and beare witnes vnto our spirits that we are the very sonnes of God teaching vs that we although sinne dooth boyle with rage within our flesh haue God for our father may account our selues his Sonnes if so be that we doo dayly by the spirit wrastle agaynst the flesh Now bycause nothing is more profitable to the mortifying of the olde Adā the flesh thē the crosse tribulatiō and afflictiō that is the Apostle doth here comfort vs in those tribulations affirming that the Spirit dooth make intercession and request for vs with sighes which cannot be vttered and expressed also that all the creatures being subiect to vanity and abuse do euen grone and trauel in payne togither with vs vntill this body of sinne be abolished and the glory of the sonnes of God be reuealed Thus we see that these three last Chapters doo vrge nothing so much as this onely and chiefe worke of our fayth namely the mortification of our olde Adam which is the flesh In the .ix. x. and .xi. Chapt. 9. 10. 11. Chapters he handleth the matter of Predestination For all the rest doo depend vpon that namely who should receyue the worlde and who shoulde not who should beleeue and who not who should be freed from sinne who should be blynded who should be damned and who should be iustified Seeing therefore that both the sending out of the preachers of the Gospell and the worde it selfe be of God it is certayne that it lyeth onely in Gods hand to iustifie vs. Predestination must be taught and preached And surely this stable sentence and immouable necessitie of predestination is a most necessary doctrine to be taught For we are so weake that if it were in our handes very fewe or rather none should be saued For the dyuell would ouercome vs. Yet now seeing this sentence and decree of God is most sure and certayne so that it cannot be chaunged or altered by any creature we haue then good hope to ouercome at the length those reliques of sinne although that now they rage in our flesh But here those curious men who before they haue learned Christ A Caneat for curious Christians and the vertue of his Crosse doo search the profunditie and depth of predestination laboring in vaine to inquire whether they are predestinate to life or death must be rayned strayned and kept backe with some holy Brydle For without all doubt these men by this their foolish curiositie will leade and learne to cast them selues headlong into the confusion of their conscience or into the bottomles pit of desperation But thou deare Christian see that in reading and learning holy things thou follow the order and Methode set downe here in this place by the Apostle Learne this godly Methode First of al learne the knowledge of Christ that thou mayst acknowledge that all thy strength and power auayleth to nothing but to sinning Furthermore that by fayth thou mayst dayly wrastle with thy fleshe as hee hath taught thee in the .vii. first Chapters Finally after that thou be come to the .viii. Chapter that is after that thou hast tryed the Crosse and trybulation after thou hast had experience of this wholsome mortification often to be repeated then first of all will this necessitie of predestination waxe sweet vnto them then thou shalt first feele in the ix.x and .xi. Chapters how full of comfort and consolation this doctrine of predestination is For vnles thou hast had experience and tryall of tribulation Predestination onely comfortable to those which are wel exercised in afflictions vnles thou thou hast felt thy selfe to haue bene brought sometyme euen vnto the gates of hell as we see in Dauid and other Saints thou canst not beare or brooke thys doctrine and sentence of predestination without perill and daunger without a certayne murmuring and grudging of nature agaynst God Therefore it is needefull and necessary that olde Adam should first be mortisied that the sense of the fleshe shoulde bee beaten downe that the sucklings should first grow vp in Christ before they drinke of this sweete Cuppe of wine For euen heere also there is in euery one a certayne infancie childhood who hath in the meane tyme neede to be fed with Milke vntill he be accustomed to eate stronger meates In the twelfth chapter he dooth annex and adioyne certayne admonitions and precepts Chap. 12 For this order the Apostle is wont to obserue in all his Epistles The second patt of this Epistle concernyng christian conuersation that first he dooth teache Christ and Fayth afterwardes he dooth exhort to good workes and a continuall mortification of the flesh Wherefore he dooth teach heere good works in deede and the true worship of God And heere he maketh all Christians to be Priestes commaunding them to offer not moneye eyther Oxen or Gotes as it was the custome of the Lawe but to offer thēselues a spiritual sacrifice A spirituall Priesthood mortifying the old Adam Furthermore he dooth deliuer out most breifly vnto vs the institucion instruction of Christian maners as how we shold teach preach rule gouern namely in the