out of my natyue lande from my frendes to wander and trauell in a strange contrye the more is my heuines and sorowe and payne especially in my syknes olde age wherof I may thanke you your popisshe impes persecutinge the gospell and diuisinge your vngodly and vncristen actes inhibicions enstructions condempnacions and articles wherby ye haue yet make many a pore man to smarte Sed dominus meus uideat inquirat et iudicet qui ius reddit ac uindicat omēs qui patiūtur istam iniuriam But the lorde wyll se to and serch it be your iudge whiche geueth true sentence vpon you delyuereth al y t suffer this wrong When I traueled to enstructe doctoure Barnes I declared to him this proposiciō Theffecte of christes passion hath a condicion nether derkely nor confuselye And why ye shulde so call it I see not for both the matter is certaine and the wordes cōmonly vsed and vnderstanden Theffecte of christes passion is the worke therin entended that is to reconcyle man to god to brynge hym to saluacion If your termes of cōdicion effecte had ben so playne as ye saye so had they neded no declaratiō to D. Barnes ne now to me ye know y t christes so plenteouse a passion broughte to man manye ryche and innumerable benefites and effectis as ye cal them And againe your confuse condicion wente greate with infinite condiciōs as your selfe declare hir to containe all the willes and pleasures of god And is it not nowe a confuse derke speache to saye Theffect therof hath a condicion◠who knoweth of whiche effecte and of which condicion amōg so manye ye speake Now ye declar◠theffecte to be the reconciliacion of man to god and the bringing of him to saluaciō And yet is it not so clerely ne clerkely declared seinge there be so many thinges yet contained in theffecte and betwixt it and mannes saluacion standinge the course of mannes lyfe I wyl therefore helpe you to declare it A reconciliation whiche is an atonemente or a peace makinge presupposeth a discord and inimite betwixte the parties wherof one hath offended the tother The parties at discorde were god and man The thinge that made the discorde was the synne cōmitted by mā againste god his creatore The atouemaker was christe god man by sufferinge his passion for the sinne commytted therby so apeacynge hys fathers wrathe and satisfyenge his iustice that the manne beleuynge in Christ to haue suffred for his sinnes and to haue rysen for his iustifycatyon shall neuer haue hys synnes imputed vnto hym but be cleane remitted and forgeuen And thus we haue your effect of christes passion to be the forgeuenes of oure synnes whiche is oure iustification and absolucyon vpon thys condicion that we beleue in christ Thus doth paul in many places declare it and also the fathers voyce out of heauen vppon Christ made for vs that oblaciō expyatory purging our synnes that we myght be perfitlye made ryghtwyse thorowe hym Now it is playn what is mente by your effecte Euen the remyssyon of our synnes thorow faith in Iesu christe And thus accordynge to the wordes of the scripture will I hence forth cal it and let your straunge termed confuse effecte passe wyth all youre confuse condicions saue onely faith in christ Which cōdicion who so haue it he enioyeth his remyssion and if he hath it not he is dampned had he done all Wynchesters workes contayned in his condicion Then ye saye Barnes and I agreed vpon faith to be one condicion And because he was my scoler I wolde learne him mo condicions then fait◠required for mannes forgeuenes of his sinnes euen this where in he openlye inuered against me in his sermone That is to forgeue my neighbour or els I shall not be forgeuen And concluded vpon that he had graunted to me before that the fulfyllynge of this condicion was not the diminucion of the glorye of christes passion Here ye shewe one of your iuglynge castes with doctor Barnes ye say ye wolde lerne hym mo condicions thē faithe and ye brynge in the precepte of the forgeuenes of your neighbour whose fulfyllynge is requyred for the forgeuenes of sinne say you And then ye runne thorowe as it were in washe waye to your conclusion that he had graunted you That the fulfyllynge therof diminisheth not theffecte of christes passion as thoughe the precepte were now fulfylled and you at youre wayes end krowynge vp your triumphe before the victorye But herken a lytle and lette me aske you thys one questiō Whether fayth in Chryst be your fyrst condycion goyng before your precept or no whervpon ye saye doctour Barnes and you fyrste agreed By your own saienge it is the first condiciō Then thus Faith in Christ implieth in it selfe y e ferme assiewred beleif in christ to haue suffered for hir synnes accordynge to gods promyse whych affyrmeth to the same beleuer that as he beleueth accordinge to hys promyse so commeth it to hym Wherefore this man must nedis be iustifyed ere youre second condicion be spoken of And yet ere ye come to your conclusion I muste staye youre hastye iourneye in the fulfilling of this precept of the forgeuenes of youre neyghboure euen as ye wolde be forgeuen youre selfe of god This is an harde precept of the law and is not so sone fulfilled of man as ye weene for It is not in mans power to forgeue his brother with the same affecte as Christe forgeueth vs beinge hys enemyes And therfore hys dyscyples hearinge this to harde a precepte for their free choice as ye terme it in continently prayed hym saing A dau ge nobis fidē encrease our faith teachynge vs fayth to supple the impossibilite of the preceptes that no man can so forgeue without the gift of faythe iustifyenge And therefore I wyll denye it vtterlye to be anye condicion required for the forgeuenes of our synnes tyll I be perfitlye assured you or any other to haue fulfylled it accordinge to the mynde of the lawe geuer and withoute faithe goynge before And the cause why I denye it and exclude it from the acte of iustification is this Paule excludeth all the workes of the lawe from the act of iustification this precepte in your condicion without faith is a worke of the law therfore I admytte it not into the attainemente of the remission of synnes as cause or condicion without whose fulfyllyng hys sinnes be not forgeuen Another cause is I consider this precepte of loue who sekith not hir owne profit but other mennes is geuen to man yet corrupte with his carnall affectes and stayned with a natural loue to him selfe and with hatred to him y t displease hym or hurt him and is his deadly enemye whiche is his neighbour notwithstandinge whom he is commaunded to loue as him selfe to diuyll and diuide this naturall loue from him selfe into hys enemyes bosome hym
your selfe where ye set thē with Paule to be so contrary causes y t it is impossible for these two rightwisnesses to be concurrant into this one effect of iustificatiō iustificaciō of faith workes be so contrary that whereas is y e one y e other must nedes auoyde and geue place as Paule in contencion comparinge them togither estemed his own rightwisnes of the lawe as donge and dirte in respecte of the rightwysnes of faith before God and said that our rightwisnes which cometh of the lawe was the fall of the iews because thei goinge about to seke to stablish their own rightwisnes therfore were thei not subiect to y e rightwisens of god Agen sithe your doctryne is noman to be sewer certain of his forgeuenes by your text not wel vnderstanden nescit homo an dignus sit odio uelamore And our best workes as Isay saith be so sinful and spotted and therfore not to quiete and certifye our consciences and agene faith to be the ferme certitude that excludeth al dubitacion and vncertainte seing now that faith and workes be of so contrary effectes it must nedis be impossible these two inconsistents repugnātes to sich an effect to may go together into one the same effect and accion of our iustificacion And by this means of your merits yf ye coulde ye wold make Christ no hole intiere perfit sauiour contrarye to your sainge before Now if your condicion so ful of your good workes be in any of the .iiii. kinde of causes to serue your effect put it in formallye like a philosopher I shal by gods worde displace it But I can neuer thinke it that ye beleue your owne doctrine of workes to iustifye for if ye did sewrely ye wolde worke beter workes then ye do For what els do ye then wryte and striue against the gospoll yea ye worke your brother Cains worke slaieng your brothern for the truth ye preson ye persecute ye burne ye banish ye condempne al good bokes professours of gods word to set vp your own antichristē articles dāpnable popish doctrine Thē ye say The scripture requiret of a christē mā y t he be baptized wherby to be incorporated into christ it is true For noman wil baptize him tyll he hear his belif and know him to professe faithfully the Christē religion For the onely vtwarde baptisme maketh not a christian be fore God as ye se it in Iudas and Simon mago For a very christian must be first by his regeneracion of the spirit of faith incorpored into christ ere he by baptisme of water be incorpored into the congregacion for y e visible incorporacion auayleth not Saith austen without thinuisible incorporacion and sanctificaciō by faith At last ye bringe in this texte Baptizetur vnusquisque in remissionē peccatorum whiche as I remember is the frist scripture I haue herde ye allege yet for your false doctryne ye brought in a colet and a versicle out of your porteus to proue your parte besydis your participacion in dede And yet in this text ye make so great haste into remissionem peccatorum to be conioyned to baptizetur that ye leaue out .v. wordis and euen the chefe mater betwixt your first worde the last For the text is Resipiscite baptizetur vnusquisque vestrum sub nomine Iesu Christi in remissionem c. Repente ye let euery one of you be baptized in the name of Iesu Christe into the remission of sinnes Nowe ye know that noman wil be baptized and ther by professe the name of Iesu Christ but he first beleue knowe what is Iesu christ and his name which is the anoynted sauiour which who so beleueth him sichone to be to him he is iustifyed by that same faith onely in Christe Iesu to be his sauiour But I will not gretly steke with you for this litle ouerskippe ye speke of a good rule in your boke How y e scriptures albeit thei seme contrary yet is the◠but one veritie and al one trwe word which muste be gathered out by the conference of y e places notinge what gothe before and what folowth which your own lesson if ye had ther diligently obserued ye had sene this text to haue made iustly against you For note first what