Communion with Christ in the Grace of Sanctification | John Owen

Deep Dive into The Saint's Fellowship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit by John Owen - Chapter IXJohn Owen explores how believers experience communion with Jesus Christ specifically regarding the grace of sanctification and holiness. This communion involves both the specific actions of Christ and the responsive duty of the saints.Christ performs three primary actions to foster this holiness. First, based on His sacrificial death, He intercedes with the Father to bestow the Holy Spirit upon His people. Second, Christ actually sends the Spirit to dwell within the hearts of believers, initiating and sustaining their spiritual life. Third, Christ bestows habitual grace, which is a permanent, newly created spiritual principle that transforms the soul's faculties, enabling ongoing obedience and spiritual operations. This differs from actual grace, which refers to transient, specific divine assistance for individual duties. All of these graces are directly purchased by Christ’s sacrifice and dispensed from His absolute fullness.On the part of the saints, communion with Christ in sanctification requires absolute reliance on Him rather than on personal strength. Believers recognize their profound internal defilement and realize that no self-made efforts, vows, or resolutions can produce true holiness. Instead, they must look to the blood of Christ as a purifying fountain. The sources emphasize that Christ's blood must not only be shed but also sprinkled or applied to the soul. Just as hyssop was used in the Old Testament to sprinkle sacrificial blood for purification, the promises of the gospel act as the hyssop that applies Christ's cleansing blood to the believer. By fixing their faith on Jesus and continually receiving the Spirit, believers undergo genuine purification, mortify their sins, and grow in grace. This lifelong process of drawing from Christ's fullness is the only effective path to a fruitful, holy life.Reformed Theologian GPT: https://chat.openai.com/g/g-XXwzX1gnv-reformed-theologianYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/@ReformedExplainerWorship Music: https://suno.com/playlist/3a498d0f-c90e-4981-8aa7-59834e7239f7https://buymeacoffee.com/edi2730