PART III
THE EVIDENCE GIVEN US, RELATIVE TO THE DOCTRINE OF ORIGINAL SIN, IN WHAT THE SCRIPTURES REVEAL CONCERNING THE REDEMPTION BY CHRIST
CHAPTER II
THE EVIDENCE OF THE DOCTRINE OF ORIGINAL SIN FROM WHAT THE SCRIPTURE TEACHES OF THE APPLICATION OF REDEMPTION
THE
truth of the doctrine of original sin is very clearly manifest from what the Scripture
says of that change of state, which it represents as necessary to an
actual interest in the spiritual and eternal blessings of the
Redeemer’s kingdom.
In order to this,
it speaks of it as absolutely necessary for everyone, that he be regenerated,
or born again. John 3:3, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man
(ãåííçèç
áíùèåí) be begotten again,
or born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Dr. T. though he will not allow that this signifies any change
from a state of natural propensity
to sin, yet supposes that the new birth here spoken of, means a man’s
being brought to a divine life,
in a right use and application of the natural powers, in a life of true holiness (Page 144): and that it is the
attainment of those habits of virtue and religion,
which gives us the real character of true Christians, and the children of God (Page
246, 248); and that it is putting on the new nature of right action (Page
251).
But in order to
proceed in the most sure and safe manner, in understanding what is meant
in Scripture by being born again, and so in the inferences we draw from
what is said of the necessity of it, let us compare scripture with
scripture, and consider what other
terms or phrases are used, where respect is evidently had to the same
change. And here I would observe
the following things.
I. If we compare
one scripture with another, it will be sufficiently manifest, that by regeneration,
or being begotten, or born again, the same change in the state of
the mind is signified with that which the scripture speaks of as
affected in true REPENTANCE and
CONVERSION. I put repentance and conversion together, because the scripture puts
them together, Acts 3:19 and because they plainly signify much the same thing.
The word (ìåôáíïéá)
repentance, signifies a change of the mind; as the word conversion,
means a change or turning
from sin to God. And that this is the same change with that which
is called regeneration (excepting that this latter term especially
signifies the change, as the mind is passive in it) the following
things may show.
In the change
which the mind undergoes in repentance and conversion, is attained
that character of true
Christians which is necessary to the eternal privileges of such. Acts
3:19, “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may
be blotted out, when the times of
refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” And thus it is in regeneration; as is evident from what Christ says to
Nicodemus, and as is allowed by Dr. T.
The change
of mind in repentance is that in which saving faith is attained.
Mark 1:15, “The kingdom of God is
at hand, repent ye, and believe the gospel.” And so it is in being
born again, or born of God; as appears by John 1:12, 13, “But as
many as received him, to them he gave power to become the sons of God, even to
them that believe on his name,
which were born not of blood, etc. but of God.” Just as Christ
says concerning conversion,
Mat. 18:3, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye be converted, and
become as little children, ye shall
not enter the kingdom of heaven:” so does he say concerning
being born again, in what he spake to Nicodemus.
By the change men
undergo in conversion, they become as little children; which appears
in the place last cited: and so they do by regeneration. (1 Pet. 1:23 and
2:2) “Being born again. — Wherefore as new-born babes,
desire,” etc. It is no objection, that the
disciples, to whom Christ spake in Mat. 18:3 were converted already: this makes
it not less proper for Christ to
declare the necessity of conversion to them, leaving it with them to try themselves, and to make sure their conversion: in
like manner as he declared to them
the necessity of repentance, in Luke 13:3, 5, “Except ye repent, ye
shall all likewise perish.”
The change effected
by repentance, is expressed and exhibited by baptism. Hence it is
called the baptism of repentance (Mat. 3:11; Luke 3:3; Acts 13:24, and
19:4). And so is regeneration,
or being born again, expressed by baptism; as is evident by such representations of regeneration as those: John 3:5, “Except
a man be born of water, and of the
Spirit.” — Tit. 3:5, “He saved us by the washing of regeneration.” —
Many other things might be
observed, to show that the change men pass under in their repentance and conversion, is the same with that of
which they are the subjects in regeneration. — But these observations may be sufficient.
