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13 - On Sin in Believers - Sermons on Several Occasions · Sacred Texts Archive

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On sin in believers. If any man be in Christ, he is a
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new creature Second Corinthians five seventeen. Is there then sin in him that is
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in Christ? Does sin remain in one that believes in Him? Is there
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any sin in them that are born of God? Or are they wholly delivered
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from it? Let no one imagine this is to be a question of mere
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curiosity, or that it is of little importance, whether it be determined one
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way or the other. Rather, it is a point of the utmost moment
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to every serious Christian, the resolving of which very nearly concerns both his present
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and eternal happiness. And yet I do not know that ever it was controverted
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in the primitive Church. Indeed, there was no room for disputing concerning it,
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as all Christians were agreed. And so far as I have observed,
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the whole body of ancient Christians who have left us anything in writing, declare
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with one voice that even believers in Christ, till they are strong in the
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Lord and in the power of His might, have need to wrestle with flesh
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and blood, with an evil nature, as well as with principalities and powers.
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And here in our own church, as indeed in most points exactly copies
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after the primitive declaring in her ninth article, original sin is the corruption of
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the nature of every man, whereby a man is in his own nature inclined
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to evil, so that the flesh lusteth contrary to the spirit. And this
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infection of nature doth remain yea in them that are regenerated. Whereby the lust
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of the flesh, called in Greek phronema sarcos, is not subject to the
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law of God. And although there is no condemnation for them that believe,
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yet this lust hath of itself the nature of sin. The same testimony is
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given by all other churches, not only by the Greek and Romish Church,
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but by every reformed church in Europe, of whatever denomination. Indeed, some
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of these seem to carry the thing too far, so describing the corruption of
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heart in a believer, are scarce to allow that he has dominion over it,
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but rather is in bondage there too, and by this means they leave
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hardly any distinction between a believer and an unbeliever. To avoid this extreme,
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many well meaning men, particularly those under the direction of the Lake Count Zinzendorf,
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ran into another affirming that all true believers are not only saved from the
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dominion of sin, but from the being of inward as well as outward sin,
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so that it no longer remains in them and from them. About twenty
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years ago many of our countrymen imbibed to the same opinion, that even the
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corruption of nature is no more in those who believe in Christ. It is
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true that when the Germans were pressed upon this head, they soon allowed,
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many of them at least, that sin did still remain in the flesh,
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but not in the heart of a believer. And after a time, when
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the absurdity of this was shown, they fairly gave up the point, allowing
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that sin did still remain, though did not reign in him that is born
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of God. But the English, who had received it from them, some
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directly, some at second or third hand, were not so easily provailed upon
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to part with a favorite opinion. And even when the generality of them were
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convinced it was utterly indefensible, a few could not be persuaded to give it
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up, but maintain it to this day for the sake of these who really
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fear God and desire to know the truth as it is in Jesus. It
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may not be amiss to consider the point with calmness and impartiality. In doing
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this, I use indifferently the words regenerate, justified, or believers, since
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though they have not precisely the same meaning, the first implying an inward actual
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change, the second a relative one, and the third the means whereby both
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the one and the other are wrought, yet they come to one and the
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same thing, as every one that believes is both justified and born of God
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by sin. I here understand inward sin any sinful temper, passion or affection,
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such as pride, self will, love of the world, in any
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kind of degree such as lust, anger, peevishness, any disposition contrary to
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the mind which was in Christ. The question is not concerning outward sin.
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Whether a child of God commits sin or no. We all agree and earnestly
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maintain he that committeth sin is of the devil. We agree whosoever is born
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of God doth not commit sin. Neither do we now inquire whether inward sin
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will always remain in the children of God, whether sin will continue in the
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soul as long as it continues in the body. Nor yet do we inquire
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whether a justified person may relapse either into inward or outward sin. But simply
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this is a justified or regenerate man freed from all sin. As soon as
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he is justified, is there then no sin in his heart, nor ever
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after unless he fall from grace. We allow that the state of a justified
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person is inexpressibly great and glorious. He is born again, not of the
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blood, nor of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but
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of God. He is a child of God, a member of Christ,
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an heir of the Kingdom of Heaven. The peace of God, which passeth
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all understanding, keepeth his heart and mind. In Christ Jesus. His very
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body is a temple of the Holy Ghost and an habitation of God. Through
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the Spirit, he has created anew. In Christ Jesus, he is washed,
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he is sanctified. His heart is purified by faith. He is cleansed
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from the corruption that is in the world. The love of God is shared
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abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto him.
