Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans

Adam Clarke's Bible Commentary in 8 Volumes

Volume 7

Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans

Preface

THAT ST. PAUL was the author of this epistle, and that it possesses every evidence of authenticity that any work of the kind can possess, or that even the most fastidious skepticism can require, has been most amply proved by Dr. W. Paley, Archdeacon of Carlisle, in his work entitled “Horae Paulinae; or, the Truth of the Scripture History of St. Paul evinced, by a comparison of the Epistles which bear his name with the Acts of the Apostles, and with one another.”

Of this apostle I have spoken at large in the notes on the preceding book, and especially in the observations at the close of the ninth chapter, to which I beg leave to refer the reader. It will be sufficient to state here, that Saul, (afterwards called Paul,) was born in Tarsus, a city of Cilicia, of Jewish parents, who possessed the right of Roman citizens; (see the note on Acts 22:28;) that, when young, he was sent to Jerusalem for the purpose of receiving a Jewish education; that he was there put under the tuition of the famous Rabbi Gamaliel, and was incorporated with the sect of the Pharisees, of whose system he imbibed all the pride, self-confidence, and intolerance; and distinguished himself as one of the most inveterate enemies of the Christian cause; but, being converted by a most singular interposition of Divine Providence and grace, he became one of the most zealous promoters and successful defenders of the cause which he had before so inveterately persecuted.

Though this epistle is directed to the Romans, yet we are not to suppose that Romans, in the proper sense of the word, are meant; but rather those who dwelt at Rome, and composed the Christian Church in that city: that there were among these Romans, properly such, that is heathens who had been converted to the Christian faith, there can be no doubt; but the principal part of the Church in that city seems to have been formed from Jews, sojourners at Rome, and from such as were proselytes to the Jewish religion.

When, or by whom, the Gospel was first preached at Rome cannot be ascertained. Those who assert that St. Peter was its founder, can produce no solid reason for the support of their opinion. Had this apostle first preached the Gospel in that city, it is not likely that such an event would have been unnoticed in the Acts of the Apostles, where the labors of St. Peter are particularly detailed with those of St. Paul, which indeed form the chief subject of this book. Nor is it likely that the author of this epistle should have made no reference to this circumstance, had it been true. Those who say that this Church was founded by these two apostles conjointly, have still less reason on their side; for it is evident, from Romans 1:8, etc., that St. Paul had never been at Rome previously to his writing this epistle. It is most likely that no apostle was employed in this important work, and that the Gospel was first preached there by some of those persons who were converted at Jerusalem on the day of pentecost; for we find, from Acts 2:10, that there were at Jerusalem strangers of Rome, Jews, and proselytes; and these, on their return, would naturally declare the wonders they had witnessed, and proclaim that truth by which they themselves had received salvation. Of ROME itself, then the metropolis of the world, a particular account has been given in the note on Acts 28:16; to which the reader is requested to refer.

The occasion of writing this epistle may be easily collected from the epistle itself. It appears that St. Paul had been made acquainted with all the circumstances of the Christians at Rome, by Aquila and Priscilla, (see Romans 16:3,) and by other Jews who had been expelled from Rome by the decree of Claudius, (mentioned Acts 18:2;) and, finding that they consisted partly of heathens converted to Christianity, and partly of Jews who had, with many remaining prejudices, believed in Jesus as the true Messiah, and that many contentions arose from the claims of the Gentile converts to equal privileges with the Jews, and from the absolute refusal of the Jews to admit these claims unless the Gentile converts became circumcised, he wrote to adjust and settle these differences.

Dr. Paley, with his usual perspicuity, has shown that the principal object of the argumentative part of the epistle is “to to place the Gentile convert upon a parity of situation with the Jewish, in respect of his religious condition, and his rank in the Divine favor.” The epistle supports this point by a variety of arguments; such as, that no man of either description was justified by the works of the law-or this plain reason, that no man had performed them; that it became therefore necessary to appoint another medium, or condition of justification, in which new medium the Jewish peculiarity was merged and lost; that Abraham’s own justification was antecedent to the law, and independent of it; that the Jewish converts were to consider the law as now dead, and themselves as married to another; that what the law in truth could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God had done by sending his Son; that God had rejected the unbelieving Jews, and had substituted in their place a society of believers in Christ, collected indifferently from Jews and Gentiles. Therefore, in an epistle directed to Roman believers, the point to be endeavored after by St. Paul was to reconcile tho Jewish converts to the opinion that the Gentiles were admitted by God to a parity of religious situation with themselves, and that without their being obliged to keep the law of Moses. In this epistle, though directed to the Roman Church in general, it is, in truth, a Jew writing to Jews. Accordingly, as often as his argument leads him to say any thing derogatory from the Jewish institution, he constantly follows it by a softening clause. Having, Romans 2:28, 29, pronounced “that he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor that circumcision which is outward in the flesh,” he adds immediately, “What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there in circumcision? Much every way.” Having in Romans 3:28, brought his argument to this formal conclusion, “that a man is justified by faith, without the deeds of the law,” he presently subjoins, Romans 3:31, “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid! Yea, we establish the law.” In the seventh chapter, when in Romans 7:6 he had advanced the bold assertion, “that now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held;” in the next verse he comes in with this healing question, “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid! Nay, I had not known sin but by the law.” Having, in the following words, more than insinuated the inefficacy of the Jewish law, Romans 8:3: “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh;” after a digression indeed, but that sort of a digression which he could never resist, a rapturous contemplation of his Christian hope, and which occupies the latter part of this chapter; we find him in the next, as if sensible that he had said something which would give offense, returning to his Jewish brethren in terms of the warmest affection and respect: “I say the truth in Christ Jesus, I lie not; my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart; for I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; whose are the fathers; and of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came.” When, in the 31st and 32nd verses of the ninth chapter, he represented to the Jews the error of even the best of their nation, by telling them that “Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, had not attained to the law of righteousness, because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law, for they stumbled at that stumbling-stone;” he takes care to annex to this declaration these conciliating expressions: “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved; for I bear them record, that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.” Lastly, having, Romans 10:20, 21, by the application of a passage in Isaiah, insinuated the most ungrateful of all propositions to a Jewish ear, the rejection of the Jewish nation as God’s peculiar people; he hastens, as it were, to qualify the intelligence of their fall by this interesting exposition: “I say then, hath God cast away his people, (i.e. wholly and entirely?) God forbid! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew;” and follows this throughout the whole of the eleventh chapter, in a series of reflections calculated to soothe the Jewish converts, as well as to procure from their Gentile brethren respect to the Jewish institution. Dr. Paley, drawing an argument from this manner of writing, in behalf of the genuineness of this epistle, adds, “Now all this is perfectly natural. In a real St. Paul writing to real converts, it is what anxiety to bring them over to his persuasion would naturally produce; but there is an earnestness and a personality, if I may so call it, in the manner, which a cold forgery, I apprehend, would neither have conceived nor supported.” Horae Paulinae, p. 49, etc.

From a proper consideration of the design of the apostle in writing this epistle, and from the nature and circumstances of the persons to whom it was directed, much light may be derived for a proper understanding of the epistle itself. When the reader considers that the Church at Rome was composed of heathens and Jews, that the latter were taught to consider themselves the only people on earth to whom the Divine favor extended; that these alone had a right to all the blessings of the Messiah’s kingdom; that the giving them the law and the prophets, which had not been given to any other people, was the fullest proof that these privileges did not extend to the nations of the earth; and that, though it was possible for the Gentiles to be saved, yet it must be in consequence of their becoming circumcised, and taking on them the yoke of the law:-when, on the other hand, the reader considers the Roman Gentiles, who formed the other part of the Church at Rome, as educated in the most perfect contempt of Judaism and of the Jews, who were deemed to be haters of all mankind, and degraded with the silliest superstitions, and now evidently rejected and abandoned by that God in whom they professed to trust; it is no wonder if, from these causes, many contentions and scandals arose, especially at a time when the spirit of Christianity was but little understood, and among a people, too, who do not appear to have had any apostolic authority established among them to compose feuds and settle religious differences.

That the apostle had these things particularly in his eye is evident from the epistle itself. His first object is to confound the pride of the Jews and the Gentiles; and this he does by showing the former that they had broken their own law, and, consequently, forfeited all the privileges which the obedient had a right to expect. He shows the latter that, however they might boast of eminent men, who had been an honor to their country, nevertheless, the Gentiles, as a people, were degraded by the basest of crimes, and the lowest idolatry; that, in a word, the Gentiles had as little cause to boast in their philosophers as the Jews had to boast in the faith and piety of their ancestors; “for all had sinned and come short of the glory of God.” This subject is particularly handled in the five first chapters, and often referred to in other places.

Concerning the time in which this epistle was written, there is not much difference of opinion: it is most likely that it was written about A. D. 58, when Paul was at Corinth: see Romans 16:23, conferred with 1 Corinthians 1:14; and Romans 16:1, conferred with 2 Timothy 4:20. It appears, from Romans 16:22, that Paul did not write this epistle with his own hand, but used a person called Tertius as his amanuensis; and that it was sent by the hands of Phoebe, a deaconess, (dia foibhv thv diakunou,) of the Church of Cenchrea, which was the eastern port on the Isthmus of Corinth.

From internal evidence Dr. Paley has demonstrated the authenticity of this epistle; and its existence in the ancient Antehieronymian versions and the Syriac, as well as its being mentioned by the Apostolic Fathers, Barnabas, chap. xii. 13; Clemens Romanus, Ep. i. c. i. 30, 32, 35, 46; Ignatius, Epist. ad Ephes. 20, ad Smyrn. 1, ad Trall. 8; and Polycarp, 3 and 6, and by all succeeding writers, puts it beyond all dispute.

Of the fourteen epistles attributed to St. Paul, (thirteen only of which bear his name,) this has been reckoned the first in importance, though certainly not in order of time; for there is every reason to believe that both the epistles to the Thessalonians, that to the Galatians, those to the Corinthians, the first to Timothy, and that to Titus, were all written before the epistle to the Romans. See the dates of the books of the New Testament at the end of the introduction to the Gospels, etc.

In the arrangement of the epistles nothing seems to have been consulted besides the length of the epistle, the character of the writer, and the importance of the place to which it was sent. ROME, being the mistress of the world, the epistle to that city was placed first. Those to the Corinthians, because of the great importance of their city, next. Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colosse, and Thessalonica, follow in graduated order. Timothy, Titus, and Philemon succeed in the same way: and the epistle to the Hebrews, because the author of it was long in dispute, was placed at the end of the epistles of Paul, as being probably written by him. James, as Bp. of Jerusalem, precedes Peter, Peter precedes John, as the supposed chief of the apostles; and John the beloved disciple, Jude. The book of the Revelation, as being long disputed in the Christian Church, was thrown to the conclusion of the New Testament Scriptures. The surats or chapters of the Koran were disposed in the same sort of order; the longest being put first, and all the short ones thrown to the end, without any regard to the times in which it was pretended they were revealed.

There have been some doubts concerning the language in which this epistle was written. John Adrian Bolten endeavored to prove that St. Paul wrote it in Syriac, and that it was translated into Greek by Tertius: but this supposition has been amply refuted by Griesbach. Others think that it must have been written originally in Latin, the language of the people to whom it was addressed; “for although the Greek tongue was well known in Rome, yet it was the language of the great and the learned; and it is more natural to suppose that the apostle would write in the language of the common people, as those were most likely to be his chief readers, than that of the great and the learned.” This argument is more specious than solid. — 1. It is certain that at this time the Greek language was very generally cultivated in Rome, as it was in most parts of the Roman empire. Cicer., pro Arch. 10, says Graeca leguntur in omnibus fere gentibus: Latina, suis finibus, exiguis sane continentur. “The Greek writings are read in almost all nations: those of the Latin within their own narrow limits.” Tacitus, Orator. 29, observes, Nunc natus infans delegatur Graeculae alicui ancillae. “Now the new-born child is put under the care of some Greek maid;” and this undoubtedly for the purpose of its learning to speak the Greek tongue. And Juvenal, Sat. vi. ver. 184, ridicules this affectation of his countrymen, which in his time appears to have been carried to a most extravagant excess.

Nam quid rancidius, quam quod se non putat ulla

Formosam, nisi quae de Tusca Graecula facta est?

De Sulmonensi mera Cecropis? OMNIA GRAECE,

Cum sit turpe magis nostris nescire Latine.

Hoc sermone pavent, hoc Iram, Gaudia, Curas,

Hoc cuncta effundunt animi secreta. Quid ultrae

“For what so nauseous and affected too,

As those that think they due perfection want

Who have not learned to lisp the Grecian cant?

In Greece their whole accomplishments they seek:

Their fashion, breeding, language must be Greek,

But raw in all that does to Rome belong,

They scorn to cultivate their mother-tongue,

In Greek they flatter, all their fears they speak,

Tell all their secrets, nay they scold in Greek.”

DRYDEN.

From these testimonies it is evident that the Greek was a common language in Rome in the days of the apostle; and that in writing in this language, which he probably understood better than he did Latin, he consulted the taste and propensity of the Romans, as well as the probability of his epistle being more extensively read in consequence of its being written in Greek.

2. But were these arguments wanting, there are others of great weight that evince the propriety of choosing this language in preference to any other. The sacred writings of the Old Testament were, at that time, confined to two languages, the Hebrew and the Greek. The former was known only within the confines of Palestine; the latter over the whole Roman empire: and the Latin tongue appears to have been as much confined to Italy as the Hebrew was to Judea. The epistle, therefore, being designed by the Spirit of God to be of general use to the Christian Churches, not only in Italy, but through Greece and all Asia Minor, where the Greek language was spoken and understood, it was requisite that the instructions to be conveyed by it should be put in a language the most generally known; and a language too which was then in high and in daily increasing credit.

3. As the Jews were the principal objects of the epistle, and they must be convinced of the truth of Christianity from the evidence of their own Scriptures; and as the Greek version of the Septuagint was then their universal text-book, in all their dispersions, it was absolutely requisite that the epistle should be written in a tongue with which they were best acquainted, and in which their acknowledged Scriptures were contained. These arguments seem conclusive for a Greek and not a Latin original of this epistle.

From the manner in which this epistle has been interpreted and applied, various most discordant and conflicting opinions have originated. Many commentators, forgetting the scope and design of it, have applied that to men in general which most obviously belongs to the Jews, as distinguished from the Gentiles, and to them only. From this one mistake the principal controversies that have agitated and divided the Church of Christ concerning the doctrines of unconditional reprobation and election have arisen. Men, eminent for their talents, learning, and piety, have interpreted and applied the whole on this mistaken ground. They have been opposed by others, not at all their inferiors either in religion or learning, who, not attending properly to the scope of the apostle, have rather argued from the perfections of the Divine nature, and the general concurrent sense of Scripture, and thus proved that such doctrines cannot comport with those perfections, nor with the analogy of faith; and that the apostle is to be interpreted according to these, and not according to the apparent grammatical import of the phraseology which he employs. On both sides the disputes have run high; the cause of truth has gained little, and Christian charity and candour have been nearly lost. Dispassionate men, on seeing this, have been obliged to exclaim:—

— tantaene animis coelestibus irae!

Can such fierce zeal in heavenly bosoms dwell!

To compose these differences, and do justice to the apostle, and set an important portion of the word of God in its true and genuine light, Dr. John Taylor of Norwich, a divine who yielded to few in command of temper, benevolent feeling, and deep acquaintance with the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures, undertook the elucidation of this much-controverted epistle. The result of his labors was a paraphrase and notes on the whole book, to which is prefixed “A KEY to the Apostolic Writings; or, an essay to explain the Gospel scheme, and the principal words and phrases the apostles have used in describing it.” 4to. 1769, fourth edition. This KEY, in the main, is a most invaluable work, and has done great justice to the subject. Christians, whether advocates for general or particular redemption, might have derived great service from this work, in explaining the Epistle to the Romans; but the author’s creed, who was an Arian, (for he certainly cannot be ranked with modern Unitarians,) has prevented many from consulting his book.

