l!O that William m. could say to Bishop Burnett, r• Dld,I not believe absolute predeiiti, nati~, I oo_uld _not ~lieve a providence; for it would be most absul_'d to.suppose a Bemg of infinite w18dom t.o act without a plan,Jor which plan predestination -is only another name.'~ Predestination is but God's plan of action ; prov.idence; .is the evolution of that plan. "If this providence has ordered and ordained everything, whioh relares to the temporal lot and life, it is absolutely inconoeiVRble tha~ .,man's. eternal lot should be determined without God's eternal counsel being fulfilled therein" (Oosterzee). I. THE ELECTION OF GRACE, WWCH IS THE FOUNDATION OF ALL oua l!PlRITUAL BLESSINGS, HAS CIIRIST FOR ITS CENTRE ; for " God ha.th chosen us fa him.'' We are re.,crarded as exiating in him, even in the Divine plan. The Son of God, is the Firstbom, as well as the eldest Brother of the vast family of God. m1, who is the Centre ,of creation, providence, hist-0t:y, is also the Centre of the Divine plan. , ., , . lL THE ELECTION IS FOtn.'DED ON THE GOOD PLE:ASURB OF HIB WILL, WBIOB. ,a ABSOLUTELY mm WITB BIS KORAL PERFECTlO~"l!, A.ND CANNOT THEREFORE, PAltTA.g,E OF .AN .ARBIT&ABY OHAB.ACTER. The great question is-Is ~ or JD,an the author of sa.l.Tiltion? Are not faith a.nd repentance, though man's acts, G:od's, guts? Is;not the Christian God's workmanship-" created in, Christ Jesus . unto good works"? Is ,:it possible to maintain the doctrine of grace without referring man's salvation to God? The ~stem which reject,i; an election of grace does not make: provision for the ll&lva.tion of a single soul. , . . •, III. THE ELECTION IS FROM ETERNITY. It is "before the foundation of the, world.'r It is as eternal as God himself, and not, therefore, founded in ,.maB.'s ,excellence, or ev,en origina.t.ed by sin, like an after-thought to rectify disorder or mistake ; for believers are chosen, not on the ground of foreseen holiness, but that they Jil6Y become, holy, their faith itself being the effect, not the cause, of their election. . . . . ,.. : , • • IV. IT IS .AN ELECTION TO .ADOPTION OB TO HOLINESS ; for '' God hath. chosen us in him . . . that we should be holy and without 'blame "-,-the positive and the negative sides ot Christian life-or he ha.th " predestinated us .to the adoption of children." A holy God can.not choose us to be anything but holy. Holiness is the end of our calling, as it is of our election. The Church of God is to, be finally "without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing." Holiness is the way to happiness. "A holy bes.rt is a. ha.ppy hea.rt;," even in this world of care. . • . .. V. IT Iii Ali' ELECTIOli OP INDIVIDUALS. There is a. national election, or an election tD covenant privileges ; but there is an individual election inside it : "Israel bath not obtained that which he seeketh for, but the election. hath obtained it" (Rom. xi. 7); T'nis fact is further manifest from the manner in which the Apostle. Paul comforts be cie\"eIB, and urges them to sanctification by reminding them of. their personal election. Believers are comforted besides with the assurance that their .names ,are written ill heaven, or in the book of life (Phil. iv. 3 ; Luke x. 20; Heb. ~- 23).-T. ,C. . Vet. 5.-The ad,optwn. "Having predestinated_us ~· the a4foptiDn lof ~~ by Jesus Christ to himBeli" " Adoption " in Seri pture expresses: more than a. cha.nge of relation- it includes the change of nature as wel:l as the change of relation. •. It thllS combines ,the blessings of justification a.nd sanctifioation, or represents the complex· condition ·of the believer as at once the s11bject .of both. .In a word, it presents the. new: creature in hill new relations. This passage teaches- . , , ·,'1 ',.. • : :
L TH.AT .ADOPTION ORIGINATES IN TBE FREE GBAOE OF GOD; for we are pred.estinat:ecj. thereunto. By nature we have no claim to it. " It is no.t a natural but a• constitu,ted relationship." The idea is not of sonship merely, but of sonship by. adoption. None = ad.opt into the family of God but GocLhiwself, aod therefore it may be. rega~dff as an act of pure grace and love. "Behold, wha.t manner of .love ._the .Father, bath bestowed upon m, that we should be called the sons of God!" (1 John iii. 1). He may ask the quE:Stion, "How shall I put thee among the children?" but he has answered it graciously in the line of covenant promise: "I will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my 11uns a.nd daughters, saith the LoJ:d:" (2 Cor. vi. 18). . . lL TlliT .A.DOPTIOS 18 IN OCll1UiECTlON WITH THE PERBON AND MEDUTlOlll' 01' CHRIST, He is not merely the Patt.em of sonship to which we are to be conformed, but the adoption is "by Jesus Christ." Tbe apostle declares elsewhere that" we are all the ewldren of Gud by iaith ill C.h.rist Jel!llM" (Gal. iii. 26), &.lld that "God sent forth hia OH, I, 1 - 2 3 , ) THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 15