March 16 Daily Devotional

Bible Verse

"When the Spirit of truth comes ... he will glorify me" (John 16:13–14).

Devotional

One essential and important office of the Holy Spirit is to glorify Christ. And how does he most glorify Christ except by exalting his atoning work—giving it the preeminence, importance, and glory that it demands? How does he most glorify Christ except by leading the sinner, whom he has first convinced of sin, to rest in Jesus as an all-sufficient Savior; to cast away all trust in self, all reliance upon a covenant of works, which is but a covenant of death; and thus looking entirely outside of himself, to rely on the blood and righteousness of Immanuel, the God-man Mediator?

Oh, what sweet, holy delight must it be to the Spirit of God when a poor sinner, fully aware of his own helplessness, is led to build upon Jesus, the "tried stone, the precious corner-stone, the sure foundation" (Isa. 28:16)!

How much it must grieve the Spirit, then, when there is any resting in his work in the soul—whether for acceptance, or comfort, or peace, or strength, or even for evidence of a state of grace—and not solely and entirely in the atoning work which Jesus has worked for the redemption of sinners.

The work of the Spirit and the work of Christ form parts of one glorious whole. Nevertheless, they are distinct. And they must be distinguished both in the economy of grace and in the salvation of a sinner.

It is the work of Jesus alone—his perfect obedience to the broken law of God and his sacrificial death as a satisfaction to divine justice—that forms the ground of your acceptance with God, the source of your pardon, justification, and peace.

The work of the Spirit is not to atone, but rather to reveal Christ's atonement. It is not to obey, but rather to make known Christ's obedience. It is not to pardon and justify, but rather to bring the convinced, awakened, penitent soul to receive the pardon and embrace the justification already provided in the work of Jesus.

Now, if there is any substituting of the Spirit's work for Christ's work—any undue, unauthorized leaning upon the work inside, instead of the work outside of the believer—then there is a dishonor done to Christ and there is also a consequent grieving of the Holy Spirit of God. It cannot be pleasing to the Spirit to find himself substituted for Christ.

And yet this is the very sin that so many are constantly falling into. If you look to convictions of sin within you, to any motion of the indwelling Spirit, to any part of his work, as the legitimate source of healing, of comfort, or of evidence, then you turn your back on Christ, you take your eye away from the cross, and you slight his great atoning work. You try to make a Christ of the Spirit! You try to make a Savior of the Holy Spirit! You try to turn his work into an atoning work and you look for the evidence and the comfort of your pardon and acceptance in what he is doing in you, rather than in what Jesus has done for you! Oh, again we ask, is this not dishonoring to Christ and grieving to the Holy Spirit?

Do not think that we think too little of the Spirit's work—it is great and it is precious! Viewed as an Enlivener, as an Indweller, as a Sanctifier, as a Sealer, as a Witness, as a Comforter, as the Author of prayer—the person of the Holy Spirit cannot be too ardently loved, nor can his work be too highly prized. But the love you bear him, and the honor you give him, must never be at the expense of the honor and glory and love due to our Lord Jesus Christ, whom it is the Spirit's office and delight to glorify. The crown of redemption must be placed upon the head of Jesus. He alone is worthy to wear it. He alone has a right to wear it. "You have redeemed us by your blood," is the song they sing in glory; and "You shall wear the crown," should be the song echoed back from the redeemed on earth.

Father of heav'n, whose love profound
a ransom for our souls hath found,
before thy throne we sinners bend;
to us thy pardoning love extend.

Almighty Son, incarnate Word,
our Prophet, Priest, Redeemer, Lord,
before thy throne we sinners bend;
to us thy saving grace extend.

Eternal Spirit, by whose breath
the soul is raised from sin and death,
before thy throne we sinners bend;
to us thy quickening power extend.

Jehovah! Father, Spirit, Son,
mysterious Godhead, Three in One,
before thy throne we sinners bend;
grace, pardon, life, to us extend.

(Edward Cooper, 1805)

Be sure to read the Preface by Octavius Winslow and A Note from the Editor by Larry E. Wilson.

Larry Wilson is an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. In addition to having served as the General Secretary of the Committee on Christian Education of the OPC (2000–2004) and having written a number of articles and booklets (such as God's Words for Worship and Why Does the OPC Baptize Infants) for New Horizons and elsewhere, he has pastored OPC churches in Minnesota, Indiana, and Ohio. We are grateful to him for his editing of Morning Thoughts, the OPC Daily Devotional for 2025.