and mightie Prince Edvvarde Duke of Somerset for the seeking and quiet establishing of peace and rightuousnesse in the Churche of Englande immediatly vpon the commotions sodainly raised vp in the VVest partes as also in Suffolke and Nâ—â—â—olke in the yeare of our Lord Christe 1549. 86 ¶ A Paraphrase vpon the Epistle of the holy Apostle S. Paule to the Romanes The first Chapter I Paul whom men heretofore haue called Saule that is to say one which is now become of a busie and troublesome felow or of a very tyrant and persecuter a well stayed peaceable and quiet man and was bound many yeres agone vnder the law of Moyses strayghtly to serue and obey him but now at this tyme â—n made frée from him set at libertie and prefâ—rred to the highe fréedome seruice and dignitie of the great God our Lorde Iesus Chryst yet notwithstanding I am not thereby falne into the corrupte state of Apostacie or a cleane forsaker of Moyses institutions but am called to be Chrystes true messanger and therefore now more highly aduaunced than when I was one of the stoute and mightie dâ—â—â—â—ders of the Pharisies secte against Moyses For the cause thereof was that béeing then not truely godly nor ledde by the spirite of truthe and although learned yet not rightly learned but a wanderer in darkenesse and error I missed very farre from the veritie and from the true vnderstanding of the holy law of god But now I may rightly be called a true Pharisie that is one which by grace am chosen separated and put aparte by the Lorde Iesus Chryst him selfe who hath endued me with the spirite of truth to preach and teache the Gospell of his eternall father which is not any new Gospell of lately inuented but the same that was promised long before by the holy Prophets vppon the sonne of man which at hys tyme appoynted was borne of the stocke of Dauid as touching the fleshe and was also declared of the holy Ghoste to bée the eternall Sonne of the euerlasting God as moste truely appeareth bycause after hys bodily death and buriall in the Sepulchre he triumphantly rose agayne euen with the same very flesh In which mightie and notable mysterie he dyd not only teache vs the resurrection also to come of our fleshe but also him selfe to be the beginner and onely author of the same By whom I am appoynted to the function and high office of an Apostle that like as the Gospell of God hath ben promulgate and taught among the nation of the Iewes so it might also by me be declared vnto the Gentiles Not to any suche intente that they should be burdened with the mightinesse and charges of the law but rather that they shoulde submitte them selues to the onely true fayth in Iesus Chryste and to be brought herevnto not by the vayne gloses of Philosophers of the which sort all you be that are Gentiles but by receiuing the name of Chryst in holy baptisme and so made the children of God by adoption to refrayne your selues from al vayne and fantasticall persuasions paynted and damnable opinions as be now and long hath ben amongst you inasmuche as the adoption it selfe is through grace in Chryst Iesus generally offered to all men Therfore I say to al you that be at Rome the faythfull louers of God and forsakers of your olde iniquities I wish the grace mercy and peace of God not such peace verily as the world giueth but the very true perfect and new peace which onely procéedeth from the father almightie God of heauen And first of all things I thanke the same father of heauen for you that it hath pleased him by his sonne Iesus Chryst to giue this inestimable benefite vnto you Which although you haue ben heretofore al infidels miscreants and idolaters deserued by Gods iustice to be eternally damned yet now he wil that your fayth and profession shuld in such sort be changed made 〈…〉 strong in him that it may most happily redounde to your â—â—â—noume and speciall commendation throughout all the whole world The which thing considering my deare tender loue towards you can not be but most ioyfull and comfortable to me for God the father is my recorde whom I now serue not in vayne and dead Ceremonies but in the powre of his spirite preaching the glad tidings of his deare sonne that always from time to time I haue you in my thought remembraunce praying continually to God that if it be possible I might once come vnto you and sée you at Rome for I thinke very long there to sée you and to be made ioyfull of your godly companies Not séeking therby mine owne profite or singuler aduauntage but most hartily desirous to bestow vpon you some healthsome frute of my Apostleship and to exhibite vnto you not the grosse seruice or dead Ceremonies of Moses but the very delectable yea most swete and spiritual good taste of the sauiour Iesus Christ and to speake vnto you after mine affection familiaritie togither to the ende that one of vs may comfort another in the onely true fayth which wée now haue in our Lord Iesus and to the confirmation establishing one another in the same heauenly gifte All whiche though they be not yet hitherto done as moste rightly behoueth surely for my parte I am in no faulte thereof for I haue most earnestly wished to haue ben among you but alas I haue had many impediments and lets to the contrary And for this cause specially I haue desired to sée you that it might bée my lotte and good happe aswell to profite you and to doo you good as I haue doone vnto other Nations For as God him selfe is an vniuersall God and Lorde of mercy to all men euen so by his mercy is the Gospell vniuersall and in time to be vttered to all nations Wherefore in déede I confesse it my duetie not onely to declare the holy Gospell to the Iew but also to the Gentile not onely to the wise and learned but also to the most barbarous rude vnlearned yea to euery man whatsoeuer he be without exception onlesse he most wickedly and with fixed will withstande and resist the same For which consideration in the zeale of my Lorde Chryst to do you good mine hart melteth within me vntil I preache the Gospell also vnto you that be at Rome And you shall vnderstande that as I feare not at all the state of your great mighty famouse and pompouse Empire so am I not ashamed of the humble and base state or appearaunce of Chrysts kingdome nor of the preaching of his holy Gospell in the simplicitie and plainenesse therof which although it bée to the vnfaythfull but a scoffe a mocke or scorne yet is the same to all the faythfull the moste high mightie and puissaunt vertue of GOD through which onely they bée brought to the hauen of felicitie and to eternall saluation The
