of a woman because hee put on our nature and so hee maketh it knowne that hee consisteth of two natures Some Bookes haue borne but that other reading I meane made is more vsed and in my iudgemente more agreeable For hee woulde by name discerne Christe from all other men because hee was made of the seede of his mother and not by the carnall copulation of man and woman or else this were Raye colde and put in withoute cause Of a Woman this worde is generallye referred to the sexe or kynde Brought vnder the law worde for worde it is thus Made vnder the Law but my mynd was to set forth the meaning more familiarly Christ therefore the sonne of God who by right should haue bene free from all subiection was subiect to the Law why in our behalfe that he might purchase libertie vnto vs. For as hee which was free doth redeeme a captiue by making himselfe a pledge and by putting on yrons doth put them off from the other so Christe would be in dangered to keepe the Law that he might purchase vnto vs freedome or else in vayne had he gone vnder the yoke of the law for certaynly he did it not for his owne sake Furdermore we are not so exempt by Christs benefite from the law that we owe no more obediēce to the doctrine of the law but that we may do what we list for it is a perpetuall lesson to teache vs to liue well and holyly But Paule speaketh of the Law with the appurtenances therof We are redeemed from the subiection of that law because it is not any more as it was For libertie appeared openly after the vaile was rent and that is it that straightway he addeth 5 That we might receiue the adoption For the fathers were assured of their adoption vnder the old Testament but they did not by their title so fully inioy it Adoption in this place is taken as it is Ro. 8.23 Redemption is taken for the possession it selfe For as in the last day we shall perceiue and take the fruit of our redemption so now we perceiue the fruite of adoption of which the holy Fathers before Christes comming were not possessed They than which now do burthen the church with moderate ceremonies do wrongfully defraud it of the due right of adoption 6 Now because you be sonnes God hath sent the Spirite of his sonne into your harts crying Abba Father 7 Therefore thou art no longer a seruaunt but a sonne if thou be a sonne thou arte also an heyre of God by Christ 8 But than whē as yet ye knew not God you serued those thinges which by nature are no Gods 9 But now after ye haue known God or rather haue bene knowne of God howe are you turned againe to weake and beggerly elements which you are willing againe to serue afresh 10 Ye obserue dayes and moneths and tymes and yeres 11 I am afrayde for you least happilye I haue laboured among you in vaine 6 Because you be sonnes Hee sheweth that the adoption which he speaketh of belongeth vnto the Galathians by an argumente or reason gathered of the consequent or thing following For to be adopted of God goeth before this To haue the testimony of adoption of the Spirite of God but the effect is the token of the cause The spirite of Christ saith he is the Authour vnto you and perswader to enbolden you to call God Father than is it certayne that you are the sonnes of God Hee meaneth that which he often teacheth 1. Cor. 1.22 5.5 That the Spirite is vnto vs an earnest and guage of our saluation that we may be certaynlye perswaded of the fatherlye affection of God to vs warde But some man will obiect Doe not the wicked breake out to that poynt of rashnesse that they boast God to be their Father nay rather falsly with great boldnesse do they oft times boast in God I aunswere Paule doth not here speake of vayne boasting nor of that which a man doth arrogate vnto himselfe by his owne spirite but of the testimonye of a Godlye conscience which followeth new regeneration Therefore this argument cannot be of force but among the faythfull because the reprobates haue no tast of the certaintie hereof as the Lord himselfe witnesseth The Spirite of truth sayth he which the world cannot receaue because it knoweth him not Ioh. 14.17 And thus much doe these wordes of Paule sound God hath sent the spirite into your hartes For his mynde was not to teache what they foolishly presume through their carnall reason but what God within in the harte doth witnesse by his spirite This also doth better agree with the circumstaunce of the place that he sayth the Spirite of the Sonne of God than if he had vsed any other epithete or tytle For therefore are we sons Epitheton i. a worde more amply declaring the meaning of that word vnto which it is annexed because we are endowed with the same Spirite that the onelye sonne is endowed with And marke that Paule doth attribute this alike to all Christians as in very deede there is