A Practical Discourse of Gods Sovereignty, Part 3 · Section 1 – Section 2
I. There is an Election of Men to Salvation.
That is, there are Some, a certain Remnant, that ſhall be ſaved; and this by virtue of Election. This is cleerly implyed in thoſe noted and compendious ſentences, Rom. 11. 7, The Election …ath obtained: Acts 2. 47, The Lord added to the Church ſuch as ſhould be ſaved: and Chap. 13. 48, As many as were ordained to eternal life, believed. But, more expreſly, in Rom. 11. 5, There is a Remnant according to the Election of Grace: 1 Theſ. 5. 9, God hath not appointed us unto wrath; but to obtain Salvation: and 2 Theſ. 2. 13, God hath from the beginning choſen you to Salvation.
And theſe are called The Election, or Party of Elect Ones; as thoſe Circumciſed, are called the Circumciſion; and the Angels that ſtood, are diſtinguiſhed from thoſe that fell, by the title of Elect. They are alſo ſaid to be choſen Veſſels; and Veſſels of Mercy; as thoſe that are left, Veſſels of wrath, and Sons of Perdition: The Scripture ſtill ſets them forth by diſtinguiſhing characters;
I. As a Party ſeperate from the World; I (ſays Chriſt) have choſen you out of the World, Joh. 15. 19. and Ch. 17. 9, I pray not for the World, but for them which Thou haſt given me: and ver. 16, They are not of the World, even as I am not of the World: Mark 4. 11, Ʋnto [you] it is given to know the Myſtery of the Kingdom of God, but unto [them without] all things are done in parables. Of Jacob and Eſau (who were an evident type of this Seperation) it is ſaid to Rebekah, Two Nations are in thy Womb, and two manner of people, Gen 25. 23. And of Jacobs poſterity, The People ſhall dwel alone, and ſhall not be reckoned among the Nations; Num. 23. 9.Iſa. 43. 21. Ch. 63. 18 1 Pet. 2. 8, 9. And This People (ſays God) have I formed for my ſelf: Theſe are the People of His Holyneſs; The Reſt are Adverſaries.
II. As Men of another Race or Kindred; and as ſpringing from another Root:1 John. 5. 19. We are of God, and the whole World lyeth in wickedneſs: (Or, in that Wicked One, as their Root and Head) He that is of God,Joh. 8. 47. heareth God's Word: Ye therefore hear them not; becauſe ye are not of God. The one Party are ſaid to be Children of Light;1 Theſ. 5. 5. 1 Joh. 4. 4. 6 Joh. 8. 23. the Other, of the Night: The One, of God; the Other, of the World: The One is from Above; the Other, from Beneath: God is the Father of the One;ver. 42, 44. the Devil, of the Other.
III. As Men ſubject to another Head; We are Thine (ſayes the Church to God) Thou never beareſt Rule over them:Iſa 63. 19 Joh. 6. 37. All that the Father giveth me (ſaith Chriſt) ſhall come to me: My Sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me; And a Stranger they will not follow: And this, becauſe One is their Maſter even Chriſt.Matth. 23. 8. Of others He ſaith, that they will not come unto Him, John 5. 40,
IV. As belonging to Another World.Mat. 13. 38. The good Seed are the Children of the Kingdom; And they are diſtinguiſhed from the Children of this World,Luke 20. 34. 35 as a Party accounted worthy to obtain the world to come: And accordingly we find, That None are admitted into the New Jeruſalem, but whoſe names were found written in the Book of Life: Rev. 21. 27 Ch. 20. 15.And whoſe name ſoever was not written there, was caſt into the lake of fire. On the ſame account, Judas is ſaid to go to his own place; Acts 1. 25. And the Elect, into the Kingdom prepared for them, Matth. 25. 34.
II. Election is Abſolute.
In this are two things of great import; Irrevocableneſs and Independency: The Decree is Irrevocable on God's part, and Independent as to humane performances: God will not go-back from His Purpoſe to ſave His People; Nor ſhall their own unworthineſs or averſneſs make void His moſt Gracious intendment. And hence (I ſuppoſe, it is, that) thoſe various expreſſions of this ſame thing (viz, Predeſtinate, Ordain, Prepare, Appoint) have nothing ſubjoyn'd that is like a conditional. There are, indeed▪ a kind of Conditions (or rather Quali…ications) that muſt and alwayes do, precede the final compleatment of Election; (as Repentance towards God, and Faith towards our Lord Jeſus Chriſt) which therefore may be called Conditionals of Salvation, but not ſo to Election.