euery man according to the measure of the giuing of Christ the head agréeing to this For God giueth not the spirit to him by measure And as pertaining to the donation we read this For he shall receyue of mine and shall declare it vnto you In like sorte to the Ephesians 4. But grace is giuen to euery one of vs according to the measure of the gift of Christe 64 And so only the sainctes are partakers of spiritual perfection of part and from member to member of which Christ is fully in possession whome the kingly annoynting of the fathers power glory and maiestie annoynteth without measure to all perfection of God the father Whereunto also this of the Apostle pertaineth you are Christes and Christe is Gods. You I say are Christes as the membres of the head but Christe is Gods as the heade of the vniuersall diuinitie For that perfection of the body which is poured out throughout all the members the same resteth whole in Christe the head Esay 11. 65 This is it which the Apostle calleth corporally and héereunto also pertaineth that woorde the fulnesse or complement whereupon the Psalme sayth of Christ The Lord sayd vnto my lord And an other Psalme sayth of the Sainctes I haue sayd yée are Gods. And Peter sayth ye are partakers of the diuine nature 66 Which places are truely to be vnderstanded as the new borne are truely called the children of god For as there is a true regeneration euen so there is a true participation and possession of the diuine nature and of the diuine lighte wisedome and rightuousnesse This is our hope and vocation in Christ the head of the participation of the substāce of God and of the nature of the father by that we be borne a newe of the spirite of Christ Iohn 3. 1. Pet. 1. Rom. 8. Gal. 4. 67 But we speake héere of Christe as the treating of him pertaineth to the cause of regeneration which commeth of the spirite For what the scripture speaketh of the eternall word we holily woorship and will speake thereof in an other place 68 Therfore we be not called the sonnes of God newe men after the same sort that Christ is For he is the naturall sonne of God and the newe man bothe within and wythout But we be the sonnes of God by adoption and new men only inwardly in this world He is borne the sonne of God and the newe man We are begotten the children of death and of sinne by the first Adam and we are borne the sonnes of God and a newe creature by the second Adam For of the earth we be earthie and in Christ the heauenly man we are taken to grace and to the enheritance of sonnes by newe birth which shall in the day of resurrection put on newe fleshe vppon vs euen of the fleshe of Christe 69 So that héer being renued while we liue in this world we consist of two men of an outwarde and inwarde man of a body corrupted with concupiscence and of a minde repaired with the spirite of the newe couenaunt 70 The body once corrupted is not restored in this world for it is all earthie tending to the earth of his owne will and waight And therefore he also returneth vnto it bicause of the sentence once giuen vppon it when the temprament of this worldes elements is dissolued of which it is made as Salomon oft teacheth in this sermon And is now and then mortified that it folowe not the desires to which he is inclined that firie spirit of the heauenly new birth quite burning them vp 71 The inner man therefore that is the minde which is put into this body to rule it is only renued in this life to the felowship of the diuine light 72 Wherefore they that be regenerate in this fraile life cary men about with them as cōtrary the one to the other as are light and darkenesse death and life and as farre dissident as heauen and earth The outwarde and olde man is visible the inward and new man is inuisible The outwarde man is earthly and the inwarde man is heauenly The outward man is conceiued of carnal seede and the inward man is strengthened with the spiritual séede of the word of the liuing god The outward man is fed with meats that will perish but the inward man groweth with eternal foode The one is made flesh of the flesh of man the other is made a spirit of the spirit of God. 73 The outwarde man is euer polluted and sinneth but the inward and new man neuer neither cannot it sinne as it cannot die 74 And no maruel for as much as thou shalt finde contrary lawes in them The one of sinne which holdeth vs downe to the ground persuading earthy and carnal desires the other calleth vs vpwarde burning in desires of heauenly things where a man may sée the maruellous coniunction of bothe men set together for experience of so great things not without the maruellous councels of the diuine prouidence 75 Further the olde man is created of God and therefore made of nothing the newe man is borne of God so of something namely of his spirite Wherof he neuer dieth he neuer waxeth olde And these are the things which Christ disputeth of the life eternal which true faith bringeth that is to say the spirit of Gods light