A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life in a Year:
Within that framework, [John Owen (1616-1683)] taught distinct roles or economies for the Father, Son, and Spirit. He said the First Person, the Father, is initiator, who chooses whom He will save, and how. The Second Person is the Son and Word of God, who images the Father’s nature and does His will as Mediator to redeem sinners. The Third Person proceeds from the first two as their executive, conveying to God’s elect their sure salvation.
Repeatedly Owen taught that there is a divine economy of operation where each person takes a role in the work of God, a role that reflects the personal relations in the Trinity. The Father acts as origin, authority, fountain, initiator, and sender; the Son acts as executor of the Father’s will, treasury of His riches, foundation, worker, purchaser, and accomplisher; the Spirit acts as completer, finisher, immediate efficacy, fruit, and applier.
This is not to divide God’s works and distribute them among the three persons–the external works of the Trinity are undivided–but rather to recognize that in every work of God all three persons cooperate in distinct ways.
(A Puritan Theology, p. 106)
