_God is glorified in the work of redemption in this, that there appears in
it so absolute and universal a dependence of the redeemed on him._
Here I propose to show, I., That there is an absolute and universal
dependence of the redeemed on God for all their good. And II., That God
hereby is exalted and glorified in the work of redemption.
I. There is an absolute and universal dependence of the redeemed on God.
The nature and contrivance of our redemption is such, that the redeemed
are in every thing directly, immediately and entirely dependent on God:
they are dependent on him for all, and are dependent on him every way.
The several ways wherein the dependence of one being may be upon another
for its good, and wherein the redeemed of Jesus Christ depend on God for
all their good, are these, viz., that they have all their good _of_ him,
and that they have all _through_ him, and that they have all _in_ him.
That he is the cause and original whence all their good comes, therein it
is _of_ him; and that he is the medium by which it is obtained and
conveyed, therein they have it _through_ him; and that he is that good
itself that is given and conveyed, therein it is _in_ him.
Now those that are redeemed by Jesus Christ do, in all these respects,
very directly and entirely depend on God for their all.
First, The redeemed have all their good _of_ God; God is the great author
of it; he is the first cause of it, and not only so, but he is the only
proper cause.
'Tis of God that we have our Redeemer: it is God that has provided a
Saviour for us. Jesus Christ is not only of God in his person, as he is
the only begotten Son of God, but he is from God, as we are concerned in
him and in his office of Mediator: he is the gift of God to us: God chose
and anointed him, appointed him his work, and sent him into the world.
And as it is God that gives, so 'tis God that accepts the Saviour. As it
is God that provides and gives the Redeemer to buy salvation for us, so it
is of God that salvation is bought: he gives the purchaser, and he affords
the thing purchased.
'Tis of God that Christ becomes ours, that we are brought to him and are
united to him: it is of God that we receive faith to close with him, that
we may have an interest in him. Eph. ii. 8, "For by grace ye are saved,
through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God." 'Tis of
God that we actually do receive all the benefits that Christ has
purchased. 'Tis God that pardons and justifies, and delivers from going
down to hell, and it is his favor that the redeemed are received into, and
are made the objects of, when they are justified. So it is God that
delivers from the dominion of sin, and cleanses us from our filthiness,
and changes us from our deformity. It is of God that the redeemed do
receive all their true excellency, wisdom and holiness; and that two ways,
viz., as the Holy Ghost, by whom these things are immediately wrought, is
from God, proceeds from him and is sent by him; and also as the Holy
Ghost himself is God, by whose operation and indwelling the knowledge of
divine things, and a holy disposition, and all grace, are conferred and
upheld.
And though means are made use of in conferring grace on men's souls, yet
'tis of God that we have these means of grace, and 'tis God that makes
them effectual. 'Tis of God that we have the holy Scriptures; they are the
word of God. 'Tis of God that we have ordinances, and their efficacy
depends on the immediate influence of the Spirit of God. The ministers of
the gospel are sent of God, and all their sufficiency is of him. 2 Cor.
iv. 7, "We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of
the power may be of God, and not of us." Their success depends entirely
and absolutely on the immediate blessing and influence of God. The
redeemed have all.
1. Of the _grace_ of God. It was of mere grace that God gave us his only
begotten Son. The grace is great in proportion to the dignity and
excellency of what is given: the gift was infinitely precious, because it
was a person infinitely worthy, a person of infinite glory; and also
because it was a person infinitely near and dear to God. The grace is
great in proportion to the benefit we have given us in him: the benefit is
doubly infinite, in that in him we have deliverance from an infinite,
because an eternal, misery; and do also receive eternal joy and glory. The
grace in bestowing this gift is great in proportion to our unworthiness to
whom it is given; instead of deserving such a gift, we merited infinitely
ill of God's hands. The grace is great according to the manner of giving,
or in proportion to the humiliation and expense of the method and means by
which way is made for our having of the gift. He gave him to us dwelling
amongst us; he gave him to us incarnate, or in our nature; he gave him to
us in our nature, in the like infirmities in which we have it in our
fallen state, and which in us do accompany and are occasioned by the
sinful corruption of our nature. He gave him to us in a low and afflicted
state; and not only so, but he gave him to us slain, that he might be a
feast for our souls. deg.
