)00 Of HEAVEN. Chap. VIII. tion that one !hall be dignified with the Title of God's So~ ; but a holy Nature is a!way mfufccl tnto the ·Perfon, whereby he ts made hke to God 10 Ius Excellencies. In this it ditrcrs fi ·om humane Adoption, that gives the Name and Arms, the Honour and Eftate of the Adopter to a Perfon, without conveying any of his intelleCtual or moral Endow. ments. Whom God adoptS1 .he besets to a Divine Life. Bcfides, our Saviour purchafed this high Privilege for us: God jent his Son made if aWoman, tmder the Larv, to redeem them tbat were under the L1t111, that tv~ mit,ht receive the Adoption of.Som :. By_ Union with him we receive the invefiitUt:e of :tlus Dtgnity. Now IVhoever is m Cbrijl, ts a new Crea. t11re. For the quickning Sptrit, that is to the Soul what the So~! is to ~he. Body, the prin, ctplc of Ltfe and Strength, of Beauty and Motton, and an achve punfymg Faith that i> infl uential upon all other Graces, are the Band of that vital Union: So that as all in .Ad41n arc univerfally corrupt by the fidt Birth, all that are in Chrill: are made holy by a new 1 Btrth. But of thts I fhall fpeak 10 the next Chapter more fully, under a dill:intl Head. BrieOy, the Spirit of Grace that fanll:ifies, is the Spirit of Adoption that feals our Right to that Kingdom. . . Now the Reafons why this Change mull: be in order to our' obtaining of Heaven, are thefe : I. There is an exquifite Wifdom fhines in all God's Works, in difpofing them for the endsto which they are appointed: and is it nor monll:rouOy abfurd to imagin, he will admtt into his Prefenceand Kingdom thofe that are abfolutely unqualified for itsB!elfed. nefs, and oppofite to its Purity? 2 . His inva riable J u!tice excludes for ever all unholy Perfons from Heaven. For in the lall: Judgment God will be glorified as a Governour, in the di!tribution of Rewards with refpea to the Obedience and Difobedience of Men. 'Tis worthy of obfervation, that the All:ions of God on the reafonable Creatures are of two forts. Some proceed from !Jis foveraign good Pleafure, of which there is no motive or reafon in the Subjells on which they are tcrmimited. Thus by a free and infuperable Decree (when all Man· l<incl, laps'd and miferablc, was in his view) hechofe fometobe Vej]els of Mercy, and by privilege feparated them from the rell: that finally perilb. Now what induc'd him to b~~~~~~~~~a~uTt~~ea~ t~~:~~J Jtrhr~l~a:eft0~h~~T,;~;~~~n~~fc~~~~ C~:"ffff.~~ ence therefore is to be refolved into his unaccountable and adorable Will, as the foie caufe ~;,;tk,}~Je~~~~::~~~/t~~~ ~~;:~~J;~r!~'!h-z:r;'~~~~h";~~c:~p:fft:n.M~~d;bi~~~~~ un)ull: acceptance of Perfons: For as a Benefall:or, be may difpenfe his own Favours as he pleafes. A Gift from mere and arbitrary Bounty may be bell:owed on fome, and not on others, without inju!tice. But there are other All:ions of God for which there is an evident reafon in Men on whom they arc ter~inated. Thus, as the fupreme Ju.dg, witk· out rejpeEI of Perfons, I Pet. 1. I7. he will JUdg and reward every Man accordmg to h11 Works, Rom. 2. t6. All:s 26. 18. The Evangelical law (as was touchton before) is the rule of eternal Judgment, and gives a right from the gracious Promife of God to all penitent Believers in the Kingdom of Heaven, and excludes all impenitent Infidels. Divine Ju!tice will illu!triouOyappear then, in difringuifhingBelieversfrom Unbelievers by their Wo rks, the ~roper Fruits either of Faith ot· Infidelity : All the thick Clouds of Difgraces, Calummes, Perfecutions, that often opprefs the moll fincerc Chrifiians here, !hall nor then darken their Holinefs; and all the fpecious appearances of Piety, which the moll: artificial Hypocrites make ufe of to deceive others, IJJaJI not conceal their Wickcdnefs. And according ly the one fhall be abfolved and glorified, the others condemned and puniilicd for ever. In lhort, without violation of his own righteous e!tabliilJmenr in the Gofpel, God cannot receive the Unholy into his Glory, Heb. 1231 hefides the Legal Bar that excludes unfantlified Perfons from the beatifick Vifion of God, there is a moral incapacity. Suppofc that Juftice ll1ould allow Omnipotence to tran· !late fuch a Sinner to Heaven, would the Place make him happy ? Can two incongruous N atures delight in one another? The happinefs of Senfe is by an impreffion of Pleafure from a Curable Objeer: The happinefs of intellell:ual Beings arifes from an intire conformity of Difpofitions. So that unlefs God recede from his Holinefs, which is abfolurely impoffible, or Man be purified, and changed into his likenefs, tbere can be no fu•eet Communion between them. Our Saviour aff1gns this Reafon of the neceffity of Regeneration in order to our admiffion into Heaven : That whtch is bom of the Flejh, IS Jlefh; and that tvhich is born of the Spirit, is Spirit.. According to the quality of the ~rinciple, fuch is what proceeds from it. The Flefh IS a corrupt Pnnctple, and accordu;~J~;;~j
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