Take Up the Cross

Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus:
— Romans 15:5

To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.
— 1 Thessalonians 3:13

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
— Hebrews 4:12

Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
— 1 Corinthians 1:8-9

Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.
— 1 Thessalonians 5:24

For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.
— Isaiah 37:32

Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
— 1 Peter 1:22

The Nature of Sanctification and Gospel Holiness Explained, by John Owen. The following contains and excerpt from Chapter One of Book Four of His Work, “On the Holy Spirit, Πνευματολογια (Pneumatologia), A Discourse Concerning the Holy Spirit.”

Search the Scriptures — John 5.39

Ἐκ τῶν θείων γραφᾶν θεολογοῦμεν, καὶ θέλωσιν οἱ ἐχθροὶ, καὶ μή. Out of the written word of God come Divine teachings, though His enemies may not wish it.
— CHRYSOSTOM

London, 1674.

Chapter I.

The nature of sanctification and gospel holiness explained.

Regeneration is the way by which the Spirit forms living members for the mystical body of Christ — It is carried on by sanctification — 1 Thes 5.23 explained — God is the only author of our sanctification and holiness, as the God of peace —Sanctification described — A diligent inquiry into the nature of it, and of holiness, proved necessary — Sanctification is twofold: 1. By external dedication; 2. By internal purification — Holiness particular to the gospel and its truth — Not discernible to the eye of carnal reason — Hardly understood by believers themselves — It passes over into eternity — has a present glory in it — Is all that God requires of us, and in what sense — Promised to us — How we are to improve the command for holiness.

The second part of the work of the Holy Spirit, in order to complete and perfect the new creation, consists in the regeneration or conversion of God’s elect, the nature and manner of which we described before.

In the former work, the Spirit prepared a natural body for the Son of God, in which he was to obey and suffer according to God’s will. So too in this latter work, he prepares for Christ a mystical body, or members who are spiritually living, by uniting them to the one who is their head and their life, Col 3.4. “For as the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ,” 1 Cor 12.12. Nor does the Spirit leave this work after beginning it, which we have addressed; but it also belongs to him to continue it, to preserve it, and to carry it on to perfection. And he does this in our sanctification, whose nature and effects we will inquire into next.

In his First Epistle to the Thessalonians, chap. 5, having closely compiled a great number of weighty, particular, evangelical duties, and annexed various motives and enforcements to them, our apostle closes all his holy prescriptions with a fervent prayer for them: 1 Thes 5.23, “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and let your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ;” — or, as I would rather read the words, “And God himself, even the God of peace, sanctify you throughout, that your whole spirit and soul and body may be preserved blameless.” The reason for this is because all the graces and duties which he had enjoined them to, belonged to their sanctification which was their own duty, but it was not absolutely in their own power — it was a work of God in them and upon them. Therefore, so thatthey might be enabled for this, and might actually comply with his commands, he prays that God would thus sanctify them throughout.

He gives them assurance that this will be accomplished in them and for them, from the faithfulness (and consequently from the power and unchangeableness included in this) of the one who had undertaken to effect it: 1 Thes 5.24, “Faithful is he that calls you, who also will do it.” Now, because this assurance did not arise, nor was it taken, from anything that was peculiar to them, but merely from the consideration of the faithfulness of God himself, it is equal with respect to all those who are effectively called. They will all be infallibly sanctified throughout, and preserved blameless to the coming of Jesus Christ. This, therefore, being the great privilege of believers, and because their eternal safety absolutely depends on it, it requires our utmost diligence to search into the nature and necessity of it. This may be done from this and similar places in Scripture.