The grace of God in bestowing this gift is most free. It was what God was
under no obligation to bestow: he might have rejected fallen man, as he
did the fallen angels. It was what we never did any thing to merit. 'Twas
given while we were yet enemies, and before we had so much as repented. It
was from the love of God that saw no excellency in us to attract it; and
it was without expectation of ever being requited for it.
And 'tis from mere grace that the benefits of Christ are applied to such
and such particular persons. Those that are called and sanctified are to
attribute it alone to the good pleasure of God's goodness, by which they
are distinguished. He is sovereign, and hath mercy on whom he will have
mercy, and whom he will, he hardens.
Man hath now a greater dependence on the grace of God than he had before
the fall. He depends on the free goodness of God for much more than he did
then: then he depended on God's goodness for conferring the reward of
perfect obedience: for God was not obliged to promise and bestow that
reward: but now we are dependent on the grace of God for much more: we
stand in need of grace, not only to bestow glory upon us, but to deliver
us from hell and eternal wrath. Under the first covenant we depended on
God's goodness to give us the reward of righteousness; and so we do now.
And not only so, but we stand in need of God's free and sovereign grace to
give us that righteousness; and yet not only so, but we stand in need of
his grace to pardon our sin and release us from the guilt and infinite
demerit of it.
And as we are dependent on the goodness of God for more now than under the
first covenant, so we are dependent on a much greater, more free and
wonderful goodness. We are now more dependent on God's arbitrary and
sovereign good pleasure. We were in our first estate dependent on God for
holiness: we had our original righteousness from him; but then holiness
was not bestowed in such a way of sovereign good pleasure as it is now.
Man was created holy, and it became God to create holy all the reasonable
creatures he created: it would have been a disparagement to the holiness
of God's nature, if he had made an intelligent creature unholy. But now
when a man is made holy, it is from mere and arbitrary grace; God may
forever deny holiness to the fallen creature if he pleases, without any
disparagement to any of his perfections.
And we are not only indeed more dependent on the grace of God, but our
dependence is much more conspicuous, because our own insufficiency and
helplessness in ourselves is much more apparent in our fallen and undone
state than it was before we were either sinful or miserable. We are more
apparently dependent on God for holiness, because we are first sinful, and
utterly polluted, and afterward holy: so the production of the effect is
sensible, and its derivation from God more obvious. If man was ever holy
and always was so, it would not be so apparent, that he had not holiness
necessarily, as an inseparable qualification of human nature. So we are
more apparently dependent on free grace for the favor of God, for we are
first justly the objects of his displeasure and afterwards are received
into favor. We are more apparently dependent on God for happiness, being
first miserable and afterwards happy. It is more apparently free and
without merit in us, because we are actually without any kind of
excellency to merit, if there could be any such thing as merit in creature
excellency. And we are not only without any true excellency, but are full
of, and wholly defiled with, that which is infinitely odious. All our good
is more apparently from God, because we are first naked and wholly without
any good, and afterwards enriched with all good.
2. We receive all of the _power_ of God. Man's redemption is often spoken
of as a work of wonderful power as well as grace. The great power of God
appears in bringing a sinner from his low state, from the depths of sin
and misery, to such an exalted state of holiness and happiness. Eph. i.
19, "And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who
believe, according to the working of his mighty power."
We are dependent on God's power through every step of our redemption. We
are dependent on the power of God to convert us, and give faith in Jesus
Christ, and the new nature. 'Tis a work of creation: "If any man be in
Christ, he is a new creature," 2 Cor. v. 17. "We are created in Christ
Jesus," Eph. ii. 10. The fallen creature cannot attain to true holiness,
but by being created again: Eph. iv. 24, "And that ye put on the new man,
which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." It is a
raising from the dead: Col ii. 12, 13, "Wherein ye also are risen with
him, through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from
the dead." Yea, it is a more glorious work of power than mere creation, or
raising a dead body to life, in that the effect attained is greater and
more excellent. That holy and happy being and spiritual life which is
reached in the work of conversion is a far greater and more glorious
effect than mere being and life. And the state from whence the change is
made, of such a death in sin, and total corruption of nature, and depth of
misery, is far more remote from the state attained, than mere death or
nonentity.
'Tis by God's power also that we are preserved in a state of grace: 1 Pet.
i. 5, "Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation." As
grace is at first from God, so 'tis continually from him, and is
maintained by him, as much as light in the atmosphere is all day long from
the sun, as well as at first dawning or at sunrising.
