writings alledge out of the prophets The same Paul also saith The life which now I liue in fleshe I liue by faith in the son of god who loued me and gaue him self for me Faith ioyneth vs to the eternal chief goodnesse so maketh vs to inioy the chief goodnes that god may dwell in vs we in god For the Lorde Iesus him self in the Gospel saith He which eateth my flesh drinketh my bloud dwelleth in me I in him As the louing father sēt me so also I liue by the father he that eteth me shal liue by me But to eate drink the Lord is to be léeue in the Lord the he hath giuē him self to death for vs Whervpon Iohn the Apostle saith We haue seene do witnesse that the father hath sent the son the sauiour of the world Whosoeuer shal confesse that Iesus is the sonne of God God dwelleth in him and he in God. Wherfore also Paul saide I liue now not I but Christ liueth in me Moreouer faythe dothe iustifie But for bycause the treatise thereof can not be fitlye and fullye made an ende of this houre I meane to deferre it till the next Sermon that shall be At this present dearely beloued ye must remember that there is but one true fayth that is the Christian fayth For although there be said to be many fayths that is religions yet notwithstanding there is onely but one true and vndoubted fayth And that dothe increase and againe decrease in some men As for those in whom it is rightly and godly obserued in them it sheweth foorthe sundry vertues For it bringeth with it true wisedome finally it quickneth and maketh vs blessed and happy in déede To God the father the authour of all goodnesse and of our felicitie be all prayse and glory throughe Iesus Christ our Lorde for euer and euer Amen That the faithfull are iustified by fayth with out the lawe and workes ¶ The sixte Sermon BEing readye here dearely beloued to speake vnto you of fayth whiche without workes dothe iustifie them that beléeue I call vpon the Father whiche is in heauen through his onely begotten sonne Iesus Christe our Lorde beséeching him to open my mouth and lippes to the setting foorthe of his prayse and to illuminate your hearts that ye acknowledging the great benefite of God may become thankfull for it and holy in déede And first of all I will speake certaine things chiefly necessarie to this argument or treatise touching this terme of iustification The terme of iustifying very vsuall and common among the Hebrues and of a large signification is not at this day so wel vnderstoode of all men as it ought to be To iustifie is as muche to say as to quite from iudgement and from the denounced and vttered sentence of condemnation It signifieth to remit offences to cleanse to sanctifie ▪ and to giue vtterance of life euerlasting For it is a lawe terme belonging to courts where iudgement is exercised Imagine therefore that man is set before the iudgement seate of God and that there he is pleaded guiltie to wit that he is accused and conuinced of hainous offences and therefore sued to punishment or to the sentence of condēnation Imagine also that the sonne of God maketh intercession and commeth in as a meane desiring that vpon him may be layde the whole fault and punishment due vnto vs men that he by his death may cleanse them and take them away setting vs frée from death and giuing vs life euerlasting Imagine too that God the most highe and iust iudge receiueth the offer and trāslatet◠〈◊〉 punishment together with the fault from vs vnto the necke of his sonne making therwithall a statute that whosoeuer beléeueth that the son of God suffered for the sinnes of the world brake the power of death and deliuered vs from damnation shoulde be cleansed from his sinnes and made heire of life euerlasting Who therefore can be so dull of vnderstanding but maye perceiu◠that mankinde is iustified by fayth But that there may be no cause of doubt or darkenesse left in the mynde of any man that which I haue already spokē generally by the parable and similitude fetched from oure common lawe I will here particularly bring into certaine partes confirming and manifestly prouing euery one of them seuerally out of the holy Scriptures so that euen to the stoutest wittes the power of fayth and worke of iustification may be most euident And first I will shew vnto you that this terme of iustification is taken in this present treatise for the absolution and remission of sinnes for sanctification and adoption into the number of the sonnes of god In the .xiij. of the Actes the Apostle Paule sayth Be it knowne vnto you men and brethren that through this Lord Iesus Christ is preached vnto you the forgiunesse of sinnes and by him all that beleeue are iustified frō al things from which they could not be iustified by the law of Moses Sée in Christe is preached vnto vs the forgiuenesse of sinnes and he that beleueth that Christ preched forgiueth sinnes is also iustified It followeth therefore that iustification is the remission of sinnes In the fifth Chapter to the Romanes saythe the same Apostle Being iustified by the bloud of Christ we shall be saued from wrath through him But the bloud of Christ washeth away sinnes Iustification therefore is the washing away or forgiunesse of sinnes And againe in the same Chapter saythe he more plainly Iudgement entred by one offence vnto condemnation but the gifte of many sinnes vnto iustification He maketh iustification the contrarie to condemnation therfore iustification is the absolution and deliuerie from condemnation What say ye to this moreouer that he dothe plainely call iustification a gifte that is the forgiuenes of sinnes Herevnto also belong those words of his Euen as by the sinne of one condemnation came on all men so by the righteousnesse of one good came vpon all men to the iustification of life Here again is the iustification of life made the contrarie of condemnation vnto death set as a peine vpon our heads bycause of the transgression iustification of life therefore is an absolution from sinnes a deliuerie from death a quickning or translating from death to life For in the fourth to the Romanes the same Apostle expoundeth iustification by sanctification and sanctification by the remission of sinnes For intreating of fayth whereby we are iustified or whiche God imputeth to vs for righteousnesse without workes he sayth Euen as Dauid also dothe expounde the blessednesse of that man to whome the Lord imputeth righteousnesse without workes saying Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiuē and whose sinnes are couered What coulde be more plainely spoken then this For he doth euidently expounde iustification by sanctification and sanctification by the remission of sinnes Furthermore what else is sanctification but the adoption whereby we are receiued into the grace and number of the
sonnes of God What is he therefore that séeth not that in this treatise of Saint Paule iustification is taken for adoption especially since in the very same fourth Chapter to the Romanes he goeth about to proue that an inheritance is due to fayth wherevnto also he doth attribute iustification By all this it is made manifest that the question of iustification containeth nothing else out the manner and reason of sanctification that is to say wherby and how men haue their sinnes forgiuen and are receiued into the grace and number of the sonnes of God and being iustified are made heires of the kingdome of God. And now let vs trye whether that which we haue sayde be taught in the Scriptures the Christ before the iudgement seate of God when sentence of condemnation was to be pronounced against vs for our offences tooke oure sinnes vpon his owne necke and purged them by the sacrifice of his death vpon the crosse and that God also layd vpon Christ our fault and punishmeÌ„t so that Christe alone is the only satisfaction purging of the faithful This doth the Apostle Paule teach most expressely where he sayth Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect It is God that iustifieth Who shal condemne It is Christ that dyed yea rather it is he which is raised vp is at the right hand of the father making intercession for vs. And againe he sayth Christ redeemed vs from the curse of the lawe while he was made the curse for vs For it is written cursed be euery one that hangeth on the tree that vpon the Gentiles might come the blessing of Abraham through Iesus Christ c. This did the Apostle teach out of the writings of Moses And Moses in his bookes doth often times make mention the the sinnes are laid vpoÌ„ the heads of the beastes which were sacrificed But those sacrifices bare the tipe or figure of the death and sacrifice of Christ Esaias also in his 53. chapter saith expresly He verily hath takeÌ„ on him our infirmities and born our peines He was wounded for our iniquities and smitten for our sinnes For the peine of our punishment was laid vpoÌ„ him and with his stripes arâ— we healed We all went astraye like shepe euery one turned his own way but the Lord hath thrown vpon him all our sinnes And immediatly after He hath taken away the sinnes of the multitude and made intercession for the transgressors Then these wordes I think nothing can be brought more to the matter or more fit for our present purpose To this alludeth Saint Peter when he sayth The Lorde him selfe bare our sinnes in his body vpon the crosse that we being dead to sinne may liue to righteousnes by the signe of whose stripes we are made whole Herevnto aliuded S. Iohn the forerunner of the Lorde when he sayde Beholde the Lambe of God that taketh awaye the sinnes of the worlde Moreouer the Apostle Paule beareth witnesse hereto saying Him that knewe not sinne he made sinne for vs that we throughe him might be made the righteousnesse of God Also in his Epistle to the Colossians he saythe It pleased the father that in Christ all fulnesse should dwell and by him to reconcile all thinges vnto him selfe hauing set at peace through the bloude of his crosse by him both things in earth and things in heauen These I suppose are testimonies sufficiently euident to proue that vpon Christ are layde our sinnes with the curse or condemnation due vnto oure offences and that Christe by his bloud hath cleâ—sed oure sinnes and by his death hath vanquished death and the deuill the authour of death and taken away the punishment due vnto vs. Yet bycause there be some and those not a fewe whiche denie that Christe by his death hath taken from vs sinners both faulte and punishment and that he became the onely satisfaction of the whole worlde I will therefore nowe alledge certaine other testimonies and repeate somewhat of that that I haue before recited thereby to make it manifest that Christe the only satisfaction of the world hath made satisfaction both for our sault and punishment Esayas verily witnessed that bothe the faulte of our offence and the punishment were taken away when he sayth He bare oure infirmities and was wounded for oure iniquities finallye the discipline of peace that is the discipline or chastising or punishment bringing peace or the penaltie of our correction that is the punishment due to vs for our offences was layde on his necke Marke also what followeth And with the blewnesse of his stripes are we healed This doth euidently teach that by the peine of Christe oure punishment is taken a waye For looke what peine penaltie punishment or correction was due to vs and the same was layde on the Lorde him selfe and for that cause was the Lorde wounded and receiued stripes And with them he healed vs But he had not yet healed vs at all if we should yet looke for woundes stripes stroakes that is to say punishment for our sinnes The death of Christe therfore is a full satisfaction for our sinnes But what I praye you shoulde Christe auayle vs if yet we shoulde be punished for oure offences Therefore when we say that he did beare all our sinnes in his bodye vpon the Crosse what else doe we meane I praye you but that the Lorde by death that was not due vnto him tooke from vs Gods vengeaunce that it might not lighte on vs to our punishment Paule as often as he maketh mention of our redemption made by Christe is wont to name it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by which worde he vnderstandeth not as the common sort do redemption barely and simply but the very price and satisfaction of redemption Wherefore also he writeth that Christ him selfe did giue him selfe to be the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for vs that is to say the price wherewith captiues are redéemed from their enimies in the warre For that which we do commonly call raunsomes the Gréekes do name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So then that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when man for man and life for life is redeemed But vpon them that are thus raunsomed and set at libertie there is no punishment afterwarde layd by reason of the translation therof from one to another Furthermore this is the newe Couenaunt that God in his Christ hath made with vs that he will not remember our iniquities But howe could he chose but remember oure iniquities if he ceased not to punishe them So then this remayneth not to be doubted of that Christe our Lord is the full propitiation satisfaction oblation and sacrifice for the sinnes I saye for the punishment and the faulte of all the world yea and by him selfe alone for in none other is any saluation neyther is there any other name giuen vnto men whereby they must be saued I denie not but that bycause of discipline chastisement and exercise diuers sortes
euerlasting he doth not by and by swell with pryde nor yet forget the merite of Christe but setting a godly and apte interpretation vpon suche like places he dothe consider that all thinges are of the grace of God and that so great things are attributed to the workes of men bycause they are receiued into grace and are nowe become the sonnes of God for Christ his sake so that at the last all things may be turned vpon Christe him selfe for whose sakes the godly knowe that they and all theirs are in fauour and accepted of God the Father In this that I haue sayde whiche is a little in déede in respecte of the largenesse of the matter but sufficiently long inoughe in respecte of one houres space appointed me to speake in I haue declared vnto you dearely beloued the great effect of fayth that is to say that it iustifieth the faithfull where by the way I haue rather briefly touched then at large discoursed vpon the whole worke of iustification both profitable and necessarie for all men to knowe Nowe therefore I passe ouer this and come to the rest True faythe is the welspring and roote of all vertues and good workes and firste of all it satisâ—ieth the minde and desire of man and maketh it quiet and ioyfull For the Lorde in the Gospel saith I am the breade of lyfe he that commeth to me shall not hunger and he that beleeueth in me shall not thirste at any time For what can he desire more whiche dothe already féele that by true fayth he possesseth the verie sonne of God in whome are all the heauenly treasures and in whome is all fulnesse and grace Our consciences are made cleare and quiet so soone as we perceiue that by true fayth Christe the Sonne of God is altogether oures that he hath appeased the father in our behalfe that he dothe nowe stande in the presence of the father and maketh intercession to him for vs And for that cause sayth Paul. Beeing iustified by sayth we haue peace with God through our Lorde Iesus Christe Throughe the same Christe also by faythe we haue a frée passage vnto the Father Wherefore we praye to the Father in his Sonnes name and at his hande we oâ—taine al things that are auayleable to oure behoofe Very well therefore sayde the Apostle Iohn And this is the confidence that we haue in him that if we aske any thing according to his will he heareth vs. And if we knowe that he heareth vs whatsoeuer we aske we knowe also that we haue the petitions that we requested at his handes They that want fayth doe neither praye to God nor yet receiue of him the thinges that are for their welfare Moreouer fayth maketh vs acceptable to God and doth commaund vs to haue an eye to the well vsing of Gods good giftes Fayth causeth vs not to faynte in tribulations yea also by faythe we ouercome the worlde the fleshe the Deuill and all aduersities As the Apostle Iohn sayth For all that is borne of God ouercommeth the worlde And this is the victorie that vanquisheth the worlde euen your sayth Who is hee that ouercommeth the worlde but he that beleeueth that Iesus is the Sonne of God Paule sayth Some were racked not caring by faythe to be set at libertie that they might obtaine a better Resurrection Other some were tryed with mockes and stripes with fetters and imprisonmentes were stoned were hewed in peeces were slaine with the edge of the sworde they wandred in sheepes skinnes and goates skinnes comfortlesse oppressed afflicted of whome the worlde was not worthy wandring in desertes and mountaines and in the dennes and caues of the earth For the Lord him selfe in the Gospell sayde This spake I vnto you that ye might haue peace in me In the worlde ye haue affliction but be of good confidence I haue ouercome the worlde Fayth therefore both shall be and is the force and strength of patience Patience is the proppe vplifting and preseruation of hope Of fayth springeth charitie Charitie is the fulfilling of the lawe whiche containeth in it the summe of all good workes But vnlesse we haue a true fayth in God there is no charitie in vs Euery one that loueth him that begatte saythe Iohn the apostle loueth him also that is borne of him The houre is paste a good while since and no man is able in many houres so substancially as it requireth to declare the whole effecte of fayth Ye haue hearde dearely beloued that true fayth is the iustification of the Church or faythfull of God that it is I say the forgiunesse of all sinnes a receiuing into the grace of God a taking by adoption into the number of the Sonnes of God an assured and blessed sanctification and finally the welspring of all good workes Let vs therefore in true fayth praye to God the father in the name of our Lord Iesus Christ that he will vouchsafe to fill our hartes with this true faith that in this present world being ioyned to him in fayth we may serue him as we ought and after our departure out of this life we maye for euer liue with him in whome we beléeue To him be prayse and glory for euer Amen Of the firste Articles of the Christian fayth contained in the Apostles Creede ¶ The seuenth Sermon IN my two last sermons I intreated of true fayth the effectes therof and among the reste in one place I sayde that the Articles of the Christian faith are as it were a briefe Summarie of true fayth nowe therefore I thinke it to be not beside the purpose and parte of my duetie to lay before you those twelue Articles of our belief For they are the substaÌ„ce and matter of true faithe wherein fayth is exercised whiche bycause it is the grounde of thinges hoped for here is plainely and briefly declared in these Articles what thinges those are that are to be hoped for But let no man at this present looke for at my hande the busie and full discourse of the Articles of our fayth I will but briefly goe through them touching only the moste necessarie pointes They are in another place handled more at large by seuerall partes Pray ye with me to the Lord that he will vouchsafe to shewe to vs his waies to guide and preserue vs in them to the glorie of his owne name and the euerlasting saluation of our soules First I haue to say somewhat touching the common name wherby the articles of our faith are vsually called the Symbole or Créede of the Apostles A Symbele is as much to say as a coÌ„ferring together or els a badge The articles are called a conferring together bicause by the laying together of the Apostles doctrine they were made and written to be a rule and an abridgement of the saith preached by the Apostles and receiued of the Catholique or vniuersal Churche But what he was that first did thus dispose and write these articles it is not
Wherevppon wée doe fréely confesse that the lawe doeth properly make manifeste our infirmitie but that the Gospel giueth a medicine a remedie to that which was almost past hope And now here we must thinke that our holy ancestors had not the lawe alone to conuince them of sinne nor Moses to doe nothing else but kill and slay nor that Moses was giuen to wound them but to heale them that not by his owne power or vertue but by the guiding of them to him that chéerisheth the contrite in heart and healeth all their sorrowes that is Christ Iesus who also wrought by the ministerie of Moses For we must not thincke from the beginning of the world nor from Moses his time till the comming of Christe that the bare letter was preached onely and that the grace and spirite of God was idle wrought not in the mindes of the faithfull For in that the law doth shewe vs and inuincibly proue to vs that in vs I meane in our flesh y perfection is not which the most holy and perfecte God doth in his lawe require of vs it doeth therein reuoke and pull backe mankinde not by the vertue of it selfe but by the power of the quickening spirite of Christ from confidence of the fleshe as that wherin there is no health nor iote of perfection and so coÌ„sequently doeth giue vs occasion to turne our selues to Christ our mediatour who is alone our sanctification perfection And so for this occasion the law is a path and readie way and as it were a scholemaster giuen by God to vs men to drawe vs from all confidence in our owne strengths from all hope of our owne merites and from y trust in any kinde of creatures and to lead vs directly by faith to Christ who was made by God as I said eueÌ„ now our righteousnesse sanctification and redemptioÌ„ without whom there is no saluation vnder the sunne Therefore Moses did not onely vrge the lawe but did also preach Christ life in Christ For the Lord in the Gospel saith to the Iewes Thinke not that I will accuse you to my father There is one that accuseth you euen Moses in whome ye trust For if ye had beleued Moses ye would vndoubtedly haue beleued mee For he wrote of mee And Paule to the Galathians saith If there had beene a law giuen which could haue giuen life then no doubt righteousnesse should haue beene by the lawe but the Scripture hath concluded all vnder sinne that the promise by the faith of Iesus Christ should bee giuen vnto them that beleeue But before faith came wee were kept vnder the lawe and were shut vp into the faith which should afterward be reuealed Wherefore the lawe was our scholemaster vnto Christ that we should be iustified by faith Loe what could bée said more plainly then that the lawe hath concluded all vnder sinne But to what end That the promise by the faith of Christ Iesus should bée giuen vnto them that do beléeue And againe Before faith came that is before he came to whom our faith is directed and vppon whoÌ„ it is grounded we were kept vnder the lawe How forsooth being shut vp vnto the faith that was to bee reuealed Therefore our fathers were shut vpin the law that they should not breake out at any time séeke for life and saluation any where else but in Christ alone Wherefore the lawe did lead vs by faith directly vnto Christe And yet more plainly hée saith The lawe was oure scholemaister vnto Christ Loe here againe the law doth bring vs to Christ And againe he addeth That we should bee iustified by faith Therefore the lawe setteth forward the true doctrine of iustification teaching plainly that we are iustified by faith in Christ and not by the merits of our owne workes In whiche point it is opeÌ„ly like vnto the Gospel and taketh to it selfe the office of the Gospell and no meruaile since to many men through their owne fault the Gospell doth become and is made the letter Furthermore the same Apostle doth in an other place say that in sacrifices they called their sinnes to remeÌ„brance we knowe that in them was prefigured the purging of sinns Therfore eueÌ„ the ceremonial lawes also led them to Christ testifying teaching them that he alone doth clense vs from all our sinnes Whervpon I conclude that the office of Moses and of the lawe both was is to opeÌ„ to vs our sinne iudgment yet not to condemne vs only but also by occasion to lead vs to Christ By which we learne also that the law doth not only teach vs the first principles and rudimentes of righteousnesse but the very true absolute righteousnesse For Moses doth expresly say that he taught a most perfecte absolute kind of doctrine as that wher in both life and death doth wholie consist And the Apostle saith that the law leadeth vs by the hand to Christ that we should be iustified by faith Now the righteousnesse of faith is the most perfect righteousnesse Therfore wher as the precepts of the law are in some places called the rudimeÌ„ts of the world that is for two especiall causes The first wherof is because the lawe is as it were the first instructioÌ„s or elemeÌ„ts which when the doctrine of the Gospel commeth is finished and giueth place to it as to more absolute principles The latter cause is because ceremonies are taught vnder outward thinges or signes when as in those outward things they do prefigure and set forth to be séen y inward things euen Christ himselfe his holy mysteries And out of that which I haue hetherto said we may also learne that the ancient saints which liued vnder the old testament did not séeke for righteousnesse saluation in the workes of the lawe but in him which is the perfectnesse end of the law euen Christ Iesus therfore that they vsed the law the ceremonies as a guide and scholemistresse to lead them by the hande to Christe their sauiour For so often as they heard that the lawe required perfect righteousnesse at their hands they did by faith through grace vnderstand y in the lawe Christ was set forth to be the most absolute righteousnesse to whom all men ought to flie for â—he obtâ—ining of righteousnesse So often as they mette together in the holy congregation to behold the holy Ceremonies which God had ordeined they did not looke vppon the bare figures only nor thincke that they did please God and were purged from their sinnes by that externall kinde of worshipp but they did cast the eyes of their minds of faith vppon the Messiah to come who was prefigured in al the Ceremonies and ordinaunces of the lawe They therefore did abuse the lawe who thoughte that they were acceptable to God and that they serued him as they should because they were busie in those Ceremoniall workes For those thoughtes and persuasions the Prophets
