Spiritual Liberty (7)

(4) The Spirit of God glorifies us. Besides liberty in this world, there is a liberty of glory, called 'the liberty of the children of God' (Rom. 8:21). The liberty of our bodies from corruption, the glorious liberty in heaven, when we will be perfectly free. For, alas, in this world we are free to fight, not free from fight. And we are free not from misery, but free from the slavery and control of misery. But in heaven we will be free from the encounter and encumbrance. 'All tears will be wiped from our eyes' (Rev. 7:17). We will be free from all physical pain in sickness and infirmity, and free from all the remainders of sin in our souls. That will be perfect liberty, perfect redemption, and perfect adoption, both of body and soul.
And by the Spirit we have beginnings of this freedom in this world, too. For, what is peace of conscience and joy in the Holy Spirit? Is it not the beginnings of heaven, a grape of the heavenly Canaan? Is not the Spirit that we have here a pledge of that inheritance? It is an earnest payment and an earnest is a piece of the bargain. It is never taken away but is part of the bargain. So, the beginnings of grace and comfort given by the Spirit are the beginnings of that glorious liberty. The earnest assures us of that glorious liberty. For God never goes back on the bargain that he makes with his children. Grace, in some sense, is glory because grace is the beginning of glory. It frees the soul from terror and subjection to sin. So, the life of glory is begun in grace. We have the life of glory begun by the Spirit, this glorious life.

Devotional Readings taken from Puritan Richard Sibbes 'Refreshment for the Soul.'
Glorious Freedom, p. 48 [53-54]
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