went before preached of Peter in that longe sermone and ye shall see that he preached to them bothe the lawe shewinge them their sinnes in putting to deth the innocent blod christe author of lyfe quitinge a murtherer and also y e gospell of remission and saluacion in Iesu Christe as it standeth in euerye place of that sermon and playne it is that these men beleued that sermon whilis it was in preachinge as many as were predestined vnto lyfe wherefore thei were iustified first by their faith ere thei were baptized And to confirme this lette vs see what foloweth and conserre all together When Peter had all done his exhortation the texte saith Qui ergo libenter acceperunt sermonem eius baptizatisunt And thē All that hadde gladly receiued his sermon were baptized gladly to receiue his sermon what els is it then to beleue his sermō which receiuing by beleif ye see went before their baptisme But yet wherfore saith the text into the remission of sinnes verely Baptisme is the visible sygne of the former regeneration of y e spirit by faith and testificacion to the congregacyon that the baptized hathe hys synnes forgeuen hym and therefore to certifie the Churche that he is a member of them and hathe receiued signaclum iustitie fidei that is the seall and obsygnacyon of the ryghtewysenes of faith to be incorporated into them to pray to heare the worde in their societe is it added in remissionem peccatorum that thei nowe doute not of remissyon of hys synnes And therfore it foloweth immediatly Et accesserunt in die illo And there were commen into that cōgregaciō ī that daye aboute thre thousand soulis For before thei were thus certifyed of their religion and faith and remission of their sinnes by that externe seall testimoneall of baptisme with water they were not receiued into the chirche of the faithful So that to be baptized into the name of Iesu Christe into the remission of sinnes be fore the hole congregacion is by baptisme as by the visible sygne openly our professiō into christes religion to be declared and testifyed to the chirche and that we be conseigned with the seall and testimonye of the rightwysmakyng and remissyon by faithe A lyke phrase is vsed where it is writen Ioan preached repentaunce into the remission of sinnes he saithe not preached repentaunce as for or by the whiche dede they deserued or shuld deserue remission but that therby openly sene and knowen the congregacion shuld be certifyed as by a ferme and infallible testimony such repentant persōs to haue their forgeuenes not for their doinge penaunce as the papist teach for that false
impugne so blyndlye this verite of faith onely iustifieng for ye neuer knewe what this faith is It is neither your acquisite ne your formed ne vnformed faith nether your assentynge historik faythe neither your explicite ne implicite faith neither your fained ne deade faith neither the diuellis faith nor yet your firste faythe of all that we ioyne with the exclusyue onely but it is the lyuely iustifienge faithe euen the ferme assiewred knowledge of gods beneuolence towarde vs whiche grounded vppon the veritie of the free promyse in Christ is both reueled to oure myndes and presented into our hertis by the holy gost And therefore are these wordes Iustitia iustificatio and iustificari often tymes ioyned to faithe onely and neuer to Charitie ne to workes to iustifye before God Paule vsynge in expresse wordes these exclusiues Absque operibus and sine operibus legis gratis nisi c. That is frelye withoute the workes of the lawe And where the Iewe as nowe do you for his iustifycatyon obiecteth his workes Paule telleth hym playnelye Thy gloriacyon in thy workes is excluded by by the auctoritie of faith And to exclude all other accions and merits of workes he addeth Gratis per gratiam per fidem that is frely thorowe faith And Christe biddeth him beleue onely and thou shalte haue thy desier Also Paule expresseth it with this exclusiue nisi affirminge we knowe it man not to be iustified of the workes of the lawe but by faith which lyke speache Christe vseth by the same exclusiue nisi to proue only God to be good sainge Nemo bonus nisi unus Nempe deus There is none good but one that is god as muche to saye as christe him selfe expresseth it there is none good nisi solus deus but only god For the same power hath nisi to exclude in negatiue propositions as haue Solum tantum in affirmatiues They trouble the people with a fyne distinction of offices sayeng that in iustificacion of man it is the onelye office of fayth to iustyfye And charite and hope there waytyng without office whiles the man be iustified Here ye playe sir Thomas Moris parte whyche when he was suborned of you the spiritualtie to wryte agaynst the truthe and coulde not solute the scriptures ne argumentes layde agaynste hym then he skoffed and iested them out Better learned men then you call the actes of fayth and charite offices ne a more proper terme can there be geuen them if ye lyst to se what officium is and wherof it commeth mary I meane not of suche offices as ye constitute among your officers as butlers cokes c. And here because the truth of God and youre lyes be at so deadly a discorde you hauynge no truthe for your cause to be defended ye putte to this shameles lye of me that I shuld write Charitie and hope there to waite withoute office whiles the man be iustified whiche nether I ne any els but suche as ye be didde euer saye it But I say it yet againe to you this which ye shal neuer iustly auoid ne confute That it is the office acte propertie or nature call it as ye lyste of faith onely to apprehende the free promised forgeuenes in christis moste preciouse innocent bloud Nether is hope idle For it is the constant expectacion of those things conceiued by faith oute of the worde of god which hope shameth vs not Nether is loue there idle but is the frute of faithe euen the good affecte toward god and beneficence toward our neighbour to fulfil the works of mercy For the gifts of the holy gost breke not forth into workes in the same instant thei be sowen into y e soul of man but receiue their nourishment and encreace and be nolesse idle then is the good erthe and the grane sowen lapped therin all that tyme before the grane spiereth apere aboue y e grounde The holy goost as he geueth no idle but frutefull giftes at their dewe tune so suffereth he not his giftes to lye idle in his good soyle althoughe ye haue litle grace to consider see it but rather to blaspheme him and his gifts with youre skoffinge idle waiting hauyng rather respecte to your idle wayting seruauntes in your skornefull allusion Thoughe your self slepe or winke and se not at al times yet maye ye not saye in suche tymes that God hath geuen you idle eyes And for that your superciliouse morositie is so ofâ—ended with the terme office of fayth what difference I praye you put ye betwixt these two sainges The eye onely seeth and it is â—he onely office therof to see neyther is there any man so brutyshe as in this speache It is the onely office expressinge the cause formal of faith to iustifie to exclude god the cause efficiente out of his office For onely as Paule teacheth excludeth the workis of the lawe not god from the acte of iustificacion as ye cauill to seke euasions verely if ye were of god ye wold neuer impugne so manifest verities with siche trifflinge skoffes and cauillacions ne trouble and hynder chrystes chirch to seduce them with these your fonde and false bokis But ye stande a litle to highe in your own conceight beware ye fall not Dominus videt et iudicat Que stat caueat ne cadat he y t stond let him beware he falleth not And so onely is nowe shifted from faith to thoficie of faith And these be thei that accuse other men of darknes Nowe herken good reader wether this be so derke a shift Onely y e eare heareth and it is the onely office of the eare to heare this bishop wolde haue it the office of charite also to iustifie and I to exclude charite froÌ„ y t office tell him that it is the onely office of faith and not of any other gift to iustifye haue constantly confirmed it by scriptures But the scripture telleth me that who so loueth not remaineth in death And therfore if the state of a iustified man be lyfe in Christe which is godly loue hath as well hir office in iustification to geue lyfe as faith hath hir office to be in knowelege the most certaine grounde and foundacion of it and hope hir office to be placed and establyshed vpon them bothe I denye your longe bablynge vaine and darke argument which is this breifely in fewe wordes The office here be ye compelled to vse this terme office of charite is to geue life ergo charitie iustifieth A lyke argument the office of charitie is to be pacient ergo charitie iustifieth But what and if I denye your antecedence and proue it by scripture that faith and not loue is the lyfe of the iustified Abacuc ii The iust man liueth in his faith For faith hath not this epithete ut uiua dicatur that is to be called lyuely except there were lyfe in hir wherof the iust lyueth Abacuc ii Also Paul sayth