the remnant and those thinges that are remaining behinde And Sainct Peter saith that Christ suffered for vs leauing behinde him an example for vs that wee might followe his trace and footesteppes Therefore the Apostle affirmeth that he by suffering fulfilled the remnaunt which was behinde After this againe they alledge the wordes of the Apostle Paul where he saith If I haue all faith so that I can remoue mountaines out of their place and yet haue not charitie I am nothing For vpon this they inferre Therefore not faith onely but also charitie yea rather charitie than faith doth iustifie But we say that Paul in this sentence doth neither denye that faith alone doth iustifie nor yet doeth attribute the iustification of the Sainctes to charitie For when we affirm that we are iustified by faith or when wée make faith the cause of iustification which thing must be by often repetition beaten into our memories wee do not vnderstand that faith as it is a vertue in vs doth worke and by the qualitie that sticketh to vs doeth merite righteousnesse in the sight of God but so often as wee make mention of faith wee vnderstande the grace of God exhibited in Christe whiche is through faith freely applyed to vs and receiued as the free gifte of God bestowed vppon vs And in that sense doeth Paule vse the name of faith when he affirmeth that faith doth iustifie But in this place of the thirteenth Chapter to the Corinthians hee doth not so take the name of faith but putteth it for the power of workinge miracles as is manifest by that which followeth where he saith So that I can remoue mountaines That faith doeth not comprehende Christe wholie but onely the power in shewing of miracles And therefore it may be sometime in an vniust man and an hypocrite as it was in Iudas Iscariot to whom the faithe of miracles profited nothing because hee was without the iustifying faith which faith is neuer without but of it selfe ingendreth charitie Againe whereas they obiect that saying out of the Gospell of Saincte Iohn Whosoeuer knoweth my commaundementes and keepeth them he it is that loueth mee and my father will loue him and we wil come to him and make our abidinge in him Therefore for the obseruation of the commaundements that is for our woorkes sake Gâ—d is ioyned to vs we againe alledge this saying of the same Euangeliste and Apostle Iohn By this wee knowe that weabide in him and he in vs because he hath giuen vs of his spirite But that spirit of God is a free gifte Therfore wee are ioyned to God by meere and frée grace It followeth in Iohn And wee haue seene and do testifie that the father hath sent the sonne to bee the Sauiour of the worlde Thou hearest I hope by what it is that the worlde is saued and what Christ the Sauiour of the worlde is Nowe who knoweth not that hee was sent vnto vs of the father by the méere and onely grace of God It followeth nowe howe that Grace is receiued Whosoeuer confesseth that Iesus is the sonne of God God abideth in him and he in God. But in the sixte of Iohn in steede of confesseth is put beléeueth And no merueile since out of a true faith a true confession doth arise By faith therefore are we saued and by faith are wee ioyned vnto god But letting passe these wranglers who will neuer bee without store of such sophistical shifts we do againe returne to our purposed argument to shewe you howe and in what sense life and iustification are attributed to workes They that are well exercised in the reading of the holie Scriptures that they may reconcile the places of scripture that seeme at a blushe to bee at discorde do teache that faith works in verie déede are not separated one from another For the same holie spirite which giueth faith doth therwithall also regenerate the vnderstanding and will so that the faithfull doeth ardently desire and do his indeuour in all things to doe seruice to GOD his maker Therefore for the vnseparable knott betwixt faith and good workes which alwayes kéepe company and attende vpon faith we saye that iustification is somtimes somewhat vnproperly attributed to workes which is somewhat more properly to bee attributed to faith but moste properly of all to be ascribed to Christe apprehended by faith who is in verie deede the foundation subiect of our faith I will yet assaye to make this more manifest In true faith there are two thinges to be considered Reconciliation and Obedience Reconciliation because by faith wee vnderstande and verily beléeue that God is reconciled to vs for Christe his sake by whome wee are adopted into the number of the sonnes of god And Obedience because they that are reconciled doe wholie yelde them selues to him to whome they bee reconciled with carnest desire and zeale to doe his will and pleasure So then wee saye that faith is of two sortes the iustifying and the obeying faith Of the iustifying faith Sainct Paul maketh mention where he saith Beeing iustified by saith we haue peace toward God through the Lorde Iesus Christe by whome wee are reconciled Againe hee maketh mention of the obeying faith where hee saith Knowe yee not that to whome yee giue your selues as seruauntes to obey his seruauntes ye are to whome ye do obey whether it bee of sinne vnto death or of obedience vnto righteousenesse that is to saye which obedience maketh you to doe the thinges that are righteous and to bee the seruauntes of righteousenesse which shall turne to you to eternall life and not the seruauntes of sinne which turneth vnto death Nowe therefore iustification is properly attributed to the reconciling righteousenesse through Christe Iesus and is improperly ascribed to the obeying righteousenesse or righteousenesse of obedience For the obeying righteousenesse is of the reconciling and without the reconciling righteousnesse obedience shoulde not bee called righteousenesse To which this also is to bee added that they which are iustified doe not put any confidence in this obedience as that which is alwayes spotted in this worlde by reason of our fleash To this also agreeth this other explication which I will here annexe The moste proper woorke of faith is purification and sanctification For Sainct Peter doeth expressely saye that by faith our heartes are purified But in sanctification the holie scriptures doe shewe to be two especiall thinges Firste that all the faithfull are fréely purified by the bloud of Christe Iesus For againe the same S. Peter saith Ye knowe that you are redeemed not with transitorie thinges as golde and siluer but with the precious bloud of Christe as of an vnspotted Lambe Sainct Paule saith Ye are sanctified by the will of God through the oblation of the bodie of Iesus Christ once made For with that one oblation he made them perfecte for euer whiche are sanctified Sainct Iohn also saith The bloud of Iesus Christ the sonne of God doth cleanse vs
weales or CongregatioÌ„s yea and that more is the most flourishing Kingdomes in all the world vnder their authoritie All the wysemen in the whole worlde I meane â—hose whiche liued in his time did reuerence Solomon a King and so great a Prophet and came vnto him from the very vtmoste endes of the worlde Daniel also had the preeminence among the wisemen at Babilon being then the moste renoumed Monarchie in all the worlde He was moreouer in great estimation with Darius Medus the Sonne of Astyages or Assuerus and also with Cyrus that moste excellent king And here it lyketh me well to speake somewhat of that diuine foreknowledge in our Prophets and moste assured foreshewing of things which were to come after many yeares passed And now to say nothing of others did not Esaias most truly foretell those things which were afterward fulfilled by the Iewes in our Lord Christ Not in vaine did he séeme to them of olde time to be rather an Euangelist then a Prophete foretelling thinges to come He did openly tel the name of king Cyrus one hundred and thréescore yeares at the least before that Cyrus was borne Daniel also was called of them in the olde time by the name of one whiche knewe muche For he did foretell those things whiche are and haue béen done in al the kingdomes of the world almost and among the people of God from his owne time vntil the time of Christ and further vntill the last day of Iudgement so plainely that hee may séeme to haue compiled an hystorie of those thinges whiche then were already gone and past Al these things I say doe very euidently proue that the Doctrine and writings of the Prophetes are the very word of God with whiche name and title they are set fooâ—the in sundrie places of the Scriptures Verily Peter the Apostle saithe The prophecie came not in old time by the wil of man but holy men of God spake as they were moued by the holy Ghoste And although God did largely clearly plainely and simply reueale his woâ—d to the world by the Patriarchs by Mâ—ses by the Priestes and Prophetes yet did he in the laste times of all by his Sonne set it forth moste clearely simply and aboundantly to al the worlde For the very and onely begotten Sonne of God the father as the Prophetes had foretolde descending from Heauen doth fulfill al what soeuer they foretolde and by the space almoste of thrée yeares dothe teach all pointes of Godlinesse For saith Iohn No man at any time hath seene God the only begotten Sonne which is in the bosome of the Father he hathe declared him The Lord himselfe moreouer saith to his Disciples Al things which I haue herd of my Father haue I made knowne to you And again he saith I am the light of the world whosoeuer doth followe me doth not walke in darkenes but shall haue the light of life Our Lord also did teache that to him whiche would enter into Heauen and be saued the heauenly regeneration was néedeful bicause in the first byrth man is borne to death in the second to life But that that regeneration is made perfect in vs by the spirit of God whiche instrueteth our hartes in faith I say in faith in Christ who died for our sinnes rose againe for our iustification He taught that by that faith they whiche beleeue are iustified that out of the same faith doe growe sundrie fruites of charitie and innocencie to the bringing foorthe wherof he did most earnestly exhorte them He taught furthermore that he was the fulfilling or fulnes of the law and the Prophets and did also approue and expound the doctrine of Moses and the Prophetes To doctrine he ioyned diuerse miracles and benefites wherby he declared that he him selfe was that light of the world and the mightie bountifull redéemer of the world And to the intent that his doctrine and benefites might be knowne to all the worlde he chose to himselfe witnesses whome he called Apostles bicause he purposed to sende them to Preache throughout the world Those witnesses were simple men innocentes iust tellers of trueth without deceipt or subtilties and in all pointes holy and good whose names it is very profitable often to repeate in the Congregation The names of the Apostles are these Peter and Andrewe Iames and Iohn Philippe and Bartholomevve Thomas Mathevv Iames the soÌ„ne of Alphe Iudas his brother vvhose surname vvas Thaddaeus Simon and Iudas Iscariot into whose roome because he had betraied the Lord came Saint Matthias These had he by the space almoste of thrée yeares hearers of his heauenly doctrine and beholders of his diuine workes These after his ascension in to the Heauens did he by the holy ghost send downe from Heauen instruct with all kinde of faculties For as they were in the Scriptures passing skilful so were they not vnskilfull or wanting eloquence in any tongue And being once after this manner instructed they depart out of the Citie of Ierusalem and passe through the compasse of the earthe preaching to all people and Nations that which they had receiued to preach of the sauiour of the world the Lord Iesus Christ And when for certaine yeares they had preached by woord of mouth then did they also set downe in writing that whiche they had preached For some verily writ an hystorie of the words and deeds of Christ and some of the wordes and déedes of the Apostles Other some sent sondrie Epistles to diuers Nations In all which to confirme the trueth they vse the Scripture of the lawe and the Prophetes euen as we reade that the Lorde oftentimes did Moreouer to the twelue Apostles are ioyned two greate lightes of the world Iohn Baptiste then whom there was neuer any more holy borne of women and the chosen vessel Paule the greate teacher of the Gentiles Neither is it to be merueiled at that the forerunner and Apostles of Christ had always very great dignity and authoritie in the Churche For euen as they were the embassadours of the eternall King of all ages and of the whole worlde so being indued with the spirit of God they did nothing according to the iudgement of theyr owne mindes And the Lord by theyr ministerie wrought great myracles thereby to garnishe the ministerie of them and to commend their doctrine vnto vs And what may be thought of that moreouer that by that woorde of God they did conuert the whole world gathering together laying the foundations of notable Churches through out the compasse of the world which verely by mans counsell and wordes they had neuer béene able to haue brought to passe To this is further added that they whiche once leaned to this doctrine as a doctrine giuing life did not refuse to die Besides that how many soeuer had their beliefe in the doctrine of the Gospell they were not afraide through water fire swordes to cutte of this life and
sinner and that he was to be iustified fréely and not for his owne merites sake The Apostle goeth foorth and sayth For what sayth the Scripture Abraham beleeued in God and it was reckoned vnto him for righteousnesse Two thinges are here affirmed Firste that Abraham beléeued in God Secondly that that was imputed to him for righteousnesse By this it followeth that Abraham was iustified by faythe and not by workes And that doth the Apostle proue after this manner To him that by works doth merite righteousnesse righteousnesse is not imputed But to Abraham is righteousnesse imputed therefore he merited not righteousnesse by workes Againe To him verily that woorketh not but beleeueth hys faithe is counted for righteousnesse But Abraham beleeued in God therfore his faith was reckoned for righteousnesse In the same chapter the same Apostle bringeth foorth other arguments altogether as strong as these to proue that faith iustifieth without workes If they saith he which are of the law be heires then is faith but vaine and the promise made of none effect They are of the lawe whiche séeke to be iustified by the workes of the lawe But fayth resteth vpon the mercy of god What place then shall grace and the mercy of god haue left vnto them if we by workes doe merite iustification What shall I néede to beléeue that by the bloude of Christe I shall be iustified if God by my workes be at one with me againe who for my sinnes was angrie with me Finally saluation and righteousnesse are promised of god But then the promise endeth when oure owne merites beginne to come in place For the Apostle to the Galathians saythe If the inheritaunce be of the lawe then is it not nowe of the promise But God gaue the inheritaunce to Abraham by promise therefore that the promise might remaine stable faythe iustifieth and not merites Againe in the fourth Chapter to the Romanes he sayth Therefore by fayth is the inheritaunce giuen that it might be by grace that the promise might be sure to all the seede not to that onely that is of the lawe but to that also that is of the faith of Abraham He rehearseth here two causes for whiche he attributeth iustification to fayth and not to workes The first is that iustification may be of frée gifte and that the grace of God may be praysed The latter is that the promise and saluation maye remain stedfast and that it may come vpon the Gentiles also But it should not be giuen to the Gentiles if it were due onely to the law and CircuÌ„cision bycause the gentiles lacke them both Finally the hope of our saluatioÌ„ ought to be stedfastly established But it should neuer be surely grounded or safely preserued if it were attributed to our owne works or merites For in them is alwayes something wanting But in God and in the merite of the sonne of God can nothing be lacking Therfore our saluation is surely confirmed not to be doubted of and assuredly certaine if that we séeke for it by faith in the sonne of God who is oure righteousnesse and saluation To all these I will yet adde an other testimonie out of Sainte Paule whiche is in déede both moste euident and easie to be perceiued In his Epistle to the Ephestans he sayth By grace are ye saued through faith and that not of your selues it is the gift of God not of workes leaste any man shoulde boaste him selfe For we are the workemanship of God created in Christe Iesus into good workes whiche God hath before ordained that we shoulde walke in them More then this I will not say neyther will I at large expounde the wordes of Paule For these testimonies are more cleare then the noone daye and doe most euidently testifie that we are iustified by faythe and not by anye workes But reuerende brethren in the Lorde good workes here come into no ieopardie to be little set by bycause of this doctrine whiche teacheth that fayth alone doth iustifie Thus did the Apostles of Christe teach why then shoulde not we teache so too As for them that thinke this doctrine wherby we do constantly affirme that fayth alone without workes doth iustifie to be contrarie to religion let theÌ„ blame the Apostles of Christ not find fault with vs Moreouer whereas we say that the faithfull are iustified by fayth alone or else by fayth without workes we doe not say as many thinke we doe that fayth is poaste alone or vtterly destitute of good workes For where soeuer faith is there also it sheweth it selfe by good workes Bycause the righteous can not but worke righteousnesse But before he doth worke righteousnesse that is to say good workes he must of necessitie be righteous therefore the righteous doth not attain to righteousnesse that goeth before by workes that followe after Wherefore that righteousnesse is attributed to grace For the faythfull are fréely by grace iustified in fayth according to that saying The iust shall liue by his fayth and after that they are iustified they beginne to bring foorth the workes of righteousnesse Therefore in this discourse I meane not to ouerthrow good works which haue their due place and dignitie in the Church among the faythfull before the face of God but my mynde is by all the meanes I may to proue that the grace of God and increase of the sonne of God is ouerthrowne and trode vnder foote when we ioyne our merites and workes to the merite of Christe and to faith by which we take holde on Christe For what can be more manifest then this saying of the blessed Apostle If we be saued by grace then not now workes For then grace is no more grace But if we be saued by workes then is it nowe no grace for the work is no more work Româ—n Wherfore these two grace and merite or worke can not stand together Therefore least we should ouerthrowe the grace of God and wickedly denie the fruite of Christe his passion we doe attribute iustification vnto fayth onely bycause that fay the attributeth it to the méere grace of God in the deathe of the Sonne of God. And yet for all this we acknowledge that we are created accordinge to the doctrine of Paule vnto good workes to those good workes I say whiche God hath before ordained whiche he in his worde hath appointed and dothe require vs to walke in the same In which although we walke and are become riche in good works yet notwithstanding we do not attribute to them our iustification but according to the doctrine of the Gospel we humble our selues vnder the hande of him that sayth So ye also when ye haue done all things that are commaunded you yet say we are vnprofitable seruants We haue done no more then we ought to doe So then as often as the godly doth reade that our owne workes doe iustifie vs that our owne workes are called righteousnesse that vnto oure owne workes is giuen a rewarde and life
firste begotten or auncient of euery housholde did circumcise before the lawe which office was turned to the priestes when once the lawe was giuen It is a singular example and no more to be found like vnto it that Zippora the wife of Moses did circumcise her sonne Exod. 4. Chap. Nowe also the time of circumcision is set downe to wite the eighth day when the newe borne childe beganne to be of a little more strength And we gather out of the fifte Chapter of the booke of Iosue that they did circumcise them not with kniues of yron but of stone for in that Chapter the Lorde doth in expresse wordes commaund to circumcise the sonnes of Israel with kniues of stone But it is manifest by the rites of the sacraments that God doth alter nothinge in the ceremonies of the sacraments and therefore we coniecture and gather that Abraham vsed none other but kniues of stone especially since we read that Zippora Moses his wife did circumcise her sonne with a stone The rest of the Iewishe trifles which they sowe abrode touching the ceremonies of cicumcision I do of purpose here let passe For they are vtterly vnworthie to be heard and haue no mysteries conteined in them But the knife of stone is of force in the exposition of the mysterie of circūcision For circumcision had a mysterie and a moste certeine meaning hidden within it For firste circumcision did signifie that the whole nature of man is vncleane and corrupt and therfore that all men haue neede of cutting and regeneration And for that cause that cuttinge was made in the member wherewith man is begotten For we are all begotten and borne the sonnes of wrath in originall sinne Neither doth any man deliuer vs from that damnation but he alone that is without sinne to wite the blessed séede Iesus Christ our Lord who was conceiued by the holy Ghost and borne of the virgin Marie who with the shedding of his bloud which was prefigured in the bloud shed in circumcision doth cleanse vs from sinne and make vs heires of life euerlasting And now this circumcision maketh sorely against them that denye original sinne and putteth them to their shiftes that attribute iustification and saluation to our owne strength and vertue For if we were cleane if we by our owne power could get saluation what néeded our fathers to bee cutt in that sorte The things that are cutt off are either vnpure or else superfluous But God made nothing vnpure or superfluous Nowe hee made the flesh of the foreskinne If the fleshe of the foreskinne had béene euill God had not made man with the fleshe of the foreskinne The skinne therefore is not euill of it selfe nor yet superfluous but the cuttinge of the foreskinne doth rather serue to teache vs to vnderstande that by our birth and nature wée are corrupt and that wée cannot be cleansed of that corruption but by the knife of stone And for that cause verily was circumcision giuen in that member and in none other I will anon adde another cause out of Lactantius why it was giuen in the priuities and in none other parte of all the bodye Moreouer circumcision did signifie testifie that God almightie of his méere grace and goodnesse is ioyned with an indissoluble bond of couenant vnto vs men whome his will is first to sanctifie then to iustifie and lastly to inriche with all heauenly treasures through Christe our Lorde and reconciler For that was the meaninge of the stoanie knife Because Christ the blessed séede is the rocke of stone out of which doe flowe moste pure and cleansing waters and he by his spirite doth cutt from vs whatsoeuer thinges doe hinder the mutuall league and amitie betwixt God and vs he also doth giue and increase in vs both hope and charitie in faith so that wee may be knitt and ioyned to God in life euerlasting which is the blessed and happie life in déede Nowe here it is expedient to heare the testimonies of the lawe and the Apostles In the 30. of Deuteron Moses saith The Lord thy God shall circumcise thy harte and the harte of thy seede that thou maist loue the Lorde thy God. Now the outward visible cutting was a signe of this inwarde circumcision And Paule also speakinge of Abraham saith And he receiued the signe of circumcision as the seale of the righteousnesse of faith which he had being yet vncircūcised that he should be the father of all them that beleeue though they were not circūcised that righteousnesse might bee imputed to them also c. Lo here Abrahams circumcision was a signe y God by his grace had iustified Abraham which iustificatiō he receiued by faith before his circumcision which is an argument that they which beléeue though they be not circumcised are neuerthelesse iustified with faithfull Abraham and againe that the Iewes which are circumcised are iustified of God by faith And for that cause was circumcision giuen in the verie bodie of man that he might beare in his bodie the league of God and be thereby admonished that hee is iustified by grace through faith Whereby wee gather also that the grace of God and the iustification of the godly is not tyed to the signe For if it had then had not Abraham béene iustified before his circumcision but euen in his circumcision Furthermore if it had béene so then the Lord whose wil is to haue mankind saued would not haue giuen commaundement to haue them circumcised vpon the eighth day For many children died before the eighth daye and neuer came to circumcision and yet they were not damned To which wee may adde that Sara Rebecca Rahel Iochabeth and Marie Moses sister with innumerable mo matrones and holie virgines could not be circumcised and yet they were saued by the grace of God through faith in the Messiah that was to come The grace of God therefore was not tyed to the sacrament of circumcision but yet it was not despised and neglected of the holy sainctes of the olde church but vsed to the end for which it was ordeined that is to be a testimonie and a seale of frée iustification in Christ who circumciseth vs spiritually without handes by the working of the holie Ghoste Furthermore God by the outwarde and visible signe did gather into one church them which were circumcised in which number those which he had chosen before hee did ioyne to him selfe with the bonde of his spirite For sainct Paule for the verie same cause did call the people of one religiō the circumcision as is euident by the 15. Chapter to the Romanes and the third to the Philippians Therefore by circumcision God did separate his people from the vnbeléeuing nations Whereupon it came that to be called vncircumcised was as great reproache among them as to be called dogge is nowe adayes among vs For an vncircumcised person was reputed for an vncleane prophane man and for such an one as had no parte
