vtter shame and confusion he tolde his y t the haithen kinges shulde be tikled with these flateringe titles and names of your lordship and your grace and saide to you uos autem non sic But se that you be not so called Thought he not therby to knocke downe your arrogant pryde and to teache you humilite verelye he forsawe and thought euen then vppon your pryde and lordeships to be exalted aboue him selfe But sone findeth the wolfe an occasion to deuoure the innocent lambe for drinking of the swete waters which shulde be comon to them both geuen of god to quench their thirst Here may euery reader see the venome of your kancred hart how gredily ye hunt for occasions to depraue bely and to sclaÌ„der me causeles ye say I alledge christes wordes in a sence of my nown imaginacion It is you and such popishe impes as yet defende his antichristen doctrine that wrest so violeÌ„tly the scripturs to your own damnable deuises For of al sich scriptures Si vis ad vitaÌ„ ingredi c. Si vis perfectus esse c. and forgeue and ye shal be forgeuen ye gather with pelagiane your fre choice and libertie to do good and to kepe the commauÌ„dements and to set vp your popishe merits and iustificacion of workes all damnable and iniuriouse to christes bloud as very enimies to grace and to god when christ proueth by siche textes man to haue no fre libertie to do good and his commaundementes to be impossible to man and that no man can therfore merite his remission ne saluacioÌ„ And eueÌ„ your own wordes fight against your own exposicions God commandeth vs things impossible to shewe vs to our selues nether to haue free libettie to do good ne to be able to merit oure saluacion that we shuld not glory in our dedis ne reioise iÌ„ our worthines but to render all glorye merits and dignitie to him and that we aknowleginge our own infirmite and impossibilitie shuld seke strengthe and power at him and that we shulde by faith enbrace his rightwisnes his holines his merits and satisfaccioÌ„s and his fulfillinge of the lawe for owr owne thus to geue all the glory and thankis to him for our remission redempcion saluacion thorow Iesus christ These saings Forgeue and ye shal be forgeueÌ„ and siche lyke containe in them bothe a precept and also a promise if ye godly expended them whiche promise assone as faith aâ—prehendeth she addresseth hirself effectuosly by loue to y e fulfillinge of y e precept iÌ„ forgeuinge hir neighbor For ther is nomaÌ„ y t forgeueth trwly onlesse he beleue first in christ is promise to haue forgeuenes hiÌ„ self And therfore when christ saithe Forgeue ye shal be forgeueÌ„ faith first setteth holde vpon hirowne promised forgeuenes in the later sentence and so of faith procedeth to do the precept your self heraftir can place theffecte before the cause yet tell vs y e cause to go before theffecte And canne ye not as well see and admitte the same order in Christes word is as in your own examples So that the man is not forgeuen because he forgeueth as ye arsewardly imagen but because he beleueth God to forgeue him therfore is y e beleuer both forgeuen himself of that faith he forgeueth his brother Ye shuld therfore acordinge to your owne example doctrine hereaftir of him y t folowth you to be your seruant haue coÌ„sidered lerned y t your forgeuenes of your neghbour is the effecte declaringe you to be forgeueÌ„ of god y e forgeuenes wherby god forgeueth you to be y e cause of your forgeuenes of youre neighbour thus y e effect to be placed before y e cause Sich inuersioÌ„s of coÌ„sequeÌ„ces in arguiÌ„g fro y e effect to y e cause called argumeÌ„tes a posteriore y e comeÌ„ speach y e scriptur oâ—teÌ„ vseth As to say y â— flowers be sproÌ„geÌ„ forth spred y e trees waxe grene ergo it is soÌ„mer And yet is somer y e cause of this effect theffect placed before y e cause And christ told the phariseye Hir sines be forgeueÌ„ hir because she loueth mich But iÌ„ declaring y e very cause w t theffect he expresseth hir forgeuenes of god to be y e cause of hir loue saiÌ„g To whoÌ„ is mich forgeueÌ„ thei be bouÌ„d mich to loue eueÌ„ thus declareth it christ iÌ„ his parable mat â— teachiÌ„g vs god first to forgeue vs y e greter detts to thiÌ„teÌ„t y t we seiÌ„g hiÌ„ self mercifull in forgeuing vs shuld be moued y â— more gladly to forgeue our brethern y e lesse dettes So that his former forgeuenes of vs is y e cause mouiÌ„g vs to forgeue other saiÌ„g Behoueth it not y e therfore to haue pite coÌ„passioÌ„ of thy felow seruaÌ„t seing y t I am so redy to forgeue y â— yea I had forgeueÌ„ y e before as y u knowst it therfore y u oughtest lykewyse to haue forgeueÌ„ hiÌ„ where it is plaine our forgeuenes of god to be y e cause which shuld moue excite vs gladly likewise to forgeue our neighbour y t y e forgeuenes of our neighbour is placed first as theffect befor y e cause as it is there iÌ„ other placs iÌ„ferred