church how we should serue our neighbour how we should suffer tribulations to be briefe how it behoueth a Christian to behaue hymselfe towards his freendes and enemyes And these are truely good workes of a Christian man which doo slow out of Fayth as from a fountaine and head spring Yea which doo euen make a violent eruption For faith as I haue sayd is not ydle Papists works what they are But the workes of the Iusticiaryes which are done without this liuely flame of Fayth in the hart are but hypocrites purple show and fayned colours wherewith they paynt themselues outwardly when as inwardly they are full of hatred auarice filthines and deceyte In the .xiii. Chapter he teacheth vs to be obedient to earthly and worldly Magistrates Chap. 13 Obedience to the Magistrate seeing that al power is of God For though the administration of the sword and those politicall and ciuill Lawes doo helpe nothing to the iustification of the hart notwithstanding bycause that power and authoritie is ordayned and appoynted of God to the maintenance and preseruation of the peace of the commō welth that malefactors might be punished and good men defended therefore it is to be reuerenced and honoured euen of the Saintes of God and righteous men which otherwise stand not in neede of that authoritie Loue is a short summe of all Christian duenes At the last he comprehendeth summarily all duetis in this one worde loue And whereas he proposed Christ as the cause and author of our righteousnes now here after another sorte he proponeth and setteteth hym foorth as an example namely that we imitating and following Christ should so serue our neyghbour as Christ hath serued vs. In the .xiiii. Chap. 14 Chapter he teacheth that the weake in fayth not as yet expert and cunning in Christian libertie
inflame our hart that it may doo those things willingly of loue which the Lawe commaundeth and so at the last good workes in deede doo proceede freely from the fayth whiche worketh so myghtily and which is so liuely in our harts This is the meaning of the thirde Chapter For whereas he had vtterly damned the workes of the lawe and myght haue seemed to haue disanulled and abolished the lawe by teaching the doctrine of faith he preuenteth that obiection in these wordes We doo not sayth he destroy the Lawe but rather establish it That is we teach how the lawe may truely be fulfilled by fayth .i. by beleeuing in Christ Iesu Now it remayneth that we shewe howe this word Sinne is takeÌ„ in the Scriptures 2 Sinne what it is Sinne in the Sriptures signifieth not onely the externall worke but that whole force and natiue operation incredulitie as that wickednes which we haue by lineall descent as it were from our great Graundfather olde Adam which euen violently carryeth vs headlong to sinne namely that wicked hart and al our reason with al yea euen his best and chefest his strength and power wherewith we can doo nothing els but sinne so that then we are said to commit sinne when by the efficacy of this originall sinne as with a certayne vyolent force we are caryed headlong to doo euill There is no outwarde sinne doone but first by this naturall force and impulsion a man is wholly and with all his affection caried roundly awaye to sinnyng The Scripture and God hym selfe when they speake of sinne they haue respect vnto this wickednes of our hartes vnto this naturall inclination that is this vice of incredulitie as to the fouÌ„teyne of all other sinnes Lyke as therefore Fayth alone dooth iustifye and alone dooth obtayne the Spirit and power to fulfill the Law and to doo those works in deede which are onely good so onely incredulitie and vnbeleefe causeth sinne and exciteth and kindleth the flesh to sin and to commit euil works as we see it happened to Adam and Eue in Paradise Genesis 3. Wherefore Christ also in the Gospell calleth only cheefly incredulitie Sinne is principally termed vnbeliefe sinne Iohn 16 The Spirit sayth he shall reproue the world of sinne bicause they haue not beleeued in me Those woorkes which be truely good euen as good fruites cannot proceede and spring but of a good tree that is of fayth working in the hart as contrarywise euill fruit can not come but from an euill tree that is incredulitie of the hart Therfore this wickednes and incredulitie in the harte is euery where in the Scriptures called the heade of the Serpent and of the old Dragon Genes 3. whiche was to be broken by that blessed seede of the woman namely Christ But nowe to proceede 3 Grace what it is As concerning these two words Grace and Gyft they differ thus Grace is the fauour mercy and free good will and beneuolence of God towardes vs. Gyft is the holy spirit hym selfe whom 4 Gyft what it is God dooth send into theyr hartes whom he hath taken mercy vpon and whom he fauoreth as very well appeareth in the .v. Chapter where he distinguisheth gyft from grace Although now we haue not the fulnes of this gyft or of the Spirit bicause in this life there will alwayes remayne