Chapter 6
Chapter 6.
Consequential considerations for the confirmation of the divine Authority of the Scripture.
Section 1. I said in the former Chapter, that I would not employ myself willingly, to enervate or weaken any of the Reasons or Arguments that are usually insisted on, to prove the divine Authority of the Scripture. Though I confess, I like not to multiply Arguments, that conclude to a probability only, and are suited to beget a firm Opinion at best, where the principle intended to be evinced is de fide, and must be believed with faith divine, and supernatural. Yet because some may happily be kept to some kind of Adherence to the Scriptures; by mean grounds, that will not in their own strength abide, until they get footing in those that are more firm; I shall not make it my business to drive them from their present station; having persuaded them by that which is better.
Section 2. Yea, because on Supposition of the Evidence formerly tendered, there may be great use at several seasons, of some consequential considerations and Arguments to the purpose in hand, I shall insist on two of that kind, which to me, who have the Advantage of receiving the Word on the forementioned account, seem not only to persuade, and in a great measure to convince to undeniable probability, but also to prevail irresistibly on the understanding of unprejudiced men, to close with the divine Truth of it.
Section 3. The first of these is taken from the nature of the doctrine itself, contained in the Scripture, the second from the management of the whole design therein; the first is innate, the other of a more external and Rational consideration.
Section 4. For the first of them, there are two things considerable in the doctrine of the Scripture, that are powerful, and if I may so say, uncontrollably prevalent as to this purpose.
Section 5. First its universal suitableness upon its first clear discovery and Revelation to all the Entanglements and perplexities of the souls of men, in reference to their Relation to, and dependence upon God. If all mankind have certain Entanglements upon their hearts and spirits in reference unto God, which none of them that are not utterly brutish, do not wrestle withal, and which all of them are not able in the least to absolve themselves in, and about, certainly that Doctrine which is suited universally to satisfy all their perplexities, to calm and quiet their spirits in all their tumultuatings, and does break in upon them with a glorious Efficacy to that purpose in its discovery and Revelation, must needs be from that God, with whom we have to do, and none else. From whom else I pray should it be? He that can give out such a Word, ille mihi semper erit Deus.
Section 6. Now there are three general heads of things, that all and every one of mankind, not naturally brutish are perplexed withal, in reference, to their dependence on God, and Relation to him.
1. How they may worship him as they ought.
2. How they may be reconciled, and at peace with him, or have an Atonement for that guilt which naturally they are sensible of.
3. What is the nature of true Blessedness, and how they may attain it, or how they may come to the enjoyment of God.
Section 7. That all mankind is perplexed and entangled with, and about these Considerations, that all men ever were so, without Exception more or less, and continue so to be to this day; that of themselves, they miserably grope up and down in the dark, and are never able to come to any satisfaction, neither as to what is present, nor as to what is to come, I could manifest from the State, Office, and condition of conscience, the indelible concepts and presumptions about them, that are in the hearts of all by nature. The whole History of all Religion which has been in the World, with the design of All ancient and present Philosophy, with innumerable other uncontrollable Convictions (which also God assisting, I shall in another Treatise declare) do manifest this Truth.
Section 8. That, surely then which shall administer to all and every one of them, equally and universally, satisfaction as to all these things, to quiet and calm their spirits, to cut off all necessity of any further Enquiries, give them that wherein they must acquiesce, and wherewith they will be satiated, unless they will cast off that Relation, and dependence on God, which they seek to confirm and settle; surely I say, this must be from the all-seeing, all-satisfying Truth, and Being, and from none else. Now this is done by the doctrine of the Scripture, with such a glorious uncontrollable Conviction, that every one to whom it is revealed, the eyes of whose understanding are not blinded by the God of this world, must needs cry out Eureka, I have found that which in vain I sought elsewhere, waxing foolish in my imaginations.
Section 9. It would be too long to insist on the severals; take one instance in the business of Atonement, Reconciliation, and Acceptance with God. What strange horrible fruits and effects have men's contrivances on this account produced? What have they not invented? What have they not done? What have they not suffered? and yet continued in dread and bondage all their days? Now with what a Glorious soul-appeasing Light does the doctrine of satisfaction and Atonement, by the blood of Christ the Son of God, come in upon such men? This first astonishes, then conquers, then ravishes, and satiates the soul. This is that they looked for, this they were sick for, and knew it not. This is the design of the Apostle's discourse in the three first Chapters of the Epistle to the Romans. Let any man read that discourse from verse 18 of Chapter the first, and onward, and he will see with what Glory and Beauty, with what full and ample satisfaction this Doctrine breaks out; Chapter 3, verses 22, 23, 24, 25, 26.
