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All right, you can turn with 
me in your confession to chapter 6, of the fall of man, of sin, 
and of the punishment thereof. That's chapter 6 of the London 
Baptist Confession. We will read all five paragraphs, 
and we will look at all five paragraphs today as well. Let 
us begin. Chapter 6, at paragraph 1. Although God created man upright 
and perfect and gave him a righteous law, which had been unto life 
had he kept it. and threatened death upon the 
breach thereof. Yet he did not long abide in 
this honor. 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. 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. 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 all their posterity, descending from them by ordinary generation, 
being now conceived in sin. And by nature, children of wrath, 
the servants of sin, the subjects of death, and all other miseries, 
spiritual, temporal, and eternal, unless the Lord Jesus set them 
free. From this original corruption, 
whereby we are utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to 
all good, and wholly inclined to all evil, do proceed all actual 
transgressions. 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. Well, let us pray. Dear Heavenly 
Father, we thank you for this day, Lord. We pray that you would 
forgive us of our vile, disgusting sin, Lord. We thank you for the 
grace that is in Christ Jesus. We thank you that you not only 
took the guilt of sin away from us, Lord, but by your Spirit, 
we can overcome sin, the corruption of it, more and more. each and 
every day. Father God, we praise you for 
your great work of salvation. We see this high view of sin 
and how how wretched it really is, Lord. Yet we see your amazing 
and wonderful grace, how you took wretched sinners like us, 
called us out of darkness and into marvelous light. You helped 
us by your spirit to believe on the Lord Christ. And even 
now, as believers, we are being sanctified day in and day out 
until we get to glory one day. O Lord, we look forward to that 
day when we will no longer be able to sin. But now, Lord, we 
pray that you would strengthen us, help us to make use of the 
medication that we need, help us to attend the means, help 
us to read the Bible, help us to pray. Lord, we thank you for 
faithful men who preach the word every single Sunday, where we 
can come and be fed, we can come and be strengthened by your Spirit 
and be edified. Father God, I pray that you be 
with me now. Help me to handle this truth with care and consideration. Help me to see my own need for 
you, my need for you, even now as I preach and teach this truth. Father God, I know I'm a sinner, 
and I know that the effects of sin affect me greatly, and I 
pray that you would give me strength and aid to rightly proclaim your 
truth. And may I be a no-name herald that only your name might 
be glorified. Father God, I pray for the people 
that are here listening. Help us to be awake and attentive 
to understand what you are saying. For this is your word, this is 
truth, and this is a serious disease that permeates the entire 
human race. And Lord, may you be glorified 
in all things. In the name of Christ Jesus, 
amen. So before we begin, I'm just 
going to give an outline of the five paragraphs here, but we 
are actually going to look at all of them today. Paragraph 
one can be summarized as the fall of man into sin. Paragraph 
two highlights the reality of sin by our first parents. Paragraph 
three then shows us the reality of the transmission of sin that 
we get from our parents. Chapter 4, or paragraph 4, deals 
with the nature of man, particularly in the unregenerate. And then 
paragraph 5 deals with the remaining corruption in believers who are 
in the state of grace now. So one thing I want to highlight 
right off the bat as we begin is the idea that sin is a disgusting 
and vile disease. And I don't think it's something 
that we think about in that way. Sin is something that is in our 
hearts and has affected every part of our body. And that's 
the one disease throughout this world that people who may be 
physically healthy are actually spiritually in a chronic, eternal, 
and wretched disease that will kill them one day. And so the 
reality is that we need a savior who can take not only the guilt 
of sin away, but the corruption of it away as well. So sin is 
a vile, disgusting disposition and disease that affects both 
our judicial standing with God and corrupts our body and soul. 
That's what I highlight already. It's the guilt of sin that we 
think about, but there's also the corruption of it in our hearts. 
