the morall lawe before Faith. Verse 5. That vve might receaue the adoption of the sonnes Paule setteth forth amplifieth very largely this place of Gen. 22. In thy Seede shall all the natiōs of the earth be blessed A litle before he called this Blessing of the seede of Abraham righteousnes life the promise of the spirit deliuerance from the law the testament c. Here he calleth it the adoption and inheritance of euerlasting life All these this word Blessing doth comprehend For when the Curse which is sinne death c. is abolished then in the stede thereof succedeth the Blessing that is righteousnes life and all good things But by what merite haue we receaued this Blessing that is to say this adoption and inheritaunce of euerlasting life By none at all For what can men deserue that are shutte vnder sinne subiect to the curse of the lawe and worthy of euerlasting death We haue then receiued this Blessing freely and being vtterly vnworthy therof but yet not without merite What merite is that Not ours but the merite of Iesus Christ the sonne of God who being made vnder the lawe not for him selfe but for vs as Paule sayd afore that he vvas made a curse for vs redemed vs which were vnder the lawe Wherfore we haue receaued this adoption by the onely redemption of Iesus Christe the sonne of God which is our rich and euerlasting merite whether it be of congruēce or worthines going before grace or comming after And with this free adoption we haue also receaued the holy Ghost which God hath sent into our hearts crying Abba Father as foloweth Verse 6. And because you are sonnes God hath sent forth the spirite of his sonne into your hearts The holy ghost is sent two maner of wayes In the primatiue church he was sent in a manifest visible appearāce So he came vpon Christ at Iordane in the likenes of a Doue and in the likenes of fire vpon the Apostles and other beleuers And this was the first sending of the holy Ghost which was necessary in the primatiue church for it was expedient that it should be established by manifest myracles because of the vnbeleuers as Paule witnesseth 1. Cor. 14. Straunge tongues sayth he be for a signe and a token not to them that beleue but to them that beleue not But after that the Church was gathered together and cōfirmed with those myracles it was not necessary that this visible sending of the holy Ghost should continue any longer Secondly the holy Ghost is sent by the word into the hearts of the beleuers as here it is sayd God sent the spirite of his sonne c. This sending is without any visible appearance to witte when by the hearing of the externall word we receaue an inward feruencie and light wherby we are chaunged become new creatures wherby also we receaue a new iudgement a new feeling a new mouing This chaūge this new iudgemēt is no worke of reason or of the power of mā but is the gift operation of the holy Ghost which commeth with the word preached which purifieth our hearts by faith and bringeth forth in vs spirituall motions Therefore there is a great difference betwixt vs those which with force subteltie persecute the doctrine of the gospell For we by the grace of God can certainly iudge by the word of the will of God towardes vs also of all lawes and doctrines of our owne life and of the life of others Contrariwise the Papists and Sectaries can not certainly iudge of any thing For they corrupt they persecute and blaspheme the word Now without the word a man can geue no certaine iudgement of any thing And although it appeare not before the world that we be renewed in spirit and haue the holy Ghost yet notwithstanding our iudgemēt our speech our confession do declare sufficiently that the holy Ghost with his giftes is in vs For before we could iudge rightly of nothing We spake not as now we doe We confessed not that all our works were sinne and damnable that Christe was our onely merite both before grace after as now we doe in the true knowledge and light of the Gospell Wherefore let this trouble vs nothing at all that the world whose workes we testifie to be euill iudgeth vs to be most pernicious heretikes and seditious persons destroyers of religion and troublers of the common peace possessed of the Deuill speaking in vs and gouerning all our actions Against this peruerse and wicked iudgement of the world let this testimonie of our conscience be sufficient wherby we assuredly know that it is the gift of God that we doe not onely beleue in Iesus Christ but that we also openly preach and confesse him before the world As we beleue with our heart so do we speake with our mouth according to the saying of the Psalm I beleued therfore haue I spoken Moreouer we exercise our selues in the feare of God and auoide sinne as much as we may If we sinne we sinne not of purpose but of ignorance and we are sory for it We may slippe for the Deuill lieth in wait for vs both day and night Also the remnantes of sinne cleaue yet fast in our flesh therefore as touching the flesh we are sinners yea after that we haue receaued the holy Ghost And there is no great difference betwixt a Christian and a ciuill honest man. For the workes of a Christian in outward shew are but base and simple He doth his duetie according to his vocation he guideth his familie he tilleth the ground he geueth counsell he aideth and succoureth his neighbour These workes the carnall man doth not much esteme but thinketh them to be common to all men and such as the heathen may also doe For the world vnderstandeth not the things which are of the spirite of God and therefore it iudgeth peruersly of the workes of the godly But the monstrous superstition of hypocrites and their will workes they haue in great admiration They count them holy works spare no charges in maintaining the same Contrariwise the workes of the faithfull which although in outward appearance they seeme to be but vile nothing worth yet are they good works in dede and accepted of God because they are done in Faith with a cherefull heart and with obedience and thankfulnes towards God these works I say they do not onely not acknowledge to be good works but also they despise and condemne them as most wicked and abhominable The world therfore beleueth nothing lesse then that we haue that holy Ghost notwithstanding in the time of tribulation or of the crosse and of the cōfession of our faith which is that proper principall worke of those that beleue when we must either forsake wife children goodes and life or else deny Christ then it appeareth that we make confession of
contemptible as Paule was among the Galathians as here he witnesseth of him selfe and to receaue him as an angel from heauen and to geue him such honour as if he had bene Christ Iesus him selfe and not to be offended with his afflictions being so great and so many Wherefore by these wordes he highly commendeth the vertue of the Galathians which he sayeth he will kepe in perpetuall remembraunce and so much estemeth the same that he desireth it may be knowne vnto all men Notwithstanding in setting forth so highly their benefites and praises he sheweth couertly how entirely they loued him before the comming of the false apostles and therwithall he moueth them to continue as they began and to embrace hym with no lesse loue and reuerence then they did before And hereby it may also appeare that the false apostles had greater aucthoritie amōg the Galathians then Paule himselfe For the Galathians being moued with their authoritie preferred them farre aboue Paule whom before they so dearly loued and receaued as an angell of god c. Verse 15. VVhat vvas then your felicitie As if he would say How happie were ye counted how much were ye then praised and commended The like maner of speech we haue in the song of the virgin Marie All generations shall call me blessed And these words VVhat vvas then your felicitie containe in them a certeine vehemēcie As if he would say ye were not only blessed but in all things most blessed highly cōmēded Thus he goeth about to qualifie mitigate his bitter potion that is to say his sharpe chiding fearing lest the Galathians should be offended therwith especially knowing that the false apostles would sclaūder him and most spitefully interprete his wordes For this is the qualitie and nature of these Vipers that they will sclaunder maliciously peruert those words which procede from a simple and sincere heart and wrest them cleane contrary to the true sense and meaning thereof They are maruelous cunning workemen in this matter farre passing all the witte and eloquence of all the Rhetoricians in the world For they are ledde with a wicked spirite which so bewitcheth them that they being enflamed with a diuelish rage against the Faithfull can no otherwise doe but maliciously interprete and wickedly peruert their wordes and wrytings Therefore they are like vnto the spider which sucketh venome out of sweete and pleasant flowers and this procedeth not of the flowers but of their owne venemous nature which turneth that into poyson which of it selfe is good and holesome Paule therefore by these milde and sweet wordes goeth about to preuent the false apostles to the ende they should haue no occasion to sclaunder and peruert his wordes after this maner Paule handleth you very vngentely he calleth you foolish bewitched and disobecient to the truth which is a sure token that he seeketh not your saluation but accounteth you as damned and reiected from Christe Ver. 15. For I beare you record that if it had bene possible ye vvould haue plucked out your ovvne eyes and haue geuen them to me He praiseth the Galathians aboue measure Ye did not onely entreat me sayth he most curteously and with all reuerence receauing me as an angell of God c but also if necessitie had required ye would haue plucked out your owne eyes and geuen them to me yea ye would haue bestowed your liues for me And in dede the Galathians bestowed their liues for him For in that they receaued and mainteined Paule whom the world accounted most execrable and accursed they turned vpon their owne heades as receauers mainteiners of Paule the cruell hatred and indignation of all the Iewes and Gentiles So also at this day the name of Luther is most odious to that world He that praiseth me sinneth worse then any idolater blasphemer periurer whoremonger adulterer murtherer or theefe It must needes be therfore that the Galathians were wel established in the doctrine faith of Christ seeing that they with so great daūger of their liues receaued maintained Paule which was hated throughout all the world For else they would neuer haue sustained the cruel hatred of the whole world Vers 16. Am I therfore becōe your enemy because I tel you the truth Here he sheweth the reason why he speaketh the Galathians so faire For he suspecteth that they take him for their enemie because he had reproued them so sharply I pray you sayth he set apart these rebukes and separate them from doctrine and ye shal finde that my purpose was not to rebuke you but to teach you the truth In deede I confesse that my Epistle is sharpe and seuere but by this seueritie I goe about to call you backe againe to the truth of the Gospel from the which ye are falne and to kepe you in the same therfore applie this sharpnes this bitter potiō not to your persons but to your disease And iudge me not to be your enemy in rebuking you so sharply but rather thinke that I am your father For vnlesse I loued you dearly as my children and knew also that I am beloued of you I would not haue reproued you so sharply It is the part of a frend freely to admonish his frend if he doe amisse and when he is so admonished if he be wise he is not angry with the other which hath so frendly admonished him and tolde him the truth but geueth him thanks It is commonly seene in the world that truth bringeth hatred and that he is accounted an enemie which speaketh the truth But amongst frendes it is not so much lesse amongst Christians Seing therefore I haue reprehended you of mere loue to the ende ye might abide in the truth ye ought not to be offended with me nor lose the truth or thinke me your enemie because of my fatherly reprehension All these things are spoken of Paule to confirme that which he sayd before Be ye as I am Ye haue not hurt me c. Verse 17. They are ielous ouer you amisse c. He reproueth here the flattery of the false apostles For Satan is wont by his ministers through wonderfull subtiltie craftie sleightes to begile the simple As Paule sayth Rom. 16. VVith faire speech and flattering they deceaue the hearts of the simple For first of all they make great protestations that they seeke nothing else but the aduaūcement of Gods glory and moreouer that they are moued by the spirite because the miserable people are neglected or else because the truth is not purely taught of others to teach the infallible truth that by this meanes the elect may be deliuered from errour and may come to the true light knowledge of the truth Moreouer they promise vndouted saluation to those that receaue their doctrine If vigilant and faithfull pastors doe not withstand these rauening wolues they will doe great harme to the church vnder this pretēce of godlines vnder this sheepes clothing
God. Now if the Morall lawe it selfe or the ten commaundementes of God can doe nothing else but gender seruauntes that is to say can not iustifie but onely terrifie accuse condemne and driue mens consciences to desperation how then I pray you shall the lawes of men or the lawes of the Pope iustifie which are the doctrines of Deuils They therefore that teach and sette forth either the traditions of men or the lawe of God as necessary to obtaine righteousnes before God doe nothing else but gender seruauntes Notwithstanding such teachers are counted the best men they obtaine the fauoure of the world and are most frutefull mothers for they haue an infinite number of disciples For mans reason vnderstandeth not what Faith and true godlines is and therefore it neglecteth and despiseth it and is naturally addicted to superstition and hypocrisie that is to say to the righteousnes of workes Nowe because this righteousnes shineth and flourisheth euery where therefore it is as a mighty Emperesse of the whole world They therfore which teach the righteousnes of workes by the lawe beget many children which outwardly seeme to be free and haue a glorious shew of excellēt vertues but in conscience they are seruauntes and bondslaues of sinne therfore they are to be cast out of the house and condemned Contrariwise Sara the freewoman that is to say the true church seemeth to be barren For the Gospell which is the word of the crosse and affliction which the Church preacheth shineth not so brightly as the doctrine of the law and workes and therfore she hath not so many disciples to cleaue vnto her Moreouer she beareth this title that she forbiddeth good workes maketh men secure idle and negligent raiseth vp heresies and seditions and is the cause of all mischeefe and therefore she seemeth to bring no successe or prosperitie but all things seeme to be full of barennes desolation and desperation Therefore the wicked are certenly perswaded that the church with her doctrine can not long endure The Iewes assured themselues that the church which was plāted by the Apostles should shortly be ouerthrowne the which by an odious name they called a Sect. For thus they speake to Paule in the .28 Chapter of that Acts. As concerning this Sect vve knovv that euery vvhere it is spoken against In like maner how often I pray you haue our aduersaries ben deceaued which somewhiles appoynted one time somewhiles an other when we should be certainly destroyed Christ and his Apostles were oppressed but after their death the doctrine of the Gospell was further spred abrode then it was during their life In like maner our aduersaries may oppresse vs at this day but the word of God shall abide for euer How much so euer then the church seeme to be barren and forsaken weake and despised and outwardly to suffer persecution and moreouer be compelled to heare this reproch that her doctrine is heretical and seditious notwithstanding she alone is frutefull before God she gendreth by the ministerie of the word an infinite number of children heires of righteousnes and euerlasting life And although outwardly they suffer persecution yet in spirite they are most free who not onely are iudges ouer all doctrines works but also are most victorious conquerours against the gates of hell The Prophet therefore confesseth that the church is in heauines for else he would not exhort her to reioyce He graunteth that she is barren before the world For else he would not call her barren and forsaken hauing no children but before God he sayth she is fruteful and therfore he biddeth her reioyce As though he would say Thou art in deede forsaken and barren and hast not the law for thy husband and therefore thou hast no children But reioyce for although thou hast not the lawe for thy husband but art forsaken as a virgine that is ready to marry for he will not call her widowe which should haue an husband if she were not forsakē of him or if he were not slaine thou I say which art solitarie forsaken of thy husband the law and not subiect to the mariage of the lawe shalt be a mother of innumerable children Wherefore the people or the Church of the new Testament is altogether without the lawe as touching the conscience and therefore she semeth to be forsaken in the sight of the world But although she seeme to be neuer so barren without the law and without workes yet notwithstanding she is most frutefull before God bringeth forth an infinite nombre of children not in bondage but in freedome By what meanes Not by the lawe but by the word and spirite of Iesus Christ which is geuen by the Gospell through which she conceaueth bringeth forth and nourisheth her children Paule therefore plainly sheweth by this allegory the difference betwixt the law and the Gospell First when he calleth Agar the olde Testament and Sara the newe Againe when he calleth the one a bondmaind the other a freewoman Moreouer when he sayeth that the maried frutefull is become barren and cast out of the house with her children Contrariwise the barren and forsaken is become frutefull bringeth forth an infinite nōber of children those also inheritours By these differences are resembled the two sortes of people of Faith of the law I meane The people of Faith haue not the lawe for their husband they serue not in bondage they are not borne of that mother Ierusalem which now is but they haue the promise they are free and are borne of free Sara He separateth therefore the spirituall people of the new Testament from the other people of the lawe when he sayeth that the spirituall people are not the children of Agar the bondmaid but of Sara the freewoman which knoweth nothing of the law And by this meanes he placeth the people of faith farre aboue and without the law Now if they be aboue and without the law then are they iustified by the spirituall birth onely which is nothing else but Faith and not by the lawe or by the workes thereof Now as the people of grace neither haue nor can haue the lawe so the people of the lawe neither haue nor can haue grace for it is impossible that the lawe and grace should stand together Therfore we must be iustified by faith lose the righteousnes of the law or else be iustified by the law and lose the righteousnes of Faith. But this is a fowle and a lamētable losse to lose grace and to returne to the lawe Contrariwise it is an happie and blessed losse to lose the lawe and lay hold of grace We therefore folowing the example and diligence of Paule doe endeuour as much as is possible to set forth plainly the difference betwixt the lawe and the Gospell which is very easie as touching the wordes For who seeth not that Agar is not Sara and that Sara is not Agar
it signifieth all the afflictions of the faithfull whose sufferings are Christes sufferings 2. Cor. 1. The sufferings of Christ abound in vs. Againe Novv reioyce I in my sufferings for you and fulfill the rest of the afflictiōs of Christ in my flesh for his bodies sake vvhich is the Church c. The crosse of Christe therfore generally signifieth all the afflictiōs of the church which it suffereth for Christe which he him selfe witnesseth when he sayth Saule Saule vvhy persecutest thou me Saule did no violence to Christ but to his Church But he that toucheth it toucheth the apple of his eye There is a more liuely feeling in the head then in the other members of the body And this we know by experience for the litle toe or the least part of a mannes body being hurt the head forthwith sheweth it selfe by the countenaunce to feele the greefe thereof So Christe our head maketh all our afflictions his owne and suffereth also when we suffer which are his body It is profitable for vs to know these things lest we should be swalowed vppe with sorow or fal to despaire when we see that our aduersaries doe cruelly persecute excommunicate kill vs But let vs thinke with our selues after the example of Paule that we must glory in the crosse which we beare not for our owne sinnes but for Christes sake If we consider onely in our selues the sufferings which we endure they are not only grieuous but intolerable but when we may say Thy sufferings O Christe abound in vs Or as is said in the Psal. 44. For thy sake are vve killed all the day then these sufferings are not onely easie but also sweete according to that saying My burden is easie and my yoke is svveete Now it is well knowen that we at this day doe suffer the hatred and persecution of our aduersaries for none other cause but for that we preach Christe faithfully and purely If we would deny him and approue their pernicious errours and wicked religion they would not onely cease to hate and persecute vs but woulde also offer vnto vs honour riches and many goodly things Because therefore we suffer these things for Christes sake we may truely reioyse and glory with Paule in the crosse of our Lord Iesus Christ that is to say not in riches in power in the fauour of men c. but in afflictions weaknes sorow fightings in the body terrours in the spirite persecutions and all other euils Wherefore we trust it will shortly come to passe that Christe will say the same to vs that Dauid sayd to Abiathar the priest I am the cause of all your deaths Againe He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of mine eye As if he had sayd he that hurteth you hurteth me For if ye did not preach my worde and confesse me ye should not suffer these things So sayth he also in Iohn If ye vvere of the vvorld the vvorld vvould loue his ovvne but because I haue chosen you out of the vvorld therfore the vvorld hateth you But these things are treated of afore Verse 14. By vvhom the vvorld is crucified to me I vnto the vvorld This is Paules maner of speaking The world is crucified to me that is I iudge the world to be damned And I am crucified to the world that is the world againe iudgeth me to be damned Thus we crucifie and condemne one an other I abhorre all the doctrine righteousnes and works of the world as the poyson of the Deuil The world againe detesteth my doctrine and deedes and iudgeth me to be a sedicious a pernicious a pestilent felow and an heretike So at this day the world is crucified to vs and we vnto the world We curse and condemne all mans traditions concerning Masses Orders vowes wil-worshippings works all the abhominations of the Pope other heretikes as the dirt of the Deuill They againe do persecute kill vs as destroyers of religion and troublers of the publike peace The Monkes dreamed that the world was crucified to them when they entred into their Monasteries but by this meanes Christ is crucified and not the world yea the world is deliuered from crucifying and is the more quickened by that opinion of holines and trust which they had in their owne righteousnes that entred into religion Most foolishly wickedly therfore was this sentence of the Apostle wrested to the entring into Monasteries He speaketh here of an high matter of great importance that is to say that euery faithfull man iudgeth that to be the wisedom righteousnes and power of God which the world condemneth as the greatest folly wickednes and weaknes And contrariwise that which the world iudgeth to be the highest religion and seruice of God the faithfull doe know to be nothing else but execrable and horrible blasphemie against god So the godly condemne the world and againe the world condemneth the godly But the godly haue the right iudgement on their side for the spirituall man iudgeth all things Wherefore the iudgement of the world touching religion and righteousnes before God is as contrary to the iudgement of the godly as God and the Deuill are contrary the one to the other For as God is crucified to the Deuill and the Deuill to God that is to say as God condemneth the doctrine and workes of the Deuill for the Sonne of God appeared as Iohn sayth to destroy the workes of the Deuill and contrariwise the Deuill condemneth and ouerthroweth the word and the workes of God for he is murtherer and the father of lies so the world condemneth the doctrine and life of the godly calling them most pernicious heretikes and troublers of the publike peace And againe the faithfull call the world the sonne of the Deuil which rightly foloweth his fathers steppes that is to say which is as great a murtherer and lier as his father is This is Paules meaning when he sayth vvhereby the vvorld is crucified to me and I vnto the vvorld Now the world doth not onely signifie in the Scriptures vngodly and wicked men but the very best the wisest and holiest men that are of the world And here by the way he couertly toucheth the false apostles As if he should say I vtterly hate and detest all glory which is without the crosse of Christ as a cursed thing for the world with all the glory thereof is crucified to me and I to the world Wherefore accursed be all they which glory in your flesh and not in the crosse of Christ Paule therefore witnesseth by these wordes that he hateth the world with a perfect hatred of the holy Ghost and againe the world hateth him with a perfect hatred of a wicked spirite As if he should say It is impossible that there should be any agreement betweene me and the world What shall I then doe shall I geue place teach those things which please the
the actiue righteousnesse But it is a thing very straunge and vnknowen to the world to teach Christians to learne to be ignorant of the lawe and so to liue before God as if there were no law For except thou be ignorant of the law be assuredly perswaded in thine hart that there is now no lawe nor wrath of God but altogether grace and mercy for Christes sake thou canst not be saued for by the law commeth the knowledge of sinne Cōtrariwise workes and the keeping of the law must be so streitly required in the world as if there were no promise or grace and that because of the stubborne proude and hard harted before whose eies nothing must be set but the lawe that they may be terrified and humbled For the law is geuen to terrifie and to kill such and to exercise the old man And both the word of grace and of wrath must be rightly diuided according to the saying of the Apostle in the second Epistle of Timothe Chapter 2. verse 15. Here is then required a wise and a faithfull disposer of the word of God which can so moderate the lawe that it may be kept within his boundes He that teacheth that men are iustified before God by the obseruation of the lawe passeth the boundes of the lawe and confoundeth these two kindes of righteousnesse actiue and passiue and is but an ill Logician for he doth not rightly diuide Contrariwise he that setteth forth the lawe and workes to the old man and the promise of forgiuenes of sinnes and Gods mercy to the new man diuideth the word wel For the flesh or the old man must be coupled with the lawe and works the spirit or new man must be ioyned with the promise of God and his mercy Wherefore when I see a man that is brused enough already oppressed with the lawe terrified with sinne and thirsting for comfort it is time that I should remoue oute of his sight the lawe and actiue righteousnes and that I should set before him by the Gospell the Christian and passiue righteousnes which excluding Moses with his lawe offereth the promise made in Christ who came for the afflicted and for sinnes Here is man raised vp againe and conceaueth good hope neither is he any longer vnder the lawe but vnder grace Howe not vnder the lawe According to the newe man to whom the law doth not pertaine For the lawe hath his boundes but vnto Christ as Paule saith afterwardes The lawe continueth vnto Christ who being come Moses ceaseth with his lawe Circumcision the Sacrifices the Sabbothes yea and all the Prophetes This is our diuinitie wherby we teach how to put a difference betwene these two kindes of righteousnesse actiue and passiue to the end that maners and faith workes and grace policie and religion shuld not be confounded or taken the one for the other Both are necesry but both must be kept within their boundes Christian righteousnes pertaineth to the newe man and the righteousnes of the lawe pertaineth to the old man which is borne of flesh and bloode Wpon this old man as vpon an asse there must be laied a burthen that may presse him downe and he must not enioy the freedome of the spirite or grace except he first put vpon him the newe man by faith in Christ which notwithstanding is not fully done in this life then may he enioy the kingdome and inestimable gifte of grace This I say to the end that no man should thinke we reiecte or forbid good workes as the Papistes doe most falsely sclaunder vs neither vnderstanding what they themselues say nor what we teach They knowe nothing but the righteousnes of the lawe and yet they will iudge of that doctrine which is farre aboue the lawe of which it is vnpossible that the carnall man should be able to iudge Therefore they must needes be offended for they can see no higher then the lawe What so euer then is aboue the lawe is to them a greate offence But we imagine as it were two worldes the one heauenly and the other earthly In these we place these two kindes of righteousnes being separate the one farre from the other The righteousnes of the lawe is earthly and hathe to doe with earthly things and by it we doe good workes But as the earth bringeth not forthe frute except first it be watred and made frutefull from aboue euen so by the righteousnes of the lawe in doing many thinges we doe nothing and in fullfilling of the lawe we fulfill it not except first without any merite or worke of ours we be made righteous by the Christian righteousnesse which nothing pertaineth to the righteousnesse of the lawe or to the earthly and actiue righteousnesse But this righteousnesse is heauenly which as is said we haue not of our selues but receaue it from heauen which we worke not but which by grace is wrought in vs and apprehended by faith wherby we mounte vp aboue all lawes and workes Wherfore like as we haue borne as S. Paule saith the image of the earthly Adam so let vs beare the image of the heauenly which is the newe man in a new world where is no lawe no sinne no remorse of conscience no death but perfecte ioy righteousnesse grace peace life saluation and glory Why doe we then nothing doe we worke nothing for the obtaining of this righteousnes I aunswere nothing at all For this is perfect righteousnesse to doe nothing to heare nothing to knowe nothing of the law or of workes but to know and to beleeue this onely that Christe is gone to the father and is not nowe seene that he sitteth in heauen at the right hande of his Father not as a iudge but made vnto vs of God wisedome righteousnesse holinesse and redemption Breefely that he is our high Priest intreating for vs and raigning ouer vs and in vs by grace In this heauenly righteousnesse sinne can haue no place for there is no lawe and where no lawe is there can be no transgression Seing then that sinne hath here no place there can be no anguish of conscience no feare no heauinesse Therfore S. Iohn sayth he that is borne of God can not sinne But if there be any feare or greefe of conscience it is a token that this righteousnes is withdrawen that grace is hidden and out of sighte and that Christ is darkened and not to be seene But where Christ is truely seene is deede there must needes be full and perfect ioy in the Lord with peace of conscience which moste certainly thus thinketh Although I am a sinner by the law and vnder the condemnation of the lawe yet I despaire not yet I die not because Christ liueth who is bothe my rightuousnesse and my euerlasting life In that rightuousnesse and life I haue no sinne no feare no sting of cōscience no care of death I am in dede a sinner as touching this present life and the righteousnesse
them became a cast away saue Iudas because theyr calling is holy This is the first assault that Paule maketh against the false Apostles which ranne when no man sent them Calling therfore is not to be despised For it is not enough for a man to haue the word pure doctrine but also he must be assured of his calling and he that entreth without this certaintie entreth to no other ende but to kill and to destroy For God neuer prospereth the labour of those that are not called And although they teach some good and profitable matters withall yet they edifie not So our fantasticall spirites at this day haue the wordes of Faith in their mouthes but yet they yeelde no frute but their cheefe ende and purpose is to draw men to their false and peruerse opinions They that haue a certaine and holy calling must sustaine many and great conflictes as they must do whose doctrine is pure and sound that they may constantly abide in their lawfull calling against the infinite and continuall assaultes of the Deuill and rage of the world Heere what should he doe whose calling is vncertaine and doctrine corrupte This is then our comforte which are in the Ministerie of the worde that we haue an office which is heauenly and holy to the which we being lawfully called doe triumph against all the gates of hel On the other side it is an horrible thing when the conscience saith This thou hast done without any lawfull calling Herein such terrour shaketh a mans minde which is not called that he would wish he had neuer heard the word which he teacheth For by his disobedience he maketh all his workes euill were they neuer so good in so much that euen his greatest workes and labours become his greateste sinnes We see then how good and necessary this boasting and glorying of our ministerie is In times past when I was a yong deuine and teacher me thought Paule did vnwisely in glorying so oft of his calling in all his Epistles but I did not vnderstand his purpose For I knew not that the ministerie of Gods word was so waightie a matter I knew nothing of the doctrine of faith and a true conscience in deede for that there was then no certaintie taught either in the Schooles or Churches but al was ful of Sophistical subtilties of the Schoolemē And therfore no man was able to vnderstand the dignitie and power of this holy and spirituall boasting of the true lawfull calling which serueth first to the glory of God and secondly to the aduauncing of our office and moreouer to the saluation of our selues and of the people For by this our boasting we seeke not estimation in the worlde or praise among men or mony or pleasures or fauour of the world But for as much as we be in a diuine calling and in the worke of God and the people haue great neede to be assured of our calling that they may know our word to be the word of God therfore we proudly vaunt and boast of it It is not then a vaine but a most holy pride against the deuil and the world and true humilitie before God. Verse 1. And by God the Father vvhich hath raised him from the dead Paule is so enflamed heere with zeale that he can not tary till he come to the matter it selfe but forthwith in the very title he bursteth out and vttereth what he hath in his heart His intent in this Epistle is to treate of the righteousnes that cometh by faith and to defend the same Againe to ouerthrowe the lawe and the righteousnes that cometh by workes Of such cogitations he is full and out of this wonderfull and exceeding great abundance of the excellent wisedome and knowledge of Christ in his heart his mouth speaketh This flame this great burning fire of his heart cā not be hid nor suffer him to hold his tongue and therfore he thought it not enough to say that he was an Apostle sent by Iesus Christ but also addeth by God the Father vvhich raised him vp from the dead But the adding of these words And by God the father c semeth not necessary But because as I sayd Paule speaketh out of the abundance of his heart his minde burneth with desire to set forth euen in the very entrie of his Epistle the vnsearchable riches of Christ and to preach the righteousnes of God which is called the resurrection of the dead Christ who liueth and is risen againe speaketh out of him and moueth him thus to speake therfore not without cause he addeth that he is also an Apostle By God the father vvhich hath raised vp Iesus Christ from the dead As if he would say I haue to deale with Satan and with those vipers the instrumēts of Satan which go about to spoile me of the righteousnes of Christ who was raised vp by God the to spoile me of the righteousnes of Christ who was raised vp by God the father frō the dead by which alone we are made righteous by which also we shal be raised vp in the last day from death to euerlasting life But they that in such sort goe about to ouerthrow Christes righteousnes do resist the father and the sonne and the worke of them bothe Thus Paule euen at the first entrance bursteth out into the whole matter wherof he treateth in this Epistle For as I sayd he treateth of the resurrection of Christ who rose againe to make vs righteous and in so doing he hath ouercome the lawe sinne death and all euels Christes victorie then is the ouercōming of the law of sinne our flesh the world the deuil death hel all euils and this his victorie hath he geuen vnto vs Although then that these tyraunts and enemies of ours do accuse vs and make vs afraid yet can they not driue vs to despaire nor condemne vs For Christ whom God the father hath raised vp frō the dead is our righteousnes and victory Therfore thanks be to God who hath geuen vs victorie by our Lord Iesus Christ Amen But marke how fitly and to the purpose Paule here speaketh He sayth not by God that hath made heauen and earth which is Lord of the Angels which commaunded Abraham to goe out of his owne coūtrey which sent Moises to Pharao the king which brought Israel out of Egypt as the false Apostles did who boasted of the God of their fathers the creator maintainer and preseruer of all things working wonders among his people but Paule had an other thing in his hart namely the righteousnes of Christ therfore he speaketh words that make much for this his matter saying I am an Apostle neither of men nor by men but by Iesus Christ and God the father vvho hath raised him vp from the dead Ye see then with what feruencie of spirit Paule is led in this matter which he goeth about to establish and maintaine against
