for the Bible undeniably clesio;nates indwellini;; or liereditarv cor- ruption, or vitium^ as dfiapria. This is ackno\vle(lo;ecl by Romanists who (U^ny tliat such concupiscence after regeneration is of the na- ture of sin.^
5. The fifth form of docti'ine to which the Protestant faith Btiuids opposed, is tliat which admits a moral dc^terioratiou of our natui'e, wliicii deserves tlie displeasure of God, and wliieh is tiiere- fore truly sin, and yet denies that the evil is so great as to amount to spiritual death, and to involve the entire inability of tlie natural man to what is spiritually good.
G. And the doctrine of the Protestant churches is opposed to the teachings of those wlio deny that original sin affects the whole man, atid assei't that it has its seat exchisively in the affections or the heart, wlille the understanding and reason are uninjured or uninfluenced.
In order to sustain the Augustinian (or Protestant) doctrine of original sin, therefore, three points are to be established : I. That all mankind descending from Adam by ordinary geueration are born destitute of original rigliteousness, and the subjects of a coi^ ru])tion of nature which is truly and properly sin. II. That this original corruption afii'cts the whole man ; not the body only to the exclusion of the soul ; not the lower faculties of the soul to the exclusion of the higher ; and not the heart to the exclusion of the intellectual powers. III. That it is of such a nature as that before regeneration fallen men are " utterly indisposed, disabled, and opposed to all good."
Proof of the Doctrine of Original Sin.
First Argum€7it from the Universalitif of Sin.
The first argument in proof of this doctrine is drawn from the universal sinfulness of men. All men are sinners. This is unde- niably the doctrine of the Scriptures. It is asserted, assuuied, and proved. The assertions of this fact are too numerous to be quoted. In 1 Kings viii. 46, it is said, " There is no man that sium'th not." Eccl. vii. 20, " There is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, aiul sinneth not." Is, liii. 6, " All we like sheep have gone astray ; M'e have turned every one to his own wav." Ixiv. 6, " We aiv all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags." Ps. cxxx. 3, " If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand ? " Ps. cxliii. 2, " In thy sight shall no man living 1 See above, pp. 178, 179.
232 PART U. Cn. VI 11. — SIN.
be justified." Rom. iii. 19, '• The whole world (ttSs 6 Kocr/>io?) is guilty before God," Verses 22, 28, " There is no difference : for f>ll have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Gal. iii. 22, " The Scripture hath concluded all under sin ;" i. e., hath declarc^d all men to be under the power and condemnation of sin, James iii. 2, " In many things we offend all." 1 John i. 8, " If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." Verse 10, " If Ave say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." 1 John v. 19, " The whole world lieth in wickedness." Such are only a few of the assertions of tiie universal sinfulness of men with wliich the Scriptures abound.
But in the second place, this melancholy fact is constantly as- sumed in the Word of God. The Bible everywhere addresses men as sinners. The religion which it reveals is a religion for sinners. All the institutions of tlie Old Testament, and all the doctrines of the New, take it for granted that men universally are under the power and condemnation of sin. " The world," as used in Scrip- ture, designates the mass of mankind, as distinguished from the churcli, or the regenerated people of God, and always involves in its application the idea of sin. The world hateth you. I am not of the woi'ld. I have chosen you out of the world. All the ex- hortations of the Scriptures addressed to men indiscriminately, calling them to repentance, of necessity assume the universality of sin. The same is true of the general threatenings and promises of the Word of God. In short, if all men are not sinners, the Bible is not adapted to their real character and state.
But the Scriptures not only directly assert and everywhere assume the universality of sin among men, but this is a point which j)erliaps more than any other is made the sul>ject of a formal and protracted argument,. The Apostle, especially in his Epistle to the Romans, begins with a regular process of proof, that all, whether Jews or Gentiles, ai'e under sin. Until this fact is admit- ted and acknowledged, there is no place for and no need of the Gospel, which is God's method of saving sinners. Paul therefore i)egins by asseiting God's purpose to punish all sin. He then shows that the Gentiles are universally chargeable with the sin of impiety; that although knowing God, they neither worship him as God, nor art' thankful. The natural, judicial, and therefore the unavoidable consequence of impiety, according to the Apostle's doctrine, is immorality. Those who abandon Him, God gives up to the unrestrained dominion of evil. The whole Gentile world
§13.] ORIGINAL SIN. 23b
therefore was sunk in sin. With tlie Jews, he tells ns, the case was no better. They had more correct knowledge of God and of his law, and many institutions of divine appointment, so that their advantages were great every way. Nevertheless the}- were as truly and as universally sinful as the Gentiles. Their own Scrip- tures, which of course were addressed to them, expressly declare, There is none righteous, no not one. There is none that under- standeth. there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable ; there is none that doeth good, no not one. Therefore, he concludes. The whole world is guilty before God. Jews and Gentiles are all under sin. Therefore by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified. This is the foundation of the Apostle's whole doctrinal system, and of the religion of the Bible. Jesus Christ came to save his people from their sins. If men are not sinners Christ is not the Salvator Hominum.
What the Scriptures so clearly teach is taught no less clearly by expei'ience and history. Every man knows that he himself is a sinner. He knows that every human being whom he ever saw, is in the same state of apostasy from God. History contains the recoi'd of no sinless man, save the Man Christ Jesus, who, by being sinless, is distinguished from all other men. 'We have no account of any family, tribe, or nation free from the contamination of sin. The univei'sality of sin among men is therefore one of the most undeniable doctrines of Scripture, and one of the most certain facts of experience.
Second Argument from the Entire Sinfulness of Men.
This univei'sal depravity of men is no slight evil. The whole human race, by their apostasy from God, are totally depraved. By total de])ravity, is not meant that all men are equally wicked ; nor that any man is as thoroughly corrupt as it is j)ossible for a man to be ; nor that men are destitute of all moral virtues. The Scriptures recognize the fact, which experience abundantly con- fii'ms, that men, to a greater or less degree, are honest in dealings, kind in their feelings, and beneficent in their conduct. Even the heathen, the Apostle teaches us, do by nature the things of the law. They are more or less under the dominion of conscience, which approves or disapproves their moral conduct. All this is perfectly consistent with the Scriptural doctrine of total depravity, which includes the entire absence of holiness ; the want of due apprehensions of the divine perfections, and of our relation to God
234 PART n. ch. vni. — sm.
as our Creator, Preserver, Benefactor, Governor, and Redeemer. There is common to all men a total alienation of the soul from God so that no unrenewed man either understands or seeks after God ; no such man ever makes God his portion, or God's glory the end of his being. The apostasy from God is total or complete. All men worship and serve the creature rather than, and more than the Creator. They are all therefore declared in Scripture to he spirit- ually dead. They are destitute of any principle of spiritual lite. The dreadful extent and depth of this corruption of our nature are proved, —
1. By its fruits ; by the fearful prevalence of the sins of the flesh, of sins of violence, of the sins of the heart, as pride, envy, and malice ; of the sins of the tongue, as slander and deceit; of the sins of irreligion, of ingratitude, profanity, and blasphemy ; which have marked the whole history of our race, and which still distinguish the state of the whole world.