4. Do not so put all upon Christ as to exempt yourselves from the jurisdiction of God; no, Christ 'redeemed us to God,' Kev. i. 9. To him we were first lost ; to him we must be recovered, that he may not lose the glory of his creation in Christ. We are not without law : 1 Cor. ix. 21, not avofMoi, without the law to God, but under the law to Christ; we are not to be irregular, but to rule all our actions by the law of Christ. To carry ourselves as without law, if we challenge it dejiire, is to affect to be gods ; de facto, it is to be as devils, the greatest rebels in nature.
I come now to the second doctrine observed. Secondly. That the gospel is the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus. Here I shall inquire, —
1. What is the spirit.
2. From whom we receive it.
3. By what law.
1. What is the spirit here spoken of ? I answer, both the person of the Holy Ghost, and the new nature.
[1.] The person of the Holy Ghost cannot be excluded ; partly, because he is Christ's witness and agent in the world, who is powerfully able to apply whatever he hath procured for us, and to give us the effect of all his offices : John xv. 2(), ' But when the comforter is come, whom I will send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth that proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me : ' and John xvi. 14, * He shall take of mine, and glorify me.' He revealeth the tenor of Christ's doctrine, and attests the truth of it by his gifts and graces bestowed upon the church, and to every one of us in particular, by his powerful effects in our hearts. Therefore it is said, ' We are witnesses of the.se things, and so is the Holy Ghost, which he hath given to them that obey/ Acts v. 32. Christ that taught us the christian religion, doth work it in us by his Spirit, and so doth confirm it to us. And partly, because by this means all the divine persons have their distinct work and share in our recovery to God : 1 Pet. i. 2, ' Elect uccordiD;'
404 SERMONS UPON ROMANS VIII. [SeR. II.
to tlie fore-knowledge of God the Father, through the sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Christ.' The Father concurs by electing, the Son as purchasing, the Spirit as (sanctifying and inclining us to God. As the Father must not be without the glory of his free grace, nor the Son of his infinite merit; so neither the Holy Ghost of his powerful and effectual application. And partly also, because this is agreeable to the economy or dispen- sation that is observed among the divine persons. -The Spirit is the effective power of God ; therefore he it is that causeth our life, or by regeneration infuseth a new life into us : Ezek. xxxvi. 27, ' I will put my Spirit into you, and cause you to walk in my ways.' I prove it by three arguments. The first is taken from the nature of the thing itself. Certainly we cannot live independently without the influence of God ; for all life is originally in him, and from him conveyed to us, and that by his Spirit. In life natural, it is clear, all that God did in creation was done by his Spirit : Job xxvi. 13, ' By his Spirit he hath garnished the heavens, his hands hath formed the crooked serpent.' The Spirit is the immediate worker in the creation of the world ; by his concurrent operation with the Father and the Son, all things were produced ; he speaketh there of the heavenly bodies and constellations. And again in Ps. civ. 30, ' Thou sendest forth thy Spirit, and they were created.' And when the creation of man is spoken of : Mai. ii. 15, ' Did he not make one ? yet had he the residue of the Spirit.' It is true also of spiritual life, which is called a new birth ; and no man can 'enter into the kingdom of God but he that is born of water and the Spirit,' John iii. 5 ; and it is called a new creature ; all creation is of God : 2 Cor. V. 17, 18, ' A resurrection to life ; ' or a quickening dead souls, Eph. ii. 1, 5, ' And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. Even when we were dead in sins, hath he quickened us together with Christ.' And therefore the spirit of life is from God. Now if God effecteth all these things by his Spirit, to whom but him alone is our salvation to be ascribed ? as the scripture doth frequently mention. My second argument is taken from our incapacity to help ourselves, and recover ourselves from the devil, the world, and the flesh, to God. So blind are our minds, so depraved are our hearts, so strong are our lusts, and so many are our temptations, and so inveterate are our evil customs, that nothing will serve the turn but the Spirit of God, who doth ' open the eyes of our mind :' Eph. i. 18, change our hearts : Titus iii. 5, reconcile our alienated and estranged affections to God, that we may return to his love, and live in obedience to him, and finally, be presented before him, as fit to live for ever in his presence : Col. i. 21, 22, ' and you that were sometimes alienated, and enemies in your minds by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblamable, and unreprov- able in his sight.' All this doth the powerful and all-conquering Spirit of God, by virtue of the meritorious purchase of Christ. In short, he findeth in us such addictedness to sin, such a love to the present world, such indulgence to the flesh, as beareth down both reason and the authority of God, that no less agent can do the work. My third reason is. taken from the subsequent effects. If this life be strengthened by the Spirit, it is much more wrought and infused .by