Three treatises of the vanity of the creature. The sinfulness of sin. The life…Three treatises of the vanity of the creature. The sinfulnesse of sinne. The life…

Fourthly, In original sin there is a twofold denomination ¹or formality. It is both a Sin, and a Punishment of sin. For it is an absurd conceit of some men who make it an impossibility for the same thing to be both a² sin and a punishment. When a prodigal spends all his money upon uncleanness, is not this mans poverty both his sin and his punishment? When a drunkard brings diseases on his body, and drowns his reason, is not that mans impotency and sottishness both his sin and his punishment? Indeed sin cannot rightly be called an inflicted ³punishment, for God doth not put it into any man; yet it no way implies contradiction, but rather abundantly magnifies the justice and wisdom of Almighty God, to say that he can order sin to be a scourge and punishment to it self: And so Saint Austen calls it, a penal viciousness or corruption. So that in the derivation of this •in we have unto us propagated the very wrath of God. It is like Aaron's rod, on our part a branch that buddeth unto iniquity, and on Gods part a Serpent that stingeth unto Death. So that Adam is a twofold cause of this sin in his posterity. A meritorious cause, he did deserve it by prevarication as it was a punishment, & an efficient cause, he doth derive it by contagion as it is a sin. And this is the wretchedness of this sin, that it is not only a means to bring the wrath of God upon us, but is also some part and beginning of the wrath of God in us, and so is, as it were the earnest, and first fruits of damnation. Not as if it were by God infused into our nature (for we have it put into us no other way but by seminal contagion ⁴and propagation from Adam) but God seeing man ⟨p. 198⟩throw away and wast that original righteousness which he at the first put into him, and appointing him to be the head and fountain of all mankind not only in nature but in foro-too, in regard of legal proceeding, with-held from him and his seed that Gift which was freely by him in the Creation bestowed, and wilfully by Adam in the fall rejected, and adjudged this misery upon him, that he should pass over to all his posterity the immediate fruit of his first prevarication, which was original sin, contracted by his own default, and as it were issuing out of his wilful disobedience upon him, because they all were in him interested as in their head and father in that first transgression.