nature, Rom. ii. 14: But Christ did all he did by the power of an endless life, Heb. vii. 16: and so by the law of the spirit of adoption, Rom. viii. 2. So his obedience was of infinite value, which Adam's had not been, had he obeyed.

Thirdly. It is not for want of imputation, for it is imputed to justification of life, Rom. v. 18. 21, and that eternal too; and such a life, that Adanı's obedience could never have entitled him to. So much for the active obedience of Christ. Now

propensity in the things that are seen to arrive at that state in which we find them. The above verb is made use of by the holy Spirit, when describing the life-giving energy of the eternal God, Eph. ii. 10, "For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus, unto good works," &c. It is the giving of a new life to a sinful, guilty, dead soul; this life is assimilated into all its properties, to him who is the giver of it; "and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge, after the image of him that created him,' Col. iii. ro; all its properties and tendencies are perpetually correspondent with its nature; its nature is holy, just, and good, for it is "created in righteousness and true holiness:" it can never be polluted by the entrance of evil, for to evil, it is intangible r John iii, ro, "Whosoever is born of God, doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth

Now for his passive: but before I enter into it, I observe, that if there be any conditions left on our part, he must have left it to do on his part. Now, I ask, what part of the law he has left undone for if there be something to be done by us, it is not done by him, so his active obedience is not perfect; but if it be perfect, then all that we do as a condition, is more than the law requires for righteousness. Let us see if the conditions be not left in his passive obedience,

and

remaineth in him, and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." Whosoever is born of God, cannot sin. The new nature of a christian is emphatically born of God, therefore the new nature of a christian cannot sin. There are no actions of the new man attributable to the flesh; the fleshly or fallen nature of man ever remains the same, neither are its sinful tendencies and actions attributable to the new man; the new nature and not the old, gives the christian his real identity in the estimation of God:-men, and good men too, (by good men, I mean men of grace) hold an hypothesis opposite to this,—but bring them to the test of experience, and they will contradict their creed; they will instantly join with the apostolic concession, and say, "In me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing, but when I would do good, the evil is present with

me,

Jin,

and if it be not there, we will say there is none. Now in order to his suffering, sin must be trans. ferred from us to him, or no justice can lay hold of him; wrath cannot kindle this sacrifice without this wood, (sin,) no law can curse without sin. Now, that it was laid upon him, needs not much proof, but amplification: Isaiah liii. 6, 2 Cor. v. 2: for that Christ was made sin, is not so much a question, as how? If it be demanded, how Jesus Christ was made sin for us? I answer,

It

me, if then I do that which I would not, it is no longer I, but sin that dwelleth in me." is no longer I.-The identifying feature of the christian, or that which gives him an individuality of existence, has nothing to do with evil,and yet evil is its greatest, is its only burden;so loathsome is it to the renewed soul, that it aptly compares it to a dead, a putrified body: under it he exclaims, O! wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?". Groaning under a load removes it not, christian hating the evil lessons it not,-hating an enemy is essentially different from conquering an enemy. What is the result of the spirit's. teaching upon the heart? What power, or what influence reaches the soul? Who instructs it? Is not the heart unknown to all except God, and those to whom he is pleased to impart know

the

ledge?

I answer, we must first distinguish sin thus; first, sin; secondly, the punishment for sin; thirdly, the punishment of sin.

First. Sin is the transgression of the law, 1 John iii, 4; a transgression of the law, or an offence, as the Apostle calls it, Rom. v. 15. But, more properly, What is sin? Sin is a free act of the man, having the liberty of his will; and so was Adam furnished, that had not he of free choice eaten, it was not his sensual part, nor

the

ledge; the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked? I the Lord search the heart, &c. Jer. xvii. 9. Deceitful as the heart is, and desperately wicked, yet he that formed the eye, can perceive the depth of its mysterious iniquity; and he that planted the ear is well acquainted with all its secret designs; to men, when intent upon the vilest actions, it assumes the fairest form;-its language upon such occasions is, "is thy servant a dog, that he should do this? Yes, and actions viler still, if he who holds the winds in his fist" calms not thy raging tempest. See this degraded state represented by the Holy Ghost, "And God saw, (and if God saw he cannot be deceived) that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thought of his heart was only evil, and that continually." How just the re

the Devil could have forced him; no, except the Devil could have altered the nature of man, he never could have forced his will; so that none of the posterity of Adam (as such) was ever able to sin, properly thus, therefore unfit (as such) ever to enter into covenant more.

Secondly. It is called an offence, that is a stumbling-block between God and the creature; the sin is an offence to God, as it is a breach of his law, and the man is not only guilty but filthy.

Sin

presentation, however humiliating,-the thoughts deceitful,—the imagination of the thoughts deceitful, and that not in a few particular instances, but continually-without interruption. True, replies one, the heart is deceitful, and its imaginations are evil.-Yet, there are seasons when by its resolving powers and reforming properties, it unmasks the demon and hurls him from his throne. When is it the heart is found to act thus? Have you ever found it so in yourself, or discovered such effects produced by its internal energy in others? If you have witnessed any period when the above is justly predicable of the human mind, you have examined it with a greater degree of certainty, than he "who searches the heart and trieth the reins of men;" for the God of truth declares, that there is nothing but evil, and that continually, and only evil in the hearts of men;

Gen.