fiction of the hereticks of our time Nay we say more that by the preaching of the Word faith is not onely excited where it was before but that it is first wrought ordinarily and begotten by the ministry of the Gospell The Papists ascribe the begetting of faith to the Sacraments and the stirring of it up to the Word As if faith infused in Baptisme did ly a sleep untill it be excited and awakned by the word But the Scripture teacheth us that faith commeth by hearing the Word that Preachers are Ministers by whom you do beleeve that without a preacher men cannot ordinarily beleeve Rom. 10. 14. that men are begotten to God by the preaching of the Word 1 Cor. 4. 15. that therefore preachers are their Fathers in the faith that they justifie men Dan. 12. 3. because they are the instruments of the holy Ghost to beget faith in them whereby they are justified Why then doth Peter require them to whom he had preached to repent and to be baptized I answer that the holy Ghost by Peters sermon had wrought the grace of faith in the hearers before they were baptized Act. 2. 41. as by Pauls preaching Act. 13. 48. in so many of the hearers as were ordained unto life in Lydia Act. 16. 14 15. By Philips preaching in the Eunuch Act. 8. 38. by Peters preaching in Cornelius and his company Act. 10. 43. 44. and by this faith they were justified before God before they were baptized even as Abraham was before he was circumcised Rom. 4. 11. But that they might be justified also in the Court of their owne Conscience and much more that they might be saved many other things as repentance and a godly life with the use of the Sacraments and of all other good meanes are required besides that faith whereby alone they are justified before God And to this end did Peter require them to repent and to bee baptized not that Baptisme properly doth justifie and much lesse that it begetteth â—…aith for in all these faith was wrought before they were baptized but because it is a seale of that righteousnesse which is by faith to them that are baptized not onely at the time of Baptisme but whensoever or how long soever they beleeve And whereas he saith that remission of sinnes is preached to those that beleeve as they ought I confesse it is true that remission is not promised to an idle dead or counterfeit faith but to the true lively and effectuall faith which in some measure purifieth the heart and worketh by love causing a man though not to fulfill all things that are commanded as Bellarmine speaketh yet to will to desire and to endevour that hee may performe all things commanded according to the measure of grace received But though obedience bee a necessary consequent of faith yet it is very absurd to confound it with faith as Bellarmine here seemeth to doe § V. As for his similitude of the Physitian I answer the onely meanes to bee cured of the wounds of our soules which are our sinnes by our spirituall Physitian which is Christ is to beleeve in him and the onely plaisters to bee applied are his sufferings and merits for by his stripes we are healed Esa. 53. 5. and the onely meanes on our part to apply them is faith For even as Moses lifted up the brazen Serpent in the Wildernesse that those who were bitten by the fiery serpents might by looking upon that which was but a figure of Christ be healed even so our Saviour Christ was lifted up upon the Crosse that whosoever being stung as we all are by the old Serpent and made subject to eâ—…all death shall looke upon him with the eye of a true faith shall bee saved To which remedie alone all true physicians of mens soules do use to direct the wounded Conscience when the Iaylour Act. 16. 30 31. in great consternation of mind came trembling and falling downe before Paul and Silas demanded of them what he might doe that he might bee saved they said beleeve on the Lord Iesus Christ and thou shalt be saved And this remedy â—…in curing miraculously corporall discases was used sometimes with good successe Mat. 9. 21. 22. 14. 36. and was by our Saviour himself prescribed as the onely receipt Mar. 5. 36. Luk. 8. 50. § VI. Thirdly where the Apostle in this place nameth onely remission of sinnes hee saith it hindreth not but that justâ—…fication may bee understood to consist in remission of sinnes and infusion of righteousnesse For as we have not once shewed saith hee remission of sinnes is not onely the pardâ—…ning of the punishment but also the washing away and cleansing of the fault which is not done but by the cleannesse of grace and comelinesse of justice comming in the place which the name of justification pretendeth being named from justice Reply Not once but very oft hath hee said that remission of sinne is the utter deletion and extinction of sinne and that it is not a distinct act from infusion of righteousnesse because by infusion of justice sinne is