--r--·~--------------------~~~~~---------------------- 0[ EteUion. r~ ~~:!.;,_ , Firfi,That by his People whom he {orek11ew, Ver[. 2, is meant, His Elea ....,. • - out of Grace. 'HIS People] And made bis by Elel!tion; God cafiing his eye upon them, fa id within bim!elf ot them, Thofe are mint; as John 17. Thme art mint, and thou gavefi'them me. The EleCt, afore ever they are Converted, are llyled by God hts ptople, Afls 18. 10. I havtmuch People i1lthis City. And Chrill faith, Shup [I hat.:e] not of this Fold (Gentiles) thtmimujl bring. They Wlre Sheep atore they were brought in, and they wete fo determinatc– ly; fixedly, and refolutely God's Sheep, foreknown by him tobefuch, as that Chrifi himfelf (to whom God hath committed the Salvation of them) faith, I mufl bti11g them i11, as upon God's peremptory Command to have them fa– ved. And therefore EleCtion, or Fore-knowledge of them, is as the Caufe joyneil with their being H IS, 2 Tim. z: 19. The Lord (knows] whp <~rt [his]. Secondly, This their Eleftion, that makes them his, and is here fignified by fore-knowledge [whom he fortklltW] is a word appropriated to the EleCt, and their Elel!tion by God ; and EleCtion is afcribed unto it, as in Rom, 8. zg. Whom he didforeknow, he a!Jo didpredef/itJalf. And 1 Ptt. 1. 1; Elf a ac– cordmg to thefore-k:~towledge of God tbe Fathtr;that is,out ofthat fpecial fore. knowledge which God took of thofe whom he chafe; even fuch a fore-know– ledge as is common to no other Creatures or Pcrfons, although known unto God, .are alt his lhorks from the beginning. And as feverallnterpreters have obfervcd on the fame word, Rom. 8.~9. He faith not ~. "eJ~A, whom ht k~ew, as but with a bare fimple ad: of Knowledge, for fo he doth all things; but ~. "'!•i:r•~, whom he achJowledged, approved of with a Knowledge of liking and love. And fo he notes, 1. AJingular love joyned with the forefight of them , or God's calling a loving Eye with Affel!tion upon them.• Words of hwwtedge import affetlion, conjugal Communion which is tranfaeted between Man and Wife, a~d rifeth from the emirefi Love, is llyled lmowledgt of each other: As on the contra– ry, I know 1'0tt not, and 11JeVerk11eW)'OU, doth in Chrift's Speech exprefs our utter rejefrion and privation of affetlion to them. 2. There is "11 (or Before) added to this knowled~e; by comparinf!l other Scriptures to which, imports that this his Love was before the Fou11dation of tht World; and fo from everlalling: And fo that Particle is explained in the fame Chapter of"Petn·, Vtrj: ~o. \}'hen Chrifi's EleCtion is fpoken of; whofe EleCtion is the pattern of ouri: Who .verily. WMUort-ordaintd] afore tht fowtdotiotJoj the World. And Chrill himfelf, John 17. :t). 1hou lovtdj/mt afore the foundtJtiotJ of the World. 3• It was not fuch a fore ·knowledge as that whom he forefaw would be– lieve, and be holy, that them,• as fuchforefeen, he chafe , and loved; that were unworthy of God, qtti jCimtia11 non accipit 4 rtbUI, and had been an uncertain Foundation f<;>r God to build upon; who builds not upon Sand, the mutable Will of the Creature : But rhe Fvu11datio1J of God is faid to be ji1rt, by this, rhat l1e knows who are his: 09·, not qtui; that is, the Individual perforls, who they are; not who, that is, fo or fo qualified. And in Rom. g, 29. It is not fa id, He predellinated thofe whom he foreknew that would be cMiormable to the Imagt of his So11: No; but contrary, that thofe whom he forekmw, and fo love~ he predellinated to be conformable unto the Image ofChrifi his Son. Yea, and in this place, Rom, ,·~, 6. he exprelly puts it wholly upon Graa, and utterly excludes Works, forefeen·as the motive unto God. A~td if 6yGrace, the11 it is no more of Works: Otherwifo Gract is no moreGrr~ce, ButJj'Jtbe o{ Works, thrnitis no mort Grace: Othtrwifr work Js 110 more work. And thus the fenfe or meaning of this forekttowledgt rifeth up to this, That thole particular Pcrfons, whom out of pure Grace and Love (without any coolideration of Works of any kind that were to be in them) he calling his Love fieely upon them, did, from everlalling 1 and out of that Love, choofe . t<~
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=