no fayth whereas this guage of the loue of God toward vs is not Hereof appeareth what christianitie is among the Papistes wheras they condemne a man of wicked presumption if he say hee hath the Spirite of God For they imagine a faith without the spirite of God and without certaintie This one opinyon is a notable proofe that the Diuill the father of infidelitie raigneth in all the Scholes of Papistes I graunte in deede that the Scholemen when they will haue the consciences to wauer with continuall doubting teach nothing else but that whiche naturall reason doth shew and therefore must we the more dilligently print in our myndes this lesson of Paule That No man is a Christian but he that being taught in the schole of the holy Ghost calleth vpon God as Father Crying I doe suppose he vsed this participle Crying to expresse the greater confidence for doubtfulnesse suffreth vs not to speake boldlye but holdeth our iawes shut as it were so that scante halfe broken wordes come out from our staggering tongue on the other side crying is a token of securitie and of confidence that wauereth not For wee haue not agayne receiued the spirite of bondage to feare as he sayth Rom. 8.15 but of libertie to full assuraunce Abba Father I doubt not but it meaneth that the calling vpon God is common to all tongues for that properlye belongeth to this present argument that God hath the name of Father among both Hebrewes and Greekes as it was prophicied before of Esay 45.23 Euery tongue shall confesse vnto my name Therefore whereas the Gentils are accounted among the sonnes of God it is apparant that the adoptiō commeth not of the merite of the law but by grace of fayth 7 Therefore thou art no longer a seruaunt That is to say there is not any more bondage in the Christian Church but a free estate of
men is whilest they make the healthsome ordinaunces of God by their abuse not onelye vnprofitable vnto them but also do turne them to their destruction 28 There is no Iew. The sence is that in this case persons are of no force and therefore that it skilleth not of what Nation or state they be nor that Circumcision is of more valure thā sexe or kynde and ciuile state why For Christ maketh all one howsoeuer therefore the other are diuerse or vnlike only Christ is sufficient to couple all together Therefore he sayeth you are one whereby he meaneth that the difference is taken awaye To this end tēdeth this speech That neither the grace of adoption nor the hope of saluation doe depend of the Law but that they are cōtained in Christ alone Only Christ thā is al things To put Greekes for Gentils and the specialtie for the generaltie is much vsed 29 Then the seede of Abraham Hee did not therefore adde this because it was greater to be the sonne of Abraham then to be the member of Christ but that hee mighte beate downe the pride of the Iewes who boasted of their prerogatiue as though they alone were the people of God They accounted nothing more excellent than the kindred of Abraham and therefore this same very excellencie he maketh common to all them which beleeue in Christ The consequent leaneth vpon this reason that Christ is that blessed seede in whome all the children of Abraham are vnited as it is sayde and this he prepareth because the enheritaunce is offred commonly vnto al. whereof it followeth that by promise they are numbred among the sonnes And marke that Faith is alwayes relatiuelye ioyned with the promise ¶ The fourth Chapter 1 And I say as long as the heire is a child he differeth nothing from a seruaunt whereas neuerthelesse hee is Lord of all 2 But he is vnder Tutors and gouernors vntill the tyme determined of the Father 3 So also we when we were Children were in bondage vnder the elements of the world 4 But when the fulnesse of time came God sent his sonne made of a woman brought vnder the Law 5 That he might redeeme them whiche came vnder the law that we might receiue the adoption AND I say Whosoeuer he was that diuided the Chapters did ill pull away this sentence from them which went before whereas it is nothing else but a finishing of that went before whereby Paule doth declare and set forth the difference which is betweene vs and the olde people And that he doth whilest he bringeth the thyrde similitude of the Orphant and the guardian The Orphant although he be free yea and also the Lorde of his Fathers housholde yet is he like to a seruaunt because he is ruled by the gouernmēt of tutors And the subiection to his tutor endureth till the time appoynted of his father and after that he enioyeth his libertie After this sort the Fathers vnder the olde testament when as they were the sonnes of God were free but were not in possession of freedome or libertie because the law was vnto them as it were a