To bring the subject of this epistle before the reader, into the fairest and most luminous point of view in my power, I think it right to make a large extract from this Key, steering as clear as possible of those points in which my own creed is certainly at variance with that of my author; especially in the articles of Original Sin, the Atonement, and Deity of Christ; but as these points are seldom directly touched in this introductory key, the reader need be under no apprehension that he shall meet with any thing in hostility to the orthodoxy of his own creed.

A KEY TO THE APOSTOLIC WRITINGS; or, an Essay to explain the Gospel Scheme, and the principal words and phrases which the apostles have used in describing it.

1. On the Original and Nature of the Jewish Constitution of Religion.

1. God, the Father of the universe, who has exercised his boundless wisdom, power, and goodness, in producing various beings of different capacities; who created the earth, and appointed divers climates, soils, and situations in it; hath, from the beginning of the world, introduced several schemes and dispensations for promoting the virtue and happiness of his rational creatures, for curing their corruption, and preserving among them the knowledge and worship of himself, the true God, the possessor of all being, and the fountain of all good.

2. In pursuance of this grand and gracious design, when, about four hundred years after the flood, the generality of mankind were fallen into idolatry, (a vice which in those times made its first appearance in the world,) and served other gods, thereby renouncing allegiance to the one God, the maker and governor of heaven and earth, He, to counteract this new and prevailing corruption, was pleased, in his infinite wisdom, to select one family of the earth to be a repository of true knowledge and the pattern of obedience and reward among the nations; that, as mankind were propagated, and idolatry took its rise and was dispersed from one part of the world into various countries, so also the knowledge, worship, and obedience of the true God might be propagated and spread from nearly the same quarter; or, however, from those parts which then were most famous and distinguished. To this family he particularly revealed himself, visited them with several public and remarkable dispensations of providence, and at last formed them into a nation under his special protection, and governed them by laws delivered from himself; placing them in the open view of the world, first in Egypt, and afterwards in the land of Canaan.

3. The head or root of this family was Abraham, the son of Terah, who lived in Ur of the Chaldees, beyond Euphrates. His family was infected with the common contagion of idolatry, as appears from Joshua, Joshua 24:2, 3: “And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood (or river Euphrates) in old time; even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods. And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, etc.” And the Apostle Paul intimates as much, Romans 4:3-5: “For what saith the Scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” Abraham is the person he is discoursing about; and he plainly hints, though he did not care to speak out, that even Abraham was chargeable with not paying due reverence and worship to God; as the word asebhv, which we render ungodly, properly imports.

4. But, though Abraham had been an idolater, God was pleased, in his infinite wisdom and goodness, to single him out to be the head or root of that family or nation which he intended to separate to himself from the rest of mankind for the forementioned purposes. Accordingly he appeared to him in his native country, and ordered him to leave it and his idolatrous kindred, and to remove into a distant land to which he would direct and conduct him, declaring at the same time his covenant or grant of mercy to him, in these words, Genesis 12:1-3: “I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” So certainly did God make himself known to Abraham, that he was satisfied this was a revelation from the one true God, and that it was his duty to pay an implicit obedience to it. Accordingly, upon the foot of this faith, he went out, though he did not know whither he was to go. The same covenant, or promise of blessings, God afterwards at sundry times repeated to him; particularly when it is said, Genesis 15:5: “And the Lord brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now towards heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, so shall thy seed be.” Here again he believed in the Lord, and he counted it to him for righteousness. Also, Genesis 17:1-8, he repeats and establishes the same covenant, to be a God unto him and his seed after him; promising him the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession, and appointing circumcision as a perpetual token of the certainty and perpetuity of this covenant. Thus Abraham was taken into God’s covenant, and became entitled to the blessings it conveyed; not because he was not chargeable before God with impiety, irreligion, and idolatry; but because God, on his part, freely forgave his prior transgressions, and because Abraham, on his part, believed in the power and goodness of God; without which belief or persuasion that God was both true and able to perform what he had promised, he could have paid no regard to the Divine manifestations; and consequently must have been rejected as a person altogether improper to be the head of that family which God intended to set apart to himself.

5. And as Abraham, so likewise his seed or posterity, were at the same time, and before they had a being, taken into God’s covenant, and entitled to the blessings of it. Genesis 17:7: “I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and thy SEED AFTER thee, etc.” Not all his posterity, but only those whom God intended in the promise; namely, first, the nation of the Jews, who hereby became particularly related to God, and invested in sundry invaluable privileges; and, after them, the believing Gentiles, who were reckoned the children of Abraham, as they should believe in God as Abraham did.

6. For about two hundred and fifteen years from the time God ordered Abraham to leave his native country, he, and his son Isaac and grandson Jacob, sojourned in the land of Canaan, under the special protection of Heaven, till infinite wisdom thought fit to send the family into Egypt, the then head-quarters of idolatry, with a design they should there increase into a nation; and there, notwithstanding the cruel oppression they long groaned under, they multiplied to a surprising number. At length God delivered them from the servitude of Egypt, by the most dreadful displays of his almighty power; whereby he demonstrated himself to be the one true God, in a signal and complete triumph over idols, even in their metropolis, and in a country of fame and eminence among all the nations round about. Thus freed from the vilest bondage, God formed them into a kingdom, of which he himself was king; gave them a revelation of his nature and will; instituted sundry ordinances of worship; taught them the way of truth and life; set before them various motives to duty, promising singular blessings to their obedience and fidelity, and threatening disobedience and apostasy, or revolt from his government, with very heavy judgments, especially that of being expelled from the land of Canaan and “scattered among all people from one end of the earth unto the other,” in a wretched, persecuted state; Deuteronomy 28:63-68; Leviticus 26:3, 4, etc. Having settled their constitution, he led them through the wilderness, where he disciplined them for forty years together, made all opposition fall before them, and at last brought them to the promised land.

7. Here I may observe that God did not choose the Israelites out of any partial regard to that nation, nor because they were better than other people, (Deuteronomy 9:4, 5,) and would always observe his laws. It is plain he knew the contrary, (Deuteronomy 31:29;32:5, 6,15.) It was indeed with great propriety that, among other advantages, he gave them also that of being descended from progenitors illustrious for piety and virtue and that he grounded the extraordinary favors they enjoyed upon Abraham’s faith and obedience; Genesis 22:16-18. But it was not out of regard to the moral character of the Jewish nation that God chose them; any other nation would have served as well on that account; but, as he thought fit to select one nation of the world, he selected them out of respect to the piety and virtue of their ancestors; Exodus 3:15; 6:3-5, Deuteronomy 4:37.

8. It should also be carefully observed that God selected the Israelitish nation, and manifested himself to them by various displays of his power and goodness, not principally for their own sakes, to make them a happy and flourishing people, but to be subservient to his own high and great designs with regard to all mankind. And we shall entertain a very wrong, low, and narrow idea of this select nation, and of the dispensations of God towards it, if we do not consider it as a beacon, or a light set upon a hill, as raised up to be a public voucher of the being and providence of God, and of the truth of the revelation delivered to them in all ages and in all parts of the world; and, consequently, that the Divine scheme, in relation to the Jewish polity, had reference to other people, and even to us at this day, as well as to the Jews themselves. The situation of this nation, lying upon the borders of Asia, Europe, and Africa, was very convenient for such a general purpose.

9. It is farther observable that this scheme was wisely calculated to answer great ends under all events. If this nation continued obedient, their visible prosperity, under the guardianship of an extraordinary Providence, would be a very proper and extensive instruction to the nations of the earth; and no doubt was so; for, as they were obedient, and favored with the signal interpositions of the Divine power, their case was very useful to their neighbors. On the other hand, if they were disobedient, then their calamities, and especially their dispersions, would nearly answer the same purpose, by spreading the knowledge of the true God and of revelation in the countries where before they were not known. And so wisely was this scheme laid at first, with regard to the laws of the nation, both civil and religious, and so carefully has it all along been conducted by the Divine providence, that it still holds good, even at this day, full 3600 years from the time when it first took place, and is still of public use for confirming the truth of revelation. I mean, not only as the Christian profession spread over a great part of the world has grown out of this scheme, but as the Jews themselves, in virtue thereof, after a dispersion of about 1700 years over all the face of the earth, every where in a state of ignominy and contempt, have, notwithstanding, subsisted in great numbers, distinct and separate from all other nations. This seems to me a standing miracle; nor can I assign it to any other cause but the will and the extraordinary interposal of Heaven, when I consider that, of all the famous nations of the world who might have been distinguished from others with great advantage, and the most illustrious marks of honor and renown, as the Assyrians, Persians, Macedonians, Romans, who all, in their turns, held the empire of the world, and were, with great ambition, the lords of mankind, yet these, even in their own countries, the seat of their ancient glory, are quite dissolved and sunk into the body of mankind; nor is there a person upon earth can boast he is descended from those renowned and imperial ancestors. Whereas a small nation, generally despised, and which was, both by Pagans and pretended Christians, for many ages harassed, persecuted, butchered, and distressed, as the most detestable of all people upon the face of the earth, (according to the prophecy of Moses, Deuteronomy 28:63, etc.; see Dr. Patrick’s commentary upon that place,) and which, therefore, one would imagine, every soul that belonged to it should have gladly disowned, and have been willing the odious name should be entirely extinguished; yet, I say, this hated nation has continued in a body quite distinct and separate from all other people, even in a state of dispersion and grievous persecution, for about 1700 years; agreeably to the prediction, Jeremiah 46:28: “I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee; but I will not make a full end of thee.” This demonstrates that the wisdom which so formed them into a peculiar body, and the providence which has so preserved them that they have almost ever since the deluge subsisted in a state divided from the rest of mankind, and are still likely to do so, is not human but Divine. For, no human wisdom nor power could form, or, however, could execute such a vast, extensive design. Thus the very being of the Jews, in their present circumstances, is a standing public proof of the truth of revelation.

II. The peculiar Honours and Privileges of the Jewish Nation, while they were

the peculiar People of God, and the Terms signifying those Honours explained.

10. The nature and dignity of the foregoing scheme, and the state and privileges of the Jewish nation will be better understood if we carefully observe the particular phrases by which their relation to God and his favors to them are expressed in Scripture.

11. As God, in his infinite wisdom and goodness, was pleased to prefer them before any other nation, and to single them out for the purposes of revelation, and preserving the knowledge, worship, and obedience of the true God, he is said to choose them, and they are represented as his chosen or elect people. Deuteronomy 4:37; 7:6; 10:15: “The Lord had a delight in thy fathers-and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people.” 1 Kings 3:8: “Thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people that cannot be numbered.” 1 Chronicles 16:13: “O ye seed of Israel his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen ones;” Psalm 105:6; 33:12: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance;” Psalm 105:43; 106:5: “That I may see the good of thy chosen or elect, that I may rejoice in the goodness of thy nation;” Psalm 135:4; Isaiah 41:8, 9; 43:20; 44:1, 2; 45:4: “For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name.” Ezekiel 20:5: “Thus saith the Lord, in the day when I chose Israel, and lifted my hand unto the seed of the house of Jacob, and made myself known unto them in the land of Egypt.” Hence, reinstating them in their former privileges is expressed by choosing them again. Isaiah 14:1: “For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land;” Zechariah 1:17; 2:12.

12. The first step he took in execution of his purpose of election, was to rescue them from their wretched situation, in the servitude and idolatry of Egypt; and to carry them, through all enemies and dangers, to the liberty and happy state to which he intended to advance them. With regard to which the language of Scripture is: 1. That he delivered; 2. Saved; 3. Bought, or purchased; 4. Redeemed them. Exodus 3:8: “And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them unto a good land.” So Exodus 18:8-10; Judges 6:8, 9; Exodus 6:6: “I am the Lord, and I will bring you from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid (deliver) you out of their bondage. So Exodus 5:23; 1 Samuel 10:18.

13. As God brought them out of Egypt, invited them to the honors and happiness of his people, and by many express declarations and acts of mercy engaged them to adhere to him as their God, he is said to call them, and they were his called. Isaiah 41:8, 9: “But thou, Israel, art my servant,-thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof.” See Isaiah 41:2; Isaiah 51:2; Hos 11:1: “When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.” Isaiah 48:12: “Hearken unto me, O Jacob, and Israel my called.”

14. And as he brought them out of the most abject slavery, and advanced them to a new and happy state of being, attended with distinguishing privileges, enjoyments, and marks of honor, he is said-1. to create, make, and form them; 2. to give them life; 3. to have begotten them. Isaiah 43:1: “But thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not.” Isaiah 43:5: “Fear not, for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and will gather thee from the west.” Isaiah 43:7: “Even every one that is called by my name; for I have created him for my glory; I have formed him; yea I have made him.” Isaiah 43:15: “I am the Lord, your Holy One; the creator of Israel, your king.” Deuteronomy 32:6: “Do ye thus requite the Lord, O foolish people?-Hath he not made thee, and established thee?” Deuteronomy 32:15; Psalm 149:2; Isaiah 27:11: “It is a people of no understanding; therefore, he that made them will have no mercy on them; and he that formed them will show them no favor;” Isaiah 43:21; 44:1, 2: “Yet hear now, O Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen.: Thus saith the Lord that made thee, and formed thee from the womb.” Isaiah 44:21, 24: “Thus saith the Lord thy Redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb,” etc.

15. Thus, as God created the whole body of the Jews, and made them to live, they received a being or existence. Isaiah 63:19: “We are; thou hast never ruled over them; (the heathen;) they were not called by thy name.” Or rather thus: “We are of old; thou hast not ruled over them; thy name hath not been called upon them.” It is in the Hebrew, µb tlçm al µlw[m wnyyh hayinu me-olam, lo mashalla bam; and are therefore called by the apostle, “things that are,” in opposition to the Gentiles, who, as they were not formerly created in the same manner, were, “the things which are not;” 1 Corinthians 1:28: “God has chosen things which are not, to bring to nought things that are.” Farther:—

16. As he made them live, and begat them, (1) He sustains the character of a Father; and (2) they are his children, his sons and daughters, which were born to him. Deuteronomy 32:6: “Do ye thus requite the Lord, O foolish people?-Is he not thy father that hath bought thee?” Isaiah 63:16: “Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not. Thou, O Lord, art our Father, our Redeemer,” etc. Jeremiah 31:9: “For I am a Father to Israel, and Ephraim is my first-born.” Malachi 2:10: “Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us?”

17. And, as the whole body of the Jews were the children of one father, even of God, this naturally established among themselves the mutual and endearing relation of brethren, (including that of sisters,) and they were obliged to consider and to deal with each other accordingly. Leviticus 25:46; Deuteronomy 1:16; 2:8; 15:7: “If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren-thou shalt not harden thy heart, nor shut thine hand against thy poor brother;” Deuteronomy 17:15; 18:15; 19:19; 22:1; 23:19; 24:14; Judges 20:13; 1 Kings 12:24; (Acts 23:1.) And in many other places.

18. And the relation of God, as a father to the Jewish nation, and they his children, will lead our thoughts to a clear idea of their being, as they are frequently called, the house or family of God. Numbers 12:7: “My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all my house.” 1 Chronicles 17:14: “I will settle him in my house, and in my kingdom for ever.” Jeremiah 12:7: “I have forsaken my house, I have left my heritage.” Hosea 9:15: “For the wickedness of their (Ephraim’s) doings, I will drive them out of my house, I will love them no more: all their princes are revolters; Zechariah 9:8; Psalm 93:5. And in other places; and, perhaps, frequently in the Psalms. See Psalm 23:6; 27:4, etc.