in vs remnaunites of sinne which fight agaynst the Spirit as the Apostle sayth in the .vii. Chapter and the .iii. to the Galathians as also Moses sayth in the iii. of Genesis that there will be a conflict betwixt the seede of the woman and the seede of the Serpent yet grace worketh this in vs that the reliques of sinne shall not be imputed vnto vs but that we shall be reputed and accounted before God as men fully and perfitly iust Neyther is the grace and fauour of God so imperfectly bestowed vpon vs as we sayd the gyft was For God rather dooth loue ande imbrace vs with a full fauour and a right perfect good will for Christes sake who is our mediator earnest penney and the first finites of the Spirit Therefore though remnaunts of sinne doo dayly glister and shine in vs yet neuer theles we are iust before God and syil is not imputed vnto vs through faith which daly striueth and wageth war against the fleshe So then you may vnderstand that place in the .vii. Chapter where the Apostle though he was iustified in the Spirite acknowledgeth hymselfe yet to be a sinner and yet notwithstanding he sayth in the .viii. Chapter there is now no condemnation to those which are in Christ Iesu As many therefore of vs as are through faith iustified in Christ we are both sinners and iust Sinners by reason of the imperfect mortification of our fleshe and for that in this lyfe the reliques of sinne remayning in vs we cannot haue or attayne the fulnes of the Spirit First bycause wee haue through fayth the first fruites and earnest of the spirit so that for our faith in Christ God fatherly fauoring vs dooth not impute vnto vs that sinne whiche remayneth in our flesh neyther dooth iudge vs vntill that sinne by death be quite broken banished and abolished But now let vs speake somewhat of fayth 5 Fayth what it is Fayth is not a certain cold opinion or a wandring cogitation of a mans mynde suche a one as any man hearing the historye of the Gospell may foolishly imagin hym selfe to haue For certayne men hearing many things preached of fayth and seeing that they can dispute many things of fayth and of Christ and yet for all that by that knowledge cogitation or diligent meditation perceyue them selues not to be foorthwith incited to do good workes fall into that wicked and impious error that they stoutly deny man to be iustified by fayth alone but that also woorkes are required These men in deede hearing the Gospel fayne vnto themselues a certayne opinion and they reuolue in their myndes certayne colde cogitations of Christ thinking then that fayth is nothing but the dreame of their owne mynde and those vayne cogitations A fayned fayth And these men now and then boult out these excellent speaches O say they if faith only iustifieth theÌ„ I pray you what say you to this Behold I haue heard the Gospel preached I remember the history of Christ Lo I beleeue and yet I am not iustifyed True â—t is for bycause this thy Fayth is nothing but thyne owne bare and naked imagination and cogitation of fayth which dooth â—…ot innouate thy hart and which doth moue â—hee nothing at all there followeth no newnes â—f lyfe no workes of fayth But a true fayth is the worke of God whereby we are regenerate and borne anew by his Spirit Iohn 1. Chapter wherby also our old Adam is quelled and we being wholy transformed we are made as the Apostle sayth newe creatures to Christ the holy Ghost being the lyfe and gonernment of our hartes Fayth
vs wyth the loue of the lawe Wherfore we being iustified haue no more the lawe agaynst vs VVhat it is to be vnder the Lawe but agreeing wyth vs. To be vnder the law is to woorke wythout grace and not to be able to fulfill the lawe where there cannot chose but be sinne And this nowe at length is the true libertie and freedome from the lawe and sinne of whiche the Apostle here disputeth euen vnto the ende of this Chapter As for this libertie it is such that we may willingly from our harts doo good wythout any exaction of the lawe Therefore it is a spirituall libertie which dooth not take away the lawe but giueth and imparteth a certayne power and spirit to fulfill the lawe namely a cherefull mynde a readye will and feruent desire to woorke well whereby it dooth then satisfie the lawe iusomuch that it hath not any thing to exact at his hand or to charge him wythall A fyt and apt similitude Euen as if thou were endebted to a certayne creditour of thyne and didst owe hym a great Summe of money thou mightest after twod wayes satisfie hym and so discharge thy debt First by a free forgeuenes of the debt and cancelling of thy handwriting Secondarily by suretie of another mā who will geue his fayth and trueth for the promising to stand to the payment of all the foresayd money and so by his woorde and Fayth giuen for the obligation wherewith thou wast bound may be blotted and cancelled as voyde and of none effect Lykewyse Christ hath delyuered vs from the lawe as from a creditour Wherefore that liberty is not carnall whereby