16. Chapter III.
Chapter III.
Corruption or depravation of the mind by sin.
Contempt and corruption of the doctrine of regeneration — All men in the world are regenerate or unregenerate — General description of the corrupted nature — Depravation of the mind — Darkness on it — The nature of spiritual darkness — Reduced to two heads — Of darkness objective; how removed — Of darkness subjective; its nature and power proved — Ephesians 4:17-18, explained and applied — The mind "alienated from the life of God" — The" life of God," what it is — The power of the mind with respect to spiritual things examined — 1 Corinthians 2:14 explained —the "natural man," who it is — Spiritual things, what they are — How the natural man cannot know or receive spiritual things — Difference between understanding doctrines and receiving things — A twofold power and ability of mind with respect to spiritual things explained — Reasons why a natural man cannot discern spiritual things — How and why spiritual things are foolishness to natural men — Why natural men cannot receive the things of God — A double impotency in the mind of man by nature — 1 Corinthians 2:14 further vindicated — Power of darkness in persons who are unregenerate — The mind is filled with wills or lusts, and enmity thereby — The power and efficacy of spiritual darkness declared at large.
We have, I hope, made our way plain for the due consideration of the great work of the Spirit in the regeneration of the souls of God’s elect. Regeneration is that means by which he forms the members of the mystical body of Christ, and prepares living stones for building a temple in which the living God will dwell. Now, so that we may not only declare the truth in this matter, but also vindicate it from those corruptions with which some have endeavored to debauch it,
I will premise this with a description recently given of regeneration, done with confidence enough, but maybe without too much authority. It is given in these words:
"What is it to be born again, and to have a new spiritual life in Christ, but to become sincere proselytes to the gospel, to renounce all vicious customs and practices, and to give an upright and uniform obedience to all the laws of Christ. And therefore, if they are all but precepts of moral virtue, then to be born again, and to have a new spiritual life, is only to become a new moral man. But their account" (speaking of Nonconformist ministers503) "of this article is so wild and fantastic, that if I had nothing else to make good my charge against them, that alone would be more than enough to expose the prodigious folly of their spiritual divinity." 504
I confess, these are the words of someone who does not seem to consider much what he says, so that it may serve his present turn in reviling and reproaching other men. For he does not consider that, by this description, he utterly excludes the baptismal regeneration of infants, which is so plainly professed by the church in which he is dignified. But this is publicly declared, avowed, and vended, as an allowed doctrine among us. And therefore it deserves to be noticed, even though the person who states it, is at irreconcilable feuds with this man and his church. An account of morality and grace will be given elsewhere. At present, the work of regeneration is what is under consideration. And concerning this, those [Noneconformists] who are so severely treated, teach no other doctrine than what, for its substance, is received in all the reformed churches in Europe, and which so many learned divines of the Church of England confirmed with their suffrage at the synod of Dort.505 Whether this deserves all the scorn which this haughty person pours on it by his swelling words of vanity will, to indifferent persons, be made apparent in the ensuing discourse. As to what is also to be thought of its description by that author, whether it savors more of ignorance and folly, or of pride and fulsome errors, is hard to determine. I know that some words in it are used with the old Pelagian trick of ambiguity, so as to be capable of having another sense and interpretation put upon them than their present use and design will allow; but that artifice will immediately be rendered useless.
There is a twofold state of men with respect to God, which comprehends all individuals in the world; for all men are either unregenerate or regenerate. There being both an affirmation and a negation concerning the state of regeneration in the Scripture, one or the other may be used concerning every capable subject; thus every man living is either regenerate, or he is not. And I suppose there is a general consent of Christians in this.
Again, it is evident in the Scripture, and we have proved it along the way, that all men are born in an unregenerate condition. This is so positively declared by our Savior that there is no rising up against it, John 3.3-8.506 Now, regeneration is the deliverance of men (or the means of it) from that state and condition in which they are born, or are by nature. Therefore we cannot discover what regeneration consists of, without a declaration of that state which regeneration delivers us from. And we will first insist on this at large, giving an account of the state of lapsed nature under a loss of the original grace of God. And I will handle these things practically, for the edification of all sorts of believers, not in the scholastic way and method, which will yet be done elsewhere. In the declaration of the state of corrupted nature after the fall, and before its reparation by the grace of Jesus Christ — that is, by the effectual operation of the Holy Spirit — the Scripture principally insists on three things:507
1. The corruption and depravation of the mind — which it calls darkness and blindness, with the consequents of vanity, ignorance, and folly.
2. The depravation of the will and affections — which it expresses several ways, such as by weakness or impotency, and stubbornness or obstinacy.
3. By the general name of death — which is extended to the condition of the whole soul. And these have various effects and consequences, as will appear in our explanation of them.
All men by nature — not enlightened, not renewed in their minds by the saving and effectual operation of the Holy Spirit — are in a state of darkness and blindness with respect to God and spiritual things, along with the way of pleasing him and living to him. However wise, knowing, learned, and skillful men may be in other things, in spiritual things they are dark, blind, and ignorant unless they are renewed in the spirit of their minds by the Holy Ghost. This is a matter which the world cannot endure to hear about, and is ready to break into a fight upon its mention. They think it is only an artifice which some weak men have invented to reflect on and condemn those who are wiser than themselves. On a similar occasion, the Pharisees asked a question of our Savior with pride and scorn, "Are we blind also?" John 9:40. But he lets them know that their presumption of light and knowledge would only serve to aggravate their sin and condemnation, verse 41.508 Thus he had plainly told them that notwithstanding all their boasting, "they had neither heard the voice of God at any time, nor seen his shape," John 5:37.
Some at present talk much about the power of the intellectual faculties of our souls, as though they were neither debased, corrupted, impaired, nor depraved. All that disadvantage which has befallen our nature by the entrance of sin, they say, is only in "the disorder of the affections and the inferior sensitive parts of the soul, which are apt to tumultuate and rebel against that pure untainted light which is in the mind!" And thus they speak of the mind without respect to its renovation by the Holy Spirit; for if they include that also, they are most notoriously confused triflers in their discourses. Indeed, some of them write as if they had never once deigned to consult the Scriptures, and others have plainly gone over into the tents of the Pelagians. But, setting aside their modern artifices of confident boasting, contemptuous reproaches, and scurrilous railings, it is not a difficult undertaking to demonstrate the depravity of the minds of men by nature. Consequently, their minds are impotent to discern spiritual things in a spiritual manner,509 without a saving, effectual work of the Holy Spirit in their renovation – such that the proudest and most petulant of them will not be able to answer this with anything solid.510 We plead for nothing in this but the known doctrine of the ancient catholic church, declared in the writings of the most learned fathers, and determinations of councils against the Pelagians, whose errors and heresies are again revived among us by a crew of Socinianized Arminians. To this end, we may first consider the testimonies given in the Scripture to the assertion as laid down in general:
Matthew 4:16; "The people which sat in darkness saw a great light; and to those who sat in the region and shadow of death, light has sprung up."
What kind of darkness this was in particular will be declared afterward. For the present, it corresponds to what is proposed — that before the illumination given to them by the preaching of the gospel, the people mentioned "sat in darkness," or lived under its power. And the light by which they were relieved was such that the darkness under which they were detained was of the same kind.511 And in the same sense, when Christ preached the gospel, "the light shined in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it," John 1:5 — it gave no place to the light of the truth declared by him, so that it might be received in the souls of men. The commission which he gave to Paul the apostle, when he sent him to preach the gospel was, "To open the eyes of men, and to turn them from darkness to light," Acts 26:18; — not to a light within them; for internal light is the eye or seeing of the soul.
Rather, the darkness consisted in their blindness, in not having their eyes open: "To open their eyes, and turn them from darkness." Ephesians 5:8, "You were sometimes darkness, but now are you light in the Lord." What the change is — the alteration made in the minds of men — as intended in this expression, will be made apparent afterward; but none can doubt that a great change is proposed. Colossians 1:13, "Who has delivered us from the power of darkness;" also 1 Peter 2:9, "Who has called us out of darkness into his marvellous light." And the darkness ascribed in these testimonies to persons in an unregenerate condition, Paul compares to what was at the beginning, before the creation of light: Genesis 1:2, "Darkness was upon the face of the deep." There was no creature that had a visual faculty; subjectively, there was darkness in all; and there was no light to see by, but all was objectively wrapped in darkness. In this state of things, God created light by an almighty act of his power: Genesis 1:3, "God said, Let there be light: and there was light." And it is not otherwise in this new creation: "God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, shines in the hearts of men, to give them the light of the knowledge of his glory in the face of Jesus Christ," 2 Corinthians 4:6. Spiritual darkness is in and upon all men, until God, by an almighty and effectual work of the Spirit, shines into them, or creates light in them. And this darkness is that "light" which some boast is within themselves and others! To clarify this matter, we must consider first, the nature of this spiritual darkness — what it is, and what it consists in; and then, secondly, we must show its efficacy and power in and on the minds of men, and how they are corrupted by it.
First, The term "darkness" in this case is metaphorical, and borrowed from that which is natural. What natural darkness is, and what it consists in, all men know. If they do not know it by its cause and reason, they know it by its effects. They know it is what hinders men from all regular operations which are to be guided by the outward senses. And darkness is twofold:
1. It is when men do not have light to see by, or when the usual light — the only external medium for discovering distant objects — is taken from them. So it was with the Egyptians during the three days’ darkness that was on their land. They could not see for lack of light; their visual faculty continued for them, yet having "no light," they "did not see one another, nor did anyone arise from his place," Exodus 10:23 : for God, probably to augment the terror of his judgment, restrained the efficacy of artificial light, as well as restraining natural light.
2. There is darkness when men are blind, either born so or made so: Psalms 69:23, "Let their eyes be darkened, that they do not see." So the angels struck the Sodomites with blindness, Genesis 19:11; and Paul struck the sorcerer blind, Acts 13:11. Though the sun shines, it is all one perpetual night to those who are blind.
