without any disadvantage to our Cause For suppose we grant that Faith is Dead which is not moved with a desire of doing good Works according to the saying of St. Iames yet it doth not therefore follow from hence that no Faith Iustifies without Works From which two things do follow worthy of consideration First That no Faith justifies that is not lively And next though it abounds in good Works and never is without them yet it only without Works Iustifies This will appear evident by the Example of St. Paul Who though he was not conscious to himself of any Wickedness yet he durst not affirm himself to be thereby Iustified I think nothing hinders but the whole Argument may be yielded unto if so be the terms are rightly placed The Adversaries gather out of the Apostle Iames that Faith is dead which is without Works and herein we do not much oppose them But what follows from hence Therefore as they say dead Faith without Works doth not justifie And I deny it not But what Conclusion flows from this manner of Arguing Therefore only Faith doth not justiste Why so If no Faith but that which is lively justifies and if it receives Life only from Works then this is the consequence that Faith justifies only upon the account of good Works I Answer First though we grant it is true that the Faith which justifies us in the sight of God is lively and always joyned with a Godly Life Yet that this Faith justifies and reconciles us no other ways but upon the account of good Works is most false For this is not a good consequence from the premises Because Faith is not alone in the Life of the Believer therefore Faith is not alone in the Office of justifying Or because the Faith that justifies is not a dead but a lively Faith therefore it doth not justifie alone without Works For herein is a fallacy of the Consequence But you may object Whence then is Faith said to be lively and not Dead but from Works Which if it be so of necessity it must draw all its Life and Vertue from Works Nay the matter is quite contrary For though in the sight of Men Faith is not discerned to be Lively and Vigorous but by Works yet Faith receives not Life from Works but rather Works from Faith As Fruits draw their Life and Sap from the Root of the Tree but not the Root from them Iust so external actions proceed from Faith as the Root which if they be good they evidence the Root to be sound and lively and this is all they do but they communicate no Life thereunto And this Life and Vertue of Faith is not one but Twofold And it acteth partly in Heaven and partly in Earth If you ask what it doth amongst Men upon Earth It does good to its Neighbour working by Love But before God in Heaven it justifies the Ungodly not by Love but by the Son of God whom it only lays hold of Therefore those Men seem not to have got a clear insight into the Vertue and Nature of the Grace of Faith that suppose the whole Life thereof to consist in Love as if Faith of it self could do nothing but as it receives Vertue and Efficacy from Charity Indeed both may seem to be true in the External Actions of Human Life in which Faith lyes like a dead thing unless it be enlivened by Charity to the exercise of good Works And hereunto belongs that saying of Paul whereby he so much commends Faith working by Love understanding such Works as Faith working by Love brings forth to the view of a Human Eye Yet with God Faith hath a far different operation for it only without any reliance upon Works or assistance of Charity but trusting to the naked promise of God and the dignity of the Mediatour climbs up to Heaven and gets access into the presence of God where it does great and wonderful things combating with the Iudgment to come fighting against the terrours of Death Satan and Hell pleads the cause of a Sinner obtains his pardon absolves and justifies him from the accusations of a guilty Conscience takes away all Iniquity reconciles God to the Sinner appeases his wrath subdues the power of Death and the Devil and procures Peace yea and Paradise it self with theThief that had led a wicked Life and yet at Death was justified by Faith in the Redeemer Who would desire more or greater things And now so many and great things being done by Faith let us enquire After what manner it does them Not as it lives and works by Love but as it lives only by Christ and relies on the promise for the Life of Faith which lives before God is not Charity but Christ not receiving Life from Charity but communicating life unto it and justifying Works that they may be acceptable to God which would otherways be abominable Unto the truth of this we have a sufficient Testimony given us by Paul When he says my Life is Christ and again the Life that I now live in the Flesh I live not by the Love but by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me And elsewhere speaking of himself he says That he was not conscious to himself of any