God Glorified in Man's Dependence

1 Corinthians 1:29-31. That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: that according as it is written, he that glories let him glory in the Lord.

Those Christians to whom the Apostle directed this Epistle, dwelt in a part of the world where human wisdom was in great repute; as the Apostle observes in the 22nd verse of this chapter, The Greeks seek after wisdom. Corinth was not far from Athens, that had been for many ages the most famous seat of philosophy and learning in the world.

The Apostle therefore observes to them how that God by the gospel destroyed, and brought to nothing, their human wisdom. The learned Grecians, and their great philosophers, by all their wisdom did not know God, they were not able to find out the truth in divine things. But after they had done their utmost to no effect, it pleased God at length, to reveal himself by the gospel which they accounted foolishness: he chose the foolish things of the world, to confound the wise, and the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty, and the base things of the world, and things that are despised, yes and things which are not; to bring to nothing the things that are. And the Apostle informs them why he thus did, in the verse of the text, That no flesh should glory in his presence, etc.

In which words may be observed,

1. What God aims at in the disposition of things in the affair of redemption, namely, that man should not glory in himself, but alone in God; that no flesh should glory in his presence — that according as it is written he that glories let him glory in the Lord.

2. How this end is attained in the work of redemption, namely, by that absolute and immediate dependance which men have upon God in that work, for all their good.

First, all the good that they have is in and through Christ; he is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. All the good of the fallen and redeemed creature is concerned in these four things, and cannot be better distributed than into them; but Christ is each of them to us, and we have none of them any otherwise than in him. He is made of God unto us wisdom: in him are all the proper good, and true excellency of the understanding. Wisdom was a thing that the Greeks admired; but Christ is the true light of the world, it is through him alone that true wisdom is imparted to the mind. It is in and by Christ that we have righteousness: it is by being in him that we are justified, have our sins pardoned, and are received as righteous into God's favor. It is by Christ that we have sanctification: we have in him true excellency of heart, as well as of understanding; and he is made unto us inherent as well as imputed righteousness. It is by Christ that we have redemption, or the actual deliverance from all misery, and the bestowal of all happiness and glory. Thus we have all our good by Christ who is God.

Secondly, another instance wherein our dependance on God for all our good appears, is this, that it is God that has given us Christ, that we might have these benefits through him; he of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, etc.

Thirdly, it is of him that we are in Christ Jesus, and come to have an interest in him, and so do receive those blessings which he is made unto us. It is God that gives us faith whereby we close with Christ.

So that in this verse is shown our dependance on each person in the Trinity for all our good. We are dependent on Christ the Son of God, as he is our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. We are dependent on the Father, who has given us Christ, and made him to be these things to us. We are dependent on the Holy Ghost, for it is of him that we are in Christ Jesus; it is the Spirit of God that gives faith in him, whereby we receive him, and close with him.

Doctrine: God is glorified in the work of redemption in this, that there appears in it so absolute and universal a dependance of the redeemed on him.

Here I propose to show, 1. That there is an absolute and universal dependance of the redeemed on God for all their good. And 2. That God hereby is exalted and glorified in the work of redemption.

1. There is an absolute and universal dependance of the redeemed on God. The nature and contrivance of our redemption is such, that the redeemed are in every thing directly, immediately, and entirely dependent on God: they are dependent on him for all, and are dependent on him every way.

The several ways wherein the dependance of one being may be upon another for its good, and wherein the redeemed of Jesus Christ depend on God for all their good, are these, namely, that they have all their good of him, and that they have all through him, and that they have all in him: that he be the cause and original from which all their good comes, therein it is of him; and that he be the medium by which it is obtained and conveyed, therein they have it through him; and that he be that good itself that is given and conveyed, therein it is in him.

Now those that are redeemed by Jesus Christ do in all these respects very directly and entirely depend on God for their all.

