Spirit it selfe beareth witnesse with our Spirit that we are the Children of God and if Children Heires of God and coheires with Christ who shall be glorified with Christ if hee hath given us grace not onely to beleeve but also to suffer with him and for him he doth not say that our suffering doth make us sonnes and heires of God who shall be glorified with him but the Spirit beareth witnesse that if we suffer with him we are the sonnes and heires of God who shall be glorified with him So 2 Tim. 2. 11 12. If we suffer wee shall reigne with him if we patiently suffer it is not a cause but a signe that we shall reigne with him Rom. 8. 1. There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Iesus But how shall we know who they are that shall be saved by Christ that walke not after the flesh but after the Spirit where walking after the Spirit is not the cause of salvation but a signe of their being in Christ which is the cause Christ is the foundation and cause of all our happinesse and faith is the only instrument whereby wee receiving Christ are united unto him all other graces and duties unto which happinesse any where is ascribed as it is to many Matth. 5. 3. c. Psalm 112. 1. c. are but notes of our being in Christ by faith and presages of our future happinesse Thus in the same chapter Rom. 8. 13. If by the Spirit yee doe mortifie the deeds of the body that is of the flesh as the vulgar Latine rendreth it and as Paul speaketh 1 Cor. 9. 27. Ye shall live So Rom. 10. 13. Whosoever calleth upon the name of the Lord shall be saved that is whosoever hath this grace given him unto him truly to worship God it is an evident signe and assurance unto him that he shall be saved and so of the like Ambrose this is the signe of justification in a man that by that which dwelleth in him he that is justified may appeare to be the Sonne of God § XII As evidences according to which the Lord will judge For so it is often said that God will judge men acccording to their workes Thus Matth. 25. 34 35. Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the kingdome prepared for you from the foundation of the world for when I was hungry you gave me meat c. this rationall particle for though it be called causall and the sentence where it is used is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the rendring of the cause doth not imply a cause properly so called but any argument or reason as I have shewed heretofore as here it implyeth an argument from the fruits as signes and evidences of their bleessednesse in Christ by faith The causes of this sentence of salvation are set downe vers 34. First because they are blessed of God that is justified Secondly because elected for whom God in his eternall purpose hath provided this kingdome Thirdly in that it is called the inheritance purchased for them that truely beleeve in Christ who as soone as they beleeve are by justification blessed as being entitled or having right to this Heavenly inheritance and this is implyed in the Verbe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 inherit shewing that they come to that kingdome by right of inheritance Salvation therefore is given as a freâ—… gift of God depending upon election and justification and as an inheritance purchased by Christ for all true beleevers and therefore not merited by them that are saved But because God hath promised salvation to all that have true faith in Christ which is a secret and inward grace and many men deceive themselves with a vaine opinion and profession of it therefore the Lord will judge of men according to the fruits thereof when as men therefore professing the true faith doe demouâ—…trate their faith by good workes and namely by the workes of charity and mercie they give good proofe of their election whereby this kingdome was prepared for them and of their redemption by which Christ purchased this inheritance for them and of their justification whereby they are entituled to this kingdome and so are blessed of God And therefore according to these fruits Christ pronounceth the sentence of salvation § XIII Wherefore to proceed in my answeres to the afore said objection for by that which hath beene said it appeareth Fifthly that eternall life is not deserved by our obedience because it is the free gift of God depending upon Gods free election Sixthly because we come to it as to an inheritance purchased by Christs merits and not by ours Seventhly though it be a reward yet it presupposeth no merit of ours because it is a free and undeserved reward whereby the Lord out of his meere bounty doth crowne his owne gifts Ea enim est Dei bonitas saith learned Casaubon ut beneficia gratuitò in suos collata aliâ—… beneficiis coronet atque hoc mercedem appellet such is the goodnesse of God that such benefits as he hath freely bestowed upon his children he crowneth with other benefits and this hee calleth reward nihil tamen saith Calvin quasi debitum solvens sed mercedis titulum imponens suis beneficiis not as rendring any debt but imposing the name of reward on his owne benefits § XIV Now let us examine the testimonies which Bellar. alleageth wherein upon condition of obedience eternall life is promised The first is Matth. 5. 20. unlesse your righteousnesse exceed the righteousnes of the Scribes and Pharisees ye shall not enter into the Kingdome of heaven which words containe directly a threatning and not a promise for hee doth not say if your righteousnesse doe exceed the righteousnesse of the Scribes and Pharisees which was but externall and in outward shew yee shall enter into the Kingdome of heaven but if it doe not which argueth that internall righteousnesse is necessary to salvation necessitate 〈◊〉 as causa sine qua non but doth not prove it to be so necessitate efficientiae And so doe other threatnings Heb. 12. 14. Luk. 13. 3. Matth. 25. 42. 1 Cor. 6. 9. Gal. 5. 21. § XV. The second testimony is Mat. 19. 17. If thou wilt enter into life keepe the commandements Where a rich man being a justitiray as many of the Iewes were quia omnis spes salâ—…tis apud Iudaeos in operibus erat non in fide taking it for granted that by his workes he must bee saved but not satisfied as justitiaries never are but ever remaine doubtfull and uncertaine of their justification as wee see in the Papists I say not satisfied with all that obedience which he had performed from his youth up but finding that something still was lacking hee commeth to our Saviour to know what good works those were by doing whereof he might bee saved Good Master saith hee what good thing shall I doe that I may inherit eternall life To
either godly sorrow or repentance doth worke salvation But the Apostle saith that godly sorrow worketh repentance even such repentance as is a forerunner unto salvation or as the faithfull speake Act. 11. 18. That God had given the Gentiles repentance unto life and therefore such a repentance as was not to bee repented of For the Apostle seemeth to have relation unto his owne words verse 8. that he had repented that hee had made them sorry But when hee understood that their sorrow had brought forth in them repentance he did not repent thereof Repentance therefore which is unto salvation is indeed a necessary and undoubted forerunner of salvation and salvation a certaice consequent of repentance necessary I say because without it a sinner cannot bee saved Luke 13. 3. Undoubted because to whom God hath given grace truely to repent it is an infallible token that such an one shall be saved Acts 11. 18. but a cause of salvation it is not neither can bee unlesse hee meane Causa sine qua non § VII His fifth Testimony 2 Cor. 4. 