Section 10. It is no otherwise as to the particulars of present Worship, or future Blessedness; this meets with men in all their wanderings, stops them in their disquisitions, convinces them of the darkness, folly, uncertainty, falseness of all their Reasonings about these things; and that with such an Evidence and Light, as at once subdues them, captivates their understanding, and quiets their souls: so was that old Roman World conquered by it; so shall the Mohammedan be, in God's good and appointed time.
Section 11. Of what has been spoken, this is the sum. All mankind that acknowledge their dependence upon God, and Relation to him, are naturally (and cannot be otherwise) grievously involved and perplexed in their hearts, thoughts, and Reasonings, about the Worship of God, Acceptation with him having sinned, and the future Enjoyment of him; some with more clear and distinct Apprehensions, of these things; Some under more dark and general notions of them are thus exercised; To extricate themselves, and to come to some issue in and about these enquiries, has been the great Design of their Lives, the Aim they had in all things they did, as they thought, Well and laudably in this world. Notwithstanding all which, they were never able to deliver themselves, no not one of them, or attain satisfaction to their souls, but waxed vain in their imaginations, and their foolish hearts were more and more darkened; In this estate of things, the Doctrine of the Scripture coming in with full, unquestionable satisfaction to all these, suited to the enquiries of every individual soul, with a largeness of Wisdom, and depth of Goodness, not to be fathomed, it must needs be from that God with whom we have to do. And those who are not persuaded hereby, that will not cast Anchor in this harbour, let them put to sea once more, if they dare; turn themselves loose to other considerations, and try if all the forementioned perplexities do not inevitably return.
Section 12. Another consideration of the Doctrine of the Scripture to this purpose regards some particulars of it. There are some Doctrines of the Scripture, some Revelations in it, so sublimely glorious, of so profound and mysterious an Excellency, that at the first proposal of them, nature startles, shrinks, and is taken with Horror, meeting with that which is above it, too great and too excellent for it, which it could desirously avoid and decline; but yet gathering itself up to them, it yields, and finds, that unless they are accepted, and submitted unto, though unsearchable, that not only All that has been received, must be rejected, but also the whole dependence of the Creature on God be dissolved, or rendered only dreadful, terrible, and destructive to nature itself. Such are the Doctrines of the Trinity, of the Incarnation of the Son of God, of the Resurrection of the dead, of the new birth, and the like. At the first Revelation of these things, nature is amazed, cries, how can these things be? Or gathers up itself to Opposition; this is babbling, like the Athenians; folly, as all the wise Greeks. But when the Eyes of Reason are a little confirmed, though it can never clearly behold the Glory of this Sun, yet it confesses a Glory to be in it, above all that it is able to apprehend. I could manifest in particular, that the Doctrines before mentioned, and several others are of this importance; namely though great, above and beyond the reach of Reason, yet upon search found to be such, as without submission to them, the whole comfortable Relation between God and man must needs be dissolved.
Section 13. Let us take a view in our Way of one of the Instances. What is there in the whole Book of God, that nature at first sight does more recoil at, than the Doctrine of the Trinity? How many do yet stumble and fall at it? I confess the Doctrine itself is but sparingly, yet it is clearly and distinctly delivered unto us in the Scripture. The sum of it is; that God is one; His nature, or his Being, one; That all the Properties, or infinite Essential Excellencies of God, as God, do belong to that one nature and Being. This God is infinitely Good, Holy, Just, Powerful, He is eternal, omnipotent, omnipresent; and these things belong to none, but him that is that One God. That this God is the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; which are not diverse names of the same Person, nor distinct Attributes or Properties of the same nature or Being; but One, Another, and a Third, all equally that One God, yet really distinguished between themselves by such incommunicable Properties, as constitute the One to be that One, and the Other to be that Other; and the Third to be that Third. Thus the Trinity is not the Union, nor Unity of three, but it is a Trinity in Unity, or the Ternary number of Persons in the same Essence; nor does the Trinity in its formal conception denote the Essence, as if the Essence were comprehended in the Trinity, which is in each Person; but it denotes only the distinction of the Persons comprised in that Number.
