corrupted it Thirdly this also maketh agaynst the Pelagians namely that euen the very infantes do dye For as Paule sayth vnto the Romanes in the 6. chapter The reward of sinne is death but the gift of God is eternall life through Iesus Christ our Lord. And in the 15. chapter of the first epistle to the Corrinthyans The weapon saith he of death is sinne Lastly the baptisme which is geuen to little ones can not blot The sinne of imitatiō can not be blotted out of young children out of them the sinne of imitation Wherefore of necessity we ought to affirme that there is some other kinde of sinne in them except we will haue them to be baptised in vayne There is also an other opinion which the Master of the Sentences reciteth in the 2. dist the 30. which was of such which thought that originall sinne is only a guiltines or blame for an offence or obligation whereunto we are bound by reason of the sinne of Adam So these men do not acknowledge that there is truly and in very dede any fault or sinne in those which are borne but only a certayne guiltines and obligation that they should dye and be condemned for the sinne of Adam This opinion semeth Pigghius in a maner to haue reniued Pigghius maketh originall sin rather an obligation then a fault He maketh death to come of the principles of nature For he denieth that originall sinne is in very dede sinne because it is nether transgression of the law nor yet voluntary Wherefore he affirmeth it to be nothing els then the sinne of Adam for which we that are his posterity are made guilty of damnation and death and are become exiles from the kingdome of heauē But as for death and affictions of this life and lustes of the flesh and other such like affections he saith that they come of the principles of nature so that he is so farre of from saying that all these thinges are sinnes that he doth affirme them to be the workes of God For he sayth that God is the author of nature and that these thinges follow the humors temperature of y◠body and that thing which we sée happeneth in brute beastes happeneth also in men as touching the fleshe and grosser powers of the mynde as to desire those thinges which are preseruatiue pleasant and profitable whether they be agréeable to reason or agaynst it and to auoyde thinges contrary Wherefore He maketh originall sinne to be only the trsāgressiō of Adam He beleueth that this sinne is punished without sensible payne he maketh original sinne to be only the trāsgressiō of Adam Vnto which one trāsgression he will haue all vs to be borne obnoxious not for any sinne or fault or corruptiō which we haue in our selues And he saith moreouer that those which dye being obnoxious only to this sinne of Adam shall not be afflicted in an other life with sensible payne For he imagineth although he dare not openly affirme it that they shall ether in this world or els in some other very delicious place be happy through a certayne naturall blessednes wherein they shall lyue praysing God and geuing thankes although they be banished from the kingdome of heauen of whiche discommodity neuertheles as he dreameth they shal nothing complaine or be sad therefore For this were to striue against the will of God which a man can not doo without sinne But forasmuch as whilest they liued here they had no wicked will it is not to be thought that they Note two reasons of Pigghius He will haue sinne to be taken but after one onely maner shall haue such a wicked will in the lyfe to come And that they shall not suffer any sensible paine he thinketh he proueth very well and that by two reasons First because they haue committed no euill neither haue they cōtaminated themselues with any frowardnes Secondly bicause in this life is required no repentance or contritiō for originall sinne And of this fained deuise this pretence hath he bicause sinne ought not to be taken but after the true and proper maner that is that it be a thing spoken done or lusted against the law of GOD and that it be voluntary and not obtruded to any against their will but suche whiche may be eschued But forasmuch as these thinges haue not place in little infantes there can therfore be no sinne in them Howbeit he saith that he denieth not but that there is original sinne for he saith that it is the sinne of Adam for which all we are condemned must die But therfore I said y◠he sought pretēses bicause in very dede I sée that he Pigghius thinketh thus wherby to defend free will was moued to speake these thinges for an other cause For he attributing so much vnto frée will and hauing of that matter written so many things against vs and considering also that the same could not consist if he should apertly graunt Originall sinne as it is set forth of all the godly hath for that cause founde out this new deuised sentence which yet as I haue said is not vtterly so new for it is both touched and also reiected by the maister of the sentences But to colour his fond deuise A similitude of Pigghius more beautifully he bringeth a similitude of a noble and liberal prince which doth not onely set at liberty some one of his seruantes but also geueth vnto him great authority and enricheth him with possessions which also shall come vnto his posteritie and the Prince geueth him in charge this thyng onely that he faithfully obserue some certaine commaundementes which if he transgresse then he to be assured that all his riches and possessions shall be taken from him and himselfe to returne to his olde bondage This seruant being vnwise and vngrate violateth y◠commaundements of his prince and by that meanes is not onely himselfe made a seruant as he was before but also bringeth forth children to bondage But those children haue nothing wherof to complain of the seuerity of the prince but rather to geue thankes bicause he delt so liberally with their father But for their father they may be excedingly sory bicause he lost those ornamentes both from himselfe and also from his posteritie Yea what if this also be added that the liberalitie of y◠prince was so great that he also allured the posteritie of the vngrate seruaunt to those selfe same benefites and also to farre greater and so allured them that of his owne accorde he sent his sonne to prouoke them So saith he is it with vs. Adam was so created of GOD that he shoulde be pertaker of that supernaturall felicitie Who yet when he contemned the commaundementes of GOD was spoiled of all those supernaturall giftes and left to the olde estate of his nature And in that estate also are we procreated and so bicause of his sinne we are condemned and do die and are made exiles from the
this place also are ouerthrowen workes preparatory For Paul sayth When ye were seruantes of sinne That is not yet regenerate but were still strangers from Christ ye were free vnto righteousnes that is ye were wholy disagreeed from it And if such men haue no fellowship with righteousnes how can they worke good workes which should of congruity merite grace What fruite had ye then in those thinges whereof ye are now ashamed For the ende of those thinges is death But now being freed from sinnes and made seruauntes vnto God ye haue your fruite in holines and the ende euerlastyng lyfe For the stipende of sinne is death but the grace of God is eternall lyfe through Iesus Christ our Lord. What fruit had ye then in those thinges wherof ye are now ashamed He confirmeth his exhortation from the place of honesty and dishonesty Ye ought to An argumente from honesty and filthines abstaine saith he from your old workes for they were vile and filthy vnto you so that if they should now be called to remembraunce ye should be compelled to be ashamed of them Shame is an affection which springeth by reason of some filthines and it may be either a feare or els a griefe for if a man be afraid lest of yâ— What shame is which he doth or which he taketh in hand should happen any dishonesty vnto him he is made ashamed as we sée happeneth in yong men which when they they are ether demaunded or bidden to do any thing they blush because they are afraid lest they should not aunswer aptlye or should not very well be able to do that thyng which they are bidden to do But if an old man or a young man be put in remembraunce of any thing which semeth not to be well done they blush bicause of the sorrow of the dishonesty wherinto they sée themselues to haue incurred And why Why the Ethnikes 〈…〉 to be 〈…〉 of th 〈…〉 â—ast the Romanes ought to be ashamed of those thinges which they had committed before they came vnto Christ there may be two reasons namely the vnpurenes of lyfe or 〈…〉 vnpurenes of religion which they professed that is either filthines or fool 〈…〉 And their former lyfe Paul describeth in his first epistle vnto yâ— Cor. Be not ye 〈…〉 ed saith he neyther fornicators nor worshippers of images nor adulterers nor e 〈…〉 te persons nor abusers of nature nor theues nor couetous personnes nor drunkar◠〈…〉 sed speakers nor raueners shall receaue the inheritaunce of the kingdome of God And thâ—se thyâ—ges were ye sayth he but ye are washed but ye are sanctified And as touching 〈…〉 vncleanes of religion the Ethnike writers aboundantly testifie And Am 〈…〉 vpon this place maketh mencion of the sacred seruices of Cybeles yâ— goddeâ— of Phrygia also of other such like most filthy sacred seruices And Chrisostome saith that this commeth through a singuler benefite of God that meÌ„ are ashamed of the wicked actes which they haue before committed For they were nothyng ashamed of them so long as they were conuersant in them As dronkards and mad folkes are nothyng ashamed so long as they wallow in that offence This place also teacheth Holy men aâ— alweyes gâ—ued and ashamed for the sinnes whâ—ch theâ— haue commâ—tted In our dâ—ou 〈…〉 country grief that be taken away There is in very dâ—ede 〈◊〉 fruite of sin vs that although sinnes before committed are forgeuen yet the shame and griefe for them can not be taken away yea rather godly men can not remember them without detestacion But yâ— shall not be so in our heauenly countrye There in dede the elect shall detest sinnes but the greatnes of the felicity shall swallow vp al féeling of shame griefe For as we rede in yâ— Apocalips God shal wipe away all teares from their eies He séemeth in mockage to call it Fruite especially of those thinges whereof they should be ashamed For in such thinges there is no fruite but rather losse For the ende of them is death WheÌ„ he had demaunded of them what fruit they had there could nothyng els be aunswered but that they had none And he addeth a reason bicause death is the ende of them So Paul because he would yâ— more vehemently moue theÌ„ addeth waight to his speach and to losse he ioyneth shame Some by this worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vnderstand tribute or tole as though it should haueben sayd Vnto sinne is recompenced nothing els but death But if we will rather Vnto sinne to recompeÌ„sed nothing but death Tâ—o significations of thâ—â— worde end haue that worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to signifie an end the same as the Philosophers also affirme may be taken two maner of wayes First for the last ende or terme and so death may be called the end of lyfe Secondly it may be taken for that for whose cause any thing is takeÌ„ in hand which thyng forasmuch as of necessity it ought to be good cannot agrée with death For there is no man yâ— sinneth with this purpose yâ— therfore he would dye Wherfore in the first signification death is called the ende of sinnes bicause in it is the ende of sinnes But now beyng freed from sinne and made the seruantes of God ye haue your fruite in holines and the ende eternall lyfe In these wordes he finisheth the Antithesis or contrariety and against sinne he setteth God against shame holines Paul speaketh in the passiue signification and against death eternall lyfe Againe also in this place he vseth verbes of the passiue signification sayeng Ye are freed from sinne and made seruauntes vnto God But before he sayd when ye were seruauÌ„tes of sin ye were free vnto righteousnes In these verbes there is no nede of the passiue significatioÌ„ For we are of our selues apte inough to sinne but so are we not to be deliuered from sinnes and to serue God But in that Paul in this reddition or coÌ„parison writeth not that we are made seruants vnto righteousnes but vnto God it is a matter of no greate waight For God is only the cause of our righteousnes Ye haue fruite sayth he namely holynes God the cause of all our righteousnes and the end eternall life Here Chrisostome noteth that by this it appeareth that we possesse not all thinges by hope only but that in very dede there is much geueÌ„ vnto vs And forasmuch as we haue alreadye sayth he attayned vnto iustification our hope is excedingly confirmed for the obteynement of that thinge which is yet behind For the reward of sinne is death but the Grace of God is eternall life thorough Christ Iesus our Lord. In these wordes he closeth vs his exhortation and proueth that the end of filthy workes is death For it sayth he is the reward of sin Which thinge forasmuch as it is well knowen of it selfe he would not stand aboute to proue For rede euery where in yâ— holy scriptures that God
threatneth Death is improperly called a rewarde Eternall life is not called a rewarde death vnto sinners Agayn he by the figure Catachresis calleth it a stipend For no man committeth sinne with this intent that for a reward he would obteyne death Here Paul inuerteth the Antithesis or contrary position for he sayth not that eternall life is the reward of righteousnes but rather attributeth it vnto Grace which thing he therefore doth to assigne and appointe the whole nature of merite in Christ only And therfore he addeth thorough Iesus Christ our Lord. that no man shoulde imagine any other mediators â—thâ—â— deade saintes or ells theyr owne workes Farther Paul semeth of purpose 〈…〉 a 〈…〉 stipeÌ„d to set Grace or a gifte and by that meanes he excedinglye stirreth vs vp to the study of eternall life sithen it is a thing so excellent that vnles it be geuen by God it can not be gotten by any of our workes He taketh this greke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the stipeÌ„d or wages of a souldier and he continueth still in his metaphore of a king and of a Lord which he a little before vsed For they vse to geue stipendes vnto theyr The maner of the elders towardes souldiers seruauÌ„ts And the Greke word sauoreth much of the maner of the elders where by they were wont to geue vnto theyr souldiers vittayles to eate when they were one warfare And at Rome it was the maner a long time that the souldiers with theyr owne meate but afterward were vittayles geuen them of the common treasory And it well appeareth by the etimology of the word that it was first instituted only for yâ— releauing of necessity and to signify some honour Vnto laborers is geuâ—n a rewarde Vnto warriours is geuen a stipende not as though they semed stipendes of such worthines for which men should put theyr life in danger Wherefore as to laborers was geuen a reward so vnto warriors was geuen a stipend But now let vs especially consider in what sort grace and workes are as touching eternall life And as much as may be gathered ether out of the holy scriptures or out of those thinges which Augustine hath left in writing as touching this matter we will playnly declare so that it shall be made manifest how much our aduersaries dissagree from vs in thys poynt As touching the first if by Grace we vnderstand the fauour and mercy of God then is it the only cause thoroughe Iesus Christe why we obteyne eternall life For our workes can by no meanes be the causes of our felicity Howbeit they are certayne meanes by which God bringeth vs vnto felicity As the way is not the cause of the end thereof nor the runninge place the cause of the gole or The difference betwenâ— the cause and meanes marke and yet by them men are led both vnto the end of the way and vnto the marke So God by good workes bringeth vs to eternall life when as yet the only cause thereof is the election of God as Paul most manifestly teacheth in thys epistle Whome he hath predestinate sayth he those also hath he called whome he Againste merite hath called those also hath he iustefied whoÌ„ he hath iustefied those also will he glorifie Thys declareth that all these thinges do so come from the Grace of God that they consequently follow the one the other and God which geueth the one will also liberally and freely geue the other Wherefore the whole consideratioÌ„ and nature of merite ought vtterly to be taken away For that which properly meriteth The nature of merite any thing must of necessity haue in it a free geuing vp nether ought it by any other meanes to be due Wherefore forasmuche as we owe of dewty vnto God all thinges that we haue vndoubtedly whatsoeuer we do it can merite nothing Farther those things by which we will merite any thing ought to be our owne But good workes are not our own but are of God Besides this also all imperfection and vncleanes must of necessity be remoued awaye otherwise our workes are contaminated nether can they be leueled to the rule which is prescribed by God wherefore we ought rather to craue pardon then once to thinke vpon price or reward Farther betwene merite and reward there ought to be some proportion But there can be no proportion betwene our workes and eternall felicity Wherefore they can not properly be called merites Moreouer God will that there should be taken froÌ„ vs all matter of glorying which thing were not possible if by our workes we should deserue eternall life And forasmuch as Paul in this place describeth eternall life by yâ— name of grace vndoubtedly it can not be of workes Let this suffice as touching the first Now will I briefely declare what Augustine hath written as touching this place In his Enchiridion to Laurentius the 107. chapter A stipend sayth he is payd in warfare as a debt and not geuen as a gift therefore Paul sayth the stipend of sinne is death to declare that death is rendred vnto sinne not wythout desert but as due But grace vnles it be free it When eternall 〈…〉 is gâ—â—en after 〈…〉 a it iâ— grace for grace is not grace Wherefore as touching the good workes of man forasmuch as they are the giftes of God in that vnto them eternall life is rendred grace is recompensed for grace The same Augustâ—â—e in his booke De gratia Libero arbitrio the ix chapter In the Gospell of Iohn sayth he it is written that we all haue receaued of hys fulnes and grace for grace euery man as God hath deuided vnto him the measure of fayth For euery man hath receaued a proper gift from God one thus and an other thus Wherefore when eternall life is rendred grace is rendred for grace But so is it not of death because it is rendred as due vnto the warfare of the deuill Wherefore whereas the Apostle mought haue sayd and that rightly the stipend of righteousnes is eternall life he would rather say But the grace of God is eternall life that therby we myght vnderstand that The Apostle 〈◊〉 hâ—â—e sayâ— and that iust 〈…〉 that eter 〈…〉 〈…〉 God bringeth vs vnto eternall life not for our owne merites but for hys mercy Wherefore it is written in the 103. Psalme Which crowneth thee in mercy and compassions Because it is he which worketh in vs both to wyll and also to performe The Apostle had sayde before worke your saluation wyth feare and trembling Afterward least we should attribute thys thyng vnto our selues he sayth that God worketh these thy 〈◊〉 vs and that not for our merites but according to his good pleasure And in the same booke the 8. chapter he sayth that there is no small ambiguity how eternall life is â—â—ndred vnto good workes For the scripture sayth that euery man shall haue according to his works And yet on the other side Paul
We are not taught by any parte of thâ—â—anonicall scripture â—hâ—t the â—â—â—â—tes departed do pray for vs. Althoughe the saintes do praye for vs. yet are not they to be inuocated do make intercession for vs we can not proue by any parte of the canonicall scripture Wherefore we ought to haue Christ only for our mediator aduocate neither are thinges vncertaine to be admitted for certaine Although I can easely graunt that the saintes in our countrey with most feruent desires wishe the saluation of the elect Yet dare I not say that they pray for them especially seyng the scripture no where teacheth any such thing And although I should confesse this yet should it not therof follow that we ought to cal vpon saintes departed For we are not certaine out of the worde of God that they can heare our prayers Wherfore they greuously offend both against religion and against Christ himself which appoint vnto themselues saintes for new mediators and aduocates wheÌ„ as there is but one onely mediator betwene God and men namely the man Christ Iesus who now as Paul saith maketh intercession for vs. The same thing doth Iohn testify saying I write vnto you that ye sinne not And if we sinne we haue an aduocate with the father euen Iesus Christ the iust Augustine against the epistle of Parmenianus in the 8. chap. in these wordes noteth that the Apostle excluded not himselfe None so holy but that he hath nede of the intercession of Christ from yâ— rest For he said not ye haue an aduocate but we haue For there is none so holy but yâ— he hath nede of Christ to be his aduocate and mediator Farther he saith not ye haue an intercessor but we haue an aduocate Iesus Christe Augustine in that place reproueth Permenianus for that he had in some places written that Bishops are mediators betwene God and the people which thing he sayth is not It is a thing intollerable that bishops should be mediators betwene God and the people We must not pray vnto Angels to be suffred of the faithfull The same Augustine in his 10. booke of confessions the 42. chapter thus writeth Whome should I haue found which mought reconcile me vnto thee Should I haue gone vnto Aungels But with what prayers With what Sacramentes And he addeth That there were many which would haue bene reconciled by Angels and were miserably deceyued for that an euill Aungell oftentymes transformeth hymselfe into an Aungell of lyght And if it be not lawfull for vs to pray vnto Aungels much les is the same lawfull for vs to doo vnto dead sayntes For here is no les perill to be deceaued then there These things writeth Augustine in that place both godly and soundly who yet in other places was not so circumspect in eschewing the errour of hys tyme. Who shall separate vs from the loue of God shall affliction shal anguishe shall persecution shall hunger â–ª shall nakednes â–ª shall danger shall the sworde As it is written For thy sake are we deliuered to the death all the day long we are counted as sheepe for the slaughter Neuertheles in all these things we are more then conquerors thorough hym that loued vs. For I am persuaded that nether death nor lyfe nor Aungels nor principalities nor powers nor thinges present nor thinges to come nor heigth nor depth nor any other creature shal be able to seperate vs froÌ„ the loue of God which is in Christ Iesus our Lord. Who shall separate vs from the loue of God After that Paul had by so many reasons confirmed the exceding great loue of God towardes vs now by way of interrogacion he crieth out that there is nothing which can interrupt that loue wherewith God loueth vs. Let aâ—cuse vs whosoeuer wil let come aduersities be they neuer so great yet all things shal work vnto vs to good For this is the property of one that loueth continually to do good vnto him whom he loueth Wherfore seing God so loueth vs what soeuer he doth or whatsoeuer he sendeth vpon vs we must beleue that it shall be helthfull vnto vs neither ought any aduersities to perswade vs but that we are continually loued of God Wherfore this is a conclusion of all those thinges which haue bene before entreated of And that which the Apostle â—aith he is most fully persuaded of I would to God we were also persuaded of the same He reckoneth vp those thinges which seme commonly to be most harde and wherby men are oftentimes broken and euen these things he auoucheth hinder not the loue of God towardes vs so far is it of that they can plucke it away from vs. The Apostle the longer abideth in this place for that our flesh humane reason can hardly be perswaded of this thing For oftentymes when we are afflicted we cry My God my God why hast thou forsaken me And that with a farre other manner of affect then Christ pronounced those wordes We cry Howe long Men think aduersities to be tokeÌ„â— of Gods anger Ambrose vnderstandeth these thinges of our loue wylt thou be angry O Lord With many such other like For whatsoeuer aduersity happeneth we thinke the same to be a token of Gods wrath towardes vs wheÌ„ as yet he of a singuler loue suffreth vs so to be afflicted I know that Ambrose Augustine and very many other take loue in this place for that loue wherwith we loue God as though the meaning of Paul should be Seing God hath so loued vs ought not we agayne on the other side most constantly to loue hym And thys sentence is neither vnapte nor impious Howbeit I rather preferre the other for that it séemeth to serue better to the scope of the Apostle for hee in thys place goeth about to perswade vs that we should not be in doubt of the loue of God towardes vs. And therefore he sayth that he foreknewe vs predestinated called iustified and glorified vs gaue hys sonne vnto vs together with hym all thinges and that Christ hym selfe maketh intercession vnto yâ— father for vs. All these thinges pertain vnto yâ— loue which God beareth towardes vs. And a litle afterward the Apostle addeth But in all these thinges we are conquerours through hym which hath loued vs. These words most plainely serue to my sentence wherunto also subscribeth Chrisostom I confesse in dede that of this good will of God towardes vs is stirred vp our loue towardes hym howbeit Paul semeth to entreat of that first loue and not of thys our loue But they which will haue these wordes to be vnderstand of our loue towardes God somewhat do doubt whether the elect they yâ— be in very deede iustified may at any time leese faith charity and other vertues or no. But that semeth Paul to denye for he sayth yâ— there is nothing can plucke vs away from the loue of GOD. For this sence is gathered out of the interrogation which he here putteth But whatsoeuer other
vn to god which was promised yet neuertheles he beleued This is to geue glory vnto God to thinke that he both is able and knoweth and also will performe all those thinges which he promiseth Neyther gaue they thankes They do pecfectly geue thankes which when they vnderstand that they haue receaued of God all the good thinges which they haue do geue thākes vnto him for the same But this did not the Philosophers forasmuch as they did not thinke that all thinges depended of God For they The Philosophers did not perfectly geue thankes vnto god referred many thinges to chance and to fortune that is to the concourse of causes which they supposed to be most frequēt in this our lower region which is vnder the Moone Further they affirmed that many things happened vnto vs through the necessity of the matter And so forasmuch as they excluded very many thinges from the prouidence of God they became very colde in geuing him thankes But waxed vayne in their imaginations In Gréeke it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Erasmus sayth they were frustrated For when by theyr imagination they thought to haue obteyned the name of excellent learning and wisedome they wonderfully vttred their owne foolishnes And to be frustrate What it is to be frustrated what called vayne is nothing els then when we hope for some good thyng to come vnto vs and the same falleth far otherwise then we thought for Although we myght say as Aristotle writeth the that is vayn which is not brought to the ende appoynted And experience teacheth by these men that so it happened vnto naturall wisdome For therfore was it reueled that when they knew God they shoulde haue had hym in reuerence and honour But forasmuch as they bended not that way it became vayne 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is turned into English imaginatiōs or cogitations are reasonynges or disputations which are done wyth great pesing and depe iudgement Wherfore the Philosophers are reproued bicause they abode not in those thinges which they naturally knew of God but declined from it through their disputations and witty collections For on the one side the creatures taught thē that the one God which they knew ought to be honored of thē wyth a singuler feruentnes and purenes And on the other syde fleshly lustes entising pleasures vrged them whiche oughte vtterly to haue bene excluded in that true and lawfull worshipping of God But these witty men inuented how The Philosophers sought two thinges in the worshippyng of god to knit them both together For they brought in a worshippyng of God but yet such as consisted of gold siluer gorgeous sacrifices dainty banquets playes spectacles or goodly straunge sightes and such lyke thynges whiche ministred vnto their flesh the pleasures therof so that wyth one and the selfe same worke they both worshipped God and also delighted the sences And in summe they fayned that goodnes which Augustine agaynst Iulianus calleth Scylleum bonum Scylleum bonum because it consisted partly of a man and partly of a beast Wherfore we ought diligently to watch agaynst these fond imaginations for that they engender so great daunger For in the latter epistle to the Corrinthians Paule writeth For the weapons of our warfare are not carnall but mighty through God to cast downe stronge holdes Wherfore we ouerthrowyng such depe reasonings and euery high thing we must ligentlye watche against our imaginations that exalteth it selfe agaynst the knowledge of God oughte to be content wyth that manifestation wherby God declareth himselfe vnto vs. For as often as we patche any thing of our owne reason to the worde of God so often we bring forth errors Neyther do these thynges whiche Paule now reproueth serue any lesse for these our tymes then did they for the idolatry of those tymes For Christ This is applied to our tyme. Of the abuse of the supper of the Lord. instituted the Lordes supper that the death of the Lorde should there be had in remembraunce and the communicantes should be pertakers of the fruite therof and be ioyned vnto Christ and be alwayes coupled together among themselues wyth a greater amitie and mortefie the wycked lustes and through that heauenly meate more and more practise a new lyfe This is the worshipping which in thys sacrament God requireth of his Wherewyth men not beyng content eyther because it was a thyng hard to be done or els because they would euermore adde theyr owne inuentions to thynges pertaynyng vnto God haue inuented outward ornaments vestmentes golde siluer precious stones waxe tapers belles and infinite ceremonies therby to set forth thys sacrament And would haue men to stand by at theyr Masse and to be onely gasers on harkeners which should in the meane tyme mumble vp theyr prayers and after thys sorte they would be counted very vprightly to haue done their dueties in these deuyne mysteries so that by such humane deuises the true and lawfull vse of the institution of Christ is in a maner abolished This is the profite that commeth of humaine inuentions So madde and foolishe becommeth the hart that it preferreth lyght and friuolous thynges before thynges necessary and sound ▪ And when they counted themselues vvise they became fooles They had a wonderfull pleasure in themselues by reason of theyr owne inuentions And they which aboue others professed wisedome by the iust iudgement of God became fooles They disdayned to contayne themselues wythin the bondes of that wisedome and knowledge which God had reueled vnto them by his creatures whereby they were called to worship God and did rather geue place to theyr owne imaginations then to the doctrine which they had receyued They delighted in their owne sharpe wittes counted it for a great prayse that they had found out the reason how to set forthe before the eyes of the common people the worshippyng of God by images glorious idols Which could neuer haue bene brought to passe wythout such reasons whiche had great lykelihoode An excuse of idolatrers of truth When they were reproued they excused theyr acte wyth this pretence that they counted not those thinges to be gods which they worshipped but that they vsed such helpes wherby they might the easelier come to the true God And they obiected a similitude taken of a ciuile custome for that men haue not free accesse vnto Kynges and Emperours but by Erles and vnder officers But of how much force thys reason is Ambrose vpon thys place declareth For thus he writeth Men throughe shame vse accustomably euery where thys miserable excuse why they neglect to come vnto God saying that by them we go vnto God as by noble men we come vnto a kinge Well saide is there any man so madde or so vnmindfull of his health to geue vnto a noble mā the honor due vnto the king only For that if any in such sorte behaue themselues they are iustly condemned as gilty of treason And shall these
knowe our selues neither doo we abhorre so much as it behoueth vs from our naturall corruption and from the sins which do spring therof Yea rather there are very many which vnder the pretēce of the prayse of nature and of the workes of God do highly commend many things which by very good right ought to be condemned especially when they are sinnes The meaning therfore of this place is that now by the grace of Christ and profession of baptisme the old man is crucified and that it ought continually so to be kept vnder that the body that is the multitude of sins which spring out of it should be abolished And although in this lyfe we can not obteine to be vtterly frée from fallyng An excellēt comparisō sometimes yet ought all our endeuor to tende to this ende that euen as Christe gaue not himselfe partly but wholy vnto the crosse for our sakes so also ought we to die not onely to one or two kindes of sinnes but vtterly to all kindes of sinnes And this crucifieng if we haue a respect vnto the first communion which we haue with the death and resurrection of Christ commeth first of the holy ghost and frée mercy of God But when we are once through faith regenerate and are translated from Adam vnto Christ it behoueth vs to put to our labour endeuour and diligence And therefore Paule vnto the Galathians writeth that they whiche are of Christe haue crucified theyr fleshe wyth the lustes therof And that worthely For sithen they are y◠members of Christ it is mete that they be conformable vnto their The Deuil is crucefied with the flesh hed And Ambrose noteth that we together wyth the fleshe do crucifie the Deuill because he by the meanes of it is of efficacy in vs. That henceforth we should not be seruants vnto sinne He stil more plainly declareth what this meaneth the body of sinne to be abolished And this is the meanyng that we should not obey our naturall lust thorough committing of diuers wicked vices And by the worde of bondage or seruitude he sheweth that he layeth before vs not thinges vnprofitable but things that aboue all other are to be desired namely that we might be set at liberty Neither spake he that to this end The end is that we should not be seruants vnto sinne that sinne should by no maner of waye remayne in vs for that is vnpossible so long as we liue in this world But therfore he so admonisheth vs that we shoulde not be seruantes vnto sinne For he that is dead is iustified from sinne Wherfore if we be dead with Christ we beleue that we shal also liue with him Knowing that Christ beyng raysed from the dead dieth no more Death hath no more dominion ouer hym For as touchyng that he died he died concernyng sinne once and as touchyng that he lyueth he liueth vnto God Lykewyse consider ye also that ye are dead as touching sinne but are aliue vnto God through Iesus Christ our lord For he that is dead is iustified from sinne The reason why we should not be seruantes vnto lust is this namely because we are by death deliuered from it For to be iustified from sinne is as much as to be deliuered from it so that henceforth it hath no more power ouer vs. And Paul seemeth here to speake not of the death of nature but of mortification wherof I haue so oftentimes spoken And iustification may be here taken properly for that mortificatiō may be the effect therof For we cannot attain vnto it vnles we be first iustified Although some not vnaptly vnderstand this place of the vsual and natural death For they that are dead do cease of from the wicked workes in which they before liued And we vse to say of a thefe 〈◊〉 is now hanged that he will steale no more and the prouerbe is a deade man 〈…〉 teth not Wherefore if we followe this sence then shall it be a metaphore that euen as they whiche are naturallye deade do forsake and finishe the sinnes which whilest they liued they committed so we forasmuch as we are dead vnto Christ and haue professed that we will dye vnto sinne oughte vtterlye to A place of Iohn cease from synne These woordes of Paul are no otherwyse to bee vnderstande then are these wordes of Iohn He whiche is borne of GOD synneth not That is in that euerye one lyueth and woorketh oute of the principle and grounde of the heauenlye natiuitye And this principle or grounde is the holye Ghoste The principles of the heauenly regeneratiō and the worde of GOD. So he is saide to be loosed from sinne and not to doe any thing by the impulsion thereof which is dead vnto sinne and is crucified together with Christ in that he is dead and fastened vnto the crosse And euen so teacheth Peter in his first epistle the 4. chapter Forasmuch as Christ hath suffred for vs in the fleshe be ye armed with the selfe same cogitation For he which is deade ceaseth to sinne neyther liueth he in the desires of men but in the will of the Lord God Wherefore if we be dead with Christ we beleue that we shall also liue with him To the ende we should not be afrayd at the name of death which he hath before so often made mencion of he presently addeth a consolation declaring that vnto this death which he hath spoken of is annexed the life of Christ so that After regeneration we leade the life of God if we dye together with Christ we shall also liue together with him And this life is not only that which we looke for in the world to come but also it is euen that life which we now leade which in very dede is one and the selfe same with the life to come but that this is only a life begonne and vnperfect but the other is perfect and absolute For we which beleue in Christ and are iustified do also euen now presently leade the life of God For we are driuen and moued not of our selues but of the spirit of God But what maner of life this life of Christ is which is in the meane tyme communicated vnto vs whilest we liue in this world the Apostle straight way declareth Knowing that Christ being raysed from the dead dieth no more death hath no more dominion ouer him As the life of Christ is neuer extinguished by any death so the life of the children of God and brethren of Christ oughte not to be quenched by sinnes But why Christ dyeth no more this is the cause for Why Christe dieth no more that he hath ouercome death and taken away sinne by whose meanes only death was vpholden and bare dominion For vnto the Corrinthyans it is written The sting of death is sinne and in this epistle death raigned by sinne Wherefore they which are pertakers of the death of Christ neither ought nor can any longer be subiect ether vnto sinne
will any thing vprightly For when he had sayd Wyth feare and tremblyng worke your saluation lest any man should thynke that he can performe thys by his owne strengthes straight way he addeth For it is God which worketh in you both to wyll and to performe And that no man should thinke that he may through his holines deserue this he addeth accordyng to hys good wyll To will is present with me Some thynke that by the nature of this worde Adiacere which is englished to be present is signified the weakenes of our wyll But I do not thynke that Paul had hereunto a regard For that euill also of lust which is mighty of force in vs is a little afterward sayd to be preseÌ„t with vs by the same word It is true in déede that these men say that the vpright purpose in vs beyng neuer so much regenerate is yet weake Which thyng although it can not sufficiently be proued by thys worde Adiacet yet is it proued by that which followeth But to do good I finde no ability For that must nedes be a weake wyll which can not burst forth into acte For this verbe Adiacere signifieth to be We are in the middest and are pricked forward both of the spirite and of the lust A sentence of the Pelagians on euery side at hande to be readye and to pricke forwarde We are in the myddest and eche part is at hand On the one side we are vrged wyth the pricke of the spirite to wyll good thinges on the other side euill is at hand wherby the good wyll is letted Augustine in hys booke de natura gratia agaynst the PelagiaÌ„s confuteth theyr error by thys place For they sayd as it is there had in the 50. and 51. chapiters If to sinne be in vs there must nedes be in our nature a possibility not to sinne And if it be in vs to sée or to hear there must néedes be in our nature a possibilitie of not seyng or not hearyng And this possibility they will haue to be so fixed vnto nature that it can not be separated from it Thys sayth Augustine mought haue after a sort some lykelihoode of truth if our nature were perfect as it was instituted of God But forasmuch as it is now maymed and weake in vs we can not be said In our corrupt nature we haue not the power not to sinne to haue naturally any possibility not to sinne For he which is whole in hys legs and feete as in hym it lyeth to walke vpryghte so in hym is a possibilitye not to halte But if thou suppose one that is now lame in hys nature is no possibility of walking vpryght Farther Augustine reproueth this sentence although it be vnderstand of nature being perfect For neyther was the possibility not to sinne geuen vnto vs at the beginnyng The power not to sinne was seperable from maÌ„ inseparable from nature For although it were in the first man yet was it separable both from hym and from hys posterity through hys fall euen as both we therof haue in very déede experience and Paul also here bewayleth the losse therof For he sayth That to wyll in dede was present wyth hym but how to do good he found no ability Where then is that possibility not to sinne Why doth not the Apostle vse it Verely of it was entreated in thys place But Paul right well saith yâ— he found no ability how to do good Augustine de nuptiis concupiscentia in his 1. boke Good is not perfectly done vnles wicked â—â—sues â—e absent the 29. and 30. chap. excellently well declareth thys place That which is good saith he is not performed vnlesse wycked desires be absent which thyng is not had in this lyfe neyther is thys fulfilled which is written Thou shalt not lust And yet is not thys precept vnprofitably set forth vnto vs to be beleued For by it we vnderstand that we ought to seeke a medicine when as we see that we are daungerously sicke of thys disease It is coÌ„maunded also that we mought know wherunto we ought in thys mortall lyfe by profiting to endeuour our selues and wherunto we shall attayne in that most blessed immortalitye For vnles it should one day be performed it shoulde not haue benâ— commaunded at all Wherfore godly men as they performe not that which is good forasmuch as they wante not euill desires so also performe they not that which is euill for that although they oftentymes We should not be commaunded not to iuste vnles it might at the â—easte way be performed in an other life fall yet the good and holy desires cease not in them wherby they resist sinne are called agayne into the ryght way For I do not the good thing which I would but the euil which I would not that do I. Now if I do that which I would not it is no more I that do it but sinne that dwelleth in me I finde then a lawe vnto me when I woulde do good for that euill is present with me For I delight in the lawe of God concerning the inner man But I fele an other lawe in my members rebelling agaynst the lawe of my mynde and leading me captiue vnto the lawe of sinne which is in my members O wretched man that I am who shall deliuer me from the body of this death I thanke God thorough Iesus Christ our Lord. Then I my selfe in my mynde serue the lawe of God but in my fleshe the lawe of sinne For I do not the good thing which I would but the euill which I would not that do I. He before spake the selfe same sentence nowe only he addeth these two wordes good and euill which before he added not although the lattin interpreter hath added them of his owne hed Now if I do that which I woulde not it is no more I that do it but sin that dwelleth in me Here endeth he the reason whereby he proued that he was sold vnder sinne for that he did not his owne will but the will of it And here in dede he mought haue made an end Howbeit it semed good vnto the holy ghost to vrge the thing more vehemently And therefore Paul tarieth the longer in this matter and more plainly openeth what he had had experience of in this strife He speaketh with great affection so that he contayneth not himselfe from cryint out wherby to bewaile yâ— misery of our conditioÌ„ And he sheweth the there is but one only There is but one way to liberty that is by Christ way of liberty and the same is through Christ Wherfore for it he geueth thanks This is the skope of the Apostle in this whole disputation to leade vs from the lawe by which we coulde not be set at liberty vnto Christ and by that meanes to proue that which he at the beginning entended namely that we can not by the lawe be iustified The thinges which are so
