The apostle Paul in his Epistle to the Romans, (Romans 8:29) speaking of God, saith, "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son." And elsewhere the same apostle, speaking of the church in Christ, saith, "that he hath predestinated them to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will." (Ephesians 1:5) Hence it will follow, that all the purposes of God in Christ concerning redemption are first formed in the Lord Jesus, and then the church in him; and hence the church is represented as saying: with one voice, (2 Timothy 1:9) "Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began."