View source for Meditations on the Holy Spirit 6

====Meditations on the Holy Spirit 6====
        <p>In our last paper we attempted to define, and explain from the word of truth the gospel mystery of sanctification, and to show that so rich and heavenly a blessing is not limited to the work of the Holy Spirit on the hearts of the people of God, but that it includes and embraces their sanctification before time by the original and eternal Will of God the Father, and their sanctification in time by the Offering of the body of Jesus Christ, his dear Son, once for all. And we may here remark that there is a peculiar blessedness in this view of the sanctification of the Church of Christ by the Will of the Father, and by the Work of the Son, that not only does it lay a firm and broad foundation for her sanctification by the Spirit, but that this branch of her sanctification is thus already in itself completely and absolutely perfect. Nor indeed, as being an accomplished work of God, can it be otherwise, for He is the rock; his "work is perfect." (Deut. 32:4.) This sanctification, therefore, of the people of God, as distinct from the work of the Holy Spirit upon their heart, is already in itself fully and entirely complete; for the Will of the Father is absolute, and the Work of the Son is a finished work. In this sense, then, the Church of Christ is now and forever perfectly holy, for she is "complete in Christ," (Col. 2:10,) "accepted in the Beloved," (Eph. 1:6,) and stands before God all fair and without spot. (Song 4:7.) </p>
        <p>We well know, indeed, how bitterly and angrily this view of sanctification has ever been opposed by legalists, and all those children of the bondwoman who hate that glorious loveliness which the Lord has put upon his bride; (Ezek. 16:14;) nor are we unaware of the reproaches which "the ignorance of foolish men," (1 Peter 2:15,) has cast both upon the doctrine itself, and upon those who hold and teach it, as if it were fraught with the most dangerous consequences, and were the very high road to licentiousness. They have argued against it, as if we intended thereby to supersede sanctification by the Spirit, and to employ it as a kind of substitute for that individual and personal holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord; and which they insinuate that we hate and shun as laying a restraint on our lusts. </p>
        <p>But this is one of those stumbling-blocks, over which blind and obstinate men stumble to their own perdition; for so far from this sanctification of the Church by the Father and the Son superseding sanctification by the Spirit, it lays, on the contrary, the only firm and solid foundation for it, for it ensures the spiritual and personal sanctification of every member of the mystical body of Christ, as they are successively brought into a time state, by unalterably securing their interest in the covenant work and offices of the Holy Spirit, and in those gracious operations whereby he makes them fit for the inheritance of the saints in light. It also casts a glorious light upon the economy* of grace; that is, the order of the divine procedure in the dispensation of grace to his Church; for "God is not the author of confusion," (1 Cor. 14:33,) but as in nature, so in grace, of the most perfect order in all his arrangements. In the economy of grace, then, the same divine order rules and reigns as in the personal subsistence of the Three Persons in the Godhead. The order of that subsistence is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In the everlasting Covenant, in all its provisions and all its blessings, the same order prevails; and therefore rules and reigns in the great Covenant blessing, Sanctification. The blessing is an orderly blessing, and, as such, in all its steps moves onward according to the order of the Persons in the Godhead. The Father is first; therefore the sanctification of the Church by his eternal Will is first. The Son is second, therefore her sanctification by his one Offering is second. The Holy Spirit is third; therefore the sanctification of the Church by his efficacious grace is third. And yet, though the Persons of the Trinity are distinct, their eternal Essence is but One; so in this work of sanctification a glorious Unity of will and work pervades the whole. As, too, the Persons, though distinct, are equal, and the order of their subsistence does not affect the equality of their eternal Being, so the work of sanctification, as participated in by Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is equal, and if equal, equally complete. This is already true, as we have shown, as regards the work of the Father, and of the Son, and will be equally true as regards the work of the Holy Spirit, for his sanctifying work on the souls and bodies of the saints will, in the resurrection morn, be as perfect as the absolute Will of the Father, and the finished Work of the Son. </p>
