A Treatise of Original Sin, Part 3 · Chapter 4 · Section 1
SECT. I.
JOHN 1. 13.
Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the fleſh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
THe original pollution of the Vnderſtanding, Conſcience and Memory, hath been largely and fully diſcovered; We now proceed to the other part or power of the rational ſoul, which is the will; That is in the ſoul like the primum mobile in the Heavens, that doth carry all the inferiour orbs away in its own motion, or like the fire among the elements that doth aſſimulate every thing elſe to it ſelf. This is the whole of a man; A man is not what he knoweth, or what he remembreth, but what he willeth; The underſtanding is but as a Connſellour; The will is as the Queen ſitting upon its Throne, exerciſing its dominion over the other parts of the ſoul; The will is the proper ſubject and ſeat of all our ſinne, and if there could be a Summum malum, as there is a Summum bonum, this would be in the will. Seeing therefore that our will is the maſter power of the ſoul, and is to that, what the heart is to the body, the principle of all motion and action, the more we find this will, thorowly infected with ſinne, the greater will our miſery appear: Neither mayeſt thou fear that the doctrinal diſcovery of that poiſoned fountain in thee, and the repreſentation of thy ſoulneſs and loath ſomneſs upon thee may diſcourage thee, but hereby thou wilt be brought to loath thy ſelf, and admire the riches of grace in Chriſt, which ſhall pardon and glorifie ſuch a noiſome wretch as thou art by nature. Indeed Lorinus (Comment. in 17. chap. Act.) relateth of Ptolomy King of Aegypt, that he baniſhed one Hegeſius a Philoſopher and eloquent Orator, becauſe he did ſo pathetically and ſenſibly Declaim upon the miſeries of mans life, that many were thereby caſt into ſuch grief, that they made away themſelves; but our end in diſcovering of this univerſal leproſie of ſinne upon us by nature, is to bring us into an holy deſpair of our ſelves, a renouncing of our righteouſneſs, that ſo Chriſt may be all in all.
Come we then to make inquiry into the original pollution of our will, which is a ſubject of very large territories; The Diſputes about it are voluminous, but I ſhall be as brief, as the nature of this truth will permit, and whereas concerning the will, we may conſider the nature of it abſolutely, in its proper works and operations, or relatively in its ſtate, as free or enſlaved. I ſhall treat of both, becauſe herein original ſinne hath put forth it ſelf more then in any other parts of the ſoul. And
Firſt, I ſhall begin with the will abſolutely conſidered, as it is the great and mighty part of the ſoul, and that from this Text, which becauſe of the different thoughts of learned Interpreters, doth deſerve a diligent explication. And
For the Coherence of it, you may take notice of the ſad and bitter event deſcribed by the Evangeliſt, of Chriſts coming as light into the world; Though he came to his own, and that as a Phyſician to the ſick, as a Saviour to ſuch who were loſt, yet his own received him not. Now leſt it might be thought this rejection of Chriſt was univerſal, he addeth, Some did receive him, and … dclareth the unſpeakable benefit and priviledge vouchſafed to ſuch. So that in the words we may take notice,
1. Of the Subject, who are thus honoured and highly bleſſed by Chriſt, Such as received him, and what this is, is explained, viz. Such who believe on his Name. In this is comprehended all our Evangelical Duty, and that both inwardly and outwardly, onelyonly faith is expreſſed, becauſe this is virtually all. This is the ſeed and the root, the ſoul and life, the ſalt that ſeaſoneth the whole man.
2. We have the Priviledge or Benefit, which is ſaid to foreign, the right or dignity of being the ſonnes of God, for ſo the word foreign, is to be underſtood, and therefore Popiſh Diſputes about the power of free-will in holy things from this place. is wholly impertinent, onelyonly the difficulty is,
Queſt. How they who believe in Chriſt can be ſaid to have this priviledge given them of Sonſhip, ſeeing that they could not believe, unleſſe they were firſt born of God, and ſo the ſons of God?
Anſw. Some therefore do underſtand this Sonſhip in reſpect of that future glory, which in Scripture is ſometimes called Adoption, and 1 John 3. 1. Then it will properly appear that we are ſonnes of God; But we may well enough underſtand it of our Adoption and Sonſhip even in this life, and this is ſaid to be obtained by faith, becauſe in our ſenſe and feeling there muſt be believing, before we come to know this priviledge doth belong to us; or elſe though faith and Sonſhip be together in time, yet in order of nature one precedeth the other.
Thus we have the Subject and the Priviledge; But in the next place, we have the Deſcription of the efficient cauſe, for it was not their own power and freewill that made them believe; Therefore the efficient cauſe is ſet down, firſt, Negatively, and then Poſitively; Negatively, by removing thoſe falſe cauſes that men might imagine; and we have a three-fold enumeration of them, Not of blood, not of the will of the fleſh, nor of the will of man. Divers Interpreters go divers wayes, though much to the ſame ſenſe: Some think the Evangeliſt by blood doth not in the general mean natural generation, and then afterwards diſtribute it into two particulars, not of the will of the fleſh, that is of the woman; Nor of the will of man, that is not of the man. Others (ſuppoſing the general) interpret the diſtribution thus; Not of the will of the fleſh, that is not naturally; Nor by the will of man, that is, not by humane adoption, for ſo ſome are made legal ſonnes amongſt man. Others, they think all theſe enumerations are but to ſignifie one thing, and therefore the oppoſition to all is God; But we may not think the holy Ghoſt doth ſo induſtriouſly reckon up theſe ſeveral wayes, but that ſome ſpecial thing is intended by every one; Although, as Eraſmus obſerveth, the emphatical Article is not in the original. By blood therefore we underſtand any dignity or excellency of birth, it's bloods in the plural number, either by an Enallage, and ſo an Hebraiſm, as Maldenate; Or elſe becauſe of the long ſucceſſion by birth: And this may well oppoſe the carnal opinion reigning both with Jew and Gentile, for all know how the Jew boaſted in his birth, becauſe he was the ſeed of Abraham, therefore he thought the favour of God neceſſarily annected to him; And for the Gentile, What a vanity and ſinfull humour is in perſons to be proud of their birth, that they come of noble parents? For, although this be an outward civil dignity amongſt men, yet it maketh nothing at all to their ſpiritual dignity, yea many times hindereth it, according to that obſervation, Heroum filiinoxae, Regeneration then doth not come according to ſuch civil and political reſpects.
2. Not of the will of the fleſh] that is, not of the natural will and choice of … he hath no power or ability in him ſo much as to will a better condition then … is in.
Laſtly, Not of the will of man] that is, not by the will of man, though perfected and adorned with many acquired perfections; Not by the will of a Plato, or an Ariſtotle, or a Seneca; So that here is a two-fold will denied from efficacy in grace, the will conſidered in its natural abilities, or in its acquired abilities: Thus 2 Pet. 1. 21. The propheſie in old time is ſaid, Not to come by the will of man, but the will of God; The will of man is there ſuppoſed to be in ſome raiſed and eminent ability above what it naturally hath, and therefore oppoſed to the will of God in a more peculiar and extraordinary manner putting forth it ſelf. Thus we have all falſe cauſes removed, and the true one affirmed, which is God himſelf.
So that this Text doth plainly triumph over all the proud opinions of Pelagians, Socinians, Arminians and Papiſts, who either give whole or part of the work of converſion to the will of man; For the Evangeliſt is very diligent to exclude the will from any efficiency herein, under any reſpect whatſoever. Obſerve,
The will of every man is naturally ſo polluted, that it cannot produce or cauſe our regeneration. It is not by the will of the fleſh, or by the will of man, that we are born again.