19. Farther; the Scripture directs us to consider the land of Canaan as the estate or inheritance belonging to this house or family. Numbers 26:53: “Unto these, (namely, all the children of Israel,) the land shall be divided for an inheritance.” Deuteronomy 21:23: “That thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.” See the same in many other places.

20. Here it may not be improper to take notice that the land of Canaan, in reference to their trials, wanderings, and fatigues in the wilderness, is represented as their rest. Exodus 33:14: “My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.” Deuteronomy 3:20; 12:9: “For ye are not yet come to the rest and to the inheritance which the Lord your God giveth you;” Deuteronomy 12:10; 25:19. Psalm 95:11: “Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.”

21. Thus the Israelites were the house or family of God. Or we may conceive them formed into a nation, having the Lord Jehovah, the true God, at their head; who, on this account, is styled their God, governor, protector, or king; and they his people, subjects, or servants. Exodus 19:6: “Ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.” Deuteronomy 4:34: “Hath God essayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation?” Isaiah 51:4: “Hearken unto me my people, and give ear unto me my nation.”

22. And it is in reference to their being a society peculiarly appropriated to God and under his special protection and government, that they are sometimes called the city, the holy city, the city of the Lord, of God. Psalm 46:4: “There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of our God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High.” Psalm 101:8: “I will early destroy all the wicked of the land, that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the Lord.” Isaiah 48:1, 2: “Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel; for they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel.”

23. Hence the whole community, or Church, is denoted by the city Jerusalem, and sometimes by Zion, Mount Zion, the city of David. Isaiah 62:1, 6, 7: “I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace-and give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.” Isaiah 65:18, 19: “I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people;” Isaiah 66:10; Ezekiel 16:2, 3; Joel 3:17; Zechariah 1:14; 8:3, etc.; Zechariah 13:1. Isaiah 28:16: “Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation,” etc.; Isaiah 61:3; Joel 2:32. Obidiah 17: “But upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance,” etc.; Obidiah 21.

24. Hence, also, they are said to be written or enrolled in the book of God, as being citizens invested in the privileges and immunities of his kingdom. Exodus 32:32: “Yet now, if thou wilt, forgive their sin; and, if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of the book thou hast written.” Exodus 32:33: “And the Lord said-Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book;” Ezekiel 13:9.

25. And it deserves our notice that, as the other nations of the world did not belong to this city, commonwealth, or kingdom of God, and so were not his subjects and people in the same peculiar sense as the Jews, for these reasons they are frequently represented as strangers and aliens, and as being not a people. And, as they served other gods, and were generally corrupt in their morals, they have the character of enemies. Exodus 20:10; Leviticus 25:47: “And if a sojourner, or a stranger, wax rich by thee, and thy brother sell himself to the stranger.” Deuteronomy 14:21: “Thou mayest sell it to an alien.” Isaiah 61:5: “And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen.” And in many other places Deuteronomy 32:21: “I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people;” Isaiah 7:8; Hosea 1:10; 2:23: “I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people: and they shall say, Thou art my God.” Psalm 74:4: “Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregation;” Psalm 78:66; 83:2; 89:10; Isaiah 42:13; 59:18. Romans 5:10: “When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God;” Colossians 1:21.

26. The kind and particular regards of God for the Israelites, and their special relation to him, are also signified by that of husband and wife; and his making a covenant with them to be their God, is called espousals. Jeremiah 31:32: “Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, (which my covenant they broke, although I was a husband unto them, saith the Lord;”) Jeremiah 3:20; Ezekiel 16:31, 32. Hosea 2:2: “Plead (ye children of Judah, and children of Israel, Hosea 1:11) with your mother; plead, for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband;” that is, for her wickedness I have divorced her, (Isaiah 62:4, 5.) Jeremiah 2:2: “Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the Lord, I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals; when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in the land that was not sown.” Jeremiah 3:14: “Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord, for I am married unto you;” Isaiah 62:4, 5.

27. Hence it is that the Jewish Church, or community, is represented as a mother; and particular members as her children. Isaiah 50:1: “Thus saith the Lord, where is the bill of your mother’s divorcement?” etc. Hosea 2:2, 5: “For their mother hath played the harlot.” Isaiah 49:17: “Thy children (O Zion) shall make haste,” etc.; Isaiah 49:22, 25; Jeremiah 5:7; Ezekiel 16:35, 36. Hosea 4:6: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge-seeing thou hast forgotten the law of God, I will also forget thy children.”

28. Hence, also, from the notion of the Jewish Church being a wife to God her husband, her idolatry, or worshipping of strange gods, comes under the name of adultery and whoredom, and she takes the character of a harlot. Jeremiah 3:8: “And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery.” Jeremiah 3:9: “And it came to pass, through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks;” Jeremiah 13:27; Ezekiel 16:15; 23:43; Jeremiah 3:6: “Backsliding Israel is gone up upon every high mountain, and under every green tree, and there has played the harlot.”

29. As God exercised a singular providence over them in supplying, guiding, and protecting them, he was their shepherd, and they his flock, his sheep. Psalm 77:20; 78:52; 80:1: “Give ear, O shepherd of Israel.” Isaiah

40:11: “He shall feed his flock like a shepherd.” Psalm 74:1: “O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? Why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?” Psalm 79:13; 95:7; Jeremiah 13:17: “Mine eye shall weep sore-because the Lord’s flock is carried captive.” See Ezekiel 34: throughout; and in many other places.

30. Upon nearly the same account, as God established them, provided proper means for their happiness, and improvement in knowledge and virtue, they are compared to a vine and a vineyard, and God to the husbandman who planted and dressed it; and particular members of the community are compared to branches. Psalm 80:8: “Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt; thou hast cast out the heathen and planted it.” Psalm 80:14: “Return, we beseech thee, O Lord of hosts; look down from heaven; behold and visit this vine, and the vineyard which thy right hand has planted.” Isaiah 5:1, 2: “Now will I sing to my well beloved a song, touching his vineyard. My well-beloved has a vineyard in a very fruitful hill; and he fenced it,” etc. Isaiah 5:7: “For the vineyard of the Lord-is the house of Israel;” Exodus 15:17; Jeremiah 2:21. Psalm 80:11: “She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river.” Isaiah 27:9-11: “By this shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged;-yet the defenced city shall be desolate,-there shall the calf feed,-and consume the branches thereof. When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off: the women come, and set them on fire: for it is a people of no understanding; therefore, he that made them will have no mercy on them.” Jeremiah 11:16: “The Lord hath called thy name a green olive tree, fair and of goodly fruit,” etc.; Ezekiel 17:6; Hosea 14:5, 6; Na 2:2; and in many other places. Romans 11:17-19: “And if some of the branches were broken off,” etc. “Thou wilt say then, the branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.”

31. As they were, by the will of God, set apart, and appropriated in a special manner to his honor and obedience, and furnished with extraordinary means and motives to holiness, so God is said to sanctify or hallow them. Exodus 31:13: “Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep; for it is a sign between me and you, throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you;” Ezekiel 20:12; Leviticus 20:8: “And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them; for I am the Lord which sanctify you;” Leviticus 21:8; 22:9, 16, 32; Ezekiel 37:28.

32. Hence it is that they are styled a holy nation, or people, and saints. Exodus 19:6: “And ye shall be to me-a holy nation.” Deuteronomy 7:6: “For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God;” Deuteronomy 14:2; 26:19; 33:3. 2 Chronicles 6:41: “Let thy priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in goodness.” Psalm 34:9: “O fear the Lord, ye his saints.” Psalm 50:5: “Gather my saints together unto me.” Psalm 50:7: “Hear, O my people,” etc.; Psalm 79:2; 148:14: “He also exalteth the horn of his people, the praise of his saints; even of the children of Israel,” etc.

33. Farther, by his presence among them, and their being consecrated to him, they were made his house or building, the sanctuary which he built. And this is implied by his dwelling and walking amongst them. Psalm 114:2: “Judah was his sanctuary, and Israel his dominion.” Isaiah 56:3-5: “Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the Lord, speak, saying, The Lord hath utterly separated me from his people:-for thus saith the Lord-Even unto them will I give in my house, and within my walls, a place and a name.” Jeremiah 33:7: “And I will cause the captivity of Judah and of Israel to return,-and will build them as at the first.” Amos 9:11: “I will raise up the tabernacle of David-I will raise up its ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old.” Exodus 25:8: “And let them, (the children of Israel,) make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.” Exodus 29:45, 46: “And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and I will be their God,” etc. Leviticus 26:11, 12: “And I will set my tabernacle among you:-And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people;” Numbers 35:34; 2 Samuel 7:7. Ezekiel 43:7, 9: “And he said unto me-the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I dwell in the midst of the children of Israel,” etc. Hence we may gather that dwell, in such places, imports to reign, and may be applied figuratively to whatever governs in our hearts; Romans 7:17, 20; 8:9, 11.

34. And not only did God, as their king, dwell among them, as in his house, temple, or palace; but he also conferred upon them the honor of kings, as he redeemed them from servitude, and made them lords of themselves, and raised them above other nations, to reign over them; and of priests, too, as they were to attend upon God, from time to time, continually, in the solemn offices of religion, which he had appointed. Exodus 19:6: “And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, or a kingly priesthood.” Deuteronomy 26:19: “And to make thee high above all nations-in praise, and in name, and in honor; and that thou mayest be a holy people unto the Lord thy God;” Deuteronomy 28:1; 15:6: “For the Lord thy God blesseth thee-and thou shalt reign over many nations.” Isaiah 61:6: “But ye, (the seed of Jacob,) shall be named the priests of the Lord; men shall call you the ministers of our God.”

35. Thus the whole body of the Jewish nation were separated unto God; and, as they were more nearly related to him than any other people, as they were joined to him in covenant, and felt access to him in the ordinances of worship, and, in virtue of his promise, had a particular title to his regards and blessings, he is said to be near unto them, and they unto him; Exodus 33:16. Leviticus 20:24: “I am the Lord your God, who have separated you from other people;” Leviticus 20:26; 1 Kings 8:52, 53. Deuteronomy 4:7: “For what nation is there so great, that hath God so near unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for?” Psalm 148:14: “The children of Israel, a people near unto him.”

36. And here I may observe that, as the Gentiles were not then taken into the same peculiar covenant with the Jews, nor stood in the same special relation to God, nor enjoyed their extraordinary religious privileges, but lay out of the commonwealth of Israel, they are, on the other hand said to be far off. Isaiah 57:19: “I create the fruit of the lips: peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the Lord, and I will heal him.” Zechariah 6:15: “And they that are far off shall come and build in the temple.” Ephesians 2:17: “And came and preached to you, (Gentiles,) which were afar off, and to them that were nigh, (the Jews.)

37. And as God had, in all these respects, distinguished them from all other nations, and sequestered them unto himself, they are styled his peculiar people. Deuteronomy 7:6: “The Lord has chosen thee to be a special (or peculiar) people unto himself.” Deuteronomy 14:2: “The Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth;” Deuteronomy 26:18.

38. As they were a body of men particularly related to God, instructed by him in the rules of wisdom, devoted to his service, and employed in his true worship, they are called his congregation or Church. Numbers 16:3; 27:17; Joshua 22:17. 1 Chronicles 28:8: “Now therefore, in the sight of all Israel the congregation, the Church, of the Lord;” Psalm 74:2.

39. For the same reason they are considered as God’s possession, inheritance, or heritage. Deuteronomy 9:26: “O Lord, destroy not thy people and thine inheritance;” Deuteronomy 9:29; Psalm 33:12; 106:40; Jeremiah 10:16; 12:7: “I have forsaken my house, I have left my heritage. I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hands of her enemies.” And in many other places.

III. Reflections on the foregoing Privileges and Honours.

40. Whether I have ranged the foregoing particulars in proper order, or given an exact account of each, let the studious of Scripture knowledge consider. What ought to be specially observed is this; that all the forementioned privileges, benefits, relations, and honors, did belong to ALL the children of Israel, without exception. The Lord Jehovah was the God, King, Savior, Father, Husband, Shepherd, etc., to them ALL. He saved, bought, redeemed; he created, he begot, he made, he planted, etc., them ALL. And they were ALL his people, nation, heritage; his children, spouse, flock, vineyard, etc. They all had a right to the ordinances of worship, to the promises of God’s blessing, and especially to the promise of the land of Canaan; ALL enjoyed the protection and special favors of God in the wilderness, till they had forfeited them; ALL ate of the manna, and ALL drank of the water out of the rock, etc. That these privileges and benefits belonged to the whole body of the Israelitish nation is evident from all the texts I have already quoted; which he, who observes carefully, will find, do all of them speak of the whole nation, the whole community, without exception.

41. And that all these privileges, honors, and advantages were common to the whole nation, is confirmed by this farther consideration; that they were the effect of God’s free grace, without regard to any prior righteousness of theirs; and therefore they are assigned to God’s love as the spring from whence they flowed; and the donation of those benefits is expressed by God’s loving them: they are also assigned to God’s mercy, and the bestowing of them is expressed by God’s showing them mercy. Deuteronomy 9:4-6: “Speak not thou in thy heart, after that the Lord hath cast them out before thee, saying, For my righteousness the Lord hath brought me in to possess this land. — Not for thy righteousness or the uprightness of thy heart dost thou go to possess their land,” etc. “Understand, therefore, that the Lord thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness; for thou art a stiff-necked people.”

42. Deuteronomy 7:7, 8: “The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; but because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out” (of Egypt.) Deuteronomy 33:3: “He loved the people;” Isaiah 43:3, 4; Jeremiah 31:3; Hosea 3:1; 9:15.

43. It is on account of this general love to the Israelites, that they are honored with the title of Beloved Psalm 60:5: “That thy beloved may be delivered, save with thy right hand, and hear me;” Psalm 108:6. Jeremiah 11:15: “What hath my beloved to do in my house, seeing she hath wrought lewdness with many?” Jeremiah 12:7: “I have forsaken my house, I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hands of my enemies,” (and in their present condition at this day the Jews are still, in a sense, beloved, Romans 11:28.)

44. Exodus 15:13: “Thou, in thy mercy, hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed,” etc.; Psalm 98:3; Isaiah 54:10. Micah 7:20: “Thou shalt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.” Luke 1:54, 55: “He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spake to our fathers, to Abraham and his seed for ever.” Agreeably to this he showed them mercy, as he continued them to be his people, when he might have cut them off. Exodus 33:19: “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.” And when, after their present state of rejection, they shall again be taken into the Church, this too is expressed by their “obtaining mercy,” Romans 11:31.

45. In these texts, and others of the same kind, it is evident the love and mercy of God hath respect not to particular persons among the Jews, but to the whole nation; and therefore it is to be understood of that general love and mercy whereby he singled them out to be a peculiar nation to himself, favored with extraordinary blessings.

46. And it is with regard to this sentiment and manner of speech, that the GENTILES, who were not distinguished in the same manner, are said not to have obtained mercy. Hosea 2:23: “And I will sow her unto me in the earth, and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy, and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.”

47. Farther, it should be noted, as a very material and important circumstance, that all this mercy and love was granted and confirmed to the Israelites under the sanction of a covenant; the most solemn declaration and assurance, sworn to and ratified by the oath of God. Genesis 17:7, 8: “And I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and thy seed after thee, in their generations, for an everlasting covenant; to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” Genesis 22:16-18: “By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea-shore, and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.” This covenant with Abraham was the Magna Charta, the basis of the Jewish constitution, which was renewed afterwards with the whole nation; and is frequently referred to as the ground and security of all their blessings. Exodus 6:3-7: “I appeared unto Abraham, Isaac,” etc. “And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan. I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, and I have remembered my covenant, and will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God;” Deuteronomy 7:8. Psalm 105:8-10: “He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac, and confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting COVENANT;” Jeremiah 11:5; Ezekiel 16:8; 20:5.