tutor which helde them vnder the yoke And this bondage lasted as long as it seemed good vnto God who made an ende thereof by the comming of Christ whereas Paule doeth make ende the Tutorship at the onelye appoyntmente of the Father when as the Lawyers do recken vp more wayes wherby the tutorship is ended he doth it therefore because this waye alone did agree with his similitude Nowe let vs discourse euery part Some doe apply this similitude otherwise namely vnto euery man whereas Paule speaketh of two peoples I graunt it is true that which they saye but it longeth nothing vnto the present place The elect say they although they be the sons of God euer from their mothers wombe yet they abide vnder the law like vnto seruants vntil through faith they come into the possession of libertie but after that they know Christ they made no more this kinde of Tutorship But let me graunt this yet denye I that Paule in this place speaketh of euerye singuler person and I denye that it putteth difference betweene the time of infidelitie of the calling vnto faith but hereof hee entreateth wheras there is but one church of God how hapneth it that the state of vs and the Isralites should be vnlike and contrarie wheras by faith we be free howe happeneth it that they who had with vs the same and like faith shall not with vs be enioyers of the same and like libertie wheras a like we are all the sonnes of God how happeneth it that we are free at this daye from the yoke which they were compelled to beare hereof did grow the controuersie and contention and not of his howe and in what manner the Lawe hath dominion ouer euery one of vs before that by fayth wee are set at freedome from the bondage thereof Let this therefore be determined aboue all that Paule in this place doeth compare the Israeticall Churche which was vnder the old testament with the Christian Church that thereby it maye appeare wherein wee agree and wherein the one of vs differ from the other This comparison conteineth a very plentifull doctrine and the same very profitable Firste hereof we gather That the Fathers vnder the olde testament had the same hope of inheritaunce which we at this day haue because they were partakers of the same adoption for Paule teacheth not as some braynsick fellowes and among others Seruetus doe dreame that they were for this purpose onely elected of God that they shoulde figure vnto vs some certayne people of God but that with vs they might be the sonnes of God and expresly he doeth testifie that the spirituall blessing promised to Abraham doeth no lesse long vnto them than vnto vs. Secondly we gather that their consciences were free neuerthelesse in that outwarde bondage for the straight tying to the keeping of the Law did not let Moses Daniell all the godly Kings Priestes and Prophets and all the company of the Faythfull but that they were free in Spirite They caried than the yoke of the Lawe on their shoulders so that neuerthelater they might worship God with a free spirite and cheefely that being instructed about the free forgiuenesse of sinnes they mighte haue their conscience free from the tyrannie of sinne and death Thereof wee must determine that the doctrine hath bene alwayes one and the same and that they were ioined with vs in a true vnitie of fayth that they haue enioyed with vs the confidence of one Mediator that they haue called vp God the Father and that they were gouerned with the selfe same Spirite To all these it is agreeable that the differēce betweene vs and the olde Fathers is not in substance but in accidents for touching those things that are principall in the Testament or couenaunt in those thinges we agree the ceremonies and all that gouernement in which we differ are
wisedome and such as cannot be drawn drie but I denie that the bountie therof consisteth in diuers and contrary sences such as euery man may deuise of his own braine Be it known therfore that that is the true sence of the scripture which is natural simple that let vs embrace hold with tooth and nayle As for fained or deuised expositions which leade vs away from the literal sence let vs not only neglect them as doubtful but stoutly refuse thē as deadly corruptions But what shall we answere to that which Paule saith certainly he doth not vnderstande that Moses meant so when he did write that he would turne a story into an allegorie but he sheweth how the story may agree to the present cause namely if wee marke that the picture of the church is there painted forth vnto vs figuratiuely Neyther is that kind of doctrine straunge from the natural sence of the letter for that the similitude is taken from the houshold of Abraham vnto the church For as the house of Abraham was then that true church so there is no doubt but that the