VVickedness and yet he denies that he is thereby Iustified as the same Apostle discoursing about the works of Abraham though they were never so Eminent for Holiness yet he saw nothing in them which that Great Patriarch might make a matter of Glorying before God Hereunto may be added the Arguments of others that have been strangely wrested out of Scriptures There are six Reasons principally which they pretend the Evangelists furnish them with against the Righteousness of Faith First they draw an Argument from these words of Christ Come ye blessed of my Father to the Kingdom prepared for you For I was an hungred and ye gave me Meat Argument Da. That which is the cause of blessedness is also the cause of Iustification Whom he hath Iustified them he hath also Glorified c. Rom. 8. Ri. Works of Mercy are the cause of blessedness for I was an hungred and ye gave c. Mat. 25. I. Therefore Works of Mercy are the cause of Iustification Answer I deny the Minor For Works of Mercy as they are considered in themselves are not the cause of Iustification or blessedness but rather effects and furits of Iustification for they are no otherways pleasing to God but as they are performed by persons in a justified state and it is by the Faith of Christ that they become acceptable For unless Faith go before and justifie the person of him that worketh his works are not at all regarded by God because they do not satisfie the Law of God being tainted with the corruption of depraved Nature and come far short of that perfection which Divine Iustice requires Wherefore if we will Reason aright about
much more cause to fear than his vertues give him to hope And what remedy then shall remain for the perplexed consciences of Men if the Righteousness of Christ being hid from their Eyes you leave nothing for hope or consolation but the righteousness of the Law Or with what comfort will you raise up the Spirit of a fallen and afflicted Sinner when the Law useth to shew what every Man should do aright but can pardon no Man what is done amiss must you not here of necessity be compelled to leave the Righteousness of the Law and presently to appeal to the Righteousness of Christ And I think you will not at all deny that but say you seeing this righteousness of Christ is no other but that which is the righteousness of the Law yea and the very perfection of the Law therefore it is not necessary that we should make a twofold Righteousness but one only both of Christ and of the Law But 't is not a difficult thing to answer to this objection Indeed it must be confessed if you consider the things by themselves and compare the one with the other by a mutual relation there seems not to be any difference between the Righteousness of Christ and of the Law Because there is nothing in the Law so Holy and perfect but it appears as evident in the Life of Christ But if you consider the efficacy and manner of working which the Righteousness of Christ and of the Law exercises in others if you consider the effect and end of both there is a great difference For though Christ is no otherwise just in himself than the Law it self is Holy and Iust But yet this which is called the Righteousness of Christ acts in us much otherwise than that which is called the Righteousness of the Law so that nothing seems more unlike or more contrary The difference between the Righteousness of the Law and the Gospel FIRST as touching the Law what the Nature Vertue and Efficacy thereof is it is unknown to no Man To wit that it is of it self a Holy and Perfect Rule and Mistress to teach how to lead the Life made for this purpose by the most Holy God that Creatures might certainly know what they should fly and what they should follow as it contains in it self the very Rule of all perfection in all respects compleat so it requires perfect obedience in all respects and upon all accounts upon this condition that he that doth these things shall live in them But on the contrary he that doth otherwise and abides not in all the Law pronounces a Curse against him and inflicts the vengeance of Death and heaps up anger and indignation upon him For by the Law the Wrath of God is declared from Heaven being justly kindled against all Men that are wicked and unjust upon any account Whereby it comes to pass that the Law indeed being it self Holy and Good was not given for this that it should bring Destruction but Salvation but yet the same being hindred by the infirmity of our flesh it cannot but kill us but cannot at all save us by its own means not for any default or tyranny of its own but by taking just occasion from the refractory rebellion of our flesh which as it naturally hath an enmity against God so it cannot avoid being contrary to his Sacred Will and Divine Institutions And hence break forth so many and so great calamities that fall upon this sinful Nature of ours hence so many proofs of the Divine Indignation and