Corresponding to this, spiritual darkness may be assigned to two heads; for there is an objective darkness, a darkness that is on men; and a subjective darkness, a darkness that is in them. The first consists in the lack of those means by which alone they may be enlightened in the knowledge of God and spiritual things. This is intended in Matthew 4:16. This means is the word of God, and the preaching of it. Hence it is called a "light," Psa 119.105,512 and it is said to "enlighten," Psa 19.8,513 or to be "a light shining in a dark place," 2Pet 1.19.514 And it is so termed, because it is the outward means of communicating the light of the knowledge of God to the minds of men. What the sun is to the world as to natural things, the word and preaching are to men as to spiritual things. Hence what is said about the sun in the firmament, as to enlightening the world, Psa 19.1-4,515 our apostle applies to the gospel and preaching it, Rom 10.15, 18.516 And this darkness is upon many in the world, even all those to whom the gospel is not declared, or by whom it is not received, where it is or has been so. Some, I know, have entertained a vain imagination about a saving revelation of the knowledge of God by the works of creation and providence, that is objected517 to the rational faculties of the minds of men. It is not my purpose here to divert to confuting that fancy. If it were so, it would be easy to demonstrate that there is no saving revelation of the knowledge of God to sinners, except as he is reconciling the world to himself in Christ; and he is not made known in that, except by the word of reconciliation committed to those who dispense the gospel. Therefore, whatever knowledge of God may be attained by the means mentioned, as he is the God of nature ruling over men, and requiring obedience from them according to the covenant and law of their creation, the knowledge of him as a God in Christ, pardoning sin and saving sinners, is attainable only by the gospel. But I have proved and confirmed this elsewhere.518
It is the work of the Holy Spirit to remove and take away this darkness; and until this is done, no man can see the kingdom of God, or enter into it. And he does this by sending the word of the gospel into any nation, country, place, or city, as he pleases. The gospel does not gain ground in any place, nor is it restrained from any place or people, by accident or by the endeavors of men.
Rather, it is sent and disposed of according to the sovereign will and pleasure of the Spirit of God. He gifts, calls, and sends men to the work of preaching it, Acts 13:2; Acts 13:4; and he disposes them to the places where they will declare it, either by express revelation, as of old, Acts 16:6-10, or else he guides them by the secret operations of his providence. Thus the dispensation of the "light of the gospel," as to various times, places, and persons, depends on his sovereign pleasure, Psalms 147:19-20. This is why, even though we are to take care and pray much about continuing the dispensation of the gospel in one place, and its propagation in others, yet we need not be overly concerned about it. The Holy Ghost has taken this work and care on himself, and will carry it on according to the counsel of God, and his purposes concerning the kingdom of Jesus Christ in this world. To this extent, the dispensation of the gospel is only a causa sine quâ non 519 of the regeneration of men; granting regeneration depends solely on the will of the Spirit of God.
It is subjective darkness which is a more direct and immediate consideration in this matter. Its nature, what it regards, and its influence on the minds of men, must be declared before we can rightly apprehend the work of the Holy Spirit in the removal of darkness by regeneration. This is what the Scripture expresses as the natural depravation and corruption of the minds of men with respect to spiritual things, and the duty that we owe to God according to the tenor of the covenant. Two things must be premised to our consideration of it: —
1. I will not address the depravation or corruption of the mind of man by the fall, with respect to things that are natural, civil, political, or moral, but merely with regard to things that are spiritual, heavenly, and evangelical. It would be easy to evince that the whole rational soul of man — since the fall, and by the entrance of sin — is weakened, impaired, and vitiated520 in all its faculties, and in all their operations about their proper and natural objects. This could be evinced not only by Scripture testimonies, but by all mankind’s experience, built on reason and the observation of countless instances. Nor is there any relief against these evils, with all those unavoidable vexations with which it is possessed and actually disordered in all its workings — unless it comes by some secret and hidden operation of the Spirit of God, such as he continually exerts in the rule and government of the world. But it is only the impotency, defect, depravation, and perversity of the mind with respect to spiritual things, that we will address at present.
I say, then —
2. Because of that vice, corruption, or depravation of the minds of all unregenerate men, which the Scripture calls darkness and blindness, they are not able of themselves, by their own reasons and understandings, however exercised and improved, to savingly discern, receive, understand, or believe spiritual things, or the mystery of the gospel, when and as they are outwardly revealed to them — not without an effectual, powerful work of the Holy Spirit, creating or inducing by his almighty power, a new saving light in them.521 Suppose that the mind of a man is in no way hurt or impaired by any natural defect that is not common to the whole race of mankind; instead, its defect is only personal and incidental; suppose it is free from contracted habits of vice or voluntary prejudices. Yet when the doctrine and mysteries of the gospel are proposed to him, even by the most skillful masters of the assemblies, with the greatest evidence and demonstration of the truth, his mind is not able of itself, spiritually and savingly, to receive, understand, and assent to them, without the special aid, assistance, and operation of the Holy Spirit.522 To evince this truth, we may consider one instance in the description given in Scripture of the mind itself, and of its operations with respect to spiritual things. We have this in Ephesians 4:17-18, "This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you no longer walk as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart." The apostle speaks of the Gentiles, but he speaks of them on account of what is common to all men by nature. For he addresses their condition with respect to the faculties of their minds and souls, in which there is no natural difference among men as to the life of God or spiritual things. And their operations and effects are the same, as to their substance.
Some, indeed, give such an account of this text, that it is as if the apostle had said, "Do not live in the manner of the heathens, in the vileness of those practices, and in their idol-worship. That long course of sin has blinded their understandings, so that they do not see what they are enabled to see by the light of nature; and because of that gross ignorance and obduration of heart, they run into all kinds of impiety; they are far removed from that life which God and nature require of them." It is supposed in this exposition —
(1.) That the apostle speaks with respect, in the first place, to the practice of the Gentiles, and not to their state and condition.
(2.) That this practice concerns only their idolatry and idol-worship.
(3.) That what is ascribed to them here, came upon them by a long course of sinning.
(4.) That the darkness mentioned here, consists in not discerning what might be seen by the light of nature.
(5.) That their alienation from the life of God consisted in running into that impiety which was distant or removed from the life that God and nature require. But all these sentiments are so far from being contained in the text, that they are expressly contrary to it; for —
(1.) Although the apostle carries his description of this state of the Gentiles, on to the vile practices that ensued from it, Eph 4.19,523 it is their state by nature, with respect to the "life of God," which is first intended by him. This is apparent from what he prescribes to Christians in opposition to this — namely, "The new man, which is created after God in righteousness and true holiness," Ephesians 4:24.
(2.) The "vanity" mentioned is subjective in their minds; thus it does not respect idol-worship, except as it was an effect of this vanity. The "vanity of their minds" is the principle of which this walking, whatever it may be, was the effect and consequent.
(3.) Here there is no mention or intimation of any long course of sinning, much less that it might be the cause of the other things ascribed to the Gentiles, of which sinning was indeed the effect. The description given is the state of all men by nature. This is plain from Eph 2.1-3.524
(4.) The "darkness" mentioned here is opposed to being "light in the Lord," Ephesians 5:8; which is not mere natural light; nor by natural light alone can anyone discern spiritual things, or the things that belong to the life of God.
(5.) The life of God here is not that life which God and nature require, but that life which God reveals, requires, and communicates by the gospel, through Jesus Christ, as all learned expositors acknowledge. This is why the apostle addresses here the state of men by nature, with respect to spiritual and supernatural things. And he reduces all things in man to three heads. He mentions:
1. The "mind;"
2. The "understanding;" and 3. The "heart."
All of these comprise one entire principle of all our moral and spiritual operations, and they are all affected with the darkness and ignorance of which we are treating.
1. There is the "mind." This is the leading and ruling faculty of the soul. It is that in us which looks out after proper objects for the will and affections to receive and embrace.
Hereby we have our first apprehensions of all those things from which deductions are made with regard to our practice. And vanity is ascribed to the mind: "They walk in the vanity of their mind." Things in the Scripture are said to be vain, which are useless and fruitless. The Greek word for "vain," mataios, is from the word maten, meaning "to no purpose," Matthew 15:9. Hence the apostle calls the idols of the Gentiles, and the rites used in their worship, "vain things," Acts 14:15. So he expresses the Hebrew in Jonah 2:8 as "lying vanities"; this is the same as saying a thing is altogether useless and unprofitable, according to the description given of them in 1 Samuel 12:21, "Vain things, which cannot profit or deliver; for they are vain." There is no profit in, or use of, what is vain. When the mind is said to be vain or under the power of vanity, two things are meant:
(1.) Its natural inclination is to things that are vain — that is, those which are not a proper or useful object for the soul and its affections. The natural mind seeks to lead the soul to rest and satisfaction; but it is always to vain things, and in great variety. Sin, the world, pleasures, the satisfaction of the flesh, with pride of life, are the things which it naturally pursues. And a vain mind abounds in actings of this nature; it multiplies vain imaginations, like the sand on the seashore. These are called "The figments of the hearts of men," Genesis 6:5, which are found to be only "evil continually." These it feigns and frames, abundantly bringing them forth, like the earth brings forth grass, or as a cloud pours out drops of water. And in this,
(2.) It is unstable; for what is vain is various, inconstant, unfixed, superficial, as a natural mind is, so that it is like hell itself for its confusion and disorder, or the whorish woman described by Solomon in Pro 7.11-12.525 And this has befallen the natural mind 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 innocence, as there remains under the power of sin; but before the fall, all its actings were orderly and regular — the mind was able to direct them all to the end for which we were made. God was, and would have been, the principal object of them, and all other things were put in order to him. But now, being turned away from him, the mind engages in these thing in all manner of confusion; and they all end in vanity or disappointment. They offer their service to the soul, as it were, to bring it satisfaction. And although they are rejected one after another, as not answering what they pretend to, yet they constantly arise under the same notion, and keep the whole soul under everlasting disappointments. And from this, the mind cannot assent to the common principles of religion in a due manner, which yet it cannot deny. This will be further clarified afterward.
Upon this conversion to God, we are said to have our minds renewed, Romans 12:2, and to be "renewed in the spirit of our mind," Ephesians 4:23. By the "mind," the faculty itself is intended: the rational principle in us of apprehension, thinking, discoursing, and assenting. This is renewed by grace, or it is brought into another habit and frame by the implantation in it of a ruling, guiding, spiritual light. The "spirit" of the mind, is the inclination and disposition in its actings; these too must be regulated by grace.