saiÌ„g Forgeue it shal be forgeuen you your own exaÌ„ple of your seruant folowing you hereaftir brought in of you coÌ„fouÌ„deth your self if malice had not so bliÌ„dned you for your malice god so worthely to haue hardened your hart against y e truth y t in rediÌ„g his word ye nether vnderstande it truely ne with feare reuerence enbrace it but abuse it into your owne daÌ„pnacion into the destruccion of many other soules If one shuld coÌ„e to you sekinge youre seruice and you couenant w t him sayinge Folowe or waite vpon me and thou shalt haue .xl. s. yerely Is not this comon couenant consented ther vpoÌ„ y e cause why he serueth you And yet is theffecte here in your owne wordis placed before the cause of his seruice for except the maÌ„ had beleued your promise and trusted to your wordis he wolde neuir haue done ye seruice And euen so iÌ„ this and lyke speches Forgeue and thou shalt be forgeueÌ„ we first by faith in gods promise apprehend our own promised forgeuenes of god which causeth vs to forgeue our brothern For excepte ye obserue this order ye shall fynde it but a faint fayned forgeuenes I wil not saye agenst it but that ye may be a good lawyer and a ciceroniane rethricion bold eloquent in doggish eloquence to perswade blasphemies and lies by crafty colours to turne whight into blak and to make foles beleue y e krow is whyght lest ye lese your estimacioÌ„ But as for any good godly lerninge or trwe vnderstandinge of the holy scriptures I know there is but litle or none in all your bablinge bokis Had ye counseld buâ— with S. Austen vpon siche texts Si
The life which I nowe lyue in my fleshe per fidem uiuo filij dei I lyue it by the faithe of the sonne of god And Iohn saith he that remaineth in loue dwelleth in life the cause why Abacuck Paule declareth for that he that remayneth in loue dwelleth in faythe whiche is the lyfe of the iuste So y t to abide in loue declareth the man to continue in the lyfe of faith But I argew thus to you Charite can not loue god onles she first knowe god but by faith iustifienge god is firste knowne ergo faith iustifienge is before charite louinge Wherfore charitie iustifieth not For the thynge muste be firste knowen ere it be beloued Then thus faith iustifienge is before charitie louyng For the man is iustified in the former accion of faith knowyng beleuinge in gods mercye thorowe christe For faith is a lyuelye faith in hir owne proper work of beleif into christ ere she worketh by charite But you wold make charitie egall in accion with faythe in the worke of iustificacion whiche ye shall neuer do with all the popes lawe ne with all his dirtye diuinite ye haue And to proue your popishe parte ye sweate greatly to ioyne life to charitie as though then ye hadde your purpose And in your .lv. lefe folowinge ye saye the scripture geueth lyfe to charitie but ye dare not alledge that scripture as I haue alledged lyfe to be geuen to faith ye wold here by adioyning lyfe in charitie to be concurrant w t faith in iustificacion as I perceiue make faith your materiall shaples dead and an idle faithe till charitie setteth her a worke geuing to fayth hir forme lyfe But this dreame wil not serue you as I haue tolde you before And then ye saye hope muste be placed and establyshed of faith and loue contrary to the hole order and treaty of them thorowout all the scripture as ye se it distinctly orderlye and playnlye in all and in euerye parte and pistle of the Apostles and in the prophetes firste of faithe then of hope and laste of all of loue yf you vnderstande them Then ye prate pertly of your workes before your iustificacion And I tell you Shew me but any one of your good workes before your iustification before god and I shall soone tell you whether it be good or badde yea and that by the true twich stone of godis holy word that lieth not Ioy violently writeth this text of scripture when ye haue done al that I haue coÌ„maunded you then say you we be vnprofitable seruauntes c and all to diminishe thestimacion of good workes This byshop violentlye wresteth this texte with the monkes exposicion of the chartir howse to serue for his and their merits wherevpon theirs and all other monkish howses were founded and buylded till the gospell ouerthrewe them as it shall shortely subuerte your byshoprykes to as christes owne exposition of the same texte playnelye declareth it Your monkish glose is That be cause god is riche enough and want nothinge ne nedeth our commoditie goodis ne profit by our dedis therfore we muste say we be seruaÌ„ts vnprofitable to him But christ telleth vs a nother cause sainge Say that ye be seruants vnprofitable be cause ye haue done but your abounden dewty For what thanke hath that seruant because he hath done but y t he is commaunded to do These be Chrystis wordis to destroye your merits and supererogacion workis to merit more then ye