against y e kinges vtter foo the pope whiles you w t mouth pē fight sore for y e pope stand vpō his part in his defēce against vs his enemies whiche haue and shal be the fall of him whom ye sweat so sore to sustain and set vp ye knowe that his and youre iustificacion .xl. yeres agoo stode vp on merits satisfactions by works vpon his penaunce absolucions and receiuing of his inuented sacramentes and euen vpon his false faith antichristen religion and yet it standeth vpon the same feble foundaciō as your selfe may see it in this youre defence of him and his iustificacion declaring your selfe stifly to stande vpon the popes parte whiche sith it be so greate an offence against your prince I meruel it is not espied ne loked vpō It shuld be quickely espied in me or in any other thus openly by bokes as ye do for the popis defence to wryte ayenst the popis enimies and to succoure the pope his false doctryne in all that ye may to retaine him or to brynge him the easilier in again at your day so sore lōged for For what els is the pope to be still in englond then his faith his doctrine al his religion there to be mainteined stil depelier autorized fermilier roted then euer it was before For this iustificacion which ye so strongly defend is y e principal foūdation stone of y e rome chirch which so long as it stil remaineth in englōd colour it couer it as ye can the romish foxe is not put out of his hole And he y t mainteneth this his chefe erth castell couert he muste nedes be y e foxes frend Whē d. Butte herd frier forest ī saīg his cōfiteor for his absolution for he had once recāted was comē to ideo p̄cor added ideo beatam Mariam et beatissimum ac sanctissimum patrem franciscum orare pro me By my trowth quod he and this fryer proue not a false herlet let me brent for him and in dede it proued euen so For he fill to his vomit ayen and was brent with the idole of wales And if ye will not turne but still affirme the same popishe iustificaciō y t hathe ben taught these .xl. yeres of the popis disciples and of his apostles standinge still in his faith and defendinge his religion truste you whoso will ye come not into my crede When ye make answer to the bokis agenst your vnaduysed vowes and to the croppe eared foxe handle them craftilier wryte more circumspectely for bewrayinge your selfe Ye bid me go bake fro my bakwared iustificacion c. But I tell you by gods grace I wil neuer go bake from chrstis rightwysmakinge by faith onely in him to the popis and yours antichristen absolucion as ye do openly and so declare yourselfe by your own hand writinge And if I do not ye say I must place your studiouse worke of your lerninge to beleue with y e work of baptisme c. before iustificacion To this ye be answerd oft before except ye take the studiose worke of y e lerninge of your beleif for the spellinge and redinge that childrē lerne ere thei cane their credo which as I haue proued it enioied their iustificacion before their baptisme and lerne their beleif aftirward But take it for the lerninge of y e beleif in Iesu Christe to haue dyed for our sinnes printed in our hertis so be all thus taught of god blessed as hathe the psal Blessed is he whom thou teacheste O lorde out of thy lawe So that god by his spirit in teachinge geueth faith into Chryst and his scoler in lerninge receiueth it at y e same tyme and is belessed in teachinge taught in his blessed iustificacion by the same lerninge And as for the baptisede with water God biddeth and teacheth vs to prepare them before bothe by the lawe and gospell taught them by the lawe to shewe them thir sinnes and by the gospell to conceiue faith into christ for their remission and thus the faithful regenered first of the spirit be often asked whether thei beleue the articles of our faithe recited and if thei saye credo c. then must thei be baptized and not afore aftir your arswarde popis iustificacion plantinge your herbes withe y e rotes vpwarde God iustifyed noman without the gifitis of faith and loue this ye gaunt Ioye Yea and put in hope to Which when man receiuethe he reciueth by them iustificacion No sir not by them but by faith only he receiueth it saith the scripture Ye wold fayne I perceiue by your by worde By them tomble them in both togither as the causes of iustificacion But therfore I denye your by worde By them as by siche causes for only faith hath that office and strength sufficient and is the Cause formall or instrumentall by which only man is iustifyed I wyll disclose your iuglinge By thē in a playne example Albeit a man hathe bothe eyes eares and nose all togither in their places in one head as be faith hope and loue togither in one soul yet it folowth not but is a grosse absurditie to say the man seeth by them or heareth by them but as he seethe and heareth but by one onely sence so is he iustifyed but by one onely gift geuen him for the same office cause For as we geue to euery sence hir distincte seuerall accion so attribute we to euery distincte gifte of faith hope and loue hir proper seuerall operacion distinct accion Faithis proper acion is to iustifye in apprehendinge y e promsed remissiō in christ hope by expectaciō waiteth for the saluacion conceiued knowne and beleued before by faith ▪ Charite loueth the thinge knowne before by faith and waited for by hope Now go to and say on When man receiueth faith and loue he receiueth by them iustificacion wherin I call mans deserte and meryte Ioy you so call it but not the scripture so calleth it onely the vsinge of the benefits offred of faith and loue Lorde what a confuse perplexe blyndnes is there in these latet wordes wherin I cal mans deserte and merits in vsinge c. wherin ye saye In which wherin mean ye In faith or in loue or the receiuinge by them iustificacion or in the iustification it selfe Me thinke ye wolde the man to merit in the receiuinge by them iustyfycacyon but as no man receiueth by them but onelye by faithe iustificacion so can no man merit by or in suche a false receiuing your receite by them is false and vngodly as I haue proued it ergo the meritinge therin is as false and vayne here wold ye buyld your merits vpō a false grounde and cleue them to the vsinge of crystes benefitis as before but that false foundacion withe the reste of your popish tymbringe ye se I haue clerely ouerthrone and subuerted it I meruel ye haue so sone forgoten yourself saying
geueth me ferme faith to beleue it wryting his promise w t his own haÌ„d sealled with Christis death and most preciouse blode yea and geueth me thernest and pledge of this promise euen his own sone Christe and his holy spirit the pledge as Paul saith and ernest of our forgeuenes and saluacion testifyinge vnto my spirit that I am his chosen beloued predestined childe in christe commandinge me to call and beleue him to be my merciful father shuld I not beleue in him be assewered of my saluacioÌ„ forgeuenes perseuerance in hope al dubitacion and dout excluded If I did not beleue constantly hope for it so shuld I dishonor gods vecite which syn be satte fro me wherfore hathe God geuen me the certitude and vndouted assewrance but in hope to abyde paciently waitinge certainly for his performance wyll ye beleue beter men then God And to excercise this owr assewerd faith and hope he sendeth vs continuall crosse and affliccions And we haue the continual reading hearing of his holy scripturs vt permaneamus fide fundati ac stabiles that we perseueringe grounded and faste roted in faith shuld not swarue from the hope of y e gospel And al be it in y e straight and narow path of charite I swarue and fall by y e waye yet haue I gods promyse apprehended by my faithe that I shal not so fall as to hurte me be broken but to ryse agene For y e Lord hath promised to put his hand vnder me to lyft me vp ayen w t an c. lyke counfortable promyses to reduce repentant sinners into the waye which promises humbly with reuerence and fear and thanks I enbrace It is thou oh lorde that assewerest me to perseuer certainly and settest me in assewerance Howe many promises haue we God to be our strength our rok bulwerk castel tower defence helper for Christ our intercessour and reconciler his sake with a thou said lyk confortable excercises of our faith to strengthen and confirme our hope and expectacion in sewerty and perseuerance But your doutful doctryne knoweth nether God ne Chryst ne faith But to confirme ours yet aftir this a fore said obsignacion of the holy spirit God assewerth also his congregacion therof with the visible seals of baptism his holy souper to put vs in mynde of his beneuolence towerd vs of his testameÌ„t couenaÌ„t iÌ„ chrstis blod In baptisme dewli ministred I remeÌ„ber se his deth burial resurreccioÌ„ wherin also I am taught to be mortifyed my sinnes buried in his woundis and to ryse agene into a newe lyf And in the holy souper of the Lorde dewly ministred I remember and see with the eyes of my faith in the breakinge and geuinge of the holy bread his bodi brokeÌ„ crucified geueÌ„ me into the remission of my sinnes And in the holy wyne lykewyse powered forthe and geueÌ„ me I remember and see his most preciouse blode shed for me into the remission of my synnes And euen these be holy sacred adsewerances in my faith and hope of my saluacion thus dayly excercisinge my faith and hope into a perpetuall perseuerance in the same adsewerance while I lyue which asâ—werances ye saye ye cannot tell of A shameles ignorance in a bishop great infidelite and blasphemy is it in you if ye will not know this so manifest a sewerance offered and geuen into euery faithfull Christianes hand herte and mouthe Thus haue I lerned iÌ„ scripturs If we turne when god turneth to vs. If we beleue when god illumineth vs If we loue as god kindleth vs. If we be baptized as god commandeth vs we shall be iustified Ye iugle with your Iffes and half turnes For as there is no man turned to god with frutefull repentance but he first knowe gods merciable forgeuenes in christ by his faith iustifienge him so is there none but thei first knowe God in christe ere thei loue him beleue iÌ„ god thorow Iesu Christ ere thei be baptized into his name For who professeth god y e father the sonne and the holy ghoste and the christen religion onlesse he knowe it It were a backward order and an vpsidowne preposterouse plaÌ„tynge the profession to go before the doctrine and knowledge of the religion as it hath ben a longe season vsed and therefore all suche preposterouse religions as ye see degenered into apostacye and into all the most filthy abominacions and idolatrye be now come to naught as christ prophecied of all such backward plantacions And therfore your Iffes staÌ„d in a wrong place For your baptisme with water is such a condicion that as al thei that be baptized therwith be not therfore saued so were not all they that beleued in christ and al the chosen infantes conteined vnder the promise dyinge before circumcision or baptisme dampned but withoute circumcision and baptisme of water saued by election and their beleif And therefore your doctrine of your Iffes holdeth not And if the quene of Candaces courtman so enstructe of Philip in the wagen â–ª had died in that faithe before his baptisme with water yet had his onelye faith saued him by christes own wordes sainge who so beleue in me hath life eternal It is not y e baptisme with water ne your penaunce y t saueth vs as ye dreame for no element ne creature ne mans work may do that thing It is god only in christ that regenereth with the spirit of faith and by that inuisible baptisme be we saued of god thorowe Iesu christe If you shulde tarye till ye haue fulfilled all your conditions for your saluacion ye shulde come to short of the gates shuttinge And therefore merciablye saith the lorde in Isay. He wyl make short his word of rightwismakinge and finish it in a plenteous abouÌ„daÌ„t rightwisenes euen in christ made of him our rightwisnes holden by faith onely Children by your popish doctrine that dye before baptime and y e infantes in Moses law diyng before the aight day shulde be dampned as ye teache whiche is to harde for you to proue when the scripture is plain agenst you as I am able to proue it and can shewe it plainely The baptisme therfore with water wasshethe onely the body and the minister bringeth the water and wordes onelye no saluacion nether as causes efficientes ne formall So that baptisme with water is but the visible seall instituted of god and ferme token of the former iustification by faythe in the regeneration of the spirit y e seall I say testifienge to the congregation that he is incorpored into them For thus it correspondeth sayth Peter the newe byrth wherby the spottes of the soule be taken awaye And thus is baptisme with water signaculum iustitie fidei the seal and testimony of the rightwisnes of faith as was circumcision and not y e selfe same rightwisnes it selfe as ye teach ye may make it signum iustitie operis
