to the E P H ES I AN S. 77 derived to us by them, ) .yet being our Nature, it is of all_ things properly ~ ours ; for there is nothtng [o properly o~rs, as what. IS ,our Nature, -~ and wbat is our [elves. As therefore Hell 1s called, a Smner s Place, (as you have it, .ACis I.), fo Corruption an? Fldh is called Our Fleib, we polfefs nothing but Sin. Yea, PaHI, he calleth 1t hmifeif' In me, ( Guth he) that u, m my Flefb; he cloth not only call it Flejh, but he ca!ls it himfelf And, . 2. It is called our Flejb, m oppofitwn to Gods Work. Let no Man, fauh James, when he is tempted, Jay, he is tempted of God; he is tempted of hit own Lufls of his own Fleib : Of his own Lufts, that IS the Plu·afc there, m Janzes I. I 3 , I 4. It is fpoken there in oppofltion to the Work of God in us ; it is not that which at firfi God created us m. And, 3 . It is called o11r Flejb, in oppofltion to the Grace that is in us. When the Devil is faid to fin, he IS fa1d to fin oj bu ow11, John 8. f4· And m Jude v. I6. carnal Men arc faid to wall;_ after thei>· ow11 Lufts. But 1f any Grace be fpoken of. that is in us, how runs the Stile of that? I have done thus and thus (faith p;, 11 !,) and yet not I, but the Grace of God that is in me. I k,ztow a Man in Chrijl, ( faith he) was thus and.thus, not of my felf wzll I glory, but of that Man in Chrift. The Phrafe that 1s ufed, r fpeakmg of Grace, and all the workmgs of it,) in 2 Cor. 3· is, We are not fttjficient of o11r felve~, as of our [elves, (there is all the exclufion that may be, both &q,'£"'umv, and t~ '"'umv, either of our (elves, or Out of our felves; neither a nobis, tanqua/Jt ex nobis,) to thin/;_ a good Thought. And fo much now, why it is called, Ortr Flefb. The Interpretation cloth carry Obfervations with it, which I need not mention. I come to the IU. What are the Lufis of our Fleib ? All the Buddings of this curled Root of inherent Corruption in us, are in Scripture exprefi to us by Lufls. Sometimes the word [ Lufts J is put for the Root it felf, for Original Sin it !elf, that inherent quality in us; as in James I. When Lujl hath conceived, it bringeth forth Sin. He calleth corrupt Nature Lufts ; but here he calls the firfi Buds,the firfi rillngs of Corruption from this root, he calls them Lufis. So, in 'J?.tlm. 7. IQ. Sin wro11ght in me all m'nncr of ConC11piflence ; that is, all manner of Lufls. Lufis tbere are taken for the buddings of Original Corruption, which is there meant by Sin, which is the Sin that dwells in us. Now all the Corruption that is in corrupt Noture, I reduce to thefe two Heads, yet not l, but the Apoflle. L All thofe Principles of A~heifm, of Infidelity, and Ungodlinefs, that are in the Hearts of Men, which are the foundation. For the Principles of Unbelief, and of Darknefs, and Prefumption, and the like; thefe do cut a Man off from God ; and the Soul being cut off from God, is left to eternal Death, as I !ball ibew you how by and by. I fay, all the Corruptions in Man's Heart, they are reduced, either to the Principles of Atheifm, of Infidelity and Unbelief; or e!fe, 2. To thole !'ofitive Lufls, and Inclinations, and Defires after fomething in the World, whtch a Man would have, and which he placcth his comfort in, more than in God. I take this Divifion from that of the Apo!He, in Tit. 2. 12. Teaching 111 to deny Vngodlinefl, and worldly Lufts. Here you have the Sum. And hence in the I 8th Verfe of the Epi!He of Jude, y.ou !ball find, that they are called ungodly Lztfts ; for the Heart being cut off from God, :Jit is lefi: to the fwinge of its own natur<tl Lufis and Dellres. And in thefe two lies the utmofi extent of all the.Coi:– ruptiomjn Man's Nature. · Now altho indeed the Apo!He here cloth not directly mention that privative part (as I may call it) of Atheifm and Unbelief; yet it is evidently implied: for our Lull:s were not finful Lufis, unlefs they .did arife from Ungodlinefs, from that llngodhnefs, and that Atheifm, and thatUnbelief, that is il! the Spirits of Men.
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