PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Works of John Owen — Volume 3
John Owen · 363,303 words · 345 reading sections
Section 121
cor humanum obstinatione et odio Dei ac diviuse legis maculavit, hasc infusa justitia cor emollit et amore boni accendit et inflammat. rostremo illud affectvis omnes atque ipsum appetitum rebellione infecit ; htec renovata sauctitas in ordinem cogit perturbatas aficctiones, et ipsam rcbellem concupisccntiam dominio spo…
1,207 wordsSECTION 122Section 122
I " Adjuvat nosDeiis" (the words of Pelagius), " per doctrinam et revelationem suara, dum cordis nostri oculos aperit, dum nobis, ne prtesentibus occiipemur, futura demon- strat, dum diaboli pandit insidias, dum nos nmltiformi et ineffabili dono gratioe crelestis illumiuat." — August. Lib. de Grat. cent. Pelag. et Ctel…
963 wordsSECTION 123Section 123
And yet farther : This work is described to consist in the sanctifi- 1/'' cation of the whole spirit, soul, and body, 1 Thess. v. 23. And if this be that which some men intend by "reformation of life" and "moral virtue," they must needs win much esteem for their clearness and perspicuity in teaching spiritual things; f…
1,078 wordsSECTION 124Section 124
This great work, therefore, neither in part nor whole consists in raptures, ecstasies, visions, enthusiastic inspirations, but in the effect of the power of the Spirit of God on the souls of men, by and according to his word, both of the law and the gospel. And those who charge these things on them who have asserted, d…
1,268 wordsSECTION 125Section 125
' Our author quotes from Parker's " Defence and Continuation of the Ecclesiastical Polity," etc. See page 121 of this volume Ed. 228 WORKS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT [BOOK III. their own souls, is one great cause of that lifeless and unprofitable ministry which is among us. 2. It is likewise the duty of all to whom the word…
901 wordsSECTION 126Section 126
I shall in this place give only a summary account of \\r[& prepara- tory tvork, because in the close of these discourses I shall handle it practically and more at large. Wherefore what I have here to offer concerning it shall be reduced unto the ensuing observations : — First, There are some things required of us in a…
993 wordsSECTION 127Section 127
Secondly, There are certain internal spiritual effects wrought in and upon the souls of men, whereof the word preached is the imme- diate instrumental cause, which ordinarily do precede the work of regeneration, or real conversion unto God. And they are reducible unto three heads: — 1. Illumination; 2. Conviction ; 3. …
1,275 wordsSECTION 128Section 128
1 " Heu miscrum, nimisque misenmi quern torquct conscientia sya, quani fugere non potest ; uimis uiiserum quem expectat damiiatio sua quam •vitare uou potest, nisi Deus eripiat. Nimis est infclix cui mors asterna est sensibilis ; nimis asrumnosus quem terrent continui de sua infelicitate horrores." — August, de Contrit…
1,103 wordsSECTION 129Section 129
23 G WORKS OF THE HOLY SriRIT [BOOK III. merely to consider tlie preaching (with the effects which it had to- wards many) of the prophets of old, Isa. xlix. 4, Jer. xv. 20, Ezek. xxxiii. 81, 32; of Jesus Christ himself, John viii. 59; and of the apostles, Acts xiii. 41, 45, 46. Hence to this day, the Jews, who enjoy t…
1,102 wordsSECTION 130Section 130
238 WORKS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT [BOOK III. 1. It may be observed, that we have placed all the effects of this work in the mind, conscience, affections, and conversation. Hence it follows, notwithstanding all that is or may be spoken of it, that the luill is neither really changed nor internally renewed by it. Now, the wi…
900 wordsSECTION 131Section 131
4. This work operates greatly on the ^affections. We have given instances in the /ear, sorrow, joy, and delight about spiritual things that are stirred up and acted thereby. But yet it comes short in two things of a thorough work upon the affections themselves: for, (1.) it doth not fix them ; and, (2.) it doth not fil…
981 wordsSECTION 132Section 132
And these things, as they are clearly laid down in the Scripture and exemplified in sundry instances, so, for the substance of them, they have been acknowledged (till of late) by all Christians; only some of the Papists have carried them so far as to make them formally dispositive unto justification, and to have a cong…
