“Now as the gospel only conveyeth the Holy Ghost to men, and the knowledge of it, so the receiving of the Holy Ghost is to receive all glory. For the Holy Ghost will never rest till he hath glorified you fully and perfectly.
As Jesus Christ’s work was to redeem you, so the Holy Ghost’s work is to work all grace and glory into you; therefore when you receive the Holy Ghost you receive all glory in the seed and foundation of it.
It is the foundation of our union with Christ; ‘they that are joined to the Lord are one spirit;’ it is by the Holy Ghost.
To give you an express scripture for it, 1 Pet 4:14, ‘The Spirit of glory shall rest upon you.’ And the giving of this Spirit of the Holy Ghost unto you is more than all grace and glory that ever you shall have.
If you would ask now what is the substantial glory of a man, that is the foundation of all his parts and wit, and makes him capable of the glory the world puts upon him, without which he would lose all in an instant, what is it?
It is his soul that dwelleth in his body; take that away and he is a beast; nay, take that away and he is a dead carcase, he is sown in dishonour instantly as soon as that is gone.
Therefore, in Gen. 49, the soul of man is called his glory, ‘Into his secret,’ saith he, ‘let not my glory enter.’ Now look, what the soul is to a man, that is the Holy Ghost to a holy man.
He is the foundation of all glory, of all grace.
When He hath given you the Spirit, He hath given you all the grace and glory in the foundation that ever you shall have, for He will never leave you till He hath wrought you up to glory.
And the gift of Him is the earnest of glory; so He is called expressly in 2 Cor. 5:5.
Jesus Christ is the glory of the Lord to you objectively, but the Holy Ghost is all grace and glory efficiently, yea in heaven.
And when you receive the Spirit, you receive glory, because you receive a Spirit that will never rest till he hath made you glorious.
And this Spirit you receive by the gospel, and by nothing else, by no knowledge else, either of the law or whatever else.
Hence therefore the gospel that communicateth this is called a glorious gospel, in respect of what it ministereth; for, saith he, ‘if the ministration of the letter was glorious,’ which did give nothing else but the literal knowledge of the law in men’s heads, then the ministration of the Spirit is much more glorious.”
–Thomas Goodwin, The Works of Thomas Goodwin, Volume 4 (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage, 1861/2006), 4: 326-327.
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