Election is the great Fundamental Inſtitute of the Goſpel; It is That, which in humane States is call'd the Supream Law, which is both Irreverſible in it ſelf, and requires that all inferiour adminiſtrations be accommoded thereto: So, the Salvation of God's Elect, being the higheſt law of the Heavenly State and Kingdom; muſt, on the ſame (and firmer) ground, remain Inviolable. It is That for which all things elſe have their being: The Plot whereby God deſigns to Himſelf the higheſt Glory: And for which He hath been at ſuch Coſt; that, ſhould His deſignment miſcarry, the whole Creation could not countervail the dammage. He could not therefore (for God cannot deny Himſelf) I ſay, He could not ſo contrive the grandeſt Deſign of His Glory, as that it ſhould ever need to be R…voked or Altered: Nor could He leave it obnoxious to diſappointment; (which it muſt be, if ventured on a created bottom) Yea, it behoved Him (as Supream Law-giver) ſo to determine and ſubjugate All; that the great End of all might remain infruſtrable.
'Tis granted true, That the beſt-founded States upon Earth are ſubject to mutation: Princes may die, and then their thoughts periſh: Their minds may alter, and depart from their firſt Reſolutions: Succeſſors may drive a contrary Intereſt: Unlook'd-for accidents may entangle them: Forreign Enemies may encroach upon them, and obſtruct their work: Or the Peoples own folly may be ſuch, as to marr and defeat the beſt-lay'd deſigns for their own good. Humane affairs are expoſed to a Thouſand Incidents, which humane prudence can neither prevent nor provide againſt.
But it is not ſo with God, No Event can be new to Him; He declares the end from the beginning: His Judgement and Purpoſe cannot alter; He is of one mind, and who can turn Him? He is alſo Immortal, and the thoughts of His Heart ſtand faſt to all generations: No Creature can ſeclude it ſelf from His Government;Pſ. 33. 11. In His hand is the ſoul of every living thing: Yea, the moſt caſual (to us) and opp…ſite Emergencies, are by His Power and wiſdom, reducible to His purpoſe; and cannot reſiſt their being made ſubſervient to His Will. And this may be one Reaſon, why Election is ſo often affirm'd to be From the beginning, and From the Foundation of the World; viz. to ſhew, That whatever ſhould be in time, ſhould be ſubordinate to Election; which is all one as to make it Abſolute.
The Abſoluteneſs of Election may be evinced by ſuch Arguments as theſe.
I. If it were not Abſolute,Arg. 1. it would be but after the Covenant of Works: which being conditional, how ſoon was it broken, even by One who had power to keep it! And if Man in that honour did not abide in it; how ſhould he Now, when ſo ſtrong and brawny a bias is grown upon his heart,Gen. 6. 5. that he runs Counter ever ſince? If there had been a Law given that could have given life; Gall. 3. 21.Righteouſneſs ſhould have been by the Law; Which ſhews, that the New Covenant does more for us than the Old; for it giveth life; and then it muſt give the performance of the Condition, which that life hangs upon. It alſo ſhews that the firſt Covenant did not give life; and that it fall'd becauſe it was conditional: The Law ſhews our duty, but gives not wherewith to perform it; The new Covenant does both, by writing the Law in the heart.
All under the Covenant of Works, are without God, without Chriſt, Eph. 2. 12.and without Hope: and this, becauſe ſtrangers to the Covenant of Grace, or Grace of Election. If therefore the Elect ſhall be in a better Condition than before; their Election muſt be Abſolute: And that it might be ſo, 2 Tim. 1 9.the New Covenant was made with Chriſt on their behalf;Tit. 1. 2. and is that Grace given us in Him, before the World began.
II. Election muſt be granted Abſolute, Arg. 2.becauſe whatever can be ſuppoſed the condition of it, is a part of the Thing it ſelf: Gen. 12. 7.Much like that promiſe of God to Abraham, To thy Seed will I give this land: In which promiſe, the Lord undertakes as well to give Abraham a Seed to inherit that land, as that land to his Seed: and accordingly we find, that the next Head of that Seed,Gall. 4. 23, 28. was born by virtue of the Promiſe: So the whole courſe and Series of things conducing to the final accompliſhment of Election, is included in it, and aſcertain'd by it; and that with ſuch firmneſs and ſecurity, as if the end it ſelf had been attain'd, when the Decr…e was made; as (namely) Redemption from Sin; Effectual Calling; and Perſeverance to Glory: (of which more fully under thoſe Heads) which alſo ſeems to be the meaning of the Apoſtle in 1 John 2. 25, where he makes Eternal life it ſelf, to be the Subſtance of the Promiſe.
III. It muſt be Abſolute, Arg. 3.becauſe by ſuch an Election only can Salvation be Inſur'd. This bottom Adam had not in his Primitive State; He was made upright, but his Continuing that ſtate, was hung upon his well-uſing of what he had, without any additional help, beſides his original Stock. In him may be ſeen the utmoſt that created Grace, of it ſelf, can do; even in a ſtate of Perfection: Unto which being left, How ſoon did he degenerate and come to Ruin! And all his Poſterity would have run the ſame courſe, if placed in his ſtead; as we know they have done (One by One) Notwithſtanding all the helps, which are given in common, unto men. And 'tis no wonder, Since Now they have ſo ſtrong a Bias to evil, which Adam had not. And if there be any advantage caſt in, (which ſome do affirm, and call it The New Covenant) the more is our Doctrine confirm'd: For, the more helps they have, if yet they fall ſhort; (as they do) the more evident it is, That nothing ſhort of ſuch an Election will ſecure them. An Example of this we have in the Old World; who, by all their Natural Ingenioſity, and long lives to improve it, together with Noah's ſixſcore years preaching, and the Spirits ſtriving; were not led unto God; but ſtill grew from bad to worſe, until all the imaginations of their hearts were only evil,Gen. 6. 5. and that continually. And this was not the Caſe of a few, or ſome; but of the whole Race univerſally;ver. 12. All fleſh had Corrupted his way.
