Jonathan Edwards Selected Shor (continued)
where so spoken of, at least with reference to the same thing, viz. their national redemption, when they were brought out of Egypt, etc.
David, in the book of Psalms, though he is so abundant there in giving thanks to God for his mercies, and is also so frequent in praising God for God's redeeming his people out of Egypt, and the salvation God wrought for the nation and church of Israel at that time, yet he never once blesses God (having respect to that salvation) that God had chosen him and redeemed him, bought him, regenerated him. He never (having reference to that affair) speaks in the language of the apostle, "He loved me, and gave himself for me:" though he often speaks of the blessedness of those men God had chose, and caused to come nigh unto him, agreeably to the language of the New Testament, and often blesses God for redeeming and saving him in particular. But never, in any of these things, has he respect to those national privileges, nor indeed any other of the penmen of the Psalms, which is very strange, if the privilege of being bought, made, created, etc. as applied in the New Testament applies to himself in particular, and which this and the other apostles applied to many other particular persons.
32. That professing Christians are said to be sanctified, washed, etc. does not argue, that all professing Christians are so in fact. For Taylor himself says, "it should be carefully observed, that it is very common in the sacred writings to express not only our Christian privileges, but also the duty to which they oblige, in the present or preterperfect tense; or to speak of that as done, which only ought to be done, and which, in fact, may possibly never be done: as in Mat. 5:13, "Ye are the salt of the earth," that is, ye ought to be. Rom. 2:4, "The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance;" that is, ought to