Take Up the Cross

But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.
— John 15:26-27

That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
— Ephesians 1:10-13

But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
— Titus 3:4-6

Work of the Holy Spirit with Respect to the Head of the New Creation – the Human Nature of Christ, by John Owen. The following contains Chapter Three of Book Two of his work, “Pneumatologia (ΠΝΕΥΜΑΤΟΛΟΓΙΑ)”, or “On the Holy Spirit.” 1674.

Search the Scriptures, etc. — John v. 39

Chapter III.

Special works of the Holy Spirit in the new creation — His work on the human nature of Christ — How this work could be, considering the union of the human nature to, and in, the person of the Son of God — Assumption of the human nature into union is the only act of the person of the Son towards it — Personal union is the only necessary consequence of this assumption — All other acts of the person of the Son, in and on the human nature, are voluntary — The Holy Spirit is the immediate efficient cause of all divine operations — -He is the Spirit of the Son or of the Father — How all the works of the Trinity are undivided — The body of Christ was formed in the womb by the Holy Ghost, but it was the substance of the blessed Virgin; why this was necessary — Christ is not thereby the Son of the Holy Ghost according to the human nature — The difference between the assumption of the human nature by the Son, and its creation by the Holy Ghost — The conception of Christ, how it is ascribed to the Holy Ghost, and to the blessed Virgin — Reasons for the espousal of the blessed Virgin to Joseph before the conception of Christ — The actual purity and holiness of the soul and body of Christ from his miraculous conception.

The dispensation and work of the Holy Ghost in this new creation respect, First, The Head of the church — the Lord Jesus Christ — in his human nature as it was to be, and as it was united to the person of the Son of God. Secondly, The members of that mystical body, the church, in all that belongs to them as such.

We will consider them under these two heads.

CHRIST AS HEAD OF THE CHURCH

FIRST, therefore, we are to inquire what the operations of the Holy Ghost are in reference to Jesus Christ, the Head of the church. And these were of two sorts:

Those operations of which the person of Christ, in his human nature, was the immediate object.

Those the Spirit performs towards others on Christ’s behalf; that is, with direct respect to his person and office.

I. RESPECTING THE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST

Yet, before we begin with the first sort of the Spirit’s works, an objection of seeming weight and difficulty must be removed — though I rather do it because our answer to it will make the whole matter addressed plainer and more familiar to us. It may therefore be (and is) objected that, “Because the human nature of Christ is assigned as the immediate object of these operations of the Holy Ghost, and that nature was immediately, inseparably, and undividedly united to the person of the Son of God, there does not seem to be any need, nor indeed any place, for such operations of the Spirit. For could not the Son of God himself, in his own person, perform all those things which are requisite to form, support, sanctify, and preserve his own nature without the special assistance of the Holy Ghost? And it is not easy to understand how an immediate work of the Holy Ghost could be interposed between the one nature and the other (divine and human), in the same person.”

This seeming difficulty is vehemently pressed by the Socinians, who hope to entangle our whole doctrine of the blessed Trinity and incarnation of the Son of God thereby. But express testimonies of Scripture, with the clear and evident analogy of faith, will carry us easily and safely through this seeming difficulty. To this end we may observe that —

1. The only singular immediate act of the person of the Son on the human nature was the assumption of it into subsistence with himself. The Father and the Spirit had no interest in this nor concurrence, “but by approbation and consent,” as Damascen puts it. For the Father did not assume the human nature — he was not incarnate; nor did the Holy Spirit do so; but this was the unique act and work of the Son. See John 1.14; Rom 1.3; Gal 4.4; Phi 2.6, 7; Heb 2.14, 16. I have expounded these passages elsewhere, with many others to the same purpose, and vindicated them from the exceptions of the Socinians.

2. The only necessary consequence of this assumption of the human nature, or the incarnation of the Son of God, is the personal union of Christ, or the inseparable subsistence of the assumed human nature in the person of the Son. This was necessary and indissoluble, so that it was not impeached or shaken in the least by the temporary dissolution of that nature by the separation of the soul and body.

For the union of the soul and body in Christ did not constitute him a person, such that their dissolution would destroy his personality; rather, he was a person by uniting both soul and body to the Son of God.

