THE Father, the Son, and the Spirit reveal themselves, interact with, and exercise
believers in an individual and distinct manner. “My Father will love
him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him” (Joh
14:23). The Holy Spirit dwells in the godly as in a temple (1Co 6:19). From all
this, it should be evident that God cannot be served except as being Triune in persons,
and that those who honor and serve Him as such are the truly godly in this
life and will experience salvation hereafter. Thus, this truth is most profitable and
essential…As we seek to demonstrate how one may profit from this mystery, we
shall follow the order of the divine persons. First,
GOD THE FATHER is viewed by believers as the origin of all things, and thus also
of their salvation. They may perceive that He has chosen them from eternity to
become the objects of His eternal love, to exalt them, and to make them partakers
of an eternal and incomprehensible salvation; and that all is of Him, through
Him, and unto Him. Secondly, they perceive how the Father has appointed His
only-begotten and beloved Son to be Surety for the elect in order to make known
to men and angels His perfect righteousness, incomprehensible mercy, wisdom,
freeness in the dispensing of grace, and wondrous benevolence—the purpose of
this revelation being to enhance their experience of salvation. Thirdly, they perceive
that the Father in order to accomplish that purpose has created the world,
and has decreed that man, due to his own fault, would fall into sin. By His providence,
He maintains and governs everything for the benefit and profit of His
elect, whom He has appointed to be the inheritors or possessors of the entire
world. Fourthly, they perceive that the Father, according to the Counsel of Peace,1
has sent His Son into the world to assume the human nature, to suffer and die as
Surety,2 to place Him under the Law in order to satisfy the Father’s justice by His
Son’s perfect obedience, and thus deliver the elect from guilt and punishment,
granting them a right unto eternal life. Fifthly, they perceive that the Father
sends forth His Holy Spirit into the hearts of the elect to illuminate and regenerate
them, to lead them to Christ, unite them to Christ by faith, and in the way of
holiness lead them to glory. Sixthly, they perceive that the Father receives them
as His children and heirs, and consequently loves and cares for them as His children.
Such reflection produces in the believer a childlike frame that causes the
soul to sink away in humility. How the soul then rejoices and receives liberty to exclaim, “Abba, Father” (Gal 4:6)! The soul will commit himself and his entire
case into the hands of the Father, entrusting all to Him, living out of His hand,
bringing all his needs to Him as his Father, making all his desires known to Him,
being willing to obey his Father and to serve Him according to His will…
In considering GOD THE SON, first, believers perceive Him to be the only qualified
Surety to make the elect sons and daughters—children of the Father—while
in amazement, they reflect upon the unsearchable wisdom of God in appointing
such a qualified person to be Surety. Secondly, they perceive the wondrous love of
the Son towards man, Who gave Himself in the eternal Counsel of Peace to be
Surety in order to accomplish the great work of redemption. Thirdly, they perceive
how He humbled Himself in the fullness of time, taking upon Himself the
form of a servant and assuming their nature, not being ashamed to call them
brethren, in order that they might enjoy communion and fellowship with Him.
Fourthly, they perceive how He out of pure and voluntary love has taken their
sins upon Himself, doing so as if He had personally committed them. They perceive
how He Himself, with all willingness, bore the punishment that they deserved,
thereby fully satisfying divine justice and reconciling them to God. Fifthly,
they perceive that He has united them to Himself as members of a spiritual
body, He being the Head and they the members, He being the Bridegroom and
they His bride, so that in Him, the Son, they are sons and daughters. Sixthly, they
perceive that He thus brings them to God, presenting them to the Father, saying,
“Behold I and the children which God hath given me” (Heb 2:13). Here is the
fountain of salvation, and here all the perfections of God manifest themselves in
an entirely different and more glorious manner than in the work of creation and
providential maintenance…
GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT is for believers the One Who, in a manifold and merciful
manner, applies and makes them partakers of all that the Father has eternally decreed
for their benefit, as well as all that which the Son has merited for
them…The Father and the Son send forth the Holy Spirit into the hearts of believers,
and the Holy Spirit dwells in them as in a temple. Prior to their regeneration,
the elect are by nature as all other men, “sensual, having not the Spirit”
(Jude 19). As it is only the Spirit Who makes alive, they are dead in sins and trespasses,
living in total separation from God, having neither perception of their sinfulness
and damnable state nor of salvation and spiritual life, and having no desire
for these things. That which is of the earth is the focus of all their soul’s activity
and of all the members of their body. All their religious activity is of a mechanical
nature, in order to quiet their conscience. They rest in what they have done
and hate all that which resembles light, spirituality, and true godliness—
especially when their encounter with them is too close for comfort.