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And so long as he walketh in love, which he may always do,
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he worships God in spirit and in truth. He keepeth the commandments of God,
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and doeth those things that are pleasing in his sight, so exercising himself
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as to have conscience void of offense toward God and toward man. And he
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has a power both over outward and inward sin. Even from the moment he
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is just a fife. But was he not then freed from all sin,
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so that there is no sin in his heart? I cannot say this,
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I cannot believe it, because Saint Paul says the contrary. He is speaking
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to believers and describing the state of believers in general, when he says,
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the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. These
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are contrary, the one to the other Galatians five seventeen. Nothing can be
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more express. The Apostle here directly affirms that the flesh, evil nature,
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opposes the spirit, even in believers, that even in the regenera, there
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are two principles contrary, the one to the other. Again, when he
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writes to the believers at Corinth, to those who were sanctified in Christ Jesus,
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First Corinthians one two, he says, I brethren could not speak unto
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you, as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, as unto babes in
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Christ, ye are yet carnal? For whereas there is among you envying and
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strife, are ye not carnal? First Corinthians three thirteen. Now Here the
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Apostle speaks unto those who were unquestionably believers, whom in the same breath he
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styles as brethren in Christ as being still in a measure carnal. He affirms
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there was envying, an evil temper occasional strife among them, and yet does
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not give the least intimation that they have lost their faith. Nay, he
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manifestly declares that they had not, for then they would not have been babes
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in Christ. And what is most remarkable of all, he speaks of being
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carnal and babes in Christ as one and the same thing, plainly showing that
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every believer is in a degree carnal, while he is only a babe in
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Christ. Indeed, this grand point that there are two contrary principles in believers,
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nature and grace the flesh and the Spirit, runs through all the epistles
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of Saint Paul yea, through all the Holy Scriptures. Almost all the directions
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and exhortations therein are founded upon this supposition, pointing at wrong tempers or practices
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in those who are, notwithstanding acknowledged by the inspired writers to be believers,
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and they are continually exhorted to fight with and conquer these by the power of
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the faith which was in them. And who can doubt that there was faith
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in the Angel of the Church of Ephesus when our Lord said to him,
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I know thy works and thy labour, and thy patients. Thou hast patience
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and form my namesake, hast laboured and has not Faintedations two twenty four.
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But was there meantime no sin in his heart? Yea or Christ would not
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have added. Nevertheless, I have something against thee because thou hast left thy
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first love. This was real sin which God saw in his heart, of
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which accordingly he is exhorted to repent. And yet we have no authority to
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say, not even then that he had no faith. Nay, the Angel
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of the Church at Pergamos also is exhorted to repent, which implies sin,
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though our Lord expressly says, thou hast not denied my faith Revelations two thirteen
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and sixteen. And to the Angel of the Church in Sardis, he says,
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strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die. The good which
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remained was ready to die, but was not actually dead Revelations three two.
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So there was still a spark of faith even in him, which he is
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accordingly commanded to hold fast Revelations three three. Once more, when the Apostle
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exhorts believers to cleanse themselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit Second Corinthians
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seven to one, he plainly teaches that those believers were not yet cleansed.
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Therefrom will you answer, he that abstains from all appearance of evil, does
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ipso facto cleanse himself from all filthiness? Not in any wise. For instance,
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a man reviles me, I feel resentment, which is filthiness of the
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spirit. Yet I say not a word here I abstain from all appearance of
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evil. But this does not cleanse me from that filthiness of spirit, as
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I experienced to my sorrow, And as this position there is no sin in
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a believer, no carnal mind, no bent to backsliding. Is thus contrary
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to the word of God. So it is to the experience of his children.
