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This chapter, as well as chapters 
4 and 9, all three chapters, 4, 6, and 9, are very closely 
connected. And if there's anything that 
you perhaps see as missing in this paragraph with regards to 
the fall and sin, Adam and Eve, you'll probably find it in chapter 
4 or in chapter 9. Again, 4, 6, and 9 are very closely 
connected. And this chapter, chapter 6, 
There is a close connection to chapters 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 in 
various ways. When we look in a few minutes 
at the divine purpose in the fall, you'll see that that is 
very closely connected to chapter 2 and the doctrine of God, to 
chapter 3 of God's decree, chapters 4 and 5 of creation and of divine 
providence. And then, of course, this chapter, 
chapter 6, sets up chapter 7. which is of God's covenant. We 
have the transgression, we have the fall, and then in chapter 
7 there are some stuff reiterated with respect to Adam and with 
respect to the fall, but chapter 7 comes and introduces the covenant 
of grace, God's recovery, if you will, of those who are fallen. But we're going to have a look 
at this chapter under 5 and maybe 6 if we get to the last section, 
but under under five headings. And the first thing we want to 
notice here is the covenant of works and the fall. It's the 
first thing we're going to consider here, the covenant of works and 
the fall. And we do have the covenant of 
works presented, if you will, in a sense in paragraph one where 
we see the nature of the fall or the origin of sin. And notice 
first we have a little bit of a narrative, a concise narrative 
with regards to the fall of man. If you have a look at the Westminster 
Confession of Faith and the Savoy Declaration, you can go on the 
internet, and I know we've printed some out before in certain chapters, 
you can have a look at the Westminster, the Savoy, and then our London 
Baptist Confession of Faith, there is quite the difference 
here with paragraph one. And again, it's not a theological 
difference at all, it's just that the Baptists expanded, if 
you will, on the narrative of the fall in the Garden of Eden 
here, with respect to Adam and Eve and the serpent. The first 
London Confession of Faith is conspicuously there. They've 
borrowed some language from the first London Baptist Confession 
of Faith, which reads, with respect to the fall and sin, in the beginning 
God made all things very good, created man after his own image, 
filled with all meet perfection of nature and free from all sin. But long he abode not in this 
honor. You see, this is where the Baptists 
here pick up that language. Satan using the subtlety of the 
serpent to seduce first Eve, then by her seducing Adam, who 
without any compulsion in eating the forbidden fruit, transgressed 
the command of God and fell, whereby death came upon all his 
posterity, who now are conceived in sin and by nature the children 
of wrath, the servants of sin, the subject of death, and other 
miseries in this world and forever, unless the Lord Jesus set them 
free. So you see the language coming 
out here in our second London Confession and being borrowed, 
of course, from the Baptists here. So paragraph one is a little 
different. And we have a narrative of the fall here given. And then we have the affirmation 
of covenant violation. Notice what we read here when 
we get down about the middle of the paragraph, Satan using 
the subtlety of the serpent to subdue Eve, then by her seducing 
Adam, who without any compulsion did willfully transgress the 
law of their creation and the command given unto them in eating 
the forbidden fruit, which God was pleased, according to his 
wise and holy counsel, to permit. having purpose to order it to 
his own glory. We see two things here that we've 
noticed in our studies in the confession, and that is we see 
the law of God violated, that natural law did willfully transgress 
the law of their creation, and then the violation of the positive 
law given by God to not eat of the tree, and the command given 
unto them in eating the forbidden fruit. So we have those two elements 
that we've noticed before, that we've taken occasion to note 
before. The violation of God with respect 
to natural or moral law, and then the violation of this positive 
law given to them, which was to not eat of the tree, the knowledge 
of good and evil. But we have here the affirmation 
of covenant violation, and this is very important to understand 
that God made a covenant of works with Adam in the garden. It's 
a doctrine that is opposed on various levels or to various 
degrees in our modern era. Some don't like the language 
of the covenant of works. They think that it speaks too 
much to a principle or rule of justice operating in the garden, 
a principle or rule of obedience and reward operating in the garden. We can't escape that from the 
Bible, of course, and the confession our forefathers rightly bring 
out that there was a covenant that was operating with the principle 
of works, a principle of justice in the garden. It was not a principle 
of grace operating in the garden. In fact, the principle of justice 
as being operative is both pre-fall and with regards to the redemptive 
covenants. It's a principle of justice whereby 
here in the garden, God covenants with Adam and commands him. He gives him this law of creation 
as well as a command to not eat the forbidden fruit with sanctions 
for violating that and rewards if he kept it. Post fall, we 
have this justice principle operative, but you see it's grace that comes 
and is brought by God to men who are in Christ Jesus. Christ 
is the one who needs to and does fulfill the covenant of works 
in the stead of all who believe. But suffice it to say, the language 
of covenant of works lands upon the ears of many people and they 