First, the redeemed have all their good of God. God is the great author of it; he is the first cause of it, and not only so but he is the only proper cause.

It is of God that we have our Redeemer. It is God that has provided a Savior for us. Jesus Christ is not only of God in his person, as he is the only begotten Son of God; but he is from God as we are concerned in him, and in his office of Mediator; he is the gift of God to us: God chose and anointed him, appointed him his work, and sent him into the world.

And as it is God that gives, so it is God that accepts the Savior. As it is God that provides and gives the Redeemer to buy salvation for us, so it is of God that that salvation is bought: he gives the Purchaser, and he affords the thing purchased.

It is of God that Christ becomes ours, that we are brought to him, and are united to him: it is of God that we receive faith to close with him, that we may have an interest in him. Ephesians 2:8. For by grace you are saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. It is of God that we actually do receive all the benefits that Christ has purchased. It is God that pardons and justifies, and delivers from going down to hell, and it is his favor that the redeemed are received into, and are made the objects of, when they are justified. So it is God that delivers from the dominion of sin, and cleanses us from our filthiness, and changes us from our deformity. It is of God that the redeemed do receive all their true excellency, wisdom and holiness; and that two ways, namely as the Holy Ghost by whom these things are immediately wrought is from God, proceeds from him, and is sent by him; and also as the Holy Ghost himself is God, by whose operation and indwelling, the knowledge of God and divine things, and a holy disposition, and all grace are conferred and upheld.

And though means are made use of in conferring grace on men's souls, yet it is of God that we have these means of grace, and it is God that makes them effectual. It is of God that we have the holy Scriptures; they are the Word of God. It is of God that we have ordinances, and their efficacy depends on the immediate influence of the Spirit of God. The ministers of the gospel are sent of God, and all their sufficiency is of him. 2 Corinthians 4:7. We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. Their success depends entirely and absolutely on the immediate blessing and influence of God.

The redeemed have all,

1. Of the grace of God. It was of mere grace that God gave us his only begotten Son. The grace is great in proportion to the dignity and excellency of what is given: the gift was infinitely precious, because it was of a person infinitely worthy, a person of infinite glory: and also because it was of a person infinitely near and dear to God. The grace is great in proportion to the benefit we have given us in him: the benefit is doubly infinite in that in him we have deliverance from an infinite, because an eternal misery, and do also receive eternal joy and glory. The grace in bestowing this gift is great in proportion to our unworthiness to whom it is given; instead of deserving such a gift, we merited infinitely ill of God's hands. The grace is great according to the manner of giving, or in proportion to the humiliation and expense of the method and means by which way is made for our having of the gift. He gave him to us dwelling amongst us; he gave him to us incarnate, or in our own nature; he gave him to us in our nature, in the like infirmities, in which we have it in our fallen state, and which in us do accompany, and are occasioned by, the sinful corruption of our nature. He gave him to us in a low and afflicted state; and not only so but he gave him to us slain that he might be a feast for our souls.

The grace of God in bestowing this gift is most free. It was what God was under no obligation to bestow: he might have rejected fallen man, as he did the fallen angels. It was what we never did anything to merit: it was given while we were yet enemies, and before we had so much as repented. It was from the love of God that saw no excellency in us to attract it; and it was without expectation of ever being requited for it.

And it is from mere grace that the benefits of Christ are applied to such and such particular persons. Those that are called and sanctified are to attribute it alone to the good pleasure of God's goodness, by which they are distinguished. He is sovereign and has mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardens.

Man has now a greater dependance on the grace of God than he had before the fall. He depends on the free goodness of God for much more than he did then: then he depended on God's goodness for conferring the reward of perfect obedience; for God was not obliged to promise and bestow that reward. But now we are dependent on the grace of God for much more: we stand in need of grace, not only to bestow glory upon us, but to deliver us from hell and eternal wrath. Under the first covenant we depended on God's goodness to give us the reward of righteousness; and so we do now. And not only so, but we stand in need of God's free and sovereign grace to give us that righteousness; and yet not only so, but we stand in need of his grace to pardon our sin, and release us from the guilt and infinite demerit of it.