There's an objective aspect of it, but there's also a subjective 
aspect for it as well, which is why we need two separate remedies. We need justification to deal 
with our guilt of sin, but we also need sanctification to help 
us overcome the corruption of it as well. Both those doctrines 
are vital for the Christian life, again, for the guilt of sin and 
also dealing with the corruption of it. in our hearts. And we 
will look at this idea of sin under three points. I take this 
outline from Sam Waldron's book or his exposition of the 1689 
Confession. We will look at the origin of 
sin, paragraph one, We will look at the solidarity or the commonality 
of sin in paragraphs two and three. Then we will look at the 
effects of sin in paragraphs four and five. So the origin, 
the solidarity, and the effects of sin. So let us first look 
now at the origin of sin, paragraph one. And we will look at two 
subpoints, the general setting of the fall, the general setting 
and its particular description. So first of all, the general 
setting. Last week we talked about the 
covenant of works made between God and Adam and this is the 
setting of the fall of man we see in paragraph 1 Although God 
created man upright and perfect, and gave him a righteous law, 
which had been unto life, had he kept it, and threatened death 
upon the breach thereof. So we see God as one party, man 
as the other party. We have promised life upon fulfillment 
of it, and death upon the failure of it. And the stipulation was 
summed up in that one positive command, that is, you shall not 
eat, from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. But notice 
it says in our confession that God created man upright and perfect. Remember in the book of Ecclesiastes, 
chapter 7, verse 29, God made man upright, but he sought out 
his own devices. Man in the state of innocence 
was able to sin and able not to sin. He could will what was 
good and what was evil. But we know the brief, we know, 
we'll see in a second, that there was a covenant breach wherein 
man actually did not fulfill what he was supposed to do. He 
sought evil instead of good. And we see in paragraph 1, that he did not long abide in 
this honor. That is, he breached the covenant, 
which is the particular description of it. We see the setting, we 
see the covenant between Adam and God, but then we see the 
description wherein sin comes, namely the breach of the holy 
law, the breach of the covenant Lord's primary standard of holiness. And so the confession highlights 
for us how this happened. 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. Now we see a reversal of the 
created order here. Remember how the created order 
first came into being. It was man, then woman to help 
the man, and then, or when it comes to the hierarchy, man, 
woman, and then it was, they had dominion over the animals. 
But what do we see here? We see the animal going after 
the woman, and then the woman then seducing her man. So we 
see this reversal of the created order in the fall, wherein the 
serpent now is on top of the hierarchy of the created order. And so we see this wretched and 
awful fall that occurs. But notice what it says as well 
regarding this fall, this covenantal breach. Without any compulsion, 
without any compulsion, this idea of the eating of the forbidden 
fruit, they were not They did not have someone holding their 
arm against them saying, you must eat the forbidden fruit. They did it on their own without 
any compulsion by anyone else. And this is a good way to help 
us understand the idea of free will. Free will means that we 
are not compulsed to do anything. We willfully and freely sin. Now, as our confession says, 
and I'll highlight in a moment, God works through those things, 
permits those things, for example, The Lord ordained that I should 
be... talking today, but I'm actually the one doing the talking. 
And so when we sin, we are willfully doing it. No one is holding a 
gun to our head in most instances. That's probably on a rare occasion. 
But in reality, we are the ones who actually sin and perform 
wretched rebellion against God. So this is the same here. Man, by his own compulsion, chose 
to sin. He chose to rebel against the 
Lord God Most High. Now as we talked about last time, 
the law of God is something that is universal, something that 
is written on the heart of man. Those Ten Commandments are something 
that is the standard of God's holy law. There are temporal laws in this 
world. If we speed, we are going to receive a temporal punishment. If I speed, I might receive a 
minuscule fine that I must pay. But the reality is this covenant 
breach is pretty awful when we think about who it is that they 
sinned against. It's an eternal law against an 
eternal God And the only punishment that should be given for us is 
eternal punishment, is eternal torment in hell because of this 
grievous and awful sin against the Lord God Most High. Even 
when we consider also how God was even gracious to Adam and 
Eve. He gave them a garden. He gave 
them food to eat. He gave them dominion over the 
birds and the creatures over the sea. And yet they still sinned 
against a holy God. It's kind of like a child who 
you've loved and cared for and given wonderful, wonderful gifts 
to them, yet they still rebel against you. It's a pretty awful 
and wretched and egregious thing that occurred during this fall 
and how the origin of sin came into being. It's awful, it's 
wretched, and it is eternal. It is an eternal punishment that 
we deserve for that sin, for the sin that was wrought in Adam. 
And so we see that it is a willful transgression. It is a covenantal 
breach. But notice it's well, it's part 
of the providence of God. God was pleased according to 
his wise and holy counsel to permit, having purpose to order 
it to his own glory. Remember, we've looked at the 
book of Ephesians on Sunday nights. Who is the primary center of 
of the universe. It's namely salvation in Christ 
Jesus. Ephesians chapter 3 talks about 
how Christ is the eternal purpose, is the purpose of the ages. Remember 
the covenant of redemption was made in eternity past between 
God the Father and God the Son to save sinners in Christ Jesus. 
