to the E PH ES I A N s: held they were in opinion Children ofWrath, but thole that "-~ therefore it is to rto purpofe it fhould be brought in here to that fence. . ~ The Syfiacl{_TranOation ad~s this; They wereplane; plene, :-vholly Chddren of Wrath, not in one part, but m the ~holenature. Bu_t that ts held forth (as I have faid) in the words before: For tt was ~n Obfervatton I made, grounded up– on the words in the IaO: Dtfcourfe, That tt IS feated m the whole Man. But; thirdly, to come to that meaning, which indeed the ApoO:le.aims at, and therefore I will call it the firO:, for I do but mentton the other; whtch tho they are true, yet they are not the ultimate fcope of the ApoO:le here. . 1. Therefore [by Nat11re J IS ,m oppofiuon to Imttauon, or to CuO:om, which yet is aftera :J(atltra; as .Ariflotle ufes the word (and fo does the Scnpture too) in the fecond Book of his Ethick.} ; Vertues, faith he, are not q,u~f<, are not by Na– ture, as :JV:!tit~.e, as ~he common ~eeds ofKn?wledg in the minds of Men are, So that what is mnate m us, bred wtth us, whtch we have from the pnnc1ples of Nature, which is interwoven with our Natures, that is faid to be by Nature. And therefore now in one.word, according to all Languages, That which is the incli– nation of any one, the natural difpofition, that which a man is noturally addicted unto, it is [aid to be by Nature. The ApoO:le therefore, having fpoken of the Lufls ofthe Mind, and ofthe Flefh, in the words before, his meaning here is,that thefe are natural unto Men, they are the very inclination of their Minds, the na– tural frame oftheir Hearts. And fo now it h,ath an emphafis in it, that what we arc by reafon of Original Corruption (which·he had called Flef!J before) is Nature in all Men. And tho he only faith, we ·are Children ofWrath by Nature, yet this Wrath muO: be for fomething; for God is not angry for what is not Sin: -therefore it implies, that our natural difpofition, all thofe LuO:s which he had mentioned, and that Flefh which is the Mother of thefe Lufls, this is that which is Man's Na– ture. And fo now the fcope ofthe ApoO:le is plainly and clearly this, Further to aggravate and fet out that Corruption and Sinfulnefs that is in the Hearts of Men. Yc are not only Children of Wrath, faith he, and deferve eternal Damnation; which was that that hung over your heads for all the aCtual Sins you have com– mitted (ofwhich he had fpoken before) but further, even by Nat11re; and for your very Natures, and the inclinations thereof, even for the vtry Nature that is in you ( he brings it in as a farther addition and aggravation) even for this alfo you are Children ofWrath. 'By Nat11re, it is that which a Man doth being left to Nature; as inRom. 2. The Gentile1do by Nat11re the thing1 ofthe Law, from their natural principles that are in them: fo [by Nature] it is that principle that is in a Man, that is principi11m motiH, the principle of all his aCtions: For every thing works according to its nature, as Ariflotlc tells us. 2. [By 5\(at11re] imports not only that it is a Man's Nature, but that his birth is a caufe Come way or other, or a foundation ofhis being thus corrupt. By Na" t11re ; it is taken for the Nativity ; it is cpu~f<, and it is all one with Birth. As now in Rom. 2. 2 7. The Gentiles are called the Vnrircumcijo" by Na111re, that is; by Binh; not io refpect of their natural ConO:itution, but in refpect of a Privi• ledg that the Jews had by Birth, which the Gentiles had not, (as Priviledges J'OU know go by Birth.) So in Gal. 2. 15. in oppofition thereunto, faith he, We who are JewJ by Nat11re; that is, who have the Privilcdge of Jews by Birth. And fa Piml faith, he was bom a Roman; that is, he was a Roman by Nature. r n the Cam€ fence the Gentiles were called ~tncirCIImcijon by Nat11re too, that the Jews were called JewJ by Nat11rc. Now to me that is evidently the meaning of the Apoflle here, and that for thefe Reafons : 1. Becaufe he changes the phrafc (which is an obfervable thing:) In the fecond verfc he had faid they were Children ofdifobedi– CIIce, lvTOJS tiots ~'"""eel"-" but here rtKVoc: which tho it fignifies aChild at large, yet more expreilyand properly it fignifies a Child begotten. His ufing thatphrafe here, ~n diUinction from the other in the fecond verfe, when he fpcaks of Difobedience, >~tports th~t they were thus by Birth. I will not trouble you to confute' a Criti• c1fm which Zanchy bath, becaufe the confntation of it is obvious. Then, 2. he ~ddmgbefides, that, and were by Nat11re the begollen Children ofWrath, as I may fo mtcrpret tt. And (which is obfervablc too) he doth not fay, which are the Children •!Wrath by NatHre, but in the Greek it is, which were Children bJ. NatHre ofWrath; (o
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