II. The change
which a man undergoes when born again, and in his repentance and conversion,
is the same that the scripture calls the CIRCUMCISION OF THE HEART. —
This may easily appear by considering, that as regeneration is that in
which are attained the habits of
true virtue and holiness, as has been shown, and as is confessed;
so is circumcision of heart.
Deu. 30:6, “And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and
the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and
with all thy soul.”
Regeneration
is that whereby men come to have the character of true Christians; as is evident, and as is confessed; and so is circumcision of
heart: for by this men become Jews
inwardly, or Jews in the spiritual and Christian sense (and that is
the same as being true
Christians), as of old, proselytes were made Jews by circumcision of
the flesh. Rom. 2:28, 29, “For he
is not a Jew which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew, which is one
inwardly; and circumcision is that
of the heart, in the spirit and not in the letter, whose praise is not of
men, but of God.”
That circumcision
of the heart, is the same with conversion, or turning from sin
to God, is evident by Jer. 4:1-4,
“If thou wilt return, O Israel, return unto me. Circumcise
yourselves to the Lord, and put
away the foreskins of your heart.” And Deu. 10:16, “Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart,
and be no more stiff-necked.” Circumcision
of the heart is the same change of the heart that men experience in repentance;
as is evident by Lev. 26:41, “If their uncircumcised hearts be
humbled, and they accept the
punishment of their iniquity.”
The change effected
in regeneration, repentance, and conversion, is signified by baptism,
as has been show; and so is circumcision of the heart signified by the
same thing. None will deny, that it
was this internal circumcision, which of old was signified by external circumcision; nor will any deny, now under the New
Testament, that inward and
spiritual baptism, or the cleansing of the heart, is signified by external
washing or baptism. But spiritual
circumcision and spiritual baptism are the same thing; both being putting off the body of the sins of the flesh; as is
very plain by Col. 2:11-13, “In whom also
ye are circumcised, with the circumcision made without hands, in putting
off the body of the sins of the
flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with him in baptism, wherein
also ye are risen with him,” etc.
III. This inward
change, called regeneration, and circumcision of the heart, which
is wrought in repentance and
conversion, is the same with that spiritual RESURRECTION so often spoken of, and represented as a dying unto sin,
and a living unto righteousness. —
This appears with great plainness in that last cited place, Col. 2:11, “In
whom also ye are circumcised, with
the circumcision made without hands, — buried with him in baptism,
wherein also ye are risen with him, through the faith of the operation of
God, etc. And you, being dead in your sins, and the uncircumcision
of your flesh, hath he quickened
together with him; having forgiven you all trespasses.”
The same appears by
Rom. 6:3-5, “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized
into Jesus Christ, were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised
up from the dead, by the glory of
the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life,” etc. verse 11,
“Likewise reckon ye also
yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God, through Jesus Christ our
Lord.” In which place also it is evident, and by the whole context, that this
spiritual resurrection is that change, in which persons are
brought to habits of holiness and to the divine
life, by which Dr. T. describes the thing obtained in being born again.
That a spiritual
resurrection to a new, divine life, should be called a being born again,
is agreeable to the language of Scripture. So those words in the 2d Psalm,
“Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee,” are applied to
Christ’s resurrection, Acts 13:33.
So in Col. 1:18, Christ is called the first BORN from the dead; and
in Rev. 1:5, The first BEGOTTEN
of the dead. The saints, in their conversion or spiritual resurrection,
are risen with Christ, and are begotten and born with him. 1 Pet. 1:3, “Who hath begotten us again to a lively hope, by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the
dead, to an inheritance incorruptible.” This inheritance is the same thing
with that KINGDOM of HEAVEN, which
men obtain by being born again, according to Christ’s words
to Nicodemus; and that same inheritance of them that are sanctified,
spoken of as what is obtained in true CONVERSION. Acts 26:18, “To turn
them (or convert them) from
darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness
of sin, and inheritance among them that are sanctified, through faith that is in
me.” Dr. T.’s own words, in his note on Rom. 1:4 speaking
of that place in the 2d Psalm, are
very worthy to be here recited. He observes how this is applied to Christ’s resurrection
and exaltation, in the New Testament, and then has this remark, “note begetting is conferring a new and happy state: a son is a
person put into it. Agreeably to this,
good men are said to be the sons of God, as they are the sons of the resurrection
to eternal life, which is
represented as a ðáëéããåíåóéá, a being BEGOTTEN, or BORN AGAIN,
REGENERATED.” So that I think it is abundantly plain, that the spiritual resurrection
spoken of in Scripture, by which the saints are brought to a new divine
life, is the same with that being born again, which Christ
says is necessary for everyone, in order
to his seeing the kingdom of God.