However, when the moment of God’s good pleasure arrives for the elect, God
grants them the Holy Spirit, Who illuminates and regenerates them and by faith
makes them partakers of Christ and all His benefits. “And because ye are sons,
God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father”
(Gal 4:6); “Ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father”
(Rom 8:15); “Now we have received…the Spirit which is of God” (1Co 2:12). At
this point we must consider in what manner or in what regard believers receive
the Holy Spirit.
Question: Do believers receive the gifts of the Spirit, or is the person Himself
communicated to them?
Answer: (1) The indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the believer is not just a mere
presence, such as is true for the omnipresence3 of His Godhead. (2) Neither is it
an external relationship, viewing them as children of God and the objects of His
operation. (3) Nor is it a communication of His gifts, such as faith, hope, and
charity, etc. (4) Rather, it is the person Himself Who is given to believers, dwelling
in them in a manner that is incomprehensible4 and inexpressible to us. This
presence infinitely exceeds the limits of their person, and yet [it] is in an extraordinary
manner within them.
First, this becomes evident in those texts where the Holy Spirit is expressly said
not only to be given to them, but also to dwell in them. “And I will pray the Father,
and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him
not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be
in you” (Joh 14:16-17). “The Spirit of Christ which was in them” (1Pe 1:11).
“Know ye not…that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” (1Co 3:16).
Evasive Argument: The gifts of the Holy Spirit are identified as being the Holy
Spirit Himself (Act 10:44-45).
Answer: (1) In those places where the Holy Spirit is mentioned, it is not always
and everywhere to be understood as being the same as His gifts. Thus, this argument
has no clout, for it must then be shown that in the aforementioned and similar
texts, the reference is to gifts and not to the person Himself. (2) A clear distinction
is made between the Spirit Himself, Who is given to God’s children, and
His gifts. These gifts neither teach, lead, comfort, bear witness, regenerate, nor
work faith; but it is the person, the Holy Spirit Himself, Who works and imparts
these things to each person as is pleasing to Him. (3) The gifts of the Spirit are
also given to reprobates5 (Heb 6:4). Nevertheless, these gifts do not make the person
a partaker of Christ, as does the indwelling of the Spirit. “If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his” (Rom 8:9). Thus, it is confirmed that the
person of the Holy Spirit Himself dwells in the believer in a manner that is inexpressible
and yet consistent with God’s Being.
Secondly, this indwelling is confirmed by such texts where believers are called
the temples of the Holy Ghost. “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and
that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” (1Co 3:16). “What? know ye not that your
body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and
ye are not your own?” (1Co 6:19). God Himself, and not His gifts, dwelt in the
temple at Jerusalem. “And I will dwell among the children of Israel” (Exo 29:45);
“In Salem also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling place in Zion” (Psa 76:2); “Thou
that dwellest between the cherubims” (Psa 80:1). Since the Holy Spirit dwells in
the believer as He formerly did in the temple, He Himself likewise, rather than
His gifts only, personally dwells in the believer.
Thirdly, believers have an infinite desire that can only be satisfied with the Infinite
One. The gifts of God are not infinite, and thus a believer cannot be satisfied
with them. God Himself must be and is their portion, and they are united to
God in Christ and are made perfect in one (Joh 17:23). Thus, the believer does not
merely have the gifts of the Spirit, but he has the Spirit Himself.
1 Counsel of Peace – another term for the Covenant of Redemption: see article 6, footnote 4.
2 Surety – one who undertakes the debts of another: Jesus paid our sin debt upon the cross.
3 omnipresence – present in all places at the same time.
4 incomprehensible – impossible or very difficult to understand.
5 reprobates – unbelievers left in their sins and abandoned by God to judgment.
From The Christian’s Reasonable Service, Vol. 1, Reformation Heritage Books,
used by permission, www.heritagebooks.org.
Free Grace Broadcaster, "The Triune God"
https://www.chapellibrary.org/
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