Of actual sins and transgressions
John Gill
From the sin of Adam arises
the corruption of nature, with which all mankind, descending from him by
ordinary generation, are infected; and from the corruption of nature, or
indwelling sin, arise many actual sins and iniquities; which are called in scripture, "The works of the flesh", #Ga 5:19 or
corrupt nature, in distinction from the fruits of the Spirit, or inward
principles of grace and holiness; see #Ga 5:17,22. These are the same with the
"lusts of the flesh", and "the desires" or "wills of
the flesh", #Eph 2:3. The internal sinful actings of the mind will; even
all manner of concupiscence, which lust or corrupt nature works in men, and
which war against the soul: they are called sometimes,
"the deeds of the body", of the body of sin; which, through the
Spirit, are mortified weakened, kept under, so as not to be frequently
committed, and be a course of sinning, #Ro 8:13 6:6. And sometimes, the deeds
of the old man, the old principle of corrupt nature, to be put off, with
respect to the outward conversation, and not be governed by the dictates of it,
#Col 3:9 Eph 4:21. Sometimes they are represented by corrupt
fruit, brought forth by a corrupt tree; such is man's sinful heart and nature,
and such the acts that spring from it: if the tree is not good, good fruit will
not grow upon it: the heart must be made good ere good works can be done by
men, #Mt 7:16-20 #Mt 12:33. Those actual sins are the birth of corrupt nature,
which is like a woman that conceives, bears, and brings forth;
"When lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin", #Jas 1:15 #Ro 7:5.
Corrupt nature is the fountain, and actual sins, whether internal or external,
are the streams that flow from it; "Out of the heart", as from a
fountain, "proceed evil thoughts", &c. #Mt 15:19 as is the
spring, so are the streams; if water at the fountainhead is bitter, so are the
streams; "Doth a fountain send forth at the same place, sweet water and bitter?"
No.
Actual sins are deviations
from the law of God; for "sin is the transgression of the law", #1Jo
3:4. Actions, as natural actions, are not sinful; for all actions, or motions,
are from God, the first Cause; from whom nothing sinful comes; creatures depend
on him in acting, as well as in subsisting; "In him we
move"; or otherwise they would be independent of him; whereas, "all
things are of him". But an action is denominated good or bad, from its
agreement or disagreement with the law of God, its conformity or disconformity
to it; it is the irregularity, obliquity, and aberration of the action from the
rule of the divine law, that is sin; and this whether in thought, word, or deed; for actual sins are not to be restrained to
outward actions, performed by the members of the body, as instruments of
unrighteousness; but include the sinful actings of the mind, evil thoughts,
carnal desires, the lusts of the heart, "heresies", errors in the
mind, false opinions of things, and "envyings", are reckoned among
the "works of the flesh", #Ga 5:20,21. And 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 of transgression; and we read of "Adam's
transgression", which designs the first sin he committed, #1Ti 2:14 Ro
5:14. And original sin, as derived from the sin of our first parents, is also
actual; it is a want of conformity to the law of God, and is
very active and operative; as it dwells in men, it works in them all manner of
concupiscence; it hinders all the good, and puts upon doing all the evil it
can; and is itself exceeding sinful. 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 showing 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 sorts and kinds, reducing them to proper classes, and ranging them
under their respective heads.
1. First,
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 #1Sa 2:25. "If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him;
but if a man sin against the Lord, who shall entreat for him?"---
1a. There are some sins that
are more immediately and directly against God; all sin, indeed, is ultimately
against him, being contrary to his nature and will; a transgression of his law;
a contempt and neglect, and indeed a tacit denial of his legislative power and
authority; who is that "Lawgiver that is able to save and to destroy". The sins of David against Uriah are confessed by
him to be against the Lord; "Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned",
#Ps 51:4. But there are some sins more particularly pointed at him, committed
against him, in an open, bold, and audacious manner; "Their tongues and
their doings are against the Lord", #Isa 3:8. Such are they as Eliphaz
describes, who "stretch out their hands against God", #Job 15:25,26 their carnal minds being enmity against God.
Particularly sins against the first table of the law, are sins against God;
such as atheism in theory and in practice; which is, a denying that there is a
God, and strikes at the very Being of him: blasphemy of his name, his
perfections, and providences; which is one of the things that proceed from the
evil heart of man: idolatry, having other gods before him,
and serving the creature besides the Creator; bowing down to, and worshipping
idols of gold, silver, brass, wood, and stone: to which may be added,
sensuality, voluptuousness, making the belly a god, and covetousness, which is
idolatry: taking the name of God in vain, using it on trifling occasions, and
in a light and irreverent manner: cursing fellow creatures in the name of God,
and swearing falsely by it, which is perjury: want of love
to God, and of fear of him; having no regard to his worship, private and
public; a profanation of the day of worship, and a neglect of the ordinances of
divine service.