nede which ouerplus ye sel to other men for money and londe to be geueÌ„ to your bishopriks abbeis therfore ye may be ashamed to render any siche a popishe cause coÌ„trary to christis owne wordis ye saye god hath no nede of our commodite profit and seruice It is trwthe therfore ye serue him theraftir redier to serue your lustis the deuil the pope the world God coÌ„maÌ„deth vs al creatures to serue hiÌ„ but aftir you nether to ê“moue ne to set forth his glorye name goodnes ne one to profit a nother Christ biddeth vs so to let our lyght shyne before meÌ„ that thei seinge our good works might glorifye our father in heuen And what ye do to the lest of myne ye do it to me saith he so that his pleasure profite and commoditie by our seruice consisteth and remaineth yet still in his chirche and his members And as the tolerances persecucions inuries done to his members he rekeneth them done to himself as it is to se collos i. act ix so accepteth he al benefites and workes of mercye and seruice done to his chirche of the pore faithful membres of christ as done and comon to himself as ye se mat xxv For which vtilite and profit done to him in his members he calleth vs contrary to your exposicioÌ„ profitable faithful seruants to hiÌ„ For he nedeth our seruice in his chirche and meÌ„bers and necessarye it is y t all his creatures so serue him sith he hathe therfore created them to celebrate his gloriouse name and geuen them and vs commandement so to do Albeit god is omnisufficiente almightye riche in himself yet standinge the creacion of al things in heuen erth to minister and serue him accordinge to his precepte it is necessary his glory goodnes to be spred celebrated by their seruice God nedeth not our goodes ergo he nedeth not our seruice how folowteh your argument seinge he hath created al things to serue him ye be a riche bishop hauinge of al things enoughe and nede not your seruants goodes yet seing ye haue seruants it is necessary that thei serue you al thoughe ye be able to serue your selfe wherfore I pray ye be as good for gods seruice as for your own for it standeth maketh as miche for his honour to require our seruice as it dothe for youre honour to be serued orels ye wold peruert the vniuersal order of the worlde if kinges and magistrates hauinge seruants shulde haue no nede of their seruice Ye saye god nedeth no seruice of vs. wheÌ„ he biddeth you therfore to go into his vyneyarde to plough vp mens hartes with his worde therin to be sowen and planted to fede his flock Tushe may ye say god nedeth none of my seruyce by your exposition for he is able enoughe to do it him self my seruice can not profite him and so his seruice and precept forsaken ye maye go into the popes garden there to playe the gardiner plante sowe his popishe rites tradicions deuyllishe doctrine still as ye haue done to poyson the simple soules w t errours and heresies To whome it shal be sayde at laste O euel and vnprofitable seruaunt c. take him awaye and his handes and fete bounden cast him into exterior derkenes where is weping and gnasshinge of tethe Then ye saye Gods seruice is profitable to vs but if ye did beleue your owne saieng ye wold serue him ernestlier then ye do
for For albeit the faith of myracles were alone wâ—th the faith of saluacion which your autours abhorte because Christe sayde to Iairus beleue onely do that proue that christ requireth no nother whereby to atteine saluation Ye wolde mocke oute this texte by wyndynge in impertinentlye youre faith of miracles Whiche faith neither hadde Iairus ne christ ment it but onelye the true faith in Christe Iairus beleuinge hym to be the very Messias god and man and sauiour of the worlde And of this faith came Iairus to Christ and Christ speake therof onelye sayenge onelye beleue and thy doughter shal be salfe For the faith to do miracles is suche one as Paule speaketh of to maye be withoute charyte and without the faith iustifyenge as is in the enchaunters sorcerers and wytches whyche cannot stande with the faythe of saluacyon as ye dreame Wherefore these wordes of Chryste Onelye beleue make all for the purpose Onely fayth iustifienge to obtaine oure desyers of god in Christe whether it be remission of our sinnes our saluacion our helth or the reuiuinge of our soules as it obteined to Iairus the reuiuinge of his daughter a miracle necessary in the beginning of y e chirche to confirme the gospell And you could find so plaine a texte of loue as to saye Onelye loue me and thou shalt be saued or thy loue hathe saued the then yet mighte youre doctrine haue some appearaunce of truthe Neither because as ye blaspheme that Chryste bode Iairus onelye beleue and so to haue his doughter againe alyue therfore didde he discharge Iairus of all good workes neuer any to be done of him what peruerse papist wolde so gather of christes sayenges And you likewise