of the medicine whereby Christ cureth our disease about the manner of applying it about the number and the power of meanes which God requireth in vs for the effectuall applying thereof to our soules comfort When they are required to shew what the righteousnes is whereby a Christian man is iustified they answere that it is a divine spirituall quality which qualitie receaued into the soul doth first make it to be one of them who are borne of God and secondly indue it with power to bring forth such workes as they doe that are borne of him even as the soule of man being ioined to his body doth first make him to be of the number of reasonable creatures and secondly inable him to performe the naturall functions which are proper to his kind that it maketh the soule amiable and gratious in the sight of God in regard whereof it is tearmed grace that it purgeth purifyeth and washeth out all the staines and pollutions of sinne that by it through the merite we are delivered as from sinne so from eternall death and condemnation the reward of sinne This grace they will haue to be applied by infusion to the end that as the body is warm by the heate which is in the body so the soule might be righteous by the inherent grace which grace they make capable of increase as the body may be more and more warme so the soule more and more iustified according as grace shall be augmented the augmentation whereof is merited by good workes as good works are made meritorious by it Wherefore the first receipt of grace in their divinity is the first iustification the increase thereof the secōd iustification As grace may be increased by the merit of good workes so it may be diminished by the demerit of sinnes veniall it may be lost by mortall sinne In asmuch therefore as it is needfull in the one case to repaire in the other to recover the losse which is made the infusion of grace hath her sundry after meales for the which cause they make many waies to apply the infusion of grace It is applied to infants through baptisme without either faith or works and in them really it taketh away originall sinne the punishment due vnto it it is applied to Infidels and wicked men in the first iustification through baptisme without works yet not without faith and it taketh away both sinnes actuall and originall together withall whatsoever punishment eternall or temporall thereby deserved Vnto such as haue attained the first iustification that is to say the first receipt of grace it is applyed farther by good workes to the increase of former grace which is the second iustification If they worke more and more grace doth more and more increase and they are more and more iustified To such as diminished it by veniall sinnes it is applyed by holy water Ave maries crossings papall salutations such like which serue for reparations of grace decayed To such as haue lost it through mortall sinne it is applyed by the sacrament as they terme it of Pennance which sacrament hath force to conferre grace anew yet in such sort that being so conferred it hath not altogither so much power as at the first For it only cleanseth out the staine or guilt of sinne committed and changeth the punishment eternall into a temporall satisfactory punishment here if time do serue if not hereafter to be indured except it be lightened by masses workes of charity pilgrimages fasts and such like or else shortened by pardon for terme or by plenary pardon quite removed and taken away This is the mistery of the mā of sinne This maze the Church of Rome doth cause her followers to treade when they aske her the way to iustification I cannot stand now to vnrip this building and to sift it piece by piece only I will passe by it in few words that that may befall Babilon in the presence of that which God hath builded as happened vnto Dagon before the arke 6 Doubtlesse saith the Apostle I haue counted all things losse and iudge them to be dounge that I may winne Christ and to be found in him not having my owne righteousnes but that which is through the faith of Christ the righteousnes which is of God through faith Whether they speake of the first or second iustification they make it the essence of a divine quality inherent they make it righteousnesse which is in vs. If it be in vs then is it ours as our souls are ours though we haue them from God and can hold them no longer then pleaseth him for if he withdraw the breath of our nostrils we fall to dust but the righteousnesse wherein we must be found if we wil be iustified is not our owne therefore we cannot be iustified by any inherent quality Christ hath me rited righteousnesse for as many as are found in him In him God findeth vs if we be faithfull for by faith we are incorporated into Christ. Then although in our selues we be altogither sinnefull and vnrighteous yet even the man which is impious in him selfe full of iniquitie full of sin him being found in Christ through faith and having his sin remitted through repentance him God vpholdeth with a gracious eie putteth away his sinne