thing Paul sayth that we are the temple of God and the temple of the holy ghost and that God himselfe dwelleth in vs which vndoubtedly can not be referred vnto the humane nature of Christ but only vnto the deuine But the better to vnderstaÌ„d Augustines iudgement as touching Augustine â—eclareth how Christ is with vs and how he is absente from vs. this matter let vs heare what he sayth in his 50. treatise vpon the selfe same Gosple of Iohn where he expoundeth these words The poore ye shall haue alwayes with you but me ye shall not haue alwayes For he spake saith he of the preseÌ„ce of his bodye For according to his maiesty according to his prouideÌ„ce according to his vnspeakeable inuisible grace is fullfilled that which he spake Behold I am with you eueÌ„ vnto the end of the world But according to the nature which the world tooke according to that that he was borne of the virgen according to that that he was apprehended of the Iewes that he was fastened vnto the woode that he was taken down from the crosse that he was wrapped in linnen that he was layde in the sepulcher that he was made manifeste in the resurrection ye shall not haue me alwayes with you Wherefore Bycause according to the presence of his body he was 40. dayes conuersaunt with his disciples and when he had brought them forth they seing him and not following him he ascended vp into heauen He is not here for he is there and sitteth at the right hand of the Father And he is here for he hath not departed hence touching the presence of his maiesty According to the presence of hys maiesty we haue Christ alwayes according to the presence of the flesh it was rightly â—ayd vnto the disciples Me ye shall not haue alwayes For the Church had him a few dayes according to the preseÌ„ce of the flesh now it holdeth him by fayth and seeth him not with the eyes There ar also very many other places in which Augustine most manifestly declareth that he was of this selfe same iudgmeÌ„t Wherefore yâ— this which Paul now sayth If Christ be in you is not to be vnderstaÌ„d of his humane nature or body those things plainly declare which haue bene spokeÌ„ of the spirit How we receaue Christ and are ioyned vnto him in the Euchariste By this place of Paul we are plainly tought how we receaue Christ in the eucharist in what maner we are in it ioyned with him For we haue hard yâ— by yâ— deatâ— of Christ we haue obtayned his spirite But in the supper of the Lord is celebrated the commemoration of the death of Christ and of his body done vpoÌ„ the crosse and of his bloud shed for vs and this not only in wordes but also in the simbols of the bread and wyne which represent the body and bloud of Christ Wherefore if by faith we embrace those thinges which we are put in mynde of we then obtayne the spirite of Christ and Christ himselfe is in vs as Paul in this place testifieth But there is no néede to require the body and fleshe of Christ according to hys naturall and real presence which yet we haue sufficently spiritually present when we apprehend them by fayth Chrisostome out of this place gathereth very many and gréeuous discommodities which men that are destitute of the spirite The discommodities which hapâ—eÌ„ vnto theÌ„ which are â—estitute of the spirite of Christ of Christ fall into for they are holden in death and in sinne they excercise enmities agaynst God they can not obserue his lawe and though they séeme to be of Christ yet are they not For Paul will declare that they are not pertakers of the death and of the resurrection of the Lord. For he saith And if Christ be in you the body in dede is deade because of sinne but the spirite is life because of righteousnes The Apostle in this place as we haue before taught declareth that by the benefite of the spirite we are endued with the coÌ„munion of the death and of the resurrection of Christ And althoughe all interpreters consent that in the latter part of this sentence is entreated of the true resurrection of the bodyes yet touching the first parte all men are not of one mynde For some thus vnderstand that the body is dead as if it should haue bene sayd that the lust and prauity which cleaue vnto vs are by the benefite of the spirite mortified and become as it were dead So that after these interpreters this word Body signifieth the naturall lyfe of men not as it was instituted of God but as it is now corrupted through sinne Thys life say they ought to be deade because it is sinne But the spirite is life because of righteousnes By the spirite he here vndoubtedly vnderstandeth the spirite of God and not any part of our mynde as it is manifest both by those thinges which shal be spoken and by those thinges which haue already bene spoken Here Paul changeth the Antithesis For he saith not the spirite liueth as he had before sayde of the body that it is deade but he The antithesis is chaunged The sâ—irite of God doth not onely lyue but also communicateth life vnto others sayth The spirite is lyfe Which thing is most agréeable vnto the spirite of God For that spirite doth not only liue it selfe but also communicateth life vnto others and continually breatheth into the beleuers a new and holy life Farther forasmuch as Paul ment in this place highly to commend the dignity of the spirite this abstract nowne vita that is lyfe serued better for his purpose then the verbe viuit that is lyueth Because of righteousnes In Greke it is written 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and it fitteth very well For righteousnes is both an antithesis vnto sinne and also is the life of God For so long as a man worketh iustly and liueth holily he leadeth the life of God Although the Latten interpreter hath Propter iustificationeÌ„ that is by reason of iustification as if he had red in the Greke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which reading Chrisostome followed and bringeth this reason thereof for that we haue an experience of life by reason of iustification for by it sinne being taken away succeded life For these two are so repugnant one to the other that when the one geueth place the other must nedes succede The same father addeth That the body is theÌ„ at the last dead when we are no more affected with the motions thereof theÌ„ we are moued by our karkases being now buried and hid vnder grounde And thys he saith is the communion with the death of Christ because Christ dyed to dissolue the body of sinne And if his spirite which raysed vp Christ from the dead dwell in you he that raysed vp Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortall bodies because of his spirite that dwelleth in you This declareth howe we are
piety and vnto the true worshipping of God yâ— she sought vtterly to destroy all the Prophetes Whose fury yet the piety of Abdias at that time resisted and hid an hundreth Prophets in caues fifty in one caue and fifty in an other They seeke saith he my lyfe For at what time he fled Iesabell had threatoned to kill him the next day I haue reserued vnto my selfe When God thus maketh answer he manifestly declareth that others which had bowed their knées vnto Baal had kissed him pertayned not vnto him And in that he saith I haue reserued vnto my selfe he declareth that that was his gift that these men also went not astraye Neither All whole is of God sayth he yâ— his helpe was the chiefest part of their staying from idolatry but plainly saith I haue reserued them vnto my selfe Hereof Paul concludeth that not all the people of the Iewes are reiected neither yet are all chosen And in that example which he bringeth when he so plainly and largely handleth it he most sharply accuseth the Iewes For by the doings of their elders he declareth what maners ones they also presently were For if they had said we crucified Christ as a deceauer and we persecute his Apostles as seducers What did your fathers saith he vnto Helias What did they to the Prophetes This place declareth in what sort the Iewes alwayes behaued themselues against the messengers of God The accusation as saith Chrisostome is after a sort transferred is as if he should haue said Now Paul accuseth you not nor Peter nor Iames nor Iohn but Helias who shut vp heauen whom the rauen fed who slew the Balites and obtayned fire from heauen with whom the Lord as ye haue heard spake so familiarly They haue cut downe thine alters These were the high places in which High places the Father 's Abraham Isaacke and Iacob in the old time offred sacrifices their alters erected in the name of the Lord were yet remayning and it was lawfull to sacrifice on them vntill the temple was built But the Israelites namely the ten tribes were such enemies vnto the name of God that they could not abide so much as his alters to remayne for they would haue no sacrifices done but vnto their golden calues or to Baall and to other idols and could not abide that any monuments of the true God should be left remaining But as touching alters Alters ought 〈◊〉 to â—â— vsed in this time â–ª they haue no place in the tyme of the Gospell For forasmuch as the only sacrifice of our saluation is accomplished by the death of Christ Iesus our sauior vpon the alter of the crosse and the oblations of sacrifices are vtterly taken away therefore alters also haue ceassed But we erect a table in the congregacion of the faithfull vpon which we celebrate the supper of the Lord. And now at the length to make an end of this place I thought it good to admonish that we in examining of the scriptures vse the like diligence that Paul did for vnles he had with great attentiuenes red these thinges he coulde not with such dexterity haue entreated of them Euen so at this present tyme is there a remnaunt according to the election of grace And if thorough grace then not of works Or els were grace now no more grace But if it be of workes it is no more grace or els were worke no more worke Euen so also at this present time is there a remnaunt according to the election of grace He applieth the example which he hath now entreated of to the state of his time When he sayth a remnaunt he thereby signifieth that that part which perisheth is farre greater as he before had sayd Though the multitude They that shal be saued are called a remnaunt for that they are few of the children of Israell be as the sand of the sea a remnaunt only shal be saued Againe Vnles God had left vnto vs seede we had bene as Sodom and had ben like to Gomorrha Wherefore if in Helias time when the lesse part was saued the promises fell not away so now also in so great a blindnes of Israell they are not made voyde And the more to abate the Iewes pride he saith that this remnaunt is remayning vnto vs not of merite or of workes but of grace Wherefore we haue here a new proposition whose first part is not proued namely that they which are saued are saued by grace for that thing all men graunt but this he declareth that this saluation is not of workes which neded a demonstracion or profe The Iewes would not denie the first part as our Sophisters also at this day deny it not but either of them haue alwayes gone aboute to mingle therewithall the merites of men The Apostle expresseth what he chiefely ment by grace Merites caÌ„ not be mingled with grace Election is the chiefest grace What election of grace is namely the election of God for that is the first chiefest of all graces giftes Election of grace in yâ— Hebrue phrase is a gracious or free election which is not of merites Howbeit Chrisostome and the Greke Scholies thought that by this word election is after a sort corrected or contracted the name of grace that whersoeuer election is added we should vnderstand that grace is geuen according to approbatioÌ„ But what they vnderstand by approbation it is not so playne but that one of these two wayes we se it must of necessity be vnderstanded namely that they take approbation either actiuely or passiuely Actiuely that the remnauntes haue grace for that they elect and approue the thinges which are vpright sound and iust Or passiuely that they are approued of God as men godly iust and beleuing The first way can not be admitted for it is manifest that here is not entreated of the election of men wherby as it pleaseth them they elect good or euill thinges but of the election of God for Paul manifestly saith that God had not cast away his people whome he foreknew or as Augustine saith predestinated Neither can the other be graunted for election dependeth not of our workes foresene as we haue before declared Origen hath in a maner the selfe same sentence for he saith that all in dede are saued by grace but Here is not entreated of ceremoniall workes when election is added thereby are signified perfecter soules which vnto purenes and holynes of workes added a singular endeuor and diligence Moreouer he would fayne haue the workes which are heare excluded of Paul to be vnderstanded only of ceremoniall workes which can not be when as Paul as we shal sâ— addeth an vniuersall reason that vnto the nature of grace it is repugnaunt to be of workes and this is true what kinde of workes so euer we put But it semeth that he therefore taketh such great paynes in this matter for that he is aferd least if workes should be excluded from the cause of
that none can by good conscience denye tribute vnto Princes if it be required Nether ought Pope Bonifacius in any wise to haue taken vpon him to make that vnreasonable and outragious decrée It is already concluded of Paul that all owe subiection and obedience to publike powers Neither ought the godly sayth Chrysostome to take it in ill part to be subiect to magestrates although they themselues are the children of God and appoynted to the kingdome of heauen For theyr glory is not in the state of this life They wayt vntill Christ appeare in whome as yet is hidden theyr life But in yâ— meane time they ought not to count it a thing greuous if they rise vppe if they vncouer the head if they geue the vpper hande if they obey Magestrates Here is nothing vnméete or vncomely Yea rather what so euer is done of them accordynge to the prescript of the worde of God is full of all comelinesse and worthinesse Owe nothing to any man but this to loue one an other Paul will haue vs so perfectly and fully to render to euery man that which we owe vnto him that we should cease to be any more in debt Howbeit there is one certain thing which Charity is alwaâ—s tâ—e for that the cause of that det always remaineth can neuer be fully payd namely the debt of loue and charity For although thou both hast and dost loue thy neighbour yet notwistanding art thou still bound to loue him For there alwayes remayneth a cause why thou oughtest to loue him namely God whose image he is He made him he gaue him to thée to be thy neighbour he hath commaunded that thou shouldest loue him as thy selfe For he that loueth an other hath fulfilled the law Some referre this to that part of the law only which is here spoken of True it is that the discourse of thys treatise is of that part of the law which pertayneth to our neighbour So that the sence should be he which loueth an other hath fullfilled yâ— who le law as touching Our neyghbour is not rightly loued vnâ—es God be loued in him We haue God in our neighboure after a sort visible We must not hereby affirm that we can pâ—eforme the law the secoÌ„d table But I se no let but that we may simply vnderstaÌ„d yâ— who le law For we can not loue our neighbour well vnles we loue God in him For these are so knit together as the cause and the effect and therefore they can not be seperated the one from the other For the loue of our neighbour is a testimony of that loue wherwith we loue God If we loue not God being in a neighbour after a sort visible and present how do we boast that we loue him in himselfe whiche is not séene of vs but is of some thought to be very farre of from vs I would not that our aduersaries should here triumph as though Paul should say that we performe and fullfill the law Paul indede affirmeth that the law is fullfilled of him which loueth his neighbour but yet of such a one which in such sort loueth as the law coÌ„maundeth But this is no man able to performe For this thou shalt not committe adultery thou shalt not kill The proofe is hereof taken for that all those preceptes are summarily comprehended in that which is sayd Thou shalt loue thy neighbour as thy selfe And this commaundement as Chrisostome here noteth is sayd of Christ to be like that great commaundemeÌ„t Thou shalt loue thy Lord thy God with all thy hart with all thy soule and with all thy strengths For seing that we ought to loue our neighbours as our selues there waÌ„teth litle but that we ought to loue him as we loue God For we omitte nothing Why the commaundement of hanoring the parents is ouer hipped which may serue to our owne commodity or saluation He made no mencion of the loue towards our pareÌ„ts eyther bycause that precept as the Hebrews thinke pertayneth to the first table or ells for that he would not reckon vp all all the coÌ„maundements For therfore he added And if there be any other commaundement Or ells for that he had alredy before sufficiently spoken of the obedience due to magestrates in which order are parentes also to be placed Loue woorketh not euill to his neighbour This is easely gathered of that which haue bene spoken For in these commaundemeÌ„ts are prohibited all things whatsoeuer may offeÌ„ded our brother Wherfore Paul aptly added that such is the force of loue that it suffreth not any man to hurt his neighbour And that considering the season that it is nowe time that we should arise from slepe for now is our saluation nerer then when we beleued The night is past and the day is at hand let vs therefore cast away the woorkes of darkenes and let vs put on the armour of light So that we may walke honestly as in the day not in glottonie and dronckenes neyther in chambring and waÌ„tonnes nor in strife and enuieng But put ye on the Lorde Iesus Christe and take no thought for the flesh to fulfill the lustes of it And that considering the season that it is now time that we shold arise from slepe After that Paul had now geuen many rules touching the dewties of loue and of an holy life lest paradueÌ„ture they should slippe out of our minds he thought it good to vrge them by an argument taken of time The summe is at this present all these thinges are diligently and with an earnest endeuor to be sene vnto for that oportunity serueth excedingly thereunto For so signifieth the Greke woorde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Paul vseth All this whole talke is metaphoricall â–ª For he maketh mencion of slepe of night of day of arising from slepe and of darkenes Waking Aristotle calleth a liberty of yâ— sences to execute theyr functioÌ„s contrariwise slepe is a bond of the sences Which commeth by the euaporation of the noorishements to the hed The meaning is this That before the fayth of Christ was reaceaued What waking is What â—â—â—pe is that is before regeneration men were conuersant in great darkenes of ignoraÌ„ce and therefore as it had bene men on sleepe they were hindred from all good works which mought be gratefull and acceptable to God But now after fayth and the grace of regeneration the bright knowledge of God hath shined forth as it were the day and therfore the strengths both of the soule and of the body are new after a sort losed and made frée to performe the woorkes of righteousnes Wherefore it is not mete that men should at this time be idle and senceles And therefore euery one ought to be awaked vp to execute the will of God seing that he séeth that he walketh in the light and in the day Paul vsed this selfe same forme of speach in yâ— first epistle to the Thes in the last chap. All ye sayth he are the children of
this is a great aduauncement vnto piety therfore Paul setteth it forth to the end to commend those weake ones to the better sort Howbeit lest in this matter he shold attribute more vnto them theÌ„ to the freer sort as though he shold think that the stronger in vsing liberty had not a consideration of the law of God he pronounceth the sentence which he setteth forth coÌ„mon to ech part They sayth he which obserue dayes obserue theÌ„ to the Lord they which obserue theÌ„ not obserue theÌ„ not vnto the Lord. And they which eat eat to the Lord they which eat not eate not to the Lord. And those datiue cases which Paul here vseth to obserue to the lord to eate to the lord to liue to the lord to dye to the lord signifie nothing ells but that we ought in all our actions in all our life and euen in death to depend of the lord And geueth thanks to God Hereby we may iudge yâ— eyther of those what soeuer they did had a regard vnto God for that either part gaue thanks vnto him Of what great force geuing of thanks is Wherefore geuing of thankes is of no small force For it is as it were a certaine healthfull sawse and maketh that which otherwise of it selfe should haue bene hurtefull commodious and healthfull vnto vs. Therefore Paul to Timothe writeth Euery creature is good and nothing is to be cast away which is receaued with thanks geuing For none of vs liueth to him selfe neither doth any die to himselfe For whether we liue we liue to the Lord or whither we die we die to the Lord. This may thus be applied to be a reason wherby the stronger sort are feared away from contemning the weaker namely for yâ— they both liue dye vnto the lord It may also be a general cause why they are sayd both to obserue not to obserue dais vnto yâ— lord either to eate or not to eate to the lord for that vniuersally they liue vnto the Lord and dye vnto the Lord. By these woordes we are aptly and manifestly The scope of our lyfe and of all â–ª our actions instructed touching the scope of our life and of all our actioÌ„s I would to God this might neuer slippe out of our mind but mought with most depe rootes be fixed in our hartes Life and death I thinke in this place are to be vnderstanded as touching the body For I se not very wel what consideration they haue which referre these thinges to the life of fayth and to the death of sinne For there is none which sinneth to the Lord. For that can not pertayne to the honor of God Vnles paraduenture they meane that this is all one with that which was before spoken He standeth to his Lord or falleth But the first exposition semeth in my iudgement more playne and agréeth with those thinges which Paul writeth to the Phillippians And Christ shal be magnified in my body whether it be by life or by death VVhither therefore we liue or die vve are the Lordes This in sum ought to be of greate force with them for that not only our life and death depende of the lord but also for that we all both as touching life and as touching death are hys proper possession And if this be so who can contemn his neighbour escape vnpunished This is in a maner all one with that which Paul before sayd Why iudgest thou an other mans seruaunt That fault was reproued in the weake ones and this is now layd to the charge of the stronger sort that they reiect and contemne not euery kind of men but these which are the Lords Paul sayth to the Corinthians Ye are not your owne men For ye are bought with a price Glorifie God now in your body and in your spirite which belong to God Agayne ye are bought with a price be not ye made the seruaunts of men For Christ therfore died rose agayne and reuiued that he might be Lord both of the quicke and of the dead Here he ascribeth a cause why we ar by good right the Lordes For he hath redemed vs by his death by his resurrection hath deserued Whether Christ if he had not dyed for vs shold haue had vs to his proper possession life for vs. Wherfore he is Lord both of our life and of our death But here paraduenture thou wilt demaund whither if Christ had not died we should haue bene his proper possession or no As touching his diuine nature eueÌ„ without his death and resurrection he is our lord For we are created of him whatsoeuer we haue we haue it thorough him But bycause he is in very dede maÌ„ he hath by his death and resurrection iustly and worthely gotten vnto him selfe this dominion which yet the father could haue geueÌ„ vnto him freely but to set forth his glory he would rather geue it to his merites Wherefore Paul to the Phil. sayth for which cause God hath geuen vnto him a name which is aboue euery name namely for that he had humbled himselfe to death euen to the death of the crose OrigeÌ„ very largely entreteth of this doubt Howbeit I thinke that this solution which I haue here brought is more playne more true But there ariseth also an other doubt For Paul semeth to speake agaynst that sentence of the Lord in 22. chapiter of Mathew He is not the God of the dead but of the liuing For if he be not the God of yâ— dead how is he here sayd to be Lord of the dead But if the matter be more narrowly examined there is not herein contrariety For there the Lord would hereby proue the resurrection of the dead for that God could not be truly the God of AbrahaÌ„ of Isaac and of Iacob vnles he would haue them to be saued and that wholy both as touching soule and body For it is the propriety of GOD to saue thâ—se whose GOD he is And the Scripture in Exodus pronounceth that GOD is the GOD of those patriarches Wherefore they liue and shall more fully liue in the blessed resurrection Hereby it is manifest that Christ spake of those which were thought to be vtterly dead both in soule and in body But God can not be their God For he can not suffer such a death to preuaile against his But here Paul sayth that Christ is Lord of of the dead which are dead in body only but liue in spirite and when tyme commeth shall rise agayne Wherefore we sée that betwene these places there is vndoubtedly no contrarity But because we are by the way lighted vpon those words of the Lord there are as I thinke in them two thinges to be obserued First that although of them is properly concluded the resurrection of the godly whose God God confesseth himselfe to be yet followeth it that of the selfe same words may be concluded the resurrection of the wicked For if God of his goodnes do so
peraduenture séeme straunge vnto some as sayth Origen that the Apostle when as in the spirite of God he know that he should come to Rome wold yet notwithstanding implore those mennes prayers This in my iudgement no man shoulde call in question But we should rather learne that holy men althoughe they certainly know that God will geue vnto them whatsoeuer is expedient yet they also knowe that he will oftentimes geue it them throughe the prayers of his The We pray for those thinges which we know shal be geuen vnto vs. Lord also knew that the father would deliuer vnto him all things yet notwithstanding he continually prayed vnto him and so prayed that he sayde Father into thine hands I commend my spirite And as he knewe that his spirite should without all doubt be receiued of God so doubted he not but that the same was to be obtayned by his prayers Moreouer by those wordes we gather that the force of prayers consisteth not of our workes and merites For Paul so greate an Apostle desireth Prayers consist not of the worthines of them that pray to be holpen by theyr prayers who were far inferior vnto him although Ambrose sayth that many little ones if they be gathered together into one make great ones This saying I mislike not for Christ sayd where so euer shall be two or three gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them Againe touching what thing so euer two or three shall agree together it shal be done vnto them as they desire And how much the prayers of the Church profited it is plainly declared in Peter For he was deliuered by the Angel when as continual prayer was made for him And seing now that publique prayers are so profitable they ought without all doubte most often How we ought to praâ— for other to be celebrated Wherfore godly men so often as they are either sicke or are in any great daunger ought to require the publike prayers of the Churche and afterwarde when they haue obtained theyr request they ought also to require yâ— church publikely to geue thanks to God for theyr sakes That ye helpe me in my busines In Greke it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This doubtles is more then to helpe a man in his busines For that word signifieth properly a man to take vpon him one and the selfe same labor one and the selfe same trauail one and the self same striuing and conflicte with him for whome he prayeth And by this phrase of speache Paul doubtles instructeth vs with what affecte we ought to pray for others that is to transfer vpon our selues as much as is possible the miseries afflictions and sorowes of him for whome we pray That he vvould deliuer me from the vnbeleuers in Iury. The first thing that he desireth them to pray for him is that he might be deliuered from the vnbeleuing Iewes whome he knewe deadly hated him For they although they wished that all the Christians might vtterly be destroyed yet they hated Paule aboue all others for that no man more vehemently then he vrged that the ceremonyes oâ— Why Paâ—â— was aboâ—â—â— all the other Apostles odious to the Iewes Moses should be taken away And in this iorney as it is set forthe in the â–ª 2â— and â–ª 21. chapiters of the Actes Agabus and other Prophets foretolde vnto him greuous chaunces which should happen vnto him at Ierusalem wherefore both by that history and by this prayer it is manifest that the minde of Paul was troubled with no small perplexity Which perplexity yet God so restrained within certaine limites that it nothing letted him from the worke of the Lord For the Apostolical history most plainely testifieth that he most constantly answered vnto the Prophets and brethren which dissuaded him from this iorney I count not my soule and life so precious sayd he that I will delay to runne my course and to fulfil my ministery which the Lord Iesus Christ hath deliuered vnto me And I am redy sayd he not only to be bound but also to dye for our Lord Jesus Christes sake Wherefore Paule was not afeard to die but he therefore desired to be deliuered that he might minister vnto the saintes and that he might come to Rome and so goe into Spaine For it had bene muche better for Paul to haue died then so to haue bene vexed with perpetuall contumelies and to liue as one layd forth to all iniuries This he himselfe signifieth to the Phillippians saying To dye is to me a gaine How be it to abide in the fleshe is profitable for your sakes and I hope that I shall abide Paule after this manner maketh request to the Romaines not in dede for his owne commoditye but for theirs And doubtles if they had a desire to sée Paul it was theyr parts withal maner of prayers earnestly to contend that according to his desire he might be deliuered from the vnbeleuing Iewes And that this my ministery vvhich I haue to doe at Ierusalem may be acceptable to the saintes The other parte of his request is that the saintes might gently The sâ—ate of the godly is miserable as touching this world accept his trauaile and paines The condition and state of the godly is doubtles miserable as touching this world They take most grieuous paines for the saluation of others not only to prouide for theyr soules but also for theyr bodyes And yet oftentimes they doubt whether they shall be well accepted of them whome they séeke to profit Neither dothe Paul without cause suspect that this might happen also as touching them which fauoured Christ For in those first times there was in the Churche of Ierusalem a certaine great zeale to obserue the law From which when they hearde that Paule was fallen away they bare but small good Some of the Iewes that were Christians bare no great good effection towardes â–ª Paul wil towards him Wherfore Paul feared least his duety towards them shold haue bene reiected and least he should haue bene frustrated of that consent agrement which he saw was nedeful for him to the preaching of the gospell Wherefore the preachers of our time ought to comforte themselues if they sée that theyr paynes which they take in teaching are not accepted of the people Neyther ought they which faythfully handle the distribution of almes to be grieued if they can not please all men Christ himselfe the more paynes he tooke for our sakes so much the more incurred he the displeasure of the Iewes Wherfore it ought not to seme vnto vs any great iniury if we be coÌ„pelled to suffer yâ— which we se he hath suffred What is to be sâ—ne vnto in geuyng of almes Hereby also let vs vnderstand that we ought not only to helpe the poore but also we must haue a care that our oblations may be acceptable and pleasant vnto theÌ„ which thing they litle consider which when they geue any thing geue it with
sepulchre 55. a The poison of Aspes is vnder theyr lippes 55. b The folish mā hath said in his heart there is no God 22. a The Lorde hathe heard the desire of the poore 381. a Loke vpon my labor and my vtility and forgeue me al my sinnes 382. a Blessed are they whose synnes are couered 75. a And in his heart there is no guile 75. b Blessed are the immaculat which walk in the law of the Lord. 75. Hoping in his mercy 102. a. b Beholde I was conceiued in iniquitie 130. b The heauens declare the glory of God 327. b Let their table be turned into a snare 342. b Returne O my soule again into thy rest 386. a Deliuer me in thy righteousnes 385 The mercy of the Lord is from generation to generation on them that feare him 397. b I as a grene Oliue tree in the house of the Lorde haue put my trust in my God 353. b Prouerbes I Do loue them that loue me 297 I also wil laugh in your destruction It pertaineth to a man to prepare the heart but thanswer of y◠tonge is of the Lord. 381 Wisedome GOd reioyseth not in the destruction of the wicked 307. Ecclesiasticus THe fornace tryeth the vessels of the potter and so doth temptation the iust men 273. All mercye shall make place to euery one according to the merite of his worke 159. b God hath mercy vpon al men and winketh at the sinnes of al men because of repentance 307 Esay ANd if he geue his soul for sin he shal se his sede a far of 118 Why hast thou made vs to erre 27 Iudg thou house of Israel betwene me and my vineyard 47 And euery day my name is euil spoken of 46. b Thou arte oure father but we are clay 276. a Make grose the heart of this peple that they vnderstād not 270 Beholde I say in Syon a stone of triall 284. b All the day long I stretched abroade my hāds to a people that beleued not 307. a He hath borne our infirmities 323. a Behold I go to a nation which called not vpō my name 330 Howe long Lord euen to destruction 338. a In hearing heare ye and vnderstand not 338. a My seruaunt shall iustifye many and shall beare their iniquities 392. b Vnto wdome shall I loke but vnto the pore contrite c. 399. a Heauen is my seat and earth is my footestole 399. a Jeremy BE ye conuerted vnto me sayth the Lord and I wil be conuerted 388. a 381. b If I shall speake of a nation or kingdome c. 273. b They haue forsaken me the foūtain of the water of life 23. a The way of man is not in his owne power 177. a Thoughe a mother can forget hir childe yet will I not forget thee 307. a Not according to the couenaūt which I made with your fathers 362. b If a nation shall repent him of his wickednes I wil repent me of that which I spake against him 309. b Ezechiell THe sonne shall not bear the iniquity of the father 131 As truely as I liue sayth the Lord I will not the death of a sinner but rather that he be conuerted and liue 300. a Walke in my wayes and make you a new heart 381. b If the wicked men shall repent him of al his sinnes c. 402. a If a prophet be seduced I haue seduced him 27. a Noe Daniel and Iob shal deliuer their owne soules only 42. a Daniell REdeme thy sinnes with almes 382. a Osea TAke a wife to thee of fornication c. 290. b Ye are not my people that ther shal be called the children of the liuing God 290. b Thou shalt call me my man and not my husband 334. b Joel EVery one that calleth vpon the name of the Lord shal be saued 68. a. 321. b Amos OVer .iii. euils and ouer .iiii. I wil not conuert him 133 a Nahum VVHat doe ye think against the Lord he wil make an ende neither shall tribulation arise the secōd time 37. a. 118. 131 Abacucke THe iust manne shall liue by faith 17. b Zacharie BE ye conuerted vnto me I wil be cōuerted to you Malachie IAcob haue I loued but Esau haue I huted Mathew IVdge not and ye shall not be iudged 36. b When ye haue done all theese things say we are vnprofitable seruaunts 39. a An euil tree can not bring forth good fruit 185. a He which seketh finedeth and vnto him whych knocketh shall be opened 284. b Aske and ye shall receiue seeke and ye shall finde 383. b Many sinnes are forgiuen her because she hath loued much 383. b Lord haue we not in thy name prophesied c. 394. a Saue me otherwise I pearish 11. b I am the God of Abraham of Isaac and of Iacob 68. a Vnto the bloud of Zacharias the sonne of Barachias 96. a Blessed art thou Simon Bariona for fleshe and bloud hath not reueled this vnto thee 126. Come ye blessed of my father receiue the kingdome 192. b Heauen and earth shal passe away but my words shal not passe away 218. a What so euer ye wold mē shold do vnto you do ye the same to them 240. a No man knoweth the father but the sonne and he to whō he wil reuele him 303. b He hath borne our infirmities 323. a Vnto him that hath it shall be geuen but he which hath not euen that which he hath shal be taken away 339. b Why speakest thou in parables to them ibidem Forgeue vs our trespasses as we forgeue them that trespasse against vs. 382. a How often would I haue gathered thy children as the hen hir chickens 306. b What so euer ye shal aske beleuing it shal be geuen you 383 Come vnto me all ye that laboure 398. b Marke HE which beleueth and is baptised shal be saued 68. a Goe ye and preache the gospel 383. b Luke THat you may eat and drinke vpon my table c. 88. b For he hath loked vpō the humility of his handmaidē 298 Geue almes all things shall be cleane vnto you 383. b Lead vs not into temptatiō 27 When you haue done all these things say we are vnprofitable seruaunts 39. a Many sinnes are forgiuen her because she hath loued much 339. b Goe out into the hie ways and stretes and compell them to enter 361. a Blessed is that seruaunt which when his Lord cometh shall finde him thus doing 348. b Ihon. NOwe I will not call you seruaunts but frends 1 The true worshyppers shall worship in spirit truth 8. a He which amōgst you is without sinne let him cast the first stone at hir 36. a Neither hath this man sinned nor his parents 133. a He which is borne of God sinneth not 149. a If any man loue me he wyll kepe my commaundements 397. a If ye had God to your father doubtles you shold loue me 397. a True worshippers worship in spirite and truth 8. a He which beleueth
a most seuere vengeaunce Agaynst all vngodlynes and vnrighteousnes of men He sayth not against men because God hateth not them but taketh vengeaunce on their wicked actes And those comprehendeth he vnder the name of impietie and vnrighteousnes for wicked actes are partlye committed agaynst God and partly agaynst men VVhich vvithholde the truth in vnrighteousnes They attayned vnto so much truth that therby they vnderstode how they ought to behaue them selues towardes God and towardes their neighbours And yet withhelde they the truth in vnrighteousnes Which selfe same thyng dyd the Hebrewes committe concerning the truth which God had reueled vnto them by the law Seing therfore both these Hebrues and those Gentiles were so greuously punished what ought men which professe themselues to be Christians to hope for which wyth holde to themselues so great a lyght of the Gospell without fruite Vndoubtedly they shall at the length become most wicked and euen experiēce teacheth that those whych boast of Christ and do liue filthely do at the length in naughtynes and filthinesse passe all men though they be neuer so wicked The truth is after Who they be that withholde the truth captiue With what bondes the truth is bound The truth suffreth nothing in it selfe Aristotle in hys Ethikes a sorte with hold captine in them whych vnderstand it and yet expresse it not in workes life And it is ouercome restrayned with the chaynes of euell lustes which breathing vp out of the inferior parts of our mind do obfuscate the vnderstanding and as it were in a darke prison close in the truth knowen God kindleth the truthe in our myndes but by our lustes it is wonderfully darkened There is no cause why we should thinke as Chrisostome admonisheth vs the the truth of hys owne nature can suffer any thyng For it of hys owne nature is vnchangeable But what soeuer euill happeneth the same is hurtefull to our mynd and soule Paul toucheth in two wordes those thynges whiche Arist 〈…〉 in hys Ethikes when hee disputeth of the incontinent person prosecuteth 〈…〉 many woordes For he demaundeth by what meanes the incontinente person declineth to vices sithen that he hath in hys mynde a right opinion And hée aunswereth that that thing happeneth by reason he is to much puffed vp wit 〈…〉 me singular profite which presētly is offred vnto this senses by the wayght wherof the better part also is oppressed so that it geueth place to the lusts neither excecuteth it hys office with efficacie to consider and peyse the truth whiche before it knew Whiche thyng also the Poete affirmeth of Medea Video meliora probóque Ouide of Medea deteriora sequor whiche is in Englishe I sée what thynges are best and I allow them but I folow the worst All this doth Paul teache vs when hee sayth That the vngodly wythholde the truth in vnrighteousnesse That truth laboureth as muche as is possible to burst forth into acte but it is letted of concupiscence or luste And this is that whiche is written in the first of the Ethikes That the more The noblest part of the soule exhorteth to the best things The power of the conscience excellent part of the mynde alwayes exhorteth and prouoketh to thynges which are of the best sorte For so hath God and nature framed vs that the thyng which we know we desire to expresse in Acte which thyng when we do not we are reproued euen by our own iudgement And hereof come those wonderfull forces of the conscience whiche in sinnes of great wayght can neuer be perfectly quieted To with holde the truth in vnrighteousnes is properly to refuse the callyng of God which continually by hys truth calleth vs vnto hym self Wherfore it shall be very profitable for vs if whē soeuer we haue attained to any thing that is true either by our owne study or els by the obseruation of thinges we streighte way weigh with our selues where vnto God calleth vs through that truth which he layth before our myndes By vnrighteousnes the Apostle vnderstandeth generally what soeuer we sinne either agaynst God or agaynste men Wherefore Paul speaketh of that truth which is naturally grafted in vs and also of it which we attayne vnto by our own study For either of thē instructeth vs of most excellent thynges touchyng God so that the vnrighteousnes whiche we commit is not able to blot it out of our hartes Whiche thing yet the Accademians attempted An error of the Accademians to teache when as they contended that nothing can certainely be knowne of vs. And so they can not abyde that we should embrace any thyng as beyng sure that it is true but they will haue vs to count all thinges as vncertayne doubtfull An error of the Epicures And in lyke maner do the Epicures goe about to blot out of mens myndes those thinges which by naturall anticipation are imprinted into our myndes concerning God And yet notwithstanding neither of these were able to brynge to passe that which they endeuoured themselues to doo For will they or nill they Whither truth be stronger when it is receaued by fayth then being naturally grafted in vs. these truthes continue still in the myndes of men But which is muche to be lamented they are withholden in vnrighteousnes Peraduenture thou wilte aske how it commeth that the truth which we haue by faythe is of more strengthe to burst forth into acte then is the truth which is naturally attayned vnto Vndoutedly this commeth not therof for that one truthe beyng taken by it selfe and set aparte is stronger then an other For eyther truth hath one and the selfe same The diuersity is not in the truth but in the meane whereby it is taken hold of nature but the difference commeth of the meane and instrument whereby it is receiued The strengthes of nature are corrupt weake and vitiate throughe sin And therfore the truth which they take hold of is of no gret force But faith hath ioyned with it the inspiration of God and the power of the holy ghost And therfore it doth with great force take holde of the truth Wherfore the diuersitie is not in the truth it selfe but in the meane and instrument whereby weembrace it This is the cause why there we are changed but here we remayne the selfe same men which we were before Of which thyng we haue a manifest testimony in the Gospell Christ did set forth vnto the yong man what he should do to obteyne saluation which when he had heard yet was he not moued to geue place but went away with heauines He trusted vnto naturall strengthes and therfore he demaunded of the Lord what he mightes to attayne vnto eternall Example of diuers apprehensions of the truth lyfe But contrariwise Mathew as soone as euer he heard his vocation did with so great fayth take hold of it that forsakyng money and hys office he streyghte way followed Christ And Zachens who otherwyse was