And in this place —

1. The author of our sanctification, who alone is the author, is asserted to be “God.” He is the eternal spring and only fountain of all holiness; there is nothing of sanctification in any creature except what is directly and immediately from him — there was not in our first creation. He made us in his own image. To suppose we can now sanctify or make ourselves holy is proudly to renounce and cast off our principal dependence upon him. We may as wisely and rationally contend that we do not have our being and our lives from God, as to contend that we do not have our holiness from him, when we have any. The proud opinions that educe holiness out of the principles of nature, are reduced to this. I know all men will pretend that holiness is from God; it was never denied by Pelagius himself. But many, with him, would have holiness be from God by way of nature, and not by special grace. It is this latter way which we plead for — and that which is from ourselves, or educed by any means outside our natural abilities, is not from God in that way. For as the author of grace, God and the best of corrupted nature, are opposed to each other, as we will further see afterward.

2. And therefore the author of our sanctification is emphatically expressed here as, “Even God himself.” If he does not do it, no other can do it; it is not otherwise to be worked or effected. There is no other way by which it may be brought about, nor does it absolutely fall under the power or efficacy of any means whatsoever; rather, it must be worked by God himself. He does it of himself, from his own grace; by himself, or his own power; for himself, or his own glory.

3. And that is under this special consideration: that he is the “God of peace.”

This title is ascribed to God, only by our apostle, and frequently: Rom 15.33, 16.20; 2 Cor 13.11; Phi 4.9; Heb 13.20. If it were our present purpose to discourse concerning the general nature of peace, I might show how it comprehends all order, rest, and blessedness, and all that is in them. On this account, enclosing peace in this title for God, as its only possessor and author, is part of the glory of his sovereign diadem. Everything that is contrary to it is evil and of the evil one. Indeed, all that is evil is so, because of its contrariety to peace. Therefore, God may well be styled “The God of peace.” But I may not stay to explain these things here, even though the words are so comprehensive and expressive of the whole work of sanctification, and of that holiness which is its effect. If I did, my whole discourse concerning sanctification would be founded on these things. What offers itself to our present design from this title, is the particular respect that this special property of God has to the work of our sanctification.

This is why he is said to sanctify us as the God of peace:

1. Because sanctification is a fruit and effect of that peace with himself which he has made and prepared for us by Jesus Christ; for he was in Christ reconciling the world to himself,2 Cor 5.19 destroying the enmity which entered by sin, and laying the foundation of eternal peace. It is from this that he will sanctify us, or make us holy — and without respect to this peace, God would no more sanctify us than he would sanctify the angels that have sinned, for whom there is no peace nor atonement made.

2. By the sanctification of our natures and persons, God preserves that peace with himself in its exercise, which he made and procured by the mediation of Christ; without this, peace could not be kept or continued. For in sanctification’s duties and fruits, consist all those actings towards God which a state of reconciliation, peace, and friendship require. It is holiness that keeps up a sense of peace with God, and prevents those spiritual breaches which the remainders of our enmity would occasion. Hence God, as the author of our peace, is the author of our holiness. God, even God himself, the God of peace, sanctifies us. How this is done immediately by the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of love and peace, and what the nature of this work consists in, are the things which must be more fully declared afterward. He is said here to sanctify us “universally and completely,” carrying on the work until it comes to perfection; for two things are intended in that expression:

First, That our whole nature is the subject of this work, and not any one faculty or part of it.

Second, That just as the work itself is sincere and universal, communicating all parts of real holiness to our whole nature, so it is carried on to completeness and perfection.

The apostle expresses both of these in the ensuing words, as the end and design of his prayer for them, and as the effect of the work of grace which he prayed for. For first, he makes the subject of this sanctification our whole nature, which he distributes into our entire spirits, souls, and bodies; and second, the end of the whole is preserving us blameless in the peace of God to the coming of Christ — both of these will, immediately, be more fully spoken to. This is why —

SANCTIFICATION, as described here, is the immediate work of God by his Spirit upon our whole nature, proceeding from the peace made for us by Jesus Christ, by which, being changed into his likeness, we are kept entirely in peace with God, and are preserved unblamable, or in a state of gracious acceptance with him, according to the terms of the covenant, to the end.