Anger hence also that dreadful and unavoidable necessity of dying which when it passes promiscuously through all ages and kindreds which none of the most Holy Men could ever drive away from themselves verily that one thing proves us all to be guilty of unrighteousness and that there is not any perfection of righteousness in our most righteous works for if the Wages of Sin be Death it cannot be that there should be any extinction of Life there where no unrighteousness is seen Therefore O Osorius if the Law cannot defend thee in this Life with all thy works from Death will the same save thee after Death and restore thee to Life when thou art Dead Concerning Evangelical Righteousness AND hitherto these things have been explained by us concerning the Righteousness of the Law as it is considered out of Christ. Now let us again turn our eyes unto Christ and consider what his Righteousness without the Law worketh in us And here first of all a wonderful and most manifest difference between the Law and Christ presents it self unto us For seeing the Law as hath been said can give no Life according to the rigour of its Iustice but only to perfect Men Therefore it comes to pass that because it finds nothing perfect in us it being hindered through the infirmity of our flesh can give no help nor work any thing in us but wrath Therefore being repulsed by the Law and destitute of the help of Works let us seek another Patron of Salvation whosoever he be who may help us But there is none who doubts that He is no other but Christ the only Son of God whom we all alike profess through all Churches There is therefore no Controversie remaining between us and our Adversaries concerning the Author of Salvation Nevertheless there remains here another ambiguity or question perhaps not yet cleared enough by all Divines For whereas there is no man but confesses that Righteousness is in Christ in its highest perfection And we have already heard from the Law that there is no fellowship of Righteousness with Unrighteousness here some difficulty comes in how it comes to pass that the Lord Christ all whose Iudgments are most just can or ought against Righteousness favour those who having forsaken their duty have turned aside to Unrighteousness For if the Law of God according to the nature of Righteousness cannot avoid condemning of those that are guilty of wickedness some perhaps may ask What way Christ who doth not any thing but what is most righteous can procure Salvation to those without the violation of his Righteousness whom the Law of Righteousness justly condemns Or if he do it how for what cause and in what manner he does it by Faith or by Works If by Faith whether by Faith only or by the help of Works joyned with it if upon the account of Works whether before Works or after Works or in the very Works But if by Faith only without Works hence ariseth a threefold question 1. What then do good Works avail 2. What Faith that is and of what sort it is which is said to justifie 3. Whom this Faith justifies for they must be either sinners or righteous if sinners they are either penitent or stubborn if you say both you will speak against Righteousness which cannot be well called Righteousness unless it reward according to every mans deeds and merits But
be feigned by the Apostle for Amplification which is not nor can be And seeing Thomas Aquin. here by all Faith understands perfect Faith Therefore because perfect Faith is not found without Charity it is necessary that according to the Interpretation of Basil we should here take notice of a Trope or Fiction which Quintilian also reckons amongst the forms of amplifying Therefore whereas we deny a Dead Faith without Charity to deserve the name of Faith we speak this by a very usual Trope as we say That an unprofitable and idle Man is no Man or Wine which is decayed and hath lost its strength is no Wine Therefore that which is cited out of Paul If I have all Faith but have not Charity c. Must be understood thus Not that Paul simply affirms Faith to be a gift of God without Charity But he speaks Figuratively to amplifie the praise of Charity as he that says Though I have an hundred Tongues and as many Mouths yet I could not fully set forth the matter as it is he doth not therefore presuppose that there is any Man who hath an hundred Tongues and as many Mouths Paul useth the like Figurative Speech Though I speak with the Tongues of Men and Angels for Angels have no Tongues but it is feigned by way of Amplification to signifie some excellent Tongues surpassing those that are human Thus he said If what hath been hitherto said doth not satisfie the Adversaries I Answer thus That this Speech of Paul belongs not to the manner of Iustification but to the Life of the Iustified Person If I have all Faith saith he But want Charity c. What then Therefore Charity enters together with Faith into Iustification But this is no