don't like it because they see that it's not, they don't like 
this idea that grace isn't operative but rather a principle of justice 
is operative. But you see, it's very vital 
that we hold the reality that there is a principle of works, 
a principle of justice operative in this covenant because it serves 
God's redemptive purpose to save a multitude of sinners in and 
by the second Adam who comes and does what Adam the first 
could not do. So we have the affirmation of 
a covenant violation, the covenant of works and were we to go to 
the Bible to see where we have proof for, or the evidence for 
a covenant of works, we could go first off to Genesis 2 and 
verse 4. Because there we have the name 
of God no longer being Elohim, but rather being Yahweh. Moses 
changes the name of God to the covenant name from the wording 
that's used prior. So, we have the reality that 
the covenant faithfulness or the name of Yahweh, the covenant 
Lord, is being used in Genesis 2-4. We could go to places such 
as Isaiah 24, 5 and 6. Now, as you're turning there, 
just understand that this is a very vital topic. If the covenant 
of works is stripped of It's proper theology, it's proper 
place, it's proper understanding. If we take away the reality that 
there was a principle of justice operative pre-fall, then we strip 
away the ground or the foundation with regards to redemption and 
the grace that follows in God's covenant dealings with men post-fall. In Isaiah 24, 5 and 6, we have 
language with respect to covenant of works. Isaiah 24, 5 and 6, 
the earth is also defiled under its inhabitants because they 
have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting 
covenant. Therefore, the curse has devoured 
the earth and those who dwell in it are desolate. Therefore, 
the inhabitants of the earth are burned and few men are left. You see transgression of laws, 
You see curse, you see breaking of the covenant. As well in Hosea 
6-7, you probably recall, maybe you do from our studies in covenant 
theology where we've looked at the covenant of works. Here we 
have a translation in Hosea 6-7 or a verse where we could read, 
and your footnotes may have it such, where we could read that 
Adam is here present in the statement where we read in Hosea 6-7, but 
like men, or but like Adam, they transgressed the covenant. There 
they dealt treacherously with me. So besides those three things, 
we could also look at Romans 5-19, where we have disobedience 
being spoken of with regards to the first Adam. When the comparison 
is being brought in the context of justification, The comparison 
is being brought out by Paul with regards to the first Adam 
and the second Adam between Adam and Christ. We have the language 
of disobedience being brought out with respect to Adam in Romans 
5.19. For as by one man's disobedience 
many were made sinners, so also by one man's obedience many will 
be made righteous. And we'll get there a little 
bit later when we talk about the representative nature of 
the fall. But here we have clearly the fact that Adam was in a covenant 
with God or more biblical language to support the certain truth 
that there was a covenant of works in the garden. For as by 
one man's disobedience, many were made sinners. Disobedience 
implies that there was obedience demanded. And obedience demanded 
implies works. And so there was a covenant of 
works made by God with Adam in the garden. The confession of 
faith speaks to this in many other places. In fact, if you 
go to chapter 19, there we have the covenant of works referred 
to as well. In chapter 19 of the law of God, 
we have in the very first paragraph the covenant of works being dealt 
with. God gave to Adam a law of universal 
obedience written in his heart and a particular precept of not 
eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil 
by which he bound him in all his posterity to personal, entire, 
exact, and perpetual obedience, promised life upon the fulfilling, 
and threatened death upon the breach of it. and endued him 
with power and ability to keep it. So there you see with perhaps 
more expanded language what we have in paragraph 1 of chapter 
6, that there was a law of universal obedience written on Adam's heart 
and a particular precept given. And this reality here of God 
binding Adam and all his posterity to obedience. And so getting 
back then to chapter 6, we note again the Covenant of Works and 
the Fall, the Confession affirms a violation of a covenant here 
in paragraph 1. We notice first, so the Covenant 
of Works and the Fall, and we'll deal more with that probably 
in the next chapter or when we get to chapter 9 or when we get 
to chapter 19 because it does come up in the Confession repeatedly 
and it's a very important topic. So before we move on, We affirm 
a covenant of works and we affirm this principle of justice being 
operative. It was not primarily, it was 
not a principle of grace operative with Adam with regards to this 
command of his creation and the command, law of the creation 
and the command given unto them, but rather a principle of justice 
and works obedience. We notice secondly the divine 
purpose in the fall. The divine purpose in the fall. Notice right at the end of the 
paragraph just picking up with did willfully. Did willfully 
transgress the law of their creation and the command given unto them 
in eating the forbidden fruit which God was pleased according 
to his wise and holy counsel to permit having purpose to order 
it to his own glory. You see this is where we need 
to understand that the fall of man The fall of man did not catch 
God off guard. God didn't create the world, 
give Adam and Eve these commandments, and then with sort of the idea 
that Adam and Eve, you know, not really sure what's going 
to happen. Hopefully they obey. Hopefully they don't disobey. 