It is True, That Noah was found Righteous; and as true it is, That Election was it that made him ſo, as ver. 8, But Noah found Grace in the eyes of the Lord; and this, in the ſame ſenſe,1 Tim. 1. 16. That Paul obtained mercy, Scil. By Mercy's obtaining or taking hold of him.
It may alſo be ſeen in the people of Iſrael; who, over and above their Common or Natural Grace, had many helps and additions,Pſ 147. 19 20. that others had not;Ezek. 16. 51. The Lord dealt not ſo with any Nation, Iſa. 1. 6.as with them; And yet, the Generality of them ſo bad, That they juſtified their Siſter Sodom.
The firſt Covenant thus failing; ſuch was the Grace of our Lord, (foreſeeing it) as to determine of a ſecond, or New Covenant; by which He would fix and ſecure a Remnant, and that Infallibly: And hence it is termed, The Covenant of Grace, as not depending at all upon Works; and This is That Grace that Saves, Eph. 2. 5, 8.and Reigns to Eternal life: Eph. 2. 5, 8. Rom. 5. 21.And theſe are thoſe ſure mercies of David, recorded in the 55 of Iſaiah. It is the Abſoluteneſs of it, that makes it a Better Covenant.
IV. There is the ſame Reaſon for the Abſoluteneſs of Men's Election,Arg. 4. as of Chriſt's. That Man or humane Body, which the ſecond Perſon was to Aſſume and Unite to Himſelf, was not Ordain'd to that Union, upon any Condition whatever, as (namely) If He ſhould fullfil all Righteouſneſs, Deſtroy the Devil, diſſolve his works, and make Attonement for ſin: For theſe He could never have done without that Union: And that His Ordination thereto was Abſolute, appears by Heb. 10, 5, A Body haſt Thou prepared Me; And Luke 1. 35, That Holy Thing which ſhall be born of thee, ſhall be called the Son of God. Matth. 1. 21, He ſhall ſave His people from their ſins. In which places the Abſoluteneſs of the Decree for that Man's being United to the Son of God, is evidently ſet forth. And, That our Election, (as to this Circumſtance of it) holds proportion with that of Chriſt, ye will ſee more fully afterwards.
V. It was neceſſary That Election ſhould be Abſolute becauſe of the Abſoluteneſs of God's Decree for the death of Chriſt;Arg 5. unto which He was Fore-ordained unrepealably; 1 Pet. 1. 19, 20And all that were ſaved before He ſuffered, were ſaved on the Credit of that Decree. The Scripture alſo tells you plainly,Rev. 13. 8. That He was the Lamb ſlain from the foundation of the World; Math. 26 39, 42.and that it was not poſſible That Cup ſhould paſs from Him. And if it be a thing below the prudence of Men, to lay down the price without ſecuring the Purchaſe: Then ſurely, the Wiſdom of God would never determine the death of His Son, for Men's Salvation, and leave the Salvation of thoſe very Men at an uncertainty; which needs it muſt be, if Election were not Abſolute.
Laſtly,Arg 6. It might alſo be argued from the Nature of Divine Promiſes; which are patterns and Declarative Copies of the Decree. Now, the Promiſes touching Spiritual bleſſings, are Abſolute; Pſ. 119. 89.They are of that Word, which is for ever ſettled in Heaven: See the Promiſes of ſending Chriſt to be a Redeemer, Gen. 3. 15. The Holy Ghoſt to ſanctifie and lead into all Truth, Joh. 16. 7. To ſprinkle clean water upon them:Ezek 36. 26 To give them a New heart: To cauſe them to walk in his Statutes: That He will be their God, and they ſhall be His people,Jer. 24. 7. and ſhall not depart from Him; That if they ſin, He will Chaſtiſe them with the rods of Men; but His everlaſting kindneſs He will not take from them: And that at laſt He will preſent them faultleſs before the Preſence of His Glory. Jude, ver 24.Theſe all, with others of like tenour, are delivered in Poſitive and Abſolute Terms; without any ſhew of Reſervation, Proviſo, Condition, or Heſitation about them. And if Theſe (which are Tranſcripts of the Decree) be Abſolute; It followes, That the Decree alſo is the ſame. And on this Ground it is,Rom. 8. 33 34. the Apoſtle ſtands, when he challengeth all the World to Nullifie God's Election; which he never would have done, had it not been Sovereignly Abſolute.