we cannot be too cruel to it; it must even be crucified." Gal. v. 24, "They that are Christ's, have crucified the flesh, with the affections and lusts."

The apostle John, the same apostle that writes the account of what Christ said to Nicodemus, by the spirit means the same thing as a new, divine, and holy nature, exerting itself in a principle of divine love, which is the sum of all Christian holiness. 1 John iii. 23, 24, " And that we should love one another, as he gave us commandment; and he that keepeth his commandments, dwelleth in him, and he in him and hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the spirit that he hath given us." With chap. iv. 12, 13, "If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us: hereby know we, that we dwell in him, because he hath given us of his spirit." The spiritual principle in us being as it were communicated of the Spirit of God to us.

:

And as by пvɛvua is meant a holy nature, so by the epithet, revuarixos, spiritual, is meant the same as truly virtuous and holy. Gal. vi. 1, "Ye that are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness." The apostle refers to what he had just said, in the end of the foregoing chapter, where he had mentioned meekness, as a fruit of the spirit. And so by carnal, or fleshly, σαρκικός, is meant the same as sinful. Rom. vii. 14, "The law is spiritual (i. e. holy), but I am carnal, sold under sin."

And it is evident, that by flesh, as the word is used in the New Testament, and opposed to spirit, when speaking of the qualifications for eternal salvation, is not meant only what is now vulgarly called the sins of the flesh, consisting in inordinate appetites of the body, and their indulgence; but the whole body of sin, implying those lusts that are most subtle, and furthest from any relation to the body; such as pride, malice, envy, &c. When the works of the flesh are enumerated, Gal. v. 19, 20, 21, they are vices of the latter kind chiefly that are mentioned; idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings. So, pride of heart is the effect or operation of the flesh. Col. ii. 1, 8, " Vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind:" in the Greek, by the mind of the flesh. So, pride, envying, strife and division, are spoken of as works of the flesh. 1 Cor. iii. 3, 4, " For ye are yet carnal (ouqxixo, fleshly). For whereas there is envying, and strife, and division, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul, and another, I am of Apollos, are ye not carnal?" Such kind of lusts do not depend on the body, or external senses; for the devil himself has them in the highest degree, who has not, nor ever had, any body or external senses to gratify.

Here, if it should be inquired, how corruption or depravity in general, or the nature of man as corrupt and sinful, came to be called flesh; and not only that corruption which consists in inordinate bodily appetites, I think, what the apostle says in the last cited place, Are ye not carnal, and walk as men? leads us to the true reason. It is because a corrupt and sinful nature is what properly belongs to mankind, or the race of Adam, as they are in themselves, and as they are by nature. The word flesh is often used in both Old Testament and New, to signify mankind in their present state. To enumerate all the places, would be very tedious; I shall therefore only mention a few places in the New Testament. Matth. xxiv. 22, "Except those days should be shortened, no flesh should be saved." Luke iii. 6, "All flesh shall see the salvation of God." John xvii. 2, "Thou hast given him power over all flesh." See also Acts ii. 17, Rom. iii. 20, 1 Cor. i. 29, Gal. ii. 16. Man's nature, being left to itself, forsaken of the Spirit of God, as it was when man fell, and consequently forsaken of divine and holy principles, of itself became exceeding corrupt, utterly depraved and ruined: and so the word flesh, which signifies man, came to be

used to signify man as he is in himself, in his natural state, debased, corrupt and ruined and on the other hand, the word spirit came to be used to signify a divine and holy principle, or new nature; because that is not of man, but of God, by the indwelling and vital influence of his Spirit. And thus to be corrupt, and to be carnal, or fleshly, and to walk as men, are the same thing with the apostle. And so in other parts of the Scripture, to savor the things that be of men, and to savor things which are corrupt, are the same; and sons of men, and wicked men, also are the same, as was observed before. And on the other hand, to savor the things that be of God, and to receive the things of the Spirit of God, are phrases that signify as much as relishing and embracing true holiness or divine virtue.

All these things confirm what we have supposed to be Christ's meaning, in saying, ' "That which is born of the flesh, is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit, is spirit." His speech implies, that what is born in the first birth of man, is nothing but man as he is of himself, without any thing divine in him; depraved, debased, sinful, ruined man, utterly unfit to enter into the kingdom of God, and incapable of the spiritual, divine happiness of that kingdom: but that which is born in the new birth, of the Spirit of God, is a spiritual principle, and holy and divine nature, meet for the divine and heavenly kingdom. It is a confirmation that this is the true meaning, that it is not only evidently agreeable to the constant language of the Spirit of Christ in the New Testament; but the words understood in this sense, contain the proper and true reason, why a man must be born again, in order to enter into the kingdom of God; the reason that is given everywhere in other parts of the Scripture for the necessity of a renovation, a change of mind, a new heart, &c., in order to salvation: to give a reason of which to Nicodemus, is plainly Christ's design in the words which have been insisted on.