principall euentes such as were chiefely to be remēbred aboue others which happened in the same are vnto vs so many tipes or figures as therfore in circumcisiō in the sacrifices in the whole Leuiticall Priesthood there was an allegory as at this day is in our sacramēts so also I say was there in the house of Abrahā but that maketh not that we should go from the literall sence The sum is as if Paul should say the figure of the two Testaments was paynted vnto vs as it were in a table in the two wiues of Abraham and the figure of the two peoples in his two sons And certainly Chrisostom graunteth that there is a Catechresis in the word Alegoria which is very true Catachresis Englishe soundeth an abuse 23 Of the bondwoman Ech of them was begotten of Abraham after the Flesh but in Isaac was there a peculier respect because he had the promise of grace There was than in Ismaell nothing beside nature in Isaac was the election of God and that was shadowed when he was begotten for he was begotten miraculously and not after a common maner Yet after a sort he doth insinuate both the calling of the Gentils and the refusing of the Iewes because the Iewes boast they are the natural offspring and the Gentils are by fayth without the helpe of man made the spirituall discent of Abraham 24 For there are two couenants Therefore had I rather so translate it lest it should lose the grace of the similitude For Paule doth compare the ii couenants to the two mothers It is hard that a testament which is the newter gēder should be called a mother Therfore the name of couenant is more apt yet haue I not so much desired to shew elegancie as perspicuitie or playnnesse finally he doth now set forth the very matter that as there wer two mothers in the house of Abrahā so likewise is there in the church of God For doctrine or teaching is the mother of whome God doth beget vs that is twofold of the law of the Gospell The law engendreth into bondage therfore it is like Agar But Sara represēteth the secōd the gospel which ingēdreth into liberty although Paule fetcheth it higher making the firste mother Sina and the seconde Ierusalem therefore if it shall like anye man to discusse euery poynt more narrowly he shall make the lawe as it were the seede whereof are ingendred the children of Sina and the Gospell the seede whereof are ingendered the children of Ierusalem But this belonges nothing to the summe of the matter it is ynough if we vnderstande that the two Couenauntes are like mothers of which vnlike children are borne because the couenant of the law maketh bond and the couenante of the Gospel maketh free Obiection But all this at the firste blush might seeme vnlikely to be true because there are no children begotten vnto God but to be free wherefore the similitude accordeth not I aunswere Answer two maner of ways is that which Paule speaketh true for the law in tyme past engendred the disciples therof into bondage I meane the holy Prophets and the residue of the faithful not that they should remayn bond but because God did keepe them vnder a scholemaystership for a tyme. For their libertie was hidden vnder the vayle of ceremonyes and of the whole gouernment wherewith they were at that time gouerned in the outwarde appearaunce nothing but bondage was seene There Paule sayth the same to the Rom. cap. 8. ver 15. Ye haue not again drawn the spirite of bondage into feare Wherefore the holy Fathers howsoeuer within they were free before God yet in outwarde shewe they differed nothing from seruauntes or bondmen and so they did represente the state of their mother But the doctrine of the Gospel doth as wel both in the time of byrth giue full freedome vnto her children as also bringeth them vp as those that bee free Yet I confesse that Paule speaketh not here of such Children as shall appeare by the texte for he will shew that he meaneth by the children of Sina hypocrits which at last are banished out of the Church of God and are put from the enheritaunce What ingendring into bondage than is this that he here reasoneth about forsooth it is of them who frowardlye abuse the Lawe so that they conceiue nothing of the law but that which is seruile and bonde So didde not the godly Fathers which liued vnder the olde testament for the seruile engendring of the Law did not hinder but that they hadde Ierusalem their mother in spirite But they that stick in the naked and bare lawe and acknowledge it not a Schoolemaistership whereby they are lead vnto Christ but rather make a let or stoppe thereof leste they shoulde come vnto Christ they are Israelites borne vnto bondage Obiection Some man agayne will make an exception why doth the Apostle say that suche are borne by the couenaunt of GOD and why doeth hee reckon them in the Church