Chapter 5 – Extent

5. Its Extent.

When seeking to unfold some other great truths of Scripture, by means of contemplating separately their component parts, we have reminded the reader how very difficult it was to avoid some overlapping. The same thing needs to be pointed out here in connection with the subject we are now considering. A river has many tributaries and a surveyor must necessarily trace out each one separately, yet he does so with the knowledge that they all run out of or run into the same main stream. A tree has many boughs, yet though distinct members of it they often interweave. So it is with our present theme, and as we endeavor to follow out its various branches there is of necessity a certain measure of repetition. Though in one way this is to he regretted, being apt to weary the impatient, yet it has its advantages, for it better fixes in our minds some of the principal features.

Following our Introductory remarks, we began by showing the solemn reality of man’s spiritual impotency, furnishing clear proofs thereof from Holy Writ. Next, we endeavored to delineate in detail the precise nature of man’s inability: that it is penal, moral, voluntary, and criminal. We have dwelt upon the root of the awful malady, evidencing that it lies in the corruption of our very nature. We are now to consider the extent of the spiritual paralysis which has seized upon fallen man’s being. Let us state it concisely before elaborating and offering confirmation. The spiritual impotency of the natural man is total and entire, irreparable and irremediable as far as all human efforts are concerned. Fallen man is utterly indisposed and disabled-thoroughly opposed to God and His law, wholly inclined unto evil. Sooner would thistles yield grapes than fallen man originate a spiritual volition.

We have supplied a number of proofs that man’s nature is now thoroughly corrupt. This is seen in the fact that he is sinful from his earliest years, yes, that the first dawnings of reason in a child are fouled by sin. It appears, too, in that men sin continually: as Jeremiah 13:23 expresses it, they are “accustomed to do evil.” It is also evidenced by the universal prevalence of this disease, for it is not only some, or even the great majority, but all without exception are depraved. It is demonstrated by their freedom therein. All sin continually of their own accord: a child has only to be left to himself and he will quickly put his mother to shame. Moreover, they cannot be restrained: neither education nor religious instruction, expostulation or threats (human or Divine) will deter them: that which is bred in the bone, comes out in the flesh. Corruption can neither be eradicated nor moderated. The tongue is a little member, yet God Himself declares it is one which “no man can tame” (James 3:8) .

The law of sin which is in my members (Romans 7:23). The first thing which attends every law as such is its rule or sway: “the law has dominion over (literally “lords it over”) a man as long as he lives” (Romans 7:1). The giving of law is the act of a superior, and it belongs to its very nature to exact obedience by way of dominion. Now the “law of sin” possesses no moral authority over its subjects, but because it exerts a powerful and effectual dominion over its slaves it is rightly denominated a “law.” Though it has no rightful government over men, yet it has the equivalent, for it dominates as a king-“sin has reigned unto death” (Romans 5:21). Because believers have been delivered from the complete dominion of this evil monarch, they are exhorted, “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lusts thereof” (Romans 6:12.). Here we learn what is the precise case with the unregenerate: sin reigns, undisputedly, within them, and they yield ready and full obedience thereto.

The second thing which attends all law as such is its sanctions, which have an efficacy to move those who are under it unto the things which it requires. In other words, a law has rewards and penalties accompanying it, which serve as inducements to obedience, even though the things commanded are unpleasant. Speaking generally, all laws owe their efficacy unto the reward and punishments annexed to them. Nor is the “law of sin”-indwelling corruption-any exception. The pleasures and profits which sin promises unto its subjects are rewards which the vast majority of men lose their souls to obtain. We have a striking illustration of this when the law of sin contended in Moses against the law of grace: “Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season: esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward” (Hebrews 11:25, 26).

In the above example we see the conflict which was in the mind of Moses between the law of sin and the law of grace. The motive on the part of the law of sin, whereunto it sought to influence him and with which it prevails over the majority, was the temporary reward which it set before him, namely, the present enjoyment of the pleasures of sin: by that it contended with the eternal reward annexed to the law of grace, called here “the recompense of the reward.” By this wretched reward does the law of sin keep the whole world in obedience to its commands. How powerful and potent this influence is, both Scripture, observation, and personal experience teach us. This it was which induced our first parents to partake of the forbidden fruit, Esau to sell his birthright, Balaam to hire himself to Balak, Judas to betray the Savior. This it is which now moves the vast majority of our fellows to prefer Mammon than God, Belial than Christ, the things of time and sense than spiritual and eternal realities.