the law and the Prophets Moreouer oure Lord fulfilled the lawe in that he did most absolutely in all poinctes satisfie the will of God being himselfe the holiest of all in whome there is no spot no euill concupiscence nor any sinne in him is the loue of God most perfecte righteousnesse altogether absolute which righteousnesse he doth fréely coÌ„municate to vs that are most vnperfect if wee beléeue and haue oure hope fast settled in him For hée forgiueth vs our sinnes being made a cleansing Sacrifice for vs and maketh vs partakers of his owne righteousnesse which is for that cause called Imputed righteousnesse Whereunto the testimonies of the Apostle do apperteine God saith Paul was in Christ recoÌ„ciling the world vnto himselfe not imputing their sinnes vnto them For him which knew not sinne he made sinne for vs that we might bee made the righteousnesse of God by him Againe Abraham beleeued God and it was imputed to him for righteousnesse without workes So also if wee beleeue in God throughe Christ our faith shal be imputed to vs for righteousnesse For by faith we lay hold on Christ whom we beleue to haue made most absolute satisfaction to God for vs and so consequently that God for Christ his sake is pleased with vs and that the righteousnesse is imputed to vs as our owne and is in déed by gift our owne because wee are nowe the sonnes of God. These things being diligently weyyed it shal be easie for vs to aunswere them whiche make this question and doe demaunde since no mortall man doth of himself exactly satisfie the law Howe then is righteousnesse life and saluatioÌ„ promised to them that do obserue the lawe Our aunswere is forsoothe that that promise hath a respect to the perfect righteousnesse of Christ which is imputed vnto vs Otherwise it is assuredly certaine that the holy Scripture doth not so much as in one iote disagrée or square in any pointe from it selfe The Apostle doth plainly say If there had a lawe beene giuen which could haue giuen life then had righteousnesse beene of the lawe but now the Scripture hath shutt vpp all vnder sinne that the promise might be giuen by faith to them that do beleeue Wherefore he kéepeth or doeth fulfil the lawe euen of the tenne commaundements who doth the thing for which the lawe was chiefly ordeyned But the lawe was chiefly ordeyned as I did declare a little before to the ende that it might conuince vs all of sinne and damnation and so by that meanes send vs from our selues and lead vs by the hand to Christe who is the fulfilling of the lawe vnto iustification to euery one that doeth beléeue And therefore hée doth fulfil and kéepe the lawe who hath no confidence in himselfe and his owne woorkes but committing himselfe to the very grace of God doth séeke all righteousnesse in the faith of Christ Whereuppon now it is euident that these two sentences of Christ oure Lord are of one sense meaning Whosoeuer beleeueth in mee he hath life euerlasting And If thou wilt enter into life keepe the commaundements For Paule also in the 13. Chapiter of the Actes saith Be it knowen vnto you brethren that thorough Christe is preached to you the forgiuenesse of sinnes by him all that beleeue are iustified from all the thinges from which he could not be iustified by the lawe of Moses And to this place nowe belongeth all the woorke of iustification of whiche I haue at large disputed in an other place Now that faith wherewith we beleeue that Christ hath satisfied the law and that he is oure righteousnesse and our perfection is neither of our owne nature nor of our owne merits but is by the grace of God powred into vs through the holy spirit which is giuen into our hearts This spirite abiding in our heartes doth inflame our breastes with the loue and desire of Gods lawe to doe oure endeuoure to the expressing and shewing of the lawe in al our workes and conuersation Which desire and endeuour although they be neuer fully accomplished by reason of the sâ—eashes frailetie or weakenesse of mans nature which remayneth in vs euen till the last gaspe and end of our life is notwithstanding acceptable to God by grace for Christe his sake alone neither doeth anye Godly man put any confidence in this other but in the first fulfilling of the lawe as that which is onely absolute and perfecte For Paule in his Epistle to the Romans crieth out O wretched man that I am who shall deliuer me from the bodie of this death And yet immediatly after he answereth I thanke God. to wit because he hath redéemed me from death through Iesus Christ our lord So then I me selfe with the minde serue the law of God but with the fleshe the lawe of sinne There is then no damnation to them whiche are graffed in Christ Iesu which walk not after the fleshe but after the spirite c. Wherfore since we are in Christ we are in grace and therefore is God pleased with oure woorkes which being giuen to vs by faith and by the liberal spirite do procéede from an hart that loueth God the giuer of them all For Iohn saide This is the loue of God that we keepe his commaundementes And his commaundementes are not greeuous Hée addeth also the reason thereof and saith For al that is borne of God ouercoÌ„meth the world nowe euerie one is borne of God that doth beléeue as is declared in the first of Iohn By whiche it is easie to reconcile these 2. places which séeme at a blushe to iarre one with an other The lawes of God are heauie which neither we nor oure fathers were able to beare And The lawes of God are not greeuous or heauie to be borne For they are not heauie to the faithfull whiche are in Christ and to those which haue the gift of Gods spirite that is to those that are reconciled to God by Christe their Lord and Sauiour Without Christ faith in Christe they are most gréeuous and heauie to be borne of euery vnbeléeuer So the faithfull béeing stirred vpp by the spirite of God doth voluntarilie and of his owne accord do good to all men so farre as his abilitie doeth suffer him will not in any case do hurt to any man not forbecause hee feareth the punishment that in the law is appointed for the disobedient vniuste and wrongfull dealers but forbecause he loueth god And so also he fulfilleth the Iudicial lawe Here I know full well the thou wilt make this obiection and say if the law be fulfilled that the fulfilling thereof hath a place in the Sainctes faithful ones what néeded then I pray you the abrogating of the lawe What néeded Paule and all the best diuines to dispute so largely of the abrogation of the same I wil therefore say somewhat of the abrogation of the law first generallie then by partes peculiarly But first of all
spéeche the fruites of the spirite and of faith both are notwithstanding and are also sayde to bee ours that is to saye the woorkes of faithfull men partely because God worketh them by vs and vseth our ministerie in the dooing of the same and partely because wee are by faith the sonnes of God and are therefore made the brethren and ioyntheires with Iesus Christ For by this right of inheritaunce all the workes of God which are in vs Gods giftes do beginne to be not anothers but our owne and proper woorkes Yea the verie Scripture doeth attribute them to vs as vnto sonnes and fréeborne children For the Lorde in the Gospell saith The seruaunt abideth not in the house for euer the sonne abideth for euer Therefore as all thinges in the fathers house do by right of inheritance and title of proprietie come to the sonne although the sonne hath not gotten them by his owne industrie nor gathered them by his owne labour but hath receiued them by the liberalitie of his parents euen so the workes of God which he doth woorke in vs and by vs which are Gods gifts bestowed vppon vs both are and are saide to be our owne because we are the sonnes of the houshold as it were by adoption and therefore are the lawful heires Wherefore it were the signe of a verie vnthankfull minde for an adopted sonne beeing forgetfull of his fathers beneficence liberalitie to make his bragges that all those goods which hee enioyeth by right of inheritaunce were gotten come by through his owne labour and trauaile Whereuppon Paule saide verie religiously What hast thou that thou hast not receiued if thou hast then receiued it why doest thou yet boast as though thou receiuedst it not Verie well thought the holy martyre of Christe Sainct Cyprian who was wont to saye We should boast of no thing because wee haue nothinge of our owne And to this place belongeth that saying of the Prophet Esaie Shall the axe boast against him that heweth with it or shal the sawe brag against him that draweth it We verily are the instrumentes or tooles of God by which he woorketh For the Apostle saith We are ioyntworkers with God ye are Gods husbandrie ye are Gods building according to the grace which God hath giuen me Therefore according to the meaning of the Apostles writing Sainct Augustine lib. de Gratia et libero arb in the sixte Chapter doth saye When grace is giuen then doe our merites begin to be good and that through grace For if grace bee taken awaye then man doth fall not being set vp but cast downe headlong by free wil. Wherefore when man beginneth to haue good workes hee must not attribute them to him selfe but vnto God to whome it is saide in the Psalme Be thou my helper oh forsake mee not In saying forsake mee not he sheweth that if he bee forsaken he is able to do no good of him selfe So then in these woordes sainct Augustine doeth plainly enough declare that good workes are oures after that sorte that yet notwithstanding they ceasse not to be the workes of God yea that they ought neuerthelesse to bee ascribed to the grace of God that worketh in vs. Nowe by this which wee haue hitherto alledged out of the scriptures touchinge the true originall cause of good workes wee may easily vnderstande howe and after what manner the Scripture doeth attribute righteousnesse vnto oure merites For I haue in another place sufficiently declared and will againe saye somewhat when I come to the treatise of the Gospel that faith not woorkes doeth iustifie vs in the sight of God which is the especiall point and chiefe foundation of the Euangelical and Apostolicall doctrine All our workes generally are either the works of nature or the fleshe or else the workes of the lawe or else the workes of faith or grace Nowe the workes of nature or the fleshe do not iustifie but cōdemne vs Because that which is borne of fleshe is fleshe But the luste of the fleshe is death and enimitie against God. What the Apostle thought and saide touching the woorkes of the lawe I did declare to you in my former sermon By the woorkes of the lawe saith he shal no fleshe be iustified But if we beat out and examin the workes of grace and of faith wee shal finde that they both are and haue béene done by faithfull and iust men Whereupon it is manifest that iustification did alwayes goe beefore the workes of righteousnesse For the iust man doth worke righteousnesse so the righteousnesse is the fruite that the iust do bring forth Man verily is iustified freely by grace and not by woorkes which followe after iustification What may be saide to that where the Scripture saith that euen Abraham the father of all that beléeue was not iustified by the woorkes of grace and of faith He liued 430 yeres before the lawe he beléeued in God and by true faith did most excellent workes and yet by those his woorkes of faith hee was not iustified For Paule doth plainly argue thus If Abraham were iustified by workes than hath he wherein to boast but not before god For what saith the Scripture Abraham beleeued God and it was counted vnto him for righteousnesse To him that worketh is the rewarde not reckoned of grace but of dutie But to him that worketh not but beleeueth on him that iustifieth the vngodly his faith is counted for righteousnesse Nowe whereas wee conclude that we also shal bee iustified according to the example of Abraham by faith and not by workes wee ground that conclusion not vppon our owne mindes but vppon the Apostles doctrine who saith Neuerthelesse it was not written for him onely that faith was imputed to him for righteousnesse but it was written for vs also to whome it shal be reckoned if wee beleeue in Christ Touching this matter I haue alreadie disputed in the sixte sermon of the first Decade I verily am persuaded that this doctrine of the Apostles and Euangelistes ought to bee laide vp in the bottome of euery faithfull heart that wee are iustified by the grace of God not by merites through faith not through workes But while wee vrge and repeate this doctrine vnto the people we are saide of many to be the patrones of all naughtinesse and vtter enimies to al good workes and vertues But wee by this our preaching and doctrine of faith which doeth only iustifie do not contemne good woorkes nor thinke them to be superfluous Wee do not saye that they are not good but do cry out vppon the abuse of good woorkes and the corrupt doctrin of good works which is defiled with the leauen of the Phariseis For we teache to do good woorkes but wee will not haue them to be set to sale to be bought I cannot tell in what order of bargaining we wil not haue any man to put confidence in them wee will not haue any man to boast of the giftes of God wee
will not haue the power to iustifie or to merite life euerlasting to bee simply attributed vnto them For by that meanes Christe shoulde waxe vile and contemptible whoe hath with his death alone merited for vs the heauenly kingdome of God Almightie Neither do we by this as manye thinke we do separate good woorkes from faith Our doctrine is that workes and faith are not seuered but cleaue together as closely as may bee so yet notwithstanding that iustification is properly ascribed to faith and not to workes For workes do consist in our worthinesse but faith doth leane to the promise of God which setteth before vs both righteousuesse and life in the onely begotten sonne of God Christ Iesus our Sauiour And Christe is sufficiently able of him self and by his owne power and vertue to iustifie them that beléeue in his name without any ayde or helpe of ours at all I will not winke at some mennes obiection but fréely confesse that the Scriptures here and there do after a sorte attribute both life and iustification vnto good works But the scripture is not contrary to it selfe therefore we must searche and examine in what sense and howe life and iustification are ascribed to our woorkes Sainct Augustine dooth so aunswere this obiection that hee referreth our workes vnto the Grace of God. For in his booke De gratia et libero arbitrio the eighth Chapter hee writeth If eternall life be of duetie giuen to good works as the scripture doth moste plainly testifie saying Beecause God will rewarde euery man according to his workes then howe is eternall life of Grace consideringe that grace is not giuen as due to workes but freely and without desertes as the apostle Paule doth say to him that worketh the reward is not reckoned of grace but of duetie And againe The remnant saith hee are saued by the election of grace And immediately after be addeth If it be of grace then is it not nowe of workes for then grace is no more grace Howe then is eternal life which is gotten by workes a gift Or else did not the Apostle say that euerlastinge life is a gifte Yes verily he saide it so plainly that we cannot denye it Neither are his words so obscure that they require a sharpe vnderstander but an attentiue hearer For when he had saide the rewarde of sinne is death he addeth streightwayes but the gift of God is life euerlasting in Iesu Christ our Lorde Mee thinketh therefore that this question can bee none otherwise resolued vnlesse wee vnderstand that euen our good workes to which eternall life is giuen must be referred to the grace and gift of God because the Lord Iesus saith without mee ye can do nothing And the Apostle when he had saide ye are saued by grace through faith doeth presently adde and that not of your selues it is the gifte of God not of workes lest any man shoulde boast Thus much hitherto out of Saincte Augustine Nowe although this aunswere of Sainct Augustine be godly and plain enough to him that simply searcheth for the trueth yet I am sure that some there are which neuer will bée aunswered with it They wil I knowe go about vppon Sainct Augustines wordes to inferre y works and not faith alone do iustifie vs men For thus they argue wee are iustified and doe obteine eternall life by grace good workes doe belong to the grace of God therefore good workes do iustifie vs. Nowe it is not amisse to cloase buckle hande to hande with these disputers that in this little ye may perceiue that they bée méere shiftes of sophistrie which they set to sale vnder the name and colour of verie sounde arguments And firste of all there is no man so foolishe if hee hath read the doctrine of Sainct Paule but knoweth verie well that those two propositions cannot hang together wee are iustified by grace and we are iustified by workes For that sentence of Saincte Paule is as cleare as the Sunne where he saith If of grace then nowe not of workes for then grace were no grace Wee do freely graunt both their propositions to wite that we are iustified by grace and that woorkes belong to the grace of God or be the gifte of god But wee denye their consequence and say that it is false to wite that workes do iustifie For if that be true then may we in like manner truely saye a man doth see an hande doeth belong vnto a man and therevppon inferre therefore a hande doth see But who would gather so vaine a consequent For all doe vnderstande that a man doeth consist of sundrie members and that euery member hath his effectes and offices Againe what is he which knoweth not that the grace of God whiche is otherwise vndiuided is diuided and distinguished according to the diuerse operations which it worketh For there is in God a certeine as it were generall Grace whereby he created all mortall menne and by which hee sendeth raine vppon the iust and vniust But this grace doth not iustifie For if it did then should the wicked and vniust be iustified Againe there is that singular grace whereby he doeth for his onely begotten Christe his sake adopt vs to bee his sonnes he doth not I meane adopt all but the beléeuers onely whose sinnes hee reckoneth not but doeth impute to them the righteousenesse of his onely begotten sonne our Sauiour This is that grace which doeth alone iustifie vs in verie déede Moreouer there is a grace which beeing powred into our mindes doth bringe foorth good woorkes in them that are iustified This grace doeth not iustifie but doeth ingender the fruites of righteousenesse in them that are iustified Therefore we confesse and graunt that good woorkes belong to grace but after a certeine manner order and facion Againe they obiect and saye but Grace or faith and woorkes iustification also and sanctification are so ioyned together that they cannot be seauered one from another therefore the thinge that agréeth to one is also applyable vnto the other I verilye neither dare nor doe in any case gainesaye that faith and woorkes do cleaue together but I do vtterly denye that they twaine are all one so that the thing which is attributed to the one may also bee applyed vnto the other For faith although it bée weake and vnperfect in vs doeth notwithstandinge leane and staye vppon Christe his perfection alone and so farre foorth it doth iustifie vs But our workes haue in them for I vse the myledest phrase of speache some sprinkling of vice and sparckle of errour beecause of the originall disease that is naturall in vs all but it followeth not therefore that the grace of God is polluted by any vice or fault of ours which should of necessitie followe consequently if by reason of the streight knott betwixte them the properties of the one were common to the other Although the light of the Sunne bée not separated from the heate therof yet is not the light
from al sinne Therefore the moste proper phrase of speech is to saye that we are sanctified through faith by the bloud of Christe who saide I sanctifie my selfe from them that they also may bee sanctified through the trueth The latter is that they which are sanctified by the bloud of Christe through faith doe day by day sanctifie them selues and giue their mindes to holynesse To y doing and studie whereof the Apostles doe moste earnestly exhorte the Sainctes For Peter saith As hee which called you is holie so be ye also holie in your conuersation because it is written Bee ye holie for I am holie Sainct Paule saith This is the will of God euen your holinesse c. 1. Thessal 4. Sainct Iohn saith Nowe are wee the sonnes of God yet it doth not appeare what we shal be but wee knowe that when he shal appeare we shal be like him for wee shal see him as he is And euery one that hath this hope in him purifieth him selfe euen as he also is pure Nowe this purging or purification which is made by our care and industrie is called by the name of sanctification not because it is made by vs as of our selues but because it is made of them that are sanctified by the bloud of Christe in respecte of Christe his bloud For vnlesse that sanctification which is the verie true and onely sanctification in déede do goe before our sanctification I meane that whiche we worke is none at all But if that go before then is this of oures imputed for sanctification although in the meane while the spottes of sinne remaining in vs doe defile it and that we do put no confidence in it Therefore so often as thou shalt reade in the holy scriptures that righteousnesse is attributed to our good woorkes thou shalt thinke streightwayes that it is done for none other causes than those which I haue hitherto alreadie declared vnto thee For the Apostolical spirite cannot be repugnant or contrarie to it selfe This wil yet be made a great deale more manifest if we call to remembraunce and doe consider that the Apostles had to deale with two kindes of men the one sorte whereof did affirme that they were sufficiently able of their owne strength to satisfie or fulfill the lawe and that they coulde by their desertes and good woorkes merite eternall life yea they affirmed that the merite of Christe was not sufficient enoughe to the gettting of saluation vnlesse the righteousnesse of men were added therevnto Against these Paule disputed verie constantly and pithiely in all his Epistles For they made Christe and the grace of God of none effect The other sorte of men were such as abusing the doctrine of grace and faith did wallowe like swine in all filthie sinnes beecause they thought that it was sufficient vnto saluation if they did saye that they beléeued But they neuer declared their faith or beléefe by any good woorkes although occasion therevnto were giuen them Against these did S. Peter very well and wisely dispute in the 1. Chap. of his 2. Epistle and S. Iames in the 2. Chap. of his Epistle For hée affirmeth that Abraham was not iustified by faith onely but by workes that is to say that he was not iustified by a vaine opinion but by faith which bare and was full of good woorks For Iames doeth vse the names of Faith and iustification in one sense Paule in another Paul putteth faith for an assured confidence in the merite of Christ and hée vseth Iustification for absolution and remission of sinnes for adoptioÌ„ into the number of the sonnes of God and lastly for the imputing of Christ his righteousnes vnto vs But in Iames faith doth signifie a vaine opinion and iustification doth import not the imputing of righteousnesse but the declaring of righteousnesse adoption For it is vndoubtedly true that the holy Apostles of Christ S. Peter and S. Iames would not by their writinges make voyde the grace and merite of Christ to aduaunce the merites of mortall men but rather to withstand the vnpurenesse of them which put the faith of Christ in perill of disgracing to the offence of all good men liuing in the meane while most wickedly in detestable sinnes without repentaunce Therefore the Apostles of Christ requiring good workes at the handes of the faithfull doe first of all require a true and liuelie faith and doe referre them both vnto the grace of God. Let vs therefore most firmely hold that the Apostles doe attribute iustification life and saluation to good workes improperly to true faith properly but most properly to Christ who is the subiecte foundation of true faith For although true faith is not without good woorkes yet doeth it iustifie without good works by it selfe alone For it is most certaine that life and saluatioÌ„ are bestowed on vs after the same maner that health and life was giuen to the children of Israel whiche in the wildernesse were poysoned of the Serpents They had their health restored them not by any workes but by the onely beholding and loking vppon the brasen Serpent therfore we also are made partakers of eternall life by faith alone which is the true be holding and looking vp to Christ As Moses saith our Sauiour did lift vpp the SerpeÌ„t in the wildernesse so must the sonne of man be lifted vp that euerie one whiche beleeueth in him should not perishe but haue eternall life And the Apostle Paule saith Yee are saued by grace through faith not of yourselues it is the gift of God not of works least any man should boast c. With this doctrine of the Euangelistes and Apostles doe the testimonies of certaine doctors of the Church agrée Some of whiche I will recite vnto you déerely beloued not because these testimonies of the Scripture are not sufficient but because we wil not séeme to be the beginners bringers in of newe doctrines although in very déed that cannot be newe which is deriued out of the Euangelicall and Apostolicall doctrine albeit that all the doctors of the Church should gainesay or denie it Now therefore giue eare how some euen of the best of them do not in words onely say and write but also by proofes shewe that faith alone doth iustifie ORIGEN a very ancient writer vppon the 3. Chap. of the Epistle of Sainct Paul to the Romanes doth say Paul saith that the iustificatioÌ„ of faith alone is sufficient for a man so that euery one that doeth beléeue onely is iustified although no workes are once wrought by him Now if we require an example where any was euer iustified by faith alone without good workes that théefe I suppose is example good enough who being crucified with Christ did crie from the Crosse â—ord Iesu remember mee when thou commest into thy kingdome In the writinges of the Euangelistes there is mention made of no good worke whiche hee in his life time did and yet because of this his faith onely