We must on many accounts, with utmost diligence, inquire and search into the nature of this work and its effect, which is our holiness, along with the necessity of them both. Both the importance of the truth itself, and the opposition that is made to it, render this necessary. Besides, we are declaring the special operations of the Holy Ghost.

He is not originally designated “holy” from this particular work — as though He should be called “holy” merely because he is the author of holiness in all those who are made partakers of it (which we disproved before). And yet there is a general consent, in words at least, among all who are called Christians, that this is his immediate and proper work, or that he is the only sanctifier of all those who believe. So I will take this for granted, even though some among us — who not only make a pretense of preaching holiness (whatever their practice may be), but reproach others as weakening its necessity — talk as if he had nothing in particular to do in the holiness which they plead for. For it is not news to encounter quaint and gilded discourses about holiness, intermixed with scoffing reflections on the work of the Holy Ghost in this. Therefore, in a special way, we are to attend to this work of his, lest we be found among the number of those who admit themselves, and teach their children, that “the Holy Ghost sanctifies all the elect of God,” while they not only despise the work of holiness in themselves, but deride those who plead there is an interest in this holiness as an effect of the sanctification of the Spirit. For the world abounds with such fruits of secret atheism. But our principal duty in this world is to know correctly what it means to be holy, and to be holy indeed.

One thing we must premise to keep our ensuing discourse from ambiguity. And this is, that there is mention made in the Scripture of a twofold sanctification, and consequently of a twofold holiness.

The first is common to both persons and things, and it consists in their specific dedication, consecration, or separation to the service of God by His appointment, whereby they become holy. Thus the priests and Levites of old, the ark, the altar, the tabernacle, and the temple, were sanctified and made holy; indeed in all holiness whatsoever, there is a specific dedication and separation to God. But in the sense mentioned, this was solitary and alone. No more belonged to it than this sacred separation; nor was there any other effect of this sanctification.

There is a second kind of sanctification and holiness, in which this separation to God is not the first thing done or intended, but it is a consequence and effect of this separation. It is real and internal sanctification, by communicating a principle of holiness to our natures, attended with its exercise in acts and duties of holy obedience to God. This is what we will inquire after first; and how far believers are specifically separated and dedicated to God in this and by this, will be declared afterward.

As to what we must deliver concerning this, we will make way by the ensuing observations:

1. This whole matter of sanctification and holiness is specifically joined with and limited to the doctrine, truth, and grace of the gospel; for holiness is nothing but the implanting, writing, and realizing of the gospel in our souls.

Hence it is termed in Eph 4.24, “The holiness of truth;” it is what the truth of the gospel ingenerates, and it consists in conformity to this truth. And the gospel itself is termed, Tit 1.1 “The truth which is according to godliness;” it is what declares the godliness and holiness which God requires. The prayer of our Savior for our sanctification also conforms to this: John 17.17, “Sanctify them in” (or by) “Your truth: your word is truth.” And he sanctified himself for us, to be a sacrifice, so that “we might be sanctified in the truth.” This alone is that truth which makes us free, John 8.32 — that is, free from sin and the law, and free for righteousness in holiness. It belongs neither to nature nor to the law, so as to proceed from them or be effected by them. Nature is wholly corrupted and contrary to holiness. The “law,” indeed, for certain ends, “was given by Moses,” but all “grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” There neither is nor ever was in the world, nor ever will be, the least dram of holiness, except what, flowing from Jesus Christ, is communicated to us by the Spirit, according to the truth and promise of the gospel. There may be something like it, as to its outward acts and effects (at least some of them), something that may wear its livery in the world, that is only the fruit of men’s own endeavors in compliance with their convictions; but it is not holiness, nor is it of the same kind or nature as holiness.

