God, nor indeed can be; and that they who are according to such a constitution, cannot please God." And when it is said, ver. 9, “Ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit ;" the apostle cannot mean, "Ye are not in the human nature, as constituted of body and soul, and with the powers of a man.” It is most manifest, that by the flesh here, the apostle means some nature that is corrupt, and of an evil tendency, and directly opposite to the law, and holy nature of God; so that to be, and walk according to it, and to have a mind conformed to it, is to be an utter enemy to God and his law, in a perfect inconsistence with being subject to God, and pleasing God; and in a sure and infallible tendency to death, and utter destruction. And it is plain, that here by being and walking after, or according to the flesh, is meant the same thing as being and walking according to a corrupt and sinful nature; and to be and walk according to the spirit, is to be and walk according to a holy and divine nature, or principle: And to be carnally minded, is the same as being viciously and corruptly minded; and to be spiritually minded, is to be of a virtuous and holy disposition,

When Christ says, John iii. 6. "That which is born of the flesh, is flesh," he represents the flesh not merely as a quality; for it would be incongruous, to speak of a quality as a thing born: It is a person, or man, that is born. Therefore man, as in his whole nature corrupt, is called flesh: Which is agreeable to other scripture representations, where the corrupt nature is called the old man, the body of sin, and the body of death. Agreeable to this are those representations in the 7th and 8th chapters of Romans: There flesh is figuratively represented as a person, according to the apostle's manner, observed by Mr. Locke, and after him by Dr. Taylor, who takes notice, that the apostle, in the 6th and 7th of Romans, represents sin as a person; and that he figuratively distinguishes in himself two persons, speaking of flesh as his person. For I know that in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. And it may be observed, that in the 8th chapter he still continues this representation, speaking of the flesh as a person: And accordingly in the 6th and 7th

verses, speaks of the mind of the flesh, gornpa oam✪, and of the mind of the spirit, eona μar; as if the flesh and spirit were two opposite persons, each having a mind contrary to the mind of the other. Dr. Taylor interprets this mind of the flesh, and mind of the spirit, as though the flesh and the spirit were here spoken of as the different objects, about which the mind spoken of is conversant. Which is plainly beside the apostle's sense; who speaks of the flesh and spirit as the subjects and agents, in which the mind spoken of is; and not the objects about which it acts. We have the same phrase again, ver. 27. He that searcheth the hearts, knoweth what is the mind of the spirit, Deompe ævevpar; the mind of the spiritual nature in the saints being the same with the mind of the Spirit of God himself, who imparts and actuates that spiritual nature; here the spirit is the subject and agent, and not the object. The same apostle in like manner uses the word,, in Col. ii. 18. Vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, awo tu, în cagn® qute, by the mind of his flesh. And this agent so often called flesh, represented by the apostle, as altogether evil, without any good thing dwelling in it, or belonging to it; yea, perfectly contrary to God and his law, and tending only to death and ruin, and directly opposite to the spirit, is what Christ speaks of to Nicodemus as born in the first birth, as giving a reason why there is a necessity of a new birth, in order to a better production.

One thing is particularly observable in that discourse of the apostle, in the 7th and 8th of Romans, in which he so often uses the term flesh, as opposite to spirit, which, as well as many other things in his discourse, makes it plain, that by flesh he means something in itself corrupt and sinful, and that is, that he expressly calls it sinful flesh, Rom. viii. 3. It is manifest, that by sinful flesh he means the same thing with that flesh spoken of in the immediately foregoing and follow. ing words, and in all the context: And that when it is said, Christ was made in the likeness of sinful flesh, the expression is equipollent with those that speak of Christ as made sin, and made a curse for us.

Flesh and spirit are opposed to one another in Gal. v. in the same manner as in the 8th of Romans: And there, by flesh cannot be meant only the human nature of body and soul, or the mere constitution and powers of a man, as in its natural state, innocent and right. In the 16th ver. the apostle says, "Walk in the spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh :" Where the flesh is spoken of as a thing of an evil inclination, desire or lust. But this is more strongly signified in the next words: "For the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other." What could have been said more plainly, to shew that what the apostle means by flesh, is something very evil in its nature, and an irreconcileable enemy to all goodness? And it may be observed, that in these words, and those that follow, the apostle still figuratively represents the flesh as a person or agent, desiring, acting, having lusts, and performing works. And by works of the flesh, and fruits of the spirit, which are opposed to each other, from ver. 19, to the end, are plainly meant the same as works of a sinful nature, and fruits of a holy, renewed nature. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, &c. But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, &c. The apostle, by flesh, does not mean any thing that is innocent and good in itself, that only needs to be restrained, and kept in proper bounds; but something altogether evil, which is to be destroyed, and not merely restrained. 1 Cor. v. 5. "To deliver such an one to Satan, for the destruction of the flesh. We must have no mercy on it; we cannot be too cruel to it; it must even be crucified." Gal. v. 24. "They that are Christ's, have crucified the flesh, with the affections and lusts."

