First that the Father gave the elect to his Son is evidenced by the following verses of scripture:

A. Matt. 1:21 "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.

B. John 6:37 39 "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day."

C. John 10:28, 29 "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them me is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.

D. John 17:1, 2 "...Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him."
 

E. Heb. 2:13 "And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me." These verses of scripture are sufficient to prove that the Father gave to the Son a people.

Now let us look to when this gift was made. In Eph. 1:4 we read, "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 verse teaches us that God made choice of a people to be his before the foundation of the world and gave them to Christ in covenant at that time. These then are the ones that God foreknew in Rom. 8:29.

Next, let us consider for what purposes were the elect given to Christ in covenant before the world began. In looking back at the scriptures we have already quoted we can make the following observations:

A. The elect were given to Christ that "he may save his people from their sins." (Matt. 1:21)

B. The elect were given to Christ by the Father that they all will come to him. (John 6:37)
 

C. The elect were given to Christ by the Father that none of them be "cast out." (John 6:37)
 

D. The elect were given to Christ by the Father that none of them be lost. (John 6:39)

E. The elect were given to Christ by the Father that they all be raised up again at the last day. (John 6:39)
 

F. The elect were given to Christ by the Father that they all be preserved in Christ Jesus. (John 10:29)
 

G. The elect were given to Christ by the Father that he give eternal life to all the elect. (John 17:2)
 

H. The elect were given to Christ by the Father that all the elect should be holy and without blame before God in love. (Eph. 1:4). In addition, the elect were given to Christ by the Father that:

I. The elect be adopted into the family of God. (Eph. 1:5)
 

J. The elect be made accepted by God in Christ. (Eph. 1:6)
 

K. The elect have redemption through the blood of Christ, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of God's grace. (Eph. 1:7)
 

L. The elect obtain an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. (Eph. 1:11)

M. The elect should be created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. (Eph. 2:10)

In all of the above we see where the Father gave the elect to Christ in covenant for the work that Christ would do on their behalf and thus procure all the blessings reserved for them in the covenant of redemption.

In our next essay we will consider the Lamb's book of life as it relates to the elect.

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