the selfe-same thing saying that God is gratious Exod. 34.6 Ioel. 2.13 Ionah 4.2 mercifull long-suffering abundant in goodnes and truth so looke how many words are ioyned together for to set forth Gods fatherly love so many mouthes as it were and toongs hath God sounding from heaven by which as with the words of a father our mercifull God inviteth and allureth men vnto his mercy By these so many prayses of Gods mercy we are taught not only that God is the sole fountayne of all goodnes but also this is likewise shewed that we are not so hardly perswaded of any thing as to know and beleeve that God will be gratious and mercifull vnto vs for the praysing of Gods mercy is for the most part a reproofe of mans incredulity The scripture therefore with these prayses of Gods goodnes as with so many wedges doth drive out and expell mans vnbeliefe But the Papists heere do most grievously offend in that they fayne God to be other then indeed he is So that they bewray their owne vnbeliefe and malice in that they attribute and trust more in themselves and their owne workes then in God infinitely mercifull Otherwise they would leave this fable of workes foreseene and rest themselves wholy vpon Gods mercy But they shall surely feele though then too late when God commeth vnto iudgement that they deceive themselves and others by these their fayned and lying workes For he that peevishly resisteth Gods mercy is worthily deprived of it Secondly they doe grossely offend against Gods Iustice because they are not ashamed to bring before God most iust their fayned and defiled works as if they were good perfect as if God were blind wanted iudgement discretion to discerne betweene good and bad betwixt perfect works and vnperfect Surely the Papists in this respect doe like those which take a false cause in hand and yet to make it good they labour to blindfold and corrupt the Iudge with bribes that they might obtayne that by deceyt and bribery which by Iustice and Equitie they could not attayne So the Papistes with their workes fore-seene as with so many rewardes labour to corrupt God and to turne him from the right and draw him to the wrong cause and so doe not onely make God like vnto an vniust Iudge but also much worse For choyce giftes and bountifull rewardes are vsually brought vnto a Iudge that hee may the easier bee corrupted to favour vniust causes But the Papistes bring vnto God not perfect workes but filthy and abominable sinnes For God as wee have sayde before could foresee no good workes but those which he himselfe wrought in man but of these the Papists dispute not in this place We have shewed before that man not partly but wholy take him at the best is corrupted and depraved through sinne Therefore all workes which man of himselfe doth or bringeth forth by his owne proper and native vertue can in no wise be good nor acceptable vnto God For from a corrupt and wicked man can proceede nothing but corrupt and wicked deedes for the effects are vsually like the causes Such therefore as the cause hath beene such effects likewise must needes proceede and follow thereon Therefore as out of an vncleane fountayne there proceedeth an vncleane streame and as from an evill tree there groweth evill fruite so also by a corrupt and wicked man can be wrought nothing but corrupt and wicked deeds and endevours For the effectes can not bee better nor more excellent then their causes So that when the Papistes make such workes the cause of Election doe they not after a sorte turne God into a sinfull man doe they not make him the patrone and allower of wickednesse wherein is seene their Sathanicall blindenesse and divelish madnesse So that out of this Fiction of the Papistes as out of a glasse manifestly appeareth what a terrible and dangerous mischiefe it is lewdly to stray out of the worde of God and to whirle vp and downe in franticke speculations and to fayne and suppose false causes for true Agayne if God from everlasting could have foreseene that very good and perfect workes would proceede from man yet those by no meanes could haue beene sufficient to deserve or get Salvation by For an eternall and infinite life cannot be attayned as a reward for a temporall labour and finite worke because there ought to be a iust proportion betweene the labour and the hyre that according as the labour was so also should the wages be payd So that for a great labour there is vsually allotted and appoynted a great reward But Life eternall and heavenly Glory is a farre greater and more excellent good thing then can bee deserved by mans labour or industrie nay Life eternall doth in the worth greatnesse and excellency of it farre exceede and surpasse the heavens and the whole world nay nothing that is created may iustly be compared vnto it So that as there is no comparison betweene a temporall desert and an eternall benefite so also is there no proportion betweene an infinit good a finite worke Whosoever therefore braggeth of his owne workes let him take heed that he be not punished rather then rewarded Thirdly they offend against the Wisedome of God in that they endevour to shewe an other way to attayne Salvation then hee hath revealed in his word For God will have his Mercy and free Election to bee the onely way and gate into eternall Life That the Scriptures teach manifestly in divers places saying Blessed are all they whose sinnes are forgiven Psal 32.1 Rom. 4.6 7 8. and to whom the Lorde imputeth not sinne But the Papistes preferre theyr good workes fore-seene to bee the cause of Salvation rather then Gods goodnesse So they would erect and set vp their owne righteousnesse which God bestoweth not vpon them by faith neyther hath Christ merited by his Passion Wherefore they do not obey Gods divine wisedom and counsell neyther will they be subiect vnto it which in the ende shall fall out evill for them and turne to theyr destruction For they which despise and cast off Gods counsell doe loose his mercy and are condemned as Augustine sayth in one place Wherefore their wisedome is not onely vayne but also tending to destruction which are wise against God But surely such wisedome speaking properly and according to divinity is not to bee called wisedome but the subtilty of Sathan and craftinesse of wicked men whereby they mocke God delude men For the wisedom of God is so the fountaine and spring of all wisdom that no other living creature can have any greater wisedome then God doth communicate and bestow vpon him Looke therefore howe much wisedome God doth worke and preserve in a man so much wisedome hee hath and better or more wisedome hee cannot have They therefore which will be more wise then God would have them their wisedome commeth not so much of God as of the divell Therefore the superstitious and
give his glory to another which by the Prophet Esaias he flatly denieth to doe saying Esay 48.11 I will not give my glory to another that is God will not cause that any Creature should have infinite strength or infinite wisedome For of ones selfe to perfourme and bring forth those workes which may merite Election and eternall life is not in the power of any creature For life eternall is a farre more excellent good and greater worke then mans strength is able to compasse That life is heavenly and infinite and therefore not to bee gotten or procured but by an heavenly and infinite power For as wee have sayde before there is no comparison nor proportion betweene an infinite good thing and a finite worke and merite Therefore when as the Papists brag that they are able to make themselves worthy of their elelection by their owne proper workes and merits they doe more foolishly and fottishly then if they should take in hand to build and set vp a new heaven and a newe earth with mallets and other tooles For albeit that this bee altogether impossible for them to doe yet that other is farre more hard and much more impossible For God the onely Almighty One was able to create the Heaven and the Earth and all that is contained in Heaven and in Earth by his word onely without any difficulty but he could not redeeme Mankinde from eternall damnation but by the precious blood of his Sonne So the Scripture calleth them that shall bee saved the Chosen in Christ namely in that hee hath redeemed them by his blood and restored Gods Image in them Wherefore seeing that Salvation could not bee recovered by any other meanes but by the most bitter death and passion of Christ hence it clearely followeth that there-obtayning of Salvation doth farre exceed the