without all controuersie that it needeth no businesse to proue it at all Hée verilie doeth euery minute augment in vs his giftes while wée are intentiue to doe good workes For in the Gospell hee saith To euery one that hath shal be giuen and hee shall abounde And from him that hath not shal be taken euen that which he hath not and shal be giuen to him that hath To this also may be added that God is fauourable to them that worke righteousnesse and doth enrich them euen with many temporal gifts and at the last bring them to life euerlasting For the Apostle Paul doth expressely say God shall reward euerie man according to his deedes to them whiche by continuing in welldoing seeke for glorie and honour and immortalitie eternall life And againe Glorie and honour and peace to euerie one that worketh well Although the Godly in all their good workes do not as I told you before respecte so much the recompence and reward at Gods hand as the aduauncement of Gods glorie the fulfilling of his will and profite of their neighbour For Paule sayeth Doe all thinges to the glorie of God. And againe Let no man seeke his owne but euery one an others profite euen as I doe in all thinges please all men not seeking mine owne commoditie but the profite of many that they may be saued Therefore all the Godly doe so directe and temper their woorkes that they maye please delight or honour God and profite many men For in so doing they expresse or represent the nature of God whose sonnes they both are and are also called For hee doeth liberallie powre out his benefits vppon all creatures and therefore his sonnes are beneficiall and bent to doe good to all men Thus much had I hetherto to say touching the nature or propertie cause end and effecte that is the very true and right meaning of good workes by whiche I hope it is euident to bee perceiued howe in what sense the Lord in the Scriptures is sayd to attribute the name of righteousnesse and iustification vnto the good woorkes of the Sainctes his seruauntes and that that true principle of oure rereligiō remayneth firme vnreproueable wherein wée confesse and hold That wee are iustified by the Grace of God for Christ his sake thorough faith and not for workes Now therfore there is nothing more behind but this onely for vs to make our humble petition to God for true faith in Christ our Lord and that by his grace hée will so guide vs that we may 〈◊〉 in workes put that in practise 〈◊〉 hetherto wée haue béene taught in 〈◊〉 wordes of this treatise that is to saye that wée may in good workes in déede expresse the faith which wée in words professe that wée haue in Iesus Christ our lord Amen ¶ Of sinne and of the kindes thereof to witt of originall and actuall sinne and of sinne against the holy Ghost And lastly of the most sure and iust punishment of sinnes ¶ The tenth Sermon WEe Haue lastlye now to discourse of sinne which as I told you is to be referred to the treatise of the law Of whiche that I may lawfully religiously rightly and profitablie speake to the edifying of you all I shal desire you to make your humble prayers with mée to God the father in the name of Christ his sonne our gratious Lord and mediatour Sinne is of most men taken for errour for that I meane whereby we do not only erre from the thing which is true right iust and good but do also followe and decline to that whiche is naughte The Latines deriue their word peccatum sinne of pellicatus whorehunting whiche is a faulte of wedded people that are corrupted with the spirite of fornication as when mē preferre harlotts before their lawfull wiues And this definition verilie doth wōderfully agrée to this present treatise For all wée that do beléeue are by faith handfasted to oure God as to our spouse and husband if therefore wée prefer other Gods before him or choose rather to serue them If I say we let passe the true Gods in déede to follow the shadow of Gods vaine hopes and the pernicious pleasures of this world then do we sinne in déed and commit fornication against oure spouse husband But the learned sort doe for the most parte put a difference betwixte peccatum and delictum which both in effect doe signifie sinnes But they call that delictum when the thing is not done that should be done and that they call peccatum when that is done that should be left vndone S. Hierome séemeth to haue taken delictum for the first fall to sinne S. Augustine sayeth that peccatum is committed of him y sinneth wittingly delictum of him that sinneth of ignoraunce I sée that those woordes are in some places confounded and that the one is vsed for the other In some places the errour or delictum is vsed as the mylder terme peccatum in a more gréeuous sense an heynous crime a mischiefe a reuolting or wickednesse for the greatest of all For S. Augustine sayth Neither is euery peccatum crimen beecause euery crimen is peccatum Therefore wee saye that the life of a man liuing in this transitorie world maye be found to bee without that heynous offence crimen for which al the world doth crie out vpon and accuse him but if wée say we haue nullum peccatum no sinne as the Apostle sayth wee deceiue our selues and the trueth is not in vs Amonge the Hebrues sinne is called by sundrie names which do import signifie ouerthwartnesse peruersenesse a fault an errour a reuolting infirmitie vice ignoraunce and transgression For to transgresse doth signifie to depart from the truth from oure duetie or office not to kéepe the right path but to turne awrie from the prescript rule of the law of god Now that rule or lawe of God is of the Hebrues called Thora that is to say a direction or a leading by the hand For it doeth directe a man in the wayes that are acceptable to the lord And therefore the Gréekes call sinne by the names of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Againe in the Hebrue tongue sinne is as much to say as a turning awaye from good to euill also a reuolting as when thou drawest thy neck from out of the yoke of his power to whome thou art a seruant finally it signifieth the crime or guilte whereby wee indaunger oure selues to the rodd of punishment Verilie S. Augustine taketh much paines to finde out a proper definition of sinne In his second booke De cōsensu Euangelistarum he sayeth Sinne is the transgression of the Lawe Ad Simplicianum lib. 1. Sinne is an inordinatenesse or peruersenesse of man that is a turning from the more excellent Creatour and a turning to the inferiour creatures De fide contra Manichaeos Cap. 8. hée sayeth What is it else to sinne but to erre in the preceptes of truth or in the truth it selfe
not perish but haue eternall life Nowe Moses did hang vp the brasen Serpent for the health and recouerie of them that were poysoned by the bytings of the Serpents For they died presently that were stung with the Serpents vnlesse they did immediately looke vp to the brasen Serpent for at the verie sight thereof the poysoned sting did loose all force and the person enuenomed was out of hande restored and cured againe Neither was there in the host of the Israelites any other medicine but that alone which whosoeuer despised he died without remedie For the force of the poyson was not expelled the life of the infected was not preserued either by the power of prayers or the multitude of Sacrifices or medicinable hearbes or any kinde of Physicke or other meanes of mannes inuention If any woulde escape the peril of death it behoued him to beholde the brasen serpent aloft Nowe that brasen Serpent was a type or figure of Christe our Lorde who being lifte vp vppon the Crosse is ordeined of God to be the onely saluation But nowe to whome doeth that sauing health befall To them forsooth that do beholde him beeing so lift vp The Lorde him selfe telleth vs what to beholde doth signifie and in stéede thereof doth put to beleeue Therefore no woorkes none other meanes nor merites of ours do saue vs from eternall death and from the force of sinne that is the poyson wher with we are all infected by the olde Serpent our aduersarie Satan Faith alone whereby wée beléeue in Christ who was lift vp for the remission of our sinnes and in whome alone our life and sure saluation doeth assuredly consist is the onely thinge that quickeneth vs which are alreadie dying by the enuenomed sting of Satan which is sinne Heare moreouer what the Lorde doth adde instructing Nicodemus yet more fully in the true faith and making the onely cause of our saluation to be the meere onely grace of God which is receiued by faith in Christ For so saith he GOD loued the worlde that he gaue his onely begotten sonne that euery one which beeleeueth in him should not perish but haue eternall life For God sent not his sonne to condemne the world but that the worlde might bee saued by him He that beleeueth in him is not condemned but hee that beleeueth not in him is alreadie condemned be cause he beleeueth not in the name of the onely begotten sonne of God. Loe what coulde bee spoken more plainely By faith we are made partakers of Christe By repeatinge faith so often his meaning was so to beate it into our heades that no man shoulde hereafter do once so muche as doubte of so manifest and euident a péece of doctrine But if here nowe thou doest little set by the authoritie of Christ then whose authoritie wilte thou estéeme But thou wilt not I knowe reiect his testimonie Yet albeit that his warrant is sufficient giue eare notwithstandinge to that disciple whome the Lorde loued who in his Epistle expounding as it were the wordes of the Lorde and by the way of exposition repeating and beating them into all mennes mindes doth strongly cry out If wee receiue the witnesse of men the witnesse of God is greater for this is the witnesse of God which he testified of his sonn he that beleeueth in the sonne hath the testimonie in him selfe Hee that beleeueth not God doth make him a lyar because lie beleeued not the recorde that he gaue of his sonne And this is the recorde that God hath giuen vs eternall life and this life is in his sonne He that hath the sonne hath life and hee that hath not the sonne of God hath not life But what else is it to haue the sonne of god than to beléeue in him For this sense is gathered by that which went before beeing of it selfe so euident that for mée to add any thing vnto it is to do nothing else but as it were to goe about with a tallowe candell to help or adlight the Sunne at his rising Nowe are we come to the place of Sainct Paule which is to be séene in the third and fourth Chapters of his Epistle to the Romanes The rightousenesse of God saith hee without the lawe is made manifest being witnessed by the testimonie of the lawe and the Prophets Paul in this place doth preache the Gospell most euidētly For I knowe not any other place wherein he doeth it more plainly Hee teacheth herein howe we are iustified before God what is the true righteousenesse and saluation of mankinde and by what meanes it commeth vnto vs. He saith that the righteousnesse of God that is to saye the righteousenesse which God bestoweth or whiche doth preuaile before God is reuealed without the lawe that is to say doeth come vnto vs without the helpe of the lawe to wite without the ayde merites of the workes of the lawe For touching the testimonie of the lawē the Prophets they witnesse both together that they which beleeue are iustified by the righteousnesse of god Now what that righteousenesse is he doth immediately declare saying The righteousenesse of God commeth by the faith of Iesus Christ vnto all and vppon all them that beleeue The righteousenesse saith he whereof wee speake is not humane or of mortall man but altogether diuine or of God him selfe For as God alone is onely iust so the righteousenesse of God is the true and onely righteousenesse of God that saueth vs Which righteousenesse God maketh vs to be partakers of by the faith of Iesus Christe to wite if wee beléeue in Christe and hope in him for to bee saued Neither is there here any man excluded from righteousnesse and saluation For Paule doeth plainely say Vnto all and vpon all that doe beleeue Wherefore God doeth repute and estéeme all them to be righteous which do beléeue in Iesus Christe his onely sonne our Lorde and Sauiour Now he doth presently annex the cause why he attributeth saluation vnto the righteousnesse of God and not of man or why the Gospell commendeth to vs the righteousenesse of God saying For there is no difference al haue sinned and haue neede of the glorie of God For because all men of their owne nature are destitute of the glorie of God that is since they are without the true image of God to the likenesse whereof they were created in the beginning therefore all men verily are vnrighteous and sinners wherevppon it followeth that in them there is no righteousnesse and that they haue nothing wherein to boast before the righteous God. For what else I beseech you doe sinners carrie from the iudgement seate of God but confusion and ignominie And for because all men are such and in that case therefore the Apostle doth verie wisely add but they are iustified freely by his grace thorough the redemption in Christe Iesus whome God hath sett foorth to bee a propitiation or reconciliation through faith in his bloud Whiche is all one as
that this saluation is common both to the Iewes and Gentiles saying Is he the God of the Iewes onely Is hee not also of the Gentiles yes euen also of the Gentiles For it is one God that shal iustifie the circumcision by faith the vncircumcision through faith Hee fetcheth the confirmation of that which he saide from the nature of god There is but one God who is of his owne nature both life righteousenesse And he is the God bothe of the Iewes and the Gentiles therefore he is the life and righteousenesse of both the people which righteousenesse hee bestoweth on them by faith therefore faith doeth iustifie or make them both righteous This is declared by the example of Cornelius the Centurion For he is iustified or as I should rather saye being once iustified hee is declared to be acceptable to God by the sendinge downe of the holie Ghoste in a visible fourme vppon him when as hee neither was circumcised nor yet had kept the lawe but had onely heard y preaching of the Gospell and had beléeued in Iesus Christ Nowe GOD did not iustifie Cornelius so alone but wil also iustifie all other nations by faith euen as hee wil not by anye other meanes than by faith alone iustifie the Iewes It followeth in Paule Doe wee then destroy the lawe through faith God forbidde but we rather mainteine the lawe For the defenders or the disputers in the defence of works or rather of iustification by workes are wont to obiecte if faith alone in Christ doth iustifie then is the lawe or doctrine of the lawe altogether vnprofitable For to what ende are wee commaunded to doe good woorkes if good workes do not iustifie The Apostle aunswereth that the lawe is not abolished by faith but rather mainteined For since faith doeth directly tende to Christe in whome alone it doth séeke and finde all fullnesse and that the lawe it selfe is the scholemystresse vnto Christ and doth shut vpp all vnder sinne so that iustification is by faith giuen to the faithfull it is moste euident that the lawe is not destroyed or darkened but confirmed and made lighte by the doctrine of faith The Apostle goeth on in his confirmation and saith What shal wee saye then that Abraham oure father as pertaining to the fleshe did finde For if Abraham were iustified by woorkes then hath hee wherein to boast but not before god For what saith the Scripture AbrahaÌ„ beleeued God and it was counted vnto him for righteousenesse There are verily many examples of the holy fathers but among all the rest the Apostle chose out this of Abraham to handle it at large For he in the Scriptures is called the father of them that do beléeue Wherevppon it is assuredly certeine that the children shal be iustified after the same sorte that theire father was as the Apostle hath in expresse woordes taught in the latter ende of the fourth Chapter Moreouer Abraham was famous for good workes aboue all the rest of the holie fathers therfore if any other could haue beene iustified by his good woorkes or merites much more might Abraham before all the rest But forbecause he was iustified by faith and not by workes it is manifest therefore that all the Sainctes also both haue béene and are iustified by faith and not by workes Furthermore Abraham liued 430 yeres before the lawe was reuealed by Moses wherevppon it followeth that his woorkes cannot be called the workes of the lawe by them that are the denyers of the iustificatioÌ„ by faith without the lawe Therefore the workes that hee did hee did them of faith and his woorkes were the works of faith and yet was he not iustified by them but by faith Therefore the â—lorie of the iustification of faith remaineth sounde vnspotted and vnmingled with any thing else What saith he shal we saye that oure father Abraham founde concerninge the fleshe to wite so farre forth as he is a man and we also men of him What I saye shal wee saye that hee deserued To this demaunde this answere must be added hee founde nothing and by his woorkes hee deserued nothing For the proofe followeth if by his workes he deserued any thing or was by his merits iustified then hath he wherein to boaste But he hath nothing wherin to boast therfore is he not iustified by his workes For God alone is righteous and kéepeth this his glorie vnto him selfe alone without any partener or ioyntpossessour with him freely iustifying them that are of the faith of Iesus Christe to the end that his grace may be alwayes praised But Paule him selfe by bringing in a place of Scripture doeth shewe that Abraham had nothinge wherein to make his boast For what saith he doth the Scripture say Abraham beleeued God and it was counted vn to him for righteousenesse Lo here the Scripture doth moste plainly say that Abraham was iustified by faith or rather that faith was imputed to him for righteousenesse and therefore that Abraham was for his faith counted righteous before the moste iuste and righteous God. But let vs heare Paule howe he applyeth this place of Scripture vnto his purpose It followeth then To him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of Grace but of duetie But to him that worketh not but beleeueth in him that iustifieth the vngodly his faith is counted for righteousenesse Which woordes verily maye bee briefely reduced into this kinde of argument Who soeuer doeth with his woorkes deserue anye thing to him the rewarde is giuen as a thing of duetie due vnto him and not imputed freely as though it were no debte But faith is imputed to Abraham vnto righteousenesse therefore he receiued righteousenesse not as a rewarde of duetie ought vnto him but as a gifte not due but freely giuen him And againe To him that worketh not but beleeueth in him that iustifieth the vngodly his faith is reckoned for righteousenesse But to Abraham faith was imputed vnto righteousenesse therefore he obteined righteousenesse by faith and not by workes Nowe there is an Emphasis in that he fayth But beleeueth in him that iustifieth the vngodly For therby is signified that he which is to be iustified doth bring nothing with him but the onely acknowledginge of his owne miserie and vngodlynesse to séeke for mercie at the hande of the Lorde For he vnderstandeth that he is destitute of good workes and such as may abide the tryall of Gods iust iudgement He doth therefore flye to the mercie of God presuming for a certeintie that the righteousenesse of faith is the ayde or helpe of the sinner that must be freely saued by the grace of God. Here by the way ye must note that Christians righteousenesse both is is saide to be imputatiue righteousenesse Which thing alone is able to breake the necke of all our boastinge for imputation is the contrarie vnto debte God is not of duetie bound to vs either for our owne sakes or for our woorkes sakes but so farre forth as hee
hath bounde him selfe to vs of his free grace and goodnesse And in vs there are many thinges that hinder the perfection of righteousenesse in vs Wherevppon Dauid cryed Enter not into iudgement with thy seruaunt for in thy sight shall no man liuing be iustified Therefore GOD doeth freely impute to vs the righteousenesse of faith that is hee reputeth vs for righteous because we beléeue him through his sonne So wee read that in the Euangelicall parable the Lorde did saye But when the debters were not able to paye hee forgaue them bothe the debte For GOD also forgiueth vs our debtes or sinnes not reputinge them vnto vs but countinge vs for righteous for Christe his sake For the same Apostle moste euidently testifying the same thinge in the seconde Epistle to the Corinthians saith God was in Christe reconciling the worlde vnto himselfe by not imputing sinnes to men And after that againe Him whiche knewe no sinne he made sinne for vs that wee might bee the righteousenesse of God in him What canst thou require more euident than that wee are counted righteous before GOD because by Christ his sacrifice oure sinnes are so purged that wee shoulde heereafter bee no longer helde with the guylte of the same Wee proceede nowe to reckon vpp the other argumentes of Saincte Paule as firme and manifeste as these that are alreadie rehearsed In the same Chapter therefore it followeth Euen as Dauid describeth the blessednes of the man to whom the LORDE imputeth righteousenesse without workes saying Blessed are they whose vnrighteousenesses are forgiuen and whose sinnes are couered Blessed is that man to whome the Lorde will not impute sinne In the beginninge hee doeth with cleare and euident woordes expresse the thing that hee intendeth to prooue or confirme to wite that GOD imputeth righteousenesse to the Saincts without woorkes What coulde bee saide more plainly And to proue it to bee so here he inferreth the testimonie of Dauid which doeth in a manner conteyne three sundry members or clauses Firste Blessed saith hee are they whose vnrighteousenesses are forgiuen Then Blessed are they whose sinnes are couered And lastly Blessed is that man to whome the Lord will impute no sinne Nowe the force of the argument or demonstration doeth consist in the wordes Forgiue Couer and not Impute The creditour forgiueth the debtour that whiche hee hath not payde him whether he bee able or not able to paye it him Wee in respecte of our sinnes whiche are our debtes are able to paye nothinge to GOD. Forgiuenesse therefore of those debtes or sinnes of oures is the gifte of Gods méere grace and liberalitie For the creditour cannot forgiue the thinge that is alreadie payde vnto him For when hee giueth backe the thinge that hee hath receiued in so dooing hee doeth not forgiue but giue and that deede in the Scriptures is called Donum a gifte not Remissio a forgiueing Wherevppon Sainct Paul saith GOD gaue to Abraham the inheritaunce therefore Abraham with his woorkes did not merite the same Secondarily some filthie thing that offendeth the eyes of men is vsually woont to bee couered and yet notwithstandinge the filthie thinge abydeth filthie still although it doeth not appeare outwardly vnto the eyes of men And our mercifull God hath couered our sinnes not that they shoulde not bee but that they shoulde not appeare or come to iudgement whiche thing is the gifte of grace and not of merites For the coueringe is nothing else than the bloud of the sonne of GOD for for his bloudes sake wee sinners are not damned Lastely GOD might by right and iustice impute sinne vnto vs but of his grace hee imputeth it not And all these layde together doe confirme and prooue that righteousenesse is freely by faith without workes imputed vnto vs. This verie same place of Saincte Paule taken out of Dauid doeth discusse and make plaine vnto vs other poyntes of doctrine also whereof there is some controuersie For wee learne that iustification is nothinge else but sanctification forgiuenesse of sinnes and adoption into the number of the children of god We learne that Saincte Paule speaketh not only of the Ceremoniall woorks of the Lawe but also of the Sainctes good woorkes of euery sorte Furthermore wee learne that both sinnes and iniquities that is all manner sinnes of the faithfull are freely pardoned and vtterlye forgiuen Moreouer wee learne that sinnes are fullye remitted not the fault onely but the punishement also whiche punishment some saye is reteined but God doeth not impute sinnes In an other place he saith that he wil not haue any remembrāce of our sinne at all Lastly we learne that the satisfactions for sinne of mans inuention is a moste vaine lye and flatlye opposite to the Apostles doctrine I haue hitherto alledged two most euident places the one out of the Gospell of Christe the other out of sainct Paule his Epistle written to the Romanes by which I meant to prooue that Christe beeing preached to vs by the Gospell is receiued not by workes but by faith and I hope I haue by diuine testimonies so declared this matter of importance that no man shall néede hereafter either to doubte or wauer in the same To all this nowe I adde this note still moste necessarie to be obserued that all good and holie men in the Church of Christ must with all their power do their indeuour that this doctrine of the Gospell maye abyde sincere and vtterly vncorrupted For they must in no case admitte that iustification is partely attributed to faith and the mercie of God and partely to the workes of faith and our owne merites For if that be admitted then doeth the Gospell loose all force and vertue I thinke therefore that all men must onely and incessantly vrge this that the faithful are iustified saued or sanctified by faith without woorkes by the grace and mercie I saye of GOD thorough Christe alone And I suppose verily that this doctrine of the Gospell must be kepte sincer◠and vncorrupte in the Churche for verie many causes but among all other for these especially which followe hereafter Firste of all it is manifest that the often repeated doctrine of the Grace of God which in his onely sonne doeth thorough faith alone woorke iustification is by so manye diuine testimonies euen from the beginning of the worlde by so manye demonstrations and so many determinations of vnreproueable counsels both so plainely declared and throughly inculcated that the verie cōsent of all ages in the trueth reuealed from heauen and the authoritie of the moste holye men in all the worlde do sufficiently inuite vs to retaine maintaine and keepe that doctrine vncorrupted Wée haue the iustification of oure blessed father Abraham a little aboue expounded by no obscure author but euen by Paule the teacher of the Gentiles and elected vessel of GOD him selfe Wee haue the doctrine of instification taught by the moste glorious kinge and Prophet Dauid a man euen after Gods heartes desire the greate grandsyre of Christ
whereas the sacramentes were common to all yet grace was not common to all which is the pithe of the sacramentes As euen now at this daye faith is reuealed which then was hid the founteine of regeneration is common to all whiche are baptised in the name of the father and of the sonne and of the holy Ghoste but the inward grace whereof they are sacramentes wherby the members of Christe with their head are borne a new is not common to all Thus farr Augustine who teacheth that their signes or sacraments are not vnequall or bulike whiche haue the same faith and religion but that all the difference that is resteth in the diuersitie of the time otherwise they differ not Nowe that I haue made an ende of the similitude and difference of the Sacramentes of the old and newe testament and that by occasion of a receiued opinion that the sacraments of the newe lawe doe conferre or giue grace of themselues let vs also consider what manner of thinge the same is And first touching the word Grace I will giue you these fewe thinges to note Grace is the fauour and good will of GOD wherewith God the father imbraceth vs for Christes sake purifyeth iustifieth and endueth vs with his good giftes and saueth vs. For the writinges of the Apostles doe plainely call that Grace whereby wée are saued and iustified or made righteous by faith in Iesus Christ Of this Grace it is written I make not the Grace of God of no effecte For if righteousnes come by the Lawe then Christ died in vaine Of this Grace it is written Christ vnto vs is beecome vnprofitable as many as are iustified by the lawe are fallen from Grace Of this Grace it is written If it come of grace then is it not of woorkes for else grace now is no more grace What is not the sonne of GOD himselfe called The Grace and gift of GOD Iohn 4. Titus 2. Cap. Nowe to conferre Grace what is it else than to giue or franckely and fréelye to bestowe some thinge on a man which he had not before Therefore if the Sacramentes doe giue Grace to the receyuers of them then truely they giue those thinges whiche they signifie to them whiche had them not I meane Christe with all his giftes that is to saye they make them pleasaunt and acceptable vnto GOD they iustifie and saue yea and that of them-selues insomuche as they are said to haue receiued vertue to sanctifie from the passion of Christe and not to signifie onely or to helpe to commende or to further Yea and they also attribute the receyuing of Grace to our worke wherby we receiue the Sacrament But howe contrarie this doctrine is to the trueth of the holye Prophetes and Apostles I will now declare It was an old errour amonge the Iewes that Sacramentes did iustifie Hereof commeth it that the holy Prophetes of GOD reasoning and rebuking the people of God committed to their charge yet sauouring of false opinions cryed That their labour whiche they bestowed vppon their Ceremonies and sacrifices was in vaine And that GOD is delighted with faithfull obedience with fayth I say charitie innocencie and also with true godlines Amonge whome Ieremie sayeth Thus sayeth the Lord of hoastes the GOD of Israel Heape vpp your burnte offeringes with your sacrifices and eate the fleshe For when I brought your fathers out of Aegypt I spake no word vnto them of burnt offeringes and sacrifices but this I commaunded them saying Hearken and obeye my voyce and I will bee your GOD and yee shall bee my people so that yee walke in all the wayes whiche I haue cōmaunded you that ye may prosper The like place is in Esaie the first Chapiter The Lord hath not despised neither haue his holy Prophets contemned all sacrifices in generall since hée him selfe instituted them by Moses but they sought to suppresse beate downe that false opinion and vaine confidence whiche they had in sacrifices It is a vaine confidence and a false opinion to beléeue and thincke that sacrifices of themselues and for our workes sake doe make vs acceptable vnto god For faith maketh vs acceptable vnto God by the Messias And the Lord did not institute sacramentes or sacrifices that beeing offered they might giue grace or iustifie vs but to be witnesses of the grace of God that by them his people might be kept drawne in due order from idols and heathenish worshippings and ledd to Christ the highe priest and onely sacrifice or oblation for the whole world For they were certeine scholinges or exercises as Paule proueth saying The law was our scholemaister vnto Christe that wee should bee iustified throughe faith but after that faith is come wee are no longer vnder a scholemaister Therefore the sacrifices of the old lawe did not giue grace to them that sacrificed neither wrought they their iustification but were tokens and testimonies that God doth sanctifie and iustifie by and through the sacrifice appointed before all worldes the Messias I mean◠to faith in whome they did as it were a certeine scholemaister by guiding vs bring vs. And truly when the Apostles preached the pure and sound doctrine of the Gospell that By the onely grace of God in Christ the faithfull are saued this auncient errour of their elders had taken such déep roote in the minds of the Iewes that euen they whiche had receiued Christe stoode neuerthelesse in cōtention y Christ was not able fully to sanctifie iustifie without the helpe of the Iewishe sacrifices Against whome the Apostles disputing with great grauitie and inumcible power of y spirite did plainely proue that a Christian without any obseruations of the ceremoniall lawe or helpe of any woorkes euen by the only méere and frée grace and mercie of God in Christ is sanctified purified iustified and saued Whiche vndoubtedly is the healme as commonly is said and stearne of the Euangelists and Apostles doctrine whiche who so denieth he hath no part doubtlesse in the inheritance of Christ and his Gospell Neither is it obscure or doubtful whiche euen nowe I haue set forth in these fewe wordes For who is ignorant of that memorable dissention betwéene the chiefe Apostles of Christe Paul and Barnabas kindled against those which taught Except the Christians were circumcised after the maner of Moses they could in no wise be saued Against whome Peter maketh this conclusion That our hearts are purified by faith that wee whiche beleeue shal be saued by the grace of our Lord Iesus Christ True it is that the aduersaries would bring backe againe that which the Apostles abrogated and toke away but in the meane while this is also vndoubtedly true that the Apostles with no other forceable engine more strongly battered as it were and beate downe flat to ground their aduersaries bulworke in defence of sacraments y purifie thā with this That we which beleeue shal be saued by the grace of our Lorde
