ragges t Iob 9 30.31 If I wash myselfe saith righteous Iob with snowe water make my hands neuer so cleane yet shalt thou plunge mee in the ditch and mine owne cloathes shall make mee filthy What is that ditch but natures corruption drawen by a perpetuall trench thorough all man kinde from the loines of our first parents Whereof holy king Dauid was by his fall caused to complaine u Psal 51.5 I was shapen in iniquity in sin hath my mother conceaued mee And what are the * Zech. 3.3 filthy cloathes but the carnall motions which being fashioned to our corrupt hearts doe like our garments x Heb. 12 1. easily beset vs and can neuer bee cleane put off vntill nature it selfe bee dissolued Which made Saint Paul cry out y Rom. 7.24 O wretched man that I am who shall deliuer me from the body of this death Solomon puts the question to all men liuing z Prov. 20.9 wÌ„ho can say mine heart is cleane I am pure from my sinne And himselfe being now become a preacher of repentance makes the answer for all a Eccl. 7.20 There is not a iust man vpon earth that doth good sinneth not If there be any be hee as iust as Iob b Iob. 38.3.40 7. let him gird vp his loines like a man I will demand of thee saith God and declare thou vnto mee Wilt thou disanull my iudgement Wilt thou condemne me that thou maist be righteous c Rom. 3.4 Nay let God be true but euery man a lyer let God be iust but euery man a sinner e Gal 3 19. Wherefore then serues the law it was added because of transgressions that wee may know our f Sedcur praecipitur homini ista perfectio cum in hac vita eam nemo habeat Quia non recte curritur si quo currendum est nesciatur Pet. Lomb. l. 3. Sent. dist 27. lit G. duties and defaults g Rom. 4.15 Where no law is there is no transgression h 1. Ioh. 3.4 for sinne is the transgression of the law i Rom. 5.13 and without the law sinne is not imputed Where sinne is not acknowledged grace is not accepted k Rom. 3.20 but by the law is the knowledge of sinne l Rom. 5.20 Therefore the law entred that the offence might abound but where sinne abounded grace hath superabounded The law euer remaines the perpetuall rule of our duety though vnsufficient for our safety m Rom. 8.3 being weake through the flesh And now it hath a double vse first directly to shew vs n Nec latuit prÄ™ceptorem praecepti pondus hominum excedere vires sed iudicavit ex hoc ipso suae illos insufficientiae admonere vt scirent sanè ad quem iustitiae sinem niti pro viribus oporteret Bernard sup Cant serm 50. what is good and evill that o Rom. 2.18 wee may approue the things that are more excellent being instructed out of the law and that wee may performe the same in all holy obedience to him that commaundeth then obliquely to bring vs by p Data est enim lex superbis hominibus viribus suis totum tribuentibus vt cum implere non possent legem datam praevaricatores inuenirentur facti rei sub lege peterent misericordiam à legis conditore August de actis cum Felice Manich. l. 2. c. 11. repentance to the q Heb. 4.16 throne of grace that we may obtaine mercy and finde grace to helpe in the time of need In which respect it is a r Gal. 3.24 schoolemaster still to bring vs vnto Christ reducing vs vnto him obliquely as it were per impossibile not that the law is of things Å¿ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Basil 19. hom Nemo ad impossibile obligatur Non deus impossibilia iubet sed inbendo admonet facere quod possis petere quod non possis Aug. l. de natura gratiae cap. 43. impossible but because we are still impotent and vnable Both which vses of the law Saint Iohn hath put together saying t 1. Iohn 2.1 â— These things I write that you sinne not but if any man sinne we haue an aduocate with the father Iesus Christ the righteous and hee is the propitiation for our sinnes Now u 1. Tim. 1.8 we knowe that the law is good if a man vse it lawfully knowing this that the law is not made for a righteous man namely not to iustifie a man nor to condemne any whom God hath iustified but the law is made for the lawlesse and disobedient to curbe and condemne them who will not be reformed * y. 11. according to the glorious gospell of the blessed God Now if our workes done in grace be not answerable to the law of an holy life Good works not well done then sure they can not merit eternall life and glory The things happily are good that we doe in their owne nature and according to the law of God and they may doe good being beneficiall vnto others as to honour our betters is good and the law of God almes deeds are good and doe good to the poore and yet are they not so good as to merit for vs eternall life glory at the hands of God First because they