strength and power of any creature whatsoever Wherefore it is most false and wicked which the Papists dreame of that man is elected vnto Salvation for such or such good works foreseene Because those workes cannot pacifie the exceeding great wrath of God nor make satisfaction for the sinnes of man For as we have sayde before they are altogether repugnant and contrary vnto God therefore they doe not pacifie him but offend him and provoke him the more to anger Surely the whole masse of the worlde may farre more easily bee stayed vp with a staffe of reede then Salvation can bee gotten or obtayned by the power of man But that fiction concerning workes fore-seene should have the more likelyhood of trueth if they did bring forth such workes to deserve Salvation as were truely good but they can bring forth no such for as wee have sayde before man is wholly corrupt and wicked therefore there can bee expected from him nothing but corrupt and wicked deedes Lastly by theyr workes fore-seene they doe manifestly tempt God as if he were not able to save his Elect and bring them to happinesse by his meere grace being apprehended by fayth vnlesse they should put to theyr owne good workes as helpers and furtherers of his Grace And surely by offering theyr workes they shew that they are in doubt whether the Grace of God bee able and sufficient to save them and so denie God to be God For God cannot bee God vnlesse hee bee absolutely good and infinitely mercifull otherwise he should be imperfect and conditionally good such an one as the Papistes doe make him to bee with theyr good workes and merites fore-seene And a greater dishonour cannot redound vnto God then for a man to doubt of his infinite goodnesse and free mercy and God cannot be iniured more then if a man should preferre his owne workes fore-seene before the mercy of God as if by them God could bee mooved or turned this way or that way like man Certaynely whomsoever he hath not chosen for his owne mercy sake him wil he not chuse hereafter for any fore-seene good works of his owne For it is all alike to choose a man to Salvation for his owne workes as if God should cease to be God For if God should choose a man for his workes there would bee found manifest change in God and so God should cease to bee God but they which thinke themselves vnworthy of Election and yet doe truely and constantly beleeve that they are from everlasting elected vnto Salvation by the free mercy of God they give vnto God his deserved honour For a greater honour cannot be given vnto God then that hee is much more good and mercifull vnto vs in Christ then if wee had never sinned at all For hee that beleeveth in Christ and layeth hold on him by a true fayth hee hath the love of God and shall as truely and certaynely attayne life everlasting for his Passion sake as God in his Nature is everlasting and vnchangeable in his Will But the Papists which make their owne workes and merites the cause of theyr Election doe labour to abolish his mercy and to establish theyr owne integrity and righteousnesse as if God had chosen man not because he himselfe was God and mercifull but because man was thought acceptable and approoved of God for such or such good workes fore-seene when as the Gospel teacheth the cleane contrary Luke 18. that before Gods iudgement seate no workes nor merites of man may be suffered to approach but that a lowly and humble prayer powred out in the blood and merites of Christ shall bee heard and accepted Therefore the least imagination or establishment of mans merit is the manifest abolishing of the grace of God and the merits of Christ and a most certayne hazard and losse of eternall life By these things that are spoken it appeareth evidently enough that this fiction of workes fore-seene is as an il favoured head which hath many vnseemely members vnder it For where one absurdity is graunted a great many must needes followe after 2. Tim. 2.17 For errour is as a fretting canker For where the least chincke is opened to errour there the very greatest Monsters of errours throng in by troopes other most vngodly sins are heaped together vpon them So out of this false opinion as out of Pandoraes box there do flie horrible reproaches and blasphemies agaynst God For they which doe misvnderstand and falsely expound one place of Scripture it must needes follow that they mis-interpret and misvnderstand many places Because that all the Articles of Christian fayth are so artificially lincked together that one of them cannot be hurt but all the rest are wronged neyther can one bee taken out from amongst the rest but the whole rancke and order of all the rest will be broken and fall to nothing Certaynely the Papists being the subtile teachers and patrones of good workes fore seene doe openly declare that they neyther know the strength of sinne nor the vntowardnesse of our corrupted nature nor the iustice and wrath of God against sinne and so they are most ignorant of that which it
in themselves and in respect of themselves be infected and stayned with many faults and blemishes yet in respect of God which wipeth away all those blemishes they are holy and righteous and so their righteousnes doth much more consist in the forgivenes of sinnes then in the perfection of vertue and good works as Augustine in one place sayth very well The Scripture in some places compareth this favour of God vnto the compassion which a father hath toward his sonne for fathers do so love their children that albeit they see such or such blemishes in their bodyes they do not yet thrust or drive them out of doores yea rather if they have children that are lame or tender eyed or otherwise marked or misshapen by any other blemish their fatherly love and naturall affections are sturred vp breake forth so much the more vnto pity compassion of them and they do not only not cease to love them but also they are much more carefull for their health welfare then for others which are not so diseased So also God the most mercifull Father of all fathers doth pardon our faults when he hath adopted vs for his children therefore he will neyther drive vs out of dores though we be vnperfect nor cast our workes out of his sight though they be staynd with many spots Hence is it that the scripture sayth in playne words Though the righteous fall that is Psal 37.24 though he sinne thus or thus yet he shall not be cast off Let the godly therefore remember though they stumble and fall this way or that way that God remembreth and will not forsake his worke so that God will finish the beginning of salvation which he hath begun to worke in them Phil. 1.6 because God loveth and accepteth both them and their workes Therefore although God doe punish the sinnes and transgressions of his children by sundry wayes and divers afflictions yet doth hee not execute revenge vpon them in that extremity as hee doth vpon the reprobates but vseth towards them a fatherly and milde chastisement as a most wholesome medicine whereof there is a most comfortable promise Psalme 89. verse 31. and so forward Furthermore seeing the workes of the godly are vnperfect theyr obedience also which they perfourme and yeeld vnto God must needs be vnperfect But although it be such yet God not for any inward merit and worthines of it but for his owne grace and mercyes sake doth no lesse approve and accept it then if it were altogether perfect and absolute in every poynt As a father is contented with any indeavour of his sonne and requireth not of him an exact perfection of worke so that hee see him obedient and dutifull from his heart so God also doth not reiect the earnest and sincere study and endeavour of obedience in his children but God doth approve it as perfect because he esteemeth an obedient will as a worke done for that cause hee doth accept and like of any care of obedience so that it be sincere and proceede from the heart And albeit that care be defective and vnperfect which in it selfe deserveth rather to be reiected then favoured yet God doth behold it with a mercifull countenance and fatherly love This condition and circumstance the Prophet Malachy setteth downe in playne words Mal. 3.17 saying They shall be vnto me sayth the Lord in that day for a flock and I will spare them as a man spareth his owne sonne that serveth him As therefore a father doth not require full and perfect obedience of his sonne so likewise God doth not demaund exact and perfect obedience of his children but is content with such as they for the measure of humane fraylety are