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
A LEARNED DISCOVERSE OF IVSTIFICATION WORKES and how the foundation of faith is over throwne By RICHARD HOOKER sometimes Fellow of Corpus Christi College in Oxford AT OXFORD Printed by Joseph Barnes and are to be sold by John Barnes dwelling neere Holborne Conduit 1612. TO THE CHRISTIAN READER WHereas many desirous of resolutioÌ„ in some points handled in this learned Discourse were earnest to haue it copied out to ease so many labours it hath beene thought most worthy and very necessarie to bee printed that not only they might be satisfied but the whole Church also hereby edified The rather because it will free the Author from the suspition of some errours which he hath been thought to haue favoured Who might well haue answered with Cremutius in Tacitus Verbamea arguuntur adeò factorum innocens sum Certainely the event of that time wherein he lived shewed that to be true which the same Authour spake of a worse Cui deerat inimicus per amicos oppressus and that there is not minus periculum ex magna fama quà m ex mala But he hath so quit himselfe that all may see how as it was said of Agricola Simul suis virtutibus simul vitijs aliorum in ipsam gloriam praeceps agebatur Touching whom I will say no more but that which my Authour said of the same man Integritatem c. in tanto viro referre iniuria virtutum fuerit But as of all other his writings so of this I wil adde that which Velleius spake in commendation of Piso Nemo fuit qui magis que agenda erant curaret sine vlla ostentatione agendi So not doubting Good Christian Reader of thy assent herein but wishing thy favourable acceptance of this worke which will be an inducement to set forth others of his learned labours I take my leaue from Corpus Christi College in Oxford Thine in Christ Iesus HENRY IACKSON Abak 1. 4. The wicked doth compasse about the righteous therefore perverse iudgement doth proceede FOR the better manifestation of the Prophets meaning in this place we are first to coÌ„sider the wicked of whom he saith That they compasse about the righteous secondy the righteous that are compassed about by them and thirdly that which is inferred therefore perverse iudgement proceedeth Touching the first there are two kinds of wicked men of whom in the fift of the former to the Corinthians the blessed Apostle speaketh thus Doe yee not iudge them that are within But God iudgeth them that are without There are wicked therfore whom the church may iudge there are wicked whom God only iudgeth wicked within and wicked without the walls of the Church If within the church particular persons be apparently such as cannot otherwise bee reformed the rule of the Apostolicall iudgement is this Seperate them from among you if whole assemblies this Seperate your selues from among them for what society hath light with darknesse But the wicked whom the Prophet meaneth were Babilonians and therefore without For which cause we haue heard at large heretofore in what sort he vrgeth God to iudge them 2 Now concerning the righteous there neither is nor ever was any meere natural man absolutely righteous in him selfe that is to say voide of all vnrighteousnes of all sinne We dare not except no not the blessed Virgin her selfe of whom although we say with S. Augustine for the honour sake which we owe to our Lord and Saviour Christ we are not willing in this cause to moue any question of his mother yet for asmuch as the schooles of Rome haue made it a questioÌ„ we may answere with Eusebius Emissenus who speaketh of her and to her in this effect Thou diddest by speciall prerogatiue nine moneths togither intertaine within the closet of thy flesh the hope of all the ends of the earth the honor of the world the common ioy of men he from whom all things had their beginning had his beginning from thee of thy body he tooke the blood which was to be shed for the life of the world of thee he tooke that which even for thee he payed Apeccati enim veteris nexu per se non est immunis nec ipsa genetrix redemptoris the mother of the redeemer her selfe is not otherwise loosed from the bond of ancient sinne then by redemption if Christ haue paide a ransome for all even for her it followeth that al with out exception were captiues If one haue died for al then all were dead in sinne all sinfull therefore none absolutely righteous in themselues but we are absolutly righteous in Christ. The world then musâ—â—â—ew a righteous man otherwise it is not able to shew a man that is perfectly righteous Christ is made to vs wisdome iustice sanctification and redemption wisdome because he hath revealed his fathers will Iustice because hee hath offered vp him selfe a sacrifice for sinne sanctification because he hath given vs his spirit redemption because he hath appointed a day to vindicate his children out of the hands of corruption into liberty which is glorious How Christ is made wisedome and how redemption it may be declared wheÌ„ occasion serveth But how Christ is made the righteousnesse of men we are nowe to declare 3 There is a glorifying righteousnes of men in the world to come as there is a iustifying and sanctifying righteousnes here The righteousnes wherwith we shal be cloathed in the world to come is both perfect inherent That whereby here we are iustified is perfect but not inherent That whereby we are sanctified is inherent but not perfect This openeth a way to the vnderstanding of that grand question which hangeth yet in controversie betweene vs the Church of Rome about the matter of iustifying righteousnes 4 First although they imagine that the mother of our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ were for his honour and by his speciall protection preserved cleane from all sinne yet touching the rest they teach as wee doe that infants which never did actually offend haue their natures defiled destitute of iustice averted from God that in making man righteous none do efficiently worke with God but God They teach as we do that vnto iustice no man ever attained but by the merits of Jesus Christ. They teach as we do that although Christ as God be the efficient as man the meritorious cause of our iustice yet in vs also there is somthing required God is the cause of our naturall life in him we life but he quickneth not the body without the soule in the bodie Christ hath merited to make vs iust but as a medicine which is made for health doth not heale by being made but by being applied so by the merits of Christ there can be no iustification without the application of his merits Thus far we ioine hands with the Church of Rome 5 Wherein then doe we disagree We disagree about the nature and essence
