The Spirit of Bondage and Adoption, Treatise 2 · Chapter 1
CHAP. I. Containing a Preface to the Diſcourſe: a third Propoſition from the Scripture mentioned, and a deſcription of the Grace of Adoption occaſionally premiſed.
A Man would wonder (if he ſaw the names of ſuch and ſuch particular men written in the Book of Life, whom he beholds lying under the chaines, and fetters mentioned in the former Treatiſe roaring and howling in the bitterneſs of their ſpirits, under the laſhes of, not onelyonly the Law, as a School-maſter, but Conſcience as a Jailor; and withal were hee blinded and hood-winked that he might not ſee beyond Gods preſent diſpenſations towards them) I ſay, ſuch a man could not but wonder what ſtrange deſign God hath in ſuch an appearing inconſiſtent carriage, and would (no doubt) be a very diligent obſerver of the ſeries and method of Gods managing this condition, for the good of thoſe whom though he love, yet he thinks fit to keep under ſo ſevere a diſcipline, it may be for divers years.
And (poſſibly) by this time ſome one or other who have gone along with me in the former Treatiſe, may be almoſt in the ſame maze of uncertainty; at leaſt if he be a ſufferer under the Spirit of Bondage himſelf; or if not, he may well be affected with a ſerious itch of inquiry after the end of ſuch providences.
And therefore I thought not fit to ſend forth the former Treatiſe alone, leſt I ſhould hold a poor ſoul under ſo uncomfortable an incertitude or heſitancy, and afford him no help for his ſatisfaction. The latter part of Rom. 8. 15. (the Text formerly inſiſted on) tells ſuch an one, that the ſame Spirit of God, who lays on them thoſe fetters, in his due time knocks them off again, and brings them forth into a large place, becomes a Spirit of Adoption from a Spirit of Bondage, and enables them to call God Father, and come to him as children, whom but a while ſince they dreaded and fled from as a Judge.—But ye have (ſaith our Apoſtle) received the Spirit of Adoption, whereby, &c.
In the diſcovery of which ſecond ſpiritual Work or Myſtery of Godlineſſe, I ſhall (in proportion to the Preface of the former Diſcourſe) take this ſecond part of the Verſe aſunder, and therein obſerve theſe Particulars.
1 Some lines running parallel herein to the former, ſuch as theſe three.
1. The cauſe, which is the (ſame) Holy Spirit of God.
2 The way and manner of this work, as it denotes derivation of influence from that efficient cauſe upon the Subject, (here, as there, called) Reception.
3 The Perſons or Subjects of this Work, Yee (the ſame Romans.)
2 Some lines thwarting and croſſing them. ſuch as theſe three.
1. The Effect of this Spirit here; (though ſtill he be the ſame Spirit) is Adoption, which was there Bondage.
2. The Impreſſion of this Effect upon the ſame Subjects, which is now crying Abba, Father, was fear.
3. The time when this alteration is made, and makes impreſſion upon theſe Subjects. Implyed in the ſucceſſion of this effect and impreſſion to thoſe, and that is after the work of the Spirit of Bondage is done, which is at and after converſion.
3. A twofold particle amplifying the preſent change, and aggravating the mercy of it.
1. One Negative, Not again; Ye received the Spirit of Bondage once, but no more, Not again.
2 Another Affirmative and Adverſative, But; i. e, in lieu of it, you have received another-guiſe gift, the Spirit of Adoption.
All theſe parts ſhall receive their fuller explication in the following Treatiſe, which I ſhall marſhal under four Propoſitions or Theſes. Whereof the firſt is,
Theſes I.The Spirit of Bondage in Gods Elect ends in a Spirit of Adoption.
The handling of this point will afford us theſe main heads of Diſcourſe.
1 What Adoption is?
2 What is the work of the Spirit of Adoption?
3 How this Theſis is to be underſtood?
4 How the truth of it appears?
5 Why the Spirit doth in ſuch perſons ſo work?
6 Certain other Queſtions, and the uſe of the whole.
Concerning the firſt, (that falls in occaſionally) in this Chapter.
Queſt. 1. What is Adoption?
Anſ. Adoption is to be looked on under a double reſpect
1 Active, &
2 Paſſive
whereby it hath relation
1 To its Cauſes
2 To its Subject
So it is
1 An Act of Grace, as it is the work of God Adopting.
2 A gracious Priviledg, as it is the ſtate of man Adopted.
We ſhall joyn both together, and deſcribe it as a priviledg of ours, but depending upon its cauſes. Thus;
Adoption is a gracious priviledge whereby the Elect of God, and they only are out of the ſpecial grace and good will of God the Father, made his children through Jeſus Chriſt, and entituled with him to the joint inheritance of all the priviledges belonging to the ſons of God both here and hereafter.
1 The general nature of it, is a gracious Priviledge. And ſo the Scripture ſpeaks of it every where, 1 John 3. 1. Two ſpecial Notes ſet it out; a note of Attention, [Behold] and another importing Admiration, [What manner of love is this? &c.] The word is in the Orignal. [In what ſoil doth this ſtrange plant grow? foreign, In quo ſolo natus eſt talis amor?]
