e Acts xiii. 39. h Heb. viii. 12. '1 Pet. iv. 14.
k 2 Cor. iii. 18.
heaven their felicity will be perfect : there " all that was in part will be done away :" they will " see as they are seen, and know as they are known ;" and will be like, and with, their God, for ever and ever.
Here, it may be observed, is no distinct mention made of sanctification ; and this may be supposed to give some counte- nance to those who imagine that sanctification is unnecessary to our final salvation. But sanctification is not omitted here : on the contrary, it is interwoven with the whole statement. For respecting whom are all these things spoken ? Respect- in": those " who love God." Now love to God is the root and summit of all holiness : and therefore it is plain, that the per- sons spoken of as called, and justified, and glorified, must be holy. Moreover, the thing to which they are predestinated is, " to be conformed to the image of Christ :" but how can that be if they be not holy ? Again ; sanctification is yet further implied in their justification, from which it must of necessity spring, as an effect from a cause ; as also in their glorification, to which it is necessary as a means to an end : for without a " meetness for their inheritance" they could not possibly enjoy it. We see therefore that the omission is in appearance only, and not in reality ; and that there is no ground whatever afforded for antinomian licentiousness.]
Many who do not in their hearts disapprove of this doctrine, yet think of it as affording matter for speculation only, and as of little, if any, use with re- spect to practice.
But, in fact, it is a doctrine of great practical im- portance ; for it lays the axe to the root of, 1. All boasting —
[If any man be disposed to boast, he must, in his own opinion at least, either have merited salvation in some mea- sure by his own goodness, or effected it by his own power. They who deny the doctrine of predestination do unavoidably give some occasion for men to boast: for whether they make God's predestination to be influenced by something done, or something foreseen, still it is the inherent and independent goodness of man that is made the determining ground of God's choice, and the original cause of man's salvation. But the doctrine of predestination plucks up all such conceits by the very root : it makes God's sovereign choice the primary source of man's happiness, and God's immutable purpose the means of its final consummation. If it be asked, Why did God love him? it must be answered, " Because he would love him1." If
1 Deut. vii. 7, 8. and ix. 4, 5.