2. There is the "understanding." This is the directive, discerning, judging faculty of the soul that leads it to practice. It guides the soul in the choice of the notions which it receives by the mind. And this understanding is more corrupt than the mind itself; for the nearer things come to practice, the more prevalent the power of sin is in them. This understaning is therefore said to be "darkened;" and being darkened, it is wholly in vain to pretend there is a sufficiency in it to discern spiritual things without a supernatural illumination. Light, in the dispensation of the gospel, shines, or casts out some rays of itself, into this darkened understanding of men, but the darkness does not receive it, John 1.5.526
3. There is the "heart." In Scripture, this is the practical principle of operation in the soul, and so it includes the will also. It is the actual compliance of the will and affections with the mind and understanding, with respect to the objects proposed by these faculties. Light is received by the mind, applied by the understanding, and used by the heart. The apostle says there is "blindness" upon this heart.527 It is not mere ignorance or incomprehension of the notions of truth that is intended, but a stubborn resistance of light and conviction. An obstinate and obdurate hardness is upon the heart, from which it rejects all the impressions that come upon it from notions of truth. And on these considerations, before their conversion men are said to be "darkness," Ephesians 5:8. There may be degrees in a moral privation; but when it is expressed in the abstract, it is a sign that it is at its height, that it is total and absolute. And this is spoken with respect to spiritual and saving light only, or to a saving apprehension of spiritual truths. In such persons, there is not even so much as a disposition remaining to receive saving knowledge, any more than there is a disposition in darkness to receive light. The mind, indeed, remains a capable subject to receive light, but it has no active power or disposition in itself towards it; and therefore, when God is pleased to give us a new ability to understand and perceive spiritual things in a due manner, he is said to give us a new faculty, because of the utter disability of our minds naturally to receive them, 1John 5.20.528 Let vain men boast as they please, of the perfection and ability of their rational faculties with respect to religion and the things of God — this disability is the state of men by nature, that upon His judgment must stand forever.
And, by the way, it may not be amiss to divert here a little to consider that exposition which the whole world and all things in it give to this text and testimony, concerning the minds of natural men being under the power of vanity; for this is the spring and inexhaustible fountain of all that vanity with which the world is filled. There is, indeed, a vanity which is penal — namely, the vexation and disappointment which men finally meet with in the pursuit of perishing things, which the wise man addresses at large in Ecclesiastes. But I mean that sinful vanity which the mind itself produces, and that is found in all sorts of persons, ages, sexes, and conditions in the world. Some of the heathens saw this same vanity, complained of it, reproved and derided it, and yet they could never reach the cause of it, nor free themselves from being under its power — even though in a way it was peculiar and distinct from the common sort of vanity, as might easily be demonstrated. But the thing is obvious: almost all that our eyes see or our ears hear of in the world, is altogether vain. All that makes such a noise, such a business, such an appearance and show among men, may be reduced to two heads:
(1.) The vanity that they bring into the things that exist, things that are either good in themselves and of some use, or at least things that are indifferent. So men variously corrupt their buildings and habitations, their trading, their conversation, their power, their wealth, their relations. They join countless vanities to them, which render them loathsome and contemptible, and makes the meanest condition the most suitable to their rational satisfaction.
(2.) Men discover and create things, as it were, merely to support, countenance, and nourish their vanity. Such things in religion are carnal, pompous ceremonies, like those of the church of Rome. They have no purpose except to make some kind of provision for the satisfaction of vain minds — stage-players, mimics, with countless other things of the same nature, which are nothing but theatres for vanity to act upon. It would be endless just to mention the common effects of vanity in the world. And men are mightily divided about these things. Those engaged in them think it strange that others do not rush into the "same compass of excess and riot with themselves, speaking evil of them," 1 Peter 4:4. They wonder at the perverse, stubborn, and froward humour which befalls other men, that they do not delight in or approve of those things and ways which they themselves find so suitable to their own minds. Others, again, are readily amazed that the world is mad about those vain and foolish things which it is almost wholly surrendered to. The consideration we have insisted on, gives us a satisfactory account of the grounds and reasons for this. The mind of man is wholly vain by nature; it is under the power of vanity, and it is an endless, fruitful womb of all monstrous births. The world is now growing towards six thousand years old, and yet it is no nearer the bottom of the springs of its vanity, or running out of its supplies, than it was on the first day that sin entered into it. New sins, new vices, new vanities, break forth continually; and all of it is from this: that the mind of man by nature is altogether vain. Nor is there any way or means to put a stop to this in persons, families, cities, or nations, except so far as the minds of men are cured and renewed by the Holy Ghost. The world may alter its shape and the outward appearances of things, it may change its scenes, and act its part in new habits and dresses, but it will still be altogether vain so long as natural uncured vanity predominates in the minds of men; and this will sufficiently secure them from attaining any saving acquaintance with spiritual things.
Again: It is one of the principal duties incumbent on us, to be acquainted with and to diligently watch over the remainders of this vanity in our own minds. The sinful distempers of our natures are not quickly cured at once; rather, healing and removing them is carried on by degrees to the consummation of the course of our obedience in this world. And there are three effects of this natural vanity of the mind in its depraved condition, that are still to be found among believers:
(1.) An instability in holy duties, such as meditation, prayer, and hearing the word. How ready the mind is to wander in them, and to entertain vain and absurd imaginations, at least as to thoughts and apprehensions of things that are unsuited to the duties in which we are engaged! How difficult is it to keep it to an even, fixed, stable frame of acting spiritually in spiritual things! How the mind is ready at every breath to unbend, and to let down its intension! All we experience or complain of in this, is from the uncured relics of this vanity.
(2.) This is what inclines and leads men towards conformity to a vain world in its customs, habits, and ordinary converse, which are all vain and foolish. It is so prevalent in this, and has possessed itself with such arguments to countenance it, that in many instances of vanity, it is hard to distinguish between them and the whole world that lies under its power. It may be that professors will not comply with the world in the things mentioned before, that have no other use or end than merely to support, act, and nourish vanity. But from other things which are indifferent in themselves, yet filled with vanity in their use, how ready many are to comply with the course of the world which lies in evil, and passes away!
(3.) The mind itself acts in absurd and foolish imaginations, by which it secretly makes provision for the flesh and its lusts; for they all generally lead to self-exaltation and satisfaction.
If not carefully checked, these will proceed to such an excess that they will greatly taint the whole soul. In these things lie the principal cause and occasion of all other sins and miscarriages. We therefore have no more important duty incumbent on us than to mightily oppose this radical disease, and also to attend diligently to its remedy. And this consists,
(1.) In a holy, fixed mind, and a habitual inclination to spiritual things; this is communicated to us by the Holy Ghost, as will be declared afterward, Eph 4.23-24.529 (2.) In the due and constant improvement of that gracious principle —
[1.] By constant watchfulness against the mind acting in vain, foolish, and unprofitable imaginations, at least to the extent that vain thoughts may not lodge in us;
[2.] By exercising it continually toward holy, spiritual meditations, "minding always the things that are above," Colossians 3:2;
[3.] By a constant, conscientious humbling of our souls, for all the vain actings of our minds that we observe.
All of these might be usefully enlarged on, but we must return.530
Secondly, The minds of unregenerate men thus being depraved and corrupted, thus being affected with darkness, and thereby being brought under the power of vanity, we may further consider what other effects and consequents are ascribed to it on the same account. The mind of man in this state may be considered either — 1. As to its dispositions and inclinations; or 2. As to its power and actings, with respect to spiritual, supernatural things:
1. As to its dispositions, it is (from the darkness described) perverse and depraved, by which men are "alienated from the life of God," Ephesians 4:18; for this alienation of men from the divine life is from the depravation of their minds. Hence are they said to be "alienated and enemies in their mind by wicked works," or by their mind in wicked works, being fixed on them and under their power, Colossians 1:21. And that we may better understand what is intended by this, we may consider both what this "life of God" is, and how the unregenerate mind is alienated from it:
(1.) All life is from God. The life which we have in common with all other living creatures is from him, Acts 17:28; Psa 104.30531. And,
(2.) That particular vital life which we have by the union of the rational soul with the body, is from God also, given to us in a special manner, Genesis 2:7; Job 10.12.532 But neither of these is anywhere called the "life of God." And it is a special life to God which is intended. Various things belong to this life, or various things are applied to its description:
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(1.) It is the life which God requires of us, so that we may please him here, and come to enjoy him hereafter; it is the life of faith and spiritual obedience by Jesus Christ, Rom 1.17;533 Galatians 2:19, "I live by the faith of the Son of God;" Romans 6, 7.
(2.) It is that life which God works in us, not naturally by his power, but spiritually by his grace; and that is both as to its principle, and all its vital acts, Ephesians 2:1; Ephesians 2:5; Phi 2.13.534
(3.) It is that life by which God lives in us — that is, in and by his Spirit through Jesus Christ: Galatians 2:20, "Christ lives in me." And where the Son is, there the Father is;John 14:3 from which this life is also said to be "hidden with him in God," Colossians 3:3.
(4.) It is the life by which we live to God, Romans 6, 7, of which God is the supreme and absolute end, as he is the principal and efficient cause of it. Two things are contained in this:
[1.] That we do all things to his glory. This is the proper end of all the acts and actings of this life, Rom 14.7-8.535 [2.] That we design in and by it to come to the eternal enjoyment of him as our blessedness and reward, Gen 15.1.536 (5.) It is the life of which the gospel is the law and rule, John 6:68; Acts 5.20.537
(6.) It is a life in which all of its fruits are holiness, and spiritual, evangelical obedience, Romans 6:22; Phi 1.11.538 (7) Lastly, It is a life that does not die, that is not exposed to death — "eternal life," John 17:3.
These things contain the chief concerns of that particular spiritual, heavenly life, which is called the "life of God." The carnal mind is alienated from this life. It has no liking of it, and no inclination to it, but carries away the whole soul with an aversion to it. And this alienation or aversion appears in two things:
(1.) In its unreadiness and unaptness to receive instruction in and about its concerns. Hence men are dull and "slow of heart to believe," Luke 24:25; "heavy in hearing," Hebrews 5:11-12; and slow in the apprehension of what they hear. So are all men towards what they do not like, but have an aversion to. God complains of this in his people of old: "My people are foolish, they have not known me; they are senseless children, and they have no understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good, they have no knowledge," Jeremiah 4:22.
(2.) In choosing and preferring any other life before this one. The first choice a natural mind makes is to have a life of sin and pleasure, which is but death: a death to God, 1 Timothy 5:6, Jas 5.5539 — a life "without the law," and before it comes, Rom 7.9.540 This is the life which is suited to the carnal mind, the life which it desires, delights in, and would never willingly depart from. Again, if by afflictions or convictions it were forced to forsake and give up this life, in whole or in part, it would choose, magnify, and extol a moral life — a life in, by, and under the law — even though at the Last Day, this will put it in no better stead than the life of sin and pleasure which it had been forced to forego, Rom 9.32, 10.3.541 It cannot do away with thoughts of this spiritual life, this "life of God."
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[Yet in the carnal mind], the notions of this life are uncouth, the description of it is unintelligible, and the practice of it is either odious folly, or needless superstition. This is the disposition and inclination of the mind towards spiritual things, as it is corrupt and depraved.