The law of sin also has penalties with which it threatens any who are urged to cast off its yoke. These are the sneers, the ostracism, the persecutions of their fellows. The law of sin announces to us votaries that nothing but unhappiness and suffering is the portion of those who would be in subjection to God, that His service is a “kill-joy.” It represents the yoke of Christ as a grievous burden, His Gospel as quite unsuited to those who are young and healthy, the Christian life as a gloomy and miserable thing. Whatever troubles and tribulations come upon the people of God because of their fidelity to Him, whatever hardships and denying of self the duties of mortification require, are represented by the law of sin as so many penalties attending the neglect of its commands. By these it prevails over the “fearful and unbelieving,” who have no share in the Life eternal (Rev. 21:8). And it is hard to say wherein lies its greater strength: its pretended rewards, or its pretended punishments.

The power and effect of this law of sin appears from its very nature: it is not an outward, inoperative, directing law, but an inbred, working, and effectual law. A law which is proposed to us cannot be compared for efficacy with a law bred in us. God wrote the moral law upon tables of stone and now it is found in the Scriptures; but what is its efficacy? As it is external to men and proposed unto them, does it enable them to perform the things which it requires? No indeed, the Moral Law is rendered “weak through the flesh” (Romans 8:3)-indwelling corruption makes it impossible for man to meet its demands. And how does God deliver from this awful bondage? In this present life by making His law internal for His elect, for at their regeneration He makes good that promise, “I will put My law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts” (Jeremiah 31:33). Thus His law now becomes an internal, living, operative, and effectual principle within them.

Now such is “the law of sin”: it is all indwelling law. It is “sin that dwells in me,” it is “in my members”: yes, it is so far in a man as in one sense it is said to be the man himself. “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) there dwells no good thing” (Romans 7:21, 23, 18). From this consideration we may perceive the full dominion which it has over the natural man. It always abides in the soul, and is never absent. It “dwells” in us: there is its constant residence. It does not come upon the soul only at certain seasons, for then much might be accomplished during its absence, and the soul might fortify itself against it. No, it never leaves its abode. Wherever we are, whatever we be engaged in, this law of sin is present. Whether we are alone or in company, by night or by day, it is our constant companion. A ruthless enemy indwells our soul. How little is this considered by men! O the woeful security of the unregenerate: a fire is in their bones, fast consuming them. How little does the watchfulness of most professing Christians correspond to the danger of their state.

Being an indwelling law, sin applies itself unto its work with great facility and ease. It needs to force open no doors or employ any engines whatever. The soul cannot apply itself to any duty but what it must be by those very faculties in which this law has its residence. Let the mind or understanding be applied unto anything and there is ignorance, darkness, madness to contend with. Take the will, and there is in it spiritual deadness, mulish stubbornness, devilish obstinacy. Are the affections of the heart set upon Divine objects? How can they, when they are wholly inclined toward the world and present things, and are prone to all vanity and defilements? Water rises above its own level. How easy is it, then, for indwelling sin to insinuate itself into all we do, hindering whatever is good and furthering whatever is evil. Does conscience seek to assert itself? then our corruptions soon teach us to turn a deaf ear unto its voice.

The seat of this law of sin, the Scripture everywhere declares to be the heart. “Out of the heart are the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23). It is there that indwelling corruption keeps its special residence: it is there this evil monarch holds court. It has invaded and possessed the throne of God within us. “The heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live” (Ecclesiastes 9:3). Here is the source of all the madness which appears in their lives. “All these evil things (mentioned in vv. 21, 22) come from within and defile the man” (Mark 7:23). There are many outward temptations and provocations which befall man, which excite and stir them up unto many evils, yet they merely broach the vessel and let out what is stored within it. “An evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45): this “evil treasure” or store is the principle of all moral action on the part of the natural man. Temptations and occasions put nothing into men, but only draw out what was in them before. The root and spring of all wickedness lies in the center of our corrupt being.

