301 to whom these glad tidings would be communicated. Those who are blessed with the glorious light of the Gospel, according to this scheme of Divine Providence, may be said to be predestinated to life, because they enjoy the appointed means of salvation: and therefore, PREDESTINATION TO LIFE IS THE EVERLASTING PURPOSE OF

GOD, WHEREBY (BEFORE THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE WORLD WERE LAID) HE HATH CONSTANTLY DECREED BY HIS COUNSEL, SECRET TO US, TO DELIVER FROM CURSE AND DAMNATION THOSE WHOM HE HATH CHOSEN IN CHRIST OUT OF MANKIND, AND TO BRING THEM BY CHRIST TO EVERLASTING SALVATION, AS VESSELS MADE TO HONOUR. "Those whom he hath chosen in Christ out of mankind," are that part of mankind, to whom God decreed to make known the Gospel; and it is to be observed, that this expression does not distinguish one set of Christians from another, but Christians in general from the rest of mankind; and consequently, "to bring them by Christ to everlasting salvation," does not mean actually saving them, but granting them the means of salvation through Christ. This beginning of the article is taken from the following passage in St. Paul's second Epistle to Timothy, "who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to

Our

our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus, before the world began (b);" here the word "us" evidently means Christians, and the words "hath saved us" do not mean that the salvation of Christians had actually taken place, but that they were enabled to obtain salvation (c). Salvation will not take place till the day of judgment; and it can scarcely be supposed, that all, whom God "hath called with his holy calling," will then be saved, although every Christian has it in his power to obtain salvation, by complying with the terms upon which it is promised.

Those to whom the Gospel was made known, according to the foreseen purpose of God, are said in the New Testament to be predestinated and elect, "Who are the called according to his purpose: for whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate (d).”— "Elect, according to the foreknowledge of God (e):" Predestination and Election are therefore founded in the foreknowledge of God. In the latter of the above passages St. Peter speaks of all the Christians of Pontus,

(b) 2 Tim. c. 1. v. 9. (c) Similar expressions with the same meaning occur in several parts of the New Testament, Eph. Tit. c. 3. v. 5• 1 Pet. c. 3. v. 21. Rom.

c. 2. V. 8.

c. 8. v. 24.

1 Cor. c. 1. v. 18.

(d) Rom. c. 8. v. 29.

(e) 1 Pet. c. 1. v. 2.

Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, and St. Paul speaks of all the Colossian Christians (f), as being "elect;" and both apostles represent the salvation of these elect persons as depending upon their obedience to the precepts of the Gospel; and consequently by the word elect they could not mean Christians who were certain of being saved by an absolute decree of God; and surely no one would contend that all the Christians of those five extensive countries, or of the city of Colosse, who were then addressed, will hereafter be saved. The words elect and chosen constantly denote collective bodies of men who were converted to the Gospel, without any restriction to those who will obtain salvation; and an infallible certainty of eternal happiness in consequence of a divine decree, is not attributed to any number of Christians, or to any single Christian, throughout the New Testament. Salvation is uniformly mentioned as contingent and conditional. St. Peter calls upon Christians by their own "diligence to make their calling and election sure (g)," and consequently the calling and election of Christians imply only the means of salvation, which may or may not be effectual: to require human diligence to make a divine infallible decree sure, could never be the injunction

(f) C.3. v. 12.

(g) 2 Pet. c 1. v. 10.

injunction of an apostle. St. Paul himself admitted the possibility of his being "a castaway;" that is, rejected at the great day of final retribution, if he did not "keep under his body, and bring it into subjection," that is resist the evil propensities of his nature, and practise that Gospel which he "had preached to others (h)."

Thus were our Reformers fully authorized by Scripture to declare, as they have done in this article, that predestination to life is not an irrespective decree of eternal happiness to certain individual Christians exclusively, but the gracious purpose of God, before the creation of man, to make an indiscriminate offer of salvation in his own good time, to all who shall embrace and obey the Gospel, through the merits of his blessed Son. This indeed appears to be the only sense in which predestination is reconcileable with the attributes of God and the free agency of man: for we cannot conceive that a Being of infinite justice and mercy would arbitrarily select out of his rational creatures a determinate number, on whom he would bestow the blessing of eternal happiness, while he consigned all the rest to eternal punishment (i), or passed them over as unworthy

(h) 1 Cor. c. 9. v. 27.

(i) This is the doctrine of absolute election and reprobation, and was maintained by those who are called Supralapsarians.

unworthy of his regard and attention (k). Such an idea of election ought surely to be rejected. We are not required to believe that God, from all eternity, absolutely decreed that certain persons only should be saved, or that he gives an irresistible grace to some men which he denies to others such a mode of proceeding would be as destructive of human freedom, as it would be repugnant to the perfections of the divine nature. If we believe that God is infinitely just and merciful, we must believe that he has equally enabled every man born into the world to work out his salvation, though we know so little of the divine government, that in many cases we cannot discern how that impartiality is maintained. This igno

rance

Supralapsarians. It is to be observed, that reprobation is not mentioned in this article. It cannot be said that our Church favours absolute predestination, as in the last article it is asserted, that we may fall from grace given for if we be not absolutely predestinated to persevere in grace, we cannot be absolutely predestinated to salvation; and in the Catechism of our Church it is said, thatGod the Son redeemed all mankind, which is not consistent with the doctrine of absolute election and reprobation; and in the Communion service it is said, that Christ, by the one oblation of himself once offered, made there a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world.

(k) This was the doctrine of those who were called Sublapsarians.

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