Communion with God Chapters 21-22

Chapter 21 continues to look at the fellowship and communion of believers with the Holy Spirit, and in this chapter Owen turns his attention towards the futile attempts of Satan to undermine this communion. And Owen frames Satan's main attempts to undermine the Spirit within the context of gathered worship. This is a fascinating insight from Owen. He is exactly right to begin here, for no doubt, the Enemy wants nothing more than to pervert God's people in this way. He knows that we were created to glorify and enjoy God, and so it makes sense that the Enemy would create and spread lies among mankind concerning the nature of worship!

The first attack against the Spirit from Satan is by setting up ministers and gathered worship services which are completely independent of the Holy Spirit. They have the right liturgy, the minister guides the congregation through the service effortlessly, and by all outward appearances, these gatherings seem to be gatherings of Christian worship. Yet, apart from the Holy Spirit, they are nothing of the sort.

The second attack against the Spirit is that Satan attempts to do the exact opposite of his first attack by deceiving Christians into thinking that you can have the Holy Spirit apart from a structured, gathered worship service. All you need is the Spirit, and you can him without biblical worship and the ministry of Word and Sacrament that happens in a worship service!

Owen's words here speak into our context today just as strongly as they spoke into his in the 17th century. For Owen, this is not a choice between liturgical worship and the Holy Spirit. For Owen, the believer needs both, and if we would discard either one, then we are proving ourselves susceptible to the attacks of Satan.  We need the gathering of God's people in structured, liturgical services where the ministry of Word and Sacrament happen, and we need the Holy Spirit's  work, empowerment, and blessing in these services of worship, lest they become mere exercises of the flesh. 

Owen says that these attacks do two things. The first attack tries to get us to focus merely on the physical by having all the right outward (physical) things in place, but no Spirit. The second attack tries to get us to focus on merely the spiritual reality of Christ by discarding the importance of the physical things. But Owen reminds us that the true ministry of the Spirit concerns both the physical and spiritual, because Jesus Christ himself is both truly God and truly man. The Holy Spirit reminds us of Christ's words and work on our behalf. The Spirit glorifies Christ, the God-Man. The Spirit pours into our hearts the love of God. The Spirit guides and directs us in prayer. And while Owen doesn't state this conclusion, we can say that this is exactly what the Holy Spirit does when we gather together for worship that is both guided by the Scriptures and empowered by the Holy Spirit. 

Chapter 22 is focused upon the Spirit's work as our comforter. It's a difficult chapter on some level because Owen openly talks about afflictions as being something that the people of God should not despise. He reminds us that troubles and afflictions are part of our Father's chastisement and discipline. And God's discipline of his children is an essential part of our discipleship. So while men apart from God despise affliction and trouble, the children of God remember this is part of our Father's molding and shaping us, and we look to the Holy Spirit as a comforter and help during affliction. 

And the Spirit does bring us comfort and help. He brings us comfort when we are burdened with sin. While men apart from God are crushed by guilt, the Spirit reminds those who have union with Christ that we are, indeed, children of God and we have no need to fear God's wrath nor do we fear the accusations of Satan. The Spirit also brings strength and comfort in this life as we eagerly await the consummation of the resurrected life in the new creation. Apart from the Spirit, we would be crushed by the troubles and trials of this current life. But with the Spirit, we patiently await and endure until "the end". 

How does the Spirit comfort us? Very simply, he communicates to us the truth that God loves us. He comforts us by reminding us that the Father's love is eternal and unchangeable. He comforts us by communicating to us and making us more and more familiar with the grace of Jesus Christ, and brings to us the fruits that Christ as purchased for us. He comforts us by glorifying Christ in us, revealing his excellencies to us. He comforts us by reminding us that in Christ, we are justified and adopted into the everlasting family of God. 

And why? Why does the Spirit do this for us? Because of his infinite love for us, and his willingness to help us in our weakness and helplessness. 

He (the Holy Spirit) knew what we were, what we would do and how we would deal with him. He knew we would grieve him and provoke him. He knew we would quench his activities in us and defile his dwelling place, and still he becomes our Comforter. Lack of a due consideration of this great love of the Holy Spirit weakens all the principles of our obedience. Did this knowledge abide in our hearts, how highly we would value his work as Comforter. As we value the love of Christ in laying down his life for our salvation, so we must value the work of the Holy Spirit as our Comforter.

This blog was written by Andy Styer

Communion with God chapters 15-20

If you have been reading along through "Communion with God" this summer, then of course, you realize I am massively behind on this blog! But today I seek to amend this, and cover chapters 15-20 in one blog post! 

