Sanctified by the Spirit: John Owen, Habits of Grace, and Biblical Counseling - Paperback

by Colin R. McCulloch (Author), Jeremy Pierre (Foreword by)

Biblical counselor Colin R. McCulloch retrieves John Owen's theology of Trinitarian sanctification to address modern concerns in counseling methodology. McCulloch examines two divergent approaches to sanctification within the biblical counseling movement, suggesting that Owen's emphasis on Spirit-infused habitual grace provides a more holistic vision for soul care. Far from a mere historical study, McCulloch's incisive analysis will help pastors and laymen alike minister to sinners and sufferers in Christ's church.

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After surveying two opposing models of sanctification among modern biblical counselors, one emphasizing habit formation and the other motives of the heart, Colin R. McCulloch investigates the works of John Owen with a view of retrieving his perspective on Trinitarian agency in sanctification, the Spirit's work in Christ's human nature, and the role of habitual grace in the souls of believers. McCulloch then returns to the modern dilemma well prepared to address anthropological and soteriological considerations for soul care today. In the process, he demonstrates how this older Reformed conception of Spirit-infused habitual grace is well suited to reconcile and develop the two divergent models currently at odds in the biblical counseling movement.