are rich beawtifull mighty and in honour they ought to know that this is not the Apostolicall loue Riches indede and beawty and honour are the giftes of God but yet not such that we ought with a singular loue to embrace them And the Church that 〈◊〉 in theyâ— house Paul writeth the selfe same thing of these persons in the first to yâ— Corinthians the last chap either bycause that theyr famely was so godly enstructed that it mought seme to be a Church or els for that the faythfull gathered together into theyr house to celebrate holy assemblies And this interpretacion I thinke to be the likelier although Chrisostome Origen and Ambrose follow the first The first fruites of Achaia They which before all others come to professe religion plainely declare that they litle regard men and the iudgements of the flesh but only follow the impulsioÌ„ of the holy gost Origen in stede of Achaia redeth Asia whome he that will follow let him vnderstand Asia the lesse wherein is Ephesus I meruayle at Ambrose which referreth first fruites to present dignity as though he were placed in some magestrateship or principality which semeth not vnto me very likely and especially for that this word in Christ is added My kâ—nsmen and fellovv prisoneâ—â— Kinred alone could not haue moued him but he the gladlier mencioneth them for that they had suffred together with hym They came to Christ before Paul they are called notable amongst the Apostles not that they were of the number of the 12. Apostles but for that as it is most likely they had sowed abrode the Gospell in many places and had built many Churches Origen thinketh that it is possible that they were of the number of the 72. disciples Which I thinke can not be for they fell away from Christ But how attributeth he this vnto his wife as though the office of the Apostleship could agrée also with her Paraduenture they are called notable amongst the Apostles for that they were well knowen vnto them and were of no small reputation in the Church of Christ This sence I dislike not so that the very wordes be not repugnaunt thereunto Them which are of Aristobulus house He biddeth not them to salute Aristobulus Narcissus made a freman by Claudius Cesar himselfe peraduenture for that he beleued not in Christ Yet he had of â–ª his housholde that were Christians Which self thing is also thought of those whome he addeth the friendes of Narcissus This man was made a frée man by Claudius Cesar and was a man of great might but otherwise wicked an extorcioner and one euill spoken of howbeit Ambrose thinketh that he was an elder In the Lord For all the family of Narcissus beleued not the gospel Vnto these men he ascribeth no titles paraduenture for that they were weake and did not so boldly professe the Gospell Apollo Origen thinketh that Apollo was that Apollo borne at Alexandria but I know not how I should be of his minde touching that For so great a man without doubt should haue bene adorned with some most notable title He therefore peraduenture sayth that these women â—hryphona Tryphosa Persis Mariae laboured for that they had suche a ministery as before we sayde Phebe had His mother and mine He calleth this woman mother bicause of her affection The boke of Hermas is not in the Canon towardes him and not that she was so by nature So before he called Phebe his sister Hermas Origen thinketh that this man was the author of the boke called the booke of the Pastor which scripture he sayth séemeth to him holy and inspired by God which is a plain argumeÌ„t that that boke is not to be receiued as Canonicall VVith an holy kisse This amongst the Hebrues was a token of peace and of brotherly amitie All the churches of Christ salute you Here are ment those churches through which Paul had passed or which were nigh to those places Now brethren I besech you marke them diligently which cause diuision and offences contrary to the doctrine which you haue learned and auoide them For they that are such serue not the lord Iesus Christ but their owne bellyes and with faire speche and flattering deceiue the hartes of the simple For your obedience is come abrode amongst al. I am glad therfore of you but yet I wold haue you arise vnto that which is good and simple coÌ„cerning euill The God of peace shall treade sathan vnto your fete shortly The grace of our Lord Iesus Christ be with you I beseche you brethren marke them diligently which cause diuision and offenceâ— He had willed them before to salute the godly Now he admonisheth them to beware of the wicked He willeth them diligently to marke and to consider them for that as it oftentimes happeneth they can not easely be found out but after loÌ„g time and after that they haue done some great mischief In these words are noted the false Apostles and as Chrysostome sayth diuers of the Iewes which by reason of the ceremonyes of the lawe did cause diuision and dissension in the Churches These men serued theyr voluptuous pleasures and their bealy and not God such as they were also whome the Lord sayd deuoured the houses of widowes Suche men Paule to Timothe calleth intractable vaine speakers deceiuers of mennes mindes and which were of the circumcision They ouerthrow sayth he houses they teache those things which are not meete for filthy gaine sake whose mouth oughte to be stopped A certaine Prophet of theyrs sayd That the men of Crete haue alwayes bene liers â–ª euill beasts and slouthfull bellies And in the latter Epistle to Timothe which crepe into the houses of widowes and lead captiue wemen laden with sinnes always learning and neuer comming to the knowledge of the truth They vse fayre speach sayth he but by theyr flattering they seke nothing else but to deceiue you These are two marks to know false Apostles by They serue theyr bealy and speake fayre or flatteringly Such men sayth Origen ment Christ when he said They come vnto you in shepes Two markes to know false Apostleâ— â–ª by Onely by the word of God false doctrine is discâ—rned from true clothing but within they are rauening wolues shéepes clothing are fayre wordes the gredines of the belly signifieth the rauening of Wolues And Origen addeth See in how great daunger they are which exercise not them selues in the holy scriptures by which only these men are discerned These wordes are diligently to be noted that true doctrine is discerned from fals by the holy scriptures only We make not discordes in the churche as the bondslaues of the Pope falsly slaunder vs but we as muche as lieth in vs and as our bounden duety is resist theyr conspiracye which they haue made against the truthe and with which they haue so long time oppressed it And auoyde them The Church hath no other sword but excommunication This sword the Apostle admonisheth them to vse against
the holy scripture This doubtles is not my purpose but hauing mencioned a part many thinges which both engender encrease my sorow griefe I thought good to adde remedies which I saw were geuē of God agaynst the same griefe namely holy prayers reading of the holy scriptueres These things as they are the weapōs of Christians especially in those troublesome times of theyrs so right honorable worthy sir there was no nede that you should with many wordes be by me admonished of them when as I am not ignorant what your piety and learning is and how redy and well in vre you are in either kind of those actions Wherfore it may seme that I ought rather to haue shewed this how you thorough these most excellent aydes haue bene holpen euen to this time hytherto and that not only thereby you susteyne your selfe but also become euery day better wiser and stronger Howbeit this feared me away from doing so for that I thought it not good to molest your eares for I know that it is much agaynst your will to heare your owne prayses Neither doubtles is it nedefull to set forth your vertues chiefely of this kind when as it is well knowen and vnderstanded of all men that with out such aydes you had neuer ben able to reach to that excellency of Christian vertue of the knowledge of things diuine and humane of holy conuersation and of notable valiantnes and perseuerance in the confession of the true fayth To what purpose then haue I written these thinges To this end vndoubtedly that writing vnto you touching thē I might instruct teach and comfort others which should read them and ther withall set forth vnto them a man which continually vsing the aydes before set forth doth both offer vnto God most acceptable sacrifices and also comforteth and strengthneth himselfe in the Lord and moreouer geueth a singular example to others for the wel ordering of thinges in the pure and sincere religion of Christ I for my part doubtles haue euen since the time that I dwelt in England borne a singular loue and no smal or vulgar affection towards you both for your singular piety and learning and also for the worthy office which you faythfully with great renoune executed in the christiā publike wealth in instructing Edward that most holy king and most worthy to be beloued whose wit goodnes religion and eyther vertues heroical yea rather Christian may indede be touched but can neuer be praysed according to theyr desert Wherefore whē in that realme and in that office I began to loue you right honorable sit and afterward God by his singuler prouidence which he vseth in the gouernment and administration of things pertayning to his so wrought that I saw you againe in Germanie and knew you to be euen the selfe same man you were before I was so affected y◠where as before I did indede loue you yet now I do most feruently loue Wherfore I oftentimes thought with my selfe how I might once in some thing if it were possible signifie and testifie both how much I esteeme your vertues and how gratefull I am towardes you for the benefites which you somtymes haue bestowed vpon me but to accōplish this I had for a long ceason no occasion offred vnto me I happened afterward to come to Tigure but since my departure from you that selfe same cogitatiō neuer went out of my minde Yea rather I always thought it my part once at the length to pay vnto your honour that whiche vnwitting vnto you I had in my minde with a good will promised vnto it Wherfore mynding now to put abroade my commentaries vpon the Epistle of Paul to the Romanes I thought it good to set them forth vnder the protection of your name and fully persuade my self that you will take it in good part Although at the first you can not but wonder and peraduenture take it ill for thinges which are not loked for and which happen besides expectation do commonly cause admiration And we see that a light gift and such a gift which turneth rather to a burthen then to honour is many tymes not so wel accepted Wherfore I hartely beseche your honour to pardon my boldnes which I cannot tel whether others wil call rashnes And I thynke that that thyng which I haue besides your knowledge thought vpon came from the spirite of God which gouerneth our hartes and receiue this booke dedicated of me vnto you with the same fauour wherewith that your most worthy and deare pupill Edward king of England not long since receiued my other Commentaries vpon the first epistle to the Corinthians and conceaue that my minde was by this dedication how meane soeuer it be to ioyne you a scholemaister of much renowne with ascholer of most excellency Doubtles by the authoritie of the king I taught at Oxford in his last tyme those thinges which you shall here read and when it was not onely required but also vrged at my handes to put abroade this worke I yelded thereto But considering that it was due to some man of the Englishe nation I thought you a mā most mete to whom it might be geuen in the stede of the king now dead Wherfore I earnestly desire you to take that which I haue done not in ill part but in good neither thinke that I ment to burthen or to charge you but rather after asort to couple you together with my king and yours and in some part to answere vnto your deserts both towardes religion and towardes my selfe I know doubtles that the thinges which are here taught of me will not make you either much ler neder or much better for you both know them alredy and also as much as the state of this flesh will suffer do expresse them in your maners and life But forasmuch as all are not come so farre I desire and besech God the father of our Lord Iesus that the thinges white are put abrode vnder your name may at the least be profitable vnto others though you your selfe litle nede them and that they may enioy the fruite hoped for For my earnest desire is that these my writinges may serue to the vse of the Church of Christ My desire is to confirme to amplifie and to illustrate the Gospel of the sonne of God My desire is to establish the weake in fayth and playnly to enstruct the vnlerned And that I may attayne to these thinges I most earnestly require of you by your most faythfull supplications and prayers at Gods hand to obteyne them but I am aferd lest you or some other should aske me what neded you at this time to take such great paynes in the interpreting of this epistle Did you thinke that we wāted expositors either old or new Doubtles you were not ignorāt of thē whē as you so often in your commentary alledge both Greke and latine Fathers neither can you dissemble that you haue not sene the latter writers for
