through the gospel;" that is, the purpose of God is manifested by that very history which constitutes the subject matter of the gospel; and the way of Christ's victory over death, and of His entering into the resurrection life, is the revelation of God's purpose, as it is also the preaching of the gospel. Connect this with chap. ii. 8, "Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead, according to my gospel," and with the whole passage following it, and then let it be weighed, whether or not the eternal purpose of God, can be any thing else than that faithful saying, that foundation of the Lord standing sure, which is expounded in the second chapter, according to which it is appointed that the way up out of the fall, and out of death, should be through a willing dying to the flesh and to the will of man; and according to which the Word took flesh, in order to make this way, and to become this way, and, as the Captain of salvation, to lead by it all who would consent to die with Him unto themselves, that they might with Him live unto God.

This purpose was most certainly manifested through the appearing of Jesus Christ, and a personal selection to salvation was not

manifested. Moreover, the purpose here explained has such decided marks of identity with the eternal purpose spoken of in other parts of Scripture, and especially in Eph. i. and in Rom. viii. 28, that it is scarcely possible to suppose that any other purpose than this can be referred to in these passages. Thus let the purpose mentioned in Eph. i. 11, be compared with the prayer appended to it in verses 19 and 21; and let Rom. viii. 28, be compared with verse 17th of the same chapter, and the oneness of the purpose throughout, will be acknowledged. And surely every Christian would be thankful to find, that the true preaching of election, was nothing else than the preaching of the grace of God. On the whole, I was confirmed by these considerations, in the conviction, not only that the passage which I have quoted at length from the 2d chapter, is intended by the Apostle to be an exposition of a purpose of God, but further, that it is in truth an exposition of that great purpose in Christ which is so constantly referred to in the Bible-being indeed that which truly forms the subject of all God's revelations to man, and the ground of all man's hope towards God.

I now saw the doctrine of election clearly; for I saw that the vessel unto dishonour was the reprobate vessel, and that the vessel unto honour was the elect vessel, and that under these figures, the first Adam and the second Adam, the flesh and the spirit are set forth.

The first Adam was created for glory, honour, and immortality, as God's vicegerent upon the earth; but by following his own will, separate from and independent of God's will, he was rejected and fell under the sentence of degradation and death, and thus became a vessel unto dishonour. And the second Adam, by following not his own will, but the will of the Father, and accepting the punishment of death, as the Father's righteous judgment on the flesh, was raised from the dead to a glorious immortality, as the Father's vicegerent, instead of the first Adam, and thus became a vessel unto honour. This is the Reprobation and the Election.

Let us for a moment look at it in the type. Saul was reprobated or rejected from being king over Israel, because he was disobedient in the matter of Amalek; and David was elected or chosen into his place, because he was according to God's own heart; so that the mind of God expressed in this transac

of the whole race, as is typified in Saul and David. 35 tion, is just a seeking after righteousness. Saul was made king, that he, along with the people, might serve the Lord in his kingdom; but, when he refused to serve Him, he became a snare to himself and to the people, and he was rejected, because the Lord desired righteousness, and David, who was according to this desire, was chosen into his place. Saul, however, was not immediately removed out of the way. Although rejected, he was still permitted to retain his power in the kingdom. But David was there also. Thus these two kings, the one rejected, and the other elected, by God, were both together in the land, as if to try the people whether they would cleave to God's reprobation or God's election. The nation thus had two heads, and every individual in the nation might choose to which of these heads he would give his heart and adherence. And according to their choice, so was it unto them; those who followed the reprobate head partook in his reprobation, and those who followed the elect head partook of his election.

We are not, then, to think of God as looking upon two men and choosing righteousness for the one and unrighteousness for

the other. The desire of God is always for righteousness. And so the election in Christ is indeed the coming forth of God's desire that all should be righteous, as we shall see more fully afterwards.

The first Adam, who is the antitype of Saul, is rejected like him from the favour of God, and from being king; but still he is not taken out of the way, he is still permitted to retain his power: the flesh still reigns. The Second Adam, who is the true David, is elected into his place, and honoured with the favour of God, and with the kingly office; but His power is not yet manifested; He is still, like David, seeking where to lay his head. Both these kings are in the world, under the character of the flesh and the spirit the one, the reprobate head; the other, the elect head; and they are so in the world, that every individual may join himself to, and identify himself with, the one or the other, according to his own choice. And those who follow the flesh partake in its reprobation, and those who follow the spirit partake of its election. The sentence of dishonour and death passed on the first Adam is the decree of reprobation, by which flesh, with the blood thereof, which is the