Non Posse Non Pecare

Thomas Boston was a prominent Scottish pastor and theologian. He was born in 1676 and died in 1732.

One piece of Boston's legacy is a book called The Fourfold State. It has to do with the four states of man: the state of innocence, the state of nature, the state of grace, and the state of eternity.

“Human Nature In Its Fourfold State” - Thomas Boston

Innocence: posse non pecare - able not to sin

Adam was able to not sin

Nature: non posse non peccare - not able not to sin

this is our state before and apart from God’s intervention.

Grace: posse non pecare - able not to sin

We enter this state at conversion, when we are regenerated. Not because of anything in us, but because of what God has done in us through Christ, we are once again able not to sin.

Eternity: non posse peccare - not able to sin

Boston said this about this state:

"The guilt of sin and the reigning power of it are now taken away in the saints, nevertheless, sin dwells in them (Rom. 7:20), but then, in eternity it shall be no more. The corrupt nature will be quite removed. That root of bitterness will be plucked up and no vestiges of it left in their souls. Their nature shall be altogether pure and sinless. There shall be no darkness in their minds but the understanding of every saint when he has come to this kingdom will be as a globe of pure and unmixed light."

What I want to do today is consider the third sate: “Nature”, which again is the non passe non pecare state of existence. For the first several lessons of this class, we have been emphasizing the fact that all people are made in the image of God. This fact is fundamental to who we are and has implications for our spiritual as well as our physical lives. But as we have noted and as we are all aware, man has fallen. The fact that man is fallen (sinful) does not nullify the fact that we are made in the image of God, but there is no part of us that is unaffected by our fallenness.

I want to consider this reality to gain, perhaps, a deeper understanding of and sobriety towards this state that Boston called “nature”

The Sinfulness of Man’s Natural State

Genesis 6:5 ESV

5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Article 8: “Man” (BFC Articles of Faith)

8-1 God, by a special, instantaneous act, created man in His image — holy, righteous, and possessing true knowledge — by forming him out of the dust of the earth and breathing into his nostrils the breath of life. Thus man became a living soul. 8-2 Our first parents did not remain in the glorious and happy state of their original creation, but, through the subtlety and deception of the devil, they disobeyed and transgressed the command of God the creator, incurring on themselves and their posterity the sentence of spiritual and physical death. The guilt and consequences of Adam’s sin are imputed to the whole human race, so that all men are guilty, inherently corrupt, totally depraved, and subjects of the wrath of God.

The last line captures the non passe non pecare of man’s natural state. Let’s consider each descriptor:

Guilty

Guilty of what?

Romans 5:12-18.

Romans 5:12–18 ESV

12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. 18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.

Federal Headship

Notice the last phrase of verse 12 : death spread to all men because all sinned.

Some have suggested that Paul is teaching that “because all sinned” refers to individual sins and not to our sinning in Adam. I want to do my best to make clear that this is not what Paul is teaching.

I make a big deal about this because the doctrine of justification is at stake here. As you look at this passage in Rom. 5, you may notice that Paul is drawing a parallel between Adam and Christ. But if because all sinned refers to individual sins, then the parallel would have to be something like this:

Problem Parallel

just as Adam’s sin is imputed to us

because we sinned individually,

so Christ’s righteousness is imputed to us

because we individually did acts of righteousness

Adam acted as a representative of humanity, and his actions had consequences for all his descendants.

The sinful act of Adam, rebelling against God, was the act of all men because Adam represented all men. The guilt of his sin was imputed (regarded as theirs) as it was also conveyed to them.

Adam’s subsequent sins were NOT laid to the charge of other men. Adam terminated his representative actions with his first act of rebellion against God.

Paul’s Parallel

just as Adam’s sin is imputed to us

because we were in him,

so Christ’s righteousness is imputed to us

because we are in Him.

This is Paul’s doctrine of justification. We are guilty in Adam and we become righteous in Christ.

What about babies?

born guilty but with excuse

Psalm 51:5 applies to all people:

Psalm 51:5 ESV

5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

But consider Rom 1:19-20.

Romans 1:19–20 ESV

19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

On what basis are people without excuse? Their ability to perceive the invisible attributes of God and their ability to perceive that creation has a Creator.

I don’t think babies or people with certain cognitive handicaps can process and make conclusions about God’s invisible attributes or His creation, such people will be covered by the blood of Christ.

1 John 2:2 ESV

2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

So all people are guilty, they are also

Inherently Corrupt

To go back to the language of Gen. 6:5.

Genesis 6:5 ESV

5 …every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Thoughts of his heart. We understand this is poetic language of sorts. We know hearts don’t think, but what are we ment to understand about our hearts from what Moses wrote here?

Thomas Boston:

All man’s wicked practices are here traced to the fountain and spring-head: a corrupt heart was the source of it all. Thomas Boston

Our hearts are here described as the mission control of what we desire. Our affections, motivations, agendas, hidden agendas flow from our hearts.

The footnote attached to this phrase (inherently corrupt) is

Rom. 3:9-18

Romans 3:9–18 ESV

9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” 13 “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” 14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 in their paths are ruin and misery, 17 and the way of peace they have not known.” 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

What I think will help us get at what is meant by inherently corrupt is seeking to understand what Paul means by what he says in verse 9: [all] are under sin. What does it mean that all people are under sin?

Notice the connection between verses 10-11 & verse 18

(what is that connection?). They reference a ruined relationship with God.

Sin is first and foremost rebellion against God. Does the sin of others affect us? Yes. Much of what Paul says in the Rom. 3 passage we are considering references the impact of sin on people, but it’s book-ended with the underlying problem: a ruined relationship with God.

But our inherent corruption shows up in our relationships with others.

Verses 13-14: "Their throat is an open grave, with their tongues they keep deceiving, the poison of asps is under their lips; whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness." Graves have to do with death and venom is poison that has to do with death, and that is what deception and cursing produce: death.

verses 15-17: “Their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery are in their paths, and the path of peace they have not known." This is what happens when God is not sought or known or reverenced. If God were to slacken his restraining bands in this world, it would descend into anarchy. That's why there are governments and police and armies. By nature we would take vengeance on every offense, and our feet would run to shed blood, if we were not restrained.

I return to Boston for a bottom-line summation of people’s inherent corruption:

Surely that corruption is ingrained in our hearts, interwoven with our very natures, has sunk into the marrow of our souls, and will never be cured but by a miracle of grace. Thomas Boston

Totally Depraved

Eph 2:1-3

Ephesians 2:1–3 ESV

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

What does it mean to be dead in our trespasses and sins?

Dead in our trespasses and sins

This is referencing the fact that we are alienated from God. This at the core of the nature state. People who are spiritually dead are in a state of separation from God.

To say this another way, we are not in communion with God if we are spiritually dead.

Those are spiritually dead do not seek after God… in fact are unable to seek after God.

The totally in totally depraved means that there is no part of people that is unaffected by their spiritual death. By their sin.

How does Satan exert his rule in the world? At the end of the verse he is called "the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. People who are spiritually dead are sons of disobedience, and those are through whom Satan exerts his rule in this world.

The article ends with one more description which is here in Eph. 2: subjects of the wrath of God. People are by nature children of wrath says Paul. This gets back to the idea of being in Adam. We are in Adam, so by nature we are children of wrath.

A sobering statement. We are objects of the wrath of God… there is nothing worse. If we understand what this means, we will want to know what can be done about it.

That’s what we will consider next week. What Boston calls the state of grace. But just so we do not end on such a negative note, let’s continue Paul’s thought:

Ephesians 2:4–5 ESV

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—