Charity and Its Fruits (continued)
eternity chosen of God, and others are not chosen. And seeing that holy practice is the scope and aim of that which is the first ground of the bestowment of grace, this same holy practice is doubtless the tendency of grace itself. Otherwise it would follow, that God makes use of a certain means to attain an end, which is not fitted to attain that end, and has no tendency to it. It is further true,
2. That redemption, by which grace is purchased, is to the same end. — The redemption made by Christ is the next ground of the bestowment of grace on all who possess it. Christ, by his merits, in the great things that he did and suffered in the world, has purchased grace and holiness for his own people — "For their sakes," he says, "I sanctify myself that they also might be sanctified through the truth" (John 17:19 ). And Christ thus redeemed the elect, and purchased grace for them, to the end that they might walk in holy practice. He has reconciled them to God by his death, to save them from wicked works, that they might be holy and unblamable in their lives, says the apostle — "And you, that were sometime alienated, and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy, and unblameable, and unreproveable in his sight" (Col. 1:21 , 22 ). When the angel appeared to Joseph, he told him that the child that should be born of Mary should be called Jesus, that is, Savior, because he should save his people from their sins (Mat. 1:21 ). And holiness of life is declared to be the end of redemption, when it is said of Christ, that he "gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works" (Titus 2:14 ). And so we are told that Christ "died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again" (2 Cor. 5:15 ). And for this end, he is said to have offered himself, through the eternal Spirit, without spot to God, that his blood might purge our conscience from dead works to serve the living God (Heb. 9:14 ).
The most remarkable type of the work of redemption by divine love in all the Old Testament history, was the redemption of the children