Let us next consider the outstanding property of indwelling sin: “The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be” (Romans 8:7). That which is here called “the carnal mind” is the same as “the law of sin.” It is to be solemnly noted that the carnal mind is not only an enemy, for as such there would be a possibility of some reconciliation with God, but it is “enmity” itself and so not capable of accepting any terms of peace. Enemies may be reconciled, but enmity cannot The only way to reconcile enemies is to destroy their enmity. So the Apostle tells us, “When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son” (Romans 5:10): that is, a supernatural work has been accomplished in the elect on the ground of the merits of Christ’s sacrifice, which results in the reconciliation of those who were enemies. But when the Apostle came to speak of “enmity” there was no other way but for it to be destroyed: “Having abolished in His flesh the enmity” (Ephesians 2:15).

Let it also be duly considered that the Apostle used a noun and not an adjective: “the carnal mind is enmity against God.” He did not say that it is merely opposed to God, but it is positive opposition itself. It is not black but blackness; it is not an enemy, it is enmity; it is not corrupt, but corruption itself; not rebellious, but rebellion. As C. H. Spurgeon so succinctly expressed it, “The heart, though it be deceitful, is positively deceitful: it is evil in the concrete, sin in the essence: it is the distillation, the quintessence of all things that are vile; it is not envious against God, it is enmity itself-not at enmity, it is actual enmity.” Unspeakably dreadful is this. To the same effect are those fearful words of the Psalmist: “their inward part is very wickedness” (5:9)-beyond that human language cannot go.

This carnal mind is in every fallen creature: not even excluding the infant at its mother’s breast. How many who had the best of parents have turned out the worst of sons and daughters? This carnal mind is in each of us every moment of our lives: it is there just as truly when we are unconscious of its presence, as when we are sensible of the risings in us of opposition to God. The wolf may sleep, but it is a wolf still. The snake may slumber amid the flowers, and a child may stroke its back, but it is a snake still. The sea is the house of storms even when it is placid as a lake. And the heart, when we perceive not its ebb and flows, when it belches not forth the hot stones of its corruption, is still the same dread volcano.

The extent of this fearful enmity appears in the fact that the whole of the carnal mind is opposed to God: every part, every power, every passion of it. Every faculty of man’s being has been affected by the Fall. Take the memory-is it not a solemn fact that we retain evil things far more easily than those which are good? that we can recollect a foolish song much more readily than we can a passage of Scripture! We grasp with an iron hand things which concern our temporal interests, but hold with feeble fingers those which respect our eternal welfare. Take the imagination, why is it that when a man given that which well near intoxicates him, or when he is drugged with opium, that his imagination soars as on eagles wings? Why does not the imagination work thus when the body is in a normal condition? Simply because it is depraved, and unless our body enters a foul element the fancy will not hold high carnival. Take the judgment: how vain, often how mad are its reasoning, even in the wisest of men.

This fearful enmity is irremediable: “For it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” (Romans 8:7). Even though Divine grace intervene and subdue its force, yet it effects not the slightest change in its nature. It may not be so powerful and effectual in operation as when it had more life and freedom, yet it is enmity still. As every drop of poison is poison and will infect, as every spark of fire is fire and will burn, so is every part and degree of the law of sin enmity-it will poison, it will burn. The Apostle Paul can surely be regarded as having made as much progress in the subduing of this enmity as any man on earth, yet, notwithstanding, he exclaimed, “O wretched man that I am,” and cried for deliverance from this irreconcilable enmity. Mortification abates its awful force, but it does not effect any reformation in it. Whatever effect Divine grace may work upon it, no change is wrought in it.

Not only is this awful enmity inbred in every one of Adam’s fallen race; not only has it captured and dominated every faculty of our beings; not only is it present within us every moment of our lives; not only is it incapable of reconciliation, but most frightful of all, this indwelling sin is enmity against God. In other passages it is exhibited as its own enemy; “abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul” (1 Peter 2:11): those indwelling corruptions are ever seeking to destroy us. This deadly poison of sin, this ruinous law of indwelling evil, ever opposes the new nature or law of grace and holiness in the believer. “The flesh lusts against the spirit” (Galatians 5:17)-that is, the principle of sin fights against and seeks to vanquish the principle of spirituality. But O dreadful to relate, its proper formal object is God Himself: it is “enmity against God.”