Whatever happens, I'll react and just go about my divine business 
with whatever takes place in the garden as a result of this 
command given. No, God, according to His holy 
and wise counsel, permitted it, but even more, if you will, as 
the language continues here, He purposed it to order it to 
His own glory, the divine purpose in the fall. The fall, again, 
was not something that caught God off guard, forcing Him to 
react. with the plan B. This is why 
it's so vital to see the connection between various parts of the 
confession at this point and of course at every point as we 
read through it. But in paragraphs, in paragraph 1 of chapter 2, 
you'll remember this language, that God works all things according 
to the counsel of his own immutable and most righteous will for his 
own glory. So someone reading through the 
confession gets to chapter 2, the doctrine of God, of God and 
of the Holy Trinity, and they read that statement, that God, 
according to the counsel of his own immutable will, works with 
regards to that righteous will for his own glory. They get then, 
when they get to paragraph 1 of chapter 6, they understand that 
this is according to the purpose and the divine plan of God. In 
paragraph 1 of chapter 2, we also read that God is most holy, 
most just, and terrible in his judgments, hating all sin, and 
who will by no means clear the guilty. We also read then, when 
we get to paragraph 3, that God does not stand in need of any 
creature which he hath made, nor deriving any glory from them, 
but only manifesting his own glory in, by, unto, and upon 
them. So when we get here, we understand, as the confession 
states, that in the fall, God purposed it in order to bring 
about His own glory, the revelation of His own glory in, of course, 
as we get later in the chapter, in the salvation of sinners through 
Jesus Christ and in the visitation of His justice upon those who 
do not believe. You'll remember in last week, 
I'm sure, or a couple weeks ago when Pastor Butler was doing 
a Divine Providence, you'll notice in that chapter We have two places 
where the stuff of paragraph one, actually the stuff of all 
of chapter six is being brought out, but notice in chapter five, 
paragraph one, God, the good creator of all things, in his 
infinite power and wisdom doth uphold, direct, dispose, and 
govern all creatures and things from the greatest even to the 
least by his most wise and holy providence. To the end for which 
they were created, according unto his infallible foreknowledge, 
and the free and immutable counsel of his own will, to the praise 
of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, infinite goodness, and 
mercy." The Bible does not present, and our confession in turn does 
not present, a God who creates and then lets things go about 
according to chance, according to the haphazard progression 
of things, but rather upholds, governs, having predetermined, 
having decreed. And notice paragraph 4 of chapter 
5 specifically with respect to the fall. The almighty power, 
unsearchable wisdom, and infinite goodness of God so far manifest 
themselves in his providence that his determinant counsel 
extendeth itself even to the first fall and all other sinful 
actions both of angels and men. So God had a divine purpose in 
the fall And we see, of course, what that is, not only in this 
chapter, but as we move forward in the Confession of Faith, we 
see that the purpose in the Fall is, it's ordered unto His own 
glory, and it's seen in the manifestation of His justice upon those who 
do not believe, and the manifestation of His grace in those who are 
saved by the Lord Jesus Christ. So there is a divine purpose 
in the fall. And you see, when we get to a 
discussion of the covenant of works, we notice and we need 
to understand that the covenant of works serves and the fall 
in turn serves the redemption wrought out by Jesus Christ later 
in time and in history. If we can think about it this 
way, in the mind of God, in his purposive mind, God first and 
foremost has this plan to save a multitude of sinners through 
the substitutionary work of the Lord Jesus Christ and it's to 
the end of the praise of His glorious grace. And so how does 
God bring about this plan? How does God bring about this 
redemptive plan which is unto the praise of His glorious grace 
and unto the praise of His glorious justice in the reprobation and 
damnation of sinners? Well, He does so by making a 
covenant of works in the garden with Adam so that Adam will fall, 
and that will result in populating the earth with those who need 
the redemption that he had set out to plan in eternity. So God 
orders or God decrees that he will save a multitude of sinners, 
a fixed multitude of sinners, by the saving work of the Lord 
Jesus Christ, and then he creates, he institutes this covenant in 
order to bring about the redemptive plan in order to bring about 
the historical fleshing out of this plan to save those sinners 
by Jesus Christ. And so the fall of Adam serves 
the redemptive plan and it was a divine purpose that God had 
