nly glory? The text, then, has really no bearing
upon evangelical election, but simply to the election of the Jews to
theocratic privileges.

CHOSEN BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.--Ephesians i. 4, is
appealed to. It reads thus: "According as He hath chosen us in Him
before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and
without blame before Him in love." This is an old favourite text in
support of eternal and unconditional election. But does it prove it?
Those Christians to whom Paul wrote were chosen before the
foundation of the world. True, but what does this mean? Does it
prove eternal election? To elect is to "pick out," "to select." But
the parties spoken of could not be _actually_ elected or chosen
before they existed. Before you can take a pebble from an urn, it
must first be in the urn. So before man can be _actually picked_ out
of the world, he must _first_ be in it: hence election must be a
work of time. Paul speaks of his kinsmen who were in Christ before
him (Rom. xvi. 7); but if election is eternal, then the one could
not be in Christ before the other. The language then in Eph. i. 14,
can only refer to the _purpose_ of God to select certain persons in
time--BELIEVERS--to be "holy and without blame." The bearing of the
passage, then, is the same as many others, and is simply this, that
whatever God does in time, He determined to do in eternity. His
purpose was formed before the foundation of the world, or in
eternity.

Neither is there any countenance given to the idea that the election
was _unconditional_. This is clearly shown by the words "IN HIM."
The Catechism asks the question, "Did God leave all mankind to
perish in the estate of sin and misery?" and the answer is, "God
having out of His mere good pleasure from all eternity elected some
to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace to deliver
them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into a
state of salvation by a Redeemer." If this is a true version of the
case, then the saved were elected first when they were _out of_
Christ. But the passage in Ephesians says the reverse of this. They
were elected being IN CHRIST. To be in Christ is just to be united
to Him by faith--a believer in Christ as the great High Priest of
humanity.

CHOSEN TO SALVATION.--2 Thess. ii. 13, is appealed to. It reads
thus: "But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you,
brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the