qF THE t1 ed unto it in the dispensation and preaching of the gos- pel, unless it be renewed, enlightened, and actuated by the Holy Ghost. Sect. 25. This the apostle plainly asserts, 1 Cor. ii. 14. 5s The natural man receiveth not the things of the ss Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; ss neither can he know them, because they are spiritu- ss ally discerned." (1.) Thesubject spoke of is Yroxraos z,Sgazros, animalis homo, the natural man, he who is a natural man. This epithet is in the scripture opposed unto aresue ss, spi- ritual, 1 Cor. xv. 44. Jude, 15. where v'xr:ee, are de- scribed by aveys a pr, 1x.mr, such as have not the Spirit of God. The foundation of this distinction, and the distribution of men into these two sorts thereby, is laid in that of our apostle, 1 Cor. xv. 45. i'owa ¿orgaros- s,9gaores Asap eas 4'17x, Cae ixares 'Asap us anuses woaorer. The first Adam was made a living soul; hence every man who hath no more but what is traduced from him, is called ,)'sx,aes; he is a living soul, as was the first Adam; and the last Adam is made a quick- ening spirit. Hence he that is of him, partaker of his nature, that derives from him, is anupar,u,s, a spi- ritual man. The person therefore here spoken of, or ,j'ex,ms, is one that bath all that is or can be deriv- ed from the last Adam, one endowed with a rational soul, and who bath the use and exercise of all its ra- tional faculties. Sect. 25.Some, who look upon themselves almost so near to advancements, asto countenance them inma- gisterial dictates, and scornful reflections upon others, tell us, that by this natural man, a man given up to his pleasures, and guided by brutish affections, and no o- ther is intended; one that gives himself up to the go- vernment of his inferior faculties. But no rational man, noone that will attend unto the dictates of reason, is at all concerned in thisassertion. But how is this prov- ed? If we are not content with bare affirmations, we must at length be satisfied with railing and lying, and all sorts of reproaches. But the apostle in this chap. ter, distributes all men living into a,eassuusu , and 4.sx,,, spiritual and natural. He who is not a spiritual man, be he who and what he will, be he as rational as some either presume themselves to be, or would beg of the world to believe that they are, is a natural man. The supposition of a middle state of men is absolutely de- IND BY SIN. 1449 structive of the whole discourse of the apostle as to its proper design. Besides, this of ,j'exraos sr&¿ares is the best and softest term that is given in the scripture to unregenerate men, with respect unto the things of God; and there is no reason why it should be thought only to express the worst sort of them thereby. The scrip- ture terms not men peculiarly captivated unto brutish affections, 5,S -1sa,s ,,t5, uor, natural men, but rather Aaoya aa ¢sors,, 2 Pet. ii. 12. natural brute beasts. And Austin gives us a better account of this exposition, Tractat. 98. in khan. " Animalis homo, i. e. qui secundum hominem sapit, animalis dictus ab anima, carnalis a carne, quia ex anima et carne constat om- ss nis homo, non percipit ea gum sont Spiritus Dei, i- e. ss quid gratis credentibus conferat crux Christi." And another; " Carnales dicimur, quando totos nos volup- tatibus damns; Spirituales, quando Spiritum Sane- " tum prtevium sequimur; id est, cum ipso sapins in- s, struente, ipso ducimur anetore. Animalis reor esse a Philosophosqui proprios cogitatusputant esse Sapien- u tiam, de quibus recte dicitur, animalis astern homo u non recipit ea gum sunt Spiritus, stultitia quippe est ss ei." Hieronim. Comment. in Epist. adGal, cap. 5. And another, 'sbxrros in. é TO TT. zens aoyropors Ins ys xns ?'lev, ., ps reaagar Ano úa, nos I eSa, tao,dsas, ózsg ir,' ,Vouas, a. rag away ases, ¿ On; ira pavSa,e, sa, S, xnra. ro sag Ases; iss a la17re Ascos, igue r repass. xa. yag ó ¿¢Suaao asana Etwrapor; siso' is, puaorrao xwg,s 55505 ¿ear, Of a rusare saaae5 ¿rrvrer, ftle J] ¿Issa,, rxss, iSaa os, ,eagap?xarer. 17'Oar oars, i ,)-s Xa tac ßew,sSo seep; arerparos &saw, 000 epao$ar asr, yer,.4i. Chrysost. in 1 Cor. ii. 15. ss The natural os man is he who ascribes all things to the power of the ss reasonings of the mind, and doth not think that he a stands in need of aid from above, which is madness; ss for Godhath given the soul that it should learn and ss receive what he bestows, or what is from him, and ss not suppose that it is sufficient of itself, or to itself. ss Eyes are beautiful and profitable; but if they would ss see without light, this beauty and power will not pro- sy fit but hurt them. And the mind if it would see" (spiritual things) " without the Spirit of God, it doth " but ensnare itself." And it is a sottish supposition, that there are a sort of unregenerate rational men, who are not under the power of corrupt affections in and about spiritual things; seeing the carnal mind is enmity against God. This therefore is the subject of the apos.
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