Vppon this poynt standeth the hope and consolation of Sainctes 76 By this faith the outwarde man obtaineth pardone if the spirite of the inwarde man remurmur against him while we dwel in this life For faithe staide vp with the rightuousnesse of an other that is with Christe which being innocent died for offenders deliuereth the faithfull from dampnatorie sentence of death and sinne and draweth backe the desires of the olde man that he do them not the bridle of the spirit caste in his téethe For it is not obtained that they haue no being in vs and that they wholely be destroyed in this worlde as long as this flesh liueth the resurrection giueth that in which both the body it selfe shall be also raised vp out of the duste of the earth from deathe vnto life to fulfill the body of Christe which as the head to the body went before being the first begotten sonne of the newe creature and the vnspotted firste frutes of the kingdome of the fathers maiestie 77 For what life shal the head haue without the body or the body without the members 78 And the fall of the first man so repaired and amended we shal be restored to that from whence we fel that is to wit to rightuousnesse and innocencie but in a far better state and condition for in this innocencie the earthy life shal be chāged for an heauenly mortalitie for immortalitie and after sinne fall shall be changed for resurrection and the ignomie of the crosse for glory So great is the goodnesse and wisdom of God which thus farre and this way must be reuealed 79
with them and not of the sauour of him who giueth rewards Agayne if they haue any punishment for not kéeping of the lawe they duely suffer it for their iust deserts In which things they bée likened to a dayly workeman which if he worke and make an ende of his charge and appoynted taske he hath his wages therefore but if he loyter and â—â—outhfully driue the day away with idlenesse he is then duely punished for it But the Gentiles which knowe not the Ceremonies of the law and the Iewes that forsake the sayde Ceremonies turning to the fayth in Chryst and worke not according to the couenaunts of the law but â—â—â—â—ly and wholly beléeue in him whiche giueth iustification of his owne frée motion and fauour in all suche the fayth of Abraham is an occasion that they be iustified Which procéedeth not of the dignitie of the lawe but of onely fayth to the which no man is enforced or constrayned but is gently desired and allured therevnto through the ioyfull and swéete promises of God and the deseruings of his deare sonne Iesus Chryst to the ende that the sayde fayth should be voluntarie and not seruile or bond by which we beléeue in Chryst And that it may come of the grace of God and not of any couenaunt that we be numbred among the iuste by him the kingly Prophete Dauid the highest glory among all the Iewes after Abraham in whom was promised vnto vs Chryst the onely fountayne of our iustification maketh muche for our parte in this poynt For he describeth vnto vs in the .xxxij. Psalme our iustification not to come of the workes of the Law as due vnto vs but onely of the goodnesse of God as it is declared in the Gospell Blessed are they sayth he whose offences be forgiuen and whose sinnes are couered And blessed is that man vnto whom the Lorde imputeth no sinne Héere you perceiue that the sinnes be forgiuen which are done agaynst the lawe of Moyses Also you perceiue those offences to be forgiuen that are done agaynst the law of Nature And you perceiue also that no kynde of sinne is imputed vnto him that hath obteyned his blessednesse by Chryst and that without any mention making of kéeping the law Therefore the Iewes haue no good ground to say that the blessednesse described of Dauid and the prayse of iustification that was imputed to Abraham appertayneth onely to them and not also vnto the Gentiles let them answere me and tell me whether this blessednesse that is here promised doth onely appertayne to them that be circumcised and kéepe the custome of the law and not also to the vncircumcised which know not the ceremonies thereof I doubte not but they will say that iustification was imputed to Abraham before circumcision which considering he was the head and the beginning of all the Iewish nation it is necessarie that all the 〈…〉 be so ordered For the children can chalenge none other right than their fathers had before It is openly knoweÌ„ that Abraham was called righteous but they can not say that it was for circumcisioÌ„ sake but only for his faith without any mention of circuÌ„cision And al the Iewes do know that his iustification could not come to him throgh his circumcision séeing that at the present time wheÌ„ he was called righteous he was neither circumcised nor coÌ„maunded to be circumcised And yet he beleued long before that Christ shold be borne of his posteritie by whoÌ„ they shold al obteine this blessednesse all nations else and for this cause Abraham was pronounced righteous Then after that he was circuÌ„cised not to the ende it should iustifie him but that it should be a certaine badge or note amongst men and not with God by which all men should be knowen to be his children and of his posteritie aswell they that were circumcised as not circumcised so that they onely beléeued in Iesus Chryst If the circumcised had beléeued and had ben onely called righteous it might peraduenture haue ben thought that saluation perteined onely vnto the Iewes But before Abraham was commaunded to be circuÌ„cised he was called righteous through the dignitie of his faith for which cause the Gentiles through their faith in christ are become the children of Abraham Yet notwithstanding it was necessarie for him to be circumcised not for that it should iustifie him which was alredy fulfilled