by not imputing taketh quite away the punishment due therevnto by pardoning it and accepteth him in Iesus Christ as perfectly righteous as if he had fulfilled all that was commanded him in the lawe shall I say more perfectly righteous then if him selfe had fulfilled the whole law I must take heed what I say but the Apostle saith* God made him to bee sinne for vs who knew no sinne that we might be made the righteousnes of God in him Such wee are in the sight of God the father as is the very sonne of God him selfe Let it bee counted folly or frensie or furie whatsoever it is our comfort and our wisdome we care for no knowledge in the world but this that man hath sinned and God hath suffered that God hath made himselfe the sonne of man and that men are made the righteousnesse of God You see therefore that the Church of Rome in teaching iustification by inherent grace doth pervert the truth of Christ and that by the handes of the Apostles wee haue received otherwise then shee teacheth Now concerning the righteousnesse of sanctification we deny it not to be inherent wee graunt that vnlesse we worke we haue it not only we distinguish it a thing different in nature from the righteousnesse of iustification we are righteous the one way by the faith of Abraham the other way except wee doe the workes of Abraham we are not righteous Of the one S. Paule To him that worketh not but beleeueth faith is counted for righteousnesse Of the other S. Iohn Quifacit iustitiam iustus est He is righteous which worketh righteousnes Of the one S. Paul doth proue by Abrahams example that we haue it of
Peter tearme it immortall How doth S. Iohn affirme it abideth If the spirit which is given to cherish and prescrue the seed of life may be given and taken away how is it the earnest of our inheritance vntill redemption how doth it continue with vs for ever If therefore the man which is once iust by faith shall liue by faith and liue for ever it followeth that he which once doth beleeue the foundation must needes beleeue the foundation for ever If hee beleeue it for ever how can he ever directly deny it Faith holdeth the direct affirmation the direct negation so long as faith continueth is excluded But you will say that as hee that is to day holy may to morrow forsake his holinesse and become impure as a friend may change his mind and bee made an enimie as hope may wither so faith may die in the heart of man the spirit may be quenched grace may be extinguished they which beleeue may be quite turned away from the truth The cause is cleere long experience hath made this manifest it needs no proof I grant we are apt prone and ready to forsake God but is God ready to forsake vs Our minds are changeable is his so likewise Whom God hath iustified hath not Christ assured that it is his Fathers will to giue them a kingdome Notwithstanding it shall not bee otherwise given them then if they continue grounded and stablished in the faith and bee not moved away from the hope of the Gospell if they abide in loue and holinesse Our Saviour therefore when he spake of the sheepe effectually called and truly gathered into his fold I giue vnto them eternall life and they shall never perish neither shall any pluck them out of my hands in promising to saue them he promised no doubt to preserue them in that without which there can be no salvation as also from that whereby it is irrecoverably lost Every errour in things appertaining vnto God is repugnant vnto faith every fearefull cogitation vnto hope vnto loue every stragling inordinate desire vnto holines every blemish wherewith either the inward thoughts of our minds or the outward actions of our liues are stained But heresy such as that of Ebion Cerinthus others against whom the Apostles were forced to bēd thēselus both by word and also by writing that repining discouragement of heart which tempteth God whereof we haue Israell in the desert for a patterne coldnesse such as that in the Angels of Ephesus fowle sins knowne to bee expresly against the first or second Table of the Law such as Noah Manasses David Salomon and Peter committed these are each in their kind so opposit to the former vertues that they leaue no place for salvation without an actuall repentance But infidelitie extreame despaire hatred of God all goodnesse obduration in sin cannot stād where there is but the least sparke of faith hope loue sanctity even as cold in the lowest degree cannot be where heate in the highest degree is found Wherevpon I conclude that although in the first kinde no man liveth which sinneth not and in the second as perfect as any do liue may sin yet sith the Man which is borne of God hath a promise that in him the seede of God shall abide which seed is a sure preservatiue against the sinnes that are of the third sure greater and clearer assuraunce we cannot haue of any thing then of this that frō such sins God shal preserue the righteous as the apple of his eie for ever Directly to denie the foundation of faith is plaine infidelitie where faith is entred