November 2007 - Protestant Reformed Churches in America

Preparatory Grace in the Puritans
not upon them … the Spirit is given to them that obey the sweet
motions of it. 31
Sibbes exhorts the sinner to “entertain” the blessed messengers
of the Spirit; to “labor to subject [himself] to” the Spirit of
Christ; to become aware of his sin and misery so that he becomes
a bruised reed. 32 Sibbes’ work A Bruised Reed, deals, among other
things, with the subject of spiritual preparation. This bruising of
the Spirit is something with which the sinner can cooperate. We
must “join with God in bruising ourselves” and “lay siege to the
hardness of our own hearts.” 33 To prepare for salvation the sinner
is supposed to make his own heart tender so that it is more
open to yielding to the Spirit. 34 Sibbes appeals to the example of
King Josiah, who was commended for having a tender heart (II
Chron. 34:27), but we must insist that Josiah was already a believer.
God had already regenerated the king. That explains why
he responded to the discovery of the law with heartfelt sorrow
over his sins and the sins of the nation. This was no self-preparation
of an unregenerate sinner but obedience by a child of God.
Sibbes’ doctrine savors too much of Arminianism, with its resistible
grace. We can certainly agree with Pettit, who writes that
“of all the preparationists Sibbes was by far the most extreme in
terms of the abilities he assigned to natural man.” 35
III. Other Puritan Writers
Although Perkins, Ames, and Sibbes are the Puritans who
wrote most extensively on the subject of preparationism, other
Puritans make reference to the idea of preparatory processes in
their writing and preaching.
John Owen (1616-1683) addresses the subject in the third
volume of his Works in a section entitled, “Works of the Holy
Spirit Preparatory Unto Regeneration.” Owen writes:
31. Pettit, The Heart, p. 67.
32. Pettit, The Heart, p. 68.
33. Pettit, The Heart, p. 68.
34. Pettit, The Heart, p. 70.
35. Pettit, The Heart, p. 73.
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