lso with respect to second causes.

SECTION 3. God in his ordinary providence makes use of means, yet is
free to work without, above, and against them, at his pleasure.

Exposition of 5.3

The providence of God is either ordinary or miraculous. In his
ordinary providence God works by means, and according to the general
laws established by his own wisdom: we are, therefore, bound to use
the means which he has appointed, and if we neglect these, we cannot
expect to obtain the end. But though God generally acts according to
established laws, yet he may suspend or modify these laws at
pleasure. And when, by his immediate agency, an effect is produced
above or beside the ordinary course of nature, this we denominate a
miracle. The possibility of miracles will be denied by none but
Atheists. To maintain that the laws of nature are so absolutely
fixed, that they can in no case be deviated from, would be to
exclude God from the government of the world,—to represent the
universe as a vast machine, whose movements are regulated by certain
laws which even the great Architect cannot control.

SECTION 4. The almighty power, unsearchable wisdom, and infinite
goodness of God, so far manifest themselves in his providence, that
it extends itself even to the first fall, and all other sins of
angels and men, and that not by a bare permission, but such as has
joined with it a most wise and powerful bounding, and otherwise
ordering and governing of them, in a manifold dispensation, to his
own holy ends; yet so as the sinfulness thereof proceeds only from
the creature, and not from God; who, being most holy and righteous,
neither is nor can be the author or approver of sin.

Exposition of 5.4

That the providence of God is concerned about the sinful actions of
creatures must be admitted. Joseph's brethren committed a most
wicked and unnatural action in selling him to the Midianites; but
Joseph thus addressed his brethren: "Be not grieved, nor angry with
yourselves, that you sold me hither: for God sent me before you to
preserve life." Genesis 45:5. The most atrocious crime ever
perpetrated by human hands was the crucifixion of the Lord of glory;
yet it is expressly affirmed that God delivered him into those
wicked hands which were imbrued in his sacred blood: "Him, being
delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you
have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain." Acts
2:23. At the same time, it is indisputable that God cannot be the
author nor approver of sin. To solve the difficulty connected with
this point, theologians distinguish between an action and its
quality. The action, abstractly considered, is from God, for no
action can be performed without the concurrence of Providence; but
the sinfulness of the action proceeds entirely from the creature. As
to the manner in which the providence of God is concerned about the
sinful actions of creatures, it is usually stated, that God permit
them, that he limits them, and that he overrules them for the
accomplishment of his own holy ends. But the full elucidation of
this abstruse subject, so as to remove every difficulty, surpasses
the human faculties. We are certain that God is concerned in all the
actions of his creatures; we are equally certain that God cannot be
the author of sin; and here we ought to rest.

SECTION 5. The most wise, righteous, and gracious God, does
oftentimes leave for a season his own children to manifold
temptations, and the corruption of their own hearts, to chastise
them for their former sins, or to discover unto them the hidden
strength of corruption, and deceitfulness of their hearts, that they
may be humbled; and to raise them to a more close and constant
dependence for their support upon himself, and to make them more
watchful against all future occasions of sin, and for sundry other
just and holy ends.

SECTION 6. As for those wicked and ungodly men, whom God, as a
righteous judge, for former sins, does blind and harden, from them
he not only withholds his grace, whereby they might have been
enlightened in their understandings and wrought upon in their
hearts; but sometimes also withdraws the gifts which they had, and
exposes them to such objects as their corruption makes occasion of
sin; and withal, gives them over to their own lusts, the temptations
of the world, and the power of Satan: whereby it comes to pass, that
they harden themselves, even under those means which God uses for
the softening of others.