there infidelitie is for ever excluded therefore by him which hath once sincerely beleeved in Christ the foundation of Christian faith can never be directly denied Did not Peter did not Marcellinus did not others both directlie deny Christ after that they had beleeved and againe beleeue after they had denied No doubt as they confesse in words whose condemnation is neverthelesse their not beleeving for example we haue Iudas so likewise they may beleeue in heart whose condemnation with out repentance is their not confessing Although there fore Peter and the rest for whose faith Christ hath praied that it might not faile did not by deniall sin the sin of infidelitie which is an inward abnegation of Christ but if they had done this their faith had cleerely failed yet because they sinned notoriously grievously committing that which they knew to bee expresly forbidden by the law which saith Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serue necessarie it was that he which purposed to saue their souls should as he did touch their hearts with true vnfeined repeutance that his mercy might restore them againe to life whom sin had made the children of death condemnation Touching this point therefore I hope I may safely set downe that if the iustified erre as he may and never come to vnderstand his errour God doth saue him through generall repentance but if he fall into heresie he calleth him at one time or other by actuall repentance but from infidelitie which is an inward direct denial of the foundation he preserveth him by speciall providence for ever Whereby wee may easilie know what to thinke of those Galatians whose heartes were so possest with the loue of the truth that if it had bin possible they would haue pluckt out their eies to bestow vpon their teachers It is true that they were greatly changed both in perswasion and affection so that the Galatians when S. Paul wrote vnto them were not now the Galatians which they had been in former time for that through errour they wandered although they were his sheepe I do not deny but that I shoulde deny that they were his sheepe if I shoulde graunt that through error they perished It was a perilous opinion that they held perillous even in them which held it onlie as an error because it overthroweth the foundation by consequent But in them which obstinatelie maine taine it I cannot thinke it lesse then a damnable heresie Wee must therefore put a difference betweene them which erre of ignorāce retaining neverthelesse a mind desirous to be instructed in truth and them which after the truth is laide open persist in the stubborne defence of their blindnesse hereticall defenders frowarde and stiffnecked teachers of circumcision the blessed Apostle cals dogs sillie men who were seduced to think they thought the truth he pitieth hee taketh vp in his armes he lovingly imbraceth he kisseth and with more then fatherlie tendernesse doth so temper qualifie and correct the speech he vseth toward them that a man cannot easilie discerne whether did most abounde the loue which hee bare to their godlie affection or the griefe which the daunger of their opinion bred them Their opinion was dangerous was not theirs also who thought the kingdome of Christ should be earthly was not theirs which
were rigorous of things not vtterly to be neglected and left vndone washings and tithings c. As they were in these so must we be in iudgement and the loue of God Christ in workes ceremoniall giueth more liberty in morall much lesse then they did Workes of righteousnesse therefore are not so repugnantlie added in the one pro position as in the other circumcision is 31 But we say our salvation is by Christ alone therefore howsoever or whatsoever wee adde vnto Christ in the matter of salvation we overthrow Christ. Our case were very hard if this argument so vniversally meant as it is proposed were sound and good We our selues doe not teach Christ alone excluding our owne faith vnto iustificatiō Christ alone excluding our own works vnto sanctification Christ alone excluding the one or the other vnnecessarie vnto salvation It is a childish cavill wherewith in the matter of iustification our adversaries do so greatly please themselues exclaiming that we tread all Christian vertues vnder our feet and require nothing in Christians but faith because wee teach that faith alone iustifieth whereas by this speech we never meant to exclude either hope or charitie frō being alwaies ioined as inseparable mates with faith in the man that is iustified or workes from being added as necessarie duties required at the hands of every iustified man but to shew that faith is the only hand which putteth on Christ vnto iustification and Christ the only garment which being so put on covereth the shame of our defiled natures hideth the imperfections of our workes preserveth vs blameles in the sight of God before whom otherwise the weaknesse of our faith were cause sufficiēt to make vs culpable yea to shut vs frō the kingdome of heaven where nothing that