able to perfourme therefore whatsoever God promiseth vnto the keepers of his lawe that he will give them This do the regenerate and godly obtayne and come vnto not that theyr workes deserve this in theyr worth and excellency but because the infinitenes of Gods goodnes and mercy hath so disposed and appoynted it To conclude although the works and obedience of the godly be imperfect and cannot merit salvation yet for all that they are not vnprofitable nor to be left vndone for they may be profitable for other ends many of which are ordeyned for one thing Heere therefore I suppose it very fit and not vnprofitable if I speake somewhat largely and playnely concerning good workes and that for the Papists sake who doe wholy corrupt and quite overthrow the vse of these workes as also of all the scripture beside But that these things beeing conteyned in a briefe summary and set downe in a playne method may the more orderly be handled of me and the more easily be vnderstood of the reader these three things ought to be considered as markes set before vs. First what and what manner of workes there be in this life and whether the grace of God may be attayned and gotten by them or no. Secondly seeing that life everlasting is by all meanes the meere and free gift of God why the scripture in many places doth promise a reward and ascribe salvation vnto them Thirdly why good workes are to be done seeing salvation is by no meanes attayned by them That the first may rightly be vnderstood we must know that the works of man by reason of his divers condition are diversly to be considered for we must iudge of the effect by the nature and condition of the cause If therefore there be a diversity found in the cause it ought likewise to be considered in the effect for one and the selfesame thing cannot be spoken and affirmed of divers matters and of vnlike things the iudgement must likewise be vnlike Therefore man as touching his nature is wicked and vntoward yea and so wicked that he is extreamely contrary vnto God and his will so that his workes also before regeneration must needs be evill For from an evill cause there can proceede and be expected nothing but an evill effect because the effect differeth not from the cause so that these workes are worthily reiected of God as worthy of eternall death and the punishment thereof and beeing so reiected are most iustly condemned because they are extreamely contrary vnto the will of God Thus man and his workes are so contrary vnto the lawe of God as that there can bee nothing more extreamely contrary How then can man perfourme any thing in this estate of corruption and iniquity which may be approved or acceptable vnto God when as man in the corruption of his nature and in all his thoughts and actions is an enemy vnto God how can he deserve any thing at Gods hands Therefore as man in this estate is wholy corrupt and evill so likewise doth he bring forth evill and corrupt workes by which he can deserve nothing else of God but eternall death But heere the Papists with all their wit are out of the way in that they fayne that there are certayne
sinnes which are many and grievous and is silent as concerning his merits which are none at all Such humbling of ones selfe is the exalting of God that is he which thinketh himselfe vnworthy of the grace of God God maketh him worthy and exalteth him to heaven For an vnfayned acknowledging and confession of a mans own humility hath the compassion of God as a remedy prepared for it as Augustine in one place speaketh so that by how much a man is the more weake in himselfe by so much the more doth the Lord sustayne him Therefore a true confession of their owne imperfection is the chiefest perfection of the godly as is aforesayd but they which with full and open mouth boast and prayse their owne worthines and strength are not regenerate at all neyther do rightly knowe their owne sinnes nor humble themselves before God for then are men wont to humble themselves before him when they see and know their owne corruption But if they shall make an argument of contraryes and conclude thus Evill works condemne therefore good works save because that contraryes have contrary consequences by concluding thus they conclude nothing talke much to no effect because these are not true contraryes for evill works are perfectly evill but good works are but partly good only so that they are not equall on both sides nor stretch not one so far as another which is required in true contraryes and ought to be in them for seeing that evill works are perfectly evill there is more evill in them vnto death because they are altogether contrary vnto the lawe of God but seeing that good workes are but onely good in part therefore there is lesse good in them vnto life because they are not every way agreeable vnto the lawe of God By this it is manifestly proved that these contraryes of the Papists are not every way equall So that the obiection and conclusion of them prooveth nothing at all because it is wholy sophisticall and in no wise according to a Syllogisme And let it not trouble any man that one and the selfe same worke is sayd to be good and badde at one time because the respect hath relation and reference vnto divers heads It is sayd to be evill in respect of the flesh from which it proceedeth and it is sayd to be good in respect of the spirite from whose motion it commeth So that there is no contradiction in this because good and badde may be in one thing both at once in a divers respect And let these things suffice to be spoken of the first Seeing the workes of the godly are here alwayes imperfect why God doth ascribe Salvation vnto them and calleth his owne free gifts our reward CHAP. 31. NOw the second thing remayneth to be handled in a few words namely why the Scripture doth ascribe life and salvation vnto imperfect and maymed workes seeing that they also are the free and vndeserved gift of God Here therefore we must know that God doth oftentimes cal his owne free gifts our rewards not because they are due vnto our merits and good deeds but because they are added as supplies vnto the graces that have formerly beene bestowed vpon vs. For to whom God hath vouchsafed his Election which is the first grace those also doth he adorne and beautifie with all other benefits which follow and depend thereof So that whom he hath chosen beeing induced thereunto by his owne mercy those also doth he iustifie by the free forgivenes of theyr sinnes and being iustified he calleth them being called he regenerateth them and being regenerate he glorifieth them With these benefites doth God enrich and adorne his children that nothing may be wanting in them vnto Salvation And these are with such an vnseparable knot lincked one within an other that he which receyveth one of them becommeth partaker of all the rest In this respect these latter benefites are after the vsuall manner of the Scripture called the rewards and wages of the former not in respect of man that deserveth them but in respect of God that giveth them So that God taketh occasion to give these latter benefites vnto men not for such or such merits of theyrs but for his owne former benefites which he hath bestowed and powred vpon them Therefore the Schoole-men do in this poynt erre grossely in that they make these latter benefites to be the rewards of mans merit and that because they have vsed those former graces well and wisely Surely we must not deny but that God doth reward the right vse of his gifts with greater graces but we must alwayes take heed that mans merit bee not opposed vnto Gods bounty So that the reward which God hath appointed vnto good workes doth not depend vpon their perfection and worthinesse but descendeth from the greatnesse of Gods goodnesse and from his bountifull liberality Therefore as Augustine in one place speaketh very well God crowneth not our merits but his own gifts in vs. Therfore whatsoever reward is given vnto our good deeds it is much rather in regard of vndeserved grace then of a deserved reward For the infirmity of the flesh hindereth vs that we cannot merit grace everlasting life Therefore al obedience which we yeeld vnto God deserveth not the worth of an hayre For which cause no rewarde can bee appoynted vnto our workes as due by desert or equity And when as God calleth his free gifts our rewards he seemeth to put on the person of man and as a Father to make much of vs to whom nothing is pleasing but reward and thinketh not much as it were to make a covenant with vs. He surely for his part doth not onely not owe vs any thing but on the contrary holdeth vs all bound and indebted vnto him and so bound as that we are not able to pay the least part Agayne when as God ascribeth that vnto the godly beyond their desert which he giveth freely he sheweth how acceptable wel-pleasing a sincere indevour to live well is vnto him Therefore by this terme of reward he doth inflame and stirre them vp vnto the greater study of godlinesse so that they imploy themselves wholy in his service Therfore the reward is not promised and given vnto the godly for their merit or desert but for the vndeserved favour of God otherwise the most absolute observing of the law could not deserve the least reward For God hath all mankind every way so bound and indebted vnto him that he may rightly chalenge for his owne whatsoever proceedeth as wel from each man in particular as from all men in generall Agayne the righteousnes and holines of the law of God is so great that even the most perfect misseth much and commeth farre short of it in this life For as he leaveth vndone many things which he ought to have done so he doth many things which he should have left vndone Agayne among those good workes which hee doth the flesh alwayes mixeth some evill