I answere Aunswer that they are adulterous seede of a corrupt seede and that they are not properly engendred or begotten of God but be gone out of kynde and as it were Bastardes which falsly call God Father of whome they bee repudiate and refused and by the same title are they reckoned also in the Church not because they are very members thereof but because they vsurpe a place for a tyme and hauing put on a fayre shew doe deceaue for in this place the Apostle doth consider the Church as here it is seene in this world concerning which more is to bee sayd by and by 25 Agar Sina is a mount I will not stay in confuting the exposition of others for vayn is the glose of Hierome that the mount Sina had two names nor lesse childish is the deuice of Chrisostome taking on like a Philosopher about the
agreement of the names for Agar is called Sina because it is a tipe or figure as the Passouer was Christ he also setteth out the situation of the Mount by contempt In Arabia saith he that is to say without the limits of the holy land which is the symbol or pledge of the euerlasting heritage it is marueilous that men shot so far wide in so familiar an application And representeth that In stead of which the old interpreter hath set down on this maner Is ioined vnto Erasmus hath set down bordereth but I to auoyd obscuritie haue translated it as you see For certaine it is that the Apostle meant not here of the nighnesse nor of that situation of the places but of the similitude in the figure whereof be treateth for among the Greekes those thinges are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which are so placed in order that the one haue respect or looke toward the other and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a row as wel in trees as other things set after a iust proportion Iâ— the same sence he sayd the mount Sina was proportioâ—â—â— or had respect to that which now is IerusaleÌ„ in whiâ—â— Aristotle writeth the rethorick is in likelyhoode to 〈◊〉 by a metaphor takeÌ„ froÌ„ minstrels who vse to set ii parts one agaynst another whereof the one aunswereth the other in tune In summe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is no other thing but to be brought into one order or if I may so speake coordered But wherefore doth he compare the present Ierusalem with the mount Sina Although I was somewhile of a contrary opinion yet nowe I assent vnto Chrisostome and Ambros who expound it to bee the earthlye Ierusalem and euen so as then it was degenerate or gone out of kinde to seruile doctrine worshipping therefore he sayth Which now is for it should haue bene a liuely Image of the heauenly Ierusalem and should haue expressed the disposition thereof But such as now it is sayth he it hath respect vnto the mount Sina although they are farre off the one from the other yet are they vtterly like and haue betweene themselues a perfect concordaunce It is a very sore checke to the Iewes who were fallen awaye from grace and had to their mother not Sara but the counterfeit Ierusalem Agars owne sister borne at one byrth and therefore bonde borne of a bondewoman although proudelye they boasted themselues the sonnes of Abraham 26 Which is aboue He calleth it heauenly not as included in heauen not as though it were to be sought without the worlde for it is a congregation dispersed through the whole world and is a stranger in the earth why than is it sayd to bee of heauen because she hath her beginning from the heauenly grace for the children of God are not borne of fleshe and blood but of the power of the holy Ghost The heauenly Ierusalem therefore which hath her beginning from heauen and dwelleth aboue by fayth the same is the mother of the faythfull For she hath the vncorruptible seede of life layd vp with her whereby shee fashioneth vs nourisheth vs in her wombe bringeth vs into the light and she hath milke and meate wherwith after that she hath brought vs forth she continually feedeth vs. Loe wherefore the Church is called the mother of the faythfull and truely he that refuseth to be a childe of the Churche in vayne doth he require to haue God his father for God doth 〈◊〉 â—â—get vnto him childreÌ„ whom he bringeth vp til they be growne and 〈◊〉 vntill they come to mans state but by the ministerie of the churchâ—â— notable praise or title of the Church without doubt and the same bâ—â—â—â—nourable But the Papistes are fonde and twise childish who pretend it to make it a burthen to vs for whereas they haue an adulterous mother which bringeth forth children to the diuel vnto death how vnreasonable a thing is it to request that the children of God should yield theÌ„selues to her to be cruelly slayne with how much honester preteÌ„ce might the Sinagogue of Ierusalem haue at that day