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
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
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
followeth immediatlie therevpon that this Jesus whom wee call the Saviour is not the Saviour of the world because all the Prophets beare witnesse that the true Messias should shew light vnto the Gentiles that is to say gather such a Church as is Catholicke not restrained any longer vnto one circumcised nation In the second rancke we place them out of whose positions the deniall of any the foresaid articles may be with like facilitie concluded such as are they which haue denyed either the Divinitie of Christ with Hebion or with Martion his Humanitie an example whereof may be that of Cassianus defending the incarnation of the sonne of God against Nestorius Bishop of Antioch which held that the Virgin when shee brought forth Christ did not bring forth the sonne of God but sole and a mere man out of which heresie the deniall of the articles of the Christian faith he deduceth thus If thou dost denie our Lord Iesus Christ in denying the sonne thou canst not choose but denie the father for according to the voice of the father himselfe He that hath not the sonne hath not the father Wherefore denying him which is begotten thou deniest him which doth beget Againe denying the sonne of God to haue beene borne in the flesh how canst thou beleeue him to haue suffred beleeving not his passion what remaineth but that thou deny his resurrection For we beleeue him not raised except wee first beleeue him dead neither can the reason of his rising from the dead stand without the faith of his death going being before The deniall of his death and passion inferreth the deniall of his rising from the depth Wherevpon it followeth that thou also denie his ascension into heaven The Apostle affirmeth that he which ascended did first descend so that as much as lyeth in thee our Lord Iesus Christ hath neither risen from the depth nor is ascended into heaven nor sitteth at the right hand God the father neither shall he come at the day of finall account which is looked for nor shall iudge the quicke and dead And darest thou yet set foot in the church Canst thou thinke they selfe a Bishop when thou hast denyed all those things whereby thou dost obtaine a Bishoply calling Nestorius confessed all the articles of the Creed but his opiniō did imply the denial of every part of his cōfessiō Heresies there are of the third sort such as the Church of Rome maintaineth which be removed by a greater distance frō the foundation although indeed they over throw it Yet because of that weakenes which the Philosopher noteth in mens capacities when he saith that the common sort cannot see things which followe in reason when they follow as it were a farre of by manie deductions therefore the repugnancie of such heresie and the foundation is not so quickly or so easily found but that an hereticke of this sooner then of the former kinde may directly graunt and consequently neverthelesse denie the foundation of faith 33 If reason be suspected triall will shew that the Church of Rome doeth no otherwise by teaching the doctrine she doth teach concerning good works offer them the verie fundamentall words and what man is there that will refuse to subscribe vnto them Can they directly graunt and directly deny one and the very self-same thing Our own proceedings in disputing against their works satisfactorie meritorious do shew not onely that they hold but that we acknowledge them to hold the foundation notwithstanding their opiniō For are not these our arguments against them Christ alone hath satisfied and appeased his fathers wrath Christ hath merited salvation alone We should doe fondly to vse such disputes neither could we thinke to prevaile by them if that wherevpon wee ground were a thing which we know they do not hold which wee are assured they will not graunt Their very answers to all such reasons as are in this controversie brought against thē will not permit vs to doubt whether they hold the foūdation or no. Can any man that hath read their books concerning this matter be ignorant how they draw all their answers vnto these heads That the remission of all our sinnes the pardon of all whatsoever punishments thereby deserved the rewards which God hath laid vp in heaven are by the blood of our Lord Iesus Christ purchased and obtained sufficiently for all men but for no man effectually for his benefit in particular except the blood of Christ bee applied particularly vnto him by such meanes as God hath appointed that to worke by That those meanes of themselues being but dead things only the blood of Christ is that which putteth life force and ifficacie in them to worke and to be availeable each in his kind to our salvation Finally that grace being purchased for vs by the blood of Christ freely without any merit or desert at the first bestowed vpon vs the good things which we doe after grace receiued be thereby made satisfactorie and meritorious Some of their sentences to this effect I must alleage for mine owne war rant If we desire to heare forraine iudgements we find in one this confession He that could reckon how many the vertues and merits of our Saviour Christ haue beene might likewise vnderstand how many the benefits haue beene that are to come to vs by him for so much as men are made partakers of them all by meanes of his passion by him is given vnto vs remission of our sinnes grace glorie libertie praise salvation redemption iustification iustice satisfaction sacraments merits and all other things which we had were behouefull for our salvation In another wee haue these oppositions and answers made vnto them All grace is given by Christ Iesus True but not except Christ Iesus be applied He is the propitiation for our sinnes by his stripes we are healed he hath offered himselfe vp for vs all this is true but apply it we put all satisfactiō in the blood of Iesus Christ but we hold that the meanes which Christ hath appointed for vs in this case to apply it are our penall workes Our Countrimen in Rhemes make the like answere that they seeke salvation no other way then by the blood of Christ that humbly they doe vse prayers fastings almes faith charitie sacrifice sacraments priests onely as the meanes appointed by Christ to apply the benefit of his holy blood vnto them touching our good workes that in their owne natures they are not meritorious nor answerable to the ioyes of heaven it commeth by the grace of Christ not of the work it selfe that we haue by well doing a right to heaven and deserue it worthily If any man thinke that I seeke to varnish their opiniōs to set the better foot of a lame cause foremost let him know that since I began throughly to vnderstand their meaning I haue found their halting greater then perhaps it seemeth to them which knowe not the deepnesse of
