Wesley Corpus

It cannot do its work, but according to the light it hath to work by. Wherefore, seeing ‘the natural man discerneth not spiritual things,’ his conscience is quite useless in that point. It may indeed check for grosser sins; but spiritual sins it discerns not. Thus it will fly in the face of many for drunkenness; who yet have a profound peace though they live in unbelief, and are utter strangers to spiritual worship and ‘the life of faith.’ And the light of his conscience being faint and languishing even in the things which it does reach, its incite ments to duty, and struggles against sin, are very remiss and easily got over. But there is also a false light in the dark mind, which often ‘ calls evil good, and good evil.” And such a conscience is like a blind and furious horse, which violently runs down all that comes in his way. Indeed, whenever conscience is awakened by the spirit of conviction, it will rage and roar, and put the whole man in a consternation. It makes the stiff heart to tremble, and the knees to bow; sets the eyes a weeping, the tongue a confessing. But still it is an evil conscience, which naturally leads only to despair; and will do it effectually, unless either sin prevails over it to lull it asleep, as in the case of Felix, or the blood of Christ pre vail over it, sprinkling and ‘purging it from dead works.’ “Thus is man by nature wholly corrupted. But whence came this total corruption of our nature? That man’s nature was corrupt, the very Heathens perceived; but how “sin entered’ they could not tell. But the Scripture is very plain in the point: “By one man sin entered into the world.” “By one man’s disobedience many’ (all) “were made sinners.” Adam's sin corrupted man’s nature, and leavened the whole lump of mankind. We putrefied in Adam as our root. The root was poisoned, and so the branches were envenomed. The vine turned ‘the vine of Sodom,’ and so the grapes became ‘grapes of gall. Adam, by his sin, became not only guilty, but corrupt; and so transmits guilt and corruption to his posterity. By his sin he stripped himself of his original righteousness and corrupted himself.