[2.] That the gift of the Spirit is a kind of executive pardon, or a receiving the atonement ; for this grace was forfeited by sin, as man brought death spiritual upon himself, as well as temporal and eternal, and we made the stain of sin to consist in the loss of the Spirit, or an inclination to sin again ; therefore by sanctification, or the gift of the Spirit, is our pardon executed upon us or applied to us. As the withdrawing or withholding the Spirit is a great part of our punish- ment, so the gift of the Spirit is the great and first act of God's pardoning mercy, and a means to qualify us for the other parts of God's pardon ; for before men are converted, they are unpardoned : ' Turn you from all your transgressions, and iniquity shall not be your ruin,' Ezek. xviii. 30 ; and Isa. Iv. 7, ' Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts ; and let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.' Therefore till there be a turning from the life of sin to God by faith in Christ, there is no actual justification nor forgiveness.
[3.] That when repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ is begun in us by the Spirit, there is promised a further degree of the Spirit to be given to us to dwell in us : Acts ii. 38, ' Kepent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the re-
VeR. 5.] SERMONS UPON 1 JOHN III. 19
mission of sins ; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost ; ' Prov. i. 23, ' Turn ye at my reproof : behold, I will pour out my Spirit unto you : ' Eph. i. 13, 'After that ye believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise ; ' and that for a durable use, to be in us a Spirit of sanctification and adoption. First, To be a Spirit of sanctifi- cation : 2 Thes. ii. 13, ' God hath chosen you to salvation through sanctification and belief of the truth.' As he converted us to God, so he is a ' Spirit of regeneration ; ' but as he doth further sanctify and cleanse us, and fit us for God, and make us amiable in his sight, so he is called a ' Spirit of sanctification,' properly so taken. It is by the Spirit dwelling in us that we mortify and subdue sin, Rom. viii. 13. It is by the Spirit we exert and put forth all acts of holiness : Gal. v. 25, ' If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit ; ' and perform all duties to God in the Spirit. In short, the grace of the Spirit is given us to subdue the power of sin, and strengthen us against temptations, and that we may perfect holiness in the fear of God. Secondly, A Spirit of adoption : Gal. iv. 6, ' Because ye are sons, he hath sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts.' The same Spirit that maketh us holy possesseth us with a filial love of God, and a dependence on him ; so that childlike love, with a ])leasing obedience and dependence, are the great effects and tokens of his dwelling in us as a Spirit of adojition.
[4.] This Spirit doth by degrees fit us for our everlasting estate : 2 Cor. v. 5, ' He that formeth us for the self-same thing is God, who also hath given us the earnest of the Spirit ; ' and therefore he must not be obstructed in his work, while he is preparing the heirs of promise aforehand unto glory, lest we lose not only the comfort of our future hopes, but be set back in the spiritual life, and so grieve the Holy Spirit of promi.se, who is both our sanctifier and comforter. Thus we have seen what Christ doth to take away sin ; he freeth us from the ever- lasting miseries of the damned in hell, and will surely free us from the miseries of this life, if we be obedient, and hearken to his counsel. But in the midst of weaknesses our title to impunity and life eternal remaineth unreversed, though it be often obscured by our sin and .folly.
Secondly, What must we do that sin may be thus taken away? For I observe, first, that those things which God worketh in us, and bestoweth upon us by his grace, he also requireth of us by his command : Ezek. xxxvi. 26, ' A new heart will I give you, and a new spirit I will put into you.' Yet Ezek. xviii. 31, 'Cast away from you all your transgressions whereby ye have transgressed, and make you a new heart, and a new spirit ; ' and in many other places. Sometimes he promiseth to turn us, sometimes he commandeth us to turn to him ; sometimes he biddetii us to put away sin, sometimes he promiseth to take it away from us ; in the one showing what is our duty, in the other where is our help ; ^Ihe one inferreth regeneiation, whicli is the work of the Spirit, the other, repentance, which is our duty. Again, the death of Christ must be considered either as it respecteth God or us. As it res{)ecteth God, it is a price [)aid to provoked justice to purchase grace for us: Isa. liii. 5, ' He was wounded for our tran.sgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his •siiipes we are healed.' As it respects us, it layeth an obligation upon