1b. Sins against others, are
the violations of the second table of the law; as disobedience
to parents; not giving that honour, showing that reverence and respect, and
paying that regard to their commands that ought to be: to which head may be
reduced, disobedience to all superiors; the king as supreme, the father of his
country; subordinate magistrates; ministers of the word, masters, &c.
Murder, or the taking away of the life of another, is a sin against the sixth
command, as the former are against the fifth; of this there
are divers sorts; as parricide, fratricide, &c. which last is the first
actual sin we read of after the sin of our first parents: it seems as if the
sin of murder greatly abounded in the old world, since at the beginning of the
new, a special law respecting it was made; "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by
man shall his blood be shed", #Ge 9:6. All sins of unchastity, in thoughts,
and by obscene words and filthy actions, are violations of
the seventh command, which forbids adultery, fornication, incest, and all
unnatural lusts: taking away a man's property, privately or publicly, by force
or fraud, by false accusations, and by circumventing and overreaching in trade
and business, are breaches of the eighth command; and not only doing injury to
the persons and properties of others, but to their good
name, credit, and reputation, comes under the name of actual sins against others;
for taking away a man's good name is as bad as taking away his money, and is
next to taking away his life.
1c. There are sins against a
man's self; the apostle reckons fornication as sinning "against"
a man's "own body", #1Co 6:18 what is a pollution of it brings
dishonour upon it, fills it with nauseous diseases, and weakens the strength of
it. Drunkenness is another sin against a man's self; it is what deprives him of
the exercise of his reason, impairs his health, wastes his time, his substance,
and at last his body. Suicide is a sin against a first principle of nature,
self-preservation. The Stoics applaud it as an
"heroic" action; but it is a base, mean, and cowardly one; and
betrays want of fortitude of mind to bear up under present adversity, and to
meet what is thought to be coming on. However, 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.
2.
Secondly, With respect to the subject of sin, it may be distinguished into
internal and external; sins of heart, lip, and life; or of thought, word, and
action.
2a. Internal sins, sins of the
heart; the plague of sin begins there, that is the seat of it; it is
desperately wicked, it is wickedness itself; and out of it all manner of sin flows; the thoughts of it are evil, they are abominable to
God, and very distressing to good men, who hate vain thoughts; the very thought
of foolishness or wickedness is sin {1}. The imagination of the thoughts of the
heart is evil continually; the very substratum of thought, the motions of sin
in the mind, work to bring forth fruit unto death; the desires and lusts of the
mind are carnal and sinful, which are various; the lust of
uncleanness in the heart; the lust of passion, wrath, and revenge; the lust of
envy, which the object of it cannot stand before, and which slays the subject
of it; the lusts of ambition and pride; and which are thus summed up by the
apostle, "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of
life", #1Jo 2:15.
Errors in
the mind, false opinions of things contrary to the word of God; all
unreasonable doubts, even in saints themselves; and all the actings of
unbelief, which proceed from an evil heart, come under this sort of sins,
internal ones, or sins of the heart.
2b. Sins
of the lip, or of words, which are external, openly pronounced, whether
respecting God or man, and one another; as all blasphemy of God, evil speaking
of men, cursing and swearing, lying one to another; all obscene and unchaste
words, every sort of corrupt communication; 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 4:25,29,31 5:4 #Mt 12:36,37.
2c. 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.
3. Thirdly, With respect to
the parts of sin: they may be divided into sins of omission and sins of
commission; when some things are left undone which should be done, and which
are done when they ought not to be; such a distinction may be observed in the words of Christ, or however a foundation for it there
is in them, #Mt 23:23 25:42-44 and both these sorts of sins are very strongly
expressed in #Isa 44:22-24. Sins of omission are against affirmative precepts,
not doing what is commanded to be done; sins of commission are against negative
precepts, doing what is forbidden to be done; see #Jas 4:17.
4. Fourthly, 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; in the apostle Paul when unregenerate, in persecuting the saints, and
doing many things contrary to the name of Jesus; and which he did ignorantly,
and in unbelief; and in others who know not their master's
will, and so do it not, and yet pass not uncorrected; especially whose
ignorance is wilful and affected, who know not, nor will understand, but reject
and despise the means of knowledge, and say to God, depart from us, we desire
not the knowledge of thy ways; the sins of others are presumptuous ones, and
are done wilfully, knowingly, and of choice, and who are worthy
of many stripes; see #Lu 12:47,48. Some sins are through infirmity of the
flesh, the power of Satan's temptations, and the snares of the world, which men
are betrayed into through the deceitfulness of sin, and are overtaken and
overpowered at an unawares, and surprised into the commission of them; and
which is the case oftentimes of the people of God.