is not absolute can enter That our dealing with them bee not as childish as theirs with vs when wee heare of salvation by Christ alone considering that alone as an exclusiue particle we are to note what it doth exclude where If I say such a iudge only ought to determine such a case all things incident to the determination thereof besides the person of the Iudge as lawes dispositions evidences c. are not hereby excluded persons are not excluded from witnessing herein or assisting but onely from determining and giving sentence How then is our salvation wrought by Christ alone It is not our meaning that nothing is requisite to mans salvatiō but Christ to saue and he to be saved quietly without anie more adooe As we haue received so we teach that besides the bare and naked worke wherein Christ without anie other associate finished all the partes of our redemption purchased salvation himselfe alone for conveiance of this eminent blessing vnto vs manie things are of necessitie required as to bee knowne and chosen of God before the foundation of the world in the world to called iustified sanctified after wee haue left the world to be receiued vnto glorie Christ in everie of these hath somwhat which he worketh alone Through him according to the eternall purpose of God before the foundation of the world borne crucified buried raised c. wee were in a gratious acceptiō knowne vnto God long before we were seene of men God knew vs loved vs was kinde to vs in Jesus Christ in him we were elected to be heires of life Thus farre God through Christ hath wrought in such sort alone that our selues are meere patients working no more then dead senselesse matter wood or stone or yron doth in the artificers hands no more then the clay whē the potter appointeth it to be framed for an honourable vse nay not so much for the matter wherevpon the craftsman worketh he chooseth being moved by the fitnesse which is in it to serue his turne in vs no such thing Touching the rest which is laid for the foundation of our faith importeth farther that by him we are called that we haue redēptiō remissiō of sins through his blood health by his stripes iustice by him that he doth sanctifie his Church make it glorious to himself that h entrance into ioie shal be givē vs by him yea all things by him alone Howbeit not so by him alone as if in vs to i our vocatiō the hearing of the Gospell to our iustification faith to our sanctification the fruits of the spirit to our entrance into rest perseverance in hope in faith in holinesse were not necessarie 32 Then what is the fault of the Church of Rome Not that shee requireth workes at their handes which will be saved but that shee attributeth vnto workes a power of satisfying God for sin yea a vertue to merite both grace here and in heaven glorie That this overthroweth the foundation of faith I graunt willingly that it is a direct denying thereof I vtterlie deny what it is to hold and what directly to deny the foundation of faith I haue already opened Apply it particularly to this cause and there needs no more adooe The thing which is handled if the forme vnder which it is handled be added therevnto it sheweth the foundation of any doctrine whatsoever Christ is the matter whereof the doctrine of the Gospell treateth and it treateth of Christ as of a Saviour Salvation therefore by Christ is the foundation of Christianitie as for works they are a thing subordinate no otherwise then because our sanctification cannot be accomplished without them the doctrine concerning them is a thing builded vpon the foundation therefore the doctrine which addeth vnto them the power of satisfying or of meriting addeth vnto a thing subordinated builded vpon the foundation not to the verie foundation it selfe yet is the foundation by this addition consequently overthrowne for as much as out out of this addion it may be negatiuely concluded He which maketh any worke good and acceptable in the sight of God to proceede from the naturall freedome of our will he which giveth vnto any good workes of ours the force of satisfying the wrath of God for sin the power of meriting either earthly or heavenly rewards he which holdeth works going before our vocation in congruity to merite our vocation works following our first to merite our second iustification and by condignitie our last reward in the kingdome of heaven pulleth vp the doctrin of faith by the roots for out of every of these the plain direct deniall thereof may bee necessarilie concluded Not this only but what other heresie is there that doth not raze the very foundation of faith by consequent How be it we make a difference of heresies accoūting in the next degree to infidelitie which directly denie any one thing to be which is expreslie acknoweledged in the articles of our beliefe for out of any one article so denied the deniall of the very foundation it selfe is streightway inferd As for example if a man should saie There is no Catholicke Church it
