to the E P H ES I A N S. it; I lay, it had not been Sirrto him, it might have been a Punifhment, but not~ a Sin. And therefore now it mull b<; the Guilt of an !'Cf, that cloth defile us, ~ and ruake the Corruption of Nature m us, and that whtch we have by Bmh, to be finful. · But then all the queflion will be by and by, Whether by Nature we are guilty of that Act, or no ? Now here is all the difference between us and Ada"'• that he was perfonally guilty of that A&., but we are guilty of it by a jull Law of Nature, as I fhall endeavour to explain it to you by and by : But as he became a dead Man, dead in Sins and Trejjajfts, by eating of the forbidden Fruit; Co mull: we be Cuppofed to be alfo.. T!Jeref~re we fhall find, the.New ~efiament, ( which (peaks more accurately m thts pomt than the Old,) tho lt ment1ons Gene• ration, as the inllrumental caufe, which the Old Te!l:ament only did run upon, y_et it puts it upon that one Act: So Rom. 5· I2. By one Man Sin entred into the World, in whom (mark the expreffion) all have finned : It is not only, In whom aU are made Jinfid, as it follows in the I 9th Verfe ; but it is, I, whom all have Ji•med. It is plain, he (peaks not only of inherent Corn1ption in our Natures, but of an A&. of Sin; for he faith, All have finned. Now, mark it, in the I 4th verfe, he (peaks of Children, that ~ver acb.ially finned perfonally, as Adamdid; and yet he faith, that Death reigned over them : Death reigned ( faith he) from Adam to Mofes, even over thmz that had not finned, after the Jimilitude of Adam's Tranfgreffion; that is, they did not perfonally in themfelves fin, as Adam himfelf did, and yet Death did pafs upon them ; therefore they mull be guilty of that A&. of his. Now I take it, thefe words, [ Death reigned over all, J are the Interpretation of the fir!l: Curfe, In the day thmt eatefl, thou Jbalt die the Death. In which Adamwas confidered as a commcm Perfon ; J;lOW by virtue of this Law and Rule given, Death reignet!J according to the Threatning. .And the next words, (which are thofe I pitch upon) do give the rea(on of it clearly and plainly, which are otherwife very obfcure: For (faith he, v. I 3·) 1mtil the Law Sin was in the World; but Sin is not imputed, where there is no Lmv. This is brought in as a reafon, by virtue of what it was, that Children are made finful, or accounted to have finned: Why this (faith he) cannot be byMefes his Law, you cannot find it, that Children are guilty of Sin, ( of whom he (peaks, v. I4.) and that all have finned, ( (o he faith, v. I2.) in the ten Commandments : And yet it mull be by Come Law or other; for ifthere had not been a Law, God would never have charged Children, and all the World with this Sin; therefore clearly it mull be that Law, which God gave peculiarly to that firll Man. This is plainly the Apoflle's meaning, and the coherence of thofe words. You fhall not find this, faith be, in Mofes's Law, it is therefore to be refolved into that firfl: Law that was given to Ada111, In the d"J thou eat eft thouJbalt die, thou, and all thy Pollerity; for it mu!l: be Come older Law than that of Mofes, which this mull be put upon; for, f.1ith he, there was Sin in the World, before the Law ofMofes came, or elfe God could not have charged it, and Children fhould not have died; but they did all die, Death reigned over all, therefore it mull be refolved into an higher Law than that of Mofes; and what was that? I fay, that Law that God gave to Adam, In the d~y thou eatefl thou Jbalt die. And that is clearly interpreted in I Cor.I 5.2~. I~, Adam all died; that is, by reafon of the Tranfgreffion ofthat :firll Law, whtch ts a Law older than Mofes, by virtue of which, Children are faid to have finned in Adatn, and (o alfo to have died in him. Now then to conclude this firll Q!!ery: If you ask, What it is, that in llriB: terms is the caufe that cloth pollute us to the end of the World? I fay, it is not Generation, it is not the immediate Parents, they are the Channels through which it is conveyed; but it is plainly and clearly that firfi Act ofAdam's, which ~s it corrupted his Nature, corrupteth ours to the end of the World. The Text IS fo clear for this, as nothing more. Rom, 5· I9. By one Man's difobedience, many w_ere made Sinners. Ifyou ask, what it is that makes many Sinners? Th'eApoflle h1mfelf refolves you, it is that one Man's difobedience. Even as Chrirt's ohedi– .cnce cloth make us holy to the end of the World ; tho God ufc the Word, and ufe Mmifrers to convert us, yet it is not the Word, or the .Minifters, that make ~~2 - ~~
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