Scriptural Support for the Previous Post

I said I would give biblical support for Owen’s statement about the distinct way in which each Person of the Godhead communicates grace to the believer:

It remains only to intimate, in a word, in what this distinction lies, and what is the ground of it.  Now, this is, that the Father does it by the way of original authority; the Son by the way of communicating from a purchased treasury; the Holy Spirit by the way of immediate efficacy.

The Father does it by way of original authority.  The Father is the ultimate giver; the divine Initiator.  John 3:16 affirms this by telling us it was the Father’s love that led to the sending of the Son.  Every blessing we have in Christ is therefore due to the Father’s initiative.  Jesus said he didn’t do anything on his own authority, but only what his Father told him (John 8:28).  Owen points to James 1:18 (and I would add verse 17) which says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.  Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth.”  God was the great initiator in the work of Christ.  It is ultimately through the Father’s love, the Father’s will, and the Father’s authority that we receive grace.

The Son communicates grace from a purchased treasury.  Ephesians 1 says that we receive every spiritual blessing from the Father (another support for the previous point about the Father).  But if you scan the chapter you will find over and over again that we receive the Father’s spiritual gifts only and completely “in Christ.”  By the sacrificial shedding of his blood in death, Christ removed the wrath of God from us (Rom. 3:25), redeemed us (Eph. 1:7), brought us near to God (Eph. 2:13), conquered the Devil on our behalf (Heb. 2:14), purified our conscience so we can serve God (Heb. 9:14), gave us confident access to God’s presence (Heb. 10:19), sanctified us (Heb. 13:12), ransomed us from the futility of unbelief (1 Pet. 1:18-19; Rev. 5:9), freed us from our sins (Rev. 1:5), and keeps cleansing us from all sin (1 John 1:7).  That should be enough to show that Jesus purchased every bit of grace we receive from the Father.

The Spirit communicates grace by way of immediate efficacy.  He is the one acting directly in us to manifest God’s grace in our lives.  Owen points to Romans 8:11 which states that the Father raises us to life spiritually “through his Spirit who dwells in you.”  So regeneration comes from the Father, through the Son, by means of the Spirit.  I think this is true of all grace.  If you go a little further in Romans 8, verse 13 says, “if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”  This shows that, while we could legitimately say we are sanctified by the Father or by the Son, it is actually the Spirit who is working directly in us to enable us to kill sin in our life.  While we’re in Romans 8, we could note verse 26, which says, “the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”  Again, it is the Spirit who is the immediate worker in our spiritual lives.

So I think it is very biblical to have this perspective: Justification comes from the Father, purchased by the Son, by the immediate work of the Spirit.  Adoption comes from the Father, purchased by the Son, by the immediate work of the Spirit.  Sanctification comes from the Father, purchased by the Son, by the immediate work of the Spirit.  “Fill in the blank with any spiritual blessing” comes from the Father, purchased by the Son, by the immediate work of the Spirit.

Distinct Communication of Grace

In John Owen’s Communion with God, he establishes that Christians can have communion with each Person of the Godhead distinctly; with the Father, with the Son, and with the Spirit.  He says in regard to God’s communication of grace to the believer,

It remains only to intimate, in a word, in what this distinction lies, and what is the ground of it.  Now, this is, that the Father does it by the way of original authority; the Son by the way of communicating from a purchased treasury; the Holy Spirit by the way of immediate efficacy.

In other words, when it comes to receiving any aspect of God’s grace, the Father is the ultimate giver.  He is the originator of it all.  From him the plan and the power springs.  He is the divine Initiator.  The Son then communicates the grace of his Father to us by purchasing it for us on the cross.  Without the wrath-satisfying sacrifice of the Son, we would deserve only damnation and punishment from the Father.  The grace we receive from the Father is due only and completely to the cross-work of Jesus: his death, resurrection, and exaltation.  The Holy Spirit, then, is the immediate actor in our lives.  He works directly in us to bring the blood-bought grace of the Father to us.  There is, of course, overlap in any full description of the work of Father, Son, and Spirit, since there is but one God; yet I think Owen is basically correct in his analysis.

I don’t have time right now, so maybe next time I’ll provide Scriptural support for the above description of the distinct work of Father, Son, and Spirit.  After all, Owen’s words are worthless if they’re not from the Word of God.