This frightful enemy has, as it were, received from Satan the same command which the Assyrians had from their monarch: “fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel” (1 Kings 22:31). It is neither against small nor great, but against Jehovah Himself, the King of Israel, that sin sets itself. This appears in the judgments which men form of God. What is the natural man’s estimate of the Creator and Ruler of this world? Let answer be returned from the vast regions of heathendom. Behold, the horrible superstitions, the disgusting rites, the hideous symbols of Deity, the cruel penances and gross immoralities which everywhere prevail in lands without the Gospel, and consider the appalling abominations which for so long passed and which in numerous instances still pass, under the sacred name of Divine worship. These are not merely the products of ignorance of God, but are the immediate fruits of positive enmity against Him.

But we need not go so far afield as heathendom: the same terrible feature confronts us here at home in Christendom. Witness the multiple and horrible errors which prevail on every side in the religious realm today-the degrading and insulting views of the Most High now held by the great majority of church members. And what of the vast multitudes of those who make no profession at all? They think of and act toward the great Jehovah as One who is to be little regarded and respected. They consider Him as One entitled to very little esteem, yes, scarcely worthy of any notice at all. “Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of Your ways. What is the Almighty, that we should serve Him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto Him?” (Job 21:14, 15)-such is the language of their hearts and lives, if it be not actually so with their lips.

We continue our discussion of the most solemn and dreadful aspect of the “flesh” or indwelling sin being enmity against God Himself, and that such enmity “is not subject to the Law of God neither indeed can be” (Romans 8:7). This frightful and implacable enmity is entire and universal, being opposed to all of God. If there were anything of God-His nature, His character, or works-that indwelling corruption was not enmity against, then the soul might have a retreat within itself where it could shelter and apply itself to that which is of God. But alas, such is the enmity of fallen man that it hates all that is of God, everything wherein or whereby we have to do with Him.

Sin is enmity against God, and therefore to all of God. It is enmity against His Law and against His Gospel alike, against every duty unto Him, against any communion with Him. It is not only against His sovereignty, His holiness, His power, yes His grace, that sin rears its horrible head, but it abhors everything which is of or pertains to God. His commandments and His threats, His promises and His warnings are equally disliked. His providences are reviled and His dealings with the world blasphemed. And the nearer any-thing approaches to God, the greater is man’s enmity against it. The more of spirituality and holiness is manifested in anything, the more the flesh rises up against it. That which is most of God meets with most opposition. “You have set at naught all My counsel and would none of my reproof” (Proverbs 1:25) is the Divine indictment. It is not merely some parts of God’s counsel, but against the whole of it that the wicked heart of man is opposed.

Not only is this fearful enmity opposed to everything of God, but it is universal in all the soul. Had indwelling sin been content with a partial dominion, had it subjugated only a part of the soul, it might have been more easily and successfully opposed. But alas, this enmity against God has invaded and captured the entire territory of man’s being: it has not left a single faculty of the soul free from its tyrannical yoke, it has not exempted a single member from its cruel bondage. When the Spirit of God comes with His gracious power to conquer the soul, He finds nothing whatever in the sinner’s soul which is in sympathy with His operations, nothing that will “co-operate” with Him-all within us is alike opposed to and strives against His working. There is not the faintest desire for deliverance within the unregenerate: “the whole head is sick and the whole heart faint” (Isaiah 1:5). Even when grace has made its entrance, yet sin still dwells in all its coasts.

Distasteful and humiliating as this truth may be we must dwell further upon it, and amplify what has just been boldly affirmed. We have shown how this fearful enmity is evidenced by the judgments or concepts which men form of God. Sin has so perverted the human mind that the most distorted views and horrible ideas are entertained of the Deity. Nor is this all: sin has so inflated the creature that he deems himself competent to comprehend the incomprehensible. Filled with pride he refuses to acknowledge his limitations and dependence, and in his flight after things which are far beyond his reach, indulges in the most impious speculations. When he cannot stretch himself to the infinite dimensions of Truth, he deliberately contracts the Truth to his own little measure. This is what the Apostle meant by fallen man’s “vanity of mind.”