of your saintes merites yea and of Christes merites to wherout by participation for mony he is readye to lash out this your marchaundise of merites and yet in nothinge to vse your wordes diminishing theffecte of christs passioÌ„ This is your diffamacion of merite whose good name ye ought to restore by gods worde if ye wil not be sene to stand vpoÌ„ your father the popes side Of what elles foundacion stode al your abbeis monasteries chauntries yea and youre bisshoprikes to but vpon these your popisshe merites in prayers and mysses for the deade to plucke them out of your fained purgatorye And therfore be thei worthely subuerted Christ so prophecienge of them Euery plantacion which my heuenly father hath not planted shal be vproted Your byshoprikes therefore do but tarye the verifienge of the same Neither I ne anye true christiane knoweth any other merites for sinne then the plenteouse merites of christes passion by his mooste preciouse bloude perfitly perpetually deseruinge for al that beleue in him forgeuenes of their sinnes And am certified by this his almyghtye euerlastinge worde That man is frely iustified by the grace of god thorowe faith in Iesu Christe so that this worde gratis frely excludeth all the merites of any worke of the law froÌ„ faithe iustyfyenge but not from the faithfull iustified man If this sayenge be sclaunderouse to meryte so be Hierome and Austen great sclanderers of Meryte whiche constantelye affyrme agaynst the Pelagyans man to haue no merytes If thou wylt sayth Austen be quite voide of grace bost thy merites And god croneth his owne giftes and not thy merites And the scriptures affirme euery where all rewarde celestiall to be geuen vs oute of the free mercye of god for christes sake and not for any of our merites Ye myght haue sene it clearely yf ignorauÌ„ce malice had not blyndened you by the so manye mightye argumentes made of Paule ex conteÌ„tione of these contraries workes and grace merite and free gyfte ryghtewysenesse of the lawe and of faith from vncertaine to certaine from to haue any thinge of grace and of dewtye deserued froÌ„ the waueringe infirme vnperfit deades of the lawe to the ferme promise receiued by faith that merites and grace ne faith and workes beynge so contrary in this cause of conteÌ„cioÌ„ can neuer be coÌ„currant into one and the same acte of our iustificacion The scripture holly consenteth that all our beste workes of the lawe be sinne filthy therfore not to haue that dignitie to deserue remission of sinnes as I haue sufficientlye proued it in my coÌ„futatioÌ„ of your false articles which ye haue not yet ne caÌ„ disproue The lawe is the wyll and mynde of god holy spirituall iuste and good and requireth suche perfit holy and iust workes as be not corrupte ne stained with any carnall affect of man but suche workes were there neuer perfourmed but onelye of him of whome the father testified This is he in whome I am pleased Wherfore man so longe as he is called fleshe can not deserue by doinge the workes of the lawe God promiseth rewardes to the fulfyllers of y e law but because it is impossible for man called fleshe to fulfyll it therefore he sent his sonne Christe to fulfyll it that his fulfyllynge by oure faith apprehended shulde be oures thus made of the father our rightewisenes our holynes wysdome c. And here I write it yet againe that ye laye so heuily to my charge Euen that god commaundeth to man so longe as he is called caro whiche is as longe as he lyueth thinges impossible as Paule and Christe and Austen testifieth saienge Man hath not in his power to be good eather not seynge for hys ignoraunce what maner one he oughte to be or els if he see it yet is he not able to be suche one as he seeth him selfe to oughte to be And therefore sayeth he in many places God coÌ„maundeth impossible thinges to man that he knowinge his owne imperfection and impossibilite shuld seke helpe of him in whoÌ„ is all perfection helpe in our nede And all to depresse mans arrogancy and to shewe him to hym selfe to be but a synner so to be saued only by the grace and mercye of god and not for his owne merites not to glorye in our selues Thus is the lawe the vssher of y e scole to take vs forth to christe it sheweth vs our synnes it woundeth vs but healeth not It prouoketh vs by faith to seke helthe in Christe that all the glory myghte be geueÌ„ to the grace of god in Christ Which geueth not his glory to any other nether by participation nor by retaliacion And then ye saye playne contrarye to all your owne doctryne in your hole boke thus Christes passion in the sight of god is onlâ— sufficient sacrifice for the sinne of all the worlde so ful and so perfite as nedeth not any addicion or supplemeÌ„t of any mannes desert to the appeacynge of gods iuste wrath against man for synne By this exclusiue onely youre absolute speche it shulde folow that all men without faith shulde be saued yea and without youre condicions to Ye shulde haue added therefore is onely sufficiente sacrifice to the beleuers in him But howe standeth this peece with your so manye good condycyons so full of youre workes to deserue your remyssyon which all ye saye be required to that tainement of oure iustification All your principles argumentes reasoÌ„s autorities violently wrested youre collettes versicles with sancte marie omnium sanctorum meritis With sancta maria ora pro nobis sancte Georgi with al your lyke papistry tend to the contrarye that ye haue here sayd For euen your owne praphane vaine voice of your participation maketh christe but halfe a deseruer halfe a satisfier and but a party patched sauiour For what is it els to merite and to satisfye as ye say by participation then to diuide part or halfe to him and part to vs. It behouethe a lyer euer to haue a good memory lest his wordes fight against him self compelled to vtter his lyes with his owne mouthe as your selfe hath here done openly Diuide not gods essenciall indiuisible names from him Halt not thus for shame with Baalis byshoppes into both partes as Ely the prophet forbiddeth you Eyther let christe be an hole entire sufficient sauiour deseruer and satisâ—ier for synne or elles none at all Diuide not his glorye to your synfull merites and satisfactions Christe is not diuided saithe Paule It was he that al alone trode the wine presse in his bloudye robes none of all the worlde to haue holpeÌ„ him Isaie .lxiii. Christ onely is our hope only Christe is our lyfe our waye onlye Christ is oure sauiour holly thorowly perfetly absoâ—utely totally entirely c. If christ be suche one then away with all your meritinges satisfaccions contentacions for sinne awaye with all your condicions
workes peruerse because they be hid to thy sinfull reason and carnall witte Be we therfore content with this answer of God to the murmures in his vyneyarde It is my wyll It is my pleasure thus to do wyth my nowâ—e and thus to vse my creatures to my glorye It is god that hathe made all things for him selfe and for his owne wil euen the wiked vnto an euel day And hardined pharaos hert worthely and yet is he not therfore thautor of euil as mans foÌ„d reasoÌ„ gathereth therof For we know that as the fote pathes of the lorde lye in the seas and his foote steppes be not sene euen so lye his workes in al thinges euen in the wicked forlorne and be not sene to mans reason which at his godlye pleasure so disposeth and ordeineth y e secret depe iugementes of his vnsercheable wyl by his godly prouidence in all men that as it perteineth to his wisedom to forsee all thinges to come so belongeth it to his power to rule and moderate all thinges with his almyghtie presente forthe stretched hande Senharib was a wicked heithen kynge and yet God vsed the same hym selfe not knowinge it to be hys instrumente to scourge his people the kynge hym selfe entendynge nothynge els then ambicion cruelty and myscheife Here didde neyther the kynge ne hys people the the Iewes in this worke of god espy his iote steppes much lesse in his predestinacion and reprobation for yf they had sene them blynde reason wolde haue anone concluded God to be y e autor of euyl or els not haue iustely punished the kinge seinge he did but gods wyll and his message Let god therefore as Isaye saythe worke sâ—raunge workes vnknowen to vs to worke his owne as he did when he sprange forth in the mount Perazim and declared his fury in y e vale of Gibeon All that is before writen of this mater it is writen saith Paule for our doctrine to haue counfort by the scriptures and hope thereby of our saluacion and not to feare vs from the holsome study and meditacion therof ne to bring vs into any perplex dout of oure electioÌ„ predestinacioÌ„ iÌ„ christ as your proces appereth after ye lefte Pauls wordes and fell into your owne reasonynge therin callinge the wordes of the holy ghost idle reasonyngs and wrappinge them in vnreuerently with the idle saings and reasonings of the grekes as ye terme them bryngynge in your absolute mere necessite and mans lyfe death maners behauioure c. and euery thinge to be fixed ye saye bothe in skoffe and derision of God and fastened in hys place appoynted wyth nayles ryuetted and clenched with mere necessitie c. By suche blasphemouse skornefull speche and wrytynge of the mere necessitie of gods eternall moste myghty immutable wyll wysedome and power effectuousely to perfourme his diuine decreed operations and actions vnable to be resisted ye openlye declare your selfe to be not so perfytly mynded as ye oughte to be thus vnreuerently wythoute feare to wryte vpon your creatore Of whiche maner men of so depraued and corrupte mynde Dauyd speketh saing The skoffinge fole saith in his herte that god is not god Then ye reherce many that may be made obieccions against you of gods inâ—allible foreknowlege