The covenant of works is now that mirror of the covenant of 
redemption. Adam is a type of the real the 
reality namely Christ Jesus wherein Adam was had to fulfill a conditional 
covenant Just like Christ has come and he's fulfilled that 
conditional covenant that was made between the father and the 
son So we see God in his purpose was pleased to glorify himself 
namely through the permission of sin to come in now our confession 
of in chapter 3 verse 1 highlights about the third line, God is 
neither the author of sin, nor hath fellowship with any therein. God is not the author of sin, 
nor does he have any fellowship with it therein. Just because 
God permits something to occur doesn't make him the author of 
that sin. So in reality, God in his goodness 
and kindness used this covenant of works, this breach of it, 
to show us his grace and his goodness, his kindness, as a 
historical outworking or a representative of what even the covenant of 
redemption looks like. Namely, Christ fulfills the law 
that Adam could not fulfill. Hodge says, it appears to be 
God's general plan and one eminently wise and righteous to introduce 
all the new created subjects of moral government into a state 
of probation for a time in which he makes their permanent character 
and destiny depend upon their own action. He creates them holy, 
yet capable of falling. In this state, he subjects them 
to a moral test for a time. It was an awful breach and it 
was a willful breach on the part of mankind against thrice holy 
God. So I think one application we 
can take away from the origin of sin is namely this. We must 
cultivate a high view of what sin is, namely that it is a covenantal 
breach against a thrice holy God. And sin is not just in deed 
as well, but it's in our hearts, in our thoughts, in our minds, 
and the things we say, and also the things we do as well. But 
it's an awful, awful thing. It's a terrible thing that occurred 
So we need to cultivate this idea. Think about sin. Think 
about who God is. Study theology proper about who 
our God is, how he is holy, how he is eternal, how he is infinite. 
Adam willfully sinned against this holy God, bringing condemnation 
for all. Now, I'm blaming Adam here. But 
in reality, I probably would have done the same thing if I 
were in his shoes. I would have done, I would have 
covenantally breached the Lord's God's holy law and sinned against 
him. But nonetheless, Adam functions 
as that representative, just like Christ functions as that 
representative. But Adam functions as a representative 
for all mankind, wherein sin comes into the world. And we'll 
get into that in a little bit. The reality is we have to have 
that high view of sin in order also to cultivate a high view 
of salvation, a high view of grace, God's goodness and His 
grace and His kindness to save people who should deserve eternal 
damnation, who deserve eternal punishment for the breaking of 
His holy law. So we've seen the origin of sin. 
We've seen this covenantal breach at the hands of Adam. Let us 
look now at the solidarity or maybe the unity or the commonality 
of sin. And we will look at this idea 
under two subheadings. The reality of sin in paragraph 
two, then we will look at the transmission of sin in paragraph 
three. So under the reality of sin, 
let us define what sin is. There's a negative aspect and 
a positive aspect as well. The negative aspect is sin is 
lawlessness, any lack of conformity unto the law of God. 1 John chapter 
3, verse 4 highlights this for us. Sinfulness is lawlessness. 
Ryle says, a sin consists in doing, saying, thinking or imagining anything 
that is not in perfect conformity with the mind and the law of 
God. Now because sin has come into 
the world at the hands of our first parents, paragraph two, 
our first parents by this sin fell from their original righteousness 
and communion with God. And we in them were by death 
came upon all. The reality is that we are only 
able to sin. In the state of innocence, Adam 
was able to sin and able not to sin. Now in the state of sin, 
you're only able to sin. Only able to sin. In glory one 
day, we will not be able to sin. But again, but in the state of 
grace, even now, for people, we are able to sin, able not 
to sin, by the work of the Spirit in our hearts. But in a state 
of sin, we are able to sin, not able not to sin. Only able to 
sin willfully. Willfully, we do that. So there's 
a negative aspect of sin. That is, it's lawlessness. But 
there's a positive aspect as well. autonomy, self-law, being 
a law unto ourselves. Sam Waldron says, the modern 
idealization of freedom is very close of the very essence of 
sin. That is, we become a law unto 
ourselves. And I think the Enlightenment 
is the detriment to humanity. It is a detriment fall that occurred 
in the modern age. I call it the modern fall of 
man. One philosopher said it was man's 
ascent from his self-made immaturity, namely following another authority. But he was highlighting the idea 
that we must think for ourselves and use reason as our primary 
authority. That's not true. We become our 
own law that way. We'd be using our own thoughts, 
our own minds, our own reasons as our governing authority. But 
even in the modern age, there was certainly reason. There was 
also our senses being our authority. And there was also the subjective 
idea of feeling being authority as well. That is, there is an 
intrinsic authority instead of something that is from without. 