Men are dependent on the power of God for every exercise of grace, and for
carrying on the work of grace in the heart, for the subduing of sin and
corruption, and increasing holy principles, and enabling to bring forth
fruit in good works, and at last bringing grace to its perfection, in
making the soul completely amiable in Christ's glorious likeness, and
filling of it with a satisfying joy and blessedness; and for the raising
of the body to life, and to such a perfect state, that it shall be
suitable for a habitation and organ for a soul so perfected and blessed.
These are the most glorious effects of the power of God that are seen in
the series of God's acts with respect to the creatures.
Man was dependent on the power of God in his first estate, but he is more
dependent on his power now; he needs God's power to do more things for
him, and depends on a more wonderful exercise of his power. It was an
effect of the power of God to make man holy at the first; but more
remarkably so now, because there is a great deal of opposition and
difficulty in the way. 'Tis a more glorious effect of power to make that
holy that was so depraved and under the dominion of sin, than to confer
holiness on that which before had nothing of the contrary. It is a more
glorious work of power to rescue a soul out of the hands of the devil, and
from the powers of darkness, and to bring it into a state of salvation,
than to confer holiness where there was no prepossession or opposition.
Luke xi. 21, 22, "When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods
are in peace; but when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and
overcome him, he taketh from him all his armor wherein he trusted, and
divideth his spoils." So 'tis a more glorious work of power to uphold a
soul in a state of grace and holiness, and to carry it on till it is
brought to glory, when there is so much sin remaining in the heart
resisting, and Satan with all his might opposing, than it would have been
to have kept man from falling at first, when Satan had nothing in man.
Thus we have shown how the redeemed are dependent on God for all their
good, as they have all _of_ him.
Secondly, They are also dependent on God for all, as they have all
_through_ him. 'Tis God that is the medium of it, as well as the author
and fountain of it. All that we have, wisdom and the pardon of sin,
deliverance from hell, acceptance in God's favor, grace and holiness, true
comfort and happiness, eternal life and glory, we have from God by a
Mediator; and this Mediator is God, which Mediator we have an absolute
dependence upon as he _through_ whom we receive all. So that here is
another way wherein we have our dependence on God for all good. God not
only gives us the Mediator, and accepts his mediation, and of his power
and grace bestows the things purchased by the Mediator, but he is the
Mediator.
Our blessings are what we have by purchase; and the purchase is made of
God, the blessings are purchased of him, and God gives the purchaser; and
not only so, but God is the purchaser. Yea, God is both the purchaser and
the price; for Christ, who is God, purchased these blessings for us by
offering up himself as the price of our salvation. He purchased eternal
life by the sacrifice of himself: Heb. vii. 27, "He offered up himself;"
and ix. 26, "He hath appeared to take away sin by the sacrifice of
himself." Indeed it was the human nature that was offered; but it was the
same person with the divine, and therefore was an infinite price: it was
looked upon as if God had been offered in sacrifice.
As we thus have our good through God, we have a dependence on God in a
respect that man in his first estate had not. Man was to have eternal life
then through his own righteousness; so that he had partly a dependence
upon what was in himself; for we have a dependence upon that through which
we have our good, as well as that from which we have it. And though man's
righteousness that he then depended on was indeed from God, yet it was his
own, it was inherent in himself; so that his dependence was not so
immediately on God. But now the righteousness that we are dependent on is
not in ourselves, but in God. We are saved through the righteousness of
Christ: he _is made unto us righteousness_; and therefore is prophesied
of, Jer. xxiii. 6, under that name of "the Lord our righteousness." In
that the righteousness we are justified by is the righteousness of Christ,
it is the righteousness of God: 2 Cor. v. 21, "That we might be made the
righteousness of God in him."
Thus in redemption we han't only all things of God, but by and through
him: 1 Cor. viii. 21, "But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom
are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all
things, and we by him."
Thirdly, The redeemed have all their good _in_ God. We not only have it of
him, and through him, but it consists in him; he _is_ all our good.
The good of the redeemed is either objective or inherent. By their
objective good I mean that intrinsic object, in the possession and
enjoyment of which they are happy. Their inherent good is that excellency
or pleasure which is in the soul itself. With respect to both of which the
redeemed have all their good in God, or, which is the same thing, God
himself is all their good.