vnto them to consider the faults of other men Moreouer they reioyce not neyther delighte themselues in the condemnation of theyr neighbours especiallye that condemnation whiche is done rashely For they know that theyr brother forasmuch as he is of God eyther stādeth to his Lord or falleth But we intreate now of priuate menne and not of Magistrates or Pastors whose parte is by office to be inquisitiue touching the life and manners of those which be committed to theyr charge Wherefore all men as well subiectes as magistrates ought to iudge sinnes which are layde before them by admonishing and punishinge euery manne accordinge to hys office leaste vices shoulde spreade to farre abroade But thys thinge aboue others is diligentlye to be taken heede of as Paule nowe teacheth that wee winke not at those thynges whyche we our selues wickedlye committe For as he sayth In that we iudge an other we condemne our selues The selfe same sentence whereby we punishe other men striketh also our selues And seing we can not escape our owne iudgement how shal we escape the iudgement of God which is according to truth For then shall not that thinge happen whiche we see now doth that in one and the selfe same kinde of crime one is condemned and an other escapeth Euen as our deedes are so shall they be iudged Now men spare themselues and are seuere agaynst others But so shall it not be in the iudgement of God It resteth therefore that we execute the selfe same seuerity vpon our selues which we vse in iudging of other men Which thing how little the aduersaries of religion do performe hereby it is manifest in that they Papistes in what things they condemne vs and flatter thēselues euery where crye out agaynst the mariages of priestes because they seeme vnto them vnpure but in the meane tyme while they ouerpasse themselues being ouerwhelmed with all kynde of filthy lustes They make exclamation that vowes are not performed and they consider not what they haue promised vnto God in Baptisme They complayne that fastes which men haue commaunded are not kept and they neuer make an ende of their bankettinges and delicious feastinges They make lamentacion that the sacramentes are vnworthely neglected of our men when as they themselues with their lyes of transubstāciation haue hitherto sold them mangled them and filthyly deformed them The summe of Paules doctrine is that we iudging others shoulde discend into ourselues for that it is most certayne that the iudgement of God shal be according to truth Therefore we must to our power endeuour our selues to make our life and maners acceptable before so great a iudge But this sentence to sinne and to consent vnto sinners which before he obiected to the vngodly semeth to be repugnant vnto that which he afterward The selfe same mē are both seuete agaynst others ▪ and towardes their owne they are most fauorable speaketh namely that they punished others but spared themselues For how do they consent vnto others which do euill if by their iudgemente they condemne them but the apostle speaketh not generally And the selfe same disease of selfe loue stirreth them vp both to spare themselues and also to supporte and mayntayne them which are by any aliance knit vnto thē whē as they are infected with the same vices that they themselues are but strangers and such as they beare no affectiō vnto by their iudgemēt they most seuerely cōdemne if at any tyme they commit any fault Which thing is most playne in the history of Dauid For when Nathan the prophet had accused before him the cruell act of An example of Dauid the riche man the kinge burst forth strayght way into these wordes he is the sonne of death which hath committed this acte Vnto whome the prophet declared that he himselfe was the man which had committed this so haynous an act He was seuere against an other mā and had yet neuertheles so lōg time wincked at himselfe hauing committed the like fault Or despisest thou the riches of his goodnes patience and lenity not knowing that the goodnes of God leadeth thee to repentance But thou after thyne hardnes and hart that cannot repent heapest vnto thy selfe wrath agaynst the day of wrath and of the declaration of the iust iudgement of God who will render vnto euery man according to his workes Or despisest thou the riches of his goodnes patience and lenity In amplifiing How the scripture vseth thys word riches and setting forth the wonderfull and excellent proprieties of God the scripture very oftentymes vseth this word riches notwithstanding that the goodnes of God is not limited or bound in with any endes but much excedeth copia cornu as Latine men vse to speake that is all kinde of plentifulnes Neither is goodnes in this place all one with vprightnes iustice and temperance but is a redines and an endeuour to helpe our neighbour For thys Greke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is deriued of profite and commoditye This bountifulnes of God Christ partly touched when he sayd that God our Father maketh his sunne to arise vpon the good and the euill and the rayne to rayne vpō the iust and the vniust Paule also partly here expresseth it when he sayth that God with long suffering beareth with the wickednes of men For in this place Paule ouerthroweth an other foundacion whereunto the vngodly lening perswaded themselues The ground of the vngodly whereby they promise vnto themselues to escape vnpunished that they should escape vnpunished for that God differreth to inflict hys punishementes This commeth not hereof sayth he because God neglecteth these thinges or that he will haue them to go vnpunished but with lenity and pacience he suffreth for a tyme otherwise whē he seeth hys tyme he will seuerely auenge them And this word long suffering is of great efficacy to moue our myndes as though it were paynfull vnto God to suffer our iniquityes For we are not sayd to beare and tolerate but only such thinges which of their own nature are both odious and troublesome Which kindes of speach we haue first in Esay the Prophete when he sayd vnto the vngodly king Achab Is it a small matter vnto you of the house of Dauid that ye are greuous vnto men but ye must be greuous also vnto God And the same Prophet bringeth in God speaking of the sacrifices and obseruations of the vngodly that he could no longer suffer thē but that it was a payne for hym to suffer them For they being voyde of fayth and piety gaue themselues whole vnto ceremonies And Dauid in his Psalme writeth that God complayneth that by the space of 40. yeares the generation of Israell was greuous vnto him in the wildernes because they alwayes erred in their hart And the patience of God which should haue wrought in them repentaunce through their owne default profited them not a whit Which he now vpbraydeth saying Knowest thou not that these thinges leade thee to
God made man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is sufficient of himselfe to eschewe vices and to embrace vertue Whiche if he vnderstande of man as he was first created is true But after hys fall it is not to be graunted forasmuch as without Christ we can doe nothyng of our selues yea by our owne strengthes we can not so much as thinke any good thyng much lesse to doe any thyng Vnlesse peraduenture he vnderstand this as touchyng the knowledge of iustice and vprightnes in generall wherof we doe now speake For the self same father in an other place more then once auoucheth that we haue altogether néede of the grace of Christ That which the Apostle now maketh mencion of touching the knowledge of the Gentiles is very apte to repell the sclaunderous Against the complaint of the late comming of Christ talke of the vngodly which vse to say Why came not Christ before How was mankinde prouided for before hys comming What wrought hys prouidence then By these thinges which are now spoken thou now perceauest that mankinde was then also prouided for For as touching knowledge they had inough whether we vnderstand that which pertayneth vnto contemplation or that which is directed to workyng and doing Wherfore before the coÌ„ming of Christ they dyd vniustly complaine that they were forsaken when as they had knowledge and thought not them selues to want sufficient strengthes Theyr thoughtes accusing one an other or excusing Now bryngeth he an other reason wherby he proueth that the Ethnickes had a law because they were not without accusations excusations of the conscience which were most manifest testimonies of the knowledge grafted in vs by nature And by this self A manifest profe of the iudgement to come same argument may probablie be inferred that the iudgement of God shall at yâ— length come For if our minde do iudge with it self touching those thyngs which we doe what will God at the length doe which hath ingrafted these iudgemeÌ„tes in the mindes of men Accordyng to my Gospell He calleth it hys Gospell partly because hée tooke much labour in preachyng of it and partly for the excéeding great affection that he had towardes it for that he was appointed to the publishing of it abroad In the daye of the Lorde Then shall our cogitations be both accusers and also witnesses of all our doinges and by them shall the Ethnickes be iudged Now for that we are drawen away by the entisementes and lustes of thys lyfe we doe consider them not but then shall the Lorde bryng them forth to light Who as it is written in the first Epistle to the Corinthians shall illuminate the hidden workes of darkenes By thys place we sée that the iudgement of God is a part of the Gospell forasmuch as it is profitable to styrre vp to repentaunce Moreouer The iudgemeÌ„t of God is a part of the gospell â–ª as touchyng the godly it is a glad tidinges For Christ sayd When these thynges shall beginne to come to passe then lift vp your heades for your redemptioÌ„ draweth nye And although God will render vnto euery man according to his workes In iudgement God rendereth not lyke to our works yet will he not render like for lyke For we shall receaue farre much more then our workes haue deserued And they which shall be condemned shall be lesse punished then the greatnes of their sinnes requireth And as touchyng these excusing cogitations Augustine in hys booke which we haue now cited writeth that they shall not obteine forgeuenes Howbeit they may obtaine a more easter punishment The paines of the damned shall not be a like For the paynes of the damned shall not be a like And he vseth thys similitude that euen as there are certaine veniall sinnes which can not let but that the godly may obtaine felicitie so are there certaine excellent workes being of their own kind good which yet shall not deliuer the damned And as the lyfe of euery one be he neuer so holy can not wante small sinnes so the life of no maÌ„ though he be most wicked can be so filthye but that it may in yâ— meane time haue some excellent worke annexed vnto it And after thys maner doth the Apostle close vp the accusation of the Gentiles making mencion againe of the last iudgement And when he sayth Beholde thou arte called a Iewe he beginneth his The accusaâ—ioÌ„ of the Iewes accusation agaynst the Iewes which consisteth of these principall pointes Fyrst he setteth forth the excellent giftes wherwith God had adorned them afterward he addeth how they had abused them thirdly he expouÌ„deth what it is to be truely The principall pointes of the accusation of the Iewes a Iewe what true Circumcision is Afterward he declareth that those giftes of God bestowed vpon the Iewes could not by theÌ„ be so contaminated that they should not be estéemed and praysed But yet by them the Iewes had no matter wherby to preferre them selues before the Gentiles when as they liued wickedly For theyr filthye life made them equall to the Gentiles which thing in Why he fyrst reproued the Gentiles the laste place he maketh playne by testimonie of the Scriptures He reproued the Gentiles before the Iewes that by the former reprehension hée myght prepare hys waye to the latter For the Iewes were hautye neyther coulde they easilie abide one to reproue them Farther if the Apostle hadde fyrste accused them he might haue semed more extreme against his owne nation then was mete especially forasmuch as he was accused of the false Apostles that he was an Apostata from the law and that he had filthily fallen from the Iewish The sum of the reprehension of the Iewes religion The summe of the reprehension of the Iewes is that they by professioÌ„ and not by life measured their righteousnes First of all he maketh mention of the giftes which were geuen vnto the Iewes and reduceth them in a maner to The giftes bestowed vpon the Iewes are reduced to three principal pointes three principall poyntes The first is the dignity of the name which came vnto them by the kinrede and holy sede of the fathers The second is that they knews the will of God by the law geuen vnto their elders The third that they were apointed to teach other nations These were in dede excellent things but yet they nothing helped them because they both degenerated from their fathers as touching honesty and iustice and also by their sinnes they repugned the law which they had receaued and moreouer because they neglected themselues and much lesse did they teach other people But herein the Apostle chiefly maketh mention of those thinges which they had frely receiued For they were not bestowed vpon them for any merite of theirs Beholde thou art called a Iew and restest in the law and gloriest in God and knowest hys wyll and allowest the thynges that are excellent in that thou art instructed by the lawe
vnderstand the mynd of mā compacte of them both being renued by the holy Ghost But the letter signifyeth whatsoeuer is outwardlye set before vs be it neuer so spirituall when it cleaueth not to our minde or vrgeth not Wherefore the circumcision of the flesh is the signe of the circumcision of The circūcision of the flesh is the signe of the circumcisiō of the harte The circūcision of the hart in the bookes of the law Both God woorketh in vs good things and we also woorke The spirite and the letter are discerned by the affect of the mind the harte and of the mind Therfore great care was to be had that it should not be vayn or superfluous This phrase touching the circumcision of the hart Paul borowed out of the olde Testamente In the. 10. chap of Deut commaundement was geuen that they should circumcise the foreskins of theyr hartes and in the selfe same booke the. 30. chapter Moses promiseth that God will one day circumcise the foreskin of theyr hartes to declare that either is true namely that God woorketh in vs the things that are good and that we also worke the selfe same forasmuch as God vseth our ministery to bring forth good woorkes Wherfore so longe as our minde resisteth the woorde of God whiche is set foorth vnto vs althoughe outwardlye it make a shewe of somewhat yet is it occupied in the letter But when it is made prone vnto the commaundementes of God then is it gouerned by the spirite Wherefore as touching the thinge whiche is set foorth and red there is no difference betwene the spirite and the letter but as touching the affect of the minde Which thinge Paule hath declared in his latter Epistle to the Corinthians the 3. cap whē he saith Ye are the Epistle of Christ wrought by our ministery and written not wyth inke but with the spirite of the liuing God not in tables of stone but in tables of flesh Where he manifestlye teacheth that this is the ministery of the spirite whē in the tables of our hart are imprinted those things which God commaundeth and will haue to be of vs beleued and done Neyther let vs meruaile that Paule sayth that such an Epistle was written by him whē as it is the worke of God for he meaneth that he wrote it onely as an instrumēt ioyned with the woorking of God Wherefore they are to be counted ministers of the spirite which do not onely expounde the woordes of God but also do imprinte Who are ministers of the spirite thē into the hartes of the hearers Which thing such as do not althoughe they speake good and healthfull thinges yet are they but ministers of the letter neither of theyr woorke followeth any thinge els then the death of the hearers For they which vnderstand the will of the Lord and do it not shal be punished with many stripes And therefore Paule sayde that the letter killeth but the spirite quickeneth Wherefore it is the duety of pastors and of them that teache to pray vnto God For what thing pastors ought to pray What is the true circumcision moste ernestly to make them ministers not of the letter but of the spirite Paule also vnto the Philippians declared what is the true circumcision when he sayth We are the circumcision which serue God in the spirite we glory in Christ and haue not confidence in flesh By these thre notes he expressed the spirituall circumcision And vnto the Colossians after he had said that we are circumcised in Christ but yet with a circumcision not made by handes he declareth by very many circumstances what that circumcision is namely that we haue put of the body of the sins of the fleshe that through Baptism we are buried together with Christ that we haue forgeuenes of synnes that the hand writing is put out which was agaynst vs by reason of ordinances and the principalityes powers which were agaynst vs are by Christ vanquished ouercome In which place this is not to be passed ouer that baptisme is called the true circumcision so that it be in the spirite and the hart and not in the letter and the Baptisme when it is in the spirite is the true circumcisiō fleshe Wherefore these sentences a Iewe inward and outward the circumcision in the flesh and in the hart are to be taken in respect as they are opposite one to the other that is a part and disseuered one from the other For ioyne them together and then the sentence of Paule pertayneth not vnto them For it is not to be doubted but that there were very many Iewes in the olde tyme which were Iewes both outward and inward and were circumcised not only in the fleshe but also in the harte These thinges may be taken three maner of wayes so that there is one circumcision of the fleshe an other of the spirite and the thyrd ioyned together of them both For it is not to be thought that the olde Testament Many liued vnder the law which therewithall liued also vnder th◠Gospell An 〈…〉 or of the Maniches was so seperated from the Gospell that they which liued in it could not also therewithall haue the Gospell These two thinges are indeede seperated the one from the other but yet in such sorte that they may be ioyned together in one and the selfe same man Manicheus so reiected the olde Testament as though it were vtterly vnprofytable vnto vs. And vsed this kynde of reason Forasmuch as that inheritance of the land of Chanaan pertayneth not vnto me I do reiect also both the Testament and the writinge whereby the bequest was made Yea also though it should bring vnto me the possession of that land yet Christ hath so exalted vs to better thinges that I regard not these thinges These wordes obiected Faustus and they are red in the 4. booke of that worke whiche Augustine wrote against him In which place he thus answereth him Those thinges which are written The olde Testaraent pertayneth vnto vs also in the olde Testament are types of our thinges Forasmuch as Paule in his latter Epistle to the Corrinthians sayth These thinges happened vnto them in a figure but they are written for our correction vpon whome are come the endes of the world And vnto the Romanes we reade whatsoeuer thinges are written are written for our erudition and learning And in the oracles of the olde Testament is promise made of Christ Wherfore he being raysed from the dead and disputing with his two disciples of himselfe cited testimonyes out of Moses and out of the whole scripture And the same Christ sayd that the good father of the houshold brought forth of his treasure both new thinges and olde Wherefore the olde Testament is not so contrary vnto the new as the Manichies fayned it was And therefore Paule when he semeth to speake any thinge Paule whē he semeth to diminish any thing frō the law condēneth not the olde
that we shall be the heires of God and the fellow heires of Christ for that he is the first begotten amongst many brethern Christ himselfe also sayth Euen as the liuing father sent me so send I you and dispose vnto you the kingdome as the father hath disposed it vnto me Where I am I will that there also be my minister Agayne in an other place to the ende he woulde declare that we are not excluded froÌ„ this inheritance he sayth blessed are the meke for they shall possesse the earth And Paule sayth All thinges are youres and you long to Christ and Christ to God Yea also the Angels serue the elect He hath geuen charge fayth he to his Angels concerning thee to keepe thee in all thy wayes Farther by Christ is restored whatsoeuer was lost in Adam Man when he was created was made vnto the image of God which sentence the scripture strayght way interpreteth to be ruler ouer all thinges created And if Christ haue restored this Image then also hath he rendred agayne the principality that was lost and so hath rendred it that the same is sayd by right to be restored vnto vs by right I say of inheritance Nether ought we to despaire of this promise although the outward shew of things appeare now farre otherwise They which pertayne vnto Christ are very weake And the deuil stirreth vp against them the Princes of this world and tyrantes Wherefore we seeme to be most nedy of all thinges and to be most abiect The abiect outward appearaunce nothing depriueth vs of our dominion when yet in very dede we are Lordes of all thinges These thinges are hidden from the eyes of the fleshe but then shall they appeare when Christ himselfe in whome our life is hidden shall appeare Which is not spoken as though Christ doth not now raygne Vnto many paraduenture he semeth to be idle but the godly feele that he raigneth most mightely in the congregation of the elect which is the churche And he raigneth by the spirite the word that is by faith which coÌ„meth from the spirite and depeÌ„deth of the word of God Which The godly feele Christ euen now also to râ—igne Christ raigneth by the word and the spirite that is by fayth faith when the elect haue obtained they haue obtained the victorye against the world For Iohn saith This is the victory which ouer commeth the world your faith And forasmuch as the faithfull vnderstand that all thinges are theirs they are content with meate and drinke and apparell as for other thinges they vse of them so much as is expedient vnto their vocation Finallye there is nothing in the world which turneth not to their profite The Chiliassis whom in Latin we may cal Millenarij thought that this inheritaunce of the whole world shal be declared before the end of this world when Christ as they thought shall raygne a thousand yeares in this world with his saintes hauing destroyed and ouercome all the wicked And these men it should seme followed the oracle which is sayde to come from Elias That the worlde should endure 6000. yeares And these An oracle of Elias yeares they thus describe saying that 2000. yeares passed away before the law 2000. vnder the law and as many shall be vnder the Gospell Afterward they adde a thousand yeares in which they say shall be the chiefe rest so that the thousand last yeares they call the Sabaoth And so they appoint a weke in which euery particular day is taken for a thousand yeares according to that which is said a thousand yeares are wyth the Lord as one day againe one day as a thousand yeres Augustine maketh mencion of this opinion in his 20. booke and. 7. chapter de ciuitate Dei and saith that it was after a sorte tollerable that he himselfe was once of the same minde But that which they added concerning pleasures delightes and worldly honors which they sayd all the faythfull should for the space of those thousand yeares enioy together with Christ he earnestly reproueth They vsurped certaine testimonies of the scriptures wherby they thought to establish their fond inuention For in the Apocalips the. 27. chapter it is written that Christ shall raigne a thousand yeares with the saintes hauing in the meane time ouercome and vanquished Sathan They leane also vnto a saying of Christ in Luke the. 22. chapter That ye may eate and drinke vpon my table I wyll so dispose the kingdome vnto you as my father hath disposed it vnto me Finallye the oracles of the Prophetes which by temporall descriptions shadowed the kingdome of Christ they so take as though they were no otherwise to bee vnderstande then they seeme for at the first sight And they in suche sorte speake of this matter as though in the last time shall be restored the golden worlde which is described Great men were Mtilenarii of the Poetes There were of this opinion men not of the meanest sort as Papias which liued in the Apostles tyme Ireneus Apollinarius Tertullian Victorinus Lactantius and Methodius the Martir Wherfore Hierom in his 4. booke vpon Ieremy writeth that he durst not condemn that sentence because many ecclesiasticall men and Martyrs had died beyng of that opinion Howbeit in an other place he manifestly derideth these Millenarij and very pleasauntly mocketh them Eusebius Cesariensis The opinion of the Chiliasts sprang from Cherinthus in the third booke of his history saith that this opinion had his beginning of Cherinthus the heretike of whom Dionisius bishop of Alexandria expounding the Apoe of Iohn thus writeth that he was altogether geuen to lustes and vnto the bellye and therfore attributed these carnall delightes vnto the kingdom of Christ which should continue a thousand yeares Neither contendeth he onely that there should be matrimonies and procreations of children all that whole time but also that there should be circumcision sacrifices and other ceremonies of the law But sithen we sée that Ireneus is agaynst Cherinthus we cannot easely thinke that he was wholy of the selfe same opinion touching this fable And doubtles it is possible that amongest these Millenarij some were touching one and the same thing of an opinion and other some of an other opinioÌ„ For it is very likely that by reason of that place of the Apocalips some holy men were brought into this opinion to thinke yâ— Christ should In the kingdome of Christ the law shall not be renued in this world raigne with his a thousand yeares but touching the restoring of the law the réedifieng of Ierusalem with precious stones the bringing in agayne of delightes and pleasures of this world they were vtterly against it For how is it possible that the law which hath brought no man to perfection shall be theÌ„ of greatest force when the state of the godly shall be most perfect Doubtles men that are of full age haue no neede of a scholemaister and they which haue profited
time The sonne which is in the bosome of the father he hath declared him For neither the prophets in the old time nether we ourselues could by any other meanes then by Christ haue knowen that this is the will of God that by him he is made mercifull and fauorable vnto vs. Farther there is no mā ignorāt but that there was nede of a sacrifice and price to purge vs from our sinnes Wherfore seing both the death of Christ and the sheding of his bloud hath performed these thinges vndoubtedly they ought not to be kept in silence But here ariseth a doubt by what meanes the Apostle may seme to seioine and to put a sonder these things one from the other namely the forgeuenes of sinnes and iustificatiō and one the other side the faith of the death from the fayth of the resurrection when as it semeth that by the fayth of ech part of his death I say and of his Resurrection is geuen not only remission of sins but also iustification Augustine against Faustus in his 16. boke semeth to geue his interpretacion That our fayth is chiefly directed vnto the resurrection of Christ That Fayth is directed chiefly vnto the resurrection of the Lord. he died euen the Ethnikes also confesse but that he rose againe they vtterly deny And therfore forasmuch as fayth is sayd to be that whereby we are iustified Paul would make menciō of that thing wheron it chiefly cōsisteth And to cōfirme his sentēce he citeth a place out of the 10. chapter to the Romanes If with the mouth thou confesse the lord Iesus Christ and with thy hart beleuest that he was raysed from the dead thou shalt be saued By which wordes it appeareth that saluation and iustificatiō are attributed vnto the fayth of the resurrection of Christ But these things are not so to be taken as Our fayth is directed also vnto the death of the Lord. though our fayth should not also be directed vnto y◠death of y◠Lord. It is true in dede that the Ethnikes confesse that Christ was slayn but they do not beleue that this was done for the sinnes of men but for some offence he had committed or ells wrongfully but we beleue that he was crucified for the saluatiō and redemptiō of mankind wherfore our fayth is exercised as wel in y◠death of Christ In the fayth of the resurrectiō is comprehended the faith of the death Besides the payinge of the price ▪ it was nedefull that the redempcion should be applied vnto vs. as in his Resurrection And that which he bringeth out of the 10. Chapter vnto the Romanies maketh nothing agaynst our sentence For who vnderstandeth not that in the fayth of the Resurrection of Christ is also included that fayth which we haue of his death and crosse wherfore there are yet behynd two other very likely interpretations of which the first is that in very dede by the death of Christ was payd the price of our redemption But that it might be applied vnto vs there nedeth the holy ghost to moue vs to beleue and Christ to geue vnto vs this holy ghost rose againe from death sent abrode his Apostles to preach into all partes of the world now also before the father executeth the office of an intercessor and high priest therefore is he sayd to haue risen agayne to helpe vs that we might obteyne iustification Chrisostome semeth to lene vnto this sentence The second exposition is that the fayth of the death and of the resurrection bringeth iustification but Paule seioyned them aptly to declare the analogy and proportiō betwene them Vnto the death of Christ answereth very wel the forgeuenes of sinnes for by reason of them death was dewe vnto vs. And as Christ as touching this corruptible life died so also ought we when we are iustified to dye vnto sinne Agayne bycause iustification semeth herein to be declared in that we beginne a new life therfore is it referred vnto the resurrection of Christ for that he then semed to haue begonne a celestiall and happy life Paul vsed in a maner the selfe same form of words in this same epistle when he saith wyth the harte we beleeue vnto ryghteousnesse and wyth the mouth is confession made to saluation For the faith of the harte both worketh righteousnes and also bringeth saluation but bycause saluation and instauration are chiefly declared in action therfore he ascribed it to confession But whither of these expositions is the truer nether will I contend nor also now declare Of those things which haue now bene spoken we gather a most swete consolation for therby we doo not only know the waight of sinne but also we vnderstand that God bare a singular good loue towards vs as one which gaue his only begotten son and y◠vnto the death to deliuer vs from sinnes Farther seing Christ is sayd to haue risen from the dead for our iustification we easely se that we are by him called backe to a new life vnto which yet we cā not aspire except we be of him elected The fift Chapter VVHerefore being iustified by fayth we haue peace towardes God through our Lorde Iesus Christ By whome also we haue accesse through fayth vnto this grace wherein we stand and reioyce vnder the hope of the glory of God Nether do we this only but also we reioyce in afflictions knowing that affliction bringeth forth patience and patience experience and experience hope And hope maketh not ashamed because the loue of God is shed abroade into our hartes by the holy ghost which is geuen vnto vs. Wherefore being iustified by faith we haue peace towardes God Here the Apostle beginneth by way of rehersall to conclude that whiche he had before The effectes of fayth and of iustification proued and together therewithall set forth the effectes of faith and of iustification For that vndoubtedly is an absolute or perfect doctrine which sheweth not only the nature of thinges but also declareth the effectes Now then the chiefest effect of iustification is to deliuer vs from the terrors of death and of eternall damnation And this is it which Paul calleth To haue peace towardes God Farther he sheweth that of this peace springeth a certayne reioysing not only for the felicity which we shall obtayne but also euen for afflictions that therefore we are sure of the good will and loue of God towardes vs because we see Christ died for our saluatiō but much more are we confirmed as touching the same by reasō of his life which he now liueth with the father Moreouer he compareth Christ with Adam and sheweth that he hath brought farre greater benefites vnto mankinde then did Adam bring losses Seing we are now iustified by fayth sayth he we haue peace towardes God Sinne had seperated vs from him and God to auenge sinne draue man out of Paradise by meanes wherof we are become miserable and full of calamitye And agayne seing our owne conscience accuseth vs
ernest peny and a triall of the saluation to come And therefore in those which are in Christ he hath engrauen and emprinted his spirite Nether nede we sayth Ambrose forasmuch as we are so deare vnto God to be aferd that we should of him be deceaued And Paul hath not without a cause made mencion of the holy ghost For he it is which beareth witnes vnto our spirite that we are the sonnes of God and by him we chiefely acknowledge the thinges that are geuē vs of God For as it is written in the first to the Corrinthians we haue not receaued the spirite of this world but the spirit which is God to know the thinges which are geuen vs of God But because we can not by certayne demonstracions or by experience of the sence teach vnto the infidels this loue of God whereof the holy ghost maketh vs assured therefore it is A similitude sayd to be powred into our hartes For we are in this life like strangers which although at home they come of a noble parentage and are rich yet so long as they are abiding amōgst strange nations they are not had in estimation But yet they knowing their owne nobility reioyce in their hart and passe not vpon the vayne opinions that other men haue of them So we hauing the loue of God shed abroade into our hartes when we are as fooles miserable men derided of the wicked are nothing at all moued with their iudgement being fully contented with our state and condition Augustine somewhat otherwise expoundeth this place For he thought that by loue is to be vnderstand that loue wherwith we loue God which exposition in my iudgement can haue no place For we haue not therefore our hope vnshaken because we loue God but because we are loued of God Farther the scope of Paul is to confirme our hope by the benefit of the death of Christ which maketh vs assured not of our loue towards God but contrariwise of Gods loue towardes vs. Wherefore he concludeth his argument with these wordes And God hath set forth his loue to wardes vs. c. Although we also gladly acknowledge with Augustine that the hope of godly men is somewhat confirmed for that they now feele by the holy ghost that they are inflamed with the loue of God when they vnderstand that for their sake the sonne of God was of hym deliuered vnto the death And that our loue is deriued of that loue of God wherewith he embraseth vs it is playne and manifest Our loue springeth of the loue of God but as touching the sence of the Apostle the former exposition is more naturall For Christ when we were yet weake according to the consideration of the time died for the vngodly For a man will scarce dye for a righteous man For for a good man it may be that one dare dye But God setteth forth his loue towardes vs seing that while we were yet sinners Christ died for vs. Much more then being now iustified by his blood we shal be saued frō wrath thorough him For if whē we wer enemies we wer recōciled vnto God by the death of his sonne much more being reconciled we shal be saued by his life And not only this but we also reioyce in God through our Lord Iesus Christ by whome we haue now receaued the attonement For Christ when we were yet weake c. Now he expresseth the reasō wherby we may knowe that God loueth vs namely for that he gaue his sonne for vs whē we were yet weake sinners vngodly enemies Wherfore we manifestly gather that y◠hope cā not confound vs wherby we haue full confidence y◠seing we are now regenerate and reconciled vnto God we shal at the length obteine eternall felicity For if he vouchased to geue so much for enemies and sinners sakes vndoubtedly he wil geue much more vnto his frindes and childrē Wherfore The Methode of Paules reason Paul first setteth forth the benefite bestowed vpon mākind the sonne of God I say which was geuē vnto the death Secondly he maketh a comparisō wherby is excedingly confirmed the hope of the faythfull Last of all he sheweth that we doo not only hope but also excedingly reioyce of this loue of God towards vs. As touching the first part he doth not coldly or sclēderly declare how much good God hath bestowed vpon vs when he gaue his sonne for our saluatiō but with greate amplificatiō he setteth forth the matter namely that his sonne was not geuen for all men but for those which were vtterly vnworthy of all mercy For before we wer by the benefite of God made pertakers of this redemption we could by no helpe or force of our owne helpe our selues And therfore Christ is sayd to be geuen for weake ones which wholy neded all maner of helpe And those selfe same being wicked and vngodly refused the helpe offred vnto them And when they were sinners these euells dayly encreased more and more For both the infirmity was encreased and the remedy grew the more in hatred by reason of theyr impiety which more and more encresed This also helped therevnto for that men were now declared to be open enemies And it was a greate matter to vndoo and make voide those thinges which were once decreed This is the meaning of these wordes vveake vngodly sinners and enemies For a righteous man and for a good man Seing that all men are loth to dye thereby is manifest how greate was the loue of Christ towards vs which would dye for such as once were we as hath now bene declared For the righteous Some hereby haue vnderstand a iust cause For they whiche haue deserued death canne skarslye bee perswaded too take theyr death patient For the Good That is they more willingly dye for that which is profitable and plesant as the parentes for theyr children the husbands for their wiues merchants for theyr merchandise Origen bringeth an example of the Martirs which suffer death for Christs sake who is in very dede good Others make mēcion of the Decians Curtians Codrians and the bretherne called Phileni which of theyr owne accorde gaue theyr liues for theyr countrey For all these semed to haue bene moued to geue themselues to the death both for that which is iust for that which is profitable For it was a thing iust that they should be so kind vnto theyr countrey in the defence thereof to be willinge to shedde theyr liues Farther also by theyr death they semed to preserue those who were vnto them most deare Vndoubtedly for my part I thinke with Chrisostome that by these woords Iust and Good are simply to be vnderstand good men and iust men although Ierome to Algasia in his 7. question taketh Iust and good substātiuely for a thing iust and good But why Paul sayd Scarce for a iust man and addeth peraduenture for a good man I thinke this to be the cause for that they which seemed sometimes to
corruption and prauity of whole nature dependeth I haue now declared so much as I thought should be sufficient for this present purpose how the Apostle taketh this word sinne by whome he sayth it hath sprede ouer all mankinde and what the ecclesiasticall writers haue left in writing touching the maner how it passeth from one to an other Now is this thing only to be added that by the world is to be vnderstand all mankinde For I like not to playe the Philosopher as doth By the world is vnderstand all mankinde Origene by the world to vnderstand only those men which liue according to the affections of the fleshe For so should we séeme to exclude from the meaning of the Apostle originall sin which thing the very nature of the woords will not suffer And by sinne death and so death hath gone ouer all men Here he declareth what sinne hath brought which was the fourth part of our deuision Sinne brought death but what maner of death he meaneth can not better be vnderstaÌ„d then by the contrary therof namely by life And this life is of two sortes the one Life of two sortes is wherby we are moued to spirituall deuine and celestiall good things and this taketh place so long as we are ioyned together with God for vnlesse we be led by the spirit of God we can not frame our selues to those thinges which passe our nature The other life is wherby we are moued to follow those good things which Sinne toke away â—ther life serue to preserue nature to defend the state of the body And both these kindes of liues hath death which is inflicted for sin takeÌ„ away For death is nothing els but priuation of lyfe For so soone as euer man sinned he was turned away froÌ„ God so left destitute of his grace and fauor yâ— he could not afterward aspire againe vnto eternall felicity This corporall life also may be said to be taken away by sinne for straight way so soone as sinne was committed the force of death and his souldiors Our first parentes died euen straightway so sone as they had sinned did set vpon man Such as are hunger thirst diseases wasting away of moystures and heate a daily quenching of the lyfe For all those thinges lead men vnto death â–ª And Chrisostome vpon Genesis at large entreatyng of this matter sayth That the first parentes so soone as euer they had sinned streight way died For the Lord streight way gaue sentence of death vpoÌ„ theÌ„ And eueÌ„ as they which are coÌ„deÌ„ned vnto death although they are kept for a tyme on lyue in prison yet are they counted for dead so our first A similitude parentes although thorough the goodnes of God they liued longer yet they were in verye dede straight way dead after that God began accordyng to his sentence to punish them Ambrose saith that they were sodenlye oppressed with death for that they had afterward no day or houre or moment wherin they were not obnoxious vnto death Neither We haue not one houre wherin we are not subiecte vnto death is there any man in the worlde which can assuredly promise himselfe that he shall liue one houre Wherfore by these thinges it is manifest that both kindes of death were brought in by sinne Wherefore we must beware that we assent not vnto them which vse to say that death is vnto a man naturall and as a certayne rest whereby the motion of the life is interrupted Such opinions are to be left vnto the Ethnikes For all the godly affirme that in death is a féeling of the wrath of God Death is not natural vnto a man In death is a feeling of the wrath of God and therefore of his owne nature it driueth into men a certaine paine and horror Which thing both Christ himselfe when he prayed in the garden and many other holy men haue declared And if there chaunce to be any vnto whom it is pleasaunt and delectable to dye and to be rid of their life that they haue from els where and not from the nature of death And Paul to the Corinthians sayth That death is the sting of sinne For death otherwise could be able to do nothing against vs but that by sinne it destroyeth vs. Wherfore they which affirme that originall sinne is only a certaine weakenes which can not condemne a man do neither vnderstande the nature of sinne nor this sentence of the Apostle which we are now in hande with Farther if of sinne commeth death all sinnes are of their owne nature to be All sinnes are of theyr own nature to be called deadly called deadly For in that God imputeth not some sinnes vnto vs that commeth not of the lightnes of the sinnes but of his mercy For there can be no sinne so light which bringeth not destruction vnles the mercy of God helpe And yet doo we not say with the Stoikes that all sinnes are alike For we know that Paul describeth vnto vs certaine sinnes which are so greuous that they exclude men froÌ„ the kingdome Sinnes are not a like of heauen For that all men haue sinned This mought haue seemed very sharpe and harde that for the sinne only of the first man all men should dye But Paul sheweth that this is iustly done bicause all men haue sinned About this particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which properly signifieth in quo that is in which and is englished For that is no small controuersie how it ought to be takeÌ„ Some will haue it to be referred vnto sin But the Greke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which weÌ„t before it semeth to be against that For it is the Feminine gender Howbeit it may be that Paul had a respect vnto yâ— other worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is the newter geÌ„der which word he afterward ofteÌ„times vseth although it be counted a fault in speache to referre the relatiue to things coÌ„ming after Others thinke that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ought to be referred vnto Adam But against these men is the signification of this preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which when it is ioyned with a datiue case as Erasmus sayth is not amongst any good authors founde to signifie all one with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is in Wherfore it semeth that the Latine interpreter was deceiued which turned this sence thus In whome all men haue sinned Howbeit the A similitude Gréeke scholies vnder the person of Phocius vary not from the Latine interpretation For they expounde thys sentence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is in whiche Adam by by which Adam But touching this matter I wil not much coÌ„tend For I thinke that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a particle causall so that the sence is Therefore hathe death gone ouer all men because all men haue sinned For Chrisostome sayth That when Adam fell all other men also which did not eate of the fruite were touched