set vp her selfe then at this day the sinagoue of Rome may and yet wee see that Paule hauing plucked off all her gaye attyre maketh her no better than Agar 25 For it is written Reioice thou barraine that bringest not forth children breake forth and crie thou that trauailest not for more are the children of the forsaken than of her that hath an husband 28 And we brethreÌ„ are after Isaac the childreÌ„ of promise 29 But as he that was born thaÌ„ after the flesh did persecute him that was born after the spirite eueÌ„ so is it now 30 But what saith the Scripture Cast forth the bondwoman and her sonne for the sonne of the bondwomaÌ„ shall obtaine no inheritaunce with the sonne of the freewoman 31 Therefore bretheren we are not children of the bond-woman but of the free woman 27 It is written He proueth by the testimony of Esay that legitimate children are born of the church according to promise the place is in the 54. cha 3. ve where the Prophet treateth of both the Kingdom of Christ the calling of the Gentils and it promiseth vnto the barrain and widow a very great offspring for this is the cause of mirth ioy to which he exhorteth the church And it must be noted that the purpose of the Apostle tendeth to this poynt to take away from the Iewes this spirituall Ierusalem of which Esay prophecieth as to which the Prophet denounceth children to be gathered from euery place out of all nations yet that not by any her own preparation but by the free blessing of God and therefore he concludeth by and by that wee are the sonnes of GOD by promise by the example of Isaac Hom. 9 8. and that we obtayne not this dignitie by any other way This conclusion seemeth to be weake to the vnlearned and such as are smally exercised in the Scripture because they hold not the principall or ground which notwithstanding is moste certayne that all the promises are freely grounded in Messias Now because the Apostle did hold that as graunted therefore did hee so securely set the promise against the Law 29 As he than that was according to the flesh Here doth he confute the fiercenesse of the false Apostles who did frowardlye triumphe ouer the Godly which reposed all thinges in Christe For suche kynde of fiercenesse troubled the Godly and therfore they had neede of comforte as also it was necessarye to keepe sharpelye vnder the false Apostles He putteth them in mynde than that it is no maruayle if the children of the law doe at this daye that which their Father Ismaell didde in the beginning who vexed Isaac the true heire which had his byrthrighte and that his posteritie with the like boldnesse now for outward ceremonies Circumcision and the whole preparation of the law are stoute agaynst the legitimate children of God and doe put them to greefe
this place he setteth it against Christe fayth the Gospell and grace that it may be a mere couenaunt of the Lawe hauing the foundation in the merites of workes hereby is apparaunte that whiche I haue already sayde that he speaketh not of Circumcision alwayes one waye but that we must haue regarde of the diuersitie therof I say that Paule whilest he considereth Circumcision in it owne nature doth worthely make it a symbol or badge of grace because so was the institution of God but when he hath to doe with the false apostles who did abuse Circumcision to destroy the Gospel he doth not regarde whereto it was instituted of the Lorde but hee inuadeth the corruption that came from men Wee haue a verye cleare example here in this place When as vnto Abraham was giuen the promise cōcerning Christ concerning true righteousnesse concearning eternall life Circumcision was added also for confirmation therof it was therfore by the ordinaunce of God a Sacrament which serued vnto fayth Now comes the false Apostles and they fayne it to be a meritorious worke and they so sette out the obseruing of the law that they make circumcision a beginning or entraunce in of such a profession The Apostle doth not here touch the institution of God but doth fight agaynst the fayned deuise of the false Apostles But some men will obiect Obiection saying howsoeuer the abuse of the vngodlye is yet for all that it plucketh away nothing from the holy institutions of God I aunswere Answer That Circumcision was commanded of God but for a time that therefore it ceased to be a Sacramente appointed of God after the comming of Christ because Baptisme succeeded in place thereof To what end than was Timothie circumcised not for his own cause surely but only for the bretherens for whose wickednesse sake it was done But that it maye the better appeare howe muche the doctrine of the Papistes agreeth with that which Paul speaketh against it is to be marked That the sacramēts being vnderstāded receiued sincerely are not