“The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.” Gen. iii. 13.
The original temptation set before our first parents, was that of proving their freedom, by using it without regard to the will of Him who gave it. The original excuse offered by them after sinning was, that they were not really free, that they had acted under a constraining influence, the subtilty of the tempter. They committed sin that they might be independent of their Maker; they defended it on the ground that they were dependent upon Him. And this has been the course of lawless pride and lust ever since; to lead us, first, to exult in our uncontrollable liberty of will and conduct; then, when we have ruined ourselves, to plead that we are the slaves of necessity.
2. Accordingly, it has been always the office of Religion to protest against the sophistry of Satan, and to preserve the memory of those truths which the unbelieving heart corrupts, both the freedom and the responsibility of man;—the sovereignty of the Creator, the supremacy of the law of conscience as His representative within us, and the irrelevancy of external circumstances in the judgment which is ultimately to be made upon our conduct and character.
3. That we are accountable for what we do and what we are,—that, in spite of all aids or hindrances from without, each soul is the cause of its own happiness or misery,—is a truth certified to us both by Nature and Revelation. Nature conveys it to us in the feeling of guilt and remorse, which implies self-condemnation. In the Scriptures, on the other hand, it is the great prevailing principle throughout, in every age of the world, and through every Dispensation. The change of times, the varieties of religious knowledge, the gifts of grace, interfere not with the integrity of this momentous truth. Praise to the obedient, punishment on the transgressor, is the revealed rule of God’s government from the beginning to the consummation of all things. The fall of Adam did not abolish, nor do the provisions of Gospel-mercy supersede it.
4. At the creation it was declared, “In the day that thou eatest … thou shalt surely die.” On the calling of the Israelites, the Lord God was proclaimed in sight of their lawgiver as “merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth; keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty.” And when Moses interceded for the people, with an earnestness which tended to the infringement of the Divine Rule, he was reminded that he could not himself be really responsible for others. “Whosoever hath sinned against Me, him will I blot out of My book.” The prophetical Dispensation enforced the same truth still more clearly. “With the pure Thou wilt show Thyself pure, and with the froward Thou wilt show Thyself froward.” “The soul that sinneth, it shall die; make you a new heart and a new spirit, for why will ye die?” And after Christ had come, the most explicit of the inspired expounders of the New Covenant is as explicit in his recognition of the original rule. “Every man shall bear his own burden … Be not deceived: God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Even in his Epistle to the Romans, where he is directly engaged in declaring another, and at first sight opposite doctrine, he finds opportunity for confessing the principle of accountableness. Though exalting the sovereign power and inscrutable purposes of God, and apparently referring man’s agency altogether to Him as the vessel of His good pleasure, still he forgets not, in the very opening of his exposition, to declare the real independence and responsibility of the human will. “He will render to every man according to his deeds; … tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil … but glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good; … for there is no respect of persons with God;“—declarations, which I will not say are utterly irreconcilable in their very structure with (what is called) the Calvinistic creed, but which it is certain would never have been written by an assertor of it in a formal exposition of his views for the benefit of his fellow-believers. Lastly, we have the testimony of the book which completes and seals up for ever the divine communications. “My reward is with Me; to give every man according as his work shall be. Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life.” [Gen. ii. 17. Exod. xxxiv. 7; xxxii. 33. Ps. xviii. 26. Ez. xviii. 4, 31. Gal. vi. 5-7. Rom. ii. 6-11. Rev. xxii. 12, 13.]
5. Moreover, we have the limits of external aids and hindrances distinctly stated to us, so as to guarantee to us, in spite of existing influences of whatever kind, even of our original corrupt nature, the essential freedom and accountableness of our will. As regards external circumstances: “God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” As regards the corrupt nature in which we are born: “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; but every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed; then, when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” And as regards divine assistances: “It is impossible for those who were once enlightened … if they fall away, to renew them again unto repentance.” [1 Cor. x. 13. James i. 13-15. Heb. vi. 4-6.]