564 DOCTRINE OF THE SAINTS' PERSEVERANCE. [CHAP,
and sinneth not/' saith Solomon, 1 Kings viii. 46; and, " In many things we ofifend all," saith James, in chap. iii. 2. And this aj)ostle putteth all out of question by convincing the best of saints that have "communion with the Father and with his Son," that by saying we have no sin, by a denial of it, we involve ourselves in the guilt of it: '"If we,' we apostles, we who have fellowship with the Father and the Son, 'say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,'" 1 John i. 8. " Doth not commit sin," then, cannot be taken absolutely for Doth not sin at all. There is a synecdoche in the words, and they must be restrained to some kind of sin, or to some manner or degree in or of sinning. Some say, '" He doth not, cannot sin,' is, They do not commit sin with delight, not deliberately and with their full and whole will, without reluctancy and opposition in their wills unto sin" (which reluctancy is at a vast distance from the reluctancy that is raised in wicked men from the convictions of their conscience and judgment) ; which sense is canvassed by Mr Goodwin to no advan- tage at all, sect. 25, for, in the way and manner formerly explained, this may well take place. " Doth not commit sin," then, is. Doth not so commit sin as that sin should reign in him spoken of, and prevail with him to death. There is an emphasis and intension in the words, " Doth not commit sin," — that is, Doth not so commit it as to be given up to the power of it ; he doth not commit sin in such a way as to be separated from communion with God thereby, which is only done when sin taketh the rule or reign in any person.
"This exposition," Mr Goodwin saith, " if it can be made to stand upright, will bear the weight of the whole cause depending alone; but as it is, it argueth weakness to determine for our own sense in a controversy or question, without giving a very substantial reason for the exposition." I doubt if Mr Goodwin's discourses in this treatise were to be tried by this rule, a man might, upon very substantial grounds and reasons, call many of his assertions into controversy. And because he addeth, that " stich is his hard hap, he can meet with no reasons at all," I must needs question whether he made any dili- gent search or no ; to this purpose I shall supply him with one or two that lie hard at hand.
This, then, to be the intendment of the words is evident, — 1. From the scope of the place and aim of the apostle therein; this is, to distinguish, as was said, betwixt the children of God and of the devil. The children of the devil commit sin : Verse 8, " He that committeth sin is of the devil," as he giveth an instance of one that did so sin. Verse 12, "Cain," saith he, " was of the devil; he was of that wicked one, and he committed sin." How did Cain commit sin? Impenitently, to death; that is the committing of sin which is ascribed to them that are of the devil, of the wicked one. "Now," saith he, "whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin;"
XV.] THE SINS OF BELIEVERS CONSIDERED. 565
that is, he doth not so commit sin as the children of the devil, that wicked one, do; he sins not to death, with impenitency.
2. The same apostle doth most eminently clear his own intend- ment in this expression, chap. v. 17, 18, of this epistle, "All imrighte- ousness is sin : and there is a sin not unto death. We know that who- soever is born of God sinneth not ; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not." That ex- pression, verse 18, " Sinneth not," standeth in opposition to the sin mentioned, verse 16, " Sin unto death." " ' There is a sin unto death ;' but ' he that is born of God sinneth not' unto death." So that both the context and the exposition of the words given in a parallel place afford us the sense insisted on.
Three reasons are attempted by Mr Goodwin against this exposi- tion ; "and many more," saith he, " are at hand," which it seems he is willing to spare for another season. Of those that he is pleased to use, I have already considered that which is of the chiefest importance, being taken from the scope of the place. It hath been already de- clared, not only that the sense by him urged is not suitable to the intendment of the Holy Ghost, and that Mr Goodwin is not a little mistaken in his analysis of the chapter, but that the exposition in- sisted on by us is from thence enforced.
His other reasons are : — first, " That the grammar or letter of the phrase breatheth not the least air of such a sense."
Ans. That the expression is synecdochical was before affirmed; what it importeth under the power of that figure is the grammatical sense of the words. To the grammatical regularity and signification of them doth their figurativeness belong. Let the words be restrained, as the figure requireth, and the sense is most proper, as was signified.