Those Christians to whom the apostle directed this
epistle, dwelt in a part of the world where human wisdom was in great
repute; as the apostle observes in the 22nd verse of this chapter, "The
Greeks seek after wisdom." Corinth was not far from Athens, that had
been for many ages the most famous seat of philosophy and learning in
the world. The apostle therefore observes to them,
how God by the
gospel destroyed, and brought to naught, their wisdom. The learned
Grecians, and their great philosophers, by all their wisdom did not
know God, they were not able to find out the truth in divine things.
But, after they had done their utmost to no effect, it pleased God at
length to reveal himself by the gospel, which they accounted
foolishness. He "chose the foolish things of the world to confound the
wise, and the weak things of the world to confound the things which are
mighty, and the base things of the world, and things that are despised,
yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught the things that are."
And the apostle informs them in the text why he thus did, That no flesh
should glory in his presence, &c.--In which words may be observed,
1. What God aims at in the disposition of things in
the affair of redemption, viz. that man should not glory in himself,
but alone in God; 1 Cor. i. 29, 31.That no flesh should glory in his
presence,--that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him
glory in the Lord.
2. How this end is attained in the work of
redemption, viz. by that absolute and immediate dependence which men
have upon God in that work, for all their good. Inasmuch as,
First, all the good that they have is in and through
Christ; He is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and
redemption. [1 Cor. i. 30.] All the good of the fallen and redeemed
creature is concerned in these four things, and cannot be better
distributed than into them; but Christ is each of them to us, and we
have none of them any otherwise than in him. He is made of God unto us
wisdom: in him are all the proper good and true excellency of the
understanding. Wisdom was a thing that the Greeks admired; but Christ
is the true light of the world; it is through him alone that true
wisdom is imparted to the mind. It is in and by Christ that we have
righteousness: it is by being in him that we are justified, have our
sins pardoned, and are received as righteous into God's favor. It is by
Christ that we have sanctification: we have in him true excellency of
heart as well as of understanding; and he is made unto us inherent as
well as imputed righteousness. It is by Christ that we have redemption,
or the actual deliverance from all misery, and the bestowment of all
happiness and glory. Thus we have all our good by Christ, who is God.
Secondly, another instance wherein our dependence on
God for all our good appears, is this, that it is God that has given us
Christ, that we might have these benefits through him; he of God is
made unto us wisdom, righteousness, &c.
Thirdly, it is of him that we are in Christ Jesus,
and come to have an interest in him, and so do receive those blessings
which he is made unto us. It is God that gives us faith whereby we
close with Christ.
So that in this verse is shown our dependence on each
person in the Trinity for all our good. We are dependent on Christ the
Son of God, as he is our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and
redemption. We are dependent on the Father, who has given us Christ,
and made him to be these things to us. We are dependent on the Holy
Ghost, for it is of him that we are in Christ Jesus; it is the Spirit
of God that gives faith in him, whereby we receive him, and close with
him.
DOCTRINE
"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, 1st, that there is an
absolute and universal dependence of the redeemed on God for all their
good. And, 2dly, 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 the good itself 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. It is of God that we have our
Redeemer. It is God that has provided a Savior 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 it is God that accepts the Savior. He gives the
purchaser, and he affords the thing purchased.
It is 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." It is of God that we actually
receive all the benefits that Christ has purchased. It is God that
pardons and justifies, and delivers from going down to hell; and into
his favor the redeemed are received, when they are justified. So it is
God that delivers from the dominion of sin, cleanses us from our
filthiness, and changes us from our deformity. It is of God that the
redeemed 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 God and divine things, 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 it is of God that we have
these means of grace, and it is he that makes them effectual. It is of
God that we have the Holy Scriptures; they are his word. It is of God
that we have ordinances, and their efficacy depends on the immediate
influence of his Spirit. 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.
1. The redeemed have all from 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 excellency of what is given. The gift was
infinitely precious, because it was of a person infinitely worthy, a
person of infinite glory; and also because it was of 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 a way is made for our having the gift. He gave him
to dwell amongst us; he gave him to us incarnate, or in our nature; and
in the like though sinless infirmities. He gave him to us in a low and
afflicted state; and not only so, but as slain, that he might be a
feast for our souls.
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; it was given while we were yet enemies, and
before we had so much as repented. It was from the love of God who saw
no excellency in us to attract it; and it was without expectation of
ever being requited for it. And it is 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.