48. But, what most of all deserves our attention is this, that the Jewish constitution was a scheme for promoting virtue, true religion, or a good and pious life. In all the forementioned instances they were very happy. But were they to rest in them? Because these blessings were the gift of love and mercy, without respect to their righteousness or obedience, was it therefore needless for them to be obedient? or, were they purely on account of benefits already received, secure of the favor and blessing of God for ever? By no means. And that I may explain this important point more clearly, I shall distinguish their blessings into antecedent and consequent, and show, from the Scriptures, how both stand in relation to their duty.

49. Antecedent blessings are all the benefits hitherto mentioned, which were given by the mere grace of God, antecedently to their obedience, and without respect to it; but yet so that they were intended to be motives to obedience. Which effect if they produced, then their election, redemption, and calling were confirmed; and they were entitled to all their blessings, promised in the covenant; which blessings I therefore call consequent, because they were given only in consequence of their obedience. But, on the other hand, if the antecedent blessings did not produce obedience to the will of God; if his chosen people, his children, did not obey his voice, then they forfeited all their privileges, all their honors, and relations to God, all his favors and promises, and fell under the severest threatenings of his wrath and displeasure. Thus life itself may be distinguished into-I. Antecedent, which God gives freely to all his creatures of his mere good will and liberality, before they can have done any thing to deserve it. II. Consequent life; which is the continuance of life in happy circumstances, and has relation to the good conduct of a rational creature. As he improves life antecedent, so he shall, through the favor of God, enjoy life consequent.

50. And that this was the very end and design of the dispensation of God’s extraordinary favors to the Jews, namely, to engage them to duty and obedience; or, that it was a scheme for promoting virtue, is clear, beyond all dispute, from every part of the Old Testament. Note: I shall make ANT. stand for antecedent love or motives; CONS. for consequent love or reward; and THR. for threatening. (Ant.) Genesis 17:1: “I am God, all-sufficient; (Duty) Walk before me, and be thou perfect.” Genesis 17:7-9: (Ant.) “I will be a God unto thee, and thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and unto thy seed, the land of Canaan; and I will be their God. (Duty) Thou shall keep my covenant therefore, thou and thy seed after thee.” Genesis 22:16, 18: (Duty) “Because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, because thou hast obeyed my voice;” Genesis 22:16-18: (Cons.) “By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.”

51. Here let it be noted, that the same blessings may be both consequent and antecedent with regard to different persons. With regard to Abraham, the blessings promised in this place (Ge 22:16-18) are consequent, as they were the reward of his obedience, “because thou hast obeyed my voice.” But with regard to his posterity these same blessings were of the antecedent kind; because, though they had respect to Abraham’s obedience, yet; with regard to the Jews, they were given freely or antecedently to any obedience they had performed. So the blessings of redemption, with regard to our Lord’s obedience, are consequent; but, with regard to us, they are of free grace and antecedent, not owing to any obedience of ours, though granted in consequence of Christ’s obedience; Philippians 2:8, 9, etc.; Ephesians 1:7; Hebrews 5:8, 9. Nor doth the donation of blessings upon many, in consequence of the obedience of one, at all diminish the grace, but very much recommends the wisdom that bestows them.

52. Isaiah 43:7, 21: (Ant.) “This people have I made for myself: (Duty) They shall show forth my praise;” Jeremiah 13:11; Leviticus 20:7, 8:

(Ant.) “I am the Lord your God; I am the Lord which sanctify you. (Duty) Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy; and ye shall keep my statutes and do them.” Deuteronomy 4:7-9:

(Ant.) “What nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh them, as the Lord out God is? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous,” etc. (Duty) “Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen.” Deuteronomy 4:20:

(Ant.) “The Lord hath taken you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are at this day.” Deuteronomy 4:23: (Duty) “Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord your God.” Deuteronomy 4:24: (Thr.) “For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire.” Deuteronomy 4:25: “When ye shall corrupt yourselves, and do evil in the sight of the Lord thy God.” Deuteronomy 4:26: “I call heaven and earth to witness, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land.” Deuteronomy 4:34:

(Ant.) “Hath God assayed to go, and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by signs and wonders,” etc., etc. Deuteronomy 4:39, 40: (Duty) “Know therefore this day, and consider it in thy heart, that the Lord he is God in heaven above,” etc. “Thou shalt keep, therefore, his statutes and his commandments, (Cons.) that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee,” etc. Deuteronomy 5:6, 7:

(Ant.) “I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.” (Duty) “Thou shalt have no other gods before me,” etc. Deuteronomy 5:29: “O that there were such a heart in them that they should fear me and keep all my commandments always, (Cons.) that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever.” Deuteronomy 5:33: (Duty) “You shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God hath commanded you, (Cons.) that ye may live, and that it may be well with you,” etc. Deuteronomy 6:21:

(Ant.) “We were Pharaoh’s bondmen, and the Lord brought us out of Egypt,” etc. Deuteronomy 6:24: (Duty) “And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, (Cons.) for our good always, that he might preserve us alive,” etc. Deuteronomy 7:6-8: (Ant.) “Thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself: the Lord loved you and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen.” Deuteronomy 7:9: (Duty) “Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God,” etc. Deuteronomy 7:11: “Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments which I command thee this day, to do them.” Deuteronomy 7:12, 13, 18: (Cons.) “Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep and do them, that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers. And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee,” etc. Deuteronomy 8:2:

(Ant.) “Thou shalt remember ail the way which the Lord thy God led thee,” etc. Deuteronomy 8:5: “Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee.” Deuteronomy 8:6: (Duty) “Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him.” Deuteronomy 8:11: “Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God,” etc. Deuteronomy 8:19: (Thr.) “And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the Lord thy God, and walk after other gods, I testify against you this day, that ye shall surely perish.” Deuteronomy 10:15:

(Ant.) “The Lord hath a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people.” Deuteronomy 10:12, 16: (Duty) “Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart,” etc. Deuteronomy 10:22:

(Ant.) “Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons, and now the Lord thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude.” Deuteronomy 11:1, 8: (Duty) “Therefore shalt thou love the Lord thy God, and keep his charge,” etc. Deuteronomy 11:13, 14: “And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments,” etc., (Cons.) “that I will give you the rain of your land,” etc. Deuteronomy 11:26: “Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse. A blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord; and a curse, if ye will not obey,” etc. Deuteronomy 12:28: (Duty) “Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, (Cons.) that it may go well with thee and thy children after thee for ever, when thou hast done that which is good and right in the sight of the Lord thy God;” Deuteronomy 13:17, 18; 15:4, 5; 27:9, 10:

(Ant.) “Take heed and hearken, O Israel: this day thou art become the people of the Lord thy God. (Duty) Thou shalt therefore obey the voice of the Lord thy God, and do his commandments,” etc. Deuteronomy 28:1: “And it shall come to pass, if thou hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do his commandments, (Cons.) that the Lord will set thee on high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come on thee and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God. Blessed shalt thou be in the city,” etc. Deuteronomy 28:15: (Thr.) “But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments and his statutes, that all these curses shall come upon thee and overtake thee,” etc. Deuteronomy 28:45: “Moreover, all these curses shalt come upon thee till thou be destroyed, because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the Lord thy God;” Deuteronomy 29:2, 10; 30:15-18: (Duty) “See, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil; in that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, (Cons.) that thou mayest live and multiply; and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. (Thr.) But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away and worship other gods, and serve them, I denounce unto you this day that ye shall surely perish.”

53. Whosoever peruses the first sixteen, and the twenty-eighth, twenty-ninth, thirtieth, thirty-first, and thirty-second chapters of Deuteronomy, will clearly see that all the privileges, honors, instructions, protections, etc., which were given them as a select body of men, were intended as motives to obedience; which, if thus wisely improved, would bring upon them still farther blessings. Thus God drew them to duty and virtue by his loving-kindness. Jeremiah 31:3: “He drew them with cords of a man, (such considerations as are apt to influence the rational nature,) and with the bands of love;” Hosea 11:4. But if they were disobedient, and did not make a right use of God’s benefits and favors, then they were subjected to a curse, and should perish. And this is so evident from this single book that I shall not need to heap together the numerous quotations which might be collected from other parts of Scripture, particularly the prophetic writings. Only I may farther establish this point by observing,-that, in fact, though all the Israelites in the wilderness were the people, children, and chosen of God; all entitled to the Divine blessing, and partakers of the several instances of his goodness; yet, notwithstanding all their advantages and honors, when they were disobedient to his will, distrustful of his power and providence, or revolted to the worship of idol gods, great numbers of them fell under the Divine vengeance; Exodus 32:8, 27, 28; Numbers 11:4-6, 33; 16:2, 3, 32, 35, 41, 49; 21:5, 6. And though they had all a promise of entering into the land of Canaan, yet the then generation, from twenty years old and upwards, for their unbelief, were, by the righteous judgment of God, excluded from the benefit of that promise: they forfeited their inheritance, and died in the wilderness; Numbers 14:28-36; Hebrews 3:7, etc.

54. From all this it appears that all the high privileges of the Jews before mentioned, and all the singular relations in which they stood to God, as they were saved, bought, redeemed by him; as they were his called and elect; as they were his children whom he begot, created, made, and formed; his sons and daughters, born to him; his heritage, church, house, and kingdom; his saints, whom he sanctified; his vine or vineyard, which he planted; his sheep and flock;-I say these, and such like honors, advantages, and relations, as they are assigned to the whole body, do not import an absolute final state of happiness and favor of any kind; but are to be considered as displays, instances, and descriptions of God’s love and goodness to them, which were to operate as a mean, a moral mean, upon their heart. They were, in truth, motives to oblige and excite to obedience; and only when so improved, became final and permanent blessings; but neglected, or misimproved, they were enjoyed in vain, they vanished and came to nothing; and wicked Israelites were no more the objects of God’s favor than wicked heathens. Amos 9:7, speaking of the corrupt Jews: “Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the Lord.”

55. And upon the whole, we may from the clearest evidence conclude that the selecting the Jewish nation from the rest of the world, and taking them into a peculiar relation to God, was a scheme for promoting true religion and virtue in all its principles and branches, upon motives adapted to rational nature; which principles and branches of true religion are particularly specified in their law. And to this end, no doubt, every part of their constitution, even the ceremonial, was wisely adapted, considering their circumstances, and the then state of the world.

56. The love of God, as it was the foundation and original of this scheme, so it was the prime motive in it. God began the work of salvation among them, antecedently to any thing which they might do, on their part, tn engage his goodness. They did not first love God; but God first loved them: their obedience did not first advance towards God; but his mercy first advanced towards them, and saved, bought, redeemed them; took them for his people, and gave them a part in the blessings of his covenant. And as for his displeasure, they were under that only consequentially; or after they had neglected his goodness, and abused the mercy and means, the privileges and honors, which they enjoyed. This, I think, must appears very evident to any one who closely and maturely deliberates upon the true state of the Jewish Church.

Thus, and for those ends, not excluding others before or afterwards mentioned, the Jewish constitution was erected.

IV. The Jewish peculiarity not prejudicial to the rest of Mankind; the Jewish Economy being established; for the Benefit of the World in general.

57. But although the Father of mankind was pleased, in his wisdom to erect the foregoing scheme, for promoting virtue and preserving true religion in one nation of the world, upon which he conferred particular blessings and privileges; this was no injury nor prejudice to the rest of mankind. For, as to original favors, or external advantages, God, who may do what he pleases with his own, bestows them in any kind or degree, as he thinks fit. Thus he makes a variety of creatures; some angels in a higher sphere of being, some men in a lower. And, among men, he distributes different faculties, stations, and opportunities in life. To one he gives ten talents, to another five, to another two, and to another one, severally as he pleases; without any impeachment of his justice, and to the glorious display and illustration of his wisdom. And so he may bestow different advantages and favors upon different nations, with as much justice and wisdom as he has placed them in different climates, or vouchsafed them various accommodations and conveniencies of life. But, whatever advantages some nations may enjoy above others, still God is the God and Father of all; and his extraordinary blessings to some are not intended to diminish his regards to others. He erected a scheme of polity and religion for promoting the knowledge of God, and the practice of virtue in one nation; but not with a design to withdraw his goodness or providential regards from the rest. God has made a variety of soils and situations; yet he cares for every part of the globe; and the inhabitants of the North Cape, where they conflict a good part of the year with night and extreme cold, are no more neglected by the universal Lord, than those who enjoy the perpetual summer and pleasures of the Canary Isles. At the same time God chose the children of Israel to be his peculiar people in a special covenant, he was the God of the rest of mankind, and regarded them as the objects of his care and benevolence. Exodus 19:5: “Now, therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people; ≈rah lk yl yk, although all the earth is mine.” So it should be rendered. Deuteronomy 10:14, 15: “Behold the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord’s thy God, the earth with all that therein are. Only the Lord had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day.” Deuteronomy 10:17, 18: “For the Lord your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, (or is no respecter of persons, Acts 10:34, through partiality to one person or one nation more than another,) nor taketh reward. He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment.” A stranger was one who was of any other nation beside the Jewish. Psalm 146:9: “The Lord preserveth the strangers;” Psalm 8:1; 19:1-4; 24:1; 33:5: “The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.” Psalm 33:8: “Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.” Psalm 33:12: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.” Psalm 33:13: “The Lord looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men. From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth; he fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth all their works.” Psalm 47:2, 8: “The Lord most high is a great king over all the earth. God reigneth over the heathen;” Psalm 46:7; 107:8, 15, 21; 145:9: “The Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his works.” Many more passages might be brought out of the Scriptures of the Old Testament to show that all the nations of the earth were the object of the Divine care and goodness; at the same time that he vouchsafed a particular and extraordinary providence towards the Jewish nation.

58. And, agreeably to this, the Israelites were required to exercise all benevolence to the Gentiles, or strangers; to abstain from all injurious treatment; to permit them to dwell peaceably and comfortably among them; to partake of their blessings; to incorporate into the same happy body, if they thought fit; and to join in their religious solemnities. Exodus 22:21: “Thou shalt neither vex a stranger nor oppress him;” Exodus 22:9, 12.

Le 19:10: “Thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger; I am the Lord your God;” Leviticus 23:22; 19:33, 34: “And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him. But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born amongst you, and thou shalt love him as thyself.” Leviticus 25:35: “And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee, then thou shalt relieve him; yea, though he be a stranger or a sojourner; that he may live with thee.” Numbers 15:14, 15: “And if a stranger sojourn with you, or whosoever be among you in your generations, and will offer an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord; as ye do, so shall he do. One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation and also for the stranger that sojourneth with you, an ordinance for ever in your generations; as ye are, so shall the stranger be, before the Lord.” Deuteronomy 26:11, 12: “And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thy house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you;” Ezekiel 22:7, 29.

59. And not only were they required to treat strangers, or men of other nations, with kindness and humanity; but it appears from several parts of Scripture that the whole Jewish dispensation had respect to the nations of the world. Not, indeed, to bring them all into the Jewish Church, (that would have been impracticable as to the greatest part of the world,) but to spread the knowledge and obedience of God in the earth. Or, it was a scheme which was intended to have its good effects beyond the pale of the Jewish enclosure, and was established for the benefit of all mankind. Genesis 12:5: “And in thee (Abraham) shall all families of the earth be blessed.” Genesis 22:18: “And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.” Exodus 7:5: “And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch forth my hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel.” Exodus 9:16: “And indeed for this very cause have I raised thee (Pharaoh) up, for to show in thee my power, and that my name shall be declared throughout all the earth;” Exodus 15:14; Leviticus 26:46; Numbers 14:13-15.

