not that I am come to destroy the law and the prophets ; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil ; ' Heb. v. 8, 9, ' Though lie were a son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered ; and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation to all that obey him.'
II. The nature and heinousness of sin is to be determined by a con- trariety or want of conformity to this law ; for sin presupposeth a law and lawgiver, and a debt of subjection, lying upon us. We are subject to God by virtue of our dependence, but the course of this subjection and dependence is determined by the law of God, or the act of his legislative will, in what way we shall express our obedience to him ; so that all sin presupposeth a law, and the power of the lawgiver. The apostle telleth us, Rom. iv. 15, ■ Where there is no law, there is no trans- gression ;' and Rom. v. 13, 'Sin is not imputed where there is no law.' Well, then, by the law we know what is sin, the nature of it, and how great an evil it is, and the heinousness of it.
But if we would know what sin is, or what is sin, let us see how many ways this law may be transgressed : two ways especially ; either by omitting what is commanded as a duty to God, or by committing what is forbidden.
1. By omitting what is commanded as a duty to God or man ; as suppose invocation of God : Jer. x. 25, ' Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name ; ' Ps. xiv. 3, ' There is none that doeth good, no not one ; ' Mat. xxv. 42, 'I was an hungry, and ye gave me no meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink ; ' non qui rapit aliena, sed qui non dat sua ; Mat. xxv. 30, ' And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' Unprofitableness, if there be no more, is a damning sin. When we directly transgress an affirmative precept, that is a sin of omission ; or when we do anything
494 SERMONS UPON 1 JOHN m. [Ser. VI.
against a negative precept, that is a sin of commission. There is in these sins the general nature of all sin, a transgression of the law, or a disobedience and breach of a precept, and so by consequence a contempt of God's authority. When Saul had not done what God bid him to do, he telleth him, 1 Sam. xv. 23, ' That rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness as iniquity and idolatry;' implying that sins of omission are rebellion and stubbornness, for which God threateneth to rend the kingdom from him. So for a sin of omission he puts by Eli's family from the priesthood : 1 Sam. iii. 13, ' I will judge his house for ever, because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.' Now the more necessary the duties omitted are, the greater the sin is : Heb. ii. 3, ' How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation ? ' 1 Cor. xvi. 22, ' If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema maranatha.' Especially if the omission be total : Ps. xiv. 2, ' There is none seeketh after God ; ' Jer. ii. 32, ' My people have forgotten me days without number.' When duties are seasonable : Pro v. xvii. 16, ' Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, and he hath no heart to it? ' When the performance of a duty is easy, to stand with God for a trifle : Luke xvi. 24, he that would not give a crumb shall not have a drop. So when fully convinced of our duty : James iv. 17, 'To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.' These sins are the ruin of most people in the world. They forget God ; they do not seek after him. Yea, the children of God oftener offend in these kind of sins than the other kind ; not so much in foul excesses, as in the omission of good duties.