though they coulde finde no remedye wherby to auoyde reprobation or ells doe put so much confidence therin to liue losely and at pleasure saying that it maketh no matter for that seing they are predestinate they can not be condemned what doe they els but most wickedly abuse a good thing Euery thing ought to be taken by that part wherby it may be holden For a sworde is not drawē by the edge or by the blade but by the Euery thing must be taken by that part wherby it may be holden hafte neyther is a vessell taken by the middest of the bellye but by the handle or eare So predestination ought to be referred to the commodities now declared and not to those thinges which may engender destruction These notes and these titles hath Paule affixed vnto hys name that we shoulde not thinke hym to be a wandryng man which rashlye sowed contentions concernyng religion and that we shoulde vnderstand that there is a great difference betwene Apostles and other common ministers although there be some which dare teach that we must no lesse beleue the Byshop of Rome then Paule the Apostle I graūt in deede that eyther of them do both thunder and lighten but yet after a farre diuers and sundrye manner The Pope thundreth and lightneth with bulles belles gunnes and weapons of warre but Paule hath by the worde of God The Pope and Paule do diuersly thunder and lightē by admonitions rebukinges wholesome doctrine by miracles thundred and lightned in the Church But let vs see by what reason these men defend theyr opinion They say the byshops succeded the Apostles wherefore both haue one and the selfe same authoritie and to both ought we to obey a lyke But we aunswere them thus It is true that the Apostles departyng out of thys world left Byshops to be gouernours ouer Churches but we vtterly deny that Apostles Byshops are not of lyke authoritie Byshops succeding the Apostles are endued with the selfe same or lyke authoritie and that thyng we proue after thys sorte Fyrst because we see that the Apostles were to thys end chosen to constitute the religion and dignitie of the Gospell and to publishe vnto the beleuers the thynges which they had heard of The difference betwene the Apostles Byshops Christ But byshops are to this ende instituted to defend those thynges which are conteyned in the Gospell and in the holy Scriptures which they must so take in hand to defend that they adde no newe thynges vnto them nor fayne any new traditions at theyr owne will and pleasure Farther the holy fathers which were Byshops when they gaue them selues to wryting do confesse that they are onely intreaters or interpreters of the holy Scriptures and will not that those thinges which they write should be had in so great authoritie as we attribute vnto the Canonicall Scriptures yea rather they forbidde that any credite should be geuen vnto them if they speake any thyng agaynst the holy Scriptures Thyrdly to the Apostolicall doctrine were adioyned many miracles wherby theyr authoritie is confyrmed which thyng we see is not done in these traditions of the elders Farther we are sure that the Apostles wrote by the inspiration of the holy ghost which thing vndoubtedly we dare not affirme of our Byshops Wherefore we conclude that the Apostles could not erre in those thynges which they wrote But we see that the Byshoppes very often tymes made vngodly decrees as touchyng rules of religiō as it appeareth in the Counsell of Ariminum and also in the seconde Synode of Ephesus and also in many other yea and they also erred very much in their actes At Chalcedon and Chrysostome deposed Constantinople were Synodes gathered together in which Chrysostome was condempned and deposed which thyng also was done in the name of those Byshoppes which were of a ryght and perfect fayth And there myght be alleaged many examples of the lyke sorte Paule also writing vnto Timothe prayeth hym to saue that which is geuen hym to keepe declaryng that he ought neither to adde nor to diminishe any thyng of the doctrine of the Gospell receaued that is to keepe iustly the thyng committed vnto hym Let thys also be added that the Apostles be so vnto the Bishops and Ordinarye pastours as in the olde time were the Prophetes vnto the high priestes and priestes For they myght write bookes and adioyne them vnto the Canonicall Scripture For Samuell added hys bookes vnto the Scripture Esaie Ieremie and the other Prophets added theyr Monuments vnto the Scripture which thyng the Scribes Priestes and high Priestes could not doe The Apostles called the Gentiles and abrogated the ceremonies of the lawe which thing was aboue the power of the high priestes and priestes The Apostle doth therefore set forth hym selfe by these titles that Why Paul ascribed vnto hym selfe these titles when we read hym or heare hym we should thinke that we heare not the wordes of a man but oracles from heauen Here is also put in the prayse of the Gospell which must bee read by a parenthesis and the same extendeth euen vnto thys place where he sayth To all which are at Rome c. The Gospell to speake brieflye is the preachyng The grosse definitiō of the Gospell takē of the matter of Christ offred vnto vs to saluation accordyng to the promises made in the olde tyme. Thys commendation is taken of the matter which is entreated of in the Gospell because euery science and facultie hath hys dignitie of the thyng that it intreateth of Afterward is geuen an other definition and that is An other definitiō of the Gospell takē of the efficient cause taken of the strength of working namely that the Gospell is the power of God vnto saluation that is the instrument wherby Christ would haue vs saued Definitions takē of these causes ought to be ioyned together to the end to haue the more full knowledge of the Gospell In that it is sayd VVhich he had before promysed c. It is a preuenting whereby hee declineth the enuious name of newnes For the Gospell was counted a new doctrine For they which heard Paule thus reasoned with them selues The olde Patriarches and the Prophets had saluation and a Church and yet they wanted your Gospell therefore thys doctrine is not necessary yea rather more then needeth Here Paule confesseth that the elders were saued but The doctrine of the Gospell is not newe not without the Gospell For in as much as God had before promised it by the fayth of thys promise they were all made safe But now it appeareth new doctrine vnto you because ye haue ouerwhelmed thys promise with humane traditions and haue made it obscure with your owne inuentions Thys selfe same argumēt may we at this day make against our aduersaries which cry out that we bryng in new doctrine Vndoubtedly we go about no new thyng but they haue vtterly brought in straunge and new
it with fayth Wherefore in this word Reuealed let vs marke two maner of comparisons one is as touching the godly Twokinds of reuelacioÌ„ of the Gosple which receaue these thinges of god that they myght by that meanes acknowledge feele and by suxe experience vnderstand those thynges as touching all the three partes of righteousnes of which before we spake distinctly For they are not so moued of God as though they felt not nor knew by experience such thinges as are done But they which are only lookers one and not doers of the matter neyther see the fyrst part of righteousnes nor yet the second for that they are but naturall men and the god of this world hath blynded their myndes that they shoulde not be able to attayne to these spirituall thynges But the third portion of righteousnes which bursteth forth into act and is set in outwarde woorkes will them or nill them is seene of them and they are euen agaynste theyr will compelled to beare witnesse vnto it as we reade that Pline the yonger wrote vnto Traiane of the innocent life of the Christians Pliny wrote vnto Trayane in the christians behalfe For holy men shewed examples inough whereby the vngodly if they had bene wyse mought haue considered that they were altogether renewed in mynd and that this kinde of menne is more acceptable vnto god then other men are But in these thynges humane wisedome is wonderfully blynded whiche can geue no iudgement of spirituall thinges and yet these partes of righteousnes are of their owne nature so ioyned together that the one depeÌ„deth of the other In thys sense Paule writeth afterward of the righteousnes of God If our vnrighteousnesse commendeth the ryghteousnesse of God where we manifestlye see that the righteousnes of God signifyeth his goodnes and clemency But now let vs consider thys addition From fayth to fayth There be so many expositions vpon these words that if I should rehearse them all time would not serue me I will touch only a few of them and wyll iudge whyche of them seemeth to me more probable and nyer vnto the truth Some vnderstand from the fayth of the elders to the faith of their posterity Others froÌ„ a weaker faith to a stroÌ„ger fayth Others from the fayth of one article to the fayth of an other And to make an end of rehearsing opinions I wil come to that which in my iudgement is best to be allowed A double significatiâ— of fayth It appeareth that Paule taketh fayth two maner of wayes One waye for that assent which we geue vnto God when he promiseth vs any thing an other way for the constancy of wordes and promises And after that maner the fayth of God is commended as we reade afterward in the 3. chapter What if some of them haue not beleued Shall their incredulytie make frustrate the fayth of God By which woordes he signifyeth that God faythfully performed that which he had promised According to this distinction we may say that this reuelation or exhibition of the righteousnes of God towardes vs is brought to passe by faith namely our fayth whereby we geue credite vnto God making promise to vs and that our fayth is both strenghthened and also confyrmed by the fayth of god namely because we see that he hath coÌ„stantly performed the things which he had promised And this interpretacion Ambrose toucheth in this commentaryes and in my iudgement it semeth very agreeable It followeth As it is written The iust shall lyue by fayth Paule laboreth to proue that we Chrisostom sayth that we are iustefied by faith onely are iustified by fayth and Chrisostome when he interpreteth this place testefyeth that by it only we obtayne remission of sinnes For he sayth we way not hope for it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is from any other where If thou aske why scripture is in thys place cited of the Apostle the same Chrisostome aunswereth for that vnto humane reason it seemeth a thing vnlikely to be true that he whiche was euen now an adulterer a murtherer and a committer of sacriledge should straight way be counted iust so that he beleue and receaue the Gospell of Christ These An history of Constaâ—tine seeme to be thinges passing coÌ„mon capacity neither can they easely be beleued For we reade in the Tripartite historie the first booke 6. chapter that Constantyne the great which was the fyrst emperour that publikely receaued the Gospell slew many that were of his affinity and kinred and was the author and procurer that his owne sonne whiche was called Chrispus was murthered Of which wicked actes when he began to repent to hym he asked aduise of Sopater the philosopher who in teching succeded Plotynus whether there might be any expiacion or satisfaction made for these greate haynous crimes Vnto whom the Philosopher aunswered that there could be none Afterward he asked counsell of Christian Bishops and they aunswered that all those sinnes might be expiated so that he would beleue in Christ and with a syncere fayth receaue his Gospel Hereby it came to passe that that Emperour embraced our religion The author of this history reiecteth this narration as a thyng fayned and by diuerse argumentes proueth that it was inuented of malicious men which fauoured not Christian religion But what soeuer it were this thynge onely haue I a respect vnto that they tooke thys occasion to fayne this lye for that both Philosophers and also ciuile men iudged it absurde that a man being vnpure and laden with sinnes should streight way be counted pure iust before God so soone as he receaueth the fayth of Christ Paul therfore lest he should seme to be the author of this wonderfull doctrine from which humayne reason so much abhorreth citeth a place out of the holy Scriptures and by it plainly proueth that it is eueÌ„ so The testimony which he bringeth is taken out Chrisostome Ambrose sayling in memory of Abacuk the prophet the 2. chapter althoughe Chrisostomes interpretation as it is in the Greke citeth the name of Sophonias But that is not to be merueyled at because paraduenture his memory failed him For the fathers as they were men might sometymes erre For Ambrose also when he entreated of this place a little before put To the Iew first and to the Greeke sayth that the Iewes were so first named of Iudas Machabeus which did set at liberty his nacion when they were by the Grecians brought into bondage Which saying how vntrue it is the second booke of kinges testefyeth in the 25. chapter and also Ieremy in hys 40. chapter and Hester in the 3. chapter and Esdras Nehemias Daniell Zachary and other such like places wherein the surnames of the Iewes is most manifestly rede long tyme before Iudas Machabeus was ruler ouer them Neyther do I therefore speake this that I would malepartly contemne the authority of the We must not attribute to much vnto the fathers fathers But that we should
God mought seme to haue bene the God onely of the Hebrewes and to haue left the Gentles without hope of saluation as though he were not their God This reason leadeth to absurditie as though God were a taker of partes which thing is The idols of the Ethnikes were 〈…〉 diuerse partes or sides God fauored the Iewes but yet he for sooke not other nations An error of Aben Ezre by no meanes to be attributed vnto him as the Ethnikes ascribed vnto their idols when they fayned yâ— some toke part wyth the Troyans some with the Grecians so that they fought also one against an other and lamented when things went not with theÌ„ as they defired But with the true God is no such acceptioÌ„ of persoÌ„s It is true in dede that some singuler giftes were geuen vnto the Iewes but yet not in such sorte that other nations were forsaken Howbeit Aben Esdra durst take vpoÌ„ him to define that Gods prouidence reacheth not vnto euery singuler maÌ„ but onely as touching the Israelites vnto the other he faith he looked onely generally but had ouer the Iewes a peculiar care as touchyng euery perticuler thing by them done But Paulâ— here testifieth that God is the God as well of the Gentles as of the Iewes And forasmuch as God is as it is most certayn the chiefest good thing he communicateth himselfe vnto others after the best maner that may be whiche is most chiefly done in iustifieng them Wherfore Dauid fayd Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. But what blessednes can there be wythout the gyft of iustification And vndoubtedly God deliuereth from all euill those whose God he is Wherfore he suffreth them not either to be oppressed wyth sin perpetually or to Blessednes can not be without iustification From whence is concluded the resurrection of the dead be obnoxious vnto eternall punishmentes By this meanes Christ concludeth the resurrection of the dead for that in the scriptures is written I am the God of Abraham of Isaac and of Iacob For if he were their God then is it necessary that he at the length deliuer them from euill and from the payne of death which thyng by yâ— resurrection he will performe vnto them when he shall redeme them from death And it is manifest that that ought to be graunted vnto all men whereby all men are iustified And forasmuch as this commeth to passe by the benefite of God therby is concluded that God is the God of all those vnto whome he geueth his righteousnes from which number the Gentles can not be excluded when as in the time of the Apostles they both came vnto Christ and also most manifestly receiued the holy ghost as did other which beleued in Christ and were of the Iewes And for as much as God hath created all maner of thinges vniuersally and by his prouidence gouerneth all thinges and formed the first one man from whome is spred abrode Places by which is proued that vnto the Gentiles also pertaineth the true God all our whole kinde shall not he be thought to be the God of al men Which thing also is hereby proued for that in the holy scripture it is written That euery one that calleth vpon the name of the Lord shall be saued And againe