and necessarily decreed will and prouidence and predestinacion but with all the coloured rethrike ye haue ye cannot assoyle one of them And as for fre libertie to do good no man hath it til the spirite of libertie thorow christ hathe taken awaye his bonde libertie if suche one may be called fre liberty to sinne and made in him a free lybertie to do good as the scripture and Austen euery where declareth it And again That the necessite vnable to be changed in gods decreed will necessiteth no man by coacction to synne but it is the voluntary necessitie of mans corrupte nature that driueth him to synne in whiche corrupte nature ye shuld yf ye were lerned not iÌ„ gods â—ecret wil seke maÌ„s necessite to sin so that God is no autor of sinne whiche be farre from all christen mens thoughtis but iust and holy in all his workes vsed pharaous worthely deserued voluntary induracioÌ„ vnto his owne glory He tempted Iob and Satan temptid the same here is one and the same accion but of vnlyke enteÌ„ts willes endis For god tempted him to proue his pacience to excercise his faith hope loue and to set him vp an example of pacience before all afflicted faithful men But Satan tempted him to bringe him into blasphemouse murmurings ayenst god by impacieÌ„cy so to despayer and to dampnacion The scripture saithe that the father delyuered vp his owne sonne to be crucifyed for vs christ delyuered vp him selfe into their handis And Iudas and y e byshops delyured him vp into his crucifiers handis But god did it for his glorye and our redempcioÌ„ Iudas the hygh preistis did it of auarice enuye and malice So that the diuersite of the endis maner willis entent and the affectis of the doers in the same accioÌ„ make it good to one and euill to a nother Ye prouoke me muche to digresse to contende with you in the mater of predestinacion and fre libertie therby craftely to call me into a new feld from our proposed cause of iustificacion as thoughe ether ye were wery of or mistrusted your false part therin And especially in this place Antequam Abraham fierer Ego Sum. In whiche text ye playe and daley before tyme aftir tyme aboue tyme yea and out of tyme to asking me whether before signifieth tyme or no tyme wherof ye saye my playn scolers can no skill And I dare sai nomore can you For in this text ye tomble in your tences present and paste done vndone or in doing placinge y e present tence in god before the pretertence in man as thoughe Sum in that place ego sum were a verbe substantiue and not the essenciall name of god to Moses Exo. iii. that he shulde tell his people his name to be this worde sum when he was bode to saye sum misit me ad uos that is to say Iehouah he that hath his beinge of him selfe and all creatures their being of him hath seÌ„t me to you For god is not measured ne tenced with tyme ye shulde haue conferred the text and ye shuld haue sene that christes mynde was firste to declare him selfe to the Iewes to be very man in that he tolde them Abraham desyred to see his daye that was of hys incarnacyon and then in ende of the chapter he declared him selfe to be verye God namynge hym selfe by his essencyall name expressed to them in Exodo where he sayd ego sum qui sum Whyche is but as colde a speche as to saye A man is a man excepte the sharpe demonstracion called emphasis be intended vpon the later Sum in an higher sharper and harder accent So that if that name ineffable
ye see that thei must come bake and folow faith iustifyinge and not go before it For when Peter affirmeth whom ye alledge for Paule that by fayth hertes be made pure he sheweth it that by no externe visible ne materiall signes or creatures as causes essenciall as by water and suche lyke mens hertes be purified but onely of God thorow faith wher Chrisostom saith A sola fide illa assecuti sunt non operibus vel circumcisione Of onely faith haue they obtained those thinges not for workes or circuÌ„cisioÌ„ Then ye say By y t sacrameÌ„â— of your penaunce ye beleue to recouer the state of grace I perceue that althoughe ye be a lawier yet wolde ye seme to be sene in scole mater bringing in dunces and such fryers dead dreames now articled in louayn saienge That the sacramentes of the newe lawe iustifye and confer grace Sed hoc uerum est ubi non interponitur obex But y t is true where there is no lette to barre them out from y t high preuilege The scripture affirmeth Christe euery where to be the dore barre to let them and all other creatures from that priuilege to geue grace and remission of synnes for els he shuld haue dyed in vayne But ye muste aske your doctoure dunce and his fryerly faryne of lovaine by what scriptures he they proue this dreame and then are ye all set a grounde If your sacrament of penaunce shoulde recouer and geue ye grace and your penaunce a weary worke so were grace tediously deserued and then saith Paule grace were no grace Grace is a fre gifte geuen vs for christis merits only here ye do with the scole men tectely withe your rekouer declare your selfe a palliated pelagian Beware of suche doctryne for it is naught and vnkouer it agen with your rekouer For ye kouered this pelagians potte before with your penance as I haue iustely refuted it For and if ye were asked by whiche parte of your popish penance as whether by your confession auriclare or by your contricion or your insufficient satisfaccion or whisperinge absolucion or by any other dede inioyned you ye rekouer this state of grace ye shuld bringe vs forthe but a nakedneste out of your condicion For if ye beleue as ye saye ye do in any of the popis sacraments or in any part of them therby to enioye theffecte of Christis passion hauinge no worde of faith ne promise of christe therin ne worde of institucion of the same to stablish and sustayn your faith ye shall haue but a doutful waue ringe forgeuenes and as fearful and vnquiet a conscience when ye shal be apposed in y e article of death of your gostly aduersaries and assawted with synne desperacion the iugement of god death and hell For your faith in your sacramente of penance not sustayned of gods promise wil then fainte and haue a fall The mooste holy repentant men praid god not to entre into iugement with them accordinge to thir desertis for then shuld noman lyuinge be iustifyed in gods sight And ayen in the psalme If thou lorde shuldst loke narowly vpon our wykednesses Lorde who might abyde it Hitherto haue I proued constantly by scripturs Faith iustifynge to go before baptisme And now what condicioÌ„ of yours soeuer cometh aftir baptysme the same must folow iustificacion but your penance folowethe wrapped in clothes as rocked in cradle when y e worlde was yet And euen theÌ„ Adam by faith in that promised sead obtained remission and was iustifyed as were all the holy fathers longe before Ioan bap was borne and Ioan bap himself thinke ye not but that he was iustifyed before christ preched ye wold make a meruelouse world briÌ„g vs in a new strange doctryne if there were no remission of synnes tyl christ had preached suffered was he not the loÌ„be slayne from the begininge If ye loke well of abells oblacion and of the sheepe slayne to kouer adam and Eues nakednes with the skynes ye shal see Christes remission of sinnes longe before Ioan preched penance when Ioan preached sainge RepeÌ„t ye and be conuerted to God for the remission of sinnes is nighe and said lo this is the lombe of God that taketh awaye the sinnes of the world and who so beleue in him hath lyfe euerlastinge did he not preche the gospell annexed as the cause to perswade them to repentance yisse trwly thei beleued in Christe ere Ioan baptized them And thus ye may see vpon howe feble a Maxime as ye call it ye a rather a minime ye laid your false grounde to argewe your popish penance to precede remissioÌ„ wher fore tell vs plainly be shorte whether ye will teach men to be iusâ—ifyed by faith only or by workis onely or by faith and workes bothe togither If by faith onely so be we agreed If by workis onely without faith so were the haithen infidelis faithls iewes iustified and Christ dead in vayne and al the scripture ayenst you as Paul proueth it All men to be sinners no not one iuste by the works of y e lawe stoppinge euery mans mouth shewing al y e worldholden gilty obliged to sinne no fleshe by the workis of the lawe to be iustifyed be fore god and in an hundred places moo in the scriptures I shall saith the lorde disclose thy good workes as thou takest them and shew y e that they shal neuer profit the. Also Paule concludeth mightely and manifestly his sermon declaring playnly the lawe impossible to be fulfilled of vs and so to iustifye no man and therfore by onely faithe man to be iustified saing thus wherfore we conclude doing you to wete ye men and brethern that by this maÌ„ I say Iesus Christ the remission of synnes is brought vnto you the remisâ—ion and absolution I tell you from al the sins froÌ„ which it was impossible for you to be absolued by the law of Moises By this Iesus christ I tell you euery man y t beleueth is iustified And what so euer is not of faith is sin of faith saith peter purifieng y e hertes wherfore workes alone cannot iustifye Nether faith workes togither as concurrant into the same acte of iustificacion may iustifye For the workes of the lawe by whiche be vnderstanden al the ceremonial iudicial and moral precepts as Paule proueth it and al the old holy doctours especiall Austen called iustitia legis iustitia ex lege and iustitia operum be excluded froÌ„ that acte as contrary to the rightwisenes of faith as the scripture setteth them in so manifest opposition and contrarity that as the ryghtwisenes of the lawe was the cause of the reieccion and fall of the Iewes out of gods fauour so was y e rightwisenes of faith the liftyng vp of the gentiles into his grace and fauour as your selfe I thinke vnwares in the expoundinge of Paule in your predestinatioÌ„ here in your .xxvii. lefe haue said it against