60. But though the Jewish peculiarity did not exclude the rest of the world from the care and beneficence of the universal Father; and though the Jews were commanded to exercise benevolence towards persons of other nations; yet, about the time when the Gospel was promulgated, the Jews were greatly elevated on account of their distinguishing privileges: they looked upon themselves as the only favourites of Heaven, and regarded the rest of mankind with a sovereign contempt, as nothing, as abandoned of God, and without a possibility of salvation, unless they should incorporate, in some degree or other, with their nation. Their constitution, they supposed, was established for ever, never to be altered, or in any respect abolished. They were the true and only Church, out of which no man could be accepted of God; and consequently, unless a man submitted to the law of Moses, how virtuous or good soever he were, it was their belief he could not be saved. He had no right to a place in the Church, nor could hereafter obtain life.

V. The Jewish peculiarity was to receive its perfection from the Gospel.

61. But the Jewish dispensation, as peculiar to that people, though superior to the mere light of nature, which it supposed and included, was but of a temporary duration, and of an inferior and imperfect kind, in comparison of that which was to follow, and which God from the beginning (when he entered into covenant with Abraham, and made the promise to him) intended to erect, and which he made several declarations under the Old Testament that he would erect, in the proper time, as successive to the Jewish dispensation, and, as a superstructure, perfective of it. And as the Jewish dispensation was erected by the ministry of a much nobler hand, even that of the SON OF GOD, the Messiah, foreordained before the world was made, promised to Abraham, foretold by the prophets, and even expected by the Jews themselves, though under no just conceptions of the end of his coming into the world. He was to assume and live in a human body, to declare the truth and grace of God more clearly and expressly to the Jews, to exhibit a pattern of the most perfect obedience, and to be obedient even unto death in compliance with the will of God.(1) When Christ came into the world, the Jews were ripe for destruction: but he published a general indemnity for the transgressions of the former covenant, upon their repentance; and openly revealed a future state, as the true land of promise, even eternal life in heaven. Thus he confirmed the former covenant with the Jews as to the favor and blessing of God; and enlarged, or more clearly explained it, as to the blessings therein bestowed; instead of an earthly Canaan, revealing the resurrection from the dead, and everlasting happiness and glory in the world to come.

(1) Yes, and thus to become a sacrifice for sin, that those who believe in him might have redemption in his blood. This is the light in which the New Testament places the death of Christ. — A. C.

62. That the Gospel is the Jewish scheme enlarged and improved, will evidently appear, if we consider that we, Gentiles, believing in Christ, are said to be incorporated into the same body with the Jews; and that believing Jews and Gentiles are now become one, one flock, one body in Christ. John 10:16: “And other sheep I have which are not of this (the Jewish) fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one flock, (so the word poimnh signifies, and so our translators have rendered it in all the other places where it is used in the New Testament. See Matthew 26:31; Luke 2:8; 1 Corinthians 9:7. And here also it should have been translated flock, not fold,) and one shepherd.” 1 Corinthians 12:12: “By one Spirit are we all baptized in one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles.” Galatians 3:28: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female; for ye are all ONE in Christ Jesus;” that is, under the Gospel dispensation. Ephesians 2:14-16: “For he is our peace, who has made both (Jews and Gentiles) one, and has broken down the middle wall of partition between us, (Jews and Gentiles.) Having abolished by his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments, contained in ordinances, for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby.”

63. And that this union or coalition between believing Jews and Gentiles is to be understood of the believing Gentiles being taken into that Church and covenant in which the Jews were before the Gospel dispensation was erected, and out of which the unbelieving Jews were cast, is evident from the following considerations.

64. First, that Abraham, the head or root of the Jewish nation, is the father of us all. Romans 4:16, 17: “Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end that the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, (the Jews,) but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, (the believing Gentiles,) who is the father of us all, (as it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed;” that is to say, in the account and purpose of God, whom he believed, he is the father of US ALL. Abraham, when he stood before God and received the promise, did not, in the account of God, appear as a private person, but as the father of us all; as the head and father of the whole future Church of God, from whom we were all, believing Jews and Gentiles, to descend; as we were to be accepted and interested in the Divine blessing and covenant after the same manner as he was, namely, by faith. Galatians 3:6, etc.: “Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye, therefore, that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. For the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify (would take into his Church and covenant) the heathen through faith, preached before the Gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith (of what country soever they are, heathens as well as Jews) are blessed, (justified, taken into the kingdom and covenant of God,) together with believing Abraham,” (and into that very covenant which was made with him and his seed.)(2) In this covenant were the Jews during the whole period from Abraham to Moses, and from Moses to Christ. For the covenant with Abraham was with him, and with his seed after him,” Genesis 17:7. “To Abraham and his seed were the promises made,”

Galatians 3:16. And the apostle in the next verse tells us that (the promises or) the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law which was (given by Moses) four hundred and thirty years after could not disannul, that it should make the promise (or covenant with Abraham) of none effect; consequently the Jews, during the whole period of the law, or Mosaical dispensation, were under the covenant with Abraham; and into that same covenant the apostle argues, Romans 4, and Galatians 3, that the believing Gentiles are taken. For which reason he affirms that they are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, that is, the patriarchs, etc. And that the great mystery, not understood in other ages, was this, That the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body with his Church and children, the Jews, Ephesians 2:19; 3:5, 6.

(2) Being justified does not merely signify being taken into covenant, so as to be incorporated with the visible Church of God; it is used repeatedly by St. Paul to signify that act of God’s mercy whereby a penitent sinner, believing on Christ as a sacrifice for sin, has his transgressions forgiven for Christ’s sake Romans 5:1, etc.

65. Secondly. Agreeably to this sentiment, the believing Gentiles are said to partake of all the spiritual privileges which the Jews enjoyed, and from which the unbelieving Jews fell; and to be taken into that kingdom and Church of God out of which they were cast. Several of the parables of our Lord are intended to point out this fact; and many passages in the epistles directly prove it.

66. Matthew 20:1-16. In this parable the vineyard is the kingdom of heaven, into which God, the householder, hired the Jews early in the morning; and into the same vineyard he hired the Gentiles at the eleventh hour, or an hour before sun-set.

67. Matthew 21:33, 34. The husbandmen to whom the vineyard was first let were the Jews; to whom God first sent his servants, the prophets, Matthew 21:34-36, and at last he sent his Son, whom they slew, Matthew 21:37-39, and then the vineyard was let out to other husbandmen; which our Savior clearly explains, Matthew 21:43: “Therefore I say unto you, (Jews,) the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation (the believing Gentiles) bringing forth the fruits thereof.” Hence it appears that the very same kingdom of God, which the Jews once possessed, and in which the ancient prophets exercised their ministry, one after another, is now in our possession; for it was taken from them and given to us.

68. Romans 11:17-24. The Church or kingdom of God is compared to an olive-tree, and the members of it to the branches. “And if some of the branches (the unbelieving Jews) be broken off, and thou (Gentile Christian) wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive-tree;” that is, the Jewish Church and covenant. Romans 11:24: “For if thou (Gentile Christian) wert cut out of the olive-tree, which is wild by nature, and wert grafted, contrary to nature, into the good olive-tree,” etc.

69. 1 Peter 2:7-10: “Unto you Gentiles who believe, he (Christ) is an honor, timh, but unto them which be disobedient, (the unbelieving Jews,) the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and also a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.(3) They stumbled at the word, being disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed, (they are fallen from their privileges and honor, as God appointed they should, in case of their unbelief.) But ye (Gentiles, are raised into the high degree from which they are fallen, and so) are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of the heathenish darkness into his marvellous light.”

(3) We render this passage thus: A stone of stumbling and rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient, etc., as if it were one continued sentence. But, thus, violence is done to the text, and the apostle’s sense is thrown into obscurity and disorder, which is restored by putting a period after offense, and beginning a new sentence, thus: They stumble at the word, etc. For observe, the apostle runs a double antithesis between the unbelieving Jews and believing Gentiles.

70. Thirdly. The Jews vehemently opposed the admission of the uncircumcised Gentiles into the kingdom and covenant of God, at the first preaching of the Gospel. But if the Gentiles were not taken into the same Church and covenant in which the Jewish nation had so long gloried, why should they so zealously oppose their being admitted into it? Or why so strenuously insist that they ought to be circumcised in order to their being admitted? For what was it to them, if the Gentiles were called, and taken into another kingdom and covenant, distinct and quite different from that which they would have confined wholly to themselves, or to such only as were circumcised? It is plain the Gentiles might have been admitted into another kingdom and covenant without any offense to the Jews, as they would still have been left in the sole possession of their ancient privileges. And the apostles could not have failed in using this as an argument to pacify their incensed brethren, had they so understood it. But, seeing they never gave the least intimation of this, it shows they understood the affair as the unbelieving Jews did, namely, that the Gentiles, without being circumcised, were taken into the kingdom of God, in which they and their forefathers had so long stood.

71. Fourthly. It is upon this foundation, namely, that the believing Gentiles are taken into that Church and kingdom in which the Jews once stood, that the apostles drew parallels, for caution and instruction, between the state of the ancient Jews and that of the Christians. 1 Corinthians 10:1-13: “Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and were all baptized unto Moses, and did all eat of the same spiritual meat, and did all drink of the same spiritual drink; but with many of them God was not well pleased; for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now those things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; neither let us provoke Christ, as some of them provoked,” etc. Hebrews 3:7, etc.: “Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith, To-day,(4) when or while you hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the day of temptation in the wilderness, when your fathers tempted me: wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest. Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief.” Hebrews 4:1, 2: “Let us therefore fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us hath the Gospel been preached, as well as to them,” that is, we have the joyful promise of a happy state, or of entering into rest, as well as the Jews of old. Hebrews 4:11: “Let us labor, therefore, to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.”

(4) shmeron, ean thv fwnhv autou akoushte. ean, if, should here have been rendered when, as it is rendered, 1 John 3:2, and should have been rendered, John 12:32; 14:3; 16:7; 2 Corinthians 5:1. In like manner the particle µa, Psalm 95:7, (whence the place is quoted,) should have been translated WHEN or WHILE. For it is translated when, 1 Samuel 15:17; Proverbs 3:24; 4:12; Job 7:4; 17:16; Psalm 50:18; and might have been so translated in other places.

72. Fifthly. Hence also the scriptures of the Old Testament are represented as being written for our use and instruction, and to explain our dispensation as well as theirs. Matthew 5:17: “Think not that I am come to destroy the law and the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.” And when our Savior taught his disciples the things pertaining to his kingdom, he opened to them the Scriptures, which were then no other than the Old Testament; Luke 4:17-22; 18:31; 24:27: “And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures, the things concerning himself.” Luke 24:45: “Then opened he their understandings, that they might understand the Scriptures.” Thus the apostles were instructed in the things pertaining to the Gospel dispensation. And always, in their sermons in the Acts, they confirm their doctrine from the Scriptures of the Old Testament. And in their Epistles they not only do the same, but also expressly declare that those Scriptures were written as well for the benefit of the Christian as the Jewish Church. Romans 15:4: After a quotation out of the Old Testament, the apostle adds:-“For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning; that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” 1 Corinthians 9:9: “It is written in the law of Moses, that thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn.” 1 Corinthians 9:10: “For our sakes, no doubt, this is written.” 1 Corinthians 10:11: “Now all these things (namely, the before-mentioned privileges, sins, and punishments of the ancient Jews) happened unto them for ensamples; and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the earth are come.” 2 Timothy 3:16, 17: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”

73. Sixthly. Agreeably to this notion, that the believing Gentiles are taken into that Church or kingdom; out of which the unbelieving Jews are cast, the Christian Church, considered in a body, is called by the same general names as the Church under the Old Testament. Israel was the general name of the Jewish Church, so also of the Christian. Galatians 6:16: “As many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.” Revelation 7:3, 4: Speaking of the Christian Church, the angel said, “Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of them that were sealed: and there were sealed a hundred and forty-four thousand, of all the tribes of the children of Israel.” Revelation 21:10-14: “He showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, (the Christian Church,) having the glory of God-and had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, (as comprehending the whole Church.) And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” Jews was another running title of the Church in our Saviour’s time, and this is also applied to Christians. Revelation 2:8, 9: “And unto the angel of the (Christian) Church in Smyrna, write, I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty; and I know the blasphemy of them who say they are Jews (members of the Church of Christ) and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.” And again, Revelation 3:9.

VI. The particular honors and privileges of Christians, and the terms signifying these honors explained.

74. Seventhly. In conformity to this sentiment, (namely, that the believing Gentiles are taken into that Church, covenant, and kingdom, out of which the unbelieving Jews were cast,) the state, membership, privileges, honors, and relations of professed Christians, particularly of believing Gentiles, are expressed by the same phrases with those of the ancient Jewish Church; and therefore, unless we admit a very strange abuse of words, must convey the same general ideas of our present state, membership, honors, and relations to God, as we are professed Christians. For instance:—

75. I. As God chose his ancient people the Jews, and they were his chosen and elect, so now the whole body of Christians, Gentiles as well as Jews, are admitted to the same honor, as they are selected from the rest of the world, and taken into the kingdom of God, for the knowledge, worship, and obedience of God, in hopes of eternal life. Romans 8:33: “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect?” etc. Ephesians 1:4: “According as he hath chosen us (Gentiles, Ephesians 2:11) in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy, and without blame before him in love.” Colossians 3:12: “Put on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies,” etc. 2 Thessalonians 2:13: “But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation; through sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth.” Titus 1:1: “Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness.” 2 Timothy 2:10: “Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sake, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.” 1 Peter 1:1, 2: “Peter to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience.” 1 Peter 2:9: “Ye (Gentiles) are a chosen generation,” etc. 1 Peter 5:13: “The Church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you.”

76. II. The first step which the goodness of God took in execution of his purpose of election, with regard to the Gentile world, was to rescue them from their wretched situation in the sin and idolatry of their heathen state (by sending his son Jesus Christ into the world to die for mankind, and thus) to bring them into the light and privileges of the Gospel. With regard to which the language of Scripture is: 1st, that he delivered; 2nd, saved; 3rd, bought or purchased; 4th, redeemed them. Galatians 1:4: “Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world,” the vices and lusts in which the world is involved. Colossians 1:12, 13: “Giving thanks to the Father, who has delivered us from the power of (heathenish) darkness, (Acts 26:18; 1 Peter 2:9; Ephesians 4:18; 5:8,) and translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.” And thus, consequentially, we are “delivered from the wrath to come;” 1 Thessalonians 1:10.(5)

(5) That is, through the redemption that is in Jesus we receive the remission of all our sins, and the gift of the Holy Ghost to cleanse, purify, and refine our souls, and thus render them capable of enjoying the inheritance of the saints in light. Our justification, adoption, and sanctification, and finally our admission into the kingdom of glory, are most positively attributed to the sacrificial passion and death of Jesus and we are not consequentially delivered from the wrath to come, till our sins are blotted out and our hearts purified from sin; and these blessings we receive from God through Christ, i.e. for his sake, his worth or merit; for he has bought these blessings for mankind by his sacrificial passion and death. Justice required these to make way for mercy. — A. C. See No. 79.

77. 1 Corinthians 1:18: “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 7:16: “What knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife?” that is, convert her to the Christian faith. 1 Corinthians 10:33: “Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.” Ephesians 2:8: “For by grace are ye saved, through faith.” 1 Thessalonians 2:16: “Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved.” 1 Timothy 2:4: “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” 2 Timothy 1:9: “Who hath saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace.” In this general sense, saved is in other places applied to both Jews and Gentiles; particularly to the Jews, Romans 9:27; 10:1; 11:26. Hence God is styled our Savior. Titus 3:4, 5: “But after that the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us.” 1 Timothy 1:1: “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior;” 1 Timothy 2:3; Titus 1:3. Romans 11:11: “Through their (the Jews’) fall, salvation is come to the Gentiles.” And as this salvation is by Jesus Christ, he also is frequently called our Savior.