Iesus Christe And whereas in euery place almost they adde Not by the lawe not by ceremonies or other rituall obseruationes do wee thinke that they will admitte Sacramentes to the partaking of suche power and vertue séeing they be cōprehended vnder rites and ceremonies and so accounted Christian faith doeth attribute the grace of GOD remission of sinnes sanctification and iustification fully and wholely to the frée mercie of God to the merite of Christs passion yea in suche sorte doth Christian faith attribute these spirituall benefites vnto it that beside it nothing at all is admitted to take parte with it Therefore whereas Lombard saieth That sacramentes haue receiued power to conferr or giue grace by the merite of the passion of Christe it is of his owne foarging For as Christ giueth not his glorie to any either saint or mortall man muche lesse to a creature without life euen so he that beléeueth to be fully iustified by the death and resurrection of the Lord séeketh no further grace and righteousnesse in any other thing than in Christe only vpon whom he stayeth whome also by faith he féeleth in his hart or minde alreadie to exercise his force by the holy Ghost For herevnto perteyne those sayinges in the Gospel Goe in peace thy faithe hath saued thee And also He whiche drinketh of this water shall thirst againe but whosoeuer shall drinke of that water which I shal giue him shall neuer thirst c. To this perteineth the saying of Paule also Therefore being iustified by faith we are at peace with God thorough our Lorde Iesus Christ By whome also we had an entraunce by faith vnto this grace wherein wee stande and reioyce in hope of the glorie of God. I am not ignorant of the craftie sleightes of some who imagine there is a certeine generall also a speciall faithe The generall faithe they call that whereby we beléeue that we are truely iustified by the deathe and resurrection of Christe but that they call a speciall faith whereby we béeléeue that by the sacramentes and by our owne worke the gyfts of GOD are applied particularly to euery one of vs one by one But to what purpose was it béeing in a lande where they might bee fedde with Manna to looke backe to the potage pottes and vnsauourie léekes of Egypt What I pray you haue Christians to doe with the distinctiōs of subtile sophisters or how will they proue this distinction of theirs vnto vs Verily there is but one faith and the same is no other in the vse of the Sacraments than it is without the vse of them Without the vse of them we beléeue that wee are sanctified by the death and resurrection of Christ In baptisme and the Lordes supper we practise no other faithe than wherby we beléeue that we are purged from our sinnes by the grace and mercie of Christe and that by his body giuen for vs and his bloud shed for vs we are redéemed from deathe and become heirs of eternal life Not the Sacramentes but faithe through the holy Ghost applyeth these thinges vnto vs whiche thing all the writinges of the Apostles doe witnesse but suche feigned gloses do obscure and darken To be shorte there is one GOD and Sauiour of all one Saluation one Redemption and purging one faith whereby wee receiue Saluation offered vnto vs of GOD in Christe through the holie Ghoste The same is declared or preached vnto vs in the worde by the minister and is represented and sealed by the Sacramentes And now who knoweth not that Paule the Apostle in all his writinges onely laboureth to proue that those that beléeue are iustified by faith in the Lorde Iesus and not by any workes Againe who is ignoraunt that the receiuing and celebration of sacramentes are also counted among our workes Wherevnto I will add this that Sacramentes giue not that whiche they haue not themselues but they haue not grace and righteousnesse and heauenly gyftes therfore they doe not giue them But hence springeth vppe another disputation for vs to handle whether the grace of GOD and a certeine heauenly power be put in or included in the Sacramentes and as it were conteined in them so that from them it might be conueyed into the receyuers The whole rable of Priestes and monkes as well in worde as in déede haue bewrayed them selues that they thinke That in the bare signes there is heauenly grace included yea and that God himselfe is comprehended in them For from no other founteine sprang their carefull disputations concerning That the mouse eateth when it eateth the Sacrament of the bodie of Christe Pope Innocent Libro quarto De Sacramento altaris Capite vnde cimo sayth Miraculously doth the substaunce of bread returne againe not that bread which was turned into flesh But it cōmeth to passe that in sted of it other bread is miraculously created which bread is eaten c. Behold here is a certein wittie miraculous kinde of diuinitie I passe ouer of purpose many other whiche are of this kinde And herevnto that by crossinges and certeine secret words gestures and breathings they consecrate the water of baptisme all which things they beautifie with the name of blessinge And among other thinges they sing thus God by the secrete mixture of his light make fruitefull this water prepared to regenerate men with-all that beeing sanctified and borne againe of the immaculate wombe of the heauenly founteine it may come foorth a new creature Let this holy innocent creature be free from all the assaultes of the aduersarie Let him not intrap it in his snare Let it become a liuing founteine a regenerating water a purifying riuer that all that are dipped in this wholesome lauer the holy ghost working in thē may atteine to the excellencie of perfect purificatiō Wherfore ô thou creature of water I blesse or coniure thee by the liuing God by the true God by the holy god by the god which in the beginning feparated thee by his word from the drie lande c. Againe breathing thrice on the water he forthwith vttereth these wordes Thou O Lord blesse with thy worde these waters which make request vnto thee that beside their natural cleannes whiche in washing they may giue to our bodies they may also be effectual to purifie our soules Then the priest taketh a burning waxe candle and putteth it thrice in the water consecrated to baptisme saying Let the power of the holy Ghost come down into this plentifull founteine He addeth And let it make the whole substance of this water fruitefull with the fruite of regeneration And so foorthe All these thinges they vnderstande and expounde to be spoken simplie and without tropes or figures whiche euidently enough declareth what these men attribute to holy or consecrated water and howe they thinke that in the signes the holy thinges themselues are conteyned Aboute this matter Bonauentura hathe woonderfully busied himselfe who in his writing In 4. Magistri
that by a certeine heauenly couenant it is so appointed by GOD that sacramentes shoulde haue grace in themselues and should from themselues as by pypes conuey abroade the water of grace vnto those that are thirstie that is alledged without warrant of the Scripture and is repugnaunt vnto true religion As by those thinges whiche haue hitherto béene handeled and disputed of doeth as wee thinke sufficiently appeare wherevnto also we adde this The holy and elect people of God are not then firste of all partakers of the first grace of God and Heauenly gyftes when they receiue the Sacramentes For they enioy the thinges before they be partakers of the signes For it is plainely declared vnto vs that Abraham our father was iustified before he was circumcised And who gathereth thereby that iustification was not exhibited and giuen vnto him by the sacrament of circumcision but rather that that righteousnesse whiche he by faith before possessed was by the Sacrament sealed and confirmed vnto him And moreouer who wil not thereof gather that we whiche are the sonnes of Abraham are after no other manner iustified than it appeareth that our father was iustified and that our sacramentes worke no further in vs than they did in him especially since the nature of the sacramentes of the people of the olde Testamente and ours is all one Whereof I will speake a little afterwarde more at large when I expound the place of the Apostle in the fourth to the Romanes The Eunuche of whome I spake euen now out of the Actes as he iournyed and sawe water he said to Philip See here is water what letteth me to be baptised Philip sayde vnto him If thou beleeuest with all thy hart thou maist And he answered and saide I beleeue that Iesus Christe is the sonne of God. Afterward immediately it followeth And they weÌ„t down both into the water he baptised him The Eunuche sayeth the Euangelist beléeued with al his hart that is to to say truly without dissimulation Nowe let vs sée what the Scripture saith concerning suche a faith S. Iohn the Apostle Euangelist saith Who so euer beleeueth that Iesus is Christ is borne of God. He againe saith Whosoeuer confesseth that Iesus is the sonne of God in him dwelleth God and he in GOD Also Paule that elect vessel and doctour of the Gentiles sayth If thou shalt knowledge with thy mouth the Lord Iesus and shalt beleeue in thine hart that God raysed him from the dead thou shalt bee saued And againe Saint Iohn sayth in his Epistle He that beleeueth on the sonne of God hath the witnesse in him self And this is the record how that God hath giuen vnto vs eternall life and this life is in his Sonne He that hathe the Sonne hathe life and he that hath not the Sonne hath not life Briefely of all these thinges this wee gather The Eunuche beléeued before he receiued baptisme therefore before he receiued baptisme he was borne of God in whome he dwelled and God in him hee was iust and acceptable in the sight of God and moreouer he had also life in himselfe and therefore the baptisme whiche followed did not giue that to the Eunuch which he had before but it became vnto him a testimonie of the trueth a seale of the righteousnesse whiche came by faith and there withal to assure vnto him the continuance and increase of God his gyftes After the same maner we reade of Cornelius the Centurion in the same Actes of the Apostles that he beléeuing the preaching of the Apostle Peter receiued the holie Ghost also in a visible shape as the Apostles did at Hierusalem in the day of Pentecoste And that Peter when he knewe that thing sayde Can any man forbid water that these should not be baptised whiche haue receiued the holy Ghost as wel as we For asmuche therefore as Cornelius with his housholde receiued the holy Ghoste before they were baptised it is manifest that he did not obteine the holie Ghoste as giuen firste by baptisme or with baptisme Againe we reade in the Actes of the Apostles They that gladly receiued the woorde of Peter were baptised Therefore before they were baptised of Peter they had obteined the grace of God through faith For why I pray you doe we baptise our Infantes Is it because they beléeue with their hart and confesse with their mouthe I thinke not Do we not therefore baptise them because God hathe commaunded them to bée brought vnto him because he hath promised that he will be our GOD and the GOD of our séede after vs To be short because we beléeue that GOD of his méere grace and mercie in the bloud of Iesus Christ hathe cleansed and adopted them and appointed them to bee heires of eternall life We therefore baptising Infantes for these causes doe aboundantly testifie that there is not first giuen vnto theÌ„ in baptisme but that there is sealed and confirmed whiche they had before Let vs also ioyne vnto these thinges a testimonie of the Supper of the Lord. The Apostle teaching how the Godly shoulde prepare them selues to come to the Lordes Table sayth Let a man proue him selfe and so let him eate of this bread and drinke of this Cuppe But to examine or proue signifieth to search as muche as lyeth in man the harte or minde and thoroughe diligent inquisition to sifte ones conscience And GOD is sayde â—o proue our nartes And the same Apostle willeth vs To proue what is the good acceptable wil of God. But this proofe cannot be without knowledge iudgement y knowledg iudgement of Christians is faith therfore whosoeuer proueth himselfe before hee come to the Supper hath faith If he haue faith then he wanteth not those thinges that are coupled with faithe and therefore in the Supper those heauenly benefites are not firste receiued but thankes are giuen for those that are receiued I haue hereby shewed and proued I suppose that Sacramentes doe not conferre grace They obiect I know well enoughe against these thinges who are persuaded that sacraments giue grace and conteine included within them the thinges signified that wee doe euacuate and make of none effect the Sacramentes and that wee teache that the faithfull receiue in them or by them nothing but bare water and bare bread and wine and that by that meanes GOD by vs is accused of falshode and lying Wee briefely answere If they set voyde or emptie thinges as I may so say againste full thinges so as they bee voide or emptie whiche haue not the thinges themselues included in them truely I had rather confesse them to be voide than full But if they call them voide or emptie and meane prophane or vnholy thinges that is to say whiche differ nothing from prophane signes if by bare they vnderstande thinges of no force we openly professe that we haue sacramentes whiche are holy and not prophane effectuall and not without force
exâ—â—sition of the scripture 〈◊〉 not be câ—â—trary to the artiâ—â—â— of our beliefe The expositioÌ„ must not be repugnant to the loue of God and our neighbour 〈◊〉 expounâ—â—â—g the â—â—â—â—ptures â—e must â—â—rk that â—â—at goeth â—â—fore and â—â—lloweth â—â—â—er and 〈◊〉 the circumstaÌ„â—es The exposition of gâ—ds word â—â—st be maâ—â— by 〈◊〉 layinâ—â—â—geâ—her of â—iuers places 2. Pet. 1. The scriâ—tures mâ—â— be expoâ—â—ded wiâ—â— zealous â— hertafâ—â— earnest prayer The deâ—nitions 〈◊〉 faith The description of true fayth The begiâ—ning and cause of faith Faith is planted by the worde of God. We muste â—raye for â—rue fayth That faith is an vndoubted persuasion of the minde Faith beleueth not euerithing what soeuer Examples â—f vndoubâ—ed saith â—herunto â—aith leaâ—eth and what the â—biect or â—oundation of faith 〈◊〉 Two chief â—â—inâ—s of â—aith True faiâ—â— seeketh aâ—â— good thiâ—ges in 〈◊〉 through Christ â—rue faith â—eleeueth 〈◊〉 holy â—â—riptures Fayth is â—ue alone 〈…〉 religions but no more theâ— one true fayth Faith doâ—â— encrease and decrease Generall and particular faith Faith inspâ—red and Faith gotten 〈…〉 mall 〈…〉 The power and efâ—ecte of faith Faith is the true knowledge that maketh men wise How man may attaine to â—he chiefe goodnesse Faith maketh happy Faith quickneth Faith ioyneth to god Faith iâ—stifieth Iustification What it is â—o iustifie â—hriâ—t hath 〈◊〉 on â—im self 〈…〉 sinnes The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of since â—re takeâ— away by Chriâ—â— The death â—f Christ a â—â—ll satisâ—â—ction for â—ur sinnes Howe punishment is laide on vs. God hath â—ppointed â—â—at he â—hat beleeâ—eth shuld â—aue eternall life and be iustified Men are â—ustified â—y faith â—lone Christ coÌ„pared with Adam Gods Testament We are not iustified by the workes oâ— the Lawâ— but by Faith Christ died not in vaine All men are sinnerâ— God iuâ—â—â—fieth as 〈◊〉 the Gentiles as 〈◊〉 Iewes by faith By what meanes â—ur father â—braham was iustiâ—â—ed Neither is â—aith nor the promis of none effect â—ustification of free gift Faith sheweth foorth and expresseth it selfe by good workes Faith onely iustifieth Of good workes Faith the â—oore of al good â—oâ—kes Faith the victorie 〈◊〉 al Christians The Apoâ—tles 〈◊〉 The partition of the Apostles Creede God is one in suâ—stance anâ— three in persons I beleeue in God God is called a father God is called Almighty â—od is the mâ—ker of heauen â—nd earth The secoÌ„d article of our belief To belieue in the Sonnâ— of God. Who the Sonne of God is Consubstantial â—oesseÌ„tiall The onely Sonne Iesus Christe Christe is our Lord. The 3. Article of our bâ—lieâ— The causes of the Lord his incarnatioÌ„ Immanuel A mediatour Tâ—e manner of 〈◊〉 his â—â—nceptioÌ„ The causes why Christ hiâ— conceptioÌ„ is pure Of the birth of Christ The fourth Article of our belief â—â—â—ist did 〈◊〉 Christ sufered vnâ—er Pâ—ntiâ—s Pilate Our Lord was buried He descended into Hell. The fift article of ouâ— belief The glorious resurrection of Christe What a resurrection â—s Out of from the dead He was â—rucified dead tokeÌ„ downe and laid â—â— his granâ— vpon 〈◊〉 Friday where his body â—ay â–ª Saturday that is Eâ—â—er eueâ— and one Sunday which is Easter day in the morning he rose againe froÌ„ death to life The sixte article of our belief The glorious ascension of Christ The forâ— of Christ his ascension into heauen He ascenâ—ed into â—eauen He sitteth at the right hand of God the father Almighty The definition of gods right hand take here for the places name To sit is to be at rest and enioy felicitie Gods right hand the name of his power and in this signification to sit is to reign Saint Hierom of the â—ight haÌ„d of the faâ—her Saint Augustine of the right hand of 〈◊〉 father â—â—int Fulgentius His humanitie iâ— lâ—cal that is â—â—â—teined iâ— space of â—lace but â—â—s Godhead incoÌ„preheÌ„sible as that that is euery where 〈…〉 not 〈◊〉 in any place Saint vigilius The seuenth Article Christ a Iudge To Iudgâ— what it 〈◊〉 The picâ—ure of â—he laste â—â—dgemeÌ„t The quick and dead are iudged The reward and punishment is moste certaine the eighth article of our faith The father in Christ hath fully giuen vs all heauenly treasures The ninth â—rticle of â—ur belief â—ee must â—ot in our â—onfession â—y I beâ—â—eue in â—he church Cyprian Augustine Paschasius â—â—int Greâ—orie â—homas â—quine Pope Leo. The Catholike Church The true Churche Wee beleeue the Church to be holy How the Church 〈◊〉 holy The coâ—munion of 〈◊〉 The tenth â—rticle of our belief The acknowledging and confessing of our sinnes Oâ—r sins arâ— forgiâ—eÌ„ of god 〈◊〉 for â—ur owne merits but for Christ his sake All sinnes are forgeuen God alone and not man forgeueth sinns Howe sins are forgeuen We make not satisfaction for punishmeÌ„t The eleâ—enth artiâ—le of our â—aith The resurrection of the flesh Whether the same bodies that do â—utâ—ifie rise again Testimoniâ—s of the true resurrection In what sort our bodies shal rise again Of what facion our bodies shal be in the resurrection A glorious body What a glorious â—â—dy is Glorious bodies rest free from vilenesse The natural and spiâ—â—tuall body Fleshe and â—â—oud â—hal not be 〈◊〉 heauen Sâ—â—su aniâ—â—li Animalis The bodies of thâ— wicked shall also rise agaâ—n The tâ—elfth article of our belief Lyfe eueâ—lasting The face of God. Loue and câ—antie Loue froÌ„ whence it is Double charitie The leâ— of God â–ª By the loue of God all euilles are ouercome The loue â—f God faâ—oneth vs 〈◊〉 the will 〈◊〉 pleaâ—â—re of â—od The manner how to loue God. Gâ—d alone to be loued Who is our neighbour The 〈…〉 â—ny one â—hat is a â—â—an as wel 〈◊〉 we An order â—nd meaâ—â—re in 〈◊〉 Howe our neighbour must be loued The loue of our neighbour must bee sincere We must loue our neighbour as our self We must loue ouâ— neighboâ—â— as Chrisâ—â— hath loue vs. Howe we ought to stand our nâ—ighbour in steede The pith of Charity Loue the fulfilling of the laâ— Workes of mercie An exhortation to Loue What law is The diuision of â—awes The laâ— of natuâ—â— ConscieÌ„câ— Nature Two especial points of the law of nature The Genâ—â—lâ—s knew God. Friendship societâ—â— of men tâ— be preseâ—ued The Lawe of nature answerable to the written Lawe 1 Of God. The Ethnickes sentâ—nces are in some plâ—ces maâ—â—â—ed 2 The Gentiles against idoles 3 The name â—f God â—ighly esâ—eemed 4 The Genâ—â—les keeâ—ers of reâ—â—gion 5 The honoâ—ring of parentes 6 Murder adulterie 8 Theft 9 Lies False witnesses A hill in Rome Cataâ—a a Towne in Sicilie 10 Concupiscence Nature without grace of none effect â—awes of â—en â—awes of â—licie Ecclesiasâ—â—cal Laâ—â— Superstitious lawâ—â— Mens â—â—â—ditions What the Lawe of God is The moâ—all lawe The Ceremoniall Lawe The Iudiciall Lawe The Law was euen before Moses time The Patriarches before Moses had the Ceremoniall and iudiciall Lawes The Moâ—al Lawe endureâ— still The maâ—estie and â—ignitie of â—he moral â—awe 〈…〉 the â—â—st holy 〈◊〉 in 〈…〉 of 〈◊〉 Two Tables
nor the lawe only kill 2. 〈◊〉 Moses doth 〈◊〉 deade to Christ 〈◊〉 lawe â—â—cheth 〈◊〉 riâ—â—tâ—ousâ—â—se The precepts of the law are the rudiments of the world The kinde of righteousnesse which was in the people of the old auncient world A carnall of fleshly people The lawe frameth the life of man. The lawe â—â—idleth the 〈◊〉 It is vnpossible for vs of our own strength to fulfil the lawe Paul spake in the 7. cha to the Romanes of his own person 〈…〉 the 〈◊〉 of the. The 〈…〉 Christ hath fulfilled the law is the perfectnes of the faythfull Life is promised to them that keepe the lawâ— Howe 〈◊〉 may 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 Howe wee may keepe the lawe Gods commaundements are not heauie to be born Of the abrogation of the law 1 3 4 The 〈◊〉 is 〈…〉 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 How farre â—oorth the ceremonials are abrogated Heb. 1. Ceremonies the niddle wal or patition Ceremonies of hand writing The citie and teÌ„ple of Ierusâ—leâ— destroyed â—ani 9. Num. 24. 〈…〉 they 〈…〉 or 〈◊〉 The priesthood abrogated 1. Cor. 9. Math. 10. The place â—or to worship God in is free â—or euery man to choose where hee listeth and the congregation liketh To 〈…〉 places The holy 〈…〉 The Romish Iubilie 1 2 〈…〉 2 The 〈…〉 the 〈◊〉 is to 〈…〉 〈…〉 〈◊〉 choice of meates abrogated 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 â—â—â—bidden of the 〈◊〉 The decree of the Synode held at IerusaleÌ„ The false Apostles doctrine They subscribe their owne names and inscribe the names of them to whom the the Epistle is sent â— Gal. 〈◊〉 his 〈◊〉 it 〈◊〉 Spanâ— to the 〈◊〉 The exposition of the generall decree of the Synode held at IerusaleÌ„ 1 Act. 10. Men 〈…〉 the 〈◊〉 of 〈…〉 S. Iames alloweth of S. 〈◊〉 opinioÌ„ From som certaine thinges must the Saintes abstaine S. Iames defended The abrogace of â—he Iudiciall lawes The 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 of the 〈…〉 peoplâ— The 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 are all 〈◊〉 churâ—â—e and â—eople of 〈◊〉 and â—he same 〈◊〉 That the Fathers 〈◊〉 haue al 〈…〉 The Fathers and we haue al one faith The Fathers and we haue al one spirit Exod. â— Deut. 〈◊〉 The Fathers had the same hope and â—nheritaÌ„ce that we â—aue That Saluation was not promised onely but also performed vnto the fathers Ad inferos Ad inferos 1. Pet. 4. The Fathers and we haue al one maÌ„â—er of inuâ—cation 〈…〉 Of the difference of the olde newe testament and people Al thingâ—â— more â—â—ident in the newe people or couenant thaÌ„â—ere in the 〈◊〉 〈…〉 christ hath taken all burthens from our shoulders The bondage of the law in the old testament The people of the new testament are newe and without al number So that the people of this testament are after the name of Christ called Christians The giftes of the new testament are most ample and manifold The newe 〈…〉 no promise of 〈…〉 Of Christian libertie Who 〈◊〉 our 〈◊〉 Who 〈◊〉 â—e thaâ— Christe doth 〈…〉 What bondage is 〈◊〉 sorts 〈◊〉 bonâ—â—ge 〈…〉 A Paradox of libertie 2. Cor. 11. Spiriâ—â—â—l â—ondagâ— Abortion is made â—hen a woman is before her time deliuered of her childe The spirituâ—l libertie how farre forth we are made free by Christ Christian libertie Testimonies to proue christian libertie by Free froâ— the lawes and ordinances of men 〈…〉 The care of the body The 〈…〉 or 〈◊〉 them 〈◊〉 are 〈…〉 Christ The 〈◊〉 of 〈…〉 Licentiousnesse Of offencâ—â— Howe and by what meanes an offence is giuen Weklings 〈…〉 An offence giuen and an offence taken To giue offence is a great sin Offences 〈◊〉 not of the Gospel out of the 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 gospel Of good â—oorkes What worâ—â—s do 〈◊〉 in the 〈◊〉 Good workes what they are The originall cause of good workes 〈…〉 No works do iustifie 1 2 3 Good workes aâ— no◠〈…〉 their 〈◊〉 is by 〈…〉 In what sense the scripture doth attribute iustification vnto good workes The 〈◊〉 of theâ— whic◠〈…〉 â—nto wâ—â—kes 〈…〉 to them that speake against the 〈◊〉 An other obiection The places â—f faith works that â—eeme at a 〈◊〉 to â—â—sigree 〈◊〉 here 〈…〉 1 2 The 〈…〉 the 〈…〉 The â—â—â—stles â—gainsâ— abuseâ— graceâ— faith â–ª 〈…〉 Origen in 3. cap. ad Roma Ambrose Chrysosâ—â—â—◠〈…〉 of 〈…〉 〈…〉 A rewarde is giuen to good workes To 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 are 〈◊〉 〈…〉 these places whiche confirme the reward of good workes Hire is due but heritage proceedeth of the parents good will. How or in what sensâ— God is said to giue a reward vnto oure good workes 1 â— S. 〈…〉 the 〈…〉 Good workes muste be done according to the rule of the worde of God. Good workes indeed 1 â— The tenne commandements are a platforme of good workes 〈◊〉 be 〈…〉 to 〈…〉 of 〈…〉 To what end good workes must be done Rom. 2. 〈◊〉 came 〈…〉 The definition of sinne 〈…〉 The nature of maÌ„ is not the cause of sinne The diuel alone is not the cause of sinne That destinie is not the cause of sinne 〈…〉 〈◊〉 is not 〈…〉 God being good himselfe created all thinges good whiche be created 〈…〉 Sin 〈…〉 of 〈◊〉 diuels 〈…〉 our corrupt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 8. Obiections are aâ—swered Why God created maÌ„ so fickle that hee should fall To what eâ—d God gaue the lawe to Adam There was 〈◊〉 corrupâ—â—â—â— or inâ—â—â—mâ—tie in â—dam beâ—â—re his fal 〈◊〉 image 〈◊〉 God. 〈…〉 An obiection How 〈◊〉 giueth ouer 〈…〉 〈…〉 〈…〉 câ—p 〈…〉 To harden God hardned Pharaoâ—s hart Amos 〈◊〉 How 〈◊〉 is 〈…〉 euilâ— Noâ—e here 〈◊〉 first 〈◊〉 is the 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 the 〈…〉 euil 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thinges 〈◊〉 of god 〈◊〉 Go◠〈◊〉 God. The differences of sinne Originall sinne Originall sinne what it is The begining 〈…〉 The Pelagians 〈…〉 in 〈…〉 man. Voluntary sinne The sonne shall not beare the iniquitie of the father To bee borne oâ— holâ— parâ—nts 〈…〉 Al the auâ—cient doctours or fâ—thers of the church confesse with one assent originall sin The East and west churches That is he taught held oriâ—â—nall sinne What 〈◊〉 how 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 nature 〈◊〉 Our deprauation is the blotting out of the Image of God in vs. Originall sinne condemneth 1 â— â—â—iginall 〈…〉 to all Where there is no lawe there is no transgression Rom. 7. Vldericke Zuinglius of original sinne Original 〈…〉 〈…〉 Christian faith consisteth in the consideratioÌ„ of two men Some were saued beside Israel but not without Christe The 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 sinne Sinne is repugnant to the law of God. The 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 That k 〈…〉 and 〈◊〉 of ◠〈…〉 by 〈◊〉 〈…〉 Scelera delicta Peccata clamantia The 7. principal vices coÌ„monly called the 7. deadly sinnes Pecâ—atum alienum an otheâ—â— sin is 〈◊〉 an other made to sin by 〈◊〉 meaâ—es 〈◊〉 ye shall hereafteâ— perceiue â–ª The 〈◊〉 of ignorance Peccata aliena Others sinnes Both thesâ— sinnes an referred tâ— the compeller the one in respect of the man compelled the other in respect of the compeller
