His Work

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
~ John 14:26

And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
~ Ezekiel 36:27

Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
~ Jude 1:24

Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.
~ Psa 65:4

But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
~ Jeremiah 31:33

The Defilement of Sin, and the Positive Work of the Spirit in the Sanctification of Believers, by John Owen. The following contains excerpts from his work, “On the Holy Spirit (Pneumatologia)”.

“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

1674.

I. There is worked and preserved in the minds and souls of all believers, by the Spirit of God, a supernatural principle or habit of grace and holiness, by which they are made fit for and enabled to live to God, and perform that obedience which he requires and accepts through Christ in the covenant of grace. It is essentially or specifically distinct from all natural habits, both intellectual and moral, however or by whatever means they are acquired or improved.

II. There is an immediate work or effectual operation of the Holy Spirit by his grace required for every act of holy obedience, whether it is only internal in faith and love, or external also — that is, for all the holy actings of our understandings, wills, and affections, and for all our duties of obedience in walking before God.

I. I affirm that the first of these assertions is not only true, but of so great a weight and importance that our hope of life and salvation depends on it; it is the second great principle constituting our Christian profession. There are four things that are to be confirmed concerning it:

1. That there is such a supernatural habit or principle infused or created in believers by the Holy Ghost, and always abiding in them.

2. That, according to the nature of all habits, it inclines and disposes the mind, will, and affections, to acts of holiness suitable to its own nature, and with regard to its proper end, and to make us fit to live to God.

3. That it not only inclines and disposes the mind, but it gives it power, and enables it to live to God in all holy obedience.

4. That it differs specifically from all other habits, intellectual or moral, that we may acquire or attain by any means, or spiritual gifts that may be conferred on any persons whatsoever…

…Therefore, this is what I mean by it: a virtue, a power, a principle of spiritual life and grace, worked, created, infused into our souls, and inlaid in all our faculties, constantly abiding and unchangeably residing in them, which is antecedent to, and the next cause of, all acts of true holiness whatsoever. And as was said, this is what the nature of holiness consists in, and from which, in those who are adult, the actual discharge of all duties and works of holiness is inseparable. This always abides in and with all who are sanctified. This is why they are always holy, and not holy only when they are actually exercised in the duties of holiness. By this principle, they are prepared, disposed, and enabled to all duties of obedience, as we will show immediately; and it is by its influence in their acts and duties, that they become holy, and not otherwise.

To further explain this, I will only add three things:

(1.) That this habit or principle, thus worked and abiding in us, does not, if I may say so, firm its own station,947 or abide and continue in us by its own natural efficacy, in adhering to the faculties of our souls. Habits that are acquired by many actions have a natural efficacy to preserve themselves, until some opposition that is too hard for them, prevails against them — which is frequently (though not easily) done. But this principle is preserved in us by the constant powerful actings and influence of the Holy Ghost. He that works it in us, also preserves it in us. And the reason for this is because the spring of it is in Christ Jesus, our Head; it is only an emanation of virtue and power from him to us, by the Holy Ghost. If this is not actually and always continued, whatever is in us would die and wither of itself. See Eph 4.15-16; Col 3.3; John 4.14.948 It is in us like the fructifying sap is in a branch of the vine or olive. It is there really and formally, and it is the next cause of the fruit-bearing of the branch.

Yet it does not live and abide by itself, but only by a continual emanation and communication from the root; let that communication be intercepted, and the branch quickly withers. So it is with this principle in us with respect to its root, Christ Jesus.

(2.) Though this principle or habit of holiness is of the same kind or nature inall believers, in all who are sanctified, yet there are very distinct degrees of it in them. In some it is stronger, livelier, more vigorous and flourishing; in others it is weaker, feebler, and less active; this is in such great variety, and on so many occasions, that it cannot be spoken to here.

(3.) Even though this habit and principle is not acquired by any or many acts of duty or obedience, yet it is preserved, increased, strengthened, and improved by way of duty. God has appointed that we should live in the exercise of this habit. And in and by the multiplication of its acts and duties, it is kept alive and stirred up, without which it will be weakened and decay.

2. This being what I intend as to its substance, we must next show that there is such a spiritual habit or principle of spiritual life worked in believers, and in which their holiness consists. A few of many testimonies will suffice to quickly confirm it.

Its work is expressed in Deu 30.6, “The Lord your God will circumcise your heart, to love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, that you may live.” The end of holiness is that we may “live;” and the principal work of holiness is to “love the Lord our God with all our heart and soul.” This is the effect of God’s “circumcising our hearts,” without which it will not occur. Every act of love and fear, and consequently every duty of holiness whatsoever, is consequential to God’s circumcising of our hearts.