Section 14. This I say is the sum of this Doctrine, as it is delivered unto us in the Scripture. Here Reason is entangled; yet after a while finds evidently, that unless this be embraced, all other things wherein it has to do with God, will not be of value to the soul; this will quickly be made to appear. Of all that Communion which is here between God and man, founded on the Revelation of his mind and will unto him, which makes way for his Enjoyment in Glory, there are these two parts. 1. God's gracious Communication of his Love, Goodness etc. with the fruits of them unto man. 2. The obedience of man unto God in a way of Gratitude for that Love, according to the mind and will of God revealed to him. These two comprise the whole of the intercourse between God and man. Now when the mind of man is exercised about these things, he finds at last that they are so wrapped up in the Doctrine of the Trinity, that without the belief, receiving, and acceptance of it, it is utterly impossible that any interest in them, should be obtained, or preserved.
Section 15. For the first; or the Communication of God unto us in a Way of Love and Goodness, it is wholly founded upon, and enwrapped in this Truth, both as to the eternal Spring, and actual Execution of it. A few instances will evince this Assertion. The Eternal fountain of all Grace, flowing from Love and Goodness, lies in God's Election, or Predestination. This being an Act of God's Will, cannot be apprehended, but as an eternal act of his Wisdom, or Word also. All the eternal thoughts of its pursuit, lie in the Covenant that was between the Father and the Son, as to the Son's undertaking to execute that Purpose of his. This I have at large elsewhere declared.
Take away then the doctrine of the Trinity, and both these are gone; There can be no purpose of Grace by the Father in the Son, no Covenant for the putting of that purpose in execution; And so the foundation of all fruits of Love and Goodness, is lost to the soul.
Section 16. As to the execution of this Purpose, with the actual dispensation of the fruits of Grace and Goodness unto us, it lies wholly in the unspeakable Condescension of the Son unto Incarnation with what ensued thereon. The Incarnation of the Eternal Word, by the Power of the Holy Ghost, is the bottom of our participation of Grace. Without it, it was absolutely impossible that man should be made partaker of the favor of God. Now this enwraps the whole Doctrine of the Trinity in its bosom; nor can once be apprehended, without its acknowledgment. Deny the Trinity, and all this means of the Communication of Grace, with the whole of the satisfaction, and Righteousness of Christ falls to the Ground. Every tittle of it speaks this Truth: And they who deny the one, reject the other.
Section 17. Our actual Participation of the fruits of this Grace, is by the Holy Ghost. We cannot ourselves seize on them, nor bring them home to our own souls. The impossibility hereof I cannot now stay to manifest. Now whence is this Holy Ghost? Is he not sent from the Father, by the Son? Can we entertain any thought of his effectual working in us, and upon us, but it includes this whole Doctrine? They therefore who deny the Trinity deny the efficacy of its operation also.
Section 18. So it is, as to our Obedience unto God, whereby the Communion between God and man is completed. Although the formal object of Divine worship be the nature of God; and the Persons are not worshipped as Persons distinct, but as they are each of them God; yet as God they are every one of them distinctly to be worshipped. So is it, as to our faith, our Love our thanksgiving, all our Obedience, as I have abundantly demonstrated in my Treatise of distinct communion with the Father in Love, the Son in Grace, and the Holy Ghost in the Privileges of the Gospel. Thus without the Acknowledgment of this Truth, none of that Obedience which God requires at our hands, can in a due manner be performed.
Section 19. Hence the Scripture speaks not of any thing between God and us, but what is founded on this Account. The Father works, the Son works, and the Holy Ghost works. The Father works not but by the Son and his Spirit; The Son and Spirit work not, but from the Father. The Father Glorifies the Son; the Son Glorifies the Father; and the Holy Ghost glorifies them both. Before the foundation of the world, the Son was with the Father, and rejoiced in his peculiar work for the Redemption of mankind. At the Creation, the Father made all things, but by the Son, and the Power of the Spirit. In Redemption the Father sends the Son; the Son by his own condescension undertakes the work, and is incarnate by the Holy Ghost. The Father as was said, communicates his love, and all the fruits of it unto us by the Son; as the Holy Ghost does the merits, and fruits of the mediation of the Son. The Father is not known nor worshipped, but by and in the Son; Nor Father or Son but by the Holy Ghost, and so forth.
