first chapter of this epistle, where he says that the Ephesian converts, " after they had believed in Christ, had been sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, as the earnest of their inheritance until the redemp- tion of the purchased possession0." This office he executes upon all true believers ;
1. By an eternal designation of them to God's service —
[Such a seal most assuredly exists, and was made use of by Almighty God from all eternity. It was made use of in the consecration of his only dear Son to his mediatorial office ; " for him hath God the Father sealed d :" it was made use of also in the setting apart his chosen people to be his own pecu- liar treasure above all the people upon the face of the earth e : " The foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are hisf." In the appointment of Abraham and his posterity to be a holy nation and a peculiar people, we all see and acknowledge the exercise of sovereign grace ; though we find it difficult to acquiesce in this idea in reference to the eternal states of men. But where shall we draw the line? or how shall we justify the dispensations of God towards the Jewish people, if we deny his right to exer- cise the same sovereignty towards all the sinners of mankind ? The truth is, that fallen man has no claim upon his God : in that respect he is exactly on a footing with the fallen angels : and, if God be pleased to shew mercy to any, he may do so in any way, and to any extent that he shall see fit : and if he select any as objects of his mercy in preference to others, he does no more injury to the rest, than he would to the great mass of the fallen angels, if he were at this moment, for the display of his own glorious perfections, to liberate any number of them from the chains of darkness in which they are bound. He " has a right to do what he will with his own : nor ought our eye to be evil because he is goodg." It is certain that the Lord hath from eternity " set apart him that is godly for himself11 ;" and not because he was godly, or would be so, but because God of his own sovereign will and pleasure or- dained him unto life : as St. Paul expressly tells us ; " Whom God did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified ; and whom he justified, them he also glorified : their call in this world, and their glorification in the next, originating altogether in the predestination of God from all eternity1.]
c Eph. i. 13, 14. d John vi. 27. e Deut, vii. 6.
f 2 Tim. ii. 19. e Matt. xx. 15. h Ps. iv. 3.
1 Rom. viii. 29, 30.