2 Pet. i. 10, 11. Brethren, give diligence to make yovr calling
and election sure -, for, if ye do these things, ye shall never
fall : for so an entrance shall be ministered mito you ahun^
dantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ.
IN the system of religion which the inspired Pen- men have transmitted to ns, duty and privilege go hand in hand. It is *' the Divine power alone which gives us all things that pertain unto life and godli- ness :" but we must exert ourselves, in dependence on that power, to " escape the corruption that is in the world through lust." This plain and Scriptural
idea
idea gives the true solution to many difficulties that occur in the Sacred Volume, and particularly to those which arise from the words before us. In the text are set before us,
L Our duty —
Though all are agreed that our duty is here de- clared, the opinions of men differ widely respecting the precise nature of that duty. Our first point therefore is to fix the true meaning of the text —
[By our " calling and election," is meant that effectual call which men receive when they are truly converted unto God', and which both evinces, and results from^ God's eternal pur- pose to save their souls''.
Now those who deny the doctrine of election, argue thus. We are commanded to " make our election sure ;" and, if we neglect to do so, we may " fall " and perish for ever : therefore there is no such thing as is generally understood by " elec- tion ;" and that which is so called in Scripture, is nothing more than a designation of God to the enjoyment of outward privileges, or an acceptance of us upon certain conditions.
To avoid these consequences, many affirm, that the exhor^. tation in the text means only that we should exert ourselves to get an assured sense of our election.
But there is no such ambiguity in the original, as there ia in our translation. Whatever the text may prove or dis- prove, it can have but one meaning; namely, that we are to make our election firm, and, by diligence in good works, to secure the benefits to which God has elected us.
This however does not disprove the doctrine of election. — The truth is, that God elects us to holiness as the means^ as well as to glory as the end"^ : and that the end can never be secured but by the means prescribed. Though therefore God docs elect us unto salvation, we can never partake of that salvation, if we be not found in a diligent exercise of all moral virtues "^^ And hence St. Paid, notwithstanding he was assured of his final enjoyment of heaven'^, was careful to " keep his body under and bring it into subjection, lest, after having preached to others, he himself should be a cast- away^;" and hence we also are commanded to "look to our- selves, lest we lose the things we have already wrought, and oome short of our full reward'." The truth lies, not in a sim- ple affirming or denying of the doctrine of election, but in
connecting
" This is manifest from 1 Cor. i. 26. " 1 Tliess. i. 4, 5.
* 2Thess. ii. 13, 14. Epii. i. 4. '"'^ Rom. ii. 7.
^2 Cor. V. 1. • 1 Cor. ix. 27. '2 John S. He Heb. iv. 1.