him selfe Peccatum voluntariuÌ„ inuoluntarium See Augstine demendaâ—â— ad CoÌ„seâ—tium cap 9. 10. â—◠〈◊〉 mens 〈◊〉 is 〈…〉 to be 〈◊〉 the best 〈◊〉 man 〈◊〉 hasteÌ„ 〈…〉 Sinnes hiddâ—n and 〈◊〉 Sinns mortal and veniall â—hether 〈◊〉 the 〈…〉 in 〈◊〉 after 〈…〉 sinne 〈…〉 Whether the vertuous works of the heathen are sinnes or no Whether the good workes of the Saints are sinnes or no Of the sin â—gainst the â—oly ghost What blasphemie is properly The beginning of this sinne against the holy ghost Blaspheâ—â—â— against 〈◊〉 sonne of man. The 〈◊〉 â—gainst 〈◊〉 holy 〈◊〉 Sinne against the holy ghost 〈◊〉 not remitted Or endler vnrepentance Of the 〈◊〉 certainâ— punishmeÌ„â— of sinners The places of 〈◊〉 The Lorde doth punish sinners iustly â–ª God punisheth most surely Examplâ— of Goâ— iustly 〈…〉 â—ods long 〈◊〉 Why sinâ— aâ— plagued with temporall punishments considering that they are forgiuen by the grace of God. Absolâ—â— defiled 〈◊〉 fathers bed 〈◊〉 by he 〈◊〉 that 〈◊〉 was huâ—bled Howe wicked punishâ—â— EuangeliuÌ„ the gospel Esai 61. Luke â— â—he Gosâ—â—ll what 〈◊〉 The definition of the Gospell That the Gospell is tydings from heauen The Gosâ—ell is the â—orde of â—â—d alâ—hough it 〈◊〉 vttered â—y the 〈◊〉 of â—en The â—â—spâ—ll 〈…〉 The word â—race 〈…〉 is The 〈◊〉 of Godâ— grace The cause of the Gospell The working of gods grace The coâ—trouersâ—â— betwixt Augustiâ—â— and Pelaâ—â—us toucâ—ing the grace of God. 1. Gratiâ— gratum ciens 2. Gratâ—â— gratis 〈◊〉 3. Gratâ—â— operaâ—â— gratia operaâ—â— 4. Graâ—â—â— praeueâ—â—ens tia 〈◊〉 quent 〈◊〉 are 〈◊〉 by 〈◊〉 〈…〉 The promises touching Christ our Sauiour The first Euangelie Gospell or preaching of glad tydings Gen. 3. 1. Pet. 1. Deus 〈◊〉 essentâ—â—lis 〈◊〉 9. 〈…〉 not 〈◊〉 God the father hathe through Christ perfourmed to vs that which hee promised to our forefathers Iesus is Christ thâ—â— is that looked for Messiaâ— The Iewes 〈◊〉 that â—hrist is 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 Iesus 〈◊〉 Christe God the 〈…〉 the world is pleased with it in the Sonne 〈◊〉 things 〈◊〉 to 〈…〉 are 〈◊〉 giueÌ„ 〈◊〉 christ 〈◊〉 Christe alone is our life and saluation 〈…〉 fully 〈…〉 The vnsinâ—ere preaching of the gospel The sum of the gospel Saluation preached in the gospel doth belong to all â—â—erfore 〈◊〉 are 〈◊〉 saued The faithfull are saued The Gospel teacheth faith and repentance Howe 〈…〉 〈◊〉 is 〈…〉 〈◊〉 by 〈◊〉 Howe Christ did preach the Gospel Of regeneratioÌ„ more largely is spoken in the SermoÌ„ of repentance Iohn 3. 〈◊〉 Paul 〈…〉 gospel The manâ—er and order of our sanctification purification iustification 〈◊〉 they 〈◊〉 that 〈◊〉 hath seemed Errours refuted 〈◊〉 Aâ—raham â—e father 〈◊〉 the faith 〈◊〉 is iustiâ—â—â—d The righteousnesse of Christians is imputatiue 〈…〉 of 〈…〉 Why 〈◊〉 doctriâ—â—â—â—aith that iustifieth without workes is to be keâ—â— vncorrupted in the Church 〈◊〉 Christ See the 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 Actes 〈◊〉 the Apâ—stles 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 Sermoâ— the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The conclusion summe of all To repent 〈…〉 of 〈◊〉 worde 〈◊〉 〈…〉 it is What repentance is ConuersioÌ„ to God. The doctrine of veritie is needful to repentance 〈◊〉 feare 〈◊〉 God to 〈…〉 Our humbling and acknowledging of our sinnes The feare of God is of two sortes Sorrow to God ward 〈◊〉 is 〈◊〉 in 〈◊〉 that 〈◊〉 Sinnes are fully and surely forgiuen vnto penitents 1. Pet. 2. Against the Nouatians and Anabaptistes 〈…〉 Of the coÌ„fession of sinnes ConfessioÌ„ of sinnes ordeined of God. â—he conâ—â—ssion 〈◊〉 is 〈…〉 to â—od Publique or open confession Leuit. 10. Actes 1 â–ª Confeâ—â— that is made tâ— our 〈◊〉 Consultation Confession of sinnes ordeyned of men Exhomologesis I find him otherwise called Natalius Luke 9. Ioha 8. * An 〈◊〉 〈…〉 Of auricular confession 〈…〉 was 〈◊〉 comâ—â—â—ded 〈…〉 Auricular confession can be proued by 〈◊〉 place in all the scripture 〈…〉 Wheâ— aurieâ—â— confeâ—â— is to 〈◊〉 kept 〈◊〉 churâ—◠〈◊〉 solutâ—â— sakeâ— Of the satisfaction of workes Note here the difference that they make betwixte Paena and culpa peccati â—od afflicâ—â—â— them â—hose 〈◊〉 he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Many sinnes be forgiuen her because she â—oued much Of indulgencies 〈…〉 The filthy marte of indulgences 〈…〉 〈…〉 Of the power of man. VnderstaÌ„ding Will. Of the 〈◊〉 man 〈◊〉 of reâ—eneratioÌ„ What and of what kinde the Libertie is that is in man. 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 man 〈…〉 by 〈◊〉 spirite Of the worthie fruites or of the fruites worthie of repentaÌ„ce 〈…〉 of all 〈◊〉 What thinges are necessarie in penitentes The outwarde exercises of repentaÌ„ce 〈…〉 〈…〉 False and True repentance True penitentes are in an happie caâ—e Vnrepentantes are vnhappy 〈◊〉 not 〈…〉 No repentance commeth too late Math. â— Whether they that mind to reforme the Churches must state to looke for the determinatioÌ„ of a counâ—â—â—â— Ieremie 8. Luke 9. What counsels haue beene in these latter ageâ— celebrated What christians at this day may looke for by general counsels It is lawfull for enerie Christian Church to reforme thinges out of order Holie Kinge Iosias Faith cannot be refourmed but bâ— thâ— worde of God. Rom. 10. 2. Cor. 2 The scriptures doe sufficiently minister a full platforme howe to refourme the church Sundrie opinions coÌ„cerning God. â— Iohn 12 Wherevppon the diuersitie of opinioÌ„s coÌ„cerning God do rise and from whence the true knowledg of him must be setched â—hat 〈◊〉 is a God Psalm â— A 〈◊〉 is to 〈◊〉 kept 〈…〉 and 〈…〉 God 〈◊〉 Pro. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 19. 〈…〉 〈…〉 The fourmâ—â— and mâ—â—ners oâ— knowiâ—â— God. Exod â–ª Iohn 3. The 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Apoc. 1. Cabala is a tradition of the Iewes leafte to them by Moses not in writing but from the father to the sonne wherein is conteined as wel the secrets of nature as the mysticall sense included in the wordes of the holy scripture Iah and Hu. Hu signifieth He or this Adonai The Loâ—â— of Sabboth or oâ— Hostes Daniel 〈◊〉 high 〈◊〉 〈…〉 〈…〉 〈…〉 〈…〉 〈…〉 〈…〉 Actes 17. Deus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Elohim This Dii importech as much as if one shoulde say Gods. Schaddai Gene. 17 Saturâ—â—â— It seem that we English men do borrow of the 〈◊〉 manes their 〈◊〉 Gott 〈◊〉 turne their 〈◊〉 T 〈◊〉 D 〈◊〉 we soâ—â— God 〈◊〉 we shoâ—â— say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 4. 〈…〉 〈◊〉 God 〈…〉 Trinitie Dionysius of the names of God. Visions prosopographie of God. Prosopographie is a picturing or reprseentinge of bodily lineameÌ„ts Prosopopeie is where those are broughte in to speake that doe not speak Anthropomorphites How 〈…〉 tributeâ— God 〈◊〉 iâ— bodilesse Pâ—â—lm 94. These â—ordes of 〈…〉 taken 〈◊〉 of â—â—â—tulliaÌ„ How the pâ—triarchs 〈◊〉 see God. Iohn 1. 1. Tim. â— Exod. 33 God 〈◊〉 doe 〈◊〉 thinge 〈◊〉 with 〈◊〉 fathers his Soâ—◠〈…〉 〈…〉 God giueth his giftes frely without respect of mans merites How Goâ— did shew him selfâ— to Mose◠〈…〉 God doth most euidently open him selfe through Christ 2. Cor. 4. Hebr. 1. Iohn 6. Math. 11. Iohn 14. Iohn 1. 1. Cor. 1. Rom. 1. Gods wiâ—dome appeareth Gods goodneâ—â— appeareâ—â—â— Godâ—
Confession of true religion 366 Conscience 100 1 Commaundement 112. 113 2 Commaundement 116 3 Commaundement 126 4 Commaundement 136 5 Commaundement 144 6 Commaundement 163 7 Commaundement 222 8 Commaundement 259 9 Commaundement 318 10 Commaundement 318 Commaundementes of the Lorde their order 136 Coniurers and witches 116 Countrie natiue 145. 151 Correction 161 Cockering of children 262 Consecrating of magistrates 177 Constantine the great 181 Common in goods in the Apostles time c. 161 Common weale deuised 216 Communion 1063 Common cost or treasure 221 Continencie 237. 238. 239. 240 Consolations generall against afflictions and troubles 306 Coueâ—ing 324 Couet what it is not that we must not 325 Congregation or assembly 335 Constancie of certeine holie meÌ„ absteining from things vnclean 383 Couenant or new people all things therein are more euident than in the olde couenaunt or testament 436 Corruption of oure owne nature what and how great 499 Controuersie betweene Augustine Pelagius touching the Grace of God. 53â— Conuersion to God 562 Confession 570. 571. 572. 573. 574 600. Consecration of breade and wine 168 Counsels of what sorte they haue bene in these latter ages 600 Consultation 574 Continual successioÌ„ of bishops 828 Coniunction with Christe and the Church 1021 Consecration or blessing chaungeth not the nature of things 796 CouÌ„sel of Nice touching baptisme 1005 Counsel of Later in what yere 986 Comforte for afflicted consciences 1110 Corruption of scholes 1116 Creation of the world 5. 637 Créede of the Apostles â—5 56 Creatures cleane and vnclean 382 Curious questioning of God forbidden 605 Cyprian expoundeth the ninth Article 78 Cyprian his errour touching Babtisme 1031 D. Dagon 117 Daungerous to speake against Iupiter 170 Damage 270. 275. 396. Dauids adulterie 233 Dauid his opinion of Iustification 555 Dauid coÌ„plaineth of his forced absence from the holy assemblies 916 Descent lineall of Messias 6 Death of the crosse reprochful 64 Death of Christ fruitfull 64 Descension of Christ into hell 65 Democracie 170 Deuises of newe fangled worships are cursed of God. 185 Deliuerance by Gods goodnes 293 Denial of Gods truth in persecution is no way to kéep our goos 312 Decree of the synode holden at Ierusalem 421 Deliuerer of vs who he is 441 Definition of sinne 408 Death of madd men is vnfruitful therefore to be construed to the best 512 Definition of the Gospel 526 Departure from the Romishe churche 849. 851. 858 Deacons what is their office 87â— Deprauation is the blotting out of the Image of God in vs. 500 Demonstration of the figuratiue woordes This is my body c in the Lords supper 1087 Destinie 480 Discretion and clemencie of the iudge 199 Dicing and carding 474 Discommodities that the saints do suffer are recompenced with greater commodities 311 Disinheriting 393 Diuorcement 394. 1133 Diuision of goods 394 Difference of the olde and newe testament and people 435 Differences of sinne 480 Difference betwéene Paena and Culpa peccati 58â— Disagréeing places of faythe and workes reconciled 463 Dionysius of the names of God. 615 Dignitie prerogatiue of bishopâ— increased 882 Diuel and diuels 479. 744. 745. 746. 747. Difference to be made of the Lordâ— body 1107 Discipline of the Nazarites 380 Discipline in scholes 1116 Discipline and correction of ministers 1129 Doctrine of Christe the chiefe contents thereof 3â— Doctours opinion of iustification by fayth 466 Doctrine Catholique of originall sinne 49â— Doctours and fathers of the church confesse with one assent originalâ— sinne 67 Doctrine of frée iustification without workes why it is to be kept incorrupted in the Churche of Christe 557 Doctrine of veritie is néedefull to repentaunce 563 Doctrine of Chrysostome touching consestion 576 Doctrine touching the Trinitie is most certeine 631 Doctrine of the auncient Church of Rome 830 Doctours or teachers 878 Donation of Constantine 888 Doctrine when it is to be teached 904 Doctrine priuat and publique 907 Doctrine for the life sake not to be receiued 9. 12. 17 Doubting in two sortes 34 Drunkennesse 440 Drunken or made dronke in the scriptures is sometime taken for made merrie 285 Dutie of parentes to their children 158 Dutie of children 162 Dutie of a good pastour 906 E. Ease and rest vpon the Sabbaoth what it signifieth 138 Eating of bloud and strangled forbidden 385 Ecclesiasticall priuileges 183 Ecclesiasticall power in what pointes it consisteth 837 Ecclesiasticall matters of diuers sorts to be disposed by the church 839 Ecclesiasticall goods 1118 Election of magistrates 175 Elders whereof they haue their name 878 Emperours lawe for the kéeping of the sabbaoth 143 End of the ministerie wherfore instituted 875 End of prayer what 819 End of the institution of sacrameÌ„ts 983 Endes of the Lords supper 1083 Ephod 333 Ephesus the twelue men thereof not rebaptised 1059 Equinâ—ctiall 363 Equalirie betwéene byshops and elders 880 Errour grosse of the Patris-passians 624 Errour in the Apostolique church â–ª 1001 Essence of God one hath a distinction of persons 624 Essence of substance 626 Ethnicks sentences of God are in some place maymed 104 Euil in two significations 494 Euangelistes what they are 878 Euill spirites 744. 878 Euil life of the minister scandalous and offensiue 912 Examples of true faith 36 Examples of warre of captaines out of the Scriptures 215 Examples of gods deliuerance 309 Examples of afflictions in the patriarches 313 Examples of afflictions of the old Church 314 Examples of God iustly punishing 521 Examination of bishops to be elected 895 Exercises of a bishop or pastour 911. Exercises of repentance outwardly 595 Exhomologesis what it is 575 Exhortation to liue 99 Expositions of the Scriptures c. 27. 28. Exposition auncient of the wordes of the Lords Supper 1086 Ezekias commended of GOD and prospered for breaking Images downe 254 F. Father what he first taught 5 Faith. 4. 6. 8. 30. 31. 33. 35. 37. 38. 40. 41. 42. 43. 48. 52. 53. 54. 203. 204. c. Face of God. 91 Fasting 242. 243 244. 245 351. False doctrine concerning riches rich men condemned 263 Fathers and we are all one church of one and the same Testament 429 Fathers and we haue all one faith 429. One spirite 430. One hope heritage 431. One manner of innocation 434 Falling awaye from religion of diuers sortes 859 False Christians 712 False counsellers vnworthie of the name 254 Fall of Angels from heauen 745 Feast of the 7. moneth or Tabernacle 353 Feast of trompets 353 Feast of clensing 353 Feast of attonement is the time of preaching the grace of God. 376 Feare of god 564. 565 Feare in Gods cause is to be excluded 890 Flaterie 323 Flaterers 890 Finall impenitencie 519 Fighting in defence of thy countrie 149 Flesh and bloud shall not be in heauen 89 Flesh taken in the scripture for the old man. 588 Flesh profiteth nothing 1101 Forme of the Lords Supper 1068 Formes and wayes of knowing God. 607 Forgiuenes of sinnes 82 Fornication 234 Frendship to be preserued 102 Fréâ—dome that we haue by Christ
seueritie and vengeaunce that is in him For there are two cōmings of our Lorde Iesus Christe First he came basely in the fleshe to be the redéemer and sauiour of the worlde At the second time he shal come gloriously to iudgement to be a iudge and reuenger that will not be intreated against all vnrepentaunt sinners and wicked doers And he shal come out of heauen from the right hand of the Father in his visible and very humane body to be séene of all fleshe with the incomprehensible power of his Godhead and being attended on by all the Angels For the Lord him selfe in the Gospel sayth They shall see the sonne of man cōming in the cloudes of heauen with great power and glory and he shall send his angels with the great soūd of a trūp c. But now to iudge is to sit in the tribunall seate to heare and discusse matters to take vp strifes to determine and giue sentence lastly to defend deliuer againe to chastise punish by that means to kéepe vnder suppresse iniurie and malice We beléeue therefore that our Lorde Iesus Christ in that day shall deliuer all the godly destroy all the wicked according to the words of the Apostle who saith Our Lord shall be reuealed frō heauen with the Angels of his power with a burning flame and shall lay vengeance on them that haue not knowne God And againe the same iust iudge shall giue a crowne of righteousnesse to al them that loue his cōming The manner of this iudgemēt the writings of the Euangelistes Apostles doe tell vs shall be in this sort When once the wickednesse of this world shal come to the full that Antichrist shall haue deceiued the world so that there is but little faith remaining that the wicked shall say peace quietnesse then shall a soudaine destructiō come For our Lord the iudge shall send his Archangell to blowe the trūp to gather together frō the foure windes all flesh to iudgement by and by after shall the iudge him selfe our Lord Iesus Christ follow with all the hoast of heauen he shall descend out of heauen into the cloudes and sitting aloft in the cloudes as in a iudgement seate shal be easily séene of al flesh For they that shall be then liuing at the day of iudgement shall in a very prick of time be changed stande before the iudge and all the deade shall in a moment rise vp againe Then shall the iudge diuide the shéepe from the goats and according to iustice shal giue iudgemēt with the shéep against the goats saying Come ye blessed c. And Goe ye cursed c. Presently after shal follow execution For the shéepe shall by and by be caught vp into the clouds to méete the Lord in the ayre shal ascend with him ioyfully into heauen to the right hande of God the father there to liue for euer in glory gladnesse The bottome of the earth shall gape for the wicked shall sucke them all vp horribly and send them down to hel there to be tormented for euer with Sathā and his Angels All this shall be done not by any long troublesom or change able processe as is vsed in our Courts of lawe but euen in the twinckling of an eye For then shall all mens hearts be layd open euery mans owne conscience shall accuse him selfe This is more at large set out in Math. 24. 25 Wis 3. 5. 1. Cor. 15. 2. Cor. 5. 1. The. 4 5. Rom. 2. 2. Pet. 3. c. Nowe we doe simply confesse that the quick and the dead shal be iudged This do some expound of the godly vngodly But the Symbole or Creede was ordeined for the most simple of vnderstanding And simple things are fittest for to teache simple men Therfore we say simply that the dead are al they that from the beginning of the worlde euen vntill the last day are departed out of this mortal life And the liuing are they which at that day shal be aliue in this world For the apostle saith Behold I tel you a mysterie we shall not all sleepe but we shall all be chaunged by the last trump in a moment of time and in the twinckling of an eye For the trumpe shall sound and the dead shall rise againe incorruptible and we shall be chaunged And again in another place the same Apostle saith This I say vnto you in the word of the Lord that we which shall liue and be remaining at the cōming of the Lorde shall not preuent them which are a sleepe Bycause the Lorde him selfe shal come downe out of heauen with a great noyse and the voice of an Archangel and the trump of God and firste shall the deade in Christe rise vp againe then shall we which shall be a liue be remaining be caught vp together with them in the cloudes into the ayre to meete the Lorde and so shall we be with the Lord for euermore We confesse therefore in this seuenth Article that we beléeue there shall be an ende of all thinges in this world and that the felicitie of the wicked shall not indure for euer For we beleue that God is a iust God who hathe giuen all iudgement vnto his Son to repay to euery one in that day according to his workes paines to the wicked that neuer shall be ended and to the godly ioyes euerlasting And so in this Article we professe that we looke for a deliuerance a ceasing from troubles and the rewarde of life euerlasting For howe should he destroye them that beléeue in him his people and his seruauntes who in the moste true Gospell sayth Verily I say vnto you that ye ▪ which hane followed me in the regeneration when the Sonne of man shall sit on the seate of his maiestie ye also shall sit vpon twelue seates iudging the twelue tribes of Israell There are moste certaine rewardes and penalties appointed for the godly and vngodly in the worde of trueth He can not lye that sayd to Esay Say to the righteous that it shall goe well with him for he shall inioye the fruite of his studie But woe be to the wicked it shall be euill with him for he shall be rewarded according to the workes of his owne handes And thus muche touching the seconde part of the Créede Nowe are we come to the thirde part The eight Article of our beliefe is this I beleeue in the holy Ghost This thirde parte of the Créede containeth the propertie of the third person in the reuerend Trinitie And we doe rightly beléeue in the holy Ghost as wel as in the father and the sonne For the holy Ghoste is one God with the Father and the Sonne and rightly is faith in the holy Ghoste ioyned to faith in the Father and the Sonne For by him the fruite of Gods saluation fulfilled in the Sonne is sealed to vs and oure sanctification and cleansing
is bestowed on vs and deriued from him to vs by the holy Ghoste For the Apostle sayth God which anoynted vs is he also which hath sealed vs and hath giuen the earnest of the spirite in our hearts And againe Ye were in deede defiled with naughtinesse but nowe ye are cleansed and sanctified and lastely iustified throughe the name of the Lorde Iesus and by the spirite of our God. The Father in déede doth sanctifie too but by the bloud of Iesus Christe and poureth the same sanctification out of him into vs by the holy Ghost so that it is as it were the propertie of the holy Ghoste to sanctifie wherevpon he is called Holy or the sanctifier Therefore so often as we heare the holy Ghost named we must by and by think of the power in working which the Scripture attributeth to him and we must looke after the benefites that from him doe flowe to vs For the power operation or action of the spirite is that what so euer the grace of God doth work in vs through the Sonne so that of necessitie we must beléeue in the holy Ghost And in this eight Article we doe professe that we doe verily beléeue that all the faithfull are cleansed washed regenerated sanctified inlightned and inriched of God with diuers gifts of grace for Christ his sake but yet through the holy Ghost For without him there is no true sanctification wherefore we ought not to attribute these giftes of grace to any other meanes this glory belongeth to the holy Ghost onely Of whome I will more largely and fully discourse in my other Sermons The houre is spent which warneth me to wrappe vp briefly and make an ende therefore I exhort you al to haue your faithe religiously bent vpon the Lorde Iesus for him hath the heauēly father sente to vs in him hath he wholy expressed and shewed him selfe to vs and him doth the holy Ghoste printe in our heartes and kéepe in our mindes And in Christ is all mans saluation and euery part thereof contained wherefore we must beware that we deriue it not from any thing else It pleased the father saith the Apostle that all fulnesse shoulde dwell in the Sonne and in him to recapitulate and as it were to bring into a summe all points of saluation that in him all the faithfull may be fulfilled For if saluation be sought then euen by his very name are we taught that saluation is in his power For he is called Iesus that is a sauiour If we desire the holy spirit of God and his sundry gifts we shal finde them also in the annointing of Christ For he is called Christ the annoynted I saye the holye of holies and the sanctifier or else the annoynter of vs with his spirite If any man haue néede of strength and might of power and deliueraunce well he hath to looke for it in Christe his dominion For Christe is Lorde of all In the same Christ we finde redemption For he hath redéemed vs that were solde vnder Sathans yoake In his conception we haue puritie in his natiuitie we haue sufferance For he became like to vs that he might suffer griefe as well as we For in his passion we haue forgiunesse of sinnes in his condemnation we haue absolution satisfaction in his offering or cleansing sacrifice cleansing in his bloude and an vniuersall reconciliation in his descending into hell In his buriall we haue the mortificatiō of our flesh the newnesse of life yea rather the immortalitie of the soule and resurrection of our bodyes in his glorious resurrection We haue also the inheritance of the heauenly kingdome with the assured sealing thereof in his ascension and sitting at the right hand of the father And there is he our mediatour priest and king our safegarde and our heade oure defender and moste sure rest From thence he poureth into vs his holye spirite the fulnesse of all good thinges and dothe communicate him selfe wholy to vs ioyning vs vnto him selfe with an indissoluble knot From thence we doe with confidence and ioy looke for him to be our iudge to be I say our patrone and deliuerer whiche shall condemne and sende downe hedlong into hell all our enimies with sathan but shal take vs and al the faith full of euery age vp into heauen with him self there to sing a newe song and to reioyce in him for euer and euer To him be glory for euer Amen Of the latter Articles of Christian fayth contained in the Apostles Creede ¶ The nynth Sermon LEt vs call to oure Father in heauen through our Lord Iesus Christe that he wil vouchsafe to poure his grace into vs that we may to our no smal profit dispatch and expound the last part of the Articles of Christian beliefe The nynth Article of fayth is this The holy Catholique Churche the communion of Saintes After the confession of our belief in the holy Trinitie and in the mysterie of the Sonne of God our Lorde Iesus Christe and lastly in the holy Ghost the sanctifier and restoarer of al now in the fourth part is reckoned vp the fruite and power the effect and ende of fayth and what doth come to and is bestowed on the faithfull There commeth to them communion of God and all Saintes sanctification remission of sinnes the resurrection of the fleshe and life euerlastinge Of which I will speake in order as they lye so farre foorth as the bountifull Lord shal giue me abilitie Nowe then here we haue to rehearse out of the eight Article this worde I beléeue we must I meane say I beléeue the holy Catholique Churche Some vnlearned there are which hold opinion that in this point of our confession we should say I beléeue in the holy Church The reason that leades them so to thinke is this bycause they finde written in the Constantinopolitane Créede And in the holy Ghost the Lorde that giueth life who procéedeth from the father and the sonne who together with the father the sonne is to be worshipped and glorified who spake by the Prophetes in one Catholique and Apostolique Churche For these wordes they doe so distinguishe that as they doe repeate out of the premisses these wordes I beléeue and make this the sense I beleeue in the holye Ghoste the Lorde euen so here againe they doe repeate these wordes I beléeue making this to be the sense I beléeue in one Catholique and Apostolique Church But this is more then néedeth yea and against all godlynesse doe they wrest these wordes of the Créede For this In one Catholique and Apostolique Church is not referred to the Verbe I beléeue but to the holye Ghoste bycause he spake by the Prophetes in one Catholique and Apostolique Churche For our meaning is and we confesse that one and the same spirite did all thinges in both Testamentes contrarie to the opinion of them whiche imagined that there were two spirites contrarie one to the other Moreouer Sainte Cyprian in his exposition