it is sayd They which beleue and are baptised shal be saued And vnto this tendeth that which is sayde of the prophet All flesh shall see the sauyng health of God where by fleshe we vnderstande man And this thyng also do all those oracles testifie in whiche is intreated of the callyng of the Gentles as is that which was said vnto Abraham In thy sede shall all nations be blessed And Iacob affirmed that the scepter should not be taken away froÌ„ Iuda vntill he came which should be sent and he sayth he shall be the expectatioÌ„ of the Gentles In Esay also we reade of the roote or féede of Iesse that in him the Gentles should hope And it were an infinite labour to rehearse all the places which serue to this purpose The Hebrewes boasted that the lawe was geuen for them But yet that as touchyng thys parte the Gentles were not neglected hereby is testified The Gentles were not excluded from the Law in that there moughte come vnto the publike wealthe of the Iewes and vnto theyr lawes as manye Proselites as woulde And when the Israelites were called oute of Egipte there followed them no small multitude of the Egiptians vpon whome God in the deserte bestowed the selfe same benefites and giftes that he gaue vnto the Iewes And he made a promise in his lawes that straungers also shoulde be admitted to the eatinge of the paschall Lambe so that they woulde be circumcised By all whiche thinges it is manifest that the Gentiles were not neglected of God euen as touchinge the benefite of the lawe Farther we knowe that Melohisedech who hath a singular prayse in Ethnikes praised in the scriptures the lawe was commended as iuste and the priest of the moste â—ygh God Also Iethro the father in law of Moses Iobe being Gentiles are notably coÌ„mended in the holy scriptures It is certayne also that Queene Saba is commended because she came to heare the wisedome of Salomon Nether were the Niniuites omitted who when they had repented were saued By these thinges it is manifest that before the comming of Christ amongst the GeÌ„tiles were some which had the true God and worshipped him for God Further after Christ was now come there is none but playnely seeth how it was declared that God had a care ouer the Gentiles He disdayned not the woman of Samaria nor the woman of Chanaan which were Ethnikes and Cornelius the Centurion before he had receaued baptisme was accepted of God and when he had beleeued he receaued the holy ghost in a visible forme before he was baptised Neyther came Peter vnto him without an assured oracle of God when as vnto him was shewed a vessell let downe from heaueÌ„ wherein were contayned both serpents and all kind of vncleane beastes of which it was sayd vnto hym that he should kyll eate This also last of all is coÌ„firmed by the history of the Eunuch which longed vnto Candaces Queene of the Ethyopians who was by a singular miracle instructed of Phillip baptised This thing woÌ„derfully yrked the Iewes that they sawe the Ethnikes admitted vnto grace without the lawe But they ought to haue remembred as sayth Tertullian in his booke agaynst the Iewes that whereas they so much boasted of the lawe the lawe was not first geuen vnto them For before them Adam first receaued it in paradise and in that which was geuen vnto hym was contayned whatsoeuer was afterward by Moses commaunded in the morall preceptes especially as touching the princicipall The Law was geuen vnto AdaÌ„ wherefore not the Iewes onely had the law but all men in Adam poyntes For if Adam had loued God with all hys hart how could
the law is two maner of wayes cōfirmed by fayth First because by it we obtaine the holy ghost whereby are ministred vnto vs strengthes to obey the lawe But a man may paraduenture doubt how this can be that by fayth we haue the holy ghost when as of necessity he alwayes goeth before fayth For fayth The holy ghost goeth before fayth in vs. Betwene causes and effects are certayne circuites The holy ghost both goeth before and also followeth fayth The Law maketh vs vncertaineof the good will of God The Law with out fayth is weake and can not consiste is both his gift and also commeth from him to vs. But we answere that betwene the causes and the effectes seme to be certayne circuites as it is manifest by cloudes and showers From cloudes discend raynes out of waters which are in the inferior places are taken vp vapors by the heate of the heauēs which are thickened into cloudes out of which againe discend showers vpon the earth But in this circute we must alwayes haue a recourse to the first according to the order of nature which is whē there is supposed an humor of which cloudes may encrease So also must we do here We will graūt that fayth by the benefite of the holy ghost springeth in vs. By which fayth is increased the aboundance of the selfe same spirite whose encrease the former fayth hath preuented and of a greater fayth is still made a greater encrease of the spirite But yet notwithstanding we constantly affirme that there is but one thing chiefely from whence all these good things flow namely the holy ghost Secondly saith Augustine the lawe is by the helpe of fayth otherwise confirmed Because by fayth we pray and calling vpon God with prayers we do not only obtayne remission of sinnes but also so greate a portion of the spirite and of grace that we haue strengthes to obey the lawe Vndoubtedly the lawe if it be taken by it selfe maketh vs both vncertayne of the good will of God and after a sort bringeth desperation vnles fayth come and helpe which both maketh vs assured that God is pacefied and mercifull towards vs and also by grace obtayneth the renuing of strengthes And the Apostles phrase whereby he sayth that by fayth he establisheth the lawe is to be noted For thereby he signifieth that the lawe if it be left vnto it selfe and without fayth is weake so that it can not consiste And therefore vnles it be vpholden by fayth it shall easely fall And The woonderful sharpnes of wit in Paule The Law and sayth helpe one an other this is the poynte of a singular artificer not only to depel from him that which is obiected but also to declare that the selfe same maketh most of all for hys purpose The lawe and fayth helpe one an other and as the common saying is geue handeseche to other For the lawe doth as a scholemaster bring men vnto the fayth of Christ and on the other side fayth bringeth this to passe that it maketh them after a sort able to accomplishe the lawe For strayght waye so soone as a man beleueth in Christ he obtayneth iustification and is liberally endued with aboundance of the spirite and with grace The entent and purpose of the lawe was that a man should both be made good and also be saued But this thing it was not able to performe Then succeded fayth and did helpe it for through it is a man renued so that he is able to obey God and his commaundementes Chrisostome sayth that Paule here proueth three thinges First that a man may be iustified without the lawe Secondly that the lawe can not iustify Thirdly that fayth and the lawe are not repugnant one to the other Ambrose teacheth that therefore by fayth is the lawe established because that those thinges which by the lawe are commaunded to be done are by fayth declared to be done And we haue alredy before heard that this righteousnes which Paule here commendeth hath testemony both of the lawe and of the Prophetes And if any man obiect that therefore the lawe is made voyde by fayth because by it ceremonies are abolished he answereth that this thing therefore so happeneth because the lawe it selfe would haue it so and foretold that it should so come to passe In Daniell we reade that after the comming of Christ and after that he was slayne the dayly sacrifice should be taken away and the The Law Would and fortold that ceremonis should be made voide Testimonis witnessing that the ceremonis of the Hebrues should cease holy anoynting and such like kinde of ceremonies Wherefore Christ did not without cause saye The lawe and the Prophetes endured vnto Iohn baptistes tyme. Ieremy also most manifestly sayd that an other leage should be made farre diuers from that which was made in the olde tyme. The epistle vnto the Hebrues thereby concludeth that that which was the olde leage and was so called should one day be abolished Zachary the Prophet in his 2 chapter sayth that the city of Ierusalem should be inhabited without walles Which signified that the Church of the beleuers should so be spred abroade and dispersed through out the whole world that it should not be enclosed in by any borders or limites Which selfe same thing Esay semeth to testefy when he sayth That mount Sion and the house of the Lord should be on the toppe of the hilles so that the Gentiles should come vnto it out of al places And Malachy the Prophet pronounced that the name of God should be called vpon frō the rising of the sunne to the going downe of the same so that vnto God should euery where be offred Minchah which many haue transferred vnto y◠Eucharist as though it were a sacrifice when as yet the prophet thereby vnderstādeth prayers and the offring vp euen of our selues as Tertullian testefieth in his booke agaynst the Iewes and also Ierome when he interpreteth that place Wherefore when the Prophets seme to affirme that ceremonyes should be transferred vnto the Ethnikes they are so to be vnderstād as though by the signes they ment the thinges themselues The Ethnikes being conuerted vnto Christ receaued that which was represented by the ceremonies of the elders But they reiected the How the Ethnikes receued the ceremonis of the Hebrues outward signes and thys was by fayth to confirme the lawe And forasmuch as the Prophetes foretold that ceremonyes should be abolished the same is to be taken as if it had bene spoken of the lawe for that the Prophetes were interpreters of the lawe And that Christ when he should come should chaunge the ceremonies euen the Iewes them selues doubted not whych thing is manifest by Iohn Baptist shewed that ceremonis should bee abrogated the historie of Iohn Baptist which we reade in the Gospell For when he would purge menne conuerted vnto God he sente them not vnto sacrifices and vnto the ceremonies of Moses by
thinges both that euill lusts should be cut of out of the minde and also that the children of Israell should be seperated from other nations Farther it was the seale of the will and promise of God which was offred vnto Abraham concerning righteousnes the remissiō of sinnes thorough Christ and the league with God and a greate many mo such like good things This promise I say was sealed with the signe of circumcision And besides these significations of the sacraments ar two other cōmodityes not to be cōtemned For the things which ar so marked Sacramentes also are notes whereby we are knowen to pertaine vnto God as vnto our owner and Lord. By these notes also is shewed how muche God maketh of vs. are therby appoynted to be theyrs who are their owners as in horses oxen other suche like thinges the markes and notes which ar burnte in them declare vnto whome they pertayne So the Sacraments when they are receaued do beare witnes that we belong vnto God Farther such outward notes declare of what value and estimation the thinge that is sealed ought to be counted as it is manifest in coynes of gold and also in horses For the best and excellent horses are marked with one marke and dull Iades with an other marke Farthermore the sacramentes which God hath commended vnto vs declare how much God setteth by vs For the notes and markes of circumcision and of other sacramentes are as it were admonishers of the will and promises of God For forasmuch as we are weake neyther do we easely beleue the promises of God it was nedefull that his good will towardes vs shoulde not only be signified by wordes but also shoulde be sealed by thinges which might be offred to our senses Wherefore Augustine very aptly sayth that the Sacramentes are visible wordes And Chrisostome vpon this place writeth that circumcision preached righteousnes Wherefore God would that we should both haue his wordes in the holy scriptures which should be set forth vnto vs whilest the misteryes were in doing and also that vnto them should outwardly be added visible notes that we might the more firmely resist if at any tyme the minde should beginne to doubt By these thinges it is manifest how they are deceaued which thinke that by the power of the action or as they vse to speake by the worke wrought The worke wrought is excluded the sacramentes bring saluation Vndoubtedly euen as the wordes of the scripture nothing profit without fayth so also nothing profit the sacramentes vnles fayth be present Nether is that opinion to be allowed whereof Augustine in his booke De ciuitate dei maketh mēcion namely that they can not be damned They are deceaued which thinke that no man after he hath once receaued the sacraments can be damned In this place abone all other is is expressed the nature of Sacramentes Sacraments are not onely markes notes which haue once receaued the sacramēts of Christ I thinke there is scarse any place in the holy scriptures wherein is so briefely and so expressedly set forth the nature of the sacramentes as in these wordes of Paule wherein circumcision is called a seale And to the ende we should vnderstand that it is not the seale of euery thinge there is added of righteousnes that is of the forgeuenes of sinnes which pertayneth vnto the will of God Lastly he addeth of fayth to geue vs to vnderstand what maner of thinge that is whereby we may take hold of that righteousnes And that is fayth Wherefore euery man may see how much they are deceaued whiche thinke the sacramentes to be but onlye markes and notes of religion whereby men may knowe one an other For so should they attribute no more vnto sacramentes then vnto garments or coulors whereby familyes and sectes are descerned one from an other Nether is this sufficiente whiche others say which thinke that in sacramentes are shewed forth the signes only and professions of those thinges and actions which are required of vs which are initiated into Christ so that circumcision they make to signifye the mortifying of wicked affection and baptisme to signifie that we must stoutely and with a valiant courage suffer losses iniuries aduersities What is the chiefest and principallest thing in the Sacramentes Graeca Scolia Three significations of circumcision because in it is signified that we are crucified and buried together with Christ And that the supper of the Lord is only a signe of Christian beneuolēce of duties of mutuall charity We deny not but that all these thinges are in the sacramentes But the hed and summe of theyr signification we say consisteth herein that they seale vnto vs the giftes and promises of God which he offreth vnto vs to be taken holde of by fayth The Greeke Scholies haue in this place most expressedly put that Circumcision was for three causes geuen that it should be a signe of fayth and of righteousnes that it should seperate the kyndred of Abraham from other nations and that it should be a note and manifest token of a pure and vndefiled conuersacion This place most manifestly declareth y◠which Augustine writeth to Bonifacius namely that Sacramēts haue the names of those thinges which they signifie And that thing he proueth by many stmilitudes amongest which he maketh mencion also of the Eucharist bicause Circumcision because it was the signe of the couenant therefore it had the name of the thinge It is Paul which teacheth that sacraments do signify seale things promised That we call sacramentes are signes we say it out of the holy scriptures Sacramentes not after iustification vnprofitably receaued Sacramentes stirre not vp faith but the holy ghost stirreth it vp A similitude Our righteousnes hath much vncleanes mingled with it The resurrection shal be a perfect regeneration we call it the body of Christ when as it is only the sacrament thereof And wee also teache that the bread in the holy misteryes is therfore the body of Christ bycause it is the signe thereof These things some cānot abide But they ought to remember that in the boke of Genesis Circumcision is called the couenaunt of the Lord which is nothing ells then the promise of righteousnes and of the forgeuenes of sinnes throughe Christ And this couenaunt the Lord commaunded that the Iewes shoulde carye aboute with them in theyr fleshe That thing Paule now expoundeth namely that it was the signe of that righteousnes and couenaunt Wherefore it manifestly appeareth that this kind of interpretatiōs which we vse was brought in by the Apostle and that to follow those interpretations is nothing els then to follow the steps of the Apostles If thou demaūd that for as much as we haue remissiō of sinnes haue by fayth obteined righteousnes what commodity then bringe the sacramentes vnto vs we answere very much for that they offer themselues before our eyes and so doo admonish vs. For our fayth is stirred vp not