Section 20. Upon this discovery the soul that was before startled at the Doctrine in the notion of it, is fully convinced that all the satisfaction it has sought after in its seeking unto God, is utterly lost, if this be not admitted. There is neither any foundation left of the communication of love to him, nor means of returning Obedience unto God. Besides, all the things that he has been inquiring after, appear on this account in their Glory, beauty and reality unto him: so that, that which most staggered him at first in the receiving of the Truth, because of its deep mysterious glory, does now most confirm him in the embracing of it, because of its necessity, Power, and heavenly Excellency.
Section 21. And this is one Argument of the Many belonging to the things of the Scripture, that upon the Grounds before mentioned, has in it, as to my sense and Apprehension, an Evidence of Conviction not to be withstood.
Section 22. Another consideration of the like Efficacy, may be taken from a brief view of the whole Scripture with the design of it. The consent of parts or Harmony of the Scripture in itself, and every part of it with each other, and with the whole, is commonly pleaded as an Evidence of its divine Original. Thus much certainly it does evince beyond all possible contradiction, that the whole proceeds from one and the same principle; has the same Author; and He wise, discerning, able to comprehend the whole compass of what he intended to deliver and reveal. Otherwise, or by any other, that oneness of Spirit, design and aim, in unspeakable variety and diversity of means of its delivery, that absolute correspondency of it to itself, and distance from any thing else, could not have been attained. Now it is certain, that this principle must be summum in its kind; either bonum, or malum. If the Scripture is what it reveals and declares itself to be, it is then unquestionably the Word of the Living God, Truth itself; for that it professes of itself, from the beginning to the ending; to which profession all that it reveals answers absolutely, and unquestionably in a tendency to his Glory alone. If it is not so, it must be acknowledged that the Author of it had a blasphemous design to hold forth himself to be God, who is not so; a malicious design to deceive the Sons of men, and to make them believe that they Worship and honor God; and obey him when they do not; and so to draw them into everlasting destruction, and that to compass these ends of blasphemy, Atheism and malice, he has laid out in a long course of time, all the industry and wisdom, that a Creature could be made partaker of. Now he that should do thus, must be the Devil, and none else; no other creature can possibly arrive at that height of obstinacy in evil. Now certainly whilst God is pleased to continue unto us any thing, whereby we are distinguished from the Beasts that perish; whilst there is a sense of a distance between Good and Evil abiding amongst men, it cannot fall upon the understanding of any man, that that Doctrine which is so holy and pure, so absolutely leading to the utmost improvement of whatever is good, just, commendable and praise Worthy, so suitable to all the Light of God, of Good and Evil that remains in us; could proceed from any one everlastingly hardened in Evil, and that in the pursuit of the wickedest design, that that wicked one could possibly be engaged in; namely to enthrone himself, and maliciously to cheat, cozen and ruin the souls of men. So that upon necessity the Scripture can own no Author but him, whose it is, even the Living God.
As these considerations are far from being the bottom and foundation of our faith, in our assenting to the Authority of God in the Word; so on the supposition of what is so, they have an usefulness, as to support in trials and temptations, and the like seasons of difficulty: but of these things so far.
Chapter 6.
Additional considerations that confirm the divine Authority of Scripture.
Section 1. In the previous chapter, I said that I would not deliberately try to weaken any of the reasons or arguments commonly used to prove the divine Authority of Scripture. I admit that I do not like to pile up arguments that only lead to probability and are designed to produce a firm opinion at best, when the principle being proven is de fide and must be believed with divine and supernatural faith. Yet because some people may be held to a certain adherence to the Scriptures by weaker grounds that will not stand on their own until they find firmer footing in stronger ones, I will not try to drive them from their current position before I have persuaded them with something better.
Section 2. In fact, since the evidence already presented gives great usefulness to certain consequential considerations and arguments at various times, I will focus on two of that kind. To me, having the advantage of receiving the Word on the basis already described, these arguments seem not only to persuade and largely convince toward undeniable probability, but also to press irresistibly on the understanding of unprejudiced people, compelling them to embrace the divine truth of Scripture.
Section 3. The first of these arguments comes from the nature of the doctrine contained in Scripture itself. The second comes from the management of the whole design within it. The first is innate, while the other involves more external and rational consideration.
Section 4. Regarding the first argument, there are two things worth considering in the doctrine of Scripture that are powerful and, if I may say so, irresistibly prevalent for this purpose.
