My dear Ibhar,<\/p>\n
The important subject upon which I addressed your brother Elimelech, involves the topic on which I shall write to you, praying, that the Holy Ghost may render it as consoling and profitable to you as he has to me.<\/p>\n
The election of grace must necessarily follow upon the admission of the absolute sovereignty of God: but as this doctrine has always been, and still is, so offensive to those who have only a name to live, but are spiritually dead; and as your comfort and peace so much depend on your \u201cknowing your election of God,\u201d I will endeavour to present you with a concise view of it, and to assist you in coming to some decision concerning it.<\/p>\n
That the Lord has a chosen people, peculiarly his own, cannot be denied by a spiritual Bible reader; but the grossest misapprehensions of the act of choosing them, have warped the judgements, and harassed the minds of young disciples; while many have been afraid to read, hear, or speak of it, lest the enemies of the Lord should be hardened in sin; and awakening sinners be discouraged and distressed, forgetting, that the only firm ground of consolation is ELECTING LOVE.<\/p>\n
The Holy Spirit has directed the apostle Peter to address the household of faith, with the sacred appellation of \u201celect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, &c.\u201d Now, we must either deny the foreknowledge of God, or admit his choice of his people; \u201cfor whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate, to be conformed to the image of his Son.\u201d When he foreknew that my dear Ibhar would repent, and pray, and believe in Christ; he also foreknew, that he should give you the grace by which you repent, pray, and believe, which was in the strictest sense of the phrase, electing you to be a subject of his grace; and if a subject of his grace, then an heir of his glory.<\/p>\n
Therefore, beloved, I am \u201cbound to give thanks always to God for you, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.\u201d 2 Thess. 2:13.<\/p>\n
It is then very absurd to suppose, that God elected you because he foreknew you would repent, &c. when even that fore-knowledge was no less than an absolute decree to give you repentance unto life.<\/p>\n
I feel persuaded you are convinced, that had repentance, prayer, and believing, been the cause of election, you would never have been elected; each of these exercises have been performed so imperfectly, and with such a mixture of sin, that they appear to you more likely to incur divine displeasure, than to secure electing love; but when you find upon the authority of God\u2019s word, that the first cause of election is sovereign love, and that repentance, prayer, and believing, are its fruits and effects, you take encouragement to trace your broken petitions, and your godly sorrow up to the electing love of God: and this is as warrantable, as from the eating of fruit, to enquire after the tree on which it grew, and from the sight of the tree, to acknowledge its root, though unseen.<\/p>\n
That sweet declaration, \u201cmy people,\u201d which so often occurs throughout the sacred volume, is a striking testimony of electing love; but the personal comfort of this testimony was not enjoyed by you, my dear Ibhar, till the Holy Spirit blessed you, with the experience of the Lord\u2019s people, gave you a capacity to enjoy God himself in all his covenant relations, and thus distinguished you from the world.<\/p>\n
Having done all this for you, it would be ungrateful in the highest degree to deny, or neglect the source from whence such precious streams descend: nor would it be less baneful to your peace of mind; for when the streams of sensible enjoyment cease to flow for a while, the keenest distress of soul will be felt, unless the spring of electing love is explored, and the thirsty pilgrim enabled to drink there: and even while they are flowing, the nearer we get to the source, the more pure and salubrious will be the streams of which we partake.<\/p>\n
It was the act of God the Father to choose his people from among\u00a0 <\/span>the ruined posterity of Adam, in which he consulted nothing but his own will; and who shall dare dispute his prerogative to choose? May not the architect choose the stones with which he will erect his own residence? May not the husbandman choose the plants which he will introduce to his own vineyard? And shall not God be allowed, in building and planting his church, to elect whom he pleases, and pass by whom he pleases? Rom. 9:18,24<\/p>\n How delightful is it, for the trees of righteousness to grow up into Christ Jesus, under the sweet consciousness of being chosen in him to bring forth fruit to the glory of God; aud how blessed is the assurance that you stand in the garden of the Lord, as the object of his irrevocable choice; yea, \u201cthe planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.\u201d Isa. 61:3. The grand first cause is electing love; the final issue is the glory of God.<\/p>\n Read, my dear young friend, that soul-animating description of the economy of grace, which the Holy Spirit has given, in the commencement of the epistle to the Ephesians; in which, after recording the believer\u2019s portion, viz. \u201call spiritual blessings in heavenly places,\u201d he points out the grand depository of them, \u2018in Christ,\u201d and then traces them up to electing love, \u201caccording as he hath chosen us in him, before the foundation of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n See here, my brother, how the reception of spiritual blessings proves your interest in Christ, and how your interest in Christ leads you up to the Father\u2019s electing love, as the source whence all spiritual blessings come. And shall this be considered a dangerous doctrine? Yes, it is dangerous to the existence of pharisaical pride, and the interest of the prince of darkness! Shall this be called high doctrine? Yes, it is highly honourable to God \u2014 highly characteristic of his word \u2014 and highly encouraging to every awakened sinner!<\/p>\n There is something striking in the expression just cited, \u201cchosen in him before the foundation of the world;\u201d which at once instructs us, both in the order and antiquity of election.