A39669:2010
The Method of Grace
The method of grace, in bringing home the eternal redemption contrived by the Father, and accomplished by the Son through the effectual application of the spirit unto God's elect, being the second part of Gospel redemption : wherein the great mystery of our union and communion with Christ is opened and applied, unbelievers invited, false pretenders convicted, every mans claim to Christ examined, and the misery of Christless persons discovered and bewailed / by John Flavell ...The method of grace, in bringing home the eternal redemption contrived by the Father, and accomplished by the Son through the effectual application of the spirit unto God's elect, being the second part of Gospel redemption : wherein the great mysterie of our union and communion with Christ is opened and applied, unbelievers invited, false pretenders convicted, every mans claim to Christ examined, and the misery of Christless persons discovered and bewailed / by John Flavell ...
London: printed by M. White for Francis Tyton, 1681
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
First, The spirit of God in believers is the very bond by which they are united unto Christ: if therefore we find in our selves the bond of union, we may warrantably conclude that we have union with Jesus Christ: this is evidently held forth in those words of Christ: Joh. 17. 22, 23. The glory which thou gavest me, I have given them that they may be one, even as we are one. I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me: 'tis the glory of Christs humane nature to be united to the God-head: this glory (said Christ) thou gavest me, and the glory thou gavest me I have given them (i. e.) by me they are united unto thee: and how this is done he showeth us more particularly, I in them: there is Christ in us, viz. mystically; and thou in me there is God in Christ, viz. Hypostatically: so that in Christ God and believers meet in a blessed union: 'tis Christs glory to be one with God: 'tis our glory to be one with Christ, and with God by him: but how is this done? certainly no other way but by the giving of his Spirit unto us: for so much that phrase I in them must needs import: Christ is in us by the sanctifying spirit which is the bond of our union with him.
First, The spirit of God in believers is the very bond by which they are united unto Christ: if therefore we find in our selves the bond of union, we may warrantably conclude that we have union with Jesus Christ: this is evidently held forth in those words of Christ: Joh. 17. 22, 23. The glory which thou gavest me, I have given them that they may be one, even as we are one. I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me: 'tis the glory of Christs humane nature to be united to the God-head: this glory (said Christ) thou gavest me, and the glory thou gavest me I have given them (i. e.) by me they are united unto thee: and how this is done he sheweth us more particularly, I in them: there is Christ in us, viz. mystically; and thou in me there is God in Christ, viz. Hypostatically: so that in Christ God and believers meet in a blessed union: 'tis Christs glory to be one with God: 'tis our glory to be one with Christ, and with God by him: but how is this done? certainly no other way but by the giving of his Spirit unto us: for so much that phrase I in them must needs import: Christ is in us by the sanctifying spirit which is the bond of our union with him.