2. The power of the mind with respect to its actings towards spiritual things may also be considered. And this, in short, is none at all — the sense of this will be explained immediately, Rom 5.6.542 For this is what we will prove concerning the mind of a natural man, or of a man in the state of nature: however his mind may be excited and improved under those advantages of education, and the allocations it may have received, it is still not able, it has no power of its own to spiritually and savingly, or in a due manner, receive, embrace, and assent to spiritual things when they are proposed to it in the dispensation and preaching of the gospel — not unless it is renewed, enlightened, and moved by the Holy Ghost. The apostle plainly asserts this: 1 Corinthians 2:14, "The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness to him: nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."
(1.) The subject spoken of is a "natural man," This epithet in the Scripture is opposed to "spiritual," 1 Corinthians 15:44, Jude 19,543 where natural men are described as those who do not have the Spirit of God. The foundation of this distinction, and the distribution of men into these two sorts, is laid down in that saying of our apostle, 1 Corinthians 15:45, "The first Adam was made a living soul." Hence every man who has no more than what is passed on from Adam is called a "living soul," as the first Adam was. And, "The last Adam was made a quickening spirit." Hence someone who is of the last Adam, of Christ, who partakes of his nature, derives from him a "spiritual man." Therefore the person spoken of here, a natural man, is someone who has all that is or can be derived from the first Adam; he is someone endowed with a "rational soul," and who has the use and exercise of all its rational faculties.
Some who look at themselves as almost so advanced as to countenance their magisterial dictates and scornful reflections upon others, tell us that what is intended by this "natural man," is "a man given up to his pleasures, and guided by brutish affections," and none other — "one who gives himself up to the government of his inferior faculties." But no rational man, they say, no one who attends to the dictates of reason, is at all concerned in this description. Yet, how is this proved? If we are not content with such bare affirmations, then we must at length be satisfied with their railing and lying, and all sorts of reproaches. But the apostle in this chapter distributes all living men into "spiritual" and "natural." The one who is not a spiritual man, whoever and whatever he is, whether he is as rational as some presume they are, or would beg the world to believe they are, is still a natural man. The supposition of a middle state of men is absolutely destructive of the whole discourse of the apostle as to its proper design. Besides, "natural" is the best and softest term that is given in the Scripture to unregenerate men, with respect to the things of God; and there is no reason why it should be thought only to express the worst sorts of men. The Scripture does not call men who are particularly captivated by brutish affections, "natural men," but rather, as in 2 Peter 2:12, "natural brute beasts." Austin gives us a better account of this expression:
"The natural man is the one who ascribes all things to the power of the reasonings of the mind, and does not think that he stands in need of aid from above: which is madness. For God has given the soul so that it should learn and receive what he bestows, what is from him, and not suppose that it is sufficient of itself or to itself. Eyes are beautiful and profitable; but if they would see without light, this beauty and power will not profit but hurt them. And the mind, if it would see [spiritual things] without the Spirit of God, only ensnares itself." 544
It is a senseless supposition that there is a sort of unregenerate, rational men, who are not under the power of corrupt affections in and about spiritual things, seeing that the "carnal mind is enmity against God." This, therefore, is the subject of the apostle’s proposition — namely, everyone that is "a natural man," is no more than natural; that is, everyone who is not "a spiritual man," is one who has not received the Spirit of God, 1Cor 2.11-12;545 he has only the spirit of a man, enabling him to search and know only the things of a man, or to attain wisdom only in things that are natural, civil, or political.
(2.) There is in these words,546 a supposition of the proposal of some things to the mind of this "natural man;" for the apostle speaks with respect to the dispensation and preaching of the gospel by which that proposal is made, verses 4-7. And these things are, verse 14, "the things of the Spirit of God," which are variously expressed in this chapter. In verse 2, they are called "Jesus Christ, and him crucified;" in verse 7, the "wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God has ordained;" verse 12, "the things that are freely given to us of God;" verse 16, "the mind of Christ;" and various other ways to the same purpose. There are countless precepts in the gospel, and they belong to the preaching of it, concerning moral duties to be observed towards God, ourselves, and other men. And all these are coincidental and suitable to the inbred light of nature, because their principles are all indelibly ingrafted in this nature. These things being in some sense the "things of a man," they may be known by the "spirit of a man that is in him," verse 11. Nevertheless, they cannot be observed and practiced according to the mind of God without the aid and assistance of the Holy Ghost. But these are not the things particularly intended here; rather, it is the mysteries, which wholly depend on mere sovereign supernatural revelation; things that "eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man" to conceive, verse 9; things of God’s sovereign counsel, of which there were no impressions in the mind of man in his first creation: see Eph 3.8-11.547
(3.) What is affirmed about the natural man with respect to these spiritual things, is doubly expressed: [1.] "He does not receive them;" [2.] "He cannot know them." In this double assertion,
1st. A power to receive spiritual things is denied: "He cannot know them; he cannot receive them;" as in Romans 8:7, "The carnal mind is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be." And the reason for this is subjoined: "Because they are spiritually discerned;" a thing which such a person has no power to effect.
2dly. A will to reject them is implied: "He does not receive them;" and the reason for this is, "For they are foolishness to him." They are represented to him under such a notion that he will have nothing to do with them.
3dly. He does not actually receive them (and that is both because he cannot, and because he will not). The natural man neither can, nor will, nor does receive the things of the Spirit of God; — he is altogether incapable of giving them admission in the sense to be explained. To clarify and free this assertion from objections, it must be observed —
(1.) That it is not the mere literal sense of doctrines or propositions of truth that is intended.548 For instance, "Jesus Christ was crucified," is mentioned by the apostle in 1 Corinthians 2:2. It is a proposition whose sense and importance any natural man may understand; and he may assent to its truth; and so he may be said to receive it. And all the doctrines of the gospel may be taught and declared in propositions and discourses, the sense and meaning of which a natural man may understand. And in the due investigation of its sense, and in judging its truth and falsehood, lay that use of reason in religious things which some would ignorantly confound with an ability to discern spiritual things in themselves, in their own proper nature. This reasoning is therefore granted; but it is denied that a natural man can receive the things themselves. There is a wide difference between the mind’s receiving doctrines notionally, and receiving the things taught in them really. A natural man can do the first. It is done by all those who, by the use of outward means, know the doctrine of the Scripture, in distinction from ignorance, falsehood, and error. Hence, unregenerate men are said to "know the way of righteousness," 2 Peter 2:21 — that is, they know it notionally and doctrinally; for, our apostle says, they cannot really know it. Upon this, "they profess that they know God," — that is, the things which they are taught concerning him and his will — while "in works they deny him, being abominable and disobedient," Titus 1:16; also Rom 2.23-24.549 To know them really, applies only to those who receive spiritual things in their minds that are so implanted as to produce their real and proper effects, Romans 12:2; Eph 4.22-24.550 And there are two things required for receiving spiritual things really, and as they are in themselves:
[1.] That we discern, assent to, and receive them, under an apprehension of their conformity and agreeableness to the wisdom, holiness, and righteousness of God, 1 Corinthians 1:23-24. The reason why men do not receive Christ crucified, as preached in the gospel, is because they do not see a consonance in it to the divine perfections of the nature of God. Nor can any receive it until they see in it an expression of divine power and wisdom.
Therefore, this is required for receiving the things of the Spirit of God in a due manner — namely, that we spiritually see and discern their correspondence to the wisdom, goodness, and holiness of God; in this lies the principal rest and satisfaction of those who really believe. A natural man cannot do this.
[2.] That we discern their suitableness for accomplishing the great ends for which they are proposed as the means. Unless we see this clearly and distinctly, we can only judge them to be weak and foolish. These ends are the glory of God in Christ, with our deliverance from a state of sin and misery, and our translation into a state of grace and glory. Unless we are acquainted with these things, and the aptness, fitness, and power of the things of the Spirit of God to effect them, we cannot receive them as we should; and a natural man cannot do this at all. From these considerations, to which various others of a like nature might be added, it appears how and why it is, that a natural man is not capable of receiving the things of the Spirit of God.
(2.) It must be observed that there is, or may be, a twofold capacity or ability to receive, know, or understand spiritual things in the mind of a man:
[1.] There is a natural power, consisting in the suitableness and proportionality of the faculties of the soul to receive spiritual things in the way that they are proposed to us. This is supposed in all the exhortations, promises, precepts, and threatenings of the gospel. For they would be proposed to us in vain if we did not have rational minds and understandings to apprehend their sense, use, and importance; and if we were not also fit subjects for the faith, grace, and obedience which are required of us. No one pretends that men are, in their conversion to God, like stocks and stones, or brute beasts, which have no understanding. For although the work of our conversion is called "turning stones into children of Abraham," (Luke 3:8) — because of the greatness of the change, and because we contribute nothing to this of ourselves — even if we were in every way filled to the capacity of our natures, it would not suit the wisdom of God to apply the natural means mentioned for effecting that work. Indeed, God is said in this to "give us an understanding," 1 John 5:20; but the natural faculty of the understanding is not intended by this, but only the renovation of it by grace, and the actual exercise of that grace in apprehending spiritual things. There are two adjuncts of the commands of God:
1st. That they are equal [i.e., equitable];
2dly. That they are easy, or not grievous.
They have the former equality from the nature of the things commanded, and the fitness of our minds to receive such commands, Eze 18.25;551 they have the latter from the dispensation of the Spirit and grace of Christ, which renders them not only possible for us, but easy for us.
Some pretend that whatever is required of us or prescribed to us as our duty, we have a power in and of ourselves to perform it.552 If by this power, they mean no more than that our minds, and the other rational faculties of our souls, are fit and suited as to their natural capacity, to perform the acts in which those duties consist, then it is freely granted. For God requires nothing of us except what must be acted in our minds and wills, and which they are naturally fit and suited for. But if they mean such an active power and ability, excited by the motives proposed to us, that it can of itself respond to God’s commands in a due manner, then they deny the corruption of our nature by the entrance of sin, and they render the grace of Christ useless, as will be demonstrated.