And men are very apt to deceive themselves with this. It is the design of corrupted reason to debase all the glorious mysteries of the gospel, and all their concerns. There is nothing in the whole mystery of godliness — from its highest crown (which is the person of Christ, “God manifested in the flesh”), to the lowest and nearest effect of this grace— that corrupted reason does not labor to deprave, dishonor, and debase it. It would have the Lord Christ in his person, to be but a mere man; in his obedience and suffering, to be but an example; in his doctrine, to be confined to the capacity and comprehension of carnal reason; and in the holiness which he communicates by the sanctification of his Spirit, to be but that moral virtue which is common among men, as the fruit of their own endeavors.

In this, some will acknowledge that men are guided and directed to great advantage by the doctrine of the gospel, and excited to this by the motions of the Holy Ghost in the dispensation of that truth; but they will not allow anything else that is more excellent, or more mysterious. But these low and carnal imaginations are exceedingly unworthy of the grace of Christ, the glory of the gospel, the mystery of the recovery of our nature, and the healing of the wound that our nature received by the entrance of sin, along with the whole design of God in our restoration to a state of communion with himself.

Moral virtue is indeed the best thing among men, of men. It far exceeds in worth, use, and satisfaction, all that the honors, powers, profits, and pleasures of the world can extend to. And it is admirable to consider what instructions are given by learned contemplative men among the heathen, concerning moral virtue: what expressions are made of its excellence, what praises of its use and beauty. The wisest of such men acknowledged that there was still something in virtue which they could only admire, and not comprehend. Very eminent instances of its practice were given in the lives and conduct of some of these men. Examples of their righteousness, moderation, temperance, and equanimity in all conditions, rise up at present to the shame and reproach of many who are called Christians. Yet as laudable as they are, they will be recalled at the last day as an aggravation of their condemnation. But to suppose that this moral virtue — whatever it is really in its own nature, or however advanced it is in the imaginations of men — is the same as that holiness of truth which believers receive by the Spirit of Christ, is to debase [evangelical holiness], overthrow it, and drive the souls of men from seeking an interest in it. Hence some Christians, who make a great pretense of friendship and respect for moral virtue, nonetheless hate, despise, and reproach what is really moral, pleasing themselves with an empty name or a withered carcass of virtue. It is in every way inferior to the righteousness of heathens as interpreted from their practice. And this, in the first place, should stir up our diligence in our inquiries after its true and real nature, so that we do not deceive ourselves with a false appearance of it, to our ruin.

2. It is our duty to inquire into the nature of evangelical holiness, as it is a fruit or effect in us of the Spirit of sanctification, because it is abstruse and mysterious, and indiscernible to the eye of carnal reason. We may speak of it in some sense as Job spoke of wisdom:

“Where does wisdom come from? And where is the place of understanding? It is hidden from the eyes of all living, and kept away from the fowls of heaven. Destruction and death say, ‘We have heard the fame of this with our ears. God understands the way of this, and he knows its place…’ And to man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding,” Job 28.20-23, 28.

This is that wisdom whose ways, residence, and paths, are so hidden from the natural reason and understandings of men. No man, I say, by his mere sight and conduct, can rightly know and understand the true nature of evangelical holiness. And it is therefore no wonder that its doctrine is despised by many as an enthusiastic fancy. Wisdom is about the things of the Spirit of God; indeed, it is the principal effect of all his operations in us and towards us; and these “things of God no man knows, but the Spirit of God,” 1 Cor 2.11.

It is by the Spirit alone that we are enabled to “know the things that are freely given to us by God,” verse 12, as this is, if we ever receive anything from him in this world, or will do so to eternity. “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have they entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love him.” Comprehending these things is not the work of any of our natural faculties, but “God reveals them to us by his Spirit,” verses 9, 10. Hence it often happens, as it did in the Jews and Pharisees of old, that those who are most zealous and industrious for a legal righteousness — walking in strict attendance to duties, in proportion to their light and convictions, pretending to be righteous, and bearing some resemblance to it — are the most fierce and implacable enemies of true evangelical holiness. They do not know it, and therefore they hate it; they have embraced something else in its place and stead, and therefore they despise and persecute it; as it befalls those who embrace error for truth in any kind.