we are so prouoked to sinne that none can flatter hymselfe of hys owne innocencye For who can boaste that he hath a chaste harte For as Iohn sayth If we saye we haue no sinne wee deceyue our selues and the truth is not in vs. Agayne Cyprianus in hys Epistle to Fidus teacheth that infants oughte to be baptised that they peâ—rishe not for euer Augustine also citeth the Bishop Reticius whose wordes we haue before rehearsed He citeth also Olympius a bishoppe of Spayne who saith That the sinne of the first man was so dispersed in the budde that sinne is borne together wyth man He also citeth Hilarius who writeth thus of the fleshe of Christ Therfore seyng he was sent in the similitude of sinnefull fleshe so had he also sin But because all flesh is of sinne namely of the sinne deryued froÌ„ the first parent Adam he was sent in the similitude of sinnefull flesh so that there was not in hym sinne but the similitude of sinnefull flesh The same father in an other place expounding the xviij Psalme vrgeth this sentence of Dauid Behold in iniquities was I conceiued and in sinnes hath my mother conceaued me Also in his Homilie vppon the booke of Iob he saith That the body is a matter of malice whiche can not be sayd to haue bene so from the first constitution And Ambrose vpon Luke saith that the body is a stinking puddle and an harbor of sinnes but by the benefite of Christ it is chaunged into the temple of God and made a holy place of vertues The same father against the Nouatians saith that our byrth is in sinne and in his apologie of Dauid he saith that before we are borne we are blotted wyth contagiousnes and before we haue the vse of lyght we receaue originall iniustice are conceaued in iniquity And of the Lord he saith It was mete that he which should not haue in his body the sinne of falling should fele no naturall contagiousnes of generation Wherefore worthely did Dauid be wayle in him selfe the corruptions of nature forth at that filthines begaÌ„ in maÌ„ first before life The same Ambrose of the Arke of Noah Whome then hath he now pronounced a iust man but hym which is free from these bondes whome doth the bondes of common nature not hold Also vpon the Gospel of Luke he sayth That the infants which are baptised are by the washinges of the healthfull ministery reformed from maliciousnes Ierome vpon Ionas the prophete sayth that litle infantes are subiect vnto the sinne of Adam And yâ— it should not be thought that he speaketh it only of guiltines vpon the 18. and 41. chap of Ezechiell he vrgethe that not euen a child which is but a day old is without sinne He vrgeth this also Who can make that cleane which is conceaued of vncleane sede Gregorius Nazianzenus saith The image of God shall pourge the spot of bodely inundacion afterward Haue in reuerence the natiuity whereby thou art deliuered froÌ„ the boÌ„des of thyne earthly natiuity And intreating of baptisme by thys sayth he the spotes of the first natiuity are purged by which we are conceaued in iniquities and our mothers hath in sinnes begotten vs. Augustine defeÌ„deth Basilius Magnus For the Pelagians Augustine defendeth Basile would haue him to seme to be one theyr side For he writeth against the Manichies that euill is not a substance but a conuersation which coÌ„meth only of the will which saying he vnderstode of those which haue gotten the infection of conuersation by their owne will which conuersation he sayth may easely be seperated from the will of them that be sicke For if it could not be seperated from it euil should be a substantiall part thereof All these thinges Augustine affirmeth to be vprightly spoken For the Manechies affirmed that euil is a certaine substance In opinion of the Manechies Euell may be seperated from vs thorougâ— the mercy of God The perfect seperation from euell is hoped for in the life to come and that that euill was the beginning of all thinges in the world But Basilius one the contrary side sayth that that euill is in a good thing and that it happened to be euill thorough the will of the man and woman which sinned But in that he sayth that it may easely be seperated from the will he ascribeth it not to our streÌ„gths but to the mercy of God And wheras he sayth that there shal be left no tokens therof that also doo we hope for but not in this life but in the life to come But that he acknowledged originall sinne his sermon concerning fast sufficiently testifieth For thus he sayth If Eue had fasted from the tree we should not now haue neded this fast For they that are whole haue no nede of a phisitioÌ„ but they that are sicke We haue bene sicke thorough that sinne let vs be healed by repentance But repentance without fasting is vaine By these wordes Basilius affirmeth that by reason of the sin of Adam we are not whole Moreouer he citeth the 12. Bishoppes of the East which condeÌ„ned Pelagius Vnto which ought Origen also to be added who wheÌ„ he interpreceth yâ— senteÌ„ce of Paul which we haue rehearsed namely Death hath gone ouer all men saith that Abel Enoch MathusaleÌ„ and Noah sinned But as for other fathers he sayth he will not recken bycause they haue euery one sinned For there is not one cleane from filthynes although he haue liued but one day only But he speaketh more manifestly vpon the 6. chap. of this epistle wheÌ„ he sayth that Baptisme ought to be geuen vnto infantes by the Apostolicall tradition bycause the Apostles knew that there were in all men naturall corruptions of sinne which ought to be washed away by water and the spirite And Chrisostome vpon Genesis entreating this question why men are now afrayd of beastes and are hurte of them when as they were created to be lordes ouer them thys thinge he sayth happeneth by reason of sinne and by cause saith he we haue fallen from confidence and honour And therby Augustine proueth that the nature of infantes is fallen bycause beastes doo not spare them The same Chrisostome expounding yâ— place which we are now in haÌ„d with sayth That that sinne whiche came thorough the disobedience of Adam hath coÌ„taminated all He hath also many other places which serue for the confirmation of thys sentence And yet the Pelagians were not ashamed and especially Iulianus to cite The Pelagians went about to draw Chrisostome vnto them thys father for a witnes as thoughe he made with them bycause in his sermon of those that are baptised rehearsing many giftes of Baptisme namely that they which are Baptised doo not onely receaue remission of sinnes but also are made childreÌ„ and heires of God brethern of Christ and his fellow heires members and temples of God and instrumentes of the holy ghost addeth at the last Seest thou howe manye are the giftes of Baptisme And
suffer temporall punishments for the parentes and the people for the princes sake For God say they will punishe the fathers in the children For the children are a certaine part of the parentes Neither is it absurd say they if the children by their afflictions profite their parentes when as by this meanes both they are called backe to repentaunce and also they haue no iniury done vnto them if forasmuch as they be mortall they suffer death For God prudently dispenseth the tymes either to liuing or dying and taketh away life froÌ„ the children either that they should not be corrupted with malitiousnes or if they be now already in sinnes in damnation yâ— they should not be more more aggrauated and that they might once at the length make an ende of liuing wickedly And Augustine semeth somwhat to incline to this sentence in his questions vpon the boke of Iosua the 8. and 9. question And they which wil haue these remnants of originall sinne which remaine after regeneration to be no sinnes are compelled so to say For they can not say that in infantes their owne sinnes are punished for as much as they affirme that they haue none But we which say that they are vtterly sinnes do teach that they are not in déede imputed to eternal death but yet they are sometimes punished with some paynes to the end we might vnderstand that God is displeased with theÌ„ But neither doth that erpositioÌ„ of Augustines so well agrée with Ezechiels meanyng For the Prophete sayth that it should not so afterward come to passe that the children should say that for their parentes sake they suffred temporall punishments such as were banishment and captiuity For the Lord sayth the sonne shall not beare the iniquity of the father Wherefore thys nothyng helpeth them in that they say that this is true in spirituall punishementes in eternall dampnation For the Prophete speaketh most apertly of the bodely punishementes of thys lyfe Augustine hathe an other interpretation in hys Enchiridion to Laurentius in hys 46. chapter namelye that it is a prophecye of the benefite whiche shoulde be geuen by Christ For forasmuch as thorough his death satisfaction is made for Originall sinne the Prophet sayth that the child henceforth shal not beare the sinne of his father but his owne And Augustine séemeth to be led into this sentence bicause when as Ieremy in his 31. chap. writeth in a maner the selfe same thing streight way is added a promise of the new Testament Behold saith he the dayes shall come and I wyll make a new couenaunt wyth the house of Iuda But this sence also semeth not to agrée with yâ— meanyng of the prophet which we haue before rehersed Moreouer although Christ suffered at a tyme appointed Children in the old Testament were saued by the power and grace of the death of Christ yet by the power grace of his death children were saued also in the old Testament What neded then to say that henceforth it shall not be so when as in very dede it was not so before Farther they also which are without Christ beare their owne iniquity neither do they suffer punishmentes for an other mans sinne but for their owne Wherfore we say that the sentence of the Prophet is generally true and that all both children and also those that be of full age as well of the olde Testament as of the new do beare euery one their owne iniquitie For al meÌ„ that are borne haue in themselues sinne and corruption for which they ought to be punished Wherfore this sentence confirmeth our opinion so far is it of that it can be alledged against vs. But this maketh most of all against Pigghius for he affirmeth that children beare the sinnes of the parentes when as he sayth that otherwise they are cleane and borne without sinne The Iewes published abrode that they themselues were innocents and that as for the punishments which they suffred they suffred them for their parents sake For their parentes said they had sinned and not they themselues But God sayth yâ— henceforth they should no more vse that prouerbe For he would by the Prophet declare an aboundant illustration of the holy ghost which should come to passe in the new Testament For his iudgements are not such that for an other mans sinne he will punish one that is guiltles Wherfore he doth not say that henceforth it should not be so as though it werso at any tyme before but this he sayth that it should come to passe yâ— they should not vse any such prouerbe when they had once knowledge of the truth But the How God taketh vengeaunce vpon the children for the iniquiries of the fathers law semeth to be against this exposition For in it God sayth that he will visite the iniquity of the fathers vpon the chyldren vnto the thyrd and fourth generation These thinges séeme not very well to agrée yâ— God will both visite the iniquitie of the fathers vpon the children and also that the children shall not beare the sinnes of the fathers To satisfie this obiection we will first interprete the wordes of the lawe For so shall we perceiue that there is no contrarietie betwene the Prophet and the law This sentence of the law some referre to the mercy of God some to hys seuerity and iustice They which thinke that by these woordes is commended the mercy of God do say that God is so good and mercifull yâ— he will not streight way destroy a man when he sinneth but rather will tary for his repentaunce Therefore sometimes when he spareth the father which hath sinned yet he punisheth the child and sometimes when he spareth both the father and the childe he punisheth An example of Iehu the childes childe sometimes also he differreth the punishments vnto the fourth generation As we sée came to passe in Iehu kyng of Samaria For although he him selfe greuously sinned yet God tooke not away the kingdome from his posteritie but after the fourth generation Wherfore it séemeth that by these wordes is set forth the goodnes of God which so long restraineth his anger nether doth streight way poure it out But others thinke that the goodnes of God is set forth when it is sayd that he will do good vnto those that loue him euen to a thousande generations But contrarily that his seuerity and iustice should be known it is added that he will visite sinnes not only vpon them which haue sinned but also vppon theyr children and childrens children euen vnto the fourth generation And this they declare by examples For Amalek had done many euils vnto the Isralites wandring An example of Amalâ—ch Iehezâ— the seruant of Helizeus as strangers through the desert a long time after his posterity wer afflicted of the Israelites and so afflicted that at the last God commaunded Saul vtterly to destroy euery one of theÌ„ Iehezi also the seruant of Helizeus bicause he had in his
of theyr captayne and are so bound vnto him that afterward it is not lawfull for them to be conuersant in the campes of theyr enemies which thing if they doo should be death vnto them so we in baptisme are bound vnto Christe and do sweare that we will neuer afterward fall away vnto the deuill And forasmuch as that honour is dew vnto Christ to be sayd to be baptised in him we ought not be offended when we reade in the epistle to the Corrinth that the fathers wer baptised in Moses Why the fathers were baptised in Moses It is not lawfull to baptise in the name of any man For this is the sence of that place that y◠Israelites passed ouer the sea trusting to those promises which were set forthe of God by Moses Nether ought we thereby to conclude that it is lawfull to baptise in the name of any man as of a mediator and author of our saluation Paul therefore when hee reproued the Corrinth bycause they filthily addicted themselues vnto men so that some of them sayd I hold of Paul others of Cephas others of Apollo said was Paul crucified for you or were ye baptised in the name of Paul which thing he therfore wrote bicause he saw that the Corrinthians transferred the honour of Christ vnto ministers Are baptised into hys death As hee hath nowe made mencion of hys Two principall things which Christ hath done for our sakes death so a little afterwarde hee wyll make mencion of hys resurrection For these are the two principall thynges whyche Chryste hath wroughte for our sakes And vndoubtedlye because in Baptisme we receiue the fruyte of the death of Christ forasmuch as by that sacrifice God is pacefied towardes vs we are iustly saide to be baptised into his death and chiefely because through the death of Christ our sinnes ceasse now to be imputed vnto vs but before God we are counted for dead And the lust which remaineth in vs because by the benefite of Christ it is broken and diminished therefore also we are said to be baptised into the death of Christ And for that Paul would agrauate the death wherby we die vnto sinne and would shewe that it is not a thing slight but waighty he addeth VVe are buried therefore together with Christ by baptisme Now in our dayes also they which are baptised to the ende they may by profession expresse the same thing do by expresse wordes answere that they renounce the deuill An argument wherby to proued that infantes are borne with sinne Sacraments haue the names of the things by them signified The mutacion of the Eucharisticall bread is compared with that mutacion of our selues which is made in baptisme and his pompes Out of this place Augustine gathereth two thinges whereof the one is in the 6. booke against Iulianus the 1. chap wher he proueth the infantes are borne in original sinne For saith he it is a generall sentence of the Apostle that as many as are baptised are baptised into the death of the Lord that is to dye to sinne and as it shall straight way be shewed that the body of sinne should he abolished which sayings can not be true vnies we graunt that infants are borne in sin The other thing is in his epistle to Bonefacius where he sheweth that the Sacramentes obtayne the names of the thinges which by them are signified For Paul sayd not that our sepulture is signified in baptisme but simply sayde that we are buried with Christ into death And after this maner he saith that the Eucharist is called the body and bloud of Christ Thirdly let vs note that the fathers when they will confirme y◠change which is done in the Eucharist for example sake bring the change of our selues which is made in baptisme which change also the Apostle semeth to declare to be very greate For he vseth there the names of life and death Betweene which two thinges of necessity there must néedes be a verye greate chaunge Wherefore seing that the nature and substance of those which are baptised is not changed it is nothing needefull that in the bread and wine should be pure transubstanciatiō The Apostle in a maner speaketh after the same sort of baptisme in the 2. chapter to the Collossians saying In whome ye are also circumcised with circumcision which is done without handes forasmuch as ye haue put of the sinfull body of the fleshe thorough the circumcision of Christ being buried together with hym through baptisme in whome together with hym ye are also risen agayne through fayth that is wrought by the operation of God which raysed hym from the deade And when ye were deade in sinnes and vncircumcision of your fleshe he quickened you together with hym These wordes in all points are agreeable with those things that we are now in hand with whiche still he more plainely expoundeth for he addeth That euen as Iesus Christ was raysed vp from the dead by the glory of the father The power of God was declared in the resurrection of Christ Paule doth oftentymes vse this word newnes so we also should walke in newnes of life The glory of the father in this place signifieth the power of God which was then chiefely declared when Christ rose agayne from the deade and in vs it is manifestly shewed when we casting away sinnes do liue vncorruptly And Paul by this worde newnes doth oftentimes signifie the blameles life of Christians For he saith that we ought to put on the new man And he saith that before God circumcision or vncircumcision is nothing but only a new creature And he admonisheth that as touching the inward man we should be dayly more and more renewed But by A new life hath his degrees this word walking he teacheth that that purenes of life that is to say this newnes hath certayne degrees and we must haue a care continually to profite more and more For if we be grafted into him by the similitude of his death euē so shal we also be pertakers of hys resurrection knowing this that our olde mā is crucified with him also that the body of sinne should be abolished that henceforth we should not be seruants vnto sinne For if we be grafted into him by the similitude of his death euen so shall vve That which was done in Christe by nature ought to be resembled of vs by an analogy be of his resurrection Chrisostome noteth that y◠similitude of death in this place admonisheth vs that that which was done in Christ by nature is in vs done by an analogy proportion For it is not nedefull that we through baptisme shoulde dye by naturall death but that in our maners and life we shoulde resemble the similitude of the death of Christ In the booke of Ecclesiasticus it is written Thou hast set downe at a great table marke what thinges are sit before thee because thou also must performe the like Wherfore when we with the
seruitude had his first beginning of sinne for it is not lawfull to make warre but against those which haue sinned With these wordes of Augustine agreeth Florentinus the Lawyer as it is red in the InstitutioÌ„s and this etimologye right well agreeth with this place which we are now in hand with The deuill assaulting by battayle our first parentes ouercame theÌ„ and tooke them and by that transgressioÌ„ hath made all our nature captiue and hath still in subiection and to be his seruauntes as many as thorough Christ are not set at liberty For so sayth Paule in his latter epistle to Timoth That they may come to amendement out of the snare of the deuill which are takeÌ„ of him at his will But Christ came and hath fought with that strong armed man the gouernor of the world and prince of darkenes and hauing gotten the victory hath redemed vs all Nether vndoubtedly did he it for any other cause but that we should be obedient to his will and vnto righteousnes Wherefore these wordes of Paul signifie as muche as if he shoulde haue sayd Christ hath not therefore deliuered vs from sinne and addicted vnto himselfe to the 〈…〉 e that henceforth we should bee seruauntes vnto sinne but onely Christ hath redeemed vs not vnto sinne but vnto righteousnesse Two contrarye Lordes set before vs. that we should be obedient vnto righteousnes Nowe let vs diligently weighe the wor 〈…〉 Knovve ye 〈…〉 t that to vvhomesoeuer ye geue your selues as seruauntes to obey his ser 〈…〉 s ye are to vvhome ye obey vvhether it be of sinne vnto death or obedience vnto righteousnes Here let vs first note that the Apostle setteth before vs two Lordes the 〈◊〉 is sinne the other is that obedience which we render vnto God By which diuision forasmuch as the partes thereof be contrary it appeareth that I nothing erred from the sentence of the Apostle when before I defined sinne in generall to be whatsoeuer is repugnant vnto the law of God The definition of sinne before alleaged is confirmed For forasmuch as sinne is a priuation it can not be known but by his opposite or contrary forme or quality which it remoueth away and what the forme is Paul here expresseth by the name of Obedience Wherfore that is sinne ought so to be called which is repugnant vnto such an obedience By which it is most manifest that that corruption which is still remaining in vs and the motions which are by it stirred vp are sinnes forasmuch as they are apertly repugnaÌ„t vnto obedience which is opposite and contrary vnto sinne Moreouer this diuision This particion comprehendeth all men of the Apostle if it be sufficient comprehendeth all men so that euery man is of necessitie either the seruant of sinne or els of righteousnes The seruauntes of righteousnes are these which are now deliuered to be obedient vnto the forme of the doctrine of the gospel Wherfore in this place are ouerthrown those workes An argumeÌ„t against workes preparatory which they call preparatorye for they can not be placed in any members of this deuision For if thou wilt say that they pertaine vnto them which are seruantes of righteousnes they are now alredy regenerate and do beleue the Gospel wherfore those workes can not now be preparations but fruites of the Gospell But if thou wilt stand in contencion and say that they pertain vnto them which are seruantes of sinne they haue no fruite of their workes but only death wherfore their workes turne vnto them vnto destruction so farre is it of that they can be preparations vnto grace We say in dede that God oftentimes vseth our sinnes and by them appointeth as it were certain degrées by which we may come vnto Christ But this thing our workes haue not of themselues neither in respect that they are done of vs for in that respect spring forth damnable and odious fruites as it The two Lords do destribute contrary rewardes were out of a corrupt trée Vnto these two Lordes are appointed two maner of rewardes namely vnto sinne is appointed death and vnto obedience righteousnes But it semeth that Paul ought otherwise to haue disposed these things and especially as touching the second member for righteousnes is opposite or contrary vnto sinne Wherfore euen as vnto sinne answereth death as a rewarde so vnto righteousnes also ought eternall life to haue aunswered as a reward But this ought we assuredly to thinke that Paul erred not but by this disposition would teach vs wherein the righteousnes of woorkes consisteth namely in this that we shoulde be obedient vnto GOD for there is nothynge either holye or iust There is nothing holy or iust but that which God hath commaunded The beginnâ—ng of eternall life is to liue iustlye They whiche liue iustly are not miserable although they are greuously vexed but that which he hathe commaunded for the inuentions of men pertayne not to righteousnes but rather vnto lust Wherefore the Apostle to the end he would the more manifestly instruct vs of this thing hath set the definition in place of the thing defined And it is not to be meruailed that he putteth righteousnes in the place of reward for the beginning of blessednes and of eternal lyfe is to liue iustly and hereof it coÌ„meth yâ— in the holy scriptures eternall life is a coÌ„tinuall coÌ„panion of righteousnes And Chrisostome vpon this place sayth that by righteousnes ought to be vnderstand whatsoeuer followeth righteousnes And yet oughte no man therefore to perswade himselfe that they which liue iustly are miserable although sometymes they are greuously vexed with aduersityes For with Paul righteteousnes and innocency of life do signifie the self same thing that eternall felicity signifieth Death also which is ascribed vnto sinne as a reward is not only the dissolution of the outward body but therewithall comprehendeth also eternall infelicity wherewith both body and soule shal be punished And â—y this worde Synne which thing also I haue before admonished Paul vnder 〈…〉 the luste which remayneth in the beleuers and also the corruption of nature 〈◊〉 therefore They which are sory for sins are chiefly sorye for the roote of theÌ„ An example of Dauid the godly when they are sory for any faulte that they haue committed do chiefely complayne of this corrupt nature and of the rotten roote thereof Dauid when he lamented the murther and adultery which he had com 〈…〉 ed ranne chiefely vnto this as vnto the fountayne of all euils sayinge Beâ—old in iniquities was I conceaued and in sinnes hath my mother conceaued me And when we pray vnto God to deliuer vs from sinnes for this thinge we chiefelye praye that by his spirite he would breake and weaken this domesticall and familiar enemy Thys thing the Apostle ment when he cryed out Vnhappy man that I am who shall deliuer me from the body of this death Paul after he had thus deuided seruitude that of necessity we must be seruauntes
had chance to haue died in yâ— meane tyme therfore I thinke with Chrisostome that the Apostle speaketh not of yâ— Gospell but of yâ— law of Moses Wherunto also I am so much the rather moued for the Paul afterward expressedly maketh mencion of the commaundement of not lustyng which without all doubt is contained in the decaloge or tenne commaundementes But in these wordes The law beareth dominion ouer a man so long as he lyueth there is some ambiguitie whether this word liueth ought to be referred vnto the maÌ„ or vnto yâ— law Which thing I thinke yâ— apostle did of purpose A profitable aÌ„biguitye of speach wheÌ„ it may in euery sence be true For at th 〈…〉 st he con 〈…〉 th that not only we are dead vnto the law but also yâ— the law it selfe is dead a 〈…〉 〈…〉 olished And therfore to whether part so euer that word liueth be referred i◠〈…〉 éeâ—h very well with his purpose Chrisostome thynketh yâ— this reason is concluded of an argument taken à minori that is of the lesse For if the death of the husband deliuer the wyfe from the yoke of matrimony then shall there happen much greater liberty if the wyfe her selfe also die Wheras there were two wayes of liberty yet Paul it should seme persecuteth onely one of them For he addeth VVherfore my brethern ye also are dead vnto the Lavv by the body of Christ But he inferreth not wherrefore the Law is dead The Apostle did that for the infirmity of the Iewes howbeit in the meane time he sayth that which is al one as if he had sayd the Law is dead But it is necessarye to consider what Paul What to be vnder the law is What it is to be dead vnto the law meaneth by to be vnder the Law And that is nothing ells but to be obnoxious vnto sinne For the Law thorough sinne coÌ„demneth vs as guilty but to be dead vnto the lawe is nothing ells but to haue that extinguished in vs by which the law accuseth and condemneth vs. And that is the olde man the flesh naturall lust and corruption of nature When these thinges be once deade in vs and that Christ liueth and raigneth in vs we can by no meanes be coÌ„demned of the law But forasmuche as so long as we liue here sinne can not be plucked vp by the rootes out of our flesh therfore it is most likely that the Apostle had a respect vnto that which we hope shall one day come to passe althoughe he so write as though we had alredy obteyned it howbeit in the meane time he setteth before The scope of our 〈◊〉 How much euery men is free from the law our eyes a marke whereunto we ought to leuell in all our actions namely perpetually to represse this lust grafted in vs. Wherefore euery one ought so farforth to iudge himself deliuered froÌ„ the law how farforth he caÌ„ mortefy his lusts and alwayes more and more contend to go forward that at the length he may attayne to that end whervnto we are predestinate namely to be made like vnto the image of the sonne of God being made pertakers of his death and of his resurrection And wheras there is set forth a double death namely of the law and of vs Paul expressedly prosecuteth our death only whereof also followeth the death of the law For the law prouoketh not compelleth not accuseth not nor condemneth them that are dead nether can by any meanes be troublesome or odious vnto them And they which are dead and ioined together with Christ do in no case wayte to be iustified by it partly for that the law can not performe that and partly for that they haue alredy by the grace of Christe obteyned true righteousnes And we are sayd to be mortified by the body of Christe ether for that being now made the members of the Lord we followe our hed that as he was crucefied and died as touching this mortall and corruptible life so we also must dye vnto sinne or ells for that the body of Christ was an oblation and sacrifice wherby God being now pacefied and merciful geueth vnto vs hys spirite The deliueÌ„ry from the law is to be preached vnto those onely that are dead vnto sinne The commaundements oâ— the law pretaine not vnto the dead The law was notable to do the office of a husbande by whome the power of sinne is weakened And sithen Paul preacheth not this liberty but vnto them that are dead vnto sin thereby we vnderstand that there is no danger least men should by reasoÌ„ of this liberty geue themselues to vices For they that are dead caÌ„ not be stirred vp to sinne Farther we should be vnder the law if we should liue vnto sinne and vnto the flesh But being dead we are not holden vnder it vnles we will say that the commaundementes of the Law pertayn also vnto the dead Forasmuch as Paul in this place vseth a metaphore taken of matrimony we ought to marke that it is the office of the husband to gouern his wife But when as the lawe had long time possessed the rome of the husband nether could execute his office namely to gouern men and to call theÌ„ backe from sinne for so is it afterward written That it was vnpossible vnto the law in as much as it was weakened thorough the flesh therefore the Apostle when he teacheth that we are deliuered from the lawe as from an infirme and weake master teacheth also that we are led vnto the spirite as vnto a better mightier master who alone hath that force to change a man â–ª and that that whiche letted the law from doing of this came not thorough t 〈…〉 〈…〉 efault of 〈◊〉 law but thoroughe our defaulte Here is to be noted howe gr 〈…〉 confor 〈…〉 ye there In matrimony there is a great conformation betwenâ— the man and the wife ought to be betwene the man and the wife in matrimony rightlye instituted For the proprieties of the husbaÌ„d ought to be coÌ„municated wâ—th the wife Wherfore euen as Christ died so also ought we to dye vnto sinne And as Christ rose againe to an incorruptible and immortall life so also ought we to rise agayne The end of our new coÌ„iunction with Christ The law made not men fruitefull to beginne workes of eternall life Wherefore Paul when he had made mencioÌ„ of death added That ye should be vnto an other namely vnto him vvhich rose agayne from the dead He setteth forth an example also of the resurrectioÌ„ of Christ in which wordes as sayth Chrisostome he ment to stirre vs vp to the desire of a new matrimonye by reason of that excellent estate of Christe vnto whome we shall be ioined And the end of this new coniunction is expressedly put in those wordes which follow That vve should bring forth fruite vnto God In the first matrimony we were baren for the law of good workes can not make men fruitfull But men
incline our hartes that we may walke in hys wayes and wyth Paul to the Thessalonians The Lord direct your hartes in patience and in the wayting for of Christ. And Solomon in his prouerbes sayth The hart of the kinge is in the hand of God and to what end he wyll he enclineth it These testemonyes sufficiently declare that it is the worke of God and not our worke to be conuerted vnto hym and to liue vprightly Here some obiect vnto vs the commaundementes which are set forth vnto vs in the holy scriptures for they séeme to signifie that it lieth in our selues to performe the thinges which are commaunded For Esay sayth If ye will and wyll harken vnto me ye shall eate the good thynges of the earth And the Lord oftentimes commaundeth vs to conuert our selues vnto him Be ye conuerted sayth he vnto me I wyll not the death of a sinner I had rather he should be conuerted and lyue And when he had published abroade the lawe he sayd that the had set before them life and death blessing and cursing And infinite such other like testemonies mought be brought But here we ought to consider that these thinges in Commaundements in deede are geuen but we are not taught that is lieth in humane strengthes to performe them By the law of God we must measure our infirmity and not our strengthes dede are commaunded vnto men but we are no where tought that a man is able to performe them by his owne proper strengthes Neither is it mete that by the preceptes of the lawe of God we should gather the power of our strengthes as though we of our owne accord are able to performe so much as the lawe of God commaundeth Yea rather hereby is to be measured our infirmity that when we sée that the excellency and dignity of the commaundementes of God infinitly passeth our strenthes we should remember that the law hath a certayne other end then to be performed of vs. That ende Paul declareth to be sondry and diuers By the lawe sayth he commeth the knowledge of sinne which lawe he sayth was therfore geuen that the number of transgressions mought be increased For by this meanes the lawe is made a scholemaster to leade men vnto Christ that when they sée themselues oppressed with the waight of the commaundementes and with the greatnes of sinnes they should vnderstand that their saluation lieth only in the mercy of God in the redemption of Christ For when we perceaue our owne imbecillity and vnworthynes straight way we beginne to pray vnto God that he would both forgeue our sinnes through Christ and also minister vnto vs the helpe of his spirite that we may endeuor our selues vnto his will Geue what thou commaundest sayth Augustine and commaund what thou wylt Farther an other end of the law is that we should sée whereunto we must apply our selues It is possible also that if by the grace of God there be geuen an obedience begon men may frame thēselues vnto y◠law Lastly though in this life be not geuen vnto vs to be able exactly to satisfye the lawe yet in an other life when we haue caste of all this corruption we shall fully obtayne it And yet ought not God therefore to be accused of iniustice for it commeth not throughe his fault that his commaundements can not be obserued Neither can any of vs be excused for y◠we willingly Why God is not to be accused of iniustice desirously violate y◠law geuē vnto vs. The law was geuē as a thing most agréeable vnto our nature as it was first instituted For y◠image of God could not otherwise more liuely plainly be expressed And although by reason of sin we are not able to accōplish the law yet this at y◠least way we sée what maner ones we ought to be And that sentence which is commonly obiected that nothing is to be counted for sinne which dependeth not of election ought to be vnderstand as Augustine interpreteth it of that kind of sinne which is not a punishement of sinne For otherwise originall sinne is neither voluntary nor receaued by election But thou wilt say Seing the matter goeth so we shall séeme of necessity to sticke fast in sinne Which thing doubles I will not deny Although such is this necessity that it hath not compulsion ioyned with it God is of necessity good neither can he by any meanes sinne and yet is he not violently compelled to be good which thyng The necessity of sinning is without compulsion Augustine in his 22. booke De ciuitate dei and 30. chapter excellently well declareth Shall we sayth he for that God hymselfe can not sinne therefore deny that he hath free will Ambrose in his 2. booke and third chapiter de Fide to Gratian the emperor testefieth that God is free when as sayth he one and the selfe same spirite worketh all thinges diuiding vnto all as pleaseth him according to the choyse of hys free will and not for the dewty of necessity In these sentences of these fathers free wil is so taken that it is contrary vnto violence and compulsion not that it is equally prone to ether part Wherefore Ierome in his homely of the prodigall sonne which he wrote vnto damasus for that he tooke free will in an other sence therefore wrote otherwise For it is God only sayth he on whome sinne falleth not nether can fall But others forasmuch as they haue free will may be bowed to ether part Vnto blessed spirites also and angells forasmuch as theyr felicity is nowe confirmed this belongeth that they can not sinne Wherefore Augustine in his 22. booke de Ciuitate Dei the. 30. chapiter Euen as sayth he the first immortalitye whiche Adam thorough sin lost was that he mought not die so the first free wil was that he mought not sin but the last free wil shall be that he can not sin And yet notwithstanding there is graunted a certayne kinde of libertye not whereby they can be bowed to ether part but whereby although that which they do is of necessity yet are they not compelled or violentlye driuen For euen as there are certayne true thinges so manifest that the minde can not but assent vnto them so the presence of God A similitude Why the blessed can not sinne now reuealed and made manifest is so greate a good thing that the saintes can not fall away from it So also although we of necessity sinne before we be regenerate in Christe yet are not therefore the powers of the will violated for whatsoeuer we do we do it both willingly and also being induced by some certayne hope And yet are we not therefore to be counted nothinge to differ from brute beastes For they although they be moued by some certayne iudgmēt yet They that are not regenerate differ from brute beastes is it not by a free iudgement But in men although not yet regenerate there is still as we
pertakers not only of the death of the Lord but of his resurrectioÌ„ also for forasmuch as Christ was by it raysed vp from the dead as many as are endewed with the same spirite shall likewise be raysed vp from the dead For that cause he exhorteth vs by the spirite to mortefye the deades of the flesh that we may be made pertakers of euerlasting life Thirdly he amplifieth and adorneth this state and condition which by the spirite of Christ we haue obteyned namely that now we are by adoption made the children of God that we are moued by this spirit and made strong against aduersities to suffer all afflictions Which prayses serue not a little to quicken our desire that we should desire to be dayly more aboundantly enriched with this spirite Fourthly he confuteth those which obiected that state to seme miserable and vnhappy in which the faythfull of Christ liue For they are continually excercised with aduersities so that euen they also which haue the first fruites of the spirite are compelled to mourne And he writeth that by this meanes these thinges come to passe for that as yet we haue not obteyned an absolute regeneration nor perfect saluatioÌ„ for we haue it now but only in hope which when time shall serue that is in the end of the worlde shall be made perfect Fiftly he teacheth that notwithstaÌ„ding those euills which doo enclose vs in on euerye side yet our saluation is neuertheles sure for the prouidence â–ª of God whereby we are predestinâ—te to eternall felicity can nether be chaunged nor yet in any poynte fayle And by this prouidence sayth he it commeth to passe that vnto vs which loue God all thinges turne to good and nothing can hurt vs forasmuch as God hath geuen vnto vs his sonne and together with hym all thinges wherefore seing the father iustifieth vs and the sonne maketh intercession for vs there is nothing which can make vs afrayd Lastly he sayth that yâ— loue of God towards vs is so greate that by no creature it can be plucked from vs. Hereby it is manifest of how greate force the spirite of adoption is wherewith we are sealed so long as we wayte for the perfection of our felicity And these thinges serue wonderfully to proue that our iustification consisteth not of workes but of fayth and of the meare and free mercy of God This is the summe of al that which is coÌ„tained in the doctrine of this chap. As touching the first part the Apostle alledgeth that condemnation is now takeÌ„ away which he proueth bycause we are endewed with the spirite of Christe But this deliuery he promiseth vnto those only which are in Christ Wherfore seing it is manifest what his proposition or entent is now let vs se howe these thinges hange together with those which are alredy spoken Toward the end of the former chap Paul cried out twise first when he sayd Vnhappy man that I am who shall deliuer me from the body of this death And by the figure Aposiopesis he expressed not the deliuerer but here he sayth that that deliuerer is the Lawe The law of the spirit and life deliuereth of the spirite and of life Farther in that place with greate affection he sayd I geue thankes vnto God through Iesus Christe our lorde nether declared he wherfore he gaue thankes But nowe he playnly expresseth the cause For he sayth that now there remayneth no condemnation and that we are deliuered from the Thankes are to be geuen for that there remayneth in vs no coÌ„mendation Law of sinne and of death This is it for which he gaue thaÌ„ks Lastly he added how that in minde he serued the law of God but in flesh the law of sinne Now he more playnly expresseth what that is namely to be in Christ and not to walke according to the flesh but according to the spirite Hereby it manifestly appeareth how aptly these thinges are knit together with those which are alredy spoken The Apostle seemeth thus to speake Althoughe sinne and the corruption of nature where wyth the godlye are vexed be as it is alredye sayde styll remayninge in them yet is there no daunger that it shoulde brynge condemnation vnto men regenerate for they are holpen by the spirite of Christe wherewith they are now endewed And euen as before he aboundantly entreated of the violence and tiranny of sinne which it vseth against vs being vnwittinge What thinges auayle to know our selues and vnwilling thereunto so now on the other side he teacheth what the spirite of Christ worketh in the Saintes Wherefore seing not only the holy scriptures but also the Ethnike writers do expressedly commaund that euery man shoulde knowe himselfe peraduenture there is scarse any other place out of whiche the A godly maÌ„ consisteth of two principles same may better be gathered then out of these two chapiters For a godly man consisteth of his owne corrupt and vitiate nature and also of the spirit of Christ because we haue before learned what yâ— corruptioÌ„ of nature that is sinne woorketh in vs and now is declared what benefites of Christ we obtayne by his spirite by this may euery man as touching ether part know himselfe Vndoubtedly wonderfull great is the wisdome of the Apostle who when he wrote of the force of sin expressed it chiefely in his owne person to geue vs to vnderstand that there is no Why Paul chaungeth the persons in these two descriptioÌ„s man so holy which so long eas he liueth here is cleane ridde from sinne But afterward when he entreateth of the helpe of the spirite of Christ he bringeth in the person of other men least any man should thinke with himselfe that not all manner of Christians enioye this excellente helpe of God but onelye certaine principall and excellent men such as were the Apostles After these things which we haue before heard out of the seuenth chapter a man mought haue sayd forasmuch as we are so led away captiue of sinne and that by force and against our willes what hope can there be of our saluation Much saith Paul Forasmuch as now there is no condeÌ„nation to theÌ„ which are in Christ For by the spirite of Christ we are deliuered from the lawe of sinne and of death This reason is taken of the cause efficient whereby is not only proued that which was proposed but also euen the very carnell and inward pithe of our iustification is touched For although men being now iustified are so restored vnto the giftes of God that they begin to liue holily and do accomplishe some certayne obedience begonne of the lawe yet because in the iudgement of God they can not stay vpon them forasmuch as they are vnperfect and are not without fault of necessity it followeth that our iustification should herein consist Wherein consisteth iustificatioÌ„ â–ª namely to haue our sinnes forgeuen vs that is to be deliuered from the guiltines of them And this is it which
that by his spirite the iustification of the law might be fulfilled in the elect Neither did he for any other cause take flesh vpon him but to helpe and succor the infirmity of our flesh Of this purpose and councell of God the Apostle here entreateth By this place it manifestly appeareth how one and the selfe same worke One and the selfe same worke is both sin and vetue as it commeth either from vs or from God as it commeth from men is sinne and as it commeth froÌ„ God is good The Iewes sought nothing els in the death of Christ but to exatiate and fulfill their hatred to reiect the worde of God and to repell and put away the chastisements and corrections of the Lord and also to kepe still their dignities and honors These endes forasmuch as they are very wicked the action also could not but be very wycked But God forasmuch as he had a regard to the setting forth of his goodnes and procured the health of mankinde in that he deliuered his sonne vnto the death accomplished a worke of most singuler charity Wherfore if we will speake properly God if we speake properly ought not to be counted the cause of sin God can not be called the cause of sinne although it cannot be denied but that he is the cause of that thing which in vs is sinne for that which in him is praise worthy and procedeth of vertue is oftentimes by vs defiled for that we our selues ar vncleane In that he saith That which was impossible vnto the law he teacheth both that the law is weake and by the contrary that the spirite and faith are strong But that infirmity of the law appeareth not vnles the weakenes of our frée will be throughly known For therof commeth it that the law is weak because it lighteth vpon a corrupt nature For otherwise the law it selfe so far forth as it is written is nether weake nor strong But man is iudged weak so long as he is left vnder the Law and is not holpen by the spirite of grace This place most strongly An argument of iustification that it is not had by workes proueth that iustification is not of workes and that there are no workes preparatory for works which go before iustification either do agrée with the law of God or els they defect or want of it If they agrée with the law theÌ„ of necessity we must graunt that the law is not weak as that which without the spirit and grace may be performed Paul in this place affirmeth that thing to be vnpossible But if such workes faile of the rule of the law â–ª which can not be denied then must we nedes graunt that they are sinnes But by sinnes no man can be iustified Here also are reproued the Pelagians which tooke vpon them to say and teach that a man by The Pelagians are in this place ouâ—râ—hrown the strengthes of nature is able to fulfill the commaundements of the Law For Paul teacheth contrariwise that the law was so weakened by the flesh that it behoued vs to be deliuered by an other helpe But where as he sayth yâ— the law was weakened by yâ— flesh no man ought therfore falsely to suppose yâ— here is condeÌ„ned yâ— substance of the flesh or nature of yâ— body for these things God created good But by flesh he vnderstaÌ„deth yâ— naughtines corruption which by reason of the fall of AdaÌ„ passed through all mankind Which corruption forasmuch as it is still remayning euen in men regenerate they can not vndoubtedly perfectly and fully accomplish the lawe of God vntill they haue vtterly put of this fleshe And as Chrisostome noteth the lawe of God is not by these wordes condemned but rather commended because it commaundeth right and iust thinges but it can not bring them to the ende Wherefore the comming saith he of Christ was necessary which might minister helpe and succour vnto the lawe for the lawe in dede taught vprightly There are two things which the law cannot performe what ought to be done and what ought to be auoyded But besides this there were two other thinges necessary which the lawe could not geue first that those thinges might be forgeuen which are committed against the commaundements thereof an other is that the strengthes of man might be corroborated whereby to performe the commaundementes of the lawe Without these two thinges whatsoeuer the lawe teacheth touching the doing or eschewing of thinges it can not profite but rather serueth to condemnation For he which knoweth the will of his Lord and doth it not is gréeuouslyer punished then he which knoweth not the will of his Lord. Those commentaryes which are ascribed vnto Ierome do vpon this place expressedly affirme that the Apostle here speaketh not of the lawe of ceremonies for he speaketh here of that lawe whereof is written in the 7. chapter of Mathew The thinges which ye wyll that men should do vnto you the same do ye vnto them of which lawe it is straight way sayde Thys is the lawe and the prophetes Wherefore there is no cause why any man shoulde cauell that that whiche Paul saith It was possible vnto the lawe is not to be referred vnto the morall lawe Three thinges are here enquired for but vnto ceremonyes But there are in this place thrée thinges to be obserued first what moued God to geue his sonne secondly what Christ being geuen vnto vs did for vs. Lastly what fruite we obtayne by his worke As touching the first the Apostle saith that this was the purpose of God when he gaue his sonne that the infirmity of the lawe should not be a let to our saluation For he sawe that it was God gaue his sonne that the infirmity of the law should not be a let to our saluation so weake by reason of the infirmity of our fleshe that by the ministery thereof we could not attaine vnto saluation which he had appointed for vs. Which sentence if our aduersaries would consider they should sée that they can neither maynetaine workes of preparation nor yet iustification by workes vnles paraduenture they thinke that this counsell or purpose of God was not necessary And these men vndoubtedly do as much as lieth in theÌ„ to diminishe the benefite of Christ neither acknowledge they the perfect and full loue of the father towardes vs. Paul saith that the lawe without Christ is weake these men say that before we are made pertakers of Christ we be able to worke good workes and to obey the lawe of God And although Paul here teacheth the impossibility of the lawe yet the fathers haue sometimes accursed such as dare say that God hath commaunded Whether God haue commaunded thinges vnpossible thinges vnpossible Although if a man rightly vnderstand our doctrine he shall easely sée that we teach not that the commaundementes of God are vtterly vnpossible but only as touching those which are strangers from Christ For men now regenerate haue