Exposition of 5.5–5.6

God cannot possibly solicit or seduce any man to sin; for this is
inconsistent with the purity of his nature.—James 1:13, 14. But, in
righteous judgment, God sometimes permits persons to fall into one
sin for the punishment of another. He deals in this way even with
his own dear, but undutiful, children. Sometimes he leaves them for
a season to temptations, and to the lusts of their own hearts, for
their trial, or to discover to themselves the latent corruptions of
their hearts, to humble them, and to excite them to more fervent
prayer and unremitting watchfulness. Thus, God left Hezekiah to try
him, that he might know, or make known, all that was in his heart.—2
Chronicles 32:31. Sometimes God deals in this manner with his own
children to chastise them for their former sins. Thus, "The anger of
the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them
to say, Go number Israel and Judah." 2 Samuel 24:1. In Scripture,
God is frequently said to harden wicked men for their former sins.
This he does, not by infusing any wickedness into their hearts, or
by any direct and positive influence on their souls in rendering
them obdurate, but by withholding his grace, which is necessary to
soften their hearts, and which he is free to give or withhold as he
pleases; by giving them over to their own hearts' lusts, to the
temptations of the world, and the power of Satan; and by
providentially placing them in each circumstances, or presenting
such objects before them, as their corruption makes an occasion of
hardening themselves.

SECTION 7. As the providence of God does, in general, reach to all
creatures; so, after a most special manner, it takes care of his
Church, and disposes all things to the good thereof.

Exposition of 5.7

The providence of God may be considered as general and as special.
His general providence is exercised about all his creatures; his
special providence is exercised, in a particular manner, about his
Church and people. "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout
the whole earth, to show himself strong in behalf of them whose
heart is perfect towards him." 2 Chronicles 16:9. God has the
interests of his own people ever in view; he knows what is most
conducive to their happiness; and he will make all things, whether
prosperous or adverse, to co-operate in promoting their good,—Romans
8:28. In all past ages, God has watched over his Church with
peculiar and unremitting care; he has sometimes permitted her to be
reduced to a very low condition, but he has also wrought surprising
deliverances in her behalf. The very means which her enemies
intended for her destruction and ruin have, by an overruling
Providence, been rendered subservient to her edification and
enlargement.—Acts 8:4. The preservation of the Church, in spite of
the craft and malice of Hell, and of all the pernicious errors and
bloody persecutions which have threatened her ruin, is no less
wonderful than the spectacle which Moses beheld,—a bush burning but
not consumed. And let us still confide and rejoice in the promise of
Christ, that the gates of Hell shall never prevail against his
Church.



6. Of the Fall of Man, of Sin, and of the Punishment Thereof

SECTION 1. Our first parents being seduced by the subtlety and
temptation of Satan, sinned in eating the forbidden fruit. This
their sin God was pleased, according to his wise and holy counsel,
to permit, having purposed to order it to his own glory.

Exposition of 6.1

That man is now in a very corrupt and sinful state, universal
experience and observation attest. That he was not originally formed
in this degraded state might be inferred from the character of his
Maker; and the Scriptures explicitly affirm that he was at first
created in the image of God—in a state of perfect rectitude. The
question then arises, How was moral evil introduced into the world?
To this important question reason can give no satisfactory answer.
Pagan philosophers could not fail to observe the degeneracy of human
nature; mournful experience taught them that evil had come into the
world; but to assign the source of evil, was knowledge too wonderful
for them; numerous were their conjectures, and all remote from the
truth. Divine revelation, however, sets this matter in a clear and
certain light; and our Confession, in accordance with the inspired
record, traces the entrance of sin to the seduction and disobedience
of our first parents. They "sinned in eating the forbidden fruit."
This supposes that the fruit of a certain tree was prohibited. The
moral law was impressed upon the heart of man at his creation, and
entire conformity to it was his indispensable duty; but, besides
this natural law, God was pleased to give man a positive law,
restricting him from the use of the fruit of a particular tree in
the garden. "The Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree
of the garden you may freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil, you shall not eat of it." Genesis 2:16, 17.
Without loosening his obligation to yield obedience to the whole
moral law, God summed up the duty of man in this single positive
injunction, and constituted his abstaining from the fruit of a
certain tree the test of his obedience. The thing forbidden was in
its own nature quite indifferent, neither good nor evil; the
prohibition was founded solely on the sovereign will of God; it was,
therefore, a most proper trial of man's obedience to the divine
authority.

