Chapter II
A brief draught of the order of Christ s election, and ours, as it lies represented
in the Scripture.
I. God was pleased, and so resolved, to go forth to creature communion.
II. His own glory was alone the supreme end therein ; he made all things for himself: Prov. xvi. 4,
* The Lord hath made all things for himself; yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. And this was his sole, supreme motive : Rom. xi. 35, 36, Who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed to him again ? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things
to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
* Omnes salvandi electi fuerunt ante prsevisum peccatum Adami, ut absolute futurum et ante voluntatem permittendi illud. Hsec conclusio sumitur ex Thomas
qusest. 23, art. i. ad tertium, et ex articulo quarto, si attente legatur. Suarez, lib. i. de PrcKdest., c. xii. sec. 8.
t Uissertatio de Elect, p. 115. Potest (secundum Thomam) actus prsedestinationis cadere in subjectum peccati miseria nondum implicatum. Imb videtur Aquinas magis inclinare in illam sententiam, quse asserit ipsam reprobationem de facto antecessisse preevisionem originalis peccati.
t Loquitur Aquinas de prsedestinatione quoad Media per quse homines salvantur, non quoad primam intentionem, seu electionem glorise. Suarez, ibid.
\ Institut., lib. iii. c. xxiii. sect. iii.
9i OF ELECTION. [BOOK II.
III. The principal glory he designs to himself in election, is the manifes
: Eph. i. 5, 6, Having predestinated us,
tation* of the glory of his grace
according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his
grace.
IV. His Son, the second person, who was predestinated God-man, simply
considered in his person as God-man, and absolutely first decreed; for we are
chosen in Christ, Eph. i. 4 ; therefore he is supposed chosen first, as the
soil in whom we are set and chosen. We were predestinated to the adop
tion of sons by Jesus Christ, sic. avrbv; ver. 5, for him and his glory, as
many understand it*. So in 1 Peter i. 20, Who verily was foreordained,
as Christ, afore the foundation of the world, but manifested (and ordained
to be manifested, as he is the Lamb slain*) in these last days for you. There are two be/ores annexed to this predestination, /or<?- ordained and before the foundation of the world.
And he was first ordained for these higher ends than our salvation is,
1. For God s own self to delight in more than in all creatures he could
make, to be the man God s fellow, Zech. xiii. 7; and Isa. xlii. 1, My
elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I was daily his delight, in the con
tinual thoughts of me ; and my delights were with the sons of men, Prov.
viii. 31. We were chosen to be Christ s delight, but Christ to be God s.
2. To behold the image of himself in a creature, and of all his attributes. That life and brightness shining therein, as could never have appeared in all mere creatures ; but did in him, who being the brightness of his Father s
glory, and the express image of his person (it is spoken of the person of
Christ as God-man, as the next words in their current coherence shew). Of
this image, see my sermon on Col. i. 15-18.
3. By that union with that man to communicate the Godhead unto that one creature, the man ; thus decreed to be assumed, in such a high, supe rior way, as could no way have been otherwise communicated to mere crea
tures ; see my said sermons on Col. i. All which are ends that stand out of
his being mediator for us ; and are far higher ends than the glory thereof, or our salvation accomplished thereby.
V. Upon and together with his being predestinated God-man, there falls upon his person as his inheritance to be the sovereign end (I say not the
supremest end, for God himself is above, and the end of him as well as of
all things else ; but a sovereign end as in respect of us and all things, he
having joint authority with God, under God, over all), of all things else God should make, and the end of whatever of his intelligent creatures he should be pleased to choose unto glory; according to that 1 Cor. iii. 22, 23, All things are yours, and you are Christ s, and Christ is God s, which is spoken in respect of endship. That as you the saints are the end of and for which all things were ordained, so you ; Christ is the end of you, and God of Christ : John xvii. 10, All mine are thine, and thine are mine ; and I am
glorified in them. And so it is said of him, that for him, and by him, all
things were created, Col. i. 18, as well as it is said of God the Father, Rom.
xi. 36. And as it fell to him by inheritance, God s Son, now subsisting in our nature, being one person therewith, so God freely gave it him, and be stowed it upon him : John iii. 35, The Father loveth the Son, and hath
given all things into his hand.
^ VI. In this predestination of this man unto that union, and constituting him through that union to be the sovereign end of us and all things, there was conferred on that individual man that was thus exalted the highest grace or favour, transcending all that grace which was or could have been * Compare the words in the verse afore.
