404 OfEleflion. ~------------------------- ~ them, according 10 the Word, Which fully anfwers the fcruplc thlt the BeBor.g V. lieving party m1ght have of defilement in that communion, his refolution is l...f"'A.J that tills Marriage fiands not onlyguod, but {ancltfitd alfo. But 2. That i; · not all, that he is fanctifies 10 her, and her ufe , lo as that communion ofher with him, is holy before God, and in Gods accounr. But flmher, lock what holy end and fanCl:ified purpofe there is of Marriage, either of the Act it felf, or that which God bath ordained it for unto other Believers , as name– ly, when both parties are Bdie_vers, that fame holy end fhall be accomplill>t and brought about as f~lly, as 1f her husband were a Believer. He is holy to her, not only qteoad~fumoperalltu, but ad omnrs fiurs optru, to all ends and purpofes.Now the. mam and pnn~1pal end ofBchevers Muriage,and ofgenera· tion thereby,was 10 Gods ordmauon and mfiltuuon,to bnng lorth an holy Sud. As at thefirfi Creatien, oneoftheends for which God made Man and wife was to beget an holy Seed. So this was the end of the Marriages of the Jew; too, that they might have aholy Sud, as they are called, Ezra, 9· 2. And it is likewife the end ordained by Gcd of the Marriages of Belitvm, Which (I take it) you have clearly expreffed, ~at, 2. 1 5· where whotcver the read– ing of the words may be, yet by the connexion , thus much is evident, that he goes aboutto convince the Jews of their fin of Marryingfirange wives,and pmti11g away their ow11, verfe 1 1. and he ufeth one kind of general argument to convince them of both: Firfi, from the Primitive In!litution, fhew.ing them from thence how herein they perverted the ends of Marriages as at firlt they were ordaiAed by God, whofe end in Marriage was to feek an holy Sud, a Sud of God: And he at firfi made but one woman , and made the Man and her ont jlrjb. Whence it is evident, that the Prophet fhews Gods in!litution of Marriage to the Jews in covenant with him as his people, was to the fame holy end, that at firfi toAdam. in Paradife; and fo to us upon the fame ground: For that Primitive ln!lirution is moral, which was, that ah•ly Seedmight be brought forth to God; for he alledgeth Gods end at firfi, So as, iince the Fall, as God hath ordained Marriage to Man-kind, to bring forth Men, foro holy Men, to feek a Seed of God, Now ( fays the Apo!lle here) the Marri· age communion of a Believer with an unbelieving husband or wife, is thus fanctified, to attain th1s end as fully as if they were both Believers. And this fenfe he aims at, in the word Sanffijied, as here he ufeth it: For if you mark the latitude of the phrafe, he doth not only fay, that he is fanCl: ified to her, but;, her; fo in th~ Original, [&.] T! '>'"'"'..;• as not only to her ufe that her Ad: with him fhould be holy, but by her, and in her, to a fun her holy end beiides , even that which God bath ordained the Marriage of Believers un· to : Or that the Marriage of two that are both Believers ufeth to be fanctified unto, and what that end is, follows in the next words; even (the fame you heard out ofMatachi) that the Children begotten on her fhould be holyand not unclean and fo partake of the priviledges that Children begotten by Parents being both Believers, can befuppofed to have. And therefore 2. I pafs to that other Priviledge (which is couched in this) which delcendeth to their Children as peculiar to them; namely, that thry ar• holy : to the conveying of which unto their Children , that other former priviledge tends, for his meaning is, that the Hus6rmd is j,mffi{itd i11 her, to this end , that the Children 6egottm by him or her fbot<td /;e ho· ly. And for the clearing of this, let us confider: 1. In general, that he in thofe words, Tottr Cbitdrm art holy, doth in– tend fome perfonol priviledge which the Children inherit from the Parent, by virtue of fome like priviledge vouchfafed the Parents, which is to be reckoned as a badge of·honour, or cognizance, that per(onally they enjoy and inherit: Such as Children ufe to have from Noble Parents, as a cognizance of Noblenefs or Gentry; and fo here of hotintfs, mentioned as a per(onal Royalty which they inherit; by which they are truly in themfelves denominated holy, as the Child of aNoble Man is termed No6te. And
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