from the rest of mankind, not because they were better than others. They were selected in accordance with the sovereign will of Him "to whom all his works are known from the beginning of the world." They are the "called" or chosen "according to his purpose;" and the purpose in reference to his choice of them stands, not of works, but of him that calleth." No cause can be assigned for them being selected rather than others, but the sovereign free love of God. "He hath mercy on whom he will have mercy; he hath compassion on whom he will have compassion." When the Lord set his love on Israel, and chose them to be his peculiar people, the cause was not in them, but in himself; it was just because he loved them" because he had a delight in them to love them ;" and it is equally true that the selection of certain individuals to enjoy the better blessings of the better economy, can be traced by us to nothing but the sovereign kindness of Him who "worketh all things according to the counsel of his own will.”1

2

3

They are elect through sanctification of the spirit." Sanctification means here, as usually in the New Testament, separation-setting apart; and sanctification of the spirit means spiritual separation, as exposed to external or bodily separation. When Israel was chosen to be God's peculiar people, in being separated from all nations, they were marked by a great variety of external distinctions. They lived in a country of their own, were distinguished by peculiar civil laws and customs, and were warned to abstain from all intimate intercourse of any kind with the surrounding nations. The peculiar people of God, under the new dispensation, are also separated from the rest of mankind: but their separation is of a spiritual kind. They are separated from them not civilly, but religiously-separated from them in their sentiments and affections. Spiritually they "come out from the world, and are separate;" but in reference to the affairs of this world, they are not a separate society.*

ence.

They are "elect, according to the divine foreknowledge, and by this spiritual separation to obedience." The full expression is "the obedience of faith," or the obedience of the truth; and to obey the faith or the truth, is just to believe the Gospel and live under its influThat the New Testament writers use the word "obedience" simply, when they mean "the obedience of faith," is evident from the following passage in the epistle to the Romans, ch. vi. 16, 17: "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin; but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you." When Israel became the peculiar people of God, by his selecting them according to his sovereign good pleasure, and externally separating them to himself, it was that they might be subject to his laws. In like manner, when individuals are selected by God to form a part of his peculiar people under the better economy, according to his foreknowledge, and are spiritually separated and set apart, it is that they may obey its law-that they may be

1 Rom. ix. 11, 15. Deut. x. 15. Eph. i. 11.
9 See note G.
4 See note H.

2 Ἐν ἁγιασμῷ πνεύματος, not τοῦ Πνεύματος. 5 See note I.

lieve the Gospel, and give up their whole inner and outer man to be regulated by its influence-it is that, taught by "the grace of God, which brings salvation," they may "deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world ; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works."

Still farther, they are "elect-to the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ." When Israel were chosen to be God's people, and externally set apart for this purpose, it was not only that they might be subject to his law, but that they might share in the effects of that law's expiatory offerings-that, being sprinkled with the blood of the sacrifices by which that covenant was ratified, their ceremonial guilt might be pardoned, their ceremonial pollution removed, and that they might be fitted for external fellowship with Jehovah as their God and King. When God, in accordance with his sovereign purpose of mercy, selects individuals, and sets them spiritually apart for his people, it is that, through the faith of the Gospel, they may be personally interested in the blessings procured by the death of Jesus Christ as a propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of men-that their sins may be forgiven them, that the jealousies of guilt may be removed, that they may be enabled and disposed with a true heart to approach to God, as rich in mercy, ready to forgive, "God in Christ reconciling the world to himself;" and in spiritual fellowship with him, with minds conformed to his mind, and wills conformed to his will, serve him with their souls and bodies, which are his, not only because they are made by him, but because they have been "redeemed" to him, "not by corruptible things as silver and gold, but by precious blood, the blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” 2

Such is the apostle's description of the spiritual state, character, and circumstances of those whom he addresses. They are selected by God according to his own sovereign purpose, and spiritually set apart for him, that believing the Gospel, they may enjoy all the blissful results of the death of Jesus Christ the just one, in the room of the unjust.3

III. THE SALUTATION OF THE EPISTLE.

The benevolent wish or solemn prayer which the apostle presents for those to whom he writes, now calls for our consideration : Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied."

