the selfe-same thing saying that God is gratious Exod. 34.6 Ioel. 2.13 Ionah 4.2 mercifull long-suffering abundant in goodnes and truth so looke how many words are ioyned together for to set forth Gods fatherly love so many mouthes as it were and toongs hath God sounding from heaven by which as with the words of a father our mercifull God inviteth and allureth men vnto his mercy By these so many prayses of Gods mercy we are taught not only that God is the sole fountayne of all goodnes but also this is likewise shewed that we are not so hardly perswaded of any thing as to know and beleeve that God will be gratious and mercifull vnto vs for the praysing of Gods mercy is for the most part a reproofe of mans incredulity The scripture therefore with these prayses of Gods goodnes as with so many wedges doth drive out and expell mans vnbeliefe But the Papists heere do most grievously offend in that they fayne God to be other then indeed he is So that they bewray their owne vnbeliefe and malice in that they attribute and trust more in themselves and their owne workes then in God infinitely mercifull Otherwise they would leave this fable of workes foreseene and rest themselves wholy vpon Gods mercy But they shall surely feele though then too late when God commeth vnto iudgement that they deceive themselves and others by these their fayned and lying workes For he that peevishly resisteth Gods mercy is worthily deprived of it Secondly they doe grossely offend against Gods Iustice because they are not ashamed to bring before God most iust their fayned and defiled works as if they were good perfect as if God were blind wanted iudgement discretion to discerne betweene good and bad betwixt perfect works and vnperfect Surely the Papists in this respect doe like those which take a false cause in hand and yet to make it good they labour to blindfold and corrupt the Iudge with bribes that they might obtayne that by deceyt and bribery which by Iustice and Equitie they could not attayne So the Papistes with their workes fore-seene as with so many rewardes labour to corrupt God and to turne him from the right and draw him to the wrong cause and so doe not onely make God like vnto an vniust Iudge but also much worse For choyce giftes and bountifull rewardes are vsually brought vnto a Iudge that hee may the easier bee corrupted to favour vniust causes But the Papistes bring vnto God not perfect workes but filthy and abominable sinnes For God as wee have sayde before could foresee no good workes but those which he himselfe wrought in man but of these the Papists dispute not in this place We have shewed before that man not partly but wholy take him at the best is corrupted and depraved through sinne Therefore all workes which man of himselfe doth or bringeth forth by his owne proper and native vertue can in no wise be good nor acceptable vnto God For from a corrupt and wicked man can proceede nothing but corrupt and wicked deedes for the effects are vsually like the causes Such therefore as the cause hath beene such effects likewise must needes proceede and follow thereon Therefore as out of an vncleane fountayne there proceedeth an vncleane streame and as from an evill tree there groweth evill fruite so also by a corrupt and wicked man can be wrought nothing but corrupt and wicked deeds and endevours For the effectes can not bee better nor more excellent then their causes So that when the Papistes make such workes the cause of Election doe they not after a sorte turne God into a sinfull man doe they not make him the patrone and allower of wickednesse wherein is seene their Sathanicall blindenesse and divelish madnesse So that out of this Fiction of the Papistes as out of a glasse manifestly appeareth what a terrible and dangerous mischiefe it is lewdly to stray out of the worde of God and to whirle vp and downe in franticke speculations and to fayne and suppose false causes for true Agayne if God from everlasting could have foreseene that very good and perfect workes would proceede from man yet those by no meanes could haue beene sufficient to deserve or get Salvation by For an eternall and infinite life cannot be attayned as a reward for a temporall labour and finite worke because there ought to be a iust proportion betweene the labour and the hyre that according as the labour was so also should the wages be payd So that for a great labour there is vsually allotted and appoynted a great reward But Life eternall and heavenly Glory is a farre greater and more excellent good thing then can bee deserved by mans labour or industrie nay Life eternall doth in the worth greatnesse and excellency of it farre exceede and surpasse the heavens and the whole world nay nothing that is created may iustly be compared vnto it So that as there is no comparison betweene a temporall desert and an eternall benefite so also is there no proportion betweene an infinit good a finite worke Whosoever therefore braggeth of his owne workes let him take heed that he be not punished rather then rewarded Thirdly they offend against the Wisedome of God in that they endevour to shewe an other way to attayne Salvation then hee hath revealed in his word For God will have his Mercy and free Election to bee the onely way and gate into eternall Life That the Scriptures teach manifestly in divers places saying Blessed are all they whose sinnes are forgiven Psal 32.1 Rom. 4.6 7 8. and to whom the Lorde imputeth not sinne But the Papistes preferre theyr good workes fore-seene to bee the cause of Salvation rather then Gods goodnesse So they would erect and set vp their owne righteousnesse which God bestoweth not vpon them by faith neyther hath Christ merited by his Passion Wherefore they do not obey Gods divine wisedom and counsell neyther will they be subiect vnto it which in the ende shall fall out evill for them and turne to theyr destruction For they which despise and cast off Gods counsell doe loose his mercy and are condemned as Augustine sayth in one place Wherefore their wisedome is not onely vayne but also tending to destruction which are wise against God But surely such wisedome speaking properly and according to divinity is not to bee called wisedome but the subtilty of Sathan and craftinesse of wicked men whereby they mocke God delude men For the wisedom of God is so the fountaine and spring of all wisdom that no other living creature can have any greater wisedome then God doth communicate and bestow vpon him Looke therefore howe much wisedome God doth worke and preserve in a man so much wisedome hee hath and better or more wisedome hee cannot have They therefore which will be more wise then God would have them their wisedome commeth not so much of God as of the divell Therefore the superstitious and