therefore their faith their beliefe doth not profitte them anye thing at all It is true that they doe indeed ioine other things with Christ but how Not in the worke of redemption it selfe which they graunt that Christ alone hath perfourmed sufficiently for the salvation of the whole world but in the application of this inestimable treasure that it may bee effectual to their salvation how demurely so ever they confesse that they seeke remission of sinnes no other wise then by the blood of Christ vsing humbly the meanes appointed by him to apply the benefite of holy blood they teach indeed so many things pernicious in Christian faith in setting downe the meanes whereof they speake that the very foundation of faith which they hold is thereby plainely overthrowne and the force of the blood of Iesus Christ extinguished Wee may therefore dispute with them vrge them even with as dangerous sequels as the Apostle doth the Galatians But I demand if some of those Galatians hartily imbracing the gospell of Christ sincere and sound in faith this one only errour excepted had ended their liues before they were ever taught how perilous an opinion they held shall we thinke that the damage of this error did so overway the benefit of their faith that the mercy of God might not saue them I graunt they overthrew the very foundatiō of faith by cōsequent doth not that so likewise which the Lutheran Churches doe at this day so stifly and so firmely mainetaine For mine own part I dare not here deny the possibility of their salvation which haue beene the chiefest instruments of ours albeit they caryed to their graue a perswasion so greatly repugnant to the truth Forasmuch therefore as it may be said of the Church of Rome shee hath yet a little strength shee doth not directly denie the foundatiō of Christianity I may I trust without offence perswade my selfe that thousands of our fathers in former times living and dying within her wals haue founde mercy at the hands of God 18 What although they repented not of their errours God forbid that I should open my mouth to gainsay that which Christ himselfe hath spoken Except yee repent yee shall all perish And if they did not repent they perished But withall note that wee haue the benefit of a double repentance the least sinne which wee commit in deed thought or word is death without repentance Yet how manie things do escape vs in everie of these which we do not know how many which we do not obserue to be sins And without the knowledge without the observation of sin there is no actuall repētance It cannot then be chosen but that for as many as hold the foundation and haue all holden sins errors in hatred the blessing of repentance for vnknowne sins and errors is obtained at the hands of God through the gracious mediation of Iesus Christ for such suiters as cry with the Prophet David Purge me O Lord from my secret sinnes 19 But we wash a wall of lome we labor in vaine all this is nothing it doth not proue it cannot iustifie that which we go about to mainetaine Infidels and heathen men are not so godlesse but that they may no doubt cry God mercie and desire in generall to haue their sinnes forgiven them To such as deny the foundation of faith there can be no salvation according to the ordinary course which God doth vse in saving mē without a particular repentance of that error The Galatians thinking that vnlesse they were circūcised they could not be saved overthrew the foundations of faith directly therefore if any of them did die so perswaded whether before or after they told of their errour their end is dreadfull there is no way with them but one death and condemnation For the Apostle speaketh nothing of men departed but saith generally of all If you be circumcised Christ shall profit you nothing You are abolished from Christ whosoever are iustified by the law ye are fallen from grace Gal. 5. Of them in the Church of Rome the reason is the same For whom Antichrist hath seduced concerning them did not S. Paul speake long before that they received not the word of truth they might not bee saved therefore God would send them strong delusions to belieue lyes that all they might be damned which beleeved not the truth but had pleasure in vnrighteousnes And S. Iohn All that dwell vpon the earth shall worship him whose names are not written in the booke of life Apoc. 13. Indeed many in former times as their bookes and writings do yet shew held the foundation to weet salvation by Christ alone therefore might be saved God hath alwaies had a church amongst them which firmly kept his saving truth As for such as hold with the church of Rome that we cannot bee saved by Christ alone without workes they doe not onely by a circle of consequence but directly deny the foundation of faith they hold it not no not so much as by a threed 20 This to my remembraunce being all that hath beene opposed with any countenance or shew of reason I hope if this be answered the cause in question is at an end Concerning generall repentance therefore what a murtherer a blasphemer an vncleane person a Turke a Jew any sinner