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These continually feel and heart bent to backsliding, A natural tendency to evil
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a proneness to depart from God and to cleave to the things of earth.
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They are daily sensible of sin remaining in their heart, pride, self,
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will unbelief, and of sin cleaving to all they speak and do, even
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their best actions and holiest duties. Yet at the same time they know they
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are of God. They cannot doubt of it for a moment. They feel
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His spirit clearly, witnessing with their spirit that they are the children of God.
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They rejoice in God through Christ Jesus, by whom they have now received
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the atonement, so that they are equally assured that sin is in them and
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that Christ is in them the hope of glory. But can Christ be in
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the same heart where sin is, Undoubtedly he can, otherwise it could never
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be saved. Therefrom where the sickness is there is the physician carrying on his
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work within, striving till he cast out sin. Christ indeed cannot reign where
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sin reigns. Neither will he dwell where any sin is allowed. But He
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is and dwells in the heart of every believer who is fighting against all sin.
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Although it be not yet purified, according to the purification of the sanctuary,
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it has been observed before that the opposite doctrine that there is no sin
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in believers is quite new in the Church of Christ, that it was never
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heard of for seventeen hundred years, never till it was discovered by Count Zinzendorf.
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I do not remember to have seen the least intimation of it, either
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in any ancient or modern writer, unless perhaps in some of the wild ranting
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Antinomians. And these likewise say and unsay, acknowledging that there is sin in
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their flesh, although no sin in their heart. But whatever doctrine is new
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must be wrong, for the old religion is the only true one, and
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no doctrine can be right unless it is the very same which was from the
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beginning. One argument more against this new unscriptural doctrine may be drawn from the
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dreadful consequences of it. One says I felt anger to day. Must I
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reply, then you have no faith? Another says, I know what you
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advise is good, but my will is quite averse to it. Must I
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tell him, then you are an unbeliever under the wrath and the curse of
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God. What will be the natural consequence of this? Why? If he
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believe what I say? His soul will not only be grieved and wounded,
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but perhaps utterly destroyed. Inasmuch as he will cast away that confidence which hath
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great recompense of reward. And having cast away his shield, how shall he
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quench the fiery darts of the wicked one? How shall he overcome the world?
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Seeing this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
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He stands disarmed in the midst of his enemies, open to all their assorts.
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What wonder, then, if he be utterly overthrown, if they take
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him captive at their will, yea, if he fall from one wickedness to
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another, and never see good anymore. I cannot, therefore, by any
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means, receive this assertion that there is no sin in a believer from the
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moment he is justified. First because it is contrary to the whole tenor of
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scripture. Secondly because it is contrary to the experience of the children of God,
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Thirdly because it is absolutely new, never heard of in the world till
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yesterday, And lastly because it is naturally attended with the most fatal consequences,
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not only grieving those whom God hath not grieved, but perhaps dragging them into
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everlasting perdition. However, let us give a fair hearing to the chief arguments
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of those who endeavor to support it. And it is first from scripture.
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They attempt to prove that there is no sin in a believer. They argue,
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Thus the scripture says, every believer is born of God, is clean,
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is holy, is sanctified, is pure in heart, has a new
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heart, is a temple of the Holy Ghost. Now as that which is
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born of the flesh is flesh, is altogether evil, so that which is
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born of the Spirit, is spirit, is altogether good. Again, a
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man cannot be clean, sanctified, holy, and at the same time unclean,
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unsanctified, unholy. He cannot be pure and impure, or have a
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new and an old heart together. Neither can his soul be unholy, while
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it is a temple of the Holy Ghost. I have put this objection as
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strong as possible that its full weight may appear. Let us now examine it
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part by part. And that which is born of the Spirit, is spirit,
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is altogether good. I allow the text, but not the comment,
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For the text affirms this and no more, that every man who is born
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of the spirit is a spiritual man. He is so, But so he
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may be and yet not be altogether spiritual. The Christians at Corinth were spiritual
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men else there had been no Christians at all, And yet they were not
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altogether spiritual. They were still in part carnal, but they were fallen from
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grace. Saint Paul says, no, they were even then babes in Christ.