[2.] There is, or may be, a power in the mind to discern spiritual things, by which it can immediately exercise that power in spiritually discerning them when they are duly proposed to his mind — that is, spiritually — just as a man whose visual faculty is sound and entire, can discern and see visible objects when they are duly presented to him. But this power must be spiritual and supernatural, because to receive spiritual things spiritually, is to receive them in such a way as to really believe them with divine and supernatural faith, to love them with divine love, and to conform the whole soul and affections to them, Romans 6:17, 2Cor 3.18.553 No natural man has the power to do so. This [natural power] is what the apostle denies in this passage. This is why, between the natural capacity of the mind, and the act of spiritually discerning, an effectual work of the Holy Ghost must be interposed to enable it to do this, 1 John 5:20; 2Cor 4.6.554 The apostle gives a double reason for the assertion thus laid down and explained: the first is taken from the nature of the things to be known, with respect to the mind and understanding of a natural man; the other is taken from the way or manner by which alone spiritual things may be acceptably discerned:
(1.) The first reason, taken from the nature of spiritual things with respect to the natural mind, is that "they are foolishness" to it. Yet, in themselves, they are the "wisdom of God," 1 Corinthians 2:7; — they are the effects of the wisdom of God, and they have the impress of the wisdom of God upon them. And when their dispensation was said to be "foolishness," the apostle does not contend about it, but he tells them that it is the "foolishness of God," 1Cor 1.25.555
He does this to cast contempt on all the wisdom of men, by which the gospel is despised. These things are the "hidden wisdom" of God; they are such an effect of divine wisdom, that no creature could discover them, Ephesians 3:9-10; Job 28.20-22.556 And they are the "wisdom of God in a mystery," or full of deep, mysterious wisdom. But to the natural man, they are "foolishness," not only in spite of the fact that they are the wisdom of God, but particularly because they are so, and as they are so — for "the carnal mind is enmity against God." Now, what is esteemed foolishness is looked at either as weak and impertinent; or as what contains or expresses disproportionate means and ends; or as that which is undesirable in comparison to what competes with it; or on any other consideration, it is not eligible or to be complied with on the terms for which it is proposed. And for one or other or all of these reasons, they are spiritual things — namely, those things intended here, in which the wisdom of God in the mystery of the gospel consists — and so they are foolishness to a natural man; which we will demonstrate by some instances:
[1.] Our apostle testifies that they were foolishness to the learned philosophers of old, and the known experience of the first ages of the church makes it evident, 1Cor 1.22-23, 26-28.557 If spiritual things had been suited to the minds or reasons of natural men, it could only be that those who had most improved their minds, and were raised to the highest exercise of their reasons, must more readily have received and embraced the mysteries of the gospel than those who were poor, illiterate, and many degrees behind them in the exercise and improvement of their mind. So we see that natural wisdom refers to the reception of anything in nature or in morality which, being of any worth, is proposed to the minds of men — and it is embraced soonest by those who are wisest and know the most. But things fall out quite otherwise with spiritual things. It was the wise, the knowing, the rational, the learned men of the world, who made the greatest and longest opposition to spiritual things; and they did that expressly and avowedly because they were "foolishness to them;" and that was for all the reasons mentioned before. They managed their opposition to them with pride, scorn, and contempt, as they thought "foolish things" ought to be handled.
Some of late are not ashamed to preach and print that it was the learned, rational, wise part of mankind (as esteemed or professed by themselves) who first embraced the gospel — that is, the philosophers and those whose conduct pretended to a life according to the dictates of reason — and it is claimed that they embraced the gospel, because they were more disposed to receive it than others. The profound ignorance and confidence from which this comes, cannot be sufficiently marvelled at or despised.
If they had even once considered what is spoken to this purpose in the New Testament, or if they had known anything of the entrance, growth, or progress of Christian religion in the world, they would be ashamed of their own folly. But every day in this matter, new spokesmen are produced, foolish young men,558 who talk confidently while they know neither what they say nor what they affirm.
[2.] The principal mysteries of the gospel, or the spiritual things intended by it, are looked at and rejected by many as foolish, because they think it is false and untrue; though, indeed, they have no reason to think them false, beyond supposing they are foolish. They fix on charging them with being false, to countenance their judgment that they are folly. Whatever concerns the incarnation of the Son of God, the satisfaction that he made for sin and sinners, the imputation of his righteousness to those who believe, the effectual working of his grace in the conversion of the souls of men — which, with related things, comprise the greatest part of the spiritual things of the gospel — are not received by many, because they judge they are false; and what induces them to determine they are false, is because they look at them as foolish, and unsuited to the rational principles of their minds.
[3.] Many plainly scoff at them, and despise them as the most contemptible notions that mankind can exercise their reasons about. Such was prophesied of old, 2Pet 3.3-4;559 and things at this day have come to that pass. The world swarms with those who scoff at spiritual things, as being unfit for rational, noble, generous spirits to come under a sense or power of them, because they are so foolish. But we were foretold these things, so that when they came to pass we would not be troubled or shaken in our minds; indeed, the atheism of some is made a means to confirm the faith of others!
[4.] It is not much different with some, who yet dare not engage in open opposition to the gospel with those mentioned before; for they profess the faith, and vow subjection to its rules and laws. But the things declared in the gospel may be reduced to two headings, as observed before:
1st. Those which consist in the confirmation, direction, and improvement of the moral principles and precepts of the law of nature.
2dly. Those which flow immediately from the sovereign will and wisdom of God, and are not communicated to us except by supernatural revelation. Such include all the effects of the wisdom and grace of God, as he was in Christ reconciling the world to himself; the offices of Christ, his administration of them, and the dispensation of the Spirit; with the especial, evangelical, supernatural graces and duties which are required in us with respect to this.
Many will greatly praise and highly extol the first sort of these things; they will declare how consonant they are with reason, and what expressions suitable to them may be found in the ancient philosophers. But it is evident that they fall under a double inconsistency in this:
1st. Mostly, they visibly transgress what they boast of as their rule, and do so more than others; for where will we meet with any of this sort, or at least with many of them, who comply in any measure with that modesty, humility, meekness, patience, self-denial, abstinence, temperance, contempt of the world, love of mankind, charity, and purity, which the gospel requires under this heading of "duties"? Pride, ambition, insatiable desires after earthly advantages and promotions, scoffing, scorn and contempt of others, vanity of lifestyle, envy, wrath, revenge, railing — none of these are the moral duties required in the gospel. And —
2dly. No pretense of esteeming any one part of the gospel, will shelter men from the punishment due for the rejection of the whole, when they refuse any essential part of it. And this is the condition of many. The things which most properly belong to the mysteries of the gospel, or the unsearchable riches of the grace of God in Christ Jesus, are foolishness to them; and preaching them is called "canting and folly." Although they do not go so far as the friar at Rome, who said that "St. Paul fell into great excesses in these things," yet some have dared to accuse Paul’s writings of darkness and obscurity; doing so for no other reason (so far as I can understand) than he insists on the declaration of these spiritual mysteries. It is not easy to express what contempt and reproach is cast on these mysteries by some preachers. But it is not amiss that some have proclaimed their own shame in this, and have left it on record, to the abhorrence of posterity.
[5.] The event of the dispensation of the gospel, manifests that its spiritual things are foolishness to most; for they are rejected as such by them, Isa 53.1-3.560 Suppose a man with a good reputation for wisdom and sobriety, were to go to others to inform them of something, and did it with earnestness, evidence of love toward them, and care for them, with all kinds of motives to obtain their belief in what he proposes. He tells them that by those ways which he prescribes, they may exceedingly increase their substance in this world, until they exceed the wealth of kings — which is something that the minds of men in their contrivances and designs are intent upon. If they do not follow his advice in this case, it can be for no other reason than they judge that the things he proposed are in no way suited or expedient to the ends he promised — that is, they are judged to be foolish things. This is the state of things with respect to the mysteries of the gospel. Men are informed, in and by the ways of God’s appointment, how great and glorious these mysteries are, and what blessed consequents there will be from spiritually receiving them. The beauty and excellence of Christ, the inestimable privilege of divine adoption, the great and precious promises made to those who believe, the glory of the world to come, the necessity and excellence of holiness and gospel obedience to attain everlasting blessedness — all are preached to men, and pressed on them with arguments and motives filled with divine authority and wisdom. And yet after all this, we see how few eventually apply themselves with any industry to receive them, or at least actually do receive them: for "many are called, but few are chosen." Matthew 22:14 And the reason is because these things are indeed foolishness to their darkened minds, whatever they pretend to the contrary.
(2.) As the foregoing instance comprises the reasons why a natural man will never receive the things of the Spirit of God, so the apostle adds a reason why he cannot receive them; and that is taken from the manner by which alone they may be usefully and savingly received, which the natural man cannot attain: "Because they are spiritually discerned." In this whole chapter, Paul insists on an opposition between a natural man and spiritual man, natural things and spiritual things, natural light and knowledge and spiritual light and knowledge. The natural man, he informs us, will, by a natural light, discern natural things: "The things of a man knows the spirit of a man." And the spiritual man, by a spiritual light received from Jesus Christ, discerns spiritual things; for "none knows the things of God, but the Spirit of God, and he to whom he will reveal them." The apostle denies this ability exists in a natural man; and he proves this —
[1.] Because it is the work of the Spirit of God to endow the minds of men with that ability, which there would be no need of if men had it of themselves by nature; and,
[2.] (as he plentifully shows elsewhere), The light itself by which alone spiritual things can be spiritually discerned, is worked, effected, and created in us, by an almighty act of the power of God, 2Cor 4.6.561 From these things that have been premised, it is evident that there is a twofold impotency in the minds of men with respect to spiritual things:
(1.) That which immediately affects the mind, a natural impotency, from which it cannot receive them for lack of light in itself.
(2.) That which affects the mind by the will and affections, a moral impotency, by which it cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God, because unalterably it will not; and that is because they are foolishness to the mind — from the unsuitableness of the objects to its will and affections, and from the will and affections to the mind.
(1.) There is a natural impotency in unregenerate men, through the immediate depravation of the faculties of the mind or understanding, by which a natural man is absolutely unable, without a special renovation by the Holy Ghost, to discern spiritual things in a saving manner.562 Nor is this impotency any excuse or alleviation for the sin of men when they do not receive spiritual things as proposed to them, even though that impotency is absolutely and naturally insuperable, and even though it also has in it the nature of a punishment. For even though it is our misery, it is also our sin; — it is the misery of our persons, and the sin of our natures. As it is an unconformity in our minds to the mind of God, it is our sin; as it is a consequence of the corruption of our nature by the fall, it is an effect of sin; and as it exposes us to all the ensuing evil of sin and unbelief, it is both the punishment and the cause of sin. And no man can plead his sin or fault as an excuse for another sin of any kind. This impotency is natural, because it consists in the deprivation of the light and power that were originally in the faculties of our minds or understandings; and it can never be taken away or cured except by an immediate communication of a new spiritual power and ability to the mind itself by the Holy Ghost in its renovation, thus curing the depravation of the faculty itself. And this is consistent with what was declared before concerning the natural power of the mind to receive spiritual things: for that power respects the natural capacity of the faculties of our minds — their impotency, their depravation with respect to spiritual things.
