3. Man by his sin had universally forfeited his whole right unto all the ends of his creation, both on the earth below and in heaven above. Death and hell were become all that the whole race of man- kind had either right or title unto. But yet ail the glorious things that God had provided were not to be cast away; an heir was to be provided for them. Abraham when he was old and rich had no child, and complained that his steward, a servant, was to be his heir, Gen. xv. 2-4; but God lets him know that he would provide another heir for him of his own seed. When man had lost his right unto the whole inheritance of heaven and earth, God did not so take the forfeiture as to seize it all into the hands of justice and destroy it; but he invested the whole inheritance in his Son, making him the heir of all. This he was meet for, as being God's eternal Son by nature; and hereof the donation was free, gratuitous, and absolute. And this grant was confirmed unto him by his unction with the ful- ness of the Spirit. But, —
4. This inheritance, as to our interest therein, lay under a for-
410 THE HOLY SPIRIT AS A COMFORTER. [COOK VIIL
feiture; and as unto us it must be redeemed and purchased, or we can never be made partakers of it. Wherefore, the Lord Christ, who had a right in his own person unto the whole inheritance by the free grant and donation of the Father, yet was to redeem it from under the forfeiture, and purchase the possession of it for us; hence is it called " The purchased possession/' How this purchase was made, what made it necessary, by what means it was effected, are declared in the doctrine of our redemption by Christ, the price which he paid, and the purchase that he made thereby. And hereon the whole inheri- tance is vested in the Lord Christ, not only as unto his own person and his right unto the whole, but he became the great trustee for the whole church, and had their interest in this inheritance com- mitted unto him also. No man, therefore, can have a right unto this inheritance, or to any part of it, not unto the least share of God's crea- tion here below, as a part of the rescued or purchased inheritance, but by virtue of an interest in Christ and union with him. Wherefore, — • Fourthly, The way whereby we come to have an interest in Christ, and thereby a right unto the inheritance, is by the participa- tion of the Spirit of Christ, as the apostle fully declareSj Rom. viii. 14-17; for it is by the Spirit of adoption, the Spirit of the Son, that we are made children. Now, saith the apostle, "If we are children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ." Children are heirs unto their father ; and those who are children of God are heirs of that inheritance which God hath provided for his children, " heirs of God." And all the good things of grace and glory which believers are made partakers of in this world or that which is to come are called their " inheritance," because they are the effects of free, gratuitous adoption. They are not things that themselves have purchased, bargained for, earned, or merited, but an inheritance de- pending on and following solely upon their free, gratuitous adoption. But how can they become "heirs of God," seeing God hath absolutely appointed the Son alone to be " heir of all things," Heb. i. 2 ; he was the heir, unto whom the whole inheritance belonged? Why, saith the apostle, by the participation of the Spirit of Christ we are made joint heirs with Christ. The whole inheritance, as unto his own per- sonal right, was entirely his by the free donation of the Father, all power in heaven and earth being given unto him; but if he will take others into a joint right with him, he must purchase it for them, which he did accordingly.
Fifthly, Hence it is manifest how the Holy Spirit becomes the "earnest of our inheritance;" for by him, that is, by the communica- tion of him unto us, we are made "joint heirs with Christ," which gives us our right and title, whereby our names are, as it were, in- serted into the assured conveyance of the great and full inheritance
CHAP. VII.] THE SPIRIT AN EARNEST, 411
of grace and glory. In the giving of his Spirit unto us, God making of us co-heirs with Christ, we have the greatest and most assured earnest aud pledge of our future inheritance. And he is to be thus an earnest " until" or unto " the redemption of the purchased posses- sion ; " for after that a man hath a good and firm title unto an inheri- tance settled in him, it may be a long time before he can be ad- mitted into an actual possession of it, and many difficulties he may have in the meantime to conflict withal. And it is so in this case. The "earnest of the Spirit" given unto us, whereby we become co- heirs with Christ, whose Spirit we are made partakers of, secures the title of the inheritance in and unto our whole persons; but be- fore we can come unto the full possession of it, not only have we many spiritual trials and temptations to conflict withal in our souls, but our bodies also are liable unto death and corruption. Where- fore, whatever " first-fruits " we may enjoy, yet can we not enter into the actual possession of the whole inheritance, until not only our souls are delivered from all sins and temptations, but our bodies also are rescued out of the dust of the grave. This is the full " re- demption of the purchased possession;" whence it is signally called the "redemption of the body," Rom. viii. 23.