vnderstood rightly expounded it is the effectual wholesome instrumēt of the holy spirit to convert save mē So that the word of God his spirit is the singular and inestimable treasure and the excellent peculiar goods of the Church of which the Church according to that promise ought never to be deprived but to be alwayes begotten of it and to be continually directed and preserved by it Therefore the Holy Ghost is the begetting cause of faith he doth create and worke it in the hearts of the elect and by the dayly proceedings and increase thereof doth augment and preserve it vnto the end of their lives But the stedfast apprehension and applying of the promises of God and the merit of Christ is the expresse forme and lively image of faith in this consisteth the whole force and efficacy of faith Gal. 2.20 So S. Paule doth in expresse words set downe saying The sonne of God loved me and gave himselfe for me So true faith doth behold the generall promise of God and apprehendeth it and maketh particular application to it selfe certainely setting downe this that that promise of grace and salvation doth no lesse appertayne vnto it then vnto the rest of the beleevers For then the promise of God is effectuall in men and commeth to the proper end and issue of it selfe when it is apprehended by a true faith Againe the word publikely preached in the ministery of the Gospel is the instrumentall cause of faith and therefore that word is called by Paul the power of God vnto salvation Rom. 1.16 Rom. 10.17 vnto every one that beleeveth because that the holy ghost worketh by it in the hearts of the elect so that faith springeth from the preaching hearing of the Gospell Therefore whatsoever the elect do heare with their outward eares from the publike preaching of the word that doth the Holy Ghost make fruitefull and effectuall in their hearts Furthermore a stedfast confidence and a true hope in Christ a fervent love towards God also a sonne-like feare and reverence of God a sincere love of our neighbour and other honest and holy actions are such effects of the holy spirit which do accompany and attend vpon true faith as naturall and inseparable vertues So true fayth doth rest selfe vpon the fatherly love of God and doth heartily reverence and worship God as a good and loving Father and doth continually study how to please him and cleave vnto him and carefully avoydeth whatsoever may offend him and lastly doth steadfastly hope that it shall be partaker together with Christ of everlasting life and heavenly glory But the finall cause of fayth is 1. Pet. 1.9 the comprehending and conceyving of good thinges to witte life eternall and blessed immortalitie And if any shall here subtily obiect vnto a man and say that fayth is alwayes here lame and vnperfect and therefore cannot make a man perfect and happy For that which ought to save one must be every way perfect and absolute wee must answere him that fayth as farre forth as it abideth in the heart of man as in the subiect thereof is alwayes imperfect here and scarce deserveth the name of vertue But as it beholdeth and apprehendeth Christ so it is effectuall and maketh men of the sonnes of perdition the children of God then great power and saving actions are ascribed vnto it by the Scripture as that it iustifieth men that it quikneth them and saveth them So that fayth doth not save and make happy any man in regard of the subiect in which it remayneth but it is sayd to save and iustifie a man in regard of the obiect whither it tendeth and which it apprehendeth For Christ being layd hold on by fayth saveth a man whether that fayth be great or small And that Christ being apprehended with a little and slender fayth doth yet save and iustifie a man the examples of the holy Scripture declare manifestly enough For that Ruler in Iohn although he were endued with a very slender and weake fayth in Christ Iohn 4.49.53 yet for all that Christ reiecteth him not but iustified and saved both him and his sonne with all his houshold So likewise he in Marke Marke 9.24.25 although he was sayd to have a meane and a weake fayth yet Christ being layd hold on by it tooke pittie vpon him and healed his sonne that was possessed of the divell Here is notwithstanding diligently to be marked that in these manner of speeches wherein in the vertue of saving is attributed vnto fayth the power and force of the efficient cause is attributed vnto the instrument by which it worketh and is effectuall So that when iustification salvation is ascribed vnto faith as vnto the cause then the obiect of fayth is vnderstood For Christ cannot be apprehended but by sayth onely as by the instrument wherewith it is done Furthermore here is carefully to be considered that this saving Calling is produced and wrought more by the inward working of the spirite then by the outward preaching of the word For although God by his Ministers should speake and call vnto vs a thousand times by the voyce of his word in the Ministery yet vnlesse wee be drawne inwardly by the spirite of God we shall never come vnto him Many and most wonderfull examples of all ages have sufficiently declared this and do yet at this day declare it Whereby it may bee gathered that this Calling is placed in the good will and hand of God onely farre out of our owne reach For he alone can illuminate vs and convert and change vs into new creatures For in this calling the whole man is repugnant vnto God that calleth Iohn 6.44 Psal 51.12 Therefore Christ in S. Iohn vseth this word drawing David vseth this word creating speaking of the conversion of man Christ by the word drawing sheweth that this heavenly grace cannot bee conceyved of the naturall man but that there must be a new mind and a new vnderstanding to conceive it And David by the word creating would teach vs that the renewing and amendement of man is so difficult hard a worke that it can be wrought or brought to passe by no creature Bara This he sheweth by the Hebrew word Bara he created which properly signifieth hee made a thing of nothing which which was not before Secondly it signifieth to bring to passe some singular and wonderfull worke out of some matter already created which cannot possibly be imitated by any creature So that this regeneration of man is a certayne spirituall creation by which the regenerate are transported into a newe life and prepared for that heavenly glory which never shall have ende Here is refuted the errour of the Papists concerning the strength that is in man and shewed in what things an vnregenerate man hath free-will and in what not and how farre free-will stretcheth it selfe And the grosse ignorance or manifest impietie of the Papists is disclosed