father but also from Iesus Christ teacheth first that we should abstaine from the curious searching of the diuine maiestie for God no man knoweth and to heare Christ who is in the bosome of the father and vttereth to vs his will who also is appoynted of the father to be a teacher to the end that euery one of vs should heare him Christ is God by nature The other thing that Paule teacheth here is a confirmation of our Faith That Christ is very god And such like sentences as this is concerning the Godhead of Christ are to be gathered together and marked diligently not onely against the Arians and other heretikes which either haue bene or shal be hereafter but also for the confirmation of our faith For Satan will not faile to impugne in vs all the articles of our Faith ere we die He is a most deadly enemie to Faith because he knoweth that it is the victorie which ouercometh the world Wherfore it standeth vs in hand to labour that our Faith may be certaine and may encrease and be strengthened by diligent and continuall exercise of the word and feruent prayer that we may be able to withstand Satan Now that Christ is very God hereby it is euidently declared in that Paule attributeth the same things equally vnto him which he doth vnto the father namely diuine power as the geuing of grace the forgeuenes of sinnes peace of conscience life victorie ouer sinne death the deuill and hell This were by no meanes lawfull for him to doe nay it were sacrilege thus to doe except he were very God according to that saying I vvill not geue my glory vnto any other Againe No man geueth that to others which he him selfe hath not But seeing Christ geueth Grace Peace and the holy Ghost deliuereth from the power of the deuill from sinne and death it is certaine that he hath an infinite and diuine power equall in all poyntes to the power of the father And in that Christ geueth Grace and Peace he geueth it not as the Apostles gaue and brought the same vnto men by preaching of the gospell but he geueth it as the author and creator The father createth and geueth life Grace Peace all other good things The selfe same things also the sonne createth geueth Now to geue Grace Peace euerlasting life to forgeue sinnes to make righteous to quicken to deliuer from death and the deuill are not the workes of any creature but of the diuine Maiestie alone The Angels can neither create nor geue these things Therefore these workes pertaine onely to the glory of the soueraigne Maiestie the maker of all things And seing Paule doth attribute the selfe same power of creating and geuing all these things vnto Christ equally with the father it must nedes follow that Christ is verely and naturally God. Many such arguments are in Iohn where it is proued and concluded by the workes which are attributed to the sonne as well as to the father that the diuinitie of the father and of the sonne is all one Therfore the giftes which we receiue of the father and which we receiue of the sonne are all one For else Paule would haue spoken otherwise after this manner Grace from God the father and Peace from our Lord Iesus Christ But in knitting them both together he attributeth them equally as well to the sonne as to the father I do therfore so diligently admonish you of this thing because it is daungerous lest among so many errours and in so great varietie and confusion of sectes there might step vp some Arrians Eunomians Macedonians and such other heretikes that might doe harme to the Churches with their subteltie In deede the Arrians were sharpe and subtile fellowes They graunted that Christ hath two natures and that he is called very God of very God howbeit in name onely Christ said they is a most noble and perfect creature aboue the Angels wherby God afterward created heauē and earth and all other things So Mahomet also speaketh honorably of Christ But al this is nothing els but goodly imaginations words pleasant and plausible to mans reason wherby the fantasticall spirites do deceiue men except they take good hede But Paule speaketh otherwise of Christ Ye sayth he are rooted and stablished in this beleefe namely that Christ is not onely a perfect creature but very God who doth the selfe same things that God the father doth He hath the diuine works not of a creature but of the creator because he geueth Grace Peace and to geue them is to condemne sinne to vanquish death and to tread the deuill vnder foote These things no Angell can geue but seing they are attributed vnto Christ it must nedes folow that he is very God by nature Verse 4. VVhich gaue himselfe for our sinnes Paule in a maner in euery word handleth the argumēt of this Epistle He hath nothing in his mouth but christ therfore in euery word ther is a feruencie of spirite and life And marke how well to the purpose he speaketh He sayth not which hath receaued our works at our hāds nor which hath receaued the sacrifices of Moises law worshippings religions Masses vowes and pilgrimages But hath geuen What not golde nor siluer nor beastes nor paschall lambes nor an angel but him selfe For what Not for a crowne not for a kingdome not for our holines or righteousnes but for our sinnes These words are very thūder claps from heauen against all kindes of righteousnes like as is also this sentence of Iohn Behold the lambe of God that taketh avvay the sinnes of the vvorld Therfore we must with diligent attention marke euery word of Paule and not slenderly consider them or lightly passe them ouer for they are full of consolation and confirme fearfull consciences exceedingly But how may we obtaine remission of our sinnes Paule answereth that the man which is called Iesus Christ the sonne of God hath geuē him selfe for them These are excellēt most comfortable words are promises of the olde law that our sinnes are taken away by none other meane then by the sonne of God deliuered vnto death With such gunnes and such artillarie must the Papacie be destroyed and all the all the religions of the heathen all works all merits and all superstitious ceremonies For if our sinnes may be taken away by our owne works merites and satisfactions what needed the sonne of God to be giuen for them But seeing he was giuen for them it followeth that we can not doe them away by our owne works Againe by this sentence it is declared that our sinnes are so great so infinite and inuincible that it is impossible for the whole world to satisfie for one of them and surely the greatnes of the raunsome namely Christ the sonne of God who gaue himselfe for our sinnes declareth sufficiently that we can neither satisfie for sinne
Christ was geuen for our sinnes that by the good will of the father On the contrary part the curious searching of the Maiestie of God and his dreadfull iudgements namely how he destroyed the whole world with the floud how he destroyed Sodome and such other things are very daūgerous for they bring men to desperation and cast them downe headlong into vtter destruction as I haue shewed before Verse 4. Of God and our Father This word OVR must be referred to both that the meaning may be this of our God and of our father Then is Christes father and our father all one So in the 20. of Iohn Christ sayth to Mary Magdalen Goe to my brethern and say vnto them I ascend vnto my father and your father to my God and to your God. Therfore God is our father and our God but through Christ And this is an Apostolike maner of speache and euen Paules owne phrase who indede speaketh not with such picked and gay wordes but yet very fit and to the purpose and ful of burning zeale Verse 5. To vvhom be glory for euer and euer The Hebrues are wont in their wrytings to intermingle praise and geuing of thankes This custome the Hebrues and Apostles themselues do obserue Which thing may very often be seene in Paule For the name of the Lord ought to be had in great reuerence and neuer to be named without praise thanksgeuing And thus to do is a certaine kind of worship and seruice of god So in worldly matters when we mention the names of kings or princes we are wont to do it with some comely gesture reuerence bowing of the knee much more ought we when we speake of God to bowe the knee of our harte and to name the name of God with thankfulnes and greate reuerence Verse 6. Imaruell Ye see here howe Paule handleth his Galathians which were fallē away and seduced by the false Apostles He doth not at the first set vpon them with vehement rigorous wordes but after a very fatherly sort not onely patiently bearing their fall but also in a maner excusing the same Farthermore he sheweth towards them a motherly affection and speaketh them very faire and yet in such sorte as he reproueth them notwithstanding howbeit with very fitte words and wisely framed to the purpose Contrarywise he is very hotte and full of indignation against those false Apostles their seducers vpon whom he laieth the whole fault And therfore forthw t euen in the entraunce of his Epistle he bursteth out into plaine thunderings and lightenings against them If any man saith he preach any other Gospell then that you haue receaued be he accursed And afterwards in the fifte chapter he threateneth damnation vnto them VVho so troubleth you shall beare his condemnation vvhatsoeuer he be Moreouer he curseth them with horrible words saying I vvould to God they vvere cutte of vvhich trouble you These are dreadfull thunderclaps against the righteousnes of the fleshe or of the lawe He might haue handled the Galathians more vncurteously and haue inueied against them more roughly after this manner Out vpon this backsliding I am ashamed of you your vnthankfulnes greueth me I am angry with you Or els thus tragically haue cried out against thē O vngracious world O wicked dealings c. But forasmuch as his purpose is to raise vp them that were falne and with a fatherly care to call them backe againe from their errour to the puritie of the gospell he leaueth those rough sharpe words especially in the first entraūce and most gently and mildly he speaketh vnto them For seeing he went about to heale them that were wounded it was not meete that he should now further vexe their greene woōd by laying to it a sharpe and a fretting plaster and so rather hurt the wounded then heale them Therfore of all the sweetest and mildest words he could not haue chosen any one more fitte then this I maruel wherby he signifieth both that it greued him and also that it displeased him that they had falne away from him And here Paule is mindfull of his owne rule which he giueth hereafter in the 6 chapiter where he saith Brethern if a man be falne by occasion into any fault ye vvhich are spirituall restore such a one vvith the spirite of meekenes considering thy selfe lest thou also be tempted This example must we also follow that we may shew our selues to beare like affection towards such as are misled as parents beare towards their children that they may perceaue our fatherly and motherly affection towards them and may see that we seeke not their destruction but their welfare But as for the Deuill and his ministers the authors of false doctrine and sects against them we ought by the example of the Apostle to be impatient proud sharpe and bitter detesting and condemning their false iugglings and deceits with asmuch rigour and seueritie as may be So parents when their childe is hurt with the biting of a dogge are wont to pursue the dogge onely but the weeping childe they bemone and speake faire vnto it comforting it with most sweete words The spirite therefore that is in Paule is a wonderfull craftsmaster in handling the afflicted consciences of such as are falne Contrariwise the Pope because he is lead with a wicked spirite breaketh out violently like a tiraunt and rappeth out his thundercracks and cursings against the miserable and terrified in conscience which thing may be seene in his Buls especially in that Bul touching the Lords supper The Bishops also doe their duety neuer a whit better They teache not the Gospell they are not carefull for the sauing of mens soules but onely they seeke Lordshippe and soueraintie ouer them and therefore their speakings and doings are altogether to maintaine and supporte the same In like maner are all the vainglorious Doctours and teachers affected Verse 6. That so soone Ye see how Paule himselfe complaineth that to fall and to erre in the faith is an easy matter In respect whereof he warneth the Christiās in an other place that he vvhich standeth should take hede that he fall nor And we daily proue by experience howe hardly the minde of man conceaueth and kepeth a sure and stedfast faith Also with what greate difficultie a perfect people is gotten to the lord A man may labour halfe a score yeares ere he shall gette some litle church to be righly and religiously ordred and when it is so ordred there creepith in some madde braine yea and a very vnlearned idiote which knoweth nothing but to speake sclaunderously against the sincere preachers of the word and he in one moment ouerthroweth all Whom would not this wicked dealing moue We by the grace of of God haue gotten here at VVitenberge the forme of a Christian church The word among vs is purely taught the sacraments are rightly vsed exhortations and praiers are made also for all estates and
to bring into contempt yea and vtterly to abolish the law of God and the kingdom of the Iewes contrary to the law of God contrary to the custome of the Iewish nation contrary to the example of the Apostles and to be short contrary to his owne example Wherefore he was to be shunned as an open blasphemer against God and a rebell against the whole common weale of the Iewes saying that they themselues ought rather to be heard who besides that they preached the Gospell rightly were also the very disciples of the Apostles with whom Paule was neuer conuersant By this policie they defamed and defaced Paule among the Galathians so that by this their peruerse dealing of very necessitie Paule is compelled with all his mighte to set him selfe againste these false Apostles whom he boldly reproueth and condemneth say-ing that they are the troublers of the Churches and ouerthrowers of Christes gospell as followeth Verse 7. And intendeth to peruert the Gospell of Christ That is to say they doe not onely goe about to trouble you but also vtterly to abolish and ouerthrow Christes Gospell For these two things the Deuill practiseth most busily First he is not contented to trouble and deceaue many by his false Apostles but moreouer he laboureth vtterly to ouerthrow the Gospell by them and neuer resteth till he haue brought it to passe Yet such peruerters of the Gospell can abide nothing lesse then to heare that they are the Apostles of the Deuill nay rather they glory aboue others in the name of Christ and boast themselues to be the most sincere preachers of the Gospell But because they mingle the law and the Gospell together they can not but be the peruerters of the Gospell For either Christ must remaine and the law perish or the law must remaine and Christ perish For Christ and the law can by no meanes agree and raigne together in the conscience Where the righteousnes of the law ruleth there can not the righteousnes of grace rule And againe where the righteousnes of grace raigneth there can not the righteousnes of the lawe raigne for one of them must needes geue place vnto the other And if thou canst not beleeue that God will forgeue thy sinnes for Christes sake whom he sent into the world to be our high priest how then I pray thee wilt thou beleeue that he will forgeue the same for the works of the law which thou couldest neuer performe Or for thine owne workes which as thou must be compelled to confesse be such as it is impossible for them to counteruaile the iudgement of God Wherefore the doctrine of Grace can by no meanes stande with the Doctrine of the Lawe The one must simplye be refused and abolished and the other confirmed and stablished For as Paule sayeth here to mingle the one with the other is to ouerthrow the Gospell of Christ And yet if it come to debating the greater parte ouercommeth the better For Christ with his side is weake and the Gospell is but a foolish preaching Contrariwise the kingdome of the world and the Deuill the prince thereof are strong Besides that the wisedom and righteousnes of the flesh cary a goodly shew And by this meanes the righteousnes of grace and Faith is lost and the other righteousnes of the law and workes aduaunced and maintained But this is our comforte that the Deuill with all his limmes can not doe what he would He may trouble many but he can not ouerthrow Christes Gospell The truth may be assailed and may come in daunger but pearish it can not It may be assailed but vanquished it can not be For the vvord of the Lord indureth for euer It seemeth to be a light matter to mingle the lawe and the Gospell faith and works together but it doth more mischiefe then mans reason can conceaue For it doth not onely blemish and darken the knowledge of grace but also it taketh away Christ with all his benefits and it vtterly ouerthroweth the Gospell as Paule saith in this place The cause of this great euill is our flesh which being plunged in sinnes seeth no way how to get out but by works therefore it would liue in the righteousnes of the lawe and rest in the trust and confidence of her owne works Wherefore it is vtterly ignoraunt of the doctrine of faith and grace without which notwithstanding it is impossible for the conscience to finde rest and quietnes It appeareth also by these words of Paule And intend to peruert the Gospell of Christ that the false Apostles were exceeding bolde and shamelesse which with all their might set them selues against Paule Wherefore he againe vsing his spirite of zeale and feruencie and being fully perswaded of the certaintie of his calling setteth him selfe strongly against them wōderfully magnifieth his ministery saying Verse 8. But though that vve or an Angell from heauen preach vnto you othervvise then that vve haue preached vnto you let him be accursed Here Paule casteth out very flames of fire and his zeale is so feruent that he beginneth also almost to curse the Angels Although sayth he that we our selues euen I and my brethren Timothy and Titus and as many as teach Christ purely with me I speake not now of those seducers of cōsciences yea or if an angel from heauen preach vnto you c. notwithstanding I would rather that I my selfe my brethren yea the very Angels from heauen also should be holden accursed then that my Gospel should be ouerthrowen This is in deede a vehement zeale that he dare so boldly curse not onely him selfe and his brethren but also euen an Angell from heauen The Greke word Anathema in Hebrew Herem signifieth a thing accursed execrable and detestable which hath nothing to doe no participation or communion with god So the citie Hierico saith Iosua shal be accursed for euer that it neuer be builded vp againe And in the last of Leuiticus it is written Nothing separate from the common vse vvhich shal be separate from man shal be redemed but die the death vvhether it be man or beast So God had appointed that Amalech certaine other cities accursed by gods owne sentence should be vtterly rased and destroied This then is Paules minde I had rather that my selfe and other my brethren yea and an Angell from heauen should be accursed then that we or others should preach any other Gospell then that which we haue preached already So Paule first curseth him selfe for cunning artificers are wont first to finde faulte with themselues that they may the more frely and sharply afterwards reproue others Paule therfore concludeth that there is no other Gospell besides that which he himselfe had preached But he preached not a Gospell which he had him selfe deuised but the same which God promised before by his Prophets in the holy scriptures Rom. 1. Therefore he pronounceth him selfe and others yea euen an Angell from heauen
meditation of the worde And when we haue striuen neuer so much yet shall we haue enough to keepe vs occupied For we haue to doe with no small enemies but strong and mighty and such as are in continuall warre against vs namely our owne flesh all the daungers of the world the law sinne death the wrath and iudgement of God and the Deuill himselfe who neuer ceaseth to tempt vs inwardly by his fierie darts outwardly by his false Apostles to the ende that he may ouerthrow if not all yet the most part of vs. This argument therefore of the false apostles had a goodly shew and seemed to be very strong Which also at this day moueth many namely that the Apostles the holy fathers and their successours haue so taught that the Church so thinketh and beleeueth Moreouer that it is impossible that Christ should suffer his Church so long time to erre Art thou alone say they wiser then so many holy men wiser then the whole church After this maner the deuil being chaunged into an Angell of light setteth vpon vs craftely at this day by certaine pestiferous hypocrites who say We passe not for the Pope nor for the Bishops those great persecutors and contemners of Gods word we abhorre also the hypocrisie deceitfulnes of Monkes such like but we would haue the aucthoritie of holy Church to remaine vntouched The Church hath thus beleeued and taught this long time So haue all the Doctours of the primatiue Church holy men more auncient and better learned then thou Who art thou that darest dissent from all these and bring vnto vs a contrary doctrine When Satan reasoneth thus conspiring with the flesh and reason then is thy conscience terrified and vtterly despaireth vnlesse thou constantly retourne to thy selfe againe and say Whether it be Cyprian Ambrose Augustine either S. Peter Paule or Iohn yea or an Angell from heauen that teacheth otherwise yet this I know assuredly that I teach not the things of men but of God that is to say I attribute all things to God alone and nothing to man. When I first tooke vpon me the defence of the Gospell I remember that Doctor Staupitius a worthy man sayd thus vnto me This liketh me well that this doctrine which thou preachest yeldeth glory and all things else vnto God alone and nothing vnto man for vnto God there can not be attributed too much glory goodnes mercie c. This saying did then greatly comfort and confirme me And true it is that the doctrine of the Gospell taketh from men all glory wisedom righteousnes c. and geueth them to the creatour alone who made all things of nothing We may also more safely attribute too much vnto God then to man For in this case I may say boldly Be it so that the Church Augustine and other Doctours also Peter and Apollo yea euen an Angell from heauen teach a contrary doctrine yet my doctrine is such that it setteth forth and preacheth the grace and glory of God alone and in the matter of saluation it condemneth the righteousnes and wisedom of all men In this case I can not offend because I geue both to God and man that which properly and truely belongeth vnto them both But thou wilt say The Church is holy The Fathers are holy It is true notwithstanding albeit the church be holy yet is it compelled to pray forgeue vs our trespasses So though the fathers be holy yet are they saued through the forgeuenes of sinnes Therfore neither am I to be beleued nor the Church nor the Fathers nor the Apostles no nor an Angell from heauen if we teach any thing against the word of God but let the vvord of God abide for euer For else this argument of the false Apostles had mightely preuailed against Paules doctrine For in deede it was a great matter a great matter I say to set before the Galathians the whole Church with all the companie of the Apostles against Paule alone but lately sprong vp and of small authoritie This was therefore a strong argument and concluded mightely For no man sayth willingly that the Church erreth and yet it is necessary to say that it erreth if it teache any thing besides or against Gods worde Peter the cheefe of the Apostles taught both in life and doctrine besides Gods word therfore he erred and was deceaued Neither did Paule dissemble that errour although it seemed to be but a light fault because he sawe it would turne to the hurt of the whole Church but vvithstoode him euen to his face because he vvalked not after the truth of the Gospell Therefore neither is the Church nor Peter nor the Apostles nor Angels from heauen to be heard vnlesse they bring and teach the pure word of God. This argument euen at this day is not a little preiudiciall to our cause For if we may neither beleeue the Pope nor the Fathers nor Luther nor any other except they teach vs the pure word of God whom shall we then beleeue Who in the meane while shall certefie our consciences which part teacheth the pure word of God we or our aduersaries For they bragge that they also haue the pure worde of God and teach it Againe we beleue not the Papistes because they teach not the word of God neither can they teach it Contrariwise they hate vs most bitterly and persecute vs as most pestilent heretikes and seducers of the people What is to be done in this case Shall it be lawfull for euery fantasticall spirite to teach what him selfe listeth seeing the world can neither heare nor abide our doctrine For although we glory with Paule that we teach the pure Gospell of Christ vnto which not onely the Emperour Pope and the whole world ought to geue credite but also ought gladly and thankfully to receaue and embrace it yea and diligently to prouide that it be taught in euery place and if any should teach the contrary were he the Pope an Apostle or an Angell from heauen to holde him accurssed together with his Gospell yet for all that we profite nothing but are compelled to heare that this our glorying is not onely vaine rash and arrogant but also Deuilish and full of blasphemie But if we abase our selues and geue place to the rage of our aduersaries then both the Papists and Anabaptists waxe proud The Anabaptists wil vaunt the they bring and teach vs some straunge thing which the world neuer heard of before The Papistes will set vp againe and stablishe their olde abhominations Let euery man therfore take hede that he be most sure of his calling and doctrine that he may boldly say with Paule Although vve or an Angell from heauen preach vnto you othervvise then that vvhich vve haue preached vnto you let him be accursed Verse 13. For you haue heard of my conuersation in times past in the Ievvish religion hovv thar I persecuted the Church of God
inestimable treasure freely bestowed vpon vs the Gospell properly preacheth vnto vs. Wherfore it is a kind of doctrine that is not learned or gotten by any studie diligence or wisdome of man nor yet by the lawe of God but is reueiled by God himself as Paule saith in this place first by the eternal word then by the working of Gods spirite inwardly The Gospell then is a diuine word that came downe from heauen and is reueiled by the holy Ghost who was also sent for the same purpose yet in such sort notwithstanding that the outward word must goe before For Paule himselfe had no inward reuelation vntil he had heard the outward word frō heauen which was this Saule Saule vvhy persecutest thou me First therfore he heard the outward word thē afterwards folowed reuelations the knowledge of the word faith and the giftes of the holy Ghost Verse 16. That I should preach him among the Gentiles It pleased God sayth he to reueale his sonne in me To what purpose Not onely that I my selfe should beleue in the sonne of God but also that I should preach him among the Gentiles And why not among the Iewes Loe here we see that Paule is properly the Apostle of the Gentiles albeit he preached Christ among the Iewes also Paule comprehēdeth here in few words as he is wont his whole diuinitie which is to preach Christ amōg the Gentiles As if he would say I will not burden the Gentiles with the law because I am the Apostle and Euangelist of the Gentiles and not their law geuer Thus he directeth all his wordes against the false Apostles As though he would say O ye Galathiās ye haue not heard the righteousnes of the law or of workes to be taught by me for this belongeth to Moises and not to me Paule being the Apostle of the Gentiles For my office and ministerie is to bring the gospell vnto you and to shew vnto you the same reuelation which I my selfe haue had Therfore ought you to heare no teacher to teach the law For among the Gentiles the law ought not to be preached but the Gospell not Moises but the sonne of God not the righteousnes of workes but the righteousnes of Faith. This is the preaching that properly belongeth to the Gentiles Verse 16. Immediatly I communicated not vvith flesh and bloud In that he maketh mention here of flesh and bloud he speaketh not of the Apostles For by and by he addeth Neither came I againe to Ierusalem to them vvhich vvere Apostles before me But this is Paules meaning that after he had once receaued the reuelation of the gospell from Christ he consulted not with any man in Damascus much lesse did he desire any man to teach him the gospel Againe that he went not to Ierusalem to Peter and the other Apostles to learne the gospell of them but that forthwith he preached Iesus Christ in Damascus where he receaued baptisme of Ananias and imposition of handes for it was necessary for him to haue the outward signe and testimonie of his calling The same also wryteth Luke Act. 9. Verse 17. Neither came I to Ierusalem to them that vvere Apostles before me but vvent into Arabia and turned againe vnto Damascus That is I went into Arabia before I saw the Apostles or consulted with them and forthwith I toke vpon me the office of preaching among the Gentiles for thervnto I was called and had also receaued a reuelation from god He did not then receiue his gospell of any man or of the Apostles them selues but was content with his heauenly calling and with the reuelation of Iesus Christ alone Wherefore this whole place is a confutation of the false Apostles argument which they vsed against Paule saying that he was but a scholler and hearer of the Apostles who liued after the law moreouer that Paule himselfe also had liued according to the law and therfore it was necessary that the Gentiles them selues should kepe the law and be circumcised To the ende therfore that he might stop the mouthes of these cauillers he rehearseth this long historie Before my conuersion sayth he I learned not my Gospell of the Apostles nor of any other of the brethern that beleeued for I persecuted extremely not only this doctrine but also the Church of God and wasted it neither after my conuersion for I preached straight wayes not Moses with his law but Iesus Christ at Damascus consulting with no man neither as yet hauing seene any of the Apostles Verse 18. Then after .iij. yeares I came againe to Ierusalem to visite Peter and abode vvith him .xv. dayes And none other of the Apostles savve I saue Iames the Lordes brother Paule graunteth that he was with the Apostles but not with all the Apostles Howbeit he declareth that he went vp to Ierusalem to them not commaunded but of his owne accorde Moreouer not to learne any thing of them but to see Peter The same thing Luke also wryteth in the ninth chapter of the Actes that Barnabas led Paule to the Apostles and declared to them how he had seene the Lord in the way and how he spake vnto him Also how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Iesus This witnes beareth Barnabas of him All his words therfore are so framed to the purpose that they proue his gospell not to be of man In deede he graunteth that he had seene Peter and Iames the brother of our Lord but none other of the Apostles besides these two and that he learned nothing of them He graūteth then that he was at Ierusalem with the Apostles and this did the false Apostles truely report He graunteth moreouer that he had liued after the maner of the Iewes but yet onely among the Iewes And this is it which he sayth in the. 1. Cor. 9. vvhen I vvas free from all men I made my selfe seruaunt to all men that I might vvin the moe To the Ievves I became as a Ievve that I might vvin the Ievves and I vvas made all things to all mē that I might by all meanes saue some He yeldeth then that he was at Ierusalem with the Apostles but he denieth that he had learned his gospell of them Also he denieth that he was constrained to teach the Gospell as the Apostles had prescribed The whole effect then of this matter lieth in this word to see I went sayth he to see Peter and not to learne of him Therefore neither is Peter my master nor yet Iames. And as for the other Apostles he vtterly denieth that he saw any of them But why doth Paule repete this so often that he learned not his gospell of men nor of the Apostles them selues His purpose is this to perswade the churches of Galatia which were now led away by the false Apostles and to put them out of all dout that his gospell was the true word of God and for this cause he repeteth it so often And if he
call himselfe the Apostle of the Gentiles and Peter with the other the Apostles of the circumcision This question is not hard Paule here hath respect vnto this that the other Apostles remained specially in Ierusalem vntil God called them vnto other places Thus stoode the matter then for the time that whiles the politicall state of the Iewes continued the Apostles still remained in Iudea but when the destruction of Ierusalem approched they were dispersed throughout the whole world But Paule as it is written in the Actes by a singular vocation was chosen to be the Apostle of the Gentiles and being sent out of Iudea he traueled through the countreys of the Gentiles Now were the Iewes dispersed almost throughout the whole world and dwelt here and there in cities and other places amongs the Gentiles Paule comming thether was wont as we read in the Actes to goe into the Sinagoges of the Iewes and by this occasion he first brought vnto them as the children of the kingdom this glad tidings that the promises made vnto the fathers were now accomplished by Iesus Christ When they would not heare this he turned to the Gentiles as Luke witnesseth where he bringeth in Paule thus boldly speaking against the Iewes It vvas necessary that vve should first preach the vvord of God vnto you but seing ye reiect it iudge your selues vnvvorthy of euerlastīg life loe vve turne to the Gentiles And in the Actes Be it knovvne therfore vnto you that this saluation of God is sent vnto the Gentiles and they shall heare it Wherefore Paule was sent specially vnto the Gentiles But because he was a detter vnto all and became all things vnto all mē therfore occasion being offered he went into the Sinagoges of the Iewes where not only the Iewes but also the Gentiles heard him preaching Christ Otherwhiles he preached publikely in the market place in houses and by the riuers sides He was specially then the Apostle of the Gentiles as Peter was of the Iewes who notwithstanding preached Christ to the Gentiles also when occasion was offered And here he calleth vncircumcision the Gentiles and circumcision the Iewes by a figure named Synecdoche which vnder part comprehēdeth the whole which figure is commonly vsed in the scripture The gospell then ouer vncircumcision is that which should be preached to the Gentiles This gospell he sayth was committed vnto him as the gospell ouer circumcision was vnto Peter For as Peter preached the gospell among the Iewes so did he among the Gentiles This he often repeteth that Peter Iames and Iohn which semed to be the pillers of the church taught him nothing nor committed vnto him the office of preaching the Gospell as hauing authoritie and rule ouer him But they them selues sayth he did see that the gospell was committed vnto me but not by Peter For as I did not receiue or learne my gospel of man so did I receiue no cōmaundement by man to preach the same but both the knowlege and the cōmaundement to preach it amōg the Gentiles I receiued immediatly from God like as the charge was geuen of God vnto Peter to preach the same among the Iewes This place witnesseth very plainly that the Apostles had like calling like charge and all one Gospell Peter preached no other Gospell then the rest of the Apostles did neither did he appoynt to others their charge and office but there was an equalitie among them all for they were all taught of God that is both their vocation and charge was wholy and immediatly from god There was none therefore greater then other none that had any prerogatiue aboue other And therefore where the Pope vaūteth that Peter was the chiefe of the Apostles that thereby he might confirme and stablish his vsurped primacie it is an impudent lie Verse 8. For he that vvas mightie by Peter This is a confutation of an other argument of the false apostles Why doe the false apostles boast sayth he that the Gospell of Peter was mightie that he conuerted many that he wrought many and great miracles raised vp the dead and with his shadow cured the sick I graunt all these things to be true but Peter receiued this power from heauen God gaue a vertue to his woorde that many did beleeue him and great miracles were wrought by him The same power had I also which I receiued not of Peter but the same God and the same spirite which was mightie in Peter was mightie in me also I had the same grace I taught many I wrought many miracles and through my shadow also I cured the sicke And this Luke testifieth in the .19 of the Actes in these wordes And God vvrought no small miracles by the handes of Paule so that from his body vvere brought napkins and handkercheefes and the diseases departed from them and the euill spirites vvent out of them Read more hereof in the .13.16.20.28 of the Actes To conclude Paule wil be counted in no poynt inferiour to the rest of the Apostles and herein he standeth with a godly and a holy pride For he was compelled of necessitie to take vpon him stoutly against Peter and the zeale of God constrained him to be proud whether he would or no. Certaine prophane spirites as Iulianus and Porphirius not considering this thought it to be but a carnall pride that caused Paule thus to doe such as at this day we see in the Pope and his generation But Paule had not here his owne busines in hand but a matter of Faith. Nowe as concerning Faith we ought to be inuincible and more harde if it might be then the Adamant stone But as touching charitie we ought to be soft and more flexible then the reede or leafe that is shaken with the winde and ready to yelde to euery thing Therefore the controuersie was not here touching the glorie of Paule but the glory of God the word of God the true worship of God true religion and the righteousnes of Faith to the ende that these things might still remaine pure and vncorrupt Verse 9. And vvhen Iames and Cephas and Iohn knevv of the grace that vvas geuen vnto me vvhich are counted to be pillers they gaue to me and to Barnabas the right hands of felovvship that vve should preach vnto the Gentiles and they vnto the circumcision That is to say when they heard that I had receaued my calling and charge from god to preach the gospel among the Gentiles that God had wrought so many miracles by me moreouer that so great a nomber of the Gentiles were come to the knowledge of Christ through my ministerie and that the Gentiles had receiued the holy Ghost without the law and circumcision by the onely preaching of faith they glorified God for this grace which was geuen vnto me He calleth grace here what so euer he had receaued of God to wit that of a persecuter and waster of the Church he