78. Acts 20:28: “Feed the Church of God, which he has purchased with his own blood.” 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20: “And ye are not your own; for ye are bought with a price.” 1 Corinthians 7:23: “Ye are bought with a price.” 2 Peter 2:1: “False prophets shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them.” Revelation 5:9: “Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed (bought) us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.”

79. Titus 2:14: “Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity.” 1 Peter 1:18: “Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain (heathenish) conversation, received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ.” And at the same time he redeemed or bought us from death, or the curse of the law; Galatians 3:13; and the Jews, in particular, from the law, and the condemnation to which it subjected them; Galatians 4:5. Hence frequent mention is made of the redemption which is in Jesus Christ; Romans 3:24; 1 Corinthians 1:30; Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14; Hebrews 9:12, 15. Hence also Christ is said to give himself a ransom for us; Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45. 1 Timothy 2:6: “Who gave himself a ransom for all.” That is, that he might redeem them unto God by the sacrificial shedding of his blood. See the note under 76.

80. III. As God sent the Gospel to bring Gentiles, Christians, out of heathenism, and invited and made them welcome to the honors and privileges of his people, he is said to call them, and they are his called. Romans 1:6, 7: “Among whom are ye also called of Jesus Christ. To all that are at Rome called saints;” Romans 8:28. 1 Corinthians 1:9: “God is faithful, by whom ye were called into the fellowship of his Son;” 1 Corinthians 7:20. Galatians 1:6: “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you;” Galatians 5:13. Ephesians 4:1: “I beseech you, that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called;” Ephesians 4:4. 1 Thessalonians 2:12: “That ye walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.” 1 Thessalonians 4:7: “God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.” 2 Timothy 1:9: “Who hath saved us, and called us with a holy calling; not according to our works,” etc. 1 Peter 1:15: “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation.” 1 Peter 2:9: “Ye (Gentile Christians) are a chosen generation-to show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.”

81. Note-The Jews also were called. Romans 9:24: “Even us, whom he has called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles.” 1 Corinthians 1:24; 7:18: “Is any man called being circumcised;” Hebrews 9:15. But the calling of the Jews must be different from that of the Gentiles. The Gentiles were called into the kingdom of God as strangers and foreigners, who had never been in it before. But the Jews were then subjects of God’s kingdom, under the old form; and therefore could be called only to submit to it, as it was now modelled under the Messiah. Or they were called to repentance, to the faith, allegiance, and obedience of the Son of God, and to the hope of eternal life through him; whom rejecting, they were-cast out of God’s peculiar kingdom.

82. IV. And as we stand in the relation of children to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, hence it is that we are his brethren, and he is considered as the first born among us. Matthew 28:10; John 20:17: “Jesus saith-Go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God;” Hebrews 2:11, 17. Romans 8:29: “That he might be the first-born among many brethren.”

83. V. And the relation of God, as a Father, to us Christians, who are his children, will lead our thoughts to a clear idea of our being, as we are called, the house or family of God or of Christ. 1 Timothy 3:15; “But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God.” Hebrews 3:6: “But Christ, as a Son over his own house, whose house are we, (Christians,) if we hold fast the confidence and rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.” Hebrews 10:21: “And having a great high priest over the house of God,” etc. 1 Peter 4:17: “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God, (that is, when the Christian Church shall undergo sharp trials and sufferings;) and if it first begin at us, (Christians, who are the house or family of God,) what shall the end be of them that obey not the Gospel?” that is, of the infidel world, who lie out of the Church. See Romans 1:5; 15:18; 1 Peter 1:22. Ephesians 2:19: “We are of the household (domestics) of God.” Ephesians 3:14, 15: “I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,” etc.

84. VI. Farther, as the land of Canaan was the estate or inheritance belonging to the Jewish family or house, so the heavenly country is given to the Christian house or family for their inheritance. Acts 20:32: “And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.” Colossians 3:24: “Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance.” Hebrews 9:15: “He is the mediator of the New Testament, that they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.” 1 Peter 1:3, 4: “God has begotten us again-to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for us.” Hence we have the title of heirs. Titus 3:7: “That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” James 2:5: “Hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he has promised to them that love him?” See Romans 8:17; 1 Peter 3:7.

85. And as Canaan was considered as the rest of the Jews, so, in reference to our trials and afflictions in this world, heaven is considered as the rest of Christians. 2 Thessalonians 1:7: “And to you who are troubled, (he will give) rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven.” Hebrews 4:1: “Let us therefore fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us hath the Gospel been preached, as well as to them;” that is, we have the joyful promise of entering into rest as well as the Jews of old. Hebrews 4:9: “There remains, therefore, a rest for the people of God;” that is, for Christians now in this world, as well as for the Jews formerly in the wilderness, which is the point the apostle is proving, from Hebrews 4:3-10.

86. VII. Thus Christians, as well as the ancient Jews, are the house or family of God: or we may conceive the whole body of Christians formed into a nation, having God at their head; who, on this account, is styled our God, governor, protector, or king; and we his people, subjects, or servants.

87. VIII. And it is in reference to our being a society peculiarly appropriated to God, and under his special protection and government, that we are called the city of God, the holy city. Hebrews 12:22: “Ye are come unto-the city of the living God.” Revelation 11:2: “And the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.” This city is described in some future happy state; Rev. 21, 26.

88. Hence the whole Christian community or Church is denoted by the city Jerusalem, and sometimes by Mount Zion. Galatians 4:26: “But Jerusalem, which is above, is free, which is the mother of us all.”-In her reformed, or future happy state, she is the New Jerusalem; Revelation 3:12; 21:2. Hebrews 12:22: “Ye are come unto Mount Zion,” etc.; Revelation 14:1.

89. Hence also we are said to be written or enrolled in the book of God, or, which comes to the same thing, of the Lamb, the Son of God. Revelation 3:5: “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life.” Revelation 17:19: “And if any man take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city,” etc.; which shows that the names of such as are in the book of life may be blotted out, consequently, that to be enrolled there is the privilege of all professed Christians.

90. And whereas the believing Gentiles were once strangers, aliens, not a people, enemies; now (Ephesians 2:19) “they are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints.” 1 Peter 2:10: “Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God.” Now “we are at peace with God;” Romans 5:1. Now “we are reconciled and become the servants of God,” the subjects of his kingdom; Romans 5:10; 1 Thessalonians 1:9; 2 Corinthians 5:18, 19. (That is, all those who have turned to God by true repentance) (have received remission of sin, and are walking in the way of) (righteousness, with a believing, obedient, loving, and grateful) (heart. — A. C.)

91. On the other hand, the body of the Jewish nation, (having, through unbelief, rejected the Messiah, and the Gospel, and being therefore cast out of the city and kingdom of God,) are, in their turn, at present represented under the name and notion of enemies. Romans 11:28: “As concerning the Gospel, they are enemies for your sake.”

92. IX. The kind and particular regards of God to the converted Gentiles, and their relation to Jesus Christ, is also signified by that of a husband and wife; and his taking them into his covenant is represented by his espousing them. 2 Corinthians 11:2: “For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy; for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.”

93. Hence the Christian Church or community is represented as a mother, and particular members as her children. Galatians 4:26-28: “But Jerusalem, which is above, is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not; for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath a husband. Now we, brethren, as Israel was, are the children of promise.” Galatians 4:31: “So then, brethren, we are not children of the bond-woman, but of the free.”

94. Hence also, from the notion of the Christian Church being the spouse of God in Christ, her corruption and her idolatry come under the name of fornication and adultery.

95. X. As God, by Christ, exercises a particular providence over the Christian Church, in supplying them with all spiritual blessings, guiding them through all difficulties, and guarding them in all spiritual dangers, He is their shepherd, and they his flock, his sheep. John 10:11: “I am the good shepherd.” John 10:16: “And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one flock, and one shepherd;” Acts 20:28, 29; Hebrews 13:20. 1 Peter 2:25: “For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned to the shepherd and bishop (overseer) of your souls.” 1 Peter 5:2-4: “Feed the flock of God,” etc.

96. XI. Nearly on the same account as God, by Christ, has established the Christian Church, and provided all means for our happiness and improvement in knowledge and virtue, we are compared to a vine and a vineyard, and God to the husbandman, who planted and dresses it; and particular members of the community are compared to branches. John 15:1, 2: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away; and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it,” etc. John 15:5: “I am the vine, ye are the branches.” Matthew 15:13: “Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up.” Romans 6:5: “If we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.” Matthew 20:1. The vineyard into which laborers were hired is the Christian as well as the Jewish Church: and so Romans 21:33; Mark 12:1; Luke 20:9. 1 Corinthians 3:9: “Ye are God’s husbandry.” Romans 11:17: “And if some of the branches (Jews) be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive-tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive-tree,” etc. See also Romans 11:24.

97. XII. As Christians are, by the will of God, set apart and appropriated in a special manner to his honor, service, and obedience, and furnished with extraordinary means and motives to holiness, so they are said to be sanctified. 1 Corinthians 1:2: “Unto the Church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus.” 1 Corinthians 6:11: “And such were some of you; but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” Hebrews 2:11: “For both he that sanctifieth, and they who are sanctified, are all of one;” Hebrews 10:10.

98. XIII. Farther; by the presence of God in the Christian Church, and our being by profession consecrated to him, we, as well as the ancient Jews, are made his house or temple, which God has built, and in which he dwells, or walks. 1 Peter 2:5: “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house,” etc. 1 Corinthians 3:9: “Ye are God’s building.” 1 Corinthians 3:16, 17: “Know ye not that ye (Christians) are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you: if any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” 2 Corinthians 6:16: “And what agreement hath the temple of God (the Christian Church) with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God, as God hath said: I will dwell in them, and walk in them.” Ephesians 2:20-22: “And are built upon the foundation of the apostles, etc., Christ Jesus being the chief corner-stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord; in whom ye also are builded together, for a habitation of God through the Spirit.” 2 Thessalonians 2:4: “So that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, SHOWING HIMSELF that he is God.”

99. XIV. And not only does God, as our king, dwell in the Christian Church, as in his house or temple; but he has also conferred on Christians the honors of kings; as he has redeemed us from the servitude of sin, made us lords of ourselves, and raised us above others, to sit on thrones, and to judge and reign over them. And he has made us priests too, as we are peculiarly consecrated to God, and obliged to attend upon him, from time to time continually, in the solemn offices of religion which he has appointed. 1 Peter 2:5: “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood.” 1 Peter 2:9: “But ye (Gentile Christians) are a chosen generation, a royal (or kingly) priesthood.” Revelation 1:5, 6: “Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father,” etc.

100. XV. Thus the whole body of the Christian Church is separated unto God from the rest of the world. And whereas, before, the Gentile believers were afar off, lying out of the commonwealth of Israel, now they are nigh, as they are joined to God in covenant, have full access to him in the ordinances of worship, and, in virtue of his promise, a particular title to his regards and blessing. 2 Corinthians 6:17: “Wherefore come out from among them, and be separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.” Ephesians 2:13: “But now, in Christ Jesus, ye, who sometimes were afar off, are made nigh, by the blood of Christ.”

101. XVI. And as God, in all these respects, has distinguished the Christian Church, and sequestered them unto himself, they are styled his peculiar people. Titus 2:14: “Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” 1 Peter 2:9: “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people.”

102. XVII. As Christians are a body of men particularly related to God, instructed by him in the rules of wisdom, devoted to his service, and employed in his true worship, they are called his Church or congregation. Acts 20:28: “Feed the Church of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:32: “Giving none offense to the Church of God;” 1 Corinthians 15:9; Galatians 1:13; and elsewhere. Ephesians 1:22: “Head over all things to the Church:”-and particular societies are Churches. Romans 16:16: “The Churches of Christ salute you:”-and so in several other places.

103. XVIII. For the same reason they are considered as God’s possession or heritage. 1 Peter 5:3: “Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.” The reader cannot well avoid observing that the words and phrases by which our Christian privileges are expressed in the New Testament are the very same with the words and phrases by which the privileges of the Jewish Church are expressed in the Old

Testament; which makes good what St. Paul says concerning the language in which the apostles declared the things that are freely given to us of God. 1 Corinthians 2:12, 1:3: “We (apostles) have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are given to us of God;” namely, the fore-recited privileges and blessings. “Which things we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth,” not in philosophic terms of human invention, “but which the Holy Spirit teacheth,” in the writings of the Old Testament, the only Scriptures from which they took their ideas and arguments, “comparing spiritual things” under the Gospel.

Whence we may conclude: 1. That the holy Scriptures are admirably calculated to be understood in those things which we are most of all concerned to understand. Seeing the same language runs through the whole, and is set in such a variety of lights, that one part is well adapted to illustrate another: an advantage I reckon peculiar to the sacred writings above all others. 2. It follows that, to understand the sense of the Spirit in the New, it is essentially necessary that we understand its sense in the Old Testament.

VII. Reflections on the foregoing Honours and Privileges of the Christian Church.

From what has been said it appears,

104. I. That the believing Gentiles are taken into that kingdom and covenant in which the Jews once stood, and out of which they were cast for their unbelief and rejection of the Son of God; and that we Christians ought to have the same general ideas of our present religious state, membership, privileges, honors, and relation to God, as the Jews had while they were in possession of the kingdom. Only in some things the kingdom of God under the Gospel dispensation differs much from the kingdom of God under the Mosaical. As, 1. That it is now so constituted that it admits, and is adapted to, men of all nations upon the earth, who believe in Christ. 2. That the law, as a ministration of condemnation, which was an appendage to the Jewish dispensation, is removed and annulled under the Gospel. (But the moral law, as a rule of life, is still in force.) 3. And so is the polity or civil state of the Jews, which was interwoven with their religion, but has no connection with the Christian religion. 4. The ceremonial part of the Jewish constitution is likewise abolished, for we are taught the spirit and duties of religion, not by figures and symbols, as sacrifices, offerings, watchings, etc., but by express and clear precepts. 5. The kingdom of God is now put under the special government of the Son of God, who is the head and king of the Church, to whom we owe faith and allegiance. (6)

(6) Add to this, that all the privileges under the Gospel are abundantly more spiritual than they were under the law-THAT being the shadow, THIS the substance. Hence, while we consider these privileges the same in kind, we must view them as differing widely in degree. — A. C.

105. II. From the above recited particulars it appears that the Christian Church is happy, and highly honored with privileges of the most excellent nature; of which the apostles, who well understood this new constitution, were deeply sensible. Romans 1:16: “I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.” Romans 5:1-3, etc.: “Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom also we have access, by faith, into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice (glory) in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulation also,” etc. Romans 5:11: “And not only so, but we also joy (glory) in God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” etc. Romans 8:31: “What shall we then say to these things, If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? Who is he that condemneth? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” Romans 9:23, 24: “He has made known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, even on us whom he has called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles.” 2 Corinthians 3:18: “But we all, with open face, beholding, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord.” Ephesians 1:3, 4, etc.: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ; according as he hath chosen us in him,” etc., etc.

106. And it is the duty of the whole body of Christians to rejoice in the goodness of God, to thank and praise him for all the benefits conferred upon them in the Gospel. Romans 15:10: “Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people.” Philippians 3:1: “My brethren, rejoice in the Lord.” Philippians 4:4: “Rejoice in the Lord alway; again I say, rejoice.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16: “Rejoice evermore;” James 1:9; 1 Peter 1:6, 8. Colossians 1:12: “Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.” Colossians 2:7: “Rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, abounding therein with thanksgiving;” 1 Thessalonians 5:18. Hebrews 13:15: “By him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name.” Ephesians 1:6: “To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he has made us accepted in the Beloved;” Ephesians 1:12, 14.