And as we are dependent on the goodness of God for more now than under the first covenant, so we are dependent on a much greater, more free and wonderful goodness. We are now more dependent on God's arbitrary and sovereign good pleasure. We were in our first estate dependent on God for holiness: we had our original righteousness from him; but then holiness was not bestowed in such a way of sovereign good pleasure as it is now. Man was created holy, and it became God to create holy all the reasonable creatures he created: it would have been a disparagement to the holiness of God's nature, if he had made an intelligent creature unholy. But now when man is made holy, it is from mere and arbitrary grace; God may forever deny holiness to the fallen creature if he pleases, without any disparagement to any of his perfections.

And we are not only indeed more dependent on the grace of God, but our dependance is much more conspicuous, because our own insufficiency and helplessness in ourselves is much more apparent, in our fallen and undone state, than it was before we were either sinful or miserable. We are more apparently dependent on God for holiness, because we are first sinful, and utterly polluted, and afterward holy: so the production of the effect is sensible, and its derivation from God more obvious. If man was ever holy and always was so, it would not be so apparent, that he had not holiness necessarily, as an inseparable qualification of human nature. So we are more apparently dependent on free grace for the favor of God, for we are first justly the objects of his displeasure, and afterwards are received into favor. We are more apparently dependent on God for happiness, being first miserable, and afterwards happy. It is more apparently free and without merit in us, because we are actually without any kind of excellency to merit, if there could be any such thing as merit in creature excellency. And we are not only without any true excellency, but are full of, and wholly defiled with, that which is infinitely odious. All our good is more apparently from God, because we are first naked and wholly without any good, and afterwards enriched with all good.

2. We receive all of the power of God. Man's redemption is often spoken of as a work of wonderful power as well as grace. The great power of God appears in bringing a sinner from his low state, from the depths of sin and misery, to such an exalted state of holiness and happiness. Ephesians 1:19. And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us who believe, according to the working of his mighty power.

We are dependent on God's power through every step of our redemption. We are dependent on the power of God to convert us, and give faith in Jesus Christ, and the new nature. It is a work of creation: if any man be in Christ he is a new creature. 2 Corinthians 5:17. We are created in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:10). The fallen creature cannot attain to true holiness, but by being created again. Ephesians 4:24. And that you put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness, and true holiness. It is a raising from the dead. Colossians 2:12-13. Wherein also you are risen with him, through the faith of the operation of God, who has raised him from the dead. Yes, it is a more glorious work of power than mere creation, or raising a dead body to life, in that the effect attained is greater and more excellent. That holy and happy being, and spiritual life which is reached in the work of conversion, is a far greater, and more glorious effect, than mere being and life. And the state from which the change is made, of such a death in sin, and total corruption of nature, and depth of misery, is far more remote from the state attained, than mere death of non-entity.

It is by God's power also that we are preserved in a state of grace. 1 Peter 1:5. Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. As grace is at first from God, so it is continually from him, and is maintained by him, as much as light in the atmosphere is all day long from the sun, as well as at first dawning, or at sunrise.

Men are dependent on the power of God, for every exercise of grace, and for carrying on the work of grace in the heart, for the subduing of sin and corruption, and increasing holy principles, and enabling to bring forth fruit in good works, and at last bringing grace to its perfection, in making the soul completely amiable in Christ's glorious likeness, and filling of it with a satisfying joy and blessedness; and for the raising of the body to life, and to such a perfect state, that it shall be suitable for a habitation and organ for a soul so perfected and blessed. These are the most glorious effects of the power of God, that are seen in the series of God's acts with respect to the creatures.