If David thought it ſo great an honour and priviledg to be the Kings Son in Law, 1 Sam. 18. 18, 23. if it were noted as a ſpecial act of ſelf-denial in Moſes to reject that offered relation of being an adopted Son to Pharaohs daughter, Heb. 11. 24 which imports it was ſuch a priviledg, as ſcarce any but a Moſes would have refuſed: certainly it muſt be a priviledg of an high nature to be made a Son or Daughter to God Almighty.
And this muſt needs be a gracious priviledge, ſeeing the picture of it is ſo full of glory, Rom. 9 4. 'tis foreign, a ſpecial Right, Authority, Joh. 1. 12.
2 This the more appears becauſe it is appropriated to a very few; the ſubjects of it are Gods Elect and they only, Epheſ. 1. 5 He hath predeſtinated us to the Adoption of children. And thoſe Elect are not actually ſo till they become actual Believers. John 1. 12. To as many as received him (i e. believed in his name) he gave power. &c. and needs muſt it be ſo, for by nature we are children of wrath, as well as others, Epheſ. 2. 2 And we are the children of the firſt Adam till we are the children of God by faith in Chriſt Jeſus, Gal. 3. 2.
3 The Cauſes of it are
1 Principal.
2 Leſs principal.
1 The principal cauſe is God the Father, the Fountain of this relation. His is the power of adopting Sons. 'Twas the uſual act of the Father thus to adopt. No child can adopt a father, becauſe it is an honour; and the Superiour is not honoured by the Inferior, but the Inferiour by the Superior. Epheſ. 1. 3, 5. compared. So 1 John 3. 1 What manner of love the Father hath beſtowed upon us, that we ſhould be called the children of God? The vouchſafement of it is from him to us
2 The leſſe principal, is either,
1 That that inwardly moved him, which the Schools call, foreign; and that (as followes) is his meer grace and good will, foreign, Epheſ. 1. 5. (and this Chapter from ver. 3 to 14. is a perfect common place upon it,) Having predeſtinated us to Adoption, according to the good pleaſure of his wil, and therefore he will have that grace of his alone glorified thereby, ver. 6. And indeed what elſe could move him, we being poor, forlorn, condemned creatures, the ſeed of a Traitor, and caſt out in our nativity to the contempt of our perſons? &c. as is deſcribed, Ezek 16. 3, 4
2 The outward procuring cauſe (called alſo by them, foreign) is Jeſus Chriſt (which followes next in the deſcription, Through Jeſus Chriſt.)
Now Chriſt hath a ſpecial influence upon this work two wayes.
1. As the purchaſer of it unto us. For he redeemed us that wee might receive the Adoption Gal. 4. 5.of ſons. We were not capable of this Adoption, till redeemed unto it, for wee were by nature the ſubjects, nay the ſlaves to another Prince, who ruleth effectually in the children Epheſ. 2. 2.of diſobedience; nay we were condemned by the juſtice of God, and ſo til our lives and liberties were thus purchaſed, were not capable of any inheritance, our very beings and eſtates were legally forfeited, and but by Chriſts purchaſe, wee had never beene capable of inheriting any thing but Hel, Epheſ. 1. 7, 11. 1. Pet. 1. 3, 4.
2. As the deriver of it upon us. He being the head of all the Adopted family, from whom the priviledg of the blood, and right of inheritance is derived, as a ſtreame from the fountain upon us, God firſt Adopting Chriſt; & in him us. For our priviledg doth not flow properly from the natural relation of Chriſt to God the Father, but from the moral & aſſumed relation, that which Chriſt received from him, when he undertook to bring many children to glory; for the priviledges of Chriſts natural relation to the Father cannot be communicated; therefore he is called Gods only begotten Sonne. (And this is the blaſphemy of the Familiſts both old and new, that the Godhead dwelleth in the Saints as it doth in Chriſt; whence it will follow (contrary to ſcripture that the Saints alſo are the natural Sonnes of God) This is that that I would ſay, God hath annointed Chriſt as the ſecond Adam, and the head of his Church, with the oyl of gladneſſe above his fellowes, beſtowed upon him the graces of Juſtification, Sanctification, and all priviledges belonging to them, in an eminent manner, and ſo made him the firſt born ſon of his grace by Adoption, Pſal. 89. 26, 27. I will make him my firſt born. This filiation is not that natural relation to God, for he was never made the natural Son of God, and in that reſpect ſeeing he had no brethren, he could not properly be a firſt born. It muſt therefore be meant of a primogeniture by Adoption; and becauſe primogeniture carries a right of Authority with it among Princes, therefore it followes, Higher then the Kings of the earth; I'll give him power over all the Creation; upon which account alſo poſſibly he may be called the firſt born of every Creature, Col. 1. 15. compared with 17, 18. but more clearly yet, if we compare Iſai. 8. 18 and Heb. 2. 11, 13. Behold I (ſaith Chriſt) and the children which the Lord hath given me, for of him the Apoſtle interprets it. Now ſaith the Apoſtle, He that ſanctifieth, and they that are ſanctified are foreign, have but one Father, and yet Chriſt is brought in calling them children, as well as brethren. Brethren then they were as ſonnes to the ſame Father, i. e, by Adoption, for otherwiſe Chriſt had no brethren; and children as ſons to that father by a derived adoption from and through him. And therfore Eph. 1. 15. The whole family, i. e. the Church, (called the houſhold of God, Eph. 2. 19. and of faith, Gal. 6. 10.) is named from him. Named? what? Saints, children of God, &c. from him, i. e. from their relation to him as the head of the Family.
