Work of the Spirit

My dear friends, I now propose to lay before you the doctrine of the Holy Spirit's work in the regeneration and sanctification of the human soul.

Man, by his fall, brought a twofold evil of a most dreadful nature upon himself, guilt upon his conscience, and depravity into his heart. What, therefore, he needs for his salvation, is pardon and sanctification. To obtain for him the former, is the end of the mediation of Christ; while to produce the latter, is the design of the work of the Spirit—and it is of great consequence accurately to distinguish between the work of Christ for us, and the work of the Spirit in us. Of what avail would it be to us that the Father loved us, and contrived a plan for our redemption, or that the Son loved us, and executed that scheme, if no provision were made toapply the whole, as a system of restoration, to our depraved hearts.

Man is blind in his judgment, and neither understands his need of salvation, nor the nature of the plan by which he is to obtain it; he is obstinately set against all that is spiritual and holy, and full of enmity against God and his ways; hence the need of something more than a plan of reconciliation—I mean, a power to fix his attention, to enlighten his mind, to subdue his aversion, to make him willing to accept the offer of mercy, and amid all the temptations by which he is surrounded, to hold him to the way of truth. This agency is provided in the office and work of the Holy Spirit.

The atonement of Christ having been accepted of God, and a way of communion, honorable to the Divine character and government, having been thus opened—the Spirit is poured out upon man, as one of the most blessed fruits of the mediation of the Savior. This rich gift of celestial mercy is granted to our world entirely for the sake of our Lord's glorious sacrifice, and is therefore so much honor done to Christ.

The whole work of the Spirit, under the Christian dispensation, comprehends his extraordinary and miraculous gifts, granted and confined to the first age of Christianity for the confirmation of the truth, and his ordinary renewing and sanctifying influence,continued through all ages, for the application of the truth, in the regeneration and sanctification of believers; and in reading the New Testament, we must always bear this distinctly in remembrance, and inquire whether the sacred writer is treating of miraculous gifts or continual endowments.

In explaining the ordinary and continued work of the Spirit, I will briefly point out, first, what the Spirit's work does NOT imply. It does not, then, suppose, nor is it intended to supply, any deficiency in the atonement of Christ, since it is altogether for a different purpose. Nor does it suppose, nor is it intended to supply, any deficiency in the word of God, for the word is as complete and sufficient as an instrument can be. Nor does it suppose any weakness, inappropriateness, or lack of adaptation in the ministry of the word, for the preaching of the cross is the power of God to salvation to those who believe. But it does imply, that the mind of man is so blind, his heart so worldly and wicked, that notwithstanding the boundless love of God, the perfection of Christ's atonement, the clearness of the word of truth, and the power of the Christian ministry—he will not repent, believe, and obey—without the power of the Spirit operating upon his mind!

Consider next, in what the Spirit's work really consists. Not in imparting new natural faculties—but in rightly directing the exercises of those we already possess, not in effecting any mechanical change in the physical essence of the soul—but in producing a moral change in its disposition, not in bestowing upon us natural power—but that which is moral. Divines have distinguished between natural and moral inability, and the distinction is real, and exists in the very nature of things. Natural inability is that which a man has no power to do if he would; such, for instance, as in a blind man, with respect to vision, he cannot see if he would. Moral inability is that which a man would not do if he could, or which he has no inclination or disposition to do; such, for instance, as a man has, who hates a person he ought to love; he will not love him. Everybody perceives that there is a difference between these two kinds of inability.

Now the Spirit's work is not to give natural power—but moral; or, in other words, to impart will, inclination, disposition. If men had no natural ability, they could not be guilty and responsible; but, having natural, though not moral power, they are both guilty and responsible, for not repenting of sin, believing in Christ, and loving God. A cripple has no natural power to go and hear a sermon, and is not blameworthy for not going, for he has no natural power; but if anyone comes and preaches to him in his house, he is guilty, and will be condemned, if he does not repent and believe.

Yet it is certain he will not repent and believe, unless the Spirit, who opened the heart of Lydia, shall dispose and enable him to do so. Nothing, however, prevents him from believing—but the depravity of his heart; nothing but what makes him guilty; nothing but that for which he is accountable to God—but still which the Spirit alone can remove. You have now as clear a view as I can present to you, in this short compass, of the work of the Spirit—it is a Divine power operating upon the mind, giving it clear and impressive views of the truth, taking away from the heart its natural aversion to the truth, and substituting love to the truth in its place, and inclining the will to embrace it.

The instrument employed by the Spirit in this great change, is the Holy Scripture, James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:22, 23. There is much that is mysterious in this subject, as our Lord intimates to Nicodemus in John 3:8. But amid all this mystery we see much that is plain and intelligible. The truth reveals to the mind the objects to be loved and obeyed; the Spirit disposes the heart to embrace them. It is neither the Spirit without the truth, nor the truth without the Spirit—but the Spirit by the instrumentality of the truth, and the truth in the hands of the Spirit. It is not the Spirit in the word merely—but the Spirit with the word. Without the word there would be nothing to love; without the Spirit there would be no love. The word is the light which reveals the objects of spiritual affection; the Spirit gives the affection towards these objects. The Spirit's operating upon the heart, apart from the word, would be only to give an inclination, a disposition without an object as its end and purpose.

This view of the subject clears it of all difficulty and objection, on the ground of irrationality and enthusiasm, as if it meant the setting up of another rule, standard, and light within, and meant spontaneous blind impulses, without any appropriate object to produce them, or any fixed rule to guide them. It treats us as rational creatures, and yet as sinful and wilfully blind ones. It does not extinguish our reason—but sanctifies and guides it. It calls us to exercise our faculties on their appropriate spiritual objects, as presented by revelation, and gives us Divine aid in so doing. It teaches us to unite diligence and dependence. It keeps us from the pride of self-sufficiency on the one hand, and from the despondency of unaided helplessness on the other. It preserves us from wild enthusiasm, and equally so from dead formalism. In short, it directs to the rule we are to go by, and furnishes the strength we need to follow it.

After all, we must allow, that much remains beyond our power to comprehend or explain. Can this be matter of surprise? How imperfectly do we understand what a finite spirit is, and how much less do we understand the Infinite Spirit? How, then, shall we be able entirely to comprehend the influence of the Divine Mind upon the human? The fact is evident, however mysterious is themode. If a man is a creature fallen, and totally corrupt, how can he renew himself? Can darkness originate light? Corruption, purity? Evil, good? If holiness comes into our nature, it must come from without. To suppose that a heart totally depraved will reform itself, is not only to suppose an effect without a cause—but contrary to a cause. No! All evil is from ourselves—and all good is from God.

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