Man was dependent on the power of God in his first estate, but he is more dependent on his power now; he needs God's power to do more things for him, and depends on a more wonderful exercise of his power. It was an effect of the power of God to make man holy at the first; but more remarkably so now, because there is a great deal of opposition and difficulty in the way. It is a more glorious effect of power to make that holy that was so depraved and under the dominion of sin, than to confer holiness on that which before had nothing of the contrary. It is a more glorious work of power to rescue a soul out of the hands of the devil, and from the powers of darkness, and to bring it into a state of salvation, than to confer holiness where there was no opposition. Luke 11:21-22. When a strong man armed keeps his palace his goods are in peace; but when a stronger than he shall come upon him and overcome him, he takes from him all his armor wherein he trusted and divides his spoils. So it is a more glorious work of power to uphold a soul in a state of grace and holiness, and to carry it on till it is brought to glory, when there is so much sin remaining in the heart, resisting, and Satan with all his might opposing, than it would have been to have kept man from falling at first, when Satan had nothing in man.

Thus we have shown how the redeemed are dependent on God for all their good as they have all of him.

Secondly, they are also dependent on God for all, as they have all through him. It is God that is the medium of it, as well as the author and fountain of it. All that we have, wisdom, and the pardon of sin, deliverance from hell, acceptance into God's favor, grace and holiness, true comfort and happiness, eternal life and glory, we have from God by a Mediator; and this Mediator is God; which Mediator we have an absolute dependance upon, as he through whom we receive all. So that here is another way wherein we have our dependance on God for all good. God not only gives us the Mediator, and accepts his mediation, and of his power and grace bestows the things purchased by the Mediator, but he is the Mediator.

Our blessings are what we have by purchase; and the purchase is made of God, the blessings are purchased of him, and God gives the Purchaser; and not only so but God is the Purchaser. Yes God is both the Purchaser and the Price; for Christ, who is God purchased these blessings for us, by offering up himself as the price of our salvation. He purchased eternal life by the sacrifice of himself. Hebrews 7:27. He offered up himself. And 9:26. He has appeared to take away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Indeed it was the human nature that was offered; but it was the same person with the divine, and therefore was an infinite price: it was looked upon as if God had been offered in sacrifice.

As we thus have our good through God, we have a dependance on God in a respect that man in his first estate had not. Man was to have eternal life then through his own righteousness; so that he had partly a dependance upon what was in himself; for we have a dependance upon that through which we have our good, as well as that from which we have it. And though man's righteousness that he then depended on was indeed from God, yet it was his own, it was inherent in himself; so that his dependance was not so immediately on God. But now the righteousness that we are dependent on is not in ourselves, but in God. We are saved through the righteousness of Christ: he is made unto us righteousness; and therefore is prophesied of, Jeremiah 23:6, under that name of the Lord our Righteousness. In that the righteousness we are justified by is the righteousness of Christ, it is the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21. That we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Thus in redemption, we have not only all things of God, but by and through him. 1 Corinthians 8:6. But to us there is but one God the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

Thirdly, the redeemed have all their good in God. We not only have it of him and through him, but it consists in him; he is all our good.

The good of the redeemed is either objective or inherent. By their objective good I mean, that extrinsic object, in the possession and enjoyment of which they are happy. Their inherent good is that excellency or pleasure which is in the soul itself. With respect to both of which the redeemed have all their good in God, or which is the same thing, God himself is all their good.

1. The redeemed have all their objective good in God. God himself is the great good which they are brought to the possession and enjoyment of by redemption. He is the highest good, and the sum of all that good which Christ purchased. God is the inheritance of the saints; he is the portion of their souls. God is their wealth and treasure, their food, their life, their dwelling place, their ornament and diadem, and their everlasting honor and glory. They have none in heaven but God; he is the great good which the redeemed are received to at death, and which they are to rise to at the end of the world. The Lord God he is the light of the heavenly Jerusalem; and is the river of the water of life that runs, and the tree of life that grows, in the midst of the Paradise of God. The glorious excellencies and beauty of God will be what will forever entertain the minds of the saints, and the love of God will be their everlasting feast. The redeemed will indeed enjoy other things; they will enjoy the angels, and will enjoy one another: but that which they shall enjoy in the angels, or each other, or in anything else whatsoever, that will yield them delight and happiness, will be what will be seen of God in them.