Before I proceed, I would observe one thing as a corollary from what has been said.

COROLL. If by flesh and spirit, when spoken of in the New Testament, and opposed to each other, in discourses on the necessary qualifications for salvation, we are to understand what has been now supposed, it will not only follow, that men by nature are corrupt, but wholly corrupt, without any good thing. If by flesh is meant man's nature, as he receives it in his first birth, then therein dwelleth no good thing; as appears by Rom. vii. 18. It is wholly opposite to God, and to subjection to his law, as appears by Rom. viii. 7, S. It is directly contrary to true holiness, and wholly opposes it, and holiness is opposite to that as appears by Gal. v. 17. So long as men are in their natural state, they not only have no good thing, but it is impossible they should have or do any good thing; as appears by Rom. viii. 8. There is nothing in their nature, as they have it by the first birth, whence should arise any true subjection to God; as appears by Rom. viii. 7. If there were any thing truly good in the flesh, or in man's nature, or natural disposition, under a moral view, then it should only be amended; but the Scripture represents as though we were to be enemies to it, and were to seek nothing short of its entire destruction, as has been observed. And elsewhere the apostle directs not to the amending of the old man, but putting it off, and putting on the new man; and seeks not to have the body of death made better, but to be delivered from it, and says, "That if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature (which doubtless means the same as a man new born) old things are (not amended) but passed away, and all things are become new."

But this will be further evident, if we particularly consider the apostle's discourse in the latter part of the second chapter of 1 Cor. and the beginning of the third. There the apostle speaks of the natural man, and the spiritual man;

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53

where natural and spiritual are opposed just in the same manner, as I have observed carnal and spiritual often are." In chap. ii. 14, 15, he says, "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned But he that is spiritual, judgeth all things." And not only does the apostle here oppose natural and spiritual, just as he elsewhere does carnal and spiritual, but his following discourse evidently shows, that he means the very same distinction, the same two distinct and opposite things. For immediately on his thus speaking of the difference between the natural and the spiritual man, he turns to the Corinthians, in the first words of the next chapter, connected with this, and says, "And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal." Referring manifestly to what he had been saying, in the immediately preceding discourse, about spiritual and natural men, and evidently using the word carnal, as synonymous with natural. By which it is put out of all reasonable dispute, that the apostle by natural men means the same as men in that carnal, sinful state, that they are in by their first birth: notwithstanding all the glosses and criticisms, by which modern writers have endeavored to palm upon us another sense of this phrase; and so to deprive us of the clear instruction the apostle gives in that 14th verse, concerning the sinful, miserable state of man by nature Dr. Taylor says, by uixos, is meant the animal man, the man who maketh sense and appetite the law of his action. If he aims to limit the meaning of the word to external sense, and bodily appetite, his meaning is certainly not the apostle's. For the apostle in his sense includes the more spiritual vices of envy, strife, &c., as appears by the four first verses of the next chapter; where, as I have observed, he substitutes the word carnal in the place of yixos. So the Apostle Jude uses the word in like manner, opposing it to spiritual, or having the spirit, ver. 19, "These are they that separate themselves, sensual (vyızoı), not having the spirit." The vices he had been just speaking of, were chiefly of the more spiritual kind. Ver. 16, "These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration, because of advantage." The vices men-. tioned are much of the same kind with those of the Corinthians, for which he calls them carnal, envying, strife and divisions, and saying, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos; and being puffed up for one against another. We have the same word again, Jam. iii. 14, 15, "If ye have bitter envying and strife, glory not, and lie not against the truth: this wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual (vyzn) and devilish;" where also the vices the apostle speaks of are of the more spiritual kind.

So that on the whole, there is sufficient reason to understand the apostle, when he speaks of the natural man in that 1 Cor. ii. 14, as meaning man in his native, corrupt state. And his words represent him as totally corrupt, wholly a stranger and enemy to true virtue or holiness, and things appertaining to it, which it appears are commonly intended in the New Testament by things spiritual, and are doubtless here meant by things of the Spirit of God. These words also represent that it is impossible man should be otherwise, while in his natural state. The expressions are very strong: the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, is not susceptible of things of that kind, neither can he know them, can have no true sense or relish of them, or notion of their real nature and true excellency, because they are spiritually discerned: they are not discerned by means of any principle in nature, but altogether by a principle that is divine, something introduced by the grace of God's Holy Spirit, which is above all that is natural. The words are in a considerable degree parallel with

those of our Saviour, John xiv. 16, 17, "He shall give you the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him; but ye know him, for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you."

SECTION II.

Observations on Romans iii. 9-24.