5. Fifthly, Sins may be
distinguished by the degrees of them into lesser and greater; for all sins are
not equal, as the Stoics say {2}; and some are more aggravated than others,
with respect to the objects of them; as sins against God are greater than those
against men; violating of the first table of the law, greater than that of the second: and with respect to persons that commit 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 #Mt 7:3-5 but when he says, "He
that delivered me unto thee, hath the greater sin", #Joh 19:11. And this
appears from the different degrees of punishment of sin, which
are allotted in proportion to it; so as our Lord speaks of some cities, where
his doctrines were taught, and his miracles wrought, and repented not, that it
would be "more tolerable for Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom, than for them",
#Mt 11:20-24. According to the laws of Draco, all sins were equal, and all were
punished with the same capital punishment; the stealing of an apple, as the
murder of a man. Hence it was said, that Draco wrote his
laws, not in ink, but in blood {3}. Not such are the laws of God; nor such the
nature of sin according to them.
6. Sixthly, Sins may be
distinguished by their adjuncts. As,
6a. Into
secret and open sins. Secret sins are such as are secretly committed, or sins
of the heart; which none but God, and a man's own soul, are privy to; and some
pass through it unnoticed and unobserved by the good man himself; and are
opposed to presumptuous sins; which distinction may be observed in #Ps
19:12,13. Others are done openly, publicly, before the sun, and in sight of
all, without fear or shame. Some mens' sins go beforehand
to judgment; they are notorious ones; condemned by all, before the judgment
comes; and others more secretly committed, they follow after; for all will be
brought into judgment, #1Ti 5:24 Ec 12:14.
6b. 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 grace of God and blood of Christ, and is pardoned thereby,
excepting one, that will be hereafter mentioned; yet none are pardonable in
their own nature; or are so small and trifling as to be undeserving of death,
only of some lesser chastisement; for all sin is mortal, and deserving of
death; "The wages of sin", of any and every sin,
without distinction of greater and lesser, is death, eternal death, as it must
be; for "Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things", be
they greater or lesser, "written in the book of the law to do them":
if, therefore, every breach of the law subjects to the curse of it, which is
death, then every sin is mortal. Yet,
6c. Sin may be distinguished
into remissible and irremissible. All the sins of God's people are remissible,
and are actually remitted. God forgives them all their iniquities, and heals
all their diseases, their spiritual maladies: and on the other hand, all the
sins of reprobates, 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 show them no favour that way, #Isa 27:11. 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", #Mt 12:31,32. But not every sin against the
Holy Ghost is here meant; every sin committed against God is committed against
the Holy Ghost, as well as against the Father and the Son; he, with them, being
the one God, against whom all sin is committed: nor is it a denial of his
deity, and of his personality, though sins against him, yet they arise from
ignorance of him, and are errors in judgment; and from
which persons may be recovered, and repent of, and renounce: nor is a denial of
the necessity of the operations of his grace on the souls of men, in order to
their regeneration, conversion, and sanctification, this sin, for the same
reasons: men may, and good men too, grieve the Holy Spirit by their sins; yea,
vex him, as the Israelites; and yet not sin the unpardonable sin: yea, a man
may break all the Ten Commandments, and not sin the sin
against the Holy Ghost; it is a sin not against the law, but against the
gospel; it lies in the denial of the great and fundamental truth of the gospel,
salvation by Jesus Christ, in all its branches; peace and pardon by his blood,
atonement by his sacrifice, and justification by his righteousness; and this
after he has received the knowledge of this truth, under the illuminations, convictions, and demonstrations of the Spirit of God; and yet,
through the instigation of Satan, and the wickedness of his own heart,
knowingly, and wilfully, and maliciously denies this truth, and obstinately
persists therein. So that as he never comes to repentance, he has no forgiveness,
here nor hereafter. Not because the Holy Spirit is superior to the other divine
Persons; for they are equal: nor through any deficiency in
the grace of God, or blood of Christ; but through the nature of the sin, which
is diametrically opposite to the way of salvation, pardon, atonement, and
justification; for these being denied to be by Christ, there can be no pardon;
for another Jesus will never be sent, another Saviour will never be given;
there will be no more shedding of blood, no more sacrifice, nor another
sacrifice for sin; nor another righteousness wrought out
and brought in. And, therefore, there remains nothing but a fearful looking for
of judgment and indignation, to come on such persons. Upon all which it may be
observed, from what a small beginning, as the sin of our first parents might
seem to be, what great things have arisen; what a root of bitterness that was
which has brought forth so much unwholesome and pernicious
fruit; such a vast number of sins, and of such an enormous size: what a virtue
must there be in the blood of Christ, to cleanse from such sins as these, and
all of them; and in his sacrifice to make atonement for them; and in his
righteousness to justify from them! And how great is the superabounding grace
of God, that where sin has thus abounded, grace should superabound!
{1} Prov. xxiv. 9. This is a
Christian doctrine; "apud nos et cogitare peccare est", Minutius
Felix in Octavio, p. 39. and yet an heathen poet asserts it, from whom one
would not have expected it; "nam scelus intra se tacitum qui cogitat
ullum, facti crimen habet----" Juvenal, Satire 13. v. 209. Vid. Alex. ab
Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 2. c. 16.
{2} Laert. l. 7. Vita Zeno, p.
510.
{3} Plutarch in Solon. p. 87.