The occasion of man's violating this express injunction of his
Sovereign, was the temptation of Satan. The inspired historian, in
the 3rd chapter of Genesis, makes mention only of the serpent as
concerned in seducing our first parents; but since we find Satan
represented, in manifest allusion to the transactions of the fall,
as "a murderer from the beginning," and as "the old serpent and
dragon" (John 8:44; Rev. 12:9, and 20:2), we are led to the
conclusion that Satan was the real tempter, and that he made use of
the literal serpent as his instrument in carrying on the temptation.
The various methods of fraud and cunning whereby he conducted his
plot are stated in the sacred history, and have been illustrated by
many eloquent writers. It was not by force or compulsion, but only
"through his subtlety that the serpent beguiled Eve." Seduced by the
tempter, Eve "took of the fruit, and did eat, and gave also unto her
husband with her, and he did eat." Genesis 3:6. Thus the eating of
the forbidden fruit was the first sin actually committed by man in
our world. No doubt, our first parents were guilty of sin in their
hearts, before they committed it with their hands; but the eating of
the forbidden fruit was the first sign that was finished. "When lust
has conceived, it brings forth sin; and sin, when it is finished,
brings forth death." James 1:15.

To some the eating of an apple may appear a very trivial matter, and
often have attempts been made to turn this grave subject into
ridicule; but, in judging of this act of our first parents, we must
remember that they thereby transgressed an express prohibition of
the Most High. Their abstaining from the tree of knowledge was the
criterion by which their fidelity was to be tried, and their eating
of the fruit of that tree was a violation of the whole law; for it
was rebellion against the Lawgiver, and a renunciation of his
authority. "This grand transgression," says a judicious author,
"though in its matter—to wit, eating a little fruit—it may be looked
upon as a most mean and insignificant action; yet, if we consider it
in its formal nature, as disobedience to an express divine command,
which precept was particularly chosen out and enjoined as the test
of man's pure love, just gratitude, and absolute obedience to God,
it was certainly a most heinous sin. For behold what monstrous
infidelity, ingratitude, and diabolical pride, were all at once
implied in the same." "It was aggravated," says another, "by the
Being sinned against,—a Benefactor so bountiful, a Master so
indulgent; by the persons guilty of it,—creatures fresh from God's
hand, untainted by sin, and laden with benefits; by the precept
violated,—so plain and simple; by the place where it was
committed,—a place where every plant, every creature, and every
scene, displayed the bounty of the Lord, and proclaimed his
goodness; and by its results, which were not to be limited to
themselves, but to extend to their descendants, whom, for a
momentary gratification, they ruined forever."

Is it asked, How could upright man be seduced to commit this great
transgression? The answer is, Man, though perfectly holy, was
mutable. He had power to stand, but was liable to fall. God left him
to the freedom of his own will, and that freedom he abused. No doubt
God could have prevented his fall if he had pleased, by giving such
influences of his Spirit as would have been absolutely effectual to
hinder it; but this he was under no obligation to do. He did not
withdraw from man that ability with which he had furnished him for
his duty, nor did he infuse any vicious inclinations into his
heart,—he only withheld that further grace that would have
infallibly prevented his fall. If it be inquired, Why God permitted
the fall of man to take place? "Probably the best answer ever given
to this question in the present world, is that which was given by
Christ concerning one branch of the divine dispensations to mankind:
'Even so, Father; for so it seemed good in your sight.' It was a
dispensation approved by infinite wisdom, and seen by the Omniscient
Eye to be necessary towards that good which God proposed in creating
the universe."

SECTION 2. By this sin they fell from their original righteousness,
and communion with God, and so became dead in sin, and wholly
defiled in all the faculties and parts of soul and body.

Exposition of 6.2

This section points out the consequences of the sin of our first
parents, in regard to themselves. They "fell from their original
righteousness," and became wholly corrupted in all the faculties of
their souls and members of their bodies. The understanding, once a
lamp of light, was now overwhelmed in darkness. The will, once
faithful for God, and regulated by his will, now became perverse and
rebellious. The affections, once pure and regular, now became
vitiated and disordered. The body, too, was corrupted, and its
members became instruments of unrighteousness unto sin. Our first
parents likewise lost the happiness which they had formerly
possessed. They were expelled from that pleasant and delightful
abode in which God had placed them, the ground was cursed with
barrenness for thei