Hereof, then, or of this work, the Holy Spirit is the principal effi- cient cause ; whence he in whom it is wrought is said to be " born of the Spirit : " Verse 8, " So is every one that is born of the Spirit." And this is the same with what is delivered, chap. i. 13, "Who are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." The natural and canaal means of blood, flesh, and the will of man, are rejected wholly in this matter, and the whole effi- /ciency of the new birth is ascribed unto God alone. His work answers whatever contribution there is unto natural generation from the will and nature of man ; for these things are here compared, and from its analogy unto natural generation is this work of the Spirit called " regeneration." So in this place is the allusion and opposition between these things expressed by our Saviour: " That which is born of the flesh is flesh ; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit," chap. iii. 6. And herein also we have a farther description of this work of the Holy Spirit by its effect, or the product of it; it is "spirit," — a new spiritual being, creature, nature, life, as shall be declared. And
' " Si in gratia, non ex iiatura. aqure, sed ex prajseiitia est Spiritus Sancti : numquid in aqua vivimiis, sicut in Spiritu ? numquid in aquS, signamur sicut in Spiritu ? " — Ambros. de Spir. Sane. lib. i. cap. 6.
CHAP. I.] NEW CREATION BY EEGENERATION. 209
because there is in it a communication of a new spiritual life, it is called a " vivification" or "quickening," with respect unto the state wherein all men are before this work is wrought in them and on them, EjDh. ii. 1, 5; which is the work of the Spirit alone, for "it is the Spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing," John vi. 63. See Kom. viii. 9, 10; Titus iii. 4-6, where the same truth is declared and asserted : " But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the wash- ing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit; which he shed on us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour."
What we have frequently mentioned occurreth here expressly, — namely, the whole blessed Trinity, and each person therein, acting distinctly in the work of our salvation. The spring or fountain of the whole lieth in the kindness and love of God, even the Father. Thereunto it is everywhere ascribed in the Scripture. See John iii. 16; Eph. i. 3-6. Whatever is done in the accomplishment of this work, it is so in the pursuit of his will, purpose, and counsel, and is an effect of his love and grace. The procuring cause of the application of the love and kindness of God unto us is Jesus Christ our Saviour, in the whole work of his mediation, verse 6. And the immediate efiSjcient cause in the communication of the love and kind- ness of the Father, through the mediation of the Son, unto us, is the Holy Spirit. And this he doth in the renovation of our natures, by the washing of regeneration, wherein we are purged from our sins, and sanctified unto God.
More testimonies unto this purpose need not be insisted on. This ti"uth, of the Holy Spirit being the author of our regeneration, which the ancients esteemed a cogent argument to prove his deity, even from the greatness and dignity of the work,^ is, in words at least, so far as I know, granted by all w^ho pretend to sobriety in Christianity. That by some others it hath been derided and exploded is the occa- sion of this vindication of it. It must not be expected that I should here handle the whole doctrine of regeneration practically, as it may be educed by inferences from the Scripture, according to the analogy
1 " Similiter ex Spiritu secundum gratiam nos renasci, Dominus ipse- testatur dicens, Quod natum est ex carne, caro est, quia de carne natum est ; et quod Jiatuvi est de Spiritu, Spiritus est, quia Spiritus Deus est. Claret igitur spiritualis quoque generationis authorem esse Spiritum Sanctum, quia secundum Deum creamur et Filii Dei sumus. Ergo cum ille nos in regnum suum per adoptionem sacrse regenei'ationis assumpserit, nos ei quod suum est denegamus ? ille nos supernse generationis hajredes fecit, nos hajreditatem -vindicamus, refutamus authorem ; sed non potest manere beneficium cum author excluditur, nee author sine niunere, nee sine authore munus. Si vindicas gratiam, crcde potentiam; si refutas potentiam, gratiam ne requiras. Sancti igitur Spiritus o^ras est regcneratio ista prasstantior, et novi hujus hominis qui creatur ad imaginem Dei author est Spiritus, quern utique meliorem hoc exterior! esse nostro homine nemo duhitaverit." — Ambros. de Spir. Sane. lib. ii. cap. 9.
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210 WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE [BOOK III.
of faith and the experiences of them that beheve; it hath been done already by others. My present aim is only to confirm the fun- damental principles of truth concerning those operations of the Holy Spirit, which at this day are opposed witli violence and virulence. And what I shall offer on the present subject may be reduced unto the ensuing heads: —