        <p>* The word "economy" means literally, "the management of a house, or household, " and as the Church is the house of God, (Heb. 3:6,) the term is applied to the order of God's dealings with the Church. </p>
        <p>This glorious mystery of the sanctification of the Church, though written as with a ray of light in the word of truth, has been so obscured by the advocates of a legal and fleshly holiness, that we have felt desirous to lay before our spiritual readers what has been opened to our mind on this subject as a part of the divine counsel. These points of heavenly truth, we admit, are deep, and may, therefore, be considered by some of our readers mysterious and obscure, and by others neither instructive nor edifying; but we believe, on the contrary, that it will ever be found that deep truths, like deep rivers, are full of fruitfulness in proportion to their depth. How deep the mystery of the Trinity! But in its very depth lies its blessedness. How deep the mystery of the eternal Sonship of our Lord! But in its depths what treasures of ineffable glory are laid up! How deep the mystery of the incarnation! But what streams of superabounding grace are ever springing and rising out of its bosom, swelling in an ample and healing tide over all the aboundings of sin. Marvel not, then, that deep is the mystery of sanctification; for it will be found, if we are favored with a spiritual apprehension of it, that in its very depth lies much of its blessedness. </p>
        <p>Having, then, laid this firm foundation for the sanctification of the Church by the blessed Spirit, we are now brought back to our original subject, the covenant offices of the Holy Spirit; for as it is his special office to sanctify, by his divine operations, the people of the Father's choice and of the Son's redeeming blood, the term will include the greater part of his efficacious work upon the soul. But to arrange our Meditations on this subject with some measure of that clearness which is so desirable on points of such deep importance, we will consider, </p>
        <p>The <em>necessity </em>of this sanctification <em>; </em></p>
        <p>The <em>nature </em>of this sanctification by his effectual grace. </p>
        <strong></strong>
        <p><strong>I. The NECESSITY of this sanctification </strong>lies, </p>
        <p>1. in the essential <strong>holiness of God </strong>, </p>
        <p>2. In the <strong>fallen state of man </strong>. </p>
        <p>1. God is essentially holy; so much so, that holiness is his very nature, the very perfection and glory of his Being. He, therefore, swears by his holiness as if it were himself, for "because he could swear by no greater he swore by himself." (Heb. 6:13.) "Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David." (Psalm 89:35.) So essentially is he holy, and so bright a luster does it reflect on all his other infinite perfections, that he is said to be "glorious in holiness;" (Exod. 15:11;) and as possessing it eternally in himself, and so the fountain of it to angels and men, "there is none holy as the Lord," (1 Sam. 2:2,) and "he alone is holy;" (Rev. 15:4;) for in him only is it underived, all communicated holiness from him as a Supreme Fountain being but the shadow of what in him is a self-existent substance. </p>
        <p>Because God is thus essentially holy, he requires that his people should be holy too. (Lev. 20:26.) And what he requires he makes--"I am the Lord who sanctifies you." (Lev. 20:8.) Indeed, there is not a single attribute or perfection of the Lord God of Israel so continually brought forth, or so urgently insisted on in the word of truth as his holiness. We need scarcely prove this; but let the following testimonies suffice in addition to those already adduced--"But you are holy, O you who inhabits the praises of Israel;" "Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at his footstool; for he is holy. (Psalm 99:5.) And again--"Thus says the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy." (Isa. 57:15.) So in that touching prayer of our gracious Lord--"Holy Father, keep through your own name those whom you have given me." (John 17:11.) </p>
        <p>We do not wish to make minute distinctions, or may fail in clearly communicating our own thoughts, but we seem to see a difference between the purity of God, the righteousness of God, and the holiness of God; and as this distinction has a bearing on our subject, we shall drop a few words upon it. God is <strong>pure </strong>, eternally and infinitely pure, "for he is of purer eyes than to behold evil;" (Hab. 1:13;) so pure that the stars, so bright and glorious in our eyes, "are not pure in his sight;" (Job 25:5;) and his very "angels he charges with folly." (Job 4:18.) John, therefore, says--"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that has this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure." (1 John 3:2, 3.) But this his eternal and essential purity consists rather in the infinite perfection and spotlessness of his nature than in the spirituality of his being. </p>