Chapter 15
There is much about chapter 15 that could be said. Owen's main thrust is that communion with Christ leads to acceptance with the Father. And just like every other chapter of this work, it's steeped in Trinitarian theology. For the sake of this post, I just want to point out Owen's discussion on the doctrine of imputation, or "the great exchange" as some have called it. Imputation has poked its head up in several sermons over the past few months at Proclamation, and it's a core doctrine for Protestantism. And actually, imputation may be at the heart of the justification debates between the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran/Reformed traditions. If you're interested in this, here is a fairly good overview from a Reformed perspective on this issue. 

Unfortunately today, it seems that imputation is now being attacked even in Protestant and Evangelical circles. The issue here, as it was for Rome as well, is not that our sin was put on (or imputed to) Christ. Generally, we all agree with that. The issue here is the other side of imputation, that is, Christ's righteousness put onto us. We see this attack on the imputation of Christ's righteousness from men like N.T. Wright who wrote,

It is therefore a straightforward category mistake, however venerable within some Reformed traditions including part of my own, to suppose that Jesus ‘obeyed the law’ and so obtained ‘righteousness’ which could be reckoned to those who believe in him. …It is not the ‘righteousness’ of Jesus Christ which is ‘reckoned’ to the believer. It is his death and resurrection. (Justification: God's Plan and Paul's Vision)

Owen, in response to the Catholics of his day, and equally applicable to the deniers of imputation today, does a wonderful job at defending this doctrine. At the heart of his argument is a clear distinction between the role of Christ's righteousness, as the mediator and covenant representative of God's people, and our works of obedience-which even after justification are not meritorious. Christ's righteousness counted to us is vital to the Holy God declaring us righteous! Even after regeneration, unless we can achieve pure holiness in this life, our sins would make us unrighteous in God's sight. But if Christ's righteousness is counted as our own, then our hope is sure. It's on solid ground because our works are really the works of God the Son Jesus Christ.

Yes, we are regenerated to new life. And yes, we can now, because of new life in Christ, do righteous works that please God. But pleasing God and earning favor or merit with him are not the same thing. Owen points out that these new works of obedience don't contribute to the finished work of Christ, but rather, are products of the workmanship of God, works that we do out of love gratitude to him for the grace he has given us.

Chapter 16
We could do an entire blog series on the theology of imputation and justification, but we have much ground to cover! Chapter 16 deals with the issue of holiness. Namely, the holiness of God's people and it's role in our communion with God. 

Owen states that Christ does three things to bring his people into holiness.
1) His work of intercession. Namely, Christ is interceding with the Father so that we would receive the promised Holy Spirit, who does the work of sanctification.

2) The receiving of the Spirit from the Father and sending him into the hearts of his saints, there to dwell in his place, and to do all things for them and in them which he himself has to do in them. In other words, Christ is the one who sends the Spirit from the Father to dwell in us and do the work of sanctification. 

3) By his (Christ's) Spirit, he imparts a new, gracious, spiritual life. Owen explains what this means when he says that by the work of the Holy Spirit, "The soul is filled and enabled to obey, and to receive every divine truth presented to it according to the mind of God.

Chapter 17
The focus of Chapter 17 is the doctrine of adoption, which Owen defines as

the authoritative transfer of a believer, by Jesus Christ, from the family of the world and Satan into the family of God with his being admitted into all the privileges and advantages of that family.

And what are the privileges and advantages we receive? Owen lists several (if you have not yet, read chapter 17 for a description of many of these):

We receive liberty
We receive a title (or a privilege)
Boldness with God by Christ
Affliction coming from love and leading to our spiritual good
The privilege of being called sons of God
Being heirs and joint-heirs with Christ
Being predestinated to be conformed to the image of God's Son
Being called Christ's brethren
Fellowship in Christ's suffering
Fatherly discipline
Fellowship in God's kingdom
We shall reign with Christ

Chapter 18
Owen now shifts from focusing on our fellowship with the Son to our communion and fellowship with the Holy Spirit. And here, he wants to examine the foundation of our fellowship with the Spirit, namely that our foundation with him is grounded upon the reality that it is Jesus Christ who has sent the Spirit to be our Comforter and helper. This is based on the promise of Christ in John 16:1-7 when after warning the disciples of many trials and persecutions, he gives the promise to send a helper, the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is more than willing to come and be the Comforter and helper of God's people. Owen states about our communion with God in light of the Spirit's work that it is a

special communion with the Father in love, the Son in grace, and the Holy Spirit in his work as comforter and helper. This is the way into fellowship with the Holy Spirit to which we are called. His gracious and blessed will, his infinite and wonderful willingness to come down to us, all the works he enables us to do and all the privileges he brings to us, of which we are made partakers, is what our souls by faith receive from him. And our response is to pour out on him all our gratitude and thanksgiving.

