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the great evils that had crept into that church, had been principally owing. The methods they appear to have taken to supplant the apostles, were those of underhand insinuation. By Paul's answers, they appear to have suggested that he and his friends were either subtle men, who, by their soft and beseeching style, ingratiated themselves into the esteem of the simple, catching them, as it were, with guile, (2 Cor. i. 12: xii. 16,) or weak-headed enthusiasts, beside themselves, (ch. v. 13,) going up and down, beseeching people to this and that, (ch. xi. 21;) and that, as to Paul himself, however great he might appear in his letters, he was nothing in company. His bodily presence, say they, is weak, and his speech contemptible, (ch. x. 10.)

In the first epistle to this church, Paul generously waived a defence of himself and his brethren, being more concerned for the recovery of those to Christ who were in danger of being drawn off from the truth as it is in Jesus, than respecting their opinion of him. Yet, when the one was accomplished, he undertook the other; not only as a justification of himself and his brethren, but as knowing that just sentiments of faithful ministers bore an intimate connection with the spiritual welfare of their hearers. It is thus that the apostle alludes to their various insinuations, acknowledging that they did indeed beseech, entreat, and persuade men, but affirming that such conduct arose not from the motives of which they were accused, but from the love of Christ: If we are beside ourselves, it is for your sakes.

If the words in ch. v. 19, 20, be an immediate

address to the members of the church at Corinth, those which follow, in ch. vi. 1, must be an address to its ministers. But, if so, the apostle, in the continuation of that address, would not have said as he does, In all things approving OURSELVES as the ministers of God. His language would have been, In all things approving YOURSELVES, &c. Hence it is manifest that the whole is a vindication of their preaching and manner of life, against the insinuations of the Corinthian teachers.

There are two things which may have contributed to the misunderstanding of this passage of Scripture. One is, the supplement you, which is unnecessarily introduced three times over in ch. v. 20, and ch. vi. 1. If any supplement had been necessary, the word men, as it is in the text of ch. v. 11, might have better conveyed the apostle's meaning. The other is, the division of the fifth and sixth chapters in the midst of the argument.

IV. THE WANT OF FAITH IN CHRIST IS ASCRIBED, IN THE SCRIPTURES, TO MEN'S DEPRAVITY,

AND IS ITSELF REPRESENTED AS A HEINOUS SIN.

It is taken for granted, that whatever is not a sinner's duty, the omission of it cannot be charged on him as a sin, nor imputed to any depravity in him. If faith were no more a duty than election or redemption, which are acts peculiar to God, the want of the one would be no more ascribed to the evil dispositions of the heart, than of the other. Or, if the inability of sinners to believe in Christ were of the same nature as that

of a dead body in a grave to rise up and walk, it were absurd to suppose that they would, on this account, fall under the divine censure. No man

is reproved for not doing that which is naturally impossible; but sinners are reproved for not believing, and given to understand that it is solely owing to their criminal ignorance, pride, dishonesty of heart, and aversion from God.

Voluntary ignorance is represented as a reason why sinners believe not. Being IGNORANT of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, THEY HAVE NOT SUBMIT

TED THEMSELVES UNTO THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF

GOD.-If our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the God of this world hath

BLINDED THE MINDS OF THEM THAT BELIEVE NOT,

lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. Rom. x. 3. 2 Cor. iv. 3, 4. To the same purpose, we are taught by our Lord, in the parable of the sower: When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and UNDERSTANDETH IT NOT, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart; and this, as Luke expresses it, lest they should BELIEVE, AND BE SAVED. Matt. xiii. 19. Luke viii. 12.

If men, even though they were possessed of the same principles as our first father in paradise, would nevertheless be blind to the glory of the Gospel, with what propriety is their blindness attributed to the god of this world? Is he ever represented as employing himself in hindering that which is naturally impossible, or in promoting that which is innocent?

Pride is another cause to which the want of saving faith is ascribed. The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God. God is not in all his thoughts. Psa. x. 4. We have seen already that seeking God is a spiritual exercise, which implies faith in the Mediator; and the reason why ungodly men are strangers to it is, the haughtiness of their spirits, which makes them scorn to take the place of supplicants before their offended Creator, and labor to put far from their minds every thought of him. How can ye BELIEVE, said our Lord to the Jews, who receive honor one of another, and seek not the honor that cometh from God only?

v. 44.

John

If believing were here to be taken for any other faith than that which is spiritual or saving, the suggestion would not hold good; for we are told of some who could and did believe in Christ, in some sense, but who did not confess him, for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. John xii. 43. It was pride that blinded the minds of the wise and prudent of this world to the doctrines of Christ; and what is it but this same proud spirit, working in a way of selfconceit and self-righteousness, that still forms the grand objection to the doctrine of salvation by mere grace?

Dishonesty of heart is that on account of which men receive not the word of God, so as to bring forth fruit. This is fully implied in the parable of the sower, recorded in the eighth chapter of Luke. The reason why those hearers represented by the good ground received the word, and

brought forth good fruit, rather than the others, was, they had good and honest hearts-plainly intimating that the reason why the others did not so receive it, was, their hearts were not upright before God. Indeed, such is the nature of divine truth, that every heart which is honest towards God must receive it. An honest heart must needs approve of God's holy law, which requires us to love him with all our powers; and this, because it is no more than giving him the glory due to his name. An honest heart will approve of being justified wholly for Christ's sake, and not on account of any of its own works, whether legal or evangelical; for it is no more than relinquishing a claim which is justly forfeited, and accepting, as a free gift, that which God was under no obligation to bestow. Further an honest heart must rejoice in the way of salvation, as soon as he understands it; because it provides a way in which mercy can be exercised consistently with righteousness. A right spirit would revolt at the idea of receiving mercy itself in a way that should leave a blot upon the divine character. It is the glory of Christ that he has not an honest man for an enemy. The upright

love him.

We are not ignorant who it is that must now give men honest hearts, and what is the source of every thing, in a fallen creature, that is truly good; but this does not affect the argument. However far sinners are from it, and whatever divine agency it may require to produce it, no man who is not disposed to deny the accountableness of creatures to the God that made them,

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