107. Farther, it is to be observed that all the foregoing privileges, benefits, relations, and honors belong to all professed Christians, without exception. God is the God, King, Savior, Father, Husband, Shepherd, etc., of them all. He created, saved, bought, redeemed; he begot, he made, he planted, etc., them all. And they are all as created, redeemed, and begotten by him; his people, nation, heritage; his children, spouse, flock, vineyard, etc. We are all enriched with the blessings of the Gospel, Romans 11:12-14; all reconciled to God, Romans 11:15; all the seed of Abraham, and heirs according to the promise, Galatians 3:29; all partake of the root and fatness of the good olive, the Jewish Church; all the brethren of Christ and members of his body; all are under grace; all have a right to the ordinances of worship; all are golden candlesticks in the temple of God, Revelation 1:12, 13, 20; even those who, by reason of their misimprovement of their privileges, are threatened with having the candlestick removed out of its place, Revelation 2:5. Either every professed Christian is not in the Church, or all the forementioned privileges belong to every professed Christian; which will appear more evidently if we consider,—

108. III. That all the aforementioned privileges, honors, and advantages are the effects of God’s free grace, without regard to any prior righteousness, which deserved or procured the donation of them. It was not for any goodness or worthiness which God found in the heathen world, when the Gospel was first preached to them; not for any works of obedience or righteousness which we, in our Gentile state, had performed, whereby we had rendered ourselves deserving of the blessings of the Gospel, namely, to be taken into the family, kingdom, or Church of God; by no means. It was not thus of ourselves that we are saved, justified, etc. So far from that, the Gospel, when first preached to us Gentiles, found us sinners, dead in trespasses and sins, enemies through wicked works, disobedient; therefore, I say, all the forementioned privileges, blessings, honors, etc., are the effects of God’s free grace or favor, without regard to any prior works or righteousness in the Gentile world, which procured the donation of them. Accordingly, they are always in Scripture, assigned to the love, grace, and mercy of God, as the sole spring from whence they flow. John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Romans 5:8: “But God commendeth his love to us, in that, while we were sinners, Christ died for us.” Ephesians 2:4-9, 10: “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he has loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved,) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus; that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards us, through Jesus Christ. For by grace are ye saved, through faith, and that (salvation is) not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, so that(7) no man (nor Gentile nor Jew) can boast. For we (Christians, converted from heathenism) are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained, that we should walk in them.”

(7) /ina mh tiv kauchshtai, lest any man should boast. So we render it; as if the Gospel salvation were appointed to be not of works, to prevent our boasting; which supposes we might have boasted, had not God taken this method to preclude it. Whereas, in truth, we had nothing to boast of. Neither Jew nor Gentile could pretend to any prior righteousness, which might make them worthy to be taken into the house and kingdom of God under his Son; therefore the apostle’s meaning is: “We are not saved from heathenism, and translated into the Church and kingdom of Christ, for any prior goodness, obedience, or righteousness we had performed. For which reason, no man can boast, as if he had merited the blessing, etc.” This is the apostles sense; and the place should have been translated, so that no man can boast. For ina signifies so that. See Romans 3:l9; 1 Corinthians 7:29; 2 Corinthians 1:17; 7:9; Galatians 5:17; Hebrews 2:17; 6:18; Mark 4:12.

I109. t is on account of this general love that Christians are honored with the title of beloved. Romans 1:7: “To all that are in Rome, beloved of God, called saints.” Romans 9:25: “I will call her (the Gentile Church) beloved, which was not beloved.” Colossians 3:12: “Put on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies,” etc.

110. Romans 3:23, 24: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;” Romans 5:2. 1 Corinthians 1:4: “I thank my God-for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 1:6, 7: “To the praise of the glory of his grace, whereby he has made us accepted in the beloved, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;” Colossians 1:6; 2 Thessalonians 1:12. 2 Timothy 1:9: “Who hath saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Jesus Christ before the world began;” Titus 2:11; Hebrews 12:15. Hence grace, and the grace of God, is sometimes put for the whole Gospel, and all its blessings. Acts 13:43: “Paul and Barnabas persuaded them to continue in the grace of God;” 2 Corinthians 6:1. 1 Peter 5:12: “Testifying that this is the true grace of God in which ye stand;” 1 Corinthians 1:4; Romans 5:2; 2 Corinthians 6:1; Titus 2:11; Jude 4. Romans 12:1: “I beseech you, therefore, brethren by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies,” etc. Romans 15:9: “And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy.” 1 Peter 1:3: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us again to a lively hope,” etc.

111. In these texts, and others of the same kind, it is evident that the love, grace, and mercy of God hath respect, not to particular persons in the Christian Church, but to the whole body, or whole societies, and therefore are to be understood of that general love, grace, and mercy whereby the whole body of Christians is separated unto God, to be his peculiar people, favored with extraordinary blessings. And it is with regard to this sentiment and mode of speech that the Gentiles, who before lay out of the Church, and had not obtained mercy, are said now to have obtained mercy, Romans 11:30.

112. Hence also we may conclude that all the privileges and blessings of the Gospel, even the whole of our redemption and salvation, are the effect of God’s pure, free, original love and grace, to which he was inclined of his own motion, without any other motive besides his own goodness, in mere kindness and good will to a sinful, perishing world. These are the things that are freely given to us of God, 1 Corinthians 2:12.

VIII. All the grace of the Gospel is dispensed to us by, in, or through Christ Jesus.

113. Nevertheless, all the forementioned love, grace, and mercy is dispensed or conveyed to us, in, by, or through the Son of God, Jesus Christ, our Lord. To quote all the places to this purpose would be to transcribe a great part of the New Testament. But it may suffice, at present, to review the texts under the numbers 108 and 110. From which texts it is evident that “the grace (or favor) of God is given unto us by Jesus Christ;” that he has “shown the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness to us through Jesus Christ;” that he has “sent his Son into the world that we might live through him;” to be “the propitiation (or mercy seat) for our sins;” that he “died for us;” that “we who were afar off are made nigh by his blood;” that God has “made us accepted in the Beloved, (in his beloved Son,) in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins;” that “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus;” that, “before the world began, the purpose and grace of God (relating to our calling and saltation) was given us in Christ Jesus;” “Before the foundation of the world God chose us in Christ,” Ephesians 1:4. “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access into this grace wherein we stand,” Romans 5:1, 2. “God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son,” 1 John 5:11. Nothing is clearer, from the whole current of Scripture, than that all the mercy and love of God, and all the blessings of the Gospel, from first to last, from the original purpose and grace of God to our final salvation in the possession of eternal life, are in, by, or through Christ; and particularly by his blood, by the redemption which is in him, as he is the propitiation (or atonement) for the sins of the whole world, 1 John 2:2. This can bear no dispute among Christians. The only difference that can be must relate to the manner-how these blessings are conveyed to us in, by, or through Christ. Doubtless they are conveyed through his hands, as he is the minister or agent, appointed of God to put us in possession of them. But his blood, death, and cross could be no ministering cause of blessings assigned to his blood, etc., before we were put in possession of them. See Romans 5:6, 8, 10, 19; Ephesians 2:13, 16; Colossians 1:20-29. Nor truly can his blood be possibly considered as a ministering or instrumental cause in any sense at all; for it is not an agent but an object, and therefore, though it may be a moving cause, or a reason for bestowing blessings, yet it can be no active or instrumental cause in conferring them. His blood and death is indeed to us an assurance of pardon; but it is evidently something more; for it is also considered as an offering and sacrifice to God, highly pleasing to him, to put away our sin, and to obtain eternal redemption; Hebrews 9:12, 14, 26; Ephesians 5:2.

114. But why should God choose to communicate his grace in this mediate way, by the interposition, obedience, and agency of his Son, who again employs subordinate agents and instruments under him? I answer: For the display of the glory of his nature and perfections. The Sovereign Disposer of all things may communicate his blessings by what means and in any way he thinks fit. But whatever he effects by the interposition of means, and a train of intermediate causes, he could produce by his own immediate power. He wants not clouds to distil rain; nor rain nor human industry to make the earth fruitful; nor the fruitfulness of the earth to supply food; nor food to sustain our life. He could do this by his own immediate power; but he chooses to manifest his providence, power, wisdom, and goodness in a variety of ways and dispositions; and yet his power and goodness are not only as much concerned and exercised in this way, as if he produced the end without the intervention of means, but even much more, because his power, wisdom and goodness are as much exerted and illustrated in every single intermediate step, as if he had done the thing at once, without any intermediate step at all. There is as much power and wisdom exercised in producing rain, or in making the earth fruitful, or in adapting food to the nourishment of our bodies-I say there is as much power in any one of these steps as there would be in nourishing our bodies by one immediate act without those intermediate means. Therefore, in this method of procedure, the displays of the Divine providence and perfections are multiplied and beautifully diversified, to arrest our attention, exercise our contemplation, and excite our admiration and thankfulness; for thus we see God in a surprising variety of instances. Nor, indeed, can we turn our eyes to any part of the visible creation, but we see his power, wisdom, and goodness in perpetual exercise, every where. In like manner, in the moral world, he chooses to work by means, the mediation of his Son, the influences of his Spirit, the teachings of his word, the endeavors of apostles and ministers; not to supply any defects of his power, wisdom, or goodness; but to multiply the instances of them; to show himself to us in a varied display of his glorious dispensations; to exercise the moral powers and virtues of all the subordinate agents employed in carrying on his great designs, and to set before our thoughts the most engaging subjects of meditation, and the most powerful motives of action. And this method, in the moral world, is still more necessary; because, without the attention of our minds, the end proposed, our sanctification, cannot be obtained. (8)

(8) But it certainly was not merely to display the various operations of Divine Providence, and to multiply the displays of the Divine perfections, that God required the sacrifice and death of his Son: as he was a sacrifice for sin-and the true notion of sacrifice is redeeming the life of a guilty creature by the death of one that is innocent-therefore Christ died, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, 1 Peter 3:18. Consequently the justice and righteousness of God required this sacrifice: and justice must have required it, else such a sacrifice could not have taken place; for had not justice required it, no attribute of God could, without injustice, have demanded it. — A. C.

115. But how is it agreeable to the infinite distance there is between the most high God and creatures so low and imperfect, who are of no consideration when compared to the immensity of his nature, that he should so greatly concern himself about our redemption? Answer:-He who is all-present, all-knowing, all-powerful, attends to all the minutest affairs in the whole universe without the least confusion or difficulty. And, if it was not below his infinite greatness to make mankind, it cannot be so to take care of them, when created. For kind, he can produce no beings more excellent than the rational and intelligent; consequently, those must be most worthy of his regard. And when they are corrupted, as thereby the end of their being is frustrated, it must be as agreeable to his greatness to endeavor (when he sees fit) their reformation, or to restore them to the true ends for which they were created, as it was originally to create them.

116. And as for mankind being a mean and inconsiderable part of the creation, it may not be so easy to demonstrate as we may imagine. The sin that is or hath been in the world will not do it; for then the beings which we know stand in a much higher, and, perhaps, in a very high rank of natural perfection, will be proved to be as mean and inconsiderable as ourselves; seeing they in great numbers have sinned. Neither will our natural weakness and imperfection prove that we are a mean and inconsiderable part of God’s creation: for the Son of God, when clothed in our flesh, and encompassed with all our infirmities and temptations, lost nothing of the real excellency and worth he possessed when in a state of glory with the Father before the world was. Still he was the beloved Son of God, in whom he was well pleased. Besides, since God may bestow honors and privileges as he pleases, who will tell me what pre-eminence, in the purpose of God, this world may possibly have above any other part of the universe; or what relation it bears to the rest of the creation? We know that even angels have been ministering spirits to some part at least of mankind. Who will determine how far the scheme of redemption may exceed any scheme of Divine wisdom in other parts of the universe; or how far it may affect the improvement and happiness of other beings in the remotest regions? Ephesians 3:10, 11: “To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the Church, the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 1 Peter 1:12: “Which things (that are reported by them that have preached the Gospel) the angels desire to look into.” It is therefore the sense of revelation, that the heavenly principalities and powers study the wisdom and grace of redemption, and even increase their stock of wisdom from the displays of the Divine love in the Gospel. Who can say how much our virtue is, more or less, severely proved, than in other worlds; or how far our virtue may excel that of other beings, who are not subjected to our long and heavy trials? May not a virtue, firm and steady under our present clogs, inconveniences, discouragements, persecutions, trials, and temptations, possibly surpass the virtue of the highest angel, whose state is not attended with such embarrassments? Do ye know how far such as shall have honourably passed through the trials of this life shall hereafter be dispersed through the creation? How much their capacities will be enlarged? How highly they shall be exalted? What power and trusts will be put into their hands? How far their influence shall extend, and how much they shall contribute to the good order and happiness of the universe? Possibly, the faithful soul, when disengaged from our present incumbrances, may blaze out into a degree of excellency equal to the highest honors, the most important and extensive services. Our Lord has made us kings and priests unto God and the Father, and we shall sit together in heavenly places, and reign with him. To him that overcomes the trials of this present state, he will give to sit with him in his throne. True, many from among mankind shall perish among the vile and worthless for ever: and so shall many of the angels. These considerations may satisfy us that, possibly, mankind are not so despicable as to be below the interposition of the Son of God. Rather, the surprising condescensions and sufferings of a being so glorious should be an argument that the scheme of redemption is of the utmost importance; and that, in the estimate of God, who alone confers dignity, we are creatures of very great consequence. Lastly: God by Christ created the world; and if it was not below his dignity to create, it is much less below his dignity to redeem the world, which, of the two, is the more honorable.

117. It is farther to be observed, that the whole scheme of the Gospel in Christ, and as it stands in relation to his blood, or obedience unto death, was formed in the council of God, before the calling of Abraham, and even before the beginning of the world. Acts 15:18: “Known unto God are all his works (the dispensations which he intended to advance) from the beginning of the world.” Ephesians 1:4: “According as he hath chosen us in him (Christ) before the foundation of the world” (pro katabolhv kosmou.) 2 Timothy 1:9: “Who hath saved us and called us, according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.” 1 Peter 1:20: “Who (Christ) verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, (pro katabolhv kosmou.) but was manifest in these last times for you” (Gentiles.) Hence it appears that the whole plan of the Divine mercy in the Gospel, in relation to the method of communicating it, and the person through whose obedience it was to be dispensed, and by whose ministry it was to be executed, was formed in the mind and purpose of God before this earth was created. God, by his perfect and unerring knowledge, foreknew the future state of mankind, and so before appointed the means which he judged proper for their recovery: which foreknowledge is fully confirmed by the promise to Abraham, and very copiously by the repeated predictions of the prophets, in relation to our Lord’s work, and particularly to his death, with the end and design of it.

118. Again: it is to be noted, that all the forementioned mercy and love, privileges and blessings, are granted and confirmed to the Christian Church under the sanction of a covenant; which is a grant or donation of blessings confirmed by a proper authority. The Gospel covenant is established by the promise and oath of God, and ratified by the blood of Christ, as a pledge and assurance that it is a reality, and will certainly be made good. Matthew 26:28: “This is my blood of the new testament” (or covenant.) Luke 22:20: “This cup is the new testament (covenant) in my blood.” 2 Corinthians 3:6: “Made us able ministers of the new testament” (covenant.) Hebrews 7:22: “Jesus made a surety of a better testament.” Hebrews 8:6: “He is the mediator of a better covenant, established upon better promises;” Hebrews 8:8; 9:15; 12:24; 13:20. Here observe: 1. Jesus is the surety, (egguov,) sponsor, and mediator (mesithv) of the new covenant, as he is the great agent appointed of God to negotiate, transact, secure, and execute all the blessings which are conferred by this covenant. Obs. 2. That as the covenant is a donation or grant of blessing, hence it is that the promise or promiser, is sometimes put for the covenant; as, Galatians 3:17, 18: “The covenant that was confirmed before (to Abraham) of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect: for if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise. But God gave it to Abraham by promise;” and so, Galatians 3:19. Again Galatians 3:21: “Is the law then against the promises of God?” Galatians 3:22. Obs. 3. That the Gospel covenant was included in that made with Abraham, Genesis 17:1, etc.; Genesis 22:16-18; as appears from Galatians 3:17; and from Hebrews 6:13; “When God made the promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,” etc. Hebrews 6:17, 18: “He confirmed (emesiteusen, he mediatored) it by an oath; that by two immutable things (the promise and oath of God) we (Christians) might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us.”