Namely, we have our reason, we have our senses, and we have 
our hearts and our subjective ideas that govern our ideas and 
our worldviews. That's not the case. We need 
something from without us governing us, guiding us, namely the Word 
of God regulating what we should and should not do, showing for 
us what sin is and the need for salvation in Christ, and also, 
thankfully, that we have the story of salvation found for 
us in the Bible. So a lot of the ideas we see 
today come from the Enlightenment. A lot of the ideas that we see 
today come from that time period, the idea of relativity. That 
is, what's true for you is true for you. What's true for me is 
true for me. A lot of those ideas stem from 
the Enlightenment and those ideas. So the reality is we need to 
understand that we can't be a law unto ourselves. We need to look 
at the right and proper law, the standard of holiness set 
forth by God Almighty. So we see the definition under 
the reality of sin, but we also see the result of sin as well. 
They fell in the confession. They fell from their original 
righteousness and communion with God. They fell from their original 
righteousness and communion with God. Genesis chapter 6, verse 
5. This is before the fall. We have a narrative for us about 
the depravity of man. Genesis chapter 6 verse 5 the 
Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in all the earth 
and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only 
Evil continually and the Lord regretted that he had made man 
on the earth and it grieved him in his heart So the Lord said 
I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the 
land Man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens 
for I am sorry that I made them but Noah found favor in the eyes 
of the Lord. So man fell from his state of 
righteousness into a state of sin, but also we see that he 
no longer gets to commune with the Lord God Most High. Remember 
the end of the book of Exodus. What's the main point? That God 
dwells with his people. It's a blessing to have the Lord 
God dwelling with his people, namely under the new covenant 
era with Christ who came and tabernacled, but also the idea 
of the indwelling Holy Spirit with us as well. When we come 
to worship on Sunday mornings, and we have faithful men who 
faithfully preach the word, we really can come and commune with 
the Lord God Most High because of the work of Christ. This is 
one of the awful things about sin. We can't commune with the 
Lord God because He is a holy God, and we are an unholy people. He is a righteous God, and we 
are an unrighteous people, which is why we need Christ our Savior 
to make it possible that we can approach the throne of grace 
with boldness. So we see these results. We see 
not only fall from a righteousness and communion, but death comes 
in as well. Remember Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 
chapter 15. Death through one man, life through 
another. We see death come in through 
Adam and life through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. That's 
kind of the outward punishments of it. We fall from righteousness. 
We fall from communion. But in paragraph two, it also 
says, highlights the inner disposition or some other consequences for 
it. That is, paragraph two at the end, we are wholly defiled 
in all the faculties of our parts of soul and body. From our heads 
to our toes, from our hips to our fingertips, we are utterly 
sinful. We are utterly sinful. We are 
in a state of sin, where we were in a state of sin, because of 
what Adam had done. If you believed on Christ, you're 
now in the state of grace. But the idea is, we need to highlight 
this idea of how pervasive sin actually is. It's like an awful 
cancer. When we think about the judicial 
and the corrupted, or the inherent aspect of sin, it's like going 
to prison and having cancer at the same time. The idea is, when 
you're released from prison by the work of Christ, we still 
need to deal with our cancer as well. We need to go for treatments 
to deal with those things. That's just an illustration to 
highlight how awful sin is and the need for sanctification in 
our lives. in our lives as well. Remember 
Jeremiah 17.9, the heart is deceitful of above all things and desperately 
wicked. It is awful. It is wretched. 
We do foul and awful things, not only with our hands, but 
in our hearts as well because of the state of sin that there 
is. Goodwin says, he's a Puritan 
theologian, he says, man is not only guilty of representatively 
participating in Adam's transgression, in the garden, but also guilty 
of a universal, total, sinful defilement spread over all faculties 
of soul and body, containing in it a privation or want of 
all good and an inclination to all evil. Man is bad. Man is awful. Even when we sometimes 
do good things, it's out of our own personal desire to be praised, 
our own personal pride. Remember, the first commandment 
deals with idolatry, and the last commandment deals with idolatry 
as well. We need to beware of not only 
the idols that are formed out of the hands of men, but also 
the ones that are formed in our hearts and in our thoughts as 
well. So we see this reality of sin wrought by our parents, 
where they fell and there's sin in them. We also then see, under 
the commonality or the solidarity of sin, the transmission of sin 
as well. Paragraph three. they being the 
root, and by God's appointment, standing in the room and stead 
of all mankind. The guilt was imputed and corrupted 
nature conveyed to all their posterity, descending from them 
by ordinary generation, being now conceived in sin, and by 
nature, children of wrath, the servants of sin, the subjects 
of death, and all other miseries, spiritual, temporal, and eternal, 
unless the Lord Jesus set them free. We have the idea of original 
sin here, that is, that sinful state wherein man fell. There's 
that want of righteousness, that corruption of our whole nature. 