but that it should be a certayne figure of the true circumcision to come that is of an innocent and chast life to be in all such as should beléeue in Iesus Chryst Which maner of circumcision is not wrought with a flint stone to cut therwith the priuie meÌ„bers but with the spirit to cut away all the vaine thoughts of the hart And further circumcision was giuen to AbrahaÌ„ that it might be a sure testimonie vnto him that the promise of god for his posterity shold not immediatly be perfourmed in his sonne Isaac but at the time appoynted to be accomplished in the sonne of god And after this sort béeing the example of fayth be is vnderstanded the father of al nations which imitating folowing him beleue in Iesus Christ without al carnal circumcision therfore like as iustification was imputed to AbrahaÌ„ without circuÌ„cisioÌ„ so it shal be imputed to al other natioÌ„s for their iustification the beleue in christ as the true begotten children of AbrahaÌ„ Howbeit AbrahaÌ„ is the father of all natioÌ„s after such a sort that the Iewes be not secluded from him so that they glory not in their circuÌ„cision and proudly boast that they come onely of the stock of Abraham béeing his kinsmen by lyneall descente but rather doo expresse his fayth by which he was pronounced iuste before circumcision Neither is there any stronger argument to proue that a childe is no bastarde than by folowing the very steppes of his fathers vertues And wheras it is a custome amongst men not to take theÌ„ for their children which do not only not resemble their complexions and conditions but also do degenerate from them in their conuersation of life muche rather wil God make a difference betwixte his lawful child and a bastarde Furthermore Abraham deserued not to be pronounced righteous by kéeping of the lawe of Moyses which was not at that time declared neither by the merit of circumcision neither yet had he deserued any suche thing of God that he shoulde promise to hym so noble a gyfte as was to be the father of all Nations and that the Lorde of all the worlde shoulde descende from him vnto his posteritie as by inheritaunce but it was onely through the dignitie of his fayth by vertue whereof he was called iuste Euen so the Iewes shoulde suppose that the goodnesse and frute of his promise commeth not to them for their circumcision or for the names sake of their law but that it commeth to the posteritie in such sort as it began first in the head For if all
true members of Iesus Chryst shal be set at libertie from all accidents and shall be then made of very lumpish grosse and carnall men moste liuely spiritual and immortal men How be it wée paciently suffer all affliction in the meane tyme for the hopes sake of that felicitie which was promised vs of our Lorde Chryst For the certayntie of which felicitie although he haue giuen vs a sure gage thereof euen the full certifying of his spirite yet he hath not giuen it vnto vs wholly and fully at this tyme but would that it should with pacience be hoped vpon taryed for and looked for in tyme to come vnto vs For our perfect health expected reste and true felicitie are in those things that bée yet for to come the vse whereof wée verily truste and hope vppon For hope is not in thyngs that bée presente and at hande amongst vs but onely in all suche things as doo not yet appeare vnto vs For how can a man say that wée haue hope in that thing which is before our eyes Agayne there shoulde bée no place nor commendation lefte for fayth and hope if those thyngs shoulde bee nowe in our sighte and féelyng whych Chryst hath promysed vnto vs Wherefore considering wée conceyue in Faythe suche thyngs as bée not apparaunte to our bodyly eyes wée doo paciently continue in our gréefes and sorrowes moste stedfastly hoping for the promyse made of Christ Neuerthelesse it is paynfull in the meane while to be in trouble and sorow howbeit the same doth no harme but rather worketh the thing that is good For the spirite taketh al things in good worth and striueth agaynst the weaknesse of the flesh as muche as may be and the spirite of God alwayes helpeth the debilitie of our mortall bodies and dothe happily féede it with the good foode of hope to suffer strongly all offered inconueniences declaring further vnto vs what we should desire to haue holde and retayne and what we shoulde alwayes shunne and put away from vs For all we as touching our flesh can not tell what to craue nor how to desire any thing that belongeth vnto vs by meanes whereof it chaunceth that we oftentimes do desire of God vayne and wicked things in stéede of néedefull honest and holsome things Which selfe same thing happened vnto me at what time not taking well in worth mine afflictions I desired God thrée times that Sathan should be banished from me who at that time very sharply punished me Howbeit I was denied my request and in stéede of pleasant things or things contenting the flesh were giuen vnto me healthfull things Yet verily God heareth the petitions of his people so that they make them not after the will of the flesh but after the will and healthfull motion of the spirite which though we our selues say nothing at all yet it ceasseth not to call vpon God for vs not as men vse to make their sutes and petitions but with vnspeakable feruencie moste déepe sighings and inwarde gronings A man muste demaunde of others in way of communication and so to attayne suche requests as he desireth to be accomplished for him which men know not what is demaunded excepte he aduertise them of it neither can they iudge what is moste expedients for his necessitie But God that knoweth the moste secrete partes of mens hartes foreséeth in suche maner our necessitie that he knoweth what the spirite requireth and what we haue néede of