for his mischeuous deedes What is this els but to heape vpon him that is already most miserably afflicted extreme perdition and destruction and through a false confidence in his owne death to shew him the ready way to hell Hereby these hypocrites doe plainely declare that they neither teache nor vnderstande one letter or syllable concerning grace the Gospell or Christ They retaine onely in outwarde shewe the name of the Gospell and of Christ that they may begile the heartes of the people Notwithstanding they denying and reiecting Christ in deede doe attribute more to the traditions of men then to the Gospell of Christ Which thing to be true so many kindes of false worshippe so many religious orders so many ceremonies and so many wilworkes doe witnesse All which things were instituted as auailable to deserue grace righteousnes and euerlasting life In their confessions they make no mention of faith or the merite of Christ but teach and set forth the satisfactions and merits of men as it may plainly appeare in this forme of absolution I speake nothing here of other matters which the Monkes vsed among themselues yea and such as would be counted more deuout and more religious then others which I thinke good here to sette downe that our posteritie may see howe greate and howe horrible the kingdome of the Pope is The forme of a Monkish absolution God forgeue thee my brother The merite of the passion of our Lord Iesus Christ and of blessed Saincte Mary alwaies a virgine and of all the Saincts the merite of thine order the streitnes of thy religion the humilitie of thy confession the contrition of thy hart the good workes which thou hast done and shalt doe for the loue of our Lord Iesus Christ be vnto thee auaileable for the remission of thy sinnes the encrease of desert and grace and the reward of euerlasting life Amen Ye heare the merite of Christ mencioned in these words but if ye weye them well ye shall perceaue that Christ is there altogether vnprofitable and that the glory and name of a iustifier and Sauiour is quite taken from him and geuen to Monkish merites Is not this to take the name of God in vaine Is not this to confesse Christ in wordes and in very deede to deny his power and blaspheme his name I my selfe also was once entangled with this errour I thought Christ to be a iudge although I confessed with my mouth that he suffered and died for mans redemption and ought to be pacified by the obseruation of my rule and order Therfore when I prayed or when I said Masse I vsed to adde this in the end O Lord Iesus I come vnto thee I pray thee that these burthens and this streitnes of my rule and religion may be a full recompence for all my sinnes But now I geue thankes vnto God the father of all mercies which hath called me out of darkenes vnto the light of his glorious Gospell hath geuen vnto me plentifull knowledge of Christ Iesus my lord for whose sake I coūt al things to be but losse yea I esteme them but as dunge that I may gaine Christ and that I may be found in him not hauing mine owne righteousnes out of the rule of Augustine but that righteousnes which cometh by faith in Christ Vnto whom with the father the holy ghost be praise and glory world without end Amen We conclude therefore with Paule that we are iustified by faith onely in Christ without the law Now after that a man is once iustified and possesseth Christ by faith and knoweth that he is his righteousnes and life doubtles he will not be idle but as a good tree he wil bring forth good frutes For the beleuing man hath the holy Ghost and wher the holy Ghost dwelleth it will not suffer a man to be idle but stirreth him vp to all exercises of pietie and godlines and of true religion to the loue of God to the patient suffering of afflictions to praier to thankes geuing to the exercise of charitie towards all men Hitherto we haue handled the first argument wherin Paule contendeth that either we can not be iustified by the law or els that Christ must needes be the minister of sinne But this is impossible wherefore we conclude that iustification cometh not by the law Of this place we haue largely entreated as it is well worthy and yet can it not be caught and setforth sufficiently Verse 19. For I through the lavv am deade to the lavv that I might liue vnto God. These are maruelous words and vnknowne kindes of speach which mans reason can in no wise vnderstand And although they be but few yet are they vttered with greate zeale and vehemencie of spirite and as it were in greate displeasure As if he should say why doe ye boast so much of the law wherof in this case I will be ignoraunt But if ye will needes haue the law I also haue the law Wherfore as though he were moued through indignation of the holy Ghost he calleth grace it selfe the law geuing a new name to the effect and working of grace in contempt of the law of Moses and the false Apostles which contended that the law was necessary to iustification and so he setteth the law against the law And this is a sweete kind of speach and full of consolation when in the scriptures and specially in Paule the law is set against the law sinne against sinne death against death captiuitie against captiuitie hell against hell the altar against the altar the lambe against the lambe the passeouer against the passeouer In the .8 to the Romaines it is sayd For sinne he condemned sinne Psal. 68. and Ephes 4. He hath led captiuitie captiue Hosee 13. O death I vvill be thy death O hel I vvill be thy destruction So he saith here that through the lawe he is dead to the lawe As if he sayd The lawe of Moses accuseth and condemneth me but against that accusing and condemning lawe I haue an other lawe which is grace and libertie This lawe accuseth the accusing law and condemneth the condemning law So death killeth death but this killing death is life it selfe But it is called the death of death by abundance of spirite or vehement indignation against death So righteousnes boroweth the name of sin because it condemneth sin this cōdemning of sin is true righteousnes And here Paule semeth to be an heretike yea of all heretikes the greatest his heresie is straunge and monstrous For he sayth that he being dead to the lavv liueth to God. The false apostles taught this doctrine Except thou liue to the lawe thou art dead to God that is to say vnlesse thou liue after the lawe thou art dead before god But Paule sayeth quite contrary If thou be not dead to the law thou canst not liue to God. The doctrine of our aduersaries at this day is
was once crucified rose againe both in them selues in the church and in the hearts of the faithfull for with their spiteful reproches rebukes sclaūders and iniuries they spit vpon him and with their wicked opinions they wounde him and thrust him thorow that in them he may die most miserably and in the steade of him they set vp a glorious witchcraft wherby men are so miserably charmed and deluded that they cā not know Christ to be their iustifier their reconciler and Sauiour but a minister of sinne their accuser their iudge and their destroyer which must be pacified no otherwise then by our workes and merites And out of this opinion did afterwards spring the most pestilent pernicious doctrine that is in the whole Papacie which is this If thou wilt serue God thou must merite forgeuenes of sinnes and euerlasting life and must also helpe others to attaine saluation Thou must enter into a Monasterie vow obedience chastitie pouertie c. Monks and Friers and the rest of that religious rable being puffed vp with this opinion of their owne holines dreamed that they onely were in the life and state of perfection and that other Christians led but a common life for they did no vndue workes or more then they were bounde to doe that is they did not vowe and keepe chastitie pouertie obedience c. they were but onely baptised and kept the ten commaundements But as for them selues besides that which was common as wel to them as to other Christians they kept also the works of supererogation and the counsels of Christ wherfore they hoped to haue merite and a place in heauen amongs the principall Saintes farre aboue the common sort of Christians This was vndoutedly an horrible illusion of the deuill wherby he hath bewitched almost the whole world And euery man the more holy he would seeme to be the more he is snared with this witcherie that is to say with that pestilent perswasion of his owne righteousnes And this was the cause that we could not know that Iesus Christ was our Mediatour Sauiour but we did thinke that he was a seuere iudge which should be pacified by our owne workes which was nothing else but most horribly to blaspheme Christ and as Paule said before to reiect the grace of God to make the death of Christ of none effect and not onely to kill him but also most shamefully to crucifie him againe And this is the right meaning of that which Christ alledgeth out of Daniell that abomination standeth in the holy place Wherefore euery monke and religious person and euery Iusticiarie seeking remission of sinnes and righteousnes by his owne works or by his afflictions is a crucifier of Christ nowe raigning and liuing although not in the proper person of Christ yet in his owne heart and in the hearts of others And whosoeuer doe enter into Monasteries to the ende that by the keping of their rule and order they may be iustified doe enter into the dennes of theeues and such as crucifie Christ againe Wherefore Paule vseth in this place very rigorous and bitter wordes to the ende that he may feare and call backe the Galathians from the doctrine of the false Apostles As if he should say Consider well what ye haue done Ye haue crucified Christ againe and this I doe so plainly shewe and paint out before your eyes that ye may see it yea and touch it with your handes because ye seeke to be iustified by the lawe But if righteousnes come by the lawe then is Christ a minister of sinne and his death altogether in vaine If this be true then must it needes follow that Christ is crucified againe in you And it is not without cause that he addeth this clause in you or among you For Christ is no more crucified or dieth any more in his owne person as is saide in the sixte chapter to the Romaines but he dieth in vs when we reiecting true doctrine grace faith free remission of sinnes seeke to be iustified by our owne workes or else by the workes commaunded in the law Here Christ is crucified in vs againe Now this false and wicked perswasion to seeke righteousnes by the law and workes is nothing else as I haue before more amplie declared but the illusion of the Deuill wherwith men are so bewitched that in no wise they can acknowledge the benefite of Christ yea in all their life they can doe nothing else but not onely denie the Lord who hath bought them and in whose name they are baptised but also crucifie him againe in them selues Who so euer then hath a feare of God and a true heart to Christ and his religion let him flie quickly out of this Babylon and let him tremble at the very name of the Papacie For the impietie abomination therof is so horrible that no man is able to expresse it with words neither cā it be otherwise seene then with spiritual eies only These two argumentes Paule prosecuteth driueth into the heades of the Galathians very diligently First that they are so bewitched of the deuill that they obey not the truth most clearely set forth before their eies Secondly that they crucifie Christ againe in them selues These seeme to be simple and plaine words and without any high eloquence but in very deede they are so mighty that they exceede all the eloquence of man It can not therfore be cōprehended but onely in spirit how great an impietie it is to seeke to be iustified by the righteousnes of the law or by mans owne righteousnes For as Paul saith here it is nothing els but to be witched of the deuill to be disobedient to the truth and to crucifie Christ againe Are not these goodly commendations of the righteousnes of the law and mans owne righteousnes The Apostle therefore is here kindled with greate zeale and with bitter words he pursueth condemneth the presumption of our owne righteousnes rising vpon the obseruation of the law of God and chargeth it with this impiety that it crucifieth againe the sonne of god Seing then it is so daungerous a thinge it can not be beaten downe enough or condemned as it should be For therof ensueth such a fall as is no lesse then the fall of Lucifer and such a losse as can neuer be recouered and therfore he vseth so sharpe and rigorous words against it that he spareth not the very law of God against the which he so bitterly inueieth that it seemeth he would vtterly reiect and condemne it And this doth he being constrained by greate necessity for otherwise he could not withstand the false Apostles nor defend the righteousnes of faith against them Albeit then that the law be holy iust and good yet must it put on as it were the visour of an hipocrite if he seeke to be iustified by workes Now he presseth them with an argument wherof they themselues had good experience and
so that the worde be not onely my voice but may be hearde of thee and may enter into thy hearte and be beleued of thee then is it truly and in deede the hearing of faith thorowe the which thou receauest the holy Ghost which after thou hast once receaued thou shalt also mortifie thy flesh The faithfull doe finde by their owne experience howe gladly they would hold and embrace the word when they heare it with a full faith and abandon this opinion of the lawe and of their owne righteousnes but they feele in their flesh a mightie resistaunce against the spirite For reason and the flesh will needes worke together This saying Ye must be circumcised and keepe the lavve can not be vtterly rooted out of our mindes but it sticketh fast in the hearts of all the faithfull There is therfore in the faithfull a continuall conflict betwene the hearing of faith and the workes of the lawe For the conscience alwayes murmureth and thinketh that this is too easie a way that by the onely hearing of the word righteousnes the holy ghost and life euerlasting is promised vnto vs But come once to an earnest trial therof and then tell me how easie a thing it is to heare the word of faith In deede he which geueth is great moreouer he geueth great things willingly and freely and vpbraideth no man therwith but thy capacitie is hard and faith weake still striuing against thee so that thou art not able to receaue this gift But let thy conscience murmure against thee neuer so much let this Must come neuer so oftē into thy minde yet stand fast hold out vntill thou ouercome this Must So as faith encreaseth by litle and litle that opinion of the righteousnes of the lawe will diminish But this can not be done without great conflict Verse 3. Are ye so foolish that after ye haue begone in the spirite ye vvould novv finish or be made perfect by the flesh This argument being concluded how that the holy ghost cometh not by the workes of the lawe but through the preaching of faith he beginneth here to exhort the Galathians and to terrifie them from a double daunger and incommoditie The first is Are ye so foolish that after ye haue begone in the spirite ye vvould novv ende in the flesh The other followeth Haue ye suffred so great things in vaine As if he said Ye began in the spirite that is your religion was excellently well begone As also a litle after he saith Ye ranne vvel c. But what haue ye gotten therby Forsoth ye will nowe ende in the flesh yea rather ye are ended in the flesh Paule here setteth the spirite against the flesh He calleth not the flesh as before I haue said lust beastly passions or sensual appetites for he intreateth not here of lust or of other fleshly desires but of forgeuenes of sinnes of iustifying the conscience of obteining righteousnes before God of deliueraunce from the lawe sinne and death and yet notwithstanding he sayth here that they forsaking the spirite doe now ende in the flesh Flesh therfore is here taken for the very righteousnes and wisedome of the flesh and the iudgement of reason which goeth about to be made righteous by the law Whatsoeuer then is best and most excellent in man as the wisedome of reason yea and the righteousnes of the law it selfe the same here Paule calleth flesh And this place must be well weyed and considered because of the slaunderous and cauilling Papists which wrest the same against vs saying that we in Poperie began in the spirite but now hauing maried wiues we ende in the flesh As though a single life or not to haue a wife were a spirituall life and as though it nothing hindred their spirituall life if a man not contented with one whore haue many They are mad men not vnderstanding what the spirite or what the flesh is The spirite is whatsoeuer is done in vs through the spirite The flesh whatsoeuer is done in vs according to the flesh without the spirite Wherfore all the dueties of a Christian man as to loue his wife to bring vp his children to gouerne his familie and such like which vnto them are worldly and carnal are the frutes of the spirite These blinde buzzardes can not discerne the things which are the good creatures of God from vices Here also is to be noted that the Apostle sayth the Galathians did begin in the spirite He should here haue added actiuely Nunc carne consummatis that now ye ende in the flesh But he doth not so but sayth passiuely carne consummamini that ye ende yea or rather are ended in the flesh The righteousnes of the law which Paule here calleth the flesh is so farre of from iustifying that they which after the receauing of the holy ghost through the hearing of faith fall backe againe vnto it are ended in it that is to say are vtterly destroyed Therfore who so euer teach that the lawe ought to be fulfilled to this ende that men might be iustified thereby whiles they goe about to quiet their consciences they hurt them whiles they would iustifie them they condemne them Paule euermore by the way hath a glaunce at these false apostles for they stil vrged the law saying Faith onely in Christ taketh not away sinne pacifieth not the wrath of God iustifieth not Therfore if ye will obtaine these benefites ye must not onely beleeue in Christ but therwith ye must also keepe the law be circumcised keepe the feastes sacrifices c. Thus doing ye shall be free from sinne from the wrath of God from euerlasting death yea rather sayth Paule by the selfe same things ye establish vnrighteousnes ye prouoke the wrath of God ye adde sinne to sinne ye quench the spirite ye fall away from grace and vtterly reiect the same and ye together with your disciples doe ende in the flesh This is the first daūger from the which he terrifieth the Galathians lest if they seeke to be iustified by the lawe they lose the spirite and forgoe their good beginnings for a wretched ende Verse 4. Haue ye suffered so many things in vaine The other daunger and incommoditie is this Haue ye suffred so many things in vaine As though he would say Consider not onely howe well ye began and howe miserablie ye haue forsaken your good beginnings and your course well begone moreouer that not onely ye haue lost the first fruites of the spirite being fallen againe into the ministerie of sinne and death and into a dolefull and a miserable bondage of the lawe but consider this also that ye haue suffered muche for the Gospels sake and for the name of Christe to witte the spoiling of your goodes railings and reproches daungers both of bodies and liues c. All things were in a happie course and great towardnes with you Ye taught purely ye liued holily and ye endured many euils constantly
for the name of Christe But nowe all is lost as well doctrine as faith as well doing as suffering as well the spirite as the fruites thereof Hereby it appeareth sufficiently what inconuenience the righteousnes of the lawe and mans owne righteousnes bringeth to witte that they which trust in it doe lose at once vnspeakeable benefites Nowe what a miserable thing is it so sodenly to lose such inestimable glory and assuraunce of conscience towardes God also to endure so many great and greeuous afflictions as losse of goods wife children body and life and yet notwithstanding to sustaine all these things in vaine And out of these two places much matter may be gathered to set forth and amplifie at large the goodly commendation of the lawe and mans owne righteousnes if a man would stand vpon euery parcell by it selfe and declare what spirite it was wherwith they began what how great and how many the afflictions were which they endured for Christes sake But no eloquence can sufficiently set forth these matters For they are inestimable things wherof Paule here entreateth to wit the glory of God victory ouer the world the flesh and the deuill righteousnes and euerlasting life and on the other side sinne desperation eternall death and hell And yet notwithstanding in a moment we lose all these incomparable gifts and procure vnto our selues these horrible and endles miseries and al by false teachers when they leade vs away frō the truth of the gospel vnto false doctrine And this not only they doe easily bring to passe but also vnder the shew of great holines Verse 4. If notvvithstanding it be in vaine This he addeth as a correction wherby he mitigateth the reprehension that goeth before which was somewhat sharpe And this he doth as an Apostle lest he should terrifie the Galathians too much Although he chide them yet notwithstanding he alwayes doth it in such sorte that he poureth in sweete oyle withall lest he should driue them to desperation He saith therfore If notvvithstanding it be in vaine As if he would say yet I doe not take away all hope from you but if ye would so end in the flesh that is to say follow the righteousnes of the lawe and forsake the spirite as ye haue begone then knowe ye that all your glory and affiaunce which ye haue in God is in vaine and all your afflictions are vnprofitable In deede I must needes speake somwhat more roughly vnto you in this matter I must be more feruent in the defence therof and more sharpe in chiding of you especially the matter being so waightie and constraining me thervnto left ye should thinke it to be but a trifle to cast away the doctrine of Paule and receaue an other Notwithstanding I will not vtterly discourage you so that ye repent and amende For sickely and scabbed children may not be cast away but must be holpen and seene to more carefully then they which are in health So that Paule here like a cunning Phisician layeth all the fault in a manner vpon the false Apostles the authors and onely cause of this deadly disease Contrariwise he entreateth the Galathians very gently to the ende that by this his mildnes he might heale them and restore them againe We therfore by the example of Paule ought in like manner to reprehend the weake and so to heale and remoue their disease that in the meane time we leaue not of to cherish and comfort them lest if we handle them too sharply they fall into desperation Verse 5. He therfore that ministreth to you the spirite and vvorketh miracles among you doth he it through the vvorkes of the lavve or by the hearing of faith preached This argument grounded vpon the experience of the Galathians doth so well like the Apostle that after he hath rebuked and terrified them setting before them a double daunger and incommoditie he nowe repeteth the same againe and that with a more large amplification saying He vvhich ministreth c That is to say Ye haue not only receaued the spirite by the hearing of faith but whatsoeuer ye haue either knowne or done ye haue it by the hearing of faith As though he would say It was not enough that God gaue you once the spirite but the same God also hath enriched you with the gifts of the spirite and encreased the same in you to the ende that ye hauing once receaued the spirite it might alwaies growe and be more and more effectuall in you Hereby it is plaine that the Galathians had wrought miracles or at the least had shewed such fruites of faith as the true Disciples of the Gospell are wont to bring forth For the Apostle elswhere saith That the kingdome of God is not in vvord but in povver Now this power is not onely to be able to speake of the kingdom of God but also in very deede to shew that God through his spirite is effectual in vs So before in the second chapter he saith of him selfe He that vvas effectuall in Peter among the Ievves vvas also effectuall in me he that vvas mighty by Peter in the Apostleship ouer the Circumcision vvas also mighty by me tovvards the Gentiles When a preacher then so preacheth that the word is not destitute of his frute but effectuall in the heartes of the hearers that is to say when faith hope loue and pacience do follow then God geueth his spirite and worketh miracles in the hearers In like manner Paule saith here that God hath geuen his spirite to the Galathians hath vvrought miracles among them As though he would say God hath not onely brought to passe through my preaching that ye should beleue but also that ye should liue holily bring forth many frutes of faith and suffer many afflictions Also by the same power of the holy Ghost of adulterers of wrathfull impacient and couetous persons and of very enemies ye are become liberall chast gentle pacient and louers of your neighbours Wherupon afterwardes he geueth testimony of them in the fourth chapter that they receaued him as an Angell of God yea rather as Christ Iesus and that they loued him so vehemently that they were ready to haue plucked out their owne eyes for him Now to loue thy neighbour so heartily that thou art ready to bestow thy money thy goods thine eyes and all that thou hast for his saluation and moreouer to suffer patiently all aduersities and afflictions these no doubt are the effects fruits of the spirite these saith he you receaued and enioyed before these false teachers came among you But ye receaued them not by the lawe but of God who so ministred vnto you and daily encreased in you his holy spirite that the gospell had a most happie course amongste you in teaching beleeuing working and suffring Now seeing ye know these things being conuicted euen by the testimonie of your owne consciences howe cometh it to passe that ye shewe not forth the same
vvas imputed vnto him for righteousnes For christian righteousnes consisteth in two things that is to say in faith of the heart and in Gods imputation Faith is in deede a formal righteousnes and yet this righteousnes is not enough for after faith there remaine yet certaine remnaunts of sinne in our flesh This sacrifice of faith began in Abraham but at last it was finished in his death And therfore the other part of righteousnes must needes be added also to finish the same in vs that is to say Gods imputation For faith geueth not enough to God because it is imperfecte yea rather our faith is but a little sparke of faith which beginneth onely to render vnto God his true diuinitie We haue receiued the first fruites of the spirite but not yet the tenthes Besides this reason is not vtterly killed in this life which may appeare by our concupiscence wrath impatience and other fruites of the flesh and of infidelitie yet remaining in vs Yea the holiest that liue haue not yet a full and continuall ioy in God but haue theyr sondry passions sometimes sadde sometimes mirry as the scriptures witnes of the Prophetes and Apostles But such faultes are not layde to their charge because of their faith in Christ for otherwise no flesh should be saued We conclude therefore vpon these wordes It vvas imputed to him for righteousnes that righteousnes in deede beginneth through faith and by the same we haue the first frutes of the spirite but because faith is weake it is not made perfect without Gods imputation Wherefore faith beginneth righteousnes but imputation maketh it perfect vnto the day of Christ The popish Sophisters and Scholemen dispute also of imputation when they speake of the good acceptation of the woorke but besides and cleane contrary to the scripture for they wrest it onely to workes They doe not consider the vncleanenes and inward poyson lurking in the hearte as incredulitie doubting despising and hating of God which most pernicious and perelous beastes are the fountaine and cause of all mischiefe They consider no more but outward and grosse faults and vnrighteousnes which are little riuers proceeding and issuing out of those fountaines Therefore they attribute acceptation to workes that is to say that God doth accept our workes not of dutie but of congruence Contrarywise we excluding all workes doe goe to the very heade of this beast which is called reason which is the fountaine and headespring of all mischiefes For reason feareth not God it loueth not God it trusteth not in God but proudely contemneth him It is not moued either with his threateninges or his promises It is not delighted with his wordes or workes but it murmureth against him it is angry with him iudgeth and hateth him to be short it is an enemy to God not geuing him his glorie This pestilent beast reason I say being once slaine all outward and grosse vices should be nothing Wherfore we must first and afore all thinges goe about by faith to kill infidelitie the contempt and hatred of God murmuring against his iudgement and his wrath and against all his wordes and workes for then doe we kill reason which can be killed by none other meanes but by faith which in beleeuing God geueth vnto him his glory notwithstanding that he speaketh those things which seeme both foolish absurde and vnpossible to reason notwithstanding also that God setteth forth him selfe otherwise then reason is able either to iudge or conceiue that is to say after this maner I will account thee and pronounce thee to be righteous not for the keping of the lawe not for thy workes and thy merites but for thy faith in Iesus Christ mine onely begotten Sonne who was borne suffred was crucified and died for thy sinnes and that sinne which remaineth in thee I will not impute vnto thee If reason then be not killed and al kindes of religion and seruice of God vnder heauen that are inuented by men to get righteousnes before God be not condemned the righteousnes of faith can take no place When reason heareth this by and by it is offended it rageth and vttereth all her malice against God saying Are then my good woorkes nothing Haue I then laboured and borne the burden and heate of the day in vaine Hereof rise those vprours of nations of Kings and Princes against the Lord and against his Christ For the world neither will nor can suffer that his wisedome righteousnes religions and worshippings should be reproued and condemned The Pope with all his Popish rablement will not seeme to erre much lesse will he suffer himselfe to be condemned Therefore let them which be studious of the woorde of God learne out of this saying Abraham beleeued God and it vvas counted to him for righteousnes to sette forthe truely and rightly this true Christian righteousnes after this manner that it is a faith and confidence in the Sonne of God or rather a confidence of the heart in God through Iesus Christe And lette them adde this clause as a difference Which Faith and confidence is accounted righteousnes for Christes sake For these two things as I sayde before woorke Christian righteousnes namely Faith in the heart which is a gifte of God and rightly beleueth in Christ and also that God accepteth this imperfecte Faithe for perfect righteousnes for Christes sake in whom I haue begun to beleue because of this faith in Christ God seeth not my doubting of his good will towards me my distrust my heauines of spirite and other sinnes which are yet in me For as long as I liue in the flesh sinne is verely in me But because I am couered vnder the shadow of Christes winges as is the chicken vnder the winge of the henne and dwell without all feare vnder that most ample and large heauen of the forgeuenes of sinnes which is spread ouer me God couereth and pardoneth the remnant of sinne in me that is to say because of that faith wherwith I began to lay hold vpon Christ he accepteth my imperfect righteousnes euen for perfect righteousnes counteth my sinne for no sinne which notwithstanding is sinne in deede So we shroud our selues vnder the couering of Christes flesh who is our cloudy piller for the day and our fire by the night lest God should see our sinne And although we see it and for the same doe feele the terrors of conscience yet flying vnto Christ our Mediatour and reconciler through whom we are made perfect we are sure and safe For as all things are in him so through him we haue all things who also doth supply whatsoeuer is wanting in vs When we beleue this God winketh at all our sinnes and the remnantes thereof which are yet sticking in our flesh and will haue them so couered as though they were no sinnes Because saith he thou beleuest in my sonne although thou haue many sinnes notwithstanding they must be forgeuen thee vntill thou
should say I of meere mercye doe promise vnto thee the Christ shall come of thy seede who shall bring the Blessing vpon all nations oppressed with sinne and death that is to say which shall deliuer the nations from the euerlasting Curse to wit from sinne death receauiÌ„g this promise by faith In thy seede c Wherefore euen as the false Apostles were in time past so are all the Papistes and Iusticiaries at this day peruerters and destroyers not of mans Testament because they are forbidden by the law but of Gods TestameÌ„t whom they feare nothing at all although he be a consuming fier For such is the nature of all hypocrites that they will obserue mans law exactely but the lawes of God they doe despise and most wickedly transgresse But the time shall come when they shall beare an horrible iudgement and shall feele what it is to contemne and peruerte the Testament of god This argument then grounded vpon the ordinauÌ„ce of God is strong enough Verse 16. Novv to Abraham and his seede vvere the promises made He saith not And to the Seedes as speaking of many but and to thy Seede as of one vvhich is Christ Here by a newe name he calleth the promises of God made vnto Abraham concerninge Christe that shoulde bringe the Blessinge vnto all nations a Testament And in deede the promise is nothinge else but a Testament not yet reuealed but sealed vppe Nowe a Testament is not a lawe but a donation or free gifte For heires looke not for lawes exactions or any burdens to be laide vpon them by the Testament but they looke for the inheritaunce confirmed thereby First of all therefore he expoundeth the wordes Afterwardes he applieth the similitude and standeth vpon this worde Seede There were no lawes geuen vnto Abraham saith he but a Testament was made and deliuered vnto him that is to say the promises were pronounced vnto him as touching the spirituall Blessing therefore somewhat was promised and geuen vnto him If then the Testament of a man be kept why shoulde not rather the Testament of God be kept whereof the Testament of man is but a shadowe Againe if we will keepe the signes why doe we not rather keepe the things which they signifie Now the promises are made vnto him not in all the Iewes or in many Seedes but in one Seede which is Christ The Iewes will not receaue this interpretation of Paule For they say that the singular number is here put for the plurall one for many But we gladly receaue this meaning and interpretation of Paule who oftentimes repeteth this worde Seede and expoundeth this Seede to be Christ and this he doth with a true Apostolicall spirite Let the Iewes deny it as much as they will we notwithstanding haue argumentes stronge enough which Paule hath before rehersed which also confirme this thinge and they can not deny them Hitherto as touching the similitude of Gods ordinaunce that is to say of mans Testament Now he expoundeth and amplifieth the same Verse 17. And this I say that the lavv vvhich vvas 430. yeares after can not disanull the couenaunte that vvas confirmed before of God in respect of Christ that it should make the promise of none effect Here the Iewes might obiect that God was not onely content to geue promises to Abraham but also after 430. yeares he made the law God therefore mistrusting his owne promises as vnsufficient to iustifie added thereto a better thinge that is to say the law to the end that when the same as a better successor was come not the idle but the doers of the law might be made righteous thereby The law therefore which followed the promise did abrogate the promise Such euasions and starting holes the Iewes seeke out To this cauillation Paule aunswereth very well and to the purpose and strongly confuâ—eth the same The law saith he was geuen 430. yeares after the promise was made In thy Seede c. and it could not make the promise voide and vnprofitable For the promise is the Testament of God confirmed by God himselfe in Christ so many yeares before the law Now that which God once hath promised and confirmed he calleth not backe againe but it remaineth ratified and sure for euer Why then was the law added In deede it was deliuered so many ages after to the posteritie of Abraham not to the end he might through it obtaine the Blessing for it is the office of the law to bring meÌ„ vnder the Curse and not to blesse but that there might be in the world a certaine people which might haue the word and testimonie of Christ out of the which Christ also according to the flesh might be borne And that men being kept and shut vp vnder the lawe might sigh and grone for their deliueraunce through the Seede of Abraham which is Christ which onely should and could blesse that is to say deliuer all nations from sinne and euerlasting death Moreouer the ceremonies commauÌ„ded in the lawe did foreshadowe Christ Wherefore the promise was not abolished either by the law or by the ceremonies of the law but rather by the same as by certaine seales it was for a time confirmed vntill the letters themselues or the writing of the Testament to wit the promise might be opened and by the preaching of the Gospell might be spread abroad among all nations But let vs suffer the law and the promise to encounter together and then shall we see which of them is the stronger that is to say whether the promise be able to abolish the lawe or the lawe the promise If the law abolish the promise then it followeth that we by our works make God a lier and his promise of none effect For if the law doe iustifie vs and deliver vs from sinne and death and consequently our workes and our owne strength performing the lawe then the promise made to Abraham is vtterly voide and vnprofitable and so consequently God is a lier and a dissembler For when he which promiseth will not performe his promise but maketh it of none effect what doth he els but shew himselfe to be a lier and a dissembler But it is impossible that the lawe should make God a lier or that our workes should make the promise void nay rather it must needes be firme stable for euer for God promiseth not in vaine although we were able to keepe and fulfil the lawe And let vs admitte that all men were as holy as Angels so that they should not neede the promise which notwithstanding is impossible yet must we thinke that the same promise abideth most sure and certaine or else God should be found a lier which either hath promised in vaine or else wil not or can not performe his promises Therfore like as the promise was before the lawe so is it farre more excellent then the lawe And God did excellently well in that he gaue the