The idea that because of the fallen nature of our first parents, 
we have that original sin within us as well. When we are born, 
we are born with sin from our hearts. It is a filthy disease 
that's genetic, it's hereditary, that comes forth even when we 
come out of that room. And so, as I said already, in 
this section we're going to deal with the problems, namely, of 
sin, the guilt of it, and the corruption. He says, the guilt 
of the sin was imputed. Now, remember when we talked 
about justification, we talked about the idea of having the 
imputation of Christ's righteousness, namely that transfer, kind of 
like a bank transfer idea going on with the word in Greek. The 
idea here is more of a judicial transfer, the idea that we have 
an imputation of sin onto us because of that first sin, because 
of that covenantal lawful judicial breach by that first man wherein 
we are now considered guilty guilty of our sin because of 
what that man did, now we have sin imputed to us. Now there 
are three forms of imputation, sin imputed to man, to us, sin 
imputed to Christ, and then Christ's righteousness then imputed to 
us. So it's important to see we have 
to understand the need for the imputation of sin in order to 
understand the wonderful blessedness of the imputation of Christ's 
righteousness upon us. Where we are once guilty in Adam, 
now we are not guilty because of the work of our Lord and Savior, 
Jesus Christ. And the idea is highlighting 
the courtroom idea, right? You are declared guilty before 
the Lord God Most High, but because of Christ's work, we then have 
a favorable verdict. That's what justification is. 
Favorable verdict where when we have pardon of sin and acceptance 
with God because of that wonderful work of justification. So we 
need to understand the imputation of sin to appreciate and consider 
the imputation for Christ's righteousness. So as I said, guilt for sin needs 
a favorable verdict, namely justification. Justification deals with that 
guilt of sin. It takes away that guilt. It 
takes away the punishment that we deserved because of what Adam 
had done. But thankfully, we have justification 
to deal with our guilt of sin, to deal with the breach that 
Adam performed against the Lord God. But not only do we have 
this guilt of sin, we have the corruption of sin as well. And 
it is a natural corruption. Remember the psalmist says in 
Psalm 51 how he was conceived in sin in his mother's womb. 
Ryle says, the fairest babe that has entered life this year and 
become the sunbeam of a family is not, as its mother perhaps 
fondly calls it, a little angel or a little innocent, but a little 
sinner. Alas, as it lies smiling and 
crowing in its cradle, that little creature carries in its heart 
the seed of every kind of wickedness. When we are born, we have a vile, 
disgusting state that comes with us when we pop out of that womb. 
And the idea of sin in the corrupted idea is it starts with the heart, 
kind of like how the heart pumps blood to the rest of our bodies. 
Our disgusting sin that's in our heart pumps sin to the rest 
of our bodies as well. We are totally depraved because 
of our state of sin. But notice it says, because of 
this sin, we are conceived in it, but we're also considered 
children of wrath. Children of wrath. We are considered 
the servants of sin, the subjects of death. And then also it goes 
into many other miseries as well. Remember, the wages of sin is 
death. Wages of sin is death. But then it talks about some 
miseries here that sin brings at the end of paragraph three. 
And I use the Westminster Larger Catechism question and answer 
28 and 29. Notice it talks about spiritual 
miseries, the idea of inward ideas, and that the Westminster 
Larger Catechism talks about the punishments of sin in this 
world, namely blindness of mind. We do not know, we cannot see 
the truth because of sin in our spirit. We have a reprobate sense. We want to do what is foul and 
right and we have that willful desire to do what's false. Strong 
delusions about what is right and what is true. We have a hardness 
of heart. We have a horror of conscience 
and we have vile affections as well. The spiritual idea, the 
spiritual problem that sin brings is we do not understand the truth 
and we love to revel in sin, which is why we need a spiritual 
enlightenment. We need the Holy Spirit to regenerate 
our hearts, give us that heavenly heart surgery by which we see 
sin and need for Christ. The Confession talks about temporal 
ideas as well, namely the effects of sin. Things like the evils 
in our bodies, memory loss, fatigue. Now those things aren't bad in 
and of themselves, but they are effects of sin as well. The idea that sometimes we don't 
remember to do what is right. We are tired and weary and we 
don't want to go on sometimes. Those are effects of sin that 
we need the Lord to give us strength and aid and refreshment and encouragement 
as we move on day in and day out. So there are spiritual ideas, 
but there are temporal ideas as well. And then the Westminster 
Larger Catechism, question and answer 29, deals with the punishments 
of the world to come, namely the eternal punishments. And 
those two things are everlasting separation from God. Remember, 
that was one of the results of the fall, separation from God. 