it was lawful for him to do wherfore he thinketh he lost his power which before he had â—uer men But this interpretation although it conteine nothing that is vngodly yet in no wyse agréeth with the meaning of the Apostle For Paul geueth a reason how we are deliuered by Christ from the lustes and motions of which he complaineth towards the ende of the vij chapter And forasmuch as the death of Christ is put for the cause of this deliuery that exposition which we brought of the sacrifice for sin both is agreable with reason and also is proued by other testimonies of the Scriptures For Esay in his 53. chapter writynge of Christ sayth If he shall put his soule Ameth schaim asham nephesch sinne that is to say for sinne Paul also as we haue before cited him saith That he which knew no sinne was for vs made sinne And in the first epistle to the Corrinthians Christ our paschall is offered vp And in the epistle vnto the Hebreues Christ is set forth to be that sacrifice for sinne whiche was sene to be offered without the hostes Iohn also sayth Beholde the lambe of God whiche taketh away the sinnes of the worlde in which wordes he calleth him a lambe for yâ— What the killinge of sacrifices signified in the old time he should be a sacrifice for sinne And that slaughter of sacrifices shadowed nothing els vnto the elders but damnation and death For there they which offred them acknowledged that the sinnes for which they ought to haue bene punished should be transferred and layd vpon the Messias that euen as the sacrifice was killed so should Christ in tyme to come dye for the sinne of the people Which thing peraduenture they declared by an outward simbole or signe namely by laying on of Why the Gentils sometimes sacrificed men their handes And many thinke that this signification of the offring vp of the Messias for sinne was of so great force that for the figuracion therof men were among certaine nations offred vp For that which they had heard of the holy patriarches should one day come to passe the same they sought to expresse by a sacrifice most nyest as they thought vnto the truth Which yet forasmuch as it wanted yâ— word of God and was by them only inuented was nothing els then an vngodly cruelty Of this thing Origene against Celsus maketh mencion Neither can it be but Why the killinges of sacrifices aâ— at this day â— out of vse wonderful that at this day throughout the whole world there are no immolatioÌ„s of sacrifices which seme by the prouidence of god therfore to haue vanished away bicause that noble and so long looked for sacrifice of the deth of Christ which was by all those sacrifices after a sorte shadowed is now performed For God hath geuen one only oblacion wherby as we haue said sinne is condemned By which so great liberality of God towardes vs both feare and also faith ought to be stirred vp in vs. For if God to the ende he would abolishe sinne spared not his owne proper sonne what shall become of vs if we despise so great a sacrifice and tread vnder foote the bloud of the sonne of God On the other side who will not put his confidence in God whom he séeth for our sinnes to haue geuen his sonne vnto the deth Wherfore we ought with a most strong faith to embrace this sacrifice Neyther ought we here to regard the sacrificing priestes which boast that they can by their The sacrifyce of Christ is not applied vnto vs by Masses masses and superstitions and vngodly whisperinges apply this sacrifice vnto vs. In dede the holy scriptures teache that one ought to pray for an other But that yâ— communicating of one man is sufficient for an other or that it applieth the death of Christ vnto an other that thing the holy ghost neuer taught And sithen the sacramentes are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is seales of promises they can profite them onely if we speake of theÌ„ which are of full age which embrace theÌ„ by fayth Wherfore eueÌ„ as it is not coÌ„uenient yâ— one should be baptised for an other so doth it nothing profite if one man receiue the Eucharist or supper of the Lord for an other For this were all one as if a man should take seales by which promises are confirmed and transferre theÌ„ vnto a blanke paper which hath neither promise nor any thing written in it we may in déede when we communicate geue thankes vnto God for that he hath holpen our neighbours and brethren and we may pray for them that they may be confirmed But to eate the sacrifice or Eucharist or to offer vp Christ for other men it is vtterly a fained inuention And although we shoulde graunte theÌ„ thys yet should they not haue yâ— which they so much séeke for For thys is not peculiar vnto priestes but is coÌ„moÌ„ vnto al theÌ„ which celebrate yâ— supper of yâ— lord Away therfore with these fained lies let euery maÌ„ labor by his own proper faith to take hold for himselfe of this benefite of Christ to apply it vnto himself Augustine in his exposition begon vpon the epistle vnto the Romanes saith that euery one of vs applieth vnto himselfe the sacrifice of the death of Christ For he saith Touching the sacrifice of which the Apostle then spake that is of the burnt offring of the Lordes passion that euery man offreth for hys owne sinnes then when he is dedicated vnto the passion of Christ through faith and when by baptisme be is noted by the name of faithfull Christians Now let vs speake of the third thing namely to sée what is the fruite of the death of Christ That the righteousnes of God might be fulfilled in vs which walke not according to the fleshe but according to the spirite That which we haue turned Righteousnes and others Iustification in Greke it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which word signifieth that honesty and vprightnes which is commaunded in the lawe which although it be so called yet are we not therby iustified for the fulfilling thereof can be in no man but only in him which is iustified It is true in dede that We shal be iudged according to our works we shall not be iustified by them we shal be iudged accordinge vnto those woorkes for God wyll render vnto euerye manne accordynge to hys woorkes For accordinge to the condition of the workes the forme of the sentence shal be pronouÌ„ced Yet are not good works the causes of that felicity which we looke for For if they were causes then shoulde they either be equall with the reward or els they should be greater then it For this is the nature of causes ether to excell the affectes or at the least wayes to be The dignity of causes either excelleth or els is equall with the effecâ—es How the preceptes of the law are fulfilled in vs by Christ equall
oughte not to be in doubt whither the spirite of Christ do dwell in vs or no. Ambrose vpon this place noteth that the spirite of God departeth from vs for two maner of causes eyther bicause of the vnderstanding of the flesh or els bicause of the actes therof That is either for false doctrine or els for corrupt maners But if Christ be in you the body in dede is dead because of sinne Hitherto pertaineth the first part of this chapter wherin hath bene declared that although in the saintes there still remayneth sinne yet therof followeth not condemnation for it is taken away by the law of the spirit But froÌ„ whence this spirit is deriued into vs hath ben set forth namely froÌ„ the death which the son of God suffered for vs. Farther it hath 〈◊〉 declared what they are vnto whome so great a benefite is come namely 〈◊〉 which walke according to the spirite and not according to the flesh Now he entreth into the second part wherin he teacheth that we by the same spirite haue obteined participation both of the death and of the resurrection of the Lord. And he exhorteth vs according as our duety is to mortify the dedes of the flesh and to addict our selues wholy vnto the spirit by whom we haue obteyned so great benefites And to knit together those things which are to be spoken with those which are already spoken the Apostle saith But if Christ be in you In that he thus saith that Christ is in vs he sheweth that it counteth it al one for the spirite of God or of Christ to dwell in vs and Christ himselfe to be in vs not that he meaneth that the holy ghost and Christ that is the sonne of God are one the selfe same hypostasis or person But as Chrisostome hath taught this is the nature of the thrée persons that wheresoeuer the one is there also the other are together present Wherfore forasmuch as the holy ghost is in vs it followeth of necessity that the sonne of God which is Christ together with the father is in vs. Which thing Paul hath expressedly pronounced vnto the Ephesians when he sayd That Christ Not where soeuer Christ is accordinge to his diuine nature he is there also according to his humane nature by fayth dwelleth in our hartes And yet it followeth not that whersoeuer Christ is according to his diuine nature he is there also accordyng to his humaine nature For his humaine nature whether we haue a regard vnto the soule or vnto the body is finite neither can so be poured abroade infinitely that it shoulde possesse and fill all things as doth his diuine nature Wherfore we graunt that the sonne and the father are wheresoeuer the holy ghost is and whersoeuer we confesse the son of God to be there also will we coÌ„fesse Christ to be but yet not alwaies according to his humane nature For yâ— is not possible Paul saith in his â— epistle vnto the Cor. that the elders dranke of the spiritual rock which followed theÌ„ that rocke was Christ Of the rocke which was Christ By which wordes are â—â— things to be vnderstaÌ„d first yâ— Christ was signified in that rocke secondly yâ— he was in very dede present with the people when they dranke as the holy history declareth For it telleth yâ— God promised that he would be preset with his people at the rocke Oreb And the same God was yâ— sonne which could not then be present according to flesh and humane nature when as he had not yet put it on And yet is he of Paul called Christe And in the selfe same epistle the fathers are sayd to haue tempted Christ in the desert which can not be vnderstand according to the humane nature for as much as it was not then extaÌ„t The fathers â—â— the wildernes tempted Christ How it is to be vnderstande Christ to dwel in vs. So when Christ is sayd to dwell in vs by fayth or the spirite it doth not thereof follow that ether his body or his soule dwelleth in our hartes really as I may call it and substancially It is inough that Christ be sayd to be in vs by hys deuine presence and that he is by his spirite grace and giftes present with vs. Nether is this as some make exclamation to go aboute to seperate the diuine nature from the humane For we holde that the natures in Christ are ioyned together and insâ—perable And yet that coniunction maketh not that the humane nature extendeth it selfe so farre aâ— doth the diuine nature Which thing Augustine hath most manifestly testefied vnto Dardanus Although I knowe there are some which go aboute by certayne wordes of his out his 96. treatise vpoÌ„ Iohn to cauill that he ment that Christ also according to hys humane nature is still with vs although he be not sene For Augustine wheÌ„ he interpreteth these words A place of Augustine expounded of the Lord I go to prepare you a place sayth that those places and maÌ„sions are nothing ells then we our selues which beleue which are as certayne dwelling places vnto which the father and the sonne come and abide in But we must by the holy ghost be prepared to be made mete dwelling places WheÌ„ he thus expouÌ„deth these wordes he demauÌ„deth Why then sayth Christ that he goeth away if we must be prepared For he ought rather to be present For if he depart away we shall not â—e prepared Afterward when he solueth the question he thus writeth If I doo well vnderstande the thou departest neyther from whence thou camest nether from the place whither thou goest Thou departest in hiding thy selfe thâ—u commest in manifesting thy selfe But vnles thou abide in gouerning vs and we go froward 〈…〉 ning well how shall a place be prepared for vs Behold say they by these wordes it is most manifeste that Christe hath not departed from vs but is present although he lye hiddeÌ„ But these men consider not that these thinges are spokeÌ„ of the diuine nature For that is it which is said to haue come from heauen and out of the bosome of the Father He came indede not that he departed thence from whence he came but bycause he appeared vnto vs vnder humane nature Agayne he is sayd to haue gone from hence when he ascended according to hys humane nature not that he hath vtterly departed froÌ„ vs but for that the humane nature in which he appeared vnto vs being taken vp vnto heauen the presence of his diuine nature lieth hidden with vs nether can it be sene of vs. And that this is the meaning of Augustine may be proued by two argumentes First bycause he entreateth of our preparation which belongeth vnto Christ according to his diuine nature for it worketh and insinuateth it selfe in our hartes and mindes Farther that place which he citeth out of the epistle vnto the Corrinthians whereas he proueth that we are the dwelling places of God teacheth the selfe same
pertakers of the resurrection namely when by mortification we are Howe we are pertakers of the resurrection The spirite of God will do the selfe same thinge in vs that it hath done in Christ made like vnto his death The reason of Paul leueth vnto this foundation that the spirite of God will worke the selfe same effecte in vs that it did in Christ For of one the selfe same cause are to be looked for yâ— selfe same effectes And God forasmuch as he is euery where like vnto himselfe by the selfe same meanes bringeth forth the selfe same workes Wherefore the consequence followeth well And seing when Christ was raysed from the dead ther was rendred vnto him a pure eternall and diuine life such a life also shall one day be rendred vnto vs which life we wayte for in the blessed resurrection when our bodyes shal be raysed vp being perfectly renued and now also we beginne the same when as by new motions Our resurrection is now begon of the spirite we are stirred vp to good workes Wherefore by these wordes are we admonished to mortefie the affectes of the flesh as Paul in an other place saide They which are of Christ haue crucified their fleshe with all the lustes thereof And vnto the Colossians Mortefie saith he your members which are vpon the earth and thys is the body to be deade Neither is it to be meruailed at that by the name of the body is vnderstand sine for sinne is named of that part whereby it had entrance into vs. For the soule saith Ambrose is not traduced from the parentes but only the body Now to dye vnto the body or vnto sinne is nothing els then to do nothing at the commaundement of lustes This is all one with that which we had What to dy vnto the body or vnto sinne signifieth before in the 6. chapter That we are now in baptisme dead with Christ and are buried together wyth hym And the Apostle commonly when he writeth of mortification and newnes of life taketh argumentes of the resurrection of the Lord by which Christ layd away mortality and did put on eternall life Which selfe thing shall also come to passe in our resurrection For in it shall we lay a side all oldenes of error and of corruption Which although before that tyme we shall not perfectly haue yet nowe also in this life we beginne to possesse in some sorte alreadye Wherefore Paul saith in the 2. epistle to the Corrinthyans Euen as our olde man is dayly destroyed so on the other side is our new man dayly renewed And vnto the Collossians If ye haue risen together whith Christ seeke the thynges that are aboue And vnto the Phillippians Paul saith That he alwayes endeuoreth himselfe to the thinges that are before neglecting and setting aside those thynges which are behynde that he mought by any meanes attayne vnto the resurrection of the Lord beyng already made pertaker of hys suffrynges And thus much as touching the first interpretacioÌ„ which Chrisostome followeth which if we more narrowly consider we shall sée that it containeth that which we a litle before spake namely that it is the proper duty of Christians not to liue according to the fleshe but according to the spirite For what other thinge is this but to mortify the body of sinne and to rise againe vnto a new life with Christ as though eueÌ„ now beginneth to shine forth in vs the resurrectioÌ„ which we hope shall in the last time be made perfect The second interpretation which Augustine foloweth is to vnderstand the body properly that is for this our outward substaunce And this body he saith is through sinne dead for that vppon it by reason of sinne was sentence long since geuen And he teacheth that by Christ By Christ we haue recouered a better nature then we lâ—st hy by Adam we haue recouered a better nature then we lost by Adam For he had a body not obnoxious vnto the necessity of death howbeit mortall for if he sinned he shoulde die But we by the resurrection of Christ shall receiue a body so frée from the necessitie of dying that it can not any more dye So according to this interpretatioÌ„ Paul declareth that we besides the benefite of the death of Christ haue an other benefit also of the spirite of Christ so that we are now by him pertakers of immortality Wherfore as touching the resurrection of the bodies eche interpretation is agreable But about this particle The body is dead they agrée not for Augustine taketh the body properly but Chrisostome by it vnderstandeth the vice and corruption of nature Wherfore according to this second interpretation Paul semeth to aunswer vnto a priuy obiection For against those thinges which haue hitherto bene spoken mought some man make this obiection This spirit whome thou so highly commendest as though it deliuereth vs from sinne and froÌ„ death doth yet stil leue vs in death and obnoxious vnto many aduersities diseases and calamities Paul aunswereth that this is true only as touching the body by reason of sinne which is still left in it For there hence come those euils Howbeit he willeth vs to be of good cheare for that spirite of God which is in vs hath now taken away condemnatioÌ„ that sinne which is remainyng in vs should not be imputed vnto vs vnto eternal death and will also bring to passe that euen as Christ which was dead was by him raised vp againe from the dead so also our bodies which are yet mortall shall be repayred vnto true immortalitie This sence is easy and plain and very wel agreing with those things which haue bene spoken therfore I allow it although in yâ— other exposition I know there is no absurditie or discoÌ„moditie Here are two things to be noted first that yâ— lust which is remayning in vs is of Paul called sinne and such a sinne also that after it followeth death Which cannot be denied The luste which remayneth in vs is sinne after which followeth death Why God sendeth aduersities vpon his elect in infants that are baptised and yet die for if in them sinne were vtterly taken away death could haue no place Although in the elect which are nowe reconciled vnto God death and such other afflictions are not inflicted as paines but rather as a crosse sanctified of God and that by a fatherly chastisement we should vnderstaÌ„d how highly God is displeased with sinne and should be more and more called back vnto repentaunce and that death mought be in vs a way wherby should be extinguished whatsoeuer sinne is remainyng in vs. Wherfore although by reason of sinne death be said to haue place in vs for vnles it were death could by no meanes be yet followeth it not that it is inflicted vpon the godly and elect as a payne And God retayneth not anger againste those whoÌ„â— he receiueth into fauour An example of Dauid It lieth not in the sacrifisinge priestes
they shonne persecutions but valiantly stand fast in all maner of dangers Which selfe thing Paul in the latter to Timothe wrote in other wordes saying We haue not receaued the spirite of fearefulnes but of might and of loue Wherefore he exhorteth Timothe not to be ashamed of the testemony of the Lord nor of him being in bondes for the Lordes sake but couragiously to indure labors for yâ— Gospell sake Although these thinges are true yet this is not it which this place of Iohn teacheth For it there maketh mencion of the iudgement of the Lord of which he willeth the Godly which loue God not to be aferd And he rendreth a reason for that feare hath vexation ioyned with it Wherefore I gladly assent vnto Augustine which saith that Iohn speaketh of perfect charity Which forasmuch as it can not be had in this life we may not looke to haue it without feare Farther we mought in this place vnderstand that feare which is seioyned from confidence and therefore driueth men to desperation For they which beleue and loue God truly vphold their feare with a liuely fayth The same spirite beareth witnes with our spirite that we are the children of God And if we be chyldren we are also heyres euen the heyres of God and fellow heyres of Christ if so be that we suffer with hym that we maye also be gloryfyed wyth hym For I count that the afflictions of thys present tyme are not worthy the glory which shall be reuealed in vs. The same spirite beareth witnes with our spirite that we are the children of God He sheweth that by those praiers wherby we call vpon God we are made more certayne of the adoption whereof he before made mencion For forasmuch as in our prayers we are stirred vp by the holy Ghost to cal God father we ought fully to be perswaded that it is so for that we know that the spirite of God can not lye Paul in the first to the Corrinthians sayth That no man can say the Lord Iesus but in the holy ghost Here he sayth that no man can in such sort pray to call It is the spirit which putteth vs in mind to call vpon God as vpon a father God his father vnles the same be geuen him of the spirit of God Hereby we see that those thinges which are set forth vnto vs to be beleued and which the lord himselfe hath taught can not be receaued of vs vnlesse the holy ghost doo firste throughly moue our hartes Chrisostome to confirme this testimony of the spirite of God sayth If ether any man or Angell or Archangell or any creature should preache vnto vs this adoption we mought peraduenture be in doubt of it But seing the holy ghost who is lord of all testefieth of the same what place can there be lest of doubting If a king A similitude or a Monarche should out of his regall seâ—te approue and commend any man what one of his subiects would presume by any meanes to speake against him or to set himselfe against his iudgement Where the Apostle sayth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is beareth witnes together Two testimonies of adoption he signifieth after a sort that there are two testemonies of thys adoptioÌ„ the one is our sprite and the other the spirite of God For it is no small or light signe of thys adoption that we haue a quiet conscience and that we doo beleue that we are now reconciled vnto God and doo now fele that we are refreshed and recreated with many other good gifts Although these things are not sufficient for our incredulity and infirmity For there is none of vs which hath our conscience so quiet as we ought to haue and which putteth so much confidence in God as he ought to doo Wherfore seing the testimony of our spirite is weake and infirme God would put to a confirmation of his spirite For he it is which testefieth together with our spirit that we are the sonnes of God Hereby ought we to gather of how greate force are prayers as well publique as priuate as Of greate force are prayers aswell publike as priuate well with ceremonies as without ceremonies For in them is confirmed our fayth yâ— we are by Christ adopted into the children of God Howbeit let euery man beware that when he calleth God father he also truly in the hart fele that which he pronounceth in wordes that he doo it not only of custome or of hipocrisy or call God father with the tounge and in yâ— hart doo an other thing or thinke otherwise But here maye be demaunded howe that feare whereof we haue Security and feare how they may agree together before so much spoken is not repugnaunt vnto thys security and confidence of our adoption I answere that these two thinges can not agree together if they be taken in respecte of one and the selfe same thinge But forasmuche as they happen by sundry meanes and of sondry causes they are nothing repugnaunt one to the other For therefore the sayntes feare for that they se they oftentimes fall and liue contrary to the prescript of the Law of God For they vnderstand that sinnes of theyr owne nature deserue the wrath of God scourges and hell fire When they diligently consider these thinges into theÌ„ is smitteÌ„ a feare But on the other side when with fayth they looke vpon the promises and mercye of God they are deliuered from that feare and made certayne of theyr saluation There is nothing to the contrary but that diuers causes may in our mindes bring forth diuers effectes Which thing may by a very apt similitude be declared He which out of a high tower looketh downe vnto the ground if he thinke A similitude that he shall stagger and fall straighte waye will he or nill he he is wonderfully aferd and al his body shaketh for horror But agayne when he thinketh with hymselfe that he is so closed in with a wall that he can not fall he plucketh vp hys spirites and beginneth to be secure of his safety So godly men when they consider theyr sinnes they feare punishement but when by fayth they looke vpon the mercy of God they are secure of theyr saluation And if vve be childreÌ„ vve are also heires eueÌ„ the heyers of God fellow heires of Christ Here the Apostle sheweth what we get by this adoptioÌ„ namely this to be the heires of God Which vndoubtedly can not be a small matter For not al they which are yâ— childreÌ„ of any man ar streightway also his heires For only All children are not hepres the first begotten haue that preheminence as we se the maner is at this day in many realnes and in yâ— holy scriptures it is manifest that Esau and Ismaell were not heyres Wherfore we are heyres and that not of any poore man or of smal matters For we haue obteyned the inheritaune of God and we are made the fellow heyres of
sayth That our light affliction which is in vs but for a tyme causeth vnto vs a farre most excellent and an eternall wright of glory In these words is declared By what meanes eternall life far passeth all our afflictions wherfore eternall life passeth al the trauailes of this life namely bycause of the waight diuturnity and greatenes For whatsoeuer thinges we suffer here are called of Paul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is momentary or during but for a time He addeth also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by which wordes is shewed theyr lightnes But contrariwise vnto glory is attributed both eternity and also a wonderfull greate waight which excedeth all measure VVhich shall be reuealed tovvards vs. He saith yâ— this glory shal be reuealed Euen now we haue the frâ—icion of a great part of our glory although hidden Glory signifieth here our whole felicity that we should not thinke that presently we are quite voyde of it for we alredy possesse a greate part thereof although it be not as yet perfect nor manifest vnto the world So Paul speaketh to the Colossians Ye are dead with Christ and your life is hidden with Christe in God But when Christe your life shal appeare then also shall ye appeare together with hym in glorye And this is to be noted yâ— Paul in thys only word glory compreheÌ„deth our whole felicity which we wayt for And there in he followeth the iudgement of men which ar wont to esteme glory as the chiefe good thing Wherof also the philisophers thus affirm yâ— as yâ— shadow followeth yâ— body so doth glory follow true perfect vertue Wherefore glory compreheÌ„deth Glory followeth vertue Glory comprehendeth two things Why blessednes is nor reuealed in this life Similitudes Difference betwene the seruaÌ„ts of Christ the seruaÌ„ts of the world two things which ar excedingly to be desired first that a man be adorned with vertues secondly yâ— he get the good fame of the people But why the blessednes which we wayte for is not reueled in this life Chrisostome thinketh this to be the cause for that it farre passeth the state of thys life And Paul therefore the longer tarieth in the amplification thereof thereby the more to stirre vppe the Romanes to the suffring of afflictions For a souldier is excedingly strengthned to suffer perilles if he hope the victory shall be fruitefull and profitable And a marchaunt is not broken with any labours of sailing or traueling if he hope he shall thereby haue greate gayne Farther we ought to consider that the lot of the citesines of this world is farre diuers from yâ— lot of holy men which serue Christ For they with the greatnes of theyr labors go beyond those good things which they contend to attayne but we though we behaue our selues stoutelye and valiantly as Paul sayth yet are not our workes to be compared with that end which we set before vs. The examples of the Romanes will easely teach vs to vnderstand thys difference Brutus for the preseruation of the liberty of hys countrey did not sticke to slay hys owne children In which thing hereunto also Examples of the Ethnikes had he regard to attayne the prayse of a good citezen For thus writeth the Poete Virgill of hym Vicit amor patriae laudumque immensa cupido that is He was ouercome with the loue of his countrey and vnmesurable desire of prayse Those were the endes of the Ethnikes which were vndoubtedly very small and The endes that the Ethnikes set before them were small and slender Humaâ—ne prayse vnconstant not true sâ—lender For the liberty which they had a regard vnto was not such as is ours whereby we are deliuered from sinne from Sathan from death and from the wrath of God They sought humane prayse a thing doubties vnconstant and of small force But our end is to approue our selues vnto God whose iudgment can not be deceaued Torquatus also slew his owne sonne for that in fightinge agaynst the enemy he had violated the Law of warre Then we also to kepe the Law of God ought not to doubt wheÌ„ nede shall require to suffer all maner of most greauous tormentes For the Lawes of God are not to be compared with the Lawes of warre Camillus being banished out of his countrey valiantly afterward restored it being oppressed of yâ— Galles for that he thought he could not liue with more glory in any other place But a Christian counteth it not so wonderfull a fact which being hurt of any in the Church laying aside desire to auenge seketh by his endeuour to helpe his brother of whom he was hurt and to adorne the Church for out of it no man can liue holily nor attayne vnto eternall felicity Q â–ª Mutius Sceuola of hys owne accord thrust hys right hand into the fire for that it missed when it should haue smitten Porsena What meruayle is it then if a man to obteyne the kyngdome of heauen wyll offer vnto the fire not onely one of his hands but also his whole body to be burnt Curtius being armed at all poyntes and mounted vpon a horse threw himselfe of his owne accord into a gulfe of the earth that the citye of Rome might be deliuered from the pestilence For so had the oracle geuen answere that the wrath of the Godds would cease if that that which the Romanes estemed best were throwen into that gulfe We haue an oracle farre more certayne that they are not to be feared which kill the body but can not kill the soule The Decians vowed themselues to the death that theyr legions of souldiers might be preserued and get the victory Our Martirs also when they doo shed theyr bloud rather then they will be plucked away from the religion of Christ can not boast that they take in hand an enterprise not hard of before M. Puluillus when he should coÌ„secrate a temple vnto Iupiter and in the meane time worde was brought hym by enuious persons of the death of hys sonne was not one white abashed in mynde neyther ceased he of from that which he had begonne but commaunded that hys sonne beyng deade shoulde be caryed out and buryed What mynde then ought a Christian to haue when as he heareth the Lorde saye Suffer the dead to bury theyr dead Regulus when as he had sworne that he woulde returne vnto Carthage althoughe he knewe he shoulde be put to moste greauous tormentes yet woulde he not committe so foule a fact as to violate hys fayth Wherefore we also seing in Baptisme we haue publikely geuen our faith vnto Christ although for yâ— keping of it we should suffer all maner of euils yet ought we not to violate it Some will boast they haue contemned riches and haue for Christes sake taken vppon them a voluntary pouerly but these men thus boasting should call to mind Cincinnatus who after he had behaued himself honourably and done notable actes in his Dictatorship of his owne accord returned againe to till and
faith and of hope the holy ghost is present with vs when the godly grone and crye and that they are in daunger that nature should ouercome hope and faith he is redy at hand and refresheth their mindes and bringeth so much consolation as the waight of the affliction was as Paul in his first chapter of the latter epistle vnto the Corrinthians saith Euen as the afflictions of Christ abound in vs so also through Christ aboundeth our consolation By these our infirmities which the holy ghost helpeth Paul vnderstandeth the weakenes of our naturall strengthes which of themselues are not equall vnto the grieues and aduersities wherewith the faithfull are continually What the helpe of the spirite is vexed But the helpe of the spirite is nothinge els but a certayne inwarde and hidden strength whereby our mindes are confirmed not to geue ouer in temptacions Augustine in his 19. booke De Ciuitate Dei the 4. chapter excellently The end of good â—ueâ— after the Christans declareth how Christian hope is caried vnto those good thinges which can not be séene For if thou demaund saith he of a man endued wyth fayth what ende he appoynteth of hys good or euyll deedes he wyll answere eternall lyfe and eternall death These things can not be sene neither be vnderstand of humaine reason and therfore the wise men of the Ethnikes being puffed vp with pride would not put their hope in them Wherefore some held that the endes of good thinges are the The endes which the Ethnikes appoynted good thinges of the minde some the good thinges of the body some vertue some pleasure some both ioyned together But God derided them and saw how vaine their thoughtes were For they chose rather to counte those thinges for the chiefe good thinges which are enterlaced with many miseries and calamityes then to receaue those sincere found and most firme thinges which are by the word of God set forth For who can exactly declare vnto how miserable and horrible calamities The â—â—els whereunto we are in this life obnoxious can not be tolde our body is obnoxious It is sicke it is wounded it is dissolued it is made crooked it is torne it is maymed men oftentimes become blind oftentimes deaffe and as touching the minde men are oftentimes madde and in a phrensy neither attaine they to the truth without mixture of many errors which are euen most diligent searchers out thereof How could the Ethnikes boast of vertues as the The morall verâ—ues are witnesses of our calamities chiefe good thinges when as they are vnto vs witnesses of our calamities To what thing serueth temperance which is therefore geuen that dronkennes glotony lustes and filthy and corrupt motions of the minde should be bridled For these thinges declare that it hath no place but in mindes still obnoxious vnto such corruption which corruption how much the more it is inward so much the more miserable maketh it vs and as a domesticall enemy rangeth abroade in the entrailes of our hartes These affectes saith Augustine are vices for as Paul sayth they hynder vs from doyng those thynges which we would Farther what is the office of prudence but to prouide that we should not through error be deceaued in chusing of good thinges and auoyding of euill thinges Vndoubtedly if we were not wrapped with errors and darkenes this remedy should not haue neded but forasmuch as we nede it it declareth that men are not yet in happy estate but are wrapped with great and gréeuous errors vnles prudence some way helpe Iustice also whereby is rendred vnto euery man that which is his is for no other cause necessary but to restraine thefts extorcions and violences Neither can it so thoroughly exercise his office amongst men but that good and godly men oftentimes suffer many thinges filthyly and vniustly Now what shall we say of fortitude It armeth men patiently to suffer sorrowes dangers torments and finally death it selfe if nede require Amongst these so great euils those wise appointed the chief goodnes which euils yet they sayd mought somtymes be in such sort encreased Some thought that a man mought kill himselfe by reason of the too great burthen of calamities that a man mought therefore kill himselfe O blessed lyfe crieth Augustine which to come to an ende seketh the helpe of death For if it be blessed why do they breake it in sonder and flye it But if it be miserable why do they put in it the chiefe goodnes So were they derided of God for that they contemned hope which is neither sene nor by humane reason vnderstand And because when they heard it preached out of the word of God they derided it therefore God by his heaueÌ„ly doctrine condemned them as fooles and men worthy to be made a laughing stocke The reason of Paul to returne to it againe is this hope is of thinges absent and of those things which are not sene but by hope we are made safe Wherefore our saluation is not yet sene nor by humane reason vnderstanded yea rather vnto vs are offred The things which are offred in this life seeme to bâ— contrary vnto our saluation The precept touchinge hope is not a thing indifferent all thinges contrary vnto our saluation and plainely repugnant vnto it For we are infected with corrupt affectes we are assaulted with temptacions we are exercised with sorrowes and vexations so that if we should leane vnto natural reason we should be much rather counted vnhappy then blessed And yet notwithstanding if we will geue credite vnto the commaundementes of God we must valiaÌ„tly hope in the middest of these euils For it is not frée for a man to hope or not to hope for the coÌ„maundemeÌ„t of hope bindeth all men vniuersally For euen as we are commaunded to worshippe God as true and constant in his promises so also are we commaunded to hope in him For Dauid sayth Sacrifice the sacrifice of righteousnes and hope in the Lord. And Ose saith Hope in God at all tymes And Peter Hope in that grace which is offred And let no man make an excuse that hys ill lyfe Sinnes ought not to be a let vnto hope past and sinnes committed let hym that he can not hope for the precept of God hath not thys conditioÌ„ annexed vnto it And although it had yet should it be taken as a condition pertaynynge vnto the law whiche byndeth not vs that are vnder the Gospell we must rather haue a respect vnto the promise of the Gospell which sheweth that we shall haue felicity geuen vs for Christes sake and that fréely For the Apostle when he had said The stipend of sinne is death straight way added But grace is eternall life Such a promise doth faith appreheÌ„d so deliuereth it ouer vnto hope to waite for it Wherfore hope ought not to adde any coÌ„ditioÌ„s vnto it wheÌ„ as it receiued none of faith whatsoeuer yâ— master of yâ— senteÌ„ces writeth touching The master
was like a sheepe led to the death yet he opened not his mouth But in all these thinges vve are conquerors 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is we are notably ouercome This particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in this place nothing pertayneth vnto workes of supererogation For Paul ment nothing ells but that so much strength are geuen vs of God that in this battayle we a greate way ouercome all our enemies The deuills practise is this by these aduersities to wrest from vs our confidence and loue towardes God But that is by this meanes rather encreased For tribulation worketh patience patience worketh experience experience hope â–ª And hope confoundeth not But by what strengths we attayne vnto this victorye Paul streight way declareth sayeng Thorough him vvhich loued vs. Before we loued him And he hath geuen vnto vs his spirite Thorugh whome we obteine this excellente victory otherwise of our selues we are farre vnequall for so greate a battayle It is God as Chrisostome wisely noteth whome we haue to our fellow souldier in this battail We haue God to our fellow souldiour in our torments and by that meanes obteyne we so notable a victory Nether doo we only ouercome troubles whatsoeuer they be but also those which persecute vs though they seme neuer so great and mighty which thing how it happened in the Apostles Luke playnly describeth in the Actes When Peter and Iohn had wrought a miracle so manifest that it could not be denied the high priestes and Scribes being ouercome with the greatenes of the thing knew not what counsell to take What sayd they shall we do with these men As if they should haue sayd Here are playnly ouercome all our practises here our power is able to doo nothing here the more we striue the more and the manifestlier are we ouercome The same thing happened vnto Iulianus the Apostata as it is written in the Ecclesiasticall history He had begon by al maner of meanes to torment and vexe the ChristiaÌ„s but his cruelty and outrageousnes was ouercome with theyr patience Which thinge one of his rulers perceauing priuilye admonished him to cease lest he should both nothing at all profit and also make himselfe a laughing stocke to al men Thys power of God bringeth to passe that by those selfe same thinges which are agaynst the victory we to the greate admiration of all men obteyne the notabler victory For who can beleue that he which is ouercome can ouercome That one slayne burnt torne in peces can in the battayle get the victory These things nature reason and the world vnderstand not wherefore they are to be ascribed vnto God only in whose haÌ„ds forasmuch as the euentes of things are set they depend not of certayne and appoynted instrumentes but of the purpose and counsell of God whereunto those thinges which seme to resist are most of all seruisable Some seme thus to vnderstand this place as though therefore we obteyne so notable a victory for that we are by the greatnes of the benefits of God pricked forward to suffer all things be they neuer so hard And the greatnes of of the giftes of God is by this meanes chiefely knowen if it be compared How the greatnes of benifites is best known with those thinges whiche agayne on the other side we repaye He which died for vs saith Ambrose gaue his life for euill seruauntes why should we then make it so great a matter when we being vnprofitable seruauntes suffer death for a good Lorde And moreouer his death was wonderfull profitable vnto vs all when as coÌ„trariwise our death nothing at all profiteth him And so after this interpretacioÌ„ we must not read That vve by him vvhich hath loued vs are more then conquerors but for him Which reding yâ— Latine translatioÌ„ followeth But in Greke is red 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Whiche preposition ioyned with a genetiue case doth not or very rarely signify For. Wherfore it is more apt to say by him or thorough him as we expounded it at the beginning And so doth Basilius to Amphilochia De spiritu sancto the 8. chap. rede it In which place he at large declareth what this preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth when it is attributed vnto Christ It maketh him not sayth he lesse then the father but maketh hym to be a mediator betwene vs and the father as by whome is deriued into vs from the father whatsoeuer giftes or graces we haue and by whome â–ª hath accesse vnto the father whosoeuer commeth vnto him For the electes and sayntes are taken of Christe and being now reconciled are offred vnto God the father And in the declaratioÌ„ of these thinges he alledgeth those wordes which we are nowe in hand with and interpretaâ—eth them so as we haue sayd For I am perswaded that nether death nor life Chrisostome thinketh yâ— Paul hitherto hath entereated of that loue wherwith God loueth vs but here turneth his speach to our loue and obeysance towardes God as though he would say that the loue of God is so kindled in the hartes of the godly that no creature Why Paul most constantly loued Christ can plucke him away from God And he rendreth a reason why Paul so cleued vnto Christ that be could not be pulled away froÌ„ him Bycause sayth he he loued Christ himselfe and not those giftes which Christ geueth So long as the foundation of amâ—ty abideth so long it also constantly endureth And therefore are those amities commended What manner of amities are to be commended which are gounded not vpon a vayne and mutable consideration but vpon a firme and sure consideration wherefore forasmuch as Paul sought Christ himself which alwayes abideth the same and immutable therefore his loue towards him abode firme and constant wherfore it had ben vnto him to fal away from Christe more griefe theÌ„ hell fire and on the other side to cleue fast vnto him more pleasaÌ„ter theÌ„ any kingdoÌ„e Howbeit I thinke this to be most true yâ— Paul stil coÌ„tinueth in yâ— which he had begon namely to coÌ„meÌ„d the singuler loue of God towardes vs that we might assuredly know yâ— all things though they be neuer so much against vs shall turne vnto vs to good seing we are so entirely loued of God But whether of these interpretacioÌ„s we follow I thinke it skilleth not much for either of them is both godly and also not vnaptly fitteth with the wordes and entent of Paul Howbeit I thought it good to declare what I thinke to be moste agreable 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith the Apostle that is I am fullye persuaded If thou séeke a reason thereof hee geeueth a reason demonstratiue whiche is For that God hath foreknowne vs and predestinate vs. And these are causes of the loue of God towardes vs. This declareth he by the effect for that the Reasons of causes and effectes that we are loued of God most louyng father hath geueÌ„ his sonne for our sakes and together