17. For that our tribulation which presently is momentany and light worketh above measure exceedingly an eternall weight of glory in us What could bee spoken more plainely If patience in tribulation doth worke a weight of eternall glory who can deny but that there is some relation betweene patience and salvation Vnlesse perhaps to worke salvation be not to worke something or that upon the working there followeth no relation Answ. If the Apostle had said that patience in affliction doth worke an eternall weight of glory hee might from thence have had some colour that patience hath a relation of efficiency to salvation and yet but a colour But when the Apostle doth not once mention patience how could hee bee so confident as to aske what could bee spoken more plainely The Apostle speaketh of affliction both light and momentany and saith that it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 worketh unto us an eternall weight of glory Here then wee are to consider in what sence affliction which in it selfe is evill and miserable should worke glory and happinesse being light should worke that which is most ponderous being momentany should worke that which is eternall whether as a cause properly and in it owne nature causing or working or as an occasion which besides or rather contrary to it owne nature which is evill is to us sanctified of God to be a meanes and occasion of our so great good And to this purpose let us consult with other places of holy Scripture as Rom. 5. 3 4. and Iam. 1. 12. In the former place the Apostle saith wee rejoyce in afflictions knowing that affliction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 worketh patience and so Saint Iames 1. 3. Not that affliction in it selfe worketh patience but rather the contrary as appeareth in men unregenerate whom it maketh to murmure and sometimes to blaspheme God which the Divell by experience well knew when hee moved God to â—…fflict Iob Chap. 1. 11. 2. 5. Doe but touch all that he hath saith he and againe touch his bone and his flesh and hee will curse thee to thy face But afflictions are said to worke patience in the faithfull because the holy Ghost sanctifieth their afflictions to them and excercising them thereby worketh in them patience and what followeth Patience worketh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 probation that is as I have formerly expounded it maketh him that by affliction is tryed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Not that patience maketh him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but that by patient bearing of affliction hee is found and knowne to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is a sound approved and upright Christian. For therefore God sendeth tryals of all sorts that those who are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may bee knowne Now when men have beene by patient bearing of afflictions found to bee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they are crowned with eternall life as Saint Iames saith Chap. 1. 12. Blessed is the man who patiently beareth temptation that is affliction for when hee shall bee found to bee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hee shall receive the Crowne of life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him The meaning therefore of this place is neither that affliction causeth patience nor patience salvation but that when the godly are afflicted the holy Ghost by affliction where with they are exercised worketh patience in them and patience worketh probation because by patience when they are tryed they are knowne to bee sound and approved and probation worketh hope of salvation For when upon try all men are found to bee approved they shall receive the Crowne of life which God hath freely promised to give them And it is to be observed that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is translated to worke is given not onely to causes but also to occasions And therefore in such places 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth signifie it occasioneth as when it it said Rom. 4. 15. the Law 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 worketh anger § VIII His sixth Testimony Rom. 8. 13. If by the Spirit yee mortifie the deeds of the flesh you shall live whence hee would prove That the mortification of carnall concâ—…piscence is necessary to salvation as a condition and cause and therefore hath relation to salvation from the conditionall particle If and from the antithesis of the words going before if you live according to the flesh you shall die Answ. The conditionall particle used in conditionall or connexive propositions alwayes pretendeth a necessity of consequence insomuch that the connexion if it bee not necessary is not absolutely true but the necessity of efficiency it implyeth none And as for the necessity of consequence that ariseth not onely from causes but from all other arguments And whereas from the Antithesis hee would prove that as to live according to the flesh causeth death so to mortifie the deeds of the flesh by the Spirit causeth life I answere that in both the parts the connexion or consequence is equally that is necessarily true for if it were not necessary it were not absolutely true but it is absolutely true because of the authority of the Scriptures which are infallible which is sufficient to make good the Antithesis But hence it followeth not that the condition of either part should be taken from the same arguments seeing it may bee taken from any other This sufficeth for the Antithesis that if by the Spiriâ—… ye mortifie the deeds of the flesh it is an evident argument that you shall live but if you live according to the flesh it is an evident argument that you shall dye therefore though the condition of the latter part bee the cause of the consequent yet it is not so in the former for sinne is the meritorious cause of damnation but our obedience being a duety and yet but unperfect cannot merit salvation A servant not doing his duety but the contrary is punished A
away unlesse light come in place And this saith he The Apostle manifestly sheweth when he saith David explaineth the blessednesse of a man to whom the Lord imputeth righteousnesse without workes Blâ—…ssed are they whose sinnes are forgiven Vbi saith Bellarmine ex non imputatione peccatorum colligit imputationem justitiae where the Apostle from the not imputing of sin gathereth the imputing of justice which is very true and proveth that here is a full definition of justification containing these two parts the not imputing of sinne to the beleever and imputing of righteousnesse or accepting of him as righteous But where is either the popish deletion of sinne or infusion of righteousnesse unlesse as they have turned remission into deletion so also imputation bee converted into infusion § V. To the proposition also Bellarmine answereth in part and first to the word covering that although to cover and not to impute sinnes is not if you respect the force of the word to abolish or to extinguish sinne yet if they be referred to God the sense importeth so much For nothing can bee bid from God unlesse it bee â—…tterly taken away for all things are naked and open before his eyes Reply Nothing can bee hid from God which hee would not have hid But if it please God to cover our sinnes that hee will not behold them Psalm 85. 2. or to hide his face from them Psal. 51. 9. to cast them behinde his backe Esai 38. 17. not to marke what is done amisse Psalm 130. 3. then hee is said not to see them because he taketh no notice of them but passeth by them Mic. 7. 18. In which sense Charity is said to cover sinnes Prov. 10. 12. § VI. To the word not imputing he saith that God cannot but impute sinne to him that remaâ—…neth a sinner neither can hee repute him righteous unlesse he be made righteous therefore â—…he not imputing of sinne draweth with it veram peccati remissionem that is the extinction of sinne and infusion of righteousnesse Reply he should have said as he said before the not imputing of sinne draweth with it imputing of righteousnesse or the acceptation of a man as righteous both which alwayes goe together because both are wrought together by imputation of Christs righteousnesse whereas therefore hee saith that God cannot but impute sinne where sinne still remaineth it is true of unbeleevers and impenitent sinners who are out of Christ but for them that bee in Christ that is to say beleeving and repentant sinners for whose sinnes Christ hath fully satisfied and whom though in themselves sinners hee hath accepted as righteous in Christ and for whom our Saviour maketh intercession that their sinnes may not be imputed to them hee cannot truly be said to impute sinne unto them It is true also that the Lord reputeth none righteous but such as he maketh righteous both by imputation of Christs righteousnesse and also by regeneration by imputation perfectly and at once by regeneration in part and by degrâ—…s they being not onely Spirit but flesh also in regard whereof though they be righteous in Christ yet in themselves they are sinners by reason of sinne remaining in them though in some measure mortified and not at all imputed So that a regenerate man in divers respects is both a righteous man and a sinner righteous not onely in Christ by imputation of his perfect righteousnesse but also in himselfe by inherent righteousnesse begun in him from which as is from the better part 〈◊〉 hath his denomination in the Scriptures a sinner also in himselfe both in respect of habituall sinnes remaining in him as the remnants of originall sinne and also in respect of actuall transgressions both of commission and of omission whereinto hee doth dayly fall § VII And whereas he saith that these phrases almost alwaies goe together and to that purpose citeth Nehem. 