3. Believers themselves are often greatly unacquainted with holiness, either as to their apprehension of its true nature, causes, and effects, or at least as to their own interest and concern in it. Just as, of ourselves, we do not know the things worked in us by the Spirit of God, so we seldom attend as we should to his instructing us in them. It may seem strange indeed, that because all believers are sanctified and made holy, they would not understand or apprehend what is worked in them and for them, and what abides with them. But, alas! How little we know of ourselves, of what we are, and where our powers and faculties come from, even in natural things! Do we know how the members of the body are fashioned in the womb? We are apt to seek after and give reasons for all things, and to describe the progress of the production of our natures from first to last, if not to satisfy ourselves, then to please and amuse others. For “vain man would be wise, though he is born like the wild ass’s colt.” Job 11.12 The best results of our consideration of this, is that of the psalmist: “You, O Lord, have possessed my inward parts: you have covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise you; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are your works; and my soul knows that right well. My substance was not hidden from you when I was made in secret, and skillfully worked in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet imperfect, and in your book were written all my members, which in continuance were fashioned when there was as yet none of them,” Psa 139.13-16.

By diligent consideration of these things, we may obtain a firm foundation to stand on, in a holy admiration of the infinite wisdom and goodness of that sovereign Architect who has raised this fabric to his own glory; and whatever we attempt beyond that, is vanity and curiosity.

How little we know of these souls of ours! Everything we do is by their powers and operations, which are consequential to their being. Now, these things are our own naturally — they dwell and abide with us; they are we, and we are they, and nothing else. Yet it is no easy thing for us to have a reflexive and intimate acquaintance with them. And is it strange if we are as much in the dark as to this new nature, this new creature, which comes from above, from God in heaven, and with which our natural reason has no acquaintance? It is new, it is wonderful; it is a supernatural work, and it is known only by supernatural revelation.

Besides, there are other things which pretend to be this gospel holiness and are not, by which unspeakable multitudes are deluded and deceived. With some, any reformation of life and abstinence from flagitious sins, along with the performance of the common duties of religion, is all they suppose is required for this part of their duty. Others contend with vehemence to substitute moral virtues for it, though they do not know what they mean by it. And there is a work of the law which, in its internal and external fruits, in the works of righteousness and duties, is hardly to be distinguished from it, and then only by spiritual light and measures. This also adds to the difficulty of rightly understanding it, and should add to our diligent inquiry into it.

4. We must also consider that holiness is not confined to this life, but passes over into eternity and glory. Death has no power over it, to destroy it or divest us of it; for —

(1.) Its acts are indeed transient, but its fruits abide forever in their reward. Those who “die in the Lord rest from their labors, and their works follow them,” Rev 14.13. “God is not unrighteous to forget their labor of love,” Heb 6.10. There is no effect or fruit of holiness, not the least, not even giving a cup of cold water to a disciple of Christ in the name of a disciple, that will not be held in everlasting remembrance, and abide forever in its eternal reward. Nothing will be lost, but all its fragments will be gathered up and kept safe forever. Everything else, however specious it is in this world, will be burnt up and consumed, as hay and stubble;1 Cor 3.12 — when the least, the lowliest,

the most secret fruit of holiness, will be gathered as gold and silver, durable substance, into God’s treasury, and become a part of the riches of the inheritance of the saints in glory. Let no soul fear the loss of any labor, in any of the duties of holiness, in the most secret contest against sin, for inward purity, for outward fruitfulness; in the mortification of sin, resistance of temptations, improvement of grace; in patience, moderation, self-denial, contentment — all that you know and what you do not know, will be revived, recalled, and abide eternally in your reward.

Our Father, who now “sees in secret,” will one day reward openly; and the more we abound in these things, the more God will be glorified in the recompense of reward. But this is not all that I intend.

