Owen’s Salvation Triad in Communion with God

I am a John Owen fan. I can think of other theologians with whom I would agree more often, like Jonathan Edwards, but I have probably read more pages of John Owen than any one other author, including Edwards. Having said that, it has been a while since I have read Communion with God, and I didn’t remember his triadic overview of God’s grace in our lives, which is, in its rough outline, exactly the same as my own “salvation” triad: justification, sanctification, adoption, in that tri-perspectival order. Note that I didn’t trace this through the entire book, but was only looking at the outline of it in chapter 7.

1. Acceptation with God
   1. Removal of sin in its guilt
   2. Reckoning of righteousness
2. Sanctification (not only accepted but acceptable)
   1. Removal of defilement
      1. Nature: Habitual cleaning of nature
      2. Person: Pollution of actual transgressions
      3. Duties: in our best duties we have defilement
   2. Bestowing cleanness
      1. Spirit of holiness indwelling
      2. Habitual grace
      3. Actual influence for the performance of every duty
   3. Priveleges we enjoy
      1. Primary: adoption
      2. Consequential: all the favours of the gospel