set out to bring about in eternity past. We see that language in 
the Bible In many different places, the fact that there was an eternal 
purpose in Christ Jesus before the world was. We see this in 
Ephesians 3, 11. According to the eternal purpose 
that he had in Christ Jesus, Paul writes. When he's talking 
about how the church is a centerpiece, if you will, to manifest the 
divine plan. And before the principalities 
and the powers, before angels, the church is to show the glory 
of God in the eternal plan of Christ that's brought out. The 
church itself is in the eternal plan of God being in Christ Jesus 
and to declare the amazing things that God does in redemption. 
But there is a divine purpose in the fall. We need to understand 
that. The fall was purposed by God 
in order to show His glory. in order to highlight His grace 
and in order to highlight His justice. If there's any questions 
afterwards, we'll maybe end with a few minutes to spare so that 
you can have any questions. So we have the covenant of works 
and the fall, the divine purpose in the fall, and then notice 
the representative nature of the fall. The representative 
nature of the fall. In paragraph two we read, again, 
our first parents by this sin fell from their original righteousness 
and communion with God and we in them whereby death came upon 
all, all becoming dead in sin and wholly defiled in all the 
faculties and parts of soul and body. The representative nature 
of the fall, what actually happened at the fall and how it affects 
us is very important to understand. When we properly, to properly 
have, or to have a proper understanding and view of sin, we need to understand 
the representative nature of the fall, that we in Adam fell. As the confession brings out, 
we in them, and in them death came upon all, or rather, and 
we in them, whereby death came upon all, all becoming dead in 
sin and wholly defiled in all the faculties and parts of soul 
and body. If we only consider sin and if we only see the gravity 
and the seriousness of it in this latter aspect, wholly defiled 
in all the faculties and parts of soul and body, we do need 
to affirm that and understand that and recognize that. But 
if we remove this representative aspect of sin that we in them 
fell, then we're stripping the Bible of a portion of doctrine 
that's very vital because if we remove original sin, if you 
will, if we remove original sin from the equation, then what 
can creep in are bad theological doctrines that steal from the 
seriousness and the gravity of sin and in turn steal from the 
redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ, its efficacy and its 
perfection. So we need to understand that 
in them we fell. And if we're to go anywhere in 
our Bibles, there's a number of places that we could go. Turn 
back to Romans 5, because that's a very important place to go 
to, to understand the representative nature of the fall. This idea that we in them fell. Notice in Romans 5, beginning 
in verse 12, therefore, just as through one man sin entered 
the world and death through sin and thus death spread to all 
men because all sin. You see there the language will 
continue here in a moment but we see where the confession of 
faith is getting this language in this chapter of the fall of 
man of sin and the punishment thereof they get it from other 
places but they get it here from Romans 5 12 as well as it continues 
your notice excuse me I'm down in verse 14 nevertheless death 
rain from Adam to Moses even over those who had not sinned 
according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam who 
is a type of him who was to come a bit of a side note here this 
is more language that testifies to the truth of the covenant 
of works and the reality that Adam was by God set up as a type 
of Christ in the garden. There is purpose in the fall. There is God ordering it to his 
own glory. We see here again in verse 14 
that Adam was a type who is a type of him who was to come. Adam, 
a type of Christ. Verse 15, but the free gift is 
not like the offense, for if by the one man's offense many 
died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace 
of the one man Jesus Christ abounded to many. So we see just as through 
one man sin entered the world and death through sin and thus 
death spread to all men, verse 12, and then again we see here 
in verse 15 that by one man's offense many died. And then, 
of course, the summary statements that we get to here in verse 
18. Therefore, as through one man's 
offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, 
even so through one man's righteous act the free gift came to all 
men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man's 
disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one man's obedience 
many will be made righteous. It's almost as, and Paul does 
this elsewhere in Galatians and in other letters, Paul repeats 
concepts and repeats truths and repeats principles and repeats 
comparisons so that the audience will understand the gravity, 
the seriousness, and the blessedness of, in this case, the second 
Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ, who comes to do what the first 
Adam could not. But all of that to say, we have 
here the fact of what the confession brings out. Our first parents, 
by this sin, fell from their original righteousness and communion 
with God, and then more to the point here, and we in them, the 
representative nature of the fall. The Bible brings out, and when 
we talk about representation, another word or another concept 
or another truth that is intimately connected to it is the doctrine 
of imputation. Not just the imputation of Christ, 
and that again is here present in Romans 5, but the imputation 
of sin as well. There are those three imputations 
that we have in the Bible. with respect to sin and salvation, 
we have the imputation of Adam's sin to all men. That's what we 
have here summarized in paragraph two and in paragraph three. And we'll see this again later 
in the confession. Sorry, good thing it wasn't the Styrofoam 
cup. We have the imputation of sin, of Adam's sin to all men. We have in the gospel of Jesus 
Christ, in the redemption of the Lord Jesus Christ, and maybe 
more specifically, in that redemption applied, we have the imputation 
of Christ's righteousness to the believer. The blessed comparison 
in this Romans 5, the blessed half of that comparison that's 
brought out is the imputation of the righteousness of Christ 
to the elect, 2 Corinthians 5.21. and other places of Holy Scripture. And then we of course have the 
imputation of the sin of the elect, the sins of the elect, 
all the sins of the elect to Christ in his saving work upon 
Calvary's tree. God punishing him in our stead 
for the sins that the elect committed. And so we have those three imputations 
intimately connected again to this idea of representation Our 
first parents fell and we in them and then with regards to 
a second representation We have it brought out though more later 
in the confession, but here we have it brought out in paragraph 
Three unless the Lord Jesus set them free as we get later on 
in the confession We'll see the representative nature of Christ 
being brought out With regards to his saving work, 
but we have the representation here of Adam And we have the 
representation of Christ later on in the confession with his 
mediatorial work. So all of that to say the representative 
nature of the fall is brought out here in the confession in 
paragraph two and three. We all men fell in them and require 
recovery if we are to see God and enjoy the blessedness of 
everlasting life. Fourthly, we have the gravity 
and the seriousness of sin. We see that a little bit here 
in paragraph two, but notice in paragraph three, with respect 
to the gravity and seriousness of sin, they being the root, 
and by God's appointment standing in the room instead of all mankind, 
the guilt of the sin was imputed and corrupted nature conveyed 
to their posterity descending from them by ordinary generation. 
Being now conceived in sin, and by nature children of wrath and 
servants of sin, the subjects of death, and all other miseries, 
spiritual, temporal, and eternal, unless the Lord Jesus set them 
free." You see, the confession does here, and will again later 
in chapter 9 and in other places, it brings out the gravity and 
the seriousness of sin. It is not just a small problem. 
It is not just some light and unheavy thing that plagues mankind, 
but rather it is the case that we are, that men are, outside 
of Christ, wholly defiled in all the faculties and parts of 
soul and body. This is true of man, that we 
are by nature children of wrath, the servants of sin, the subjects 
of death, and all other miseries, spiritual, temporal, and eternal. 
The seriousness and the gravity of sin is something that Reformed 
Christianity has always sought to press when she has done well. Because other systems of theology, 
other systems within the Christian tradition, be they Christian 
or pseudo-Christian, whatever it may be, there is very often 
a common theme to bring the gravity and the seriousness of sin down, 
or to water down the gravity and the seriousness of sin. But 
our Bible does no such thing. And we can turn to a few places 
to have a look at what the Bible says, the confession summarizing 
the biblical witness to the gravity and seriousness of sin. First, 
we see sin's universality. If your Bibles are still at Romans, 
we have in Romans 3 language that speaks to sin's universality. Notice in Romans 3, we could 
go, in fact, to many places in the first three chapters of Romans 
to see this, but we see sin's universality In the statement, 
to be sure, in verse 23 of Romans 3, for all have sinned and fall 
short of the glory of God. A very simple statement. A very 
clear and simple statement that speaks to the universality of 
sin. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 
But notice as well in Romans 3 at verse 10, as it is written, 
there is none righteous, no not one. There is none who understands. There is none who seeks after 
God. They have all turned aside. They have together become unprofitable. There is none who does good. 