promise so long before the law Which he did of purpose and to this ende that it should not be sayd that righteousnes was geuen through the lawe and not through the promise For if he would that we should haue ben iustified by the lawe then would he haue geuen the law 430. yeares before the promise or else together with the promise But nowe at the first he speaketh not a worde as concerning the lawe but at the length after 430. yeares he geueth the lawe In the meane while all that time he speaketh onely of his promises Therfore the Blessing and free gift of righteousnes came before the lawe through the promise The promise therfore is farre more excellent then the lawe And so the law doth not abolish the promise but Faith in the promise whereby the beleuers euen before Christes time were saued which is now published by the Gospell throughout the whole world destroyeth the law so that it can not encrease sinne any more terrifie sinners or bring them into desperation laying hold vpon the promise through Faith. And in this also lieth a certaine vehemencie specially to be noted that he expressely setteth downe the number of .430 yeares As if he would say Cōsider with your selues how long it was betwene the promise geuen and the lawe It is plaine that Abraham receaued the promise a long time before the lawe For the lawe was geuen to the people of Israel .430 yeares after And this is an inuincible argument gathered and grounded vpon a certaine time And he speaketh not here of the lawe in generall but onely of the written lawe As if he would say God could not then haue regarde to the Ceremonies and workes of the law and geue righteousnes to the obseruers thereof For as yet the lawe was not geuen which commaundeth ceremonies requireth workes and promiseth life to those that obserue them saying The man that shall doe these things shall liue in them And although it promise such things yet it foloweth not therfore that we obtaine these promises For it sayeth plainly The mā that shal do these things c. Now it is certaine that no man can doe them Moreouer Paule sayth that the lawe can not abolish the promise therefore that promise made vnto Abraham .430 yeares before the law remaineth firme and constant And that the matter may be better vnderstand I will declare the same by a similitude If a rich man not constrained but of his owne good will should adopte one to be his sonne whom he knoweth not and to whom he oweth nothing and should appoynt him to be the heire of all his lands and goods certaine yeres after that he hath bestowed this benefite vpon him he should lay vpon him a law to do this or that he cā not now say that he hath deserued this benefite by his owne workes seeing that many yeres before he asking nothing had receaued the same freely and of mere fauour So God could not respect our workes and desertes going before righteousnes for the promise and the gift of the holy Ghost was .430 yeares before the lawe Hereby it appeareth that Abraham obteined not righteousnes before God through the lawe For there was yet no law If there were yet no lawe then was there neither worke nor merite What then Nothing else but the mere promise This promise Abraham beleued and it was counted to him for righteousnes By the selfe same meanes then that the father obteined this promise the children doe also obteine it and holde it So say we also at this day Our sinnes were purged by the death of Christ aboue a thousand and fiue hundreth yeres agoe when there were yet no religious Orders no Canon or rule of Penance no merites of congruence and worthines We can not nowe therfore begin to abolish the same by our owne workes and merites Thus Paule gathereth arguments of similitudes of a certaine time and of persons so sure strong on euery side that no man can deny them Let vs therfore arme and fortifie our consciences with such like arguments For it helpeth vs excedingly to haue them alwayes ready in tentations For they lead vs from the lawe and workes to the promise and to faith from wrath to grace from sinne to righteousnes and from death to life Therfore these two things as I doe often repeate to witte the lawe and the promise must be diligently distinguished For in time in place and in person and generally in all other circumstances they are separate as farre asunder as heauen and earth the beginning of the world and the later ende In deede they are neare neighbours for they are ioyned together in one man or in one soule but in the inward affection as touching their office they ought to be separate farre asonder so that the lawe may haue dominion ouer the flesh and the promise may sweetely and comfortably raigne in the conscience When thou hast thus appoynted vnto them both their own proper place then thou walkest safely betwene them both in the heauen of the promise and in the earth of the lawe In spirite thou walkest in the Paradise of grace and peace In the flesh thou walkest in the earth of workes and of the crosse And nowe the troubles which the flesh is compelled to beare shall not be hard vnto thee because of the sweetenes of the promise which comforteth and reioyceth the hart excedingly But now if thou confound and mingle these two together and place the lawe in the conscience and the promise of libertie in the flesh then thou makest a confusion such as was in Poperie so that thou shalt not knowe what the lawe what the promise what sinne or what righteousnes is Wherfore if thou wilt diuide the worde of truth aright thou must put a great difference betwene the promise and the lawe as touching the inward affections and whole practise of life It is not for naught that Paule prosecuteth this argument so diligently For he foresawe in spirite that this mischiefe should creepe into the Church that the word of God should be confounded that is to say that the promise should be mingled with the lawe and so the promise should be vtterly lost For when the promise is mingled with the lawe it is nowe made nothing else but the very lawe Therefore accustome thy selfe to separate the promise and the law asunder euen in respect of time that when the lawe cometh and accuseth thy conscience thou mayest say Lady lawe thou comest not in season for thou comest to soone Tarry yet vntil .430 yeres be expired and when they are past then come and spare not But if thou come then yet shalt thou come to late For then hath the promise preuented thee .430 yeres to the which I assent and sweetely repose my selfe in the same Therefore I haue nothing to doe with thee I heare thee not For nowe I liue with the beleuing Abraham or
and cunning herein But I and such as I am haue scarsely learned the first principles therof It is learned in deede but so long as the flesh and sinne doe endure it can neuer be perfectly learned and as it should be So then a Christian is diuided into two times In that he is flesh he is vnder the lawe In that he is spirite he is vnder grace Concupiscence couetousnes ambition and pride doe alwayes cleaue to the flesh also ignoraunce contempt of God impatiencie murmuring and grudging against God because he hindereth and breaketh of our counselles our deuises and enterprises and because he speedely punisheth not such as are wicked rebellious and contemptuous persons c. Such kinde of sinnes are rooted in the flesh of the Faithfull Wherefore if thou behold nothing but the flesh thou shalt abide alwayes vnder the time of the lawe But these dayes must be shortened or else no flesh should be saued The lawe must haue his time appoynted wherein it must haue his ende The time of the lawe therefore is not perpetuall but hath his ende which ende is Iesus Christ But the time of grace is eternall For Christ being once dead dieth no more He is eternall therefore the time of grace is also eternall We may not lightly passe ouer such notable sentences as these which are in Paule as the Papistes and Sectaries are wont to doe For they containe woordes of life which doe wonderfully comfort and confirme afflicted consciences And they which know and vnderstand them well can iudge of Faith they can discerne a true feare from a false feare they can iudge of all inward affections of the heart and discerne all spirites The feare of God is an holy and a precious thing but it must not alwayes continue In deede it ought to be alwayes in a Christian because sinne is alwayes in him but it must not be alone for then is it the feare of Caine Saule and Iudas that is to say a seruile and a desperate feare A Christian therefore must vanquish feare by Faith in the word of grace he must turne away his eyes from the time of the lawe and looke vnto Christe and vnto Faith which is to be reuealed Here beginneth feare to be sweete vnto vs and maketh vs to delite in god For if a man doe onely beholde the lawe and sinne setting Faith aside he shall neuer be able to put away feare but shall at length fall to desperation Thus doth Paule very well distinguish the time of the lawe and grace Let vs also learne rightly to distinguish the time of them both not in wordes but in the inward affections which is a very hard matter For albeit these two things are separate farre asunder yet are they most nerely ioyned together in one heart Nothing is ioyned more nerely together then feare and trust then the lawe and the Gospell then sinne and grace For they are so vnited together that the one is swalowed vppe of the other Wherfore there is no coniunction like vnto this At this place Wherefore then serueth the lavve Paule beginneth to dispute of the lawe also of the vse and the abuse thereof taking occasion of that which before he had affirmed that the Faithfull doe obtaine righteousnes by grace onely and by the promise and not by the lawe Vppon that disputation rose this question VVherefore then serueth the lavve For reason hearing that righteousnes or the Blessing is obtained by grace and by the promise by and by inferreth Then the lawe profiteth nothing Wherefore the doctrine of the law must be diligently considered that we may know what and howe we ought to iudge thereof lest that either we reiect the same altogether as the fantasticall spirits do which in the yeare a thousand fiue hundred twentie and fiue stirring vppe the rusticall people to sedition sayde that the libertie of the Gospell geueth freedom to all men from al maner of lawes or else lest we should attribute the force of Iustification to the lawe For both sortes doe offend against the lawe the one on the right hand which will be iustified by the lawe and the other on the left hand which will be cleane deliuered from the lawe We must therefore keepe the high way so that we neither reiect the lawe nor attribute more vnto it then we ought to doe That which I haue before so often repeted concerning both the vses of the lawe namely the Ciuill and the Spirituall vse doe sufficiently declare that the lawe is not geuen for the righteous but as Paule sayeth in an other place for the vnrighteous and rebellious Now of the vnrighteous there are two sortes that is to say they which are to be iustified and they which are not to be iustified They that are not to be iustified must be bridled by the Ciuile vse of the lawe for they must be bound with the bondes of the lawe as sauage and vntamed beastes are bound with cordes and chaines This vse of the lawe hath no ende and of this Paule here speaketh nothing But they that are to be iustified are exercised with this Spirituall vse of the lawe for a time for it doth not alwayes continue as the Ciuill vse of the lawe doth but it looketh to Faith which is to be reuealed and when Christe commeth it shall haue his ende Hereby we may plainly see that all the sentences wherin Paule entreateth of the spirituall vse of the lawe must be vnderstand of those which are to be iustified and not of those which are iustified already For they which are iustified already in as much as they abide in Christe are farre aboue all lawe The lawe then must be layed vppon those that are to be iustified that they may be shutte vppe in the prison thereof vntill the righteousnes of Faith come Not that they obtaine this righteousnes through the lawe for that were not to vse the lawe rightly but to abuse it but that when they are cast downe and humbled by the lawe they should flie vnto Christe vvho is the end of the lavve to righteousnes to euery one that beleueth Now first they which abuse the law are all the Iusticiaries and hypocrites which dreame that men are iustified by the lawe For that vse of the lawe doth not exercise and driue a man to Faith which is to be reuealed but it maketh full careles and arrogant hypocrites swelling and presuming of the righteousnes of the lawe and hindreth the righteousnes of Faith. Secondly they abuse the lawe which will vtterly exempt a Christian man from the law as the brainsicke Anabaptistes went about to doe which was the occasion that they raised vppe that sedition of the rusticall people Of this sort there are very many also at this day which professe the Gospell with vs who being deliuered from the tyrannie of the Pope by the doctrine of the Gospell doe dreame that the Christian libertie is a dissolute
haue nothing lesse Hereby we may plainly see that the Pope with his doctrine doth nothing else but trouble and torment mens consciences at length driueth them to desperation For he not onely teacheth but also cōmaundeth men to dout Therfore according to the Psalme There is no truth or certaintie in his mouth And in an other place vnder his tōge is iniquitie mischeefe Here we may see what great infirmitie is yet in the Faith of the Godly For if we could be fully perswaded that we are vnder grace that our sinnes are forgeuen that we haue the spirit of Christ that we are the children of God then doubtles we should be ioyfull and thankfull to God for this inestimable gift But because we feele cōtrary motions that is to say feare doutfulnes anguish and heuines of heart such like therfore we can not assure our selues hereof yea our conscience iudgeth it a great presumption and pride to chalenge this glory Wherfore if we will vnderstand this thing rightly and as we should doe we must put it in practise for without experience and practise it can neuer be learned Wherfore let euery man so practise with him selfe that his conscience may be fully assured that he is vnder grace and that his person and his workes doe please god And if he feele in himselfe any wauering or douting let him exercise his Faith and wrastle against this douting and let him endeuour to attaine more certaintie so that he may be able to say I know that I am accepted and that I haue the holy Ghost not for mine owne worthines my worke my merite but for Christes sake who of his inestimable loue towardes vs made him self thrall and subiect to the lawe tooke away the sinnes of the world In him do I beleue If I be a sinner erre he is righteous and can not erre Moreouer I gladly heare read sing wryte of him and I desire nothing more then that his Gospel may be knowne to the whole world and that many may be conuerted vnto him These things doe plainly witnesse that the holy Ghost is present with vs in vs For such things are not wrought in the heart by mans strength nor gotten by his industrie exercise or trauell but are obtained by Christ alone who first maketh vs righteous by the knowledge of him in his holy Gospel and afterwardes he createth a new heart in vs bringeth forth new motions geueth vnto vs that assurance wherby we are perswaded that we please the father for his sake Also he geueth vs a true iudgement whereby we proue trie those things which before we knew not or else altogether despised It behoueth vs therefore to wrastle against this douting that we may daily ouercome it more and more attaine to a full perswasion certainty of Gods fauour towardes vs rooting out of our heartes this cursed opinion that a man ought to dout of the grace fauour of God which hath infected the whole world For if we dout whether we be vnder grace whether we please God for Christes sake or not we deny that Christe hath redemed vs we deny simply all his benefits Ye that are yong mē may easily apprehēd this pure doctrine of the Gospel and abādon this pernicious opinion because ye are not yet poysoned therwith Verse 6. Crying Abba Father Paule might haue sayd God sent the spirite of his sonne into our hearts calling Abba Father Now he sayth not so but crying Abba Father that he might shew and set forth the temptation of a Christian which yet is but weake and weakly beleueth In the .8 to the Rom. he calleth this crying an vnspeakeable groning Likewise he sayeth The spirite helpeth our infirmities For vve knovv not hovve to pray as vve ought but the spirite maketh intercession for vs vvith vnspeakeable gronings c. And this is a singuler consolation when he sayeth here that the spirite of Christ is sent into our hearts crying Abba Father And againe that he helpeth our infirmities making intercession for vs with vnspeakeable gronings He that could assuredly beleue this should neuer be ouercome with any affliction were it neuer so great But there are many things that hinder this Faith in vs First our heart is borne in sinne Moreouer this euill is naturally grafted in vs that we doubt of the good will of God towardes vs and cannot assure our selues that we please God. c. Besides all this the Deuil our aduersarie raūgeth about with terrible rorings and sayeth Thou art a sinner therefore God is angrie with thee and will destroy thee for euer Against these horrible and intolerable rorings we haue nothing whervpon to hold stay our selues but only the word which setteth Christ before vs as a conquerour ouer sinne and death and ouer all euils But to cleaue fast to the word in this tentation and these terrours of conscience herein standeth all the difficultie For then Christe appeareth to no sense We see him not the heart feeleth not his presence or succour in temptation but rather it seemeth that Christ is angrie with vs and that he forsaketh vs Moreouer when a man is tempted and afflicted he feeleth the strength of sinne and the infirmitie of the flesh he douteth he feeleth the flerie dartes of the Deuill the terrours of death the anger and iudgement of god All these things cry out horribly against vs so that we see nothing else but desperation and eternall death But yet in the middest of these terrours of the lawe thundrings of sinne assaultes of death and rorings of the Deuill the holy Ghost sayth Paule cryeth in our hearts Abba Father And this crie surmounteth those mighty and horrible cries of the lawe sinne death the Deuill c it perceth the cloudes and the heauens and ascendeth vp vnto the eares of God. Paule therfore signifieth by these words that there is yet infirmitie in the godly As he doth also in the .8 chap. to the Rom. when he sayeth The spirite helpeth our infirmities For as much therfore as the sense and feeling of the contrary is strong in vs that is to say for as much as we feele more the displeasure of God then his good will and fauour towardes vs therefore the holy Ghost is sent into our heartes which doth not only sigh and make request for vs but mightely crieth Abba Father and praieth for vs according to the wil of God with teares and vnspeakeable gronings And how is this done When we are in terrours and in the conflict of conscience in deede we take hold of Christ and beleue that he is our Sauiour but then doe the law and sinne terrifie and torment vs most of all Moreouer the Deuill assaileth vs with all his engines and fierie darts and goeth about with all his power to plucke Christ from vs and to take from vs all consolations Here we feele our selues almost ouercome and at
the poynt of desperation for then are we that brused reede smoking flaxe which Esay speaketh of notwithstanding in the meane season the holy Ghost helpeth our infirmities maketh intercession for vs with vnspeakeable gronings certifieth our spirits that we are the children of god Thus the minde is raised vp in terrors it loketh vnto his Sauiour high Bishop Iesus Christ it ouercommeth the infirmitie of the flesh it conceaueth comfort againe and sayth Abba Father This groning which then we scantly feele Paule calleth a crying vnspeakeable groning which filleth both heauē and earth Moreouer he calleth it the crying and groning of the spirite because the holy Ghost stirreth vp the same in our heartes when we are weake and oppressed with terrour and tentation Although then the lawe sinne and the Deuill crie out against vs neuer so much with great and terrible rorings which seeme to fill heauen and earth farre to excede this groning of our heart yet can they not hurt vs For the more fiercely they assaile vs accuse and torment vs with their cryings so much the more doe we grone and in groning lay hold vpon Christ call vpon him with heart and mouth cleaue vnto him and beleue that he was made vnder the law that he might deliuer vs from the Curse of the lawe and destroy both sinne and death And thus when we haue taken hold of Christe by Faith we crie through him Abba Father And this our crie doth farre surmount the roring of the lawe sinne the Deuill c. But so farre of is it that we thinke this groning which we make in these terrours and in this our weaknes to be a cry that scarsely we perceaue it to be a groning For our Faith which in tentation thus groneth vnto Christ is very weake if we consider our owne sense and feeling And this is the cause that we heare not this crie We haue but onely the word which when we apprehend in this conflict we haue a litle breathing and then we grone Of this groning some litle feeling we haue but the crie we heare not But he sayeth Paule vvhich searcheth the heartes knovveth vvhat is the meaning of the spirite c. To this searcher of the hearts this small and feeble groning as it seemeth vnto vs is a loud and a mighty cry and an vnspeakeable groning in comparison whereof the great and horrible rorings of the law of sinne of death of the deuill and of hell are nothing neither can they be once heard Paule therfore not without cause calleth this groning of a godly afflicted heart a cry and a groning of the spirite which can not be expressed For it filleth the whole heauen so that the Angels thinke they heare nothing else but this crie But in vs there is a cleane contrary feling For it semeth vnto vs that this our small groning doth not so perce the cloudes that there is nothing else heard in heauen of God and his angels Nay we thinke and especially during the time of tentation that the Deuil horribly roreth against vs that the heauens thunder the earth trēbleth that all will fall vpon vs that all creatures threaten our destruction that hel is opē and ready to swallow vs vp This feling is in our heart these horrible voices and this fearfull shew we heare and we see And this is it that Paul sayth in the .2 Corrin 12 That the strength of Christ is made perfect through our vveaknes For then is Christ almighty in dede then doth he truly raigne and triumph in vs when we are so weake that we can scarsely grone But Paule sayth that this groning is in the eares of God a most mightie cry which filleth both heauen and earth Christ also in the .18 of Luke in the parable of the wicked iudge calleth this groning of a faithfull heart a cry yea such a cry as ceaseth not day night to cry vnto God where he sayth Heare vvhat the vnrighteous iudge sayth Novv shall not God auēge his elect vvhich cry day night vnto him yea though he suffer long for them yea I tel you he vvil auenge them quickly We at this day in so great persecution cōtradiction of the Pope of tyrānes Sectaries which fight against vs both on the right hand on the left can doe nothing else but vtter such gronings And these were our gunnes artillery wherw t we haue so many yeres scattered the coūsels and enterprises of our aduersaries wherby also we haue begon to ouerthrow the kingdom of Antichrist They also shall prouoke Christ to hasten the day of his glorious comming wherein he shall abolish all rule authoritie and power and shall put all his enemies vnder his feete So be it In the .14 of Exodus the Lord speaketh vnto Moises at the red sea saying VVhy criest thou vnto me Yet Moises cried not but trembled and almost despaired for he was in great trouble It seemed that infidelitie raigned in him and not Faith. For he saw the people of Israell so compassed and enclosed with the Egyptians host and with the sea that there was no way whereby they might escape Here Moises durst not once opē his mouth How thē did he crie We must not iudge therfore according to the feeling of our owne heart but according to the word of God which teacheth vs that the holy Ghost is geuen to those that are afflicted terrified ready to despaire to raise them vp to comfort them that they be not ouercome in their tentations afflictions but may ouercome them and yet not without great terrors and troubles The Papistes dreamed that holy men had the holy Ghost in such sort that they neuer had nor felt any tentation They spake of the holy Ghost onely by speculation and naked knowledge But Paule sayeth that the strength of Christe is made perfecte through our vveaknes Also that the spirite helpeth our infirmities and maketh intercession for vs vvith vnspeakeable gronings Therefore we haue then most neede of the helpe and comfort of the holy Ghost yea and then is he most ready to helpe vs when we are most weake and nerest to desperation If any man suffer affliction with a constant and a ioyfull heart then hath the holy Ghost done his office in him And in deede he exerciseth his worke specially and properly in those which haue suffered great terrours and afflictions and haue as the Psalme sayeth approched nigh to the gates of hel As I said of Moses which sawe present death in the waters and on euery side whether so euer he turned his face He was therefore in extreme anguish and desperation and no dout he felt in his heart a mightie crie of the Deuill against him saying All this people shall this day perish for they can escape no way And of this great calamitie thou onely shalt be found to be the authour
to wrest and peruert Paules wordes let vs heare himselfe speaking in the .2 Corrin 12. Very gladly vvil I reioyce rather in mine infirmities that the povver of Christ may dvvell in me Therfore I take pleasure in infirmities in reproches in necessities in persecutiōs in anguish for Christes sake for vvhē I am vveake then am I strong And in the .11 chap. In labours more aboundant in stripes aboue measure in prisons more plenteous in death ofte Of the Ievves fiue times receiued I fortie stripes saue one I vvas thrise beaten vvith roddes I vvas once stoned I suffred thrise shipvvracke c. These afflictions which he suffred in his body he calleth the infirmitie of the flesh not any corporall disease As though he would say When I preached the Gospel amōgst you I was oppressed with sondry tentations afflictions I was alwayes in daunger both of the Iewes of the Gentiles also of false brethern I suffred hunger and wāted all things I was as the very filth and of scouring of the world He maketh mētion of this his infirmitie in many places as in the 1. Cor. 4. 2. Cor. 4.6.11.12 and in many other We see then that Paule calleth afflictiōs the infirmities of the flesh which he suffred in the flesh like as that other Apostles the Prophets al godly men did notwithstanding he was mighty in spirit For the power of Christ was in him which alwaies raigned triumphed through him Which thing he testifieth in that. 2. Cor. 12. with these words For vvhen I am vveake then am I strōg Also I vvil gladly reioyce in my infirmities that the povver of Christ may dvvel in me And in the .2 chapter Thanks be to God vvhich alvvayes maketh vs to triumph in Christ As though he would say In dede the Deuil the Iewes the Gentiles rage cruelly against vs notwithstāding we continue constant inuincible against all their assaults wil they nil they our doctrine preuaileth triumpheth This was the strength power of that spirit in Paule against the which he setteth here the infirmitie and bōdage of the flesh Now this infirmitie of the flesh in the Godly doth wonderfully offend reason Therfore Paule so highly commendeth the Galathians for that they were not offended with this great infirmitie and with this vile and contemptible forme of the crosse which they saw in him but receaued him as an angell yea as Christ him selfe And Christ also armeth the Faithfull against this base and contemptible forme of the crosse in which he appeared when he sayeth Blessed is he that is not offended in me And surely it is a great matter that they which beleue in him doe acknowledge him to be the Lord of all and Sauiour of the world whom notwithstanding they heare to haue bene the most miserable of all others the last of men yea a very scorne of men and a contempt of the world briefly despised and hated of all men and condemned to the death of the crosse and euen of his owne people and especially of those that were esteemed the best the wisest and holiest of all other This is a great matter I say not to be moued with these great offences and to be able not onely to contemne them but also to esteme this pore Christ so spitefully scorned spitte vpon whipped and crucified more then the riches of all the richest the strength of all the strongest the wisedom of all the wisest the holines of all the holiest mē with all the crownes scepters of all the Kings and Princes of the whole world They therfore are worthily called blessed of Christ which are not offended in him Now Paule had not onely outward tentations wherof I haue spoken alredy but also inward and spirituall tentations as Christ had in the garden Such as that was wherof he complaineth in the 2. Corrin 12. that he felt the pricke or sting of the flesh and the angell of Satan vvhich buffetted him This I say by the way because the Papists expounded this to be a motion of fleshly lust but it was a spirituall tentation And herein is no repugnance that he addeth this word Flesh saying A pricke vvas geuen me in my Flesh. Yea he calleth it of purpose a pricke in the flesh For the Galathians and others which were conuersant with Paule had seene him oftentimes in great anguish terrour and heauines of spirite Wherfore the Apostles had not onely bodily but also spirituall tentations which also he confesseth in the .2 Cor. 7. with these wordes Fightings vvithout and terrours vvithin And Luke sayeth in the last of the Actes that Paule when he had long striued in the tempestes of the sea euen vnto heauines of his spirite was againe refreshed and waxed bolde when he sawe the brethern that came from Rome to meete him at the market of Appius and three Tauernes Also in the .2 Phil. he confesseth that God had mercy vpon him in that he restored Epaphroditus so weake and neare to death vnto health againe lest he should haue sorrow vpon sorrow Therefore besides outward tentations the Apostles also suffered great anguish heauines and terrours But why sayth Paule that he was not despised of the Galathians It seemeth that they despised him when they fell away from his Gospell Paule expoundeth himselfe When I first preached to you the Gospell sayth he ye did not as other people for the most parte haue done who being greatly offended through this my infirmitie and tentation of the flesh haue despised and reiected me For mans reason is soone offended with this vile and contemptible forme of the crosse and iudgeth those that are so afflicted to be starke madde which will goe about to cōfort helpe and succour others Also those that boast of their great riches that is to say of righteousnes strēgth victory ouer sinne death and all euils of ioy saluation and euerlasting life and yet notwithstanding they themselues are needie weake heauy hearted and despised euill intreated and slaine as very noysome poysons of common weales and of Religion and they that kill them thinke they doe high seruice vnto god Therfore when they promise vnto others eternall treasures and they themselues perish so wretchedly before the world they are laughed to scorne and cōpelled to heare Phisitian cure thy selfe And hereof come these complaints which are euery where in the Psalmes I am a vvorme and no man c. Againe Depart not frō me for tribulation is at hand and there is none to helpe c. This is therfore a great commendation of the Galathians that they were not offended with this infirmitie and tentation of Paule but receaued him as an Angell of God yea as Christ Iesus It is in dede a great vertue and worthy of great praise to heare the Apostle But it is a greater and a true Christian vertue to geue eare vnto one so miserable weake and
careful for your saluation This is a liuely example to teach all ministers how to be careful for their sheepe and to assay euery way that by chiding faire speaking or entreating they may reteine them in sound doctrine and turne them from subtill seducers and false teachers Verse 19. My litle children of vvhom I trauaile in birth againe vntill Christ be formed in you All his wordes are waightie and fitly framed to the purpose that they may moue the hearts of the Galathians and winne theyr fauour and good will againe And these are sweete and louing words when he calleth them his children When he sayeth of vvhom I trauaile in birth it is an allegorie For the Apostles are in the stede of parentes as Scholemasters also are in their place and calling For as the parents beget the bodely forme euen so the other beget the forme of the minde Now the forme of a Christian minde is Faith or the confidence of the heart which layeth hold vppon Christe and cleaueth to him alone and to nothing else The heart being furnished with this confidence or assurance to witte that for Christes sake we are righteous hath the true forme of Christe Now this forme is geuen by the ministerie of the word as it is sayd 1. Corrinthians 4 I haue begotten you through the Gospell that is to say in spirit that ye might know Christe and beleue in him Also 2. Corrinthians 3. Ye are the Epistle of Christe ministred by vs and vvritten not vvith incke but vvith the spirite of the liuing God. For the word commeth from the mouth of the Apostle or of the minister and entreth into the heart of him that heareth it There the holy Ghost is present and emprinteth the word in the heart so that it consenteth vnto it Thus euery godly teacher is a father which engendreth and formeth the true shape of a Christian heart and that by the ministerie of the word Moreouer by these wordes of vvhom I trauaile in birth he toucheth the false apostles As though he would say I did beget you rightly through the Gospell but these corrupters haue formed a new shape in your heart not of Christe but of Moses so that now your affiance is not grounded any more vpon Christe but vpon the workes of the lawe This is not the true forme of Christe but it is an other forme and altogether deuilish And he sayth not of whom I trauaile in birth vntill my forme be fashioned in you but vntill Christe be formed in you that is to say I trauaile that ye may receaue againe the forme and similitude of Christe and not of Paule In which wordes he againe reproueth the false apostles For they had abolished the forme of Christe in the heartes of the beleuers and had deuised an other forme that is to say their owne As he sayeth Chap. 6. They vvould haue you circumcised that they might reioyce in your flesh Of this forme of Christe he speaketh also in the third to the Colossians Put ye on the nevve man vvhich is renevved in knovvledge after the image of him that created him Paule therefore goeth about to repaire the forme of Christe in the Galathians that was disfigured and corrupted by the false apostles which is that they should thinke speake and will as God doth whose thought and will is that we should obtaine remission of our sinnes and euerlasting life by Iesus Christ his onely Sonne whom he sent into the world to the ende he might be the propiciation for our sinnes and that we should know that through this his sonne he is appeased and become our louing father They that beleue this are like vnto God that is to say all their thoughtes are of God as the affection of their heart is they haue the same forme in their minde which God or Iesus Christe hath This is to be renewed in the spirite of our minde and to put on the new man which after God is created in righteousnes and true holines as Paule sayth Ephes 4. He sayeth then that he traueileth againe of the Galathians in birth notwithstanding in such sort that the forme of the children be not the forme of the Apostle so that the children should not resemble the forme of Paule or of Cephas c. but of an other Father that is to say Christ I will fashion him sayeth he in you to the ende ye may be like minded in all things vnto Christe himselfe To be briefe I trauell of you in birth that is to say I labour carefully to call you backe againe to your former Faith the which ye haue lost being deceaued by the craft and subteltie of the false apostles and are returned to the lawe and workes Therefore I must now againe carefully trauell to bring you backe from the lawe to the Faith of Christ This he calleth to trauell in birth c. Verse 20. And I vvould I vvere vvith you novv that I might chaūge my voice c. These are the true cares of an Apostle It is a common saying that a letter is a dead messenger for it can geue no more then it hath And no Epistle or letter is wrytten so exactly wherein there is not somewhat lacking For the circumstances are diuers there is a diuersitie of times places persons manners and affections all which no Epistle can expresse Therefore it moueth the reader diuersly making him now sadde now merry as he him selfe is disposed But if any thing be spoken sharpely or out of time the liuely voyce of a man may expound mitigate or correct the same Therfore the Apostle wisheth that he were with them to the end he might temper and chaunge his voyce as he should see it needefull by the qualities of their affections As if he should see any of them very much troubled he might so temper his wordes that they should not be oppressed therby with more heauines Contrariwise if he should see others high minded he might sharply reprehend them lest they should be too secure and careles and so at length become contemners of God. Wherefore he could not deuise how he being absent should deale with them by letters As if he should say If my Epistle be to sharpe I feare I shall more offend then amende some of you Againe if it be too gentle it will not profite those which are peruerse and obstinate For dead letters and wordes geue no more then they haue Contrariwise the liuely voyce of a man compared to an Epistle is a Queene For it can adde diminish it can chaūge it selfe in to all maner of affections times places persons To be briefe I would gladly conuert you by letters that is to say cal you backe from the law to the Faith of Iesus Christe but I feare that I shall not so doe by my dead letters But if I were with you I could chaūge my voice I could reproue them bitterly that are obstinate and