with him hath geuen vnto vs all thinges Farther many logicial probable reasons takeÌ„ of those excellent benefites which we féele are daily bestowed vpon vs perswade vs of the same thinges For those benefites although oftentimes they are common also vnto wicked men yet haue they the force both to cheare our hartes and also to comfort vs after that we are once perswaded by other more firmer reasons For argumentes probable althoughe of themselues they are not able throughlye to persuade yet being ioyned vnto reasons firme and demonstratiue they make the Whereunto argumentes probable serue thing more euident Farther if we will follow examples of other most excellent men we shal perceiue with how singuler a loue God loued them Let vs also euery one of vs loke vpon our own priuate doinges in theÌ„ we shall sée how we haue bene oftentimes holpen and preserued of God And although our sence be vtterly rude in these thinges for it is strange from thinges celestial yet it also in the godly The senses are made after a sorte spirituall in godly men is made after a sort spirituall euen as contrariwise in the vngodly euen the very mind also is made carnall wherfore al thinges which the godly vnderstand also by their senses testifie vnto them the good will of God towardes them By this meanes Dauid by contemplation considering all thinges which were offered vnto Why Dauid inuiteth thinges insensible to praise God his senses as pledges of the loue of God inuiteth and prouoketh them to praise God Not that he thought that they could either heare or speake but to declare that they are of that nature that they can stirre vp euerye attentiue and godlye man which hath the vse of them by his sences to praise God and to geue thankes vnto him There are also certaine thinges which of the minde it selfe are most certainly perfectly knowen for that they are the first principles wherunto we only at the sight of them without any farther triall geue our assent And in this knowledge of The first principles of the knoledge of the loue of God â–ª the loue of God towardes vs we haue for the first principle the holy ghost He beareth witnes vnto vs inwardly and in the minde that we are the sonnes of GOD. Wherfore seing the loue of God towards vs is so many waies proued Paul rightly This place serueth to the certainty oâ— saluation saith that he is fully perswaded But all these reasons are such that they cleane fast vnto faith Which faith being taken away we shall herein haue nothing that we can vnderstand nothing that we can know This place serueth wonderfully to establish the certainty of our saluation Neither must we harken vnto them whiche to the ende they woulde wreste this place from vs vse to aunswere that these thinges pertaine only to Paul as though he alone and a few other which by This place is to be taken vniuersally and not perticulerly as though it pertaineth to Paul onlye reuelation were made certaine of their saluation could say that they were fully persuaded that they should neuer be plucked away froÌ„ the loue of God Here doutles is not set forth an history neither is it declared how Paul was called in yâ— way neither is it written how he was let downe from the wall in a basket onely is brought in a conclusion of those reasons wherby he would proue that God most feruently loueth vs. Wherfore this place pertaineth not only to Paul but also to all the faithfull For it maketh nothing against vs that Paul pronounced his sentence vnder the first person For otherwise we should say that that which is written The thinges that are spoken vnder the person of Paul oftentymes pertaine to all men to the Gal. I lyue but now not I bâ—t Christ lyueth in me is to be vnderstande of Paul onely and pertaineth nothing to vs and that which he saith to the Phil. Vnto me to lyue is Christ and to dye is gayne And that which he writeth vnto the Corrinthians I do not thinke that I know any thyng but Christ Iesus and hym crucified and a great many such like sentences should be vnderstand of no other body but of Paul all which thinges yet euery christian ought to apply vnto himselfe that that sentence of the Poet may hereunto be very aptly framed Hogh thou sirra the name is chaunged but the tale is tolde of thee And if sometimes we wauer as touching this Whereof springeth our doubting touching saluation A similitude certainty that is not to be attributed vnto the defaut of faith but for that we haue not a perfect and an absolute faith As if a man professing yâ— Mathematicals should doubt of the principals of his arte that ought not to be attributed vnto his art for it is of all other artes most certaine but rather vnto his vnskilfulnes which hath not yet perfectly learned his arte Wherfore if we at any time as it happeneth in dede be in doubt of our saluation there is no other presenter remedy then to pray with the Apostles Encrease our fayth So did Peter when he saw himself at yâ— point Remedy against doubting Two principal points of thinges against vs. to be ouerwhelmed of the waues of the sea All those things which are against vs Paul in his epistle vnto the Ephe. reduceth to two principall pointes For some coÌ„sist in nature and other some are brought vnto vs of aduersary spirites We wrestle not against flesh and bloud but against spirituall wickednesses which ar in celestiall places These two thinges the Apostle mingleth together to the ende he would leaue out nothing And these things which he speaketh of are of so great force that they may seme able to alienate a man froÌ„ God By life and death he vnderstandeth all maner of daungers whereby we are endaungered touching life death All these things are not of so great force yâ— they can breake in sonder the loue of God towards vs. But wheÌ„ we are in these daÌ„gers we must say as Paul admonisheth vs in this What we must say when we are oppressed with aduersities epistle Whether we lyue or whether we dye we are the Lordes For to thys end Christ dyed and rose agayne to be Lord of the quicke and of the dead And vnto the Phillippiaus Now euen as before Christ shal be glorified in my body whether it be by lyfe or by death Nor Angels Angels as it is written in the epistle vnto the Hebrewes are ministring spirites which are sent forth to be ministers for their sakes which shal be heyres of saluation which can not be vnderstand but of good angels For euill angels are oftentimes sent forth to punishe the vngodly and to tempt men although their temptation is not vnprofitable vnto the predestinate And it is certaine that euill angels séeke by all maner of meanes to leade vs away from God which thing yet
much contende wyth hym For fewe are elected as the Lord sayth neither was any of vs the cause of his owne election And therefore in the scriptures the iust are called the lot of God And when I consider of this matter I call to mynde a sentence of Plutarch which he bringeth out of Plato namely that y◠life of men is like to those A similitude which play at dise For first it is required that they haue good happe or lucke in their casting thē whatsoeuer shal chāce to vse it warely So vnto vs for y◠obtainmēt of eternall life is first necessary felicity that we be in the roule and nomber of the elect and that we be called and iustified by grace and by the spirit of Christ And after that we haue obtayned these things we must with great industry care fulnes and warines excercise our selues and wisely worke together with God Origene addeth that he wondreth at in what maner God will declare his wrath when as wrath is farre straunge from him goodnes is most nigh vnto his nature For Dauid saith how great is the multitude of thy sweetnes O Lord Which thou hast hidden in them that feare thee Howbeit touching this matter he bringeth this reason for that it is expedient for vs to be vnder the feare of wrath least through our frailenes we should decline to synne and through hope of the bountefulnes of God we should be made In what sence wrath is not strange frō God loose and become negligente But if by the wrath of God we vnderstand his power whereby he ministreth iustice auengeth sinnes I do not thinke y◠that wrath is strange frō God but y◠which he citeth out of Dauid I do not so take as though he ment that God hideth all his goodnes for we féele a great part therof yea also euen whilest we liue here But I thinke that Dauid speaketh of that goodnes whiche abideth vs in an other life And after this manner as the goodnes of God is hidden so are also the last punishments of the dāned hiddē so that in this thing there is no Faith profiteth more then feare An answer of a philosopher difference at all I confesse indéede y◠in the elect is the feare of God but I deny that that feare is more profitable then faith which herein consisteth that we embrace the goodnes of God offred in the promises of God A certaine philosopher when it was laid vnto him as a fault that he was fearefull For that cause sayd he sinne I the lesse Which saying we may inuert and say the more faith and hope we haue so much the lesse we sinne Origen also thinketh that the riches of the glory of God are made known when those which are contemned of men are taken of God For so in the olde time the nation of the Iewes was abiect and vile so that it was oppressed with a most gréeuous kinde of seruitude So the Ethnikes althoughe they were ouer whelmed with idolatry and infinite other vices yet were they called vnto Christ But we ought to consider that here is not entreated onely of some vniuersall people but those thinges which are here spoken may be applied vnto euery particuler man Moreouer Paul meaneth that by the vengeaunce which is taken vpon the vessels of wrath are declared the riches of his glorye vpon the vessels of mercy Neither séemeth he at this present to entreat of that assumption or taking whiche is made by election but of the execution of predestination The Gréeke Scholies say that of God are made vessels of wrath thorough faith which he foreséeth and vertues which shall follow But we haue at large declared that none of those thinges are the causes of the mercye of God but rather the effectes thereof Ambrose in this place first weigheth what this signifieth to be vessels prepared to destruction And this he saith God doth When with lenity and long suffring he differreth The patience of God which profiteth not the wicked profiteth the elect punishmentes for by that meanes men are made the les excusable And God in this wayting is sayd to vse patience for that he foreseeth that they shall not be conuerted And it seemeth a great patience if thou wayte for that a long time which thou knowest shall not come to passe And yet doth not God this in vaine For that space whiche is geuen although it profite not the wicked yet it profiteth the elect For they by their example come to amendement Hereby it is manifest that those wordes Prepared to destructiō Ambrose referreth vnto God when as yet in very déede they may be applied vnto mē which through theyr vitiate nature corrupt inclination are of their own accorde apte inough to destruction Although as I haue before taughte the selfe same thinge may be attributed vnto God Farther Ambrose interpretateth the riches of glory to be that dignity which we shall haue in eternall felicity Which dignity although I know right well shal be a most full declaration of the mercy of God yet I do not thinke that this sentence of Paul is to be contracted vnto it For the mercy of God towardes the elect is aboundantly declared both when they are called and when they are iustified and when they lead an holy life Moreouer to prepare he thinketh is to foreknowe what manner one euery man shal be But if he plucke away this foreknowledge from the good pleasure and purpose of God frō that mercy which God in electing followeth I can by no meanes assent vnto hym For preparation signifieth the gifts which are bestowed vpon the elect Chrisostom also at large entreateth of this place by the exāple of Pharao declareth who are y◠vessels of wrath For he thinketh y◠Pharao was through his owne default called a vessell of wrath for that through his hardenes of harte and obstinacy he alwayes more and more kindled the wrathe of God againste himselfe If by the wrath of God we vnderstand the last effect thereof namely the punishment of eternall dānation that is true whiche Chrisostome saith For euerye wicked man kindleth against himselfe continually by committing of sinne But if we thus interpretate the wrath of God that God euen from the beginninge woulde not on some haue mercy and that he preseruing some he would ouerhip Pharao with many others that doubtles came not of themselues For this is done by the méere purpose and frée will of God namely not of workes but of him that calleth to the ende election might abide according to purpose Therfore was it said Iacob haue I loued but Esau haue I hated Again He hath mercy on whō he will whō he will he hardeneth as Paul before taught Chrisostome addeth Euē as Pharao omitted nothing which might serue to his owne destruction so God left nothing vndone which mighte serue to his correction The first part I confesse namely that all thinges which Pharao did
be counted an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or a certaine demonstration The ende whereunto we are made farre passeth nature so that by our owne strengthes we can not attain vnto it Wherfore we haue néede of God to prepare vs to lead vs vnto it Wherfore we haue néede of God to prepare vs to lead vs vnto it Therfore Paul sayth to the Corrinthians The eye hath not seene nor the eare hathe heard neither hath it entred into the harte of man the thinges that God hath prepared for them that loue him Wherfore séeing that of necessitie we must by God be brought vnto the ende this cannot be done by chaunce or rashly but by the counsel of God and that from eternally determined and appoynted Now seing that there is no let but that we may come to the definition of predestination I thinke it best to beginne with that that Of the definitioÌ„ of predestination Quid nominis Destinare the Logicians call Quid nominis that is what the woord signifieth The Grecians call predestination 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of this verbe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth to determine and appoynt before for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is terminus that is a band or limite Wherfore the elect are seperated a sonder froÌ„ them that are not electe The latine men cal it Praedestinatio For destinare is nothing els then firmly to determine constaÌ„tly to appoynt any thing in the mind or by some firme decrée of the mind to direct Predestination is takeÌ„ two maner of wayes any thing to some one ende But predestination which we speake of may be taken two manner of wayes eyther as touching the bringing of it to the effecte as that Paul going to Damascus was conuerted to Christ and by that meanes seperated from the vnbeleuers or in as much as it is with God from eternally before men are borne Of this Paul speaketh writing to the Galathians that he was set a part to preach the Gospell from his mothers wombe long before he was conuerted And vnto the Ephesians also he sayth that we were predestinate before the foundations of the worlde were layde And to the Romanes of the twines he sayth Before they had done eyther good or euill Iacob haue I loued but Esau haue I hated And we at this present speake of this eternall predestination of God Wherfore the other is nothing but a declaration of this Predestination therfore may be taken both commonly properly But forasmuch as God doth all thinges by an appoynted counsell and An other distinction of predestination nothing by chaunce or fortune vndoubtedly whatsoeuer he createth or doth he appoynteth it to some ende and vse After this manner neither the wicked nor the deuill himselfe nor sinnes can be excluded from predestination for all these things doth God vse according to his will Wherefore Paul in this place calleth wycked men appoynted to vtter damnation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is the vessels of God vpon whome he maketh open hys wrath And Salomon in hys Prouerbes sayth that God made all thinges for himselfe and the wicked man also to the euill day And of Pharao it is said Euen to this end haue I raysed thee vp to shew forth in thee my powre Yea if predestination be thus taken then shall it be common vnto all thinges Neither shall this word signifie any thinge els then the eternall ordinance of God touching his creatures vnto some certayne vse But the holy scriptures do not much vse this word but touching the elect only although in the 4. chapter of the Actes we rede They assembled together to do whatsoeuer thy hand and counsell had predestinated to be done which wordes yet if they be referred vnto the death of Christ and vnto the redemption of mankind passe not the bandes of the election vnto saluation But if they haue a respect vnto those also which assembled together against the Lord they comprehende also the reprobate But now let vs iudge by the Scriptures as they for the moste parte vse to speake Wherefore the Schoole deuines also affirme that the elect onely and not the reprobate are predestinate That sentence will we also at this present follow not vndoubtedly because of that reason which they bring for it is a reason very weake as we shall afterward declare in his place but because I see the scriptures so speake for the most part Wherefore in this treatise vnder the name of predestination we will comprehend the saintes only And for that cause I think Here shall be entreated only of the predestination of saintes What predestination signifieth Augustine entitled his booke de predestinatione sanctorum that is of the predestination of sainctes which signifieth the decree of God whereby the Sainctes are appointed to yâ— coÌ„munion of saluation And vnto predestination by Antithesis or contrary position is set reprobation Thus farre as touching the word Now before we come to the true and proper definition we must suppose certaine thinges of which the first pertayneth to the foreknowledge of God Which as Paul testifieth is ioyned together with predestination For whome he hath foreknowne saith he those hath he predestinate And although in God all thinges are one and the selfe same yet because of our capacity and vnderstanding those thinges that are attributed vnto him are by some maner of way to be distinguished Wherfore first this is to be known yâ— the knowledge of God The knowledge of god extendeth farther then his foreknowledge Gods will goeth before his foreknowledge extendeth farther then his foreknowledge For his knowledge reacheth not onely to things present past and to come but also to those thinges which shall neuer come to passe whether the same be possible or as they vse to speake vnpossible but his foreknowledge pertayneth but vnto those thinges which shall come to passe Wherefore foreknowledge requireth a will which goeth before for there is nothing which shall come to passe eâ—cept God will haue it so For otherwise he would let it Wherefore God foreknoweth those thinges that he will haue to come to passe Farther God doth not also predestinate all those The foreknowledge of God extendeth farther theÌ„ predestination Foreknowledge pertaineth vnto the vnderstanding â–ª predestination vnto the will In what things predestination agreeth with prouidence The differeÌ„ce of predestination prouidence whom he foreknoweth for he foreknoweth also the reprobate whom he knoweth 〈◊〉 be damned But euen as the foreknowledge of God hath ioyned with it his will â— yet notwithstanding pertaineth to the knowledge and vnderstanding of God so contrariwise predestinatioÌ„ although it can not be without foreknowledge yet it properly pertaineth vnto the will Which thing Paul declareth to the Ephe when he teacheth that we are predestinate according to purpose by the power whereof God worketh all thinges according to the decree of his will By these thinges we may after a sort see how predestination is
willeth But that God should will sinnes is to be counted for most absurd and for a blasphemous doctrine They say moreouer that God can not iustly punish â–ª if we committe those thinges which he him selfe both willeth and worketh But this must we of necessity say if we affirme that not only our ends but also our meanes to the endes depend of the purpose of God To satisfye this doubt first let them remember that it can not be denied but that God after a sort willeth or as other some say permitteth sin But forasmuch as that is done without any coaction of our minde therefore no man when he sinneth can be excused For he willingly and of his owne accord committeth those sinnes for which he ought to be condemned and hath the true cause of theÌ„ in himselfe and therfore hath no nede to seke it in God Farther this is no good comparison which these men make betwene good workes and sinnes For God â—o worketh in vs good workes that he ministreth vnto vs his grace and spirit whereby these workes are wrought for those are the groundes of good workes which groundes doubtles we haue not of our selues But sinnes he so gouerneth and after a sorte How God is said after a sort to wil sinne willeth that yet notwithstanding the groundes of them that is the fleshe and our corrupt and vitiate nature are not in God but in vs. Wherefore there is no nede that they should be powred into vs by some outward motion And God is sayd after a sorte to will sinnes eyther for that when he can he prohibiteth them not or for that by his wisedome he directeth then to certayne endes or for that he suffreth them not to burst forth but when and how and to what vses he him selfe will or finally for that by them he will punish other sinnes But these adde that God by no meanes willeth sinne For so it is written in Ezechiell As truly as I liue sayth the Lord I will not the death of a sinner but rather that he be conuerted and liue But we answere that the Prophet in that place entreateth not of the mighty and hidden will of God and of his will of efficacy For God by that will worketh all thinges which he will both in heaueÌ„ and in earth But he entreateth of that will which they call the will of the signe For no man can by those signes and tokens which are expressed in the law gather that God The first aunswer willeth his death or condemnation For the lord commaunded hys lawe to be published vnto all men he hath vnto all men set forth those things which should be profitable and healthfull lastly he vpon all men indifferently powreth greate benefites Wherefore by this will which we call the will of the signe he willeth not the death of a sinner yea rather he prouoketh them to repentance But as touching the other will which they call the will of his good pleasure if by it he would that no man should perish then doubtles no man could perish and there is no will so peruerse as sayth Augustine which God if he wil caÌ„ not make good Wherefore according to this will he hath done all things whatsoeuer he would This is a redy and playne interpretation which if our aduersaries admit not but will nedes contend that the wordes of the Prophet are to be vnderstanded Another aunswer of the mighty will of God and of his wil of good pleasure theÌ„ will we answer yâ— yâ— sentence pertaineth not vniuersally vnto all sinners but only to those which repeÌ„t And those are yâ— electe predestinated vnto whome God as according to his purpose he geueth faith and vocation so also geueth he repentaunce Wherefore which sense so euer they followe they shall neuer by those woordes conclude that God vtterly by no meanes willeth the death of sinners or willeth sinne But they obiect certaine wordes out of the first chapter of the booke of wisedome where it is written God reioyseth not in the destruction of the liuing But if say they he by anye manner of meanes willeth sinne or the punishment thereof he can not be said not to reioyce therein For he reioyseth doubtles in that which he will haue to be done First I aunswere that that booke is not in the Canon and therfore the authority thereof maye be refused But amitte that that booke were canonicall yet do those wordes make nothing against vs. For he whatsoeuer he was that was the author God doth not against his will punishe wicked actes of that booke ment nothing els but to remoue from God that prauitye of nature whereby wicked men take pleasure in euil things And yet was not his meaning that God punisheth wicked factes against his wil. For otherwise whatsoeuer that author vnder the name of Salomon was he should be against the true Salomon For he in his Prouerbes vnder the person of wisedome thus writeth of the vngodly and of the vnbeleuers I also will laugh in your destruction In which wordes is declared that God with a laughing that is with a chiereful minde administreth iustice As touching the wordes of Ecclesiasticus which are writen in the. 15. chapter That no man ought to say of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is he hath deceaued me How it is to be vnderstanded that God deceiueth no maÌ„ in which place the lattine translation hath Me implanauit Vnles we will haue that place to be manifestly repugnant with many other places of the scripture in which God is sayd to haue deceaued the people by false prophets and to haue commaunded that Achab the king should be deceaued and to haue made blind the hart of the people that they shoulde not sée we must néedes after this manner expounde those wordes That no man ought to lay the fault in God as though he woulde excuse himselfe Achab though he was deceaued yet he moste iustly deserued to be They whiche are deceiued are iustly deceiued deceaued for that he contemned the true oracles of God and delighted himselfe in false Prophets The infidelity also and impiety of the people of Israell caused the vengeance of God and execution to come vpon them so that when they were deceaued they could by no meanes be excused Our aduersaries also séeme somewhat to be offeÌ„ded for that we affirme that men haue in themselues the cause of sinnes that is a corrupte and viciate nature For in the first chapter of the booke of wisedome the generations of the world are sayde to be good and not to haue in them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is a medicine of destruction This is true indéede so that it be vnderstanded of the first constitution of thinges and chieflye of the creation of Our nature as it was instituted of God wanted corruption man which was created of God in a good estate But afterward thorow his fall he spilt both himselfe and his posterity
as Paul reckneth it vp as an effect of predestination Good workes also may be added seing thâ—â— God is sayd to haue prepared theÌ„ that we should walke in theÌ„ TheÌ„ followeth certaynty or confirmation of our saluation which certainty of what sort it is we will declare in the 10. chapiter Lastly is the declaration of the riches of God which ende Paul manifestly mencioneth in thys Effectes of reprobatioÌ„ Of the state of the first man 9. chapiter and vnto the Ephesians he writeth That we might be to the prayse of hys grace and glory But as touching reprobation if it be compared vnto the first man GOD from eternally decreed to produce hym that by free will and certayne grace geuen vnto him he mought haue stode if he had would and God could haue geuen vnto him greater grace so that he could not haue fallen but Whether the first maÌ„ were of the number of the predestinate or of the reprobate he would not But whether AdaÌ„ were of the nomber of the reprobate or of the predestinate can not be gathered out of the holy scriptures although all the fathers in a maner consent that he was saued and therefore pertained to the nomber of the predestinate But other men which were reprobated were offred vnto God in a masse of perdition and vtterly corrupted For God decreed to produce them not els where but out of the sede of Adam and forasmuch as by his free purpose he would not bestowe his mercy vppon the multitude which is made reprobate therof followed reiection wherby they were left in theyr natiue sin Further forasmuch as God suffreth not his creatures to be idle they also are perpetually pricked forward to worke and for that they were not healed they do all thinges of theyr corrupt ground which although they seme sometimes to be beautifull workes yet before God they are sinnes Moreouer according as theyr wicked factes deserue God continually punisheth in them sinnes by other sinnes as vnto the Romanes many are sayd to haue bene deliuered vp into a reprobate minde for that when they knew God they glorified him not as God But yet as touching the sinne of the first maÌ„ this is to be considered that that sinne could not be sayd to haue bene the punishment of an other sinne For if it were the first sinne it had not any other sinne before it and that God vtterlye willed not that sinne that can not be sayd for agaynste his wil how coulde it be committed And he sawe that he woulde fall if he were not confirmed with his spirit and with a more plentiful grace and yet he holpe him not neither put he to his hand to kepe him from falling Moreouer the deuil vnles God had would durst not haue tempted him Furthermore he had appointed by him to declare his goodnes and seuerity hereof he gaue an occasion when he set a law which he knew should not be kept and also in geuing him a wife which should entise him And finally the action it selfe which as a subiect or matter sustained the priuation of vprightnes could not without the power and might of God haue bene produced Wherefore it is euident that God after a sort willed that sinne and was some way the author hereof although that it were not a punishment of sinne going before But contrariwise he is sayd not to haue willed it and not to haue bene the author of it for that he prohibited it punished it and willed it not simply but for an other ende â–ª he of himselfe ministred not yâ— prauity neither infused he it into him but the wil of Adam not being letted by a more mighty grace of his owne accord declined from vprightnes Esay also bringeth as an effect of reprobation the blinding and making grosse the hart of the people that they should not vnderstand And God oftentimes either by himselfe or by euil angels sendeth cogitations and offreth occasions which if we were vpright mought be taken in the best part but for as much as we are not renued we are by them driuen vnto euil afterwarde iustly and worthely foloweth damnation for sinnes and finally the declaration of the power and iustice of God is the last effect of reprobation Al these thinges follow reprobation although God as we haue before declared is not God is not a like the cause of all the effects of reprobation a like the cause of them all But because al the benefites of God which are geuen vnto the predestinate are referred vnto grace as to their hed and fountain therefore let vs see whether that principall effect of Gods predestination be as some haue imagined set forth of God coÌ„mon vnto al men for if it were so then should al men be predestinated it should lye in their owne power or in their own handes as the saying is to be predestinated so yâ— they would receaue grace wheÌ„ it is offred We in no wise say yâ— grace is coÌ„mon vnto al men but is geueÌ„ Whether the grace of God be set forth as common vnto all men vnto some and vnto others according to the pleasure of God it is not geuen And to confirme this sentence we alleadge these places of the scripture In the 6. of Iohn iâ— is sayd No man commeth vnto me vnles my father shall draw him And I wonder that the aduersaries should say that al men are drawen of God but all men will not come As if a man should say no man can attaine vnto learning Whether â—â— are drawen of God A similitude or good artes which is not endewed with reason and witte And yet doth it not thereof follow that though al men haue reason and witte al men should attayne vnto good artes for besides those grounds are required an endeuor and wil. So say they al men are drawen of God but besides the drawing of God there is required that we haue a wil thereto and do geue our assent for other wise we are not brought vnto Christ But doubtles it can not be that in al those propositions whiche are spoken with an exception that exception shoulde belong vnto al men For Christ said vnto Pilate Thou shouldest not haue power against me vnles it were geuen thee from aboue shal we therefore take vpon vs to say that vnto al men was geueÌ„ power against Christ And wheÌ„ as it is writteÌ„ That no man shall enter into the kingdome of heauen vnles he be of water and the spirit borne agayne shal we thereof inferre that al men are borne agayne of water and the spirit And when the Lord sayth ye shall not haue life in you vnles ye eate the fleshe of the sonne of man and drinke his bloud shal we thereby vnderstand that al men eate the flesh and drinke the bloud of the Lord And if this ought not so to be why wil these men when we say No man commeth vnto me vnles my father shal draw him therof inferre that all
predestination For although therby as it is proued be not letted free wil yet doth not it otherwise want impedimeÌ„ts or lettes For we are borne in sins wil we or nil we we are wrapped in original sin neither can we by any meanes wynd our selues out of sinne And before regeneratioÌ„ what maner of power so euer we geue vnto the will of man in thinges indifferent ciuil this first we ought to thinke yâ— which way soeuer it do turne it selfe it of necessity sinneth neither caÌ„ it do any thing which is in very dede acceptable vnto God neither also can it geue vnto ciuill works yâ— successe which it purposeth Wherfore Augustine worthely wrote in his Enchiâ—idion that the first man in sinning lost the liberty of choyse or will This moreouer is to be considered that the wils motions of the mind actions euen of men not yet regenerated are directed of God and so directed that by his prouidence they are brought vnto the ende by him prefixed and determined Yea also when we are regenerated althoughe after a sort we obteyne liberty thorough Christ yet is not it full but only begonne For the first motions whiche stirre vp vnto sinne crepe vpon vs agaynst our willes whiche motions to be sinnes we haue in the seuenth chapter proued And Ambrose plainly confesseth that our hartes are not in our owne power neyther is there any of the beleuers which continually falleth not when yet he would stand Wherefore we ought all to pray Forgeue vs our trespasses And vnto the Galathians Paul sayd The spirite fighteth against the fleshe and the fleshe agaynst the spirite so that ye do not those thinges which ye would And in his epistle as we haue heard it is written The euill that I hate that I do agayne I feele an other law in my members striuing with the law of my mind leading me away captiue into the law of sinne Which wordes can not be vnderstanded but only of a man regenerated For he had sayd In minde I serue the lawe of God but in flesh the lawe of sinne which in no wise can be referred to a man not yet iustified We graunt in deede that God coulde if he God coulde kepe vs froÌ„ all maner of sinne but he doth not would geue vnto men so much ayde that they should not sinne at all but that hetherto hath he not done neyther hath he promised that euer he will do it Wherfore our will is subiect yet vnto some seruitude which as we desire to remayne certayne and vndoubted so on the other syde we affirme that by the foreknowledge and predestination of God the will is not letted We haue hetherto in this third article sene what necessity commeth of the foreknowledge and predestination of God namely such a necessity which is not absolute but by supposition which we call necessity of consequence of infalliblenes and of certainty but not of coactioÌ„ And seing that it is so it is now euident that no iniustice is committed of God when he condemneth sinners and glorifieth the iust For vnto euery man is rendred according to his works so that no man can say that his sinnes are not his owne workes when as he is not compelled to committe them but excedingly alloweth them and willeth them Neither are lawes admonitions promises and punishements in vaine MonitioÌ„s lawes and punishmeÌ„ts are not in vayne as it was obiected for they are so much of force as God hath decreed they shall be of force as Augustine writeth in his fifth booke de Ciuitate Dei in the chapter before cited For Gods will is to vse them to the saluatioÌ„ of many and though they profite not some yet they want not theyr end for they conduce to the condemnation of the wicked Prayers also are not made vnprofitable for by them Prayers aâ— not vayne Sinnes are not excused by the predestination and counsel of God An example we obteyne those thinges which God hath decreed to geue vnto vs by them Wherfore this is an excellent saying of Gregory in his dialogues That by prayers can not be obteyned but those thinges onely which God hath predestinated to geue And howe by predestination or foreknowledge or predictions sinnes are not excused we are taughte by very many testimonies of the holye scriptures Christ foretold that Iudas should betray him verilye that foretelling neyther tooke away from Iudas his wickednes nor also powred it into him He followed the entisementes of couetousnes he betrayed not the Lord to the end to fullfill his prophesy Christ also was by the will of God slayne For he sayd in the garden Let this cup passe away from me if it be possible but not my will be done but thine And touching himself he foretold I will geue my life for my shepe Yea Herode and Pilate are in the Actes of the Apostles sayd to haue ioyned together to doo those thinges which the counsell of God had decreed Are by reason of thys eyther the Iewes or those princes to be acquited from sinne when as they condemned and slew an innocent man Who will say so Can any man also discharge of villany the brethern of Ioseph wheÌ„ they sold theyr brother although God would that by that meanes Ioseph should come into Egipt Neyther shall the cruelty of the king of Babilon be excused although the iustice of God decreed to haue the Iewes in such sorte punished He which is killed is sayd to be of him deliuered into the hande of his enemy And God is also sayd to deliuer a city when it is wonne by assault And Iob said that those thinges which were by violence and theft taken away from him by the Caldeans and Sabeans were taken away by God The Lord sayth he gaue the Lord hath taken away Wherefore of that counsell of God whereby he vseth sinnes to theyr appointed endes can not be inferred any iust excuses of sinnes For wicked workes are iudged and coÌ„demned bycause of the vitiate and corrupt harte from whence they are deriued Wherefore let no man be offended with the doctrine of predestination when as rather by it we are led to acknowledge the benefites of God and to geue thankes vnto him only Let vs also learne not to attribute more vnto our owne strengths then we ought let vs haue also an assured persuasion of the good will of God towardes vs whereby he would elect his before the foundacions of the world were layd let vs moreouer be confirmed in aduersities knowing assuredly that whatsoeuer calamity happeneth it is done by the counsell and will of God and that it shall at the length by the gouernment of predestination turne vs to good and to eternall saluation The tenth Chapter BRethren myne hartes desire and prayer to God for Israell is that they might be saued For I beare them record that they haue the zeale of God but not according to knowledge For they being ignorant of the righteousnes of God and
oftentimes we are ignorant what it is that we aske and then God which knoweth what thinges are profitable for vs although perticularly he seeme not to graunt vnto our requestes yet most of all he heareth our prayers when he geueth saluation and therefore is he neuer in vaine called vpon of his faithfull These things being thus set forth and confirmed Paul setteth the Churches in quiet dâ—claring that neither the Gentiles ought to despise the Iewes nor the Iewes also ought not to enuy the Gentiles when as faith and inuocation may be common to ech people For the Prophetes also testifie that wheresoeuer shal be sounde faith and inuocation there also shal be saluation and an assured obtainment of righteousnes For as touching the lacke thereof the Iewes and the Gentiles were both equall as it is said in the 3. chapiter of this epistle For all haue sinned and haue nede of the glory of God Neither herein is there any difference betwene Iewe or Grecian Moreouer neither people hath of himselfe faith whereby to be iustified Wherefore as touching these things the lot both of the Iewes of the Gentiles is a like And therfore it was mete yâ— as the Gospel was preached vnto the Iewes so also it should be preached vnto other people the Iewes wer vnwisemen for this thing to be angry with the Apostles We are also taught forasmuch as faith may be geuen of God vnto whomsoeuer he will neither is We must despaire of no man Note his predestinatioÌ„ knoweÌ„ to despayre of no maÌ„ but by teaching admonishing preaching to endeuor our selues to draw all men vnto Christ The Lord commauÌ„ded the Apostles to go into the whole world to preach to al nations neither excepted he any Therefore Paul earnestly laboured to be made all to all yâ— he might winne all or at the least some vnto Christ None when he falleth into any sinne or in any thing disagreeth from vs is straighway to be reiected he may yet beleue and call vpon God and thereby obtaine righteousnes and saluation Neither ought we hereof to be ignorant that the wordes of the Apostle which we haue hitherto entreated of in this 10. chapiter so proue certainty of saluation that vndoubtedly they can not be denied nor auoyded First he sayd Hereby is certayntye of saluation proued Say not in thine hart who shall ascend into heauen By which wordes he suffreth vs not to doubt that Christ being in heauen pacifieth the father and maketh him meroifull towardes vs and that by his death he hath ouercome eternall destruction sinne the deuill and hell fire so that they can not preuaile against vs if we hope in him Moreouer that we should not doubt he added He which beleueth in him shall not be made ashamed Agayne Whosoeuer calleth vpon the name of the Lord shal be saued This suffreth vs not to doubt of saluation whatsoeuer our aduersaries obiect vnto vs. But how shall they call vpon him in whom they haue not beleued and how shall they beleue in him of whome they haue not heard and howe shall they heare without a preacher And howe shall they preach except they be sent as it is written How bentifull are the feate of them which bring glad tidinges of peace and which bring glad tidinges of good thinges But how shall they call vpon him in whome they haue not beleued That thou shouldest not thinke that by the worke of inuocation thou shalt haue saluation the Apostle straight waye declareth vnto thee the roote whereby thou art made safe namely faith None inuocateth but he which beleueth wherefore the fruit of inuocation commeth vnto vs through faith Paul in this place The fruite of inuocation coÌ„meth vnto vs by faith maketh a certaine kinde of gradation wherein he knitteth the causes together with their effectes We must beginne at saluation which is put for the last effect saluation commeth of inuocation inuocation is by faith faith commeth of hearing and hearing is by preachers and they come by the sending of God Wherefore it followeth that if the Gentiles ought to haue saluation as well as the Iewes then God should send preachers vnto them also Wherefore the Apostles are not to be blamed in that they preached vnto the Gentiles seing that God sent them This kind of argument is called Sorites of heaping vp together for the causes are gathered of the effectes and of the first is inferred the â—â—st or of the last is concluded the first How shall they call vpon him in whome they haue not beleued No man imploreth the helpe of God vnles he be perswaded with himselfe that God is at hand and redy to helpe him And here againe thou hast an argumeÌ„t to confirme The certainty of saluation confirmeâ— â–ª the certainty of saluation How shall they beleue in him of whome they haue not heard We must first heare the thinges that are to be beleued for that whiche is beleued is the word of God which is receaued by hearing It is not lawfull that we should of our owne hed deuise things to be beleued of vs we muste beleue God in suche force as he hath reuealed hym selfe vnto vs. The ministers of the church are adorned with an excellent title But how shall they heare without a preacher 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Behold with how excellent a title the ministers of the Church are adorned they are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is the ambassadors of God This is theyr chiefest worke to publishe abrode the wordes of God But they haue vtterly lost this dignity which are of this minde that the highest and singulariest honor is to consecrate as they vse Vnles they preach the Gospel they are not the Ambassadours of God to speake the sacrament or to transubstantiate bread and wyne They are not so described in the holye scriptures but that they shoulde preache and doo the office of ambassadors How shall they preach vnles they be sent For an ambassader can signifie nothing of the will of his prince but so much as his prince shall before shew vnto him Paul was not ignoraunt but that it is possible that God can by him selfe worke without an outward minister he knew very well that he which planteth and which watreth is nothing but it is god only which geueth the encrease God can without outward preaching bring to saluation But he here speketh of the ordinary way which God vseth in the Church For he ordeyneth the ministery and vseth the voyce and words of the preachers to kindle fayth by the holy ghost in the hartes of the hearers Wherefore we ought to geue thankes vnto God for so singular a gift But manye contemne and loth the ministers of the Church and would as I suppose be instructed by Angells are ignoraunt that Christ would by his humanity minister vnto vs saluation God delighteth in the loue and knitting together of the members in the Church that we should hang