4. 5. Psal. 51. 9 85. 2 and so Psal. 32. 1 2. I answere that deletion of sinne covering of sinne forgiving of sinne and the not imputing of it are used as synonima that is as words of the same signification and that in all such places deletion of sin doth signifie the blotting of them our of Gods remembrance which is as it were his record or debt booke Out of which when God forgiveth sinnes he blotteth or wipeth them out Thus to forgive sins is not to remember them Esai 43. 25. I even I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine owne sake and wil not remember thy sinnes Ier. 31. 34. I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sinne no more And to remember them is not to forgive them Ps. 109. 14. Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembred with the Lord and let not the sinne of his Mother bee blotted out namely of remembrance that is let it not bee forgotten So Neh. 4. 5. Cover not their iniquity and let not their sin be blotted out before thee Ps 51. 9. hide thy face from my sins and blot out all mine iniquities and to the same purpose Psal. 85. 2. forgiving and covering are used in the same fence Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people thou hast covered all theiâ—… sinne and so Psal. 32. 1. 2. forgiving covering not imputing Deletion therefore of sinnes according to the Scriptures is the blotting of them out of the Booke of Gods remembrance In this sense many things are said deleri to bee blotted out or wiped away by oblivion whose memory is wiped out as it is said of the Amalekites Exod. 17. 14. and according to the vulgar Latine translation Deut. 31. 21. nulla delebit oblivio Esth. 9. 28. Eccl. 6. 4. Ierem. 20. 11. 23. 40. 50. 5. So that non imputare is all one with ignoscere 2 Tim. 4. 16. So Iob 42. 8. according to the vulgar Latine 2 Cbro 30. 19. Ezek. 33. 16. § VIII Now if not to impute sinne bee as Bellarmine sâ—…ith to expell sinne by infusion of righteousnesse for according to his concelt infusion of righteousnesse is not a consequent of the expulsion of sinne as here for a poore evasion he saith but expulsion of sinne is a consequent of infusion of righteousnesse for according to his assertion by infusion of righteousnesse sinne is expelled as by accession of light and heat cold and darkenesse is expelled I say if not to impute sinne bee to expell sinne by infusion of justice then by the rule of contraries which is Contrariorum contraria sunt consequentia to impute sinne shall bee to expell righteousnesse by infusion of sinne as it was well objected by Chemnitius To him Bellarmine objecteth want of Logicke for calling those contraria which are contradicentia Where by Bellarmines Logick adversa onely are contraria whereof notwithstanding there are foure sorts for if contraries bee such opposits as are opposed one to one onely then besides adversa as Tully termeth those which Aristotle calleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there are three
c. 4. § 15. c. 6. § 12. 19. 21. If thou wilt bee perfect goâ—… sell all c. l. 7. â—… 7. § 3. 20. 1. ad 16. The parable of the workemen in the vineyard lib. 8. cap. 5. § 6 7. Matth. 25. 21. Well done thou good and faithfull servant c. lib. 8. cap. 5. § 15. 25. 34. 35. Come ye blessed of my Father inherit c. lib. 7. c. 4. § 12. and c. 5. § 11. and lib. 8. c. 5. § 14 15 16. Marke 7. 29. For this saying goe thy way â—… 6. c. 15. § 12. Luke 1. 6. Righteous before God c. lib. 2. cap. 3. § 1. 6. 38. VVith what measure you meet c. lib. 8. cap. 5. § 13. 7. 47. Her sinnes which are many are forgiven for she loved much lib. 6. cap. 12 § 2. 3. 7. 55. Thy faith hath saved thee lib. 6. cap. 15. § 11. 10. 7. The labourer is worthy of his hire lib. 8. cap. 5. § 22. 17. 5. Increase our faith l. 6. c. 3. § 3. 17. 7. 8 9 10. VVhen you have done all say that ye are unprofitable servants lib. 8. cap. 2. § 5. 6 c. 20. 35. They that shall be accounted worthy to obtaine that world c. lib. 8. cap. 5. § 22. Iohn 1. 12. To so many as beleeved he gave power to be the sonnes of God c. lib. 6. cap. 10. § 9. 1. 29. Behold the Lambe of God which takes away the sinne of the world lib. 2. cap. 8. § 2. 6. 64. Iesus knew from the beginning who beleeved not lib. 6. cap. 2 § 7. 12. 42 43. Many of the Rulers beleeved on him but did not confesse him c. lib. 6. cap. 3. § 8. 14. 23. If a man love me he will keep my words and my Father will love him lib. 7. cap. 6. § 22. 15. 13. Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay downe his life for his friends lib. 5. cap. 7. § 3. Acts of the Apostles 13. 38 39. Through this Man is preached unâ—…o you remission of sinnes and by him all that beleeve are justified c. Lib. 4. cap. 6. § 1. 2 c. ad 9. 15. 9. Purifying their hearts by faith Lib. 6. cap. 15. § 9. 15. 10. A yoke which neither we nor our Fathers were able to beare lib. 4. cap. 5. § 9. Epistle to the Romanes 1. 16 17. The Gospell the power of God c. in it is revealed the righteousnesse of God c. Lib. 1. cap. 1. § 1. 3. 24. Being justâ—…fied freely by his race through the redemption c. l. 3. c. 3. 4. 3. 27. Boasting exâ—…luded by what Law c. lib. 7. cap. 3. § 2. 4. 2. If Abraham were justified by workes he hath whereof to glory but not before God lib. 7. cap. 3. § 2. 4. 5 6. 11. The Lord imputeth righteousnesse lib. 1. cap. 3. § 10. 4 4. 5. To him that worketh the reward is not reckoned of grace but of debt but to him that worketh not but beleeveth c lib. 1. cap. 3. § 6. lib. 6. cap. 15. § 7. 4. 20. 21 22. Abraham being strong in faith gave glory to God therfore it was imputed to him for righteousnes lib. 6. § 13. cap. 15. 4. 25. Who was delivered for our sins and rose againe for our justification lib. 4. cap. 12. § 2. 5. 3 4. Tribulation worketh patience and patience probation c. l. 7. c. 5. § 7. 5. 5. The love of God shed abroad in our hearts by his holy Spirit lib. 3. cap. 5. 5. 17 18 19. For as by one mans offence c. lib. 2. cap. 5. § 1. 2 c. lib. 4. cap. 10. § 1. 2 c. ad 7. 5. 19. As by the disobedience of one many were made sinners so by the obedience of one many shall be made righteous lib. 1. cap. 4. § 8. lib. 2. cap. 5. § 1. 2. lib. 2. cap. 8. § 10. lib. 5. cap. 2. § 1. 5. 21. As sinne reigned unto death even so grace c. lib. 4. cap. 12. § 5. 6. 4 6. Wee are burâ—…ed with him by baptisme into death lib. 8. cap. 10. § 17. 6. 13. Neither yeeld your members as instruments of unrighteousnesse c. lib. 4. cap. 12. § 6. 6. 19. As ye have yeelded your members servants to uncleannes c. l. 7. § 19. c. 8. 6. 22. Ye have your fruit unto holines and the end everlasting life lib. 4. c. 12. § 11. 6. 23. For the wages of sinne is death but the gift of God is eternall life c. lib. 8. cap. 2. § 13 c. 7. 18. To will is present with me but how to performe that which is good I finde not lib. 4. cap. 5. § 10. 8. 3. The impossibility of the Law in that it was weake through the flesh c. lib. 4. cap. 5. § 11. 8. 4. That the justification of the Law might bee fulfilled in us lib. 7. cap. 7. § 10. 11. 8. 10. The body is dead by reason of sinne but the Spirit is life because of righteousnesse lib. 3. cap. 5. § 7. 8. lib. 4. cap. 12. § 7 8. 13. If through the Spirit you mortifie the deeds of the body ye shall live lib. 7. cap. 4. § 11. 16. cap. 5. § 8. 8. 10. 15. 23. Lib. 4. cap. 10. § 18. 8. 15. Ye have received the Spirit of adoption c. lib. 3. c. 5. § 6. 8. 17. If yee suffer with him that yee may be glorified with him lib. 7. cap. 4. § 11. 17. 8. 16. 17 18. lib. 7. cap. 5. § 9. 8. 18. The sufferings of this present time are not worthy the glory which shall bee revealed lib. 8. cap. 2. § 18 c. ad 22. 8. 29. Conformable to the image of his sonne lib. 4. cap. 10. § 12. 8. 30. Whom he hath called them hee hath justified lib. 2. cap. 3. § 5. 8. 33 34. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods children it is God that justifieth c. lib. 1. cap. 1. § 4. 10. 4. Christ the end of the Law for righteousnesse to every one that beleeveth lib. 1. cap. 4. § 9. 10. 10. With the heart manbeleeveth unto righteousnesse c. lib. 7. cap. 5. § 10. 10. 13 14. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall bee saved how then shall they call upon him in whom they have not beleeved c. lib. 6. cap. 10. § 8. cap. 15. § 14. The first to the Corinthians 1. 30. Christ made unto us righteousnesse lib. 4. cap. 9. § 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 2. 6. VVe speake wisdome among them that are perfect lib. 5. cap. 7. § 10. 3. 8. Every one shall receive his own reward according to his owne labour lib. 8. c. 5. § 13. 3. 11. Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid which is Iesus Christ. lib. 6. cap. 15. § 8. 3. 12. If any man build upon this foundation gold silver c.
