ETERNAL LIFE NO. 9

ETERNAL LIFE NO. 9

It is quite plain that I do not know that I have eternal life but by the Spirit, but I agree with you that I must not weaken what is given in sovereign grace and possessed by every believer in the Person and work of Christ. We are all children of God by faith in Christ Jesus, yet no one can say, “Abba, Father”, until he receives the Holy Ghost. I do not see that the Spirit gives. He makes good to me that which is given. Eternal life is the gift of God, and though I live in the Spirit, it is not the Spirit’s gift. The life is in Christ, and it is mine through grace, though I do not know it but by the Spirit. You cannot separate eternal life from Christ, though one is not in a Christian state until one has the Spirit of Christ. I see that the ^[p. 114] Spirit originates nothing. He makes good to me the efficacy and full blessing of the work of Christ — He glorifies Him. John in his epistle does not regard believers in any lower grade than as knowing the Father and indwelt by the Holy Ghost. We know that many in this day are not so far in the experience of their souls, yet both life and relationship are theirs through the grace of God. Scripture connects eternal life with faith in Christ, but it cannot be known except by the Holy Ghost.