1,357 wordsSECTION 133Section 133
244 CORRUPTION OR DEPRAVATION [BOOK III. have proved it in our way, that all men are born in an unregenerate condition. Tliis is so positively declared by our Saviour that there is no rising up against it, John iii. 8-8. Now, regeneration being the delivery of men (or the means of it) from that state and condi- tion w…
1,063 wordsSECTION 134Section 134
' " Si quis per naturte vigorcm evangclizanti predicationi nos consentire posse con- firmet absque illuminatione Spiritus Saucti; hssretico fallitur spirit'^.-' Cone. Af-aJ.-" sic. ii. can. 7. ' 246 COERUPTION OR DEPRAVATION [BOOK III. turn them from darkness." Eph. v. 8, "Ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye…
1,010 wordsSECTION 135Section 135
It is the work of the Holy Spirit to remove and take away this darkness ; which until it is done no man can see the kingdom of God, or enter into it. And this he doth by sending the word of the gos- pel into any nation, country, place, or city, as he pleaseth. The gospel does not get gi'ound in any place, nor is restra…
980 wordsSECTION 136Section 136
Some, indeed, give such an account of this text as if the apostle had said, "Do not ye live after the manner of the heathens, in the vilenessof those practices, and in their idol -worship. That long course of sin hav- ing blinded their understandings, so that they see not that which by the 1 " Quomodo nempe lux incass…
1,363 wordsSECTION 137Section 137
252 CORRUPTION OR DEPRAVATION [BOOK III. of our mind," Eph. iv. 23. By the "miner' the faculty itself is in- tended, the rational principle in us of apprehension, of thinking, dis- coursing, and assenting. This is renewed by grace, or brought into another ha])itude and frame, by the implantation of a ruling, guid- ing…
1,054 wordsSECTION 138Section 138
254 COERUPTION OR DEPRAVATION [BOOK III. reasons hereof. The mind of man by nature is wholly vain, under the power of vanity, and is an endless, fruitful womb of all monstrous births. The world is noAV growing towards six thousand years old, and yet is no nearer the bottom of the springs of its vanity, or the drawing …
955 wordsSECTION 139Section 139
(1.) All life is from God. The life which we have in common with all other living creatures is from him. Acts xvii. 28; Ps. civ. 30. And, (2.) That peculiar vital life which we have by the union of the rational soul with the body is from God also, and that in an especial manner. Gen. ii. 7; Job x. 12. But neither of th…
927 wordsSECTION 140Section 140
This the apostle plainly asserts, 1 Cor. ii. 14, "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Sjairit of God : for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1.) The subject spoken of is -^u^ixhs av&po'Trog, " animalis homo," the "natural man," he who is a na…
902 wordsSECTION 141Section 141
CHAP. III.] OF THE MIND BY SIN. 259 no more but so, that is, every one who is not " a spiritual man," is one who hath not received the Spirit of God, verses 11, 12, one that hath [only] the spirit of a man, enabling him to search and know the things of a man, or to attain wisdom in things natural, civil, or poli- tica…
914 wordsSECTION 142Section 142
[1.] That we discern, assent unto them, and receive them, under an apprehension of their conformity and agreeableness to the wisdom, holiness, and righteousness of God, 1 Cor. i. 23, 24. The reason why men receive not Christ crucified, as preached in the gospel, is because they see not a consonancy in it unto the divin…
1,025 wordsSECTION 143Section 143
Of the assertion thus laid doAvn and explained the apostle gives a double reason : the first taken from the nature of the things to be known, with respect unto the mind and understanding of a natural man; the other from the luay or manner whereby alone spiritual things may be acceptably discerned : — (1.) The first re…
992 wordsSECTION 144Section 144
[3.] Many plainly scoff' at them, and despise them as the most contemptible notions that mankind can exercise their reasons about. Such were of old prophesied concerning, 2 Pet. iii. S, 4; and things at this day are come to that pass. The world swarms with scoffers at spiritual things, as those which are unfit for rati…