No, not one. Sins universality. And later 
on in Romans, in fact, there's another statement that we have 
in Romans 11 to sins universality. In Romans 11 verse 32, for God 
has committed them all to disobedience, that he might have mercy on all. So we have sin's universality. We have sin's depth. Sin's depth. And what we mean by that is that 
it is not just a superficial wound, if you will. It's not 
just something that is surface in nature. But rather, there 
is a grave and serious depth to sin. And we see something 
of that in many places in the Scriptures. But in Mark 7, We 
see it in verse 21 to 23. For from within, out of the heart 
of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 
thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, 
blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from 
within and defile a man. You see, again, sin is not a 
superficial blemish. It's not a surface thing, but 
rather what comes out of a man, that defiles a man. From within, 
out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts. All these evil 
things come from within and defile a man. In Psalm 5, we have something 
of this as well, the depth of sin. In Psalm 5 and verse 9, 
we read this, For there is no faithfulness in their mouth, 
Their inward part is destruction. Their throat is an open tomb. They flatter with their tongue. There is a depth to sin that 
makes it not a light and unheavy thing, problem for man, but rather 
a heavy, grave, and serious thing. Sin's comprehensiveness as well. 
When we talk about sin's comprehensiveness, we're talking about the fact 
of what the confession brings out here when it says, holy defiled 
in all the faculties and parts of soul and body. If we were 
to go into some places in the scriptures to see this, perhaps 
you're talking to a Christian who has or a professing Christian 
who has a lesser view of sin and no doubt then in turn a lesser 
view of the of the Savior, and you want to highlight that perhaps 
you're talking to them about total depravity, about total 
inability, about the fact that men are wholly defiled in all 
the faculties and parts of soul and body, and they don't believe 
you. Well, there are some places in the scriptures that you can 
go to show them. I mean, the places that we already 
talked about, to be sure, but more to this point, Jeremiah 
17.9, a verse, no doubt, that you'll be familiar with and your 
knowledge of in reading of the five points of Calvinism at the 
point of total depravity. But in 17, Jeremiah 17 at verse 
9, remember these verses when you are discussing whether with 
someone who has no knowledge of Christianity at all, or even 
those who are professing Christians who do not have a proper view 
of sin. The heart is deceitful, the prophet 
says, above all things. In fact, thus says the Lord. 
The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. 
Who can know it? You see, we confess the gravity 
and the seriousness of sin because, reciprocally, we confess the 
greatness of a Savior who saves us from such a thing and from 
such a place. The heart is deceitful above 
all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? Genesis 6, 5. Genesis 6, 5. And just in case 
you think, well actually we'll make this statement in a moment, 
but Genesis 6, 5, we have the reality of the problem brought 
out, the gravity and the seriousness of sin highlighted. Genesis 6, 
5, excuse me, Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was 
great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts 
of his heart was only evil continually. There's a number of statements 
there. If we just kind of read through 
it, yeah, we get this general idea, okay, sin is bad, the gravity 
and the seriousness of sin, but you see the repetition of some 
of the language. The wickedness was great in the earth, every 
intent. of the thoughts of his heart 
was only evil continually. You see this repeated language. 
