not an absolute election of particular persons to salvation, but rather of whole nations and societies to be his church and his peculiar people, will be made fully evident from an impartial view of all those places of the Old and the New Testament, where this phrase frequently occurs. And,

II. FIRST. In the Old Testament, it is most evident, that not the righteous and obedient persons only are styled the elect, but the whole nation of the Jews, good and bad, were the elect of God. For in the books of Moses, this phrase is still applied to the whole nation of the Jews, as in these words, 'Because he loved thy fathers therefore ἐξελέξατο τὸ σπέρμα αὐτῶν, HE CHOSE THEIR SEED after them and brought them out of Egypt by his mighty power;'d where it is evident that the whole seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, even all that came out of Egypt, are the elect. Again, Jehovah thy God hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people to himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth." The Lord did not set his love upon you, and chuse you, because you were morẻ in number than any people: But because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn to your fathers, hath he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of bond-men, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt; where also evident it is, (1.) That their being chosen before other nations, to be God's peculiar people, is their election. (2.) That all who were brought out of Egypt,' were thus beloved and elected. (3.) That to his beloved and elected people, God only promiseth to keep covenant and mercy, provided they would love him, and obey his precepts; and that he threateneth to destroy them, and to repay them to their face, if they neglected so to do. In the tenth chapter, he speaks thus, 'The Lord had a delight in thy fathers to love them, nai ežɛλ

TO, AND HE ELECTED you their seed after them above all people; circumcise therefore the foreskin of your hearts, and be no more stiff-necked. Where again evident it is, that the whole seed of Abraham by Isaac, even the stiff-necked of them, were the elect of God. Chapter 14th, he saith to all to whom the following

*ན

d Deut. iv. 37. • σε προειλαίο και προελεξαίο, Deut. vii. 6, 7, 8.

f Verse 15, 16.

precepts did belong, and therefore doubtless to all Israel, Thou art an holy people to the Lord thy God, καὶ σε ἐξελέξατο ὁ κύριος, AND THE LORD HATH CHOSEN THEE OUT to be a peculiar people to himself above all nations.'«

And with this notion of the words accords the constant use of the same phrase in all the prophets and sacred writers of the Old Testament. Thus Solomon saith, Thy servant is in the midst of thy people, ov ežeλé, WHICH THOU HAST ELECTED, a great people that cannot be numbered, nor counted for multitude."" In the book of Psalms, the Jews in general are styled 'the seed of Israel his servant, the children of Jacob, exλEXTOì ȧUTE, HIS ELECT.' There it is said, τὸν Ἰακώβ ἑαυτῷ εξελέξατο, the Lord HATH CHOSEN JACOB FOR HIMSELF, and Israel for his own. inheritance; that the Lord brought forth his people with joy, καὶ τοὺς εκλεκτοὺς αυτού, AND HIS ELECT with gladness. There he desires of God to see the good, twv enλentwv, OF HIS ÉLECT, and to rejoice in the gladness of his nation, and with his inheritance.' So that throughout the book of Psalms, God's people, his servants, his nation, his inheritance, and his elect, are the same persons.

In the Evangelical Prophet, we find God speaking of 'Jacob, ov λežάun, WHOM,' saith he, 'I HAVE CHOSEN, and Israel whom I have loved; and to whom he speaks thus, "Thou art my child whom I have chosen:" there God declares he "will make waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, ποτίσαι τὸ γένος μοῦ τὸ εκλεκτόν, το GIVE DRINK TO MY CHOSEN GENERATION, my people whom I have chosen to set forth my praise." There we read of "Jacob my servant, and Israel mine elect;"" and of à "mountain which his elect shall inherit, and in which his servants shall dwell."

קיי

In the prophet Jeremy, we find God is displeased with them who said, "The two families (Asher bachar) WHOм the Lord HATH CHOSEN he hath even cast them off." The prophet Ezekiel speaks of the day "when the Lord chose Israel, and his hand to the seed of the house of Jacob," or engaged.

lifted

up

Verse 2.

h1 Kings iii. 8. i Psalm cv. 6, 43.
m Isa. xii. 8, 9. n xii. 11, 20, 21. o xiv. 4.
+ Ezek. xx. 5.

k Psalm cxxxv. 4. / Psalm evi. 5.

p lxv. 9. q Jer. xxxiii. 24.

himself by covenant to be their God. The prophet Zechariah styles God, "The Lord who hath chosen Jerusalem," and speaketh of a time when he shall yet "comfort Zion, and shall yet chuse Jerusalem:" and Daniel, of a time when o ExλEXTOÌ άUTOυ, "HIS ELECT shall not be able to stand before their enemies."

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And to carry on this phrase through the times of the Old Testament, in the book of Esther we are told of a time in which to γένος ἐκλεκτόν, THE CHOSEN GENERATION' should have perished, that is, in which the wicked Haman designed to cut off the Jews. And in the book of Ecclesiasticus we are informed that * Joshua was made great, ἐπὶ σωτηρίᾳ ἐκλεκτῶν αὐτοῦ, FOR SAVING THE ELECT OF GOD, that he might set Israel in their inheritance."

