ROMANS viii. 15.
_Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again unto fear: but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father._
1. ST. _Paul_ here speaks to those who are the children of God by faith. Ye, saith he, who are indeed his children, have drank into his Spirit. _Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again unto fear._ But _because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts. Ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father._
2. The spirit of bondage and fear is widely distant from this loving Spirit of adoption. Those who are influenced only by slavish fear, cannot be termed, the sons of God. Yet some of them may be stiled his servants, and are _not far from the kingdom of heaven_.
3. But it is to be feared, the bulk of mankind, yea, of what is call’d _The Christian world_, have not attain’d even this; but are still afar off, _neither is God in all their thoughts_. A few names may be found of those who love God: a few more there are that fear him. But the greater part have neither the fear of God before their eyes, nor the love of God in their hearts.
4. Perhaps most of you, who by the mercy of God, now partake of a better spirit, may remember the time, when ye were as they, when ye were under the same condemnation. But at first ye knew it not, tho’ ye were wallowing daily in your sins and in your blood: till in due time ye _received the spirit of fear_ (_ye received_; for this also is the gift of God:) and afterwards, fear vanished away, and the Spirit of love filled your hearts.
5. One who is in the first state of mind, without fear or love, is in scripture term’d _a natural man_. One who is under the spirit of bondage and fear is sometimes said to be _under the law_: (altho’ that expression more frequently signifies one, who is under the _Jewish_ dispensation, or who thinks himself obliged to observe all the rites and ceremonies of the _Jewish law_.) But one who has exchanged the spirit of fear for the Spirit of love, is properly said, to be _under grace_.
Now because it highly imports us, to know what spirit we are of, I shall endeavour to point out distinctly, first, The state of a _natural man_, secondly, That of one who is _under the law_, and thirdly, of one who is _under grace_.
I. 1. And, first, the state of a _natural man_. This the scripture represents as a state of sleep. The voice of God to him is, _Awake, thou that sleepest_. For his soul is in a deep sleep. His spiritual senses are not awake: they discern neither spiritual good nor evil. The eyes of his understanding are closed; they are sealed together, and see not. Clouds and darkness continually rest upon them; for he lies in the valley of the shadow of death. Hence having no inlets for the knowledge of spiritual things, all the avenues of his soul being shut up, he is in gross, stupid ignorance of whatever he is most concerned to know. He is utterly ignorant of God, knowing nothing concerning him as he ought to know. He is totally a stranger to the law of God, as to its true, inward, spiritual meaning. He has no conception of that evangelical holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord; nor of the happiness, which they only find, whose _life is hid with Christ in God_.