DISCOURSE XIII.

DELIVERANCE FROM SIN THE DESIGN OF CHRIST's COMING.

1 JOHN iii. 8.

He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

To

come at the full meaning of the text, it will be necessary to ascertain the sense of the several phrases used in it, viz.

I. What is meant, in the sense of the apostle, by committing sin.

II. What he means by such a person's being of the devil, who sinneth from the beginning.

III. What is intended by the manifestation of the Son of God. And,

IV. What is meant by destroying the works of the devil.

I. What the apostle means by committing sin was the first thing proposed for our inquiry. This is the more necessary to be ascertained, because he useth the phrases to sin, and to commit sin, in a peculiar sense-to denote not a single act, but the habit of sin; and not the habits of what are commonly called sins of infirmity, arising from the unavoidable weaknesses of nature, but the habits of wilful, deliberate sins. That this is the meaning of the phrase, he that committeth sin, will appear from the sense in which our Saviour useth it: "Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin."* Compare this with what St. Paul hath said on the subject; "Let not sin, therefore, reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the

John viii. 34.

lusts thereof,"-"Sin shall not have dominion over you,' "To whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness."* To be the servants of sin, therefore, is to live under its dominion, to have it reign over us, to obey it even in its lust, that is, whenever the temptation to it assaults us. Now, to commit sin, and to be the servant of sin, are used by Christ as equivalent phrases.

In the servitude of sin there are evidently two degrees. One, when a man is in such subjection to some particular sin, that he commits it habitually, whenever its lust assaults him; even against the sense of his mind and conscience, the light of his reason, and against his better resolution. But wanting strength to overcome it, he falls into it on every temptation, and is properly its servant. He is overcome and brought in bondage by it. It compels him to do the evil which he would not. It has him under its dominion and reigns over him.

The other degree of servitude to sin arises from the long continued practice of it. If a man habituate himself to act against the dictates of his conscience, the sense of his duty, and his own resolutions to do better; they will all at last cease to check him. He will feel no admonitions of conscience, no reluctance of mind or will: All sense of the shame of men, all regard to the fear of God will be lost. Dreadful is this state! properly called the reprobate mind; because, being past feeling, such persons give themselves over, to work all iniquity with greediness.

In one or other of these states, the common drunkard, the profane swearer, the lascivious debauchee, the rapacious usurer, the fraudulent dealer, the cruel oppressor, and covetous worldling seem to live. God give them repentance and a better mind!

If we understand the expression, he that committeth sin, to mean, as hath been explained, not any single act of sin, nor those deviations from duty which happen through weakness of nature; but a course of sinning, living habit

*Rom. vi. 12, 14, 16.

ually in a state which God hath forbidden; it will afford an easy solution of a difficulty in this Epistle, which does not seem capable of being solved on any other ground. The Apostle saith, "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin, because he is born of God."

Some idle, and some dangerous interpretations have been given of this text: I shall mention such of them as occur to me. One interpretation is, that he who is born of God ought not to sin; it would be very absurd in him to do so. This we know: We know also, that too many who profess Christ's religion live habitually in this absurd and reproachful state. But the Apostle speaketh of what the man who commits sin does do, and not of what he ought not to do. Another interpretation refers freedom from sin to the future life; assigning it as a reason, that we are not perfectly born of God till the resurrection, which is by Christ called the regeneration.* But it is evident the Apostle doth not speak of committing sin, or of freedom from sin in the next life, but in the present. A third interpretation is, that he who is born of God sinneth not while he continueth a child of God; because if he sin, he ceaseth to be a child of God. If there be any sense in this interpretation, it directly contradicts what the Apostle saith in this very Epistle; "My little children these things write I unto you, that ye sin not: And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous," plainly admitting that they were liable to sin, and directing them to the atonement and intercession of Christ for its remission, when they were so unhappy as to fall into it. The exposition of Tertullian, that a child of God cannot fall into any great and deliberate crime, is, I suppose, false in fact, as will appear under the next inquiry. The exposition of St. Bernard, who is followed by the Calvinists, is, that a child of God sinneth not, because, though he should do what would be sin in others, God, who seeth no sin in his elect for whom Christ died, will not impute it to him. If the other inter

pretations were weak, this is wicked. It amounts to a full permission to sin through a man's whole life time, and yet God shall take no notice of it; whereas the text saith, "He that committeth sin," that is, lives in it, "is of the devil." Far worse is this doctrine than the Pope's indulgence: That, at the worst, only dispenses with sinning by the month or year; but here is a plenary indulgence from God himself, for a man to sin through his whole life, and yet be God's elect, his dear and beloved child. The last interpretation which I have seen is, that he who is born of God sinneth not willingly, not without great reluctance and striving against it. But this cannot be the meaning of the Apostle, because it ascribes to the child of God, the very character of the servant of sin. There can be no lower degree of slavery than to be obliged to act against our own mind and conscience; and the greater the reluc tance is with which we do so, the greater and heavier is our bondage.

To be born of God, and to be the child of God, are synonymous expressions. The child of God doth not commit sin, in this sense-He doth not allow himself in any known sin; consequently he cannot live in any habit of sin. He may fall through human infirmity, through vio lent and sudden temptation, which allows no time for reflection; but he will not, he cannot continue in it. The fixed purpose of his heart, the habit of his life, is perfect obedience to God: When, therefore, it is his unhappiness to offend, he turns from his offence with detestation, and with penitence hastens back to the stated purpose of his heart, obedience to the commandments of God.

The reason assigned by the Apostle, why he who is born of God cannot sin, that is, cannot continue or live in sin, is, because his seed, the Holy Spirit of God by which he is begotten and born to this holy and Christian life, remaineth in him, influencing his conscience, mind, and will, by his divine energy, to turn from and abhor every thing that is contrary to the will of God, and to do every thing which he requires.

II. I come now to the second consideration, namely,