Thus have I traced this phrase through the Old Testament, and shewed that it belongs not to particular persons but to the whole Jewish nation; to the bad, as well as to the good, among them; to them to whom he threateneth the worst of evils, as well as them to whom he promises the greatest blessings.

III. SECONDLY. When in the New Testament it is applied to Christians, it plainly doth include as many as were converted to the christian faith. For,

(1.) When it is applied to the Jewish converts it plainly signifies all that had been converted to the christian faith; thus when St. Peter writes to those of the dispersion (who had obtained like precious faith with them) living in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia (Minor), and Bithynia, he saith to them all, "Ye are yévos Èxλɛxтóv, AN ELECT GENERATION, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye might shew forth the praises of him that hath called you from darkness into his marvellous light;"" all which are the very titles given to the whole Jewish nation in the Old Testament. Now since St. Peter could not affirm of all these christians, without a revelation, that they were elect, according to that sense of the word which makes it to import "men absolutely designed for eternal happiness," he only must affirm this of them all, because they all professed christianity and so were visible members of the church of Christ; as will be farther evident if we consider these particulars :

Chap. iii. 2.

t Dan. xi. 15.

u Esth. xvi. 21.

* Chap. xlvi. 1.

y 1 Pet. ii. 9.

UNIVERSITY

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CALIFORNI

(i.) That he exhorteth these elect," not to fashion themselves according to the lusts of their former ignorance; to lay aside all wickedness, deceit, envy, hypocrisy, and evil speaking; as strangers and pilgrims, to abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul; not to spend the rest of their time according to the lusts of men; to be careful that none of them did suffer as a murderer or thief;" which are offences not incident to men elected to salvation, whilst they continue so to be.

с

(ii.) That the apostle affirmeth the same thing of the whole church of Babylon, saying "the church which is at Babylon, συνεκλεκτή ELECTED TOGETHER with you, saluteth you." Now that all the members of that great church at Babylon, be it eastern or western, were chosen out of the world to the profession of christianity, and in that sense elected, he who was with them could not be ignorant; but that they all were absolutely elected to salvation, was more than he could know.

(iii.) That whereas this epistle is inscribed to the elect,' the second epistle, sent to the same persons, beginneth thus, 'To them who have obtained like precious faith with us;'" and it not only speaks of some who had "forsaken the right way," and had gone astray, turning with the dog to the vomit;" but also prophesies that "those false teachers who brought in damnable doctrines, even denying the Lord that bought them, should make merchandize of some of them."

(Lastly,) These words are plainly taken from Isaiah xliii. 20, 21; where we read thus, "I gave waters in the wilderness to water τὸ γένος μοῦ τὸ ἐκλεκτὸν MY CHOSEN GENERATION, my peculiar people," purchased to shew forth tas ageтàs, 'MY PRAISE,' which are the very words mentioned 1 Pet. ii. 9. Now though it be unquestionable that the whole Jewish nation are styled God's chosen generation, and his peculiar people,' it is as sure they were not all elected to salvation. We then may reasonably conclude, that the same words applied by St. Peter to all these several christian churches, do not imply that all their par- ‹ ticular members were elected to salvation, but only that they were all members of the church of Christ.

And thus we read of "the elect lady" in St. John, (ep. i. verse I,) and "the elect sister," verse 13, that is, the christian lady and sister; and when St. James saith To Ocòs GOD HATH CHOSEN the poor of the world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom,' his meaning is, that they were called out of the world to the profession of the faith, which, if they lived according to it, would make them heirs of his heavenly kingdom. For the apostles, in these epistles, writing to those nations which had been still accustomed to this notion of the word, and were all styled "the elect," must be supposed, when they wrote to them, to use the words of the Old Testament in the sense in which they always understood them.

And in like manner when Christ saith, many are called, but few are chosen,'" these parables plainly relate to the Jews, as Theophylact well notes, and the import of those words is this, That though many of them were called by Christ and his apostles to faith in him, both in Judea and in the dispersions, yet few of them did or would accept of him as their Saviour, or embrace the faith of Christ, as hath been fully proved, note on Mat. xx. 16. xxii. 14. So that here "the elect," and "the believers of the christian faith," are the same persons. When he saith, (Mat. xxiv. 22.) that 'for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened, He styles τους πίςες τους ἐν μέσοις ἀπολελειμμένες αὐτοῖς, “THE FAITHFUL LEFT IN THE MIDST OF THE UNBELIEVING

JEWS,' "THE ELECT," saith Chrysostom; "for the elect's sake these days shall be shortened," that is, saith Jerom, "ne temporum morâ fides concutiatur credentium, 'lest by the length of these tribulations the faith of believers should be shaken'." See the note on the same words, Mark xiii. 20. When he adds, (Mat. xxiv. verse 2,) that 'the false Christs and false prophets should do as much as in them lay, by signs and wonders, to deceive the elect, there also are we to understand the persevering christians. See the note there. And when he saith, verse 31, that then "God should send his angels to gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other," the meaning may be, either that He would send his angels, as Eusebius and Epiphanius say He

a Matt. xx, 16. xxii. 14,