are not so * Querb abs te vtrum haec opera bona benè faciant an malè Si enim quamvis bona male tamensatit negare non potes eum peccare qui malè quodibeâ—t facit August contra Iulian. Col. 1036. l. 4. c. 3. well done as they ought in regard of some necessary circumstance Vnbeleevers may happily doe the things which God requireth but not their duties because they doe them not in conscience to him that commandeth and without faith it is impossible to please God Then if wee of faith doe some duties and neglect others when he that hath commanded one hath commanded all Can some few good workes make satisfaction for so many euill a Heb. 11.6 Whosoever will be saued before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholike faith which except a man belieue faithfully hee cannot bee saved Athanas his Creed Aliud est quod sponte impenditur naturae aliud quod praeceptis dominicis ex charitate debetur obedientiae Greg. hom 27 in Evang. Hoc peccarunt quod homines sine side non ad eum finem ista opera retulerunt ad quem referre debuerunt Aug. l. 4. cont Iulian. c. 3. Sordet natura sine gratia Prosper ep ad Russinum which we haue done and compensation for so many other good workes which wee haue left vndone And yet the very workes of faith by some carnall respects interuening are not so good nor so well done in true loue as they ought For true b 1. Cor. 13.4.5 Plenissima charitas quae iam non possit augeri quamdiu hic homo vivit est in
once in seaven dayes so long as the i Rom. 8.21.22 creation groneth vnder the burthen of corruption vntill wee enter into his rest and enjoy an eternall Sabbath in glory Vpon this law stood the covenant of Nature Doe this and liue The covenant of Nature To liue is to be doing for life is the energie of nature and consists in action And to doe this law which God had by nature inacted in man should haue beene the naturall life of man Not a meanes to attaine life which hee then already had in present fruition but the very forme and manner of liuing and that well and happily k 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arist Ethic. l. 1. c. 7. a perpetuall well doing and perfect beeing in that blessed estate wherein hee was made l Luke 10.26.28 What is written in the law This doe and thou shalt liue For these things if a man doe he shall liue in them not for the doing but in the doing of them And m Iames 1.25 who so looketh into the perfect law of liberty beeing a doer of the worke that man shall bee blessed in his deede Of which covenant God gaue n Primordialis data est lex Adae Evae in paradiso quasi matrix omnium praeceptorum Dei c. Tertull. adversus Iudaeos Quae lex ei sufficeret sheffet custodita ibid. man in his innocency as it were o Erat homini in lignis alijs alimentum in hoc Sacramentum Aug. two Sacraments The p Hac generali primordiali Dei lege quarn in arboris fructu observari Deus sanxerat omnia praecepta legis posterioris specialiter indita fuisse cognoscimus quae suis temporibus edita germinaverunt Tertul. adversus Iudeos In hac enim lege Adae data omnia praecepta condita recognosim us quae posteà pullularunt data per Moysen Ibidem tree of knowledge respecting the law doe this and the tree of life respecting the promise liue By the former it pleased God to make triall of mans faith and obedience A small matter as it may seeme a trifle the greater was the sinne in eating the forbidden fruite whatsoever it was of the tree of knowledge of good and evill So it was called by God his institution who forbad it to proue make knowne what a creature q Haec ipsa quo que possibilitae eveniendi non levitati ipsius qui non movetur sed retum facilitati quae naturâ non indignante moueri possunt convenienter ascribitur Ioan Sarisber Policrat l. 2. c. 21. could doe of it selfe and would do being left to it selfe which was by nature free to chuse and indifferently inclinable to good or evill It stood not with the counsell of the Almighty only wise God nor with the condition of a reasonable creature that man should be inforced to do his duty vpon necessity whom he had made arbitrary or that all r Quae igitur cum fiunt carent existendi necessitate eadem prius quam fiant sine necessitate futurasunt Booer de consol phil lib. 5. pros 4. contingency of second causes should bee intercepted in the course of nature by his Almighty power howsoever by his providence the effects shall certainely follow which hee in his secret ſ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Suidas counsell foreseeth and preordaineth to his glory vpon their free or contingent and sometimes contrary operations t Sicut series retum Dei providentiam non immutat sic aeterna