good Consequence But this is rather the consequence thereof Therefore Charity is necessary in the Regenerate Which must of necessity be granted for Love is necessary and pleasing to God To wit In those that are in a state of Reconciliation and for the sake of Christ. For God naturally delights in the Obedience of his own Which though it be imperfect yet he approves of any endeavours in those that are reconciled unto him by Christ. So then Faith that is Christ apprehended by Faith Iustifies us freely But on the other side we must not receive this Grace in vain But he receives it in vain who is not obedient to the precepts and example of Christ. Howbeit there are also some that answer that this Faith here mentioned by the Apostle should only be taken for the Faith of Working Miracles amongst whom is Chrysostom who calls this the Faith not of Doctrine but of Miracles Moreover whereas they urge this word of the Apostle as if he had used it in a general signification To this it may be answered that the Word all signifies often not the universality of a kind but the perfection of a species to which it is joyned as 2 Cor. 9. God is able to make every good gift abound in you that having all sufficiency in all things c. In like manner in this place of Paul If I have all Faith that is the most perfect Faith of working Miracles so that I can remove Mountains c. Another place out of Paul 1 Cor. 13. Now these three remain Faith Hope and Charity but the greater of these is Charity Argument Our Iustification flows from the more worthy cause Charity is a thing more worthy and great than Faith Therefore we are justified more by Charity than by Faith Or if you would rather take it thus If we were justified by Faith and not by Charity Faith would be greater than Charity But Charity is greater than Faith Therefore we are justified rather by Charity than by Faith Answer That I may briefly Answer both these Arguments First let us rightly conceive not only the words of the Apostle but in what sense he speaks them These three remain saith he but the greater of these is Charity in which words we hear the Apostle preferring Charity before Faith And we acknowledge it to be true but let us see in what sense it is true I will make use of an argument like it There hath not risen a greater than Iohn the Baptist amongst those that are born of Women Therefore Iohn the Baptist must be greater than Christ. I answer from the sense of the Scripture Though Christ seemed less than Iohn the Baptist by the judgment of the World and the general opinion of People yet in the Kingdom of Heaven he was and always will be greater than Iohn we may observe something like this in Faith and Charity Though in this World in Mens dealings with one another mutual Charity hath the preeminence Yet in the Kingdom of Heaven that is in our concernments with God against Satan Death Sin the Iudgement of God his Wrath and Vengeance and the terrors of Conscience Faith doth so far excel that it only hath the Dominion not only above Charity but also without it If the dignity and excellency of any thing is discernable by its effects and performances as a Tree is known by its Fruits let us now compare these Vertues with one another that it may the better appear what each of them can do what is the efficacy of Charity what Faith performs and how much it excels And first as touching Charity and its Offices let us hear how greatly the Apostle commends it Charity saith he is patient and bountiful and courteous fitted for every condition of Life Charity doth not envy doth not behave it self unseemly is not puffed up seeks not its own things but seeks the good of all it is not easily offended nor desirous of revenge and though it suffer injury it deviseth not to do evil to any man it delights not in the wickedness of the wicked but rejoyceth in the Truth it suffers all things believes all things hopes all things endures all things waiting for better with an undefatigable expectation Though other things may fail though Prophecies and Miracles and Knowledge may cease yet Charity will never fail mutual Love will endure for ever Hitherto ye have heard the Apostle set forth the duties and offices of Charity with deserved praise which though they are exceeding great and magnificent and cannot be sufficiently commended by any man according to their worth yet such is the nature of all these offices of Charity that they pass not beyond the bounds of this mortal Life and the mutual Communion of Christians with one another But now let us raise up our minds as high as we can to contemplate the power and efficacy of Faith and what it doth not only upon the Earth but in Heaven in the presence of God Whilst Charity is exercised in this inferiour World amongst men Faith ascends into the Kingdom of God where first by a sublime contemplation it lays hold on the Son of God the Mediatour at the right hand of Majesty