The natural man’s enmity against God appears in his affections. As the superlatively excellent One, God has paramount claims upon man’s heart. He should be the supreme object of his delight. But is He? Far, very far from it The truest trifles are held in greater esteem than is the Fountain of all true joy. The unregenerate see in Him no beauty as they should desire Him. When they hear of His sublime attributes they dislike them. When they hear His Word quoted it is repugnant to them. When invited to draw near unto His Throne of Grace they have no inclination to do so. They have no desire for fellowship with God, yes, they had rather think and talk about anything rather than the Lord and His government. They secretly hate His people, and will only tolerate their presence so long as they conform to their wishes. The pleasures and baubles of this world entirely fill their hearts. Corrupted nature can never give birth to a single affection which is really spiritual.

The natural man’s enmity appears in his will. Inevitably so, for God’s will directly crosses His. God is infinitely holy, man is thoroughly evil and therefore He commands the things which they hate and forbids the things they like. Hence it is that they despise His authority, refuse His yoke, rebel against His government and go their own way. They have no concern for God’s glory and no respect for His will. They will not hearken to His reproofs nor be checked in their defiant course by His most solemn threats. They are as intractable as the wild ass’s colt: they are like a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke. They prate of the freedom of their wills, but the wills are ever active against God and never toward Him. They are determined to have their own way no matter what the cost. When Christ is set before them they will not come to Him that they might have life. Sooner will water flow uphill of its own accord than the will of man incline itself unto God.

The enmity of the natural man against God appears in his conscience. Because he is anxious to be at peace with himself in the reflections which he makes upon his own life and character, it is obvious that an accusing conscience must be a perpetual source of false representations of God. When guilt rankles in the breast, man will blaspheme the justice of his Judge, and self-love prompts him to stigmatize the punishment of himself as remorseless cruelty. A guilty conscience unwilling to relinquish its iniquities and yet desirous of being delivered from fears of punishment, prompts men to represent Deity as subject to the weakness and follies of humanity. God is to be flattered and bribed with external marks of submission and esteem, or else insulted as the worshiper regards Him as cruel. Conscience fills the mind with prejudices against the nature and character of God, as a human insult fills our heart with prejudice against the one who mortifies our self-respect. Conscience cannot judge lightly of One whom it hates and dreads.

The enmity of the natural man against God evidences itself in his practice. This dreadful hatred of God is not a passive thing, but an active principle. Sinners are engaged in actual warfare against their Maker. They have enlisted under the banner of Satan and they deliberately oppose and defy the Lord. They scoff at His Word, disregard His precepts, flout His providences, resist His Spirit, and turn a deaf ear to the expostulations of His servants. Their hearts are fully set in them to do wickedness. “Their throat is an open sepulcher: with their tongues they have used deceit: the poison of asps is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood: destruction and misery are in their ways, and the way of peace have they not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:13-18). There is in every sinner a deeply-rooted aversion for God, a seed of malice. While God leaves them alone their malice may not be clearly revealed, but let them feel but a little of His wrath upon them and their hatred is swiftly manifest.

The sinner’s enmity against God is unmixed with any love at all. The natural man is utterly devoid of the principle of love for God. As Jonathan Edwards solemnly expressed it, “The heart of the sinner is as devoid of love for God as a corpse is of vital heat.” As the Lord Jesus expressly declared, “I know you, that you have not the love of God in you” (John 5:42). And mark it well, that fearful indictment was made by One who could infallibly read the human heart. Moreover that indictment was passed not upon the openly vicious and profane but upon the strictest religionists of His day. O my reader, you may have a mild temper, an amiable disposition, a reputation for kindness and generosity, but if you have never been born again you have no more real love in your heart for God than Judas had for the Savior. What a frightful character: the unmitigated enemy of God!

The power of man’s enmity against God is so great that nothing finite can break it. The sinner cannot break it himself. Should an unregenerate person read this article and be horrified at the hideous picture which it presents of himself, and should he earnestly resolve to cease his vile enmity against God, he cannot do so. He can no more change his nature than the Ethiopian can change the color of his skin. No preacher can persuade him to throw down the weapons of his rebellion and become the friend of God. He may set before you the excellence of the Divine character, he may plead with you to be reconciled to God, but your heart will remain as steeled against Him as ever. Even though God Himself works miracles in the sight of sinners it effects no change in their hearts. Pharaoh’s enmity was not overcome by the most astonishing displays of Divine power, nor was that of the dwellers of Palestine in Christ’s day.