Chapter 19
And what is the work of the Holy Spirit in communion with the believer? Owen answers this in chapter 19, reminding us of the Spirit's continual work in our lives. 
1) The Spirit brings to mind the words and promises of Christ
2)The Spirit glorifies Christ
3)The Spirit pours the love of God into our hearts
4)The Spirit bears witness with our spirits that we are the children of God
5)The Spirit seals us, or is the evidence to our soul, that we have been accepted by God
6)The Spirit is our deposit or guarantee of our eternal inheritance
7)The Spirit anoints believers

Let me remind you of Owen's closing paragraph in this chapter:

Here, then, is the wisdom of faith. Faith looks for and meets with the Comforter in all these works of his. Let us not, then, lose their sweetness by remaining in the dark about them, nor fall short of the response required of us in gratitude.

Chapter 20
Well, we come now at last to the final chapter in this "Catch-Up" blog post. Short and sweet, yet so essential to the lives of God's children, this chapter deals with the Holy Spirit and the hearts of believers. What are the works of the Spirit in the hearts of those who belong to Christ?
1) The Holy Spirit comforts and strengthens the hearts of believers
Owen calls this the "chief work" of the Spirit in our lives. He brings our souls, which are often troubled, to rest and contentment not in some temporal earthly way, but rather, by focusing us on the eternal truths of God. This is an everlasting comfort, a strong comfort, and a precious comfort. 

2) The Holy Spirit brings joy to the hearts of believers. 
Reminding us that the Spirit is called the "oil of gladness", Owen states that true joy is produced by the Spirit pouring God's love into our hearts, which carries us through every kind of trial. The Spirit does this directly. He needs no other means, no other tools, no other help. This is HIS work, and it's a work that, just like John the Baptist in his mother's womb, causes us to leap for joy in knowing Jesus. This joy flows from the assurance that the Spirit gives; assurance of God's love for us and our adoption into his family. 

3) The Holy Spirit brings hope to the hearts of the believers.
What is our great hope? Owen says it's to "be like Christ and to enjoy God in Christ for ever". The Spirit, by showing us 'the things of Christ', and by glorifying Christ in our hearts, "arouses", as Owen puts it, our desires to be like Jesus. And this leads to our growth and increase in hope. This, Owen says, is one way that the Spirit sanctifies us. By arousing our hopes, which leads us to a desire to be more like Christ, the Spirit is actually making us more and more holy.

These are the general works of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of believers, which, if we consider them and all that they produce, will bring joy, assurance, boldness, confidence, expectation and glorying. We shall then see how much our whole communion with God is enriched and influenced by them.

This blog was written by Andy Styer

Communion with God chapters 13-14

Chapter 13 is a very weighty chapter, and yet so essential to the Christian life. What is Owen talking about here in this chapter when he writes about "Communion with Christ Purchased in Grace"? Simply, he is speaking about the reality of the Christian being united to Jesus Christ. Owen writes, 

there is almost nothing that Christ has done, but we are said to have done it with him (Gal. 2:20, 2 Tim. 2:11, Col.3:3, Rom. 6:4, Col. 2:12; 3:1, Eph. 2:5-6)

If you want to know what he is speaking about, check out the verse references. 

Galatians 2:20: I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

2 Timothy 2:11-12: The saying is trustworthy; for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him;

Colossians 3:3: For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Romans 6:4: We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in the newness of life.

Colossians 2:12, 3:1: having been buried with him in baptism in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead...If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Ephesians 2:5-6: even when we were dead in our trespasses, (God) made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved-and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

Do we now understand what Owen means when he says that there is almost nothing Christ has done that we are not said to have done with him? This is union with Christ, and union with Christ is at the heart of our salvation. We are united to Christ in his life of perfect obedience (read chapter 15 if you haven't yet for a wonderful explanation on why Christ's life, not just his death and resurrection, is so essential for the Christian). We are united to Christ in his death. We are united to him in his resurrection. We are united to him in his ascension into heaven. We are united to him in his glorification. And we will be united to him in his future reign in the new heaven and new earth. This is amazing! This should just floor us. It should bring tears to our eyes to think that we, who were once enemies of God, objects of wrath, infinitely guilty before his infinite holiness, worthy of nothing but damnation, that we would be brought into such a rich inheritance because of what Jesus Christ has done for us. This is the reality of union with Christ and communion with the Triune God. 

This blog was written by Andy Styer

Communion with God chapters 11&12

There's a lot in these two chapters to reflect upon, but I really want to focus the theme of prayer that Owen hits on in chapter 11. 

Owen begins his exhortation on prayer with this simple statement: 

Christ delights to reveal his kingdom to his saints...Christ enables his saints to reveal their minds and souls to him that they might walk together in intimate love and friendship...But to know this truth will not avail us if we do not know how to open our hearts to him. this we do in prayer. To Christ, the prayers of his saints are like incense...If we would open our hearts to Christ, we need help to pray.