inferre of onely faith iustifieth ergo saye you let vs do no good workes But we with Paule and the scriptures teache constantlye and inferre ergo we muste do good workes Nowe howe saye ye to the argument For it is impossible for true faith to be idle but is as Paule saith effectuously workinge thorowe loue although I see howe falsely and vnlernedly ye interprete the greke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with a contrary significacion violeÌ„tly to wrest Paules wordes to your sinfull sentence Trewe faith wil be declared by hir workes as the tree by hir fruites And therefore it is shame to you to gather vpon christis wordes to Iairus Onely beleue that Christ wold haue him therby to do no mo good workes but to lyue vngodlye in an idle false and fayned deade faith Ioye bringeth in another miracle of Christ when he sayde thy faith hath saued the. And here Ioy saith is no condicioÌ„ but faithe It is Christ that saith it adding no nother condicion then faith To this I saye that this is not all the sripture And he that wyll truelye iudge of scripture must ioyne altogither for that is not spoken in one place is spoken in a nother and all at laste must make one worde That is in some part attributed to faith as in this miracle is in a nother attributed to charite as when christ sayth Dimissa sunt ei peccata multa quia dilexit multum Can ye ioyne your scriptures no better to gether for loue to iustify truelye ye be but a yonge scoler or els ye haue hadde but a leude maister But hadde ye gonne as longe to scole with that conuerted peniteÌ„t woman as ye haue done with Symon that gloriouse phariseye that then bode chryste to dinner she had lerned you in the same parte of scripture euen the same lesson that christe taughte hyr sayenge Fides tua te saluam fecit Thy faith hath saued the go thy waye in peace ye wolde haue the scriptures ioyned togyther and howe saye ye nowe See ye not in the same place to y e same womaÌ„ spoken before the same Phariseye and for the same remission and saluacian sayd vnto hir of CHRIST Thy faith hath saued the And ye had red but .v. lynes farther of the same mater marked the hole conclusion of all ye shuld haue sene it playnly Thy faith hathe saued the. But belyke ye fetched out this versicle Dimissa suÌ„t ei peccata of your portews where it standeth alone without the circumstance of the hole gospell whiche hathe in the correcte text Remittantur peccata eius c. whiche maner of speche mode and tence differe miche from your versicle confer the scriptures and loke how ofte ye fynde Thy faithe hathe saued the onely beleue c. If thoue canst beleue c. by faith man is iustifyed and siche lyke and agene how oft ye fynd Thy workis haue saued the for thy workes or for thy loue thy sinnes be forgeuen the or saued for thy charitie and so for youre pourpose For the conciliacion therefore of these textes whyche as ye haue rend one out of your portews and the tother alledged of Christ in the gospell seme to be contrary one to make for you and the tother for me we must confer the hole context but firste to go to the breste of the mater be cause it were to longe to reherce the hole story ye muste note That the phariseis faith and doctryne was as now is yours that thei shuld be iustifyed by their workes and therfore christ when he had reherced the workes of this womanis loue vpon whiche siche false teachers onely gaze and wonder as vpoÌ„ only Ioans vtward camels cote and letherne girdle and not vpon the faithe wherof the workes of loue procede he added propter quod dico tibi For the whiche thinge I tell the y e I say which art a pharisay and lokest but vpon hir workis so that the pronowne hathe heir propir vehemency and pithe in the demonstracion to the pharisei whiche as he sawe but hir workis not hir faith so coulde he not beleue it no more then you that faith onely shuld iustifye but loue and hir workes of the lawe and therfor for the tother doctryne of onely faith to iustify thei as do you conceyued great hatered ayenst christ all his fore teachinge only fayth to iustifye so short away to heuen as thei and you fantazye And therfore to condempne his and yours hipocritish hatered and malice which fight so cruelly for loue and haue non at al to iustify to condempne Isaie your hatered with that sinners loue and it to be a testimony ayenst yours selues in your own opinion of your iustificacion ful of malice ranker and enuye let it be so said also to you y t loue not I wil or let it apere to you hir many sinnes in your sight and aftir your opinion to be forgeueÌ„ be cause she hath loued mich So that hir loue Christe made it not to the pharise the cause of hir remission but the probacion therof into his own codempnacioÌ„ iudging him self an holy pharisei for biddinge Christ to diner and the woman to be agreat sinner not worthi to haue had comen into his howse