iustification and salvation that without it God will not be mercifull and favourable no not to any one They therefore which do behold this victory of Christ with a true faith have wherewith they may fortifie themselves against the assaults of Sathan they have whereby they may set light by his sleights and subtilties they have wherein they may place their faith and hope in Christ alone and in his merit onely In this iustification howbeit we are iustified and acquitted of our sinnes by the onely merit of Christ yet there is no let but that the three holy and inseparable persons of the Trinity may have and execute their severall actions in it For the Father is therefore sayd to iustifie vs because that of his owne meere grace and free love 1. Pet. 1.20 Gal. 4.4 he hath from everlasting fore-appoynted his onely begotten Sonne to redeeme vs and sent him at the time appoynted The Sonne is therefore sayd to iustifie vs because that for his incomprehensible and vnspeakeable goodnes sake towards vs vouchsafing by the power of the holy ghost to take mans nature vpon him he was obediēt vnto his Father even vnto the death of the crosse Phil. 2. and so satisfied the iustice of God for vs and delivered vs from all the power of the Devill by making amends for our sinnes The Holy Ghost also is sayd to iustifie vs as farre forth as he doth beget in vs true and stedfast faith by which we may apprehend and apply vnto our selves the righteousenes that is purchased by the obedience of the death of Christ Therefore this free remission of sinnes is the onely very fourme of iustification by which iustification is that which it is and is distinguished from all other false and fained satisfactions and sacrifices of which sort the Papists doe invent many and offer them vnto God And the finall cause of iustification is the prayse and glory of Gods goodnes and the everlasting happines and excellent blessed estate of those which are thus iustified Now there was nothing else which moved God to iustifie vs but his owne love towards vs and the obedience of Christ and our misery But the instrumentall cause is a true and a lively faith laying hold on and applying to it selfe the obedience of Christ and righteousnes purchased thereby and relying with a good conscience vpon the sole mercy of God and the onely merit of Christ This iustification is then avayleable and acceptable vnto vs whenas every of vs doth stand as guilty before the heavenly iudge and being carefull of his acquitall doth of his owne accord humble and prostrate himselfe as vnworthy And this is profitably done when a man doth seriously weigh and consider with himselfe the perfection and severity of Gods iustice on the one side and the multitude and greatnes of his sinnes on the other side For by such a consideration hee is seriously humbled with the feeling of his misery and rightly prepared to desire and embrace the mercy of Christ So that by how much the more every of vs shall be severe in condemning himselfe by so much shall we finde God more mercifull and more easy to be intreated for then will a man be capable of the grace of God and benefite of Christ when hee shall knowe himselfe and his whole nature to bee full of vncleanenes and filthines and shall condemne it For he which iudgeth himselfe vnworthy of the grace of God as one sayth him doth God receyve into favour and maketh him worthy through Christ But they which swell and are filled with the opinion of their owne righteousnes and hunger not after the righteousnes of God they perish in their miseries and never come vnto true righteousenes Againe they which being hardned with the custome of sinning and drunken with the delight of their vices do extenuate their faults and securely despise the iudgement of God they shut vp from themselves the gate of mercy What manner of thing Iustification is where are set forth the three proprieties thereof namely that it is free perfect and everlasting and withall there is refuted the opinion of the Papists concerning the merit of works being contrary to the first propriety CHAP. 27. NOw we must lay open what manner of thing iustification is and the quality thereof consisteth especially in three things first that it is free for the remission of sinnes is not for any merits of man but it is a meere grace and an vndeserved mercy promised for Christ his sake alone For God findeth nothing in a man whom he iustifieth but an horrible sinke of sinne and extreame misery The scripture every where affirmeth that Christ only is the author of all grace and the whole hope of our salvation consisteth in the bloud of Christ alone Without the merit of Christ there can be no iustification for he alone hath deserved righteousenes for vs and having deserved it he giveth and imputeth it vnto vs. They therefore which desire to be righteous without the merit of Christ are altogether without God and prophane And they which dreame that they are iustified partly by grace and partly by merit are Pelagians or Papists the followers of their heresie but they which beleeve that they are iustified by the onely merit of Christ are true Christians These by beleeving and receiving the righteousnes of Christ purchased by his death as the righteousnes of an other are iustified indeede but they which by theyr workes and merits do affect theyr owne righteousnes shall never attayne vnto it The Papists therefore have forged a certaine kinde of merit which is weake of it selfe but when it is dipped in the bloud of Christ it is effectuall and forcible and so they say that a man is partly iustified by grace and partly by workes But this cannot be because that grace and merit are two manifest contraryes from which one and the selfe same thing cannot be brought forth For this is the nature and rule of contraryes that from contrary causes contrary effects proceede likewise Moreover wee are all debtors for wee are obliged and bound vnto God so that he may iustly challenge as his due whatsoever good thing can proceede or be perfourmed of vs. Now that which may be demaunded of vs as duty that can not merit But Christ sayth that what good thing soever we do or can do Luk. 17.10 all that how much soever it be is our duty wherefore there is no merit at all Agayne the cause of iustification to wit eternall election in Christ is free therefore likewise iustification it selfe must needes be free for there cannot be more in the effect then there is in the cause thereof Therefore the Papists whilest that they dreame of any merit in vs they do commit a manifest fallacy from that which is no cause as if it were a cause for they remove the merit of Christ which is the perfect and true cause of iustification and set in the roome thereof the merit