3. All other actings of God in the person of the Son towards the human nature were voluntary, and did not necessarily ensue from the union mentioned. For there was no transfusion of the properties of one nature into the other, nor any real physical communication of divine essential excellencies to the humanity. Those who seem to contend for any such thing, resolve it all at last into a true assignation (by way of predication) as necessary on the union mentioned; but

they do not contend for a real transfusion of the properties of one nature into the other. Rather, these communications were voluntary. From this come those temporary dispensations when, under his great trial, the human nature complained of its desertion and dereliction by the divine. 
For this forsaking was not as to personal union, or necessary subsistence and support, but as to voluntary communications of light and consolation. Hence Christ himself declares that the human nature was not the resident subject of omniscience; for he says so in Mark 13.32, “But of that day and that hour no man knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” The exposition of this verse, given by some of the ancients, is that the Lord Christ does not say this absolutely, but he says only “that he did not know it to declare it to them.” This is unworthy of him; for then no more did the Father know it, seeing that he has not declared it either. But this was the opinion only of some of them; the more advised thought otherwise. Rather, Christ speaks of himself with respect to his human nature only; and as to that, all communications were voluntary. So after his ascension, God gave him that Revelation which he made to the apostle, Rev 1.1. The human nature, therefore, however inconceivably advanced, is not the subject of infinite, essentially divine properties. And the actings of the Son of God towards that nature, consequent to its assumption, and that indissoluble subsistence in its union which ensued upon that assumption, are voluntary.

4. The Holy Ghost, as we proved before, is the immediate, unique, and efficient cause of all external divine operations: for God works by his Spirit; or in his Spirit, God immediately applies the power and efficacy of the divine excellencies to the divine operations. Thus the same work is equally the work of each person.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Son, no less than the Spirit of the Father. He proceeds from the Son, as from the Father. He is the “Spirit of the Son,” Gal 4.6. And hence the Spirit is the immediate operator of all divine acts of the Son himself, even on his own human nature. Whatever the Son of God worked in, by, or upon the human nature, he did it by the Holy Ghost, who is his Spirit, just as he is the Spirit of the Father.

To clarify the whole matter, it must yet be further observed that the immediate actings of the Holy Ghost are not spoken of him absolutely, nor ascribed to him exclusively, with reference to the other persons and their concurrence in them. It is a saying that is generally admitted, that the operations of the Trinity, as to their externals, are indivisible. There is no division in the external operations of God such that any one of them should be the act of one person, without the concurrence of the others. The reason for this is because the nature of God, which is the principle of all divine operations, is one and the same — undivided in them all. Therefore, because they are the effects of divine power, and that power is essentially the same in each person, the works themselves belong equally to them. It is as if three men could see by the same eye — there would be but one act of seeing, and it would equally be the act of all three. But the things we emphasize are ascribed eminently to the Holy Ghost, on account of the order of his subsistence in the holy Trinity — as he is the Spirit of the Father and the Son. Because of this, in every divine act, the authority of the Father, the love and wisdom of the Son, with the immediate efficacy and power of the Holy Ghost, are to be considered. Indeed, there is such a distinction in their operations, that one divine act may produce a particular respect and relation to one person, and not to another; just as the assumption of the human nature did to the Son; for only he was incarnate.

Such are the special actings of the Holy Ghost towards the head of the church, our Lord Jesus Christ, in this work of the new creation, as we will demonstrate in various instances:

First, The framing, forming, and miraculous conception of the body of Christ in the womb of the blessed Virgin was the particular and special work of the Holy Ghost.

I acknowledge that this work is ascribed to the Father in respect to the designation, and to the authoritative disposal of things; for so the Lord Christ says to him: “A body you have prepared for me,” Heb 10.5. But this preparation does not signify the actual forming and making ready of that body, but the eternal designation of it: it was prepared in the counsel and love of the Father. As to its voluntary assumption, it is ascribed to the Son himself: Heb 2.14, “Inasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in the same;” he took upon himself a body and soul, an entire human nature, just as the children, or all believers, have the same thing synecdochically expressed by “flesh and blood.” Verse 16, “He took on himself the seed of Abraham.” But the immediate divine efficiency in this matter was the particular work of the Holy Ghost:

Mat 1.18, “When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.”

Mat 1.20, “That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.”

Luke 1.35, “The angel answered and said to her, The Holy Ghost will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you: therefore also that Holy One who will be born of you will be called the Son of God.”

The person working is the Holy Ghost. He is the wonderful operator in this glorious work. And the power of the Most High was exerted in this — for “The power of the Highest” does not explain the former expression, “The Holy Ghost,” as though he were only the power of the Most High; nor does it adjoin a distinct agent or cause to him, as though the Holy Ghost and the power of the Most High were different agents in this matter. It only expresses the manner of his effecting this wonderful matter, which the blessed Virgin inquired about in verse 34, “How will this be, seeing that I have not known a man?” The angel says, “The Holy Ghost, acting the power of the Most High,” or in the infinite power of God, “will accomplish it.”

For his access to his work, it is expressed by his “coming upon her.” The importance of this expression, and what it signifies, has been declared before. It is often used to declare his actings with reference to the production of miraculous works: Acts 1.8, “You will receive power, after the Holy Ghost has come upon you;” — or, “He will so come upon you as to produce the power of the Most High in you and by you, in miraculous gifts and operations.” For he is said to “come” with respect to his beginning any marvellous operation, where he did not work to that same purpose before.