in this place saith when he writeth And they shall say vnto Sion Thy God raigneth Hetherto hath sinne raigned Wherfore Paul in this Epistle said Let not sin raigne in your mortall body Death also hath raigned For the same Apostle Death hath raigned from Adam euen vnto Moses The Deuill also hath raigned whom the Lord calleth the Prince of this world and Paul the gouernour of this worlde and the God of this worlde All these thinges haue hitherto miserably exercised their What maner of princes the Hebrues had tyranny ouer vs But nowe the Lorde raigneth For as touching outwarde kingdomes the Iewes indéede had many iudges and many kings few good some tollerable but a greate many moste wicked tyrannes And they whiche were good as Dauid Ezechias Iosias and suche like were yet notwithstanding weake neyther coulde they eyther defende the people from calamities or make them good Wherefore the Iewes were oftentimes oppressed of theyr enemies led away into captiuitye and being therout deliuered were in reste for a while But after Alexander the greate came the Macedonians and most grieuously afflicted Iewry After theÌ„ came Pompeius Crassus Herode and last of all Vespasianus and Titus whych vtterly ouerthrew all The church also of Christ had hys outward Princes partly wicked and partly good as touching ciuill righteousnes but yet very Then shall we bee in good estate wheÌ„ Christ raigneth in vs. Wherein coÌ„sisteth the kingdom of God weake Wherefore our estate can neuer be in good case vnlesse Christ raygne in vs. Thys as Daniel sayth in hys seconde chapter is the kingdome of heauen which is neuer corrupted in it is peace not during for a time but an euerlasting peace For in the Psalme it is sayd In his dayes shall aryse righteousnes and aboundance of peace vntill the moone be taken away And in Esay And of his peace there shall be no ende But herein consisteth hys kingdome that we be directed by the word and spirite of God After these two maners Christ raygneth in vs. The woord sheweth what is to be beleued and what is to be done The spirit impelleth and moueth vs to doo these thinges Thys is the euerlasting kyngdome of God whereunto when he wil adioyne any people or any nation he visiteth them by hys ambassadours whych are Preachers of the Gospell and them wyll hee haue to be receaued cherefully yea he sayth He which receaueth you receaueth â—e and he which despiseth you despiseth me We haue now the iudgemeÌ„t of God â—ouchyng Ministers wherewith the beleuers ought very mutch to comfort themselues although the world iudge otherwyse and count them for mad men and 〈…〉 castes and estéeme them as paringes and chips so long as there is a world thâ—y shall be so iudged of But for as much as the iudgement of the world is foo 〈…〉 and vnderstandeth not the thinges that pertayne vnto God therefore we 〈…〉 st not leane vnto it but rather embrace the most firme and most pleasant sen 〈…〉 ce of God Nahum the Prophet in hys fyrst chapter hath the lyke saying of 〈…〉 beutifull féete of such as preach the Gospell so that that whych was foretolde of Esay he also foresawe shoulde come to passe But at Rome in our dayes men At Rome they fall downe to kisse the fete of the Pope drawen by thys testimony of the Prophet doo fall downe and kisse the féete of the Pope as though he preached the Gospell going about the whole worlde preachyng peace when as rather he is a sworne enemy of the Gospell and maketh open warre agaynst the true doctrine thereof neyther at anye tyme ceaseth to disturbe peace betwene Christian Princes The Pope as a sworne enemy of the Gospell not a preacher therof But all obeye not the Gospell For Esay sayth lorde who hath beleued our hearing vnto whom is the arme of the lord reuealed Then faith is by hearing and hearing by the word of God But all obey not the Gospell This séemed to bee agaynst that so great dignitye of the Apostles whych hath now bene proued both by the authoritye of God which sent them and also by theyr ambassadge that very fewe and especially Of preaching doth not always follow the faith of the hearers of the Iewes beleued which came to passe by no other meanes but for that outward preachyng is not alwayes of necessity ioyned wyth the fayth of the hearers For it is possible that for as much as the power of God is not bound vnto instruments a man may beleue wythout a Preacher and on the other syde a man may heare preaching yet not haue fayth As in thys selfe same epistle he ioyned foreknowledge together wyth predestination although manye are foreknowen of God which yet are not predestinated vnto eternall life he ioyned vocation also together wyth iustification although verye manye are called whych yet are not iustified The Apostle in thys place describeth fayth by the name of obedience and that not wythout iust cause for in it is contayned obedience twoo maner Faith is iustly called obedience of wayes For fyrst it is necessary that the minde or humaine reason do geue place vnto the reuelation of God simply consenting thereunto whych thing pertayneth to a redy obedience for otherwise there are many thinges which let and after a sort call vs an other way There is also an other obedience for they which truly beleue endeuor themselues to obey the commaundementes of God whiche thing before they neither did nor could do The Apostle vsed this selfe same phrase in the first chapter of this epistle By whome we haue receaued grace and Apostleship to be obedient vnto fayth In the Actes of the Apostles also it is declared that many of the priestes were obedient vnto faith and in this sence is faith somtimes Why faith is called a law called a law not for that it bringeth with it blessing or cursing but because that it likewise as the law doth requireth obedience howbeit diuerse For the law requireth obedience euen of them that will not and yet in the meane tyme doth it not geue strenthes to performe it but faith forasmuch as it most fully persuadeth piety stirreth vs vp to liue according to the profession thereof And for that thys doubt touching the fewnes of the beleuers chiefely moued the Iewes therefore to quiet their mindes he bringeth a testimony of Esay whose doctrine they durst not reiect whereby they mought vnderstand that God had long tyme before prouided for this skarsity of the beleuers For Esay sayth who hath beleued our hearing The Prophet before those wordes brought in God the father which commaunded that his sonne should be preached and that his reproches which he should suffer for the saluation of mankind should be tolde abroade vnto whome the company of the Prophetes aunswered who hath beleued our hearing And to whome is the arme of the Lord reuealed As if they should say we indéede haue
preached and haue done our duety buâ— few haue beleued Christ also sayde Many are called but fewe are elected There was no nation which had so diligent and often preaching of the worde of God as the Iewes had And yet in it was alwayes a wonderfull multitude of vnbeleuers Wherfore there was no cause why they should so insolently boast that the pro 〈…〉 ses How the promises of God are to be contractâ—d were made vnto the séede of Ahraham for they ought to be contracted both to the elect as it was sayd in the 9. chapiter and also vnto the beleuers as we haâ—e now heard The Prophet by way of admiration brought forth the sentence now alleaged For forasmuch as mans reason knoweth not the cause howe so greate an incredulity can withstand the word of God and the holy ministery it wondereth thereat Which thing Iohn also considered in the 12. chapiter for he writeth that the Iewes beleued not when yet Christ had wrought miracles that that might be fulfilled which is written in Esay Lord who hath beleued our hearing and to whome is the arme of the Lord reuealed The preaching of Christ and of the Apostles was most cleare and mighty and was confirmed with miracles such as were neuer before sene and therefore it was wonderfull how so few shoulde beleue yea so farre of were the Iewes from fayth that they beleued that Christ was put to so cruell death for his wicked actes and blasphemyes And therefore in this selfe same chapiter Esay sayde And he was counted with transgressors And it is not to be meruailed at that whereas in the Hebrew is not had this worde Lord Paul yet added it for the 70. interpreters haue added it And forasmuch as it corrupted not the sence Paul also vsed it Vnto whome is the arme of the Lord reueled Here is not spoken of reuelation done by outward preaching for that is preached vnto all men but of the inward reuelation and which is of efficacy The Apostles were sent vnto all but the inward reuelation had not place in all By the arme we vnderstand the What is â—o be vnderstaÌ„ded by the arme of God mighty power of God to saue For so Paul defined the Gospell that it is the power and might of God to saluation Neither is there any cause but that also by the arme of God we may well vnderstand Christ For as euery man by the arme doth all the things that he doth so God by his word createth gouerneth and iustifieth therfore his word which is Christ Iesus is called his arme Neither is this word arme applied only to a man but also the long snout of an Elephant is called an hand or arme for that by that instrument he worketh many thinges And Cyrillus teacheth how that place in Iohn is to be vnderstanded wherin it is sayd That that might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esay Lord who hath beleued our hearyng namely that that word That expresseth not a cause but rather a consequence For these meÌ„ were not by the prophesy of Esay made vnbeleuers but because they should be vnbeleuers therfore the Prophet foretolde it There is in déede in such kind of reasonings some necessity but yet only of supposition or of consequence as they vse to speake yet is not any such necessity there to be graunted which bringeth violence or compelleth the will of man To our hearing By hearing is ment words or preaching It is an Hebrew phrase The name of the sense is transferred to those things whereby the sence is moued Schamaa in Hebrew signifieth to heare In Esay it is written Lisch miothenu After which selfe same maner Eli sayd vnto his children in the first booke of Samuell It is no good fame that I heare of you the Hebrew word is Hisch miah which signifieth hearing These words are deriued of hearing for that by the talkes of fame and by words is stirred vp hearing Although Ambrose vnderstaÌ„d hearing passiuely that the Apostles preached not but the things which they had heard of the Lord. But the first exposition is more simple and most agréeth with the customable speach of the Apostles who although they wrote in Greke yet they euery where in a maner kept still the Hebrew phrases But as touching the matter it It is a woÌ„der that â—â—eÌ„ do beleue séemeth no great meruaile if men beleue not but rather it is to be wondred at that they beleue for therein God vseth his strength and his gracious and mercifull spirit And they which are faithfull when they sée that others are left in their obstinacy and incredulity may consider in them what they had deserued vnles they had bene ayded with the help of God And if any man complayne why the Lord through his grace geueth not one and the same thing vnto all men we haue nothing els iustly to answere but this Is thyne eye euill because I am good take that which is thyne and go thy wayes it is lawfull for me to do with myne owne what I will but vnto thee I do no iniury Neither in that these things were foretold of Esay the Prophet is the cause of the Iewes any thing holpen or their incredulity any thing excused For as Cirillus saith vpon Iohn in the place now alleadged These thinges came not to passe for that they were foretold but for that they should come to passe therfore were they foretold It was of necessity indéede that it should be so but yet no coaction was therby brought vnto the will of man And doubtles God could if he would haue geuen faith vnto all men but by his iust counsell although vnto vs hidden he would not whereby we may know that faith commeth not of our own strengths but is in very déede the gift of God as is sayd vnto the Ephesians and vnto the Phillippians And although faith be indifferently preached vnto al men yet is it not geuen vnto all men for neither he which planteth is any thing nor he which watreth but God which geueth the encrease And as it is said in Iohn He which shall heare of my father and which shall learne he it is that shall come vnto me But he which is not taught inwardly of God is ignoraunt And because he hath in himselfe the causes of his ignoraunce he is without excuse Wherefore we ought not to wonder at the fewnes of the beleuers For the light shineth in the darkenes and the darkenes comprehendeth it not They which heare are not after one and the selfe same maner prepared of God for some are made good ground some stony God prepareth not all men after one and the selfe same maner some ouergrowen with thornes or ouerworne with much treading vpon And althoughe this sentence of the skarsity of beleuers may bee applied both vnto the GeÌ„tles and vnto the Iewes yet in this place it rather pertaineth vnto the Iewes for Esay preached vnto the Iewes and had experience of their incredulity
the Iewes Origene and Ambrose vnderstand thys of the maner wherby Christ being vppon the crosse had hys handes extended abroad but thys séemeth not to serue to the meanyng of thys place For the Prophet entreateth of the earnest care of God whereby he euen at the beginning called the Iewes vnto hym Yea Christ before he suffered vpon the crosse sayd How often would I haue gathered together thy children as a henne doth her chickens vnder her winges and thou wouldest not Whereby he declareth that before he was crucified he had hys handes stretched abroad to call By thys is taken away from the Iewes all excuse neyther could they say that they had not heard For as Chrysostome very well noteth vnto these callinges and giftes he at the length added an irritation which affecte is wont to moue many which yet through blockishnes or contempt otherwyse would not bée moued Which thyng we may perceaue euen in children for sometymes it commeth to passe that a litle childe when hys father calleth hym of a certayne stubborne stomacke refuseth to come but if he sée an other child made much of of hys father and louingly embraced of hym straight way being moued of zeale or enuye he also runneth to hys father so great is the affecte of zeale or enuie Wherefore God beganne to adorne the Gentiles with hys benefites that the Iewes being therwithall prouoked myght at the least through emulation or enuye returne vnto hym Thys diligent and earnest goodnes of God in callyng the Iewes is expressed vnto vs in Ieremie the 7. and ▪ 11. chapters where God testifieth that he had risen vp early and sent Prophets to styrre vp the people Which thyng Christ also in the parable of hys vineyarde very euidently declared Neyther wanted the people of God euer at any tyme euen frō theyr first father Abraham preachers and ministers of saluation sent from God but they alwayes continued vnbeleuing and gainsaying They sayd vnto Christ that in Belzebub he did cast out deuills And in Moses tyme they most manifestly resisted the worde of God wherfore Moses in Deut. sayd to theyr faces Ye haue alwayes delt contentiously We sée now that in Esay is contayned that which the Apostle before sayd that the Gentiles which followed not after righteousnes attayned vnto the lawe of righteousnes but Israell which aspired vnto it could not attayne vnto it Wherefore the Iewes ought not to be offended if they heare that spoken of the Apostle which Esay had before prophecied Chrysostome vppon thys place first sayth that Paule woulde not say that the Gentiles drewe God vnto them namely by theyr sayth or godly affecte for that all whole is of God and he woulde not that they shoulde puffe vp them selues with pride But straight way he sayth that yet notwithstanding the Ethnickes were not emptie for of them selues they brought to take holde and to know It is wonderfull how he should speake such contradictions in one and the same place that al whole is of God and that they brought fayth of themselues For God is not by any other thing either taken ▪ hold of or knowen but by fayth Wherfore y◠first part of his sentence is without any doubt to be allowed namely that all is of God But that which followeth is to be reiected namely that we of our selues bring fayth The eleuenth Chapter I Demaund then hath God cast away his people God forbidde For I also am an Israelite of the sede of Abraham of the tribe of Beniamin Wherfore God hath not cast away his people whom he foreknew Know ye not what the scripture saith of Helias howe he maketh request vnto God against Israell saying Lord they haue killed thy Prophets and digged downe thine Altars and I am left alone they seke my life But what sayth the aunswere of God vnto hym I haue reserued vnto my self seuen thousand men which haue not bowed the knee to Baal I demaund then hath God cast away his people The summe of the doctrine The methode of this chapiter of this Chapiter may thus briefely be set forthe The Iewes haue not vtterly in such sort perished that there is no hope remayning of their saluation There yet remayne remnants whiche attayne to saluation which now in déede are but few in nomber but yet they are the salt of the worlde and in tyme to come they shal be a great multitude and y◠manifestly It the meane tyme certayne of y◠Iewes remayne blinde which thing they both deserue and also was foretold of them But by these fewe remnants which are saued shall saluation be communicated vnto the whole world for the Apostles and the other Euangelistes which come of the Iewes shall go thoroughout all the borders of the earth and preache Christe ▪ And that blinding of the Iewes shall be an occasion of saluation to the Gentiles And when the fulnes of the Gentiles shal be conuerted vnto Christ then also shall the Israelites come But God by his hidden and wonderfull counsell would haue all men for a tyme shut vp vnder sinne that he might haue mercy of all men The Gentiles all the whole tyme before the preaching of the Apostles lay in darkenes a few only excepted But as soone as the Gospell was preached the Iewes were forsaken And for that the reason of the purpose of God can not be comprehended of vs with a certayne religious exclamation he concludeth his doctrine saying Oh the deapth of the riches c. Affirming that no man is of Gods counsell touching these thinges Wherfore now that we haue declared the summe of the doctrine let vs séeke out the principall proposition of the first part of this Chapiter and the plainlier this to do let vs somwhat more deapely repete the things which haue bene before spoken Paul affirmed that the promises were made vnto the Iewes but not in such sort that they pertayned to all of them but only vnto the elect and predestinate And therfore for asmuch as many of the Iewes are not of the nomber of the elect which thing he proued in Esay and Ismaell there are manye therfore vnto whome the promises of God pertayne not and many haue perished in their incredulity Now he declareth that their fall is not vniuersal and he leuefieth mollifieth the thinges which before might haue offended namely that y◠nomber of the Iewes which beleued is so small that Esay sayd Lord who hath beleued our report And Moses sayth that the Iewes were stirred vp to enuy against a nation foolish and a nation that was not a nation and finally that God had stretched out his hands to a rebellious people not beleuing but gayne saying Vnles he had after this maner tempred his speache he mought haue séemed to haue spoken these thinges of hatred against his nation He putteth it by the waye of interrogation the more thorowly to moue them to make them attentiue And saith Hath God cast away his people As if it should
that so fewe of the Iewes shoulde receaue Christ and his Gospell But euen as at that time many were preserued from idolatry by the goodnes of God so now also by his grace manye are deliuered from incredulity and many more shal be deliuered towardes the end of the worlde This history is written in the first booke of kinges the. 19. chapter Although the history of Helias actes begin in the. 17. chapter There Helias foretolde vnto Achab that An history of Helias because of idolatry and impiety which was dayly encreased heauen should be shut vp When he had declared this great euill to come he departed and God hid him by the brooke Cherith For Achab went about to séeke him to the end to kil him A rauen euery day by his ministery fed him whereby was declared that the seruantes of God when néede is haue all thinges to do them seruice yea euen those creatures whiche otherwise seme vtterlye vnprofitable The brooke was dried vp by reason of want of rayne God coulde haue filled it with water againe that the Prophet mought thereout haue dronke but he woulde not yea rather God sente him to Sarepta to succor a faythfull and godlye widow and her sonne who as the Hebrues thinke was Ionas After thrée yeares he was commaunded to returne to the kingdome of Israell and to geue raine But he thought that fertility could not conueniently be restored againe vnles he should first purge the land of idolatrers He therfore cōmaunded that the Prophets should be gathered together in mount Carmell where they coulde not obteine of theyr God fire from heauen for their sacrifice Which thing Helias by a wonderfull great miracle obteyned Whiche acte forasmuch as it coulde not but be allowed of all men caused him to take the Prophets and to slay them at the broke Cison and after the iust execution of this death he obtayned of God greate aboundance of raine Neither is he to be condemned as a murtherer in that he slew so many Prophets For they by reason of theyr idolatry were iustly according to the law of God guilty of death And forasmuch as the ordinary power ceassed it was lawful for the Prophet to punishe them when as God had committed vnto him an extraordinarye power Iesabell that wicked woman as soone as she heard of these thinges sware that she would the nexte day kill Helias by occasion whereof he fled and being wery in his iorney and considering with himselfe the vngodlines which at that time raigned he was wery of his life and desired of God to die And the Aungell was present with him and set by him breade baked on the coales and water and twise bad him to eate and from thence he came to mounte Horeb and lodged in a caue waytynge to talke wyth God And being demaūded what he did he answered this which Paul now citeth And streight way was stirred vp a strong mighty wind and in the wind was heard a voyce y◠the lord was not in the wind after y◠wind came a mighty earthquake after the earthquake a vehement fire but God was neyther in the earthquake nor in the fire after that followeth a soft thinne breath as it were an hissinge there was the lord who asked Helias what he did And he answered I am very Rabbi Leui A place of the booke of kinges declared zelous for God bycause the children of Israell haue foresaken the couenaunt and slayne the prophets cast downe the alters and now also they seke my life What these thinges ment I will briefely declare according to the enterpretacion of Rabby Leuy the sonne of Gerischon the wind the earthquake and the fire represented the zeale and vehement affect of Helias who would haue had God streight way to be angry to auenge and to destroy the wicked there was not the Lord for he had not decreed so to deale but would gently and by litle and litle correct punish them moderatly I say by leasure in continuance of thē therfore the Lord was in the soft and thin breath and noyce wherfore when he had heard Helias complaynt he sayd I wil doubtles punish them whē I se time not after thy pleasure but as I shall thinke good Anoynt Azaell to be king ouer Siria he when the time commeth shal be the minister of my vengeance Anoint also Iehu to be king of Samaria and he shall punish the Baalites Anoynt also Helizeus to be prophet in thy place for he also shal correct the wicked sinnes of y◠The godly thorough to much zeale expostulate with God people But whereas thou thinkest that thou alone art left it is not true for I haue reserued vnto me seuen thousand men which haue not bowed theyr knees before Baal So oftentimes commeth it to passe with the godly y◠thorough to much zeale they expostulate with God for the good successe of the wicked as though he should seme to neglect his owne cause The same thing also happeneth vnto vs in our dayes for we thinke that we alone are left when as all Itally France and Spayne are bondsclaues to supersticions and to Antichrist But it is not so indede The Church is not cut of although it be oppressed with great tiranny and in those places are many thousandes of good men which in theyr oppressions and anguishes most chastly kepe theyr fayth vnto God Seuen thousand is not here to be taken for a certayne and definite nomber but for a very greate nomber The multitude of them that shal be saued is not to be measured by the capacity of our vnderstanding and by the discretiō of mans iudgement God alwayes preserueth vnto himselfe many both in the Papacy and vnder the Turke and in Counselles whome we know not but vnto him vnto whome it belongeth they are perfectly knowen The expostulatiō of good men with God The expostulation of men with God is of two sortes may come two maner of wayes eyther that they are only sory and complayne vnto him of sinnes of impiety idolatry and such like wickednes and expresse vnto him what a griefe it is vnto them to se such thinges and this acte is godly and laudable and vsed in the prophetes and in the Psalmes Sometimes it is done as though they would accuse God of negligence as which looketh not to his owne cause and they will prescribe vnto him a way as though if they were in his rome they would handle the matter a greate deale better which without doubt is sinne and that no light sinne The thinges which happened at that time were very like vnto those things which Paul had experience of in his tyme. For all the whole kingdome of the ten tribes had gone astray and in the kingdome of Iuda there remayned very few which were desirous and zelous of true piety as in the first times of the Apostles all in a maner mought seme to haue bene strange from Christ Helias without doubt desired to dye and
the selfe thing is written in the 60. Psalme and also in the 19. and 29. chapiters of Esay God is sayd to haue sent the spirite of Teradmah which is of disines and the spirite of Oâ—m which is of errors Whereby it is manifest that the Apostle Paul added nothyng whiche he had not out of the scriptures added nothing which he had not out of scriptures The metaphore is taken of those which allure men to drinke and labour to make them dronke and if the drinke be tempred with medicine to bring them to madnes But herein only is the difference for that when men so doo they doo it vniustly but when God so doth he doth it most iustly That which the Hebewes say Teraalah the 70. interpreters haue turned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the latines Compunctionem And that greke word may be expounded two maner of wayes First to signify griefe hatred What the woorde of God worketh in the wicked and what in the elect and vexation for when the word of God and saluation is set before them straight way they are pricked with griefe of hart they are vexed they burne in hatred and most earnestly resist as it is sayd of the Iewes When they heard Steuen theyr harts were rent a sonder and they gnashed with theyr teth But contrariwise the spirite of God whiche is geuen vnto the godly maketh appeased contented and quiet and bringeth a wonderful consolation vnto those yâ— are with it inspired The other interpretation according to Chrisostome is by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to vnderstand stedfastnes for that they were so addicted fixed and fastened vnto wicked affectes and vnto incredulity that they could therehence by no meanes be plucked away although they wanted not exhortacions vnto piety Doubtles this is a most greate infelicity when in stede of that sweete cuppe of mercy is geuen vs to drinke the cuppe of fury in stede of the cuppe of truth the cuppe of error in stede of the cuppe of brightnes and souÌ„d doctrine the cuppe of madnes and blindnes and that by God him selfe Wherefore let them take hede which ether teach or heare the holy scriptures that thorough theyr owne default that thing which is vnto others life and saluation be not made vnto them perdition â–ª God maketh not blynde by pouryng â—â— of new malice â–ª and present destruction God indede powreth not into any man any new malice but stirreth vp that which before lay hidden They had eyes to se miracles they had also eares wherwith they heard both the prophesies of the prophets and also the preachers but it nothing preuayled with them The Apostles argumente is Thus was it foretold thus hath God appoynted wherefore I bring nothing that is new We must not consider what the Iewes claymed vnto them selues but what the scriptures gaue vnto them There was no cause why they should so highly be offended with Paul when as he spake nothing but such thinges aâ— had happened in the time of Helias and Esay had foretold should come to passe as touching them also He addeth Vnto this Day For that towardes the end of the world they shal beleue So also he wrote vnto the Corinthians That there is a vaile put ouer the harte of the Iewes wheÌ„ the scripture is red which abideth also euen to this day And that which Esay speaketh indefinitly of the Iewes is to be vnderstanded as touching the greater part The Prophet there asked How long Lord and answere is made vnto him euen vnto destruction So afterward also in this epistle it is sayd Vnto the entrance of the fullnes of the Gentiles But for the better vnderstanding of that A place of Esay in the 6. chapiter place of Esay taken out of the 6. chapiter there are certayne thinges worthy to be noted First that the Prophet saw God sitting vpon an high seate and the skirtes eyther of the garments of God or of his throne filled the temple And yâ— forme wherein God shewed him selfe was like vnto a iudge By him stoode his ministers the Seraphins and he would pronounce a senteÌ„ce agaynst the Iewes and that a definite sentence which should be past remedy as Aben Ezra writeth When God hath once geuen senteÌ„ce it is not letted by repeÌ„taunce vpon that place who sayth that after God hath once geuen sentence it is not possible but that it shal be put in execution yea although repentance come in the meane time as though the sentences of Ezechiell and Ieremy entreate only of threatninges Whome shall we send sayth the Lord Rabby SolomoÌ„ saith that these be the wordes of one being somewhat in a doubt for he had sent Amos and they had derided him saying This man is a stammerer neyther can he bring forth his wordes playnly and shall we beleue that God hath sent him When Esay had offred him selfe Go thy wayes sayth the Lord as if he should haue sayd Resist not my sentence as did Moses which would haue bene blotted out of the booke of life Nor as did Ionas which refused to denounce vnto the Niniuites destruction Goe not about to praye as Ieremy did in the 7. chapiter for I haue sayd that I will not heare Tell vnto this people which was once mine but now not mine that was once wise but now more foolish then an asse and an exe which acknowledge theyr Lordes and know the way to theyr mangerâ— vnto this people I say worse then Sodoma and Gomorha which call good euil euill good and honor me with theyr lippes only In hearing heare ye Rabby Dauid Kimby sayth that that place is red in the imparatiue mode but is of some expounded by the future temps of the indicatiue mode as though it were a foretelling And some are moued not to vnderstand it by the imparatiue mode for that this semeth to be agaynst the goodnes of God to commaund sinne and the death of the soule For in an other place he sayth I will not the death of a sinner but will haue all men to be saued Wherefore say they these thinges are not to be taught for they opeÌ„ a way vnto sinnes which sinnes if God coÌ„maund theÌ„ can not displease him but There is nothing in the scriptures whiche edifieth not this is as though yâ— holy gost should speake things which serue not to edificatioÌ„ There is nothing in the scriptures which being aptly and rightly declared may not be taught and so farr is it of that by this doctrine a way is opened vnto sins that vnto them which haue but euen a cromme of piety and of wisedom hereby is set forth a doctrine to expell sinnes For if for the punishment of sinne God doo If God 〈…〉 nish sinneâ— by sinnes we ought to abstaine froÌ„ sinne in such sorte deliuer vp men to wicked affectes and to madnes to be thereby punished who will not fly from sinne When as it is a thing farre more greauous to fall into these euills then
vnto other nations This is the cause why in holy seruices prayer is made for the churches which I would to God it were done with that feruentnes of minde that it ought to be done with and that vnto the prayers were adioyned an endeuor to adorne and reforme them for to praye and not to labour to do thereafter is to dally with God Otherwise thou also shalt be cut of None which beleueth ought as touching himfelf to be persuaded that he shal be cut of For faith suffreth not this persuasion None that is godly is vncertayne of his saluation to take place The Lord saith that he which beleueth passeth from death vnto life not to euery kinde of life but vnto eternall life whiche is nowe already begonne and shall be accomplished in the world to come Wherfore séeing that eternall life is promised vnto vs we ought in no wise to doubt therof euery one of the faithfull beleueth that he is adopted of God into his sonne and that he is elected vnto eternall life Wherfore it shal be vnto him as he beleueth For the Etimoligy of this woorde faith many thinke hereof to come as thoughe that shall indéede be The etimology of â—aith done which is spoken Howbeit he which so beleueth ought always to be mindfull of perseuerance and not to liue loosely and ought also to implore at Gods hands his gift and grace to abide in his bountefulnes touching the obtainment whereof we oughte not to doubte when as God hath both promised it vnto his and also a Our flesh is to be taken hede of for that it is weake and vncleane faithfull prayer cannot be powred out with doubting as the Apostle Iames testifieth howbeit it is profitable attentiuely to looke vpon our flesh which is weake and euery way vncleane neyther is any thinge in the nature thereof but that it may be damned Wherfore these words of the Apostle stirreth vs vp to bridle the pride therof and to breake the security of it and also to shake of sluggishnes Howbeit for the retaining still of certainty we must fly vnto that whiche is a little afterward written that the giftes and calling of God are without repentance And that What is to be feared touching the church It is not possible that the church should perishe Perticuler churches may fayle we may sée howe profitable this admonition of the Apostle is vnto the faithfull and not in any wayes in vayne we will vse this distribution firste to sée as touching the church what is to be feared If we speake of the whole church we muste not in any wise feare that it shall euer fayle for Christ hath promised that he will be with it vnto the end of the world It may indede be tempted cisted and shaken but vtterly ouerthrown it can not be And therfore we pray that the crosse temptacions and persecutions thereof might be asswaged and turned to good But touching perticuler churches for that it is possible that they maye be transferred we do pray both against their continuall temptacions and also that with them and especially with our church may abide the kingdome of God And as touching our We iustly feare touching our posteritie posterity also there is cause why we shoulde feare for that the promise is indefinitely set forth and vnles it be contracted by election and predestination it maye come to passe that it shall not comprehende them as all the Iewes were not comprehended in the promise And touching infants we may also iudge the like The couenant indéede and promise excludeth them not yea they are generally ment in these wordes wherin the lord saith I wil be thy God and the God of thy sede Vnder which promise we baptise them and visibly incorporate theÌ„ into the churche who yet when they come to age may reiect the couenante and contemne the Gospell whereby is made manifeste that they in very déede pertained not to election and vnto the promises Wherfore we may iustly feare least they should not stande as we sée happened in Ismaell and Esau There are moreouer in the church some 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is which beleue but for a time and in time of temptacion step backe as did Iudas and they which in time of persecutions denied Christe wherefore for these also we haue greate cause to be afeard And touching those which sincerelye beleue in Christ although they haue confidence of their saluation and are assured Many fals hange ouer the faithfuls heds We are in hope that they whom we excommunicate may be restored agayne The godly also haue whereof to be afeard thereof yet so long as we liue here there alwayes hang ouer our heads many fals and those greate as it is manifeste in Peter and in Dauid Wherefore they haue wherof to be afeard although they be not afeard that they shall eternally be damned but assuredly hope that either they shall be defended of God from fallinge or that if they do fall they shal be restored againe as we also haue confidence of them which are excoÌ„municated for they are not cast out of the church that they shoulde pearish but that at the last their spirite should be saued And therfore the elect also and they which sincerely beleue ought continually to be afearde of falles and that they be not cut of from Christ at the least way for a time And of this restitution of them that haue fallen is also mencion made in Ieremy the. 3. chapter Thou hast played the harlot with thy louers howbeit returne againe All these things declare vnto vs that this exhortacion of Paul vnto feare is not vnprofitable when as we ought so many ways to be careful both for our selues also for others Chrisostome addeth also hereunto that the abuse of the grace of God whiche raigneth amongst vs ought to be vnto vs a great feare and horror so often as we consider it If thou continue in his goodnes Otherwise thou also shalt be cut of And they also if they abide not still in vnbeliefe shal be grafted in agayn Forasmuch as it is not to be doubted but that very many of the Iewes so fell away that they sinned against the holy ghost and could no more be grafted in againe it is manifest that Paul speaketh these thinges whiche he speaketh indifinitly of yâ— people of the Iewes as touching a part Further forasmuch as it is vncertayne wheÌ„ a man doth fall into so horrible a case vnles it be declared by some certayne peculiar reuelation of God therefore Paul so speaketh that we should not put away all hope of any man so longe as he liueth here Chrisostome semeth now to alter his mind as touching that yâ— he had before spoken namely that all thinges ought to be attributed vnto the grace of God and that merites or good workes are not to be regarded For by this he sayth It is manifest how greate the dominion of our purpose and the power
put out the handwriting that was against vs. In the The 47. 2. to Timothy the i. chapter Who hath called vs with an holy callinge not accordinge to our workes but according to his purpose and grace which is geuen vs through Christ Iesus Here he speaketh of a calling ful of efficacy by which men are iustified and not of the common calling as touching the preaching of the word of God which is set forth vnto all men And forasmuch as this consisteth not as Paul saith of merites or woorkes neither can iustification also come of them Vnto Titus it is written The 48. The goodnes and loue of God our Sauiour towardes vs hath appeared not by the workes of righteousnes which we haue done but according to his mercy hath he saued vs. Also vnto the Hebrues is but one onely sacrifice and one oblation namely the death The 49. of Christ by which sinnes are wiped away and satisfaction made for men Wherfore iustification is not to be loked for of workes and it ought to suffice vs that the good workes which we do after iustification are sacrifices of thankesgeuing and let vs not make them sacrifices propiciatory by which meanes we should do great iniury vnto Christe But settinge a side the Epistles of Paul let vs séeke testimonies also out of other places of the holy scriptures Christe in the vii of Mathew saith Euery good tree bringeth forth good fruites but a noughty tree bringeth foorth euell The 50. fruites And to the end the nature of those which are not regenerate mighte be the better declared he addeth A good tree cannot bring forth euill frutes nether can an euill tree bring forth good fruits Wherfore seing Christ saith y◠that canot so be how dare these men affirme that it may be for they say that by workes men may be iustified Christ vseth the selfe same reason in the 12. chapiter of Mathew Ether The 51. make the tree good and his fruite good or make the tree euil and his fruite euill for by the fruite is the tree knowen O ye generation of vipers how can ye speake good thinges whē as ye your selues are euill for of the aboundance of the hart the mouth speaketh A good man out of the good treasure of the harte bringeth forth good thinges and an euill man out of an euill treasure bringeth forth euill thinges These wordes of Christ do declare that men which are not yet regenerate are euill trees which neither do bring forth good fruite nor can do ▪ and they testify that the wicked cā not speake good thinges and much les can they worke good thinges and that out of an euill treasure of the harte are euer euill thinges to be looked for And seing the matter is so consider I pray you whither they which are alienated frō Christ ought to be called euill or no Vndoubtedly vnles they be euil none of vs y◠cleaneth vnto Christ can be called good Also in Luke the 17. chapiter But which of you hauing a The 52. seruaunt that goeth to plough or fedeth your cattell that will streight way say vnto hym when he commeth from the field Go and fitte downe and sayth not rather vnto him prepare that I may suppe gyrd vp thy selfe and serue me till I haue eaten and dronken and afterward eate thou and drinke thou doth he thanke his seruaunt bycause he hath done those thinges which he hath commaunded him I trow not So likewise ye when ye haue done all those thinges that are commaunded you say We are vnprofitable seruauntes we haue done that which we ought to haue done These words spake Christ vnto his disciples vnto his Apostles I say and which were now cōuerted to saluation who if they worke vnprofitable works what shall we thē iudge of those which haue not yet receaued the fayth of Christ But the Sophisters haue made the world such fooles that they say that workes before iustification do after a sorte merite it and those workes which follow they say are most profitable wherefore they would now haue men after a sort to make accompt with God and with beades to nomber how many prayers they haue said For what other thing ment they by thē then y◠they would by a certayne nomber recite so many Pater nosters or so many Aue Marias thinking by y◠recital to haue God most assuredly boūd The 53. vnto thē In y◠15. of Iohn Christ is compared vnto a vine tree we to the branches therof wherfore he sayth Euen as the branche can not bring forth fruit of it self vnles it abide in the vine no more also cā ye vnles ye abide in me I am the vine ye are the branches he which abideth in me and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruite And whosoeuer shal not abide in me they are cast out of the dores euē as the braunches or cuttings of frō the vine they shal gather thē and cast thē into the fire Now that we haue recited these wordes of the lord how agreeth it that men being straungers from Christ not yet regenerate can worke good works by which they may be iustified when as they are called dry braunches which shal be cast into the fire and it is sayd that they only can bring forth fruite which cleane vnto Christ as braunches cleane to the vine And that we should the better vnderstand the will The 54. of Christ there is added Without me ye can do nothing Which sentence some go aboute to darken saying that nothing can be done without Christ in respect that he is God forasmuch as he is the first cause of all thinges as though the Lord disputed then of the generall conseruation of naturall thinges and of that power whereby God bringeth forth all thinges vniuersally Christ came not into the world to teach this philosophye he vndoubtedly entreated of the fruite of saluation and of eternall life and spake of those whiche should cleane vnto hys doctrine or ells should be strangers from it Moreouer the sonne of God commaunded The 55. that the faythfull should in theyr prayers saye Forgeue vs our trespasses Signifieng thereby y◠the faythfull also haue nede of forgeuenes in those things which they do for our workes are vnperfect neyther are they able to satisfye Wherefore if our workes which we doo after our regeneration nede expiation by the merite of Christ And for as much as we pray for the same how can they be propitiatory Much more les then can we thinke of those workes which are done before regeneration that they should be acceptable and pleasāt vnto God Moreouer no man can iustly say that he is out of the nomber of such when as God hath commaunded all men to pray in that maner and his will is not that any man should make a lye in his prayer Yea and Iohn also writeth If we shall The 56. say that we haue no sinne we deceaue