of the elders promised a saulour but ours geue saluation But by these wordes Augustine mente onely to put a distinction betwene the maner wherby the sacraments of the elders signified Christ in one sort and ours in an other sort For they so represented Christ as which should one day come ours do so represent him as now already come For how could Augustine thinke that the sacramentes of the elders did by no meanes geue a sauior when as he most manifestly testifieth that the fathers in the Manna had the selfe same Christ which we now haue in the Eucharist And in his booke de nuptijs concupiscentia ad Valerium and other places he oftentimes confesseth that the Elders were by circumcision deliuered from originall sinne Bede also vpon Luke affirmeth the selfe same thing and saith that circumcision differed nothing from baptisme as touching remission of sinnes but onely that it opened not the gates of the kingdome of heauen For to the performance of that the death of Christ was looked for Touching this thing surely I will not much contend so that this be graunted y◠those fathers being dead in what place so euer they were were in the presence sight of God in happy state For they had without al doubt the fruicion of God neither is it to be thought that they could bée forsaken of hym in whom they beleued But that they were caried vp into heauen before Christ ascended vp I know the fathers do deny neither do I therein any thing contende against them But let vs returne vnto that that these fathers of their owne accords graunt namely that Circumcision toke away originall sinne How then can they An error of the master of the sentences say that Christ by circumcision was not geuen at all For what remission of sins could there be without Christ The maister of the sentences very absurdly thinketh that circumcision had the power of remitting of sinnes but not of conferring of grace as though forsooth remission of sinnes can be had without grace He fayneth also that the sacraments of the Gospell had their force of the death of Christ and The death of Christ was of efficacy euen before it was payde forasmuch as this death is now accomplished therefore are they of more efficacy more mightier then the sacraments of the elders as in whose time the price of the death of Christ was not yet paid But this their sentence wherby they appoint the force and merite of the passion of Christ to be but for a time cannot be but absurd For of what more force to saue is the death of Christe now that is already past then it was in the old time when it was looked for to come Vndoubtedly on eche side is required faith whereby assuredly we do no lesse comprehende thinges to come then we do things past But if we will say that GOD hathe a respect vnto the sacrifice of hys sonne offered vppon the crosse vndoubtedly this was from all eternitie and before the foundations of the worlde were layd ratified and most fully accepted of him Of Christ also it is written in the Apocalips That the lambe was slayne from the beginnyng of the worlde And where as they say that circumcisiō had the power to take away originall sin frō whence I pray you had it such so greate power but from the death of Christ Doubtles our baptisme so agreeth with circumcision that Augustine agaynst the letters of Petilianus in hys 2. booke and 72. chapter and in other places proueth that the sacramēt of baptisme ought not to repeted because circumcision in the olde tyme was not repeted if a man had receaued it of the Samaritanes and were afterward conuerted How the sacraments of the elders were weake and beggarly elements of the worlde Why there were more sacraments in the law then in the Gospell vnto the sincere religion of the Ierosolomites But amongst other thinges this semeth not a litle to haue moued our aduersaryes for that it is written vnto the Galathyans of the ceremonies of the elders that they were weake and beggerly elementes of the world But these wordes of Paule are to be vnderstand of those olde sacramentes whiche are now abrogated by Christ Or if this aunswere like not then vnderstand Paule so to speake of the sacramentes of the elders as he saw the Iewes at that tyme vsed them namely without Christ or hys promise But the first answere is both truer and playner for that place And if a mā demaund how it commeth to passe that the sacramentes of the elders were more in number then ours this question may easely be answered Namely that the church was then beginning neyther did they know so many thinges of Christ as are made open vnto vs after that he How they erre which speake softly to themselues the woordes of consecration is now come into the world and hath finished the sacrifice so long looked for Wherefore it was requisite that God shoulde at that tyme by many ceremonyes and images shadow one and the selfe same thynge but there is no neede now of such paynfull instruction For as we haue before sayd the signes of the sacramentes were therefore geuen to confirme the promises of God not as though those promises are not of themselues firm inough but that our minds being otherwise hard to beleue and wauering should by sēsible signes be strenthened Chrisostome in hys 60. homely vnto the people of Antioch If sayth he our nature had bene vtterly spirituall and without body spirituall thinges shoulde haue bene deliuered vs without corporall signes Hereby it is manifest how absurdely they order the matter which set forth the visible signes of the sacramentes to be sene of all men but the promise which should be confirmed by those signes and ought to cleaue vnto our mynds they both pronounce in a strange tonge and secretly mumble vp that it should not be heard of others But that the sacramentes Explicatiō of certaine of the sacramentes of the elders of the lawe which were so many in number were seales of the promises of God may by induction be easely known The tabernacle and Arke of the Lord sealed the promise that God would dwell in that people that he would be in the middest of them The conseccation of the priest and the ornamentes of the garmentes shadowed Christ the only priest and the same perpetuall and eternall as the author of the epistle to the Hebrues proueth And of this selfe same promise Dauid most playnly maketh mencion when vnder the person of Christ he sayth Thou art a priest for euer according to the order of Melchisedech The sacrifices also signified the oblation of Christ vpon the crosse But here some man will paraduenture say Ergo the sacrifices were sacramentes How then do we say that there is great difference betwene the nature of a sacrament and the nature of a sacrifice So indeede we sayd before and now agayne
holy scriptures that Baptisme succeded in the place of Circumcision Wherfore they cannot say that the baptisme of infantes is against the worde of God bicause vnles they will graunt that our infantes are in worser estate then were the infantes of the Hebrewes they must of necessity confesse that our infantes also ought to be initiated vnto God and vnto Christ They also are not to be harkened vnto which say that circumcision was only a sealyng of promises touching temporall things For Paul doth manifestly teach that it ought to be compared with baptisme And in the 17. chap. of the booke of Genesis Circumcision is instituted to confirme this promise I wyll be thy God and the God of thy seede And vndoubtedly God kepeth those whose God he is and y◠not only as touching y◠mind or as touching y◠body only but as touching y◠who le ful nature And of so great force waight is this promise y◠by it Christ proued the resurrection of the dead For forasmuch as God affirmeth himselfe to be the God of Abraham Isaac and Iacob he therby firmly concludeth that they liue and that their bodies shall be restored vnto them in the resurrection And it is wonderfull how they dare affirme that the baptisme of infantes is a new institution in the church For Cyprian a most auntient writer maketh menciō of it sayth that it is Baptisme of children is no new thing in the church not of necessitie that we should tary till the eight day for the baptising of thē For the truth of the Gospel hath deliuered vs frō the obseruing of the number of daies Wherfore they may well be baptised what day soeuer the Church shall be assembled together Origene also writing vpon this epistle and vpon Leuiticus sufficiētly declareth that infants were in his tyme accustomed to be baptised And sithen these men were not long after the Apostles tyme neither make they mencion of it as a thyng inuented by them or in their tyme it sufficiently appeareth that that maner came from the Apostles They say that Higinus bishop of Rome was y◠first author therof which vndoubtedly can not be proued by his decrées We read in Higinus made a decre for Godfathers and godmothers but not for the baptisme of infants dede that he made a law for Susceptores whom they call Godfathers and Godmothers which without doubt was a profitable order For his meanyng was y◠whē infantes should by baptisme be receiued into the church they should be commēded vnto the faith of some men of whom to be instructed And for the performaunce of this the Godfathers and Godmothers do bynde their faith although now a dayes they regard nothyng lesse But it is a very weake argumēt therby to gather that Higinus was the first author that infantes should be baptised bicause he instituted Susceptores Yea rather sithen he made a decrée as touching that thyng it is probable that the baptisme of infantes was before that tyme in vse They cite more ouer Tertullian in his little booke of baptisme which is very elegantly writtē But The opiniō of Tertullian as touching this thing is not to be receaued forasmuch as that man in his latter age fell from the true fayth vnto the heresy of Montanus hys authority in this thyng can not be of so greate force for he also condemned second mariages disalowed the baptisme of infants against the receyued vse of the Church And if we should follow his opinion neither young men that lead a sole lyfe nor wydowes that are yong women ought to be baptised For he affirmed that this sacrament ought not to be administred b 〈…〉 thē only very late and that are of a very rype age But it may be sufficiently declared by the selfe same Tertullian that euen in his time the maner was that children should be It was the manner in his time that infants should be baptised baptised For he would neuer haue reproued it vnles it had then bene in vse and practise But now I will returne to the Apostle Knowing this that our olde man is crucified with him that the body of sinne should be abolished that henceforth vve should not be seruauntes vnto sinne This is the entent of the Apostle to teach that they which are of Christ ought to dye vnto sinne And he setteth forth the communion which we haue with the death and resurrection of Christ which communion he proueth by baptisme For by baptisme we are proued to be grafted into Christ to this ende that the olde man should be crucefied in vs and that we should no more be addicted vnto sinne Chrisostome vpon this place sayth that regeneration is two maner of wayes one which cōsisteth of the forgeuenes of sinnes an other which we obtaine after iustification in leading our life holily and innocently the first he confesseth to come vnto vs by the gift of God but in the other he sayth is required our diligence Hetherto this his sentence is true For vnto the first regeneration are not required any of our workes but for the performance of the other it behoueth them that are iustified to worke together with grace and with the holy ghost But I can not tell how he a little afterward forgetting himselfe sayth that we vnto that first regeneration do bring fayth of our selues Which is most repugnant vnto the truth For Paul to the Ephesians teacheth that fayth is the gifte of God and is not of How Chrisostome vnderstandeth fayth to be the gift of God our selues In expounding which place he thus vnderstandeth it That fayth is the gifte of God because we shoulde not beleue vnles God called vs and shoulde set forth vnto vs those thinges which ought to be beleued Wherefore his meaning is that it lieth in our power to assent vnto the calling and promises of God which are offred vnto vs. But that is most many manifestly repugnant against very many testimonies of the scriptures For in the Actes of the Apostles we reade of the To attayne to faith it is not sufficiēt that God doth sette forth vnto vs thinges we shoulde beleue woman that solde silkes how that God opened her harte to vnderstand those thinges which Paul preached And Ezechiell teacheth that God chaungeth the hartes of the godly and of stony hartes maketh them fleshy hartes Christ also saith that no man can come vnto him vnles he be drawen of the father And Dauid desireth of God to incline the hartes of his to keepe his testimonies We reade also in many places that God boweth and hardeneth hartes Lastly Paul in this selfe same epistle sayth that it is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth but of God which hath compassion But as touching this question we will speaks more at large afterward Now let vs see what Paul in this place vnderstandeth The Olde man by the Olde man which he sayth ought to be crucified with Christ and
