QUEST. II.—WHAT IS IT TO BE SAVED BY GRACE?
Of the grace of the Spirit. THIRD. I come now to speak of the grace of the Spirit, for he also saves us by his grace. The Spirit, I told you, is God, as the Father and the Son, and is therefore also the author of grace; yea, and it is absolutely necessary that he put forth his grace also, or else no flesh can be saved. The Spirit of God hath his hand in saving of us many ways; for they that go to heaven, as they must be beholding to the Father and the Son, so also to the Spirit of God. The Father chose us, gave us to Christ, heaven to us, and the like. The Son fulfills the law for us, takes the law's curse from us, bears in his own body our sorrows, and sets us justified in the sight of God. The Father's grace is shown in heaven and earth; the Son's grace is shown on the earth and the cross; and the Spirit's grace must be shown in our souls and bodies before we come to heaven.
Quest. But some may say, Wherein doth the saving grace of the Spirit appear?
Answ. In many things.
In taking possession of us for his own, in his making of us his house and habitation, so that though the Father and the Son have both gloriously put forth gracious acts to our salvation, yet the Spirit is the first that makes seizure of us (1 Cor 3:16; 6:19; Eph 2:21,22). Christ, therefore, when he went away, said not that he would send the Father, but the Spirit, and that he should be in us forever—"If I depart," said Christ, "I will send him, the Spirit of truth, the Comforter" (John 14:16; 16:7,13).
The Holy Spirit coming into us and dwelling in us worketh many salvations for us now, each to save us forever.
1. He save us from our darkness by illuminating us; hence, he is called "the Spirit of revelation" because he opened the blind eyes and delivered us from that darkness which else would drown us in the deeps of hell (Eph 1:17,19).
2. He convinced us of the evil of our unbelief and showed us the necessity of our believing in Christ; without the conviction of this, we should perish (John 16:9).
3. This is that finger of God by which the devil is made to give place unto grace, by whose power else we should be carried headlong to hell (Luke 11:20-22).
4. This is he that worketh faith in our hearts, without which neither the grace of the Father nor the grace of the Son can save us, "For he that believeth not, shall be damned" (Mark 16:16; Rom 15:13).
5. This is he by whom we are born again, and he that is not so born can neither see nor inherit the kingdom of heaven (John 3:3-7).
6. This is he that set up his kingdom in the heart, and by that means keep out the devil after he is cast out, which kingdom of the Spirit, whoever wants, they lie liable to a worse possession of the devil than ever (Matt 12:43-45; Luke 11:24,25).
7. By this Spirit, we come to see the beauty of Christ, without a sight of which we should never desire him, but should certainly live in his neglect, and perish (John 16:14; 1 Cor 2:9-13; Isa 53:1,2).
8. By this Spirit, we are helped to praise God acceptably, but without it, it is impossible to be heard unto salvation (Rom 8:26; Eph 6:18; 1 Cor 14:15).
9. By this blessed Spirit, the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, and our hearts are directed into the love of God (Rom 5:5; 2 Thess 2:13).
10. By this blessed Spirit, we are led from the ways of the flesh into the ways of life, and by it, our mortal body, as well as our immortal soul, is quickened in the service of God (Gal 5:18,25; Rom 8:11).
11. By this good Spirit we keep that good thing, even the seed of God, that at the first by the Word of God was infused into us, and without which we are liable to the worst damnation (1 John 3:9; 1 Peter 1:23; 2 Tim 1:14).
12. By this good Spirit, we have help and light against all the wisdom and cunning of the world, which put forth itself in its most cursed sophistications to overthrow the simplicity in Christ (Matt 10:19,20; Mark 13:11; Luke 12:11,12).
13. By this good Spirit, our graces are maintained in life and vigor, as faith, hope, love, a spirit of prayer, and every grace (2 Cor 4:13; Rom 15:13; 2 Tim 1:7; Eph 6:18; Titus 3:5).
14. By this good Spirit, we are sealed to the day of redemption (Eph 1:14).
15. By this good Spirit, we are made to wait patiently until the redemption of the purchased possession comes (Gal 5:5).
Now, all these things are so necessary to our salvation that I know not which of them can be wanting; neither can any of them be by any means attained but by this blessed Spirit.
And thus have I, in few words, showed you the grace of the Spirit and how it put forth itself towards the saving of the soul. And verily, Sirs, you must know these things distinctly—to wit, the grace of the Father, the grace of the Son, and the grace of the Holy Ghost; for it is not the grace of one, but of all these three, that save him that shall be saved indeed.
The Father's grace save no man without the grace of the Son; neither doth the Father and the Son save any without the grace of the Spirit; for as the Father loves, the Son must die, and the Spirit must sanctify, or no soul must be saved.
Some think that the love of the Father, without the blood of the Son, will save them, but they are deceived, for "without shedding of blood is no remission" (Heb 9:22).
Some think that the love of the Father and blood of the Son will do without the holiness of the Spirit of God, but they have also deceived, for "if any man has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his"; and again, "without holiness, no man shall see the Lord" (Rom 8:9; Heb 12:14).
There is a third sort that thinks the holiness of the Spirit is sufficient of itself, but they (if they had it) are also deceived, for it must be the grace of the Father, the grace of the Son, and the grace of the Spirit, jointly, that must save them.
But yet, as these three do put forth grace jointly and truly in the salvation of a sinner, they put it forth, as I have shown you before, in a diverse manner. The Father designs us for heaven, the Son redeems from sin and death, and the Spirit makes us meet for heaven; not by electing, that is the work of the Father; not by dying, that is the work of the Son; but by his revealing Christ, and applying Christ to our souls, by shedding the love of God abroad in our hearts, by sanctifying of our souls, and taking possession of us as an earnest of our possession of heaven.
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