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
but must haue washed it aftir hir It is an argument a postetiore wherby the thinge is shewed to him that onelye gazethe vppon the externe workis and not of faith and proued of the euident signes folowinge faith as Christes similitude declareth it by the two detters This is the storye to ioyne the scriptures togither aftir your rule which your self so lowdly obserue Acertain pharisei bode Christ to dyner for no greate loue ye maye be sewer but as you and such lyke nowe a dayes will haue some good simple menne at your table ether so soucke out or to trappe them vnwares or to make a testinge stoke of their godly communicacion if thei speake the truthe so circūspectly y t ye cannot set hold of them And a non as thei wereset commeth in this notable sinner meruel y e holy pharisei stopped not his nose stādīg behind christ w t a boxe of oyntment wepinge at his fete washing them with hir teares runninge downe by hir chekes wyping them with hir heare and often kyssinge them in the anointinge Here was great oddes betwixt so holy a pharisaye and so sinful a woman In so miche that he thought If Christe had ben so holy a prophete as he was takē he shuld haue knowē who how greate a sinner she was that towched him and so aftir the pharisei to haue thruste hir out of the house But here Christ comen to call sinners to repentance and not siche holy phariseis so iuste in their owne conceight so ful of your good condicions of workis y t thei wil be iustifyed by their good workes breke open heuen gatis withe their holy dedis hauinge no nede of Christis merits by his passion putteth forth his similitude tectely comparinge the holy pharisei to the famose sinner present teachinge him and vs that the comon misse women beleuing in Christ and repentant shal go be fore y e holy hipocrits bishops and phariseis for al their holy holy workes into the kingdom of heuen and that he came not to call sich iust hipocrites that wil be iustifyed by your good condicions there own good workes but to declare them to be farther of from forgeuenes and saluacion then the publicans and misse women y t in faith acknowlege themselues sinners whom Christ is comē to cal to repētāce And here is to be noted y t christ by this smilitude of the two detters maketh the pharisaye in his own answere to condempne himself and to iustifye the sinful woman There were two detters saith he one ought fyue hōdred pence the tother .l. And when nether of them was able to paye their dettis where be now your meritis in your condicion to deserue remissiō where be your satisfaccions with your contentacions for your sinnes by partipacion Cum non essent soluendo saith christ when thei were not able to paye to satisfye ne to content ne to deserue then their creditor merciably frely forgaue them both Here ye must note where Christe placeth his forgeuenes whether before or after loue He saith when neither of them was able to paye he forgaue them Ergo not for their loue were thei forgeuen But nowe speake Simon ye pharisei condempne your selfe and your owne false doctrine of workes to iustifye whyche of these two shall moste loue his creditor Mary quod Symon I thinke he to whom is most forgeuen Thou hast iudged ryght lo here it is plain that forgeuenes goth before loue Ergo for hyr loue was she not forgeuen but because she was forgeuen mich therfore she loued mich And here christ inuerteth y e consequence turninge himself to the woman but spekinge to the pharisai sainge Seest thou this woman he saw the woman and hir workes of loue but not hir faith I am comen into thy house and thou haste done none of these tokens of loue to me he hadde geuen christe a dyner but neither of faith nor yet of loue Thou hast not geuen water to my fete she hath wasshed them with the teares of hir eyes c. For which thinge I tell the but the womā he told hir another cause Remittantur peccata eius multa that is lette hir greate and many sinnes be forgeuen as thou iudgest and beleuest because she hathe loued mich And nowe because we shulde see the inuersion of the consequence and the euydent probation to the pharisey more clearly Chryst clerelyer to vs and to her expresseth the remission to go before loue saienge To whome is lyttle forgeuē he lesse loueth whiche importeth To whome is miche forgeuen he most loueth declaringe loue and hir degrees to followe the degrees of forgeuenes procedīg out of the degrees of the rote of faith iustifieng But in conclusion to certify the woman whose faith was known to him and to hir onely and not to y e pharisey that seeth and wondrethe only vpon his own holy works therby to be iustified and by his owne rightwisenes he telleth hir constantly affirming for the peace and tranquillite of hir conscience all dubitacion and doute set a parte sainge Thy faith hath saued y e go