“Grace” is free favor-sovereign kindness-the principle in the divine mind from which all blessings to sinful men flow. The word is often used as a general name for those blessings which flow from this sovereign kindness. Grace here plainly is the grace of God. The prayer, "Grace be multiplied unto you," implied that they were already objects of the grace of God, and is equivalent to- God loves you, and has given you proofs of his love. Had he not loved you, would he have selected you-would he have spiritually set you apart

1 Tit. ii. 11-14.

2 1 Pet. i. 18, 19.

3 See note K.

6

for himself—would he have brought you to the obedience of the truth —would he have sprinkled you with the blood of Jesus? May you have continued, increasing, and multiplied proofs that God loves you, in the continuance, and increase, and multiplication of all heavenly and spiritual blessings !'

"Peace" is not so much a different thing from "grace," as a different view of the same thing. We call spiritual blessings "grace," as springing from God's sovereign kindness. We call them "peace," as calculated to tranquillize our minds and make us happy. The prayer, "Peace be multiplied to you," is equivalent to-You already enjoy peace and happiness.' For "they who believe, do enter into rest. May your happiness be continued-may it increase! May "the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus!"

Having thus, very cursorily, considered the interesting topics suggested by this passage of Scripture, let us, my brethren, endeavor to turn them to practical account. A great majority of us are professors of Christianity. Does the description given in the text suit us? Have we any satisfactory evidence that we have been selected by God-called by his grace-spiritually separated to his service-that we have believed the truth, and are enjoying the happy consequence of the belief of the truth, in having the heart sprinkled from an evil conscience by the blood of Christ? Do we feel that here we are "strangers of the dispersion," and are waiting for "the gathering together," at the period when all the citizens of heaven shall be assembled in the New Jerusalem, where all the children of God shall be brought home to their Father's house? If this is the case with you, brethren, then let your conduct correspond with your privileges; and may grace and peace be multiplied to you, and to all the Israel of God."

If it be otherwise, we call on you now to obey the truth, and, through the obedience of the truth, to submit your hearts and consciences to the pacifying and purifying influence of the atoning blood of Jesus. We know nothing about the purpose of God in reference to individuals till that purpose is manifested in its execution; but we do know the purpose of God in reference to lost men generally, and we proclaim it as the appointed means of gathering from among men the elect of God. "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved." "Be it known unto you, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins; and by him all who believe are justified from all things, from which they could not have been justified by the law of Moses."1

1 John iii. 16, 17. Acts xiii. 38, 39.

NOTE A. p. 29.

Psal. cxviii. 16. Ch. ii. 6; xix. 5, 6; Isa. xliii. 20, 21.

The following are the principal references to the Old Testament in the epistle :-Chap. i. 16; Lev. xi. 44. Ch. i. 24, 25; Isa. xl. 6, &c.-Ch. ii. 3; Psal. xxxiv. 9. Ch. ii. 4; Isa. xxviii. 16. Ch. ii. 7; Psal. cxviii. 22. Ch. ii. 9; Exod. Ch. ii. 10; Hos. ii. 23. Ch. ii. 17; Prov. xxiv. 21. Ch. ii. 22; Isa. liii. 4, 6, 7, 9.-Chap. iii. 6; Gen. xviii. 12. Ch. iii. 10-12; Psal. xxxiv. 13, &c. Ch iii. 14, 15; Isa. viii. 12, &c. Ch. iii. 20; Gen. vi. 3, 12.-Chap. iv. 8; Prov. x. 12; comp. xvii. 9. Ch. iv. 18; Prov. xi. 31.-Chap. v. 5; Prov. v. 34. Ch. v. 7; Psal. lv. 23.

NOTE B. p. 29.

Eph. i. 3. 1 Pet. i. 20.