though we our selues as God forbid shoulde holde our peace and make no sute For the spirite as oftentimes as it demaundeth for holy things and sigheth for our miseries it prayeth vnto God not after the affections of flesh and bloud but according to the onely will and pleasure of almyghtie god For it requireth nothing but healthfull things and things appertayning to the glory of god Which things whosoeuer hartily desireth though he lacke in his requests order and forme in the making of them yet vndoubtedly he faileth not in the ende to attaine his purpose God therefore graunteth vs not that which is alwayes required of him but rather that which moste aptly toucheth oure commodities Neither ought we to feare or to cease our praiers vnto God though we sée our selues tossed in the miseries of this wretched world in suche wise as though we were forsaken or vtterly forgotten of God In as muche as we all are certainely persuaded that all kinde of trouble what so euer it be that happeneth vnto good men the same chaunceth vnto them for their great health and welfare for suche is the fauoure of God towardes those which he of his moste godly will and pleasure hathe chosen and called vnto felicitie The purpose is youres but the disposition lieth in the handes of God him selfe which hath not without most high consideration chosen to him selfe his moste dearely beloued people All those that appertaineth properly vnto him he right well knewe them long before he called them And he did not only before knowe them whome he so called but moste secretely with him selfe he did predestinate them to be incorporate into the bodie of his dear sonne our Lord Iesus Christ and to be transformed into the resemblaunce and similitude of him Which as he hath ouercome the power of the flesh death hel and the diuel and is triumphantly ascended into immortalitie so likewise should his members hope to doe bicause they sée the same alreadie don in their head Thus God by this meanes through his onely sonne hathe prouided him selfe of many sonnes amongst whome Christ is the chéefe capitaine and is the first begotten and principall heire of his eternall kingdom which notwithstanding maketh vs partakers of his inheritaunce with him Furthermore all those whome God knew before and did chuse them to himselfe before all times of whome he declared his godly pleasure by his holy Prophetes the same he hathe nowe at length called by his eternal gospel through which calling they are most highly blessed and profited For of wretched and sinnefull liuers he throughe the abundance of his mercie hath made them godly and of wicked disobedient and stubborne seruants his owne most deare and louing children Vnto whom there now lacketh nothing but onely their glory and the most pleasant peace quietnesse of their consciences in the sight of god yet the same at this time want not all kinds of this glory inasmuche as it is a moste pleasaunt satisfaction and comforte to their minds that they in this meane while may liue frée from the threatnings of the law from the daunger of the sting of sinne and death and that so they may conforme them selues to innocencie and honest affections of the soule that they may become one with Chryst and to haue always his spirite that shall satisfie them with this most certayne persuasion to be the heires of God and felow heires with his son Christ which also so confirme them that they do not distruste any thing of the
séeth that he wente about this that we should trust to the Lorde and serue him in holinesse and innocencie of life And whereas through the faulte and calamitie which destroyed our nature at the beginning we be so tyed to affections that we doe none of those things which God requireth of vs rightly and as we ought to do It commeth also to passe that the iustice of God feareth vs on the other side For howsoeuer we call him good and mercifull yet are we compelled to acknowledge him to be iust also Neither shoulde it bée truely good that lacked iustice Now that his iustice also might continue inuiolate and yet man which doth nothing worthy of iustice should not euer be depriued of his companie he found a way by the which both his iustice should be satisfied and the poore miser restored again to the company of god He sent his sonne therfore which should be made our iustice sanctification and price of Redemption and for them onely to be so made which being chosen of God and taught within forth by his spirite beléeued this firmly that by one way of the mercy of God for that he pacyfied his iustice by offring his sonne it is lykewise the work of mercie the way should be open vnto eternal blessednesse nowe of this mercie his sonne is made the pledge and suretie For howe shall he not giue vs all things which hath giuen vs his sonne Not being eaten but made the foundation our hope Not in that he is fleshe but in that he is the sonne of God that tooke fleshe Thus thou hast in few wordes howe I knowledge Christe Namely that he is the light and moste high wisedome which hathe so lightned the worlde that he mighte sée God to be pleased with none other seruices than with the seruice of innocencie That heauen is wonne with none other price or tribute but with the redemption of the sonne of god That a man is stirred vp to the exercise of true vertue with none other spurres than by the inflammation of the spirit That true comfort is brought into our soules by no other instruments then by the watring influence of the same spirite Thus I know Christ Nowe if this be not to knowe Christe earnestly I will confesse me not to haue knowne him yet A fewe wordes touching the Couenaunt that God hath made vnto his Churche in Christe translated oute of Huldrich Zuinglie in his Subsidie annexed to the woorke aforesaide THEY