But it would seem that this work of God is “only a removal of hindrances,” and it does not express the conferring of the principle which we assert. I answer that, even though it would be easy to demonstrate that this work of circumcising our hearts cannot be effected without implanting in them the principle pleaded for, yet it will suffice at present to evince from this that this effectual work of God upon our hearts is antecedently necessary for all acts of holiness in us. To this end, God writes his law in our hearts: Jer 31.33, “I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts.” The habit or principle which we have described, is nothing but a transcript of the law of God implanted and abiding in our hearts, by which we comply with and respond to the whole will of God in this. This is holiness in the habit and principle of it. This is more fully expressed in Eze 36.26-27, “A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will keep my judgments, and do them.”

The whole of all that actual obedience and all those duties of holiness which God requires of us, is contained in these expressions: “You will walk in my statutes,and keep my judgments to do them.” Antecedent to this, and as the principle and cause of this, God gives a “new heart” and a “new spirit.” This new heart is a heart with the law of God written in it, as mentioned before; and this new spirit is the habitual inclination of that heart to the life of God, or all duties of obedience. And in this, the whole of what we have asserted is confirmed — namely, that antecedent to all duties and acts of holiness whatsoever, and as the next cause of them, there is by the Holy Ghost a new spiritual principle or habit of grace communicated to us and abiding in us, from which we are made and designated holy.

It is yet more expressly revealed and declared in the New Testament, John 3.6. There is a work of the Spirit of God upon us in our regeneration: we are “born again of the Spirit.” And there is the product of this work of the Spirit of God in us, which is born in this new birth, and that is “spirit” also. It is something existing in us that is of a spiritual nature and spiritual efficacy. It is something abiding in us, acting in continual opposition against the flesh or sin (Gal 5.17),

and toward all duties of obedience to God.949 And until this spirit is formed in us — that is, until our whole soul has been furnished with spiritual power and ability — we cannot perform any one act that is spiritually good, nor any one act of vital obedience. This spirit, or spiritual nature, which is born of the Spirit, and by which alone we are enabled to live to God, is that habit of grace or principle of holiness which we intend.

And so it is also called a new creature: “If any man is in Christ he is a new creature,” 2Cor 5.17. It is something that, by an almighty creating act of the power of God by his Spirit, has the nature of a living creature, produced in the souls of all who are in Christ Jesus. And just as it is called the “new creature,” so it is also called a “divine nature,” 2Pet 1.4 — and a nature is the principle of all operations. This is what we plead for: The Spirit of God creates a new nature in us, which is the principle and next cause of all acts of the life of God. Where this is not found, whatever else there may be, there is no evangelical holiness. This is that by which we are enabled to live to God, to fear him, to walk in his ways, and to yield obedience according to his mind and will. See Eph 4.23- 24; Col 3.10. The Scripture plentifully testifies to this; but I must add that, as to the proper nature or essence of it, no mind can apprehend it, no tongue can express it, and none can perfectly understand its glory. A few things may be added to illustrate it.

(1.) This is that by which we have union with Jesus Christ, the head of thechurch. Originally and efficiently the Holy Spirit dwelling in him and us, is the cause of this union; but formally this new principle of grace is the cause. It is that by which we become “members of his flesh and of his bones,” Eph 5.30. Eve was of Adam — she was one with him, because she had the same nature with him, and that derived from him, which the apostle alludes to. So too, we are of Christ, partakers of the same divine nature with him. Thus, the one who is “joined to the Lord is one spirit,” 1Cor 6.17; that is, he is of one and the same spiritual nature with him, Heb 2.11, 14. How excellent is this grace, which gives us our interest in and continuity unto the body of Christ, and to his person as our head! It is the same grace in its kind, which is in the holy nature of Christ, and it renders us one with him.

(2.) Our likeness and conformity to God consists in this; for it is the reparation of his image in us, Eph 4.23-24; Col 3.10. I hope that I apprehend something concerning this image of God in believers, and of their likeness to him — how great a privilege it is, what honor, safety, and security depend on it, what duties are required of us on account of it — but to perfectly conceive or express the nature and glory of it, we cannot attain to. Yet we should learn to adore the grace from which it proceeds and is bestowed on us, to admire the love of Christ and the efficacy of his mediation by which it is renewed in us — but the thing itself is ineffable.