threatneth Death is improperly called a rewarde Eternall life is not called a rewarde death vnto sinners Agayn he by the figure Catachresis calleth it a stipend For no man committeth sinne with this intent that for a reward he would obteyne death Here Paul inuerteth the Antithesis or contrary position for he sayth not that eternall life is the reward of righteousnes but rather attributeth it vnto Grace which thing he therefore doth to assigne and appointe the whole nature of merite in Christ only And therfore he addeth thorough Iesus Christ our Lord. that no man shoulde imagine any other mediators â—thâ—â— deade saintes or ells theyr owne workes Farther Paul semeth of purpose 〈…〉 a 〈…〉 stipeÌ„d to set Grace or a gifte and by that meanes he excedinglye stirreth vs vp to the study of eternall life sithen it is a thing so excellent that vnles it be geuen by God it can not be gotten by any of our workes He taketh this greke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the stipeÌ„d or wages of a souldier and he continueth still in his metaphore of a king and of a Lord which he a little before vsed For they vse to geue stipendes vnto theyr The maner of the elders towardes souldiers seruauÌ„ts And the Greke word sauoreth much of the maner of the elders where by they were wont to geue vnto theyr souldiers vittayles to eate when they were one warfare And at Rome it was the maner a long time that the souldiers with theyr owne meate but afterward were vittayles geuen them of the common treasory And it well appeareth by the etimology of the word that it was first instituted only for yâ— releauing of necessity and to signify some honour Vnto laborers is geuâ—n a rewarde Vnto warriours is geuen a stipende not as though they semed stipendes of such worthines for which men should put theyr life in danger Wherefore as to laborers was geuen a reward so vnto warriors was geuen a stipend But now let vs especially consider in what sort grace and workes are as touching eternall life And as much as may be gathered ether out of the holy scriptures or out of those thinges which Augustine hath left in writing as touching this matter we will playnly declare so that it shall be made manifest how much our aduersaries dissagree from vs in thys poynt As touching the first if by Grace we vnderstand the fauour and mercy of God then is it the only cause thoroughe Iesus Christe why we obteyne eternall life For our workes can by no meanes be the causes of our felicity Howbeit they are certayne meanes by which God bringeth vs vnto felicity As the way is not the cause of the end thereof nor the runninge place the cause of the gole or The difference betwenâ— the cause and meanes marke and yet by them men are led both vnto the end of the way and vnto the marke So God by good workes bringeth vs to eternall life when as yet the only cause thereof is the election of God as Paul most manifestly teacheth in thys epistle Whome he hath predestinate sayth he those also hath he called whome he Againste merite hath called those also hath he iustefied whoÌ„ he hath iustefied those also will he glorifie Thys declareth that all these thinges do so come from the Grace of God that they consequently follow the one the other and God which geueth the one will also liberally and freely geue the other Wherefore the whole consideratioÌ„ and nature of merite ought vtterly to be taken away For that which properly meriteth The nature of merite any thing must of necessity haue in it a free geuing vp nether ought it by any other meanes to be due Wherefore forasmuche as we owe of dewty vnto God all thinges that we haue vndoubtedly whatsoeuer we do it can merite nothing Farther those things by which we will merite any thing ought to be our owne But good workes are not our own but are of God Besides this also all imperfection and vncleanes must of necessity be remoued awaye otherwise our workes are contaminated nether can they be leueled to the rule which is prescribed by God wherefore we ought rather to craue pardon then once to thinke vpon price or reward Farther betwene merite and reward there ought to be some proportion But there can be no proportion betwene our workes and eternall felicity Wherefore they can not properly be called merites Moreouer God will that there should be taken froÌ„ vs all matter of glorying which thing were not possible if by our workes we should deserue eternall life And forasmuch as Paul in this place describeth eternall life by yâ— name of grace vndoubtedly it can not be of workes Let this suffice as touching the first Now will I briefely declare what Augustine hath written as touching this place In his Enchiridion to Laurentius the 107. chapter A stipend sayth he is payd in warfare as a debt and not geuen as a gift therefore Paul sayth the stipend of sinne is death to declare that death is rendred vnto sinne not wythout desert but as due But grace vnles it be free it When eternall 〈…〉 is gâ—â—en after 〈…〉 a it iâ— grace for grace is not grace Wherefore as touching the good workes of man forasmuch as they are the giftes of God in that vnto them eternall life is rendred grace is recompensed for grace The same Augustâ—â—e in his booke De gratia Libero arbitrio the ix chapter In the Gospell of Iohn sayth he it is written that we all haue receaued of hys fulnes and grace for grace euery man as God hath deuided vnto him the measure of fayth For euery man hath receaued a proper gift from God one thus and an other thus Wherefore when eternall life is rendred grace is rendred for grace But so is it not of death because it is rendred as due vnto the warfare of the deuill Wherefore whereas the Apostle mought haue sayd and that rightly the stipend of righteousnes is eternall life he would rather say But the grace of God is eternall life that therby we myght vnderstand that The Apostle 〈◊〉 hâ—â—e sayâ— and that iust 〈…〉 that eter 〈…〉 〈…〉 God bringeth vs vnto eternall life not for our owne merites but for hys mercy Wherefore it is written in the 103. Psalme Which crowneth thee in mercy and compassions Because it is he which worketh in vs both to wyll and also to performe The Apostle had sayde before worke your saluation wyth feare and trembling Afterward least we should attribute thys thyng vnto our selues he sayth that God worketh these thy 〈◊〉 vs and that not for our merites but according to his good pleasure And in the same booke the 8. chapter he sayth that there is no small ambiguity how eternall life is â—â—ndred vnto good workes For the scripture sayth that euery man shall haue according to his works And yet on the other side Paul
calleth grace eternall life But the propriety of grace is to he reÌ„dred freely Paul also sayth vnto hym which worketh not the reward is not imputed according to debt but accordyng to grace And saith moreouer that grace if it be of workes is not grace Also that the renantes shall through the electioÌ„ of grace be saued Agayne vnto the Ephesians Grace hath made vs safe throughe fayth and that not of our selues Agayne Not of workes least peraduenture any man shoulde glory This doubt Augustine sayth can not otherwise be dissolued vnles we grâ—unt A that an vpright and holy life is grace For so ether sentence may take place For eternall life is rendred vnto workes But because workes are freely geuen vs of God therâ—fâ—re also is eternall lyfe called gracee And in his booke De correctione Gratia the 13. chapter he sayth that Iames writeth that iudgemente shal be wythout mercy vnto hym which sheweth not mercy By which wordes saith he appeareth that they which lyue well shall in the last iudgement be iudged wyth mercy and they which haue 〈◊〉 wickedly shal be iudged wythout mercy And if that in iudgement we haue nede of mercy theÌ„ is it not now done for merites And in the same sence he alleageth the mother of the Machabees who as it is written in the 2. booke and 7. chapter thus speak 〈…〉 vnto her son That in that mercy I may receaue the wyth thy brethâ—rn In which place she calleth the day of iudgement mercy And vndoubtedly when we shall come before the iudgement seate of God who shall boast that he hath a chast hart Or who shall boast that he is cleane from sinne Wherefore there also mercy is nedefull whereby he may be made blessed vnto whome the Lord hath not imputed sinne The same father in hys 105. epistle to Sistus When the Apostle had sayd The stipend of sinne is death who Paul mightâ— haue 〈◊〉 righteousnes would not iudge that he should most aptly and consequently haue added but the stipend of righteousnes is eternall lyfe And it is true Because euen as vnto the merite of sinne is death rendred as a stipend so also vnto the merite of righteousnes is eternall lyfe rendred as a stipend But the blessed Apostle most vigylantly warryng agaynst pride when hee â—ad sayde that the stipend of sinne is death least humane ryghteousnes should extoll it sâ—lfe sayd not contrariwyse that the stipend of ryghteousnes is eternall lyfe but the grace of God sayth he is eternall lyfe But it is not sufficient to thynke that thesâ— things are spo 〈…〉 for humility moderation sake For the matter is so in very dede For our workâ— receaue not eternall life for a iust and deserued stipend And therefore he sayth that humane righteousnes is pride and which in name only is called righteousnes But that ought Eternall 〈◊〉 a 〈◊〉 vnto 〈…〉 ousneâ— but vnto 〈…〉 it is gracâ— If righteousnes were of our selues 〈…〉 should haue eternall life as a 〈…〉 When God shall reward 〈…〉 be 〈…〉 it selfe to be a true righteousnes vnto which eternall life is due which righteousnes if it be not of thy felfe then is it from aboue discending from the father of lightes Wherefore O man if thou shalt receaue eternall life it is â—n dede the stipend of righteousnes but vnto thee it is grace vnto whome also euen righteousnes is grace For it should be rendred vnto thee as a debt if the righteousnes vnto whome it is due were of thy selfe By all these thinges is gathered that with Augustine eternall life is therefore called grace because the workes which go before it are geuen fréely Farther he confesseth that in the last iudgement when God shall reward them we shall haue nede of mercy and compassion And that also we haue alwayes néede of mercy that our sinnes should not be imputed vnto vs. Lastly that eternall life although it may be the stipend of righteousnes being taken by it selfe yet vnto vs it is grace partly because it is not of our selues and partly also because it is vnperfite Hilâ—â—ius also writeth vpon the 50. Psalme My hope is in the mercy of God for euer and euer world without ende For the workes of ryghteousnes are not sufficient vnto the merite of perfect blessednes Vnto vs it is gâ—ace because good workes are not of our selues and because they are vnperfect That good workes are geuen by grace both we and our aduersaries graunt but with a difference vnles in thys wyll of ryghteousnes the mercy of God impute not the faultes of humane changynges and motions Also Ierome vpon Esay the 46. chapter If we should consider our owne merites we shoulde dispayre Our aduersaries and we contende not whether by the grace of God good workes are geuen vnto the regenerate Although neither herein also do we vtterly agrée with them For they thinke that it lieth in our power to receaue good workes when they are offred But we say that it is néedefull that our will bée changed by the grace and spirit of God otherwise as touching in this point also we abhorre from the giftes of God But of this matter we haue before sufficiently spoken when we entreated of grace Wherfore I will now stand no longer about it But there is an other thing about which there is at this day a more waighty controuersye They which defend merites do thinke that the good workes which are geuen of God vnto men are sufficient They whiche defend merites do say that good workes are sufficient to attaine vnto eternall lifâ— which thinge we deny vnto eternall life Which thinge we do vtterly deny And this maketh very much on our side which a litell before we alleged out of August That in the last iudgemeÌ„t we shall nede the mercy of God not only because good works were geuen of hym freely but also because when the iust iudge shall sit in hys throne no man can boast that he hath a chast hart or that he is cleane from sinne Wherefore it is nedefull that sinnes as sayth Dauid be not imputed vnto hym which shall come vnto felicity Wherefore seyng we haue nede of mercy it is manifest that our good workes are not sufficient The same Augustine writeth in an other place that the perfection of the sayntes herein consisteth to acknowledge how much they want still of perfection And that sentence of Paul I haue fought a good battayle I haue finished my course I haue kepte fayth he so expoundeth that he thinketh that the Apostle sayth not that he is vtterly Augustine saith not that Paul was without sinne but affirmeth the contrary Note what Augustine thinketh of this place vnto the PhillipiaÌ„s wythout sinne but that he leaning vnto fayth and vnto hope did wholy appoynte wyth hymselfe that it shoulde come to passe in the laste houre of hys death whiche was euen then at hand that whatsoeuer sinne or wickednes had crept into hym the same should