Two things. First, notice here that Owen is saying that Christ makes himself and his Kingdom known to the saints, and the saints make their minds and souls known to him through prayer. Prayer is how we share in a deep, intimate love and friendship with Jesus Christ. But secondly, notice Owen fully recognizes that we are weak in prayer and that we need help. And here, Owen reminds us that the Holy Spirit, the "Helper" as Christ referred to him, is the one who helps us in our prayers. 

I'm encouraged by these two points. First, doesn't it make our hearts sing to know that Jesus Christ makes himself known to us, and delights in having us make ourselves known to him in an intimate friendship? The one who in and through whom all things were made, the eternal Son of God, the King of kings and Lord of lords, the very image of the invisible God delights in us. He delights in having an intimate friendship, a deep rooted love, and communion with us. That fact alone should give us great delight in the act of prayer! 

And yet, all of us still struggle with prayer, don't we? We are tempted to see prayer as a chore. We don't delight in prayer as we should. We may know that through prayer we are having sweet communion with God, and yet how many of us are eager to go before the Lord in prayer? How many of us struggle to even know what to say and how to say it? And here is the encouraging reminder from John Owen that Jesus, who knows our weaknesses first hand, has sent a Helper-the Holy Spirit of Christ. He writes:

...we need help to pray. This help we have by the Spirit of Jesus. All attempts at praying without the help of the Spirit working in us a prayerful spirit are of no avail and of no value. Christ greatly delights in the prayers of his saints when they truly open their hearts to him. When the soul is driven to hide from Christ, then Christ calls it out and enables it to pray by giving it the help of his Spirit."

If we (when we...) struggle to pray, let us all look to the power of the Holy Spirit, who is working in us. He is the one who will help us to pray! The Spirit gives us the help and power we need to pray, which leads to sweet communion and fellowship with Jesus Christ, through whom we are able to come into the presence of the Father who sits upon a throne of grace, to which we draw close with confidence!

This blog was written by Andy Styer
 

Communion with God chapters 9&10

In chapter 8 of "Communion with God", Owen began exploring the "excellencies of Christ", giving us glorious truths about Jesus in the hopes that by meditating on Christ's attributes, we would be encouraged to give ourselves up more fully to the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Chapter 9 continues Owen's exploration of Christ's attributes, looking specifically at his wisdom and knowledge. But really, what Owen has in mind here is not so much an exploration of the wisdom and knowledge Christ showed in his earthly life, but rather, Owen speaks to the truth that in Christ we truly know God and that to know God is to be truly wise. It is in Christ that we get to see and know the attributes of the eternal God. For example, in Christ, we know God's righteousness and justice in punishing sin. We see this at the cross. Yet we also know his mercy and love and forgiveness for sinners. 

All this is hidden in Christ. The great and unspeakable riches of God's wisdom in pardoning sin, saving sinners, satisfying justice, fulfilling the law, regaining his own honour and providing for us a much greater weight of glory are all accomplished in Christ. And all this was accomplished out of an impossible state of affairs. It was impossible for angels or men to discover how God could possibly restore all things to his glory or ever save one sinful creature from everlasting ruin...

Nothing in God concerning our salvation can be known or received except by Christ. All that is necessary for our salvation is in Christ and is shown to us by Christ. All truth outside Christ does not lead to the knowledge of salvation. It only leads to further corruption.

Do we desire to be wise? Do we desire to truly know God, which is the heart of all wisdom? Then our desire should be to know Jesus Christ, because, "To know Christ and to be in Christ by faith is to know the wonder and excellence of the wisdom and knowledge of God in the salvation of sinners."

Chapter 10 marks a turn in Owen's thought. If we are to have a saving knowledge of God in Christ, we must also know ourselves. And what are we to know about ourselves? We are to know just how desperately we need Jesus Christ. We are to know that we are sinners. We are rebellious. We are breakers of God's holy law. We are worthy of eternal punishment for our sin. And most terrifying of all, we are to know that all mankind will face a day of judgment, carried out by Jesus Christ himself. 

And yet...this thought should bring us hope and comfort as well, because this means that we will be judged by the one who loves us and gave himself up for us. We are to be judged by the one who has taken away enmity between us and God. If we are putting our faith in Christ, if we have communion and fellowship with him, if we are "walking with him", (and Owen gives several examples of what walking with Christ means), then we can rejoice in knowing that Jesus has indeed reconciled us to the Father. And while for some the day of judgment will be a terrible day, for us, it will be a day of unspeakable joy. All of this is an encouragement to us to continue to pursue communion with Christ, aiming for the day when he comes again, restores all things, and we have perfect and eternal communion with him, unhindered by our enemies of sin, death, and the devil. 

This blog was written by Andy Styer