Just as rivers flow downward, and sparks fly upward, and stones fall to the ground, so does a man's heart naturally incline to what is evil. We not only commit sin, but we also love sin. We not only need to be cleansed from the guilt of sin, but we also need to be delivered from its power. The man who denies the universal necessity of regeneration can know very little of the heart's corruption. The vast majority of people in the world see nothing, feel nothing, and know nothing in religion as they ought.
Man naturally has no sense of spiritual things.
He is like the lunatic who calls straw a crown, and dust diamonds. There is nothing so sad as the utter corruption of our nature. Men need to be regenerated-born again. It is not a little changing and outward amendment they require. It is not merely putting restraint on raging passions and quieting unruly affection.