io theE P H E S I A N S. 2 , Some difli~guifli them thus, ThatE!e{/io7J or Choice imports more emi- ~ nently an act of God's Will, (for Chmce IS an a_ctof W_Iil ;) but that 'Prer'efl;- Jerm. VI. 1Jtztio1t is an act of his Vnder(i,mdmg, as workwg by Cou11jel. So.ver. 11. this V"'V'"'. fcems expl•ined [ Bei11g predejlmated accordmg /? the purpofe of hmt, w /;a worktth all thi11gs after the cotmjfl of hts rf1ll.] But more expreJ]y 111 ./J{/s 4 . 2 8. [Whr~tever thy Coutljt! dtd fore-determille to.6e doJte ;] the word is the fame that is here, ("I'"""'.] So then the d1ffer:nce here fhou/d be, tha; E,!rtfio11 imports limply his 'Decree to the End; but TredeflmatJ011 lhou/d fun,ler note forth God's contnvement or preparation of Mea11s to the obtainwg of that E11d. . . . , ~- But though other Scriptures may hold _forth this Second d1~erence; yet that it fhould be here 10 thefe two Vc rfes Intended, 1 fee not: For ./ldoptr01; here is fet forth to be an E11das well as Holmefl; nor are there any Me.11ts iq this Verfe mentioned. .1\ nd of the two, Hoimefs is rather a Me,ms, or a foun– dation laid to Adoptiott, then e COJttra; and therefore Rolloc rather calls E!ec1t011 (as here ufed) the Decree of the Mea11s, and Trede.ffi~tatio11 the Decree of the Ettd. But yet that this Notion of his lhould be the Apoflles fcope here, I can-. not wholly affent to neither; for the HohtJejJ unto which we are here faid to be chofen, is perfec1 bo!iue(s 111 Heavm, wluch" the Ertd we are ord2111ed unto, as well as Adoptioll, And indeed, both of them are 'Decreta Fiuis, 'Decrees a6out the End, (as I fhall afterwards lhew.) , . . · Wheretore the be(\ drfference that I can find out, and that is proper to the fcope of the Text is; That E!e{/ioll, although it be a Decree about the Eud, or ~t leafl: one maw End concernmg what God ultJmately meaneth to do With us, as well as_ iri Trede(/imttioll; ,yet together therewith it. does eminently note forth TC~Jl~~~f~1 fji11gl111g or cttll111g oltt [omc Perfons With a f~;ec~al and peculiar lo~e from others ~l)ltion is of t!Je fame rank and condmon : both out of thwgs pojfi6!e, wluch God had 111 cmieduoro, his loiowledge, whicl1 his Powe~ could have made, but he never decreed a Being_ ~~:,:h~i;';j unto, (which are as mfimte as his Knowledge and Power are,) (and even our of l'f'[m., or thefe there is an Election;) as,alfo out of all Per{ims-, w)lom he did make and Pcrfons. He actually give an exifl:ence unto, both Mm. and ./lugets, of whom fame he laid ~~~~',f~;;:~,~' aftde, as111 th' cafe of the ./111gels ISundemable. So that E!eCftott bemg a pre- rud 1 an uhi– ferring of fame before others, doth conilotate the Termimu a qtto, the term or m~re End, or– mafs of Perfonsfrom which; but Tredej/i11atiott ,more !"minently notes out the damcd for"'· Termimu ad quem, the ultimate fl:ate tmto which we are ordained, And Secondly, Becaufe by this Election or lirfl: culling out from others we are not ordained to a foie and feparate J:leing in our fdves, ( fuch as other 'rer– fons, whom he decreed not to fave, are only to have, they all fl:and upon their own bottom ;) but a being i11 Chrijl, as a Common Perfon and Root to fpring in and out of, and that in him we were conftdered and chofen to be in the very firfl: act of God's choo!ing tis, (as in God's heart we may be faid to have fl:ood, al– though until converted we have not an actual being in Chrifl:, accmding to the Rules of the Word, whicl,l God will judge us l;>y; but are withottt God, a11d wlthottt Cbrijl, as Cha,P. 2, fhews ;)_and therefore unto [Cbofo11/ is added [itJ lmll.] .That bcmg the firfl: act that g.ves us a fubliflence thus m God's mind, and thot i11 Chri(/. Hence therefore E!ec1iotJ, the lirfl: act, having thus Jingled us out from all things; and decreed us a Reprefentative being in Chrifl:, as Members in an Head together wuh our bemg: Trede(/i1tat~o" _then further imports a Se– cond act of orda111mg us to a glonous well-bei11g m lum, as the end God means to bring us to. It adds Adoptio11, and by ./ldoptiotJ is meant the right unto the glory o[ Heaven (as I lha/1 by and by ll1ew you,) and this is beflowed i1pon us as a Pnv1ledge or 'Dignity, (ii;«l~,) as it is called Joh11 I .I 2. overand above our lirfl: being_in him; for in )1im we mufl lirfl: be, ere we can partake of any thing through him. Now E/e{/ioJJ was the firfl: Act that did put us into him; and then Trede(li11atio11 was. that, which conveyed unto us all thofe Priviledges wluch we have _through him, and Union with him, whereof ./ldoptiott and Ho– !me{s are the h1ghef1 and moll: eminent. To illuflrate this we mufl know, thai things mull: be purpofed to have a being, ere they can. be fuppofed to have a we/1-being from Chrifl ;_according to that MaJCtm of !urn, that Is of the Father ( whofe work a/1 rlus 1s,) of him you are (and
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