And so the good workes of the best are partly imperfect and evill If therefore they should bee examined and weighed in themselves and by themselves in the iust ballance of the Lawe of almighty God beeing defiled and polluted with theyr owne vncleannesse filthinesse and deformity they will be found much more vile and vnsavory in the sight of God then any leprosie by the vncleannesse thereof can bee vnsightly and abominable in the sight of men This Esayas doth confesse freely of himselfe and other religious worshippers of God Esay 64.6 saying We are all of vs as an vncleane thing and all our righteousnesse as a filthy and most vile cloth Here rhe Prophet although hee had profited much in the matter of godlinesse and in the worship of God yet he confesseth that he is infected and polluted with many and filthy sinnes If the workes of so great a Prophet were defiled with sinne as with the vncleannesse of leprosie what shall wee thinke of our owne works which are in no sort to bee compared with his Certaynely hee is altogether vncleane that seeth not his owne vncleannesse But the more holy that a man is the more also doth he confesse and acknowledge his owne pollution and vncleannesse as the example and confession of the Prophet doth manifest and declare So that no man can be certayne of the free pardon and remission of his sinnes except by a sound fayth and steadfast assurance he do relye vpon the sole and meere goodnesse of God and consider with himselfe and detest his owne imperfection and manifold sinnes For God doth nothing by the halfes Therefore hee hath determined eyther to save him wholy or els is ready to condemne him wholy So that workes if they bee considered in themselves and without mercy are worthy to be cast together with men into everlasting torments Here the Papists do agayne betray theyr owne grosse ignorance or obstinate malice in that they dreame and dare affirme that the workes of the Saynts are not onely every way perfect in this life but also more exact then the law of God requireth to which God oweth Life everlasting and Salvation And those works they call by a new found name merits ex condigno to which rewards are due and ought to be payd even for the worth of the worke according vnto the rule of Iustice So these will have the works of the godly to be altogether perfect in this life and wholy agreeable vnto the Law of God so that they may by theyr inward vertue deserve the grace of God as a reward For so they make an equalitie betweene those works and life eternall so that God should be bound by right to yeeld a reward vnto them This imagination of the Papists is vayne and fond because that bond in which God first bound himselfe is not meritorious of the least reward but dependeth wholy vpon the promise and mercy of God But the works of the godly in this life are vnperfect and onely but begunne therefore there cannot be in them such force and power as that by them the sinnes of the godly should be made a meanes for and put away and the grace of God attayned as these would have it Therefore this obligation or bond wherein God is bound cannot be prooved to proceed from the worth of theyr works and so this equality which they have forged and drawne out of theyr owne brayne is altogether voyd So Iob being regenerate sayth most truely and confesseth his owne imperfection and frailty when he sayth If I would iustifie my selfe mine owne mouth shall condemne me if I shall say I am perfect he shall iudge me wicked Let every man therefore confesse and acknowledge that he is vnperfect that hee may have passage and entrance vnto the mercy of God Farre therefore bee the name of perfection and righteousnesse from those works which by Gods owne mouth are convinced to be full of pollution and vncleannesse They adde yet further that they are able to performe and doe more and better workes then the Law prescribeth and commandeth for which cause they terme them very impudently the workes of Supererogation And in these they do not onely put much confidence but also do ascribe the prayse of theyr righteousnesse vnto them and do place no smal part of their glory in them By this vayne wicked fiction they do offend most grievously First in that they dare fayne that these workes are wholy consonant vnto the law of God yea more absolute then the law it selfe and stick not to vaunt and thrust out these fayned works vnto God and the Church as if they were true and very works indeed Secondly in that they are not afrayd by these workes to dimme the glory of God and to make the merir of Christ of none effect Lastly in that they are not ashamed to put and attribute that confidence and glory vnto theyr execrable wickednesse and great offences which is due and proper onely to God and the merit of Christ But the Sonne of God doth altogether overthrow batter downe these works of the Papists as well those of Supererogation as those of Congruity in the Evangelist Saynt Luke For hee sayth flatly vnto his Apostles Luke 17.10 When ye have done all that is commanded you say we are vnprofitable servants we have done that which was our duty to doe Therefore let that most vaine dreame of the Papistes and manifest invention of the divell with great detestation be hissed out of doores and condemned vnto the pit of hell because it doth derogate from the glory of God and hazardeth the fayth of the godly But let the godly seriously acknowledge and vnfaynedly confesse theyr owne imperfection that they may be clothed and crowned with true perfection and the glory of Christ by the Sonne of God in his blessed comming But the works of the Papists by which they boast themselves and make such a shew are chiefely these to interpret the whole Scripture of God wickedly and frowardly and wrest it into a contrary sense to adde many hurtfull opinions vnto it and to take many wholesome things from it and so to call in question the whole Scripture to heape vp idolatry and innumerable superstitions without measure or end to waver vp and down like a reed by vnbeleefe to doubt and be vncertayne of the goodnesse of God and merit of Christ with a staggering fayth and to despayre of Salvation to commit whoredome without feare or respect in the contempt of Matrimony so that they feare not to exercise theyr most filthy lustes and commit execrable wickednes These are the principall works of the Papists in which they chiefely exercise and weary themselves so that they call them heretikes which refuse to commit the like thinges with them and persecute them with most exquisite torments and punishments vntil by some meanes or other they have taken them out of the way And whereas God in many places of the Scripture doth promise