them with eternall torments This therefore must firmely be resolved vpon that al those things which are brought to passe either by God he himselfe effecting them or which are done by other by his permission are not exempt from his providence but are brought to passe by his iust iudgement And God seeing he is the onely and soveraigne goodnes could not but make man good at the first and like vnto himselfe For every piece of worke vsually is like and correspondent to the workeman because that every cause bringeth forth an effect like it selfe So that it is often seene that a good cause generally and naturally bringeth forth a good effect and an evill cause likewise an evill and corrupt effect But when God by his eternall and vnchangeable decree had appointed mankind for the manifestation partly of his mercy and partly of his iustice it was therefore necessary that man should be created such a one by God as should be meete and fit to attayne vnto those ends for which he was created Therefore although man were created by God good and without sinne yet notwithstanding he was created good and without sinne in such sort that of good he might become evill otherwise God could have neither manifested nor exercised his iustice nor mercy in him and those ends which were fore-knowne and appoynted of God from everlasting had fallen to the ground and had not come to their proper effect and purpose Man therefore was to be created of God not necessarily good but changeably so that in respect of the things that happened in his way he might be changed and become otherwise But if he had bene created necessarily and vnchangeably good he had been rather a God then a creature For vnchangeablenesse in it selfe is the propriety of God alone and cannot be found in any creature which alone is or may be changed But God only is one and the same alwayes constant ever like himselfe and is never changed And howsoever the holy Angels are already and holy men shall be in the world to come placed in such degree of goodnes as that they may by no meanes fall from it into the contrary yet in both these this vnchangeablenes is not a naturall propriety but is and shall be the free gift and benefite of God Moreover God was not the proper author of this change in man from God to evill For he created man such an one that if he would himselfe he might have remayned without sinne For as his will was made free by God so he also of his owne accord without any outward constraint or compulsion chose the evill that was forbidden by God and by choosing that did contrary to the will of God and so sinned But if God should have made that change in man from good to evill certainely he should have been no lesse accounted the cause of the evill then if he had created it from the beginning For if he had eyther constreyned man to do evill by some forced and violent motion or by any other meanes inclined his will to this evill certaynely God himselfe had sinned together with man yea had sinned much more then man For there remayneth more evill in the cause that doth compell then in the cause that is compelled But in as much as man of his owne accord leaned vnto the perswasion of the Devill and withall of his owne free will without any outward compulsion desired the evill that was forbidden by God and so fell from God this change therefore from good to evill did arise from Sathans perswasion and from mans will freely choosing and committing the evill Therefore Adams free will and the Devils motion are the true causes of mans misery So that although our first Parents were created by God according to his owne image in holines and righteousnes both in body and minde and had free will given vnto them yet this their free will was not sufficient of it selfe to retayne Gods image and originall righteousnes because they were overcome by temptation and sinned But if the participation and ayde of the divine grace had vpheld them they had not fallen but had remayned innocent as at the first they were created Therefore although man was deceived by the temptation and subtilty of Sathan and brought into sinne yet notwithstanding because that of his owne free will he did assent and agree vnto the perswasion of the Devill therefore he himselfe was the first and chiefest cause of his owne ruine and decay for Sathan may perswade a man to evill but he cannot by force draw or compell any man to evill Therefore this willing revolting from good to evill is the cause of originall corruption which first began to be in the first mans will and afterward that infection and corruption by the iust iudgement of God descended and was derived vnto all and every of his posterity which hath made them altogether and every one apart by himselfe subiect to Gods iust iudgement and guilty of eternall damnation and that so that God the continuall enemy and revenger of all evill may iustly suffer all and every of them to be destroyed and to perish in that corruption without doing iniury to any of them because he is indebted to none of them So that the first man was so created of God and so left vnto the free choyse of his owne will that he might remayne in his innocency or fall from it if he would himselfe Although therefore that to fall and not to fall were vnto man indifferent and contingent and eyther of them as well one as the other might have happened and fallen out yet of these things which were otherwise meere matters of contingency that only fell out which God from everlasting had foreseene and decreed that it should happen So that those things which in respect of man are doubtfull and of their owne nature apt to fall out on either side which may happen or not happen or which may come to passe otherwise then man had purposed these very same things I say in respect of God are certayne and determined so that they cannot fall out otherwise then God from everlasting hath fore-ordained Hereby it is manifest that in things that pertayne vnto man if a man respect the counsell and end of man they are as it were matters of chaunce But if a man consider Gods decree and the end appoynted of him there are no matters of chance at all in inferior things nor in any thing els whatsoever For the creatures which are said to be second causes by reason of the want of wisedome do not foresee and know the future events of things and if peradventure they do foresee any yet they have them not in their power nor are indued with any such ability as to accomplish them and bring them to their wished and appoynted end wherefore many things oftentimes fall out and happen contrary to their intent and meaning and even their setled counsels are many times broken off and