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But a man cannot be clean, sanctified, wholly and at the same
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time unclean, unsanctified, unholy. Indeed he may so. The Corinthians were,
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ye are washed, says the Apostle, Ye are sanctified, namely cleansed
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from fornication, idolatry, drunkenness, and all other outward sin. First Corinthians
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six, nine, ten, and eleven. And yet at the same time,
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in another sense of the word, they were unsanctified. They were not
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washed, not inwardly cleansed from envy, evil, surmising partiality. But sure
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they had not a new heart and an old heart together it is mostional had,
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for at that very time their hearts were truly yet not entirely renewed.
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Their carnal mind was nailed to the cross, yet it was not wholly destroyed.
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But could they be unholy while they were temples of the Holy ghost.
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Yes, that they were temples of the Holy Ghost is certain First Corinthians six
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nineteen. And it is equally certain that they were in some degree carnal,
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that is unholy. However, there is one scripture more which will put the
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matter out of question. If any man be a believer in Christ, he
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is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things
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are become new. Second Corinthians five seventeen. Now, certainly a man cannot
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be a new creature and an old creature at once. Yes, he may.
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He may be partly renewed, which was the very case with those at
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Corinth. They were doubtless renewed in the spirit of their mind, or they
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could not have been so much as babes in Christ. Yet they had not
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the whole mind which was in Christ, for they envied one another. But
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it is said expressly old things are passed away, all things become new.
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But we must not so interpret the apostle's words as to make him contradict himself.
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And if we will make him consistent with himself, the plain meaning of
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the words is this His old judgment concerning justification holiness, happiness. Indeed,
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concerning the things of God in general, is now passed away. So are
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his old desires, designs, affections, tempers, and conversation. All these
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are undeniably become new, greatly changed from what they were. And yet though
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they are new, they are not wholly new. Still he feels to his
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sorrow and shame remains of the old man. Two manifest taints of his former
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tempers and affections, though they cannot gain any advantage over him as long as
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he watches unto prayer. This whole argument, if he is clean, he
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is clean. If he is holy, he is holy, And twenty more
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expressions of the same kind may be easily heaped together, is really no better
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than playing upon words. It is the fallacy of arguing from a particular to
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a general, of inferring a general conclusion from particular premises. Propose the sentence
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entire and it runs thus, if he is wholly at all, he is
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wholly altogether. That does not follow. Every babe in Christ is holy,
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and yet not altogether. So he is saved from sin, yet not entirely.
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It remains, though it does not rain. If you think does not
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remain in babes at least, whatever be the case with young men or fathers,
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You certainly have not considered the height and depth, and length and breadth
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of the law of God, even the law of Love laid down by Saint
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Paul in the thirteenth of Corinthians. And that every anomia, disconformity to or
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deviation from this law is sin. Now is there no disconformity to this in
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the heart or life of a believer? What may be in an adult Christian
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is another question. But what a stranger must he be to human nature?
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Who can possibly imagine that this is the case with every babe in Christ?
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But believers walk after the spirit. What follows for some pages is an answer
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to a paper published in the Christian Magazine, page five hundred seventy seven to
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five hundred and eighty two. I am surprised mister Dodds should such a paper
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a place in his magazine, which is directly contrary to our ninth article editor
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Romans eight one. And the Spirit of God dwells in them. Consequently,
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they are delivered from the guilt, the power, or in one word,
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the being of sin. These are coupled together as if they were the same
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thing. But they are not the same thing. The guilt is one thing,
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the power another, and the being yet another. The believers are delivered
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from the guilt and the power of sin. We allow, that they are
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delivered from the being of it. We deny. Nor does it in any
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wise follow from these texts. A man may have the spirit of God dwelling
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in him, and may walk after the spirit, though he still feels the
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flesh lusting against the spirit. But the Church is the body of Christ Colossians
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one four. This implies that its members are washed from all filthiness. Otherwise
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it will follow that Christ and Bellial are incorporated with each other. Nay,
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it will not follow from hence those who are the mystical body of Christ still
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feel the flesh lusting against the spirit. That Christ has any fellowship with the
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devil or with that sin, which he enables them to resist and overcome.