954 wordsSECTION 145Section 145
(2.) As the instance foregoing compriseth the reasons why a natural man ivill never receive the things of the Spirit of God, so the apostle adds a reason why he cannot; and that is taken from the manner whereby alone they may be usefully and savingly received, which he cannot attain unto, " Because they are spiritually…
917 wordsSECTION 146Section 146
" Quicuuque tribuit aibi bonum quod facit, etiamsi nihil videtur mali manibus ope- rari, jam cordis innoccntiam perdidit, in quo se largitori bonorum prDctulit." — Hieron. in ProT. cap. xvi. 2GS CORRUPTION OR DEPRAVATION [BOOK III. nacy of tlieir wills and affections, which men shall principally be judged upon at the…
995 wordsSECTION 147Section 147
3. Having cleared the impotency to discern spiritual things spiri- tually that is in the minds of natural men, by reason of their spiritual blindness, or that darkness which is in them, it remains that we consider what is the poiver and efficacy of this darkness to keep them in a constant and unconquerable aversion fro…
968 wordsSECTION 148Section 148
(1.) It fills the mind with enmity against God, and all the things of God: Col. i. 21, "Ye were enemies in your mind." Bom. viii. 7, "The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not sub- ject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." And the carnal mind there intended is that which is in every man who hath not re…
1,049 wordsSECTION 149Section 149
But omitting them, we may consider the effects of this darkness working by enmity in the minds of them who have the word preached unto them. Even in these, until effectually prevailed on by victori- ous grace, either closely or openly, it exerts itself And however they may be doctrinally instructed in true notions conc…
924 wordsSECTION 150Section 150
Ans. 1. We do not now discourse concerning the Aveakness and disability of the mind in and about these things, which is as it v/ere a natm'cd impotency, like blindness in the eyes, which hatli been both explained and confirmed before ; but it is a inoral disahility, and that as unto all the powers of nature invincible,…
903 wordsSECTION 151Section 151
contrary. The latter consideration of them it condemns and takes away. And for the desires of men themselves, the avowed work of the gospel is, to mortify them. And hereby the naturally corrupt re- lation which is between these desires and their objects is broken and dissolved. The gospel leaves men, unless upon extrao…
1,004 wordsSECTION 152Section 152
In this estate the gospel superadds two things unto the minds of men: — {1st) It directs us unto a right performance of these things, from a right principle, by a right rule, and to a right end and pur- pose; so that they, and we in them, may obtain acceptance with God. CHAP. III.] OF THE MIND BY SIN. 279 Hereby it g…
1,025 wordsSECTION 153Section 153
Now, the mind maybe considered two ways: — (L) As it is theore- tical or contemplative, discerning and judging of things proposed unto it. So it is its office to find out, consider, discern, and appre- hend the truth of things. In the case before us, it is the duty of the mind to apprehend, understand, and receive, the…
1,170 wordsSECTION 154Section 154
CHAP. IV.] NATURAL AND SPIEITUAL, COMPARED. 283 This death that imregenerate persons are under is twofold: — 1. Legal, with reference unto the sentence of tiie law. The sanction of the law was, that upon sin man should die: " In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt die the death/' Gen. ii. 1 7. Upon this sen- …
948 wordsSECTION 155Section 155
From these things we may, by a just analogy, collect wherein life and death spiritual do consist. And to that end some things must be previously observed; as, — 1. That Adam in the state of innocency, besides his natural life, whereby he was a living soul, had likewise a supernatural life with respect unto its end, whe…
956 wordsSECTION 156Section 156
2. There is a difference between these lives with respect unto the object of their vital acts, for the life which we now lead by the faith of the Son of God hath sundry objects of its actings which the other had not ; for whereas all the actmgs of our faith and love, — that is, all our obedience, — doth respect the rev…