give his glory to another which by the Prophet Esaias he flatly denieth to doe saying Esay 48.11 I will not give my glory to another that is God will not cause that any Creature should have infinite strength or infinite wisedome For of ones selfe to perfourme and bring forth those workes which may merite Election and eternall life is not in the power of any creature For life eternall is a farre more excellent good and greater worke then mans strength is able to compasse That life is heavenly and infinite and therefore not to bee gotten or procured but by an heavenly and infinite power For as wee have sayde before there is no comparison nor proportion betweene an infinite good thing and a finite worke and merite Therefore when as the Papists brag that they are able to make themselves worthy of their elelection by their owne proper workes and merits they doe more foolishly and fottishly then if they should take in hand to build and set vp a new heaven and a newe earth with mallets and other tooles For albeit that this bee altogether impossible for them to doe yet that other is farre more hard and much more impossible For God the onely Almighty One was able to create the Heaven and the Earth and all that is contained in Heaven and in Earth by his word onely without any difficulty but he could not redeeme Mankinde from eternall damnation but by the precious blood of his Sonne So the Scripture calleth them that shall bee saved the Chosen in Christ namely in that hee hath redeemed them by his blood and restored Gods Image in them Wherefore seeing that Salvation could not bee recovered by any other meanes but by the most bitter death and passion of Christ hence it clearely followeth that there-obtayning of Salvation doth farre exceed the strength and power of any creature whatsoever Wherefore it is most false and wicked which the Papists dreame of that man is elected vnto Salvation for such or such good works foreseene Because those workes cannot pacifie the exceeding great wrath of God nor make satisfaction for the sinnes of man For as we have sayde before they are altogether repugnant and contrary vnto God therefore they doe not pacifie him but offend him and provoke him the more to anger Surely the whole masse of the worlde may farre more easily bee stayed vp with a staffe of reede then Salvation can bee gotten or obtayned by the power of man But that fiction concerning workes fore-seene should have the more likelyhood of trueth if they did bring forth such workes to deserve Salvation as were truely good but they can bring forth no such for as wee have sayde before man is wholly corrupt and wicked therefore there can bee expected from him nothing but corrupt and wicked deedes Lastly by theyr workes fore-seene they doe manifestly tempt God as if he were not able to save his Elect and bring them to happinesse by his meere grace being apprehended by fayth vnlesse they should put to theyr owne good workes as helpers and furtherers of his Grace And surely by offering theyr workes they shew that they are in doubt whether the Grace of God bee able and sufficient to save them and so denie God to be God For God cannot bee God vnlesse hee bee absolutely good and infinitely mercifull otherwise he should be imperfect and conditionally good such an one as the Papistes doe make him to bee with theyr good workes and merites fore-seene And a greater dishonour cannot redound vnto God then for a man to doubt of his infinite goodnesse and free mercy and God cannot be iniured more then if a man should preferre his owne workes fore-seene before the mercy of God as if by them God could bee mooved or turned this way or that way like man Certaynely whomsoever he hath not chosen for his owne mercy sake him wil he not chuse hereafter for any fore-seene good works of his owne For it is all alike to choose a man to Salvation for his owne workes as if God should cease to be God For if God should choose a man for his workes there would bee found manifest change in God and so God should cease to bee God but they which thinke themselves vnworthy of Election and yet doe truely and constantly beleeve that they are from everlasting elected vnto Salvation by the free mercy of God they give vnto God his deserved honour For a greater honour cannot be given vnto God then that hee is much more good and mercifull vnto vs in Christ then if wee had never sinned at all For hee that beleeveth in Christ and layeth hold on him by a true fayth hee hath the love of God and shall as truely and certaynely attayne life everlasting for his Passion sake as God in his Nature is everlasting and vnchangeable in his Will But the Papists which make their owne workes and merites the cause of theyr Election doe labour to abolish his mercy and to establish theyr owne integrity and righteousnesse as if God had chosen man not because he himselfe was God and mercifull but because man was thought acceptable and approoved of God for such or such good workes fore-seene when as the Gospel teacheth the cleane contrary Luke 18. that before Gods iudgement seate no workes nor merites of man may be suffered to approach but that a lowly and humble prayer powred out in the blood and merites of Christ shall bee heard and accepted Therefore the least imagination or establishment of mans merit is the manifest abolishing of the grace of God and the merits of Christ and a most certayne hazard and losse of eternall life By these things that are spoken it appeareth evidently enough that this fiction of workes fore-seene is as an il favoured head which hath many vnseemely members vnder it For where one absurdity is graunted a great many must needes followe after 2. Tim. 2.17 For errour is as a fretting canker For where the least chincke is opened to errour there the very greatest Monsters of errours throng in by troopes other most vngodly sins are heaped together vpon them So out of this false opinion as out of Pandoraes box there do flie horrible reproaches and blasphemies agaynst God For they which doe misvnderstand and falsely expound one place of Scripture it must needes follow that they mis-interpret and misvnderstand many places Because that all the Articles of Christian fayth are so artificially lincked together that one of them cannot be hurt but all the rest are wronged neyther can one bee taken out from amongst the rest but the whole rancke and order of all the rest will be broken and fall to nothing Certaynely the Papists being the subtile teachers and patrones of good workes fore seene doe openly declare that they neyther know the strength of sinne nor the vntowardnesse of our corrupted nature nor the iustice and wrath of God against sinne and so they are most ignorant of that which it
