Love's pedigree. Or A discourse showing the grace of love in a believer to…Love's pedigree. Or A discourse shewing the grace of love in a believer to…

1. It was this love that appointed us to be the heirs of Salvation. The Word of God doth frequently express our Salvation under the consideration of an Inheritance; and so all the claims that we can make to it, must be in way of Heirship: and we are not born heirs to it by a natural birth, but are introduced into it by a voluntary Adoption: we had in our selves no more of right to it than the Devils, nor could we make out a better claim to it than the rest of Apostate mankind: we were common heirs with them of the same destruction, Eph. 2.3. Being children of wrath by nature even as others. We therefore come to have a right thereto according to appointment, 1 Thes. 5.9. God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain Salvation by Jesus Christ. Nor can there be a greater obligation upon us to love God, than the consideration of this eternal design: to think that God had such a thought of good will for us, when he proposed no such favour for millions as good, and as well deserving as we; and this is owing to his love, 1 Joh. 3.1. Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed, upon us▪ that we should be called the Sons of God? And sure this love must be more ancient than ours to him, who but the ⟨p. 20⟩other day hated him, and were his Enemies.

2. This love provided Christ to purchase Salvation for us. Such was our unhappy condition by the Fall, that there could be no salvation for us, but by a satisfaction made to offended Justice, which Attribute must not in the least veil its glory in this affair, or so much as stoop to mercy in it. If God will save us, he must provide a Jesus for us, one that can save us from our sins. The Law must have a reparation made for the violation of it; our contracted Guilt must be expiated; we cannot do this for our selves, thousands of rams, and ten thousand rivers of oil will not do it; there must a Surety interpose to undertake this, none could do it but the Son of God, he must be made Sin and a Curse for us, he must have all our Iniquities laid upon him, and by his stripes we must be healed: the case was reduced to this exigence, either God must destroy us everlastingly for our sins, or do the execution upon his own Son in our stead; nothing else would have done: Certainly then here was love unparalleled: Christ himself expresseth it as that which exceeds all comparison,