1 Pet. ii. 16, &c.

Rom. iv. 24; xvi. Gal. v. 13.

1 Pet. ii.

Of the assertion in the text the reader will be furnished with ample evidence, in comparing the passages here noted:-1 Pet. i. 3. 25. Col. i. 26. 1 Pet. ii. 13. Rom. xiii. 1–5. 18; iii. 1. Eph. vi. 5. Col. iii. 18. 1 &c. 1 Pet. iv. 10.

Pet. iii. 3, 4.

Rom. xii. 6, &c.
1 Cor. xvi. 20.

1 Pet. v. 1.

Rom. xvi. 16.

1 Tim. ii. 9. 1 Pet. iii. 22.

1 Tim. ii. 9.

Eph. i. 20,

Rom. viii. 18. 1 Pet. v. 8. 1 Thess. v. 6. 1 Pet. v. 14. 1 Thess. v. 26. 1 Thess. v. 26. WETSTEIN notices a very remarkable character of style which Peter has, in common with Paul. "Ita sermonem suum ordinat ut membrum sequens ex precedentis fine inchoet et cum eo connectat. I. 4.—εἰς ὑμᾶς. 5.-φρουρουμένους—ἐν καιρῷ ἐσχάτῳ. 6.—ἐν ῳ. 7.Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. 8. δν εἰδότες. 9.—σωτηρίαν ψυχῶν. 10.—περὶ ἧς σωτηρίας-προφητεύσαντες. 11. ἐρευνῶντες. The same peculiarity strongly marks the first paragraphs of Rom. v. and Eph. i., and also the proem of the Gospel of John.

NOTE C. p. 29.

The following similarities between Peter and James are remarkable:-1 Pet. i. 6, James i. 2, 3. 1 Pet. i. 24; James i. 10, 11. 1 Pet. i. 3, 23; James i. 18. 1 Pet. ii. 1, 2; James i. 21. 1 Pet. iv. 8; James v. 20. "Videtur omnino vel Jacobo Petri prior vel Petro Jacobi Epistola ob oculos versata fuisse; maxime si utraque Epistola ad easdem ecclesias pertinuerit."-STORR, Opuscula, ii. 52.

Matt. iv. 18, 19.

Luke v. 3-11.

28-31; xvii. 1-4, 24-27; xiii. 3, 4.

NOTE D. p. 34.

John i. 40-42.
Luke xxii. 8.

Mark v. 37. Matt. xvi. 16-23; xiv. John xiii. 6. Matt. xxvi. 36, 37. John xviii. 10, 11. Matt. xxvi. 31-35, 69-75. John xx. 2-7. Mark xvi. 7. John xxi. Acts i.; xii. 17; xv. 6–11, 14. Gal. i. 18; ii. 7-9, 11-14. Vide NEANDER's Planting and Training of the Christian Church-Vol. ii. p. 23–41.

“There is an election to sanctification, as performed by the power of the Gospel, separating the fore-ordained from the mass of forlorn men unto holiness of life. This is nothing else than effectual vocation."-BYFIELD. Hic non proprie æterna electio significatur, sed electio in tempore e communi turba hominum ac imprimis Judæorum, quæ electio in Scriptura, alio modo, etiam vocatio, sive vocatio secundum Dei propositum appellatur.”— BELG ANNOT. "'EKλEKTOί; vocati secundum electionem."-SCHOTANUS.

NOTE F. p. 37.

I think it right to mention that Ecumenius and a number both of ancient and modern interpreters, have connected κατὰ πρόγνωσιν κ. τ. λ. with 'Απόστολος, and not with ἐκλεκτοῖς. referring to Rom. i. 1, and especially to Acts xv. 7. This exegesis is so unnatural as not to require to be refuted. Пpóyvwors hic non præscientiam, sed antecedens decretum significať ut et Act. ii. 23: idem sensus qui Eph. i. 4."-GROTIUS. There is no exegetical ground for explaining роуɩуvάσkε, and its derivatives of "love," as has often been done to serve a purpose.