thy waye in peace as Paule saith we iustified by faith haue peace c. Here is plain by your owne rule of the conference of scriptures that of faith commeth forgeuenes out of forgeuenes cometh loue folowing faith forgeuenes into y e iust confutacion of al y t ye haue and shal hereaftir bring in for your charite to iustifye So that except ye frame the scriptures better and iustlier for your part ye shal as ye so scornfully and skoffingly tell it me bringe but your croked keyes to cleaue your knotty logges But sith ye will nedes stryue so fondelye and so vnlernedly againste the truth I shall by gods grace to my poore and litle talent by gods helpe defende it And tel if you euē here y t if ye were in very dede so well lerned in the scriptures as ye couet and glorye to be sene in your bokes and shewe youre selfe and as ye make foles to beleue and knewe it in hert descended vnto your self to see your own ignoraunce as with your lippes and painted pen ye faine your self to teach in your predestinacion ye wold neuer moue penne ne open your lyppes thus arrogantly ▪ and so blyndly so boldly ye and blasphemousely agenst the lorde and his annointed For I tell it you constantly that suche hipocritishe phariseis as esteme them selues better for their shininge vnfaithfull workes then be the sinners for their onely lyuely faith into christe do but byd christ and his to diner to trappe them and owe more vnwares then thei be ether able or willing to pay hī As lyke an vnhandsom hatchet to open your lockes make ye of spe saluati sumus that is In hope be we saued To open this locke that ye may see how lytle it maketh for your purpose I shal by y e ioining of y t as goth before and that as
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
wold gore me thorow with your byforked hornes and thrust me downe quyck into helwith a. M curses excecratioÌ„s And yet here your self saye the same again againe to nothinge afraide of Hieroms curse But he that knoweth our infirmities taketh in good part our imperfection for our sauiour christes sake vpon whom our saluaciou is grounded and neither vppon workes ne faith with your diuision It is impossible for our weke sinfull fleshe perfitlye to fulfyll the law And therfore god sente his sonne to fulfil it for vs y t our faith reachingâ— to vs his fulfilling might couer ouâ— transgression with his rightwiseneâ— so to do christ vpon vs. Or els if yâ— take it absolutely as ye speake it sâ— were euery mans imperfeccion takâ— in good worthe and after you euery man shulde be saued Wherefore to haue spoken perfitely and plainelyâ— after the scriptures ye shulde hauâ— added for our faith in our sauiourâ— christ god taketh oure imperfeccioâ— in good worthe and thus expressed the condicion for christes sake ye say And shal I be so bold to add to makâ— all se wer not for your merits ne for the meriting to vse his benefites as ye say Upon whom ye say our saluacion is grounded and nether vppon workes ne faith with my diuisyon Then tell vs after your deuise and diuision howe saluacion in christ is grounded vpon faith with your wel deuised diuision Christ spekinge to Peter without any diuision of saith grounded his chirche vppon plaine faith as ferme as the rocke And Paule sayth one LORDE one faith one baptisme one chirche one christe and one saluacion ye wolde not I se haue me to diuide faith in christ from your condicion of works ne from your first faith of all but ioyne them together as Iermans lippes to be the ground of saluacion But Paule telleth you workes and faith to be so contrarye vnto this effect that thei may not both lye together in the foundacion for when the benygne loue of GOD oure sauiuiour toward vs was declared he saued vs not for oure good workes which we did but of his mercye dyd he saue vs lo he excluded oure good workes called opera que sunt in iustitia Yea saye also ne vpon faith w t my diuision wherof I deceyue the simple peple In good faith when I speake of faithe iustifyinge and faithe sauinge I diuide it not into manye members but saye onelye faith in Christ so make no diuision therof For I speake plainly w t Chryste paul and all the olde lerned doctours excludinge from the acte of instificacion all the works of the law And I place works aftir iustificacion as the frutes of the iustifyed tree declaringe hir obedience loue to God and to his lawe But ye be to busye withe your terme of diuision to make siche diuision contencion brawlinge aboute wordis when ye espye your parte is naught ye goaboute to make sectis and diuison heresies in Christis chirche w t your â—rophane vayne vocables of Diuiâ—ion participacion to merite the vse meritinge to be the vse vse meritinge one dede to deserue another to merite grace learninge to come to beleif Fayth to come to the knowlege of faithe works to vse the giftis a faith firste of al with many mo siche