dispositio retum naturam non perimit Ioan. Sarisber Policrat lib. 2. c. 20. Every thing hath its owne course together with God his providence and God hath his purpose notwithstanding their deficience Sin which is an evill and aberration of our actions from the righteous law of God is the defection of the creature from the creatour and not the u Deus non est auctor illius reicuius est vltor Fulgent l. 1. c. 19. ad Monim 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eurip. effecting of the creatour by the creature For it is not an effect but a x Nemo quaerat efficientem causam malae voluntatis non enim est efficiens sed deficiens quia necilla est effectio sed defectio August l. 12. de Civ Dei c. 7. Malum nihil est cum id facere ille non possit qui nihil non potest Booet de consol Phil. l. 3. pros 12. defect in the doing The y 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bas Homil Quod Deus non est author malorū p. 422. default whereof resteth vpon the immediate doer and redoundeth not to the first mover who will haue euery thing worke in its own kind No man could haue had any z Iohn 19.11 power against Christ except it had beene giuen him from aboue Yet did not that excuse his adversaries nay therefore they had the greater sinne For the greater the a Non queramur de autho re nostro Deos si beneficia eiu corrumpimus ve essent contraria efficimus Sen. quaest nat l. 5. c. 18. gifts the greater the fault if they be abused The Devill cannot do any thing without God yet b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Neque tamen quoniam mutabiles vires habemus improbitatis nostrae culpa in Deum conferenda est Non enim in facultatibus sunt vitia led in habitibus c. Nemes lib. de natura homin when hee speakes a lye he speaketh of his owne for hee is a lyar and the father of it c Iohn 8.44 Who being the first Apostate from God The Fall and the perpetuall enemy to God and man affecting to be the d Naturales impatientias in ipso diabolo deprehendo iam tunc cū dominū Deum vniversa opera quae fecisset imagini suae id est homini subjectisse impatienter tulisset Tertul. de pat Adeò decepit eum quia inuiderat ibid. Prince God of this world in a proud emulation of God himselfe and an e Eph. 2.2 Ioh. 14.30 2. Cor. 4.4 envious indignation against man whom God had deputed as it were his Vicegerent here vpon earth soone tooke occasion by the inhibition and watching his oportunity wrought subtilly vpon the womans frailty in nature f 1. Pet. 3.7 the weaker vessell and by hir prevailed also against the man with whom naturally the womans importunate weakenesse is most powerful And like as Ahitophell after his example gaue counsell since to a rebellious sonne against his father so did the Devill perswade the man to g 2 Sam. 16.21 vsurpe vpon that which God had precisely reserued vnto himselfe the knowledge of good and evill h Acts 15.18 foreknowne vnto God are all his workes and the issues of them from everlasting pretending that by this meanes the mā should become as God himselfe with absolute power and command over the creature whereof before hee had but the bare vse that only
vpon allowance with limitation Thus was he fondly perswaded to preferre his owne vaine affected glory to the glory of God wherein he stood vntill then truly glorious and most happy And so the forbidden tree proued indeed as it was i Ideo arbor illa appellata est scientię dignoscendi boni mali non quia inde talia quasi poma pendebant sed quicquid esset arbor illa cuiuslibet pomi cuiuslibet fructus esset ideò sic vocata est quia homo qui nollit bonum à malo discernere per praeceptum discreturus erat per experimentum vt tangendo vetitum invenirct supplicium Aug. in Psal 70. called the fruite of knowledge of good and evill by mans sinne and transgression For now he learned what it ment by woefull experience who knew not what evill should be vntill he felt it nor what was his own good with God vntill he had k Non solum vt sint dij homines else desierunt sed etiam qui quasi dij erant suam gratiam perdiderunt Ambrol lost it A losse not to himselfe alone but through his default to all his posterity who being in his loynes are l Falso queritur de natura sua genus humanum Salust initio bel Iug. iustly atteinted of his rebelliō because it was the covenāt of nature which he violated And we naturally are not only made guilty of that m In quo erat natura communis ab ejus vitio est nullus immunis Aug. ep 106. ad Paulin Restat vt in illo primo homine peccasse omnes intelligantur quiain illo fuerunt omnes quando ille peecauit vnde peccatum nascendo trahitur quod nisi renascendo non soluitur August contra duas Pelagian