Our apostle confirmeth the same truth, 2 Cor. iii. 4, 5, " And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward : not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves ; but our sufficiency is of God." It is a great and eminent grace which he declare th that he was acting, — namely, trust in God through Christ in the discharge of his ministry, and for the blessed success thereof ; but he had no sooner expressed it than he seems to be jealous lest he should appear to have assumed something to himself in this work, or the trust he had for its success. This no man was ever more cautious against; and indeed it was incumbent on him so to be, because he was ap- pointed to be the principal minister and preacher of the grace of Jesus Christ. Therefore, I say, he adds a caution against any such apprehensions, and openly renounceth any such power, ability, or sufficiency in himself, as that by virtue thereof he could act so ex- cellent a grace or perform so great a duty : " Not that we are suffi- cient of ourselves." And in this matter he hath not only, in places innumerable, asserted the necessity and efficacy of grace, with our impotency without it, but in his own instance he hath made such a distinction between what was of himself and what of grace, with such an open disclaimer of any interest of his own in what was spiri- tually good, distinct from grace, as should be sufficient with all sober persons to determine all differences in this case. See 1 Cor. xv. 10, Gal. ii, 20, and this place. I assume no such thing to myself, I ascribe no such thing unto any other, as that I or they should have in ourselves a sufficiency unto any such purpose; for our apostle knew nothing of any sufficiency that needed any other thing to make it effectual. And he doth not exclude such a sufficiency in ourselves with respect unto eminent actings of grace and greater duties, but with respect unto every good thought, or whatever may have a ten- dency unto any spiritual duty. We cannot conceive, we cannot en- gage in the beginning of, any duty by our own sufficiency; for it is the beginning of duties which the apostle expresseth by " thinking/' our thoughts and projections being naturally the first thing that be- longs unto our actions. And this he doth as it were on 2:»urpose to obviate that Pelagian fiction, that the beginning of good was from
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ourselves, but we had the help of grace to perfect it. " But what then? if we have no such sufficiency, to what purpose should we set about the thinking or doing of any thing that is good? Who will be so unwise as to attempt that which he hath no strength to accom- plish? And doth not the apostle hereby deny that he himself had performed any holy duties, or acted any grace, or done any thing that was good, seeing he had no sufficiency of himself so to do?" To obviate this cavil, he confines this denial of a sufficiency unto " our- selves ;" we have it not of ourselves. "But," saith he, "our sufficiency is of God," — that is, we have it by actual supplies of grace, necessary unto every duty. And how God communicates this sufficiency, and how we receive it, he declares, 2 Cor. ix. 8, " God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work." God manifests the abounding of grace towards us when he works an effective sufficiency in us; which he doth so as to enable us to abound in good works or duties of holiness. These are those supplies of grace which God gives us unto all our duties, as he had promised unto him in his own case, chap. xii. 9.
And this is the first demonstration of the truth proposed unto con- sideration,— namely, the testimonies given in the Scripture that be- lievers themselves cannot of themselves perform any acts or duties of holiness, any thing that is spiritually good. Therefore, these things are effects of grace, and must be wrought in us by the Holy Ghost, who is the immediate author of all divine operations.
[2.] All actings of grace, all good duties, are actually ascribed unto the operation of the Holy Ghost. The particular testimonies hereunto are so multiplied in the Scripture as that it is not con- venient nor indeed possible to call them over distinctly; some of them, in a way of instance, may be insisted on, and reduced unto three heads: —
1st. There are many places wherein we are said to be led, guided, acted by the Spirit, to live in the Spirit, to walk after the Spirit, to do things by the Spirit, that dwelleth in us: for nothing in general can be intended in these expressions but the actings of the Holy Spirit of God upon our souls; in a compliance wherewith, as acting when we are acted by him, our obedience unto God according to the gospel doth consist: Gal. v. 16, "Walk in the Spirit." To walk in the Sj)irit is to walk in obedience unto God, according to the supplies of grace which the Holy Ghost administers unto us; for so it is added, that " we shall not then fulfil the lusts of the flesh," — that is, we shall be kept up unto holy obedience and the avoidance of sin. So are we said to be " led of the Spirit," verse 1 8, being acted by him, and not by the vicious, depraved principles of our corrupted nature.