CHAP. II.] OF ELECTION. 95
cast upon all his elect, any way considered ; so that if the election of us be
to the praise of the glory of God s grace, 7m much more. There could be no
desert foreseen, no worth in that man simply considered, that would require such an exaltation. It must be said to him as well as to any other creature, Who hath first given him, and it shall be recompensed to him again ? Rom.
xi. 35. And to be sure, he had more given him by that election of his than what the whole creation had, or possibilities of being created could have had ; for all his righteousness extends not unto God, all is nothing to him, Ps.
xvi. 2. And in that God was for ever perfectly free, as to his will, to have decreed him or not, to have decreed either that man, or any other intelligent creature, to this high dignity, it was therefore free grace in him to decree it. And the greater was the grace, by how much the dignity was above what [by] the law of creatureship unto men or angels were their dues by first creation, and enhanced also by this, that that creature alone was exalted unto it, and none other partook with him. It was the glory of the only begotten Son of God, peculiar to him who was that one Lord, 1 Cor. viii. 6. And therefore the predestination of the man Jesus is made by Austin the highest example and pattern of the election of grace
* that is of us. And thus God s greatest end in predestination to manifest his grace (from whence election hath its title to be styled the election of grace) was accom
plished in him above his brethren, that he should be to the praise of the glory of God s grace, far above what we are.
VII. From the pattern and example of whose election it is evident, that
grace is not to be limited, or only to be understood of the favour towards
creatures that have sinned, and are delivered out of sin and misery; for the
highest grace (which divines style gratia unionis, the grace of the personal union in the man Jesus), above all other elevations or demonstrations of
grace whatsoever, was found in the instance of him, who could have no sin, nor was capable of it, the grace of that union was so impregnable, and far above all danger of it ; wherefore grace, and the election of grace, as all
election unto glory is, when it is said to be of grace, and not of works, im
ports not solely an opposition to, or exclusion only of, works since the fall, but of all sorts of works, in what state soever ; of works in innocency in Adam (the reward then promised being of works, not grace, Rom. iv.), and
also of the angels, whom the best divines acknowledge elected out of grace, and not works of their own foreseen ; and so their instance therein may be
conjoined with that of Christ s, in that respect to confirm this.
VIII. God having thus absolutely chosen him, and therewith endowed him with the royalty to be the sovereign end of all, whom God would either de
sire to create or elect to glory, those whom, therefore, he would or did elect of us men, were and must be ordained, and intended in their very ordina
tion of them in election, to be for his glory as the end of their election, as
well as God s own glory was (as is acknowledged by all) the end of their
election.
We were not absolutely ordained (as Christ in his singular predestination was in the first intention of it), but from the first of ours the intention of God
concerning us was, that they should be Christ s, and have their glory from
him, the Lord of glory (as, 1 Cor. ii. 8, he is styled). The person of
Christ, God-man, was predestinated, for the dignity of himself ; but we, for God s glory and Christ s. And though God the Father, first and alone, de
signed who the person should be, as he did this and that individual of us,
yet that there should an election of any, this was for Christ s sake as well * Incarnatio summum exemplum gratise
: nee potuisset gratia Dei gratius cora-
\nendari, quam ut ipse filius Dei hominem iudueret. De Civitate Dei, lib. x. c. 19.
gg OF ELECTION. [BOOK II-
as for the glory of the Father: Thine they were, and thou gavest them me/
and that all men (elect) might honour the Son, as they honour the Father,
John v. 23. So as God in their election had his Son m his eye as God-
man, and in the intuition of him as their end, it was he chose them, and for
his sake, to be his fellows, companions, Ps. xlv. 7 ; as he was God s] de
light, so that we might be his, as in Prov. viii. 31, Rejoicing m the habi
table part of his earth, and my delights were with the sons of men. And
further in the act of election God gave them to him, for this giving them to
him was conjunct with the electing of them ; yea, and our election is ex
pressed thereby, not as mediator only, to save them from sin, but as mem
bers to an head ; as a mere and pure gift to his person, for his honour, to
have fellows and companions belong to him, who might, m their allotment and
sphere be partakers of a supernatural glory with him, and from him, yea, and m
: John xvii. 22, And the glory thou gavest me I have
him which was his glory
given them, (as concurring with thy election of them, at thy giving them me
to be mine), and thou thus loving them as thou hast loved me, ver. 23 ; that
is both them and me with an everlasting love ; yet in and with thy loving
of them thou gavest them to me, and for my glory as their end, and for
which chiefly thou lovedst them ; as ver. 24, Father, I will that those
whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am ; that they may behold
my glory which thou hast given me : for thou lovedst me before the foundation
of the world. Now he was loved in his election from everlasting, and they
also with him, and chosen in him, and out of that love were given to him ;
and to what end, or out of what intention ? Even to behold, and admire,
and adore him in his person and glory, as being that very thing they were
ordained for, more than for their own glory, which he mentions not, for it
ariseth from their beholding his, and was ordained for his. And what glory
is it of his ? The glory of his person first absolutely decreed him, which is
the height of his glory in heaven, where it is they are ordained to behold it ;
and therefore he says, that they may be where I am, whither he was now
a-going, even the highest heavens. And what is the main motive to God
there mentioned, thus to love them, and to give them to him in election ?