(2.) It abides forever, and passes over into glory in its principle or nature. The love with which we now adhere to God, and by which we act the obedience of faith towards the saints, does not fail; it does not end when glory comes on, but is part of it, 1 Cor 13.8. It is true, some gifts will be done away as useless in a state of perfection and glory, as the apostle discusses there; and some graces will cease, as to some special acts and particular exercise of them, such as faith and hope, so far as they respect things that are unseen and future; — but all those graces by which holiness is constituted, and in which it consists, as to the substance of them, as they contain the image of God, as we are united and adhere to God in Christ by them, will abide forever in their present nature, improved into perfection. In our knowledge of them, therefore, we have our principal insight into our eternal condition in glory; and just as this is a firm foundation of our consolation, so it is a part of our highest joy in this world. Is it not a matter of unspeakable joy and refreshment, that these poor bodies we carry about us, after they have been made a prey to death, dust, worms, and corruption, will be raised and restored to life and immortality, freed from pain, sickness, weakness and weariness, and vested with those qualities, in conformity to Christ’s glorious body, which we do not yet understand? It is also true, that these souls which now animate and rule in us, will be delivered from all their darkness, ignorance, vanity, instability, and alienation from spiritual and heavenly things. But this is not all. Those poor low graces, which now live and are acting in us, will be continued, preserved, purified, and perfected; but in their nature, they will be the same as they are now, as our souls and bodies will be.

That love by which we now adhere to God as our highest good; that faith by which we are united to Christ, our everlasting head; that delight in any of the ways or ordinances of God in which he is enjoyed, as he has promised his presence in them; that love and good will which we have for all those in whom the Spirit resides, and on whom the image of Christ abides; with the entire principle of spiritual life and holiness, which has now begun in any of us — will be completely purified, enhanced, perfected, and pass into glory. That very holiness which we attain here, those inclinations and dispositions, those frames of mind, those powers and abilities in obedience and adherence to God, which contend here with the weight of their own weakness and imperfection, and with the opposition that is continually made against them by the body of death that is utterly to be abolished, will be gloriously perfected into immutable habits, unchangeably acting our souls in the enjoyment of God.

And this also manifests of how much concern it is to us to be acquainted with its doctrine, and how much more we are to be really interested in it. Indeed —

5. There is spiritual and heavenly glory in it in this world. From this, the church (the “King’s daughter”) is said to be “all glorious within,” Psa 45.13. Her inward adorning with the graces of the Spirit, making her beautiful in holiness, is called “glory;” and so it is. So also the progress and increase of believers in it, is called being “changed from glory to glory,” by our apostle (2 Cor 3.18) — from one degree of glorious grace to another. This holiness is put upon us by the free grace of God; and as such, it is our only beauty in his sight, next to the loveliness of the righteousness of Christ — thus it has a real spiritual glory in it. It is the first- fruits of heaven. And as the apostle argues concerning the Jews, that if the “first- fruits” were holy, then the whole lump is holy, so too on the other side, if the whole “weight” (as he calls it) and fullness of our future enjoyment is glory, then we are the first-fruits in their measure also.

There is in this holiness, as we will see afterward, a ray of eternal light, a principle of eternal life, and the entire nature of that love by which we will eternally adhere to God. The divine nature, the new immortal creature, the life of God, the life of Christ, are all comprised in it. It represents to God the glory of his own image renewed in us; and it represents to the Lord Christ the fruits of his Spirit and the effect of his mediation, in which he sees the travail of his soul, and is satisfied.Isa 53.11 There is therefore nothing more to be abhorred than those carnal, low, and unworthy thoughts which some men vent about this glorious work of the Holy Spirit, who would have it consist entirely in a legal righteousness or moral virtue.

6. This is what God indispensably requires of us. We must put off the full prosecution of this consideration until our arguments for the necessity of it, which will ensue in their proper place. At present I will show that God not only indispensably requires holiness in all believers, but also that this is all that he requires or expects from them; for it comprises the whole duty of man. And this surely renders it necessary for us to know both what it is, and also to diligently apply ourselves to obtaining an assured participation in it. For what servant who has any sense of his relationship and duty, if he is satisfied that his master requires only one thing of him, would not endeavor to be acquainted with it and perform it? Some indeed say that their holiness (such as it is) is the chief or only design of the gospel. If they mean that it is the first and principal design of God in and by the gospel, not only as to its preceptive part, but also as to its doctrinal and promissory parts — those from which it is principally and emphatically designated — then it is a fantasy.