comfort the weake with sweete louing wordes as occasion should require Verse 20. For I am troubled for you That is to say I am so troubled in my spirite that I know not how by letters to behaue my selfe towardes you Here is a liuely description of the true affections of an Apostle He omitteth nothing he chideth the Galathians he entreateth them he speaketh them faire he highly commendeth their Faith labouring by all meanes to bring them backe againe to the truth of the Gospell and to deliuer them out of the snares of the false apostles These are vehement words proceding from a heart stirred vppe and enflamed with a hot burning zeale and therfore ought diligently to be considered Verse 21. Tell me ye that vvill be vnder the lavve doe ye not heare the lavve Here would Paule haue closed vp his Epistle for he desired not to wryte any more but rather to be present with the Galathians and to speake vnto them him selfe But he being in great perplexitie and very carefull for this matter taketh by the way this allegorie which then came into his minde For the people are greatly delighted with allegories and similitudes and therfore Christe himselfe oftentimes vseth them For they are as it were certaine pictures which set forth things as if they were painted before the eyes of the simple and therefore they moue and perswade very much especially the simple and ignorant First therfore he stirreth vp the Galathians with words and wrytings Secondly he painteth out the matter it selfe before theyr eyes with this goodly allegorie Now Paule was a maruelous cunning workman in handling of allegories For he is wont to applie them to the doctrine of Faith to grace and to Christ and not to the law and the workes therof as Origen and Hierom doe who are worthely reprehended for that they turned the plaine sentences of the Scripture where allegories haue no place into vnfitte and foolish allegories Therfore to vse allegories it is oftentimes a very daungerous thing For vnlesse a man haue the perfect knowledge of Christian doctrine he can not vse allegories rightly and as he should doe But why doth Paule call the booke of Genesis out of the which he aleageth the hystorie of Ismael and of Isaack the lawe seeing that booke containeth nothing at all concerning the law and specially that place which he aledgeth speaketh not of any law but onely containeth a plaine hystorie of Abrahams two children Paule is wont to call the first booke of Moses the lawe after the maner of the Iewes which although it cōtaine no law besides the law of circumcision but the principall doctrine therof is concerning Faith and that the Patriarkes pleased God because of their Faith yet the Iewes notwithstanding onely because of the law of circumcision which is there contained called the booke of Genesis the lawe as well as the other bookes of Moses So did Paule him selfe also being a iewe And Christ vnder the title of the lawe comprehendeth not onely the bookes of Moses but also the Psalmes Iohn 15. But it is that the vvord might be fulfilled vvhich is vvrytten in their lavve They hated me vvithout a cause Vers 22.23 For it is vvrytten that Abraham had tvvo sonnes one by a seruaunt and one by a free vvoman But he vvhich vvas of the seruaunt vvas borne after the flesh and he vvhich vvas of the free vvoman vvas borne after the spirite As if he sayd Ye forsake grace Faith and Christe and turne backe againe to the lawe ye will be vnder the lawe and become wise through it Therefore I will talke with you of the lawe I pray you then consider the lawe diligently Ye shall finde that Abraham had two sonnes Ismael by Agar and Isaack by Sara They were both the true sonnes of Abraham Ismael was as well the true sonne of Abraham as Isaack was for both came of one father of one flesh and of one Seede What was then the difference This maketh not the difference sayeth Paule that the mother of one was free and the other bond albeit it pertaineth to the allegorie but that Ismael which was borne of the bondwoman was borne after the flesh that is to say without the promise and the word of God. But Isaack was not onely borne of the freewoman but also according to the promise What thē Yet was Isaack notwithstanding as well borne of the seede of Abraham as Ismael was I graunt that they were both the children of one father and yet notwithstanding there is a difference For although Isaack were borne of the flesh yet the promise went before None obserued this difference but onely Paule which he gathered out of the text of Genesis after this maner In that Agar conceaued and brought forth Ismael there was no word of God that foreshewed that thys should come to passe but by the permission of Sara Abraham went in to his seruaunt Agar whom Sara being barren had geuen to wife to Abraham as is sayd in the booke of Genesis For Sara had heard that Abraham by the promise of God should haue seede of his body and she hoped that she should be the mother of this seede But when she had waited now for the promise many yeares with great anguish of spirite and sawe that the matter was so long differred she was out of hope This holy woman therefore geueth place for the honour of her husband and resigneth her right to an other that is to say to her maide Notwithstanding she suffreth not her husband to marrie an other wife out of his house but she geueth vnto him in mariage her seruaunt to the ende that she might be builded by her For so sayeth the hystorie Genes 16. Novv Sara Abrahams vvife bare him no children and she had a maid an Egyptian Agar by name And Sara said vnto Abraham Behold novv the Lord hath restrained me frō childe bearing I pray thee goe in to my maide it may be that I shall be builded by her This was a great humilitie of Sara who so abased her self tooke in good part this tentation trial of her faith For thus she thought God is no lier that which he hath promised to my husband he will surely performe But peraduenture God will not that I shall be the mother of that Seede It shall not greeue me that Agar should haue this honour vnto whom let my Lord enter for I may peraduenture be builded by her Ismael therefore is borne without the word and promise at the onely request of Sara For there is no word of God which commaunded Abraham thus to doe or promised vnto him a sonne but al this is done at aduenture which the wordes doe also declare It may be sayeth she that I shall be builded by her Seeing therfore there was no word of God spoken to Abraham before as there was when Sara should bring forth
the law which is outward to witte that the politike lawes of Moises doe nothing belong vnto vs at all Wherfore we ought not to call them backe againe nor superstitiously binde our selues vnto them as some went about to doe in times past being ignorant of this libertie Now although the Gospell make vs not subiect to the Iudiciall lawes of Moises yet notwithstanding it doth not exempt vs from the obedience of all ciuill lawes but maketh vs subiect in this corporall life to the lawes of that gouernment wherin we liue that is to say it commaundeth euery one to obey his Magistrate and lawes not onely because of vvrath but also for conscience sake 1. Pe. 2. Rom. 13. And the Emperour or any other Prince should not offend if he vsed some of the Iudiciall lawes of Moises yea he might vse them freely and without offence Therefore the Popish Schoolemen are deceaued which dreame that the Iudiciall lawes of Moses are pernicious and deadly since the comming of Christe Likewise we are not bound to the Ceremonies of Moses much lesse to the ceremonies of the Pope But because this bodely life can not be altogether without ceremonies and rites for there must needes be some introduction therefore the Gospell suffereth ordinaunces to be made in the church as touching dayes times places c. that the people may know vpō what day in what houre and in what place to assemble together to heare the word of god It permitteth also that lessons and readings should be appoynted as in the Schooles especially for the instruction of children and such as are ignorant These things it permitteth to the ende that all may be done comely and orderly in the church 1. Cor. 14. not that they which kepe such ordināces doe thereby merite remission of sinnes Moreouer they may be chaunged or omitted without sinne so that it be done without offence of the weake Nowe Paule speaketh here especially of the abolishment of the morall lawe which is diligently to be considered For he speaketh against the righteousnes of the lawe that he might establish the righteousnes of Faith concluding thus If onely grace or Faith in Christe iustifie then is the whole law abolished without any exception And this he confirmeth by the testimonie of Esay wherby he exhorteth the barren and forsaken to reioyce for it seemeth that she hath no childe nor hope euer to haue any that is to say she hath no disciples no fauour nor countenance of the world because she preacheth the word of the crosse of Christ crucified against all the wisedom of the flesh But thou that art barren sayeth the Prophet let not this any whit trouble thee yea rather lift vp thy voyce and reioyce for she that is forsaken hath moe children then she that hath an husband that is to say she that is maried hath a great number of children shall be made weake and she that is forsaken shall haue many children He calleth the church barren because her children are not begotten by the lawe by workes by any industrie or endeuour of man but by the word of Faith in the spirite of god Here is nothing else but birth no working at all Contrariwise they that are frutefull labour and exercise themselues with great trauell in bearing and bringing forth Here is altogether working and no birth But because they indeuour to gette the right of children and heires by the righteousnes of the lawe or by their owne righteousnes they are seruauntes and neuer receaue the inheritance no though they tire them selues to death with continuall trauell For they goe about to obtaine that b◠their owne workes against the will of God which God of his meer grace will geue to all beleuers for Christes sake The faithfull worke well also but they are not thereby made sonnes and heires for this their birth bringeth vnto them but this they doe to the end that they being now made children and heirs might glorify God by their good works and helpe their neighbors Verse 28. Therefore brethern vve are after the maner of Isaac children of the promise That is to say we are not children of the flesh as Ismael or as all the fleshly Israell which gloried that they were the seede of Abraham and the people of god But Christ answered them Iohn 8 If ye vvere the sonnes of Abraham ye vvould not seeke to kill me vvhich speake the truth vnto you Also If God vvere your Father then vvould ye loue me and receaue my vvord As if he would say Brethern borne and brought vp together in one house know one an others voyce But ye be of your father the Deuill c. We are not such children sayeth he as they are which remaine seruauntes and at length shall be cast out of the house But we are children of the promise as Isaac was that is to say of grace and of Faith borne onely of the promise Concerning this I haue spoken sufficiently before in the third chapter entreating vpon this place In thy seede shall all the nations of the earth be blessed Therefore we are pronoūced righteous not by the lawe by workes or our owne righteovsnes but by the mere mercy and grace of god Paule repeteth very often and diligently setteth forth the promise which is receaued by Faith alone for he knew that it was very necessary so to doe Hitherto as touching the allegorie out of Genesis to the which Paule annexeth the place of Esay as an interpretatiō Now he applifieth the hystorie of Ismael and Isaac for our example and consolation Verse 19. But as then he that vvas borne after the flesh persecuted him that vvas borne after the spirite euen so is it novv This place containeth a singuler consolation Whosoeuer are borne and liue in Christe and reioyce in this birth and inheritance of God haue Ismael for their enemie and their persecutour This we learne at this day by experience For we see that all the world is full of tumultes persecutions sectes and offences Wherefore if we did not arme our selues with this consolation of Paule and such like and well vnderstand this article of Iustification we should neuer be able to withstand the violence subtill sleightes of Satan For who should not be troubled with these cruell persecutions of our aduersaries and with these sectes and infinite offences which a sort of busie and fantasticall spirits stirre vp at this day Verely it is no smal greefe vnto vs when we are constrained to heare that all things were in peace tranquilitie before the Gospel came abrode but since the preaching publishing therof al things are vnquiet the whole world is in an vprore so that euery one armeth himselfe against an other When a man that is not endued with the spirit of God heareth this by and by he is offended and iudgeth that the disobedience of subiectes against their magistrates that seditions warres plages
not in the sonnes shall not see life but the vvrath of God abideth vpon him Againe he that beleueth not is iudged alredy Now like as all the doctrine of the Papistes to note this by the way concerning mens traditions workes vowes and merites was most common in the world so was it thought to be the best and most certaine of all others whereby the Deuill hath both sette vppe and stablished his kingdom most mightely Therefore when we at this day doe impugne and vanquish this doctrine by the power of Gods word as chaffe is driuen away by the winde it is no maruell that Satan rageth so cruelly against vs raiseth vppe sclaunders and offences euery where and setteth the whole world in our toppes Then will some man say It had bene better to haue held our peace for then had none of these euils bene raised vppe But we ought more to esteme the fauour of God whose glory we sette forth then to care for the tirranny of the world which persecuteth vs For what is the Pope the whole world in comparison of God In deede we are weake and beare an heauenly treasure in brickle and earthly vesselles but although the vesselles be neuer so brickle yet is the treasure inestimable These wordes Ye are falne from grace must not be coldly or slenderly considered for they are waightie and of great importance He that falleth from grace vtterly loseth the atonement the forgeuenes of sinnes the righteousnes libertie and life that Iesus Christe hath merited for vs by his death and resurrection and in stede thereof he purchaseth to himselfe the wrath and iudgement of God sinne death the bondage of the Deuill and euerlasting damnation And this place strongly confirmeth and fortifieth our doctrine concerning Faith or the article of iustification and maruelously comforteth vs against the cruell rage of the Papists that persecute and condemne vs as heretikes because we teach this article In deede this place ought to feare that enemies of Faith grace that is to say all that seeke righteousnes by works frō persecutīg blaspheming the word of grace life and euerlasting saluation But they be so hardhearted and obstinate that seeing they see not and hearing they heare not and when they read this dreadfull sentence of the Apostle pronounced against them they vnderstand it not Let vs therfore let them alone They are blinde and leaders of the blinde Verse 5. For vve in spirit vvait for the hope of righteousnes through Faith. Paule here knitteth vppe the matter with a notable conclusion saying Ye will be iustified by the lawe by circumcision and by workes but we seeke not to be iustified by this meanes lest Christ should be made vtterly vnprofitable vnto vs and we become detters to performe the whole lawe and so finally fall away from grace but we waite in spirite through Faith for the hope of righteousnes Euery word is here diligently to be noted for they are pithie and full of power He doth not only say as he is wont We are iustified by Faith or in spirite by Faith but moreouer he addeth VVe vvaite for the hope of righteousnes including hope also that he may comprehend the whole matter of Faith. Hope after the maner of the Scriptures is taken two wayes for the thing that is hoped for for the affection of him that hopeth For the thing which is hoped for it is taken in that first chapt to the Coloss For the hopes sake vvhich is layed vppe for you in heauen that is to say the thing which ye hope for For the affection of him that hopeth it is taken in the 8 chap. to the Romaines For vve are saued by hope So hope in this place also may be taken two wayes and so it yeldeth a double sense The first is We waite in spirite through Faith for the hope of righteousnes that is to say the righteousnes hoped for which shall be certainely reuealed in such time as it pleaseth the Lord to geue it The second We wait in spirite by Faith for righteousnes with hope and desire that is to say we are righteous howbeit our righteousnes is not yet reuealed but hangeth yet in hope For as long as we liue here sinne remaineth in our flesh there is also a lawe in our flesh and members rebelling against the lawe of our minde and leading vs captiues vnto the seruice of sinne Now when these affections of the flesh doe rage and raigne and we on the other side through the spirite doe wrastle against the same then is there a place for hope In deede we haue begun to be iustified through Faith whereby also we haue receaued the first frutes of the spirite and the the mortification of the flesh is also begun in vs but we be not yet perfetly righteous It remaineth then that we be perfectly iustified and this is it that we hope for So our righteousnes is not yet in actuall possession but lieth vnder hope This is a sweete and a sound consolation whereby afflicted and troubled consciences feeling their sinne and terrified with euery fierie dart of the Deuill may be maruelously comforted For the feeling of sinne the wrath of God death hell and all other terrours is wonderfull strong in the conflict of conscience as I my selfe being taught by experience doe know Then counsell must be geuen to the poore afflicted in this wise Brother thou desirest to haue a sensible feeling of thy iustification that is thou wouldest haue such a feling of Gods fauour as thou hast of thine owne sinne but that will not be But thy righteousnes ought to surmount all feeling of sinne that is to say thy righteousnes or iustification wherevpon thou holdest standeth not vppon thine owne feeling but vpon thy hoping that it shall be reuealed when it pleaseth the lord Wherefore thou must not iudge according to the feeling of sinne which troubleth and terrifieth thee but according to the promise and doctrine of Faith whereby Christe is promised vnto thee who is thy perfect and euerlasting righteousnes Thus the hope of the afflicted consisting in the inward affection is stirred vppe by Faith in the middest of all terrours and feeling of sinne to hope that he is righteous Moreouer if hope be here taken for the thing which is hoped for it is thus to be vnderstand that that which a man now seeth not he hopeth in time shall be made perfect and clearly reueiled Either sense may well stand but the first touching the inward desire and affection of hoping bringeth more plentifull consolation For my righteousnes is not yet perfect it can not yet be felt yet I doe not despaire for Faith sheweth vnto me Christe in whom I trust and when I haue laid hold of him by Faith I wrastle against the fierie dartes of the Deuil and I take a good heart through hope against the feeling of sinne assuring my selfe that I haue a perfect righteousnes prepared
also for by them hope is stirred vppe But Faith as also I haue shewed before goeth before hope for it is the beginning of life and beginneth before all tribulation For it learneth Christe and apprehendeth him without the crosse Notwithstāding the knowledge of Christ can not be long without the crosse without troubles and conflictes In this case the minde must be stirred vppe to a fortitude of spirite For hope is nothing else but a spirituall fortitude as Faith is nothing else but a spirituall prudence which consisteth in suffering according to this saying That through patience c. These three things then dwell together in the faithful Faith which teacheth the truth defendeth from errours Hope which endureth ouercōeth al aduersities as well bodely as ghostly Charitie which worketh all good things as it foloweth in the text And so is a man entire and perfect in this life as wel within as without vntill the righteousnes be reuealed which he waiteth for and this shal be a perfect an euerlasting righteousnes Moreouer this place containeth both a singuler doctrine consolation As touching the doctrine it sheweth that we are made righteous not by the workes sacrifices or ceremonies of Moises lawe much lesse by the works and traditions of mē but by Christ alone What so euer is in vs besides him is of the flesh and not of the spirite What so euer then the world counteth to be good and holy without Christe is nothing else but sinne errour and flesh Wherfore circumcision and the obseruation of the lawe also the workes religions and vowes of the Monkes and of all such as trust in their owne righteousnes are altogether carnall But we sayth Paule are farre aboue all these things in the spirite and inward man For we possesse Christe by Faith and in the middes of our afflictions through hope we wait for that righteousnes which we possesse alredy by Faith. The comfort is this that in serious conflicts and terrours wherin the feeling of sinne heauines of syirite desperation such like is very stronge for they enter deepely into the hearte and mightely assaile it thou must not folow thine owne feeling For if thou doe thou wilt say I feele the horrible terrours of the lawe and the tyrannie of sinne not onely rebelling against me but also subduing and leading me captiue and I feele no comfort or righteousnes at all Therefore I am a sinner and not righteous If I be a sinner then am I giltie of euerlasting death But against this feeling thou must wrastle and say Although I feele my selfe vtterly ouerwhelmed and swalowed vp with sinne and my heart telleth me that God is offended and angrie with me yet in very deede it is not true but that mine owne sense and feeling so iudgeth The word of God which in these terrours I ought to folow and not mine owne sense teacheth a farre other thing namely that God is neare vnto them that are of a troubled heart and saueth them that are of an humble spirite Also he despiseth not an humble and a contrite heart Moreouer Paul sheweth here that they that are iustified in spirite by Faith doe not yet feele the hope of righteousnes but wait still for it Wherfore when the lawe accuseth and sinne terrifieth thee and thou feelest nothing but the wrath and iudgement of God despaire not for all that but take vnto thee the armour of God the shield of Faith the helmet of hope and the sword of the spirite and trie how good and how valiant a warriour thou art Lay hold of Christe by Faith who is the Lord of the law and sinne and of all things else which accompanie them Beleuing in him thou art iustified which thing reason and the feeling of thine owne heart when thou art tempted doe not tell thee but the word of god Moreouer in the middest of these conflictes and terrours which often returne and exercise thee waite thou patiently through hope for righteousnes which thou hast now by Faith although it be yet but begun and imperfect vntill it be reuealed made perfect in the kingdom of heauen But thou wilt say I feele not my selfe to haue any righteousnes or at least wise I feele it but very litle Thou must not feele but beleue that thou hast righteousnes And except thou beleue that thou art righteous thou doest great iniurie vnto Christe who hath clensed thee by the washing of water through the word who also died vpon the crosse condemned sinne and killed death that through him thou mightest obtaine righteousnes euerlasting life These things thou canst not deny except thou wilt openly shew thy self to be wicked blasphemous against God vtterly to despise God all his promises Iesus Christe with all his benefites and so consequently thou canst not denie but that thou art righteous Let vs learne therfore in great and horrible terrours when our conscience feeleth nothing but sinne and iudgeth that God is angrie with vs and that Christ hath turned his face from vs not to folow the sense feeling of our owne hart but to stick to the word of God which saith that God is not angry but looketh to the afflicted to such as are troubled in spirite tremble at his word and that Christ turneth not himselfe away from such as labour and are heauie loden but refresheth and comforteth them This place therefore teacheth plainly that the lawe and workes bring vnto vs no righteousnes or comfort at all but this doth the holy Ghost onely in the Faith of Christe who raiseth vp hope in terrours and tribulations which endureth and ouercommeth all aduersities Very few there be that know how weake and feeble Faith and hope are vnder the crosse and in the conflict For it seemeth that they are but as smoking flaxe which is ready by by to be put out with a vehement winde But the faithfull who beleue in the middest of these assaultes and terrours hoping against hope that is to say fighting through Faith in the promise as touching Christe against the feeling of sinne and of the wrath of God doe afterwardes finde by experience that this sparke of Faith being very little as it appeareth to naturall reason for reason can scarsely feele it is as a mighty fire and swaloweth vp all our sinnes and all terrours There is nothing more deare or precious in all the world to the true children of God then this doctrine For they that vnderstand this doctrine doe know that wherof all the world is ignorant namely that sinne death and all other miseries afflictions and calamities as well corporall as spirituall doe turne to the benefite and profit of the elect Moreouer they know that God is then most nere vnto them when he seemeth to be farthest of and that he is then a most mercifull louing Sauiour when he semeth to be most angry to afflict to destroy
Also they know that they haue an euerlastīg righteousnes which they wait for through hope as a certaine and sure possession laid vp for them in heauen euen when they feele the horrible terrours of sinne and death Moreouer that they are then Lordes of all things when they are most destitute of all things according to that saying hauing nothing and yet possessing all things This sayeth the Scripture is to conceaue comfort through hope But this cunning is not learned without great and often tentations Verse 6. For in Iesus Christe neither circumcision auaileth any thing neither vncircumcision but Faith vvhich vvorketh by loue That is to say Faith which is not fained nor hypocritical but true and liuely This is that faith which exerciseth requireth good works through loue It is as much to say as He that will be a true Christian in deede or one of Christes kingdom must be a true beleuer Now he beleueth not truely if workes of charitie folow not his Faith. So on both hands as well on the right hand as on the left he shutteth hypocrites out of Christes kingdom On the left hand he shutteth out the Iewes and all such as will worke their owne saluation saying In Christ neither circumcision that is to say no works no seruice no worshipping no kinde of life in the world but faith without any trust in works or merites auaileth before god On the right hand he shutteth out all slouthfull and idle persons which say if faith iustifie without works then let vs worke nothing but let vs onely beleue and doe what we list Not so ye enemies of grace Paule sayeth otherwise And although it be true that onely faith iustifieth yet he speaketh here of Faith in an other respect that is to say that after it hath iustified it is not idle but occupied and exercised in working through loue Paule therfore in this place setteth forth the whole life of a Christian man namely that inwardly it consisteth in faith towards God and outwardly in charitie and good works towardes our neighbour So that a man is a perfect Christ an inwardly through faith before God who hath no neede of our workes and outwardly before men to whom our Faith profiteth nothing but our charitie or our works Therfore when we haue heard or vnderstād of this forme of Christian life to witte that it is faith and charitie as I haue sayd it is not yet declared what Faith or what charitie is for this is an other question For as touching faith or the inward nature force and vse of Faith he hath spoken before Where he shewed that it is our righteousnes or rather our iustification before god Here he ioyneth it with charitie and workes that is to say he speaketh of the externall office thereof which is to stirre vs vp to doe good workes and to bring forth in vs the frutes of charitie to the profite of our neighbour Verse 7. Ye did runne vvell vvho did let you that ye did not obey the truth These are plaine wordes Paule affirmeth that he teacheth them the truth and the selfe same thing that he taught them before and that they ranne well so long as they obeyed the truth that is they beleued and liued rightly but now they did not so since they were misled by the false apostles Moreouer he vseth here a new kinde of speech in calling the Christian life a course or a race For among the Hebrues to runne or to walke signifieth as much as to liue or to be conuersant The teachers doe runne when they teach purely and the hearers or learners doe runne when they receaue the word with ioy and when the frutes of the spirite doe folow Which thing was done as long as Paule was present as he witnessed before in the third and fourth chap. And here he sayeth Ye did runne vvell that is to say all things went forward well and happely among you ye liued very well ye went on the right way to euerlasting life which the word of God promised you c. These wordes Ye did runne vvell containe in them a singuler comfort This tentation oftentimes exerciseth the godly that their life seemeth vnto them to be rather a certaine slow creeping then a running But if they abide in sound doctrine and walke in the spirite lette this nothing trouble them thoughe their doings seeme to goe slowly forward or rather to creepe God iudgeth farre otherwise For that which seemeth vnto vs to be very slow scarsely to creepe runneth swiftly in Gods sight Againe that which is to vs nothing els but sorrow mourning and death is before God ioy mirth true happines Therfore Christ sayth Blessed are ye that mourne vveepe for ye shal receaue cōfort ye shall laugh c. All things shall turne to the best to them which beleue in the sonne of God be it sorrow or be it death it selfe Therefore they be true runners in deede and whatsoeuer they doe it runneth well goeth happely forward by the furtherance of Gods spirite which can not skill of slow procedings Verse 7. VVho did let you that you did not obey the truth They are hindred in this course which fall away from Faith and grace to the lawe and workes as it hapned to the Galathians being misled and seduced by the false apostles whom he couertly reprehendeth with these wordes vvho did let you that ye did not obey the truth In like maner he sayd before in the third Chap. vvho hath bevvitched you that ye should not obey the truth And here Paule sheweth by the way that men are so strongly bewitched with false doctrine that they embrace lies heresies in the sted of the truth and spirituall doctrine And on the other side they say and sweare that the sound doctrine which before they loued is erroneous that their errour is sound doctrine maintaining and defending the same with all their power Euen so the false apostles brought the Galathians which ranne well at the beginning into this opinion to beleue that they erred and went very slowly forward when Paule was their teacher But afterwardes they being seduced by the false apostles and falling cleane away from the truth were so strongly bewitched with their false perswasion that they thought them selues to be in an happie state and that they ranne very well The same hapneth at this day to such as are seduced by the Sectaries and fantasticall spirits Therfore I am wont to say that falling in doctrine cometh not of man but of the Deuil and is most perillous to witte euen from the high heauen to the bottom of hell For they that continue in errour are so farre of from acknowledging their sinne that they maintaine the same to be high righteousnes Wherfore it is vnpossible for them to obtaine pardon Verse 8. It is not the persvvasion of him that calleth you This is a great consolation and a singulare doctrine whereby
of our neighbour In the meane time notwithstanding that we may be righteous in this life also we haue Christe the Mercie seat and throne of grace and because we beleue in him sinne is not imputed vnto vs Faith therfore is our righteousnes in this life But in the life to come when we shall be thorowly clensed and deliuered from all sinnes and concupiscence we shall haue no more neede of Faith and hope but we shall then loue perfectly It is a great errour therfore to attribute iustification or righteousnes to loue whiche is nothinge or if it be any thinge yet is it not so great that it can pacifie God for loue euen in the faithfull as I haue sayd is imperfect and impure But no vncleane thing shall enter into the kingdom of god Notwithstanding in the meane while this trust and confidence sustaineth vs that Christe who a lonely committed no sinne and in whose mouth was neuer foūd any guile doth ouershadow vs with his righteousnes We being couered with this cloud and shrouded vnder this shadow this heauen of remission of sinnes throne of grace doe begin to loue and to fulfill the law Yet for this fulfilling we are not iustified nor accepted of God whilest we liue here But whē Christ hath deliuered vp the kingdom to God his father abolished all principalitie and God shall be all in all then shall Faith and hope cease and loue shall be perfect and euerlasting 1. Cor. 13. This thing the popish Schoolemen vnderstand not and therfore when they heare that loue is the summe of the whole lawe by and by they inferre Ergo the law iustifieth Or contrariwise when they read in Paule that Faith maketh a man righteous yea say they Faith formed and furnished with charitie But that is not the meaning of Paule as I haue largely declared before If we were pure from all sinne and were inflamed with perfect loue both towardes God and our neighbour then should we in deede be righteous and holy through loue and God could require no more of vs This is not done in this present life but is differred vntill the life to come In deede we receaue here the gift and first frutes of the spirite so that we begin to loue howbeit very slenderly But if we loued God truely and perfectly as the law of God requireth which sayeth Thou shalt loue the Lord thy God vvith all thy heart vvith all thy soule and vvith all thy strength then should we be as well contented with pouertie as with wealth with paine as with pleasure with life as with death Yea he that could loue God truly and perfectly in dede should not long continue in this life but should straight way be swalowed vp by this charitie But now mans nature is so corrupt and drowned in sinne that it can not haue any right sense or cogitation of god It loueth not God but hateth him deadly Wherfore as Iohn sayth VVe loued not god but he loued vs sent his sonne to be a reconciliation for our sinnes And as Paule sayth before in the second Chap Christe hath loued me and geuen him selfe for me And in the .4 Chap. But vvhen the fulnes of time vvas come God sent forth his sonne made of a vvoman and made vnder the lavve that he might redeme them vvhich vvere vnder the lavv We being redemed and iustified by this Sonne begin to loue according to that saying of Paule in the .8 to the Romains That vvhich vvas impossible to the lavv in as much as it vvas vveake because of the flesh God sending his ovvne sonne in the similitude of sinnefull flesh and for sinne condemned sinne in the flesh that the righteousnes of the lavv might be fulfilled in vs that is might begin to be fulfilled They are mere dreames therfore which the Sophisters and Schoolemen haue taught concerning the fulfilling of the lawe Wherfore Paule sheweth by these words VValke in the spirit how he would haue that sentence to be vnderstād where he sayd Serue ye one an other through loue And againe Loue is the fulfillīg of the lavv c. As if he should say When I bid you loue one an other this is it that I require of you that ye walke in the spirit For I know that ye shall not fulfill the law because sinne dwelleth in you as lōg as ye liue and therfore it is impossible that ye should fulfill the law Notwithstādīg in the meane while endeuor your selues diligētly to walk in the spirit that is wrastle in spirit against the flesh folow spiritual motions c. It appeareth then that he had not forgotten the matter of iustifition For when he biddeth them to walke in the spirit he plainly denieth that works do iustifie As if he shuld say When I speake of the fulfilling of the law I meane not that ye are iustified by the law but this I meane that there be two contrary capitaines in you the spirite and the flesh God hath stirred vp in your bodies a strife and a battaile For the spirite wrastleth against the flesh the flesh against the spirit Here I require nothing else of you but that ye folow the spirit as your captaine and guide that ye resist that captaine the flesh for that is all that ye be able to doe Obey the spirit and fight against the flesh Therfore when I teach you to obserue the lawe and exhort you to loue one an other thinke not that I goe about to reuoke that which I haue taught concerning the doctrine of Faith and that now I attribute iustification to the lawe or to charitie but my meaning is that ye should walke in the spirite and that ye should not fulfill the lustes of the flesh Paule vseth very fitte wordes and to the purpose As if he would say we come not yet to the fulfilling of the lawe therefore we must walke in the spirite and be exercised therein that we may thinke say and doe those things which are of the spirite and resist those things which are of the flesh therfore he addeth Verse 16. And ye shall not fulfill the lustes of the flesh As if he would say The desires or lustes of the flesh be not yet dead in vs but spring vppe againe and fight against the spirite The flesh of no faithful man is so good which being offended would not bite and deuour or at the least omitte somewhat of that commaundement of loue Yea euen at the first brunt he can not refraine him selfe but is angrie with his neighbour desireth to be reuenged and hateth him as an enemie or at the least loueth him not so much as he should doe and as this commaundement requireth And this hapneth euen to the faithfull Therefore the Apostle hath geuen this rule for the faithfull that they should serue one an other through loue that they should beare the burdens and infirmities one of an