which cannot be understood of justification by inherent righteousnesse For it were very absurd to affirme which the Papists would faine father upon us that to justification by inherent righteousnesse nothing is required but faith only Againe Bellarmine objecteth which in the ninth Chapter where he confesseth justification to be often taken in the Scriptures for declaration of righteousnesse he more plainely expresseth although to justifie were every where taken for to pronounce just yet that were no advantage to us For a sinner cannot truely be pronounced just unlesse he who pronounceth him just doe withall make him just which God onely can doe And therefore hee alone is said to justifie a sinner and by absolving him to make him truely just Answere Whom God pronounceth just them hee maketh just but still the question is of the manner for to justifie by absolving is to make righteous by the not imputing of sinne and imputing of righteousnesse and not by infusion of righteousnesse for that is not to justifie but to sanctifie Howbeit wee freely confesse that whom God justifieth hee also sanctifieth and that whosoever is in CHRIST IESVS hee is a new Creature But howsoever these graces doe alwayes concurre insomuch that whosoever hath the one hath the other and whosoever hath not both hath neither yet notwithstanding they must carefully bee distinguished And that is it which hitherto I have endevoured to prove CAP. VI. Hâ—…w Iustification and Sanctification are to be distinguished § I. NOw let us consider how they are distinguished And first the difference of them may appeare by their contraries The contrary to justifying is condemning the contrary to sanctifying is polluting or defiling with sinne first therefore the word which signifieth to condemne if you respect the force of the word signifieth to make wicked even as the Verbe which signifieth to justifie doth if you respect the force of the word it signifieth to make just As God therefore when hee condemneth is said to make wicked not by infusion of wickednesse but by his sentence pronouncing the party guilty and deputing him to punishment so when hee justifieth he maketh just by his sentence not by infusion of righteousnesse quatenus justificat but by imputation of Christs righteousnesse he absolveth the party from guilt and punishment and accepteth of him as righteous in Christ and as an heire of eternall life secondly the contrary to sanctifying which is to make holy is polluting or defiling with sinne which is to make unholy and uncleane What difference therefore is betweene condemning and polluting the like is betweene justifying and sanctifying And as condemning and polluting are by no meanes to bee confounded no more can justifying and sanctifying § II. In justification wee are freed from the guilt of sinne in sanctification from the corruption or pollution of sinne For God is then said to justifie us when he absolveth us from the guilt of sinne by imputation of Christs righteousnesse and hee is then said to sanctifie us when by his Spirit he mortifieth sinne in us and freeth us in some measure from the corruption thereof § II. Iustification is an action of God without us as also are redemption reconciliation and adoption which three benefits in substance differ not from justification but are all comprehended under it the second first being the same in effect with the former part of justification viz. remission of sinnes and the last being all one with the second part of justification which is acceptation of the beleever as righteousnesse in Christ and as an heire of eternall life as I have shewed heretofore for then are wee said to have redemption when wee have remission of sinnes then is God said to reconcile us unto himselfe when hee doth not impute our sinnes unto us then hee is said to adopt us when hee accepteth of us in Christ as righteous and as heires of eternall life None of these actions doth worke a Reall change in the party but importeth a new relation betweene God and them as hath beene shewed But sanctification is an action of Gods Spirit within us working in us a reall change by mortification of sinne within us and infusion of Grace and righteousnesse into us § IV. Of justification the matter is the righteousnesse of Christ which is in him as the subject but imputed to us the matter of sanctification is a righteousnesse derived from Christ but inherent in us The matter therefore of our justification is perfect but not inherent to wit the most perfect righteousnesse of Christ which is out of us in him The matter of our sanctification is inherent but not perfect to wit justitia inchoata a righteousnesse which is but begun in us and that new obedience which though it be sincere and unfained is with great infirmity performed by us recta forsan sed non pura justitia as Bernard saith § V. Hereupon it followeth that of justification it selfe whereby wee are justified before God there are no degrees though óf the assurance thereof there bee which are the degrees of speciall faith because to the most perfect righteousnesse of Christ by which we are even in our first conversion justified nothing can be added and therefore as I have said the faith of all the faithfull though different in degrees is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of equall worth in the righteousnesse of God and our Saviour Iesus Christ even as the hands of divers men though unequall in strength yet are of equall efficacie in respect of the almes received thereby But of sanctification there are degrees according to the measure of grace received § VI. The forme of justification considered as an action of God is imputation of Christs righteousnesse of sanctification the infusion of righteousnesse For God by imputation of Christs righteousnesse doth justifie us and he doth sanctifie by infusion of righteousnesse § VII The parts of justification are remission or not imputing of sinne unto condemnation and acceptation as righteous unto life both wrought by imputation of Christs righteousnesse unto us The parts of sanctification are mortification whereby wee dye unto sinne and vivification whereby wee live unto righteousnesse rising from the grave of sinne unto newnesse of life and is therefore called the first resurrection both wrought in us by the Spirit of sanctification § VIII Wee are justified by faith not as it is a grace or habit in us that is to say as it is a part of inherent righteousnesse but as the hand or instrument receiving the righteousnesse of Christ which is imputed to them that beleeve but wee are sanctified by faith as it is a part of that righteousnesse which is inherent in us And therefore wee are justified by faith alone because no other grace doth concurre with it to the act of justification none of them serving to receive the righteousnesse of Christ but faith onely but we are not sanctified by faith alone