of the Gospell which Paule hath hitherto preached with vs is sufficient to the obteining of life and saluation We intend not to laye any greater burthen vpon you than the doctrine of the Gospell and abstinence from those fewe things In which sentence they séeme to haue had an eye to the opinion of Sainct Peter who in the counsell saide Ye knowe that I beeing called by God did go to the Gentiles and did preach to them saluatiō through the Gospel Ye know that to the Gētiles being neither circumcised nor keeping the lawe while I preached to them faith in Christ Iesus the holie Ghoste was giuen from aboue so that their hearts wer purified of God him selfe by faith not by the lawe that they were made heires of eternal life And vppon this he inferreth Now therefore why tempt ye God to laye vppon the disciples neckes a yoke which neither wee nor our fathers were able to beare But wee beleeue that through the grace of the Lorde Iesus Christ we shal be saued euen as they Sée here Sainct Peter called the lawe a burthen and a yoke and therfore where the Apostles saye that they will not laye vpō the church any greater burthen they do thereby signifie that the lawe is flatly abrogated They do therefore set the church frée from the burthen of the lawe and do acquite it from all burthens like to y lawe We nowe do gather by those woordes of the Apostles that those burthensome and innumerable ceremonies which the church hath receiued by counsels Synodes since the time of the Apostles were vniustly against the Apostolique spirite then layde vppon the churche and at this daye wickedly reteined and defended in the churche For they in expresse wordes saide It seemed good to the holye Ghoste and to vs to burthen you with no more then these thinges necessarie But if any man obiect and saye that those ceremonies were for the rudenesse of the people layde vpon the churches neckes as a rule or instruction to guide or teache them by Mine aunswere is that that kinde of instruction is cleane taken awaye which whosoeuer goeth about to reduce hee desireth nothing else but to bring in Iudaisme againe God knew verie well what kinde of churche that would be which hee purposed to gather together of Iewes and Gentiles and yet he abolished those external ceremonies Nowe who doth better knowe than God what is expedient or not expedient for his church therefore the things that he abolished were not expedient for the faithfull whereupon the Apostles did rightly verie wel pronounce It seemed good to the holie ghoste and vs not to laye vppon you any greater burthen Let them therefore be ashamed of their doinges which lay so great a burthen vppon the shoulders of the church that otherwise ought to be most free Nowe also heere is added the conclusion of the sentence Than these necessarie things that is to say that ye abstaine from things offered to Idols c. In these wordes they had an eye vnto the sentence of sainct Iames the Apostle and brother of the Lorde for he confirminge and allowing of Sainct Peters opinion touchinge iustification by faith and the not laying of the lawe vpon the Gentiles neckes doth alledge a testimonie of scripture out of Amose who did foretell that the Iewes shoulde bee cut off because of their sinnes and that in their steeds the Gentiles should be taken amonge whome the true church of God should be which was prefigured by the ruine and reparatiō of Dauids tabernacle The same Prophet did also foretell a reason how and a cause why the Gentiles should be receiued into the church not for Circumcisions sake nor yet by the helpe of the lawe but by grace through fayth For he saith The remnaunte of the men shal seeke after the Lorde and all the heathen vpon whome my name is called saith the Lorde which doth all this all these workes of God are knowen to him from before the world beganne Loe here they shall seeke the Lorde and shal be receyued into his fellowship vpon whome his name shal be called This phrase of speech doeth signifie that they whiche are electe shal be the sonnes of god For vpon them the name of the Lord is called which are named the sonnes of God and are his elect Nowe the whole scripture attributeth that to faith By fayth therfore we are made the members of the church and sonnes and heires to God our maker But if any man doe murmur against the counsell of God and say why doth God so Let him thinke that this déede is the déede and worke of God whome it is not lawfull for man to gaynsaye and all whose workes are knowen from the beginninge of the worlde to haue beene donne in iudgement and righteousnesse whervpon it doth consequently follow that this counsell of his is good and righteous whereby he doth through faith in Christ ioyne to himselfe and sanctifie the heathen nations Nowe vppon these wordes of the prophet Saincte Iames subscribing as it were to Sainct Peters opinion doth gather and inferre Wherefore my sentence is that wee trouble not them which from among the Gentiles are turned to God That is to say I thinke that they are not to bee molested or charged with the obseruation of the law But least the Gentiles once hearing y the lawe was abolished should thereby thinke that they might freely doe whatsoeuer they would and so by that meanes abuse their libertie and also against all charitie despise giue offence vnto the Iewishe brethren therefore Iames addeth But I think it best for vs to write vnto them that they absteine from filthines of idols For there were at that time certeine conuerts of the Gentiles who thought it lawfull for them to enter into idol Temples and be partakers of things offered to idols because an idol is nothing since there is but one onely God alone whereuppon they gathered that those sacrifices were nothing that they did neither good nor harme and therefore that Christians might with a safe conscience be partakers of them But sainct Iames and Paule also 1. Cor. 8. 9. 10. wil haue the heathen conuerts to absteine vtterly frō the worship of Idols that is from the idols them selues and from those things which are in the idol temples offered to false and fained Gods. Moreouer he addeth Let them beware of fornication The Gentiles verily did by good lawes forbidde the adulteries and defilings of virgins matrones with verie sharpe punishments suppressing the violent deflowrers of honest women but they thought it a verie light and in a manner no fault at all for such to committ whoredome as did of their owne accordes set their chastitie to sale or if an vnwedded man should haue to doe with a single woman and therefore the Apostle Iames euen as Paule also 1. Cor. 6. and 1. Thessa. 4. doeth verie seuerely require the holy pure vse of the bodie
the same that the heate is Neither is it a good consequence to saye the Sunne giueth light to the worlde therefore the heate of the Sunne giueth light to the worlde Because in the Sunne the heate and light cannot be separated Yea rather the Sunne in respecte of his light doth lighten the worlde not in respect of the heate that it hath And yet the Sunne doeth both warme and lighten the earth at once In like manner wee are freely iustified by the mercifull grace of God for Christe his sake our Lordâ— and Sauioure not in respect and consideration of the works of Gracâ—â— that are found in vs although 〈◊〉 woorkes are ingendred and brought forth by that frée grace And so we must attribute all glorie wholy to the grace of God and not parte stakes with him and take to our owne share any parte of his glorie These wranglers haue yet another shifte and saye although we saye that eternall life is giuen by God to all faithfull beléeuers not for faith onely in Christ Iesus but also for the workes of faith all the glorie neuerthelesse shall redounde to God namely since we acknowledge and confesse that those workes are wrought in vs by the power and grace of god To this our answere is that glorie must so be giuen to God as he doth please to haue it giuen him If the will purpose and counsell of God were to receiue vs into his friendship for the workes sake which his spirite and grace doeth bring foorth in vs then should he vnaduisedly without discretion haue sent his onely begotteÌ„ sonne into the worlde and rashly haue appointed him to the terrible pangues of bitter death But God in all that he hath created either in heauen or earth much lesse in this case which is the greatest that belongeth to man the chiefe and most excellent creature that he hath made did neuer at any time doe any thing rashely without greate aduisement Wherefore it is assuredly certeine that it was neuer the counsell and purpose of God for our own good woorkes and vertues to redéeme vs from the tyrannie of Satan and to accept vs for his sonnes but for the only sacrifice and satisfaction of his onely begotten sonne Christe Iesus oure Lorde and Sauiour For the iudgement of Paule in this matter remaineth firme and inuincible where hee saith If righteousnesse come of the workes of the lawe then did Christe die in vaine And that diuine saying of Sainct Peter remaineth for euer vncomptroleable There is saluatioÌ„ in none other Againe they doe laye certeine places of Scripture together and therevpon do argue thus Although Paule in one place doth saye Ye are saued by grace through faith yet in another place the same Paule doth saye we are saued by hope Now who knoweth not that hope is as it were vpheld and strengthened by patience Christ him selfe in the Gospell agréeing therevnto and saying In your patience ye shal possesse your soules Therefore not faith onely but hope and patience doe bring vs to saluation To this we aunswere thus that the holie Apostle doeth sufficiently expound him selfe if a man will take the paines to read him through out and weigh with him selfe the end and cause for which he spake euery seuerall sentence Ye are saith he saued by grace through faith and that not of your selues it is the gifte of God not of woorkes least any man should boast c. Hath he not in these fewe wordes most euidently declared what his beléefe is touching grace or faith and workes who would desire a plainer spéeche There is none so verie a dorrhead as that hee vnderstandeth not that the benefite of saluation is wholie and merely ascribed to grace For hee doeth not diuide saluation or iustificatioÌ„ partly to faith or grace and partely to woorkes neither doeth hee attribute the firste place to faith and the seconde place to woorkes Hee doeth vtterly exclude all boasting Ye are saith he saued by grace through faith And immediately after hee addeth and that not of youre selues Hee annexeth the cause It is the gifte of God. And againe not of workes He sheweth why Least any man should boast Hee that vnderstandeth not this doth vndoubtedly vnderstand nothing at all He that wresteth or otherwise cauilleth at this doth speake againste the Sunne and saith that the light is darknesse Nowe whereas the same Apostle doeth in another place saye We are saued by hope it is by the marking of the whole place to be gathered that his meaning is as if hee had saide I told you that they which beléeue in Christ are the sonnes and heires of God and haue thereby their saluation and felicitie but I woulde haue euery one to vnderstande it in hope and expectation not in enioying the very thinge it selfe and present fruition Nowe who can herevppon inferre therefore hope doth iustifie But we do rather make this argument patience is no patience at all vnlesse the patient man be firste iustified by true faith therefore the commendation of patience doth wholy depende vppon faith and not the praise of faith vpon patience although faith be declared and shewed forth by patience For it t s a sentence vtterly vnworthie to come out of a Christian mannes mouth to saye that faith is made perfect by good workes that is to say where faith doth want a piece that there good workes do patch it vp For when wee name faith wee doe not name simplie the qualitie of beléeuing which is in our minâ—es but wee haue an eye to Christe him selfe our Lorde and Sauiour together with his righteousnesse and heauenly giftes vppon whome alone as vppon a base and sure foundation our faith doeth rest and firmely stande But to go about to supply the want of any thinge in Christe Iesus is nothing else but with diuelish blasphemie to disgrace the sonne of god The faith of Sainctes I confesse doth declare shewe it selfe by woorkes but it followeth not there vppon that workes do therefore make perfect that which séemeth to be wanting in Christ his perfectioÌ„ For there is nothinge lacking in our deliuerance redemption and iustification wrought by Christ The Apostle Iames did saye in déede Seest thou howe faith was made perfect by workes but his meaning was none other but to say seest thou howe faith by the workes which followed it did declare it selfe to be a true and righteous faith and not an hypocriticall faith For before these woordes he saide Seest thou howe his faith was effectuall through workes Againe the Apostle Paule saide I fulfill that which is lacking to the afflictions of Christe in my fleshe for his bodies sake which is the church But you may better translate the Gréeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be that rather which is behinde than that which is lacking to the afflictions of Christ For the Gréekes call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not only those thinges that are wanting but also the remnant which word Sainct Ambrose also vsed I meane
Christe And Paule the Apostle sayeth Seeing then wee haue the same spirite as it is written I beleeued and therefore haue I spoken wee also beleeue and therefore speake Vppon which testimonie Tertullian inferreth and no doubt soundlie It is one and the selfe same spispirite therefore whiche was in the Prophetes and the Apostles He promiseth that the selfe same spirite shal be alwayes in the Church They erred therefore yea foulye they erred who so euer among them of old feigned one God and spirite of the olde Testament and an other of the newe Testament Didymus Alexandrinus the bright light in his age of all the Grecian Churches in his first booke intituled De Spiritu sancto saith Neyther ought we to thinke that the holy Ghost is diuided according to substaunces bicause he is called the multitude of good graces For he can not suffer he can not be diuided neyther yet be chaunged but according to his diuers maners of workings vnderstādings he is called by mny names of good graces bycause he doth not indue his partakers with his cōmunion after one and the selfe same power c. Furthermore the holy ghost hath increasing or fulnesse and diminishing and want in man not that in God who as it is commonly and truely sayde neyther receiueth more or lesse there is any chaunge to be founde but bycause man according to his capacitie receiueth the spirite plentifully and liberally or measurably sparingly euen as it pleaseth the holy ghoste The portion of the spirite of Helias was giuen double from heauen to Heliseus And it is sayde of our Sauiour that the father gaue him the spirite not by measure For the Lord himselfe elswhere saith Whosoeuer hath to him shall be giuen and hee shall haue more aboundance but whosoeuer hath not from him shall bee taken away euen that he hath Saule had receiued excellent graces but bicause he did not vse exercise them the good spirite of God departed from him and the euill spirite succéeded and tormented him And the spirite of God departeth euen as it commeth also at one instant For when we are forsaken of the Lorde the spirite of God departeth from vs Wherevppon we reade that Dauid prayed Cast me not away from thy presence and take not thy holy spirite from me And againe Stablishe me with thy principall spirite Next after these things it séemeth y we must diligently search out what the effect what the power of the holy Ghost is The power of the Almightie and euerlasting God is vnspeakable therefore no man can fully declare what the power of the holie ghost is Yet somewhat I will say making those things manifest which he worketh chiefly in men For otherwise the father by the spirit worketh all things by him he createth susteyneth moueth giueth life strengtheneth and prescrueth al things by the selfe same he regenerateth his faythfull people sanctifieth and indueth them with diuers kyndes of graces Whervpon in the description aboue mentioned of him cōprising in foure members his principall powers and effectes which shewe them selues by their working in men I sayde that he doth illuminate regenerate sanctifie and fulfill the faithfull with all good graces Which things that they may the better be vnderstoode it shal be good first of all to declare as well as we can the appellatiōs or names of the holy ghost which the holy scripture giueth him and then to recite one or two places of the old and new Testament to set foorth declare the power of the holy Ghost First he is called the holy spirite of God bicause all creatures as many as are sanctified are sanctified by him The heauenly father sanctifieth with his grace but throughe the bloud of his beloued sonne and sanctification is deriued into vs and sealed by the spirite Therefore the holie trinitie being one God doth sanctiūe vs It is a wicked thing therefore to attribute sanctification to straunge and forreine things It is a wicked thing to translate purification and iustification from the Creator vnto the Creature Moreouer he is called holy to make a difference of him from other spirites For we reade in the Scriptures that there was and is a spirite of the worlde a spirite of infirmitie a spirite of fornication and vncleannesse and a spirit of pride From all these the holy ghost is separated which inspireth into vs the contempt of this worlde whiche openeth vnto vs the Scriptures and confirmeth vs in trueth whiche purifieth our heartes and maketh oure mynds chast and so preserueth them finally whiche maketh vs lowly and gentle and driueth away from vs all maliciousnesse The same holy Ghost is called the spirite of God and of the sonne Of God to make a difference betwéene it and the spirite of sathan And it is called the spirite of the sonne bicause it is the proper and naturall spirite of the sonne which he also communicateth vnto vs that we also might be the sonnes of god For Paule sayth Ye are the temple of God and the spirite of God dwelleth in you Againe If any man haue not the spirite of Christe the same is none of his And againe Bicause ye are sonns God hath sent the spirit of his sonne into your harts crying Abba father Moreouer our Lorde him selfe in the historie of the Gospell calleth the holy Ghost a comforter saying I will pray the father and he shal giue you an other cōforter that he may abide with you for euer euen the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receiue bycause the worlde seeth him not neyther knoweth him but ye know him for he dwelleth with you and shal be in you For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth a comforter a stirrer vp or a prouoker an exhorter an aduocate or patrone which pleadeth the cause of his client For the holy Ghoste is the mouth the eye the heart the counsel the hande and the foote of all the faythfull Didymus in his worke intituled De spiritu sancto sayth Christe Giuing the holy ghost a name answerable to his working calleth him the comforter Bycause he doth not onely comforte those whō he findeth worthy of him and setteth them frée from all heauinesse and trouble of mynde but giueth vnto them a certeine incredible ioy and gladnesse in so muche that a man giuing God thankes bycause he is counted worthy of suche a guest may say Thou hast giuen me gladnesse in my heart For euerlasting ioy and gladnesse is in the hearte of them in whome the holy Ghost dwelleth The holy ghost verily alone maketh the consciences of men voyde of care quiet and at peace before God in the matter of iustification and in all temptations of the worlde Paule sayth This only I desire to learne of you whether ye haue receiued the spirite by the workes of the lawe or by the preaching of faith The Apostles being beaten with roddes when they were indued with the
owne substance nature a creator not a creature it is not mingled it is not graffed or incorporated into mans voice The word whiche procéedeth from man is a creature not a creator and remaineth still a creature For it is a sound which passeth away Neuerthelesse it is a vertue which stil remaineth if it be sincere and not adulterate and receiued by faith For so it preserueth yet not of his owne proper vertue or power or because it is pronounced by man but through his power or vertue whiche reuealed the word who is true and therefore preserueth those thinges which by his worde he promiseth to preserue so that nowe in déede God himselfe doth preserue who said that by his word he wold preserue those that beléeue The word therfore which God hath reuealed vnto vs by his seruāts the Prophetes and by his chosen Apostles is not neither is called the word of God as if the sounde of syllables wordes and voices are of their owne nature the word of God that very same I meane which of his substance is the sonne of God But because the reuelation of the woorde was made frō God in the holy ghoste through the word or wisdome of god Wherefore although the original be of God and not of man yet the words which the prophets and Apostles vttered are mans wordes neither can they do any thing else but giue signification with the which notwithstāding I wold not haue that due force of the external word of God to be lifted vp aboue that which is méete comely those thinges imputed to the literall worde which is proper to god I acknowledge all those thinges whiche with a sound vnderstanding or iudgment are attributed to the word of god But of this thing I haue elsewhere discoursed more at large But now some wil say If by reciting the wordes of God sacramentes are not sanctified or consecrated from whēce then haue they this that they be and are called sacraments or holy signes Is the consecration vaine of no force Surely vain of no force is that cōsecration which the papists haue feigned But of consecration or true santification I haue spoken in the beginning of this chapt which now I will set forth a litle plainer more aboūdantly The holy scriptures whē they make mention of holy thinges they vse verie oftē this Hebrue word ** which the Gréeke interpreters commonly haue translated by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the latines by Sanctifico Consecro and Initio The vse of this word reacheth verie far For it signifieth to sanctifie to offer vnto god to purifie or clense and to iustifie also to seuer or to put a-part and to separate to separate I meane from prophane vse to dedicate them to holie thinges to call a thing by some name to applie to appoint Therfore we say that to cōsecrate in this place is no other thing but to sanctifie to dedicate to god after a fashiō to separate or of a thing prophane to make an holy thing But who doeth this or he which doth it by what meanes or instrument I pray you doth he it who I beséech you cōsecrateth or holieth is it God or is it man Verily God not man For God instituting any thing testifying declaring by his word what he hath instituted to what ende of his owne holy iust and good will by his own only institution I say without any other meane he consecrateth the thing which he himselfe hath already instituted For as he is holy iust and good so whatsoeuer he cōmandeth is holy iust good And man vnderstanding by the word of God that God hathe instituted any thing to a holy iust good vse accepteth receiueth and vseth that institution for holy good iust Therfore man doeth not by vttering certein words consecrate make holy the institution And because he beléeueth that all the institutions of God are holy good therefore he also celebrateth this institution of God euen as God hathe ordeined giueth God thankes depending altogether vpon God and the rule of his word Of this manner of sanctification the Apostle speaking in another certein place saieth Now the spirit speaketh euidētly that in the latter times there shal rise deceiuers forbidding to marrie cōmanding to absteine frō meates whiche God hath created to be receiued with thanksegiuing of them whiche beleue know the trueth For euerie creature of God is good and nothing to bee refused if it bee receiued with thankesgiuing For it is sanctified by the word of god praier Lo he saith meate is sanctified by the worde of God prayer But the word of God is in this place as Paule the Apostle expoundeth it a testimony of the scripture will of God whereby we are taught that all things which God hathe made are excéeding good that they are cleane not vnclean which God hath created for to be eaten for our vse In the Actes S. Peter heareth Arise Peter slea and eate for he sawe in a vision before him al liuing creatures of the earth and the Aire Peter aunswered Not so Lorde For I haue neuer eaten any thing that is common or vnclean Therfore he heard again What God hath clensed that cal thou not common But where I pray you did hee make them cleane When hee made and gaue them for the vse of man To the word is annexed prayer not a charming or an inchantment but a faithfull thanks giuing For the Apostle more then once or twise maketh mention of thanks giuing that by the generall word that is to say prayer no other thinge might be vnderstoode than the speciall worde I meane thanks giuing For prayer is as a man would say to inuocation and giuing of thankes as the roote to the braunches Therefore saith he the meate is holy because GOD who is good hathe made and appointed the same for the vse of man and also because it is receiued of man with faith and thankesgiuing For meate is not holy and good to many men not through any fault in that meat which is always the good creature of God but in thē is the fault which acknowledge not by faith the benefits of God or which abuse them glut thēselues contrarie to the worde of thē lord Euen so standeth the case with the matter of sanctification whiche we must also applie to the sacraments God of his owne good wil and for the commoditie of men ordeined sacraments He chose vnto him selfe out of his good creatures water bread and wine and appointing them to some certeine ende he laide a platfourme and commaunded vs to vse and celebrate them nowe therefore by the commaundement and choice of God the water bread and wine are consecrated and he signeth them with his word and declareth that he will haue them counted for sacraments and sheweth the manner howe hee will haue them celebrated So that the consecration