holy bellygods the Cleargiemen feele thinke ye who so stuffe and stretch out them selues with all kindes of daintie fare that it is maruell theyr bellies burst not Wherfore these things are wryttē not to Heremites Monks as the Papists dreame nor to sinners in the world onely but to the vniuersall church of Christ and to all the faithfull whom Paule exhorteth to walke in the spirite that they fulfill not the lusts of the flesh that is to say not onely to bridle the grosse motions of the flesh as carnall lust wrath impatiencie such like but also the spirituall motions as douting blasphemie idolatrie contempt and hatred of God c. Paule as I haue said doth not require of the godly that they should vtterly put of or destroy the flesh but that they should so bridle it that it might be subiect to the spirite In the .10 to the Rom. he biddeth vs cherish the flesh For as we may not be cruell to other mens bodies nor vexe them with vnreasonable labour euen so we may not be cruell to our owne bodies Wherfore according to Paules precept we must cherish our flesh that it may be able to indure the labours both of the minde and of the body but yet only for necessities sake and not to nourish the lustes thereof Therefore if thy flesh begin to waxe wanton represse it and bridle it by the spirite If it will not be marrie a wife for it is better to marry then to burne Thus doing thou walkest in the spirit that is thou folowest Gods word and doest his will. Verse 17. For the flesh lusteth against the spirite and the spirite against the flesh When Paule sayeth that the flesh lusteth against the spirite and the spirite against the flesh he admonisheth vs that we must feele the concupiscence of the flesh that is to say not onely carnall lust but also pride wrath heauines impatiencie incredulitie and such like Notwithstāding he would haue vs so to feele them that we consent not vnto them nor accomplish them that is that we neither thinke speake nor doe those things which the flesh prouoketh vs vnto As if it moue vs to anger yet we should be angry in such wise as we are taught in the fourth Psalme that we sinne not As if Paule would thus say I know that the flesh will prouoke you vnto wrath enuie doubting incredulitie and such like But resist it by the spirite that ye sinne not But if ye forsake the guiding of the spirite and folow the flesh ye shall fulfill the lustes of the flesh and ye shall die as Paule sayth in the .8 to the Romaines So this saying of the Apostle is to be vnderstand not of fleshly lust onely but of the whole kingdom of sinne Verse 17. And these are contrary one to the other so that ye can not doe the same things that ye vvould These two captaines or leaders sayth he the flesh and the spirit are one against an other in your body so that ye can not doe what ye would And this place witnesseth plainly that Paule wryteth these things to the faithfull that is to the church beleuing in Christ baptised iustified renewed and hauing ful forgeuenes of sinnes Yet notwithstāding he sayth that she hath flesh rebelling against the spirite After the same maner he speaketh of him selfe in the .7 to the. Rom. I sayeth he am carnall sold vnder sinne And againe I see an other lavv in my mēbers rebelling against the lavv of my minde and leading me captiue vnto the lavv of sinne vvhich is in my mēbers Also O vvretched man that I am vvho shall deliuer me from the body of this death c. Here not onely the Schoolemen but also some of the olde fathers are much troubled seeking how they may excuse Paule For it semeth vnto them absurde and vnseemely to say that that elect vessell of Christ should haue sinne But we credite Pauls owne words wherin he plainly confesseth that he is sold vnder sinne that he is led captiue of sinne that he hath a law in his mēbers rebelling against him that in the flesh he serueth the law of sinne Here againe they answer that the Apostle speaketh in the person of the wicked But the wicked do not cōplaine of the rebellion of their flesh of any battel or cōflict or of the captiuitie bōdage of sinne for sinne mightely raigneth in them This is therfore that very complaint of Paule of al the faithful Wherfore they haue done very wickedly which haue excused Paule all the faithfull to haue no sinne For by this perswasiō which procedeth of ignorāce of the doctrine of faith they haue robbed the church of a singuler consolation they haue abolished the forgeuenes of sinnes and made Christe of none effect Wherfore when Paule sayeth I see an other lavve in my members c. he denieth not that he hath flesh and the vices of the flesh in him It is likely therfore that he felt sometimes the motions of carnal lust But yet no doubt these motions were well suppressed in him by the great and grieuous afflictiōs tentations both of minde and body wherw t he was in a manner continually exercised vexed as his Epistles do declare Or if he at any time being merry strong felt the lust of the flesh wrath impatiency or such like yet he resisted them by the spirite and suffred not those motions to beare rule in him Therefore let vs in no wise suffer such comfortable places wherby Paule describeth the battaile of the flesh against the spirite in his owne body to be corrupted with such folish gloses The Schoolemen the Monkes and such other neuer felt any spirituall tentations and therfore they fought only for the repressing and ouercomming of fleshly lust and lecherie and being proude of that victorie which they neuer yet obtained they thought them selues farre better and more holy then married men I wil not say that vnder this holy pretence rhey nourished and maintained all kindes of horrible sinnes as dissension pride hatred disdaine despising of their neighbours trust in their owne righteousnes presumption contempt of all godlines and of the word of God infidelitie blasphemie and such like Against these sinnes they neuer fought Nay rather they toke them to be no sinnes at all They put righteousnes in the keeping of their foolish and wicked vowes and vnrighteousnes in the neglecting and contemning of the same But this must be our ground and ankerholde that Christ is our onely and perfect righteousnes If we haue nothing whervnto we may trust yet these three things as Paule sayth Faith hope and loue doe remaine Therefore we must alwayes beleue and alwayes hope we must alwayes take hold of Christe as the head and fountaine of our righteousnes He that beleueth in him shal not be ashamed Moreouer we must labour to be outwardly righteous also that is to say not to
consent to the flesh which alwayes enticeth vs to some euill but to resist it by the spirit We must not be ouercome with impatiencie for the vnthankfulnes and contempt of the people which abuseth the Christian libertie but through the spirite we must ouercome this all other temptations Looke then how much we striue against the flesh by the spirite so much are we outwardly righteous Albeit this righteousnes doth not commend vs before God. Let no man therefore despaire if he feele the flesh oftentimes to stirre vppe new battell against the spirite or if he can not by and by subdue the flesh and make it obedient vnto the spirite I also doe wish my selfe to haue a more valiaunt and constant heart which might be able not only boldly to contemne the threatnings of tyrants the heresies offences and tumults which Satan and his souldiers the enemies of the Gospell stirre vp but also might by and by shake of the vexatiōs and anguish of spirit and briefly might not feare the sharpnes of death but receaue and embrace it as a most frendly ghest But I find an other law in my members rebelling against the law of my minde c. Some other doe wrastle with inferiour temptations as pouertie reproch impatiencie and such like Let no man maruel therfore or be dismaied when he feeleth in his body this battell of the flesh against the spirite but let him plucke vp his heart and comfort him selfe with these wordes of Paule The flesh lusteth against the spirite Also These are contrary one to an other so that ye doe not those things that you vvould For by these sentences he comforteth them that be tēpted As if he should say It is impossible for you to folow the guiding of the spirit in all thinges without any feeling or hinderance of the flesh Nay the flesh will resist and so resist and hinder you that ye can not doe those things which gladly ye would Here it shalt be enough if ye resist the flesh and fulfill not the lust therof that is to say if ye folow the spirite and not the flesh which easily is ouerthrowne by impatiencie coueteth to reuenge biteth grudgeth hateth God is angrie with him despaireth c. Therefore when a man feeleth this battell of the flesh lette him not be discouraged therewith but let him resist in spirite and say I am a sinner and I feele sinne in me for I haue not yet put of the flesh in which sinne dwelleth so long as it liueth But I will obey the spirite and not the flesh that is I will by Faith and hope lay hold vpon Christe and by his word I will raise vppe my selfe and being so raised vppe I will not fulfill the lust of the flesh It is very profitable for the godly to know this and to beare it wel in minde for it wonderfully comforteth them when they are tempted When I was a Monke I thought by and by that I was vtterly cast away if at any time I felt the lust of the flesh that is to say if I felt any euill motion fleshly lust wrath hatred or enuie against any brother I assayed many wayes to helpe and to quiet my conscience but it would not be For the cōcupiscence and lust of my flesh did alwayes returne so that I could not rest but was cōtinually vexed with these thoughts This or that sinne thou hast cōmitted thou art infected with enuie with impatiencie such other sinnes therfore thou art entred into this holy Order in vaine and all thy good works are vnprofitable If then I had rightly vnderstand these sentences of Paule The flesh lusteth cōtrary to the spirit the spirit contrary to the flesh And These tvvo are one against an other so that ye can not do the things that ye vvould doe I should not haue so miserably tormented my selfe but should haue thought and sayd to my selfe as now commonly I doe Martine thou shalt not vtterly be without sinne for thou hast flesh thou shalt therefore feele the battell thereof according to that saying of Paule The flesh resisteth the spirite Despaire not therefore but resist it strongly and fulfill not the lust thereof Thus doing thou art not vnder the lawe I remember that Staupitius was wont to say I haue vowed vnto God aboue a thousand times that I would become a better mā but I neuer performed that which I vowed Hereafter I wil make no such vow for I haue now learned by experience that I am not able to performe it Vnlesse therefore God be fauourable and mercifull vnto me for Christes sake and graunt vnto me a blessed happie hower when I shall depart out of this miserable life I shall not be able with all my vowes and all my good deedes to stand before him This was not onely a true but also a godly an holy desperation and this must all they confesse both with mouth and heart which wil be saued For the godly trust not to their owne righteousnes but say with Dauid Enter not into iudgement vvith thy seruaunt for in thy sight shall none that liueth be iustified Againe If thou O Lord shouldest straitly marke iniquities O Lord vvho shall stand They loke vnto Christ their Reconciler who gaue his life for their sinnes Moreouer they know that the remnant of sinne which is in their flesh is not laid to their charge but freely pardoned Notwithstāding in the meane while they fight in spirite against the flesh lest they should fulfill the lustes thereof And although they feele the flesh to rage and rebell against the spirite and them selues also to fall sometimes into sinne through infirmitie yet are they not discouraged not thinke therefore that their state and kinde of life and the workes which are done according to their calling displease God but they raise vppe them selues by Faith. The faithfull therefore receaue great consolation by this doctrine of Paule in that they know them selues to haue part of the flesh and part of the spirite but yet so notwithstanding that the spirite ruleth and the flesh is subdued and kept vnder awe that righteousnes raigneth and sinne serueth He that knoweth not this doctrine and thinketh that the faithfull ought to be without all fault and yet seeth the contrary in him selfe must needes at the length be swalowed vppe by the spirite of heauines and fall into desperation But who so knoweth this doctrine well and vseth it rightly to him the things that are euil turne vnto good For when the flesh prouoketh him to sinne by occasion therof he is stirred vp and enforced to seeke forgeuenes of sinnes by Christe and to embrace the righteousnes of Faith which else he would not so greatly esteme nor seeke for the same with so great desire Therefore it profiteth vs very much to feele sometimes the wickednes of our nature and corruption of our flesh that yet by this meanes we may be
yet continue still in their sinnes These men haue their iudgement already They that liue after the flesh shall die Also The vvorkes of the flesh are manifest vvhich are adulterie fornication vncleannes vvantonnes idolatrie vvitchcraft hatred debate emulations vvrath contentions seditions heresies enuie murthers drunkennes gluttonie and such like vvhereof I tell you before as also I haue told you that they vvhich doe such things shall not inherite the kingdom of God. Hereby we may see who be the very Saincts in dede They be not stocks stones as the Monkes and Scholemen dreame so that they are neuer moued with any thing neuer feele any lusts or desires of the flesh but as Paule sayth their flesh lusteth against the spirit and therfore they haue sinne and both can doe sinne And the .32 Psalme witnesseth that the faithfull doe confesse their vnrighteousnes pray that the wickednes of their sinne may be forgeuen where it sayeth I vvill confesse against my selfe my vvickednes vnto the Lord and thou forgauest the punishment of my sinne Therefore shall euery one that is godly make his prayer vnto thee c. Moreouer the whole Church which in deede is holy prayeth that her sinnes may be forgeuen her and it beleueth the forgeuenes of sinnes And in the .143 Psalme Dauid prayeth O Lord enter not into iudgement vvith thy seruaunt for in thy sight shall none that liueth be iustified And in the .130 Psalm If thou O Lord shouldest straitly marke iniquities Lord vvho shall stand in thy presence But vvith thee is mercy c. Thus doe the cheefest saincts and children of God speake and pray as Dauid Paule c. All the faithfull therfore doe speake and pray the same thing and with the same spirit The popish Sophisters read not the Scriptures or if they read thē they haue a veile before their eyes and therfore as they can not iudge rightly of any thing so can they not iudge rightly either of sinne or of holines Verse 18. If ye be led by the spirite ye are not vnder the lavve Paule cannot forget his doctrine of Faith but still repeateth it beateth it into their heades yea euen when he treateth of good works Here some man may obiect How can it be that we should not be vnder the law and yet thou notwithstanding O Paule teachest vs that we haue flesh which lusteth against the spirit fighteth against vs tormēteth vs and bringeth vs into bondage And in deede we feele sinne and can not be deliuered from the feeling therof though we would neuer so faine And what is this else but to be vnder the law But sayth he Let this nothing trouble you onely doe your endeuour that ye may be led by the spirite that is to say shew your selues willing to folow obey that will which resisteth the flesh and doth not accomplish the lustes thereof for this is to be led and to be drawne by the spirite then are ye not vnder the lawe So Paule speaketh of himselfe Rom. 7. In my minde I serue the lavve of God that is to say In spirit I am not subiect to any sinne but yet in my flesh I serue the law of sinne The faithfull then are not vnder the lawe that is to say in spirite for the law can not accuse them nor pronounce sentence of death against them although they feele sinne and confesse them selues to be sinners For the power and strength of the lawe is taken from it by Christ vvho vvas made subiect to the lavve that he might redeme them vvhich vvere vnder the lavve Therefore the lawe cannot accuse that for sinne in the faithfull which is sinne in deede and committed against the lawe So great then is the power and dominion of the spirite that the lawe cannot accuse the godly though they commit that which is sinne in deede For Christe is our righteousnes whom we apprehend by Faith he is without all sinne and therfore the law can not accuse him As long as we cleaue fast vnto him we are ledde by the spirite and are free from the lawe And so the Apostle euen when he teacheth good workes forgetteth not his doctrine concerning Iustification but alwayes sheweth that it is impossible for vs to be iustified by workes For the remnants of sinne cleaue fast in our flesh and therefore so long as our flesh liueth it ceaseth not to lust contrary to the spirite Notwithstanding there cometh no daunger vnto vs thereby because we be free from the law so that we walke in the spirite And with these wordes If ye be ledde by the spirite ye be not vnder the lavve thou maist greatly comfort thy selfe and others that be greeuously tempted For it oftentimes commeth to passe that a mā is so vehemently assailed with wrath hatred impatiencie carnall desire terrour and anguish of spirite or some other lust of the flesh that he can not shake them of though he would neuer so faine What should he doe in this case Should he despaire No God forbid but let him say thus with him selfe Thy flesh fighteth and rageth against the spirite Let it rage as long as it listeth onely see thou that in any case thou consent not to it to fulfill the lusts therof but walke wisely folow the leading of the spirit In so doing thou art free from the law It accuseth and terrifieth thee I graunt but altogether in vaine In this conflict therfore of the flesh against the spirit there is nothing better then to haue the word of God before thine eyes and therin to seeke the comfort of the spirite And let not him which suffereth this temptation be dismayed in that the Deuil can so aggrauate sinne that during the conflict he thinketh him selfe to be vtterly ouerthrowne and feeleth nothing else but the wrath of God and desperation Here in any wise let him not folow his owne feeling and the iudgement of reason but lette him take sure hold of this saying of Paule If ye be led by the spirite that is to wit if ye raise vp and comfort your selues through faith in Christ ye be not vnder the lawe So shall he haue a strong buckler wherewith he may beat backe all the fierie dartes which that wicked feende assaileth him withall How much so euer then the flesh doe boyle and rage yet can not all her motions and rages hurt cōdemne him for as much as he folowing the guiding of the spirite doth not consent vnto the flesh nor fulfill the lustes thereof Therefore when the motions of the flesh doe rage the onely remedie is to take to vs the sword of the spirite that is to say the word of saluation which is that God would not the death of a sinner but that he cōuert liue and to fight against them Which if we doe let vs not doubt but we shall obtaine the victorie although so long as the battaile endureth we feele the plaine
contrary But set the word out of sight and there is no counsell nor helpe remaining Of this that I say I my selfe haue good experiēce I haue suffered many great passions and the same also very vehement and great But so soone as I laid hold of any place of Scripture and stayed my selfe vppon it as vppon my cheefe ankerhold straight wayes my tentations did vanish away which without the word it had bene vnpossible for me to endure any litle space and much lesse to ouercome them The summe or effect therfore of all that which Paule hath taught in this disputation or discourse cōcerning the conflict or battell betwene the flesh and the spirite is this that the Sainctes and the elect of God can not performe that which the spirit desireth For the spirite would gladly be altogether pure but the flesh being ioyned vnto the spirite will not suffer that Notwithstanding they be saued by the remission of sinnes which is in Christ Iesus Moreouer because they walke in the spirite and are led by the spirite they be not vnder the lawe that is to say the law cānot accuse or terrifie thē yea although it goe about neuer so much so to doe yet shal it neuer be able to driue them to desperation Ver. 19. Moreouer rhe vvorks of the flesh be manifest vvhich are c. This place is not vnlike to this sentence of Christe By their fruites ye shall knovve them Doe men gather grapes of thornes or figges of brambles So euery good tree bringeth forth good frute and an euill tree bringeth forth euill frute c. Paule teacheth the very same thing which Christe taught that is to witte that workes and fruites doe sufficiently testifie whether the trees be good or euill whether mē folow the guiding of the flesh or of the spirit As if he should say Lest some of you might lay for him selfe that he vnderstandeth me not now when I treat of the battel betwene the flesh and the spirite I will sette before your eyes first the workes of the flesh whereof many are knowne euen to the vngodly and then also the workes of the spirite And this doth Paule because there were many hypocrites amōgs the Galathians as there are also at this day among vs which outwardly pretended to be godly men and boasted much of the spirit and as touching the wordes they vnderstode the true doctrine of the Gospell but they walked not according to the spirite but according to the flesh and performed the workes thereof Whereby Paule manifestly conuinceth them to be no such holy men in deede as they boasted themselues to be And lest they should despise this his admonition he pronounceth against them this dreadfull sentence that they should not be enheritours of the kingdom of heauē to the end that being thus admonished they might amend Euery age euen in the faithfull hath his peculiare tēptations as fleshly lusts assaile a man most of all in his youth in his middle age ambition and vaineglory and in his olde age couetousnes There was neuer yet any of the faithfull whom the flesh hath not oftē in his life time prouoked to impatientie anger vaineglory c. Paule therefore speaking here of the faithfull sayeth that the flesh lusteth in them against the spirite c therefore they shall neuer be without the desires and battels of the flesh notwithstanding they do not hurt them But of this matter we must thus iudge that it is one thing to be prouoked of the flesh yet not willingly to yelde to the lusts and desires therof but to walke after the leading of the spirit and to resist the flesh and an other thing to assent vnto the flesh and without all feare or remorse to performe and fulfill the works therof and to continue therin and yet notwithstanding to counterfet holines and to bragge of the spirite The first he comforteth when he saith that they be ledde by the spirite and be not vnder the lawe To the other he threatneth euerlasting destruction Notwithstanding sometimes it hapneth that the Saincts also do fall and performe the lustes of the flesh As Dauid fell horribly into adulterie Also he was the cause of the slaughter of many men when he would haue Vrias to be slaine in the forefront of the battell and therby also he gaue occasion to the enemies to glory and triumph ouer the people of God to worship their Idolles and to blaspheme the God of Israell Peter also fell most greeuously and horribly when he denied Christe But although these sinnes were great and hainous yet were they not committed vppon any contempt of God or of a wilfull and obstinate mind but through infirmitie weaknes Againe when they were admonished they did not obstinately continue in their sinnes but repented Such he willeth afterwardes in the .6 Chapter to be receiued instructed and restored saying If a man be falne by occasion into any sinne ye vvhich are spirituall restore such a one vvith the spirite of meekenes considering thy selfe lest thou also be tempted To those therefore which sinne and fall through infirmitie pardon is not denied so that they rise againe and continue not in their sinne for of all things continuance in sinne is the worst But if they repent not but still obstinately continue in their wickednes and performe the desires of the flesh it is a certaine token that there is disceit in their spirite No man therefore shall be without lustes and desires so long as he liueth in the flesh and therfore no man shall be free from temptations Notwithstanding some are tempted one way and some an other according to the difference of the persons One man is assailed with more vehement and greeuous motions as with bitternes and anguish of spirite blasphemie distrust and desperation An other with more grosse tentations as with fleshly lustes wrath enuie couetousnes and such like But in this case Paule requireth of vs that we walke in the spirite and resist the flesh But who so obeyeth the flesh and continueth without any feare of God or remorse of conscience in accomplyshing the desires and lustes thereof let him know that he pertaineth not vnto Christe And although he bragge of the name of a Christian neuer so much yet doth he but deceaue him selfe For they which are of Christe doe crucifie their flesh with the affections and lustes thereof VVho be rightly called Sainctes and be so in deede This place as I haue also forewarned you by the way containeth in it a singular consolation For it teacheth vs that the sainctes and most holy men in this world liue not without concupiscence and temptations of the flesh nor yet without sinnes It warneth vs therefore to take heede that we doe not as some did of whom Gerson wryteth whych laboured to attaine to such perfection that they might be without all feeling of temptations or sinnes that is to say very stockes and stones The like
imagination the Monkes and Scholemen hadde of their Sainctes as though they hadde bene very senselesse blockes and without all affections The virgine Marie felt great griefe and sorowe of spirite when she missed her sonne Luke 2. Dauid in the Psalmes complaineth that he is almost swalowed vppe with excessiue sorrowe for the greatnes of his temptations and sinnes Paule also complaineth that he hath battelles without and terrours within and that in his flesh he serueth the lawe of sinne He sayeth that he is carefull for all the Churches and that God shewed great mercie towardes him in that he deliuered Epaphroditus being at the poynt of death to life againe lest he should haue had sorrow vppon sorrow Therefore the Sainctes of the Papists are like to the Stoickes who imagined such wise men as in all the world were neuer yet to be found And by this foolish and Deuelish perswasion which proceeded of the ignoraunce of this doctrine of Paule the Scholemen brought both them selues and others without number into horrible desperation When I was a Monke I did oftentimes most hartely wish that I might once be so happy as to see the conuersation and life of some Sainct or holy man But in the meane time I imagined such a Sainct as liued in the wildernes abstaining from meat and drinke and liuing onely with rootes of herbes and colde water and this opinion of those monstrous sainctes I had learned not onely out of the bookes of the Sophisters and Scholemen but also out of the bookes of the fathers For thus wryteth Hierome in a certaine place As touching meates and drinkes I say nothing for as much as it is excesse that euē such as are weake and feeble should vse cold water or eate any sodden thing c. But now in the light of the Gospel we plainly see who they are whom Christ and his Apostles call Saincts Not they which liue a sole a single life or straitly obserue dayes meates apparel such other things or in outward appearance do other great monstrous works as we read of many in the liues of the fathers but they which being called by the sound of the Gospell and baptised doe beleue that they be iustified and clensed by the death of Christ So Paule euery where wryting to Christians calleth them holy the children and heires of God c. Who so euer then doe beleue in Christe whether they be men or women bond or free are all Sainctes not by their owne workes but by the workes of God which they receiue by Faith as his word his Sacraments the passion of Christ his death resurrection victorie and the sending of the holy Ghost To conclude they are Sainctes through such a holines as they freely receaue not through such a holines as they them selues haue gotten by their owne industrie good workes and merites So the ministers of the worde the Magistrates of common weales parents children maisters seruauntes c. are true Saincts if first and before all things they assure themselues that Christ is their wisedom righteousnes sanctification and redemption Secondly if euery one doe his duetie in his vocation according to the rule of Gods word and obey not the flesh but represse the lustes and desires thereof by the spirite Now where as all be not of like strength to resist temptatiōs but many infirmities and offences are seene in the most part of men this nothing hindereth their holines so that their sinnes procede not of an obstinate wilfulnes but onely of frailtie and infirmitie For as I haue sayd before the godly doe feele the desires and lusts of the flesh but they resist them to the ende that they accomplish them not Also if they at any time vnaduisedly fall into sinne yet notwithstāding they obtaine forgeuenes thereof if by Faith in Christe they be raised vppe againe who would not that we should driue away but seeke out and bring whom the straying and lost sheepe c. Therfore God forbid that I should straighte way iudge those which are weake in Faith and maners to be prophane or vnholy if I see that they loue reuerence the word of God to come to the supper of the Lord c. For these God hath receaued counteth them righteous thorough the remissiō of sinnes to him they stand or fall c. Wherefore with great reioysing I geue thankes to God for that he hath abundantly and aboue measure graunted that vnto me which I so earnestly desired of him when I was a Monke For he hath geuen vnto me the grace to see not one but many Sainctes yea an infinite nomber of true sainctes not such as the Sophisters haue deuised but such as Christe himselfe his Apostles doe describe Of the which nomber I assure my selfe to be one For I am baptised and I doe beleue that Christ my Lord by his death hath redemed and deliuered me from all my sinnes and hath geuen to me eternall righteousnes and holines And let him be holden accursed who so euer shall not geue this honour vnto Christe to beleue that by his death his word c. he is iustified and sanctified Wherfore reiecting this foolish and wicked opinion concerning the name of Saincts which in the time of Poperie and ignorance we thought to pertaine onely to the Sainctes which are in heauen and in earth to the Heremites and Monkes which did certaine great and straunge workes let vs now learne by the holy Scripture that all they which faithfully beleue in Christ are Saincts The world hath in great admiration the holines of Benedict Gregorie Bernard Fraunces and such like because it heareth that they haue done in outward appearance and in the iudgement of the world certaine great and excellent workes Doutles Hyllarie Cyrill Athanasius Ambrose Augustine and others were Saincts also which liued not so strait and seuere a life as they did but were conuersant amongs men and did eate common meates drunke wine and vsed clenly and comely apparell so that in a maner there was no difference betwene them other honest men as touching the common custome and the vse of things necessary for this life and yet were they to be preferred farre aboue the other These men taught the doctrine and faith of Christe sincerely purely without any superstition they resisted heretikes they purged the church from innumerable errours their company and familiaritie was comfortable to many and specially to those which were afflicted and heauie harted whom they raised vppe and comforted by the word of god For they did not withdraw them selues from the company of men but they executed their offices euen where most resort of people was Contrariwise the other not onely taught many things contrary to the Faith but also were themselues the authors first inuentours of many superstitions errours abhominable ceremonies and wicked worshippings Therefore except at the houre of death they laid hold of Christe and reposed their whole
dreame are possessed of the Deuil and altogether carnall therefore they performe and fulfill the desires of the flesh euen with all the power of the soule Therfore most necessary it was that so horrible and terrible a sentence should be pronounced by the Apostle against such careles contemners and obstinate hypocrites namely that all they which do such works of the flesh as Paule hath recited shall not inherite the kingdom of God that yet some of them being terrified by this seuere sentence may begin to fight against the workes of the flesh by the spirit that they accomplish not the same Verse 22. But the fruits of the spirite are loue ioy peace long suffering svvetenes goodnes faithfulnes gentlenes or mekenes temperance The Apostle sayeth not the workes of the spirite as he sayd the workes of the flesh but he adorneth these Christian vertues with a more honorable name calling them the frutes of the spirite For they bring with them most excellent frutes and commodities for they that haue them geue glory to God and with the same doe allure and prouoke others to embrace the doctrine and Faith of Christ Loue. It had bene enough to haue sayd Loue and no more for loue extendeth it selfe vnto all the fruites of the spirite And in the. 1. Cor. 13. Paule attributeth to loue all the fruites which are done in the spirite when he sayth Loue is patiēt curteous c. Notwithstāding he would set it here by it selfe amongs the rest of the fruites of the spirit and in the first place thereby to admonish the Christians that before all things they should loue one an other geuing honour one to an other euery man esteming better of an other then of him selfe and seruing one an other because they haue Christ the holy Ghost dwelling in them because of the word baptisme other gifts of God which christiās haue Ioy. This is the voyce of the Bridegrome and of the Bride that is to say sweete cogitations of Christ holesom exhortations plesant songs or Psalmes praises and thanks geuing wherby the godly do instruct stirre vp and refresh them selues Therefore God loueth not heauines and doulfulnes of spirite he hateth vncomfortable doctrine heauy and sorowfull cogitations and loueth chearfull hearts For therefore hath he sent his sonne not to oppresse vs with heauines and sorrow but to cheare vp our soules in him For this cause the Prophets the Apostles and Christ him selfe do exhort vs yea they commaūd vs to reioyce be glad Zach. 9. Reioyce thou daughter of Syon be ioyful thou daughter of Ierusalem for behold thy king commeth to thee And in the Psalmes it is often sayd Be ioyfull in the Lord. Paule sayth Reioyce in the Lord alvvaies c. And Christe sayeth Reioyce because your names are vvryttē in heauen Where this ioy of the spirit is there the heart inwardly reioyceth through faith in Christ with ful assurance that he is our Sauiour and our byshop and outwardly it expresseth this ioy with wordes and gestures Also the faithfull reioyce when they see that the Gospell spreadeth abrode that many be wonne to the Faith and that the kingdom of Christ is enlarged Peace Both towardes God men the Christians may be peaceable quiet not contentious nor hating one an other but one bearing an others burden through long suffering or perseuerance without the which peace cannot continue and therfore Paule putteth it next after peace Long suffering or perseuerance Wherby a mā doth not only beare aduersities iniuries reproches such like but also with patiēce waiteth for the amendmēt of those which haue done him any wrong When the Deuil cannot by force ouercome those which are tempted then seketh he to ouercome them by long cōtinuance For he knoweth that we be earthen vessels which can not long endure hold out many knockes violent strokes therfore with long continuance of tēptations he ouercometh many To vanquish these his cōtinuall assaults we must vse long sufferance which patiētly looketh not only for the amendment of those which doe vs wrong but also for the ende of those temptations which the Deuil raiseth vp against vs. Gentlenes Which is when a man is gentle and tractable in his conuersation in his whole life For such as wil be true folowers of the Gospel must not be sharpe and bitter but gentle milde courteous and faire spoken which should encourage others to delite in their company which can winke at other mens faults or at least expound them to the best which will be well contented to yelde and geue place to others contented to beare with those which are froward intractable as the very Heathen sayd Thou must know the maners of thy frend but thou must not hate thē Such a one was our Sauiour Christ as euery where is to be sene in that Gospell It is wryttē of Peter that he wept so often as he remēbred the sweete mildnes of Christe which he vsed in his daily conuersation It is an excellent vertue and most necessary in euery kinde of life Goodnes Which is when a man willingly helpeth others in their necessitie by geuing lending and such other meanes Faith. When Paule here reckeneth faith amongs the fruites of the spirit it is manifest that he speaketh not of Faith which is in Christe but of the fidelitie humanitie of one man towards an other Herevpon he sayeth in the .13 Chap. of the first to the Cor. that charitie beleueth all things Therfore he that hath this faith is not suspicious but milde taketh all things to the best And although he be deceaued and findeth himselfe to be mocked yet such is his patiencie and softnes that he letteth it passe Briefly he is ready to beleue al mē but he trusteth not all On the cōtrary where this vertue is lacking there men are suspicious froward waiward dogged so neither wil beleue any thing nor geue place to any body They can suffer nothing Whatsoeuer a mā saith or doth neuer so wel they cauill sclander it so that who so serueth not their humor cā neuer please them Therefore it is impossible for thē to kepe charity frendship concord peace with men But if these vertues be takē away what is this life else but biting and deuouring one of an other Faith therfore in this place is whē one mā geueth credite to an other in things pertaining to this present life For what maner of life should we lead in this world if one man should not credite an other Mekenes Which is when a man is not lightly moued or prouoked to anger There be infinite occasions in this life which prouoke men to anger but the godly ouer come them by meekenes Temperance chastitie or continencie This is a sobrietie or modestie in the whole life of man which vertue Paule setteth against the works of the flesh He would therfore that Christians should liue soberly and