(3.) It is our life, our spiritual life, by which we live to God. This life is the foundation and sum of all excellencies; without it, we are dead in trespasses and sins; and it has been declared how we are quickened by the Holy Ghost. But this is the internal principle of life, from which all vital acts in the life of God proceed. And just as we do not well know what the true form and essence of natural life is, and we only find it, discern it, and judge it by its effects, much less do we know the form and essence of spiritual life, which is far more excellent and glorious. This is that life which is “hidden with Christ in God,” Col 3.3; in these words, the apostle draws a veil over it, knowing that we are unable to steadfastly behold its glory and beauty.

But before I proceed to a further description of this principle of holiness in its effects, as laid down before, it may not be amiss practically to recall these general considerations of its nature. And our own concern in this truth, which is no empty notion, will be declared in this. —

First, We may learn from this not to satisfy ourselves, or not to rest, in any acts or duties of obedience, in any good works, however good and useful in themselves, or however multiplied by us, unless there is a vital principle ofholiness in our hearts.

A few honest actions, a few useful duties, satisfy some persons that they are as holy as they should be, or as they need to be. And some men’s religion has consisted in multiplying outward duties, so that they might be meritorious for themselves and others. But God expressly rejects not only such duties, but the greatest multitude of them, and their most frequent reiteration, if the heart is not antecedently purified and sanctified, if it is not possessed with the principle of grace and holiness asserted in Isa 1.11-15.951 Such acts and duties may be the effects of other causes, and the fruits of other principles. Mere legal convictions will produce them, and put men on a course to do them. Fears, afflictions, terrors of conscience, dictates of reason, improved by education and confirmed by custom, will direct, and indeed compel, men to observe them. But all is lost — men only labor in the fire about them Hab 2.13 — if the soul is not prepared with this spiritual principle of habitual holiness, worked in it immediately by the Holy Ghost. Yet we must observe these two things here:

(1.) That in so far as these duties, whether of morality or religion, of piety or divine worship, are good in themselves, they ought to be approved, and men ought to be encouraged in them. There are various ways by which the best duties may be abused and misapplied, as when men rest in them as if they were meritorious, or as if they were the matter of their justification before God. For this is known to be an effectual means to divert the souls of sinners from faith in Christ for life and salvation, Rom 9.31-32, 10.3-4.952 And there are reasons and causes that render them unacceptable before God with respect to the persons by whom they are performed — such as when they are not done in faith, for which Cain’s sacrifice was rejected; and when the heart is not previously sanctified and prepared with a spiritual principle of obedience. Yet on neither of these grounds or pretenses can we, or should we, condemn or undervalue the duties themselves, which are good in their own nature; nor should we take men away from performing them. Indeed, it would be greatly desired if we were to see more of the fruits of moral virtues and duties of religious piety among unsanctified persons than we do. The world is not in a condition to spare the good acts of bad men. But we may do this, and as we are called, we should do this: When men are engaged in a course of duties and good works, on principles that will not abide and endure the trial, or for ends that will spoil and corrupt all that they do, we may tell them (as our Savior told the young man who gave that great account of his diligence in all legal duties), “One thing is still lacking for you;” — “You lack faith, or you lack Christ, or you lack a spiritual principle of evangelical holiness; without this, all that you do will be lost and come to no account at the last day.”

The due assertion of grace never was, nor ever can be, an obstruction to any duty of obedience. However, when some dedicate themselves to those works or actings under the name of “duties” and “obedience to God,” which (although they make a plausible show and appearance in the world) are evil in themselves, or which God does not require of men, we may speak against them, deny them, and take men away from them.

So persecution has been looked on as a “good work.” Men supposed they did God good service when they slayed the disciples of Christ; and men gave their goods to “pious uses,” as they were called (indeed, impious abuses), to have others pray for their souls and expiate their sins when they had left this world. These and countless other similar, pretended duties may be judged, condemned, and exploded, without the least fear of deterring men from obedience.

(2.) That wherever there is this principle of holiness in the heart of those who are adult, there will be the fruits and effects of it in the life, in all duties of righteousness, godliness, and holiness; for the main work and end of this principle is to enable us to comply with that “grace of God which teaches us to deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world,” Tit 2.11-12. What we press for is the great direction of our Savior, “Make the tree good, and the fruit will be good also.” There can be no more vile and sordid hypocrisy than for anyone to pretend to an inward, habitual sanctification, while their lives are barren in the fruits of righteousness and duties of obedience. Wherever this root is found, it will assuredly bear fruit.

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