God’s great and first design, in and by the gospel, is to eternally glorify himself, his wisdom, goodness, love, grace, righteousness, and holiness, by Jesus Christ, Eph 1.5-6. And in order to attain this great and supreme end, God has designed the gospel; and he designs by the gospel (which gives the gospel its design) —

(1.) To reveal his love and grace for lost sinners, with the way it is communicated through the mediation of his Son incarnate, as the only means by which He will be glorified, and by which they may be saved, Acts 26.18.

(2.) To prevail with men — in and by the dispensation of its truth, and the encouragement of its promises — to renounce their sins and all other expectations of relief or satisfaction; and to take themselves by faith to that way of life and salvation which it declares to them, 2 Cor 5.18-21; Col 1.25-28.

(3.) To be the means and instrument of conveying to them, and giving them a title to and right in, that grace and mercy, that life and righteousness, which is revealed and tendered to them by the gospel, Mark 16.16.

(4.) To be the way and means of communicating to the elect the Spirit of Christ, with grace and strength, enabling them to believe and receive the atonement, Gal 3.2.

(5.) Hereby to give them union with Christ as their spiritual and mystical head; and also to fix their hearts and souls, in their choicest acts — in their faith, trust, confidence, and love — immediately upon the Son of God, as incarnate, and as their mediator, John 14.1.

Therefore, the first and principal end of the gospel towards us is to invite and encourage lost sinners to faith in, and approval of, the way of grace, life, and salvation by Jesus Christ. Without first complying with this, the gospel has nothing more to do with sinners, but leaves them to justice, the law, and themselves. But now, upon supposing these things, and giving glory to God by faith in them, the whole of what God requires of us in the gospel by way of duty is this: that we should be holy, and abide in the use of those means by which holiness may be attained and improved in us. For if he requires anything else of us, it must be on one of these other accounts:

(1.) To make atonement for our sins; or, (2.) To be our righteousness before him; or, (3.) To merit life and salvation by it; or,

(4.) To supererogate on behalf of others.

No other end can be thought of which God would require of us, besides the true ends of holiness. And so, all false religion in the world leans on a supposition that God requires something of us with respect to these other ends.
But —

(1.) He requires nothing of us (which we had all the reason in the world to expect that he would) to make atonement or satisfaction for our sins, that might compensate the injuries we have done him by our apostasy and rebellion.

For we had multiplied sins against him, lived in enmity and opposition to him, and contracted inexcusable and immeasurable debts upon our own souls. Terms of peace now being proposed to us, who would not think that the first thing required of us would be that we should make some kind of satisfaction to divine justice for all our enormous and heinous provocations? Indeed, who is there that naturally thinks otherwise? So this man apprehended, who was contriving a way in his own mind, how he might come to an agreement with God:

Mic. 6.6-7, “With what will I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? Will I come before him with burnt-offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousand rivers of oil? Will I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”

This or something of its nature seems to be a very reasonable inquiry for a guilty self-condemned sinner, when he first entertains thoughts of reaching an agreement with the holy sin-avenging God. This was the foundation of all that cruel and expensive superstition which the world was in bondage to for so many ages. Mankind generally thought that the principal thing required of them in religion was to atone and pacify the wrath of the divine Power, and to compensate for what had been done against Him. From this came their sacrifices of hecatombs of beasts, of mankind, of their children and of themselves, as I declared elsewhere. And the same principle is still deep-rooted in the minds of convinced sinners. And this has founded many an abbey, monastery, college, and alms-house. For the priests who set it to work, always shared deeply in the fruits of this superstition. But it is quite otherwise in the gospel. There is declared and tendered to sinners an absolute free pardon of all their sins, without any satisfaction or compensation made on their part, that is, by themselves — rather, it is on account of the atonement made for them by Jesus Christ. And all attempts or endeavors after works or duties of obedience that are in any respect done to satisfy God for sin, or to be meritorious for pardon, subvert and overthrow the whole gospel. This is why, in answer to the inquiry mentioned, the reply in the prophet is that God looks for none of these things. All such contrivances were wholly vain: “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” Mic. 6.8. This last expression comprises the whole of our covenant obedience, Gen 17.1, just as the two former expressions are eminent and particular instances of it.