ep lib. 4. c. 4. original sin by imputatiō but are by n Peccara parentum alienasunt proprietate actionis nostra sunt contagione propaginis idem l. 6. contra Iulian. c. 4. propagation corrupted with sin or o Peccatum Originarium vitium languor 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vetus iniquitas Ignat ep ad Trallian vice originary the polluted issue thereof in al mankind as an p 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O insirmitatem meam Nam meam dico istam primi parentis infirmitatem Greg. Nazianz. orat 38. he reditary disease infecting the blood and a stigmaticall skarre that cannot bee done away vntill nature it selfe shal be dissolued For after that the man in his person had once viciated our nature hee begate a sonne in his owne q Genus humanum in parente primo velut in radice putruit ariditatem traxit in ramis c. Greg. ep 53. lib. 7. indict 2. likenesse and after his image the likenesse of sinne and the image of corruption r Natura erat seminalis ex qua propagamur quâ scilicet propter peccatum vitiata vinculo mortis obstricta iusteque damnata non alterius conditionis homo ex homine nasceretur Aug. l. 13. de Civ Dei c. 14. And do not wee all sinne if we liue to it after the s Rom. 5.14 similitude of Adams transgression t Liberum arbitrium captivatum non nisi ad peccatum valet Aug. ad Bonifac. l. 3. c. 8. preferring the pleasures of sinne to the law of God v Act 7.51 alwayes resisting the will of God As our Fathers did so do wee x Rom 7.11 For sinne taking occasion by the commandement worketh in vs all manner of concupiscence deceiueth and by it slayeth vs. Thus the law which by the covenant of nature y Rom. 7.10 was appointed to life The Law ever in force is by our transgression and perversnesse become vnto vs z C. 8.2 the law of sinne and of death nature it selfe beeing iudge For the very Gentiles without the law had their a Rom. 2.15 Quos diri conscia facti Mens haber attonitos surdo verbere caedit Occultum quatiente animo tortore flagellum Iuvenal Satyr 13. thoughts accusing or else excusing one another b C. 1.32 knowing the iudgement of God that they who commit such things as are forbidden by the law are worthy of death For the covenant of nature being to do this and liue the not doing thereof but the contrary must needes bee death c pro magnitudine culpae illius naturam damnatio mutavit in peius vt quod poenalitèr praecessit in peccantibus hominibus primis etiam naturalitèr sequeretur in nascentibus coeteris August de Civ D. l. 13. c. 3. ipso facto d Gen. 2.17 In the day thou eatest thou shalt dye the death For our breaking the law could not disanull the law but that it is ever in force to binde vs although never of force to inable vs to performe our duties Nor could the forfet of our bond discharge our debt to God but that his law is ever of force against vs to exact the penalty if there were not a remedy But hath not God abrogated the law of nature by contracting with vs a covenant of grace Nay thereby he hath established the law of an holy life e Exod. 34. v. 28. Deut. 4. v. 13. The words of the covenant were the ten Commandements At the first promise of grace there was a law of perpetuall f Gen. 3.15 enmity set betweene the seede of the woman and of the serpent and in the contract of the covenant with Abraham obedience to God his law is conditioned being implyed in his charge g Gen. 17.1 walke thou before mee be thou perfect But when God establshed that covenant with the children of Israell hee gaue them the law written most authentically with his owne finger in h Exod. 31.18 two tables of stone to bee kept for a testimony of his covenant with them in the i Deut. 10.5.1 Kings 8.9 Heb. 9.4 arke of his gratious k Numb 10.35.36 Psal 24.7.8 presence for ever And by the new testament wherein the same covenāt is renewed as he promised l Ier. 31.32.33 God will put his law in our mindes which was then put in the arke and will write it in our hearts which before was written in stone that wee may serue him in newnesse of spirit and not in the oldnesse of the letter Did Christ Iesus then when he came proue so vnlike Moses of whom he had said m Deut. 18.15 that he should be like vnto him did he set himself so much against Moses as vtterly to dislike and abolish that eternall law which was given by his ministery Nay hee the lord over his owne house wherein Moses was a faithfull servant ratifies the law in every title Saying n Mat. 5.19 whosoever shall breake one of these least commandements and shall teach men so hee shall be called the least in the kingdome of heaven v. 17. For he came not to destroy the law but to fulfill it and he did so