IV. This change, of
which men are the subjects, when they are born again, and circumcised
in heart, when they repent, and are converted, and spiritually
raised from the dead, is the
same change which is meant when the Scripture speaks of making the HEART and SPIRIT NEW, or giving a new heart and spirit.
It is almost
needless to observe, how evidently this is spoken of as necessary to salvation,
and as the change in which are attained the habits of true virtue and holiness, and the character of a true saint; as has been observed of regeneration,
conversion, etc. and how
apparent it is, that the change is the same. Thus repentance (ìåôáíïéá),
the change of the mind, is the same as being changed to a NEW
mind, or a NEW heart and spirit. Conversion
is the turning of the heart; which is the same thing as changing it so, that
there shall be another heart, or a new heart, or a new spirit. To be born
again, is to be born anew; which
implies a becoming NEW, and is represented as becoming newborn
babes. But none supposes it is the body, that is immediately and
properly new, but the mind,
heart, or spirit. And so a spiritual resurrection is the
resurrection of the spirit, or
rising to begin a NEW existence and life, as to the mind, heart, or spirit.
So that all these phrases imply,
having a new heart, and being renewed in the spirit, according to their
plain signification.
When Nicodemus
expressed his wonder at Christ declaring it necessary, that a man should
be born again in order to see the kingdom of God, or enjoy the privileges
of the kingdom of the Messiah, Christ says to him, Art thou a
master of Israel, and knowest not these
things? i.e. “Art thou one who is set to teach others the things written
in the law and the prophets, and
knowest not a doctrine so plainly taught in your Scriptures, that such
a change is necessary to a partaking of the blessings of the Messiah’s
kingdom?” But what can Christ refer to, unless such prophecies as that
in Eze. 36:25-27? Where God, by the
prophet, speaking of the days of the Messiah’s kingdom, says, “Then will I sprinkle
clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean. — A new heart also will I
give you, and a new spirit will I put within you — and I
will put my Spirit within you.” Here God
speaks of having a new heart and spirit, by being washed with water,
and receiving the Spirit of God,
as the qualification of God’s people, that shall enjoy the privileges of the
Messiah’s kingdom. How much is this like the doctrine of Christ to Nicodemus,
of being born again of water, and of the Spirit! We have
another like prophecy in Eze. 11:19.
— Add to this, that regeneration, or a being born again, and the renewing
(or making new) by the Holy Ghost,
are spoken of as the same thing, Tit. 3:5, “By the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy
Ghost.”
V. It is abundantly
manifest, that being born again, spiritually rising from the dead to
newness of life, receiving a new heart, and being renewed in the
spirit of the mind, are the
same thing with that which is called putting off the OLD MAN, and putting on
the NEW MAN.
The expressions are
equivalent; and the representations are plainly of the same thing.
When Christ speaks of being born again, two births are supposed: a first
and a second, an OLD birth and a NEW one: and the thing born is
called man. So what is born in
the first birth is the old man; and what is brought forth in the second
birth, is the new man.
That which is born in the first birth (says Christ) is flesh: it is the carnal
man, wherein we have borne the
image of the earthly Adam, whom the apostle calls the first man.
That which is born in the new birth, is spirit, or the spiritual and
heavenly man: wherein we proceed from Christ the second man, the new
man, who is made a quickening
Spirit, and is the Lord from heaven, and the Head of the new creation.
— In the new birth, men are
represented as becoming newborn babes, which is the same thing as
becoming new men.
And how apparently
is what the Scripture says of the spiritual resurrection of the Christian
convert, equivalent and of the very same import with putting off the old man,
and putting on the new man. So in Rom. 6 the convert is
represented as dying, and being buried
with Christ; which is explained in the 6th verse, by this, that the old
man is crucified, that the body of
sin might be destroyed. And in the 4th verse, converts in this change
are spoken of as rising to newness of life. Are not these things plain
enough? The apostle in effect tells us, that when he speaks of spiritual
death and resurrection, he means
the same thing as crucifying and burying the old man, and rising as a new
man.