many of wincchesters workes but ye place theÌ„ in a wrong place vnderpropped with a false opinion ether to iustifye or to be placed before faith iustifyinge God commuandeth vs to be holy and perfit as is himself but this burden of the lawe ye will spotte it oute by youre particypation but yet will not this glose helpe ye before his iudgement seat Paul therefore to geue all the glory to god and non to our workes excludeth all the workes commanded in the lawe from faith in the accion of our iustificacioÌ„ tellinge the Galathians That if ye be circuncised Christe profiteth you nothinge By circumcision vnderstandinge the hole profession and lawe of the iewes as do we by baptisme the hole Christen profession vpon which place Erasmus a man of nolesse lerning then iugement writeth in his paraphrase thus perchaunce ye so please your selues sainge that we swarue not ne fal froÌ„ Christe but with Christe we couple the lawe that the expectacion of our saluacion might be the sewerer But Christ I tell you as he wolde this whol benefit to be comon to almen so wold he it to be thankfully accepted and imputed to faith onely He wil not suffer any to be his felowe ne matche in this mater For if ye trwly beleue your perfit sauinge helthe to may be geuen you of this onely Christe wherfore then plucke ye to you circumcision If ye mistrust christes onely remission so knowledge ye not yet the benefit of christ of whiche they may not be partakers that mistrust him For by onely faith and not for your merits is it geuen you These I think be sufficient for the refutation of this declaracioÌ„ of your condition stuffed â—o full of so manye meritoriouse workes to deserue your remission contrary to the iustification by onely faith yet here ye harpe mich of your good workes before iustification which as I haue tolde you oft because thei procede not out of a good roote whiche is faith purifieng the hert they muste nedes be synne as Paule and Peter affirme it and as Austen constantly writeth What good workes did Paule before his iustification he persecutâ—d the christians to death and yet he kept the lawe and precepts aâ—ter the pharisais fashion which is called y e ryghtwisenes of the lawe In which rightwisenes he saith if any shulde haue had confidence I might haue had as great a cause to reioyse as any other I was circumcised y e eight daye I was an Israelite in profession of the lawe as holye a pharisei as the best and so zelouse for my rightwisenes of the lawe that I persecuted the congregacion and was as touchinge the rightwisenes and iustificacion which is in the law blameles before al men But these good dedes whiche semed to me then so profitable as I beleued to be saued by them I nowe beter taught take theÌ„ for hindraunce and damage for that I now know christe to be my lorde and sauiour for whom I esteme theÌ„ all but for detriment and dunge that I might be more profitablye ioyned to christe and be founde in hym not hauynge my nowne good deedes and ryghtwisenes of the lawe but that rightwisenes which is thorowe the faith and beleif on christ whiche is the rightwismaking of god vpon faith phi iii. Upon the confidence of the texte ye bringe a lyke kaye to cleaue a logge sainge As thou beleuest so come it to the. Christe spake these wordes to Centurio allowing his faith so muche c. And it is a ioye to see howe ye wil apply this to al men how soeuer they haue coÌ„ceiued their faith whether it be catholyke or no. And then the arriane may be saued by his faith and the sabelliane the Lutherane the zwinglyane Ioye by their faith for the text serueth al As thou beleuest so come it to the. And if any beleued that glotony were no synne as thou beleuest so come it to the Nowe truely I meruell that siche a bishoppe as ye wolde be sene to be shulde be so farre caried awaye of these your so vngodly and corrupte affectes as so peruersely so falselye and so vngodlye to reporte me and so sinistrely to interprete my alledginge of Christes wordes Ye saye I applye them for all mens false beleife If I shulde haue so shamelesly belyed you or any man I hadde ben worthei the most shame and rebukes Tâ—rne to my wordes in your thirde article and loke whether I applye them not to you thus If ye beleue your sinnes to be forgeuen iÌ„ christes death thus sayeng If ye so beleue so be ye iustified by your faith onely ere any other condicion was knoweÌ„ or spokeÌ„ of or els ye must make christ a lyer whiche saith As thou beleuest so come it to the. Loke reader and these be not my wordes in that place alledged as christ spake them to the true beleuer centurio and to euery a like beleuer to the worldes ende beleuinge according to christes worde and promise But nowe I wil because I see you in a false beleife verefy your exposition vpon your own selfe sith ye haue ministred the occasion beleuynge youre selfe to be iustified by your workes euen so come it to you as ye beleue eueÌ„ a false faith to haue a false iustification and lyke saluacion to like faith and forgeuenes And as for Ioye thorowe the grace of god in his sauiour Christe beleueth to be forgeuen and saued by the only sufficient merites of christes passion and his resurrection and that CHRIST is made of my father my onely rightwisnes rightwismakyng my holynes my wisedome my satisfaction apeacyng my fathers wrath for my syns neuer to be iÌ„puted to me for my faith only in Iesu christe my fulfillyng of the lawe my free redemption expectation lyfe and resurrection and the implecioÌ„ of all my iust desires my faith and confidence is in him onely and not in any of my deades which I aknowledge to be sinful imperfit and naught worthei dampnacion And therfore this litle faithe whiche god hath geuen me of his fre benigne mercy and fauor in Christ for which with al his other giftes I daily geue thankes I praye to be encreaced and not to take his holye spirite ne worde of truthe at any time fro me certiâ—ieth adsiewerth me withoute any dubitacion of my forgeuenes saluacion in and for my onely sauyoure Christe And as I thus beleue accordinge to gods terme promise in Christe euen so am I in sewer hope and confidence in him onely to come to me to whom be glorye praise and thankes for euer AmeÌ„ And as christ vnderstode his saienge alledged of the true faith euen so do I and not of any mans false faith as ye so impudently belye me vnderstande it and alledge it and reade it withe beleife in hys promise to be fulfylled onelye of euerye trewe faythfull And it is as fonde that ye bringe in of Iairus and maketh nothing to the purpose ye bring it
be frely iuâ—tified by your workes of penaunce baptisme c. both here and also in your boke of necessary enstruccions which is a lyke speche as to haue a dynner geuen me frely for my mony If ye can set these two contradictories togither in figure frely and the same for mony and frely for works so are ye he that can blow forth oute of the same mouth both hotte cold at once with one breathe But yet here is but a derke and a slyber shift that ye make to set frely and merits togither It is but an obscure ridle ye adde nedeth another oedipus to expoune it ye meane some falsehead in this pese to settle youre croked confuse condicion I can not wel tell wher ne vpon what vnstiethey stole ye say which I call the condicion my grammer master when he gaue me englysh to be made in latin and came to the relatiue whyche he wolde euer aske me whyche what because of the concorde with his antecedent And here it is necessary I aske you y e same which what call ye the condicion Before ye called the workes of the law with your penaunce baptisme and the fulâ—illyng of all gods wyll and pleasures the condicion in the lxix lefe folowing ye call oure worthynes youre condition And here goo before your relatiue whiche many antecedents oâ— whiche one is a fredome whiche I canne not tell whether ye take it for the fredome in iustifycacion wherein the spirite of libertie thorowe faithe into Christe maketh vs free from sinne or for yours and pelagians free choice and consent when grace is offred you either to receiue it or to refuse it as ye wryt in your enstruccion boke and agene in this boke iÌ„ your .lxviii. lefe which is euen playn pelagians herelye yet be there mo antecedents nierer your relatiue as the workinge in order and the orde it self the obseruing of the workinge in order here is a shrewd perplexe pese of work to settle your croked combrose condicion with frely It is hard here to knowe which is your condicion Here haue ye shapt oute shiftes enoughe and digged ye vp many but yet all to narowe and to straight sterting holes The blynd slymey snaile yet for fear of to harde and hurtfull resistence pretentat cornibus uiam gageth the way before with hir leithey hornes The fredome ye say is geuen vs frely in christ ergo we deserue it not by obseruing the order ye speake of so derkly Place once your confuse condicion vpon some certain seate and if ye be not afraied ne ashamed of your doctrine call youre condicion by one or other certain proper name It is a token that ye feare your part as false and naught that ye dare not speake in plaine wordes plainly and tell vs what thing here ye cal youre condicion ye say which I cal y e condicâ—on as for yours so callinge ye be but a maÌ„ euery maÌ„ is a lyer nether will I accepte your wordis in this cause for truth excepte ye confirme them with scripture or arguments grounded therof no man is bounde to beleue your condicion seinge ye dare not openly expresse it ne cannot proue it by scriptures to be the cause of your effecte you call it so but tell vs where the scripture so calleth it ye shulde haue added plainly with Paul speakinge thus Frely be we iustifyed by grace thorowe y e redeÌ„pcion by Iesu Christe by faith in his bloude not as ye falsely saye frely by workes of penance Ioye depraueth gods preachings so abhominably detestably as euen in this place God suffereth him to wryte so vndiscretly of him as hathe not ben lykly sene or herd For not beinge content to allege Christes wordis in a sence of his owne imaginacion he vttereth it thus christ so said or rather so thought c. Here ye rage here ye exaggerate and heap vpon me a thousand blasphemies for saing y e trwthe That chryst thought as he said as he expresâ—ed his thought by his worde The phariseis yonge scoler came to him to know by what dedis doinge as ye teache he might come to heuen For thei teache men to come thither by their free chose and liberty to do the works of the lawe their scoler not yet knowinge his owne weakenes to do it ne thimpossibilite of the lawe to his free libertie For the yssew and ende of this story is to declare man to haue no fre libertie of himself to fulfill the lawe and also thimpossibilite therof to man as Christe declareth it vnto this maÌ„ thus drowned and deceiued with y e phariseis false doctryne Christ reciteth certain precepts whiche all saide the scoler he had kepte frome his youth He hadde kepte them aftir the phariseis fashion and yours concerning the outward iustice and letter of the law but not as christe had expouned it of mens affectes to be repressed When he sawe the arrogante boldenes of this yonge pharisei he thought by a nother precept to bring him into the knowledge of his owne weaknes