(2.) There is in the minds of unregenerate persons a moral impotency, which is greatly reflected on them from the will and affections. This is why the mind will never receive spiritual things — that is, it will always and unchangeably reject and refuse them — and that is because of various lusts, corruptions, and prejudices invincibly fixed in them, causing them to look at them as foolishness. Hence it will come to pass that no man will be judged and perish at the last day merely on account of his natural impotency. Everyone to whom the gospel has been preached, and by whom it is refused, will be convicted of positive actings in their minds, that reject the gospel from the love of self, sin, and the world. Thus our Savior tells the Jews that "no man can come to him, unless the Father draws him," John 6:44. Such is their natural impotency that they cannot come to him. Nor is this impotency to be cured except by an immediate divine instruction or illumination. As it is written, "They will be all taught by God," John 6:45. But this is not all; he tells them elsewhere, "You will not come to me, that you might have life," John 5.40. 563 The present thing in question was not the power or impotency of their minds, but the obstinacy of their wills and affections, for which men will principally be judged at the last day; for "this is the condemnation, that light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil," John 3:19.
Hence it follows that the will and affections are more corrupted than the understanding — which is evident from their opposition to and defeat of its manifold convictions. Thus no man actively applies his mind to receiving the things of the Spirit of God to the utmost of that ability which he has. For all unregenerate men are invincibly impeded in this by the corrupt stubbornness and perverseness of their wills and affections. There is not, in any of them, a due improvement of the capacity of their natural faculties in the use of means to discharge their duty towards God in this. What has been pleaded may suffice to vindicate this divine testimony concerning the disability of the mind of man, in the state of nature, to understand and receive the things of the Spirit of God in a spiritual and saving manner, no matter how they are proposed to it. Those who are otherwise minded may despise this as they please, but they are in no way able to answer or evade it. And by this we may judge that paraphrase and exposition of this passage which someone564 has given recently: "But such things as these are absolutely despised by those who are led only by the light of human reason, the learned philosophers, etc., and so they do not heed the doctrine of the gospel; for it seems folly to them. Nor can they, by any study of their own, come to know them; for these are only to be had by understanding the prophecies of the Scripture, and other such means which depend on divine revelation, the voice from heaven, descent of the Holy Ghost, miracles," etc.
(1.) The natural man is here granted to be the rational man, the learned philosopher, someone walking by the light of human reason; which does not comply with the exception taken to this testimony by those who would have it intend only someone who is sensual and given up to brutish affections. Yet neither is there any ground (though some countenance is given to it by Hierom) to fix this interpretation to that expression. If the apostle may be allowed to declare his own mind, he tells us that he intends everyone, of whatever sort and condition, "who has not received the Spirit of Christ."
(2.) Ou dechomai (does not receive)565 is paraphrased as, "absolutely despised;" which neither the word here nor elsewhere, nor its application in the present connection, will allow for or countenance. The apostle in the discourse as a whole, accounts for why so few received the gospel — especially those who seemed most likely to do so, being wise and learned men, and the gospel being no less than the wisdom of God. He gives the reason for this as their disability to receive the things of God, and their hatred of them, or opposition to them — neither of which can be cured except by the Spirit of Christ.
(3.) The apostle does not address what men could find out by any study of their own, but what they did and would do, and could not do otherwise, when the gospel was proposed, declared, and preached to them. They did not, they could not, receive, assent to, or believe, the spiritual mysteries revealed in this.
(4.) Preaching the gospel to them was accompanied with and managed by those evidences mentioned — namely, the testimonies of the prophecies of Scripture, miracles, and the like — in the same way and manner, and to the same degree, that it was proposed to those by whom it was received and believed. In the outward means of revelation and its proposition, there was no difference.
(5.) The proper meaning of "does not receive," is given to us in the ensuing reason and explanation of it: "He cannot know them," — that is, unless he is spiritually enabled to do this by the Holy Ghost. And this is further confirmed in the reason subjoined to it, "Because they are spiritually discerned." To twist this to mean the outward means of revelation, which is directly designed to express the internal manner of the mind’s reception of revealed things, is to twist the Scripture at pleasure. Chrysostom’s description of a natural and spiritual man, far better gives light to and determines the sense of this place: "A natural man is the one who lives in or by the flesh, and does not as yet have his mind enlightened by the Spirit, but only has that inbred human understanding which the Creator has endowed the minds of all men with." And, "The spiritual man is the one who lives by the Spirit, having his mind enlightened by him; having not only an inbred human understanding, but moreover a spiritual understanding, bestowed on him graciously, which the Holy Ghost endues the minds of believers with." But we must proceed.
3. Having clarified the impotency to discern spiritual things spiritually, that is, in the minds of natural men by reason of their spiritual blindness, or that darkness which is in them, it remains that we consider what the power and efficacy of this darkness is to keep them in a constant and unconquerable aversion to God and the gospel. To this purpose, some testimonies of Scripture must also be considered. For notwithstanding all other notions and arguments in this matter — which for the most part comply with the inclinations and affections of corrupted nature — our judgments must be determined by the testimonies of Scripture, and our faith is to be resolved into them.
I say then that this spiritual darkness has a power over the minds of men to alienate them from God. That is, what the Scripture calls darkness is not a mere privation, with an impotency in the faculty ensuing from that darkness; rather, it is a depraved habit, which powerfully and —for those in whom it abides — unavoidably influences their wills and affections into an opposition to spiritual things, the effects of which the world is visibly filled with at this day. And I will manifest this first in general, and then in particular instances. And by the whole, it will be made apparent that not only is the act of believing and turning to God the sole work and effect of grace (which the Pelagians did not openly deny, and semi-Pelagians openly granted), but also all power and ability for it, properly so-called, is from grace also. In Colossians 1:13, we are said to be delivered from "the power of darkness." The word signifies a power that consists in authority or rule that bears sway, and commands those who are exposed to it. Hence the sins of men, especially those of a greater guilt than ordinary, are called "works of darkness," Ephesians 5:11. Not only are these such works as are usually perpetrated in the dark, but also such works as the darkness of men’s minds inclines them to and naturally produces. Also, what is called "the power of darkness" here, is called "the power of Satan" in Acts 26:18. For I acknowledge that it is not only or merely the internal darkness or blindness of the minds of men in the state of nature that is meant here, but the whole state of darkness, with what is contributed to it by Satan and the world. The prophet speaks of this in Isaiah 60:2 : "Behold, darkness will cover the earth, and deep darkness the people: but the Lord will arise upon you." It is such a darkness that nothing can dispel it but the light of the Lord arising on and in the souls of men. But all is resolved into internal darkness: for Satan has no power in men, nor authority over them, except what he has by means of this darkness. For by this alone, that "prince of the power of the air" works effectively in "the children of disobedience," Ephesians 2:2. By this darkness he seduces, perverts, and corrupts them; nor does he have any way to fortify and confirm their minds against the gospel except by increasing this blindness or darkness in them, 2Cor 4.4.566
We may find evidence of the power and efficacy of this darkness in the devil himself. The apostle Peter tells us that the angels who sinned are "reserved for judgment" under "chains of darkness," 2 Peter 2:4. It is plain that there is an allusion to men dealing with stubborn and heinous malefactors.
They do not quickly execute these angels at their offenses, nor when they are first apprehended; they must be kept till a solemn day of trial and judgment. Yet, to secure them so that they make no escape, they are bound with chains which they cannot deliver themselves from. This is how God deals with fallen angels. For even though they still "go to and fro in the earth, and walk up and down in it," Job 1:7 and also in the air,Ephesians 2:2 in seeming liberty and at their pleasure, yet they are under chains that will securely hold them till the great day of their judgment and execution. And so that they may not escape their appointed doom, they are held in "chains of darkness." They are always so absolutely and universally under the power of God, that they are not capable of the vanity of a thought that they can get out from under it. But why is it that, in all their wisdom, experience, and the long-continued prospect which they have had of their future eternal misery, none of them have ever attempted, nor ever will attempt to mitigate their punishment or obtain deliverance from it, by repentance and compliance with the will of God? This is only from their own darkness, in the chains of which they are so bound that although they believe their own everlasting ruin, and tremble at the vengeance of God in this, they cannot help but continue in their course of mischief, disobedience, and rebellion. And even though natural men are not as obdurate567 as these fallen angels — having a way of escape and deliverance provided for them and proposed to them, which these angels do not have — without the powerful illumination of the Holy Ghost, this darkness is no less effectual to bind them in a state of sin than it is in the devils themselves. And this may be further manifested by considering the instances in which this darkness exerts its efficacy in men:
(1.) It fills the mind with enmity against God, and all the things of God: Colossians 1:21, "You were enemies in your mind." Romans 8:7, "The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be." And the carnal mind intended there, is present in every man who has not received, who is not made a partaker of the Spirit of God, in a unique saving manner — as the apostle declares at large in the whole discourse, Rom 8.5-6, 9-11.568 So that it is a vain pretense, and directly contradictory to the apostle, to say that it is only one sort of fleshly, sensual, unregenerate men whom he intends. This confidence in not only perverting, but openly opposing the Scripture, is only recent; few of the ancient enemies of the grace of God rose up to it. Now, God in himself is infinitely good and desirable. "How great is his goodness and how great is his beauty!" Zechariah 9:17.
There is nothing in him except what is suited to draw out, respond to, and fill the affections of the soul. To those who know him, he is the only delight, rest, and satisfaction. Why then does it come to pass that the minds of men should be filled and possessed with enmity against him? Enmity against and hatred of Him who is absolute and infinite goodness, seem incompatible with our human affections; but they arise from this darkness, which is the corruption and depravation of our nature, by ways that will be declared.
It is pretended and pleaded by some in these days, that upon apprehending the goodness of the nature of God, as manifested in the works and light of nature, without any other advantages, men may love God above all, and be accepted by him. But this would render Christ and the gospel, as objectively proposed, if not useless, yet not indispensably necessary. And so I desire to know how this enmity against God, which the minds of all natural men are filled with (if we may believe the apostle) comes to be removed and taken away, so that they may love God above all, seeing that these things are absolute extremes and utterly irreconcilable? This must be either by the power of the mind itself upon the proposal of God’s goodness to it, or else by the effectual operation of the Spirit of God, in and upon the mind. Any other way is not pretended; and the operation of the Spirit is what we contend for. As to the former, the apostle assumes the goodness of God, and he assumes that this goodness is proposed to the minds of men, not only as revealed in the works of nature, but also in the law and gospel. And yet he affirms that "the carnal mind" which is in every man, "is enmity against him" — and in enmity, there is neither disposition nor inclination to love. In such persons, there can be no more true love of God than is consistent with enmity toward and against Him.
Therefore, all discourses about the acceptance we can find with God, if we love him above all for his goodness, but without any further communications of Christ or the Holy Spirit to us, are vain and empty discourses. This is because there never was, nor ever will be, even one dram of such love for God in the world. For whatever men may fancy concerning the love of God, where this enmity arising from darkness is unremoved by the Spirit of grace and love, it is nothing but self-pleasing with those false notions of God which this darkness suggests to them. With these notions, they either please themselves, or they are terrified, whichever way they represent things to their corrupt reason and fancies. Men in this state, destitute of divine revelation, of old sought after God like men groping in the dark, Acts 17:27. And even though in some measure they found him and knew him from the things that were made, and came to be acquainted with "his eternal power and Godhead," Romans 1:20, yet he was still absolutely "the unknown God" to them, Acts 17:23 — they "ignorantly worshipped" Him. That is, they directed some worship to him in the dedication of their altars, but they did not know him. And it is evident that all of them entertained false notions of God, from this: that none of them freed themselves from gross idolatry, which is the greatest enmity to God, by virtue of their knowledge of him; nor did they [convict] themselves of their many impieties or sins, from those notions they received of God and his goodness, Rom 1.20-21.569 The result of their dissertations on the nature of God was that "they did not glorify him, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish hearts were darkened." Based on the common principles of the first Being and the highest good, their fancy or imaginations raised whatever notions of God pleased and delighted them, and drew out their affections. This was not, indeed, to God and his goodness, but to the effect and product of their own imaginations. And hence, those with the most raised apprehensions concerning the nature, being, and goodness of God, with the highest expressions of a constant admiration of him and love for him— these great admirers and lovers of divine goodness — were constantly His greatest opposers and enemies. For indeed, they rejected the true God as he was declared to them by any means, and as he has revealed himself, and as he would be known. This is an uncontrollable570 evidence that the love of divine goodness, which some fancy in those who are destitute of supernatural revelation and other aids of grace, was, in the best of them, based on the products of their own imaginations, and not on God himself. But omitting them, we may consider the effects of this darkness working by enmity in the minds of those who have the word preached to them. Darkness exerts itself even in these, until it is effectively prevailed on by victorious grace, either closely571 or openly. And however they may be doctrinally instructed in true notions concerning God and his attributes, in applying them to themselves, or in considering their own concern in them, they "always err in their hearts." Psalms 95:10 All the practical notions they have of God tend to alienate their hearts from him; and that occurs either by contempt or by an undue dread and terror. For some apprehend that God is slow to act and does not regard what they do; or at least, he is not so severely displeased with them as to make it necessary for them to seek a change of their state and condition. They think that God is "such a one as themselves," Psalms 50:21; or at least, that he approves them, and will accept them, even though they continue in their sins. Now, this is a fruit of the highest enmity against God, though palliated572 with the pretense of the most raised notions and apprehensions of his goodness. For just as it is a heinous crime to imagine an outward shape of the divine nature, and that God is like men or beasts — which is the height of the sin of the most gross idolaters, Romans 1:23, Psa 106.20 573 — so it is a sin of a higher provocation, to conceive that he is so much like bestial men, that he would approve and accept them in their sins. Yet this darkness does and will maintain this false notion of God in the minds of men, even when his nature and will are objectively revealed in the word. By this darkness, they are made obstinate in their sin to the uttermost. And where this fails, it will, on the other hand, represent God as being all fire and fury, inexorable and untractable. See Micah 6:6-7; Isaiah 33:14; Gen 4.13.574
Moreover, this darkness fills the mind with enmity against all the ways of God. For just as "the carnal mind is enmity against God," so "it is not subject to his law, nor indeed can be." So the apostle informs us that men are "alienated from the life of God," or they dislike the whole way and work of living to him, because of the ignorance and blindness that is in them, Ephesians 4:18; and the carnal mind considers the whole rule and measure of it to be "foolishness," 1 Corinthians 1:18; 1 Corinthians 1:21. But I must not emphasize these particulars too long, even though some are so apt these days to boast in proud swelling words of vanity concerning the power and sufficiency of the mind, even with respect to religion and spiritual things. Yet it cannot be untimely to declare the judgment of the Holy Ghost in this matter, plainly expressed in the Scriptures. One testimony of this be of more weight with the disciples of Jesus Christ, than a thousand declamations to the contrary.
(2.) This darkness fills the mind with wills or perverse lusts that are directly contrary to the will of God, Ephesians 2:3. There are wills or "lusts of the mind," — that is, habitual inclinations of the mind toward sensual objects; it "minds earthly things," Php 3:19. And hence the mind itself is said to be "fleshly," Colossians 2:18. As to spiritual things, it is "born of the flesh," and it "is flesh." It likes, savors, and approves of nothing except what is carnal, sensual, and vain. Nothing is suited to it except what is either curious,575 or needless, or superstitious, or sensual and earthly. And therefore men are said to "walk in the vanity of their minds." In the whole course of their lives, they are influenced by a predominant principle of vanity. In this state, the thoughts and imaginations of the mind are always set to work to provide sensual objects for this vain and fleshly frame; hence they are said to be "evil continually," Genesis 6:5. This is the course of a darkened mind. Its vain frame or inclination, its fleshly will, stirs up vain thoughts and imaginations; it "minds the things of the flesh," Romans 8:5. These thoughts fix on and present to the mind, objects that are suited to satisfy its vanity and lust. With these, the mind commits folly and lewdness, and its fleshly habit is thereby heightened and confirmed. This multiplies imaginations of its own kind, by which men "inflame themselves," Isaiah 57:5, growing worse and worse. And the particular bent of these imaginations relates to the predominance of any special lust in the heart or mind.
It will be objected that,
"These things may be so in many persons, especially in those who have become profligate in sin.576 Yet, because they proceed from their wills, and from corrupt, sensual affections, they do not argue for an impotency in the mind to discern and receive spiritual things. Notwithstanding these enormities in some, the faculty of the mind is still endowed with a power to discern, judge, and believe spiritual things in a due manner."
Ans. 1. We will not now discuss the weakness and disability of the mind in and about these things, which is a natural impotency, as it were, like blindness in the eyes, which has both been explained and confirmed before. Rather, what we intend is a moral disability — and that is a disability as to all the powers of invincible nature, as to rightly receiving spiritual things. This ensues from that corrupt depravation of the mind in the state of nature, that the Scripture calls "darkness" or "blindness."
Ans. 2. Our present testimonies have sufficiently confirmed that all the instances mentioned, proceed from the depravation of the mind. And because this is common and equal in all unregenerate men, if it does not produce the same degree of enormity in all effects, it is from some beams of light and secret convictions from the Holy Spirit, as we will declare afterward.
Ans. 3. Our only aim is to prove the indispensable necessity of a saving work of illumination on the mind, to enable it to receive spiritual things spiritually; this is sufficiently apparent from the efficacy of this darkness, from which a man has no ability to disentangle or save himself; for also —
(3.) It fills the mind with prejudices against spiritual things, as proposed to it in the gospel; and from these prejudices, it has neither light nor power to extricate itself. No small part of its depravation consists in its readiness to embrace these prejudices, and its tenacious adherence to them. A few of these prejudices may be instanced:
[1.] The mind, from the darkness that is in it, apprehends that spiritual things — the things of the gospel, as they are proposed — have an utter inconsistency with true contentment and satisfaction. Contentment and satisfaction are the things which all men seek by various ways. This is the scent and chase which they so eagerly pursue in different tracks and countless paths — it is something they would attain or arrive at, which would satisfy their minds and fill their desires. And commonly, before they have hardly considered the proposals of the gospel, they suppose they are at least on the way to such contentment, by those little tastes of satisfaction for their lusts which they have obtained in the ways of the world. And they will not forego these hopeful beginnings: Isaiah 57:10, "You are wearied in the length of your way; yet you did not say, There is no hope: you have found the life of your hand; therefore you were not grieved." 577 They are often ready to faint in the pursuit of their lusts, because of the disappointments which they find in them, or the evils that attend them. For whichever way they turn in their course, they cannot help but see or shrewdly suspect that their end is, or will be, vanity and a troubled spirit. Yet they do not give up the pursuit in which they are engaged; they do not say, "There is no hope." And the reason for this is because they "find the life of their hand." Something or other comes to them daily, either from the work they do, or the company they keep, or the expectation they have, which preserves their hope, and makes them unwilling to forego their present condition. They find it is not the best, but they do not think there can be anything better; and therefore, their only design is to improve or thrive in what they have. If they might obtain more mirth, more wealth, more strength and health, more assurance of their lives, more power, more honor, more suitable objects for their sensual desires, then they suppose it would be better than it is. But they can entertain no regard for for anything which differs entirely from these in kind.
It is in this state and condition that spiritual things are proposed to them — the spiritual, mysterious things of the gospel. At first view, they judge that these things will not assist them in the pursuit or improvement of their carnal satisfactions. And so far, they are in the right; they do not judge amiss. The things of the gospel will give neither countenance nor help to the lusts of men. No, it is not hard for them to discover that the gospel, if they admit its power, will crucify and mortify those corrupt affections which previously they were given up to and in pursuit of; for it plainly declares this in Colossians 3:1-5 and Tit 2.11-12.578
There are only two things which concern men seeking contentment and satisfaction: first, the objects of their lusts or desires, and secondly, those lusts and desires themselves. The former may be considered in their own nature, as they are indifferent, or as they are capable of being abused for corrupt and sinful ends. In the first way, just as the gospel does not condemn these objects, so it adds nothing to them for those by whom the gospel is received. It does not give men more riches, wealth, or honor than they had before in the world. It promises no such thing to those who receive the gospel, but rather the contrary. The latter consideration, of the abuse of these objects, the gospel condemns and takes away. As for the lusts and desires themselves, the avowed work of the gospel is to mortify them. And hereby the naturally corrupt relation which exists between these desires and their objects is broken and dissolved. Except on extraordinary occasions, the gospel leaves men their names, their reputations, their wealth, and their honors, if lawfully obtained and possessed; but the league that exists between the mind and these things in all natural men must be broken. They must no longer be looked at as the highest good, or in place of that good, nor as the matter of satisfaction; rather, they must give way to spiritual, unseen, eternal things. This secretly alienates the carnal mind, and a prejudice is raised against the gospel, as that which would deprive the soul of all its present satisfactions, and offer nothing in their place that is suitable to any of its desires or affections. For because of the power of the darkness that the soul is under, it can neither discern the excellence of the spiritual and heavenly things which are proposed to it, nor have any affections to which these things are proper and suited, so that the soul should pursue them. Hereby this prejudice becomes invincible in their souls. They neither do, nor can, nor will accept spiritual things, because they are utterly inconsistent with all those things in which they hope, or look for satisfaction.