But this is going to be an everlasting separation from God. and also 
grievous torments in the soul and the body. It's not just going 
to be a physical pain that we feel. It's going to be psychological 
as well. Remember the story of Lazarus 
and the rich man, the parable. That's not necessarily, now the 
main point of that isn't necessarily how hell looks like, but nonetheless 
it gives us a glimpse into what it would look like. The rich 
man was aware of what was going on. He was aware of what was 
happening. And the reality is, if you're 
not a believer and you die today, you will go into a place of not 
only physical torment, but psychological as well. The idea is if you've 
heard the gospel day in and day out and have not believed, you 
will be in heaven thinking about that time when you heard the 
gospel and you could have believed. You could have believed and you're 
like, no, get it away! Get it away! Get that gospel 
away from me! Kind of like the idea, you know, when something 
is, something, the idea when something, you can almost taste 
something, you can almost see something, you can't quite get 
the relief from it. Like if you're doing a long run 
and you need that drop of water and you need it, and then you 
get that drop of water and how wonderful it is, hell won't have 
that drop of water. Hell won't have that. And it's 
a terrifying thing to consider. But this is the cosmic, eternal 
idea of sin and the punishment thereof and how awful it really 
is. Now, under this idea of corruption 
for sin, the remedy is sanctification. The remedy is sanctification. 
Remember, we are given that new heart in regeneration. And the 
idea is that we need to overcome corruption. Now, that overcoming 
corruption will be slow, right? When you first need to take medicine 
for a disease, it may help a little bit and a little bit more and 
more and more and more. But we won't get full recovery 
from this sin or this overcoming this corruption until glory, 
until we get into glory one day. That's when all the corruption 
of sin will be gone. Those remedies that we want to 
get off our hands will no longer be there. And we will look at 
our wonderful High King who has procured salvation for us and 
given us his spirit to help us in our daily walk, day in and 
day out. So we do need justification and 
sanctification to deal with the guilt of sin and the corruption 
as well. But the idea here also highlights 
the idea of the federal head of Adam. We talked about that 
already, the idea of the federal head of Adam. But we also need 
it for the federal head of Christ as well. We are united in Adam, 
but we're also united in Christ. Notice at the end of paragraph 
three, unless the Lord Jesus set them free. Waldron says, 
God does not give up on his purpose in creation and pursue a different 
goal in redemption. Rather, he fulfills the goal 
of creation through a second Adam. Creation, the earth, and 
mankind are redeemed in Christ. The result of redemption is a 
redeemed race and a redeemed earth as well. So we need to 
understand the federal headship with Adam to appreciate the federal 
headship of Christ our Savior, how Christ lived, died, and rose 
again on behalf of his people, where we are justified and being 
sanctified because of what Christ has done. Now, one application 
we can take away from this idea of this commonality, this universality 
of sin, is the idea that it is a universal thing. And it's a 
vile and awful disease that permeates every single person. The idea 
is it's in every single part of someone's heart. And we need 
to look at people with that idea. Sometimes I think the idea and 
the high view of sin is diminished, not only for unbelievers, but 
for believers in other churches as well. Some people say, you know, I'm 
not as bad as I could possibly be, or I've never done anything 
wrong. I remember speaking with a man. 
I was giving him the law of God in order to show him his need 
for Christ. And I said to him, have you ever had a sinful, angry 
thought in your heart concerning someone? You want to murder someone 
in your heart, if you will. And he said, I have never done 
that. People have a false idea of what sin is, have a false 
consideration not only of the deeds of sin, but the foul ideas 
in their hearts concerning it. People are ignorant about it. 
And it's one disease that people need to know that they have in 
order to find the right and proper remedy. The reality is that people, 
even Christians, downplay the effects of sin. Pelagius, the 
fourth century heretic, taught the idea that he downplayed the 
effects of sin. Adam is simply just an example. 
There is no original sin. Ought equals can. I can do it 
because of my natural abilities, because of the good that is within 
me. Adam didn't stand on behalf of people as a federal head. 