If the Scriptures represent all mankind as wicked in their first state, before they are made partakers of the benefits of Christ's redemption, then they are wicked by nature; for doubtless men's first state is their native state, or the state they come into the world in. But the Scriptures do thus represent all mankind.

Before I mention particular texts to this purpose, I would observe that it alters not the case as to the argument in hand, whether we suppose these texts speak directly of infants, or only of such as are capable of some understanding, so as to understand something of their own duty and state. For if it be so with

all mankind, that as soon as ever they are capable of reflecting and knowing their own moral state, they find themselves wicked, this proves that they are wicked by nature; either born wicked, or born with an infallible disposition to be wicked as soon as possible, if there be any difference between these, and either of them will prove men to be born exceedingly depraved. I have before proved, that a native propensity to sin certainly follows from many things said in the Scripture of mankind; but what I intend now, is something more direct, to prove by direct Scripture testimony, that all mankind, in their first state, are really of a wicked character.

To this purpose is exceeding full, express and abundant, that passage of the apostle, in Rom. iii., beginning with the 9th verse to the end of the 24th; which I shall set down at large, distinguishing the universal terms which are here so often repeated by a distinct character. The apostle, having in the first chapter, verses 16, 17, laid down his proposition, that none can be saved in any other way than through the righteousness of God, by faith in Jesus Christ, proceeds to prove this point, by showing particularly that all are in themselves wicked, and without any righteousness of their own. First he insists on the wickedness of the Gentiles, in the first chapter, and next, on the wickedness of the Jews, in the second chapter. And then in this place, he comes to sum up the matter, and draw the conclusion in the words following: "What then, are we better than they? No, in no wise; for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; as it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none that understandeth; there is none that seeketh after God; they are all gone out of the way; they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doth good, no not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips; whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; their feet are swift to shed blood; destruction and misery are in their ways, and the way of peace they have not known; there is no fear of God before their eyes. Now we know that whatsoever things the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight; for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law, is manifest, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;

even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ, unto all, and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption which is in Jesus Christ."

Here the thing which I would prove, viz., that mankind in their first state, before they are interested in the benefits of Christ's redemption, are universally wicked, is declared with the utmost possible fulness and precision. So that if here this matter be not set forth plainly, expressly, and fully, it must be because no words can do it, and it is not in the power of language, or any manner of terms and phrases, however contrived and heaped up one upon another, determinately to signify any such thing.

Dr. Taylor, to take off the force of the whole, would have us to understand, pages 104-107, that these passages, quoted from the Psalms, and other parts of the Old Testament, do not speak of all mankind, nor of all the Jews; but only of them of whom they were true. He observes, there were many that were innocent and righteous; though there were also many, a strong party, that were wicked, corrupt, &c., of whom these texts were to be understood. Concerning which I would observe the following things:

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1. According to this, the universality of the terms that are found in these places, which the apostle cites from the Old Testament, to prove that all the world, both Jews and Gentiles, are under sin, is nothing to his purpose. The apostle uses universal terms in his proposition, and in his conclusion, that all are under sin, that every mouth is stopped, all the world guilty-that by the deeds of the law no flesh can be justified. And he chooses out a number of universal sayings or clauses out of the Old Testament, to confirm this universality; "There is none righteous, no, not one: they are all gone out of the way: there is none that understandeth," &c. But yet the universality of these expressions is nothing to this purpose, because the universal terms found in them have indeed no reference to any such universality as this the apostle speaks of, nor any thing akin to it; they mean no universality, either in the collective sense, or personal sense; no universality of the nations of the world, or of particular persons in those nations, or in any one nation in the world: "but only of those of whom they are true." That is, there are none of them righteous, of whom it is true that they are not righteous, no, not one; there are none that understand, of whom it is true, that they understand not: they are all gone out of the way, of whom it is true, that they are gone out of the way, &c. Or if these expressions are to be understood concerning that strong party in Israel, in David's and Solomon's days, and in the prophets' days, they are to be understood of them universally. And what is that to the apostle's purpose? How does such a universality of wickedness as this-that all were wicked in Israel, who were wicked; or that there was a particular evil party, all of which were wicked, confirm that universality which the apostle would prove, viz., that all Jews and Gentiles, and the whole world, were wicked, and every mouth stopped, and that no flesh could be justified by their own righteousness.

Here nothing can be said to abate the nonsense but this, that the apostle would convince the Jews that they were capable of being wicked, as well as other nations; and to prove it, he mentions some texts, which show that there was a wicked party in Israel a thousand years ago; and that as to the universal terms which happened to be in these texts, the apostle had no respect to these; but his reciting them is as it were accidental, they happened to be in some texts which speak of an evil party in Israel, and the apostle cites them as they are, not because they are any more to his purpose for the universal