not the faith of Abraham nor yet of Rabaâ—… Thirdly Saint Iames there concludeth yee see then that a man is justified by works and not by faith only but a 〈◊〉 faith which Calvin calleth umbram fidei justifieth neither alone nor at all Ans. As I said before out of ver 14. by faith we are here to understand faith professed or the profession of faith And to be justified is here understood declarativè Now to declare a man before men to be justified before God two things are required the profession of the faith and a Christian life answerable to his profession and thus faith professed cooperateth with workes to declare a man to bee justified For neither works alone without the profession of the faith will doe it for workes without faith are dead nor the profession of the faith without workes for such a profession is also dead but both must goe together Fourthly saith he this is proved by two comparisons which hee calleth examples The former vers 15. 16. which hee doth very sorrily expresse first saith he he compareth a man having faith without workes to him who seeing the poore wanting food and rayment is content with that knowledge and giveth them no almes For even as it profiteth nothing the poore that the rich know their want although it be a most true knowledge unlesse according to that knowledge they bestow upon them necessaries so true faith 〈◊〉 nothing unlesse a man doe study and endeavour to live according to it Frigidè admodum dilutè For where doth Saint Iames compare true faith to these rich mens idle knowledge But the comparison plainely standeth thus As the profession of charity in giving good words to the poore that want food and raiment depart in peace be ye warmed and filled is vaine and unprofitable if men do not accordingly give them somewhat to supply their necessities so the profession of faith without workes is dead As therefore that charity which is in word and not in deed as Saint Iohn speaketh is counterfeit so that faith which is in profession only severed from good workes is counterfeit and dead Secondly saith he Saint Iames compareth faith without works to a body without Spirit which certainely is a true body though it be dead Answ. this also is contrary to the intendment of Saint Iames who therefore pâ—…oveth that faith which is without works to be no true justifying faith because it is dead For the profession of faith without workes is like to a mans body that is without Spirit yea but saith Bellarmine a dead body is a true body and a dead faith is a true faith I answere as before A dead carcase though it bee a true body in respect of his three dimensions and of his composition of the Elements yet it is not the true originall body of a man for a man is a living creature no more than a dead branch or bough is a true member of a living Tree § VI. His fourth argument is taken from those testimonies which teach that in the Church there are both good and bad in the floore both Wheate and chaffe in the net fishes both good and bad in the flocke sheepe and goats c. His reason standeth thus Some in the Church are wicked and void of Charity and other graces But all in the Church have faith Therefore some that have faith are void of Charity Answ. The assumption is most false for not all that professe faith who from thence are called fideles in opposition to Infidels are endued with true justifying faith which is not of all but of the Elect neither be all of the Church that be in it 1 Ioh. 2. 19. Non existimo quenquam ita desipere saith Augustine ut credat ad Eccesiae pertinere unitatem eum qui non habet charitatem But saith Bellarmine if the wicked who are in the Church did want trut faith then should they chiefly bee reprehended for their unbeleefe but they are reprehended non de amissione fidei sed de omissione operum not for the amission or losse of faith but for the omission of good workes Ans. when their want of faith doth appeare they are reprehended for it But because that is many times hidden and we are in the judgement of Charity to judg them faithfull who professe the faith untill the contrary appeare therfore hypocrites escape reprehension which open sinners do incur Bellarm. conclusion that true justifying faith may in the same party concur with sin and that it may be found in sinners none deny but pharisaicall Papists who hold themselves being after their fashion as namely by Baptisme or absolution justified to be no sinners professing that there is no sin in them nor any thing that God can hate And wheras Bellarmine taketh it for granted that all in the Church have faith and that none want it but such as have lost it as it is lost they say by every act of infidelity hereby is discovered the most pernicious doctrine of the Church of Rome whereby innumerable soules are nuzzled in ignorance infidelity and impenitencio to their utter ruine and perdition For they teach that all that are baptized are ex opere operato justified by infusion of Faith Hope and Charity in which estate they remaine untill they commit some mortall sinne then indeed they lose their charity and their justification but they retaine their faith which was infused in Baptisme and still are to be accounted faithfull men and women though they know nothing nor actually beleeve any thing unlesse to their Baptisme be added popish education by which for the most part they are taught to beleeve as their Church beleeveth that being the safest course which faith disposeth them to justification directing them after the losse of their charity wherein their justification consisted to seeke to the Sacrament of penance that thereby they may recover their justification Once a yeere therefore they goe to their priest to him they formally confesse their grosser sinnes formally they professe themselves sorry for them the priest absolveth them from eternall punishment enjoyning them some petite penance whereby they are to satisfie for the temporall penalty which remaineth after their absolution from the eternall by the priests absolution they all stand actually justified the priest refusing none though in truth they neither have knowledge nor faith nor Repentance or amendment of life nor any other Grace without which for all their sacramentall justifications and other they have none they live and die in a most wofull state of damnation § VII His fifth argument is taken from the proper nature of faith and charitie for saith he if faith and charitie cannot be disjoyned either it is because one is of the nature of the other or else because one necessarily ariseth or springeth from the other but neither of these may be said therfore faith and charitie may be severed Ans. First I deny the disjunctive
grave of sinne § VII And here I am to mention two things both for the comfort of true though weake Christians and also for the detestation of popery These beginnings of faith of hope of love of amendment of life the Papists doe not acknowledge to be graces infused but the fruits of nature assisted with Gods special helpe by which they being holpen of God doe prepare and dispose themselves to the grace of justification which is given to man according to their owne preparative dispositions But forasmuch as these beginnings of faith and other vertues are not the fruits of nature for in our flesh there is no good thing and that which is borne of the flesh is flesh the very disposition of our nature being enmity against God but of the regenerating spirit the weake Christians therefore though the graces of God in them are weake and small even as a graine of Mustard-seed yet if they bee true and unfained they are to be perswaded that the Lord who in his children accepteth the will for the deed will accept of them as the fruits of his spirit seeing hee professeth that hee will not quench the smoaking flaxe nor breake the bruised reed And surely if the Spirit of God bee the author of no charity but that which is perfect then is he author of none in this life wherein wee receive but the first fruits of the Spirit 2. The Papists doe not hold themselves to bee justified untill perfect charity bee infused into them by infusion whereof all sinne is expelled So that in any one of them being justified no sinne remaineth And therefore whiles sinne remaineth in them as it doth alwayes even in the best during this life they are not justified No marvell then that Papists cannot be assured of their justification seeing they may bee assured that they are never justified because they never attaine to perfect righteousnesse in this life and because sinne doth alwayes remaine in them § VIII Our