The act of the Holy Ghost in this matter was a creating act — not indeed like the first creating act, which produced the matter and substance of all things out of nothing, causing that to be which was not before, either in matter, form, or passive disposition. Rather it was like those subsequent acts of creation whereby, out of matter previously made and prepared, things were made into that which they were not before; and which, of themselves, they had no active disposition toward, nor concurrence in it. So man was created or formed of the dust of the earth, and woman was taken from the rib of a man. There was matter previous to their creation, but it gave no assistance to, nor did it have any active disposition toward the production of that particular kind of creature into which they were formed by the creating power of God. Such was this act of the Holy Ghost in forming the body of our Lord Jesus Christ. For although it was effected by an act of infinite creating power, yet it was formed or made of the substance of the blessed Virgin. It was absolutely necessary that it should be done this way —

(1.) To accomplish the promises made to Abraham and David, that the Messiah would be of their seed, and proceed from their loins, Gen 9.9; 1Kng 2.4; Jer 33.16-18.

(2.) So it was also on account of the first original promise that the “seed of the woman would bruise the serpent’s head:” for the Word was to be “made flesh,” John 1.14; to be “made of a woman,” Gal 4.4; or “made of the seed of David according to the flesh,” Rom 1.3; and take upon himself “the seed of Abraham,” Heb 2.16.

(3.) To confirm the truth of this, his genealogy according to the flesh is given to us by two of the evangelists; these would not be to the purpose, nor would they be true, if the Messiah was not made of the substance or flesh of the blessed Virgin.

(4.) Besides, all our cognation and alliance to him depend on his being fit to be our Savior, suffering in the same nature in which we have sinned, Heb 2.14. For if he had not been made like us in all things except sin, if he had not partaken of our nature, there would have been no foundation for imputing to us what he did, suffered, and worked, Rom 8.3-4.

And hence these things are accounted to us, and cannot be accounted to angels, whose nature he did not take upon himself, Heb 2.16.

This was therefore the work of the Holy Ghost in reference to the human nature of Christ, in the womb of his mother: By his omnipotent power, the Spirit formed it of the substance of the body of the holy Virgin — that is, as to Christ’s body. And from this, various things ensue:

1. That the Lord Christ could not on this account (and not only with respect to his human nature) be said to be the Son of the Holy Ghost, although the Spirit supplied the position and virtue of a natural father in generation. For filiation depends only on (and arises from) a perfect generation, and not on every effect of an efficient cause. When one fire is kindled by another, we would not say it is the son of the other fire (except improperly); much less when a man builds a house, would we say that the house is his son. There was therefore no other relation between the person of the Holy Ghost, and the human nature of Christ, except that of a creator and a creature. The Lord Christ is (and is called) “The Son of God’ with respect only to the Father as the fountain and origin of the Trinity, and to his eternal, ineffable generation, which communicated being and subsistence to the Son. Filiation, therefore, is a personal adjunct; and it belongs to Christ as he was a divine person, and not with respect to his human nature. But that nature being assumed, the whole of Christ was the Son of God. That this act of the Holy Ghost, in forming the body of Christ, differs from the act of the Son in assuming the human nature into personal union with himself. For this act of the Son was not a creating act (producing a being out of nothing), or making anything by that same power to be what it was not in its own nature. Rather, it was an ineffable act of love and wisdom, taking the nature that was so formed by the Holy Ghost, and so prepared for Christ, to be his own in the instant of its formation, and thereby preventing the singular and individual subsistence of that nature in and by itself. So then, the creating act of the Holy Ghost in forming the body of our Lord Jesus Christ in the womb does not designate the Spirit to be Christ’s father — indeed, not according to the human nature; but Jesus is the Son of God on account of his eternal generation only. So too, the creating act does not denote an assumption of that nature into union with the Spirit, nor was the Spirit made incarnate. The Spirit made the human nature of Christ — body and soul — with, in, and unto a subsistence in the second person of the Trinity, and not his own. From this it also follows that the conception of Christ in the womb, being the effect of a creating act, was not accomplished successively and in a process of time, but was perfected in an instant. For although the creating acts of infinite power may have a process or duration of time allotted to them, where the works effected have distinct parts — such as the world being created in six days — every part of it that was the object of a special creating act, was instantaneously produced. So it was with forming the body of Christ, with the infusion of a rational soul to quicken it, even though it afterwards grew in the womb up to the birth. And as it is probable that this conception was immediate upon the angelic salutation, so it was necessary that nothing of the human nature of Christ should exist of itself, antecedent to its union with the Son of God. For in the very instant of its formation, “the Word was made flesh,” John 1.14; and the Son of God was “made of a woman,” Gal 4.4; so that the whole essence of his nature was created in the same instant.