of the Sentences confuted this matter For I know yâ— he in his 3. booke teacheth yâ— our hope leneth not only vnto yâ— mercy of God but also vnto our merites And therefore saith he to hope without merites is no hope but a presumption Thys sentence is not to be receaued For it addeth vnto hope a condition when as fayth without any condition apprehendeth that which is to be hoped for out of the word of God Farther when a these or any other wicked man is sodenly conuerted vnto God hath he not hope Vndoubtedly he hath for if he dispaired of saluation he would not fly vnto Christ And how can any man say that such a hope leneth to any merites when as he hath alwayes before liued wickedly But as we haue before sayd these men thinke they haue here a trimme place of refuge if they answere that thys hope of a man namely conuerted vnto Christ dependeth of merites not in dede past but to come newely that he hopeth he shal obteyne the rewardes of felicity when he hath done workes which he trusteth to doo But here they committe a double fault first bycause if he which is conuerted vnto Christ doo hope that by merites he shall haue eternal life he hath no true hope for he resisteth the true fayth For it apprehendeth the chiefe felicity offred frely Secondly vnawares they auouch that yâ— which hath not as yet his being is the cause of yâ— vertue which in acte and very dede they confesse to be in the minde of the repentaÌ„t And if they meane that he hopeth for felicitie when he hath liued well but yet in such sort that he hath no confidence that he caÌ„ by committing of sinne attaine Workes ar not the cause of hope vnto it then speake they no other thing then we do But so are not workes the cause of hope but light betwene it and the laste end as certayne meanes and first beginnings of felicity that men forasmuch as they hope that eternall blessednes shal be geuen vnto them freelye shoulde also hope that God if they liue wyll freely also geue vnto them good workes For the holy scripture teacheth â—arre otherwise then do these men For Dauid when he sayd If thou Lord shalt loke streightly vnto iniquities who shall be able to abide it And when he saw that the sinnes wherewith our workes are contaminated auocate vs from hope added The cause of our hope My soul hath hoped in his word And by the word he vnderstandeth the promise of which promise he rendreth a cause Bycause with the Lorde is mercye and with hym is plentifull redemption These are the true and proper causes of our hope The promise of God and his aboundant mercy The same Dauid in an other place sayth Why art thou sad o my soule and why dost thou trouble me Hope in God for I will still confesse vnto hym Here some obiect that we ar not iustified by fayth only for Paul sayth that we are saued by hope But these men ought to haue considered that the Apostle in this place entreateth not of Iustification For touching We are saued by hope but we are not iustified by it it he before wrote that by fayth the spirite we are deliuered from the lawe of sinne and of death and adopted into sonnes and heyres and made the fellow heyres of Christ But here he speaketh of the perfect redemption which is still to be wayted for This we also confesse to be holdeÌ„ by hope when yet notwithstanding we haue alredy by fayth obteyned iustification and remission of sinnes Farther I haue oftentimes admonished that when the scripture semeth to attribute iustification ether vnto hope or vnto charity or vnto our woorkes those places are so to be vnderstanded that iustification is there taught not by the causes but by the effectes And we ought to vnderstand that whatsoeuer is The consideration of iustification is sometymes declared by the causes and sometimes by the effectes attributed vnto works the same is wholy done by reason of fayth which is annexed vnto them Wherefore as in a wall we haue a consideration vnto the fouÌ„dation and in the fruites of trées to the roote so whatsoeuer semeth at the first sight to be ascribed vnto works is to be assigned vnto faith as vnto the mother of all good workes Which thinge Augustine hath in many places excellentlye taught Others to proue that hope depeÌ„deth of our workes cite that which Paul before sayd Tribulation worketh patience patience worketh experience and experience hope Here say they it is playne that of patience springeth hope I heare in dede the wordes of Paul but I doo not by them acknowledge that patience is the cause of hope For first it is playne inough to him that will consider it that Paul in thys connexion compareth not causes with effectes For who will say that tribulation is the cause of patience For it bringeth many to desperation and to horrible blasphemies But those thinges which Paul knitteth together in this chayne are instruments by which the holy ghost vseth to stir vp in vs these vertues But graunt that there be some consideratioÌ„ of cause betwene these things yet should it not thereof follow that patience is the cause of hope but contrariwise Patience springeth of hope that hope is the cause of patience For no man with a quiet mind patiently suffereth any thing vnles by that patience he hope to attayne vnto some thing Vndoubtedly Martirs are by hope confirmed in theyr tormentes patiently to beare them And the marchant if he had not a hope to gayn would kepe himselfe at home nether would he wander about the world And the shipmaster vnles he hoped that he could ariue at the porte would not lose out into the depe nether striue agaynst the windes and waues I confesse in dede that here is somewhat encreased by patience For when we se that vnto vs is geuen of Christ for hys Hope is somewhat encreased by patience sake with a quiet minde to suffer many thinges we more and more haue confidence that those thinges also which are remayning and which we wayte for shall one day be geuen vs. But to beleue that hope wholy dependeth of patience I can not be perswaded For as we haue before sayd by hope rather we come vnto patience And in very dede the holy ghost is the author and cause of these vertues And he goeth orderly to worke of one to produce an other Agaynst this certainty which we sayd dependeth of yâ— promise of God Pighius vseth trifling reasons that the promises are generall nether is in them mencion made either of me or of thee and therefore there is still remayning a doubt when we must discend to the application of these promises Thys man semeth to me to make the promises of God to hange in the ayre when as he will haue them to be so Euery faithfull man knoweth that the promises ar properly
dissease whereof he was sicke was by nature deadly Wherefore the prophet in those threates pronounced Gods will of the signe that is so much as could be knowen by the force of nature But the changing came of the will of God which is of efficacy which they call the consequent Niniue also for the greauous sinnes thereof was worthy to be destroied Wherefore Ionas shewed vnto them the antecedent will of God which they call the will of the signe Wherefore when God calleth Pharao or any other reprobate by that vocation or outward promise we vnderstand the antecedent will or the will of the signe but that other hidden will which they call the wil of efficacy or the consequent we vnderstand not Wherefore God can not deny himselfe neither doth he in these willes striue agaynst him selfe But by his doctrine and promises being in differently and generally set forth he stirreth vp the mindes of the ministers of the Church chearefully to preach the word and that vnto all men which thing doubtles they would not doo if he had made them assured of his hidden wil. For if they knew that they had to deale with men reprobate they would vtterly be discouraged and geue ouer And on the other side when as we se that no fruite succedeth of our doctrine and preaching herein we comfort our selues for that we were before admonished of this that there are many which by the purpose of God are made blinde Augustine in his booke de Spiritu litera the 34. chapter in which place he entreateth touching this matter sayth That if he were asked the question touching euery perticular man why God will haue some to heare the Gospel but not to receaue it and other some both to haue it and to embrace it he hath nothing to answer but only these two things O the depth of the riches c. And also Is there iniquity with God God forbid And if there be any sayth he that are not content with these answeres let them enquire of men better lerned then I am but in the meane time let them beware of presumptuous persons Presumptuous persons he calleth those which flye eyther vnto workes foresene or vnto such like fonde imaginations For these thinges forasmuch as they are not taught in the holy scriptures may well be called humane presumptions Ambrose vpon this place sayth that the will of God can not be resisted for that he is of all the most mightiest And forasmuch as he is the father of all therfore vnto no man he willeth ill but will haue those things preserued which he hath made Wherefore it is by no meanes agreable vnto him to be vniust In these wordes Ambroses meaning is to shewe that this power of the will of God is tempered with such a iustice that it hath a respect vnto the worthines and merites of men Of which minde also is Origene For he sayth that the will of God is in dede most mighty but yet the selfe same will is most vpright Wherefore he writeth that it is in our will to be eyther good or euill And on whiche side so euer we incline we can not resist the will of God but that it will eyther reward vs or punishe vs as iustice shall require For it lieth not in our handes vnto what maner of paynes or vnto what maner of rewardes we should be destinâ—ed or appoynted Wheras Origen sayth that it lieth in our handes eyther to be good or to be euill it is not true For our saluatioÌ„ The nature of generatioÌ„ consisteth wholy in regeneration which dependeth altogether of the grace and spirite of Christ For this is the nature of generation that he which is begotteÌ„ nothing at all worketh to the begetting of him selfe yea neyther doubtles caÌ„ he But he which sayth that it lieth in vs to be good doth without doubt eyther vtterly take away the benefite of Christ or elles wonderfully diminishe it But we say and teach that the will of God is vpright although we deny that it dependeth eyther of creatures or of merites This obiection VVhy doth he complayne and vvho resisteth his vvill The Apostle bringeth agaynst the conclusion before inferred he hath mercy on vvhome he vvill and hardneth vvhome he vvill and chiefly as touching the latter part of the conclusion For it may seme very absurd that God should according to his will harden any man Yea oftentimes in the Fathers and euen in Augustine also who yet in this matter is on our side we reade that induration commeth by the iust iudgmeÌ„t of God as if they should say that God hardneth those only which by theyr wicked actes deserue the same Wherefore induration semeth not to depend of the will of God as Paul in this place teacheth for he simply pronouÌ„ceth Whome he will he hardeneth But to the vnderstanding here of we must cal to memory the things which we before sad concurre to induration For first there is What thinges are to be considered in induration grafted in vs a vice or corruption wherby doubtles we are aleantes from God And induration is nothing els if we geue credite vnto Augustine in his 4. chapter de Predestinatione Gratia then to resist the commaundementes of God Then followeth it that we are left of God in this euil Wherfore the same Augustine To harden is not to make soft sayth in the selfe same place that God hardneth whom he will not make soft maketh blind whome he will not illuminate repelleth whome he will not call And as touching this the seÌ„ce of the Apostle is He hath mercye on vvhome he vvill and vvhome he vvill he hardeneth that is he hath not mercy And in this worke of God to haue mercy or not to haue mercy we do nothing at all For he freelye God freely distributeth his mercy vnto whom he will It is not in our power not to be moued impelled distributeth his mercy vnto whome he wil. And wheÌ„ we are thus without mercy left in our naturall corruption vnto vs is added the perpetuall motion and impelling of God which suffreth no creature to be idle Although neyther euen this to be moued and impelled is left in our power Thirdly forasmuch as occasions are offred and cogitations sent into the minde eyther of God him selfe or at his commaundement and will by Angells or the deuill by meanes whereof that induration the more vttereth it selfe and is made greater here we may consider the iustice of God For Achab being a most wicked man deserued to be An example of Achab. deceaued of the deuill by the ministery of false prophetes And Pharao for that he was cruell agaynst strangers and infants deserued so to be stirred vp and to vtter his induration Wherefore when God is said to harden thereby we ought to vnderstand that he will not haue mercy But wicked men being forsaken of him forasmuch as being stirred vp by his perpetuall motion they can not be quiet
do exercise workes repugnaÌ„t to his wil coÌ„maundements Wherfore seing yâ— God hath mercy on whoÌ„ he wil geueth to whoÌ„ he wil requireth again of whoÌ„ he wil he caÌ„not be accused of imustice for he worketh not of duty And if in case saith Augustine in the 6. chap of the selfe same boke any man will importunately accuse him as though he ought by right to bestow his mercy let him consider what is spoken of the Apostle afttrward O maÌ„ what art thou which makest answer vnto God Hath not the potter power of one and the selfe same â—umpe of clay to make one vessell to honour and an other to contumely In this place Paul first beateth downe the stubborne resister for that he will not be content with thys definite sentence by hym brought Moreouer he bringeth that similitude of the claye and of the potter wherby he stoppeth the murmuringes of men for that the claye contendeth not with his maker and confirmeth the sentence whereof we now entreate namely that both election and reprobatioÌ„ depend of the will of God Afterwarde he addeth the laste reason why God woulde haue some vessels appointed to honor and some to contumely namely in the one to declare his glory and goodnes and in the other his iustice and power But this is woorthy to be noted that Paul in these obiections rebukes and aunsweres neyther chaungeth nor calleth backe any of those thinges which he had before spoken For he leaueth all things in theyr owne force And when he had referred hatred loue election and reprobation vnto the will of God though he were somewhat vrged by these obiections yet teacheth he and deliuereth he no other thinges then he had before taught and deliuered yea rather he most strongly confirmeth the selfe same Augustine in his Encheridion to Laurentius the 9 chapiter and in his booke of 83. questions the 68. question sayth that there were certayne which thought that Paul in this place wanted in rendring a reason and therefore turned hymselfe to chidinges But this is to do iniury vnto the holy ghost who spake in Paul Who they be that haue maimed the holy scriptures He sayth also that there were certayne heretiques which tooke vpon them at their pleasure to rase out many thinges out of the holy scriptures as though they had bene afterward put in by men and had not bene so written at the beginning and of that company was Marcion Manicheus and such like pestileÌ„ces against whom they could not by the authority of the scriptures dispute for that they admitted them not but as pleased them They reiected a great number of places which they called by a name vsed of them Interpolata that is interlaced Amongst other places they tooke away this place which we are now in hand with For they deuising many thinges touching the will of God and enquiring the causes touching the constitution of creatures when they saw themselues repulsed and confuted by this obiurgation of the Apostle reiected it as conterfeate and straunge But we with a sound piety receaue all the Canonicall bookes and embrace and reuerence these wordes of Paul In which wordes yet this séemeth to be wonderfull that he so putteth downe the aduersary as though no reason could farther be geuen