2. The redeemed have all their inherent good in God. Inherent good is twofold; it is either excellency or pleasure. These the redeemed not only derive from God, as caused by him, but have them in him. They have spiritual excellency and joy by a kind of participation of God. They are made excellent by a communication of God's excellency: God puts his own beauty, that is, his beautiful likeness upon their souls: they are made partakers of the divine nature, or moral image of God. 2 Peter 1:4. They are holy by being made partakers of God's holiness. Hebrews 12:10. The saints are beautiful and blessed by a communication of God's holiness and joy as the moon and planets are bright by the sun's light. The saint has spiritual joy and pleasure by a kind of effusion of God on the soul. In these things the redeemed have communion with God; that is, they partake with him and of him.

The saints have both their spiritual excellency and blessedness by the gift of the Holy Ghost, or Spirit of God, and his dwelling in them. They are not only caused by the Holy Ghost, but are in the Holy Ghost as their principle. The Holy Spirit becoming an inhabitant, is a vital principle in the soul: he acting in, upon and with the soul, becomes a fountain of true holiness and joy, as a spring is of water, by the exertion and diffusion of itself. John 4:14. But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him, shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. Compared with chapter 7:38-39. He that believes on me, as the Scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water; but this he spoke of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive. The sum of what Christ has purchased for us, is that spring of water spoken of in the former of those places, and those rivers of living water spoken of in the latter. And the sum of the blessings, which the redeemed shall receive in heaven, is that river of water of life, that proceeds from the throne of God and the Lamb (Revelation 22:1). Which doubtless signifies the same with those rivers of living water, explained in John 7:38-39, which is elsewhere called the river of God's pleasures. Herein consists the fullness of good, which the saints receive of Christ. It is by partaking of the Holy Spirit, that they have communion with Christ in his fullness. God has given the Spirit, not by measure unto him; and they do receive of his fullness, and grace for grace. This is the sum of the saints' inheritance: and therefore that little of the Holy Ghost which believers have in this world, is said to be the earnest of their inheritance. 2 Corinthians 1:22. Who has also sealed us, and given us the Spirit in our hearts. And verse 5. Now he that has wrought us for the self same thing is God, who also has given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. And Ephesians 1:13-14. You were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession.

The Holy Spirit and good things are spoken of in Scripture as the same; as if the Spirit of God communicated to the soul, comprised all good things. Matthew 7:11. How much more shall your heavenly Father give good things to them that ask him. In Luke it is, chapter 11:11. How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him. This is the sum of the blessings that Christ died to procure, and that are the subject of gospel-promises. Galatians 3:13-14. He was made a curse for us, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. The Spirit of God is the great promise of the Father. Luke 24:49. Behold I send the promise of my Father upon you. The Spirit of God therefore is called the Spirit of promise (Ephesians 1:13). This promised thing Christ received, and had given into his hand, as soon as he had finished the work of our redemption, to bestow on all that he had redeemed. Acts 2:33. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he has shed forth this, which you both see and hear. So that all the holiness and happiness of the redeemed is in God. It is in the communications, indwelling and acting of the Spirit of God. Holiness and happiness is in the fruit, here and hereafter, because God dwells in them, and they in God.

Thus it is God that has given us the Redeemer, and it is of him that our good is purchased: so it is God that is the Redeemer, and the price: and it is God also that is the good purchased. So that all that we have is of God, and through him, and in him. Romans 11:36. For of him, and through him, and to him, or in him are all things. The same in the Greek, that is here rendered to him, is rendered in him, 1 Corinthians 8:6.

