of the burden of corruption which he hopes to lay clown in the grave ; and lie knows tiiat as he shall be free from them in heaven, they never disturbed the perfectly holy soul of his blessed Lox'd, to whose image he is even now bound to be conformed.
5. It follows from tiie principle that the law condemns all want of conformity to the nature of God, that it condemns evil dispositions or habits, as well as all voluntary sins, whether deliberate or impul- sive. According to the Bible and the dictates of conscience there is a sinfulness as well as sins ; thei'e is such a thing as character as distinguished from transient acts by which it is revealed ; that is, a sinful state, abiding, inherent, immanent forms of evil, which are truly and properly of the nature of sin. All sin, therefore, is not an agency, activity, or act ; it may be and is also a condition or state of the mind. This distinction between habitual and actual sin has been recognized and admitted in the Church from the beginning. Our Lord teaches us this distinction when He speaks of an evil heart as distinguished from evil exercises, which are as distinct as a tree and its fi-uits. The Apostle speaks of sin as a law, or controlling principle regulating or determining his acts even in despite of his better nature. He says sin dwells in him. He com- plains of it as a burden too heavy to be borne, from which he groans to be delivered. And his experience in this matter is the experience (we do not say the theory) of all the people of God. They know there is more in them of the nature of sin than mere acts and exer- cises ; that their heart is not right in the sight of God ; that the fountain from which the waters flow is itself bitter ; that the tree is known by its fruits.
Sin is Want of Conformity to the Law of Crod.
Protestants teach not only that sin is a specific evil, that it has relation to law, tliat that law is the nature and will of God, and that it takes cognizance of and condemns all forms and degrees of moral evil or want of moral excellence, but also that the formal na- ture of sin is the want of conformity to the divine law or standard of excellence. This want of conformity is not a mere negation, such as may be predicated of a stone or of a brute, of whom it may be said they are not conformed to the image of God. The want of conformity to the divine law which constitutes sin is the want of congeniality of one moral nature with another ; of the dependent and created nature with the infinitely holy nature, which of neces- sity is not only the sum but the standard of all excellence. Herein is sin that we are not like God. As the opposite of reason ia
188 PART II. Cu. Vm. — SIN.
unreason, the opposite of wisdom is folly, and the opposite of good is evil ; so the opposite of- the divine holiness is sin. It matters not of what exercises or states in the nature of a moral bei)ig this opposition may be predicated ; of deliberate acts, of merely impulsive acts, or of dispositions or habits ; if opposed to the divine nature it is sin, hateful in itself and worthy of condemnation. There is a positive element, therefore, in all sin. That is, it is not merely the privation of righteousness, but it is positive unrighteousness. Be- cause the absence of the one in a moral nature is the other. The want of congeniality with God is alienation from God, and, as the Scriptures say, enmity towards Him. The Protestant symbols and theologians, therefore, in defining sin, not merely as selfishness or the love of the creature or the love of the world, which are only modes of its manifestation, but as the want of conformity of an act, habit, or state of a man with the divine law, which is the revelation of the divine nature, have in their support both reason and con- science. This doctrine of the natui*e of sin is fully sustained bv the authority of Scripture. The Apostle John says that all want of conformity to law is sin. The two ideas ap-apTta and dvo/xta are coextensive. Whatever is the one, is the other. It seems that some in the Apostle's day were disposed to limit the demands of the divine law, and regard, certain things not specifically forbidden as lawful. In opposition to this, the Apostle tells them that every- thing evil is unlawful ; for the very nature of evil is want of con- formity to law : ttSs o iroiuiv rr^v afxapTiav koll TTyp" avojxiav iroiel, he who commits sin commits anomia, for 17 a/xapTLa iaAv r/ dio/xia, for all want of conformity to law is sin. (1 John iii. 4.) With this agree also all the representations of Scripture. The words there used for sin in all its forms, express the idea of non-conformity to a standard. And besides this the Bible everywhere teaches that God is the source and standard of all good. His favour is the life of the soul. Congeniality with Him, conformity to his will and nature, is the idea and perfection of all excellence ; and the opposite state, the want of this congeniality and conformity, is the sum and essence of all evil.
Sin includes Cruilt and Pollution.
Sin includes guilt and pollution ; the one expresses its relation to the justice, the other to the holiness of God. These two elements of sin are revealed in the conscience of every sinner. He knows himself to be amenable to the justice of God and offensive in his holy eyes. He is to himself even, hateful and degraded and self condemned. There are, however, two things included in guilt.