tions of God. That the souls of men should be now so created it is just and equitable, as will appear by the following considerations: Adam's original righteousness was not personal, but the righteousness of his nature; he had it not as a private sin. gle person, but as a public head, as the root, origin, and parent of mankind. It was but just that they should be deprived, as he of the glory of God; and in the room of it, unrighteous. ness and unholiness take place. To all this agrees, what a learned author well observes," God is to be considered by us, not as a Crea..or only, but also as a Judge; he is the Creator of the soul, as to its substance; in respect to which it is pure when created. Moreover, God is a Judge, when he creates a soul, as to this cirsumstance; namely, that not a soul simply is to be created by him; but a soul of one of the sons of Adam: in this respect it is just with him to desert the soul, as to his own image, lost in Adam; from which desertion follows a want of original righteousness; from which want, original sin, itself is propagated." God in this proceeds according to the original law of nature, fixed by himself; which according to the invariable course of things, appears to be this, with respect to the propagation of mankind. That when matter generated, is prepared for the reception of the soul; as soon as that preparation is finished, that very instant a soul is created, and ready at hand to be united to it, and it is. Now the law for the propagation of mankind by natural generation was given to Adam in a state of innocence, and as soon as created, Increase and multiply; he after this corrupted and defiled the whole frame of his nature, and that of all his posterity. Is it reasonable, that because man has departed from his obedience to the law of God, that God should depart from his original law, respecting man's generation? It is not reasonable he should, nor does he, nor will he depart from it: this appears from cases, in which, if in any, he could be thought to do so; as in the case of insanity, which infects a man's blood and family, and becomes a family disorder, and yet to put a stop to this, God does not depart from the order of things fixed by

him and so in the case of such who are unlawfully begotten, in adultery or fornication; when what is generated is fit to receive the soul, there is one prepared and united to it. A man steals a quantity of wheat, and sows it in his field; nature proceeds according to its own laws, fixed by the God of nature; the earth receives the seed, though stolen into its bosom, cherishes it, and throws it out again, and'a plentiful crop is produced. And shall nature act its part, and not the God of nature? The rather he will go on in this constant course, that the sin of men might be manifest, and that sin be his punish. It is by the just ordination of God, that things are as they be. Here we should rest the matter; in this we should acquiesce; and humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God.

OF ACTUAL SINS AND TRANSGRESSIONS.

FROM the sin of Adam arises the corruption of nature, with which all mankind are infected; and from the corruption of nature, or indwelling sin, arises many actual sins and iniquities; which are called in scripture, The works of the flesh; the lusts of the flesh, Eph. ii. 3. the deeds of the body, Rom. viii. 13. the deeds of the old man, Col, iii. 9. corrupt fruit, brought forth by a corrupt tree, Matt. vii. 16-20. Actual sins are the birth of corrupt nature, When lust bath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, James i. 15. Out of the heart, as from a fountain, proceed evil thoughis, &c. Matt. xv. 19. Actual sins are deviations from the law of God; for sin is the transgression of the law, 1 John iii. 4. Actions, as natural actions, are no sinful; but an action is denominated good or bad, from its agreement or disagreement with the law of God; it is the irregularity, obliquity, and abberation of the action from the rule of the divine law, that is sin. When we distinguish actual sins from original sin, we do not mean thereby that original sin is not actual. The first sins of Adam and Eve were actual sins, transgressions of the law of God; Eve was in the transgression; that is guilty of an act: we read of Adam's

transgression, which designs the first sin he committed. And original sin, as derived from the sin of our first parents, is also actual. But actual sins are second acts, that flow from the corruption of nature. My business is not now to enlarge on particular sins, by explaining the nature, and shewing the evil of them; which more properly belongs to another part of my scheme that is to follow, even Practical Divinity. I shall therefore only treat of actual sins very briefly, in a doctrinal way, by giving the distribution of sins into their various corts and kinds, reducing them to proper classes, and ranging them under their respective heads.

