OF THE MIND BY SIN. 1 +5. lion of any long course of sinning, much less that it should be the cause of the other things ascribed' to the Gentiles, whereof, indeed, it was the effect. The de- scription given, is that of the state of all men by nature, as is plain from chap. ii. I, 2, 3. ('h.) The darkness here mentioned, is opposed unto being light in the Lord, chap. v. 5., which is not mere natural light, nor can any by that light alone discern spiritual things, or the things that belong to the life of God. (5.) The . life of God here is not that life whirls God and na- ture require, but that lifewhich God reveals in, requires, and communicates, by the gospel through Jesus Christ, as,all learned expositors acknowledge. Wherefore the apostle treateth here of the state of men by nature, with respect unto spiritual and supernatural things. And three heads be reduceth all things in man unto: (I.) He mentions tr. ,ae, the mind. (2.) To beosea, the un. derstanding. And (3.) Tm sa,kas, the heart. And all these are one entire principle of all our moral and spi- ritual operations; and are all affected with the darkness and ignorance whereofwe treat. Sect. 15.1. There is d siis, the mind. This is the ze sysF o es', the leading and ruling faculty of the soul. It is that in us which lookethout after proper objects, for the will and affections to receive andembrace. Here- by we have our first apprehensions of all things, whence deductions are made to our practice. And hereunto is ascribed Fcaea,eese, vanity; they walk in the vanity of their mind. Things inthe scripture are said to be vain, which are useless and fruitless. Mass,s, vain, is from sano, to no purpose, Matth. xv. 9. Hence the apostle calls the idols of the Gentiles, and the rites used in their worship, Fsasra,n, vain. things, Acts xiv. 15. So he ex- presseth the Hebrew, seiss 'So Jonas ii. 5. lying vani- ties; or ea, which is as much as asngsrss, a thing alto- gether useless and unprofitable, according to the de- '.. scription given of them, I Sam. xii. 21. nun inn 'n Ws' ntS11S'p ,'s nnmainns, Fain things which cannotprofit, nor deliver, for they are vain. There is no profit in, nor use of that which is vain. As the mind is said to be vain, or under the power of vanity, two things are intended: (1.) Its natural inclination unto things that are vain, that is, such as are not a proper,nor useful object unto the soul and its affections. .It seeks about to lead the soul to rest and satisfaction, but always unto vain things, and that in great -variety. Sin, the world, pleasures, the satisfaction of the flesh, with pride of life, are the things which it naturally pureues. And, in actings of this nature, a vain mind abounds; it multiplies vain imaginations, like the sand on the sea-shore. These are called the figments of the hearts of men, Gen. vi. 5. which are found to be only evil continually. These it feigns and frames, abundantly bringing them forth as the earth doth grass, or as a cloud pours out drops of water. And herein, ('2.) It is unstable; for that which is vain is various, inconstant, unfixed, light, as a na- tural mind is; so that it is like hell itself for confusion and disorder; or the whorish woman described by So- lomon. Prov. vii. 11, 12. And this bathbefallen it by the loss of that fixed regularity which it was created in. There was the same cogitative or imaginative faculty in us in the state of innocency, as there remains under the power of sin. But then_all the actings of it were orderly and regular. The mind was able to direct them all unto the end for which we were made. God was, and would have been, the principal object of them, and all other things in order unto him. But now, being turned off from him, the mind in them engageth in all manner of confusion; and they all end in vanity or disappointment. They offer, as it were . their service unto the soul, to bring it in satisfaction.' And, although they are rejected one after another, as not answering what they pretend unto, yet they con- stantly arise under the same notion, and keep the whole soul under everlasting. disappointments. And from hence it is, that the mind cannot assent unto the com- mon principles of religion in a due manner, which yet it cannot deny. This will be further cleared afterwards. Hereon, in conversion unto God, we are said to have our minds renewed, Rom. xii. 2. and to be renewed in the spirit of ourminds, Ephes. iv. 23. By the mind, the faculty itself is intended, the rational principle in us of apprehension, of thinking, discoursing, and as- senting. This is renewed by grace, or brought into a- nother habitude and frame, by the implantation of a ruling, guiding, spiritual light in it. The spirit of the mind is the inclination and disposition in the actings of it. These also must be regulated by grace. Sect. 16.-2. There is the â,aeoa, the understanding. This is the ell lsaspn:se., the directive, discerning, judg- ing faculty of the soul, that leads it unto practice. It guides the soul in the choice of the notions which it.
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