Spiritual Liberty (2)

(2) The Spirit of God justifies us. In justification the Spirit liberates our conscience from sin and the curse of sin. But you will say, the liberty of justification is wrought by Christ; we are justified by the obedience of Christ; and the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us. It is true Christ is our righteousness. But what is that to us unless we have something to put it on? For his riches to be ours, and our debt to be his, there must first be a union. Now this union is wrought by the Spirit. From this union there comes a change; his righteousness is mine, as if I had obeyed and done it myself; and my debts and sins are his. This is by the Spirit because the union between Christ and me is by the Spirit. For whatever Christ has done, it is nothing to me until there be a union.
And likewise, freedom is by the Spirit, because the Spirit of God works faith in me, not only to unite and knit me to Christ, but to persuade me that Christ is mine, that all his is mine, and that my debts are his. The Spirit is light, and he not only tells me that Christ is mine when I believe, but he assures me that I do believe. For the Spirit is given me to know the things that I have in Christ. For the soul always thinks God is holiness itself, and I am a mass of sin, full of terrors and fears and jealousies. What reason have I to think that God will be so favourable to such a wretch, to such a lump of sin as I am, were it not that God the Son has satisfied God the Father? God has satisfied God; and the Spirit assures my conscience. God must establish the heart in a gracious liberty of justification, as well as in the fact that God the Son has wrought it. We see then, how the Spirit sets us at liberty in the great matter of justification.

Devotional Readings taken from Puritan Richard Sibbes 'Refreshment for the Soul.'
Glorious Freedom, pp. 33-36 [38-40]
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