922 wordsSECTION 157Section 157
There is, therefore, in the first place, a disability or impotency unto all spiritual things to be performed in a spiritual manner, in all persons not horn again hy the Spirit; because they are spiritually dead. Whatever they can do, or however men may call what they do, unless they are endowed with a quickening princi…
950 wordsSECTION 158Section 158
" 0 homo cognosce in prreceptione quid debeas habere ; in corruptione cognosce tuo te vitio non habere; in oratione cognosce unde accipias quod yis habere." — Idem, de Corrupt, et Grat. cap. iii. " Mandando impossibilia, non prevaricatores homines fecit, sed huniiles; ut omne os obstmatur ; et subditus fiat omnis mund…
972 wordsSECTION 159Section 159
Where, therefore, this life is not, all the works of men are dead works. AVhere persons are dead in sin, their works are " dead works." They are so all of them, either in their own nature, or with respect unto them by whom they are performed, Heb. ix. 14. They are dead works because they proceed not from a principle of…
1,185 wordsSECTION 160Section 160
2. That which is good "materially and in itself, though vitiated from the relation which it hath to the person by whom it is per- formed, is approved^, and hath its acceptation in its proper place ; for duties may be performed two ways: — (1.) In hypocrisy and pretence. So they are utterly abhorred of God, in matter an…
1,071 wordsSECTION 161Section 161
Thirdly, In this state of spiritual death there is not, in them who are under the power of it, any disposition active and inclining unto life spiritual. There is not so in a dead carcase unto life natural. It is a subject meet for an external power to introduce a living prin- ciple into. So the dead body of Lazarus was…
1,018 wordsSECTION 162Section 162
Unto the description we are to give of the work of regeneration, the precedent account of the subject of it, or the state and condition of them that are to be regenerated, was necessarily to be premised ; for upon the knowledge thereof doth a due apprehension of the nature of that work depend. And the occasion of all t…
1,116 wordsSECTION 163Section 163
The Holy Ghost is the immediate author and cause of this work of regeneration. And herein again, as I supjDose, we have in general the consent of all. Nothing is more in words acknowledged than that all the elect of God are sanctified by the Holy Ghost. And this regeneration is the head, fountain, or beginning of our s…
1,130 wordsSECTION 164Section 164
First, The work of the Spirit of God in the regeneration of sinners, or the quickening of them who are dead in trespasses and sins, or'in their first saving conversion to God, doth not consist in a mor'al sua- sion only. By suasion we intend such a persuasion as may or may not be effectual ; so absolutely we call that …
936 wordsSECTION 165Section 165
2d That the effect of regeneration or conversion unto God is as- signed unto the preaching of the word, because of its efficacy there- unto in its own kind and way, as the outward means thereof, 1 Cor. iv. 15; James i. 18; 1 Pet. i. 23. 2. We may consider what is the nature and wherein the effi- cacy of this moral wor…
1,291 wordsSECTION 166Section 166
(3.) Great power and efficacy is added hereunto from the manage- ment of these motives in the j^reacAm^jr of the word. Herein with some the rhetorical faculty of them by whom it is dispensed is of VOL. III. 20 306 THE NATURE, CAUSES, AND MEANS [BOOK III. great consideration ; for hereby are tliey able to prevail ver…
907 wordsSECTION 167Section 167
The principal arguments in this case will ensue in our proofs from the Scriptures that there is a real physical ivorh of the Spirit on the souls of men in their regeneration. That all he doth consisteth not in this moral suasion, the ensuing reasons do sufficiently evince : — First, If the Holy Spirit work no otherwis…
1,256 wordsSECTION 168Section 168
' " Sed quid illud est quo corporum sensus pulsantur, in agro cordis cui impen- dituv ista cultura, ncc radicem potest figere nee genneu emittere, nisi ille summus et ■verus Agricola potentia sui operis adhibuerit, et ad vitalem profectum ea quae sunt plantata perduxerit?" — Epist. ad Demetriadem. - " Omni dictamini r…