to escape the wrath of God by a generall repentance God forgiue me Truely it never came within mine hart that a generall repentance doth serue for all sinnes it serveth only for the common oversights of our sinfull life and for the faults which either we do not marke or doe not know that they are faults Our fathers were actually penitent for sins wherein they knew they displeased God or else they fal not within the compasse of my first speech Againe that otherwise they could not be saved then holding the foundation of Christian faith we haue not only affirmed but proved Why is it not then confessed that thousands of our fathers which liued in Popish superstitions might yet by the mercy of God be saved First if they had directly denied the very foūdations of christianity without repenting them particularlie of that sin he which saith there could be no salvation for them according to the ordinary course which God doth vse in saving men granteth plainly or at the least closely insinuateth that an extraordinary priviledge of mercie might deliver their soules from hell which is more thē I required Secondly if the foundation be denied it is denied for feare of some heresie which the church of Rome maintaineth But how many were there amōgst our fathers who being seduced by the common errour of that Church never knew the meaning of her heresies So that although all popish heretiques did perish thousands of them which lived in popish superstitions might bee saved Thirdly seeing all that held popish heresies did not hold all the heresies of the Pope why might not thousands which were infected with other leven liue and die
vnsowred with this and so be * saved Fourthly if they all held this heresie many there were that helde it no doubt but only in a generall forme of words which a favourable interpretation might expound in a sense differing farre enough from the poysoned conceipt of heresie As for example did they holde that wee cannot bee saved with Christ without good works We our selues do I thinke al say as much with this construction salvation being taken as in that sentence Corde creditur ad iustitiam ore fit confessio ad salutem except infants and men cut off vpon the point of their conversion of the rest none shall see God but such as seeke peace and holines though not a cause of their salvation yet as a way which they must walke which will be saved Did they that hold without works that we are not iustified take iustification so as it may also imply sanctificatiō And S. Iames doth say as much For except there be an ambiguitie in the same tearme S. Paul and S. Iames do contradict each the other which can not be Now there is no ambiguity in the name either of faith or of workes being meant by them both in one and the same sense Finding therefore that iustification is spoken of by S. Paul without implying sanctification when he proveth that a man is iustified by faith without workes finding likewise that iustificatiō doth some time imply sanctification also with it I suppose nothing to be more sound then so to interpret S. Iames speaking not in that sense but in this 21 Wee haue already shewed that there bee two kindes of Christian righteousnes the one without vs which we haue by imputation th' other in vs which cōsisteth of faith hope and charitie and other Christian vertues And S. Iames doth proue that Abraham had not only the one because the thing beleeved was imputed vnto him for righteousnes but also the other because he offered vp his son God giveth vs both the one iustice and the other the one by accepting vs for righteous in Christ th' other by working christian righteousnes in vs. The proper and most immediate efficient cause in vs of this later is the spirit of adoptiō we haue received into our hearts That whereof it consisteth where of it is really and formally made are those infused vertues proper and particular vnto Saints which the spirit in the very moment when first it is given of of God bringeth with it the effects whereof are such actions as the Apostle doth call the fruits of works the operations of the spirit The difference of the which operations from the root whereof they spring maketh it needfull to put two kinds likewise of sanctifying righteousnes Habituall and Actuall Habituall that holinesse wherewith our soules are inwardly indued the same instant when first we begin to be the temples of the Holy Ghost Actuall that holynesse which afterwards beautifieth all the parts and actions of our life the holynes for the which Enoch Iob Zacharie Elizabeth other Saints are in the Scriptures so highly commended If here it be demanded which of these we do first receiue I answere that the spirit the vertues of the spirit the habituall iustice which is ingrafted the externall iustice of Iesus Christ which is imputed these wee receiue all at one and the same time whensoever we haue any of these we haue all they goe together Yet sith no man is iustified except he beleeue and no man beleeueth except he haue faith and no man except he haue