expelled as by the accession of heat and light cold and darkenesse is expelled But as for condonation and pardon of the guilt and punishment that he hath utterly excluded from justification For the pardoning of the guilt and punishment is not done by infusion of righteousnesse which as hee teacheth is the onely act of justification whereof there is but one formall cause which is righteousnesse insuâ—…ed as the Councel of Trent hath defined but by imputation of the satisfaction of Christ. For righteousnesse infused as Bellarmine hath confessed doth not or cannot satisfie for our sinnes Now if there bee but one formall cause of justification as indeed there is but one and that one be not the imputation but the infusion of justice or as they rather use to speake the justice infused which expelleth sinne which expulsion or deletion they call the remission yea the true remission of sinne then the forgivenesse of the guilt and punishment belongeth not to justification But if the forgiving of the guilt and punishment be the not imputing of sinne which necessarily bringeth with it imputation of righteousnesse as Bellarmine confesseth and the Apostle proveth Rom. 4. viz. that the Lord imputeth righteousnesse without workes when hee imputeth not sinne then it will necessarily follow that imputation of Christs satisfaction or righteousnesse is the onely formall cause of justification whereby we being absolved from sinne are accepted as just yea constituted righteous in Christ. And that infusion of righteousnesse expelling sinne is another thing which the Scriptures call Sanctification And this I take to be a manifest truth which being granted we have obtained the whole cause § VII Fourthly againe saith he although there were mention made in this place of justification only from sinnes yet in many other places there is mention made of Sanctification of cleansing of washing and renewing which shew
alleadged Wee saith the Apostle speaking of himselfe and Saint Peter knowing that a man is not justified by the workes of the Law but onely by the faith of Iesus Christ even we have beleeved in Iesus Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not by the workes of the Law For by the workes of the Law shall no flesh be justified For if the faithfull such as Peter and Paul bee justified by faith and not by workes then are they justified without workes Neither doe the workes of the faithfull concurre unto their justification § IX But for all this Bellarmine will prove that in the Epistle to the Galathians the workes only done without faith are excluded from justification by certaine consequences which the Apostle inferreth which saith he are most strong against workes done without faith but most weake against workes wrought by faith That they are strong against the workes of nature I doe confesse but that they be weake against justification by workes of grace they being equally strong against all I doe deny For the Apostle when in the question of justification hee excludeth workes doth not distinguish of workes whether proceeding from nature or from grace as if by the one wee were justified and not by the other but generally excludeth all even those which are commanded in the Law of God thereby meaning all inherent righteousnesse whatsoever even charity it selfe which is the end of the Law and proceedeth from faith unfained For the Law is a perfect rule of all inherent righteousnesse whencesoever it proceedeth Neither are the Papists able to produce any one place of Scripture wherein the Apostle either affirmeth that wee are justified by workes proceeding from grace or propoundeth this question to bee disputed whether workes doe justifie without faith but even whether faith doth justifie without workes alwaies concluding the affirmative that wee are justified by faith without workes thereby teaching that workes doe justifie before God neither without faith nor yet with it § X. For the better understanding of this needfull point worthy to be insisted upon and for the satisfying of Bellarmines objections wherein hee pleaseth himselfe wee are to take notice that there are two wayes to life eternall which God hath propounded to man the one in the state of innocencie the other after his fall The former was the covenant of workes or of inherent righteousnesse to be performed by himselfe the Sacrament whereof was the Tree of life But when man had broken this covenant and was fallen from the state of integrity into the state of disobedience and corruption it being now not possible that he should be justified or saved by inherent righteousnesse according to the covenant of workes the Lord therefore in his infinite mercie and love of mankind made with man being now a sinner the covenant of grace in the promised seed that whosoever truly beleeveth in him though in himselfe a sinner