bring the woordes of Paule againste me ◠Cor. 11. Where he sayth thus This cup is the newe couenant in my bloud Of which woordes they thus withstand me that which is héere giuen is the newe couenant But the new couenaunt is not any signe but the very bloud of Christ For as muche then as this cuppe is the newe couenant it muste néedes be the corporall bloud of Christ for the bloud is the couenaunt I am glad that this place is laide against me and specially for this cause that the variation of the couenaunte which is found in many places of the scriptures may be a little excussed Couenaunt as in this pointe is nothing else than a condition promised of god As when the Lord stroke a bargaine or couenaunt with Abraham I am God almightie saythe he walke before me and be perfecte and I wil put my couenant betweene me thée and betwéene thy séede after thée in their generations with an euerlasting couenant that I be thy god and the God of thy séede after thee And I will giue to thée and to thy séede after thee the land of thy Pilgrimage and all the land of Canaan in possession for euer and I will be thy god Héere is nothing spoken but the couenaunte which God by fauoure vouchedsafe to make with Abraham But what containeth this couenaunte With what conditions is it made These be then the conditions I will be thy god Thou shalt walke before me moste purely I will make thée a father of many Nations I will géeue the séede of Sara And I wil be the God of that posteritie of thine also which I promise I will giue to thée and to thy séede the lande in the which thou art now a stranger The which cōditions be euen the very couenaunte selfe But to the couenauntes are added signes Which althoughe they be called by the names of the couenaunts be not the couenaunts for all that as it is manifest in the same place For it foloweth on this wise This is my couenant that thou shalt kéepe betwéene me and thee and thy séede after thée Let euery mā childe of you be circumcised Sée howe he calleth the circumcision the couenaunte When for all that it was not the couenant but the signe of the couenant euen as the diuine saying it selfe teacheth on this wise And yée shal circumcise the fleshe of your foreskin that it may be a token or signe betwéene me and you We sée it to be now called the signe of the couenaunt which a little before was called the couenaunt It is therefore euident inoughe that the signes of the couenaunts be not the couenants although they haue sometimes the names of the couenaunts put vpon them As when circumcision is héere called the couenant wheras it is yet but the signe of the couenaunt And Baptisme 1. Pet. 3. is taken for Christ when he saythe that we are saued by baptisme yet are we saued by only Christ This is the text of S. Peter When the long suffering of God was once loked for in the dayes of Noe while the Arke was a preparing wherin fewe that is to say eight soules were saued by the water like as Baptisme nowe saueth vs Not the putting away the filthe of the fleshe but in that a good conscience consenteth to God by the resurrection of Iesus Christe Zuinglie expoundeth this place in his subsidie or helpe as folovveth vve thought it not necessary to repeat any further those things vvhich vve broughte in our commentarie for vve truste that vve haue satisfied them that be godly and somevvhat more grovvne in the faithe vvhich commit them selfe to Christ in this floud that drovvneth this vvorlde none othervvise then Noe did in the olde time committe him selfe and his and the remnaunts of the vvhole vovrld that forthvvith shuld be destroyed to that greate shippe as men borne after the deathe of their father For they that put their confidence in Christe require Christe no more according to the fleshe for they knovve that fleshe profiteth nothing as is vvritten in the sixth of Ihon if thou eate it but then knovv that it profiteth much if thou beleeue Christ to be slaine for thee in the fleshe And that thou put thy confidence in that In this vvinde they svvimme safely to land In this shippe they are saued But Baptisme is as well the signe of the Christian people which haue receiued of God this couenaunt that his sonne is oures As the Circumcision was in the olde
after this earthly according to this saying It is sowe a naturall body it riseth a spirituall body So that the spirite viâ—ifying is not here taken as which shoulde be oppoâ—ed and layde agaynst that which is innocente and right but agaynst that which animateth with earthly life Wherevpon the first Adam although he were iuste with the spirite of innocencie yet lacked he this viuifying spirite as the Apostle taketh him to the Corinth whose body was natural not spiritual earthly not heauenly Neither could it be transformed into a heauenly body without either the death of it or immutation very like vnto deathe as he clerely signifyeth when he proueth by the mutuall conuersion that the resurrection consisteth not without death alleaging a similitude of the séede of which Chryst had mentioned before in Iohn So that Christ receiued the name of the New man then specially when he was raised vp by resurrection from the dead to the right hand of the glory of God and not before when he had put of mortalitie and the ignomie of the crosse of his fleshe to the which he was borne for vs of the virgine he namely then being declared to be truely the sonne of God by the spirite of power according to this which was begotten of the séede of Dauid after the fleshe which was declared to be the sonne of God with power according to the spirite of sanctification of this that Iesus Christ our Lord rose againe from death To which time also this properly pertaineth in the seconde Psalme Thou art my sonne I haue this day begotten thée the Apostle Paule