Though the mariner sees not the polestar,
yet the needle of the compass which points to it tells him which way he sails:
thus the heart that is touched with the loadstone of divine love, trembling with godly fear, and yet still looking towards God by fixed believing,
points at the love of election, and tells the soul that its course is heavenward, toward the haven of eternal rest.
He that loves may be assured that he was loved first….
Robert Leighton (1611-84), Commentary on 1 Peter.
'Chosen and destined by God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ and to be sprinkled with his blood' (1 Peter 1:2). Although Bishop of Glasgow, Robert Leighton believed he had been called to bring peace , not mere compromise, between Episcopalians and Presbyterians in Scotland. He failed in his attempt to bring unity between the two systems of church governance. Nevertheless, he combined a firm Calvinist belief in predestination and a spiritual depth (mystical sensitivity) that owed much to S. Bernard (1090-1153) and Thomas a Kempis (c.1380-1471).
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