And remarkably clear is that, Rom. 8. 28, 29, 30. God (ſaith the Apoſtle) predeſtinated us that we ſhould be conformable to the Image of his ſon. Wherin conſiſts this conformity? No queſtion, in condition, priviledges and duties, and primarily in ſonſhip; for it followes, that he might be the firſt born among many brethren, that he might have many brethren, to be partakers of thoſe divine priviledges and perfections that belonged to him: God deals in this with Chriſt and Saints as men do when they entayl honours and eſtates to the line of ſuch a man. He is the head of the Family, the fountain of that honour to all that deſcend from him.
4. The ſpecial or formal nature of it conſiſts in our being admitted into a relation of ſonnes and daughters to God. 2 Cor. 6. 18. Ye ſhall be my ſonnes and daughters, ſaith the Lord God Almighty. Now this relation (as I ſaid before) is no natural relation, but moral, depending upon the will of the perſon adopting, and taken up upon ſpecial grounds perſwading thereunto. Therefore 'tis a love beſtowed upon us, and we are ſaid to be called the Sons of God. And yet it is 1 John 3 1.not a meer relation ſecundum dici (as they ſay) for which there is no real foundation. This Adoption is attended with a ſpiritual and myſtical generation, and a communication of a divine nature, whereby we are moſt 2 Pet. 1 4.really conformed to the image of his Sonne, as being begotten by him in his own likeneſſe: he being the brother of our nature, but the Father of our perſons, in that the ſeed of God abides in us. 1 John. 3. 9. And therefore the bond is not ſo looſe on both ſides, as ordinarily in humane adoptions it is, whence we are God the Fathers children (in a ſort) one degree removed. And as Jacob adopted his ſon Joſephs children, Gen. 48. 5. So doth God his Son Jeſus's. We are the Fathers ſeed by Adoption, being Chriſts by juſtification and regeneration.
The conſequent, or rather concomitant of this relation, is a title to the inheritance of children, both here and hereafter. For this ſpeciall relation hath more in it herein then ordinary relations of that kind among men, ſeeing here every child is an heire, and in that reſpect every Saint is a firſt borne, whoſe priviledge it is to inherit, Heb. 12. 23. And therefore in this reſpect Saints are conformed to Chriſt, not only in Sonſhip by adoption, but in his primogeniture or firſt ſonſhip. As the Apoſtle very clearly and comfortably concludes. Rom. 8. 17. If children (ſaith he) then heirs; heires, to whom? and what? heires of God, i. e- of all that is in God; for the Lord is the portion of his people, the portion of Jacob. Jer. 51. 19 and Coheirs with Chriſt, [ejusdem gloriae, but not ejusdem gradus] heires of the ſame glory with Chriſt, but not of the ſame degree and meaſure. Hee that overcometh, ſhall ſit with mee in my Throne. Apoc. 3. 21. According to John 21. 17. More particularly the Apoſtle (and upon the account of our deſcent from Chriſt, before ſpoken 1 Cor. 3. 21, 22 23.of) all things (ſaith hee) are yours. And then there followes a large inventory annexed to this generall deed of gift, whether Paul, or Apollo, or Cephas; all means, and ordinances, and miniſters, for their ſpirituall growth and improvement; or the world, creatures of the world, men of the world; a Saint hath title to all the good that all the world can afford him, as far as 'tis good for him: or life (as long as he may do good with it) hee is ſure to live as long as ſhall be for his advantage; or if life be for his diſadvantage, as it may bee, then death (where note, that even death is part of a Saints inheritance, part of his goods and chattels:) and to ſum all up, things preſent, all temporall, and things to come all eternal mercies. But how comes this title to be firme in Law? If a Chriſtian cannot prove his genealogy, then 'tis queſtionable; but if he can, then jure haereditario, hee may make good his claime againſt all the Divels in hell, 'tis by entaile ſetled upon Chriſt and his ſeede, yee are Chriſts, deſcended from him, and Chriſts is Gods, the principal Donour, the Author of the relation, and he will never recal his bounty, never cut off the entaile. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. Rom. 11. 29.
And ſo much ſhall ſuffice for the opening of this preliminary queſtion, concerning the nature of Adoption. A ſecond followes, which we ſhall caſt off to another Chapter.