Casuistical morning-exercises the fourth volume /

For first, God is essentially full of all Divine excellencies, he is so by nature, by essence; what we are, we are by Grace: 'Tis not much we have, and that little is Grace, 1 Cor. 15.10. By the grace of God, I am that I am: Holiness is not our essence, there was a time when we were not holy; we were born without it, and may die without it; but if we die as empty of Grace as we were born, it had been good for us never to have been born.

Secondly, The holiness of God is a Self-holiness; God is not only full, § 2 but self-full, full with his own fullness; he lends to all, borrows of none: But the fullness of a Believer is a borrowed, a precarious fullness; we depend on God for the beginning and begetting of Grace; for the increasing and nourishing of that Grace he has begotten and begun; for the confirming and strengthening that Grace he has increased; for the perfecting and completing of that Grace he has confirmed and strengthened, and for the crowning of what he has so perfected and completed. Chrysostom, upon that, John 1.16. And of his fullness, we all have received, and grace for grace, informs us, that Christ is [Greek or Hebrew], the very Self-fountain. Believers must confess with David, Psal. 71.8. That all our Springs are in him. Again, that Christ is [Greek or Hebrew], the very Self-root: We must freely and thankfully own, that in him is our fruit found, Hosea 14.8. Again, that Christ is [Greek or Hebrew], the very Self-life, John 5.26. He has Life in himself: That we have, we acknowledge it to be from him, as our Principle, Spring, Root, with whom is the fountain of life, Psal. 36.9. And that the life which we live in the Flesh, we live by the faith of the Son of God,