For thou hast loved me afore the foundation of the world. He resolves
his loving and electing them into this : For, &c. ; that is, thou having
chosen me absolutely for my own glory, in thy first and primary inten
tion ; and then thou lovedst them, and gavest them me for my sake, to
that end, to behold that glory which in predestination thou gavest me,
that so all of them might redound to the glory of me, as first and singularly
chosen.
IX. We being thus chosen for Christ s glory as our end, and for his sake,
as well as to the glory of God s grace towards us, God did ordain a double
relation of Christ unto us for his glory, additional unto that absolute glory of
: 1, the relation of an head, wherein we were given as members
his person
to him, as members of the body are to the natural head, or as a spouse unto
an husband to be her head; 2, the relation of a Saviour and redeemer, which is a superaddition to that of headship, and both these for the further
glory of Christ, and also for the demonstration of God s grace towards us.
These two relations we find distinct: Eph. v. 23, Even as Christ is the head
of the church, and the Saviour of the body ; both which are as distinctly
related, as those which were by the good pleasure of God s will, decreed him
to be, Col. i. 18-20, And he is the head of the body, the church, who is
the beginning, the first-born from the dead, that in all things he might have
the pre-eminence ; for it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness
dwell ; and (having made peace through the blood of his cross) by him to
CHAP. II.] OF ELECTION. 97
reconcile all things unto himself ; by him, I say, whether they be things in
earth, or things in heaven. And all that is over and above the absolute
royalties of his person, set forth in the verses afore.
X. These two relations of his to us, have answerably a double and distinct
aspect and condition upon us and of us in our election, which election was re
lative unto these two of Christ s, and not absolute as his was : 1. Of our
persons, without the consideration of the fall, in massa pura, in the pure lump of creatureship, or as to be created ; and under that consideration God ordained us unto that ultimate glory, under relation to him as an head, whether as of members, or of a spouse, and church to him, or rather both ; of either or both which our persons were fully capable before, or without the consideration of, our fall. 2. Of our persons viewed to be fallen, and so as objects to be saved, and redeemed from the thraldom thereof, under our relation to him as a Saviour. *
XI. And each of these were for the glory of God s grace
: 1. In his designment to advance us, considered purely as creatures, to an higher glory by his Christ than was attainable by the law of creation, but wholly super natural ; for to have ordained us was pure grace, no less than to redeem us from sin or misery when fallen may be said to be, and was wholly indepen dent of works, or without works of any kind ; even as Christ s election (who is in ours our pattern) was an election without works of any kind, that is, or without the consideration of works of any kind. And unto this notion of pure original grace may those words well be thought to
extend, 2 Tim. i. 9, Not according to works, but his purpose of grace, which was given us in Christ, afore the world began, as comprehending this we speak of, as the mother of all grace, even of redemption grace and
calling ; and it is a mighty argument that it was a mere grace in God s heart that moved him to redeem and call us, not according to works, afore the fall, if that this first purpose of grace towards us, and ordination of us to glory, was not founded on works that could any way have been supposed to have been afore the fall performable by the holiness of our creation, that
being but the law of our nature when created, and by creation due. And see
ing there is such a grace acknowledged, de facto, to have been towards Christ, and the elect angels, why may it not be supposed to have been here in our election also ?
But although this grace was the original mother of grace to us, and that therein lay the grand and ultimate design, for it will have its full accom plishment last after all, and as the issue and perfection of all ; and God might have immediately, upon the first creation of each of us, have taken us into that glory, yet for the further glory of Christ, and ampliation of or ampler demonstration of his grace, and to the end to draw it out and ex tend it (as the Psalmist s word is, Ps. xxxvi. 10, Draw out at length thy lovingkindness : so in the Hebrew) unto the furthest length it will reach
to, God was pleased not to ordain to bring us in an immediate manner unto the possession of that full glory, in beholding the personal glory of Christ our head (as was specified), as soon as we should be created ; "but withal permissively ordained, that we, who were thus ordained unto this glory as our end, should by the way to fall into sin, and therefore ordained to
^ create us first in a mutable condition, as the law of mere creation re quired ; by which falling into sin there was way made for an ampliation and illustration of the grace of God unto us as sinners, which causeth grace to abound, as Rom. v. 15, thereby to shewthe riches of his love and grace in extend ing them, or rather turning them into mercy by letting us, the objects of his
* See for this the foregoing chapter, of the order of God s decrees. VOL. IX. Q.