We have wickedness being great. We have every intent. We have 
the thoughts of his heart only evil continually. The comprehensiveness 
of sin is clearly seen. And just in case somebody would 
say, well, you see, that's before the fall. Or excuse me, that's 
before the flood. Once the flood comes, and washes 
away all the wickedness by God's judgment, well, then the problem 
isn't so bad. That's just a problem confined 
to that particular time in history. Well, post-Flood, we have the 
same report by the Lord God Almighty in Genesis 8.21, we read, And 
the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in his heart, 
I will never again curse the ground for man's sake, Although 
the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth, nor will 
I again destroy everything living thing as I have done. You see 
God post-flood repeats the assessment of mankind with regards to the 
gravity and the seriousness of sin. Although the imagination 
of man's heart is evil from his youth. We could go to a place 
such as Ephesians 2, 1 to 3 and in fact there, We have some of 
the language that the Confession brings out with regards to the 
gravity, the seriousness of sin, sin's comprehensiveness, again, 
is what we're specifically looking at here. In Ephesians 2, 1 to 
3, we have this language of the Apostle Paul with regards to 
sin's comprehensiveness. And you, he made alive, who were 
dead in trespasses and sins. There's a first statement. The 
seriousness of sin is such that God calls it deadness in trespasses 
and sins. In which he once walked, according 
to the course of this world, according to the prince of the 
power of the air, the spirit, who now works in the sons of 
disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves 
in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and 
of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath. just as the 
others. You see sin's comprehensiveness 
there. It is a holistic thing. 1st Corinthians 2.14 and Romans 
8.7. You can maybe just make a note. 
Perhaps you know those verses, but in Romans 8.7 and 1st Corinthians 
2.14 We have language speaking to the inability of man, the 
spiritual inability, or what we call total inability. The fact that the faculties there 
of the will are affected by sin. Man does not have the free will 
in his sinful nature to decide for Jesus Christ, to say a yea 
or say a nay. He is dead in his trespasses 
and in his sins. Romans 8, 7 and 1 Corinthians 
2, 14, it talks about the inability of man to obey the law, the inability 
of man to keep the law, the inability of man to do the things of the 
spirit because he is in his flesh, he is in his carnality, he is 
at enmity with God. And so, as well, there are two 
places in John that we can turn to briefly that speak with regards 
to sin's comprehensiveness, in this case, again, affecting the 
will. Jesus Christ's language could 
not be clearer with respect to the inability of men outside 
of the Spirit of God. John 6, 44, no one can come to 
me unless the Father who sent me draws him and I will raise 
him up at the last day. The language is absolutely clear 
and to fly against Christ here and somehow try and wiggle your 
way out of total inability defies logic and common sense. And then 
later in John 6, 65, we have the same language being used. 
Notice what Christ says there. Therefore, I have said to you 
that no one can come to me unless it has been granted to him by 
my father. There needs to be a divine granting 
given by God to a sinner before that sinner will come. Grace 
must come, free and sovereign, amazing and victorious grace 
must come. And sins bondage, you can make 
a note, John 8, 34. All who sin are slaves of sin. and it is only Christ who can 
set them free again the confession picks that up in paragraph 3 
Titus 3.3 speaking to bondage to sin and then probably one 
of the most prominent portions of scripture that speak to the 
bondage and the slavery that men are in to sin is Romans 6 
and Romans 6.6, 6.16, 6.17, 6.19 and 6.20 we read of man's bondage to sin So the gravity 
and the seriousness of sin, but now notice The only freedom if we are to 
be freed from sin What what is the answer? How are we to be 
freed from sin is it the case that we are to dedicate? ourselves 
to a life of obedience so that we might enter into Emmanuel's 
land you see Adam fell and from his original righteousness and 
we in him and death came to us. So is the answer then to do, 
to try to do what Adam couldn't do? Are we then to sort of submit 
ourselves to this covenant of works and try and merit favor 
with God in order to be freed from this judgment, from this 
condemnation? No, the confession says and very 
simply and clearly that the only answer is the Lord Jesus Christ 
setting us free from bondage. That statement at the end of 
paragraph 3, unless the Lord Jesus set them free. We see that brought out by Christ 
himself in John chapter 8, the reality that it is only He that 
can set men free from their bondage to sin. Notice in John 8 at verse 
34, Jesus answered them, most assuredly 
I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a 
slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. 
Therefore, if the son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. You see, that is an exclusive 
statement. Men are in bondage to sin if 
they are to have freedom, if they are to have liberty. From 
that bondage to sin, it is only this blessed Christ. Therefore, 
if the sun makes you free, you shall be free indeed. It is only 
this blessed Christ who can set a man free from bondage. Romans 
6, 18, and 22 speak to this. And if you notice this language, 
you see the harmony of the scriptures here. When we get to Galatians, 
specifically that section, the section in verse 4, sort of wrapped 
up in, or excuse me, chapter 4, verse 4, Where it's wrapped 
up there, but also in Galatians 5 1 we see the connection here 
in the language But as a slave does not abide in the house forever, 
but a son abides forever Therefore if the son makes you free you 
shall be free indeed it is by our adoption According to the 
Apostle Paul that we have this this Household relationship to 
God we are members of the of the household of God by adoption 
in that case portion of Galatians it says that when the fullness 
of the times came God sent forth his son born of a woman born 
under the law that he might redeem those who are under the law that 
we might have adoption as sons and so Christ in freeing us also 
in in that liberating act makes us and causes us to be sons to 
his God by adoption to blessed truth the only freedom is Christ 
setting us free from the bondage of sin and that comes by way 
of his perfect saving work we by the Spirit and by God's grace 
believing in it unto the saving of our souls and then we have 
the remaining corruption notice the confession closes off the 
section here with remaining corruption now what you might be thinking 
maybe you're not what we only spent a couple seconds on or 
a couple minutes on the only freedom being in Jesus Christ. 