properly the workes of men but of God For in Baptisme in the Lordes supper we doe nothing but offer our selues vnto God to receaue his grace Therefore Baptisme As actiue is when we we doe so passiue is when a thing is done to vs. in respect of vs is a worke passiue for we bring nothing but faith which hath all thinges laid vp in Christe But what doe the Papistes they imagin a worke wrought whereby men deserue the grace of God and so what else doe they but plainely quench out the trueth of the Sacrament Yet we retaine and kepe Baptisme and the Lordes supper because Christ wold haue the vse of eche of them perpetuall but we sharpely detest those vngodly dotages as meete it is we shoulde 4 Ye are emptied of Christ The meaning is If you seeke any part of righteousnesse in the workes of the law Christ belonges not to you and yee are shut out from grace Neither was their opinion so grosse that they did beleeue themselues to bee iustified by the onelye obseruing of the Law but they did mingle Christ with the lawe otherwise it were in vayne that Paule didde terrifie them with these threatninges What doe you you make Christ vnprofitable vnto you you bring to naught his grace We see thā that there can no small peece of righteousnesse be put in the law but withall we renounce Christ and his grace 5 For we by the Spirite through faith It is a preuention wherewith he preuenteth an obiection for forthwith this cogitation might come into any mans mynde Is there than no profite of circumcision Obiection he aunswereth Aunswer that in Christ it profiteth nothing and that therefore righteousnesse is planted in fayth and that this righteousnesse is obtayned in spirite without ceremonies To loke for the hope of righteousnesse is to groūd in this or that thing their confidence or to determine from whence righteousnesse is to be hoped although withall it bee probable that perseueraunce is noted in these wordes as if he shoulde haue sayde We stande constantlye in the confidence of righteousnesse which by fayth we obtayne In that hee sayth that righteousnesse abideth by fayth that is common to the fathers and to vs both alike for by fayth they all pleased God as the Scripture witnesseth Hebr. 11. but their faith was wrapped vnder the vaile of ceremonies therefore hee maketh a difference betweene vs and them by this word Spirite which is set agaynste the outwarde shadowes Hee meaneth than that it is naked and bare fayth now which suffiseth to obtayne righteousnesse and which is not set forth with the pompe of ceremonies but is content with the spirituall seruice of God 6 Eor in Christ Iesus It is a reason shewing wherfore they might nowe obtaine righteousnes in the Spirite because Circumcision with the appurtinaunces thereof was abolished in Christe that is to say in the kingdom of Christe or in the church of Christe for by a Synecdoche Sinecdoche is a figure where part 〈…〉 who le in the word Circumcision he setteth downe the ceremonies And so he putteth in mynde that there is no roome left for them any more and yet he graunteth that they were not alwayes vnprofitable for he teacheth that they were not abrogated till after that Christe was reuealed And so withall is solued that question why he speaketh heare so contemptuously of Circumcision as though it neuer had anye thing auayled for mention is not made here of Circumcision as in that it was once a Sacrament it is not demaunded of what force it was at that time in whiche it was not as yet growne out of vse but he affirmeth that vnder Christes kingdome it was made all one with vncircumcision namely for that the comming of Christ brought an ende to all the ceremonies of the Law But faith working by loue He setteth agaynst Ceremonies another excercise namely of loue Lest that the Iewes should flatter themselues too much as though they excelled in any notable thing for about the ende of the Epistle in steede of this peece he will vse this A new creature It is as much than as if he had sayde That God will not haue vs at these dayes to be occupied in ceremonies but it is sufficient if wee excercise our selues in charitie In the meane while hee doeth not shut out our Sacraments which are helpes to fayth but briefely hee confirmeth that whiche he hath touched concearning the spirituall seruice of God This place hath no difficultie were it not that the Papistes did slaunderouslye wrest it to builde vp their righteousnesse of workes for when they are minded to refell that saying of ours Fayth onely iustifieth than take they vp this weapon Obiection If that fayth iustifieth which worketh by charitie than saye they it doth not iustifie alone I answere Answer they vnderstand not what they prate muche lesse what wee teach for wee doe not teache that the faith whiche