Section 5. First is Scripture's universal suitableness. When it is first clearly revealed, it speaks to all the entanglements and perplexities of the human soul regarding our relationship to and dependence on God. If all of humanity has certain entanglements weighing on their hearts and spirits in relation to God, which none of them (except those who are completely brutish) fail to wrestle with, and which all of them are completely unable to resolve on their own, then certainly the doctrine that universally satisfies all their perplexities, calms and quiets their troubled spirits, and breaks in on them with glorious power for that very purpose in its revelation, must come from the God with whom we have to do, and no one else. Who else could it come from? He who can give out such a Word, ille mihi semper erit Deus.
Section 6. Now there are three general heads of things that every person who is not naturally brutish is perplexed about, regarding their dependence on God and their relationship to Him.
1. How they may worship Him as they ought.
2. How they may be reconciled and at peace with Him, or have an atonement for the guilt they naturally feel.
3. What is the nature of true blessedness, how they may attain it, and how they may come to the enjoyment of God.
Section 7. That all of humanity is perplexed and entangled with these considerations, that all people ever were so without exception (more or less), and continue to be so to this day, that on their own they miserably grope around in the dark and can never reach any satisfaction about either present or future things — I could prove this from the condition and role of conscience, the permanent concepts and presumptions about these matters that are in all hearts by nature. The whole history of all religion in the world, together with the aim of all ancient and present philosophy, along with countless other undeniable proofs (which, God helping me, I will lay out in another treatise), make this truth clear.
Section 8. Surely, then, whatever can provide equal and universal satisfaction to every one of these concerns, quieting and calming their spirits, cutting off all need for further searching, giving them that in which they must rest and be satisfied — unless they choose to throw off the relationship and dependence on God that they seek to confirm and settle — surely this must be from the all-seeing, all-satisfying Truth and Being, and from no one else. This is exactly what the doctrine of Scripture does, with such a glorious and irresistible conviction that everyone to whom it is revealed, whose eyes of understanding are not blinded by the God of this world, must cry out Eureka — I have found what I searched for in vain elsewhere, growing foolish in my own reasonings.
Section 9. It would take too long to cover each point in detail. Take one example: the matter of atonement, reconciliation, and acceptance with God. What strange and horrible fruits and effects have human schemes on this subject produced? What have people not invented? What have they not done? What have they not suffered? And yet they remained in dread and bondage all their days. Now with what a glorious, soul-satisfying light does the doctrine of satisfaction and atonement, by the blood of Christ the Son of God, break in upon such people! This first astonishes, then conquers, then ravishes and satisfies the soul. This is what they were looking for. This is what they were sick for, and did not know it. This is the purpose of the Apostle's argument in the first three chapters of the Epistle to the Romans. Let anyone read that passage from verse 18 of chapter 1 onward, and he will see with what glory and beauty, with what full and ample satisfaction this doctrine breaks out in Romans 3:22-26.
Section 10. It is the same regarding the details of present worship and future blessedness. This doctrine meets people in all their wanderings, stops them in their searching, and convinces them of the darkness, folly, uncertainty, and falsehood of all their reasoning about these things. It does so with such evidence and light that it immediately subdues them, captivates their understanding, and quiets their souls. This is how the old Roman world was conquered by it, and this is how the Mohammedan world will be conquered in God's good and appointed time.
Section 11. Here is the summary of what has been said. All of humanity who acknowledge their dependence on God and their relationship to Him are naturally (and cannot be otherwise) deeply involved and perplexed in their hearts, thoughts, and reasoning about the worship of God, acceptance with Him after having sinned, and the future enjoyment of Him. Some have clearer and more distinct awareness of these things, while others wrestle with them under more dark and general impressions. To untangle themselves and come to some resolution about these questions has been the great design of their lives — the goal behind everything they thought they did well and admirably in this world. Despite all of this, they were never able to free themselves — not one of them — or find satisfaction for their souls. Instead, they became empty in their reasonings, and their foolish hearts were more and more darkened. In this condition, the doctrine of Scripture comes in with full, unquestionable satisfaction for all these needs, suited to the searching of every individual soul, with a depth of wisdom and goodness beyond measure. It must therefore come from the God with whom we have to do. Those who are not persuaded by this, who will not drop anchor in this harbor, should put out to sea once more if they dare. Let them turn themselves over to other considerations and see if all the perplexities mentioned above do not inevitably return.
