An Expofttion of the Epiftle ~decreed unto us; but they are not the caufe that firfl: moved God to decree thefe Serm. V. things unto us. For if they were, there lhould be a derogation from God's free ~Grace in thefirfl: act of ir,he lhouldnot be Free in it: For Merit(you know) bath an obligation in it. Had God chofen us for Chrifl:'s Merits, his Election hn<l not been of Free grace : But having chofen us, and that out of hi~ Free grace, he ordained the!e Merits as the caufe of our falvation; wluch bemg thus a Free gift of Grace themfelves, and the fruit of his Grace, and no ways the Caufe or Motive thereof; therefore now Salvation (though merited) cometh to be al– together of Free grnce, becaufe the foundation of it is fuch. .And fo you have this fecond Interpretation taken away. . There is a third Interpretation, which fome of our Divines do give. .As I, Thatwearefaidtobc elected in Cbrijf, that is, (robe) i11 Cbrijfin time tocome. Wearenotelected(faytb0') as being in Chriflwhen eleCl:ed, or by eleCl:ion put into Chrifl:; but elected to be in Cbrijf in the fulnefs of time. And therefore, 2. Theyjoyn this [EleCledinChrif/] withthewordsthat follow, [tbat we fbouldbt holy, a11d witbout 6/ame before him in Jwe.] So as the meaning of this Interpretation tends only to.this, J"hat Jcfus Chrifl: is the great infl:rument to convey all the Bleflings to us, which God hath decreed for us; That he is the great means indeed that God hath ordained, and the caufe of all things that God bath appointed us unto. But he bath nothing to do with what concerlieth the act of Eleel:ion itfelf; This [in him] bath not telation fo much to the aCl of God's cboojitJg, as either to the 6/r./]ings to be conveyed by hirn, which God bath chofen us unto ; or elfe to lhew, that our future being i11 him is the Termimts 6f that ad: of EleCl:ion. And fo the whole that this place holds forth, is no more in effect but what thatin I Thrff>·9· fays; where you read, that God bath nppoint– 'd tu to obtainfalvatio>t by our Lord Jrjtu Chrifl. Mark it, the Apo!lle the~e fays not, that Jefus Chrifl:, as God-man, bath any influence into the ACI of or– daining; but comes in only as a Means fubferving that ad:, to ·accomplilh and bring about thofe ends which God in his Decrees did pitch upon. The Salvation God appointed us unto, he ordained us to obtain by Jefus Chrifl:: So then, [He hath eleClrdw i11 Chrifl t.o behob;] that is, fay they, in the fulnefs of time to be i11 him, and to be made holy in him , and he to be the caufc of our holinefs. This is the other fenfe of his chooftng tu inChrijf. And to explain their meaning in the Decrees of Election, there are Two thi11gs to be con!idered. I. The ACI itfelf, which is immanent and remaineth in God liimfelf, and floweth from himfelf from all eternity. 2. TheTermitms, or the Thi11gs that are Decreed to be, or to be brought to pafs. Or (to exprefs it in the fame terms, which I ufed and obferved out of the third Verfe) there is the AC1 of bte./]i~tg itfelf, and there are the blej]ings wherewith we are blefl:. Now when it is here faid, that we are EleCled i?t Chrijf, that fame [i11 him] refers not (fay thry) to the Ad: it felf, as if [it] had any dependancy on him . but ?nly has relationto the thin&s or~ain:d by that ACl:. And fo they fay, Thaf Chnfl: IS the foundatiOn of EleCl:10n m th1s fenfe, that the Termi11tu EJrClio11is, the things unto which we are eleCl:ed, he is appointed in Election to be the caufe of. (In a word) That God hath ordained that we lhould have them all in Chrifl: taking the Thil(g"S ; but hatbnot itt Chrijf ordai11tdVs, and Them to Vs taking the ACI it felf. ' So that now, this is the great and univerfally acknowledged glory given to Jefus Chrifl: on all hands, that though God wholly and entirely referveth to 11unfelf the glory of the ad: of choo!ing us; yet all the things that he choofeth us to, his Son (as God-malt) is the caufe of: He cometh in between Election and the Things, and we are ordained to have them all in him; even to obtain Faith, 9race, Heaven, and all in Chrifl, as the deferver and purchafer of them. And it IS a great glory, this that is given to our Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrifl:, that God lhould fet him up as the great Engine to work all by. This (I fay) is the third Interpretatwn. But
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