Well, no doubt when we get to Chapter 8, well, when we get 
to Chapter 7, talking about the covenant of grace, and when we 
get to Chapter 8, the mediator, Christ Jesus, we'll have much 
more time to, and in fact, the rest of the next, let's see here, 
the next 10, 11, 12 chapters are essentially dealing with 
the salvation of Christ and the application of the benefits of 
that redemption wrought by him. But we have remaining corruption 
in paragraph five here before us. The corruption of nature 
during this life doth remain in those that are regenerated. 
And although it be through Christ pardoned and mortified, yet both 
itself and the first motions thereof are truly and properly 
sin. The power, the guilt, and the 
condemnation of sin is taken away And that should be noted. That is true Christian liberty. 
When we talk about Christian liberty, the first thing that 
should come to our mind is freedom from the power, guilt, and condemnation 
of sin. That's wherein our Christian 
liberty is seen, first and foremost. It's not seen in our freedom 
to have a glass of wine and wear a Vancouver Canucks shirt or 
whatever. It's not our freedom to do various 
things free of the condemnation of men who would impose their 
consciences upon us or bind our consciences. Though we will get 
to that later in the confession of Christian liberty and those 
sorts of things, our Christian liberty is first and foremost 
seen in Christ freeing us from the power guilt and condemnation 
of sin. But getting to the point then, 
the power, the guilt, the condemnation for sin is taken away, but corruption 
remains in the ones set free. It is no longer the case that 
we're wholly defiled in all the faculties and parts of soul and 
body. That is, total depravity is no longer a reality because 
we have Christ setting us free from that bondage, from that 
slavery, From the reality of being conceived in sin and by 
nature children of wrath the servants of sin the subjects 
of death, etc But there is this reality that the corruption of 
nature during this life does remain in those that are regenerated 
That is why we need constant supplies of gospel truth. That is why we we come here to 
church That is why we attend unto the means of grace in order 
that during this life we may put to death the deeds of the 
flesh, progressively grow in the grace and in the knowledge 
of Jesus Christ. This corruption of nature is a reality. And so 
we come to church, we take the Lord's Supper, we pray, we read 
our Bibles, we have gospel fellowship in order that we might avail 
of those means whereby Christ can pardon and mortify or Christ 
has pardoned but where he can by his spirit daily help us to 
put to sin to put to death sin and to live unto righteousness 
and a couple places in the scriptures just by way of note 1st John 
in 1st John 1 and into 1st John 2 we have the reality of sin 
in those who are regenerated and then of course in Romans 
7 we have that reality as well, where the Apostle Paul himself 
speaks to the truth that the good that he wants to do, he 
finds himself not doing. The evil that he does not want 
to do, he finds himself doing. And he closes off that section 
with a blessed but. But I have Christ Jesus who aids 
me, who guides me, who has died for me, and who brings supplies 
of grace. And that was periphrastic, of 
course. But he closes that section by appealing to Christ as the 
one who helps him with that remaining corruption. Well, we'll close 
in prayer. And then if there are any questions, 
you can most certainly ask away. You can hang back afterwards 
and ask me anything that you would like with regards to this 
chapter. Let's close in prayer. Rejoice that we can come and 
study doctrine. We thank you that we have this deposit of 
truth, your revelation to us in the scriptures. And we thank 
you that it points to the Lord Jesus Christ. We know most certainly 
that it highlights the nature of man, dead in sin, dead in 
trespasses, holy in bondage to sin and to iniquity. We rejoice 
in the truth that it also sets forth, that Christ Jesus came 
into this world, sinners, to save. And we do pray that you'd 
help us now as we look forward to worship that you would help 
us to worship you in spirit and in truth. We pray that you would 
help Pastor Butler as he brings your word, give him strength 
in the pulpit, give him much aid, Lord God, and help him to 
know your help in the pulpit, and help us, Lord God, to be 
fed, nourished by your word, and might sinners as well this 
morning be saved, young and old, by your amazing grace. And it's 
in Christ's name that we pray, amen.