it is lawfull to doo what thou wilt but is altogether laboursome and paynefull which willingly doth good works so that it needes not any exaction of the lawe In the Seuenth Chapter Chap. 7 he confirmeth this by a certaine similitude of marriage betwene the husband the wyfe A similitude to proue the libertie from the Lawe For euen as the woman if her husband be deade is delyuered from the lawe of the man not so freed that she may not marry but rather contrary nowe first of all she is freed in deede and truly that she may marry another man which she could not doo before shee was delyuered from her former husband so also our conscience is deade to the lawe as long as olde Adam lyueth in vs. But when this olde Adam is mortified by the sctirit there is then liberty for both parties lyke as I haue sayd there was betwixt man and wyfe But the conscience is not free so that it cannot at all doo any woorke but rather so that nowe hee beginneth to cleaue vnto another euen vnto Christ that it should bring foorth fruite vnto God After this he dooth at large explicate the nature of sinne and of the lawe sheewing the lawe to be the force and power of sinne For the olde Adam or nature The nature of synne howe muche more it is pressed down by the law which of his own strength he cānot fulfill so much the more it dooth fret and fume agaynst it And no maruayle seeing it can doo nothing of it selfe but sinne Therefore the lawe is vnto it a punishment and death not that the law is euil but this is done through the faulte of our owne nature which taketh it greuously that any good should be exacted of it whiche shee cannot fulfill not vnlike a sickely and weake man who is heauely displeased if any man require of him to doo those woorkes or that mayne strength which is in a sound and strong man Wherfore Paul here inferreth The nature of the Lawe that the law the more exactly and throughly it is knowen dooth woorke in vs nothing els but this that it dooth the more shew our sinne and increase it by which it dooth slaye vs and make vs guiltie of eternall death and of the wrath of God But of this matter no man can dispute better then he whose conscience hath felt had trial of the terror of the law whose conscience hath fele that shaking and quaking as it were the very foūdations of the earth and who hath wel perceyned it at some time or other to haue caused a great tumult in hys hart Therfore we haue neede of a more effectual and myghtier force in our harts to iustifie vs than the law is Truely they that haue not so knowen the lawe they are altogether blynd and walke in this lyfe in a certayne bolde confidence thinking that they can fulfyll the lawe by their woorks not considering at all howe that the lawe dooth imperiously requyre the whole hart and all the affection Wherefore these men behold not the end of the lawe onely they vewe the couered and hid face of Moses wythout grace who are lyke perpetually to perishe in theyr vayne woorks After these matters The strife betwixt the flesh and the spirit euen in the regenerate the Apostle setteth foorth howe the fleshe and the Spirit in one and the same man dooth stryne and wrastle together and he exhibiteth hymselfe vnto vs as an example thoughe he was instifyed Whereby we myght learne this mortification of the remnaunts of sinne Nowe hee calleth both the Spirit and the fleshe a certayne lawe I haue found sayth he a lawe in my members contrary and repugnant c. For lyke as the lawe of God doth vrge and exact those things to be done of vs which God woulde haue done so the Lawe of the members or of the flesh dooth incite and compell vs to carnall things contrary to the spirit Agayne on the other side the spirit doth labour myghtely agaynst the fleshe mouing vs to spirituall things And this conflict combate dureth so long as we are clothed wyth this fleshe In this man the stryfe is stronger and myghtier in that man more remisse and fainte in euerye man accordingly as the spirit or fleshe is in hym stronger or weaker notwythstanding one and the same man is that fleshe and spirit which so stryueth and wrastleth wyth himselfe vntill Sinne being quyte abolished hee become spirituall In the eight Chapter Chap. 8 he comforteth those which fight so wyth their owne fleshe A comfort for the afflicted conscience of the godly Also he declareth that the reliques of sinne cannot hurt vs that there is no cōdemnation to those which are in Iesus Christ which walke not after the flesh but according to the spirit Furthermore he dooth explicate at large the nature of the flesh and the spirit shewing that the spirit is geuen to man onely by Christ He that hath not the spirie of Christ saith he the same man is none of his Agayne as many as are led by the spirit of God they are the Sonnes of God For it is the Spirite alone whiche dooth innouate and renewe our hartes which dooth make them spiritual which dooth incourage vs with sweete and louing affects and motions lastly which dooth geue testimonie