third argument I propound thus None that is a child of wrath and an enemy to God can love God whiles he continueth in that estate But untill their reconciliation and justification all men are children of wrath and enemies to God Therefore before reconciliation and justification no man can love God Bellarmine answereth that a man may love God though God be angry with him which is in respect of Gods children who are justified and reconciled unto him but the question is whether those that are not yet reconciled and justified can love God wee know that Gods anger may stand with reconciliation For God is angry with his dearest Children when they sinne against him and in his anger hee doth also correct them with whom notwithstanding he is reconciled for he doth correct them in love and for their good Gods children therefore may love God where they know him to be justly angry with them but they that are enemies as all are untill they be reconciled doe not love God but the very disposition of their corrupt nature is enmity against God § IX His fifth disposition is Penitencie which as he saith is a sorow for sinne and a detestation of it which I deny not ordinarily to be a disposition in the children of God to repentance But this is to be understood of the godly sorrow which some call contrition which is not to be found in naturall men which is a sorrow conceived not so much for the punishment deserved as for the offence of God whom they have displeased and dishonoured being so gracious a God unto them This proceedeth from faith and from love Of this it is said 2 Cor. 7. 10. that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 godly sorrow worketh repentance never to be repented of As for that sorrow which is conceived not for the offence of God but for the shame and punishment which follow sinne which some call attrition it is of the same nature with servile fearâ—… which though in it owne nature it rather driveth from God than draweth to him as we see in Iudas yet God is pleased sometimes to use it as a meanes to draw his elect unto him But though contrition dispose men to repentance and attrition be used sometimes as a preparative to faith because humiliation is the way to exaltation yet neither of both justifie and therefore for all them faith alone doth justifie § X. But let us examine his proofes wherein though his premisses be very weake yet his conclusion as allwayes is very confident His proofes are these Act. 11. 18. Therefore God hath given to the Gentiles penance unto life 2 Cor. 7. 10. The sorrow which is according unto God worketh penance to salvation that is stable Ezek. 18. 27. when a wicked man shall turne himselfe from his wickednesse hee shall quicken his soule What can be more cleare if penance be given of God unto life that is to obtaine life if sorrow for sinne undertaken for God worke penance to salvation if he which doth penance doth quicken his owne soule how doth faith alone justifie or how doth penance not justifie Answ. When I consider your arguments I wonder at your confidence The word which in the vulgar latine is in the two first places translated poenitentia and by the Rhemists penance in the originall is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is not sorrow for sin but repentance it selfe which importeth a change of a mans mind and disposition and is not a forerunner but a consequent of justification before God which in the first place is called repentance unto life because though it bee no cause but a consequent of justification yet it is the way to life and a necessary forerunner to glorification The godly sorrow in the second place is commended as an excellent disposition to the renewing ofrepentance in the faithfull not to bee repented of The third Bellarmine readeth thus when a wicked man shall turne himselfe from his wickednesse hee shall make alive his soule as if a wicked man could either turne himselfe from his wickednesse or quicken his owne soule or as if a dead man could restore himselfe to life But then is the wicked turned when God doth turne him and then is his soule quickned when God doth quicken him The words are when the wicked turneth from his wickednesse hee shall preserve his soule from death that is as it is expounded in the next verse he shall live Howsoever this place speaketh not of any foregoing disposition but of repentance it selfe which in order of nature never goeth before justification though many times it be discerned before it as the cause many times is knowne by the effect But not whatsoever is necessary to salvation doth justifie All the graces of sanctification and namely repentance have their necessary use But justification is ascribed onely to faith because it is the onely instrument ordained of God to receive Christ who onely is our righteousnesse § XI His sixth
no man lay besides that which is laid which is Christ Iesus By foundation saith hee Augustine and other interpreters understand faith in CHRIST But Paul himselfe say I in expresse termes saith that this foundation is Christ himselfe who most properly is called the foundation of his Church If therefore saith bee but the beginning and a part of justification because in Bellarmines conceit it is called the foundation then Christ himselfe the author and finisher of our faith and our perfect Saviour who most properly is the foundation shall afford us but a beginning and a part of our justification But be it that faith is called the foundation yet I would rather thinke that it is called the foundation relatively because Christ whom it apprehendeth is the foundation than that Christ should bee called the foundation because faith is Sometimes faith is put for the object of it and so is hope and thus some understand Gal. 3. 23 25. But that Christ should bee put for faith I suppose is not usuall But whereof is it the foundation it is the foundation the beginning the root the fountaine of Sanctification and of all inherent righteousnesse yet of justification it is not but Christ onely who alone is the foundation of all our happinesse Augustine indeed by foundation understandeth not onely Christ himselfe but faith also working by love which as Bellarmine said in the last argument is not as here he speaketh the beginning but the perfection of justice Chrysostome and Theophylact whom hee quoteth speake not of faith but of Christ onely Howbeit if faith must be held to be this foundation I doubt not but that according to the Scriptures we are to understand the doctrine of faith concerning Christ which often times is called faith which foundation the Apostle laid when hee preached the Gospell and whereupon other preachers are to build This argument therefore was farre fetched and cannot be brought to conclude the point The foundation is Christ and not faith Or if faith then either the habit of faith working by love which is not the beginning or foundation of justification but of sanctification or the doctrine of faith of which the question is not understood § IX His third testimony is Act. 15. 9. purifying their hearts by faith which plainely speaketh not of justification but of sanctification For we having received Christ by faith hee dwelleth in our hearts by faith and by his Spirit applying unto us not onely the merit of Christ his death and resurrection to our justification but also the virtue and efficacie of his death to mortifie sinne in us and of his resurrection to raise us to newnesse of life The testimonies of the Fathers serve all to prove that saith is the foundation and beginning of a godly life which because we doe freely confesse he might have forborne to prove § X. The third part of his assumption was that faith doth obtaine remission of sinnes and after a sort merit justification and therefore justifieth not by receiving and apprehending the promise Answ. In the antecedent of this reason Bellarmine contradicteth the Councill of Trent which hath decreed nihil eorum quae justificationem precedunt sive fides sive opera ipsam justificationis gratiam promeretur None of those things which goe before justification whether faith or workes doe merit the grace of justification But here Bellarmine ought to have proved three things which because he could not prove he taketh for granted The first is that by other things besides faith we doe merit justification which notwithstanding God doth grant us gratis that is freely and without merit For if faith did merit it which nothing else in us can doe it would follow that faith doth justifie alonâ—… The second that faith doth not obtaine remission of sinnes by receiving and apprehending the object which is Christ. But the Scriptures say plainely that by beleeving in Christ that is by receiving of him we receive remission of sinne The third that impetrare est quodammodò mereri to impetrate is after a sort to merit for then what by faithfull prayer we begge of God we should be said to merit and in like manner the beggar should by begging merit his almes But what saith Bellarmine elsewhere Multum inteâ—…esse inter meritum impetrationem that there is great difference betweene merit and impetration and Thomas Impetramus ea quâ—… non meremur Meritum nititur justitia Dei impetratio benignitate wee impetrate those things which we doe not merit Merit relieth upon Gods justice Impetration on his bounty But let us examine his proofes § XI The first out of Luk. 7. 