The actual sanctification of the human nature of Christ by the Holy Ghost — On what ground spotless and free from sin — Positively endowed with all grace — Original holiness and sanctification in Christ, how carried on by the Spirit — Exercise of grace in Christ by the rational faculties of his soul — Their improvement — Wisdom and knowledge, how increased objectively in the human nature of Christ — The anointing of Christ by the Holy Spirit with power and gifts — Collated eminently on him at his baptism — John iii. 34 explained and vindicated — Miraculous works wrought in Christ by the Holy Ghost — Christ guided, conducted, and supported by the Spirit in his whole work — Mark i. 12 opened — How the Lord Christ offered himself unto God through the eternal Spirit — His sanctification thereunto — Graces acting eminently therein — Love, zeal, submission, faith, and truth, all exercised therein — The work of the Spirit of God towards Christ whilst he was in the state of the dead; in his resurrection and glorification — The office of the Spirit to bear witness unto Christ, and its discharge — The true way and means of coming unto the knowledge of Christ, with the necessity thereof — Danger of mistakes herein — What it is to love Christ as we ought.
Secondly, The human nature of Christ being thus formed in the womb by a creating act of the Holy Spirit, was in the instant of its conception sanctified, and filled with grace according to the measure of its receptivity. Being not begotten by natural generation, it derived no taint of original sin or corruption from Adam, that being the only way and means of its propagation; and being not in the loins of Adam morally before the fall, the promise of his incarnation being not given until afterward, the sin of Adam could on no account be imputed unto him. All sin was charged on him as our mediator and surety of the covenant; but on his own account he was obnoxious to no charge of sin, original or actual. His nature, therefore, as miraculously created in the manner described, was absolutely innocent, spotless, and free from sin, as was Adam in the day wherein he was created. But this was not all; it was by the Holy Spirit positively endowed with all grace. And hereof it was afterward only capable of farther degrees as to actual exercise, but not of any new kind of grace. And this work of sanctification, or the original infusion of all grace into the human nature of Christ, was the immediate work of the Holy Spirit; which was necessary unto him: for let the natural faculties of the soul, the mind, will, and affections, be created pure, innocent, undefiled, — as they cannot be otherwise immediately created of God, — yet there is not enough to enable any rational creature to live to God; much less was it all that was in Jesus Christ. There is, moreover, required hereunto supernatural endowments of grace, superadded unto the natural faculties of our souls. If we live unto God, there must be a principle of spiritual life in us, as well [as] of life natural. This was the image of God in Adam, and was wrought in Christ by the Holy Spirit: Isa. xi. 1–3, “There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; and shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord.” It is granted that the following work of the Spirit in and upon the Lord Christ, in the execution of his office as the king and head of the church, is included in these words; but his first sanctifying work in the womb is principally intended: for these expressions, “A rod out of the stem of Jesse,” and “A Branch out of his roots,” with respect whereunto the Spirit is said to be communicated unto him, do plainly regard his incarnation; and the soul of Christ, from the first moment of its infusion, was a subject capable of a fullness of grace, as unto its habitual residence and in-being, though the actual exercise of it was suspended for a while, until the organs of the body were fitted for it. This, therefore, it received by this first unction of the Spirit. Hence, from his conception, he was “holy,” as well as “harmless” and “undefiled,” Heb. vii. 26; a “holy thing,” Luke i. 35; radically filled with a perfection of grace and wisdom, inasmuch as the Father “gave him not the Spirit by measure,” John iii. 34. See to this purpose our commentary on Heb. i. 1; see also John i. 14–17.
Thirdly, The Spirit carried on that work whose foundation he had thus laid. And two things are to be here diligently observed:—
1. That the Lord Christ, as man, did and was to exercise all grace by the rational faculties and powers of his soul, his understanding, will, and affections; for he acted grace as a man, “made of a woman, made under the law.” His divine nature was not unto him in the place of a soul, nor did immediately operate the things which he performed, as some of old vainly imagined; but being a perfect man, his rational soul was in him the immediate principle of all his moral operations, even as ours are in us. Now, in the improvement and exercise of these faculties and powers of his soul, he had and made a progress after the manner of other men; for he was made like unto us “in all things,” yet without sin. In their increase, enlargement, and exercise, there was required a progression in grace also; and this he had continually by the Holy Ghost: Luke ii. 40, “The child grew, and waxed strong in spirit.” The first clause refers to his body, which grew and increased after the manner of other men; as verse 52, he “increased in stature.” The other respects the confirmation of the faculties of his mind, — he “waxed strong in spirit.” So, verse 52, he is said to “increase in wisdom and stature.”1 He was πληρούμενος σοφίας, continually “filling and filled” with new degrees “of wisdom,” as to its exercise, according as the rational faculties of his mind were capable thereof; an increase in these things accompanied his years, verse 52. And what is here recorded by the evangelist contains a description of the accomplishment of the prophecy before mentioned, Isa. xi. 1–3. And this growth in grace and wisdom was the peculiar work of the Holy Spirit; for as the faculties of his mind were enlarged by degrees and strengthened, so the Holy Spirit filled them up with grace for actual obedience.