best reiected For there are many good men found which want those outward things and many times they are wicked which overflow and abound with them Therefore that obiection of the accepting of persons is not simple but doth comprehend many evils vnder it by which Sathan on the one side doth with mayne force push at the glory of God and on the other side doth openly set himselfe against the salvation of mankind and laboureth to overthrow and hinder it For salvation cannot be obteyned if the true cause of salvation be not vnderstoode and knowne for nothing can be brought forth by any thing else but by his owne proper and true cause But if this obiection should take place salvation should be transported from the true cause thereof vnto a false cause and so be in ieoperdy of losing Moreover God when he elected vs did call vs as it were from nothing For there was no good thing in our nature which could be acceptable and approved vnto him therefore of his free goodnes and mercy he decreed to adopt vs for children by election By all these things it evidently appeareth and is sufficiently proved that God hath absolute power and free will in the electing and reprobating of men For God is bereft of the chiefest part of his honor and glory vnlesse this authority be granted him over men to be the only iudge and disposer of life and death eternal Although God from everlasting hath in his iust iudgement cast away the reprobates from all hope of salvation yet they are condemned for nothing but for their owne sinnes and misdeedes so that they cannot complayne but of their owne deservings CHAP. 19. ELeventhly this decree of Predestination is a iust decree For God in his works is not onely most free but also in the same is most iust and vpright Therefore whatsoever he willeth and doeth he willeth and doeth iustly In as much therefore as he hath reprobated some men and appoynted them to eternall damnation he hath reprobated and decreed to condemne them iustly But that this question may the more cleerely be discussed and the better vnderstoode we must note two things First that God in his nature is iust Secondly that over and besides his nature he willeth and doeth nothing in his workes but that which is iust Moreover God is so iust in his nature as that his iustice is not any accidentall quality which is gotten and attayned by such or such actions or which sometimes admitteth augmentation and sometimes diminution but it is an essentiall propriety in God which cannot be absent from God except he cease to be God So that iustice most properly agreeth vnto God for he is iust indeede properly and so iust that not the least part of iustice can be found to be which proceedeth and commeth not from Gods iustice Therefore the creatures have so much iustice and vprightnes as it pleaseth God to instill and powre into them So that Gods iustice is the fountayne and welspring of all other iustice Certaynely God in his nature and will is so iust that no vniust thing can not onely be found in him but withall likewise he can endure no iniquity in his creatures For the will of God is not onely iust continually but also it is the onely imitable measure and rule of all other righteousnes and that so that no other things can be eyther iust or vniust but those which GOD shall pronounce iust or vniust Therefore whatsoever he shall iudge vniust cannot in any wise be iust and on the contrary those things which he shall esteeme as iust no man ought to thinke vniust Therefore seeing that GOD both in his nature and in his will is exceeding iust it followeth that all things which hee willeth and doeth must needes bee iust For as every cause doth bring forth his effect so also that effect doth declare of what sort the cause is For as the essence of the effect proceedeth from the cause so in like manner the knowledge of the cause is by his effect For such as the cause was such also must the effect needes follow therefore from a iust cause there must needes proceede iust effects wherefore in that that God hath reprobated many men and reiected them from his grace he hath reprobated them and reiected them iustly For all the works of God are iust as the scripture sayth but reprobation is a worke of God therefore it must needes be iust For who would deny that to be in the * Species particular kinde which is in the )( Genus generall or who would say that the nature of the causes is not in the effects This iustice or righteousnes of God is altogether incomprehensible and stretcheth and enlargeth it selfe as farre as the very nature and essence of God doth Therefore God can deliberate and do many and infinite things farre above the capacity of man and that most vprightly although they seeme to be otherwise in the wisedome of man Therefore howsoever God from everlasting hath appoynted certayne men to eternall perdition before they were created or had done any evill yet for all this he cannot be convinced of any iniustice because that he hath free power over all things and a iust will in all things so that he may iustly do in all his creatures whatsoever he doth or will do Therefore in that he hath appoynted some men vnto everlasting destruction hee hath done iustly for hee is a most free agent Therefore though he take pity vpon some and reiect others though he regenerate some and harden others though he save some and destroy others yet these and such like works are the iust works of God which he may do freely Is it not lawfull forme sayth that Lord of the Vineyard in the Parable Mat. 20.15 to do what I will with mine owne Therefore those works as they are done of God are iust and good works but if the same works or the like to these should be done of man they were vniust and great offences because they would be manifestly repugnant contrary to the law of God For the law commandeth that men should love others as themselves and that they should at all times and by all meanes and dutyes that they can save and defend them and not destroy them So that God gave a law vnto men to love and save others but he gave not that law to himselfe for he may iustly hate them whom men by the law are commanded to love Therefore God is iust at all times and in every place although some things which he willeth and doeth seeme very vniust vnto flesh and the wisedome of man For what can seeme more vnrighteous or vniust vnto flesh then to condemne a man vnto eternall destruction before he hath done any evill when as notwithstanding it is the iust worke of God which is therefore iust because it is Gods will This worke and decree of reprobation in the iudgement of man seemeth contrary