1,229 wordsSECTION 169Section 169
Thirdly, This is not all that we jway for^ either for ourselves or ' " Inaniter et perftmctorie potius quam veraciter pro eis, iit doctrinfe cui adversantur credendo consentiant, Deo fundimus preces, si ad ejus non pertinet gratiam convertere ad fidem suam, ipsi fidei contrarias horaiuum voluutates." — August. Epist. …
1,001 wordsSECTION 170Section 170
' " Prima divini muneris gratia est, ut erudiat nos ad nostrse humilitatis confessio- nera, et agnoscere faciat, quod, si quid boni agimus, per ilium possumus, sine quo nihil possumus." — Prosp. Seutent. cv. ex August. 2 " Quicunque tribuit sibi bonum quod facit etiamsi videtur nihil mali manibus operari, jam cordis i…
1,052 wordsSECTION 171Section 171
Having thus evidenced wherein the work of the Holy Spirit in the regeneration of the souls of men doth not consist, — namely, in , a supposed congruous persuasion of their minds, where it is alone, — ^\^ Secondly, I shall proceed to show wherein it doth consist, and what is the true nature of it. And to this purpose I…
1,148 wordsSECTION 172Section 172
3. This internal efficiency of the Holy Spirit on the minds of men, \ as to the event, is infallible,^ victorious, irresistible, or always effica- cious. But in this assertion we suppose that the measure of the' • " Quid est, Omnis qui audivit a Patre, et didicit, venit ad me; nisi miUus est qui audiat a Patre, et dis…
968 wordsSECTION 173Section 173
[1.] The opposition is not ad idem. The enmity and opjiosition that is acted by the will against grace is against it as ohjectively pj'oposed unto it. So do men " resist the Holy Ghost," — that is, in the external dispensation of grace by the word. And if that be alone, they may always resist it; the enmity that is in …
1,088 wordsSECTION 174Section 174
But it will be objected, " That every thing which is actually accom- plished was in potentia before; there must, therefore, be in us a power to believe before we do so actually." Ans. The act of God working faith in us is a creating act : " We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus," Eph. ii. 10; and he that is i…
929 wordsSECTION 175Section 175
CHAP, v.] OF EEGENEPvATIOF. 323 and tlie will's compliance therewithal, we return unto our arguments or testimonies given unto the actual collation of faith ^ upon us by the Spirit and grace of God, which must needs be effectual and irre- sistible; for the contrary implies a contradiction, — namely, that God should " …
1,087 wordsSECTION 176Section 176
Ezek. xxxvi. 26, 27, "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." To Avhich…
1,075 wordsSECTION 177Section 177
[1.] The subject spoken of in these promises is the heart. And the heart in the ScrijDture is taken for the whole rational soul, not absolutely, but as all the faculties of the soul are one common prin- ciple of all our moral operations. Hence it hath such properties assigned uuto it as are peculiar to the mind or unde…
1,216 wordsSECTION 178Section 178
A third argument is taken from the state and condition of men by nature, before described; for it is such as that no man can be de- livered from it, but by that powerful, internal, effectual grace which we plead for, such as wherein the mind and will of man can act nothing in or towards conversion to God but as they ar…
1,184 wordsSECTION 179Section 179
This will the better appear if we consider the faculties of the soul distinctly, and what is the especial work of the Holy Spirit upon them in our regeneration or conversion to God : — (1.) The leading, conducting faculty of the soul is the mind or understanding. Now, this is corrupted and vitiated by the fall; and ho…
1,130 wordsSECTION 180Section 180
' " Urat lumen verum quce iUuminat omncm hominem vcnkntcm in hunc mundiim; idco dictum est, quia uullus liomiuum illumiuatur, nisi illo lumine veritatis quod Deus est, ne quisquara putaret ab co se illumiuari a quo alicjuid audit ut discat ; nou dico si qucn- quam magnum hominem, sed ncc si angelum ei coutingat habere …
1,204 wordsSource & rights
Public-domain historical edition (1850–1870); OCR text from Internet Archive. OCR may contain scanning/transcription errors. Verify quotations against page images when precision matters.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.