wheÌ„ yet notwithstanding afterward he declareth by the ende why God would make some vessels to honour and other some to contumely namely thereby to make The question put forth may be takeÌ„ two maner of wayes A cause of the election of God may be geuen may not be geuen open his goodnes and glory and his power and iustice But this hereof commeth for that the question may be taken two maner of wayes And if it be demaunded generally why amongst all the number of meÌ„ some are reiected of God and some elected that cause taken of the end may be assigned which now we spake of But if we enquire of euery particular man why this man is a vessell of mercy to declare the goodnes of God and that man a vessell of wrath to make open his iustice we haue no other cause but the mere will of God which electeth and reiecteth wherewith vnles the demaunder be contente he shall worthely heare of Paul What arâ— thou O man which contendest with God This thing paraduenture may be made playne by some similitude If a carpenter should haue before him a great many A similitude peces of timber being all vtterly of one forme and quantity and should be demaunded why he putteth some below and in the foundation and other some on high he would make answere because that building must haue both a roofe and a foundation But if thou yet farther demaunde why he maketh these peces to serue for the foundations rather then the other when as the forme and quantity of them all is alike he will answere nothing els but because it so pleased hym With which answere vnles thou be content he will contemne thée as a foolishe and importunate inquisitor These wordes of Paul are in déede fewe but yet of great waight For it is an argument taken of the comparison of the nature of man vnto the nature of God which are farre wide distant the one from the other Abraham when he questioned with God touching the distruction of the Sodomites An example of Abraham and was afrayd least in questioning he should procéede farther then was lawfull for a man to know very well and religiously submitted himselfe Beyng sayth he but dust and ashes I wyll speake vnto my Lord. But humane reason vnles it be regenerate can not kepe this meane And therefore though Paul now decided the question yet is it not content Augustine in his 68. question vpon Genesis sayth that by these wordes men are not feared away from a modest and godly inquisition of spirituall things but onely in them is reproued an importunate curiousity The godly are not â—eared away from a modest inquisition but froÌ„ an importunate curiositie An example of Iob. Which how deepely it sticketh in the children of Adam not yet regenerate no man can iustly esteme Yea also they that are iustified can here skarce bridle themselues Wherfore Iob in that dialogue which he had with his frendes oftentymes sayth that he had a wonderfull desire to reason and to contend with God if he mought as touching the aduersities which he thought to himselfe he suffred vnworthely For which corrupt desire being towardes the ende of the booke reproued of God he professeth that he woulde do repentance in dust and ashes for that he had so spoken The lattin translation hath Qui respondeas deo that is which maketh answere vnto God But that doth not fully expresse the Greke worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For that word signifieth not onely to answere but also in answering to gaynesay or by answeres to contende Of these obiections which hetherto haue bene brought Is there iniquity with God Why doth he
willeth But that God should will sinnes is to be counted for most absurd and for a blasphemous doctrine They say moreouer that God can not iustly punish â–ª if we committe those thinges which he him selfe both willeth and worketh But this must we of necessity say if we affirme that not only our ends but also our meanes to the endes depend of the purpose of God To satisfye this doubt first let them remember that it can not be denied but that God after a sort willeth or as other some say permitteth sin But forasmuch as that is done without any coaction of our minde therefore no man when he sinneth can be excused For he willingly and of his owne accord committeth those sinnes for which he ought to be condemned and hath the true cause of theÌ„ in himselfe and therfore hath no nede to seke it in God Farther this is no good comparison which these men make betwene good workes and sinnes For God â—o worketh in vs good workes that he ministreth vnto vs his grace and spirit whereby these workes are wrought for those are the groundes of good workes which groundes doubtles we haue not of our selues But sinnes he so gouerneth and after a sorte How God is said after a sort to wil sinne willeth that yet notwithstanding the groundes of them that is the fleshe and our corrupt and vitiate nature are not in God but in vs. Wherefore there is no nede that they should be powred into vs by some outward motion And God is sayd after a sorte to will sinnes eyther for that when he can he prohibiteth them not or for that by his wisedome he directeth then to certayne endes or for that he suffreth them not to burst forth but when and how and to what vses he him selfe will or finally for that by them he will punish other sinnes But these adde that God by no meanes willeth sinne For so it is written in Ezechiell As truly as I liue sayth the Lord I will not the death of a sinner but rather that he be conuerted and liue But we answere that the Prophet in that place entreateth not of the mighty and hidden will of God and of his will of efficacy For God by that will worketh all thinges which he will both in heaueÌ„ and in earth But he entreateth of that will which they call the will of the signe For no man can by those signes and tokens which are expressed in the law gather that God The first aunswer willeth his death or condemnation For the lord commaunded hys lawe to be published vnto all men he hath vnto all men set forth those things which should be profitable and healthfull lastly he vpon all men indifferently powreth greate benefites Wherefore by this will which we call the will of the signe he willeth not the death of a sinner yea rather he prouoketh them to repentance But as touching the other will which they call the will of his good pleasure if by it he would that no man should perish then doubtles no man could perish and there is no will so peruerse as sayth Augustine which God if he wil caÌ„ not make good Wherefore according to this will he hath done all things whatsoeuer he would This is a redy and playne interpretation which if our aduersaries admit not but will nedes contend that the wordes of the Prophet are to be vnderstanded Another aunswer of the mighty will of God and of his wil of good pleasure theÌ„ will we answer yâ— yâ— sentence pertaineth not vniuersally vnto all sinners but only to those which repeÌ„t And those are yâ— electe predestinated vnto whome God as according to his purpose he geueth faith and vocation so also geueth he repentaunce Wherefore which sense so euer they followe they shall neuer by those woordes conclude that God vtterly by no meanes willeth the death of sinners or willeth sinne But they obiect certaine wordes out of the first chapter of the booke of wisedome where it is written God reioyseth not in the destruction of the liuing But if say they he by anye manner of meanes willeth sinne or the punishment thereof he can not be said not to reioyce therein For he reioyseth doubtles in that which he will haue to be done First I aunswere that that booke is not in the Canon and therfore the authority thereof maye be refused But amitte that that booke were canonicall yet do those wordes make nothing against vs. For he whatsoeuer he was that was the author God doth not against his will punishe wicked actes of that booke ment nothing els but to remoue from God that prauitye of nature whereby wicked men take pleasure in euil things And yet was not his meaning that God punisheth wicked factes against his wil. For otherwise whatsoeuer that author vnder the name of Salomon was he should be against the true Salomon For he in his Prouerbes vnder the person of wisedome thus writeth of the vngodly and of the vnbeleuers I also will laugh in your destruction In which wordes is declared that God with a laughing that is with a chiereful minde administreth iustice As touching the wordes of Ecclesiasticus which are writen in the. 15. chapter That no man ought to say of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is he hath deceaued me How it is to be vnderstanded that God deceiueth no maÌ„ in which place the lattine translation hath Me implanauit Vnles we will haue that place to be manifestly repugnant with many other places of the scripture in which God is sayd to haue deceaued the people by false prophets and to haue commaunded that Achab the king should be deceaued and to haue made blind the hart of the people that they shoulde not sée we must néedes after this manner expounde those wordes That no man ought to lay the fault in God as though he woulde excuse himselfe Achab though he was deceaued yet he moste iustly deserued to be They whiche are deceiued are iustly deceiued deceaued for that he contemned the true oracles of God and delighted himselfe in false Prophets The infidelity also and impiety of the people of Israell caused the vengeance of God and execution to come vpon them so that when they were deceaued they could by no meanes be excused Our aduersaries also séeme somewhat to be offeÌ„ded for that we affirme that men haue in themselues the cause of sinnes that is a corrupte and viciate nature For in the first chapter of the booke of wisedome the generations of the world are sayde to be good and not to haue in them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is a medicine of destruction This is true indéede so that it be vnderstanded of the first constitution of thinges and chieflye of the creation of Our nature as it was instituted of God wanted corruption man which was created of God in a good estate But afterward thorow his fall he spilt both himselfe and his posterity
vnto euery creature vnder heauen And in this epistle also the 15. chapiter he declareth with how great diligence he had laboured to publish abroade the Gospel euery where From Ierusalem saith In the Apostles tyme the Gospell was spred abroade a great way he vnto Illirricum haue I filled all the countryes round aboute with the Gospell And now seing I haue no more place in these quarters as I go into Spayne I will come vnto you If one Apostle did so much what do we thinke that the rest of the Apostles and Euangelistes did Mathew preached vnto the Ethiopians which were in the furthermost partes and Thomas vnto the Indians which thing they themselues euen to this day testifie And in the first chapiter of this epistle it is written that the fayth of the Romanes was spoken of thoroughout the whole worlde And this diligence of the Apostles ought to stirre vp men of our time by continuall preaching to restore religion now fallen farre in decay Wherefore that commaundement of the Lord which he gaue vnto the Apostles to go into the whole worlde and preach the Gospell to euery createre ought also to be of force in our time that euery man in his place which he is appointed vnto by preaching suffer not sound doctrine to be abolished That the Gospell was in yâ— Apostles time preached thoroughout the whole worlde some expounde by the figure Synechdoche namely that it was now preached in the principal chief prouinces from them went vnto the nations adioyning at the least way the fame and name of this doctrine An example And this sentence followeth Ambrose who vpon this place sayth Where wanted the person of the preacher thither came it by fame And this he proueth by a similitude The wonderfull workes which God had wrought in Egipt to preserue the Israelites were by fame knowen in Iericho as Rahab testified to those messengers or spies whome Iosua sent No nation as yet in the Apostles time publikely and by the authority of the Magistrates professed Christ For this came to passe onely in the times of Constantine and of Theodosius And hereby is easely perceaued what they ment which wrote that certayne nations were newly conuerted vnto the Gospell which thing they affirme of Englishe men as thoughe in Gregories time they came vnto Christ by meanes of Augustine his legate and Bishoppe of Canterbury English meÌ„ Saxons and also of the Saxons that they in the time of Carolus magnus receaued the fayth of the Gospell This in déede mought be as touching publique confession of Cities and regions when yet Christ was long time before preached in those places â–ª And as touching England it had preachers of the Gospell euen from the beginning namely in the time of Eleutherius the first and in such sort had that there remained Bishoppes in that region euen vnto the tyme of that Augustine which was sent by Gregory and that Iland obserued as touching the feast of Easter the olde maner of the East Church and especially of the Church of Ephesus For they celebrated it the fourtenth day of the first moneth So that that Augustine as I thinke rather brought in the tyrannicall subiection vnder the Pope then pure Christian religion and so may we iudge of the Saxons and of other such like nations Augustine in his booke de natura gratia the 2. chap. affirmeth that in hys tyme were some regions farre of although very few vnto whome the Gospell had not as yet bene preached Which I thus vnderstand that the word of God was not publiquely receaued and beleued He writeth also of this matter in his epistle to Hesichius which is in number the 80. But Chrisostome most manifestly maketh on my side in his 10. homily vpon Mathew and also vpon the 24. chapiter of Mathew when he enterpreteth these wordes This Gospell of the kingdome shal be preached thoroughout the whole world for a testimony and then shal be the consumation or end The Gospell doubtles was preached before the destruction of Ierusalem for consumation in that place ought to be referred vnto the publike wealth of the Iewes which was destroyed in the time of the Apostles For Iohn The Gospell was euery where prâ—acheâ— â–ª but not 〈…〉 ry where receiued liued euen vnto the time of Traianus Wherefore the Gospell was in that first time preached in a maner euery where but was not euery where receaued yea 〈…〉 her the preachers were euery where handled with most greuous persecutions as Christ had foretolde for saith he they shall deliuer you and shall skourge you in counsels and Synagogs and ye shall be brought before kinges and rulers Wherefore thâ—re were very few or in a maner none which either heard not the preaching of the Gospell or at the least heard not of the noble and excellent fame of Christ although in successe of time it is possible that the name of Christ was thorough negligence and incredulity abolished as the Portingales report of places found out New regions â—oundâ— out by the Portingales What becommeth of men which neuer hâ—ard any thing of Christ by them in their iorney wherein they sayled from the Gades into India where foâ— some moue a curious question what is to be thought of those which are borne â—itâ—er in wilde woddes out of the company of men or in those places where Christ is â—ot preached and his name not heard of Vnto whome we may answere that such men if there be any such are in déede somewhat excused neither shall their damnation be so gréeuous as theirs shal be which haue heard the Gospell and contemned it yet for all that obtaine they not the benefite of saluation when as they haue in themselues the causes of theyr damnation namely originall sinne and many other sinnes which no doubt they also committe That God can reueale them Christ without the outward ministery we doubt not and peraduenture he so doth sometimes of his mercy but not of desert as the wicked Sophisters saye if they doo what lieth in them as thoughe they coulde merite it as they saye of congruety But thus much by the way touching this matter And this is diligently It was a miracle that the Gospell coâ—lde so quickly be spred abrode to be considered that it was not a slight miracle but most wonderfull that in so short a time the doctrine of Christ coulde be spred abroade thoroughout the whole world when as it had so many aduersaries the deuill wicked men and also tyrans the high Bishoppes and priestes the wise men both of the Iewes and also of the Gentiles and besides the simplicity and rudenes of the preachers was The doctrines of the Philosophers were long time or euer they could be published abrode The doctrine of Mahumet why it was so quickly spred abrode otherwise as touching humane artes very great Within the space of 20. or 30. yeares the preaching of Christ was in a maner euery