of man a false and fayned cause thereof And although the scripture do oftentimes promise a reward vnto the workes of the godly yet from thence can be gathered no merit wherein God as a debtor should be bound vnto vs because that reward dependeth vpon the meere mercy of God and not vpon any worthines of the workes Therefore the Papists whilst that in this question they do ioyne the reward and merit in a mutuall relation are very much deceived Certainely such are despised and reiected of God which shall put the least part of their confidence in their owne workes This doth the Sonne of God lively expresse and teach vs in the example of the Pharisy Luk. 18.11 Moreover the Papists get nothing in this when as they bring forth the examples of the Saints how that they oftentimes did freely rehearse and plead their integrity innocency before God this they do not to this end purpose as if they would declare themselves to be free and exempt from all imperfection and stayne of sinne nor as if they hoped that they could stand in the sight of God being indued with their owne power but they do it to a far other end namely to shew that they have a good lawfull cause against their adversaryes of whom they are vniustly hurt and oppressed So that the holy men do not compare their owne integrity by the sâ—uare rule of Gods iustice but they oppose it against the violent iniury of their enemyes and do call God as a iust iudge and the onely witnes of the truth betweene themselves and their enemyes Therefore by that comparison made with their enemyes by whom they are vniustly oppressed they shew forth their owne righteousnes and singlenes of heart that by that reason they might the more easily perswade God to help them This therefore is the reason why the holy meÌ„ do labour so earnestly in pleading the cause of their owne righteousnes so that in those speaches of their owne cause the question is not concerning their whole life and continuall perfection and innocency thereof but onely the goodnes of the cause is layd open and declared against the iniury of the wicked Agayne although the Saincts sometimes lay open their good workes 2. King 20.4 Psa 18.21 that they have walked before God with an vpright heart and have not departed from his commaundements yet notwithstanding they doe not produce those works as meritorious but onely bring them in as signes and fruites of their calling that they might comfort themselves concerning their free adoption and so do not extoll and prayse their owne merits but the gifts and benefits of God and do testify that they do rely with a quiet conscience vpon the only favour of God and obedience of Christ Also sometimes when the Scripture speaketh of the integrity of the Saincts it distinguisheth them from hipocrites to whom it is sufficient to have an outward shew of godlines So this integrity is not every way the perfection of the whole life but it is taken for the singlenes of heart which is contrary to dissimulation Also the Papists by their interpretation doe corrupt all those places of Scripture which promise a reward vnto good workes and wrest them into an other sence and so doe fall into a fallacy of the ambiguity of a word And further because they ascribe that vnto the merits of man which is due alone vnto the grace of God and to the onely merit of Christ they mingle contrary causes together and out of them do frame and forge I know not what But to enforce some merit from a free reward they do not only make a foolish and rash consequence but also do deny God to be the onely fountayne of all goodnes and do conclude that there is some good thing in wretched sinners which are wholy corrupted Furthermore that which they babble of inherent righteousnes is altogether vayne and foolish for the free forgivenes of sinnes and the imputation of Christ his merit doth quite overthrow as well this inherent righteousnes as that righteousnes of workes for these are two contraryes which can never stand together nor be attributed vnto one and the selfe-same thing but one of them alwayes confoundeth and driveth away the other Surely such fictions of the Devill and vayne men are altogether to be reiected and condemned which pull in pieces the whole doctrine of the free remission of sinnes For they which goe about to establish and set vp theyr owne righteousnes do not submit themselves vnto the righteousnes of God Rom. 10.3 they do not onely deceive and as much as in them lyeth condemne themselves and others but also they arrogate the honour of God vnto themselves or at the leastwise much weaken it for as soone as they set vp their owne righteousnes they throw downe the righteousnes of God for this is the onely beginning to obteyne the righâ—…nes of God that men should altogether renouâ—â—â—â—heir owne righteousnes and to confesse and acknâ—â—â—â—dge themselves to be voyd of all righteousnes For as long as a man thinketh that he hath the least good thing of his owne he is vnfit to receive the righteousnes of God which he giveth and imputeth freely for God receiveth into favour and saveth none but sinners such as are voyd of all righteousnes Hence is it that the Prophets and Apostles do set the only grace of God and sole merit of the Messias Dan. 9. 1. Tim. 1.15 as contrary vnto all the merits of man and all outward causes which prophane and wicked men in their inconstancy and rash attempts do invent for by this meanes they teach vs that there is no other way for men to become righteous and enter into heaven but the onely and meere goodnes of God and the merit of Christ alone Agayne they teach vs that all and singular the endevours and merits of man by which men go about to deserve the grace of God are nothing else but manifest illusions and sleights of the Devill by which ignorant men are made strangers from God and throwne headlong into the deepe pit of condemnation Therefore this free iustification ought alwayes to be remembred and thought of for Sathan laboureth and watcheth for nothing more then that he might quite put out or at the least darken this free iustification of faith This he hath gone about in all ages and obtained in many places But let this suffice to be spoken of the first quality of iustification Secondly this iustification is by all meanes perfect and most absolute for God doth not pardon one or two sinnes only but he forgiveth all and every sinne Neither doth he only forgive sinnes that are already committed past but he doth remit the dayly falls of his children if they repent This the scripture teacheth vs in many places and diligently vrgeth Iohn sayth playnely 1. Iohn 1.7 that the bloud of Christ cleanseth vs from all sinne S. Paul to the Colossians
