(1.) All life is from God. The life which we have in common with all other living creatures is from him. Acts xvii. 28; Ps. civ. 30. And, (2.) That peculiar vital life which we have by the union of the rational soul with the body is from God also, and that in an especial manner. Gen. ii. 7; Job x. 12. But neither of these is anywhere called the " life of God." But it is an especial life unto God which is intended ; and sundry things belong thereunto, or sundry things are applied unto the description of it: — (1.) It is the life which God re- quireth of us, that we may please him here and come to the enjoy- ment of him hereafter; the life of faith and spiritual obedience by
256 CORRUPTION OR DEPRAVATION [BOOK III.
Jesus Christ, Rom. i. 17; Gal. ii. 20, " I live by the faith of the Sou of God;" Rom. vi., vii. (2.) It is that life which God worketh in us, not naturally by his power, but spiritually by his grace; and that both as to the principle and all the vital acts of it, Eph. ii. 1, 5; Phil. ii. 13. (3.) It is that life whereby God liveth in us, that is, in and by his Spirit through Jesus Christ : Gal. ii. 20, " Christ liveth in me." And where the Son is, there is the Father ; whence, also, this life is said to be " hid with him in God," Col. iii. 3. (4.) It is the life whereby we live to God, Rom. vi., vii., whereof God is the supreme and absolute end, as he is the principal efficient cause of it. And two things are contained herein: — [1.] That we do all things to his glory. This is the proper end of all the acts and actings of this life, Rom. xiv. 7, 8. [2.] That we design in and by it to come unto the eternal enjoyment of him as our blessedness and reward. Gen, xv. 1. (5.) It is the life whereof the gospel is the law and rule, John vi. 68 ; Acts v. 20. (6.) A life all whose fruits are holiness and spiritual, evangelical obedience, Rom. vi. 22; Phil. i. 11. Lastly, It is a' life that dieth not, that is not obnoxious unto death, "eternal life," John xvii. 3. These things contain the chief concerns of that peciiliar spi- ritual, heavenly life, which is called the " life of God."
The carnal mind is alienated from this life. It hath no liking of it, no inclination to it, but carrieth away the whole soul with an aversation from it. And this alienation or aversation appears in two things: — (1.) In its unreadiness and unaptness to receive instruc- tion in and about the concernments of it. Hence are men dull and " slow of heart to believe," Luke xxiv. 25 ; vudpol raTg ay.oaTg, Heb. V. 11, 12, "heavy in hearing;" and slow in the apprehension of what they hear. So are all men towards what they do not like, but have an aversation from. This God complains of in his people of old: " My people are foolish, they have not known me ; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge," Jer. iv. 22. (2.) In the choice and preferring of any other life before it. The first choice a natural mind makes is of a life in sin and pleasure; which is but a death, a death to God, 1 Tim. v. 6, James v. 5,— a life without the law, and before it comes, Rom. vii. 9. This is the life which is suited to the carnal mind, which it desires, delights in, and which willingly it would never depart from. Again, if, by afflictions or convictions, it be in part or wholly forced to forsake and give up this life, it will choose, magnify, and extol a moral life, a life in, by, and under the law ; though at the last it will stand it in no more stead than the life of sin and pleasure which it hath been forced to forego, Rom. ix. 32, X. 3. The thoughts of this spiritual life, this " life of God," it cannot away with. The notions of it are uncouth, the description of it is
CHAP. III.] OF THE MIND BY SIN". 257
unintelligible, and the practice of it either odious folly or needless superstition. This is the disposition and inclination of the mind to- wards spiritual things, as it is corrupt and depraved.
2. The power also of the mind with respect unto its actings to- wards spiritual things may be considered ; and this, in short, is none at all, in the sense which shall be explained immediately, Rom. V. 6. For this is that which we shall prove concerning the mind of a natural man, or of a man in the state of nature : However it may be excited and improved under those advantages of education and parts which it may have received, yet [it] is not able, hath not a power of its own, spiritually and savingly, or in a due manner, to receive, embrace, and assent unto spiritual things, when proposed unto it in the dis- pensation and preaching of the gospel, unless it be renewed, enlight- ened, and acted by the Holy Ghost.