reciting it for that time in the Actes 50 For as much therfore as the newe man is suche he giueth the nature of heauen from whence he came which heauen is agile ful of vertue and light After this sort is the heauenly man and all the children that come of him 51 And for that there was no way for this Adam to fall namely he which was conceiued by the spirite of God not able to be brought to sliding as he witnesseth of himselfe when he sayeth The Prince of this world commeth and in me he hath nothing at all 52 And the same returned to heauen froÌ„ whence he came downe euen as the earthly returneth to the earth of which he was made al things returning to their beginnings by diuine disposition as he sayth of him selfe in the thirde of Iohn And no man ascendeth into heauen but he which came down from heauen euen the sonne of man which is in heauen 53 Séeing then that the olde man and the nowe are so farre distante in beginning and ending in nature and affections the olde shall not become newe except he lay away from him his affections and desires and put on him the newe affections of the newe man. 54 Which can not be done without a new birth death that the olde man die to him selfe that is to the loue of him selfe and to the contempte of God and that the newe man be borne a newe to heauenly desires that is to loue God aboue al things and our neighbors as our selues for this loue is the ende of the lawe and the summe of all the rightnesse of diuine iustice vnto which we are to be reformed which the very order of creation cléerely teacheth in which he ought to be loued with equal loue which hath taken equall degrée of perfection with thée But such is man made to the similitude of God. 55 For as much therfore as we must be borne again it is a question wherof or by what we be regenerated or what set to the helping hand to the renuing of vs Is it the light of nature which containeth the law wrytten in all mennes hartes and mindes No not that for that light being corrupted with originall sinne howe should it wipe away the spot and place innoceÌ„cie in stead therof Further the light of nature is darknesse if it be compared to the light of God which bringeth eternall life as aboue it is shewed Now what coÌ„munion may be betwéene vice and integritie betwéene darkenesse light By regeneration we are begotten the children of lighte But how shall darknesse procéede to so great light 56 Muche lesse shall the woorkes of the lawe performe so great a woorke which if they be done are too weake in cause as done by the lighte of nature by the rightuousnesse of the law so that all naturall things in man and created strengths take a fall 57 What remaineth then vnto regeneration Only the spirite of Iesus Christe purchased for vs by his bloud which may repurge the childe of olde Adam into a newe man Other thing there is none neither in heauen nor in earth as I haue aboue proued in the rule of iustification 58 And that witnesseth the newe man him selfe being the aucthor of this natiuitie when he saith in Iohn Except a man be newe born of water and of the spirit he cannot enter into the kingdome of God. 59 Where looke what the naturall winde is in this visible worke of the world in this aire next vnto vs through the light of heauen waters from aboue to make the earth bring forth frute the same the spirite of God the father in Christ his sonne to this Tohu and Vehu that is to this vnformed and rule â—arthe of the godly that is to say to their mindes by the light that no man can come at and spirituall waters to renue their stomackes to bring forth frutes worthy of heauen 60 And for that cause in the mention made of regeneration is ioyned water to the spirit In which and by which the new birth may be wrought And in an other place fire is also taken to company to worke so great a worke when we read He shall baptise you with the spirite and fire 61 In which part respecte is had to the figures of the created worke For as in it the spirit or winde was coupled with the waters which he shuld moue preparing the earthe by the light brought vnto it to the encrease of that which come of hir euen so the work of regeneration offreth it self hir earth first emptie voide hir water of the spirit and of light which is the fire that new regenerateth heauen which in Iohn we spake of a litle before hither also are those things to be called which we read of Helias of the spirit commotion and fire .3 Reg. 19. 62 Whereof it is that the olde and newe Testamentes speake so ofte of the spirite of Messiah by which he testifieth all saluation that pertaineth to man Esay 32.44.61 Ezechiell 36.39 Ioel. 2. c. 63 Notwithstanding this spirituall power of God the father is poured in by a certain order by an order of certentie â–ª For first it is fully resident in Christ as in the head and from thence it floweth into the Church of the elect as into the body and is imparted to his members to
