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96 the glory of his rich and sovereign grace. The Jewish Church and the Christian Church were, in many particulars, as parts of the same whole, different from each other: but they were, in all essential points, one and the same society; having the same glorious Head, governed by the same laws, favored with the same gospel, animated by the same Holy Spirit, cheered by the same blessed hope, and destined to the same heavenly happiness and eternal glory.

The Christian Church flourishes under the same gracious covenant by which the Jewish Church was formed. In that covenant, Abraham was constituted the father of the faithful; and circumcision, the seal of that covenant, was appointed to assure him that he was justified by "the righteousness of faith," and that believers, whether his natural descendants, or his adopted seed, would be justified by the same glorious righteousness. Rom. 4:9–17. Hence believers are "Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." Gal. 3:29. The unity of the Church Paul illustrates, by comparing it to a tree, of which the Jews were the natural branches, but broken off on account of their unbelief; and into which Gentile believers, taken from a wild olive