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: but we stand in need of God's free and
sovereign grace to give us that righteousness; 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, for it became God to
create holy all his reasonable creatures. It would have been a
disparagement to the holiness of God's nature, if he had made an
intelligent creature unholy. But now when fallen man is made holy, it
is from mere and arbitrary grace; God may for ever 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 from 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 us-ward 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. It is 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. v. 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. Colos.
ii. 12, 13. "Wherein also ye 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 produced 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--a
death in sin, a total corruption of nature, and depth of misery--is far
more remote from the state attained, than mere death or non-entity.
It is 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 it is
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 sun-rising.--Men are dependent on the power of God for every
exercise of grace, and for carrying on that work in the heart, for
subduing sin and corruption, increasing holy principles, and enabling
to bring forth fruit in good works. Man is dependent on divine power in
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. It is 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 it is 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. God is the medium of it, as well as the
author and fountain of it. All we have, wisdom, the pardon of sin,
deliverance from hell, acceptance into God's favor, grace and holiness,
true comfort and happiness, eternal life and glory, is 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 the
Mediator is God.
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.
As we thus have our good through God, we have a
dependence on him 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, "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 have not only all
things of God, but by and through him, 1 Cor. viii. 6. "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 extrinsic 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 honour 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 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 shall be seen of God in them.
2. The redeemed have all their inherent good in God.
Inherent good is twofold; it is 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, and his dwelling in them.
They are not only caused by the Holy Ghost, but are in him 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 fullness of good, which the
saints receive of Christ. It is by partaking of the Holy Spirit, that
they have communion with Christ in his fullness. God hath given the
Spirit, not by measure unto him; and they do receive of his fullness,
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 earnest of the Spirit in our
hearts." And chap v. 5. "Now he that hath wrought us for the self-same
thing, is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit."
And "Ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, which is the
earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased
possession. (Eph. i. 13-14) "
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, "How much more shall your heavenly
Father give good things to them that ask him? (Matt. vii. 11)" In Luke
it is, verse 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 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. 33. 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; "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. (Acts ii. 13)" So that all the holiness and happiness of the
redeemed is in God. It is in the communications, indwelling, and acting
of the Spirit of God. Holiness and happiness is in the fruit, here and
hereafter, because God dwells in them, and they in God.
Thus God has given us the Redeemer, and it is by him
that our good is purchased. So God is the Redeemer and the price; and
he also is the good purchased. So that all that we have is of God, and
through him, and in him. "For of him, and through him, and to him, or
in him, are all things. (Rom. xii. 36)" The same in the Greek that is
here rendered to him, is rendered in him, 1 Cor. viii. 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 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 command and oblige the attention and observation. Those things that
we are not much dependent upon, it is 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 his
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;
and so much the greater the creature's emptiness, so much the greater
must the fullness of the Being be who supplies him. Our having all of
God, shows the fullness of his power and grace; our having all through
him, shows the fullness of his merit and worthiness; and our having all
in him, demonstrates his fullness of beauty, love, and happiness. And
the redeemed, by reason of the greatness of their dependence on God,
have not only so much the greater occasion, but obligation to
contemplate and acknowledge the glory and fullness of God. How
unreasonable and ungrateful should we be, if we did not acknowledge
that sufficiency and glory which we 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 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 respects 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 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.
It is certainly what God aims at in the disposition of things in
redemption (if we allow the Scriptures to be a Rev. of God's mind,)
that God should appear full, and man in himself empty, that God should
appear all, and man nothing. It is God's declared design that others
should not "glory in his presence," which implies that it is 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 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 center.
USE
1. We may here observe the marvelous wisdom of God,
in the work of redemption. God hath made man's emptiness and misery,
his low, lost, and ruined state, into which he sunk by the fall, an
occasion of the greater advancement of his own glory, as in other ways,
so particularly in this, that there is now much more universal and
apparent dependence of man on God. Though God be pleased to lift man
out of that dismal abyss of sin and woe into which he was fallen, and
exceedingly to exalt him in excellency and honor, and to a high pitch
of glory and blessedness, yet the creature hath nothing in any respect
to glory of; all the glory evidently belongs to God, all is in a mere,
and most absolute, and divine dependence on the Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost. And each person of the Trinity is equally glorified in this
work: there is an absolute dependence of the creature on every one for
all: all is of the Father, all through the Son, and all in the Holy
Ghost. Thus God appears in the work of redemption as all in all. It is
fit that he who is, and there is none else, should be the Alpha and
Omega, the first and the last, the all and the only, in this work.