wicked so that out of them Gods saving good Will cannot be knowne For many abound heere with riches and honour which yet come not to eternall Life Luk 13.19 as we may see in the rich glutton and in many other And it is an other thing to elect in Christ those that were lost to forgive them their sinnes and to draw them vnto Christ by an effectual calling to sanctify them by the power of his spirit and in the end to crowne them with eternall glory This mercy of God is wonderfully and singularly extolled and commended in many places of the Scripture This is erected as an heavenly banner vnto which as to a sanctuary and a most safe haven the elect children of God are called by the glad tidings of the Gospell This excelleth and beareth the prize amongst all the workes of God This breaketh the gates of hell and setteth open heaven doore this is the onely sacred refuge which whosoever layeth hold vpon swimmeth happily out of the waves of every storme and avoydeth the danger of death which otherwise would be at hand and escapeth without making shipwrack of salvation This mercy of God is a most soveraine balme to a dismayed minde which healeth their wounds without any payne To this appertayneth that golden sentence of Augustine whereas he sayth when man prayseth himselfe there is vanity and pride when God prayseth himselfe there is grace and mercy for what he prayseth in himselfe that will he give to them that put their trust in him As often therefore as he prayseth himselfe so often doth he invite and call men vnto his mercy In this mercy of God there are two vertues to be considered The first is that it is by infinite degrees greater then can be in any creature For what kindnesse and mercy soever is in any creature it floweth and issueth only out of this mercy of God as out of the onely living fountayne So that although there be a great and an earnest affection of kindnes in many creatures yet compared with the mercy of God it will scarce be a little part or sparkle thereof Psal 103.11.12 Ephes 3.18.19 For this mercy of God doth not onely farre exceede the capacity of mans mind but is also higher broader and deeper then the whole vniversall world Wherefore although that love which is in parents be a most earnest and tender affection whereby they love and embrace their children as their owne bowels yet that love and goodnes of God is farre above and much exceedeth all the love of men This God himselfe testifieth in Esay Esa 49.15 Although a Mother doe forget her childe yet will I not forget thee but will alwayes be mindfull of thee What compassion soever therefore can be found in man it is farre inferiour to Gods mercy For looke how great God himselfe is so great also is his mercy Therefore like as God in his essence is infinite so likewise is he infinite in mercy for with it the whole earth is filled sayth the Psalmist Psal 33.5 It is given and aplyed vnto all the elect children of God throughout the whole world which could not bee if it were finite and bound vnto one certayne place but seeing that at one time it sheweth forth the saving vertue thereof in divers places it followeth therefore that it is infinite in all places This mercy of God is too basely and meanely esteemed of vs except this prayse be given vnto it as an honour due vnto it That it doth infinitely exceede all the senses of flesh and all the affections eyther of Fathers or Mothers Psal 27.10 This the Psalmist signifieth when he sayth My father and my mother have forsaken me but the Lord hath gathered me vp This therefore is farre above and exceedeth the compassion of all creatures The other vertue of Gods mercy is that it is altogether a free gift that God found in vs nothing at all but most absolute and extreame misery and that he was induced by his owne meere grace and mercy to save vs that he elected man that in himselfe was vtterly a castaway and appoynted him to salvation And that election is the free and vndeserved gift of God it may be proved by many reasons and arguments First because he elected man from everlasting before he was and had neyther done good nor evill Hence it playnely appeareth that in electing man God had no respect of his merites or worthines For if there had beene any merites it should necessarily follow that man should first have beene and have done some good for the effects are not before their causes but after But seeing man was not then when he was elected vnto life therefore also could there then be no worke of his For the causes goe before their effects in the order of nature and in the manner of working and effects can in no wise be produced except the causes first be by whose power and vertue the effects be brought forth Therefore out of this circumstance of eternity it is playnely gathered that election is the free gift of God For I would fayne knowe what man could doe or deserve before the world was made and before his owne creation Therefore whatsoever the Papists dreame of heere concerning godlines and faith foreseene is absurd and false as hereafter shall be declared But that election is free and floweth from the meere favour of God and that it excludeth all the indeavours and workes of men the holy Scripture doth expressely teach in many places For Paule to Timothy sayth 2. Tim. 1 9. Rom. 16.25 Ephes 3.11 that GOD saveth vs not according to our owne workes but according to his owne purpose and grace which was given vnto vs through Christ before the world was Heere Saint Paule for the better cleering and expressing of it setteth downe mans workes and the grace of God as two contraryes opposite one against an other and severeth salvation from mans merites and attributeth it wholy to the grace of God And agayne man take him at the best is so corrupted polluted with sinne that there is no good thing in him which remayned vnspotted vnsteined from sin Therefore whole man is not onely turned away from God and all goodnes but withal is so prone vnto evill in the whole affection of his nature and in all the parts thereof that of himselfe he can bring forth nothing else but sinne and all manner of wickednes that sheweth it selfe even in his least thoughts because man without the grace of God and the benefit of regeneration is so wicked and perverse that he cannot thinke much lesse do any good thing as the holy scripture testifieth and proveth 2. Cor. 3.5 yea he is so farre out of love with goodnes Genes 6.5 that he cannot without offence indure that once it should be mentioned For when some evill is forbidden him of God and the good commanded then doth he set himselfe wholy against it and
rageth and is angry against God and his wicked affections breake forth openly like vnto wilde and vntamed beasts and run out like wilde horses and the more severely that God forbiddeth any evill the more egerly doth miserable man rage and resist it so that a man may sooner wring oyle out of an hard stone then that a man not regenerate should do any good thing that should please God or be avayleable for his salvation Seeing then that man in his whole nature and will is a foe and an enemy to God I see not by what meanes he may deserve life at Gods hands Moreover seeing that man was drenched through sinne in so deepe a pit and bottomlesse gulfe of damnation that he could not vnderstand nor comprehend it therefore also he had perished for ever in it if God by his grace had not plucked him out of it and delivered him through Christ his only begotten Sonne For miserable man is so blinded through sinne that he cannot vnderstand his owne evill much lesse can he cure it Sinne therefore as an vnavoydable destruction lurketh in mans nature as in a deepe pit of hipocrisy and if God had not revealed it in his lawe and withall found a remedy for it in his Gospel man altogether ignorant of his mystery had runne headlong into eternall destruction Againe the least sinne that is in the nature of it is so vgly that it redoundeth to the dishonor of God and deserveth his fierce indignation the greatnes whereof no creature is able to suffer and overcome as a man may see in the Angels that fell and were condemned So that man had for ever perished in his misery if God by the death of his Sonne had not drawne him out of it This vntowardnes of mans nature and backwardnes to all good doth wonderfully set forth Gods mercy and proveth it to be free because God in choosing man being such as he is vnto life doth declare his free bounty and vndeserved mercy Vpon this mercy of God is grounded the hope and consolation of all the faithfull wherefore although they excell in no worthines nor have any merites which they may bring vnto God yet this one thing may be sufficient for them to come to all happines namely that God in his nature is good and mercifull and so far forth good and mercifull as that he would rather help and advance vnto happines miserable men such as were almost past help then those that were of great account and trusted in their owne strength They therefore which trust that God will be their Saviour even for his owne free goodnes sake it necessarily followeth that they have their