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But are not Christians come to the heavenly Jerusalem, where nothing defiled can enter
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Hebrews twelve twenty two. Yes, and to an innumerable company of angels,
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and to the spirits of just men made perfect, that is Earth and Heaven.
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All agree. All is one great family, and they are likewise wholly
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and undefiled, while they walk after the spirit. Although sensible, there is
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another p principle in them, and that these are contrary to each other.
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But Christians are reconciled to God. Now this could not be if any of
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the carnal mind remained, for this is enmity against God. Consequently, no
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reconciliation can be effected. But by its total destruction, we are reconciled to
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God through the blood of the Cross. And in that moment the phronima sarcos,
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the corruption of nature, which he is enmity with God, is put
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under our feet. The flesh has no more dominion over us, but it
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still exists, and it is still in its nature enmity with God, lusting
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against his spirit. But they that are Christs have crucified the flesh with its
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affections and lusts Galatians five twenty four. They have so, yet it remains
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in them still and often struggles to break from the cross. Nay, but
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they have put off the old men with his deeds Colossians three nine. They
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have, and in the sense above described, old things have passed away,
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all things have become new. A hundred texts may be cited to the same
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effect, and they will all admit of the same answer. But to say
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all in one word, Christ gave himself for the church, that it might
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be wholly and without blemish Ephesians five, twenty five and twenty seven. And
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so it will be in the end, but it never was yet from the
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beginning to this day. But let experience speak. All who are justified do
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at that time find an absolute freedom from all sin? That I doubt.
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But if they do, do they find it ever after? Else you gain
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nothing. If they do not. It is their own fault that remains to
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be proved. But in the very nature of things, can a man have
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pride in him and not be proud anger yet not be angry? A man
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may have pride in him, may think of himself in some particulars above what
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he ought to think, and so be proud in that particular, and yet
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not be a proud man in his general character. He may have anger in
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him, yea, and a strong propensity to furious anger without giving way to
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it. But can anger and pride be in that heart where only meekness and
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humility are felt? No, But some pride and anger may be in that
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heart where there is much humility and meekness. It avails not to say these
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tempers are there, but they do not reign. For sin cannot in any
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kind or degree exist where it does not rain. For guilt and power are
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essential properties of sin. Therefore, where one of them is, all must
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be strange. Indeed, sin cannot in any kind or degree exist where it
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does not rain. Absolutely contrary this to all experience, all scripture, all
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common sense. Resentment of an affront is sin. It is anomia, this
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conformity to the law of love. This has existed in me a thousand times.
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Yet it did not and does not reign. But guilt and power are
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essential properties of sin. Therefore, where one is, all must be no.
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In the instance before us, if the resentment I feel is not yielded
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to even for a moment, there is no guilt at all, no condemnation
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from God upon that account. And in this case it has no power.
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Though it lusteth against the spirit, it cannot prevail. Here. Therefore,
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as in till ten thousand instances, there is sin without either guilt or power.
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But the supposing sin in a believer is pregnant with everything frightful and discouraging.
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It implies the contending with a power that has the possession of our strength,
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maintains his usurpation of our hearts, and there prosecutes the war in defiance
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of our redeemer. Not so, the supposing sin is in us does not
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imply that it has the possession of our strength, no more than a man
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crucified has the possession of those that crucify him. As little does it imply
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that sin maintains its usurpation of our hearts. The usurper is dethroned, he
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remains indeed where he once reigned, but remains in chains, so that he
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does, in some sense prosecute the war. Yet he grows weaker and weaker,
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while the believer goes on from strength to strength, conquering and to conquer.