119. But what should carefully and specially be observed is this, that the Gospel constitution is a scheme, and the most perfect and effectual scheme, for restoring true religion, and for promoting virtue and happiness, that the world has ever yet seen. Upon faith in Christ, men of all nations were admitted into the Church, family, kingdom, and covenant of God by baptism; were all numbered among the justified, regenerate or born again, sanctified, saved, chosen, called, saints, and beloved; were all of the flock, Church, house, vine, and vineyard of God; and were entitled to the ordinances and privileges of the Church; had exceeding great and precious promises given unto them, especially that of entering into the rest of heaven. And in all these blessings and honors we are certainly very happy, as they are the things which are freely given to us of God, 1 Corinthians 2:12. But because these things are freely given, without respect to any obedience or righteousness of ours, prior to the donation of them, is our obedience and personal righteousness therefore unnecessary? Or are we, on account of benefits already received, secure of the favor and blessing of God in a future world and for ever? By no means.

120. To explain this important point more clearly, I shall proceed as before, and show that these privileges and blessings, given in general to the Christian Church, are ANTECEDENT blessings; given indeed freely, without any respect to the prior obedience of the Gentile world, before they were taken into the Church; but intended to be motives to the most upright obedience for the future, after they were joined to the family and kingdom of God. Which effect if they produce, then our election and calling, our redemption, adoption, etc., are made good: upon which account I shall call them CONSEQUENT blessings; because they are secured to us, and made ours for ever, only in consequence of our obedience. But, on the other hand, if the antecedent blessings do not produce obedience to the will of God; if we, his chosen people and children, do not obey the laws and rules of the Gospel; then we, as well as any other wicked persons, may expect tribulation and wrath; then we forfeit all our privileges, and all our honors and relations to God; all the favor and promises given freely to us are of no avail; we receive the grace of God in vain, and everlasting death will certainly be our wretched portion.

121. That this is the great end of the dispensation of God’s grace to the Christian Church-namely, to engage us to duty and obedience, and that it is a scheme for promoting virtue and true religion, is clear from every part of the New Testament, and requires a large and particular proof; not because the thing in itself is difficult or intricate, but because it is of great importance to the right understanding of the Gospel and the apostolic writings, and serves to explain several points which stand in close relation to it; as, particularly, that all the forementioned privileges belong to all professed Christians, even to those that shall perish eternally. For:—

If the apostles affirm them of all Christians, to whom they write;
If they declare some of those Christians who were favored with those privileges to be wicked, or suppose they might be wicked;
If they declare those privileges are conferred by mere grace, without regard to prior works of righteousness;
If they plainly intimate those privileges are conferred in order to produce true holiness;
If they exhort all to use them to that purpose, as they will answer it to God at the last day;
If they declare they shall perish, if they do not improve them to the purifying their hearts, and the right ordering of their conversation; then it must be true that these privileges belong to all Christians, and are intended to induce them to a holy life. And the truth of all those six particulars will sufficiently appear, if we attend to the Gospels and epistles.

IX. Conclusions from the preceding Discourse.

122. Though, in the foregoing collection I have faithfully and impartially endeavored to give the true sense of every text, yet possibly, in some few that are doubtful, I may have erred. But there are so many indisputably plain and full to the purpose as will, I am persuaded, sufficiently justify the following conclusions:—

123. I. That the Gospel is a scheme for restoring true religion, and for promoting virtue and happiness.

124. II. That election, adoption, vocation, salvation, justification, sanctification, regeneration, and the other blessings, honors, and privileges, which come under the head of ANTECEDENT blessings, do, in a sense, belong at present to all Christians, even those who, for their wickedness, may perish eternally.

125. III. That those antecedent blessings, as they are offered and assigned to the whole body of Christians, do not import an absolute final state of favor and happiness, but are to be considered as displays, instances, and descriptions of God’s love and goodness to us, which are to operate as a moral mean upon our hearts. They are a display of the love of God, who is the FATHER of the universe, who cannot but delight in the well being of his creatures, and, being perfect in goodness, possessed of all power, and the only original of all life and happiness, must be the prime author of all blessedness, and bestow his favors in the most free, generous, and disinterested manner; and therefore those blessings, as freely bestowed antecedently to our obedience, are perfectly consonant to the nature and moral character of God. He has freely, in our first birth and creation, given us a distinguished and eminent degree of being, and all the noble powers and advantage of reason: and what should stop the course of his liberality, or hinder his conferring new and higher blessings, even when we could pretend no title or claim to them? And as the blessings of the Gospel are of the most noble kind, raising us to high dignity, and the most delightful prospects of immortality, they are well adapted to engage the attention of men, to give the most pleasing ideas of God, to demonstrate most clearly, what nature itself discovers, that he is our FATHER, and to win and engage our hearts to him in love, who has, in a manner so surprising, loved us. By promising the remission of sins, protection and guidance through this world, and the hope of eternal life, every cloud, discouragement, and obstacle is removed; and the grace of God, in its brightest glory, shines full upon our minds, and is divinely powerful to support our patience and animate our obedience under temptations, trials, and difficulties; and to inspire peace of conscience, comfort, and joy.

126. IV. These principles ought to be admitted and claimed by all Christians, and firmly established in their hearts, as containing privileges and blessings in which they are all undoubtedly interested; otherwise it is evident they will be defective in the true principles of their religion, the only ground of their Christian joy and peace, and the proper motives of their Christian obedience. Now those principles (namely, our election, vocation, justification, regeneration, sanctification, etc., in Christ, through the free grace of God) are admitted and duly established in our hearts by FAITH. Faith, then, as exercised upon the blessings which God has gratuitously bestowed upon us, is, in our hearts, the foundation of the Christian life; and retaining and exercising this Christian virtue of faith is called tasting that the Lord is gracious, 1 Peter 2:3. Having(9) (or holding fast) grace, Hebrews 12:28. Growing in grace, 2 Peter 3:18. Being strong in the grace of Jesus Christ, 2 Timothy 2:1. Holding faith, 1 Timothy 1:19; 3:9. Continuing in the faith, grounded and settled, and not being moved away from the hope of the Gospel, Colossians 1:23. Holding fast the confidence and rejoicing of hope, Hebrews 3:6. Holding the beginning of our confidence steadfast, Hebrews 3:14. Having (holding) hope, 1 John 3:3. Hoping perfectly for the grace that is to be brought unto us at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 1 Peter 1:13. Giving earnest heed to the things we have heard, Hebrews 2:1. Having (holding) the Son, or Christ, 1 John 5:12. By these, and such-like phrases, the apostles express our being thoroughly persuaded of, and duly affected with, the blessings included in our election, vocation, justification, etc.: or, their being firmly established in our hearts as principles of obedience, to secure our perseverance and final happiness, through the mighty working of God’s power; to purify our hearts, and to guard us through all our spiritual dangers and conflicts; which power will always assuredly attend every one who holds faith, grace, and hope, 1 Peter 1:5. Here note, that the primary object of faith is not in ourselves, but in God. Not our own obedience or goodness, but the free grace of God, is the primary object of faith. But the fruit of faith must be in ourselves. The grace or free gift of God is the foundation of faith; and faith is the foundation of the whole life of a true Christian. 2 Peter 1:5-7: “Giving all diligence, add to your FAITH virtue,” etc. Jude 20: “Building up yourselves on your most holy FAITH,” etc.

(9) ecein, to have, in such passages signifies to keep or hold, as a property or principle for use. Matthew 13:12; 25:29; John 3:29; 5:42; 8:12; Romans 1:28; 15:4; 1 Thessalonians 3:6; 1 Timothy 1:19; 3:9; Hebrews 6:9; 9:4; 1 John 2:23; 3:3; 5:12; 2 John 9.

127. These antecedent blessings are the first principles of the Christian religion; but the first principles of religion must be free from all doubt or scruple, otherwise the religion which is built upon them must sink, as having no foundation. The principles of natural religion-that I am endowed with a rational nature, that there is a God in whom I live, move, and have my being, and to whom I am accountable for my actions, are perfectly evident; otherwise the obligations of natural religion would be necessarily doubtful and uncertain. In like manner, the first principles of the Christian religion must be free from all perplexity, otherwise its obligations must be doubtful and perplexed. If it be doubtful whether ever Christ came into the world to redeem it, the whole Gospel is doubtful; and it is the same thing, if it be doubtful who are redeemed by him; for, if he has redeemed we know not whom, it is nearly the same thing, with regard to our improvement of redemption, as if he had redeemed no body at all.

128. Faith is the first act of the Christian life to which every Christian is obliged, and therefore it must have a sure and certain object to work upon; but if the love of God in our election, calling, adoption, justification, redemption, etc., be in itself uncertain to any persons in the Christian Church, then faith has no sure nor certain object to work upon with respect to some Christians; and consequently, some Christians are not obliged to believe; which is false.

129. Farther, the apostles make our election, calling, adoption, etc., motives to obedience and holiness. And therefore these (our election, calling, adoption, etc.) must have an existence antecedent to our obedience; otherwise they can be no motive to it. And if only an uncertain, unknown number of men be elected to eternal life, no individual can certainly know that he is of that number; and so, election can be no motive to obedience to any person in the Christian Church. To confine election, adoption, etc., to some few is unchurching the greatest part of the Church, and robbing them of common motives and comforts.

130. Our election, adoption, and other antecedent blessings, are not of works; consequently we are not to work for them, but upon them. They are not the effect of our good works, but our good works are the effect of them; they are not founded upon our holiness, but our holiness is founded upon them. We do not procure them by our obedience, for they are the effect of free grace; but they are motives and reasons exciting and encouraging our obedience; therefore our election is not proved by our sanctification, or real holiness. Our real holiness proves that our election is made sure; but our election itself is proved by the free grace of God.

131. From all this it follows that we, as well as the Christians of the first times, may claim and appropriate to ourselves all the forementioned antecedent blessings without any doubt or scruple. In confidence of hope and full assurance of faith we may boldly say, “the Lord is my helper,” and come with boldness to the throne of grace. Our life, even eternal life, is sure to every one of us in the promise of God, and the hands of our Lord Jesus Christ. And the business of every Christian is, not to perplex himself with doubts and fears, and gloomy apprehensions, but to rejoice in the Lord, and to do the duties of his place cheerfully and faithfully, in the assured hope of eternal life through Jesus Christ, to whom be everlasting glory and praise. Amen. (10)

(10) This is all right, when the sinner has been led, by a deep knowledge of his lost estate, to seek and find redemption in the blood of the Lamb: then it is his business to rejoice in the Lord and to do the duties of his place cheerfully and faithfully, in the assured hope of eternal life through Jesus Christ. But he must not presume, because he is in a Christian Church, and believes the doctrines of Christianity, that therefore he is safe. He cannot be safe unless Christ be formed in his heart, the hope of glory. — A. C.

132. V. From the preceding collection of texts we may gather that some of the expressions whereby the antecedent blessings are signified, such as elect, justify, sanctify, etc., may be used in a double sense; namely either as they are applied to all Christians in general, in relation to their being translated into the kingdom of God, and made his peculiar people, enjoying the privileges of the Gospel; or, as they signify the effects of those privileges. Wherever any blessing is assigned to all Christians, without exception; wherever it is said not to be of works; wherever Christians are expected to make a due improvement of it, and threatened with the loss of God’s blessing and of eternal life if they do not; there, the expressions which signify that blessing are to be understood in a general sense, as denoting a Gospel privilege, profession, or obligation. And in this general sense, saved, elect, chosen, justified, sanctified, are sometimes used; and calling, called, election, are, I think, always used in the New Testament. But when any blessing denotes real holiness as actually existing in the subject, then it may be understood in the special and eminent sense, and always must be understood in this sense when it implies the actual possession of eternal life; and in this sense, saved, elect, chosen, justify, sanctify, born of God, are sometimes used. Matthew 20:16:

“Many are called, but few are chosen” (who make a worthy use of their calling.) Matthew 24:31: “He shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect.” Matthew 12:36, 37: “In the day of judgment, by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” 1 Thessalonians 5:25: “The God of peace sanctify you wholly,” etc. 1 John 2:29: “Every one that doth righteousness is born of him.” 1 John 4:7: “Every one that loveth is born of God,” in the eminent sense.

133. The faith which gave a person a place or-standing in the Christian Church was a profession considered simply and separately from the fruits and effects of it; but it included a profession of repentance, of forsaking sin and idolatry, and of bringing forth the fruits of righteousness. And it is the continued profession of this faith in Christ which gives us a continued right to a place in the Church: for, if we cast off our first faith, we renounce our profession, we cease to be Christians, or we no longer continue to be the peculiar family of God.

134. Here it should be carefully observed that it is very common in the sacred writings to express not only our Christian privileges, but also the duty to which they oblige in the present or preterperfect tense; or to speak of that as done, which only ought to be done, and which, in fact, may possibly never be done. Malachi 1:6: “A son honors (ought to honor) his father.” Matthew 5:13: “Ye are (ought to be) the salt of the earth; but if the salt have lost his savour,” etc. Romans 2:4: “The goodness of God leads (ought to lead) thee to repentance;” Romans 6:2, 11; 8:9; Colossians 3:3. 1 Peter 1:6: “Wherein ye (ought) greatly (to) rejoice.” 2 Corinthians 3:18: “We all with open face (enjoying the means of) beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are (ought to be-enjoy the means of being) changed into the same image, from glory to glory.” 1 Corinthians 5:7: “Purge out the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are (obliged by the Christian profession to be) unleavened.” Hebrews 13:14: “We seek (we ought to seek, or, according to our profession, we seek) a city to come;” 1 John 2:12, 15; 3:9; 5:4, 18, and in various other places.

135. The man of true goodness, courage, and greatness of soul, is he who has that faith which worketh by love; who lives the life he now lives by faith in the Son of God. Such a man is happy under all events. This is he, who while he despises a vain life, has the truest and highest enjoyment of all that can be enjoyed in it. This is the man who alone properly lives, for he has nothing but life and immortality before him; death itself giving no interruption to his life. Blessed, unspeakably blessed is this man. Such the Gospel is designed to make us all; and such we all may be, if we do not shamefully neglect the grace of God and our own happiness. But the knowledge and sense of these things are generally lost among those called Christians, to whom the words of the psalmist may be too truly applied: They are a people that do err in their hearts, for they have not known my ways, Psalm 95:10.

136. From all the preceding observations and arguments we may clearly see what is implied in preaching Christ. It is not teaching that only a small, uncertain number among Christians are ARBITRARILY redeemed, elected, called, adopted, born again, or regenerated; and that all the rest are, by a sovereign, absolute, eternal DECREE, passed by, or reprobated. These are no principles of Christianity, but stand in direct contradiction to them, and have drawn a dark veil over the grace of the Gospel, sunk the Christian world into an abject state of fear and a false superstitious humility; and thrown ministers into endless absurdities. “It is such doctrines as these that have misrepresented the Christian religion, harassed the Christian world endlessly, by blending and confounding men’s understandings and embittering their spirits; and have been the reason of calling in a false kind of learning, logic, metaphysics, and school divinity, in order to give a color of reason to the grossest absurdities, and to enable divines to make a plausible show of supporting and defending palpable contradictions.”-See Dr. Taylor’s Key to the Apostolical Writings.