1. The redeemed have all their _objective_ good in God. God himself is the
great good which they are brought to the possession and enjoyment of by
redemption. He is the highest good and the sum of all that good which
Christ purchased. God is the inheritance of the saints; he is the portion
of their souls. God is their wealth and treasure, their food, their life,
their dwelling-place, their ornament and diadem, and their everlasting
honor and glory. They have none in heaven but God; he is the great good
which the redeemed are received to at death, and which they are to rise to
at the end of the world. The Lord God, he is the light of the heavenly
Jerusalem; and is the "river of the water of life," that runs, and "the
tree of life that grows, in the midst of the paradise of God." The
glorious excellencies and beauty of God will be what will forever
entertain the minds of the saints, and the love of God will be their
everlasting feast. The redeemed will indeed enjoy other things; they will
enjoy the angels, and will enjoy one another; but that which they shall
enjoy in the angels, or each other, or in any thing else whatsoever that
will yield them delight and happiness, will be what will be seen of God in
them.
2. The redeemed have all their _inherent_ good in God. Inherent good is
twofold; 'tis either excellency or pleasure. These the redeemed not only
derive from God, as caused by him, but have them in him. They have
spiritual excellency and joy by a kind of participation of God. They are
made excellent by a communication of God's excellency: God puts his own
beauty, i.e., his beautiful likeness, upon their souls: they are made
partakers of the divine nature, or moral image of God, 2 Pet. i. 4. They
are holy by being made partakers of God's holiness, Heb. xii. 10. The
saints are beautiful and blessed by a communication of God's holiness and
joy, as the moon and planets are bright by the sun's light. The saint hath
spiritual joy and pleasure by a kind of effusion of God on the soul. In
these things the redeemed have communion with God; that is, they partake
with him and of him.
The saints have both their spiritual excellency and blessedness by the
gift of the Holy Ghost, or Spirit of God, and his dwelling in them. They
are not only caused by the Holy Ghost, but are in the Holy Ghost as their
principle. The Holy Spirit becoming an inhabitant, is a vital principle in
the soul: he, acting in, upon and with the soul, becomes a fountain of
true holiness and joy, as a spring is of water, by the exertion and
diffusion of itself: John iv. 14, "But whosoever drinketh of the water
that I shall give him, shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give
him, shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting
life,"--compared with chap. vii. 38, 39, "He that believeth on me, as the
Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water;
but this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should
receive." The sum of what Christ has purchased for us is that spring of
water spoken of in the former of those places, and those rivers of living
water spoken of in the latter. And the sum of the blessings which the
redeemed shall receive in heaven is that river of water of life that
proceeds from the throne of God and the Lamb, Rev. xxii. 1,--which
doubtless signifies the same with those rivers of living water explained
John vii. 38, 39, which is elsewhere called the "river of God's
pleasures." Herein consists the fulness of good which the saints receive
by Christ. 'Tis by partaking of the Holy Spirit that they have communion
with Christ in his fulness. God hath given the Spirit, not by measure unto
him, and they do receive of his fulness, and grace for grace. This is the
sum of the saints' inheritance; and therefore that little of the Holy
Ghost which believers have in this world is said to be the earnest of
their inheritance. 2 Cor. i. 22, "Who hath also sealed us, and given us
the Spirit in our hearts." And chap. v. 5, "Now he that hath wrought us
for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of
the Spirit." And Eph. i. 13, 14, "Ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of
promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of
the purchased possession."
The Holy Spirit and good things are spoken of in Scripture as the same; as
if the Spirit of God communicated to the soul comprised all good things:
Matt. vii. 11, "How much more shall your heavenly Father give good things
to them that ask him?" In Luke it is, chap. xi. 13, "How much more shall
your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" This is
the sum of the blessings that Christ died to procure, and that are the
subject of gospel promises: Gal. iii. 13, 14, "He was made a curse for us,
that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." The
Spirit of God is the great promise of the Father: Luke xxiv. 49, "Behold,
I send the promise of my Father upon you." The Spirit of God therefore is
called "the Spirit of promise," Eph. i. 13. This promised thing Christ
received, and had given into his hand, as soon as he had finished the work
of our redemption, to bestow on all that he had redeemed: Acts ii. 33,
"Therefore, being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of
the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which
ye both see and hear." So that all the holiness and happiness of the
redeemed is _in_ God. 'Tis in the communications, indwelling and acting of
the Spirit of God. Holiness and happiness are in the fruit, here and
hereafter, because God dwells in them, and they in God.
