Sinful States

The root of virtuous life is zeal to please God, by which a person directs all things to God’s glory and submits to none but His law. By contrast, the source of sinful life is turning away from God, in which a person does not keep in mind whether God and His holy law exist, and acts according to entirely different rules and principles. This general character of sinful life is expressed in its various states. By these states people can be divided into two kinds; to the first belong those who have never thought and do not think of leaving sin; to the second belong those in whom we observe some concern for a good life, but it has not matured properly and has taken a perverted direction. The first are in either a) a state of negligence; or b) hardening with despair, while the second are in a state of either c) slavery; or d) hypocrisy; or e) spiritual delusion.