Rather, Adam was just an example that we shouldn't follow. And 
the same Christ is just an example as well. It's awful to think 
about that when people have that right view. Even Arminian downplayed 
the effects of sin. That is, there is grace and the 
cooperation with grace. No. We need to have a high view 
of sin in order to appreciate the one way of salvation by grace 
alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. We need to appreciate 
the Spirit's work in our heart through the proclamation of the 
Gospel to change our hearts give us that new heart where we might 
believe on Christ. But it is universal and vile 
and we need to look at people with that light as well when 
we are teaching the gospel to them. So we've seen the origin, 
the solidarity, now let us look thirdly at the effects of sin, 
paragraphs four and five. We have two main sub-points under 
point three. The first is sin in the unregenerate 
generally, paragraph four, and then sin in the regenerate particularly. So let us first look at sin in 
the unregenerate generally. From this original corruption, 
whereby we are utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to 
all good, and wholly inclined to all evil, do proceed actual 
transgressions. That is, what comes from within 
our sin from within produces foul and actual things that we 
do with our hands. Remember, it's not just thoughts 
and deeds, but with our hands and actions as well. Turn with 
me to Romans chapter 8, verse 7. Romans chapter 8, verse 6. This 
highlights the idea of total depravity, that is, We are totally 
sinful in all of our being. The Apostle Paul says, Romans 
8, verses 6 and 7, for to set the mind on the flesh is death, 
but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace. For the mind 
that is set on the flesh is hostile, for it does not submit to it, 
to God's law. Indeed, it cannot, those who 
are in the flesh, cannot please God. That is, we are totally 
depraved. but also highlights the idea 
that we are unable to submit to God's law. That's why we need 
the work of the Spirit. We need the proclamation of the 
Gospel. We need to show people their sin, and how it's vile, 
and how it's bitter, and how they need to hear about their 
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Packer says, the assertion of 
original sin makes the point that we are not sinners because 
we sin, but rather we sin because we are sinners, born with a nature 
enslaved to sin. That is, when we are born, we 
have that nature that makes us sinners. Just because we act 
still makes us sinners, regardless of how we act. But the idea is 
some people teach that sin just comes from without. rather than 
from within. But it is starts in our hearts. 
It starts in our hearts for people, and it produces actual transgressions. So we've seen the unregenerate. 
Let us look now at sin in the regenerate, particularly paragraph 
5. 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. If 
we are in the state of grace, we are able to sin and able not 
to sin. Chapter 9 of the Confession, 
paragraph 4 says, when God converts a sinner, and translates him 
into the state of grace, he freeth him from his natural bondage 
under sin, and by his grace alone enables him freely to will and 
to do that which is spiritually good. Yet so as that by reason 
of his remaining corruptions he doth not perfectly nor only 
will that which is good, but doth also will that which is 
evil." The reality is that we are not going to be perfect on 
this side of heaven. Pelagius was wrong, who taught that sinless 
perfection was possible on this side of heaven. That's not going 
to be the case. We know that from Romans chapter 
7 and Galatians chapter 5 as well. There are going to be warring 
against the spirits, warring against between our spirit and 
the spirit from within and the Holy Spirit as well. There are 
going to be wars, battles, fights. That's why there's a lot of this 
army imagery in the New Testament. You need to fight on. Put the 
armor of God on. Watch. Pray, fight, move forward, 
because it is a battle day in and day out in our sinful dispositions. And the reality is that's what 
happens in our sanctification. You know, the sin isn't going 
to go easy. We need to make use of the means in order to help 
mortify those sins. Remember, self-control is self-control. But we need to pray and be watchful 
and ask the Spirit for strength and aid, because we will sin 
against the Lord God Most High. And then we can ask for forgiveness 
and move forth. Move forth. And the idea here 
is sanctification is dealing with the remnants of the disease 
that we still have. It's dealing with those foul 
symptoms that we still have in our hearts. And that's why it's 
important to have a high view of sanctification as well. And so one application we can 
take away from this section of remaining corruption is that 
we need to be aware and be able to take our spiritual medication. That is, we need to make use 
of the means of grace. If we were physically sick, we 
would certainly go to the doctor, and whatever he prescribes, we 
would go get the natural medicine in order to deal with those physical 
ailments. Now, we have a spiritual disease 
still. That's the remnants that are 
still there. And we need to make use of the means that God has 
provided for us to deal with those issues as well. We need 
to make use of both the means of grace and the means of growth. We need to be in church on Sunday 
morning, the day that the Lord God has set aside. We need to 
be teaching and preaching the truth for those that are officers. 
We need to be receptive to the truth to those that are listeners. 