Section 12. Another consideration of the doctrine of Scripture for this purpose relates to some of its specific teachings. There are certain doctrines of Scripture, certain revelations in it, so sublimely glorious and of such profound and mysterious excellency that when they are first presented, human nature startles, shrinks back, and is struck with awe, encountering something above it — too great and too excellent for it — which it would gladly avoid and turn away from. Yet when nature gathers itself together to face them, it yields and discovers that unless these teachings are accepted and submitted to, though they are unsearchable, not only must everything else that has been received be rejected, but the whole dependence of the creature on God must either be dissolved or made only dreadful, terrible, and destructive to nature itself. Such are the doctrines of the Trinity, the Incarnation of the Son of God, the resurrection of the dead, the new birth, and others like them. At the first revelation of these things, human nature is amazed and cries, how can these things be? Or it gathers itself up in opposition — this is babbling, said the Athenians; folly, said all the wise Greeks. But when the eyes of reason are somewhat strengthened, though they can never fully see the glory of this sun, they confess that there is a glory in it beyond anything they can grasp. I could show in detail that the doctrines mentioned above, and several others, carry this same weight — namely, though they are great and beyond the reach of reason, upon examination they prove to be such that without submission to them, the whole comfortable relationship between God and man must be dissolved.
Section 13. Let us look at one of these examples. What is there in the whole Bible that human nature recoils from more at first sight than the doctrine of the Trinity? How many people still stumble and fall over it? I admit the doctrine is only sparingly presented, yet it is clearly and distinctly given to us in Scripture. The summary of it is this: God is one. His nature, His being, is one. All the properties and infinite essential excellencies of God as God belong to that one nature and being. This God is infinitely good, holy, just, and powerful. He is eternal, omnipotent, omnipresent. These things belong to none but Him who is that one God. This God is the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost — which are not diverse names for the same person, nor distinct attributes or properties of the same nature or being, but one, another, and a third, all equally that one God, yet really distinguished from each other by such incommunicable properties as make the one to be that one, the other to be that other, and the third to be that third. Thus the Trinity is not the union or unity of three, but a Trinity in unity — the threefold number of persons in the same essence. The Trinity in its formal meaning does not refer to the essence, as if the essence were contained in the Trinity (which is in each person). Rather, it refers only to the distinction of the persons comprised in that number.
Section 14. This, I say, is the summary of this doctrine as it is given to us in Scripture. Here reason becomes entangled, yet after a while it clearly discovers that unless this is embraced, everything else it has to do with God will be of no value to the soul. This will quickly become apparent. Of all the communion between God and man that exists here, founded on the revelation of His mind and will, which leads to enjoyment of Him in glory, there are two parts. 1. God's gracious communication of His love, goodness, and their fruits to us. 2. The obedience of man to God in a spirit of gratitude for that love, according to the mind and will of God revealed to him. These two make up the whole of the relationship between God and man. Now when the human mind wrestles with these things, it eventually finds that they are so bound up in the doctrine of the Trinity that without believing, receiving, and accepting it, it is absolutely impossible to obtain or preserve any interest in them.
Section 15. As for the first part — God's communication to us in a way of love and goodness — it is entirely founded on and wrapped up in this truth, both in its eternal source and its actual execution. A few examples will prove this point. The eternal fountain of all grace, flowing from love and goodness, lies in God's election or predestination. Since this is an act of God's will, it cannot be understood apart from being also an eternal act of His wisdom or Word. All the eternal plans for carrying it out lie in the covenant between the Father and the Son, regarding the Son's undertaking to execute that purpose. I have explained this at length elsewhere.
Take away the doctrine of the Trinity, and both of these are gone. There can be no purpose of grace from the Father in the Son, and no covenant for carrying that purpose into action. And so the foundation of all the fruits of love and goodness is lost to the soul.
Section 16. As for the execution of this purpose and the actual giving out of the fruits of grace and goodness to us, it lies entirely in the unspeakable condescension of the Son in His Incarnation and everything that followed from it. The Incarnation of the eternal Word, by the power of the Holy Ghost, is the foundation of our participation in grace. Without it, it was absolutely impossible for humanity to share in the favor of God. Now this wraps the whole doctrine of the Trinity within itself, and it cannot even be understood without acknowledging the Trinity. Deny the Trinity, and the entire means of the communication of grace, together with the whole of the satisfaction and righteousness of Christ, falls to the ground. Every detail of it declares this truth. Those who deny the one reject the other.