2. God is glorified in the work of redemption by this means, namely, by there being so great and universal a dependance of the redeemed on him.

1. Man has so much the greater occasion and obligation to take notice and acknowledge God's perfections and all-sufficiency. The greater the creature's dependance is on God's perfections, and the greater concern he has with them, so much the greater occasion has he to take notice of them. So much the greater concern any one has with and dependance upon the power and grace of God, so much the greater occasion has he to take notice of that power and grace. So much the greater and more immediate dependance there is on the divine holiness, so much the greater occasion to take notice of and acknowledge that. So much the greater and more absolute dependance we have on the divine perfections, as belonging to the several persons of the Trinity, so much the greater occasion have we to observe and own the divine glory of each of them. That which we are most concerned with, is surely most in the way of our observation and notice; and this kind of concern with anything, namely dependance, does especially tend to commend and oblige the attention and observation. Those things that we are not much dependent upon, it is easy to neglect; but we can scarcely do any other than mind that which we have a great dependance on. By reason of our so great dependance on God, and his perfections, and in so many respects; he and his glory are the more directly set in our view, which way soever we turn our eyes.

We have the greater occasion to take notice of God's all-sufficiency, when all our sufficiency is thus every way of him. We have the more occasion to contemplate him as an infinite good, and as the fountain of all good. Such a dependance on God demonstrates God's all-sufficiency. So much as the dependance of the creature is on God, so much the greater does the creature's emptiness in himself appear to be: and so much the greater the creature's emptiness, so much the greater must the fullness of the being be, who supplies him. Our having all of God, shows the fullness of his power and grace: our having all through him, shows the fullness of his merit and worthiness; and our having all in him demonstrates his fullness of beauty, love and happiness.

And the redeemed by reason of the greatness of their dependance on God, have not only so much the greater occasion, but obligation to contemplate and acknowledge the glory and fullness of God. How unreasonable and ungrateful should we be, if we did not acknowledge that sufficiency and glory, that we do absolutely, immediately and universally depend upon?

2. Hereby is demonstrated how great God's glory is considered comparatively, or as compared with the creatures. By the creatures being thus wholly and universally dependent on God, it appears that the creature is nothing, and that God is all. Hereby it appears that God is infinitely above us; that God's strength, and wisdom, and holiness are infinitely greater than ours. However great and glorious the creature apprehends God to be, yet if he be not sensible of the difference between God and him, so as to see that God's glory is great compared with his own, he will not be disposed to give God the glory due to his name. If the creature in any respects sets himself upon a level with God, or exalts himself to any competition with him, however he may apprehend that great honor and profound respect may belong to God from those that are more inferior, and at a greater distance, will not be so sensible of its being due from him. So much the more men exalt themselves, so much the less will they surely be disposed to exalt God. It is certainly a thing that God aims at in the disposition of things in the affair of redemption, (if we allow the Scriptures to be a revelation of God's mind) that God should appear full, and man in himself empty, that God should appear all, and man nothing. It is God's declared design that others should not glory in his presence, which implies that it is his design to advance his own comparative glory. So much the more man glories in God's presence, so much the less glory is ascribed to God.

3. By its being thus ordered, that the creature should have so absolute and universal a dependance on God, provision is made that God should have our whole souls, and should be the object of our undivided respect. If we had our dependance partly on God, and partly on something else, man's respect would be divided to those different things on which he had dependance. Thus it would be if we depended on God only for a part of our good, and on ourselves, or some other being, for another part; or if we had our good only from God, and through another that was not God, and in something else distinct from both, our hearts would be divided between the good itself, and him from whom, and him through whom we received it. But now there is no occasion for this, God being not only he from or of whom we have all good, but also through whom, and one that is that good itself, that we have from him, and through him. So that whatsoever there is to attract our respect, the tendency is still directly towards God, all unites in him as the center.

Finis.