chastly that they should be no adulterers no fornicatours no wantons and if they cannot liue chastly he would haue them to marrie Also that they should not be contentious or quarellers that they should not be geuen to drunkennes or surfetting but that they should abstaine from all these things Chastitie or continencie containeth all these Hierome expoundeth it of virginitie onely as though they that be married could not be chast or as though the Apostle did wryte these things onely to virgines In the 1. and .2 Chapt. to Tit. he warneth also Bishops yong women and maried folkes both man and wife to be chast and pure Verse 23. Against such there is no lavve In deede there is a lawe but not against such As he sayth also in an other place The lavve is not geuen to the righteous man. For the righteous liueth in such wise that he hath no neede of any lawe to admonish or to constraine him but without constraint of the lawe he willingly doth those things which the lawe requireth Therefore the law cannot accuse or condemne those that beleue in Christe In deede the law troubleth and terrifieth our consciences but Christ apprehēded by Faith vanquisheth it with all his terrours threatnings To them therefore the lawe is vtterly abolished and hath no power to accuse them for they doe that of their owne accord which the law requireth They haue receaued the holy Ghost by Faith who wil not suffer them to be idle Although the flesh resist yet doe they walke after the spirite So a Christian accomplisheth the law inwardly by Faith for Christ is the perfection of the lawe vnto righteousnes to all that doe beleue outwardly by workes and by remission of sinnes But those which performe the workes or desires of the flesh the law doth accuse and condemne both ciuily and spiritually Verse 24. For they that are Christes haue crucified the flesh vvith the affections and lustes thereof This whole place concerning workes sheweth that the true beleuers are no hypocrites Therfore let no man deceaue him selfe For whosoeuer sayeth he pertaine vnto Christe haue crucified the flesh with all the vices and lustes thereof For the Sainctes in as much as they haue not yet vtterly put of the corrupt and sinnefull flesh are enclined to sinne and doe neither feare not loue God so perfectly as they ought to doe Also they be prouoked to anger to enuie to impatiencie to vncleane lusts and such like motions which notwithstanding they accomplish not for as Paule here sayeth they crucifie the flesh with all the affectiōs and lusts therof Which thing they do not onely when they represse the wantonnes of the flesh with fasting and other exercises but also as Paule sayd before when they walke according to the spirite that is when they being admonished by the threatnings of God wherby he sheweth that he will seuerely punish sinne are afeard to commit sinne Also when they being armed with the word of God with faith and with prayer doe not obey the lustes of the flesh When they resist the flesh after this maner they naile it to the crosse with the lustes and desires thereof so that although the flesh be yet aliue yet can it not performe that which it would doe for as much as it is bound both hand and foote and fast nailed to the crosse The faithfull then so long as they liue here doe crucifie the flesh that is to say they feele the lusts therof but they obey them not For they being furnished with the armour of God that is with Faith hope and the sword of the spirite doe resist the flesh and with these spirituall nailes they fasten the same vnto the crosse so that it is constrained to be subiect to the spirite Afterwardes when they die they put it of wholy and when they shall rise againe from death to life they shall haue a pure and vncorrupt flesh without all affections and lustes The sixth Chapter If vve liue in the spirite let vs also vvalke in the spirite THE Apostle reckened before amongst the workes of the flesh heresie and enuie and pronounced sentence against those which are enuious and which are authors of Sectes that they should not inherite the kingdom of god And now as if he had forgotten that which he sayd a litle before he againe reproueth those which prouoke and enuie one an other Why doth he so was it not sufficient to haue done it once In deede he doth it of purpose for he taketh occasion here to inueigh against that execrable vice of vaineglory which was the cause of the troubles that were in all the churches of Galatia and hath bene alwayes most pernicious and hurtful to the whole Church of Christe Therefore in his Epistle to Titus he would not that a proud mā should be ordained a Bishop For Pride as Augustine truly saith is the mother of all heresies or rather the headspring of all sinne and confusion Which thing all histories as well holy as prophane doe witnesse Now vainglory or arrogancie hath alwayes ben a common poyson in the world which the very Heathen Poetes and Hystorigraphers haue alwayes vehemently reproued There is no village wherin there is not some one or other to be found that would be counted wiser and be more estemed then all then rest But they are chiefly infected with this disease which stand vpon their reputatiō for learning and wisedom In this case no mā wil yeld to an other according to this saying Ye shall not lightly finde a man that vvill yeelde vnto others the praise of vvitte and skill For it is a goodly thing to see men poynt at one and say this is he But it is not so hurtful in priuate persons no nor in any kind of magistrate as it is in them that haue any charge in the church Albeit in ciuile gouernment specially if it be in great personages it is not onely a cause of troubles and ruines of common weales but also of the troubles and alteration of kingdoms and Empires Which thing the hystories both of the Scripture and prophane wryters doe witnesse But when this poyson creepeth into the Church or spirituall kingdom it can not be expressed how hurtfull it is For there is no contention as touching learning witte beautie riches kingdoms Empires and such like but as touching saluation or damnation eternall life or eternall death Therfore Paul earnestly exhorteth the ministers of the word to flie this vice saying If vve liue in the spirit c. As if he should say If it be true that we liue in the spirite let vs also procede and walke in the spirit For where the spirite is it reneweth men and worketh in them new motions that is to say wheras they were before vaineglorious wrathfull and enuious it maketh them now humble gentle and patient Such men seeke not their owne glory but the glory of God they doe not prouoke or enuie one
an other but geue place one to an other in geuing honour preuēt one an other Contrariwise they that be desirous of glory enuie one an other may bost that they haue the spirite and liue after the spirite but they deceaue themselues they folow the flesh and doe the workes thereof and they haue their iudgement already that they shall not inherite the kingdom of God. Now as nothing is more daūgerous to the Church then this execrable vice so is there nothing more common For when God sendeth forth labourers into his haruest by and by Sathā raiseth vp his ministers also who wil in no case be coūted inferiour to those that are rightly called Here straightwayes riseth dissension The wicked wil not yeld one heares breadth to the godly For they dreame that they farre passe them in witte in learning in godlines in spirite and other vertues Much lesse ought the godly to yelde to the wicked lest the doctrine of Faith come in danger Moreouer such is the nature of the ministers of Sathan that they can make a goodly shew that they are very charitable humble louers of concord and are indued with other fruits of the spirit also they protest that they seeke nothing else but the glory of God the saluation of mens soules and yet are they ful of vainglory doing all things for none other ende but to get praise and estimation among men To be short they thinke that gaine is godlines and that the ministerie of the word is deliuered vnto them that they may get fame and estimation therby Wherfore they can not but be authors of dissension and Sectes Forasmuch then as the vaineglory of the false apostles was the cause that the Churches of Galatia were troubled and forsooke Paule therefore in this Chapter specially his purpose was to suppresse that execrable vice yea this mischeefe gaue the Apostle occasion to wryte this whole Epistle And if he had not so done all his trauell bestowed in preaching of the Gospell among the Galathians had bene spent in vaine For in his absence the false apostles which were men in outward shew of great authority raigned in Galatia who besides that they would seeme to seeke the glory of Christe and the saluation of the Galathians pretended also that they had bene conuersant with the Apostles that they folowed their footesteppes saying that Paule had not seene Christe in the flesh nor had bene conuersant with the rest of the Apostles therfore they made no accoūt of him but reiected his doctrine boasted their owne to be true sincere Thus they troubled the Galathians and raised Sectes among them so that they prouoked and enuied one an other which was a sure token that neither the teachers nor hearers liued and walked after the spirit but folowed the flesh and fulfilled the workes thereof and so consequently lost the true doctrine Faith Christ and all the giftes of the holy Ghost and were now become worse then the Heathen Notwithstanding he doth not onely inueigh against the false apostles which in his time troubled the Churches of Galatia but also he foresaw in spirite that there should be an infinite numbre of such euen to the worlds end which being infected with this pernicious vice should thrust them selues into the Church boasting of the spirite and heauenly doctrine and vnder this pretence should quite ouerthrow the true doctrine and Faith. Many such haue we also seene in these our dayes who haue thrust them selues into the kingdom of the spirit that is to say into the Ministery of the word by this hypocrisie they haue purchased vnto thē selues fame estimation that they were great doctours pillers of the Gospel such as liued in the spirite and walked according to the same But because their glory consisted in mennes mouthes and not in God therefore it could not be firme and stable but according to Paules prophesie it turned to their owne confusion and theyr ende was destruction For the vvicked shall not stand in iudgement but shall be taken avvay like chaffe and scattered abrode vvith the vvinde The same iudgement remaineth for all such as in preaching the Gospell seeke their owne profite and not the glory of Iesus Christe For the Gospell is not deliuered vnto vs that we should thereby seeke our owne praise and glory or that the people should honour and magnifie vs which are the Ministers therof but to the end that the benefite and glory of Christe might be preached and published and that the father might be glorified in his mercy offred vnto vs in Christ his sōne whom he deliuered for vs all and with him hath geuen vs all things Wherfore the Gospel is a doctrine wherin we ought to seeke nothing lesse than our owne glory It setteth forth vnto vs heauenly and eternall things which are not our owne which we haue neither done nor deserued but it offereth the same vnto vs to vs I say which are vnworthy and that through the meere goodnes and grace of god Why should we then seeke praise and glory therby He therfore that seeketh his owne glory in the Gospell speaketh of him selfe And he that speaketh of him selfe is a lier and there is vnrighteousnes in him Contrariwise he that seeketh the glory of him that sent him is true and there is no vnrighteousnes in him Iohn 7. Paule therfore geueth earnest charge to all the ministers of the word saying If vve liue in the spirite let vs vvalke in the spirite that is to say Let vs abide in the doctrine of the truth which hath ben taught vnto vs in brotherly loue and spirituall concord let vs preach Christe and the glory of God in simplicitie of heart and let vs confesse that we haue receaued all things of him let vs not thinke more of our selues than of others let vs raise vp no Sectes For this is not to walke rightly but rather to raunge out of the way and to sette vp a new and a peruerse way of walking Hereby we may vnderstand that God of his speciall grace maketh the teachers of the Gospell subiect to the crosse and to all kindes of afflictions for the saluation of them selues and of the people for otherwise they could by no meanes represse and beate downe this beast which is called vaineglory For if no persecution no crosse or reproch followed the doctrine of the Gospell but onely praise reputation and glory amongst men then would all the professors thereof be infected and perish through the poyson of vainglory Ierome sayth that he had seene many which could suffer great inconueniences in theyr body and goodes but none that could despise their owne praises For it is almost impossible for a mā not to be puffed vp whē he heareth any thing spoken in the praise of his owne vertues Paule notwithstanding that he had the spirite of Christe sayth that there was geuen vnto him
the messenger of Sathan to buffette him because he should not be exalted out of measure through the greatnes of his reuelations Therfore Augustine sayeth very well If a minister of the word be praised he is in daunger If a brother despise or dispraise him he is also in daunger He that heareth a preacher of the word ought to reuerence him for the wordes sake but if he be proud therof he is in daunger Contrariwise if he be despised he is out of daunger but so is not he which despiseth him Wherfore we must honour our great benefite that is that is of the preaching of the word and receauing of the Sacraments We must also reuerence one an other according to that saying In geuing honour one to an other c. But whersoeuer this is done by and by the flesh is tickled with vaineglory and waxeth proud For there is none no not among the godly which would not rather be praised than dispraised except perhaps some be so well stablished in this behalfe that he will be moued neither with praises nor reproches As that woman sayde of Dauid 2. Sam. 14. My Lord the king is like an angel of God vvhich vvill neither be moued vvith blessing nor curssing Likewise Paule sayth by honour and dishonour by euill report and good report c. Such mē as be neither puffed vp with praise nor throwne downe with dispraise but endeuour simplie to set forth the benefite glory of Christ to seeke the saluation of soules do walke orderly Contrariwise they which waxe proud in hearing of their owne praises not seking the glory of Christ but their owne also they which being moued with reproches sclaunders doe forsake the ministery of the word walke not orderly Wherfore let euery one see that he walke orderly and specially such as boast of the spirite If thou be praised know that it is not thou that is praised but Christ to whō all praise honour is due For in that thou teachest the word purely liuest godly these are not thine own gifts but the gifts of God therfore thou art not praised but God in thee When thou dost acknowledge this thou wilt walke orderly not be puft vp with vainglory for what hast thou that thou hast not receiued but wilt cōfesse that thou hast receaued the same of God and wilt not be moued with iniuries reproches or persecution to forsake thy calling God therfore of his speciall grace at this day couereth our glory with infamie reproch mortall hatred cruel persecution railing cursing of the whole world also with the contempt ingratitude euen of those among whō we liue as wel the common sort as also the citizens gentlemē and noble men whose enimitie hatred persecution against the gospel like as it is priuie inward so is it more dāgerous then the crueltie outragious dealings of our open enemies that we shuld not waxe proud of the gifts of God in vs This milstone must be hāged about our necke that we be not infected with that pestilent poyson of vainglory Some there be of our side which loue reuerēce vs for the ministery of the word but where there is one that reuerenceth vs there be on the other side an hundreth that hate persecute vs These spiteful dealīgs therfore these persecutions of our enemies this great cōtempt and ingratitude this cruell and priuie hatred of them among whom we liue are such pleasant sights and make vs so mery that we easily for get vainglory Wherfore reioysing in the Lord who is our glory we remaine in order Those gifts which we haue we acknowledge to be the gifts of God not our owne geuen for the edifying of the body of Christ Therfore we be not proud of thē For we know that more is required of thē to whō much is cōmitted then of thē which haue receiued but litle Moreouer we know that there is no respect of persons before God. Therfore a pore artificer faithfully vsing the gift which God hath geuen him pleaseth God no lesse than a preacher of the word for he serueth God in the same faith and with the same spirit Wherfore we ought no lesse to regard the meanest Christians than they regard vs And by this meanes shall we continue free from the poyson of vainglory and walke in the spirit Contrariwise the fantastical spirits which seeke their owne glory the fauour of men the peace of the world the ease of the flesh not the glory of Christ nor yet the health of mens soules although they protest that they seeke nothing else cā not choose but discouer thēselues in commending their owne doctrine and industrie dispraising other mens all to get them a name praise These vaineglorious spirites do not reioyce glory in the Lord but then do they glory then are they stout and hardy when they are magnified of the people Whose hearts they win by wonderfull sleights subtelties for in their words gestures wrytings they can coūterfet dissemble al things But when they are not praised and commended of the people then be they the most fearful men in the world for they hate shunney crosse of Christ and persecution On the contrary when they are praise and magnified as I sayd none are so stout no Hector no Achilles so bold and hardy as they Such a slie crafty beast therfore is flesh that for no other cause it forsaketh his function corrupteth true doctrine and breaketh the cōcord of the church then only vpon this cursed vainglory Therfore it is not without cause that Paule so sharply inueigheth against it both here and in other places as before in the .4 Chap. They are sayth he ielous ouer you amisse yea they vvould exclude you from me that ye should altogether loue them that is to say they would discredite me that they themselues might be famous They seke not Christes glory and your saluation but their owne glory my reproch and your bondage Verse 26. Let vs not be desirous of vainglory Which is to glory not in God as I haue said but in lies in the opinion liking estimatiō of the people Here is no right foūdation of true glory but a false foūdation therfore impossible long to stād He that praiseth a mā as he is a mā is a lier for there is nothing praise worthy in him but all thīgs are worthy of cōdēnatiō Therfore as touchīg our person this is our glory that all mē haue sinned are gilty of euerlasting death before god But the case is otherwise whē our ministery is praised wherfore we must not only wish but also to the vttermost of our power endeuour that mē may magnify it haue it in due reuerence for this shal turne to their saluation Paul warneth the Rom. that they offend no mā to the end sayth he that
gaine without the strength wisedom or authoritie of any man He leaneth not to the praise of other men for he hath it in him selfe Wherfore he that truly faithfully executeth his office careth not what the world speake of him he careth not whether the world praise or dispraise him but he hath praise in himselfe which is the testimonie of his cōscience and praise or glory in god He may therfore say with Paule This is our reioysing this is our praise glory euen the testimonie of our conscience that in simplicitie and sinceritie before God not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God we haue had our conuersation in the world This glory is vncorrupt stedfast for it depēdeth not on other mens iudgemēts but of our own cōsciēce which beareth vs witnes that we haue taught the word purely ministred the sacraments rightly haue done all things wel therfore it cā not be defaced or takē frō vs. The other glory which these proud spirites doe seeke is vncertaine most perilous for that they haue it not in thēselues but it cōsisteth in the mouth opinion of the people Therfore can they not haue the testimony of their owne conscience that they haue done all things with simplicity sincerity for the aduauncing of the glory of God onely and the saluation of soules For this is it which they seeke that they may be counted famous through the worke and labour of their preaching and be praised of men They haue therfore a glory a trust and a testimony but before men not in themselues nor before god The godly doe not desire glory after this manner If Paule had had his praise before men and not in himselfe he should haue bene compelled to despaire whē he saw many cities countreis and all Asia fall from him when he saw so many offences or sclaunders so many heresies to follow his preaching Christe when he was alone that is when he was not onely sought for by the Iewes to be put to death but also was forsaken of his disciples was not yet alone but the father was with him for he had glory and reioysing in him selfe So at this day if our trust our glory and reioysing did depende vppon the iudgement and fauour of men we should die with very anguish and sorrow of heart For so farre of is it that the Papistes Sectaries and the whole world doe iudge vs worthy of any reuerence or praise that they hate persecute vs most bitterly yea they wold gladly ouerthrow our ministerie and roote out our doctrine for euer We haue therfore nothing before men but reproch but we reioyce and we glory in the Lord therfore we attend vpon our office cherefully and faithfully which we know is acceptable to him Thus doing we care not whether our worke doe please or displease the Deuill whether the world loue vs or hate vs For we knowing our worke to be well done and hauing a good conscience before God goe forward by honour and dishonour by euill report and good report c. This sayeth Paule is to haue reioysing or glory in thy selfe And this admonition is very necessary against that execrable vice of vaineglory The Gospel is a doctrine which both of it selfe and also by the malice of the Deuill bringeth with it the crosse and persecution Therfore Paule is wont to call it the word of the crosse and of offence It hath not alwayes stedfast and constant disciples Many there be that to day make profession thereof and embrace it which to morrow being offended with the crosse will fall from it and deny it They therfore that teach the Gospell to the end that they may obtaine the fauour and praise of men must needes perish and their glory be turned vnto shame when the people cease to reuerence and magnifie them Wherfore let all pastours and ministers of the word learne to haue glory and reioysing in them selues and not in the mouth of other men If there be any that praise them as the godly are wont to doe By euill report and good report saith Paule yet let them receaue this glory but as a shadow of true glory and let them thinke the substance of glory to be in deede the testimonie of their owne conscience He that doth so proueth his owne workd that is he regardeth not his owne glory but his only care is to do his office faithfully that is to say to teach the gospell purely to shew the true vse of the Sacraments When he thus proueth his owne worke he hath glory and reioysing in himself which no man can take from him for he hath it surely planted and grounded in his owne heart not in other mens mouthes whom Sathan can very easily turne away and can make that mouth and tounge now full of curssing which a little before was full of blessing Therfore sayth Paule if ye be desirous of glory seeke it where it should be sought not in the mouth of other men but in your owne heart which ye then doe when ye execute your office truely and faithfully So shall it come to passe that besides the glory which ye haue in your selues ye shall haue praise and commendation also before men But if ye glory in other men and not in your selues that shame confusion which ye haue in your selues shall not be without reproch and confusion also before men This haue we seene in certaine fantasticall spirites in these our dayes which proued not their worke that is they did not seeke onely to preach the Gospell purely and simplie but misvsed it to gaine praise among men contrary to the second commaundement Therfore after their inward cōfusion there folowed also an outward confusion and shame among men according to that saying The Lord vvill not hold him giltlesse that taketh his name in vaine And againe They vvhich despise me shall be despised Contrariwise if we seeke first the glory of God by the ministerie of the word then surely our glory wil folow according to that saying Him that honoureth me I vvill glorifie To conclude lette euery man proue his worke that is let him doe his endeuour that his ministerie may be foūd faithful for this aboue all things is required in the Ministers of the word 1. Cor. 4. As if he should say let euery man endeuour purely faithfully to teach the word let him haue an eye to nothing else but the glory of God the saluation of soules then shall his worke be faithfull and sound then shall he haue glory reioysing in his owne conscience so that he may boldly say This my doctrine and ministerie pleaseth god And this is in deede an excellent glory This sentence may also be well applied to those workes which are done of the faithfull in euery state of life As if a Magistrate an housholder a seruaunt a scholemaster a
game and therefore they goe about especially the Gentlemen to make their pastours subiect vnto them like seruaunts and slaues And if we had not so godly a Prince and one that so loueth the truth they had ere this time driuen vs out of the countrey When the pastours aske their dutie or complaine that they suffer penurie they cry out the priestes be couetous they would haue plentie no man is able to satisfie their vnsatiable couetousnes if they were true Gospellers they should haue nothing of their owne but as poore men ought to folow poore Christ to suffer all aduersities c. Paule horribly threatneth here such tyrannes such mockers of God who so carelesly proudly doe scorne the miserable preachers and yet will seeme to be Gospellers and not to be mockers of God but to worshippe him very deuoutly Be not deceiued sayth he God is not mocked that is to say he doth not suffer him selfe to be mocked in his ministers For he sayeth He that despiseth you despiseth me Also he sayeth vnto Samuel They haue not cast thee avvay but me Therfore O ye mockers although God differre his punishment for a season yet when he seeth time he will finde you out and will punish this contempt of his word bitter hatred which ye beare against his ministers Therfore ye deceiue not God but your selues and ye shall not laugh at God but he will laugh at you Psalme 2. But our proud Gentlemen citizens and common people are nothing at all moued with this dreadfull threatning Neuertheles they shall feele when death approcheth whether they haue mocked thēselues or vs nay rather not vs but God himselfe as Paule saith here In the meane time because they proudly despise our admonitiōs with an intollerable pride we speake these things to our cōfort to the ende we may know that it is better to suffer wrong than to do wrōg for patience is euer innocēt harmles Moreouer God will not suffer his ministers to starue for honger but euen when the rich men suffer scarsitie and honger he wil feede them and in the dayes of famine they shall haue enough Verse 7. For vvhatsoeuer a man sovveth that shall he reape All these things tende to this purpose that ministers should be nourished and maintained For my part I doe not gladly interprete such sentences for they seeme to commend vs and so they doe in dede Moreouer if a mā stand much in repeting such things to his hearers it hath some shew of couetousnes Notwithstanding men must be admonished hereof that they may know that they ought to yelde vnto their pastours both reuerence and a necessary liuing Our Sauiour Christe teacheth the same thing in the .10 of Luke Eating and drinking such things as they haue for the labourer is vvorthy of his revvard And Paule sayth in an other place Doe ye not knovv that they vvhich sacrifice in the tēple liue of the sacrifices that they vvhich serue at the altare are partakers of the altare euē so hath the lord ordained that they vvhich preach the gospel should liue of the Gospel It is good that we also which are in the ministerie should know these things lest for our labour we might with euill cōscience receaue the stipend which is geuen vnto vs of that Popes goods And although such goodes were heaped together by mere fraud disceit yet notwithstanding God spoyling the Egyptians that is to say the Papistes of their goods turneth them here amongst vs to a good and holy vse not when noble men and gentlemen spoile them and abuse them but when they which sette forth Gods glory and bring vppe youth vertuously are maintained therewith Let vs know then that we may with good conscience since God hath ordained and commaūded that they which preach the Gospell should liue of the Gospell vse those things that are geuen vs of the Church goodes for the necessary sustentation of our life to the ende we may attend vpon our office the better Let no man therefore make any scrupule hereof as though it were not lawfull for him to vse such goodes Verse 8. For he that sovveth in the flesh shall of the flesh reape corruption but he that sovveth in the spirite shall of the spirite reape euerlasting life He addeth a similitude and an allegorie And this generall sentence of sowing he applieth to the particular matter of nourishing and maintaining the ministers of the word saying He that sovveth in the spirite that is to say he that chearisheth the teachers of Gods word doth a spirituall worke and shall reape euerlasting life Here riseth a question whether we deserue eternall life by good works for so Paule seemeth to auouch in this place As touching such sentences which speake of workes and the reward of them we haue treated very largely before in the .5 chapter And very necessary it is after the example of Paule to exhort the faithfull to good workes that is to say to exercise their faith by good workes For if they folow not faith it is a manifest token that their Faith is no true faith Therefore the Apostle sayth He that sovveth in the flesh some vnderstand it in his owne flesh that is to say he that geueth nothing to the ministers of Gods word but onely feedeth and careth for him selfe which is the counsell of the flesh that man shall of the flesh reape corruption not onely in this present life but also in the life to come For the goods of the wicked shall wast away and they them selues also at length shall shamefully perish The Apostle would faine stirre vp his hearers to be liberall and beneficiall towards their pastours and preachers But what a misery is it that the peruersenes and ingratitude of men should be so great that the churches should neede this admonition The Encratites abused this place for the confirmation of their wicked opinion against mariage expounding it after this maner He that soweth in the flesh shall reape corruption that is to say he that marieth a wife shall be damned Ergo a wife is a damnable thing and mariage is euill for as much as there is in it a sowing in the flesh These beastes were so destitute of all iudgement that they perceiued not whereabout the Apostle went I speake this to the ende ye may see how easily the Deuill by his ministers can turne away the heartes of the simple from the truth Germanie shall shortly haue an infinite number of such beastes yea and already hath very many For on the one side it persecuteth and killeth the godly ministers and on the other side it neglecteth and despiseth them and suffereth them to liue in great penurie Let vs arme our selues against these and such like errours and let vs learne to know the true meaning of the Scriptures For Paule speaketh not here of matrimonie but of nourishing the ministers of the church which euery mā