then is it certayne that he beleueth not This of necessitie followeth of the former conclusion For if euery one which beleueth sinneth not then doubtles whosoeuer sinneth beleueth not Let Pigghius now go laugh for that we say that by greuous sinnes true faith is lost or is in such a dead slepe that it hath not his act And let him aggrauate the matter as much as he can that he which sinneth greeuously neither beleueth that there is a God nor also the rest of the articles of the faith Origen both thinketh writeth the selfe same thing that we do And he saith moreouer that there is a tokē of true fayth where sinne is not committed as contrariwise where sinne is committed it is a token of infidelitie Again he addeth in the same chap. If peraduenture that which is said of the Apostle to be iustified by faith seme to be repugnant with that which is sayd that we are iustified freely For if fayth be offred first of the man he can not seme to be iustified frely we must remember that euen fayth it selfe is geuen of God and this he proueth by many testimonies But this thing our Pigghius can not abide For he derideth vs as often as we say that fayth is had by the breathing of the holy gost For he saith y◠it is wonderfull y◠the holy gost wil haue his abiding worke in thē which do not as yet beleue The same Origen vpon Leuiticus in his 3. boke 3. chap. The holy sicle sayth he representeth our fayth For if thou shalt offer fayth vnto Christ as a price vnto the imaculate ramme offred vp for a sacrifice thou shalt receiue remission of sinnes Here also we haue expressedly that remission of sinnes is obtayned by y◠fayth I say which is directed vnto Christ deliuered vnto death and sacrificed for vs. There can nothing be more manifest thē these testimonies which Origen hath brought for vs. But these mē are so obstinate that they wil not be led from y◠opiniō which they haue once take in hand to defēd although thou bring neuer so gret light with thē least they should séeme to any of theirs to haue defended an il cause Cyprian beside those thinges which we haue spoken of the coniunction of fayth with a good life writeth also in his 3. booke to Quirinus that fayth onely profiteth and that we are able so much to performe as we do beleue The first part of this sentēce pertayneth vnto the third article of this question but the latter serueth very much for that which we are now in hand with It is a wonderfull saying doubtles that so great is the force of fayth that by it we are able to do whatsoeuer we will And yet did not Ciprian thinke it sufficient absolutely to pronounce this but hath also confirmed it by many and sundry testimonyes of the scriptures As touching Basilius and Gregorius Nazianzenus that shal suffice which I haue before cited Chrisostome in his sermon which he hath entitled de fide lege naturae spiritu sayth that euen fayth is of it selfe able to saue a man And for an example he bringeth forth the thief who he sayth onely confessed and beleued But workes sayth he alone can not saue the workers without fayth After that he compareth workes done without fayth wyth the reliques of dead men For dead carkases sayth he although they be clothed wyth precious and excellent garments yet draw they no heat out of them So sayth he they which want fayth although they be decekd with excellent workes yet are they by them no thing holpen And the same father vpon the epistle vnto the Romanes vpon those wordes of Paul But the righteousnes which is of fayth Thou seest sayth he that this is chiefely peculiar vnto faith that we all treading vnder foote the complain◠of reasō should enquire after that which is aboue nature and that the infirmity of our cogitations being by the vertue and power of God caste away we shoulde embrace all the promises of GOD. Here we sée that by faith wee obtaine the promises of God and although by it we assent vnto all that whiche is contained in the holye Scriptures yet it peculiarly hath a regard vnto the promises of God This is also to be considered that he saith that the infirmity of our cogitacions in beleuing is by the vertue and power of God cast away For this maketh agaynst them which contend that this is done by humane strengthes as though we should haue fayth of our selues and that as though it goeth before iustification The same Chrisostome vpon the 29. chapiter of Genesis in his 54. homely This sayth he is the true fayth not to geue hede vnto those thinges which are seene although they seeme to be agaynst the promise but onely to consider the power of him that promiseth Let thē well consider this which will haue vs to haue a regard not onely to the power and promises of God but also chiefely to our own preparations And expounding these wordes in Genesis Abraham beleued God it was imputed vnto him vnto righteousnes let vs also saith he learne I besech you of the patriarch of God to beleue his sayinges and to trust vnto his promises not to serch them out by our owne cogitations but to shew a great gratitude For this can both make vs iust and also cause vs to obtayne the promises Here also are two thinges to be noted The one is that we are made iust by fayth the other that by the same we obtayne the promises which two things our aduersaries stoutly deny The same father vpon these wordes of Paul vnto Timothe Of whome is Himeneus and Alexander which haue made shipwracke as concerning fayth So sayth he he which once falleth away from the fayth hath no place to stay himselfe or whether to go For the hed Workes dead without faith being corrupted and lost what vse can there be of the rest of the body For if fayth with out works be dead much more are workes dead wythout fayth Here is to be noted that this is an argument a minori that is of the lesse For he sayth that workes are more dead without fayth then is fayth without workes The same author in his sermon de verbis Apostoli vppon these wordes of the Apostle Hauing one and the selfe same spirite of fayth For it is impossible sayth he it is doubtles vnpossible if thou liue vnpurely not to wauer in faith By this we sée how great Chrisostom thought y◠cōiunctiō to be betwen faith good works The same father expoūding these words of y◠Apostle do we thē destroy the law by faith God forbyd yea rather we confirme the law So soone as sayth he a man beleueth straight way he is iustified Wherfore fayth hath cōfirmed the will of the law whilst it hath brought to an end euē that for which the So sone as a man beleueth h◠is 〈◊〉
fauor the godly that he will not only haue their soules to be blessed but also will geue blessednes to their bodyes he will also restore vnto the wicked their bodyes that according to the law of iustice they may be tormented not only in their soules but also in their bodyes The other is that in the Prophets there are touching the resurrection of the dead certayne other more notable places which yet Christ alleaged Why Christ brought not testimonies of the resurrection ouâ— of the Prophets not for that the Saduces with whom he then reasoned admitted the law only and touching the other holy bookes either they receaued them not or els they estemed them not much For they red them as we read the Fathers But I leaue this matter and I beséech God not to suffer this singular benefite of the death of Christ to weare away for age in our mynds that the common prouerbe be not applied vnto vs. Nothing waxeth old sooner then grace But why dost thou iudge thy brother Or also why dost thou despise thy brother For we shal all be set before the iudgement seat of Christ Is it is written I liue saith the Lord and euery knee shall bow to me and euery tong shall confesse vnto God So then euery one of vs shall render accompt of himselfe to God Let vs not therefore iudge one an other any more But iudge this rather that no man put an offence to his brother or be an occasion of falling But why dost thou iudge thy brother Or also vvhy dost thou despise thy brother By the name of brethren he reproueth eche part For the right of brethren is equall and a like and in them is expressed a ciuill administration which is called The right of brethren is equall â—olitia which is a certaine equalitie of Citezens betwene themselues Wherfore no maÌ„ ought either to despise or to iudge him whom he knoweth to be his equall For he which so doth counteth him not for his equal but for his inferior VVherefore vve shall all be set before the iudgement seat of Christ By the iudgement seat vndoubtedly is vnderstanded the iudgement of Christ and that by the figure Metonomia And this benefite beside others we haue by the ciuill magestrates that by theyr axes and swordes and iudgementes seates we are put in minde of the iudgement of God The like phrase of speache Paul vsed in the .v. chapiter of the latter Epistle to the Corinthians vve must al appeare before the iudgment seat of Christ Origen expounding these words maketh a discourse I knowe not wherof for that in this place is red Before the iudgement seate of Christ and to the Corinthians is red Before the iudgement seat of God and with a long circute he disputeth of this matter But doubtles all our bookes haue in ech place Before the iudgement seate of Christ â–ª so that there appeareth no cause of ambiguity And yet if we should so rede as he imagineth nothing could be gathered out of those woordes but that Christ is God In the 7. chapiter of Daniell are set forth many excellent thinges of this throne of God wherin is described the magnificency of the iudgement to come As it is vvritteÌ„ I liue sayth the Lord. This place which is brought to proue Christes diuine power of iudging the world is written in the 45. chapter of Esay This place proueth the diuine nature of Christ As touching the very bare words Paul foloweth not the Hebrew verity but yet most diligently kepeth the sense of the Prophet For that which is here said Saith the Lord agréeth with that which is in the Hebrew The Lord hath sworne And the bowing of the knée signifieth here nothing els but a submission which is most aptly signifyed by that outward Simbole Euery tounge shal confesse vnto God In Hebrew it is Euery tonge shall swear vnto me but there is no man which knoweth not but that in an othe is an excelleÌ„t confession of God For he is called as a witnes or rather as a iudge and he is so called that he will punish the foresworne persons according to theyr deserts But as yet we sée not that all things are subiect vnto Christ But that shall be when he shall deliuer vp the kingdome to God and to the father For then shall all thinges vtterly be made subiect vnto him amongst other the last enemy namely death as Paul sayth to the Corrinthians How be it now is begon a certaine obedience and his kingdome is acknowledged of the congregation of the godly Wherefore though many vniust and wicked things be now committed yet let vs iudge nothing before the time come least we be preiudiciall to the sentence of that moste highe iudge Then all things according to our hope which nowe séeme to want equitie shall be full of equitie Of these wordes of the Apostle is most manifestly gathered the diuinitie of Christ For when he speaketh of the iudgement seate of Christ he addeth and euery tounge shall confesse vnto God Which self thing is much more manifest if we looke vpon the Hebrew veritie For before that these things are pronounced vnder the person of God this is written Am not I Lord and there is no other God besides me Wherfore seing these things pertaine to Christ as Paul testifieth it most manifestly appeareth that he is God So then euery one of vs shall render an accompt to God of himself Wherefore it is not méete that we either rashly iudge or proudly contemne others For at that iudgement seat causes shall be decided according to their desertes Let vs not therefore iudge one an other any more This is concluded by the reasons alleaged of Paule and is euery where in the holy scriptures inculcated of the holy Ghost But iudge this rather that no man put an offence to his brother â–ª or be an occasion To iudge hath two significations of falling This word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to iudge hath not here all one signification with that which it had before For before it was to condemne an other by his sentence or to affirme any thing rashly of another But here to iudge signifieth to appoynt a thing with our selues Appoynt therfore with your selues sayth he and thinke that this chiefly pertaineth to your duety that no man be offended by any your example or any your doings Chrisostome by a straunge reason proueth The impeller to sinne sinneth more greuously then he which coÌ„mitteth the sinne that this thing is to be taken héede of For sayth he he which impelâ—eth an other to sinne deserueth to be muche more greuously punished then euen he which hath sinned For euen at the beginning a greater punishment and vehementer curse was inflicted vpon the serpent then vpon the woman For she transgressed but the other persuaded The woman also was more greuously punished then the man for that he had not sinned but by her counsell and persuasion And