III. To whom is eternal life given?

Eternal life is given from everlasting to all, and only the elect, or such as are converted in this life. “I give unto them eternal life.” “I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me.” “Those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition.” “Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” “No man can come to me, except the Father draw him.” “Whom he did predestinate, them he also called,” &c. (John 10:28; 17:9, 12. Matt. 25:34. John 6:44. Rom. 5:30 Faith and repentance are peculiar to the elect. But these constitute the beginning of eternal life. Therefore eternal life pertains to the elect only. “The election hath obtained it and the rest were blinded.“ (Rom. 11:7.) We may here remark that when the question is. To whom is eternal life given? it is better to reply, to the elect, than to such as are converted; for conversion and faith are but the beginning of eternal life. To say, therefore, that eternal life is given to such as are converted, is the same, as if we were to say, that life is given to the living. When it is asked, To whom the beginning of eternal life is given? we answer correctly to the elect; for if we were to say, it is given to such as are converted, we beg the question; seeing that the question is, Whom does God convert?