faith grounded vpon and correspondent vnto the grace of the Gospell But they which trusting in their owne merits thinke that God will be their rewarder have their hope in no wise framed according to the tenor of the Gospell so that they waver in doubtfull and hurtfull perplexities till being at the length overcome they are at the last cast downe and swallowed vp of desperation This therefore is the mutuall and continuall relation betweene a Christian mans faith and Gods free bounty that an humble and prostrate sinner should by fayth lay hold on Gods mercy though he bring nothing else vnto God but a contrite and a broken heart Psa 51.17 for he exacteth this one thing and requireth nothing else Therefore out of this mercy of God miserable sinners may suck this most sweete comfort that by theyr humble and lowly confession and loathing of their sinnes they have Gods exceeding mercy prepared and exhibited vnto them as a certayne and present remedy for all theyr evils Also heere is a thing worthy to be noted that God who of his vndeserved favour did deliver miserable mankinde from so great a mischiefe doth teach and commaund vs by his example that to our power we should helpe those that are in misery Yea and the greater that their misery is the more should every of vs know that we are bound vnto God for to helpe them and if wee do not helpe them as much as we can when neede requireth by that wee shewe our selves to be enemyes and adversaryes to God For they which are wicked against God can not be good towards men And they do indeede declare that they are man-sleyers in the sight of God For if others should forsake them likewise and not helpe them they should decay and perish in their misery and so they are the occasion and cause of theyr death as farre-forth as in them lyeth and therefore are iudged and shall be condemned of God as manifest man-sleyers This the Scripture setteth downe in expresse words saying that iudgement mercilesse shall be to him that sheweth no mercy Heere the wicked and fond fiction of the Papists concerning faith and good works foreseene which they dreame to be the causes of election are confuted as false by playne testimonies of holy scripture CHAP. 12. NOw whatsoever the Papists doe talke of concerning fayth and godlinesse fore-seene is nothing else but a most vayne dreame and foolish fiction For in that they say that God from everlasting knew such or such that they would be good and that they would deserve election by their good workes it is to forge a weake and fond fable about which they may trifle at their pleasure and without feare For God is so the cause and beginning of all good that the least drop of goodnes cannot any where be found of which he is not the onely author and finisher The Papists in this doctrine are confuted by many places of holy scripture and are convinced of manifest vntruth For holynesse and a godly life are the fruites and effects of election For God did elect his from everlasting not because they would be good in themselves and worthy of their election but he elected them being evill that afterwards by his grace they might become good This the Scripture doth testifie in manifest and expresse words when it sayth that God hath chosen vs Ephes 1.4 that wee should be holy and without blame before him through love Heere we may cleerely see that God did not finde such as should be elected good but that being elected of him he maketh them good So that integrity of life and good workes do follow election as the true effects thereof and go not before it as the cause And if good workes should be the cause of election man should have chosen God and God should not have chosen man so salvation should be mans merit and not Gods gift and election should be not because God is mercifull but because man is good and iust Againe the Papists in setting vp workes foreseene as the cause of salvation deny God to be God and make his grace of no account For God alone is good Iam. 1.17 and the only fountaine of goodnes Therefore whosoever thinke that they have the very least good thing in them without God do deny him to be
the only author of all good and so deny him to be God For God cannot be God except he alone be set vp and acknowledged the onely fountayne of all goodnes For what manner of God should he be if not the only author and sole effecter of all goodnes But if the Papists should be vrged somewhat neerer and harder as namely out of what fountayne those works foreseene should slow and have their beginning if they answere from mans nature and free will they are farre deceived and are blinder then the very Moles For mans whole nature with all the parts thereof eyther of soule or body even vnto the least drop of his bloud is so corrupted and defiled with sinne that all his thoughts and whatsoever proceedeth from him any manner of way is only evill Gene. 6.5 and against God So that mans nature after his fall neyther will nor can do any thing else but strive and wrastle against God and that with a continuall and earnest desire This the holy scripture doth not only testify but also experience proveth to be so for men when they are left to themselves do not only not acknowledge their sinne but also thinke that there is nothing in them but that which is good and holy although they have nothing in them but that which is polluted and defiled with much vncleanenes And againe this corruption and vntowardnes of man hath taken so deepe roote in the nature of man as that it cannot be plucked vp by mans power therefore the amendement of mans nature doth farre exceede mans power For the restoring of Gods image is a farre greater and harder worke then the first creation of man And as no man could create himselfe so also could no man by his owne power amend his evill nature nor change his perverse will into good Therefore seeing man in his whole nature is depraved and that he cannot change nor amend his corrupted nature whatsoever the Papists do talke of workes foreseene is not so much theyr owne vayne fiction as the mischievous invention of the Divell Surely God from everlasting did foresee good works and knew them very well but yet no other but such as he himselfe determined to worke and bring forth in man By these good workes man can deserve nothing at Gods hands because they are his gifts and benefits God bestoweth life and salvation vpon man for his owne everlasting goodnes sake and not for any good deedes which he himselfe worketh in his children These good workes are the manifest effects and infallible testimonyes of his mercy By all this it appeareth that the Papists vnderstand nothing rightly nor soundly in the doctrine of Election for to vnderstand a thing rightly is to know it by the true and proper cause thereof But they know not Election by the true and proper cause thereof Therefore they vnderstand not Election at all or if they vnderstand it of meere malice they hide it and will not manifest it Wherefore the Papists do wander amisse beside their purpose and talke of a thing they know not much more ridiculously and foolishly then if a Shepheard or a Neate-heard should out of Astrology describe the rising and the setting of the Starres or out of Geometry measure out all the scituations and distances of places without the knowledge of eyther science Therefore the Papists when they refuse Gods free bounty as the first and proper cause of salvation and substitute faith fore-seene as a false and fayned cause thereof they runne into a grosse fallacy from that which is no cause as if it were a cause and so fall into a dangerous error And this fallacy is committed as often as for a true and naturall cause of some thing there is assumed that which is no cause of it as the Papists do heere in imagining and bringing forth good workes fore-seene as the cause of election whenas those good workes are not apt nor fit to bring forth salvation For those good workes which they dreame of neyther are nor can be produced or shewed in that sort as they do imagine Therefore they doe not onely bring a false cause but that which is no cause at all A false cause is that which is not fit to effect that for which it was purposed but is the cause of some other thing and so when in place and time convenient it is applyed vnto a thing that agreeth with the nature and quality thereof it may bring forth some-what But no cause is that which can bring forth nothing because it selfe is nothing For those good workes foreseene which the Papists so bragge of and build election vpon