And so the good workes of the best are partly imperfect and evill If therefore they should bee examined and weighed in themselves and by themselves in the iust ballance of the Lawe of almighty God beeing defiled and polluted with theyr owne vncleannesse filthinesse and deformity they will be found much more vile and vnsavory in the sight of God then any leprosie by the vncleannesse thereof can bee vnsightly and abominable in the sight of men This Esayas doth confesse freely of himselfe and other religious worshippers of God Esay 64.6 saying We are all of vs as an vncleane thing and all our righteousnesse as a filthy and most vile cloth Here rhe Prophet although hee had profited much in the matter of godlinesse and in the worship of God yet he confesseth that he is infected and polluted with many and filthy sinnes If the workes of so great a Prophet were defiled with sinne as with the vncleannesse of leprosie what shall wee thinke of our owne works which are in no sort to bee compared with his Certaynely hee is altogether vncleane that seeth not his owne vncleannesse But the more holy that a man is the more also doth he confesse and acknowledge his owne pollution and vncleannesse as the example and confession of the Prophet doth manifest and declare So that no man can be certayne of the free pardon and remission of his sinnes except by a sound fayth and steadfast assurance he do relye vpon the sole and meere goodnesse of God and consider with himselfe and detest his owne imperfection and manifold sinnes For God doth nothing by the halfes Therefore hee hath determined eyther to save him wholy or els is ready to condemne him wholy So that workes if they bee considered in themselves and without mercy are worthy to be cast together with men into everlasting torments Here the Papists do agayne betray theyr owne grosse ignorance or obstinate malice in that they dreame and dare affirme that the workes of the Saynts are not onely every way perfect in this life but also more exact then the law of God requireth to which God oweth Life everlasting and Salvation And those works they call by a new found name merits ex condigno to which rewards are due and ought to be payd even for the worth of the worke according vnto the rule of Iustice So these will have the works of the godly to be altogether perfect in this life and wholy agreeable vnto the Law of God so that they may by theyr inward vertue deserve the grace of God as a reward For so they make an equalitie betweene those works and life eternall so that God should be bound by right to yeeld a reward vnto them This imagination of the Papists is vayne and fond because that bond in which God first bound himselfe is not meritorious of the least reward but dependeth wholy vpon the promise and mercy of God But the works of the godly in this life are vnperfect and onely but begunne therefore there cannot be in them such force and power as that by them the sinnes of the godly should be made a meanes for and put away and the grace of God attayned as these would have it Therefore this obligation or bond wherein God is bound cannot be prooved to proceed from the worth of theyr works and so this equality which they have forged and drawne out of theyr owne brayne is altogether voyd So Iob being regenerate sayth most truely and confesseth his owne imperfection and frailty when he sayth If I would iustifie my selfe mine owne mouth shall condemne me if I shall say I am perfect he shall iudge me wicked Let every man therefore confesse and acknowledge that he is vnperfect that hee may have passage and entrance vnto the mercy of God Farre therefore bee the name of perfection and righteousnesse from those works which by Gods owne mouth are convinced to be full of pollution and vncleannesse They adde yet further that they are able to performe and doe more and better workes then the Law prescribeth and commandeth for which cause they terme them very impudently the workes of Supererogation And in these they do not onely put much confidence but also do ascribe the prayse of theyr righteousnesse vnto them and do place no smal part of their glory in them By this vayne wicked fiction they do offend most grievously First in that they dare fayne that these workes are wholy consonant vnto the law of God yea more absolute then the law it selfe and stick not to vaunt and thrust out these fayned works vnto God and the Church as if they were true and very works indeed Secondly in that they are not afrayd by these workes to dimme the glory of God and to make the merir of Christ of none effect Lastly in that they are not ashamed to put and attribute that confidence and glory vnto theyr execrable wickednesse and great offences which is due and proper onely to God and the merit of Christ But the Sonne of God doth altogether overthrow batter downe these works of the Papists as well those of Supererogation as those of Congruity in the Evangelist Saynt Luke For hee sayth flatly vnto his Apostles Luke 17.10 When ye have done all that is commanded you say we are vnprofitable servants we have done that which was our duty to doe Therefore let that most vaine dreame of the Papistes and manifest invention of the divell with great detestation be hissed out of doores and condemned vnto the pit of hell because it doth derogate from the glory of God and hazardeth the fayth of the godly But let the godly seriously acknowledge and vnfaynedly confesse theyr owne imperfection that they may be clothed and crowned with true perfection and the glory of Christ by the Sonne of God in his blessed comming But the works of the Papists by which they boast themselves and make such a shew are chiefely these to interpret the whole Scripture of God wickedly and frowardly and wrest it into a contrary sense to adde many hurtfull opinions vnto it and to take many wholesome things from it and so to call in question the whole Scripture to heape vp idolatry and innumerable superstitions without measure or end to waver vp and down like a reed by vnbeleefe to doubt and be vncertayne of the goodnesse of God and merit of Christ with a staggering fayth and to despayre of Salvation to commit whoredome without feare or respect in the contempt of Matrimony so that they feare not to exercise theyr most filthy lustes and commit execrable wickednes These are the principall works of the Papists in which they chiefely exercise and weary themselves so that they call them heretikes which refuse to commit the like thinges with them and persecute them with most exquisite torments and punishments vntil by some meanes or other they have taken them out of the way And whereas God in many places of the Scripture doth promise