and how lytle fre libertye he had to do gods commaundemeÌ„ts and how muche free libertie and of your bonde choice to euil and to not do as Christ willeth vs to do and againe how impossible it is to man to to do that god commaundeth him herof commaunded him that thinge which as it laye not in his fre libertie to do it so was it impossible for hiÌ„ to fulfill it as christ expressinge his owne former thought saith Soner shal the camel go thorow the nedles eye then the rich enter into the kyngdome of heauen addynge That as is iÌ„possible to maÌ„ is possible to god Nowe howe saye ye Dyd not christ thinke to commaunde that rich man a thinge impossible when he said If thou wilt be perfit goo and sell all thou haste and geue it to the pore coÌ„e folow me If ye say he thought it not so make ye him a dissembler to saye one and to thinke another What so euer he then commaunded him he thought the same but he coÌ„maunded him a thinge impossible Ergo he thought the same y e minor is Christes wordes solue the argument if ye can Whiles I tel you yet mo of Christes thoughtes when he saide he came not to cal iust men but sinners to repentaunce he thoughte not to call such obstinate arrogante pharisais that wolde be iustified by their condicion so full of good workes as is yours Also when god said let their owne table be turned into their owne snare thoughte he not to halter you with youre owne pleasaunt policie whereby ye thinke to banyssh and to suppresse his gospelâ— ye alledge the scriptures for youre false doctrine and ye be haltered and confounded with your owne textes ye make bokes thinking by the same to extinguish the verite and to confound vs and se ye not therby the truth the wyder to be spred and the mo to knowe it into your owne
of that rocke of faith onely in him wold haue it called a bare foundacion al this your extenuacion of faith to make it youre material shaples faith I tell ye wyl not serue your popishe purpose the almighty power of gods euerlastinge worde preaseth to sore vpon ye for onely faith iustifyinge Ye coud neuer haue coÌ„tended in a more difficile yea impossible argument and mater to proue then not oneli faith to iustifye but charite to be concurrant ye shulde haue red it Hebreus .x. how Paul declareth his mynde and order of these giftis sayiÌ„ge and affirminge vs to come to our great priste Christ with pure herte in the certaintie and asseweraunce of faithe ourr hertis sprincled and theuil conscience put a waye the body wasshed with pure water we holdinge the confession of hope not waueringe for he is â—aithful which hath promised consider we one another into this enâ—e that we maye prouoke vs to loue to do good workis where ye see in what place fayth first standeth with hir proper seueral operacion wher hope with hirs and laste of al charite placed with hir workes whiche order of these .iii. giftis the scripture euery where obserueth placinge faith as the foundacion and rote of hope and charite of al other vertews so y t as Paule saithe what soeuer is not of faith is synne And here aftir your longe vain bablinge of faith y e bringeth knowlege and faith that hath not charite as though trwe faithe and knowledge contrarye to Isaye were not all one or were withoute charite and faithe not to geue lyfe but loue to be y e lyfe of y e iuste coÌ„trary to all the scriptures then ye wold haue youre onely onely ioyned to onely god not to faith As thoughe when the scriptures with y e doctors saye by onelye faith man is iustified thei wolde exclude god the principal cause efficient from our iustiâ—ication and remission whiche plasphemye to think who is so madde and brutish And to confirme your deuillish drift ye adde stoughtly And this iâ— the plaine teachinge and agreable with scriptures whiche muste be vnderstanden as one parte be consonante w t another without siche hacking as ye make of it But not one worde of scripture bring ye for your teaching ne agreablenes but lordly ye say Thus we must vnderstand them as though ye had y e same falsly vsurped autoritie ouer y e scripture our faith as hath your aÌ„tichristeÌ„ father of roÌ„e to coÌ„pel coÌ„mauÌ„d vs to beleue to vnderstaÌ„d what ye list which is y t vsurped powr honor aboue god wherof daniel and Paul speke For when Christ euer referred his doctryne to the lawe and prophetis yet will this blody beaste and hir whelpes compel men to beleue their false doctryne falser faithe for their owne popishe persons vsurped false autorite only God gaue abraham faith where with to beleue in him and charite wher with to loue him And abraham as he beleued in God so he loued him bothe to gither Ioy It is trwe if he coud do bothe at once with one acte Here haue ye condemped your self For fyrst ye saye God gaue Abraham faith to beleue in him And now as touchinge this firste gifte what saith the scripture credidit AbrahaÌ„ deo et imputatum est ei ad iusticiam Abraham beleued in God and it was imputed him vnto rightwisenes here ye se that same only acte of beleif in God to be rekened to him for his rightwysnes ere loue procedeth to hir proper worke for loue presupposeth the thinge knowne by faithe ere she canne loue it As your selfe saith within .xii. lyues before and that faith briÌ„ging knowledge must nedes procede loue and yet blyndely ye forgetting your self harpe still of this your onely vntewned stringe Charitie loueth ergo charitie iustifieth your selfe see it ye say and write it that faith loue being two distincte giftes muste nedes tende into two sondrye and distincte effectes and yet be ye so blynd that ye wolde violently make them concurrant into the one effecte of iustification And ye saye charitie iustifieth which speche of faith as to saye faith iustifieth offendeth your dilicate eares because I speake it As thoughe all lyke speches saue suche as come out of your mouth thorowe malyce and arrogancy yea and that so proudly shuld stinke as saith the psal lxxii vpon you I maruell ye sweat so sore with so many wordes for charitie to iustifye and haue so litle charite your selfe and lesse loue to faith iustifienge whiche is truth And as often as Paule nameth faith not speaking of loue so ofte and oftener speaketh Ioan in his pistles of charitie without mencion of faith If the often speaking of a thinge shulde proue so do Ioan speake as often of synne withoute mencion of faith as doth Paul of faith without mencion of loue I wonder ye shame not thus fondly to reason But shew vs where saith Ioan charitie iustifieth as oft as Paule saith by faithe we be iustified who seeth not by these your vain shiftes and febler weak arguments how falce is your parte when ye can neither by scripture nor reason proue it howe oft saith Paul in one chapter By faith all oure fathers haue deserued the testimonye of rightwisenes Then wolde ye by as fâ—nde a profe make it appere that charitie iustifieth because christ saith The father drawethe vs to him by faith which to make it somwhat like ye falsely expowne christs words by putting to your owne dreame saing that by loue we be drawne to Christ. But and if ye had red but two lynes forther ye shuld haue sene Christ to haue expowned himself sainge vs to be drawne and to come to him onely by faith thus concludinge Euerye man therfore that hath herd of my father and is lerned of him he cometh to me To hear of y e father the scripture expowneth it to beleue and to haue faith geuen vs of him as christ affirmed it to peter and as Paul declareth it faith to come of hearinge And therfore to hear of god and to be lerned of god and to beleue in him thorow christ be alone Paul calling it auditum fidei that is the hearing of faith or faith had by hearinge And turne to y e pistle to the hebrews and loke whether we come not first to God by faith ere we loue him ye had nede go studie the scripturs yet beter lerne to conferre y e places not thus to allege theÌ„ at rouers Ye say a litle before Thei muste be vnderstanden as one parte be coÌ„sonant to the other without hackinge as I make of theÌ„ but in so saing ye twich your selfe by the nose Yt here openli chop your hackinge knyfe into your own sower herbes with a false glose hackt into your owne potage For ye neuer obserued the context ne conference of the places which is a token but of a popish lerned
operati siue iustitie baptismi after your scole men that is the sacrament or seall of the rightwisenes of workes or of the rightwisnes of baptism with water and man thereby to be iustified as ye dreame and so Christ in vaine to haue dyed Besydes this it is the fygure of our perpetuall mortificacion and repentance as I haue oâ—ten declared the vse therof before And as touchinge the imperfeccion of faith and charitie in man as ye saye Albeit our faith I saye be as litle as the mustarde sead and as imperfit as was his that saide lorde I beleue but yet helpe my vnbeleif yet god accepteth it for our iustificatioÌ„ for christes sake bidding vs daylye to praye for thencreace therof Then ye saye all our workes be imperfitte ' It is truthe that ye saye And in so sayeng ye haue condempned al your own doctrine of merits satisfaccioÌ„s and condicions of workes to deserue remission For no imperfitte workes may deserue perfit remission ne make perfit satisâ—accioÌ„ as ye well know it And for this cause of our imperfeccion indignitie impossibilite by workes to merit our remission saluacioÌ„ god hath taken it out of our handes and from our workes layd it vpon christ as ye se in the prophete Isaye him by his perfit fulfilling of the law by his so perfit workes to merit to satisfye fully and perfitlye and so to obtaine vs y e remission and saluation for our faith into him And thus is he made of his father ours for vs our iustificacion our rightwisnes redeÌ„ptioÌ„ our holines our wisdom our satisfaccioÌ„ our implecion of y e law whiche all we by faith receiue as our owne for that he is geuen to vs holy with al his that he ether dyd or suffred in his blessed innocent body and soul. And euen these be our elder brothers clothes done vpon vs by faith so swetely sauouring which so delite and please our celestial father as did Iacobs elder brothers fragrant vestures sauor in his father Isaac his nose that he gaue him his brothers blessing as shal our father for y e same doing on by faith not for your participatioÌ„ of our elder brother christe his swete clothes of his rightwisnes merits c. For who so euer be baptized of the spirite by regeneration of faith they haue done christ thus vpoÌ„ them And thus w t Iacob be we made Israelites And thus be we all made y e sonnes of god for that we haue beleued in Iesu christ saith Paul not as ye say for y t ye haue done youre good works fulâ—illed your coÌ„dicioÌ„ Thus ye se how Paul IoaÌ„ Peter christ speke of y e baptism of y e spirite not of y e visible baptism of water to geue remissioÌ„ saluacion ye geue imperâ—eccion to our works to faith to loue it is truth But yet muste ye coÌ„sider y t thimperfeccioÌ„ in our works so minisheth takethe so awaye the goodnes dignite or worthines of theÌ„ that thei may not be called good ne meritoriouse But faith Isaye â— being imperfit as litle as the mustersede or as weke as his y t said help lord my vnbeleif yea or so matched in perel with temptacion w t feare dubitacioÌ„ as was peters faith so boldly leaping into y e sea to mete his maister christe when the sourges arose agenst him so highe that with his litle weake faith he began to sinke yet as litle as it was it was y e good gift of god saued hiÌ„ for christes sake froÌ„ drowninge For it is our perpetuall byshop and onely intercessour in heuen that continually prayeth as he dyd for Peter his felowes lest our faith faile vs euen in the middes of the stormye tempestiouse floudes of the troublous sea of this world For the giftes calling of god be sich as it cannot repent him of them in hys chosen Then ye say Iob sayd I feared al my workes in which faith ye say may be comprehended But it appereth that ye vnderstand not Iobs wordes for he neuer feared his faith but his works only which were euil imperfit And the ebrw or chaldie worde signifieth erumnas and labores meos omnes that is to saye I feared al my miserable workes and laboriouse miseries which he called his own euil workes for it foloweth sciens quod noÌ„ parceres delinquenti knowing that thou woldst not spare the trespasser So that here ye see how that ye manakle and rende oute by patches the textes for youre wicked purpose not consideringe what gothe before ne foloweth nor yet what the wordes properly signifye If ye coulde comprehende faithe in Iobs works so wolde ye make faith no gift of god ne beleif gods worke but Iobs worke so feared of him self And all the scriptures agre w t Iob so speaking of his owne workes only and not of faith For manye holye men fearing y e same desired god not to enter into iugement w t them ne to iuge them after their workes Then ye take in hand to describe the sinfull nature of man as borne out of Adam and Eue sayeng that the powers of our soule properly receiue faith and loue and vpon the occasion of the worlde and the flesh suggestion of the deuil be redy to rebellion c. In whiche saienge ye speke not truelye of maÌ„ in his corrupt nature as borne out of Adam conceiued in synne roted in his soule called altogether in scripture flesh the olde man the body of sinne and deathe inimitie ageÌ„st God naturallye the childe of wrath a contynuall rebellyon agaynste gods spirit For occasion or no occasion geuen sich one is he before he be regenered as god painteth him saienge after the hebrewe verite Euery imaginacion of mannes harte is onlye euyll is sayth the texte and not prone or redye as ye terme it yea and that at all times euen from hys youthe withoute the spirite of God regeneringe hym he is brydeles runnynge into the free felde of all carnall lustes Of the power of this corrupt mans nature ye speake as by his fre choise to receiue faith with loue c. Uerilye this man hathe no suche a Pelagianes power of hym selfe to receiue faithe no more then hadde ADAM him selfe power to come to God when he fled from his voice in paradise so ferefullye with shame sekinge where to hyde him froÌ„ his presence There is no sich proper power properly as ye terme it in maÌ„ to receiue faith or any grace except that naturall proper powr be properly taken a waye and pourged with the spirit of libertie by faithe purifyeng the herte so makinge in him a newe hert prepared to receiue faith makinge a new and free powr from his naturall bondage to synne So that your fre choice to receiue grace may not here be placed withe pelagians errour enimie to grace to set vp your fre choice bonde libertie to syn For
edification and profit of his bodye and membres whiche so doynge we be seruauntes faithfull and profitable for him and to other as the scripture calleth vs and thus we sanctifye and celebrate and magnifye his holye name as he commaundeth it Then ye chopin this text of zachary Vtsine timore c. To proue your merits to deserue deliueraunce from our enemyes and so to lyue and serue him in holynes and well doynge But ye sleyghtly leaue out hym by whose merits we be thus delyuered Ye shulde haue redde the verses before and then ye shulde haue seene that GOD the father hadde erected oure myghty helthe euen christ that by hym and his power and merites we delyuered from oure enemies myghte serue hym withoute feare in holy lyuynge But suche peces ye can omytte as impertinente to youre euyll purpose And these be the hatchets ye bringe in to open your lewde lockes And after this sorte thei vse predestinacion which being signified to vs for our counforte do declare what care god hathe of vs whereby we shulde be the more encouraged to worke hauynge god to oure helpe c. Why then in your boke of necessarie enstruccions commande ye the people to beware of predestinacion and not to medle therwith leste they fall into any vayne trust in it these be your wordes and teache that no man shulde be sewer therof ne of his election Nowe ye saye it is writen for oure counforte and anon ye feare men from it nowe it is a vaine trust and then it is a counfortable adsewraunce and anon ye put all men in dout therof and of their election in Christe makinge faith no faith but a waueringe doute ne gods promise of no effecte So inconstant and waueringe is youre doctrine Whiche predestinacion ye saye we vse it as your hatchet to open lockes And I say your selfe vse it as a nose of waxe against the fier But now I returne to you maister Ioye Ioye And I to you my lorde And where ye appose me whether when I considered theffecte of christes passion I beleued it or no I professe I beleued Then ye aske whether I beleued it to be effectuall to me To this I aunswere you That first I beleued it was and is effectual to me in my baptisme wherein I obtained remission of my synnes and renouacion of lyfe I perceiue ye lete great skorne to be apposed of me But yet I wolde ye aunswered me directely to my question For I asked you whether now seen your baptisme when ye taughte your scolers this conclusion then beinge a synner as euery mā is whē ye firste considered your sinnes in your self and loked vpon your effect that is remission in christes passion whether then I saye ere ye loked to any other condicion thē vpon onely faith whiche is your fyrste condicion ye beleued Christes passion to be effectuouse to you or not If ye dydde so muste ye neades be iustified by only faith by no other cōdiciō which ye must nedis graunt magry your tethe For as ye beleue accordīg to gods promise so must it infallibly cōe to you But in your answer fearing lest ye shuld be iustified by faith only ye shift frō this tyme to your baptism wher ye wold couple your faith diuided part to christ parte to your baptysme by bothe to gither to be iustifyed as though not faith only in christe ne christes deathe were sufficient But I wil stoppe ye in from that stertinge hole therby not so to escape And muste by your leaue appose ye yet agen aske you whether before your body was doped into the fonte with the wordis of baptisme ye beleued or no. If ye saye no so make ye your godfathers and god mother lyers and your selfe to which all affirmed in your person Credo I beleue or els the preist had chrystened an infidele For the order of Christis doctrine is y t the doctrine and profession shulde go before the baptisme as ye see it bothe in infantes and waxen If one shuld come to you to be baptized ye wold first enstructe him in our faith and heare him openly professe it ere ye put him into the water as chryste taught and commanded his apostles to do sayinge Go and teache all nacions my gospell and whatsoeuer els I haue taught you them that beleue baptize into the name of the father and c. This order obserued the apostles in their actes first preachinge y e lawe to shew them their sinnes and then the gospell of remissiō in christ whiche thinge beleued the hearers be iustifyed before god regenered of the spirit of faith therby obsigned and sealed certifyed of their eleccion in christe And then is the exterior obsignacion of baptisme with water the testificaciō to the chirche added to certifye them the same persone to haue had receyued y e spirit of faith and to be regenered before of god so that as circumcision was to the Iewes chirch signaculum iusticie fidei that is the exterior seal testimoniall of the iustification by faith lo is baptisme with water the exterior seal testifienge to vs that the baptized is iustified also by faith and certifieth the congregacion as a testification of the beneuolence of God towarde the baptized and of his spiritual giftes receiued For the water saith Austen is but an elemente and nothing withoute the worde of promise whiche is the worde of faith iustifienge before the persone be baptized Baptizme with water therfore is the testificacion and seal certifyenge the hole congregation of his incorporation and member of christes chirch to be admitted into their societe to praye to heare the worde with them and to receiue the lordes supper Besides that baptisme in figure is y e perpetuall custodi of y e christen life by mortificaciō repētaūce signified by the dopinge into the water in the death and burial of christe and his resurrection vs to ryse vp continually into a new lyfe as Paul teacheth vs. Rom. vi Thus did Philip first enstruct the queens courtyer of Candace and then asked him whether he beleued with al his hert that is constantly and purelye before he wold baptise him And Paule and Silas obserued the same order with the keper of the presone when the keper beinge in a desperate mynde for feare they had ben fled wolde haue slaine him selfe but otherwise aduertised by Paule he comen to hym selfe saide Maysters what must I do to be saued whiche aunswered Beleue into the LORDE Iesu and thou with all thy house shalte be saued After whiche beleife they were baptized This is sufficient to declare the vse of oure baptisme with water that we be iustifyed by faith only before it ere we can repent frutfully thus is al your popish trysh trash contayned in your other second condicion cleane wypt awaye frō thatainment of iustificacion And if ye haue any workes els in your condicion