NOTE G. p. 38.

'Aylaruòs segregatio illa sive credentium consecratio, separatio a reliquis hominibus extra Christum perituris.-BEZA. "Il vous a séparés effectivement d'avec eux, non pas en vous sanctifiant comme il fit le peuple d'Israel au désert, d'une sanctification externe et corporelle seulement, lorsqu'il le fit arroser du sang de la victime, qui ratifia par sa mort l'alliance de la loy; mais en vous consacrant d'une sanctification intérieure et spirit

uelle lorsque par la vertu de sa vocation il vous a amenés à l'obéissance de son Evangile et à recevoir l'aspersion du sang de Jesus Christ épandu pour l'establissement de l'alliance de grâce en rémission des pêchés."-AMYRAUT. SEMLER, usually no safe guide, seems right here; he considers the phrase as equivalent to ἐν ἁγιασμῷ πνευματικῷ.

NOTE H. p. 38.

In the ERICTOλn πρоs Aloуνптоν, incorrectly attributed to Justin Martyr-written probably in the earlier part of the second century-the nature of the separation of Christians from mankind generally is thus described:-"The Christians are not separated from other men by earthly abode, by language, or by customs. They dwell nowhere in cities by themselves; they do not use a different language, nor affect a singular mode of life. They dwell in the cities of the Greeks and of the barbarians, each as his lot has been cast; and, while they conform to the usages of the country in respect to dress, food, and other things pertaining to the outward life, they yet show a peculiarity of conduct wonderful and striking to all. They dwell in their own country but as sojourners; they abide on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. In a word, they are in the world what the soul is in the body. The soul is diffused through all the members of the body, and Christians through the cities of the world. But the soul, though dwelling in the body, is not of the body; and Christians dwell in the world, but are not of the world."

NOTE I. p. 38.

It would be difficult to find an instance in which attachment to an artificial system of Christian doctrine has been carried farther into the interpretation of Scripture, than the explaining, as NISBET does, "election into obedience, aud sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ," of election to a participation in the active and passive righteousness of Christ,— obedience standing for the first, and blood for the second. In this instance of πapeρμnvɛía, παρερμηνεία, our worthy countryman is not original. SCHOTANUS had given the same sense before him. His note is "Ea est obedientia de qua Apostolus, Rom. v. 19."

NOTE K. p. 39.

The exposition given of this passage is that which the principles of a strict exegesis seem to require; and it is free from many difficulties which attend interpreting the passage according to our received translation. Elect,” in the sense of eternally chosen, "according to the foreknowledge of God," is language which seems to suit a conditional better than a sovereign choice. "Elect, according to the foreknowledge of God through sanctification of the Spirit," presents a very strange arrangement of ideas. Is "the foreknowledge of God," or "election" according to that foreknowledge, through sanctification of the Spirit? Surely "sanctification of the Spirit," meaning by that, sanctification by the Spirit, is the result of the divine decree, the object of the divine foreknowledge,-the cause or means of neither. Then, what is to be made of "obedience," as placed before "sprinkling of the blood of Jesus?" Is not all obedience, which deserves the name, the consequence of being justified through the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus, and being sanctified by the Spirit? and does the Spirit sanctify any who are not sprinkled with the blood of Jesus? All these difficulties, which I confess I cannot solve, are got rid of in the exegesis proposed. "Selected according to the divine foreknowledge," which is just equivalent to the divine purpose (Acts ii. 23; 1 Pet. i. 20), "by a spiritual separation unto obedience," that they "might obey the truth," i. e. believe the Gospel-“ and,” through that "obedience" to the truth, "be sprinkled with the blood of Jesus,"-enjoy all the saving results of the death of Christ—in pardon, sanctification, and eternal life. In the only other passage (2 Thess. ii. 13) where the phrase ȧyiaoμòs пvɛúparos occurs, it must be interpreted in the same way. The "choice" there seems plainly selection: by a. 7. spiritual separation and "belief of the truth."