I. With respect to the object of sin, it may be distinguished into sins against God; sins against others, our neighbours, friends, and those in connection with us; and against ourselves, for which distinction there seems to be some foundation in Sam. ii. 25. If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him; but if a man sin against the Lord, who shall intreat for him?-1. There are some sins that are more immediately and directly against God. The sins of David against Uriah, are confessed by him to be against the Lord; Against thee, Thee only, have I sinned, Psal. li. 4. But there are some sins more particularly pointed at him; Their tongues and their doings are against the Lord, Isai. iii. 8. Such are they as Eliphaz describes, who stretch out their hands against God, Job. xv. 25, 26. their carnal minds being at enmity against God. Particularly sins against the first table of the law, are sins against God; such as atheism, blasphemy of his name, Idolatry: Taking the name of God in Vain: Want of love to God, and of fear of him, no regard to his worship, private and public; a profanation of the day of worship, and a neglect of the ordinances of divine service. 2. Sins against others, are the violations of the second table of the law; as disobedience to parents, murder, unchastity, and taking away a man's property, privately or publicly, by force or fraud. 3. There are sins against a man's self; fornication, 1 Cor. vi. 18. Drunkenness and Suicide; no man has a right to dispose of his own life;

God is the giver, or rather lender, of it, and he only has a right to take it away.

II. With respect to the subject of sin, it may be distia. guished into internal and external; sins of heart, lip and life; or of thought, word and action--I. Internal sins, sins of the heart; the plague of sin begins there, it is thus summed up by the apostle, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, 1 John ii. 15.

Errors in the mind, come under this sort of sins, 2. Sins of the lip, or of words, which are external, openly pronounced, whether respecting God or man, and one another; as all blasphemy, evil speaking, cursing, lying, obscene and unchaste words, all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamour and evil speaking; all foolish talking and jesting, which are not convenient; yea every idle word comes into the account of sin, and will be brought to judgment; see Eph. iv. 25, &c. 3. Outward actions of the life and conversation; a vain conversation, a course of sin, the garment spotted with the flesh, right eye and right hand-sins, and all that the members of the body are used as instruments in the commission of.

III. With respect to the parts of sin: they may be divided into sins of omission and sins of commission; a foundation for it is in Matt. xxiii. 23. and xxv. 42-44. and both these sorts of sins are very strongly expressed in Isai. xliv. 22-24 Sins of omission are against affirmative precepts, sins of commission are against negative precepts, doing what is forbidden to be done; see James iv. 17.

IV. Sin may be distinguished by the principle from whence it arises. Some sins arise from ignorance, as in the princes of the world, that crucified the Lord of life and glory; the sins of others are presumptuous ones, see Luke xii. 47, 48. Some sins are through infirmity of the flesh, which men are betrayed into through the deceitfulness of sin, which is the case oftentimes of the people of God.

V. Sins may be distinguished by the degrees of them into lesser and greater; some are more aggravated than others,

with respect to the objects of them and with respect to time and place when and where they are committed, with other circumstances; some are like motes in the eye, others as beams. Our Lord has taught us this distinction, not only in Matt. vii. 3-5. John xix. 11. This appears from the different degrees of punishment of sin his doctrines taught, and his miracles wrought, and repented not, that it would be more tolerable for Tyre, Sidon, Matt. xi. 20-24. According to the laws of Draco, all sins were equal. Not such are the laws of God; nor such the nature of sin according to them.

VI. Sins may be distinguished by their adjuncts. As1. Into secret and open sins. Secret sins are such as are secretly committed, or sins of the heart; which distinction may be observed in Psal. xix. 12, 13. Others are done openly before the sun, 1 Tim. v. 24. 2. The papists distinguish sin into venial and mortal: which cannot be admitted without a limitation, or restriction; for though all sin is venial or pardonable, through the blood of Christ; none is pardonable in its own nature; all sin is mortal, and deserving of death. Yet3. Sin may be distinguished into remissible and irremissible, All the sins of God's people are remissible, and are actually remitted. On the other hand, all the sins of abandoned sinners that live and die in final impenitence and unbelief, are irremissible; He that made them will not have mercy on them, to forgive their sins; and he that formed them will shew them no favour, Isai. xxvii. 11. There is one sin which is commonly called, the unpardonable sin, which is the sin, or blasphemy, against the Holy Ghost; and of which it is expressly said, that it shall not be forgiven, neither in this world, nor in the world to come, Matt. xii. 31. But not every sin against the Holy Ghost is here meant. It lies in the denial of the great and fundamental truth of the gospel, salvation by Jesus Christ, in all its branches. Atonement and justification being denied to be by Christ, there can be no pardon; for there will be no more shedding of blood, nor another sacrifice for sin; therefore, there remains nothing but a fearful looking for of judgment, and indignation, to come on such persons.