98 OF ELECTION. [BOOK II.
grace, fall into the extremest misery ; for mercy properly respects present misery, and is but love or grace extended, or love becoming mercy also to them it loves, when viewed to be in misery
: God, who is rich in mercy, for the love wherewith he loved us, Eph. ii. 4. First loved, and that be came the foundation of mercy to us as sinners ; and unless sin had been thus in execution first, afore we should arrive at the glory we were ordained
to, as the ultimate complement of all, additional riches of merciful grace to. us as sinners had never been, without which grace had not had its full demonstration as towards us. Hence, XII. And upon this occasion it was, that Christ had for his great and further glory the office of Redeemer and Saviour snperadded in his election unto that of headship, and that because our being miserable and sinful is that which is our present and immediate concern, which we are most solicitous about in this world, whilst we are sinners ; yea, and con tinues our concern until we, by that final sentence and judgment passed at latter day, have them for ever declared and published to be forgiven ; and therefore both mercy is said to be shewn and forgiveness to be ob tained at that day, 2 Tim. i. 18, Mat. xii. 32. Therefore it is the Scrip tures do set forth Christ to us most thereby, though they are not altogether silent in the other, and thereby call and draw our thoughts and intentions most fixedly thereupon.
XIII. And these two relations of Christ, of head and Saviour, are simul taneous with God s election of us, considered in those prospects fore-men tioned, and neither afore nor after, neither in time (for so no decree in God is afore or after another), but not in order, as to our understanding. For he could not be our head but there must be his correlate, his body ; and so of the other, of being a redeemer. Neither had Christ been ordained to either, had it not been for us and our salvation. But still the election of Christ s person remains in the primary and first intention of it absolute, and for itself, and for higher ends than these which are specified ; and that did not depend at all on us or our election. And although there were these other ends m God s heart in relation to us which occasioned his relative election, as I may term it, of Christ as in relation to us, yet God said within himself, if I may so represent it, though I have those other ends to be accomplished by him, yet I choose his person for himself, and unto that person all glory above all, and for those higher ends fore-mentioned, which alone were motive sufficient to choose him, if I had no other, though I take in all in the choice of him (for in God all was but one act). He is at once mine elect and de light, and withal my servant in redeeming
< Behold my servant Whom I uphold, in that work of redeeming I have ordained him for, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth. XIV. As the glory of the person of God-man, absolutely thus considered, was the pnmo-primitive design, as I may so speak it, which God s heart was intent upon, and then next unto that his ordination of him to be an head unto us, as a body to him, and that by our mere union to him as an head, and bare relation to his person as such, he was ordained to be the sufficient, efficient, and author of many sorts of blessings ; as of sonship from his sonship a gracious acceptation of our persons in him as the chief beloved, heirs of the same glory with him, heirs of God, co-heirs with Christ. And all these blessings were we capable of, considered as pure creatures, through union with him, and needed not his death to have purchased them for. us, and are made distinct from the blessings of redemption, as Eph. i. 4-7, &c., worU
: Isa. xlii. 1,
CCOrd1^ ?! *e *atb chosen M ^ him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: havin-
fll
CHAP. III.] OF ELECTION. 99
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself,
according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his
grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have
redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches
of his grace. And he is the object in whom, as a supreme sovereign good to us, in whom, and beholding of whose person, and that glory of his, we
shall for ever be made happy. This was the first design in God s intention, which comprehended us, Christ and us in mutual relation together ; so it
shall be the last in execution, as being the greater of these two ; and in execution or performance also the most lasting, even for evermore. It will be the issue, the conclusion, the crown of all. For after the work of media
tion for us as sinners is fully over, and every way perfected, and the day of
judgment ended ; when sins shall finally be forgiven, and then for ever for
gotten, as the promise intended, Christ will give up his mediatory kingdom and glory to his Father ;* and then that regnum antemundanum, that king dom afore, and abstracted from the consideration of this world, or what we
were, or Christ as Redeemer for us therein, shall for ever predominantly take
place, when God, in the Father, Son, and Spirit, shall be all in all to him as God-man as well as us ; and when Christ the Son, having laid down only the economy of his mediation as a Redeemer, shall yet in his person, as he
shall appear with the fulness of the Godhead dwelling bodily in him, and the
brightness of the glory of God shining in the human nature, which he can never lay down, or divest himself of, shall be as he is, and was constituted, an head, an husband unto us ; and we chosen as fellows and companions with him, be the object and efficient of our happiness for ever, by our behold
ing that his glory, according to that of John xvii. 24 (I opened)
: Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that
they may behold my glory which thou hast given me : for thou lovedst me
before the foundation of the world. And after the day of judgment ended,
it is whereof the apostle speaks, when he says, We shall be ever with the
Lord, 1 Thes. iv. 17.