received the spirit of adoption hath faith for asmuch as they doe necessarily inferre iustification and iustification doth of necessity presuppose them we must needs hold that imputed righteousnes in dignitie being the chiefest is notwithstanding in order the last of all these but actuall righteousnesse which is the righteousnes of good workes succeedeth all followeth after al both in order and time Which being attentiuely marked sheweth plainely how the faith of true beleevers cannot bee divorced from hope and loue how faith is a part of sanctification and yet vnto iustification necessarie howe faith is perfected by good workes and no worke of ours without faith finally how our fathers might hold that we are iustified by faith alone and yet hold truely that without works we are not iustified Did they think that men doe merit rewards in heaven by the workes they performe on earth The ancient vse meriting for obtaining and in that sense they of Wittenberg haue it in their confession We teach that good workes commaunded of God are necessarily to be done and by the free kindnes of God they merit their certaine rewards Therefore speaking as our fathers did and we taking their speech in a sound meaning as we may take our fathers and might for asmuch as their meaning is doubtfull and charity doth alwaies interprete doubtfull things favourably what should iuduce vs to thinke that rather the dammage of the worst construction did light vpon them all thē that the blessing of the better was granted vnto thousands Fiftly if in the worst construction that may bee made they had generally al imbraced it living might not many of them dying vtterly renounce it Howsoever men when they sit at ease do vainely tickle their hearts with the wanton conceipt of I knowe not what proportionable correspondence betweene their merits their rewards which in the trance of their high speculations they dreame that God hath measured weighed laid vp as it were in bundles for them notwithstanding we see by dayly experience in a number even of them that when the houre of death approcheth when they secretly heare themselues summoned forthwith to appeare and stand at the barre of that Iudge whose brightnesse causeth the eies of the Angels themselues to dazle all these idle imaginations doe then begin to hide their faces to name merits is then to lay their soules vpon the racke the memorie of their own deeds is lothsome vnto them they forsake all things wherein they haue put any trust or confidence no staffe to leane vpon no ease no rest no comfort then but only in Iesus Christ. 22 Wherefore if this proposition were true To hold in such wise as the Church of Rome doth that we cannot be saved by Christ alone without workes is directly to denie the foundation of faith I say that if this proposition were true nevertheles so many waies I haue shewed where by we may hope that thousandes of our fathers which lived in popish superstition might be saved But what if it be true what if neither that of the Galatians concerning circumcision nor this of the church of Rome by works be any direct denial of the foūdatiō as it is affirmed that both are I neede not wade so farre as to discusse this controversie the matter which first was brought into question being so cleere as I hope it is Howbeit because I desire that the truth even in that also should receiue
by consequent or indirectly which hold any one assertion whatsoever wherevpon the direct denial thereof may be necessarily concluded What is the question betweene the Gentiles and vs but this whether salvation bee by Christ What betweene the Iewes and vs but this Whether by this Iesus whom wee call Christ yea or no This to be the maine point wherevpon Christianity standeth it is cleere by that one sentence of Festus concerning Paules accusers They brought no crime of such things as I supposed but had certain questions against him of their superstition and of one Iesus which was dead whome Paul affirmed to be aliue Where we see that Iesus dead and raised for the salvation of the world is by Iewes denied despised by a Gentile by a Christian Apostle maintained The Fathers therefore in the Primitiue Church when they wrote Tertullian the booke which hee calleth Apologeticus Minucius Foelix the booke which he intitleth Octavius Arnobius the seavē bookes against the Gentiles Chrysostome his Orations against the Iewes Eusebius his tenne bookes of Evangelicall demonstration they stand in defence of Christianity against them by whom the foundation thereof was directly denyed But the writings of the Fathers against Novatians Pelagians and other heretikes of the like note refell positions whereby the foundation of Christian faith was overthrowne by consequent onely In the former sort of writings the foundation is proved in the later it is alleaged as a proofe which to men that had beene knowne directly to deny must needes haue seem'd a very beggerly kind of disputing All Infidels therefore deny the foundation of faith directly by consequent many a Christian man yea whole Christian Churches haue denied it and doe deny it at this present day Christian Churches the foundation of Christianity Not directly for then they cease to be Christian Churches but by a consequent in respect whereof we condemne them as erroneous although for holding the foundation we doe and must hold them Christian. 