<\/p>\n It\u2019s order is \u201cin Christ;\u201d so the choice of Christ, as the new covenant head of the church, included the choice of all that shall be saved, as the members of his mystical body; every one of whom were as truly and essentially beloved, and chosen of the Father, as Christ himself was in his mediatorial character: this fact is clearly demonstrated by the prayer of our Lord, \u201cthat the love wherewith thou hast loved me, may be in them.\u201d<\/p>\n The choice of your soul to eternal life, was therefore an act of the same love, that chose Christ himself to be the surety of his people, and head of the church; yea, in a sense, the choice of Christ as his people\u2019s portion; and his people as his portion\u2014 the gift of Christ to his Church, and the gift of the Church to Christ, may be considered as but one grand transaction of electing love, fixing upon the head and its members\u2014 the vine and its branches\u2014 the foundation and all the stones of the building at once.<\/p>\n Cherish the sweet thought, my brother; chosen in the person and righteousness of Jehovah Jesus; to be atoned for by him\u2014 to be pardoned through him \u2014 to be vitally united to him, and everlastingly saved by him.<\/p>\n Observe, also, the antiquity of electing love, \u201cbefore the foundation of the world;\u201d the thought of your eternal salvation engaged the attention of Jehovah before the creation of the world; yea, from everlasting, and he has never lost sight of it through the ages of time which have rolled he has connected the glory of his own perfections with it, away; and you may therefore rest assured, he will never abandon it; learn his mind from his own word, \u201cI have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee.\u201d<\/p>\n Should the Tempter insinuate, that this is not personal but general election, allow him not to rob you of your comfort, by listening to him; but, remember every thing that pertains to salvation is personal.<\/p>\n Was not your effectual calling personal? Are not your justification, and sanctification personal? And will not your glorification be personal? Yes, and so was your election, or how could your name be written in the book of life, and your person given into the hands of Christ?<\/p>\n Let me now attempt to assist you, in appropriating the personal comfort of this precious truth, by pointing you to the fruits and effects of electing love in your own experience. Have you not chosen Christ as your portion? Then you have evidence that the Father chose you in him. Do you not love God, or at least desire to love him? Then it is, \u201cbecause he first loved you,\u201d for, \u201cthe carnal mind is enmity against God,\u201d and no man can love God until divine love is shed abroad in his heart.<\/p>\n The apostle was directed by the Holy Spirit, to remind the Thessalonians of their experimental evidence, that they were the elect of God; and I trust it will not be difficult for my dear young friend to recognize the very same evidence in his own heart. \u201cKnowing brethren, beloved, your election of God: for our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance.\u201d 1 Thess.1, 4, and 5. Now you have only to review those precious seasons, in which the gospel has come to your soul, in such convincing, melting, transforming, and constraining power, as proved it to be by the Holy Ghost, and contrast them with the seasons in which it has come in word only, to obtain positive evidence of your election of God. For if the Holly Spirit has communicated spiritual life to your soul, it is in consequence of Christ\u2019s obedience and death for you; and, in Christ\u2019s obedience and death for you, were in pursuance of the Father\u2019s electing love to you.<\/p>\n Thus tracing effects up to their cause, you will be able to make your calling and election sure, and then your peace of mind will be permanent\u2014 your joy in the Holy Ghost will abound \u2014 and your unfeigned gratitude will excite to extensive and zealous obedience to the divine will. Thereby you will be enabled to put to silence the ignorance of foolish men, who (affecting to be \u201cwise above what is written\u201d) suppose that this doctrine should be kept in the back ground, or brought forward in the most guarded language, lest some evil consequences should result, which is in fact, calling in question the wisdom of God, relative to the phraseology of his own word. I tremble at the thought of attempting to dilute the language which the Holy Ghost has condescended to employ, in order to accommodate the taste of the carnal mind and erect the fence of human reason around the impenetrable truth of God, such however is in the awful practice of the present day, to which may be attributed the abounding of heresy and the barrenness of Christian churches. The Holy Spirit puts an honor upon scripture language, which he never confers upon the most elegant of mere human composition: \u201cmy word\u201d he says, \u201cshall not return unto me void,\u201d but he has never said so much of the \u201cexcellency of speech\u201d or of \u201cman\u2019s wisdom,\u201d too frequently made use of, to the neglect of the express phraseology of inspiration.<\/p>\n Beloved, my heart\u2019s desire and prayer to God for you is, that you may be able to maintain your hold of divine calling, the middle link of the chain of redemption go back in holy contemplation from this to electing love, and look forward with sweet assurance to eternal glorification, satisfied that what God has joined together nether sin, death, nor hell can put asunder.<\/p>\n I am, with much affection,<\/p>\n Yours, &c. for Christ\u2019s sake,<\/p>\n J.I.<\/p>\n Electing love, the great first cause of all<\/p>\n The grand displays of saving grace; the Sun<\/p>\n In Zion\u2019s firmament illuminates, and warms<\/p>\n The hearts of all the ransomed Sons of God.<\/p>\n Its bright and cheering rays dispels the mists<\/p>\n Of unbelief\u2014create celestial day\u2014<\/p>\n And manifest the glory of our God.<\/p>\n What condescension ! God makes choice of worms<\/p>\n To be his special treasure, yea, his sons:<\/p>\n What matchless grace ! The heirs of life and bliss<\/p>\n Elected from the rebel race of man<\/p>\n And freely pardon\u2019d justified, and sav\u2019d.<\/p>\n My soul aspires, with holy longing pants<\/p>\n To know my interest in Jehovah\u2019s choice.<\/p>\n How shall I satisfy my anxious mind?<\/p>\n If God the Spirit has renew\u2019d my soul,<\/p>\n Then God the Son redeem\u2019d me with his blood,<\/p>\n And I am God the Father\u2019s sovereign choice.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n