Section 17. Our actual participation in the fruits of this grace is through the Holy Ghost. We cannot seize on them ourselves or bring them home to our own souls. I cannot stop now to demonstrate the impossibility of doing so. But where does this Holy Ghost come from? Is He not sent from the Father, by the Son? Can we entertain any thought of His effective working in us and upon us without it including this whole doctrine? Those who deny the Trinity therefore deny the effectiveness of His work as well.
Section 18. The same is true regarding our obedience to God, by which the communion between God and man is completed. Although the formal object of divine worship is the nature of God, and the persons are not worshipped as distinct persons but as each of them is God, yet as God they are each one of them to be worshipped distinctly. This applies to our faith, our love, our thanksgiving, and all our obedience, as I have thoroughly demonstrated in my treatise on distinct communion with the Father in love, the Son in grace, and the Holy Ghost in the privileges of the Gospel. Thus without the acknowledgment of this truth, none of the obedience that God requires of us can be properly performed.
Section 19. This is why Scripture never speaks of anything between God and us that is not founded on this reality. The Father works, the Son works, and the Holy Ghost works. The Father works only through the Son and His Spirit. The Son and Spirit work only from the Father. The Father glorifies the Son. The Son glorifies the Father. And the Holy Ghost glorifies them both. Before the foundation of the world, the Son was with the Father and rejoiced in His special work of redemption for mankind. At creation, the Father made all things through the Son and by the power of the Spirit. In redemption, the Father sends the Son. The Son by His own willing condescension undertakes the work and is incarnate by the Holy Ghost. As was said, the Father communicates His love and all its fruits to us through the Son, just as the Holy Ghost communicates the merits and fruits of the mediation of the Son. The Father is not known or worshipped except through and in the Son. Neither the Father nor the Son is known except through the Holy Ghost, and so on.
Section 20. With this discovery, the soul that was previously startled at the doctrine as a mere idea becomes fully convinced that all the satisfaction it has sought in seeking God is utterly lost if this doctrine is not accepted. There is no foundation left for the communication of love to that soul, nor any means of returning obedience to God. Beyond this, all the things the soul has been searching for now appear in their glory, beauty, and reality. So the very thing that most staggered the soul at first in receiving the truth, because of its deep and mysterious glory, now most confirms it in embracing it, because of its necessity, power, and heavenly excellency.
Section 21. This is one argument, among the many belonging to the things of Scripture, that upon the grounds already mentioned carries, in my judgment and understanding, a weight of conviction that cannot be resisted.
Section 22. Another consideration of similar power can be drawn from a brief overview of the whole of Scripture and its design. The harmony of Scripture within itself — every part agreeing with each other and with the whole — is commonly used as evidence of its divine origin. This much it certainly proves beyond all possible contradiction: that the whole proceeds from one and the same source, has the same author, and that author is wise, discerning, and able to grasp the full scope of what He intended to reveal. Otherwise, that oneness of spirit, design, and aim — in unspeakable variety and diversity of methods of delivery — and that absolute agreement with itself and distance from anything else, could not have been achieved by any other means. Now it is certain that this source must be the highest in its kind: either the highest good or the highest evil. If the Scripture is what it reveals and declares itself to be, it is then unquestionably the Word of the living God, truth itself. For that is what it professes about itself from beginning to end, and everything it reveals answers that profession absolutely and unmistakably, pointing to His glory alone. If it is not what it claims, then we must admit that its author had a blasphemous design to present himself as God when he is not, a malicious design to deceive humanity into thinking they worship, honor, and obey God when they do not, and so to drag them into everlasting destruction. To accomplish these ends of blasphemy, atheism, and malice, this author must have spent a long course of time pouring out all the skill and wisdom that any creature could possess. Now the one who would do this must be the Devil and no one else. No other creature could possibly reach that height of stubbornness in evil. Certainly, as long as God continues to give us anything that distinguishes us from the beasts that perish, and as long as there is a sense of the difference between good and evil among people, it cannot enter anyone's mind that a doctrine so holy and pure, so completely designed to improve everything that is good, just, commendable, and praiseworthy, so consistent with all the light of God and of good and evil that remains in us, could come from someone eternally hardened in evil, pursuing the wickedest possible design — namely, to enthrone himself and maliciously cheat, deceive, and ruin the souls of men. Therefore, by necessity, Scripture can acknowledge no author but the one to whom it belongs: the living God.
While these considerations are far from being the foundation of our faith or the basis of our assent to the authority of God in His Word, they do have great usefulness — given the evidence already presented — for providing support in trials, temptations, and other seasons of difficulty. But enough has been said on these things.