the second part he left out the name of stipend and of righteousnes and in stéede of them put in the name of grace Neither do I greatly passe that Augustine in an other place writeth that Paul mought haue sayd the stipend of righteousnes is eternall life and yet he would not say so least he should haue geuen occasion of erring For how Augustine thought that Paul mought haue sayd it vndoubtedly I sée not vnles paraduenture by righteousnes he vnderstand the workes of men regenerate forasmuch as with those workes the merites of Christ are ioyned For so it might be true that eternall life is the stipend of such a righteousnes Farther Origen goeth on and sheweth that men are so iustified fréely How eternall lyfe may be called the 〈…〉 pend of righteousnes that good workes are not required to go before For expounding this sentence Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgeuen The soule saith he whose sinnes are forgeuen must needes now be in good state for it is called blessed Wherefore it hath righteousnes which God imputeth vnto it although it haue not yet done any workes of righteousnes but only for that it hath beleued in him whiche iustifieth the vngodly Out of these words we gather many thinges First that God for works sake is not made debtor vnto any man Secondly that not only iustification but also eternall life is geuen fréely Lastly that righteousnes is imputed vnto the mindes of the beleuers although no good workes went before in them Basilius vpon these wordes of the 114. Psalme Be thou conuerted my soule into thy rest for the Lord hath done good vnto thee For saith he eternall rest is set forthe vnto them which in this life haue wrestled lawfully which yet is not rendered accordyng to the merite of workes but is geuen according to the grace of the most liberall God vnto them which haue hoped in him Seyng these thinges are spoken of the workes of men already iustified as touching eternall felicity then are they to be counted much more true if they be referred vnto the workes of them which are yet strangers frō Christ Wherfore euen as those merite not an eternall reward no more also can these merite iustification For both these thinges are geuen fréely Augustine in his booke De dogmatibus ecclesiasticis chap. 48. If by the law saith he commeth righteousnes then dyed Christ in vayne So also may we say if by nature come righteousnes Christ dyed in vayne This spake he against the Pelagians who affirmed that the liberty of man was so great that by nature onely it could do thynges acceptable vnto God And Augustine warely transferreth vnto nature that which Paul spake of the law and sheweth that the selfe same absurditie followeth either namely that the death of Christ is made in vayne For in very dede there is no other cause why the law bringeth not righteousnes but onely because nature is vitiate and weake Wherfore that which is spokē of the one may rightly agrée with the other The same Augustine vpon the first chapter of Iohn expoūding these wordes Grace for grace what saith he is grace He aunswereth That which is frely geuen What is grace frely geuen That which is not rendred saith he as due For if it were due vnto thee then it is a reward rendred If it were due thou wast before good And in his booke de predestinatione sanctorum the 7. chap. Let no man extoll himselfe as it is customably said Therfore deserued he to beleue because he was a good man and that before he beleued which thyng semeth to be written of Cornelius when as yet he had fayth when he did good workes These wordes are so playne that they haue no néede of declaration Chrisostome in his 2. homely vpon the first epistle Chrisostom vnto the Cor. Where grace saith he is there are not workes and where works are there is not grace Wherfore if it be grace why are ye proude by what meanes are ye puffed vp Chrisostome according to the maner of Paul so opposeth grace against workes that the one excludeth the other so far is it of that he will haue grace to be geuen for workes Ierome vpon the epistle to Philemon Grace saith he is whereby ye are saued and Ierome that by no merite or worke The same Ierome vpon the epistle vnto the Ephes expoūding these wordes By grace ye are made safe through fayth and that not of your selues for it is the gift of God Paul saith he therefore spake this least some hidden thought should crepe into vs if by our workes we be not saued vndoubtedly yet by faith we are saued so that in an other kinde it commeth of vs that we are saued All these testimonies sufficiently declare that iustification is geuē fréely neither can it be gotten by any merites or workes goyng before Now resteth to declare out of the fathers how good workes are to be estemed Vndoubtedly they follow iustification as the fruites therof which spring and burgē forth out of true faith Wherfore Origene sayth in that place which we haue before cited expounding these wordes vnto the Romanes But vnto him which worketh the reward is not imputed according to grace but according to debt Wherfore saith he not out of workes commeth the roote of righteousnes but out of the roote of righteousnes encreaseth the fruite of workes Whiche selfe thing Augustine affirmeth vnto Honoratus saying Hereout spring good works for that we are iustified and not because good workes went before therfore are we iustified And in his first booke second question ad Simplicianum Yea and workes saith he if there be any that be good do follow as it is said that grace and go not before it And therfore he addeth If there be any good because euen the workes of the regenerate haue in thē much imperfection and vnles the righteousnes of Christ which is imputed vnto the beleuers were ioyned with those workes they should not in very dede be good The same father in his 26. chapter de spiritu Litera at large entreateth this place vnto the Romanes Not the herers of the law shal be iustified but the doers and by many reasons he proueth that good workes follow iustification and go not before To this also tendeth that which Basilius writeth in his second booke De spiritu sancto the 7. chap. of the wordes of the Lord that first it behoueth that the trée be good then his fruites to be good that the Phariseis were reproued which in theyr dishes cups made cleane y◠which was without Make cleane sayth he that which is within and that which is without shal be cleane otherwise ye shal be compared vnto painted sepulchers which in dede without seme beautiful but with in are vncleane and full of dead mens bones What counsels are to be harkned vnto Now let vs come vnto the Counsells which yet are not without choyce and iudgement
to doe them there is not added saith he to doe all the commaundements God receiueth a man which endeuoreth himselfe to doe them and of his mercy forgeueth many things But this that is written To doe them must of necessitie be vnderstand of all For doubtlesse in the lawe which this man calleth the Testament are written all And if God forgeue or remit any thing he doeth it to men already regenerate And not vnto Vnto those which are not iustified nothing is remitted of the rigor of the law them that are straungers from him children of wrath such as they must néedes be which are not as yet iustified but stil prepare themselues and are bent to performe the conditions Vnto these I say nothing is remitted wherefore they are bound vnto all And therefore Moses said as Paul testifieth Cursed be he which abideth not in all the things that are written in the boke of the law Farther he maketh a contention also about the production of fayth and demaundeth from whence it hath his beginning in vs. We in one word easely answer that it hath his beginning of the holy ghost But he faineth himselfe to wonder From wheÌ„ce faith is ingenerated in vs. how we graunt the holy ghost vnto a man before he doth beleue For he thinketh that to be absurd First I can not deuise how this man should so much wonder at this But afterward I perceaue that he manifestly maketh and teacheth with the Pelagians that fayth is of our selues and that it is gotten by humane strengthes For otherwise if he beleued that it is of God and of the holy ghost he would not seperate the cause from his effect But that he should not thinke that we without good reason do attribute vnto the holy ghost the beginning of fayth let hym harken vnto the moste manifest testimonyes of the Scriptures Paule sayth in the first epistle vnto the Corrinthians Not in the words which mans wisedome teacheth but which the holy ghost teacheth that your faith should not be of the wisdome of men but of God And in the same place The carnall man vnderstandeth not the thinges that are of God neither can he for vnto him they are foolishnes for they are spiritually discerned â–ª But how can they be spiritually discerned except the spirite of God be present Children also know that of * Coniugata be those wordes which being of one kind be dâ—riued of an other as of iustice a iust man or a iust thing Coniugata are deriued firme arguments And vnto the Galathians God sayth he hath sent his spirit into our hartes whereby we cry Abba father For by the spirit we beleue and in beleuing we call vpon God Yea and the spirit himselfe as it is written vnto the Romanes beareth testimony vnto our spirit that we are the children of God And vnto the Ephesians Be ye strenthened by the spirit in the inward man that Christ may by fayth dwell in your harts Here we sée that that fayth whereby we embrase Christ commeth of the spirit of God whereby our inward man is made stronge The Apostles when they sayd Lord increase our fayth manifestly declared that it sprang not of their owne strengthes but of the the breathing of God And Paul in the 1. to the Corrinthians the 12. chapiter Vnto one saith he is geuen the word of wisedome vnto an other the word of knowledge vnto an other fayth vnto an other the grace of healing And then is added that it is one and the selfe same spirit which worketh all these thinges deuiding vnto euery man as pleaseth him And if thou wilt say that this place and the foresayd petition of the Apostles pertayneth vnto the particular fayth by which are wrought miracles doubtles I will not be much agaynst it And yet if thou wilt nedes haue it so I will reason a minori that is from the lesse For if these frée gifts are not had but from the spirit of God much les can that vniuersall and mighty fayth whereby we are iustified he had from els where Farther Paul vnto yâ— Rom. Vnto euery one sayth he as God hath deuided the measure of fayth And in the latter to the Cor. Hauing saith he the self same spirit of fayth eueÌ„ as it is written I haue beleued for which cause also I speake we also beleue and speake that God which raysed vp Iesus from the dead shall through Iesus rayse vp our bodyes also Vnto the Gal. are reckned vp the fruites of the spirite Charity ioy peace patience lowlines gentlenes fayth meekenes and temperaunce Fayth here is numbred among the fruites of the spirit wherefore it procedeth of the spirit But vnto the Ephesians he sayth more manifestly By grace you are made safe through fayth and that not of your selues for it is the gift of God And in the Actes of the Apostles it is thus written The Lord opened the hart of the woman that sold silkes to geue hede vnto those thinges which Paul spake And in the 13. chapiter They beleued as many as were predestinate vnto eternall life Wherefore it is not to be doubted but that fayth is ingenerated in our harts by the holy ghost who yet may indede be had of them which beleue not but that yet is onely perswading and not as sanctifying them How the holy ghost is in man not regenerate And although in the elect he sodenly poureth in fayth yet forasmuch as he is the cause of fayth he is therefore before it both in dignity and in order Now let vs sée what absurdities Pighius gathereth out of this sentence If the spirit sayth he be the author of our fayth and vseth the instrument of the word of God and may be also in them that beleue not how commeth it to passe that wheÌ„ as there are many at one and the selfe same sermon where as both spirit is preseÌ„t and the word preached yet part do beleue and part beleue not we answere in one word that that coÌ„meth because the spirit is not of like efficacy in all men neither doth after one the selfe same maner teach all meÌ„ inwardly and in yâ— minde But of his will we can not render in cause although we nothing doubt but that it is most iust If the matter be so sayth he the hearers will easely content them selues neither will they put to their endeuor or studie for they know that that is in vaine when as it wholy dependeth of the spirite of God This is not only a very common but also an enuious obiection But we answer that all men are bouÌ„d to beleue the word of God and therfore theyr bounden duety is diligently and attentiuely to hearken vnto it with all their strengthes to assent vnto it And if they so doe not they shal then incurre the punishment of the law neither are they to be hearkened vnto if they shall say that they could not obey it or if they would haue
Pighius when thou she west me one which being not yet regenerate by his owne strengths repenteth him of all his iniquities obserueth al the commaundements of God we wil say that he is iustified by his works But when will this ship ariue wherfore let him cease to boast of the words of the law For those words what so euer they be whether they pertaine vnto promises or vnto proceptes we will after this maner interprete But he saith moreouer that Christ also sayd He that dothe the will of my father shall enter into the kingdome of heauen But the Lord saide not saith he He which beleueth Yea but I say that in an other place he did and maketh no mention of any worke For this saithe he is the will of my father that he which seeth the sonne and beleueth in him haue eternall life Let not Pighius then from henceforth deny that the Lord euer spake this But that no man should thinke that the scriptures speake things contrary I answere that these two sentences are not repugnant but agrée very well together Pighius by the will of the father vnderstandeth a great heape of good workes But Christ saith this is the work of God that ye beleue And after this action of beleuing follow many other good workes Wherefore the holy scriptures are not repugnant one to the other And Pighius argument is left weake and of no efficacie But bicause Pighius séeth himselfe vrged with the word of God for that so oftentimes is red in the holy scriptures that man is iustified by faith He saith that that is to be vnderstande of a liuely and strong faith which hathe ioyned with it other vertues As thoughe forsothe we euer spake of any other faith If he speake this from the heart he beleueth the self same thing that we beleue Wherfore lay aside the contention and the controuersie being ended let vs all agrée in one But Pighius cannot abide that this agréement should take place For afterward when he expoundeth how we are iustified fréely he saith that that is nothing else but that God will fréely impute vnto vs vnto righteousnesse the works of faith hope and charitie What haue we héere to do Doubtlesse it séemeth vnto me that this man doth not with a sound iudgment read the scriptures but doth with a corrupt affection wrest them at his pleasure For where workes are Paule denyeth that there is any frée imputation for these two are repugnaÌ„t one to the other Wherfore in that Pighius goeth about to ioyne them together doeth he not séeme most manifestly to be against the Apostle Thus muche of Pighius vnto whome our Smith the eight wise man of Gréece and the first wise man of Englande adioyneth himselfe a companion as Theseus did vnto Hercules But in very déede hâ— bringeth nothing else but that which he hath drawne out of the sinks of this man and other suche like First he saith that faith is not touching remission of sinnes and therefore we fondly faine that iustification is had by it For the faith saith he wherby Christians are discerned from no Christians is in Iesus Christ Which thing also as though it made much to the purpose he goeth about to proue by yâ— holy scriptures and by a testimony of Ierome But I would haue this man to answere me if euer he learned the Hebrew tongue what is the signification of this name Iesus Vndoubtedly amongst all the Hebrewes this word Iaschag signifieth to saue wherefore Iesus may in Latine rightly be turned Seruator that is a sauior But if which thing I thinke true he be ignorant of the Hebrew tongue yet he ought at yâ— least to haue beleued the Angel which so interpreted that name Thou shalt call his name saith he Iesus for he shall saue his people from their sinnes How then can faith be in Christ Iesus vnlesse it be also touching the remission of sinnes through Christ Afterward he is not aferd to cite that also out of the Epistle of Peter Charitie couereth a multitude of sinnes Behold saith he forgeuenes of sinnes is here ascribed not vnto fayth but vnto charitie He that will haue a mete axe to cutt those knots a soâ—der let him attentiuely consider the holy scriptures and diligently sée from whence those places which are cited in the new testament are taken out of the old This sentence of Peter is had in a maner out of the 10. chap. of the Prouerbs For there it is thus written Hatred stirreth vp rebukes For whome a man hateth he vncouereth and publisheth abroad his faultes as much as in him lieth But contrariwise Charitie hideth and couereth the sinnes of his brother For they which truly loue one an other are wont to defend one and other and to couer one an others faults so much as they se by conscience they may And this is a most true sentence of Salomon Wherfore Peter going about to exhort Christians vnto Charity wisely and aptly borowed this sentence out of Salomon But Smith not vnderstanding nor considering this thinketh that Peter thought that remission of sinnes is gotten by Charity But he is most fowly deceaued as oftentimes he is wont to be But leauing these men aside let vs this remember that if any time the Fathers seme to attribute righteousnes vnto workes the same is not to be vnderstand of that righteousnes which God fréely imputeth vnto vs thorough Christ but of yâ— inward righteousnes cleauing vnto vs which we continually get and confirme by vpright life Or if those thinges which they speake doo manifestly pertayne vnto the righteousnes imputed that is vnto the remission of sinnes we must alwayes as we haue before taught run vnto the foundacion of good workes namely vnto a liuely fayth in Christ Which rules and such like if our aduersary would consider they would neuer so impudently obstinately defend so manifest lyes Although if I should speake any thing touching Pighius forasmuch as I sée that he is nether of dul wit nor vnlearned I can not say that he in earnest and from the hart wrot touching this matter but when he had once taken the matter in hand he counted these thinges for pastime and pleasure But now to prosecute that order which I haue appoynted let vs come vnto the Fathers and sée how muche they make on our side And vndoubtedly for thys matter shall we not nede any great nomber of testimonies For euen as to vnderstand of what tast the water of the sea is it is not nedeful yâ— a man drinke vp the whole sea so to vnderstand what the Fathers thinke touching this we shall not nede to go thorough all theyr sayings Ireneus a most auncient author in his 4. booke and 30. chapter agaynst Valentine writeth somewhat touching this matter although briefly And I suppose that he for this cause wrote so briefely of it for that this truth was in those first times so confessed and certayne that it was not of any
not onely teache how The order of teachyng vsed of Mâ—sicions men should singe but also do therewithall inculcate how men should not sing that the scholers may perceaue both what thy ought to follow and what to auoyde So Paul here teacheth what is to be done in this sacrifice what is to be eschewed Imitate not sayth he this world He vseth the figure Metonomia by the worlde to vnderstand men not yet regenerate For they are rightly sayd to be of this world for that their affectes and maners are vile and filthy For men nowe regenerate Worlde what it here signifieth although they liue in the world yet as Christ sayd vnto the Apostles they are not of the world for they are continually conuersant in heauen as Paul sayth to the Philippians And that which the Apostle in this place requireth at our handes the self same requireth he in the 4. chapiter to the Ephesians This sayth he I say and testifie in the Lord that henceforth ye walke not as other Gentiles walke in vanity of their mind hauing their reason darkened and being straungers from the life of God through the ignoraÌ„ce that is in them and the blindnes of their hart which being past all felâ—â—g haue geuen themselues to wantoÌ„nes to worke all vncleanes eueÌ„ with gredines These are yâ— chiefest faults sinnes of the childreÌ„ of this world froÌ„ which Paul calleth vs backe Chrisostome expounding thys place waigheth these two wordes What difference betwene a forme and a figure 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is if I may so terme it be ye configured 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yâ— is be ye transformed And he putteth a great differeÌ„ce betwene this word forme this word figure For the good things of this world as they are weake transitory haue rather as he thinketh the nature of a figure then of a forme For so sayth Paul writing to the Corrinthians the figure of thys world is gone For riches honours and pleasures are thynges sayth he most vncertayne For they haue not a sound forme but are beholden and séene onely as a person playing in a stage play so yâ— they are rather a spectacle or shew vnto vs then that we can in very déede haue the fruition of them And forasmuch as such thinges are crooked and oblique they ought not to be vnto vs a rule of life and especially seing that we are made to the Image of God whereunto only we ought perpetually to applye our selues vnles we will fall away from our natiue dignity These things which Chrisostome thus mencioneth are both true and godly although I can scarse thinke that Paul had any consideration of any such thing For with hym there is not so great a differeÌ„ce betwene a forme and a figure Yea rather eche worde is oftentimes vsed for one and the selfe same ihing For vnto the Phillippians he sayth that the sonne of God tooke vppon him the forme of a seruaunte and was founde in figure as a man Although whether so euer exposition be receaued I thinke it skilleth not much In renewing of your mynde Vnles our mynde had ben corrupted and now Iâ— the renuing of the mynde be commaunded then was it corrupt enfected with some oldnes Paul would neuer haue added this particle For we renew not but onely those thinges which now through oldnes are worne and corrupted And seing that the Apostle as before by the body so here by the minde vnderstandeth the whole man it may séeme straunge why he before vsed the name of the body and afterward the name of the mynde But the aunswere is not hard He before entreated of yâ— sacrifice wherin are to be slayne corrupt affects sinnes which affectes and sinnes forasmuch as they haue crept in through the body the fleshe which we haue by propagation drawen from Adam therefore the Apostle in that place vsed this word body rather then the name of mynde But here where is entreated of renewing which beginneth at the minde and is afterward spred abroad into the affectes and grosser partes of the soule that it commeth also Whether the mind be incorrupt in them that are not regenerate vnto the body and vnto the members thereof he would first make mencion of the mynde which ought first to be renewed Many contend that this part of our soule is yet whole and vncorrupt For as Aristotle sayth in his Ethikes it séemeth alwayes to encline to good thinges Which thing I confesse and know that amongst the philosophers were Socrates and certaine others endewed with a wonderfull innocency of life and vpright maners for that reason alwayes stirred theÌ„ vp to notable and excellent factes But these thinges they did not neither after an vpright maner nor to a dew ende nor with a sound entent For they had not a regard vnto the honor of God nor to his will nor the true and pure worshipping of him This thing onely they followed which they had set before them to rest themselues in thereby to make themselues perfect for that they had chosen vnto themselues such orders of life This was that spot and corruption wherewith their mynde was excedingly contaminated Yea we also although we be regenerate yet haue not as yet our mynde in all thinges clensed Wherefore this admonition was néedefull eueÌ„ for the Romanes which were conuerted vnto Christ And that our mynde ought so to be renewed Paul admonisheth also vnto the The minde of the regenerate is not in all pointes cleansed Ephesians Be ye renewed sayth he in the spirit of your mynde And in what estate our minde was when we liued without Christ we are taught in the selfe same epistle Amongst whome sayth he we also were conuersaunt doing the will of the fleshe and of reason And in the first chapiter to yâ— Collossians he sayth that we were alienated from God in euill works and were enemyes in mynde The Apostle exhorteth to this renewing by a reason taken of the end namely that we should allow what is the will of God Neither doth he here require a common allowing but such an What approbation of his wil god requireth allowing whereby we in very déede follow and embrace the commaundementes of God For otherwise as touching the common allowing we know that saying of the Poet concerning Medea Video meliora proboque Deteriora sequor that is I sée good thinges and I allow them but I follow the worse And in this epistle in the 2. chapiter Behold thou art a Iew and restest in the law and gloriest in God and knowest his will and allowest thinges that are profitable Howbeit straight way he writeth of the selfe same Iew Thou whiche teachest an other teachest not thy selfe thou that preachest a man should not sheale stealest If this be the nature of a minde renewed to acknowledge the wil of God that is with a sound iudgement The philosophers had not a minde renued vprightly to thinke
first violateth the law of God And he wil take vengeaÌ„ce of our enemies for that we are vnto him most deare Therefore he sayth he which toucheth you toucheth the apple of mine eye And God is neyther forgetfull nor also neglecteth his office Wherefore seing vnto him belongeth vengeaunce and we are vnto hym deare when we are iniuried he is first offended and he neglecteth not that which pertayneth to him we ought without doubt to leue the vengeannce vnto him Sayth the Lord. This is not had in the Hebrew Howbeit it is aded of Paul to the end these admonitions should sticke the deaâ—lier in our mindes If thyne enemy hunger fede him O notable kind of vengeance may humayne reason say But much rather will it so say if it thinke that in the name of meate and drinke are comprehended all maner of dewties which are necessary for the maintenance of the life Wherefore the lawyers when in a testament or will is bequethed vnto a man meate and drinke thereby vnderstand that vnto him are bequethed clothing lodging bedding phisike and such other like thinges And the lord when he sayth that God maketh his sunne to arise vpon the good and vpon the euill and rayneth vpon the iust and vpon the vniust by these two words Sunne and rayne comprehendeth all the gifts of God whatsoeuer we se in thys life common to the good and to the euill And in so doing thou shalt heape coles of fire on his hed This some thus vnderstand thou shalt adde spurres vnto him wherby he shal be stirred vp to loue thée agayne Some thus Thy benefits shall be vnto him as coles of fire whereby he shal be made ashamed his conscieÌ„ce shal be troubled and he shal be kindled with confusion as though this shal be the vengeance of the godly and by this ignominiof theyr enemies they shal satiate theyr anger This latter interpretatioÌ„ is not so semely for a Christian man For none that is godly at any time reioyseth in the hurt of his enemies I grant indede that the benefites which we bestow vpon our enemies may woorke these thinges in them Howbeit we ought in no wise to set forth these thinges as endes of our dewty but in such sort as we declared in the first exposition so farforth as they serue to his amendement to whome we doo good The selfe same thing is to be iudged of that which Origen sayth that these coles signifie hell fire This indede may come thorough theyr default that our benefits should encrease theyr dampnation and punishementes But that ought not to bee the cause of our purpose or entent For we ought to seke nothinge ells but their saluation Be not ouercome of euill but ouercome euill with good Forasmuch as betwene contraries there is a continuall battaile therefore Paul aptly maketh mencion of good euil which are coÌ„traries It is doubtles an excellent kind of victory A notable kind of victory A daungerous fall by well doing to ouercome the force of hatreds as contrariwise it is a pernitious fall to be throwen downe with the outrageousnes of anger In this battayle it is necessary that either the wickednes of our enemies be ouercome by our goodnes or that our goodnes geue place to the fury of our enemies And that by such pollecies is ouercome the maliciousnes of ill men may be proued euen by theyr owne testimony as Chrisostome writeth For if they should be asked the question they will confesse that they are then ouercome of vs when with a valiant mind we contemne theyr iniuries and hurtes For there they chafe they fret they fume as though by our patience were broken and vtterly deiected all theyr strengths But they wonderfully reioyse when they se vs so mooued that we wil nedes auenge the iniuries which we haue receaued In humane conflictes those are said to ouercome The diuers maner of fightyng of carnall and of spirituall men which ouerthrow others and those are counted ouercome which being van quished and euill handled haue the woorse Which is not to be meruayled at wheÌ„ as those thinges are the inuentions of the deuill But the holy ghost here setteth forth vnto vs a farre other kind of battayle wherein they are ouercome whiche whilest they seke to aueÌ„ge theÌ„selues playnly declare that they are ouercome and they go away conquerers which so lenefie and temperate theyr anger that they shew benefites vnto them which haue done vnto them iniury Vpon this stage ought Christians to exercise themselues wherin they haue as lookers on and supporters The stage of christiaÌ„s the Angells And the author or maister of the game is the most iust God These woordes to ouercome and to be ouercome Good and euill are of great efficacy with which vnles our mindes be moued it is a great argument that there is but a very sclender spirite and bastardly fayth in vs. But what shall we iudge of How we ought to be haue our selues towardes the excommunicate and towardes heretikes men excluded from the Church whome they call excommunicate persons And what also of them which preach and teach doctrine contrary to the truth With the one we are commaunded not to eate meate and to the other not to say so much as God spede Touching these men if necessity vrge we ought to geue vnto them neate and other thinges necessary not for acquaintance familiarity or our delectacion sake but euen only that we cease not from the office of charity But if there be no such necessity we ought neither to talke with them nor to eate with them But if the necessity of the soule or of the body so require all these thinges which Paul here writeth we ought to obserue towards them The thirtenth Chapiter LEt euery soule be subiect to the higher powers for ther is no power but of God and the powers that be are ordayned of God Whosoeuer therfore resisteth the power resisteth the ordinaunce of God and they that resist shall receiue vnto them selues iudgement For Princes are not to be feared for good workes but for euil wilt thou then be without feare of the power doe well so shalt thou haue prayse of the same For he is the minister of God for thy wealth but if thou doe euil feare for he beareth not the sword for naught For he is the minister of God an auenger vnto wrath Let euery soule be subiect to the higher powers If as we haue before proued they are to be reproued which repay euill for euill and if also the office of Christians be to render vnto men that haue offended them the dueties of charitie then doubtles are they excéedingly to be accused which in stead of benefites repay euil which geue not due honor nor shew due obedience to such men as deserue wel at theyr hands such as are magestrates And for as muche as the Apostle entendeth diligently and at large to entreat of this matter that we may the better vnderstand
put But Pighius sayth farther that God requireth these woorkes that he may◠fréelye impute vnto vs iustification Whosoeuer is but euen slenderlye exercised in the holye Scriptures shall easelye sée that thys man is euen directlye repugnaunt vnto Paul For he in the Epistle to the Romaines sayth Vnto hym whych worketh not a reward is imputed accordyng to grace But Pighius sayth vnto him which worketh God imputeth righteousnes fréely But to impute fréely and not to impute fréely euery childe may sée that they are contradictories But mark gentle Reader this reason of two members These workes which he speaketh of either profite vnto iustification or else profite not If they profite not why calleth he them preparations For amongst causes are reckened also causes preparatory But if he will say that they profite are in very déede causes preparatories with what mouthe can he affirme that he plucketh away nothing from the honoure of Christ but appoynteth him to be the whole and absolute cause of our iustificatiō But peraduenture this two membred argument a man will turne vpon vs touching those works which follow iustification For he wil say either they are profitable to obtaine saluation or they are not profitable If they be not profitable Wherunto good works profite after iustificatiō why are they required and why are their promises setforth vnto thē But if they be why doe we not allowe merite to be in them I answer that suche workes are profitable vnto men regenerate for that they liuing vprightly and orderly are renewed and made more perfect But that is nothing else but a certaine inchoation and as it were a participation of eternall life Farther it hath séemed good vnto God by suche meanes or rather by suche spaces to bring men vnto eternal felicitie But we can not cal these workes merites For Paul expressedly teacheth that the stipend of sinne is death but eternall life is grace But that which is giuen fréely vtterly excludeth merite And in the meane time we ought to remember that That which is geuē frely excludeth merite there is a great difference as we haue oftentimes taught betwene their works which are as yet straungers from Christ and from God and their workes which are now by grace grafted into Christ and made his members Afterward also he goeth about to confute that which we say that a man is iustified by that faith which hath a respecte vnto the promises of Christ and of the remission of sinnes as though we holde that faith is the proper correlatiue of such promises For he saith that faith hath equally a respect vnto all the thinges which are set forth in the holy scriptures Yea saith he he doth vnto God a thing no les acceptable which beleueth that he created the world or beleueth the thre persons of the diuinitie or the resurrection to come then he which beleueth that Christe was giuen to be our mediator and that by him is to be obtained the remission of sinnes For that faith is of no lesse worthinesse then the other And if we be iustified by faith he contendeth that that faith no lesse pertaineth to the other articles then to the remission of sinnes by Christ And this he thinketh may be proued by that which Paul wryteth in the. 4. chapiter vnto the Romaines And not for him only were these things written but also for vs vnto whome it shal be imputed so that we beleue in him which hath raised vp Christ from the dead Beholde saith he that faith is imputed vnto vs vnto righteousnesse whereby we beleue that God raised vp Christ from the dead and not that faith whereby we beleue that sinnes are forgiuen vs by Christ First here we confesse that our faith assēteth vnto all the things which are contained in the holy scriptures But forasmuche as amongste them there is but onely one principall and excellent truthe vnto which all the other truthes are directed namely that Christ the sonne of God suffred for vs that by him we might receiue forgiuenesse of sinnes what meruail is it if our faith haue a respect vnto this one thing chiefly For this our assumpt Paul proueth For he saith that Christ is the end of the law Wherfore séeing he is the end of al the scriptures he is also the summe and principall obiecte of our faith although otherwise Christ is the principal obiect of our faith by our faith we also embrase all other thinges which are contained in the holy scriptures And whereas he addeth that the faith which is of the other articles is no lesse acceptable vnto God then this faith which concerneth Christ and the remission of sinnes we may first say that that is not true if a man rightly way the dignitie of the action of faith For the dignitie of faith as also the dignitie of other suche like kindes of powers is measured by the obiects For as those obiects differ one from an other in excellency and dignitie so the assētings of faith ought according The dignity of faith is mesured by the obiect to the same to be counted inferior or of more excellency Séeing therefore God would in suche sort haue his sonne to die and that men should be by him reconciled that for this he hath instituted all the other things to be beleued which are set forth in the holy scriptures we can not put any doubt but that this pleased him much more then the other For that the other are directed vnto this as vnto their end And this is a common rule amongst the Logicians Euery thyng is such a thyng by reason of an other wherfore that other thyng shall much more be such Wherfore this actiō of faith wherby we assēt vnto this most noble truth ought to excell al other actiōs of faith whatsoeuer they be And so it is not by a thing like acceptable vnto God whither a man beleue this or that If we should vse this answere I know Pighius were neuer able to confute it but we say moreouer that he in vain contendeth about the greater or lesse dignitie of faith as touching this or that article For we are not iustified by the dignitie of faith For it is in euery mā weak◠and féeble But we therefore say that we are iustified by faith bicause by it as by We are not iustified by the dignity of fayth an instrument vnto this ende giuen vnto vs and by God appointed we apply Christ vnto vs and take holde of the forgiuenesse of sinnes Wherefore the worthinesse or vnworthinesse therof is to no purpose considered But that which he bringeth out of the. 4. Chapiter of the Romaines he bringeth cut of and maimed For if a man read the ful and perfect sentence he shal easely sée that plaine mention is there made of the death of Christ and of the remission of sinnes which by it we haue obtained For Paul saith that vnto vs it shall be imputed as it was vnto Abraham if
we beleue that god raised vp our Lord Iesus Christ from the dead which was deliuered for our sinnes and rose againe for our iustification Is it not here most manifestly said that we ought to beleue that that Iesus Christ whome God raised vp was dead and rose againe that we should be iustified and haue all our sinnes forgiuen vs doubtlesse it is a thing most vncomely for a man that professeth diuinitie so willingly not to sée things that are most manifest Afterward he maketh a cauillation about the perticular fayth wherby we say that euery one that beleueth truly in Christ ought to be most assured with him selfe that his sinnes are forgeuen him He denieth that there is any such faith foūd in the holy scriptures And that therfore this is only our deuise and inuētion Here vndoubtedly I can not hold my selfe but that I must nedes say that Pighius loudely lieth For I would haue him to tell me what did Abraham beleue whē he was iustified but that vnto him should one day be rendred those promises of God For vnto whome is it most likely beleued he that they should be rendred but vnto him selfe The selfe same thing may be sayd of Moses of Dauid and of many other of whome it is most certayne that they beleued that the promises which God made vnto them should perticularly be rendred vnto them And what I besech you mēt Christ when he sayd vnto the man that was sicke of the palsey Sonne thy sins are forgeuen thee And when he sayd vnto the woman Thy fayth hath made thee safe And did not Paul vnto the Galathians thus speake of Christ Who hath loued me and deliuered vp him selfe for me What can be more manifest then these wordes Let Pighius go now make his vaūts that we were the first finders out of this proper and singular fayth and let him cry that euery Christian man ought to beleue that the promises are made only indefinitely that it is not mete that euery one of vs should apply them seuerally vnto him selfe For we ought to beleue of our selues and not of other For we may as touching others be deceaued whether they beleue or no. But touching our selues we may be assured and certayne of it Let euery mā beleue the promises of God indefinitly as touching others for we know not who is predestinate and who is reprobate but none which is faythfull ought in any wise to doubt of him selfe but to beleue that the promise is perticular as touching him selfe by that that he séeth that he truly beleueth Farther when promises are set forth in an vniuersal proposition we may most assuredly of them gather theyr singular propositions And Christ sayth in Iohn This is the will of my father that euery one that seeth the sonne and beleueth in him should haue eternall life Wherfore we thus inferre But I beleue in the sonne of God Ergo I haue now and shall haue that which he hath promised Pighius still goeth one and to the end he would proue that the fayth of euery article and not that fayth only which is referred vnto Christ for the remission of sins iustifieth vseth the example of Noe. For he sayth that he beleued only those thinges which pertayned to the safegard of his house and to the destruction of the world and by that fayth he sayth he was iustified Here sayth he is no mencion made of Christ or of the remission of sinnes But it semeth vnto me that this man hath not very diligently red that which Peter writeth in his 1. Epistle and 3. chapter For Peter sayth when once the long suffering of God abode in the dayes of Noe while the Arke wos preparing wherin few that is eight soules were saued thorough the water vnto the figure wherof Baptisme now agreeing maketh vs also safe whereby not the filth of the fleshe is put away but wherebye it commeth that a good conscience Noe was iustified by fayth in Christ well answereth vnto God That which Peter saw was signified by the Arke and by those thinges which Noe did can we thinke that the patriarch him selfe saw not This vndoubtedly were to much derogation vnto him And if he saw those things which Peter maketh mencion of He beleued not only those thinges which were then done but also those which were looked for to be accomplished by Christ And therfore it is very well written vnto the Hebrues the he was by such a faith made the heyre of righteousnes But Pighius nothing passeth vpon this who so that he may be agaynst vs is nothing at all aferd to fight euen against the Apostles themselues For he is not aferd to affirme that our first father Adam was iustified but yet not with that fayth which we speake of which concerneth the remission of sins thorough Christ For he had no promise as touching that as farre as may be gathered out of the scriptures But doubtles this man is both farre deceiued and also hath forgottē his Fathers whome he would be sene to make so much of Was not the selfe same thing Adam was iustified by faith wherby he beleued the remission of sinnes through Christ sayd vnto Adam which was by God promised vnto Eue his wife that his séede should bruse the hed of the Serpent Christ was that séede he hath so broken the hed and strengths of the deuill that now neither sinne nor death nor hel can any thing hurt his members This place all the fathers in a maner thus interpret But Pighius which yet is les to be borne withall is not afeard to say that iustification is not geuen vnto vs by the promise In which thing doubtles he is manifestly agaynst Paul For he vnto the Galathians thus writeth God gaue vnto Abraham by the promise and there is no doubt but that vnto vs it is geuen after the selfe same maner that it was vnto Abraham But this is to be knowen that Distinction of the promise this woorde promise is taken two manner of wayes eyther for the thing promised and so it is not to be doubted but that we are iustified by the promise that is by Christ and by the forgeuenes of sinnes which is promised vnto them that beleue or ells it is taken for the very words of God in which he thorough Christ promiseth vnto vs remission of sinnes And in this maner also we may be sayd to be iustified by the promise For although the cause of our iustificatiō be the mere will and mercy of God yet is not the same offred or signified vnto vs but by the wordes of the promises and by the sacramentes For these words haue we as sure testimonies of the will of God towards vs. And so fayth want not wherby we apprehend the thinges that are offred we are iustified by the promises Afterward Pighius to the end he would proue that God attributeth more vnto workes then vnto faith citeth a place out of the 22.