the same manner hath hee heere lefte with vs a memorie of the mysteries stopping bridling hereby the mouths of heretiques For whē they say Whereby appeareth it that Christe was offered and many other mysteries Then we alleadging these things doe thereby stop their mouthes For if Iesus be not deade whose representation or signe is this sacrifice Thus farre he You perceiue I suppose how this writer doeth bring against heretiques the Sacrament of the super for the testimonie of truth that is to say of the lords true death Wherefore as the Gospel is called a witnesse and the Preachers of the Gospel witnesses euen so we call sacramentes witnesses of the same trueth whiche though they be dumb yet neuerthelesse are visible after which name S. August calleth them Visible words For the preaching of the Gospell consisting of wordes heard with the eares is a speaking witnesse but sacraments which consist of signes and are séene with the eyes are spéechlesse witnesses and as it were remnauntes and remembraunces of the preaching of the gospel Yea sacraments were instituted by God to that end that they might visiblie confirme vnto vs the ready good-will of GOD towarde vs and also the preaching of the Gospel and all the promises of life and saluation and that they should be as it were seales sett and fixed to the Gospell and promises made by God whiche might testifie and confirme that faith in Christ is true righteousnesse That whiche I haue saide I will confirme by the writinges of the Apostles But I taught a little before that there is allone ground of the sacraments of the olde Testament and of the new a few things onely excepted so that now by very good right by the comparing of both together wee may estimate and vtter what the force and vse of our Sacraments is Paule therefore to the Rom. 4. chap. saith We say that faith was imputed to Abraham for righteousnes howe was it then imputed When hee was circumcised or when he was vncircumcised Not when hee was circumcised but when hee was vncircumcised after hee receiued the signe of circumcision as the seale of the righteousnes of the faith which he had when he was vncircumcised that he should be the father of all thē that beleeue not beeing circumcised that righteousnes might de imputed vnto them also and the father of circumcision not vnto them onelie whiche are of the circumcised but vnto them also that walke in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had when he was vncircumcised All these are Pauls words Amōg which first of all some words are méete to be expounded then we must séeke after the sense and meaning of the Apostles wordes and last of all we must apply them to our purpose touching the sacrament The Apostle héere vseth two wordes that is to say The Signe The seale Signum the word signe is more generall stretcheth very far but a seale is a word that properly belongeth vnto sacramēts which are seales and confirmatiōs For al signes seale not For some by fignificatiō onely do accōplish their duetie But 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 properly is to seale for assurance and confirmation sake of faith or credite wherefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a seale whiche is set to to kéepe confirme our faith and promise and to be without all daunger of deceipte And héere as else where very often the Lord doth imitate the manner of men For we men are wonte by setting to our seales to confirme our writings couenauntes and faithfull promises which we before had made by word And that this hath alwayes béene the cause of the instituting vse of seales appeareth plainely by these testimonies of the Scriptures When the children of Israel vnder Ezra made a couenaunt with the Lord by and by they set downe their couenaunt in writinge and seale the writing to be a testimonie of the trueth as in Nehem. the 9. chap. and Hag. the 2. chapter thou mayst read I will take thee to my seruaunt Zorobabel thou sonne of Salathiel saieth the Lord and wil make thee as a signe or sealing ring for I haue chosē thee As if he had said All mē shal certeinlie learne that in the sonne of Salathiel y continuaunce of the posteritie of the Messias doeth consiste and remaine Thus writeth Ieremie chap. 22. As truely as I liue saith the Lorde if Chonenias the sonne of Iohoakim king of Iuda weare the signet or seale on my righte hande yet will I pluck thee thence whiche is as much as if he had saide Though thou were hee in whome I wil kéepe my promisses yet shalt thou bee ledd captiue into Babylon To this agréeth that of Matth written of the Iewes So they went and made the Sepulchre sure and sealed the stone without doubt against deceiptfull practises they appointed a watch It appeareth therefore by these testimonyes where to the vse of seales serueth These thinges béeing thus declared let vs nowe diligently searche out the counsell and meaning of the Apostles wordes Paule sheweth that iustification happeneth vnto men by the power and vertue of no woorkes of no ceremonies or sacramentes but by the onely merite of Christe through faith To proue this he bringeth the example of Abraham of whome the Scripture hath pronounced Abraham beleeued God it was imputed vnto him for righteousnesse Thence he gathereth that Abraham was iustified by faith yea that that was imputed vnto him for righteousnesse Where bothe by the worde or force of imputation and by the whole sentence of Moses he doeth moste strongly reason shewing that through grace righteousnesse is imputed by faithe Where-vnto hee ioyneth also a testimonie out of Dauid touching righteousnesse by imputatiō I handled that place in the first Sermon of the fourth Decade Then hee returneth againe to the example of Abraham and applyeth to his purpose that place alleadged out of Genesis waying the circumstaunces of the manner and time of his iustification and sayeth How was it thē imputed Whē he was circūcised or when he was vncircumcised Not when hee was circumcised but when hee was vncircumcised Whiche thinges verilie are playner than that they require any exposition But because the Iewe might obiect Why then the institution and vse of circumcision was of no force but voide vnprofitable and vaine For if Abraham were iustifyed before he was circumcised what could circumcision profit him further And if it brought nothing surely it was superfluous and vnprofitable Paule preuenting that obiection maketh aunswere And he receiued saith he the signe of circumcision as the seale of the righteousnes of faith c. Circumcision saith hee was neither voide nor vnprofitable For albeit it iustifie not neither cleanse nor apply the giftes of GOD yet it followeth not therefore that there is no further vse of it For it hath an other end For he receiued the signe of circumcision for a certeine seale of the righteousnesse of
yet able to confesse beléeuers bycause he reputeth them of his grace for beléeuers Neyther is this any wonder or strange thing since god yea to them that are of perfect age imputeth faith for righteousnesse For in all points righteousnesse acceptation or sanctification is frée and imputatiue that the glory of his grace might be praysed Furthermore his will is that little ones should not be despised muche lesse to be cast out among the number of the Saintes Yea he doth affirme that Angels are giuen vnto them to bée their kéepers who though they be ministers of Gods maiestie yet the selfe same are giuen and graunted to litle children to be their guard so that hereby we may iudge what great store the Lord setteth by infants and learne not to wype them out of the skoare of Gods people to whome the inheritaunce of life is due We attribute nothing here to the byrthe which is after the fleshe but all thinges to the grace and promise of god Nowe it is euident by all these testimonies that as well the infantes of the faythfull are to bee baptised as also those that are of perfect age confessing the faythe Nowe on the contrarie parte the Anabaptistes doe contend that none is to be baptised but he alone whiche bothe is able to be taught and to beléeue yea and to make confession of his fayth also And for confirmation of this thing they bring these sayinges of our Sauiour Out of Saint Matthewe Goe yee therefore and teache all nations baptising them in the name of the Father c. Out of Marke Goâ— yee into the whole worlde and preache the Gospell to all creatures he which shall beleue and bee baptised shall bee saued c. Beholde say they teaching goeth before baptisme Therefore they that are notable to be taught ought not to be baptised Furthermore to beléeue goeth before and to baptise followeth after Infantes do not beléeue therefore they are not to be baptised Vpon all these they heape vp out of the Actes of the Apostles examples whiche proue that the faithfull that is to say they that confesse the fayth were baptised of the Apostles They reckon vppe also the newly instructed Christians of the olde time to whom say they there had bene no place giuen if they had baptised infantes I aunswere If the order of the wordes make anything in this matter we also haue in a readinesse to serue oure turne For in Marke thus we reade Iohn baptised in the desert preaching the baptisme of repentaunce in whiche place we sée that to baptise goeth before to preache followeth after Yea I will shewe also that that place which they alledge out of Matthewe for them selues maketh also for vs For Matthewes wordes be these All power is giuen vnto me both in heauen and in earth sayth the Lord Goe therfore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say discipulate that I may so speak that is make ye me disciples or gather together al nations yea he teacheth them also the way means how to gather disciples vnto him out of all nations or al nations by baptising teaching them By baptising and preaching â—e shall gather me together a church And he setteth out both of them seuerally one after an other swéetely and shortly saying baptising them in the name of the father and of the sonne and of the holie Ghoste Teaching them to obserue all thinges which I haue commaunded you Now therefore baptisme goeth before teaching But we doe not thereby gather that those nations which neuer heard any thing before of God and the Sonne of God and the holy Ghoste are to be baptised neyther would the Apostles haue borne that but we alledge these thinges to declare vpon howe fickle a foundation the Anabaptists do build And we simply say that it is not true whiche these men imagine that the Lord coÌ„manded his apostles to baptise them onely whom they taught Neyther dothe he here poynt out who are to be baptised in the whole worlde but he speaketh of them that are of perfect age and of laying the firste foundations of fayth and of the Churche among the Gentiles being rude as yet and ignoraunt altogether in religion They that are of perfect age are able to beare preaching or teaching Infantes are not so They that are of perfect age are able to beleeue and confesse Infantes are not so Therefore he speaketh nothing here of infantes Yet therefore they are not debarred from baptisme It is a general law He which doth not labor let him not eate but who is so cruell and vnnaturall to thinke that therefore infantes are to be famished to death The Lorde when true religion beganne to be spread abroad sent his Apostles into all nations vnto them which bothe were ignoraunt of God and strangers from the Testamentes of God Truely it behâ—â—ued them not firste to baptise and afterwarde to teache but first to teach and then to baptise If at this day we shuld go to 〈◊〉 or turne the Turkes to the sayth of Christe first truely we should â—eache theÌ„ afterward baptise the seruantes of Christ and those that would yelde themselues into his subiectioÌ„ So the Lord him self in times past also first renued his couenant with Abraham him selfe and instituted CircumcisioÌ„ for a seale of the Couenant and after that Abraham was circumcised But he him selfe when he vnderstoode that infantes also were partakers in the couenant and that circumcision was the seale of the couenaunt he afterward did not only circumcise Ismael being thirtéene yeares of age and all that were borne in his owne house but infantes also among whom we reckon Isaach also Euen so the faythfull whiche were turned by the preaching of the Gospel from gentilisme and confessing were baptised when they vnderstoode that their infantes were counted amonge the people of God and that baptisme was the badg of Gods people they caused also their infantes to be baptised As therefore it is written of Abraham He circumcised al the menchildren in his house so we oftentimes reade in the Actes and writings of the Apostles that after the maister of the house is turned the whole familie is baptised But as concerning the newly instructed Christians they came in the old time from the Gentiles dailye vnto the Church whome these did instruct in the principles of faythe being ignoraunt therein and afterwarde baptised them But the auncient fathers them selues neuerthelesse baptised also the infants of the faythful which anon we will declare Neither doe they lawfully gather when they conclude in this sort Hee which shall beleeue and be baptised shall be shwed Infantes doe not beléeue therfore they are not to be baptised For againe it is certeine that it is spoken of them that be of perfecte age as in Matth. And bycause he requireth fayth and confession of fayth of those that are of perfect age it doth not followe therevpon that he requireth the same of infantes For he accounteth these as his
soule For the thing that signifieth is wont to be called by the name of that thing whiche it signifieth as it is written The seuen eares of wheate are seuen yeares He said not doe signifie seuen yeres And seuen oxen are seueÌ„ yeres and many such like In like sort it is said The rocke was Christ Hee said not The rock signifieth Christ but as though it were so in deede whiche is not the same in substance but by signification So likewise the bloud beecause thrugh a certeine vital substaÌ„ce in it signifieth the soule in the sacraments is called the soule Thus far he The same Augustine also against Adimantus cap. 12. saith So is bloud the soule like as the rock was Christ And againe in the same place he saith I may also expouÌ„d that that precept of the bloud and soule of the beast c. consisteth in the signe For the lord douted not to say This is my body when he gaue the signe of his body Thus much Augustine There is no foole so doultish that will say that these wordes of Augustine are darcke or doubtfull Who so liste maye add here vnto that which the same authour hath plainely written concerning figuratiue spéech Libro 2. Contra Aduers Legis Cap. 9. But let vs leaue off to cite mens testimonies coÌ„cerning the proper and most auncient exposition of Christes wordes This is my bodie Let vs rather procéede to alledge sounde arguments out of the scriptures as we promised to do thereby to proue that wée must sometime of necessitie depart from the letter that Christes words are accordingly as I haue said to bée expounded by a figure First it is euident that the Lord at this present instituted a Sacrament whereby it is manifest that the Lord spake after the same manner as he is wont to speake in other places of the scripture concerning sacraments as when he saith that circumcision is the Lords couenaunt the lambe the Lords Passeouer that sacrifices are sinnes and sanctifications baptisme the water of regeneration But we declared in the sixt sermon of this Decade that all these kindes of speaches remaine to be expouÌ„ded This saying or spéech therefore is to be expounded This is my bodie This is my bloud because it is sacramentall For it receiued the common interpretation whiche most truly and for certeinty was vsed and receiued by the catholique church euer since the time of the Apostles yea and euer since the time of the Patriarches vnto this day to wit that signes do receiue the termes and names of those things that are signified so that thereby they receiue no part of their substance but do stil continue remaine in their owne proper nature For this cause it coÌ„meth to passe that our Lord Christe in the Gospell written by S. Luke did ioyne the banquet of the Passeouer with this our lordes supper in such sort that he substituted this in the place of the other that it should not séeme straunge if he said in this our supper This is my body for in the solemnizing of the feast of Passeouer it is thus said The lambe is the Lords Passeouer Which kind of speach was not darke to be vnderstoode by the Apostles who vnderstoode that this lambe was a remembrance of the passage once past By that meanes also they vnderstood that the Lords bread giuen vnto them by the Lord is a remembrance of his body For in other matters of much lesse weight they diligeÌ„tly questioned and inquired of the Lord touching the proper sense signification of the words But of these woordes they neuer once doubted or asked any question For al sacramental spéeches were to the holy fathers very wel knowen Moreouer if we continue to vnderstand the words of the supper simply according to the letter it followeth that the Lord hath deliuered vnto vs his body and bloud corporally to be receiued And I pray you to what ende should hee deliuer them but that we receiuing them corporally might liue But the vniuersal canonical scripture teacheth that our life or saluation our iustificatioÌ„ coÌ„sisteth in faith only which we repose in the body which was giuen the bloud shedd for vs which is the spiritual eating not in any work of ours much lesse in the bodily eating of Christes body whiche he sheweth in another place to be nothing auaileable Then since there is but one meanes and that most simple wherby to obteine life and iustification to wit by faith only not by the work of our eating neither is the scripture repugnant to it selfe surely the Lord hath not instituted any such worke of eating therefore the solemne words of the supper do admit some other exposition If the bread were the lords true and natural body it must néeds follow the euen the wicked being partakers of this bread shuld eate Christs body that verily his flesh shuld be meate to feed the bellie since they that eate it lack both mindes faith But all holy men abhorre that thought as absurd most vnworthie of whiche matter I will intreate more hereafter Therfore the saying of Christ This is my body admitteth an expositioÌ„ The whole vniuersal canonical scripture witnesseth that our Lord Iesus Christ toke a body of the vndefiled virgin consubstantial in al poincts vnto our bodies that is to say an humane bodie yea that hee was made like to vs in all respectes except sinne Nowe it is manifest that he spake of his true sensible bodie when he sayeth This is my body For he addeth Whiche is broken or giuen for you But the true natural sensible or humane body was deliuered and died for vs But this appeareth not in the bread or vnder the bread Wherefore the Lords words must be expounded Surely if it had béene the Lords will to make his body of bread his bloud of wine according to the power wherby he made all thinges with his word as soone â—s euer he had said This is my body the bread had béene the body of Christ and that very body whereof he spake mortall passible to be felt and séene For he spake the word and they were made he commaunded and they were created He said let ther be light and light was made and such kind of light as might be perceiued and did shine But in the supper we sée nothing in Christes hands but bread no body And therfore it was not our sauiours meaning by these words This is my bodie to create or make his body of the bread For if he had ment so to do surely it had béene done Neither is there any cause why they should here as it were casting their mistes before our eyes and applie their coloured interpretations vnto a rotten construction vsing wordes vnspeâ—keably supernaturally inuisibly not qualitiuely not quantiuely not as in a place For by these termes they intending in the meane while to bring some other thing to passe doe by the wonderfull iudgement of God quite subuert and ouerthrow
if he had saide men are iustified for Christ his sake by the méere grace or mercie of God without anye helpe or merite of their owne If so be they do but beléeue that God hath giuen his sonne to the worlde to shedd his bloud and to reconcile the purified sinners vnto his father in heauen In which wordes there are moste fully and plainly declared the whole manner and order of sanctifying purifying and iustifying of sinners But it is good here to repeate the Apostles woordes and more nerely to examine and deepely to consider them They are saith hee freely iustified But wherefore freely because forsooth they are iustified by the meere grace of God without the helpe of their owne workes or merites For all men are sinners and therefore they haue nothinge of them selues to alledge for their iustification wherevppon it followeth that since some are iustified they are iustified freely by the grace of god For the same Apostle in the eleuenth to the Romanes saith If wee bee saued by grace then nowe not of woorkes for then grace is no more grace but if by workes then is it nowe no grace But there followeth in Paule immediately that which doth yet make that argument more manifest which is notwithstanding verie manifest alreadie through the redemption saith he that is in Christe Our righteousenesse and saluation is the worke of méere grace because we are redéemed For in respecte of our selues our workes and merites wee were the seruaunts of death and the diuell in so muche as wee were sinners and subiecte to sinne But God by sending his sonne redeemed vs when as yet beeinge his enimies wee were bounde to the diuell his open aduersarie Therefore hee did fréely redéeme vs as Esaye the Prophet did in his 52. Chapter plainly foretell that it should come to passe But true saluation is not in any other whatsoeuer he bee saue in Christ alone oure true Lorde and Sauiour For the heauenly father did by his eternall counsell set forth his sonne our Lorde Iesus Christe to bee our propitiation to wite that hee might bee our reconciliation for whose sake onely the father being pacified adopteâ—h vs into the number of the sonnes of GOD which is accomplished by none other way but through faith in his bloud that is if wee beléeue that the sonne being sent of the father did shedde his bloud thereby to set vs cleansed iustified and sanctified before his heauenly father Wherin we sée againe that our saluation doth freely consiste in faith in Iesus Christ These poyntes beeing thus vnfolded the Apostle procéedinge to shewe howe farre the benefite of redemption and iustification doth stretche doth immediately adde To declare his righteousnes by the forgiuenesse of the sinnes that are past which GOD did suffer to shewe at this time his righteousenesse God saith he hath set forth Christ to be the onely propitiation that hee might shewe that there is but one and the same righteousenesse of all ages Christ I saye him selfe who is the righteousenesse of all that beleeue Nowe heere hee maketh mention of two seuerall times that auncieÌ„t age of the fathers and this present tyme wherein wee nowe liue The auncient age is that which went before the comming of Christ This latter age of ours is that which beginneth at Christe is nowe at this present and shal bee extended to the ende of the worlde And God verily did of his long sufferaunce beare with and suffer the sinnes of that olde age for Christe his sake by whome and for whome hee hath forgiuen them Neither doeth he set beefore vs at this daye any other righteousenesse saue Christe alone to be receiued and embraced by faith For the Apostle doeth not obscurely afterwarde adde That he might be iust and the iustifier of them that beleeue on Iesus As if he should haue saide nowe the meaninge of all this is that we should vnderstand that all men are vnrighteous and altogether sinners but that God alone is righteous without whome there is no righteousenesse at all and that hee doeth communicate his righteousenesse to all them that do beléeue in Cstriste to wite which do beléeue that for Christ his sake the father is pleased and recoÌ„ciled vnto vs and that for him we are reputed both iust and holie By these woordes of the Apostle there are two verie wicked and blasphemous errours of certeine fellowes notably refuted The one of the twaine is the errour of them whiche saye that oure fathers were iustified not by faith in Christ but by the law and their owne merites affirminge that Christ suffred not for the fathers but for them alone that liued when he was vppon the earth and for them that followed after his death The other errour is theirs which saye that Christ offered vp his bodie for the fathers for originall sinne onely not for vs and all our sinnes and therefore that wee must make satisfaction for our owne sinnes But the Apostle Paule doeth in this place condemne both these opinions And the holie Euangelist Iohn agréeing with Paule doth saye The bloud of the sonne of GOD doeth cleanse vs from all sinne for he is the propitiation for our sinnes not for our sinnes onely but for the sinnes of all the worlde Therefore the merite of Christ his redemption doth extende it selfe to all the faithfull of both the testaments The Apostle Paul procéedeth vpon that which he had saide hee inferreth Where is the boasting it is excluded By what lawe Of woorkes Naye but by the lawe of faith He gathereth by the Euangelicall doctrine hetherto taught that all the boasting of euery mannes owne righteousenesse and all the bragginge of euerye ones merites is vtterly taken away altogether exempted and vanished Not by the lawe of woorkes that is not by the doctrine concerning works which is wont for the moste parte to puffe men vpp and make them swel but by the lawe of faith that is by the doctrine concerning faith which doth emptie and leaue in vs nothinge but an humble confession and acknowledging of our owne lacke of merites attributing all oure helpe to grace in Christ Iesus And at the last gathering the cheefe proposition hee sayth We do therefore holde that a man is iustified without the woorkes of the lawe This is the summe and breuiarie of the whole Gospell that wee are iustified that is to saye absolued from sinnes from the definitiue sentence of death and damnation and sanctified and adopted into the number of the sonnes of God by faith that is by an assured confidence in the name of Christe which is giuen by the father to be our onely Sauiour And here are workes by name excluded to the ende there should be giuen to vs no occasion to entangle faith with workes or to attribute to workes the glorie title due to faith alone or rather to Christe vppon whome our faith is grounded and vphelde This proposition beeing once put foorth he doth presently after coÌ„firme with argumentes shewing withall