This is how far the Scriptures go before; and in this it is necessary to assert the forming of the body and soul of Christ by the Holy Spirit. The curious inquiries of some of the schoolmen and others are to be left to themselves, or rather, to be condemned in them. For whatever went beyond this miraculous operation of the Holy Ghost, seems purposely hidden from us in that expression, “The power of the Most High will overshadow you.” Under this secret, glorious covert, we may learn to adore that holy work here, which we hope to rejoice in and bless God for, unto eternity. And I also suppose that in the word, there is an allusion to the expression of the original acting of the Holy Spirit towards the newly-produced mass of the old creation, which we spoke of before. It was said of him that he was, as it were, “hovering” and “moving” over it to form and produce all living things (p.97). For both those words include an allusion to a covering like that of a fowl over its eggs, communicating by its cognate warmth and heat, a principle of life to their seminal virtue.

Ques. It only remains to consider how the same work of the conception of Christ is assigned both to the Holy Ghost, and to the blessed Virgin; for it is expressly said of her in prophecy, Isa 7.14, “A virgin will conceive,” — it is the same word that is used to express the conception of any other woman, Gen 4.1. Hence she is termed by the ancients Theotokos, and Dei genetrix (mother of God), which I wish had been forborne. Compare it with the Scripture, and there will appear an unwarrantable gloss in it. Thus in Luke 1.31, the words of the angel to her are, “You shall conceive in your womb, and bring forth a son” — her conception of him is distinguished from bringing him forth. Thus in the ancient creed, commonly called the Apostles’ Creed, generally received by all Christians as a summary of religion, it is said that Christ was “conceived by the Holy Ghost,” and only “born of the Virgin Mary.”

Ans. The same work is assigned to both as causes of a different kind — it is assigned to the Holy Spirit as the active, efficient cause, who by his almighty power produced the effect. And the disputes managed by some of the ancients about “de Spiritu Sancto” and “ex Spiritu Sancto” were altogether needless; for it is his creating efficiency that is intended. And his conceiving is ascribed to the holy Virgin as the passive, material cause; for his body was formed of her substance, as declared before. And this conception of Christ was after her solemn espousals to Joseph, and that was for various reasons; for —

Under the covering of her marriage to him, Mary was to receive protection for her spotless innocence. And besides this, God provided a covering that would take care of her and her child in his infancy. And,

Hereby our blessed Savior was also freed from the imputation of an illegitimate birth, until by his own miraculous operations he would testify to his miraculous conception, concerning which, his mother could not previously have been believed.

That he might have one on whose account his genealogy might be recorded, to manifest the accomplishment of the promise to Abraham and David — for the genealogical line was not legally continued by the mother only. Hence, Matthew gives us his genealogy by Joseph, to whom his mother was legally espoused. And although Luke gives us the true, natural line of his descent, by the progenitors of the blessed Virgin, yet he does not name her — he mentions only her espousals, beginning with Heli, who was her father, Luk 3.23. This then is the first thing ascribed particularly to the Holy Spirit with respect to the head of the church, Christ Jesus. From this miraculous creation of the body of Christ, by the immediate power of the Holy Ghost, it became a fit habitation for his holy soul, in every way ready and complying with all the actings of grace and virtue. We not only have the

general depravation of our natures, but also the obliquity of our particular constitutions, to conflict with. Hence one person is disposed to passion, wrath, and anger; another, to vanity and frivolity; a third, to sensuality and fleshly pleasures; and so too others to sloth and idleness. And although this disposition, so far as it is the result of our special constitutions and complexion, is not sin in itself, yet it dwells next door to sin; and because it is excited by the moral depravity of our natures, there is continual occasion for it. But the body of Christ being formed pure and exact by the Holy Ghost, there was no disposition or tendency in his constitution to the least deviation from perfect holiness in any kind. The exquisite harmony of his natural temperament made love, meekness, gentleness, patience, benignity, and goodness, both natural and familiar to him — just as he was incapable of having his motions be subservient to or compliant with anything different from them. Hence also, secondly, although he took on himself those infirmities which belong to human nature as such, and are inseparable from it until it is glorified, he took none of our particular infirmities which cling to our persons, occasioned

either by the vice of our constitutions, or by irregularity in the use of our bodies. He took on himself those natural passions of our minds, which are capable of being the means of affliction and trouble (such as grief, sorrow, and the like), and also those infirmities of nature which are troublesome to the body (such as hunger, thirst, weariness, and pain). Indeed, the purity of Christ’s holy constitution made him more highly aware of these things than any of the children of men. But he was absolutely free from those bodily diseases and distempers, which personally adhere to us, upon the disorder and vice of our constitutions.

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