Satan as the blessed divine speaketh For although this be proofe sufficient that they doe not directly deny the foundation of faith yet if there were no other leaven in the whole lumpe of their doctrine but this this were sufficient to proue that their doctrine is not agreeable vnto the foundati-of Christiā faith The Pelagians being over great friends vnto nature made themselues enimies vnto grace for all their confessing that men haue their soules and all the faculties thereof their wils and all the abilitie of their wils from God And is not the Church of Rome still an adversarie vnto Christs merits because of her acknowledging that we haue received the power of meriting by the blood of Christ St Thomas More setteth downe the oddes betweene vs and he Church of Rome in the matter of works thus Like as wee graunt them that no good worke of man is rewardable in heaven of his owne nature but through the meere goodnesse of God that list to set so high a price vpon so poore a thing and that this price God setteth through Christs passion and for that also they bee his owne workes with vs for good workes to God-ward worketh no man without God worke in him and as we grant thē also that no man may be proud of his works for his imperfect working and for that in all that man may doe he can doe God no good but is a servant improfitable doth but his bare dutie as we I say graunt vnto them these things so this one thing or twaine do they grant vs againe that men are bound to worke good workes if they haue time and power and that who so worketh in true faith mōst shall be most rewarded but then set they thereto that all his rewards shall be given him for his faith alone nothing for his workes at all because his faith is the thing they say that forceth him to work well I see by this of St Thomas More how easie it is for men of the greatest capacitie to mistake things written or spoken as well on the one side as on the other Their doctrine as hee thought maketh the worke of man rewardable in the world to come through the goodnesse of God whom it pleaseth to set so high a price vpon so poore a thing and ours that a man doth receiue that eternall and high reward not for his workes but for his faiths sake by which he worketh whereas in truth our doctrine is no other then that we haue learned at the feet of Christ namely that God doth iustifie the beleeving man yet not for the worthinesse of his beleife but for the worthines of him which is beleeved God rewardeth abundantly every one which worketh yet not for any meritorious dignity which is or can be in the worke but through his meere mercy by whose commandement hee worketh Contrariwise their doctrine is that as pure water of it selfe hath no savour but if it passe throug a sweet pipe it taketh a pleasant smell of the pipe through which it passeth so although before grace received our works do neither satisfie nor merit yet after they do both the one and the other Every vertuous action hath then power in such to satisfie that if we our selues commit no mortall sinne no hainous crime wherevpon to spend this treasure of satisfaction in our owne behalfe it turneth to the benefit of other mens release on whō it shall please the steward of the house of God to bestow it so that we may satisfie for ourselues others but merit only for our selues In meriting our actions doe worke with two hands with one they get their morning stipend the increase of grace with the other their evening hire the everlasting crowne of glorie Indeed they teach that our good workes doe not these things as they come from vs but as they come from grace in vs which grace in vs is another thing in their divinitie then is the meere goodnesse of Gods mercy towards vs in Christ Iesus 34 I fit were not a strong deluding spirit which hath possession of their harts were it possible but that they should see how plainely they do herein gaine-saie the very ground of Apostolique faith Is this that salvation by grace whereof so plentifull mention is made in the scriptures of God Was this their meaning which first taught the worlde to looke for salvation onely by Christ By grace the Apostle saith and by grace in such sort as a gift a thing that commeth not of our selues not of our workes lest anie man should boast say I haue wrought out my own salvatiō By grace they cōfesse but by grace in such sort that as many as weare the diademe of blisse they wear nothing but what they haue wonne The Apostle as if he had foreseene how the church of Rome would abuse the world in time by ambiguous termes to declare in what sense the name of grace must be taken when we make it the cause of our salvation saith He saved vs according to his mercie which mercie although it exclude not the washing of our new birth the renuing of our harts by the holy Ghost the meanes the vertues the duties which God requireth of their hands which shall be saved yet is it so repugnant vnto merits that to say wee are saved for the worthines of anie thing which is ours is to denie wee are saved by grace Grace bestoweth freely and therefore iustlie requireth the glorie of that which is bestowed We denie the grace of our Lord Iesus Christ we abuse disanull and annihilate the benefit of his bitter passion if we rest in these proud imaginations that life is deservedly ours that we merit it and that we are worthy of it 35 How be it considering how many vertuous iust men how many Saints how many Martyres how manie of the ancient fathers of the church haue had their sundry perilous opinions and amongst sundrie of their opinions this that they hoped to make good some part of amends for their sins by the voluntarie punishments which they laid vpon themselues because by a consequent it may follow herevpon that they were iniurious vnto Christ shall we therefore make such dead lie epitaphes and set them vpon their graues They denied the foundation of faith directly they are damned there is no salvation for them S. Austin saith of himselfe Errare possum haereticus essemolo And except we put a difference betweene them that erre and them that obstinatlie perfist in error how is it possible that ever any man should hope to be saved Surely in this case I haue no respect of any person aliue or dead Giue me a man of what state or condition soever yea a Cardinall or a Pope whom in the extreame point of his life affliction hath made to know himselfe whose hart God hath touched with true sorrow for all his sinnes and filled with loue towards the Gospell of Christ whose eies are opened to