(2.) God requires nothing of us by way of righteousness for our justification for the future. We might also have justly expected that he would require this of us; for we must have righteousness, or we cannot be accepted by him. And here also, many are at a loss. They resolve that it is absurd and inconsistent to think of peace with God without some righteousness of their own, for which they may be justified before him. Rather than forego that understanding, they let go of all other thoughts of peace and acceptance. “Being ignorant of the righteousness of God, they go about to establish their own righteousness, and do not submit themselves to the righteousness of God.” Nor will they acquiesce in it, “that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes,” Rom 10.4. But so it is: God does not require this of us in the gospel, for we are “justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,” Rom 3.24. We “therefore conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law,” Rom 3.28. So also, Rom 8.3-4.786 Nor is there any mention in the whole gospel of God’s requiring a righteousness in us on account of which we should be justified before him, or in his sight. For the justification by works mentioned in James, consists in evidencing and declaring our faith by them.Jas 2.21-23

(3.) God does not require anything of us by which we should purchase or merit for ourselves life and salvation: for “by grace are we saved through faith; not of works, lest any man should boast,” Eph 2.8-9. God saves us neither by nor for the” works of righteousness which we have done,” but “according to his mercy,” Tit 3.5. So that even though, on the one side, the “wages of sin is death” — justice being proportionate between sin and punishment —there is none between our obedience and our salvation. And therefore “eternal life is the gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord,” Rom 6.23. God therefore requires nothing at our hands under this notion or consideration, nor is it possible that in our condition any such thing should be required of us. For whatever we can do, is due beforehand and on other accounts; and so it can have no prospect to merit what is to come. Who can merit anything by simply doing his duty? Our Savior so plainly proves the contrary, that none can doubt it any more than they can doubt his truth and authority, Luke 17.10. Nor can we do anything that is acceptable to Him except what is worked in us by his grace. This overthrows the whole nature of merit, which requires that whatever we would do to deserve something from another, it must in every way be our own, and not his more than ours. Nor is there any proportionality between our duties and the reward of the eternal enjoyment of God. For these duties are entirely weak, imperfect, and tainted with sin, so that none of them is able to make good its own station for any end or purpose. And besides this, in the strictness of divine justice, they come altogether infinitely short of the desert of an eternal reward by any rule of divine justice.

And if anyone says, “This merit for our works does not depend on, nor is it measured by, strict justice, but wholly by the gracious condescension of God, who has appointed and promised to reward them,”

I answer, first, that this perfectly overthrows the whole nature of merit; for the nature of merit consists entirely and absolutely in this: that “to him that works, the reward is not reckoned of grace, but of debt,” Rom 4.4. And these two are contrary and inconsistent; for what is “by grace is no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace;” and what is “of works is no more of grace, otherwise work is no more work,” Rom 11.6. Those who would found our merit in the grace of God, endeavor to unite and reconcile those things which God has everlastingly separated and opposed.

And I say, secondly, That although God freely, graciously, and bountifully rewards our duties of obedience, and on account of his covenant and promise he is said to be (and he is) righteous in doing so, yet he declares everywhere in Scripture that what he does is an act of mere grace in himself, which has no respect to anything except the interposition and mediation of Jesus Christ. In this sense, in the gospel God requires nothing at all of us.

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