Of EleClion. r~adily proceed fromG od than .Ads of avenging Jufiice ; thtrcforc if the ones~ .1:\:cprobarion be mentioned (as tus) mPch rather the otllers Eledwn. C.1ap, 7· . 2, What the import of the Phrale lhould be [m,God.] ~ -Beloved [in] God the Father, • . . Beza indeed fltcks or the Phra;e Be!owd[m] God the Father;as the Greek ordinarily harhit. This is anunu(ual Phrafe to be ufed of the Ad of the Fa-· rhtr's Election , buc tt ordmanly runs, and mu.ch oftner, chofm and brloved ill Cbrtf/: But in the Father, we no where read. But this is fo fa r from being an Objellion,as it turns to be a reafon to confirm our Interpretation. . For (befides what was faid, that ;, is put for~~~. Jld, or ,;.-a, and fo it is al! one to have loid, Beloved of, or 6y the Fa;her), The Phrafe (in the Father) aptly note_s out the eminency of that A& in God himfelf, riling up, and abi– ding wnhm lumfelf, Ifl Ius own heart and breafi, m h1mfelf alone, as from himfel£ Andfuch Ads, his lovin_g us and choofing us from everla!\ing, were and mu!\ be acknowledged purely to have been, and t hus in like manner it is termed, his good pletljrm whtck he purpoftd in him{elf, Ephef.J.g. N or is it an Objedion of weight enough, that it is faid, Btloved and Cho(en i11 Chrifl, to exclude this of ours; as if therefore Beloved;, God the Father fhould be improper, nomore, thanbecaufemtbat place lafl cited, it isfaid, which he purpojed i11 himfelj~ fpeaking of the father, that therefore it fhould be improper to fay the lame of Chri!\; which yet we find, Ephef. ~· rr . Ac– cording to the etmtal furpofe wh:ch he f"'fofed m Ch>·t(/]ejtM our Lord. For that Phrafe (!11 the Father) denotes the Subjed and ellicient C aufe, and t hat of !11 Cbrtf/, the Medium or Inlhumenral C aufe, Yea,according to this Rule, theirreading{aut1tfted in Godtbe Father, fhould be excluded aJfo, pecaufeit is more often faid, and in ufe,fant1tfied in _7e(i.M Chrtf/, than i11 God the Father, 3· The third thing for explaining this of [Beloved m God the Father] is, That thereby is imported and wmotated,that Godthe Ft~ther chof'e anddefied m, , Yea, thefe two are mutually put each for other: T lie very ad of EleCtion is expre!\ by God's lovi11g tU: Jaco/; have I loved, Rom. 9· 1 3· which is al-. !edged, as a Proof of ].Jco6's being tleded, fpoken of afore, vn[. ''· and is there termed t he fti'poft of God accordittg to Elet1JOn, towards him. Thus God's Eledion of Chrifl (whofe Eledion is the pattern of ours ) as, he is God-man, is expre£Ied by his having loved him; John '7· 24. Thou loved(/ me afore the f ormdatioll of the world; that is, thou loved!\ me, sod out of love chofe(l me. And he fpeaks nor of tbatlove he bue to him , pure– 'ly confidered as fecond Perfon, but that of him as God-m>n, ana Mediatour: Whil!\ Chrifi fpeaks it, he alfo fays, That God had loved us, a. hehad loved him: Now between the love which God bare him , as fecond Perfon limply confidered, there ought not to have been any fuch Comparifcn made of what his lov·e isro us , fo as to fay, that he loved us as he loved him as !econd Fer– fan; but as Mediator it might be faid ; and therefore it was all one as to fay he chafe him : So that here for God the Father to be faid to love us, is equivalent to fay he chafe us. 2. Prt(erved in Chrijl. . . . Between thefe two (Beloved in God the Father, and then prtjtrved ili Cbrifl) doth rife up, as couched in each of them,and as the refult ofboth in this Connexion, Our bavi11gbtmgiven by the Father out of hu love to Jefur Chrifl, for him to preferve; and that Chrifl u?Jdertook foto do. This is !\rongly implied here, if withal we bring thofe other Scriptures (;'"'d "P'n·. wh ich E(liur, and diverfe others (having obfervedthis as connotated here ) ~~;~;~~";;'" have fent us unto, to explatn this paffage, tn wh1ch IS fer forth t he ongmal in which G,;,i , . -and Puube multiplied are wifht ((venashere) interpreteth thcreGraet robe meant~ a's I did here, aOd L(f1;!t andMmy rO to be meanC chiefly of the Effdts of Grace, but of the Feuntain of all, The free Grace of Gorl:. Ptr gratiam. quidam f.l!'T'#!Vpr;;,;.inttl-_ ligunt btnt{icia grati.t collata : Stdrtflius inttlligitur Fons iflorum btntficiorum omniu>tJ, viz. favor Dti Grat~itm. And f.ur the: proof of this fenCe in ftttr , _.tll_cdgeth this Parallel io ]ttdr, Nam inpara/lilo ]11d.n,; Xtle.Ji rxpotti!lirper-d ll\it>)~ Tbu~ he cii 1Ep. Ptttr l. 2. asalfo upon 2 Ep.ch;:~.'p.'I, vcrf. i. iifel
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