Secondly, In the next place we are to enquire and satisfy our- selves, how this giving of the Spirit evidently proves and strongly concludes that soul's interest in Christ unto whom he is given : and this will evidently appear by the consideration of these five particu- lars.
1. The Spirit of God in believers is the very bond by which they are united unto Christ: If therefore we find in ourselves the bond of union, we may warrantably conclude, that we have union with Jesus Christ: This is evidently held forth in those words of Christ, John xvii. 22, 23. " The glory which thou gavest me, " have I given them, that they may be one, even as we are one. " I in them and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in " one, and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and " hast loved them as thou hast loved me.'1 It is the glory of Christ's human nature to be united to the Godhead : " This " (said Christ) thou gavest me, and the glory thou gavest me, I " have given them,11 i. e. By me they are united unto thee. And how this is done, he sheweth us more particularly, / in them ; there is Christ in us, viz. mystically : And thou in me ; there is God in Christ, viz. hypoatatkally : So that in Christ, God and be*
332 THE METHOD OF GRACE. SERM. XXIV.
lievers meet in a blessed union : It is Christ's glory to be one with God ; it is our glory to be one with Christ, and with God by him : But how is this done? Certainly no other way but by the giving of his Spirit unto us ; for so much the phrase, / in them, must needs import : Christ is in us by the sanctifying Spirit, which is the bond of our union with him.
Secondly, The scripture every where makes this giving, or in- dwelling of the Spirit, the great mark and trial of our interest in Christ ; concluding from the presence of it in us, positively, as in the text ; and from the absence of it, negatively, as in Rom. viii. 9. " Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, the same is none " of his," Jude, ver. 19- " Sensual, not having the Spirit.'1 This mark therefore agreeing to all believers, and to none but believers, and that always, and at all times, it must needs clearly infer the soul's union with Christ, in whomsoever it is found. * Thirdly, That which is a certain mark of our freedom from the covenant of works, and our title to the privileges of the covenant of grace, musjt needs also infer our union with Christ, and special interest in him ; but the giving or indwelling of the sanctifying Spirit in us, is a certain mark of our freedom from the first covenant, imder which all Christless persons still stand, and our title to the special privileges of the second covenant, in which none but the members are interested ; and, consequently, it fully proves our union with the Lord Jesus. This is plain from the apostle's reasoning, Gal. iv. 6, 7. " And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the " spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba Father : Where- " fore thou art no more a servant, but a son : and if a son, then " an heir of God, through Christ." The spirit of the first covenant was a servile spirit, a spirit of fear and bondage, and they that were under that covenant were not sons, but servants ; but the spirit of the new covenant is a free, ingenuous spirit, acting in the strength of God, and those that do so, are the children of God ; and children inherit the blessed privileges and royal immunities contained in that great charter, the covenant of grace : they are heirs of God, and the evidence of this their inheritance, by virtue of the second covenant, and of freedom from the servitude and bondage of the first covenant, is the Spirit of ' Christ in their hearts, crying, Abba Father; So Gal. v 18. " If ye be led by the Spirit, " ye are not under the law."
Fourthly, If the eternal decree of God's electing love be executed, and the virtues and benefits of the death of Christ applied by the Spirit, unto every soul in whom he dwelleth, as a spirit of sanctifi- cation ; then such a giving of the Spirit unto us must needs be a certain mark and proof of our special interest in Christ ; but the de- cree of God's electing love is executed, and the benefits of the blood
SERM. XXIV. THE METHOD OF GRACE. 333
of Christ are applied to every soul in whom he dwelleth, as a spi- rit of sanctification. This is plain from 1 Pet. i. 2. " Elect accord- " ing to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctifica- " tion of the Spirit unto obedience, and sprinkling of the blood of " Jesus Christ :" Where you see both God's election executed, and the blood of Jesus sprinkled or applied unto us by the Spirit, which is given to us as a Spirit of sanctification. There is a bles- sed order of working observed as proper to eacli person in the God- head ; the Father electeth, the Son redeemeth, the Spirit sanctifi- eth. The Spirit is the last efficient in the work of our salvation ; what the Father decreed, and the Son purchased, that the Spirit applieth ; and so puts the last hand to the complete salvation of believers. And this some divines give as the reason why the sin against the Spirit is unpardonable, because he being the last agent, in order of working, if the heart of a man be filled with en- mity against the Spirit, there can be no remedy for such a sin ; there is no looking back to the death of Christ, or to the love of God for remedy. This sin against the Spirit is that obex infernalis, the deadly stop and bar to the whole work of salvation ; Oppositely, where the Spirit is received, obeyed, and dwelleth in the way of sanctification ; into that soul the eternal love of God, the inesti- mable benefits of the blood of Christ run freely, without any inter- ruption ; and, consequently, the interest of such a soul in Jesus Christ is beyond all dispute.
Fifthly, The giving of the Spirit to us, or his residing in us, as a sanctifying Spirit, is every where in scripture made the pledge and earnest of eternal salvation, and consequently must abundantly confirm and prove the soul's interest in Christ, Eph. i. 13, 14. " In whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that " holy Spirit of promise ; which is the earnest of our inheritance," #c> So, 2 Cor. i. 22. " who hath also sealed us, and given the " earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.1' And thus you have the point opened and confirmed. The use of all followeth :
Use. Now the only use I make of this point shall be that which lieth directly, both in the view of the text, and of the design for which it was chosen ; namely, by it to try and examine the truth of our interest in, and the validity of our claim to Jesus Christ. In pursuance of which design, I shall first lay down some general rules, and then propose some particular trials.
First, I shall lay down some general rules for the due informa- tion of our minds in this point, upon which so much depends.