h was
secured by their election and the gift of them in the everlasting
Covenant, that they discharge every duty.[387] It was because of the
sovereign love of God that his Church was chosen, and united to Christ
in the character of his Covenanted Spouse. In consequence of that love,
which is manifested even by the infliction of chastisement, being
branches of Him--the true vine--they are purged that they may bring
forth more abundantly those fruits of righteousness, among which stands
the act of taking hold on God's covenant.[388] These fruits include not
merely the obedience of the life, but the homage of the heart expressed
by the lip. And by the lip, fruit is brought forth when God's name is
called upon in vowing and swearing to him. "By him therefore let us
offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of
our lips, giving thanks (confessing) to his name."[389] The elect are
chosen "to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of
the truth;"[390] and consequently to Covenanting, as well as every other
act in which faith is exercised. By faith they vow and swear; and that
is connected with union to Christ. Whatever view of the Spirit's
procedure in the day of regeneration may be entertained, union to Christ
is then effected, faith is given, and the believer proceeds to endeavour
after obedience. Some have maintained that faith precedes union to the
Redeemer; others, that union to Him anticipates that grace. And,
accordingly, though both classes maintain that these occur
simultaneously, yet they entertain opposite opinions regarding the
relative order in which they take place, or what is denominated "the
order of nature," in reference to this. If it were necessary to admit
that an order of nature is observed here, the latter supposition would
seem to have the better claim. But though in many things connected with
the believer's progress there is unquestionably an order of nature,
perhaps there is no necessity for introducing that idea in reference to
this particular case. By maintaining that such an order obtains here,
there is manifested a tendency, as if to represent the two things as
proceeding like two points in a straight line, which moves in the
direction of its length, and so to conceive that one of them must
necessarily be first; while, by abandoning the notion of such an order,
we might compare the two to two points, both of which are carried by the
line moving only in a d