        <p>But the <strong>holiness </strong>of God is intimately connected with his being a Spirit, for "God is a Spirit." (John 4:24.) When, then, we approach the Majesty of heaven, and seek to realize, with solemn awe and trembling reverence, his glorious perfections, a view of his holiness is ever intimately connected with a believing persuasion that he is a Spirit, and, as such, requires spiritual worship. </p>
        <p>In a similar way, his <strong>righteousness </strong>may be mentally distinguished from both his purity and his holiness as having peculiar respect to his justice, the integrity and righteousness of all his ways, words, and works, and that "the Judge of all the earth will do right." (Gen. 18:25.) Our Lord, therefore, addressed him "O righteous Father," (John 17:25,) as well as "holy Father,"—righteous in the uprightness of his character, holy in the spirituality of his Being. Thus, as infinitely pure, he is perfectly spotless; as infinitely righteous, he is perfectly just; as infinitely holy, he is the very Spirit of holiness. </p>
        <p>But to show that those are not mere barren speculations, or unfounded distinctions, let us now see the peculiar bearing which this view of the holiness of God has on our subject, the sanctification of the Spirit, and trace out how and why, in the economy of grace, this sanctification so peculiarly belongs to the Holy Spirit as his covenant office. We have just shown that the holiness of God is intimately connected with his eternal, underived existence as a Spirit. How appropriate, then, to the Holy Spirit, as a Person in the Godhead, is that Covenant Office that he should communicate of his holiness to the people of God; for holiness being in itself essentially a spiritual thing, it may be communicated by his divine operations and spiritual influences. We are, therefore, said to be made "partakers of the divine nature;" (2 Pet. 1:4;) that is, of that part of the divine nature which is communicable; for omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence, etc., are not communicable to a finite creature such as man. But holiness, as a part of the divine nature, is communicable; and thus, when the Holy Spirit breathes, infuses, and communicates spiritual life to the soul, in that life imparted is the very holiness of God. We read accordingly--"that we might be partakers of his holiness." (Heb. 12:10.) In being made partakers, therefore, of the divine nature, we are made partakers of the holiness of that nature, and this is nothing less than "his holiness," the very holiness of God. </p>
        <p>In regeneration we are born of the Spirit, (John 3:5,) and as "that which is born of the Spirit is spirit," there is a communication of the spirit by the Spirit. We may illustrate this by the case of Elijah and Elisha. Before Elijah was taken up to heaven by a whirlwind, "he said unto Elisha, What shall I do for you before I be taken away from you? And Elisha said, Let a double portion of your spirit be upon me." This request was granted, and so visibly that when the sons of the prophets saw him they said, "The spirit of Elijah does rest on Elisha." (2 Kings 2:9, 15.) Here there was a communication by the Holy Spirit of the spirit of Elijah to Elisha. We wish it to be observed that we use this merely as an illustration; but in a similar way there is a communication of the holiness of God to the soul by the Holy Spirit when he communicates to it divine life. The new man of grace, therefore, is said to be "created after God; "that is, after the image of God, "in righteousness and true holiness,"—true holiness, as distinct from all legal or fleshly holiness. (Eph. 4:24.) It is "a new creation," (2 Cor. 5:17,) as the word may be literally rendered, and not an alteration or amelioration of the old man. By the communication, therefore, of this new spirit, we are made spiritual men as distinct from all natural men; (1 Cor. 2:14, 15;) and as there is but "one body and one Spirit," (Eph. 4:4,) and "by this one Spirit we are all baptized into one body," (1 Cor. 12:13,) there is a blessed oneness of spirit among the family of God; and what is more blessed still, by the gift and communication of this spirit we enjoy union and communion with the Lord himself; for "he who is joined unto the Lord is one spirit." (1 Cor. 6:17.) </p>
		
[[From these considerations we may now]]