one in wliom the Holy Spirit is the principle of life and activity, or, who is under the control of the Spirit ; the former is one who is under the control of his own fallen nature, in whom there is no [U'inciple of life and action but what belongs to him as a fallen creature. Of such a man the Apostle asserts, first, that he does not receive the things of the Spirit, that is, the truths wliicli th<D Spirit has revealed ; secondly, that they are foolishness to him ; thirdly, that he cannot know them ; and fourthly, that the reason of this inability is the want of spiritual discernment, that is, of that apprehension of the nature and truth of divine things which is due to the inward teaching or illumination of the Holy Ghost. This passage therefore not only asserts the fact of the sinner's ina- bility, but teaches the ground or source of it. It is no mere aver- sion or disinclination, but the want of true knovvledo;e. No man can see the beauty of a work of art without aesthetic discernment; and no man, according to the Apostle, can see the ti'uth and beauty of spiritual things without spiritual discernment. Such is the con- stajit representation of Scripture. Men are everywhere spoken of and regarded not only as guilty and polluted, but also as helpless.
Involved in the Doctrine of Original Sin.
3. The doctrine of the sinner's inability is involved in the Scrip- tural doctrine of original sin. By the apostasy of man from God he not only lost the divine image and favour, but sunk into a state of spiritual death. The Bible and reason alike teach that God is the life of the soul ; his favour, and communion with Him, are essential not only to happiness but also to holiness. Those who are under his wi'ath and curse and are banished from his presence, are in outer darkness. They have no true knowledge, no desire after fellowship with a Being who to them is a consuming fire. To the Apostle it appears as the greatest absurdity and impossibility that a soul out of favour with God should be holy. This is the funda- mental idea of his doctrine of sanctification. Those who are under the law are under the curse, and those who are under the curse are absolutely ruined. It is essential, therefore, to holiness that we should be delivered from the law and restored to the favour of God before any exercise of love or any act of true obedience can be performed or experienced on our ])art. We are free from sin only because we are not under the law, but under grace. The whole of the sixth and seventh chapters of « the Epistle to the Romans is devoted to the development of this principle. To the Apostle the doctrine that the sinner has ability of himself to return
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to God, to restore to liis soul tlie image of God, and live a holy life, must have appeared as thorough a rejection of his theory of salvation as the doctrine that we are justified by works. His whole system is founded on the two principles that, being guilty, we are condemned, and can be justified only on the ground of the righteousness of Christ ; and, being spiritually dead, no objective presentation of the truth, no authoritative declarations of the law, no effort of our own can originate spiritual life, or call forth any spiritual exercise. Being justified freely and restored to the divine fivvour, we are then, and only then, able to bring forth frnit unto God. " Ye are become dead to the law bj' the body of Christ ; that ye should be manned to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members, to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivei'ed from the law, that being dead wherein we were held ; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter." (Rom. vii. 4-6.) This view of the matter necessarily implies that tlie natural state of fallen men is one of entire helplessness and inability. They are " utterly indis- posed, disabled, and made opposite to all good." The Bible, therefore, as we have already seen, uniformly represents men in their natural state since the fall as blind, deaf, and spiritually dead; from which state they can no more deliver themselves than one born blind can open his own eyes, or one corrupting in the grave can restore himself to life.
The Necessity of the Spirits Influence.
4. The next argument on this subject is derived from what the Scriptures teach of the necessity and nature of the Spirit's influence in regeneration and sanctification. If any man will take a Greek Concordance of the New Testament, and see how often the words IXvcuixa and To lIi eC/Aa ro ayiov are used by the sacred writers, he will learn how prominent a part the Holy Spirit takes in saving men, and how hopeless is the case of those who are left to themselves. What the Scriptures clearly teach as to this point is, (1.) That the Holy Spirit is the source of spiritual life and all its exei-cises ; that without his supernatural influence we can no more perform holy acts than a dead branch, or a branch separated from the vine can produce fruit. (2.)^ That in the first instance (that is, in regen- eration) the soul is the subject and not the agent of the change produced. The Spirit gives life, and then excites and guides all