It is with indwelling sin as with a powerful and swiftly-flowing river. So long as its tributaries are open and waters continually supplied unto its streams-though a dam be set up-yet its waters rise and swell until it bears down all and overflows the banks about it. Thus it is with the enmity of the carnal mind against God: while its springs and fountains remain open, it is utterly vain for man to set a dam before it by his convictions and resolutions, promises and penances, vows and self-efforts. They may check it for awhile but it will rise up and rage until sooner or later it bears down all those convictions and resolutions, or makes for itself an underground passage by some secret lust which will give full vent unto it. The springs thereof must be subdued by regenerating grace, the streams or actings abated by holiness or the soul will be drowned and destroyed. Even after regeneration, indwelling sin gives the soul no rest, but constantly wages war upon it.

The Christian is, in fact, the only man who is conscious of the awful power and ragings of this principle of enmity. How often is he made aware that when he would do good evil is present with him, opposing every effort he makes Godwards. How often when his soul is doing quite another thing, engaged in a totally different design, sin starts in his heart or imagination which carries it away unto that which is evil. Yes, the soul may be seriously engaged in the mortification of sin, when indwelling corruption will by some means or other lead it away unto a dalliance with the very sin which it is endeavoring to slay. Such surprises as these are so many proofs of the habitual propensity unto evil of that principle of enmity against God from which they proceed. It is the ever-abiding presence, the continual operation of this principle which prevents much communion with God, disturbs holy meditations, and defiles the conscience.

But to return unto our consideration of the enmity of the unregenerate. This enmity in the heart of the sinner is so great that he is God’s mortal enemy. Now a man may be no friend to another, yes he may cherish ill will against a fellow creature, and yet not be his mortal enemy. That is to say, his enmity against him is not so great that nothing else will satisfy him but the death of the one he hates. But it is far otherwise with sinners and God: they are His mortal enemies. It is true that it lies not in the power of their hands to kill Him, yet the desire is there in the heart. There is a principle of enmity within fallen man which would rejoice if Deity could be annihilated. “The fool has said in his heart there is no God” (Psalm 14:1). Observe well that the words “there is” are in italics-supplied by the translators, to signify an expression of atheism. But read as the original has it, “The fool has said in his heart no God”: it is not the denying of His existence, but the affirmation that he desires no fellowship with Him: I desire no God: would that He did not exist.

Here is the frightful climax: the carnal mind is enmity with the very being of God. Sin is destructive of all being. Man is a suicide-he has destroyed himself; he is a homicide-his evil influence destroys his fellows. He is a Deicide-he wishes he could annihilate the very being of God. But sinners do not regard themselves as being so vile: they do not consider themselves to be the implacable and inveterate enemies of God. No, they have far better opinion of themselves than that. Consequently, if they hear or read anything like this article, they are filled with objections. “I do not believe I am such a dreadful creature as to hate God, I do not feel such enmity in my heart. I am not conscious that I harbor any ill will against Him. Who should know better than myself? If I hate a fellow creature I am aware of it; how then could I be totally unconscious if there dwells in my soul such enmity against God as you have depicted?

To these questions several answers may be returned. First, if the objector would seriously examine his heart and commune with himself, unless he were strangely blinded, he would certainly discover in himself those very elements in which enmity essentially consists. He loves and respects his friends: he is fond of their company, he is anxious to please them and promote their good. Is this his attitude toward God? If he is honest with himself, he knows it is not. He has no respect for His authority, no concern for His glory, no desire for fellowship with Him. He gives God none of his time, despises His Word, breaks His commandments, rejects His Son. He has been opposed to God all his life. These things are the very essence of enmity.

Second, the sinner’s ignorance and unconsciousness of his enmity against God is due to the false conceptions which he entertains of His nature and character. If only he were better acquainted with the God of Holy Writ he would be more aware of his hatred of Him. But the God he believes in is merely a creation of his own fancy. The true God is ineffably holy, inflexibly just, whose wrath burns against sin and who will