are not at all neyther indeede can be as is shewed before and to expect something from that which is nothing is extreame and ridiculous madnesse by which they mocke God and deceive men But seeing they fayne that to be the cause of salvation which is not at all nor can be they intangle themselves in a manifest contradiction and make themselves a laughing stock for very children But if GOD infinitely good and wise had not found out and shewed vs a better cause and way to salvation then the Papists have woe had it beene vnto mankinde Therefore farre be from vs that dreame of the Papists as the palpable invention of the Devill and most manifest breake-necke of mans Salvation because it derogateth from the grace of God and vndermineth and subverteth the Gospell for the foundation of it And let all the godly reverence and adore the mercy and goodnes of God which the scripture every where setteth downe for the onely and most true cause of salvation Also mans purpose when once it beginneth to bee good is holpen indeede by the grace of God But heere wee must diligently marke and observe that this purpose of man could not be good if the grace of God had not gone before and made it good Col. 1.21 2. Cor. 3.5 Gen. 6.5 Ephe. 1.18 Eze. 36.26 1. Ioh. 5.20 Luk. 24.45 For the whole nature and minde of man in himselfe and in his owne nature is onely bent vnto evill so that hee cannot have the least thought vnto any goodnes and so mans purpose is alwayes evill in it selfe but then it beginneth to bee good when God enlightneth his minde by the power of his spirit and changeth and renueth his will Furthermore it is GOD onely that of vnwilling maketh willing and of a stiffe-necked man maketh him more tractable and milde This hee teacheth by the Apostle to the Philippians Phili. 2.13 where he sayth it is God which worketh in you both the will and the deede even of his good pleasure Heere Paule sheweth that man by his owne power is not fit eyther to begin or finish any good worke but that all the power both of willing and doing good proceedeth from Gods onely free mercy because hee of an evill will maketh a good will and turneth and inclineth vnto good mans heart which is most proane vnto evill
blasphemous Papists seeing in this poynt their wisedome is contrary to God are not to bee accounted wise men but sottes and fooles For it were better for them that they had no wisedome at all and that they were more blockish then fooles then thus to resist and rebell against the wisedom of God Therefore whatsoever they talke of concerning works fore-seene and our owne merits it is a meere and manifest illusion of the divell and a most certayne ship-wracke of their owne Salvation Moreover in this they greatly offend in that they are not afrayd to turne the great and excellent gifts of God to the dishonour of him and to the honour of the divell For they abuse their wisedome by which men do excell beastes against God and against their owne Salvation For to this ende God would have man to bee wise and indued with reason that by the worde of the Gospell hee might acknowledge God to be his Creator and Christ his Redeemer and that he might honor God and attayne Salvation by meditating vpon eternal life But they apply the strength of their wisedome to this namely to the invention and coyning of those things which are repugnant to the will of God so they of their owne accord and of set purpose doe convert those helpes which are good in themselves vnto hurtfull impediments Therefore this wisedome of the Papistes which is exercised about workes fore-seene and about merites is not onely carnall but also divelish because it is contrary to the will of God As farre as right differeth from wrong so much doe the Papists differ from God because all their wisedome doth make open warre against the wisedome of God whilest they set vp their works fore-seene against his grace For they strive earnestly for this to make the grace of God not altogether free but partly deserved and so doe derogate from the mercy of God But prayse and glory be to God because he hath prevented vs by his free goodnesse and aboundant grace and hath predestinated vs vnto eternall life freely and not for our workes or merites fore-seene And surely it is a grievous thing to heare that the Papistes are so fallen from the word of God and that they without the wisedome of God and Christ his spirite boast themselves to bee Christians For if they had the spirit of Christ and did submit themselves to the wisedome of God they would know as instructed by the word of God that we were freely elected by God from everlasting and that they should not thinke nor determine of Election otherwise then God hath revealed and prescribed in his word and beeing regenerate by the spirite of Christ they would have a care of Gods glory and not be the servants of Sathan But now their whole study and wisedome consists in this to iudge of what pleaseth them according to their owne iudgement and discretion And so indeed doe shew that they are altogether strangers from the spirite and Gospell of Christ and that they doe wholy detest it Farre therefore be from vs this studie and doctrine of the Papistes being as the shoppe and illusion of the divell yea let it be from a Christian heart farther then the heaven is distant from the earth Fourthly they offend against the trueth of God in that they affirme that workes fore-seene are the cause of our Salvation For God hath ordayned Iesus Christ from everlasting that hee should make satisfaction for our sinnes and redeeme vs from all iniquity fayth Peter 1. Pet. 1.20 Moreover the Sonne of God himselfe affirmeth often in the Evangelists Iohn 3.36 that all which beleeve in him have eternall Life Iohn 5.24 and shall not come into condemnation For hee is that Lambe of God which taketh away the sinnes of the world Heb. 9.12 he suffered once for vs and by suffering purchased for vs eternall Redemption Therefore in the vertue of his Passion our whole Salvation and Life consisteth These and the like testimonies of Scripture doe ascribe Life eternall vnto the Sacrifice of Christ onely as to a meritorious cause For God is true and therefore will perfourme those things which hee hath promised faythfully and truely But hee hath promised in the Scripture in divers places that the onely Sacrifice of Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the onely price of our Redemption from all our sinnes For by Isaiah he promiseth expressely that his Servant meaning Christ should by his knowledge iustifie many because hee hath vnder-gone and borne theyr iniquities Therefore howe much soever the Papistes doe attribute vnto workes fore-seene so much doe they necessarily detract from the merite of Christ because those workes fore-seene and these merites of Christ are such contraries as that one and the selfe same thing cannot bee attributed to them both But the Scripture of God which is the onely and most simple trueth doth every where ascribe the cause of our Election vnto Gods free Bounty and likewise ascribeth Redemption and Salvation that proceedeth and commeth thereof vnto the onely Merite of Christ Therefore it doth not onely leave no roome for theyr workes foreseene but doth also convince them of falshood and reiect and condemne them as manifest wrongs against Christ For whatsoever is not of Grace that is deadly and tendeth to damnation But these works fore-seene of the Papistes are not of Grace for they say that they are the vertues of humane nature therefore those workes fore-seene are deadly and tend to damnation Wherefore seeing they bring destruction with them these workes are wholy to be reiected on the contrary Christ his Merites seeing they bring Salvation with them are with heart and minde readily to be embraced But if the Papists did beleeve God when he promiseth and did rest themselves onely vpon his word of trueth they would let goe their workes fore-seene But seeing they do produce them they doe manifestly declare that they put more confidence in their workes then they doe in God or in his worde And so they offend against the trueth of God before which they preferre their owne workes and merites fore-seene and doe perversely accuse God of infidelity and falshood For if they did beleeve that God were faythfull and constant in perfourming of his promises they would never fly vnto workes fore-seene as to the helpers of his Grace Fiftly they doe offend against the Omnipotency of God because they presume and vndertake thinges that are farre above theyr strength and power For God is onely omnipotent and hee is the onely effecter and beginner of all power and strength in such sorte that no Creature can bee more powerfull nor able to doe or perfourme more then God hath given him ability and force to doe Wherefore every creature can bring to passe and perfourme so much as it is enabled by the strength that God worketh and preserveth in it But God giveth not infinit strength and omnipotency vnto any creature for so of a creature hee should make him God and