The Apostle John, the same apostle that writes the account of what Christ said to Nicodemus, by the spirit means the same thing as a new, divine, and holy nature, exerting itself in a principle of divine love, which is the sum of all Christian holiness. 1 John iii. 23, 24. “And that we should

love one another, as he gave us commandment; and he tha? keepeth his commandments, dwelleth in him, and he in him: And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the spirit that he hath given us." With chap. iv. 12, 13. "If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us: Hereby know we, that we dwell in him, because he hath given us of his spirit." The spiritual principle in us being as it were a communication of the spirit of God to us.

And as by a is meant a holy nature, so by the epithet, wnuparme, spiritual, is meant the same as truly virtuous and holy. Gal. vi. 1. «Ye that are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness." The apostle refers to what he had just said, in the end of the foregoing chapter, where he had mentioned meekness, as a fruit of the spirit. And so by carnal, or fleshly, ouguin, is meant the same as sinful. Rom. vii. 14. « The law is spiritual (i̟, e. holy) but I am car. nal, sold under sin."

And it is evident, that by flesh, as the word is used in the New Testament, and opposed to spirit, when speaking of the qualifications for eternal salvation, is not meant only what is now vulgarly called the sins of the flesh, consisting in inordinate appetites of the body, and their indulgence; but the whole body of sin, implying those lusts that are most subtle, and furthest from any relation to the body; such as pride, malice, envy, &c. When the works of the flesh are enumerated, Gal. v. 19, 20, 21, they are vices of the latter kind chiefly, that are mentioned; idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings. So, pride of heart is the effect or operation of the flesh. Col. ii. 18. "Vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind:" In the Greek, by the mind of the flesh. So, pride, envying, strife and division, are spoken of as works of the flesh. 1 Cor. iii. 3. 4. " For ye are yet carnal (σaguio, fleshly.) For whereas there is envying, and strife, and division, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul, and another, I am of Apollos, are ye not carnal ?" Such kind of lusts do not depend on the body, or external senses; for the devil himselt

has them in the highest degree, who has not, nor ever had, any body or external senses to gratify.

Here, if it should be inquired, how corruption or deprav ity in general, or the nature of man as corrupt and sinful, came to be called flesh; and not only that corruption which consists in inordinate bodily appetites, I think, what the apostle says in the last cited place, Are ye not carnal, and walk as men? Leads us to the true reason. It is because a corrupt and sinful nature is what properly belongs to mankind, or the race of Adam, as they are in themselves, and as they are by nature. The word flesh is often used in both Old Testament and New, to signify mankind in their present state. To enumerate all the places, would be very tedious; I shall therefore only mention a few places in the New Testament. Matth. xxiv. 22. "Except those days should be shortened, no flesh should be saved." Luke iii. 6. "All flesh shall see the salvation of God." John xvii. 2. "Thou hast given him power over all flesh."

See also Acts ii. 17, Rom. iii. 20, 1 Cor. i. 29, Gal. ii. 16. Man's nature, being left to itself, forsaken of the Spirit of God, as it was when man fell, and consequently forsaken of divine and holy principles, of itself became exceeding corrupt, utterly depraved and ruined: And so the word flesh, which signifies man, came to be used to signify man as he is in himself, in his natural state, debased, corrupt and ruined: And on the other hand, the word spirit came to be used to signify a divine and holy principle, or new nature; because that is not of man, but of God, by the indwelling and vital influence of his Spirit. And thus to be corrupt, and to be carnal, or fleshly, and to walk as men, are the same thing with the apostle. And so in other parts of the scripture, to savor the things that be of men, and to savor things which are corrupt, are the same; and sons of men, and wicked men, also are the same, as was observed before. And on the other hand, to savor the things that be of God, and to receive the things of the Spirit of God, are phrases that signify as much as relishing and embracing true holiness or divine virtue.

All these things confirm what we have supposed to be Christ's meaning, in saying, "That which is born of the VOL. VI.

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