be feared from hearing of them As if he should say Behold I sette before your eyes what maner of teachers ye haue First they are vaineglorious men which seeke nothing but their owne profite and care for nothing but their owne bellie Secondly they flie the crosse and finally they teach no truth or certaintie but all their sayings and doings are counterfet and full of hypocrisie Wherefore although they keepe the lawe outwardly yet in keping it they keepe it not For without the holy ghost the law can not be kept But the holy Ghost can not be receaued without christ and where the holy ghost dwelleth not ther dwelleth an vncleane spirit that is to say despising god seking his owne gaine and glory Therfore al that he doth as touchīg the law is mere hypocrisie double sinne For an vncleane heart doth not fulfill the lawe but only maketh an outward shew thereof and so is it more confirmed in his wickednes and hypocrisie And this sentence is diligently to be marked that they which are circumcised keepe not the lawe that is to say that they which are circumcised are not circūcised It may also be applied vnto other workes He that worketh prayeth or suffereth without Christ worketh praieth suffereth in vaine for all that is not of faith is sinne It profiteth a man therefore nothing at all to be outwardly circumcised to fast to pray or to doe any other worke if he be within a despiser of grace of forgeuenes of sinnes of faith of Christe c. and be puffed vp with the opinion presumption of his owne righteousnes which are horrible sinnes against the first table and afterward there folow also other sinnes against the secōd table as disobedience whoredom furiousnes wrath hatred and such other Therfore he saith very wel that they which be circumcised keepe not the lawe but onely pretend that they keepe it But this counterfetting or rather hypocrisie is double wickednes afore God. What meane the false apostles whē they would haue you to be circumcised Not that ye might become righteous although they so beare you in hand but that they may glory in your flesh Now who would not detest this most pestilēt vice of ambition and desire of glory which is sought with so great perill of mennes soules They are sayth he disceitfull shameles and vaine spirites which serue their owne belly and hate the crosse Againe which is worst of all they compel you to be circumcised according to the lawe that they may therby abuse your flesh to their owne glory in the meane season they bring your soules into daūger of euerlasting destruction For what gaine ye else before God but damnation and what else before men but that the false apostles may glory that they are your teachers and ye their disciples and yet they teach you that which they them selues do not Thus doth he sharply reproue the false apostles These wordes That they may glory in your flesh are very effectuall As if he should say they haue not the word of the spirit therfore it is impossible for you to receaue the spirite by their preaching They do but only exercise your flesh making you fleshly Iusticiaries or iustifiers of your selues Outwardly they obserue dayes times sacrifices and such other things according to the lawe which are altogither carnall whereby ye reape nothing else but vnprofitable labour and damnation And on the other side this they gaine thereby that they boast that they are your teachers and haue called you backe from the doctrine of Paule the heretike vnto their mother the Synagoge So at this day the Papistes bragge that they call backe those to the bosome of their mother the holy church whom they deceaue and seduce Contrariwise we glory not in your flesh but we glory as touching your spirite because ye haue receaued the spirite by our preaching Galath 3.2 Verse 14. But God forbid that I should glory but in the crosse of our Lord Iesu Christ The Apostle closeth vp the matter with an indignation with great vehemencie of spirite he casteth out these wordes But God forbid c. As if he should say This carnall glory and ambition of the false apostles is so daungerous a poyson that I wish it were buried in hell for it is the cause of the destruction of many But let them glory in the flesh that list and let them perish with their cursed glory As for me I desire no other glory but that whereby I glory and reioyce in the crosse of Cbriste After the same maner speaketh he also Rom. 5. VVe glory in our afflictions Also in the .2 Cor. 12. T vvill glory in mine infirmities Here Paule sheweth what is the glory and reioysing of the Christians namely to glory and to be proud in tribulations reproches infirmities c. The world iudgeth of the Christians not onely that they are wretched and miserable men but also most cruelly and yet as it thinketh with a true zeale hateth persecuteth condemneth and killeth them as most pernicious plages of the spirituall worldly kingdom that is to say like heretikes and rebels But because they do not suffer these things for murther theft and such other wickednes but for the loue of Christe whose benefite and glory they sette forth therefore they glory in tribulations and in the crosse of Christe and are glad with the Apostles that they are counted worthy to suffer rebuke for the name of Christ So must we glory at this day when the Pope and the whole world most cruelly persecute vs condemne vs and kill vs because we suffer these things not for our euil dedes as theeues murtherers c. but for Christes sake our Lord and Sauiour whose Gospell we truly preach Now our glory is encreased and confirmed principally by these two things First because we are certaine that our doctrine is sound perfect Secondly because our crosse and suffering is the suffering of Christ Therfore when the world persecuteth and killeth vs we haue no cause to complaine or lament but we ought rather to reioyce and be glad In deede the world iudgeth vs to be vnhappy accursed But on the other side Christ who is greater thā the world and for whom we suffer pronoūceth vs to be blessed willeth vs to reioyce Blessed are ye sayth he vvhen men reuile you persecute you and falsly say all maner of euill against you for my sake Reioyce and be glad Our glory then is an other maner of glory then the glory of the world is which reioyceth not in tribulation reproch persecution and death c. but glorieth altogether in power in riches peace honour wisedom and his owne righteousnes But mourning and confusion is the ende of this glory Moreouer the crosse of Christ doth not signifie that peece of wood which Christ did beare vpon his shoulders and to the which he was afterwardes nailed but generally
Here is no colouring or new outward shew but a thing done in deede Here is created an other sense and an other iudgement that is to say altogether spirituall which abhorreth those things that before it greatly estemed The Mōkish life and Order did so bewitch vs in time past that we thought there was no other way to saluation But now we iudge of it farre otherwise We are now ashamed of those things which we adored as most heauēly and holy before we were regenerate into this new creature Wherfore the chaunging of garments other outward things is not a new creature as the Monkes dreame but it is the renewing of the minde by the holy Ghost after the which foloweth a chaunge of the members and senses of the whole body For when the heart hath conceaued a new light a new iudgement and new motions through the Gospell it commeth to passe that the inward senses are also renewed for the eares desire to heare the word of God and not the traditiōs and dreames of men The mouth and tounge doe not vaunt of their owne works righteousnes and Rules but they set forth the mercy of God onely offered vnto vs in Christ These chaunges consist not in words but are effectuall and bring a new spirit a new will new senses new operations of the flesh so that the eyes eares mouth and tounge doe not onely see heare and speake otherwise than they did before but the minde also approueth loueth and foloweth an other thing than it did before For before being blinded with popish errours and darknes it imagined God to be a marchaūt who would sell vnto vs his grace for our works and merites But now in the light of the Gospell it assureth vs that we are counted righteous by faith onely in Christ Therfore it now reiecteth all wilworkes and accomlisheth the workes of charitie of our vocation cōmaunded by god It praiseth magnifieth God it reioyceth and glorieth in the only trust and confidence of Gods mercy through Iesus Christ If it must suffer any trouble or affliction it endureth the same cherefully and gladly although the flesh repine and grudge thereat This Paule calleth a new creature Verse 16. And to as many as vvalke according to this rule peace be vpon them and mercy This he addeth as a conclusion This is the onely and true rule wherin we ought to walke namely the new creature which is neither circumcision nor vncircumcision but the new man created vnto the image of God in righteousnes true holines which inwardly is righteous in the spirite and outwardly is holy and cleane in the flesh The Monkes haue a righteousnes and holines but it is hypocriticall and wicked because they hope not to be iustified by onely faith in Christe but by the keping of their Rule Moreouer although outwardly they counterfet an holines and refraine their eyes handes tounge other members from euill yet they haue an vncleane heart ful of filthy lust enuie wrath lecherie idolatrie contempt and hatred of God blasphemie against Christe c. for they are most spitefull and cruell enemies of the truth Wherefore the Rule and religion of the Monkes is most wicked and accursed of God. But this rule whereof Paule speaketh in this place is blessed by the which we liue in the Faith of Christe and are made newe creatures that is to say righteous and holy in deede by the holy ghost without any colouring or coūterfetting To them which walke after this rule belongeth peace that is the fauour of God forgeuenes of sinnes quietnes of conscience and mercy that is to say helpe in afflictions and pardon of the remnantes of sinne which remaine in our flesh Yea although they which walke after this rule be ouertaken with any sinne yet for that they are the children of grace and peace mercy vpholdeth them so that their sinne and fall shall not be layd vnto their charge Verse 16. And vpon the Israel of God. Here he toucheth the false apostles and Iewes which gloried of their fathers bragged that they were the people of God that they had the lawe c. As if he sayd They are the Israel of God which with faithfull Abraham beleue the promises of God offered already in Christ whether they be Iewes or Gentiles and not they which are begotten of Abraham Isaac and Iacob after the flesh This matter is largely handled before in the third Chapter Verse 17. From hence forth let no man put me to busines He concludeth his Epistle with a certaine indignation As if he sayd I haue faithfully taught the Gospel as I haue receaued it by the reuelation of Iesus Christ Who so will not folow it let him folowe what he will so that hereafter he trouble me no more At a word this is my censure that Christe which I haue preached is the onely high Priest and Sauiour of the world Therefore either lette the world walke according to this rule of which I haue spoken here thorough out all this Epistle or else let it perish for euer Verse 17. For I beare in my body the markes of the Lord Iesus This is the true meaning of this place The markes that be in my body doe shew well enough whose seruaunt I am If I sought to please men requiring circumcision the keeping the law as necessary to saluation and reioysing in your flesh as the false apostles doe I needed not to beare these markes in my body But because I am the seruaunt of Iesus Christe and walke after a true rule that is I openly teach and confesse that no man can obtaine the fauour of God righteousnes and saluation but by Christe alone therfore it behoueth me to beare the badges of Christe my Lord which be not markes of mine owne procuring but are laid vppon me against my will by the world and the Deuill for none other cause but for that I preach Iesus to be Christe He calleth therefore the stripes and sufferings which he did beare in his body markes also the fierie dartes of the Deuill anguish and terrour of spirite c. Of these sufferings he maketh mention euery where in his Epistles As Luke also doth in the Acts. I thinke sayth he that God hath sette forth vs the last Apostles as men appoynted to death For vve are made a gasing stocke vnto the vvorld and to the aungels and to men Againe Vnto this houre vve both hunger and thirst and are naked and are buffeted and haue no certaine dvvelling place and labour vvorking vvith our ovvne handes VVe are reuiled vve are persecuted vve are euill spoken of vve are made as the filth of the vvorld the ofscouring of all things Also in an other place In much patience in afflictions in necessities in distresses in stripes in prisonmentes in tumultes in labours by vvatchings by fastings c. And againe In labours more aboundant in stripes aboue
profite that commeth to the godly by the tentation of Satan 1. Iohn 4.4 2. Cor. 12.9 Sathan continually bevvitcheth meÌ„ Iob. 1. â— Io. â— 44 The false Apostles bevvitchers of men The example of Doctor Kraus The deuils definition of a false Christ The Godly must diligently vvatch VVorldly and secure men are soone bevvitched VVitchcraft vvhat it is VVho are bevvitched An other goodly commendation of the righteousnes of the lavve 1. Iohn 5.16 Hebr. 6.4.5.6 The errour of the Nonations VVho returne not to the truthe The Aposâ—â—o vseth bitter and rough vvordes Heb. 6. â— They that seeke to be iustified by the lavv crucifie Christ The Papistes are crucifiers of the sonne of God. The Monkes dreamed that they vvere only in the state and life of perfection * VVorkes of superogation they call such vvorks as thei doe of their ovvne good vvill more then they are bound to doe The illusioÌ„ of the Deuill In the time of poperie vve vvere so bevvitched that it vvas impossible to acknovvledge Christ Daniel 9 2â— Superstitious Monkes and such other by streitnes of life and afflicting their ovvne bodies sought righteousnes and remission of sinnes In you or amongst you Rom. 6.9 To seeke righteousnes by the lavve The abhomination of the papacie horrible The commendations of the righteousnes of the lavv of our ovvne righteousnes The fall of Lucifer An argument dravven from the GalathiaÌ„s ovvne experience Paule speaketh of the vvhole lavv Tvvo vvaies to iustificatioÌ„ The holi ghost is receaued by hearing the vvord of faith and not by the lavve Neither the teachers nor hearers nor yet the doers of the lavve are iustified bi the lavve Acts 10 44. Acts. 11.15 Acts. 15.8.9 Acts. 19.5.6 The lavv bringeth not the holy ghost Rom. 10.3 Rom. 11.7 Math. 3.16 The appeariÌ„g of the holy ghost Actes 2.41 Actes 10.44.45 Actes 15.5.6.7 Paulus Sergius the lieutenaunt The Ievves and Gentiles are iustified by faith onely The Gentiles iustified by faith Acts. 11.3 Verse 18. The murmuring of the Ievves against the Gentiles Mat. 20. The Councell of the Apostles Act. 11.17 Actes 15. Acts. 15 8.9.1â— 1. Cor. 1. â— That the holy Ghost is geuen by the onely hearing of faith The Papistes are our Ievves vvhich molest vs no lesse theÌ„ the Ievves did Paule The argument of the booke coÌ„teining the Actes of the Apostles The difference betvvene the lavv and the Gospell To exacte To geue freely Actes 10. â—8 Cornelius 〈◊〉 Gentile is iustified by faith The lavv helpeth not to righteousnes The fathers in the old testament vvere holy c. Faith in Christ already come and in Christ to come * Messias doth signifie Christ the Sauiour Rom. 1.17 VVorke of congruence or merite before grace The person first to be considered and then the vvorke Actes 10.1.6 2. Reg. 5.14.15.16 * He feleth his conscience vvounded in being present at idol seruice and therefore desireth God to forgeue 〈◊〉 left others by his example might fall to idolatrie For as for his ovvne parte he confesseth that he vvill neuer serue any but the true God. Iob. Niniuites Ionas 3.5 Galat. 3.2 The coÌ„science vvitnesseth that the holy Ghost is not geuen by the lavv but by the hearing of faith The blindnes of the Popes kingdome The orders and kindes of life that are appointed of God. The state of seruauntes allovved before God. The certaintie of true beleuers By vvhat meanes the holy ghost is geuen vnto vs. The disputation of mans reason Luke 12.32 To vvhom the kingdome of heauen is geuen VVhat the aduersaries doe obiect against vs. The obiection of the Pelagians against Christians Luke 11 45.4â— A man is made a Christian by hearing the doctrine of faith Faith commeth by hearing and hearing by the vvord of God. The conflict of the flesh against the spirite in the godly To heare the vvorde of God. To begin in the spirite VVhat flesh signifieth in this place The spirite The flesh VVhat the papistes call vvorldly and carnall VVhat inconueniences maÌ„s ovvne righteousnes or the righteousnes of the lavv doe bring Paule maketh often rehearsall of the argument grouÌ„ded vpon experience The kingdome of God consisteth not in vvordes but in povver 1. Cor. 4. Ver. 20. Chap. 2.8 Chap. 4.14.15 The vvorkes of the Deuill VVhat happie successe the gospell had vvhen it vvas first preached The Popedom a very slaughterhouse of consciences The Anabaptistes the authors of tumultes and seditions hindred much the course of the gospell The Anabaptists enemies to the article of iustificatioÌ„ This mai rightly be applied to Munster KnipperdoliÌ„g and such outragious Anabaptistes of vvhom Sleidan maketh mention vvho before times had much hindred the course of the gospell Genes 15.6 Rom. 4.2.3 Rom. 4.19.20.21 c. The povver of faith infinite To geue glory to God. Faith geueth glory to God. Righteous before God. VVhat God saith if ye set faith aside harken vnto reason The iudgemeÌ„t of reason touching the articles of faith The Gospell is the vvord of the crosse 1. Cor. 1 18.2â— The chiefe vvorship of God. Faith â—layeth reason The vvrestling of faith vvith reason in Abraham The sacrifice of Christians Reason Gods enemy The commendation of faith The vnfaithful geue not glory to God. Rom. 4.20.21.22 * Formall is that vvhich geueth perfection to the substance vvherunto it is ioyned The remnants of sinne in the godly Rom. 8.23 The blindnes of the Scholemen God accepteth our vvorkes say the Papists not of duetie but of Congruence that is because it is meete that God should revvard them Mans reason Rom. 8.7 Reason must be killed by faith Math. 20.12 Psal. 2.2 The definition of the Christian faith The diuinitie of Paule Christian righteousnes consisteth in tvvo things A Christian iâ— a righteous man and a sinner Hovv they that fele sinne ought to be comforted Christians be Priestes The daily sacrifice of the nevv testameÌ„t Christian righteousnes Galat. 2 2â— Galat. 3.13 A child is borne vnto vs a Sonne is geuen vnto vs. Esay 9.6 VVe are reputed righteous by faith in Christ this Sonne and this gifte geuen vnto vs. The righteousnes of faith out of the xv chapter of S. Iohns Gospel Christ is called our obiect because the eie of our faith is directed vnto him * CoÌ„trary sayings Iohn 16.27 Iohn 17.8 The imputation of righteousnes Rom. 7.23 Rom. 8.1 Things contrary in Christ are made to agree 1. Tim. 2.5 Rom. 8.1 Ro. 4.11.12 c. Rom. 9.6.7.8 The disputation of Paule against the Ievves The bosting of the Ievves Actes 9.15 By vvhat meanes Abraham vvas iustified Genes 12.1.2.3 c. Genes 17.24 Genes 22.2.3 Genes 15.6 Rom. 4.18.19 Iames. 2.2 Galat. 3.6 That the carnall begetting doth not make vs the acceptable children of Abraham Iohn 8.39 The beleeuing Abraham and the begetting Abraham VVhat maner of ones the carnall children of Abraham are Iohn 8.38.39 Rom. 9.11 The first example of Ismael and Isaac Genes 21 1â— Rom. 9.7 Heb. 11.17 The second example of Esau and Iacob Genes 25. â—3 Rom. 9.12
geueth to the lavv 1 Cor. 15.56 The commendation of the lavv Rom. 7.12.14 The lavve is good and the lavv is euill Galat. 4.3 The lavve and Christe are tvvo vvhich can not stand together Esay 28.20 VVhy Paule calleth the lavv the elements of the vvorld 2. Cor. 3.6.7.9 Rom. 7.12.14 2. Cor. 3.6.7.9 The lavve is holy and righteous and yet is it the administration of death Galath 3.5.9 1. Cor. 15.56 2. Cor. 3.6 Paules maner of speaking must be marked Actes 9.15 The person office of Christ VVhy Paule calleth the mother of Christ a vvoman and not a virgin Iohn 1. â— 14 The errour blasphemie of the Papistes and Turkes The true picture of Christe Iohn 1.15 Iohn 3.17 The office of Christe A false opinion of Christ is not easely cast of The iudgemeÌ„t of naturall reason concerning Christ The sentences vvhich set out Christ plainly ought alvvais to be before our eyes Faith is our victorie 1. Iohn 5.4 The conflictes of the godly The vvrastliÌ„g of the flesh against the spirite in the Sainctes Galaâ— 5.17 The maner of our redemption Galat. 3.23 Rom. 5.12 Ephes 2.3 1. Pet. 2.20 Math. 26.65 Luc. 23.5 Luke 22.44 Luke 23.24.33 A maruelous combate betvvene the lavv Christ Ephes 2.3 The lavve ruleth all mankinde Math. 11.28 The lavv condemned and killed by Christe Christ by double right hath conquered the lavve * Prosopopoeia is a figure vvherby things that haue no life are fained personally to speake or to be spoken to Ephes 2.16 Ephes 4. â— c. Psal. 68.18 Rom. 8.3 Christ hy his victorie hath deliuered vs froÌ„ the terrors of the lavv The offence of the lavve agaiÌ„st Christ can not be forgeuen 1. Cor. 15.57 That vve be made righteous by Faith. The lavve by his iudgemeÌ„t killed the son of God. Coloss 2 1â— Christe vvas made vnder the lavve Christe suffered all the tyrannie of the lavve Christe came not to make lavves but to take the lavve cleane avvay The ministerie of Moises Galath 3.13 It is not the proper office of Christe to teach the lavv The particuler benefites of Christe Iohn 14.12 Christ is God by nature The true picture of Christe 1. Cor. 2.14 The obedieÌ„ce of the lavv is in the righteous Genes 22.18 In thy Seede Galath â— â—3 The Papistes merite ex congruo condigâ—o The holy Ghost is sent tvvo maner of vvayes Math. 3.16 Actes 2.3 1. Cor. 14.22 Actes 15.5 Signes of renevving of the mind in the Godly Christe our onely merite of congruence and vvorthines both before grace and after 1. Cor. 1 1â— Philip. 1.29 Psal. 116.10 The remnants of sinne in the Sainctes Smal differeÌ„ce in outvvard shevv betvvene a christian and a maÌ„ that is but outvvardly and ciuily righteous 1. Cor. 2.14 1. Cor. â— 16 Signes of the presence of the holy Ghost 1. Cor. 4.4 The doctrine of the Sophisters teaching that no man could knovv vvhether he vvere in the fauour of God or no. VVe must assure our selues that vve are vnder grace Rom. 8.9 Psal. 119.115 Grace is more strong and mighty then sinne Rom. 1.34 Psal. 5.9 Psal. 10.7 VVeaknes of Faith in the godly The full assuraÌ„ce of Faith. Galath 4.4 Esay 53.11 Psal. 51.10 Rom. 8.26 1. Pet. 5.8 The Deuils roring Ephes 6. â—6 The cry of the holy ghost in the hearts of the godly Ephes 6.16 Esay 42.3 Rom. 8.26 c. The profit of temptations Galath 3.13 Heb. 2.14 Rom. 3.27 Hovv vve are affected in the true triall and terrours of conscience 1. Cor. 12.9 The groning of the heart is a crie Luke 18.6.7 The vveapons of the godly vvhervvith they ouerthrovv the kingdom of the Pope c. Exod. 14.15 The crie of Moses at the red sea The office of the holy ghost In vvhom the holy Ghost doth his office and at vvhat time The tentation of Moses at the red sea Exod. 14 13.1â— The gronings of the faithful before God are great cries Psal. 31.1 Ah Father The Pope taught that vve must dout of Gods fauour tovvardes vs He speaketh not here of that douting vvhich sometimes riseth of infirmitie in the godly but of vvilful douting vvhich the Papistes teach maintaine The Pope kingdom The Papacy is a very slaughterhouse of consciences Eccle. 9. â—â— The chief drift of the Scripture to make vs certaine of the mercie of God tovvard vs Rom. 4.25 Iohn 3.16 One sentence out of the boke of the Preacher not vvell vnderstand vvas of more force in the Papacie then all the promises of the scripture Doutfulnes of saluation in th Papacie Hovv vve mai knovv that are iÌ„ gods fauour and haue the holy Ghost The doctrine vvhich vve professe is certaine The true meaniÌ„g of the sentence out of the .9 of Ecclesiastes VVhat thanks the vvorld geueth to them that deserue vvell of it Hovv vve must ouercome vnthaÌ„kfulnes Psal. 109.3.4 The vvill of God is seene in his vvord By vvhat meanes the adoption cometh vnto vâ— Galath 3.28 Galat. 4.3 VVhat Paule meaneth by a seruaunt in this place Rom. 3.20 Rom. 4.15 Galath 3 2â— The lavv must not be suffred to rule in the conscience Reuelat. 10.3 The lavv hath no povver ouer the conscience but ouer the flesh Gen. 22.4.5 VVhat the adoption bringeth 1. Cor. 13 1â— 1. Pet. 1.23 The vvord of God is the vvombe of God. Philip. 1. â—1 The godly haue nede of the comfort of the holy Ghost Rom. 7.24 Galath â— â—7 In this life vve haue but only the first fruits of the spirite Rom. 8.23 Paule hath alvvayes the name of christ in his mouth 1. Pet. 1.9 To slide in Faith is an easie thing The sleightes of the deuil to bring men froÌ„ Faith to the lavve VVhy Paule sayth that the Galathians returned back to vveake and beggerly elements God is knovven by Christe onely Iohn 1.18 Rom. 8.32 The true knovvledge of God. The highest vvisedom of reason Luke 15.11.12 1. Cor. 1.14 Rom. 3.11 There is no difference betvvene the Turks Ievves and Papists The imagination of all the meritmongers alike All meritmongers honour a God vvhich by nature is no God. God abhorreth vvil vvorshippings and vvorkes deâ—â—sed by man. Doctrine concerning the true God. To vvhat euils they be subiect vvhich destroy the doctrine of faith Rom. 1â— 5 Rom. 4.15 Rom. 1â— 4 God is not knovvne and the Blessing geueÌ„ through the lavv but by the gospel Genes 22.18 Rom. 2. â—2 The Gentiles Idolatry vvas grose CoÌ„trarivvise the Ievves Idolatry vvas outvvardly holy and therefore more hurtfull Rom. 1.19.20 A generall particular knovvledge of God. Rom. 3.11 Iohn 1.18 No man hath sene God. The diuers opinions of men concerning the vvill of god Rom. 1.22 VVhence idolatrie came The opinion of the Monke as touching Gods vvill VVorshippers of God vvithout his vvord VVithout Christe all vvorshippiÌ„gs and all lavves are Idolatrie The vvill of God. Galath 3.9 Galath 4.7 Ye are knovvn of God. Math. 11.17 Esay 53.11 The Apostles euen in their life time savv the subuersioÌ„ of those churches vvhich
The heauenly Ierusalem vvhich is yet vpon earth The heauenly Ierusalem is set against the earthly not locally but spiritually The spirituall Ierusalem dispersed thorovv out the vvhole vvorld The Church begetteth children by teaching Isaac is heir through the promise Genes 17.19 Ephes 4.13 Esay 54.1 Esay 54. The song of Anna. 1. Sam. 2.4.5 The differeÌ„ce betvvixt the sinagoge and the church Iohn 8 3â— Iohn 3.18 1. Timot. 4.1 The teachers of the lavve gender bond-seruaunts Reason is taken vvith hypocrisie The church seemeth to be barren 1. Cor. 1.18 The Gospell hath but fevv disciples Actes 21.22 Hovv many yeares dayes times haue our Papistes appoynted vvhen the gospel should be ouerthrovne and they receaue their idolatrous Masse other abhominations againe The church in heauines The church barren before the vvorld The people of grace The difference betvvixt the lavv and the gospell The people of grace vvithout the lavve and the people of the lavv vvithout grace The lavve is abolished to all christians Esay 54.1 The church is barren and forsaken before the vvorld The childreâ— of the bondvvomaÌ„ vvith their mother are cast out of the house Rom. â— 4.5.6 Math. 10.12 The people of the lavv laborious and painfull The vvhole lavv is abolished A godly man feeleth the terrours of the lavve but by faith in Christ he is comforted Rom. 3.1 Iohn 3.36 The lavve hath no povver ouer a hose that beleue 1. Cor. 1.30 Galath 3.13 The outvvard abolishment of the lavve The gospell doth not release vs from all lavves * He speaketh of such gouernment as God hath appoynted vvhich no priuate man may conteÌ„ne vvith out the brâ—ch of conscience 1 Pet. 2.13.14 Rom. 13 5. The ceremonies of Moses lavv doe not bind vs much lesse the ceremonies of the Pope 1. Cor. 14.40 Tvvo things to be taken hede of in the keping or coÌ„maunding of ceremonies the offence of the vveake the pernicious opinion of merite The church is barren * No spirituall birth vvhich is vvrought by the vvord and spirite of God. * That is their regeneration in Christe by Faith and the holy Ghost Ioh. 8.37.40.42 Of children some be as Ismael some as Isaac The children of the promise The iudgemeÌ„t of the vvorld concerning the gospell VVhat the faithfull must be content to be called in this vvorld Iohn 16.2 VVhat folovved the preaching of the Gospell Psal. 2.2.3 Psal. 2.2.3 Psal. 2.4 The blindnes of the aduersaries Iohn 16.2 Rom. 9.1 Luke 9.26 Paule a pestiferous felovv Actes 17.6.7 Actes 24.3 Actes 16.20 Luke 11 21.2â— Luke 12.49 Hovv Christ comforteth him selfe against the euils that shuld folovv his preaching 2. Cor. 4.4 * He meaneth the Deuill Iob. 41.14.22 The faithfull see infinite profites by the Gospell Psal. 91.13 The article of iustification comforteth vs against al sclaÌ„ders and tentations 1. Cor. 2.12 The vvorld caÌ„ not but be offended at the preaching of the Gospel VVhy our aduersaries doe condemne vs. Greefe after the flesh and glory after the spirite Rom. 5.3 Gene. 21.9 The expositioÌ„ of the Ievves VVhat maner of man Ismael vvas Ismael vvould be preferred before Isaac for tvvo causes Ismael alvvayes persecuteth Isaac The spirituall persecution The Deuil persecuteth the church by violence subteltie Ephes 6.16 The spirituall and corporall persecution of the godly Iohn 1.44 1. Cor. 11.19 False brethreÌ„ at the first are frendes but aftervvardes they become most deadly enemies The brethern borne after the flesh must persecute the brethern that are borne after the spirit Psal. 41.9 The true doctrine of the gospel is the cause of persecution Christe comforteth his against the hatred and persecutions of the vvorld Iohn 15.19 Math. 10.24 Iohn 15.20 The name of Christe is the cause vvhie the vvorld rageth against the godly Iohn 16.33 Christ remaineth king and conquerour though the gates of hell fight against him Gen. 21 2â— Gen. 21.11 God coÌ„firmed the sentence of Sara Gen. 21.12 The sentence pronounced against the Ismalites is effectuall c. The vaine hope of hypocrites in condemning others The children of the bondvvoman haue no inheritaÌ„ce vvith the children of the freevvoman Iohn 10.35 The vineyard shal be let out to other husbandmen They that are borne of the bondvvoman are borne seruaunts of the lavve The Pope and all that seeke righteousnes by vvorkes are children of the bondvvoman Philip. 3.19 The vvorld embraceth the righteousnes of vvorks and condemneth the righteousnes of Faith. A comparison of the old Papacie and of the Papacie at this day The Iusticiaries make such a shevv of holines as if they vvere angels and no men Coloss 2. â—â— The contemplatiue life of Monkes and such other vvhich sequestred themselues froÌ„ the vvorld and all vvorldly affaires The deuotion and discipline of the old Poperie No holines of life can be set against Gods iudgement The Papistes at this day do not defend their vvicked life but their doctrine The Papists diuide the Gospell into precepts and couÌ„sels The precepts they are bouÌ„d to kepe say they but not the counsels and therfore if they kepe them it is a vvorke of superogation that is more then nedeth Bernards confession Phil. 3.9 The children of the bondvvoman are vnder the lavv The children of the bondvvoman shall at length be cast out Math. 25.29 Christian libertie Rom. 9.23 Paule trieth euery vvay to kepe the Galathians in the liberty of the Gospell 1. Pet. 5.3 â— The godly must staÌ„d fast that they lose not their libertie in Christe Satan deadly hateth the light of the Gospell The freedome of the Papists The fleshly libertie The Anabaptists and Libertines vvill be free to doe vvhat they list Freedom from the vvrath of God to come To haue God fauourable vnto vs for Christes sake is an incomprehensible freedome 1. Cor. 15.41.43.44 Freedom from the lavv sinne and death c The fruites of Christian liberty are not easily felt and laid hold of in tentations A remedy against the terrours of the minde in tentations Esay 54.8 Luke 11 28. Iohn 13.17 Christian libertie Liberty is frely geuen vnto vs for Christes sake Iohn â— 36 Math. 9. â— Iohn 5.24 Hypocrites bragge of God. Actes 15. â—0 Actes 10.43 The lavve is a yoke of bondage Galat. 4.10 Thei that seke righteousnes by the lavve are compared to oxen tied to the yoke No greater bondage then the bondage of the lavve VVho be the Deuils Martyrs Iohn 16.23 The corporall libertie of the Papistes This may truely be said also of our Libertines and carnal gospellers at this day Galath 6.6 The iudgemeÌ„t of the godly touching all doctrines religions and ceremonies VVho they be to vvhom Christ is vnprofitable Nothing is more hurtfull then the doctrine of mens traditions vvorkes Coloss 2.3 Coloss 2.9 The lavve of God the yoke of bondage Good vvorks are not condemned but confidence in good vvorks is coÌ„demned Reuel 12.10 VVhat vve must ansvver the Deuill vvhen he accuseth and tempteth vs. The true picture of Christ Math. 12.20 Esay 42.3 Math.
vehemeÌ„t flames of carnall lust in Hierome The flesh is to be subdued not killed Ephes 5.29 1. Cor. 7.9 The godly feele the concupiscence or lust of the flesh Psal. 4.4 The faithfull haue flesh vvhich resisteth the spirite Rom. 7 1â— The godly feele the terrours and captiuitie of sinne The Monkes such other cloisterers neuer had experience of any spirituall tentations Christ our righteousnes Rom. 9.33 The outvvard righteousnes of the faithfull The godly feling the corruptions of the flesh must not despaire The battell of the flesh and the spirite in the godly To vvalke in the spirite Let all troubled consciences comfort them selues by this example of Martin Luther and say as he said Stanpitius a godly learned man of vvhom he made mention before A holy desperâ—tion â— Psal 143.2 Psal. 130. â— VVhat the godly must do vvhen they feele sinne The conflict battell of the flesh and the spirite in the children of God. Rom 1. â—8 A Christian a maruellous vvorkman Read more hereof before in the lease 246. and in the line 32. The children of God do fele the rebellion of the flesh against the spirite To vvhom God doth not impute sinne Rom. 14.23 The errour of the Sophisters or Scholemen The vvisedom of the godly The godly only feele sinne Rom. 1.14 Galath 5.24 Rom. 8.12 Sentence pronouÌ„ced agaiÌ„st such as obey the lusts of the flesh The true Sainctes of God. Psal. 32.5.6 Psal. 143. â— To be led by the spirite Galath 4.4 VVhat it is to be led by the spirite Hovv a troubled minde is to be comforted Novv the lusts of the flesh must be ouercome The great and vehement tentations of Luther Not to be vnder the lavve Math. 7.10 Hypocrites mingled amongst the godly Euery age of man hath his peculiar temptations * That is a secrete contempt of God vvherof Dauid speaketh Psal. 3.2 Some are exercised vvith greater tentations and some vvith lesse Luke 2.48 2. Cor. â— 5 Rom. 7 2â— VVhom the Stoickes couÌ„ted vvise meÌ„ VVho they be vvhich Christ and his Apostles cal saiÌ„cts VVho be true Sainctes The vveaknes of Faith. Al the faithful be Sainctes A holy life I beleue that there is a holy Church I do not see but I beleue Hypocriticall holines The church is holy The church prayeth that her sinnes maâ— be forgeuen To feele the vnclennes of the flesh is profitable To the godly those things vvhich are euil turne vnto good Christian doctrine raiseth vp and comforteth vveake and troubled consciences VVhat Paule meaneth by flesh Idolatrie or Idoll seruice Carthusians or charterhouse moâ—kâ— The false and true vvorshipping of God. Idolatrie is vnknovvne to the vvorld The Masse horrible idolatrie and blasphemie against Christ Flesh. The vvorkes of the flesh as the Papistes define them Reason estemeth idolatry and heresie for most excellent vertues VVitchcraft Idolatrie Iusticiaries or iustifiers of themselues The Pope an Archheretike No vnitie or concord in the Popish church Drunkards surfetters The most sobre and temperate are many times most assailed vvith tentations Hovv the burning heat of lustes may be quenched An horrible sentence pronounced by Paule The fruites of the spirite Rom. 12.10 The scripture exhorteth vs to reioyce in God. The ioy of the spirite LoÌ„g sufferaÌ„ce or perseuerance The gentlenes and mildnes of Christe Ex libro Clementis ad Iacobum fratrem Domini Chastitie The lavv is abolished to the beleuers in Christ VVhat it is to crucifie the fleâ—h The armour of God. * After the coÌ„mon diuision this is the .25 verse of the former chapter Vaineglory a detestable vice and most pernicious to the church of god Tit. 1.7 Hovv great a mischefe vain glory is Ouide Horace Rom. 12.10 Vaineglory a common vice in the church Math. 9. â—8 2 Cor. 11 15. The nature of false teachers 1. Timo. ◠◠〈◊〉 â— â—0 Rom 10 1â— The authoritie of the false apostles The false apostles despised Paule Such as thrust them selues into the ministerie The ende of vaineglorious teachers Phil. 3.19 Psal. 1.4.5 VVhat vve ought to seke in the gospell Rom. 1.32 Iohn 7 1â— VVhat it is to vvalke in the spirite VVhy God layeth the crosse vpon the preachers of the gospel Rom. 14.16 Rom. 12.10 VVhen men be praised the flesh vvaxeth proud 2. Sam. 14.17 2. Cor. 6.8 VVho vvalke in order and vvho do not Galath 1.5 1. Cor. 4.7 Priuie open enemies of the Gospell VVe must not be proud of our spirituall giftes Luke 12 4â— Ephes 4.12 Actes 10.34 Vainglorious spirites Galath 4.17 Rom. 3.25 The praise of the person of the ministerie Rom. 14.16 2. Cor. 6.3 The effect and fruite of vaineglory Galath 2.5 VVhat offences are to be forgeuen Leuit. 6.3 Gal. 2.20.3.16 Sathan lieth in vvait both against purity of doctrine life Hovv pastorâ— ought to deale vvith them that are fallen The Pope and his bishops are tormeÌ„tors of mens coÌ„sciences Sayings of Pope Gregorie 2. Thes 2.3 By vvhat meanes the Pope establisheth his tyrannie and povver Hovve they that are falne ought to be intreated The spirite of mekenes Ezech. 34.4 Ex libro de vitis patrum Math. 7.3 1. Cor. 10.12 2. Sam. â—1 Loue. 1. Cor. 13.4 Rom. 13.9 VVhose burdens are to be borne 1. Tim. 5.22 The authors of Sectes painted out iÌ„ their right colours Mat. 18.24 â—1 Deceauers of themselues Apoc. 3.17 Desire of vain-glory Vainglorious heades Three vices of the vaineglorious linked together Phil. 2.27 The people delited vvith nouelties He shall lacke no praise that preacheth the Gospel purely The ende of the ministerie of the vvord 2. Tim. 4.5 To haue praise in himselfe VVhat is the glory of heretikes The glory of the godly Iâ—hn 16.32 Phil. 4.4 The vvorld dishonoreth the godly ministers of the vvord 1. Cor. 6.3 The Gospell is the vvord of the crosse and offence 1. Cor. 1.18 The disciples of the gospel VVhat it is for a man to proue his ovvne vvork Exod 20 7. 1. Sam. 2.30 1. Cor. 4.2 The vvorke of euery mans calling Phil. 3.19 2. Tim. 3.9 Psal. 37.6 In death and in the day of iudgement other mennes praises profit not Rom. 2.16 A comparison betvene good vvorkes and hypocriticall vvorke Vaineglory A commaundemeÌ„t for the nourishing of the ministers of the vvord of God. The ministers of SathaÌ„ haue pleÌ„tie but the ministers of Christe doe vvant Luke 2.7 Luke 9.58 Iohn 19. â— Cor. 8. 9. 1. Tim. 4.1 SathaÌ„ oppresseth the gospell tvvo vvaies Mâ—â—h 1.7 Fulnes of Gods vvord bringeth lothing 1. Cor. 9.11 The vvorld lodeth the ministers of Sathan vvith all vvorldly good things The punishment of vnthankfulnes In all good things Gentlemen citizens and husbandmen despisers of Gods ministers Luke 10. â—6 1. Sam. 8.7 Psal. 34.10 Psal. 37.19 Reuerence necessary liuing due to the ministers of the vvord 1. Cor. 9.13.14 Exod. 3. â—â— VVhat it is to sovve in the spirite The heretikes called Encratites VVhose errour the Papistes haue reuiued as touching matrimonie and therfore they may cruely be called nevv Encratites VVe must doe good vvithout vveerines Iohn 9.4 Iohn 12.35 The houshold of faith The motherly affection of Paule Enormities in the false apostles Galath 1.8 Phil. 3.19 Gen. 17.10 14. Gen. 17 1â— Phil. 2.21 The lavv is not accomplished vvith outvvard vvorkes Rom. 14 2â— VVorks done vvithout faith are sinnes The peril that follovveth ambition and vaine glory * That is they do but kepe your flesh in a seruile and slauish exercise The glory of the Christians Actes 5.41 The faithfull suffer for Christe Math. 5.11.12 The glory of the vvorld The crosse of Christ 2. Cor. 1.5 Col. 1.24 The afflictioÌ„s of the godly are the afflictioÌ„s of Christ Actes 9.4 Zach. 2.1 The feeling of the head is most sensible The crosse of the godly iâ— svveete 2. Cor 1.5 Psal. 44 22. Math. 11.30 To glory in the crosse of Christ Rom. 5.3 2. Cor. 7.5 1. Sam. 22.22 Zach. 2. â— Iohn 15.19 To be crucified to the vvorld The contrary iudgement of the faithful of the vvorld as concerning true doctrine 1. Cor. 2.13 1. Iohn 3.8 Iohn 8.44 The vvorld condemneth the life and doctrine of the godly Psal. 139.22 Ephes 6.16 2. Cor. 1â— â— ChristiaÌ„ righteousnes 1. Cor. 1. â— 1. Cor. 2.14 VVithout Christ there is no saluation Vncircumcision signifieth all the Gentiles Circumcision all the Ievves Lavves be good The vse of ceremonies and lavves 1. Cor. 14.40 Gal. 3.5 Eph. 4.24 A nevv creature Actes 15.9 The renevving of the members of the body folovv the renevving of the minde The Papists imagined God to be a marchaunt and to sell his grace for vvorkes and merites A right rule Eph. 4.24 The righteousnes of Monkes Peace Mercy Rom. 9.4.5 Rom. 9.7 8. Ephes 1.16 1. Cor. 4.9 1. Cor. 4.11.12.13 2. Cor. 6.4.5.6 2. Cor. 11 2â—.24.25 â—â— The markes vvhich vve beare at this day Ephes 6.16 Math. 26.41