Men are only pleasing themselves with dreams and fancies, who talk of such a reasonableness and excellence in gospel truths, that the mind of a natural man will discern their suitableness so as to receive and embrace them. Nor does anyone, for the most part, give greater evidence of the prevalence of the darkness and enmity in the carnal mind against the spiritual things of the gospel, as to their life and power, than those who most pride and please themselves in such discourses.
[2.] By this darkness, the mind is filled with prejudices against the mystery of the gospel in a particular manner. Because natural men cannot receive the hidden spiritual wisdom of God in it, they despise it. They look at all the parts of its declaration as empty and unintelligible notions. And this is that prejudice by which this darkness prevails in the minds of men who are otherwise knowing and learned. It has done so in all ages, and in none more effectively than in this present age. But there is a sacred, mysterious, spiritual wisdom in the gospel and its doctrine. This is fanatical, chimerical, and foolish to the wisest in the world while they are under the power of this darkness. It is the design of the apostle Paul, in 1 Corinthians 1, 2, to demonstrate the truth of this. For he directly affirms that the doctrine of the gospel is the wisdom of God in a mystery; that this wisdom cannot be discerned nor understood by the wise and learned men of the world, who have not received the Spirit of Christ. And therefore, the things of the gospel are weakness and foolishness to them. And what is foolish, is to be despised; indeed, folly is the only object of contempt. And hence we see that some with the greatest pride, scorn, and contempt imaginable, despise the purity, simplicity, and whole mystery of the gospel, and yet they profess to believe it. But to clarify the whole nature of this prejudice, a few things may be distinctly observed.
There are two sorts of things declared in the gospel:
1st. Those which are absolutely its own, that are proper and particular to it — those which have no footsteps in the law or in the light of nature, but are of pure revelation and unique to the gospel. Of this nature are all things concerning the love and will of God in Christ Jesus. The mystery of his incarnation, of his offices and whole mediation, of the dispensation of the Spirit, and our participation in it, and our union with Christ by it; our adoption, justification, and effectual sanctification, all proceeding from that — in brief, everything that belongs to the purchase and application of saving grace, is of this sort. These things are purely and properly evangelical and unique to the gospel alone. Hence the apostle Paul, to whom its dispensation was committed, puts that eminence on these things such that, by comparison, he resolved to emphasize nothing else in his preaching, 1Cor 2.2;579 and he describes his ministry to that purpose, Eph 3.7-11.580
2dly. There are things declared and enjoined in the gospel that have their foundation in the law and light of nature. Such are all the moral duties which are taught in this. And two things may be observed concerning them:
(1st.) That they are in some measure known to men aliunde, i.e., from other principles. The inbred concreated581 light of nature, teaches and confirms them, though obscurely. So the apostle, speaking of mankind in general, says in Romans 1:19; "That which may be known of God is manifested in them." The essential properties of God, rendering our moral duty to him necessary, are known by the light of nature; and by that same light men are able to make a judgment about their actions, whether they are good or evil, Rom 2.14-15.582 And this is all the light which some boast of, as they will one day find to their disappointment.
(2dly.) There is an obligation to obedience on all men, according to their light concerning these things. The same law and light which reveals these things, also enjoins their observance. Thus it is with all men prior to the gospel being preached to them. In this estate the gospel superadds two things to the minds of men:
(1st.) It directs us to a right performance of these things, from a right principle, by a right rule, and to a right end and purpose; so that they, and we in them, may obtain acceptance with God. By this the gospel gives moral duties a new nature, and turns them into evangelical obedience.
(2dly.) By a communication of that Spirit which is annexed to its dispensation, it supplies us with strength for their performance in the manner it prescribes.
Hence it follows that this is the method of the gospel: first, it proposes and declares things which are properly and uniquely its own. So the apostle sets down the constant entrance of his preaching, 1Cor 15.3.583 It reveals its own mysteries, to lay them as the foundation of faith and obedience. It inlays them in the mind, and thereby conforms the whole soul to them. See Romans 6:17; Galatians 4:19; Titus 2:11-12; 1 Corinthians 3:11; 2Cor 3.18.584— Without this foundation, the gospel will have nothing to do with the souls of men, nor will it proceed to any other thing with those by whom this first work is refused. But this foundation being laid, it then grafts all duties of moral obedience on this stock of faith in Christ Jesus. This is the method of the gospel which the apostle Paul observes in all his epistles: first, he declares the mysteries of faith that are unique to the gospel; and then he descends to those moral duties which are regulated by it. But the prejudice we mentioned inverts the order of these things. Those who are under its power when, on various accounts, they are open to the gospel in general, still fix their minds first and principally on the things which have their foundation in the law and light of nature. These they know and have some acquaintance with themselves; and therefore they extol them, although not in their proper place, nor to their proper end. They make them the foundation, according to the place which they held in the law of nature and covenant of works, because the gospel only allows them to be necessary superstructures on the foundation. But resolving to give moral duties the pre-eminence in their minds, they consider afterward the particular doctrines of the gospel, with one or the other of these effects:
First, some wholly despise them in a way, reproaching those by whom these doctrines are singularly professed. What is contained in them is of no importance, in their judgment, compared with the more necessary duties of morality, which they pretend to embrace. And to acquit themselves of the trouble of searching into these doctrines, they reject them as unintelligible or unnecessary. Or,
Secondly, by forced interpretations, enervating585 the spirit and perverting the mystery of them, they will square and fit them to their own low and carnal apprehensions. They would reduce the gospel and all its mysteries to their own light, as some do; reduce it to reason, as others do; reduce it to philosophy, as the rest do — and let those who do not comply with their weak and carnal notions of things, expect all the contemptuous reproaches which the proud pretenders to science and wisdom, cast of old upon the apostles and first preachers of the gospel. In advancing morality above the mystery and grace of the gospel, they at once reject the gospel and also destroy morality; for removing it from its proper foundation, it falls into the dirt — of which the conduct of the men of this persuasion, is no small evidence.
It is from this prejudice that the spiritual things of the gospel are despised and condemned by many. Thus God spoke of Ephraim, Hosea 8:12, "I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were considered a strange thing." The strange things intended here were the "great, manifold, various things of the law." What the law was to that people then, the gospel is to us now. The "torah" was the entire means of God’s communicating his mind and will to them, just as his whole counsel is revealed to us by the gospel. These things that he wrote to them, or that he made, were in themselves and in their revelation, plain and clear. But when all was done, they were esteemed "strange" by them, just as the gospel is. It is "a foreign thing" and alien to the minds of men, something they do not intend to concern themselves with. They will heed the things that are cognate to the principles of their nature, things that are morally good or evil; but as for the hidden wisdom of God in the mystery of the gospel, it is esteemed "a strange thing" by them. And this darkness fills the minds of men with countless other prejudices of the same nature, by which they are powerfully and, as to any light or strength of their own, invincibly kept away from receiving spiritual things in a spiritual manner.
4. Again; the power and efficacy of this darkness in and upon the souls of unregenerate men will be further evidenced by considering its special subject, or the nature and use of that faculty which is affected with it. This is the mind or understanding. Light and knowledge are intellectual virtues or perfections of the mind; and that is in every kind whatsoever, whether in things that are natural, moral, or spiritual. The darkness which we treat here is the privation of spiritual light, or the lack of it; and therefore darkness and light are opposed to one another: "You were sometimes darkness, but now you are light in the Lord," Ephesians 5:8. It is, therefore, the mind or understanding which is affected with this darkness, which is vitiated and depraved by it.586 Now, the mind may be considered two ways:
(1.) As it is theoretical or contemplative, discerning and judging the things proposed to it. So its office is to discover, consider, discern, and apprehend the truth of things. In the case before us, it is the duty of the mind to apprehend, understand, and receive the truths of the gospel as they are proposed to it, in the manner of and to the end of their proposal. As we have manifested, because of its depravation, the mind neither does nor is able to do this, John 1:5; 1Cor 2.14.587
(2.) The mind may be considered as it is practical, as to its power to direct the whole soul, and determine the will to actual operation, according to its light. I will not inquire at present whether the will, as to the specification of its acts, necessarily follows the determination of the mind or practical understanding. I aim at no more than to say the mind is the directive faculty of the soul as to all moral and spiritual operations.
Hence it follows:
(1.) That nothing in the soul — nor in the will and affections — can will, desire, or cling to any good, except what is presented to them by the mind, and as it is presented. That good which the mind cannot discover, whatever it is, the will cannot choose; nor can the affections cling to it. All their actions about and concerning them, are not such that they will answer their duty. Our Savior directs us to consider this,
Matthew 6:22-23, "The light of the body is the eye: if therefore your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"
Just as the eye is naturally the light of the body, or the means of light, so the mind is light to the soul. And if darkness is in the eye, then not only the eye but the whole body is in darkness, because the light of the whole is in the eye alone. So if the mind is under darkness, the whole soul is also under darkness, because it has no light except by the mind. And hence illumination is sometimes taken for the whole work of conversion to God; and also the spiritual actings of the mind by the renovation of the Holy Ghost. Both are constantly proposed as those things which precede any gracious actings in the will, heart, and life, as we will show afterward.
(2.) The soul can in no way, by any other of its faculties, receive, embrace, or adhere to that good in a saving manner, which the mind does not savingly apprehend. So too, where the mind is practically deceived, or is in any way captivated under the power of prejudices, the will and the affections can in no way free themselves from entertaining that evil which the mind has perversely assented to. Thus, where the mind is so reprobate or void of sound judgment, as to call good evil, and evil good,588 the heart, affections, and conduct will conform to this, Rom 1.28-32.589 And in the Scripture, the deceiving of the mind is commonly laid down as the principle of all sin whatsoever, 1 Timothy 2:14; Hebrews 3:12-13; 2Cor 11.3.590 This is a brief delineation of the state of the mind of man while unregenerate, with respect to spiritual things. And from what has been said, we conclude that the mind in the state of nature is so depraved, vitiated, and corrupted, that upon spiritual things being proposed to it in the dispensation and preaching of the gospel, it is not able to understand, receive, and embrace them in a spiritual and saving manner, so as to have their sanctifying power thereby brought into and fixed in the soul — not without an internal, especial, immediate, supernatural, effectual, enlightening act of the Holy Ghost. What that is, and what it consists in, will be declared.