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I am not satisfied. Yet he that has sin in him is a
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slave to sin. Therefore you suppose a man to be justified while he is
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a slave to sin. Now if you allow men may be justified while they
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have pride, anger, or unbelief in them, Nay, if you aver
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these are at least for a time in all that are justified. What wonder
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that we have so many proud angry unbelieving believers. I do not suppose that
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any man who is justified is a slave to sin. Yet I do suppose
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sin remains, at least for a time, in all that are justified.
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But if sin remains in a believer, he is a sinful man. If
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pride, for instance, then he is proud. If self will, then
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he is self willed. If unbelief, then he is an unbeliever, consequently
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no believer at all. How then does he differ from unbelievers, from unregenerate
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men. This is still mere playing upon words. It means no more than
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if there is sin, pride, self will in him, then there is
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sin, pride, self will, and this nobody can deny. In that
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sense, then he is proud or self willed. But he is not proud
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or self willed in the same sense that unbelievers are, that is governed by
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pride or self will. Herein he differs from unregenerate men. They obey sin,
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he does not. Flesh is in them both, but they walk after
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the flesh. He walks after the spirit. But how can unbelief be in
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a believer? That word has two meanings. It means either no faith or
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little faith. Either the absence of faith or the weakness of it. In
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the former sense, unbelief is not in a believer. In the latter it
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is in all babes. Their faith is commonly mixed with doubt or fear,
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that is, in the latter sense, with unbelief. Why are ye fearful,
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says Our Lord, O ye of little faith? Again, O thou
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of little faith? Wherefore didst thou doubt? You see here was unbelief in
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believers, little faith, and much unbelief. But this doctrine that sin remains
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in a believer, that a man may be in the favor of God while
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he has sin in his heart, certainly tends to encourage men in sin.
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Understand the proposition right, and no such consequence follows. A man may be
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in God's favor though he feels sin, but not if he yields to it.
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Having sin does not forfeit the favor of God. Giving way to sin
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does. Though the flesh in you lust against the spirit, you may still
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be a child of God. But if you walk after the flesh, you
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are a child of the devil. Now, this doctrine does not encourage to
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obey sin, but to resist it with all our might. The sum of
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all is this. There are in every person, even after he is justified,
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two contrary principles, nature and grace, termed by Saint Paul, the
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flesh and the spirit. Hence, although even babes in Christ are sanctified,
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yet it is only in part in a degree according to the measure of their
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faith, they are spiritual, yet in a degree they are calnt. Accordingly,
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believers are continually exhorted to watch against the flesh as well as the world
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and the devil, and to this agrees the constant experience of the children of
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God. While they feel this witness in themselves, they feel a will not
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wholly resigned to the will of God. They know they are in Him,
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and yet find an heart ready to depart from him, a proneness to evil
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in many instances, and a backwardness to that which is good. The contrary
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doctrine is wholly new, never heard of in the Church of Christ, from
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the time of his coming into the world till the time of Count Zinzendorf,
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and it is attended with the most fatal consequences. It cuts off all watching
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against our evil nature, against the Delilah, which we are told is gone.
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Though she is still lying in our bosom. It tears away the shield
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of weak believers, deprives them of their faith, and so leaves them exposed
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to all the assaults of the world, the flesh and the devil. Let
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Us therefore will hold fast the sound doctrine once delivered to the Saints, and
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delivered down by them with the written word to all succeeding generations, that although
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we are renewed, cleansed, purified, sanctified the moment we truly believe in
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Christ, yet we are not then renewed, cleansed, purified altogether. But
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the flesh, the evil nature, still remains, though subdued, and wars
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against the spirit. So much the more let us use all diligence in fighting
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the good fight of faith, so much the more earnestly let us watch and
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pray against the enemy within. The more carefully let us take to ourselves and
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put on the whole armour of God, that although we wrestle both with flesh
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and blood, and with the principalities, and with powers and wicked spirits in
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high places, we may be able to withstand in the evil day. And
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having done all to stand. End of Section thirteen