And it is most
apparent, that spiritual circumcision, and spiritual baptism, and
the spiritual resurrection,
are all the same with putting off the old man, and putting on the new
man. This appears by Col. 2:11, 12, “In whom also ye are circumcised with
the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the
body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision
of Christ, buried with him in baptism; wherein also ye are risen with
him.” Here it is manifest, that
the spiritual circumcision, baptism, and resurrection, all signify that
change wherein men put off the body of the sins of the flesh: but that is
the same thing, in this apostle’s language, as putting off the old
man; as appears by Rom. 6:6, “Our
old man is crucified, that the body of sin may be destroyed.” And that putting
off the old man is the same
with putting off the body of sin, appears further by Eph. 4:22-24 and
Col. 3:8-10. As Dr. T. confesses, “that to be born again, is that
wherein are obtained the habits of
virtue, religion, and true holiness;” so how evidently is the same thing predicated of that change, which is called putting off the
old man, and putting on the new man!
Eph. 4:22-24, “That ye put off the old man, which is corrupt, etc. and put
on the new man, which after God is
created in righteousness and true holiness.”
And it is most
plain, that this putting off the old man, etc. is the very same thing with
making the heart and spirit new. It is apparent in itself; the spirit is
called the man, in the
language of the apostle; it is called the inward man, and the hidden
man. (Rom. 7:22; 2 Cor. 4:16; 1
Pet. 3:4) And therefore, putting off the old man, is the same thing with the removal of the old heart; and the putting on
of the new man, is the receiving of a new heart, and a new spirit. Yea, putting on
the new man is expressly spoken of as the same
thing with receiving a new spirit, or being renewed in spirit, Eph.
4:22-24, “That ye put off the old
man — and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that ye put on the
new man.”
From these things
it appears, how unreasonable, and contrary to the utmost degree of
scriptural evidence, is Dr. T.’s way of explaining the old man, and the
new man (Page 149-153. S),
as though thereby was meant nothing personal; but that by the old man
was meant the heathen state,
and by the new man like the Christian dispensation, or state of professing Christians, or the whole collective body of
professors of Christianity, made up of Jews and Gentiles; when all the color he has
for it is, that the apostle once calls the Christian
church a new man. (Eph. 2:15) It is very true, in the Scriptures often,
both in the Old Testament and the
New, collective bodies, nations, peoples, and cities, are figuratively represented by persons: particularly the church
of Christ is represented as one
holy person, and has the same appellatives as a particular saint or
believer; and so is called a child,
a son of God (Exo. 4:22; Gal. 4:1, 2) a servant of God (Isa. 41:8, 9
and 44:1). The daughter of God,
and spouse of Christ (Psa. 45:10, 13, 14; Rev. 19:7). Nevertheless, would it be reasonable to argue, that such
appellations, as a servant of God,
child of God, etc. are always or commonly to be taken as
signifying only the church of
God in general, or great collective bodies; and not to be understood in a personal
sense? But certainly this would
not be more unreasonable than to urge, that by the old and
the new man, as the phrases are mostly used in Scripture, is to be
understood nothing but the great
collective bodies of pagans and of Christians, or the heathen and the Christian
world, as to their outward profession, and the dispensation they are
under. It might have been proper,
in this case, to have considered the unreasonableness of that practice
which our author charges on others, and finds so much fault with in them [Page 224], “That they content themselves with a few scraps
of Scripture, which though wrong understood,
they make the test of truth, and the ground of their principles, in contradiction
to the whole tenor of revelation.”
VI. I observe once
more, it is very apparent, that being born again, and spiritually raised
from death to a state of new existence and life, having a new heart
created in us, being renewed in the
spirit of our mind, and being the subjects of that change by which we put off the old man, and put on the new man is the
same thing with that which in Scripture
is called being CREATED ANEW, or made NEW CREATURES.
Here, to pass over
many other evidences which might be mentioned, I would only observe,
that the representations are exactly equivalent. These several phrases naturally
and most plainly signify the same effect. In the first birth,
or generation, we are created, or
brought into existence: it is then the whole man first receives being:
the soul is then formed, and
then our bodies are fearfully and wonderfully made, being curiously wrought
by our Creator. So that a newborn child is a new creature. So, when a
man is born again, he is created again; in that new birth, there
is a new creation; and therein he becomes as a newborn babe, or a NEW CREATURE. So, in a resurrection,
there is a new creation.