monsirose prophame speches to consound men and to make diuysion heriseis and sectis amonge y â— simple people TheÌ„ ye adde saying As though works were at a contencion with faith verely Paul so setteth them a sonder in contencion and contrariete in the acte of iustificacion that he vtterly excludeth workes froÌ„ faith in plain and many wordis froÌ„ that act to set faith onely to iustifye as maye euerye man se it where he settethe iustitiam legis contrarye and agaynste iustitiam fidei and commonlye vseth his arguments ex conteÌ„tioneor a loco contrariorum whiche is the moste euident and strongest kynde of argumentacion Also the contrary effectis of faith and workis as I haue often out oâ— paul declared them shewe them to be so contrary in the cause of iustificion that thei in no wise may be concurrant into y t effecte It is sone sene by your maner of argewinge that ye neuer knewe the stacion or state of the cause of the pistles to the Romans and gala Ne vnderstande ye the arguments of them except of a sette maliciouse porpose whiche God forbyd ye so wilfully so openly and not of ignorance impugne the verite Nether knowe ye Pauls woÌ„t and proper phrases in these wordis lex iustitie iustitia legis iustitia exlege iustitia nostra and agene Iustitia dei iustitia ex fide and lex fidei iustificatio legis iustificatio fidei ne the difference of these contraries ye know not For when ye adde sayinge lyke as the works of Moses lawe were at a contentioÌ„ with faithe ye vnderstande not of what works â—f Moyses lawe Paule speakethe â—hen he so oft mencioneth circumciâ—ion and the workes of the lawe exâ—luded from faith nether knowe ye what faith is And some talke of faith wherwith to apâ—rehend gods mercy as though faith had â—aÌ„des to take and hold fast and loue none â—nd thei graunt that noman is instified w t out charitie but yet faith properlye thei say apprehendeth the iustificacion wherof how properly thei speke I shal speke hert after at large Ioye and I shall aunswer you as largely We speke of faith truely and reuerently according to gods worde and not after your own vayn imagined material and formal faithes And we saye by faith we set holde of gods merciable fre promises iÌ„ christ and our setting hold is beter vnderstanden of the lay man then your apprehensâ—on And we and our readers know as well â—aith to haue no materiaâ—l handes as faith to haue no fete when Paule saith by faith we come to god And christe biddeth vs all that be burdened come to him If 〈◊〉 liâ—t of your liberalite to geue to louâ— handis fete and winges to to sethold fly to god aftir faith iustifyiÌ„g hath enbraced him in Christ and shewed him now knowne by faithe to loue I wil not ageine saye ye cannot tell what condicious Barne â— I spake of Of what condicions soeuer ye spake ye say y t he you agreed of faithe to be one and the first And here ye declare your second coÌ„dicion to be full of Winchesters good workes as your selfe cal them again the which good workes to iustifie I wrote and confuted them and therefore I know of what condicions ye mente as your self now declare them I euer affirmed that we be frely iustified and frely saued And yet god in geuing vs this fredome for christe worketh so in order and so willeth vs to obserue it which I call the condition As for wante therof we shall ether not obtaine this fredome or lese our fredom when we haue obteined it Ye euer affirmed that ye
vis ad vitam ingredi Si. vis perfectus esse c. he wold haue lerned you a truer lesson or if ye had lerned the promyses precepts contained in siche speches and consydered the proper cause with hir effect ye shuld haue sene the vnbeleif of the yonge scoler of the phariseis iÌ„ the promised perfeccion offred him of Christe to haue ben the cause of his departure and to not fulfill the precepte of sellinge his good and to geue it to the pore as is the beleif of the entrie into lyfe promised in these wordes If thou wilt entre into lyfe the cause why man endeuoureth him to the keping of y e commandements And yet is it god y t worketh bothe thought wyl and endeuour in vs to kepe them which when god commandeth vs to aske of him to kepe his preceptis ye se it not to be in our powr to fulfill them wherefore ye be to haasty so fyercely to run vpon me with so many excecracions and fulminacions out of hieroms mouthe for sayinge the trwth with Chryste and Paul that is The lawe to be impossible to man whiche your self haue herto before said and affirmed the same spekinge of mans imperfection and imfirmities sainge that the yok of the lawe is impossible to be borne of man Read Austen for this mater and conferre them to gither w t iugement as he wold haue al menis writings to be iuged tryed by y e scriptures the sciptures to be red with faith epist. lxxxix cc.xcv.li de coâ—rept gratia in psal lxx .cxviii. concio xxvii Ambro. ca. i. de