50. where our Saviour telleth the Woman to whom he had said thy sinnes are forgiven thee that her faith had saved her for saith he it could not wel be said that her faith had saved her from her sinnes that is justified her if it conduced no more to justification than onely to receive the pardon For who would say to a poore man who onely put forth his hand to receive the almes thine hand hath releeved thee or to a sicke man who received a medicine with his hand thy hand hath cured thee Answ. Bellarmine before Chap. 13. alleaged this place to prove that the great love of this Woman towards Christ had procured the remission of sinnes which if it had beene true would have proved that not her faith but her love had saved her Secondly when our Saviour saith thy faith namely in me hath saved thee his meaning is that himselfe being received by faith had saved her As for the similitude of the hand I say thus that if releefe by almes or cure by Phyâ—…cke were promised upon this condition onely that whosoever would but put forth his hand to receive the almes or the Physicke should be releeved or cured it might truely be said that by the hand as the instrument â—…elatively the party is releeved or cured For such gracious promises hath God made to us that if we shall but put foorth the hand of faith to receive Christ wee shall bee justified and saved from our sinnes And such is the accompt that he maketh of this instrument by which onely we receive Christ that for our comfort he may say unto any true beleever as hee did to the woman thy faith hath saved thee For as when the people of Israell were bitten by the fiery Serpents the Lord having promised safely to all that should but liâ—…t up their eyes to behold the brasen Serpent which Moses had set on high to that purpose it might then have beene said of those that were saved that their eye had cured them So our Saviour was lift up upon the crosse that whosoever doth but looke upon him with the eye of faith shall be saved Not that the hand absolutely doth releeve or cure but relatively in respect of the almes or of the medicine which it doth receive Nor
justifie not onely peâ—…petuall in the Scriptures but also ordinary in the speeches and writings of men Wherein God is said to justifie men and man is said to justifie God and one man is said to justifie another and one and the same man to justifie himselfe without any signification of infusing righteousnesse into him but by cleering him and pronouncing him just Secondly that there is no further respect to be had in this controversie to the notation of the Latine or English word than as it is a true translation of the Hebrew word in the old Testament and of the Greek in the new now I shall make it evident that the Hebrew hitsdiq and so the greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is Verbum forensâ—… a judiciall word taken from the courts of justice which being attributed to the Iudge is opposed to condemning and signifieth to absolve or to give sentence with the party questioned § III. In the definition we consider justification as an action of God whose alone worke it is and so the Scriptures consider it in many places as Rom. 8. 33. It is God that doth justifie for it is he only that forgiveth sinnes Esa. 43. 25. It is he onely that can by making us righteous in Christ give us right and title to the kingdome of heaven It is no action therefore of our owne or of any creature neither is it wrought by our owne preparations and dispositions For although every man is bound to use all meanes to attaine to justification yet it is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth but of God that sheweth mercy For if God bee the agent in justifying us then are wee the patients And for that cause we are never in the Scriptures exhorted to justification or to the parts thereof which are not our Officia or duties but Gods Beneficia as wee are to the duties of sanctification whereunto we being already justified and regenerated doe cooperate with the Spirâ—…t of grace § IIII. Secondly when we say it is an action of God Imputing the righteousnesse of Christ and absolving the beleeving sinner and accepting him c. wee consider it not as an action of God within us working a positive or reall change as in sanctification but as an action of God without us For it is a judiciall act of God as the Iudge oppoâ—…ed to condemning And therefore as by his sentence hee doth condemne that is make wicked so by his sentence hee doth justifie that is of guilty he maketh not guilty 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by his sentence God doth justifie as Chrysostome and Oecumenius note upon Rom. 8. 33. where a judiciall proceeding in the businesse of justification is plainely described For there is mention of the accuser of Gods elect there is God that justifieth and none to condemne there is the advocate and intercessor to plead for us And as in condemning though the hebrew word Hirshiah opposed to justifying signifieth to make wicked for as Tsady is to be just and Hitsdiq to make just that is to justifie so Rashah to be wicked and Hirshiah to make wicked that is to condemne yet God by condemning doth not make a reall or positive change by infusion of wickednesse into the party whom by his sentence hee maketh wicked that is condemneth so in justifying though the word doe signifie to make righteous yet the Lord doth not Quatenus justificat as he justifieth worke a reall or positive mutation in the party whom by his sentence he maketh just that is justifieth in respect of any inward dispositions or qualities but onely a relative change or mutation in respect of his estate and condition before God and in respect of some relations to him It is true â—…hat in our justification we are of sinners made righteous but the righteousnesse which we have by justification standeth in remission of sinne and acceptation or constitution of us as righteous not in our selves but in Christ both which are wrought by imputation of his righteousnesse It is true also that whom God doth justifie he doth also sanctifie But in justification he doth not worke a reall change in the party as he doth in sanctification And this 〈◊〉 in the like actions of God viz. adoption redemption and reconciliation which three in substance differ not from justification For all agree in the not imputing of sinne by imputation of Christs righteousnesse but are diversified by certaine relations all which concurre in justification that men having their sinnes forgiven whereby they had beene either the children of the devill by adoption are made the sonnes of God or the vassals and bondslaves of sinne and Satan are by redemption made the servants of God or enemies to God by their reconciliation become his favourites or guilty of sinne and damnation in their justification they are accepted as righteous in Christ and consequently become Gods servants Gods favourites Gods sonnes and if sonnes then also heires of eternall life As therefore in adoption redemption reconciliation there is no reall change made in the party but onely a new relation acquired of being a sonne and hâ—…ire to the adoptour a servant to the redeemer a favourite to the reconciler which before he was not so neither in justification is there a reall or