2. Hence those doctrines and schemes of divinity that
are in any respect opposite to such an absolute and universal
dependence on God, derogate from his glory, and thwart the design of
our redemption. And such are those schemes that put the creature in
God's stead, in any of the mentioned respects, that exalt man into the
place of either Father, Son, or Holy Ghost, in any thing pertaining to
our redemption. However they may allow of a dependence of the redeemed
on God, yet they deny a dependence that is so absolute and universal.
They own an entire dependence on God for some things, but not for
others; they own that we depend on God for the gift and acceptance of a
Redeemer, but deny so absolute a dependence on him for the obtaining of
an interest in the Redeemer. They own an absolute dependence on the
Father for giving his Son, and on the Son for working out redemption,
but not so entire a dependence on the Holy Ghost for conversion, and a
being in Christ, and so coming to a title to his benefits. They own a
dependence on God for means of grace, but not absolutely for the
benefit and success of those means; a partial dependence on the power
of God, for obtaining and exercising holiness, but not a mere
dependence on the arbitrary and sovereign grace of God. They own a
dependence on the free grace of God for a reception into his favor, so
far that it is without any proper merit, but not as it is without being
attracted, or moved with any excellency. They own a partial dependence
on Christ, as he through whom we have life, as having purchased new
terms of life, but still hold that the righteousness through which we
have life is inherent in ourselves, as it was under the first covenant.
Now whatever scheme is inconsistent with our entire dependence on God
for all, and of having all of him, through him, and in him, it is
repugnant to the design and tenor of the gospel, and robs it of that
which God accounts its luster and glory.
3. Hence we may learn a reason why faith is that by
which we come to have an interest in this redemption; for there is
included in the nature of faith, a sensible acknowledgment of absolute
dependence on God in this affair. It is very fit that it should be
required of all, in order to their having the benefit of this
redemption, that they should be sensible of, and acknowledge, their
dependence on God for it. It is by this means that God hath contrived
to glorify himself in redemption; and it is fit that he should at least
have this glory of those that are the subjects of this redemption, and
have the benefit of it.--Faith is a sensibleness of what is real in the
work of redemption; and the soul that believes doth entirely depend on
God for all salvation, in its own sense and act. Faith abases men, and
exalts God; it gives all the glory of redemption to him alone. It is
necessary in order to saving faith, that man should be emptied of
himself, be sensible that he is "wretched, and miserable, and poor, and
blind, and naked." Humility is a great ingredient of true faith: he
that truly receives redemption, receives it as a little child,
"Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of heaven as a little child,
he shall not enter therein. (Mark x. 15)" It is the delight of a
believing soul to abase itself and exalt God alone: that is the
language of it, "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to thy name give
glory. (Psalm cxv. 1)"
4. Let us be exhorted to exalt God alone, and ascribe
to him all the glory of redemption. Let us endeavor to obtain, and
increase in, a sensibleness of our great dependence on God, to have our
eye to him alone, to mortify a self-dependent and self-righteous
disposition. Man is naturally exceeding prone to exalt himself, and
depend on his own power or goodness; as though from himself he must
expect happiness. He is prone to have respect to enjoyments alien from
God and his Spirit, as those in which happiness is to be found.--But
this doctrine should teach us to exalt God alone: as by trust and
reliance, so by praise. Let him that glorieth, glory in the Lord. Hath
any man hope that he is converted, and sanctified, and that his mind is
endowed with true excellency and spiritual beauty? That his sins are
forgiven, and he received into God's favor, and exalted to the honor
and blessedness of being his child, and an heir of eternal life? Let
him give God all the glory; who alone makes him to differ from the
worst of men in this world, or the most miserable of the damned in
hell. Hath any man much comfort and strong hope of eternal life, let
not his hope lift him up, but dispose him the more to abase himself, to
reflect on his own exceeding unworthiness of such a favor, and to exalt
God alone. Is any man eminent in holiness, and abundant in good works,
let him take nothing of the glory of it to himself, but ascribe it to
him whose "workmanship we are, created in Christ Jesus unto good works."
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