lac uita bea ca. vi Aug. ad ualenti God coÌ„mandeth things impossible to vs that we might know what wâ— ought of him to akskeÌ„ As ye expowned my sayinges so haue ye expowned scripture onely as ye wold haue it or as ye gesse at it withoute any consideracion how one exposicion agrethe with another ye be lyke your self iÌ„ peruersitie thorowly c. My confutacion your declaracion be ioined together in one boke let the lerned Christen reders iuge bothe our exposicions and in this boke to if ye dare permitte it to be sene But in this peece ye triumphe ouer me ayen ere ye haue goten the victory as thoughe ye had me now vnder your fete But yet I stande haue you in my daunger to declare your ignorant blyndnes blynde ignorance how vnlernedly impertinently and peruersely ye alledge y e scriptures for your popissh doctryne as euery reader shal see here aftir When I had proued to barnes that it was vnaduysedly said of him that man might not do well by goddis grace before iustificacion I did first inproue that fond saing wherby he confounded y â— order of iustificacion And when I had declared that as I haue before touched then I told him how it folowed also that by the gift of god maÌ„ might do good towards thatainement of iustificacion How truely ye reporte of doctour Barnes I know not But and if ye had no nother probacion then of the good worke of your gentil idolatar going to heare a sermon it was but fonde and feble as I haue iustely before coÌ„futed it And here agen I say That as god geueth his sonne to shyne both vpon the faithfull and infideles and geueth them both forme beutye and riches so geueth he them of his common and general influence and grace as well to the turkes as to the christianes victories faier wether corne catell to moue to lyue yea and to kepe their promises faithfully in contractes and confederacions and lyue in a ciuile morall iustice as men saye that knowe them more iustely and faithfullyer theÌ„ some baptized with water Thei be merciful in helpinge eche other with almose thei faste c. But before god in any good work of faith in Chryst thei haue not to reioyse of which good works christeÌ„ meÌ„ ought to treate teache and proue their partes and not as ye do of the turkes iewes faithles good works before men onely How proue ye that the turke may do well to thatainement of iustificacion when he neuer entendeth to knowne beleue in Christe to be God and man his sauior ne to be iustifyed by his passion but only by the good works of Mahumets lawe as ye by y e good workis of the popis lawe by which your good dedis nether thei ne you shal euer be iustified Where vnto herken a litle here how wysely ye speke in your iustificacion by onely faith This I aske who beleueth god or man I think ye wil say man by gods gift and so god geueth the gift of faith man receiueth it Do not here concurre in two workis god and man which lye bothe in one bedde be kouered with one kouerled to thacomplesshment of iustificacion And is god so ielouse then that he will not haue it spoken when he worketh and man also worketh with him by his gift helpe Be not we called cooperatores dei in scripture â— c. But herken you agen and behold here your iugglyng castes ye aske who beleueth god or man If ye had asked who beleueth his remission of his sinnes in christ I wold aunswer you y e iustified man or els I know the deuil beleueth and the turke to so absolutely as ye speake it but to speake of the true beleif into christe who so beleueth he is alredy in the same worke of beleif iustified And thus ye come to late to proue this man to do any good worke before he be iustified or any concurrant work with god to the same effecte For the very selfe same dede of beleif into christ iustifieng him is his iustification wrought of god in the beleuer in christ not of y e beleuer I se well enough your fallace in iuggling w t a truncate beleif omitting christ into whom y â— accion tendeth in the iustificacion al to forme your informe faith and material beleif I see also howe sleithely ye slip out from the iâ—uisible worke of iustificacyon into the outwarde offyce of mens prechyng called in that ministracion cooperatores dei the instrumentes of god in plantinge and wateringe god geuinge thencreace as Paule declareth them Can ye conueye no clenlier god and man into one bed I tolde ye before ye shulde finde the couerled to skant as Isaye saith to couer theÌ„ both in this one accioÌ„ of iustificatioÌ„ For to beleue in christ is not the worke of man but of god in man as christ telleth you And if ye aske who receiueth faith into y e maÌ„s hert so to beleue in christ I answer with Paul non ego sed gratia dei in me not I but y e spirit grace of god in me and not the man by yours and pelagiaÌ„s fre choce as ye he techeth like false heretikes enmies to grace For y e geuer of faith grace taketh away first the