are not of the heresie of the Church of Rome The people following the conduct of their guides and observing as they did exactly that which was prescribed thought they did God good service when indeed they did dishonor him This was their error but the heresie of the church of Rome their dogmatical positions opposite vnto Christian truth what one man amongst ten thousand did ever vnderstand Of them which vnderstand Romane heresies and allow them all are not alike partakers in the action of allowing Some allow them as the first founders and establishers of them which crime toucheth none but their Popes and Councels the people are cleare free from this Of them which maintain popish heresies not as authors but receivers of them from others all mainetaine them not as masters In this are not the people partakers neither but only the predicauts and schoolemen Of them which haue beene partakers in this sinne of teaching Popish heresie there is also a difference for they haue not all beene teachers of all Popish heresies Put a difference saith S. Iude haue compassion vpon some Shall wee lay vp all in one condition Shall we cast them all headlong Shall we plunge them all into that infernall and everlasting flaming lake Them that haue beene partakers of the errors of Babylon together with them which are in the heresie Them which haue beene the authors of heresie with them that by terror and violence haue beene forced to receiue it Them who haue taught it with them whose simplicitie hath by sleights and conveiances of false teachers beene seduced to belieue it Them which haue beene partakers in one with them which haue bin partakers in many Them which in many with them which in all 13 Notwithstanding I graunt that although the condemnation of them bee more tollerable then of these yet from the man that laboureth at the plough to him that sitteth in the Vatican to all partakers in the sinnes of Babylon to our Fathers though they did but erroneously practise that which the guides heretically taught to all without exception plagues were due The pit is ordinarily the end aswel of the guid as of the guided in blindnesse But wo worth the houre wherein we were borne except wee might promise our selues better things things which accompany mans solvatiō even where we knowe that worse and such as accompany condemnation are due Then must we shew some way how possibly they might escape What way is there that sinners can finde to escape the iudgement of God but onely by appealing to the seate of his saving mercy Which mercy with Origen wee doe not extende to divells and damned spirites God hath mercy vpon thousandes but there bee thousands also which he hardeneth Christ hath therefore sette the bounds he hath fixed the limittes of his saving mercy within the compasse of these tearmes God sent not his owne sonne to condēne the world but that the world through him might be saved In the third of S. Iohns Gospel mercy is restrained to beleevers He that beleeveth shall not be condemned he that beleeueth not is condemned already because he heleeued not in the Sonne of God In the 2. of the Revelation mercy is restrained to the penitent For of Iesabell and her sectaries thus he speaketh I gaue her space to repent and she repented not Behold I wil cast her into a bed and them that commit fornication with her into a great affliction except they repent them of their workes I will kill her children with death Our hope therefore of the Fathers is if they were not altogether faithlesse impenitent 14 They are not all faithlesse that are weake in assenting to the truth or stiffe in maintaining things any way opposit to the truth of Christian doctrine But as many as hold the foundatiō which is pretious though they hold it but weakely and as it were with a slender thread although they frame many base and vnsutable things vpon it things that cannot abide the tryall of the fire yet shall they passe the fierie triall and be saved which indeed haue builded themselues vpon the rocke which is the foundation of the Church If then our Fathers did not hold the foundation of faith there is no doubt but they were faithlesse If many of them held it then is therein no impediment but many of thē might be saved Then let vs see what the foundation of faith is and whether we may thinke that thousands of our fathers being in Popish superstitions did notwithstanding hold the foundation 15 If the foundation of faith doe import the generall ground wherevpon we rest when wee doe belieue the writings of the Evangelists and the Apostles are the foundation of the Christian faith Credimus quia legimus saith S. Ierom o that the Church of Rome did as soundly interpret these fundamentall writings wherevpon we build our faith as shee doth willingly hold and imbrace them 16 But if the name of foundation do note the principall thing which is believed then is that the foundation of our faith which S. Paul hath to Timothy God minifested in the flesh iustified in the spirit c. that of Nathaniel Thou art the sonne of the living God thou art the king of Israel that of the inhabitants of Samaria This is Christ the Saviour of the world he that directly denieth this doth vtterly rase the very foundation of our faith I haue proved heretofore that although the Church of Rome hath played the harlot worse then ever did Israel yet are they not as now the Synagogue of the Iewes which plainely deny Christ Iesus quite and cleane excluded from the new covenant But as Samaria compared with Hierusalem is tearmed Aholath a Church or Tabernacle of her owne contrariwise Ierusalem Aholibath the resting place of the Lord so whatsoever we tearme the Church of Rome when we compare her with reformed Churches still we put a difference as then betweene Babylon and Samaria so now betweene Rome and the heathenish assemblies which opinion I must and will recall I must graunt will that the Church of Rome together with all her children is cleane excluded There is no difference in the world betweene our fathers Saracens Turks Paynims if they did directly deny Christ crucified for the salvation of the world 17 But how many millions of them were known so to haue ended their mortall liues that the drawing of their breath hath ceased with the vttering of this faith Christ my Saviour my redeemer Iesus Answere is made that this they might vnfainedly confesse and yet be farre enough from salvation For behold saith the Apostle I Paul say vnto you that if you bee circumcised Christ shall profit you nothing Christ in the worke of mans salvation is alone the Galathians were cast away by ioining Circumcision and the other rites of the law with Christ the Church of Rome doth teach her children to ioine other things likewise with him
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
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.
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