Q. 20. What was the providence of God torvárd man in the estate in which he was created?

A. The providence of God toward man in the estate in which he was created, was the placing him in paradise, appointing him to dress it, giving him liberty to eat of the fruit of the earth; putting the creatures under his dominion 1, and ordaining marriage for his help ; affording him communion with himself1; instituting the sabbath"; entering into a covenant of life with him, upon condition of personal, perfect, and perpetual obedience ", of which the tree of life was a pledge; and forbidding to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, upon the pain of death P. Q. 21. Did man continue in that estate wherein God at first created him?

spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?

20. b Gen. ii. 8. And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. Ver. 15. And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden, to dress it, and to keep it. Ver. 16. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat.

i Gen. i. 28. And God blessed them: and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

k Gen. ii. 18. And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

/ Gen. i. 26. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. Ver. 27. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him: male and female created he them. Ver. 28. And God blessed them: and God said unto them, Be

fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. Ver. 29. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed: to you it shall be for meat. Gen. iii. 8. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.

m Gen. ii. 3. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work, which God created and made.

n Gal, iii. 12. And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. Rom. x. 5 For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.

o Gen. ii. 9. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food: the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil,

p Gen. ii. 17. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt

A. Our first parents being left to the freedom of their own will, through the temptation of Satan, transgressed the commandment of God in eating the forbidden fruit; and thereby fell from the estate of innocency wherein they were created 9.

Q. 22. Did all mankind fall in that first transgression? A. The covenant being made with Adam as a publick person, not for himself only, but for his posterity, all mankind descending from him by ordinary generation", sinned in him, and fell with him in that first transgression *.

Q. 23. Into what estate did the fall bring mankind? A. The fall brought_mankind into an estate of sin and misery 1.

Q. 24. What is sin?

A. Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of,

not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

21. q Gen. iii. 6. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat; and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat. Ver. 7. And the eyes of them. both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed figleaves together, and made themselves aprons. Ver. 8. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God. amongst the trees of the garden. Ver. 13. And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. Eccl. vii. 29. Lo, this only have I found, that God made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions. 2 Cor. xi. 3. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

22. r Acts xvii. 26. And hath made of one blood all nations of men, for to dwell on all the face of the earth;

and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation.

s Gen. ii. 16. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: Ver. 17. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. [Compared with Rom. v. 12-20.] Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. Ver. 15. For if through the offence of one many be dead; much more-Ver. 16.-For the judgment was by one to condemnation;-Ver. 17. For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more-Ver. 18. Therefore, as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even soVer. 19. For as by one man's disobe dience many were made sinners; so by the obedience And with 1 Cor. xv. 21. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. Ver. 22. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

23. t Rom. v. 12. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death pass

any law of God given as a rule to the reasonable creature ". Q. 25. Wherein consisteth the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell?

A. The sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell, consisteth in the guilt of Adam's first sin ", the want of that righteousness wherein he was created, and the corruption of his nature, whereby he is utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite unto all that is spiritually good, and wholly inclined to all evil, and that continually; which is commonly called Original Sin, and from which do proceed all actual transgressions".

Q. 26. How is original sin conveyed from our first pa rents unto their posterity?

A. Original sin is conveyed from our first parents unto their posterity by natural generation, so as all that proceed from them in that way are conceived and born in sin2.

Q. 27. What misery did the fall bring upon mankind? A. The fall brought upon mankind the loss of communion with God, his displeasure and curse; so as we are by na ture children of wrath, bond slaves to Satan, and justly liable to all punishments in this world, and that which is to come d

Q. 28. What are the punishments of sin in this world? A. The punishments of sin in this world are either inward, as blindness of mind, a reprobate sense f, strong de

nications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.

26. z Psal. li. 5. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. Job xiv. 4. Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one. Job xv. 14. What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous? John iii. 6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

27. a Gen. iii. 8. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. Ver. 10. And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. Ver. 24. So he drove out the man ; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden cherubims, and a flaming sword, which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

b Eph. ii. 2. Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. Ver. 3. Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the

mind; and were by nature the chil dren of wrath, even as others.

c 2 Tim. ii. 26. And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

d Gen. ii. 17. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. Lam. iii. 39. Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins? Rom. vi. 23. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Matt. xxv. 41. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. Ver. 46. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life eternal. Jude, Ver. 7. Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them, in like manner giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

28. e Eph. iv. 18. Having the un-derstanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart..

f Rom. i. 28. Even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge,

lusions, hardness of heart", horror of conscience, and vile affections; or outward, as the curse of God upon the creatures for our sakes1, and all other evils that befall us in our bodies, names, estates, relations, and employments "; together with death itself".

Q. 29. What are the punishments of sin in the world to come?

A. The punishments of sin in the world to come, are everlasting separation from the comfortable presence of God, and most grievous torments in soul and body, without intermission, in hell-fire for ever.

Q. 30. Doth God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery?

A. God doth not leave all men to perish in the estate of

God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient.

82 Thess. ii. 11. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.

Rom. ii. 5. But after thy hardness and impenitent heart, treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.

i Isa. xxxii. 14. The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprized the hypocrites: who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? Gen. iv. 13. And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear. Matt. xxvii. 4. Saying, I have sinned, in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.

Rom. i. 26. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against na

ture.

/ Gen. iii. 17. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the fruit of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it; cursed is the ground for thy sake; in

sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.

m Deut. xxviii. 15. to the end. But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his com. mandments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day, that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee. Ver. 16. Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. Ver. 17. Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store. Ver. 18. Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, &c.

n Rom. vi. 21. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. Ver. 23. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

29. o 2 Thess. i. 9. Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power. Mark ix. 44, 46, 48,-To go into hell,-where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. Luke xvi. 24. And he cried, and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.