Not only the olde man but also euery other creature shall be redéemed and deliuered from vanitie vnder the reuelation of so great a kingdom the Apostle witnesseth Rom. 8. 80 But how Shall the plants reuiue againe and florishe a newe And shal the beastes and liuing things put immortalitie vpon them yea verily but not by themselues in theyr subsistences or beings but in the whole that is in the heade Christ and in the sainctes his body whilest in them their bodies life sense and minde be restored to newnesse glory which degrées conclude the vniuersall perfection bothe of the worke created and also of that which is to be renued and the same in the newe and blessed man Christ Iesus the true God and very eternal sonne of god the father Where is diligently to be marked that we distinct these thrée diligētly in Christ namely a true fleshe and very bones a very soule and minde in déede and the very spirite of his father In such sorte that of euery one of these the nature be seperately distinctly kept and reserued to it selfe in the kingdom of glory not one mixed with an other euen as Christ himselfe did distinct them when after the resurrection he proued and verified to be in him the nature of very flesh and bones In which order the holy ghost obtaineth the highest place as the kingly vnction of the Fathers maiestie The second is the minde the thirde are bones and flesh Which thing if it shal be marked we shal ouercome great difficulties and shall escape most gréeuous errors that are now in these dayes of the flesh of Christ Therefore as by this Christ all things were made both visible and inuisible euen so by the same and in the same all things shall be renued to glory the woorke of restauration so farre passing the first woorke of creation as mutable is excelled of immutable and as that which is renuable is excelled and surmounted of that which already is renued to better and into the best state it may haue 82 This is the merite of the pure bloud of Christe Iesus the heauenly man which being sprinkled abrode vppon all things mundifieth that is maketh cleane al things in heauen and in earth the oldnesse of corruption dissolued the newnesse of incorruptibilitie brought in that shall abide for euer when this shal be spoken Stabilitie of stablenesse al things are stable as hitherto hath bene said vanitie of vanities all things are vanitie while the vanitie of the olde creature raigned Thāks therfore and glory be to God the father who hath giuen vs this victorie by our Lord Iesus Christ the new mā VVho repair in vs integritie and nevvnesse of life after this old corrupt disposition of the olde and first Adam Amen Amen An exhortation sent from a straunger a worthy and famous learned man of God to the righte highe and mightie Prince Edvvard Duke of Somerset for the seeking and quiet establishing of peace and rightuousnesse in the Church of England Immediatly vpon the commotions sodainly raised vp in the vvest partes as also in Suffolke and Norfolke In the yeare of our Lord Christ 1549. MY Lorde although God hathe giuen vnto youre grace a singuler prudēce magnanimitie other godly vertues requisite to the place wher he hathe ordained you and for the affaires that he hathe put into your hand neuerthelesse for as muche as ye doe estéeme me for a seruaunte of his sonne Christ whome you aboue all desire to obey I am certaine that for the loues sake of him you will receiue gently that which I nowe wryte vnto you in his name As in déede I pretend none other end but in folowing stil that which you haue already begun you might therein continue and séeke the aduauncement of his glory more and more vntill the time yée haue established his kingdome and raigne in suche perfection as it may rightly be knowne vnto the world And also ye shal know that without aduauncing any thing of mine owne fantasie all that I nowe purpose to wryte shall be drawne oute of his moste pure and holesome doctrine And for as muche as you refuse not to be taughte of the same maister whome I serue but that you rather preferre to all the rest the grace that he hathe giuen vnto you to be one of hys Disciples I thinke that I haue no néede to make vnto you any long excuse or preface bicause I finde you sufficiently disposed to receiue all suche things as shall procéede of him We haue all great cause to render thanks vnto our Lord God and father for that he hath thus willed to be so reuerently obeyed and serued of you in so excellent and high a worke as in setting foorth agayne I meane the pure and true rule of his seruice in Englande and in causing the sincere doctrine of health to haue place and to be there faythfully published to all them that will heare and for that that he hath giuen vnto you such vertue and constancie to continue vnto this time agaynst so many temptations and difficulties and for that he hath also strengthned you in blessing all your counsels and labours for the prospering of them for they be things that stirre all true and faythfull men to magnifie and prayse his name But in the meane time bicause that Sathan ceasseth not to rayse vp by all meanes possible new combates and that it is a thing of it selfe so harde that there can be nothing more harde than to cause that the worde of God may peaceably rule amongest the people which through the corruption of their owne natures be giuen to lyes and fantasies And forasmuche as there are so many circumstances which impecheth in these dayes the strayght course of the same and aboue all that the superstitions of Antichryst hauing taken roote so long time may not easily be taken away from their hartes It séemeth vnto me yée haue great néede to be confirmed and strengthned by some holy exhortations and I doubt not but the experience therof teacheth you to féele the same whiche shall be the cause to make me procéede more frankly considering that my purpose as I beléeue shall be conformable to your desire And albeit that mine exhortations shall be superfluous yet I am sure that you wil beare with that good zeale affection of mine which vndoubtedly stirreth me to doo it Wherfore I thinke according to reason that the necessitie which ye féele shall cause mine exhortations a great deale the sonner and the better to be receiued whatsoeuer they shal be I beséech your Lordship that it may please you to giue me hearing in some aduertisements that I entende shortely to declare vnto you hoping that when yée shall vnderstande them yée shall at the leaste finde some sauour to be recomforted and to take a greate deale the better courage to continue the holy and moste noble enterpryse vnto which God hath appoynted you at