as since the fall all are should bee justified and saved by his righteousnesse The faith in this covenant concerning the justification of sinners and salvation by Christ was professed from the beginning after the promise was once made by all the Patriarches and ancient beleevers who had testimony that they pleased God and by faith in the Messias wrought those things which were pleasing to God which without faith in Christ they could not have done And it was represented and figured in the sacrifices which were types and figures of Christs sacrifice even from the beginning And the same was afterwards confirmed by Sacraments viz. Circumcision which was ordained to bee a seale of that righteousnesse which is by faith and the passeover which was a type of Christ our passeover who is immolated for us and prefigured by the propitiatory which covered the Arke in which were the two tables of the Law by the Scape-goate which did beare away the sinnes of the people by the high Priest who was a type of Christ in many respects but most plainely by the brasen Serpent c. But lest men should either through ignorance or pride neglect the benefit of the Messias and consequently their owne salvation which is the common corruption of all naturall men it pleased the Lord to renew the covenant of workes by publishing the Morall Law not with purpose that any should by the obedience thereof be justified or saved which Bellarmine himselfe confesseth but partly that to naturall and unregenerate men it should bee a Schoolemaster unto Christ discovering unto them their owne damnable estate in themselves both in respect of their sinnes and of the curse belonging unto them for the same that so they might be forced to seeke for salvation out of themselves in Christ and partly that to men regenerated and justified it should bee a rule whereby to frame their lives and as it were a councellour and a guide to direct them in the way which God hath appointed them to walke in towards our country in heaven § XI Those therefore which looked to be justified by the observation of the Law as the Galatians were taught by their false teachers were in a pernicious errour both because none can bee justified by the obedience of the Law all men without exception being sinners and subject to the curse and also because there is such an opposition betweene these two covenants in the matter of justification that to bee justified according to the Covenant of workes by inherent righteousnesse is a disanulling of the covenant of grace which cannot bee disanulled in it selfe though to him that seeketh to be justified by works it is made void as the Apostle proveth Gal. 3. and therefore with him I say that if justification be by the works of the Law whatsoever then the covenant of grace is disanulled and made void then is the promise made of none effect then Christ died in vaine Gal. 2. 21. then is the inherent no more of promise Gal. 3. 18. but faith is made void and the promise made of none effect Rom. 4. 14. then men are made debtours to the whole Law and consequently Christ is become of none effect to them And finally they that seeke to be justified by the Law are fallen from grace Gal. 5. 2 3 4. according to all the consequences alleaged by Bellarmine From when I argue thus To them that are debtours to the whole Law Christ is become of none effect to them the covenant of grace is disanulled and the promise made of none effect c. They that seeke to be justified by the workes of the Law that is by righteousnesse inherent whatsoever whether before or after grace are debtours to the whole Law Therefore to them that seeke to bee justified by righteousnesse inherent Christ is become of none effect c. The proposition is thus proved Those that are debtors to the whole Law are subject to a double yoake of most miserable bondage opposite
3. 5. Bellarmines preamble to his answere in which he noteth three things first what is meant by the Law of workes and by the Law of faith Gal. 1. 6 8 9. e Luk. 1. 74. Jer. 31. 33. Heb. 8. 10. Bellarmines exposition f De spir lit g Râ—…m 10. 8. h De jusâ—…is l. 4. cap. 2. i In Rom. 3 27. homil 7. Iustice Of the Law In by the law k Lib. 4. cap. 8. §. 2 3 4. Thirdly what is meant by workes l De gratia lib. arb c. 7. Some of the Papists understand the ceremoniall Law onely m Deut. 11. 1. n Rom. 7. 7. o Rom. 3. 10 c. o De justis l. 1. cap. 19. Bellarmine and others understand also the workes of the morall law but yet such onely as goe before 〈◊〉 p Esponc in 1 Tim. 1. the end that is the fulfilling and consummation of the Commandement that is by 〈◊〉 doche of the law is â—…ove both of God and our neighbour out of a pure heart that is purisied by faith Salmero the end that is the complement or fulfilling of the precept that is of the law is the love of God and our neighbour proceeding from faith unfained wherby a man beleeveth in Christ from his heart q Gal. 2. 