Thus 'tis God that has given us the Redeemer, and 'tis of him that our
good is purchased: so 'tis God that is the Redeemer and the price; and
'tis God also that is the good purchased. So that all that we have is _of_
God, and _through_ him, and _in_ him: Rom. xi. 36, "For of him, and
through him, and to him (or in him), are all things." The same in the
Greek that is here rendered _to him_ is rendered _in him_, 1 Cor. vii. 6.
II. God is glorified in the work of redemption by this means, viz., by
there being so great and universal a dependence of the redeemed on him.
1. Man hath so much the greater occasion and obligation to take notice and
acknowledge God's perfections and all-sufficiency. The greater the
creature's dependence is on God's perfections, and the greater concern he
has with them, so much the greater occasion has he to take notice of them.
So much the greater concern any one has with, and dependence upon, the
power and grace of God, so much the greater occasion has he to take notice
of that power and grace. So much the greater and more immediate dependence
there is on the divine holiness, so much the greater occasion to take
notice of and acknowledge that. So much the greater and more absolute
dependence we have on the divine perfections, as belonging to the several
persons of the Trinity, so much the greater occasion have we to observe
and own the divine glory of each of them. That which we are most concerned
with, is surely most in the way of our observation and notice; and this
kind of concern with any thing, viz., dependence, does especially tend to
commend and oblige the attention and observation. Those things that we are
not much dependent upon, 'tis easy to neglect; but we can scarce do any
other than mind that which we have a great dependence on. By reason of our
so great dependence on God and his perfections, and in so many respects,
he and his glory are the more directly set in our view, which way soever
we turn our eyes.
We have the greater occasion to take notice of God's all-sufficiency, when
all our sufficiency is thus every way of him. We have the more occasion to
contemplate him as an infinite good, and as the fountain of all good. Such
a dependence on God demonstrates God's all-sufficiency. So much as the
dependence of the creature is on God, so much the greater does the
creature's emptiness in himself appear to be; and so much the greater the
creature's emptiness, so much the greater must the fulness of the Being be
who supplies him. Our having all _of_ God shows the fulness of his power
and grace: our having all _through_ him shows the fulness of his merit and
worthiness; and our having all _in_ him demonstrates his fulness of
beauty, love and happiness.
And the redeemed, by reason of the greatness of their dependence on God,
han't only so much the greater occasion, but obligation to contemplate and
acknowledge the glory and fulness of God. How unreasonable and ungrateful
should we be if we did not acknowledge that sufficiency and glory that we
do absolutely, immediately and universally depend upon!
2. Hereby is demonstrated how great God's glory is considered
comparatively, or as compared with the creature's. By the creature's
being thus wholly and universally dependent on God, it appears that the
creature is nothing and that God is all. Hereby it appears that God is
infinitely above us; that God's strength, and wisdom and holiness are
infinitely greater than ours. However great and glorious the creature
apprehends God to be, yet if he be not sensible of the difference between
God and him, so as to see that God's glory is great, compared with his
own, he will not be disposed to give God the glory due to his name. If the
creature, in any respect, sets himself upon a level with God, or exalts
himself to any competition with him, however he may apprehend that great
honor and profound respect may belong to God from those that are more
inferior, and at a greater distance, he will not be so sensible of its
being due from him. So much the more men exalt themselves, so much the
less will they surely be disposed to exalt God. 'Tis certainly a thing
that God aims at in the disposition of things in the affair of redemption
(if we allow the Scriptures to be a revelation of God's mind), that God
should appear full, and man in himself empty, that God should appear all,
and man nothing. 'Tis God's declared design that others should not "glory
in his presence"; which implies that 'tis his design to advance his own
comparative glory. So much the more man "glories in God's presence," so
much the less glory is ascribed to God.
3. By its being thus ordered, that the creature should have so absolute
and universal a dependence on God, provision is made that God should have
our whole souls, and should be the object of our undivided respect. If we
had our dependence partly on God and partly on something else, man's
respect would be divided to those different things on which he had
dependence. Thus it would be if we depended on God only for a part of our
good, and on ourselves or some other being for another part: or if we had
our good only from God, and through another that was not God, and in
something else distinct from both, our hearts would be divided between
the good itself, and him from whom, and him through whom we received it.
But now there is no occasion for this, God being not only he from or of
whom we have all good, but also through whom, and one that is that good
itself, that we have from him and through him. So that whatsoever there is
to attract our respect, the tendency is still directly towards God, all
unites in him as the centre.