54 FLESH AND SPIRIT. I confess there may be some sort of opposition made to fleshly lusts, where there is no renewed nature, no saving grace, no true principle of holiness, such as is described by the spirit in my text. Many a youth resists his inclination toa drinkinghour, or unclean iniquities, by the mere force of his education, by the awful regard he has to his parents, by a fear of injury to his health, or of public shame or scandal. Many a wicked man refuses to comply with his corrupt appetites, because he cannot bear the anguish of his own conscience, and the sharp reproaches of his reason and better judgment. And manya guilty passion is restrained, and suppressed, from a natural fear of the justice of God, and an everlastinghell, without any inward principle of real piety. It is notevery resistance therefore that we make and main- tain against sin, can be a sufficient evidence that we are new crea- tures, unlesswe can say with St. Paul ; Rom. vii. 22. I delight in the law of Godafter the inward man; that my soul not only approves,but takespleasure in holiness ; that sin is the object of myutter hatred, as well as my present resistance; and that not only as it promotes may own ruin, but as it brings dishonour to God : that my very heart and soul are set for God and religion, and itis a griefand daily burden to me, that there should be any such thingas a law inmy members warring against the law of my mind; which makes the true christian cry out often, with bitter, ness of soul, 0 wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Rom. vii. 24. Yet still it remains an ineoptestible truth, That where, there is no resistance to the flesh, and the lusts thereof, there persons are not only in a state Of sin, but in the strongest bonds of iniquity ; they have bruti- fied their human natures, and have made themselves like the beasts that perish ; such was the character of the Ephesian Gen- tiles when the -gospel came first among them ; they were alienated from the life of God, and being past feeling, gave themselves up to work all uncleanness with greediness ; Eplz. iv.18, 19. Remark -II. There may be some spirit in a person where there is much flesh ; some holiness 'where there is much sin. For as none but saints in heaven are all spirit, and as the unre- generate are all flesh; so the saints here upon earth, are Some fleshand some spirit,}recause they are sanctified but inpart ; they are in their way towards perfection, but they are not perfect : The spirit and the flesh conflict in them, so that theycannot do the things which they would. As they cannot serve Godand practise holiness, with such constancy and zeal as they desire, because of thelusting of the flesh ; so neither can they sink so far into sin, nor indulge evil courses so far as the flesh would lead them, if they had no strivings of the spirit to resist it, no principles of
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