positive change as the Papists would have it but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 relative or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is in relation in respect of those relations even now mentioned and in respect of his estatâ—… and condition before God being in his justification translated from the estate of damnation unto the state of salvation Even as the councell of Trent it selfe defineth justification to be a translation from that state wherein a man is borne the sonne of the first Adam into a state of grace and adoption of Gods sonnes through the second Adam Iesus Christ our Saviour which is done without any reall change wrought in the party as hee is justified For who before was guilty of sinne and damnation the same man remaining a sinner in himselfe and in himselfe worthy of damnation is in his justification absolved from the guilt of sinne and accepted as râ—…teous in Christ in whom also hee is made a servant a favourite a sonne of God and consequently as I said in the definition an heire of eternall life § V. And yet we deny not but that those whom God reconcileth unto himselfe receiving them into his grace and â—…avour in Christ them also he endueth in some measure with the graces of his Spirit whom he adopteth to be his sonnes in Christ them also he regenerateth by his holy Spirit whom he redeemeth from the guilt of sinne he also freeth from the dominion of sinne and whom he justifieth by faith he also sanctifieth by his Spirit that is whom he maketh just by imputation them also he maketh just by infusion of righteousnesse to whom he imputeth the merit of Christ his death and
resurrection apprehended by faith to them also he applieth the vertue and efficacie of Christs death and resurrection both to mortifie sinne in them and to raise them up to newnesse of life By this doctrine we may trie our selves whether we be reconciled redeemed adopted justified For hereby it shall appeare that God hath received us into his grace if he hath also endued us with his grace Chasidim as they are called in the Scriptures the favourites of God are usually translated his holy ones and all the faithfull even in this life are termed Saints Hereby it will appeare that we are redeemed from the guilt of sinne if we be also freed from the dominion of sinne Hereby it will appeare that we are adopted if 〈◊〉 be also regeneratech Hereby it will appeare that we are justified if we â—…e also in some measure sanctified But yet howsoever these graces â—…waies goe together and cannot be severed yet must we carefully distinguish betwixt the grace of God which is in himselfe and his graces which are in us betwixt the actions of Gods grace without us and the actions of his grace within us Wherefore though adoption and regeneration though receiving into grace and enduing with grace though redeeming from the guilt and purging in some measure from the corruption of sinne though justification and sanctification are alwaies unseparable companions yet we may not with the Papists confound them and so place the matter of justification and merit of salvation in our selves as they wickedly doe but we are religiously to distinguish them as they are in themselves truly and really distinguished to the praise of the glory that is the glorious praise of his grace not of that which is in us but of that which is in himselfe whereby he hath graciously accepted us in his beloved Ephes. 1. 6. § VI. Thirdly when we say it is an action of God imputing to a beleeving sinner c. We consider it not as a suddaine and momentany action which is of no continuance as if all our sinnes both past present and to come are remitted in an instant but as an act of God continued from our vocation wherein the grace of faith is begotten in us to our glorification which is the end of our faith For as this action of God is called the justification of a sinner so whiles we continue sinners we have still need to be justified And as we alwaies have sinne in this life so that it may not be imputed we have need that Christs righteousnesse should be imputed unto us and that as we sinne daily so Christ our advocate should continually make intercession for us that notwithstanding our manifold slippes whereinto through humane frailety we fall and notwithstanding those manifold infirmities and corruptions which remaine in us as the relikes of originall sinne we may be continued in the grace and favour of God by the continued imputation of Christs righteousnesse obtained by his continuall intercession for us For therefore doth he continue his intercession for us that our justification may bee continued to us and that as wee sinne daily so wee may daily seeke and obtaine pardon But if justification should so be wrought once and at once as that after that act wrought in an instance we should no more be justified nor no more neede remission of sinne then must we erroniously conceive that the sinnes which after the first moment of our justification we doe commit are actually remitted before they bee committed whereas God forgiveth onely sinnes past Rom. 3. 25. So shall we not onely set open a gap to all licentiousnesse for who will so feare to commit sinne as he ought or when he hath committed it so sue for the pardon thereof who is perswaded beforehand that it is already remitted but also shall open the mouthes of our adversaries who will be ready to say that we Protestants ought not to pray for remission of sinne because in our opinion as they say we need it not but to this calumniation of the Papist I have elsewhere answered § VII If it be said that it is a received opinion among many that justificatio simul semel fit that justification is wrought at once and but once I answere that that assertion is not to be admitted without distinction nor without good caution The distinction is this that there is a justification of a sinner before God in 〈◊〉 coelesti which properly is called justification and is that which here I have defined and there is a justification whereby a man already justified before God is justified in foro conscientiâ—… in the court of his owne conscience which is not properly justification it selfe but the assurance of it To this latter that assertion of but once and at once cannot in any good sense be applied For neither is the full assurance of our justification attained at once but by degrees wherein we are to labour and to give diligence to make as our election and calling so also our justification more and more sure unto us Neither is it given but once For by committing of any crime or any grievous sinne by spirituall desertions by the â—…orcible temptations of Satan this act of spirituall faith which we call assurance may be interrupted or lost for a time and yet by repentance by prayer and practise of pietie it may be recovered againe and therefore not given but once To the former indeed it may be applied in both parts but with a twofold caution first in respect of simul at once if it be understood as excluding degrees and not continuance Namely that we are not justified by degrees and as it were by little and little as though our justification were not perfect at the first For no sooner doth a man truly beleeve in Christ but the righteousnesse of Christ is imputed to him and in and by that righteousnesse he standeth righteous before God as well at the first as at the last that righteousnesse of Christ by which he is justified whether first or last being most perfect Therefore the righteousnesse of justification cannot be increased neither doth our justification before God admit degrees either in one and the same person or yet in diverse men howsoever the assurance of justification and the worke of sanctification whereby we are to be renewed in the inner man day by day have degrees according to the degrees of our faith and according to the measure of grace received Secondly when it is said that we are justified before God semel but once that also may be admitted if by once be meant one continuall act For as we are regenerated but once because ut semel nascimur ita semel renascimur so faith which is wrought in our regeneration is given but once For that which Saint Iude saith verse 3. of faith once given is no lesse true of the habit than of the doctrine of faith which habit being once had is never utterly lost