When a man is dead, that which was made in the first creation is destroyed:
when that which was dead is raised to life, the mighty power of the
author of life is exerted the second time, and the subject restored to a
new existence, and a new life, as
by a new creation. So giving a new heart is called CREATING a clean
heart, Psa. 51:10 where the
word, translated create, is the same that is used in the first verse, in Genesis. And when we read in Scripture of the new
creature, the creature that is called NEW is MAN; and therefore the phrase, new man, is
evidently equipollent with new creature;
and putting off the old man, and putting on the new man, is
spoken of expressly as brought to
pass by a work of creation. Col. 3:9, 10, “Ye have put off the old man
— and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge, after the image
of him that created him.” So. Eph. 4:22-24, “That ye
put off the old man, which is corrupt, etc.
and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that ye put on the new man, which
after God is created in
righteousness and true holiness.” These things absolutely fix the meaning of 2 Cor. 5:17, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new
creature: old things are passed
away; behold, all things are become new.”
On the whole, the
following reflections may be made:
1. That it is a
truth of the utmost certainty, with respect to every man born of the race
of Adam, by ordinary generation, that unless he be born again, he cannot see
the kingdom of God. This is true, not only of the heathen, but
of them that are born of the professing
people of God, as Nicodemus, and the Jews, and every man born
of the flesh. This is most
manifest by Christ’s discourse in John 3:3-11. So it is plain by 2 Cor. 5:17, That
every man who is in Christ, is a NEW CREATURE.
2. It appears from
this, together with what has been proved above, that it is most certain
with respect to every one of the human race, that he can never have any
interest in Christ, or see the kingdom of God, unless he be the subject
of that CHANGE in the temper and
disposition of his heart, which is made in repentance and conversion, circumcision
of heart, spiritual baptism, dying to sin, and rising to a new and holy life; and unless he has the old heart taken away, and a new
heart and spirit given, and puts off
the old man, and puts on the new man, and old things are passed away, and all
things made new.
3. From what is
plainly implied in these things, and from what the Scripture most clearly
teaches of the nature of them, it is certain, that every man is born
into the world in a state of moral
pollution. For SPIRITUAL BAPTISM is a cleansing from moral filthiness (Eze. 36:25 compared with Acts 11:16 and John 3:5).
So the washing of regeneration, or
the NEW BIRTH, is a change from a state of wickedness. (Tit. 3:3-5) Men
are spoken of as purified in their regeneration (1 Pet. 1:22, 23; see also 1
John 2:29 and 3:1, 3). And it appears, that every man in his first or
natural state is a sinner; for otherwise
he would then need no REPENTANCE, no CONVERSION, no turning from sin
to God. And it appears, that every man in his original state has a heart of
stone; for thus the Scripture calls that old heart, which is taken
away, when a NEW HEART and NEW
SPIRIT is given. (Eze. 11:19 and 36:26) And it appears, that man’s nature, as
in his native state, is corrupt
according to the deceitful lusts, and of its own motion exerts itself
in nothing but wicked deeds. For thus the Scripture characterizes the OLD
MAN, which is put off, when men are renewed in the spirit of their
minds, and put on the NEW MAN.
(Eph. 4:22-24; Col. 3:8-10) In a word, it appears, that man’s nature, as in
its native state, is a body of
sin, which must be destroyed, must die, be buried, and
never rise more. For thus the
OLD MAN is represented, which is crucified, when men are the subjects
of a spiritual RESURRECTION, Rom. 6:4-6. Such a nature, such a body of sin as this, is put off in the spiritual RENOVATION, wherein we
put on the NEW MAN, and are the
subjects of the spiritual CIRCUMCISION, Eph. 4:21-23.
It must now be left
with the reader to judge for himself, whether what the Scripture teaches
of the APPLICATION of Christ’s redemption, and the change of state and nature necessary to true and final happiness, does not afford
clear and abundant evidence to the
truth of the doctrine of original sin.
Next > Part IV: Chapter I
Index < Content