26 We see what it is to hold the foundation what directly and what by consequent to deny it The next thing which followeth is whether they whome God hath chosen to obtaine the glory of our Lord Iesus Christ may once effectually called and through faith iustified truely afterwards fall so farre as directly to deny the foundation which their hearts haue before imbraced with ioy and comfort in the holy Ghost for such is the faith which indeed doth iustifie Devilles knowe the same things which wee beleeue and the mindes of the most vngodly may bee fully perswaded of the truth which knowledge in th' one and in the'other is sometimes termed faith but equivocally being indeed no such faith as that whereby a Christian man is iustified It is the spirit of adoption which worketh faith in vs in them not the things which wee beleeue are by vs apprehended not only as true but also as good and that to vs as good they are not by them apprehended as true they are Wherevpon followeth the third difference the Christian man the more hee increaseth in faith the more his ioy and comfort aboundeth but they the more sure they are of the truth the more they quake and tremble at it This begetteth an other effect where the harts of th' one sort haue a different disposition from the other Non ignoro plerosque conscientia meritorum nihil se esse per mortem magis optare quà m credere Malunt enim extingui penitus quā ad supplicia reparari I am not ignorant saith Minutius that there bee many who being conscious what they are to looke for do rather wish that they might then thinke that they shall cease when they cease to liue because they hold it better that death should consume them vnto nothing then God receiue them into punishment So it is in other articles of faith whereof wicked men thinke no doubt many times they are too true on the the contrary side to the other there is no griefe or torment greater then to feele their perswasion weake in things whereof when they are perswaded they reape such comfort and ioy of spirit such is the faith whereby we are iustified such I mean in respect of the qualitie For touching the principall obiect of faith longer then it holdeth the foundation whereof wee haue spoken it neither iustifieth nor is but ceaseth to bee faith when it ceaseth to beleeue that Iesus Christ is the onlie Saviour of the world The cause of life spirituall in vs is Christ not carnally or corporally inhabiting but dwelling in the soule of man as a thing which whē the minde apprehendeth it is said to inhabite or possesse the minde The minde conceiveth Christ by hearing the doctrin of Christianitie as the light of nature doth the minde to apprehend those truths which are merelie rationall so that saving truth which is farre aboue the reach of humane reason cannot otherwise then by the spirit of the Almightie be conceived All these are implyed wheresoever anie of them is mentioned as the cause of the spirituall life Wherefore if we haue read that The spirit is our life or the word our life or Christ our life we are in everie of these to vnderstād that our life is Christ by the hearing of the gospell apprehended as a Saviour and assented vnto through the power of the holy Ghost The first intellectuall conceipt and comprehension of Christ so imbraced S. Peter calleth the seed whereof we be new borne our first imbracing of Christ is our first reviving from the state of death and condemnation He that hath the sonne hath life saith S. Iohn and he that hath not the sonne of God hath not life If therefore he which once hath the sonne may cease to haue the sonne though it be for a moment he ceaseth for that moment to haue life But the life of them which haue the sonne of God is everlasting in the world to come But because as Christ being raised frō the dead dieth no more death hath no more power over him so the iustified man being alied to God in Iesus Christ our Lord doth as necessarily from that time forward alwaies liue as Christ by whom he hath life liveth alwaies I might if I had not other where largely done it already shew by many and sundry manifest and cleere proofes how the motions and operations of life are sometimes so indiscernable and so secret that they seeme stone dead who notwithstanding are still aliue vnto God in Christ. For as long as that abideth in in vs which animateth quickneth and giveth life so lōg we liue and we knowe that the cause of our faith abideth in vs for ever If Christ the fountaine of life may flit and leaue the habitation where once hee dwelleth what shall become of his promise I am with you to the worlds end If the seed of God which cōtaineth Christ may be first conceived and then cast out how doth S.