Wesley Corpus

Abel had communion with him, and so had the Patriarchs and Prophets; and so have we at this day. So that, as we could not justly have lost this communion by Adam’s sin, it is true, in fact, that we have not lost it: We still have ‘fellowship with the Father and the Son.’” (Page 148.) Could we not justly, by Adam’s sin, have lost our very exist ence? And if we had not existed, could we have had commu nion with God? “But we have not lost it, in fact. We still have ‘fellowship with the Father and with the Son.’” Who have? all men born into the world? all Jews, and Turks, and Heathens? Have all that are called Christians? Have the generality of Protestants “fellowship with the Father and with the Son?” What fellowship? Just as much as light has with darkness; as much as Christ has with Belial. The bulk of mankind, Christians as well as Heathens, Protestants as well as Papists, are at this day, and have been ever since they were born, “without God,”-A6eou, Atheists, “in the world.” We need not therefore say, “Their fellowship with God is owing to his mercy, through a Redeemer.” They have none at all: No fellowship with “the only true God, and” with “Jesus Christ whom he hath sent.” Indeed they have no great need of Jesus Christ, according to your account; seeing, “all that God’s grace doeth for us in Christ, to repair what we lost in Adam, is, raising us up at the last day !” You add, “And therefore communion with God is either the same grace which was vouchsafed to Adam, continued to us;” (to every man born into the world, as naturally as seeing or hearing !) “or, if there be anything extraordinary in it,” (which you judge can hardly be allowed!) “it belongs to the redundancy of grace, which has no relation to anything we lost by Adam.” (Page 149.) That that whole passage has relation to what we lost in Adam, has been shown already. But what conception you have of commu nion with God is easily seen by this wonderful account of it. “However, this text gives no intimation that Adam’s posterity lost communion with God for his sin.” It shows that Adam did so; and all his posterity has done the same.