16. r Psal. 143. 2. s Lib. 4. c. 8. §. 15. t Heb. 11. 8 9. â—…7 u In Rom. 4. 1. hom 8. * Rom. 1. 16 17. 3. 21. x Rom. 3. 21. y Rom. 3. 24. z Rom. 4. 3 4 5. 16. Rom. 11. 6. De iustif l. 1. c. 19. §. Ex his His answere to Rom. 3. 27. His answer to the second testimony Rom. 4. 2. from the example of Abraham Bellarmines first answere refuâ—…ed Bellarmine confounded in two respects The first The second respect Bellarmines second answere refuted a Nehem. 9. 7. b Ios. 24. 2. c 1 Cor. 4. 7. d §. excludi Merit confuted c Act. 15. 5. * See l. ib. 6. c. 8. §. 7. n. 2. Bâ—…llarmines argument from the consequences in the epistle to the Galatians f 1 Tim. 1. 5. That the consequences make against justification by works of grace g Heb. 11. h Gen. 4. 9. i Rom. 4. 11. k 1 Cor. 5. 8. l Ioh. 3. 14 15. m De justis l. 4. c. 4 diâ—…fer 6. Lex Mosis non erat data ut justificaret sed ut moâ—… bum ostenderet ad quâ—…rendum medicum excitaâ—…et All the consequences alleaged by Bellarmine are strong against justification by works of grace n Gal. 3. 17 18. o Gal. 3. 10. Christ hath not merited for us that we should be justified by our owne righteousnesse or saved by our owne merits His answere to Ephes. 2. 8 9. p Tit. 3. 7. His answere to Phil. 3. 8 9. p In locum q Esa. â—…4 6. r Exam. concil Trid. part 1. de jusâ—…if pag. 135. s Advers Pelag. l. 2. omnia pro Christâ—… ducit quisquilias t I. Scapula u Hesycâ—…ius * Gillâ—…lim Deut. 29. 17. Ezek. 22. 3. His answere to Rom. 3. 24. x Lib. 3 de gratia y De justif l. 1. cap. 21. z Sess. 6. cap. 8. Bellarm. de iuâ—…tif l. 4. Bellarmines Method He proveth workes necessaâ—…y not to iustiâ—…ication but to salvâ—…tion a Rom. 10. 10. b Heb. 12. 14. c Heâ—… 10. 36. d Matth. 10. 22. 24. 13. e De justif l. 4. cap. 2. Of the difference between the Law and the Gospell The acceptions of the words Law and Gospell either in a large or strict sense f Psalm 1. 2. 19. 7. Psalm 119. 18 72 142. Mic. 4. 2. Esai 2. 3. h Psal. 119. 57 104. i De iustif l 4. c. 2. § probator quartò k Gen. 22. 18. The strict signification of the Law and the Gospell l Luk. 2. 10. Rom. 10. 15. m 2 Tim. 19. n Rom. 6. 22. His disproofe of the difference which we assigne Whether the promise of Salvation made to our obedience doe prove the merit of good workes Eternall life three waies promised first as a free g ft. o Epbes. 1. 6. p Rom. 8. 30. 10. 13 14. 2 Thes. 2. 13 14. q 2 Tim. 1. 9. r Ephes. 2. 8 9. s Gen. 22. 18. 2. As our inheâ—…itance t Eph 2. 6. u 2 Tim. 1. 9. * Act. 26. 18. Tâ—…t 3. 7. 3. As a reward x Apâ—…c 21. 27 y Luk. 1 73 74 75. Ier. 3 33 34. Heb. 8. 10 11 12. z De verbis Domini serm 3. O magna bonitas Dei cui cum pro conditione reddere debeamus obsequia utpote servi Domino famuli Deo subjecti potenti mancipâ—…a Redemptori amicitiarum nobis prae 〈◊〉 ut nobiâ—… obsequiâ—… debita servitutiâ—… extâ—…rqueat c. The example of Gods dealing with Abraham a Gen. 22. 16 18. Objection if eternall life bee the reward of our obedience then our obedience doth merit it Rom. 6. 23. b Psalm 62. 12. Ephes. 2. 7. c De gratia lib. arbitr Places whâ—…ch the papists understand of causes to be understood of notes d Phil. 1. 29. e In Rom. 8. Or of evidences Three other answeres to the foresaid objection f Ad annal eccles Baronii exercit 15. n. 17. g In Gen. 22. Bellarmines allegations de justis l. 4. c. 2. §. Ve niamuâ—… first Mat. 5. 20. His second testimony h Rom. 9. 32. i Auâ—…tor operis imperâ—…ecti in Matth. hom 33. Mat. 19 17. k Vers. 20. l Stapleton in promptuar cathol Dominica 1â—… post pentecost quaerebat quid sacâ—…endo id est peâ—… quâ—… 〈◊〉 opera it maeternam 〈◊〉 His other testimonies answered m Supra §. â—… n 1 Ioh. 5. 11 12 20. o Heb. 5. 9. His argument from Ezek. 18. 2â—… p Iam. 5. 20. q Rom. 6. 23. His fifth argument from the condition of faith Bellarmines proofe from his pretended true differences De justif l. 4. cap. 3. The first diffeâ—…ence confuted by the last r Mat. 11. 29. s Gal. 3. 17. t Gal. 3. 13. u 1 Cor. 1. 30. * Ier. 23. 6. x De justif l. 4. cap. 4. The second difference y Rom. 8. 23. The other 6. differences 3 4 5 6 7 8 Of Christian liberty z De justif l. 4. â—…ap 5. a Rom. 6. 18. De iusâ—…if l. 4. c. 7. a Deiustif l. 1. c. 18. §. Simile b Rom. 8. 30. Bellarmines proofe of his consequence Bellarm. proofes sor necessity of efficiency De Iustif. Lib. â—… Cap. 7. His first testimony Heb. 10. 36. c Heb. 12. 1. His second testimony 1 Tim. 2. 14 15. d Matth. 7. 14. e Act. 14. 22. f De Sacrament matrim cap. 2. §. confirmatur His third testimony Phil. 2. 12. g Ephes. 2. 10. h Psal. 100. 2. i Esay 26. 12. k 2 Cor. 3. 5. l Phil. 2. 13. m Phil. 1. 1 6 n Phil. 1. 6. o 2 Cor. 7. 1. His fourth testimony 2 Cor. 7. 10. His fifth testimony 2 Cor. 4. 17. p 1 Cor. 11. 19. His seventh testimony Rom. 8. 17 18. p Lib.