ESSAY 7. 421 We thus ,judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead, that is, spiritually dead in trespasses and sins. Now can we suppose that God wouldcreate such a world of beings, that every one of themcoming out Of his own hands in their original purity and innocence, should so universally break his law, run into sin and spiritual death, and naturally incline to practices which tend to defile and destroy themselves, and that without any one ex- ception, if it had not arisen from some root of bitterness, some, original iniquity, which diffused itself through all of them from their very birth or entrance into this world ? Surely this univer- sal corruptionwould incline any person to believe, either that God had not given to each of his creatures in their original for- mation a full and practical sufficiency to answer the demands of his law, and to preserve themselves from iniquity and guilt, or that it was lost in some hand or other. It is a strange and incre- dible thing to suppose that every single person among the mil- lions of mankind should be born innocent and pure, with suffi- cient and practical powersof all kinds to fulfil the law of God and their duty, and that they should yet, by free and voluntary choice, every one for himself, for near six thousand years toge- ther, break his holy law, and rebel against him that made them, . if there were not some original and universal contagion spread through them all at their entrance into life. See Quest. I. Sect. VII. at the end. Secondly, I argue the same point from the scriptural doc- trine of our recovery by divine grace. Let us consider in what manner the scripture represents the necessity of a great and divine change to be made upon the souls of all men, in order to their recovery from the ruins of their nature, and to obtain the favour and image of God, and future happiness. John iii: 3. Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God: And in other scriptures it is represented that they must be born of the Spirit, verses 6, 8. They must be born of God, John i. 13. They must be creaked anew in Christ Jesus unto good works, Ephes. ii. 10. They must be qúickened, or be raised again from their death in trespasses and sins; Eph. ii. 5. They must be renewedin their Spirit, or created after the image of tiod in righteousness and true holiness ; Eph. iv. 23, 24. They must be reconciled to God by Jesus Christ ; 2. Cor. v. 18, 19. They must be washed from their sins in his blood ; l Cor. vi. 11. Rev. i. 5. And since all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, therefore if ever they are saved, they must be justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hasr set forth to be a propitiation throughfaith in his blood ; Rom. iii. 23-25. Now canany one suppose that God had made such à world of creatures as have come into being from Adam's time to our's, which have all entered into this nd3
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=