We need to take the Lord's Supper. We need to be baptized, make 
use of the sacraments. We also need to pray. corporately, 
not only privately, but corporately as well. So we need to make use 
of the means that God has provided in order to deal with those issues, 
in order to deal with the remnants that are still coursing through 
our veins. But also we need to have the 
means of growth as well, namely Bible reading and prayer. Bible 
reading and prayer. We do need to be in our closets 
praying to the Lord God, watching, praying, fighting, taking the 
necessary means to deal with the sins that are still in our 
hearts and our minds and that we still commit. We also need 
to read our Bible to understand more the high view of sin. If 
we understand the high view of who God is, hopefully more and 
more we'll see how wretched our sinfulness actually is. And so we need to make use of 
those things, even fellowshipping with one another as a means of 
growth. talking with one another, chatting with one another, going 
through struggles with one another as well, praying for one another. 
Nonetheless, we need to take the spiritual medication the 
Lord God has provided. And I don't mean in a Roman Catholic 
sense. That is, if you take it, things 
are going to get better. Nonetheless, the means that God 
has prescribed for growing in grace and knowledge, namely, 
is coming to church on Sunday and reading your Bible and praying 
every day. So we've seen the origin of sin, 
we've seen the solidarity of it, and we've seen the effects 
now of it. In conclusion, we must remember 
that sin permeates the heart of all mankind, and it is a disgusting 
reality. It is foul and awful. And so 
we looked at the origin, we looked at the solidarity, and we looked 
at the effects. And we'll close with several 
applications that I already highlighted in the section. Again, we need 
to have a high view of what sin is. The reality that it is a 
covenantal breach against a holy God, and it is a serious, serious 
offense, even in the heart and life of a believer as well. And 
also, we need to remember that it is universal and vile. Everyone 
has this disease, and they need to know the right and proper 
cure. They need to, first of all, know that they have disease, 
because this disease is a deceitful disease as well. They may not 
think that they need salvation, but they certainly do need salvation. But also, we must remember that 
it still permeates our hearts as well. Thirdly, we need to 
take our spiritual medication, again, using the means of grace 
and the means of growth to grow in grace and knowledge. You cannot 
grow in grace without the things that God has prescribed. That 
is why it's important to be present and attentive. If you're physically 
unable to be here on Sundays, then listen and tune in. Thankfully, 
we have modern means for those people who can't do that. But 
if you can be here, please be here. And fourthly, This high 
view of sin promotes in us a reality and praise to God for the high 
view of salvation that is in Christ Jesus. And Adam broke 
the law of God. We broke the law of God. Christ 
fulfilled the law of God in perfection. Adam's sin was imputed to us, 
but now Christ's righteousness is imputed to the people that 
believe on him because of his wonderful work. And so the idea 
is God is gracious. God is good, especially in light 
of that cosmic covenantal breach at the hands of Adam and the 
cosmic covenantal breach that we sinned before we were saved 
and that we still sin sometimes even now. That's why we praise 
God day in and day out for the high view of salvation found 
in Christ Jesus. We are thankful not only for 
justification, but for sanctification as well. where the guilt is taken 
away and the corruption is being dealt with by the work of the 
Spirit. So praise God for salvation in 
Christ, even in light of such an awful transgression that has 
been committed. So let us praise God today as 
we go out and worship the Lord. Amen. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly 
Father, we thank you for this day, Lord. We know that we are 
vile and awful, and Father God, we thank you for the work of 
Christ. Lord, we thank you that you've called us out of darkness 
into marvelous light. We thank you that you've translated 
those who believe from a state of sin into a state of grace. 
Lord, we pray that by your Spirit you continue to work through 
us to help to overcome the corruption in our hearts. Father God, help 
us to be aware and attentive and fight on. Help us to watch 
and pray and fight against those issues, Lord. And when we're 
dealing with unbelievers, help us to show them the disease by 
your Spirit. And may by your Spirit you reveal 
to them the need for Christ, the need to be saved, the need 
to believe on Him. And Father God, again, we thank 
you for your wonderful covenant of redemption, how in eternity 
past you saved sinners in Christ Jesus. We thank you for the assurance 
that we have by the work of Christ. Even though we sin in our sanctification, 
Lord God, we thank you that we can move forth. Help us not fall 
under your fatherly displeasure. Help us to not grieve your spirit, 
Lord God. We thank you for the work of Christ. It is a wonderful 
and blessed thing and may others see that as well. May they see 
their high view of sin and a high view of salvation. Help sin to 
be bitter so that Christ will be sweet. May you be glorified 
this day, Lord God. I pray that you be with my brother 
who preaches today. Give him strength, give him aid 
to faithfully proclaim your truth. Help those who are listening 
to be edified by the work of your spirit and may you be glorified 
Lord in the name of Christ Amen