38 P,,eroienda neezerd:, net qt.efcetdo con- ferrremtr. Virtrea!i eoMi- nentia. Aflta(i yt eXeeaiia. ephejians,Chap.i. VE R. 4. fin forefeene, and by confequent all in him ; But Chrift is fo foreknown and eledled, Ergo. I fhould denythefirft part ofthis reafon; for I fee not why God fhould not choofeand predestinate him who fhould fave his chofen from fin, before he decreed or ordered that they fhould fall into fin : It is no ill providence toprepare my falve before I will let my childe cut him- felfe. But Come may fay ; IfGod doe firft appoint Chrift to redeeme from fin, thenhe muff procure the being offin, and fo be the author of fin : Befide that, this were nothing but to break ones head, that I may after heale it. To this I fay, that it is good that fin fhould be, (as L4ugufline faith ) and that which is good, fo far as it is good, God may efiräu- ally procure it. He is laid tobe the Author of thofe things which he commandeth, and worketh, movingthe heart by habits whichhim - fell infufeth , Ergo, cannot be faid to be the Author of fin. If a man makea gafhto prove theexcellency ofCome healingbalme : I fee not why God may not prepare and give way to the finfull fall of his creature, efp-cially feeing he knoweth how to mendbetter thenhis firs making. Tothe fecond part of the reafon might be anfwered : that Chrift was not primarily, and immediately chofenand predeflinated a Lamb,aMe- diator ofredemption, but a Head and Prince of falvation, who fhould fave all, tothe gloryofGrace. Nowbeing chofen to this end, he is by force ofthis, he is chofen upon fin falling forth,tobe a facrifice,a Lamb taking away fin ; for he who is chofen to the end,is chofen to the Means. The fecond thing hence inferred, is that fore- fight of Faith,and per- feverance in it, as aneceffary condition, beforewe can be elected. Such whoare chofen in chriff,fuchare now fore-Ren believers when they are chofen,far noneare in Chriji butfluch beleeve : But we are chofen in him,&c. The firft part ofthis reafon is denied, with the proofeofit. There is a double being in any thing, the one inverrue, the other in aC uall exi- fling: In the root ofcorn there is blade, Bare in verme; but in Harveft time the Bareand blade are as it were aCually, having their exiflence in and with the root: So we are twowayes in Chrifl; Firft, inverrue, inaf- much as by force ofGods Election we fhall in time have life and being from him. Secondly, when now by faith we come aCually to exiff in and with him,who is the root ofus. Now the firft being inChrift requi- reth not faith, but the fecond : the firft being here to be underftood. To the fecond part we deny,that this or any Text faith, We are cha(cn being now byfaith in Chrift ; for this fenfe maketh (in chrifl) to belong to the objeCof relation, whereas the fcope of this place Both neceffa- rily makeit belong to the aft of electing in this manner : asfor example, He hash chofentes in bim, viz. Iefna Chrifl, my felf with you. Thus we might here take occafion to difcuffethefe two great queftions. r. Whether man as now fallen, be the fubjef ofelefion. a. Whether EleCion is of fuchwho are in Gods forefight faithful!. But
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