to the law and Christian charity For the law commandeth and charity willeth that there be no hurt done to any man but good vnto all but there is no good but hurt done vnto them which are ordeyned vnto this miserable condition and cursed estate therefore it is repugnant to charity and contrary to the lawe I answere God is not bound nor subiect vnto the lawe so that he gave that commandement to men only and not to himselfe Agayne the iustice of God is altogether infinite whose greatnes the shallownes of mans capacity cannot conteyne nor search out therefore it is not to be measured by the law and rule of civile iustice For there is no consequence from an infinite thing vnto a finite thing because there is no proportion betweene them Therefore a man in this matter must renounce all naturall reason and submit himselfe wholy vnto the onely wise God knowing that the iustice of God cannot be examined or comprehended by the shallow conceit of man nor be measured according to the rule of civill iustice Therfore it were extreme madnes blasphemous impiety not to attribute more wisedome vprightnes vnto God then man can vnderstand or imagine Surely this were to erect and worship a vaine idoll in the steed of God or rather to deny God himselfe Moreover there are certaine particular works of God which are not to be reduced to the generall rule of equity as for example the fact of Abraham who in his obedience vnto God would have killed his sonne and have sacrificed him vnto God when as notwithstanding the law sayth Thou shalt not kill The holy man of God knew that God was not subiect to the law but that it was given vnto men onely so that he did not examine the speciall commaundement which he had received concerning the sacrificing of his Sonne according to the lawe but simply obeyed the commaundement of God and desired to execute it with a ready and good will By this example we are taught first that God sometimes doth decree somewhat in his secret will which he prescribeth not in his lawe Secondly that we must obey this his secret will when God commaundeth though the lawe after a sort commaund the contrary otherwise the will of God revealed in his word is the onely continuall rule of good life So there may be some worke which God doth not therefore will because it is iust but it is therefore iust because he willeth it and thinketh it good Furthermore although of two men of which neyther had done any thing he hath predestinated the one vnto life the other vnto death and that before the foundation of the world yet this predestination is no lesse iust then if both had bin created and committed many great offences But it apeareth manifestly that reprobation was decreed before all time and not ordeined in time both from the nature of God and also by the holy scripture From the nature of God it appeareth because God doth nothing with a new will but all things by his everlasting will whatsoever therefore God doth in time that did he determine to do before all time otherwise there should manifest change be found in him if he should do the least thing in time which he did not determine to do before time from everlasting By the scripture it is evident because that every where as well in the doctrine of reprobation as election it reduceth vs vnto the eternall counsell of God that men might certaynely be perswaded that nothing happeneth vnto them in this life which was not ordeyned and decreed for them by God from everlasting So that that happeneth to them in time which God hath fore-ordeyned before time Moreover although the reprobates be reiected from this mercy of salvation by the iust and eternall iudgement of God yet they are not condemned but for their owne sinnes and misdeeds by which they deserve and pull vpon their owne heads the iust wrath of God and eternall destruction Therefore although they are not reprobated reiected for any infidelity or wicked deeds foreseene but because God hath so willed it and decreed it iustly yet they shall not be condemned but for their owne vngodlines To conclude as there is no merit foregoing in election so also is there no desert foregoing in reprobation but both do proceede and flowe from the good pleasure of God Now heere remayneth to be shewed briefly for what causes the reprobates are subiect and liable vnto iust condemnation The first cause of their destruction is the corruption of their nature this is so great that it is fully sufficient for to condemne them iustly as we may see in the death and condemnation of infants and little children that are reprobated who although they be polluted with fewe or none actuall sinnes yet for the originall corruption of their nature they are thrust hedlong into everlasting destruction Therefore this corruption of nature is the first and meritorious cause of damnation Agayne God vouchsafeth not to bestow vpon them the mercy of regeneration but leaveth them by his iust iudgement in their former depravation of nature Neyther can God be accused or charged with iniury because he doth not reforme nor better them for God doth not owe them so much because he hath not promised it vnto them and therefore is not bound to perfourme it And as for the promises although by the publike ministery of the Church they be pronounced vnto all that heare in generall yet indeed and effectually they do properly pertayne and belong vnto the elect only for whatsoever God hath promised in the Gospell and in the matter of salvation they onely obteyne and enioy Agayne the promises do not declare what God hath decreed and determined concerning every one but do shew how he is affected towards them that beleeve therefore they belong to none but to the beleevers so that God oweth nothing to the reprobates but deserved wrath and iust indignation Therefore in that he doth not call them nor draw them to Christ nor iustify them in him nor create faith in them it is for this cause because he hath not chosen them so that when the cause is denyed them the effects must needs be denyed them also For to whomesoever he vouchsafeth not election he also denyeth those blessings and benefits which are the effects of election These being by the iust iudgement of God thus left to themselves are hardned daily more more so that they feare not to commit great detestable sinnes and iniquities neither stand in awe of Gods vengeance but nuzsle themselves in their sinnes with delight and love and commit sinnes willingly and that so proudly and securely as if God the avenger of wickednes did winke at them and would take no account of them for their lives passed These God doth not only reiect and repell from all saving grace and all the effects thereof but also in his iust iudgement doth deliver thē over being so reiected partly
all sinne and guiltines not to punish him for his sinnes but to love him as deerely as if he had never offended and that for the death of Christ imputed and bestowed vpon him and whom God iustifieth he maketh equall to him which is iust and hath not sinned Therefore no man is iustified by any other meanes then by beleeving by apprehending the mercy of salvation by saith and by applying it vnto himselfe But they which desire to be iustified by workes shall never come vnto righteousnes for it is a thing by all meanes impossible for any man to merit eternall life as a reward So that man is then sayd to be iustified by faith before God when he hath obtayned remission of his sinne not for any worthines of his owne or for his owne merits but for Christ his sake his onely mediator such a one is wiped out of the number of sinners and is esteemed as righteous before God Therefore whomsoever God receiveth into favour for the merit of Christ him doth he account for a righteous man and pronounceth as righteous his sinne and guiltinesse being taken away By this iustification the godly doe attayne three great commodities and benefites First that Christ hath taken away the severe strictnes of the exact perfourmance of the lawe in the attayning of righteousnes Secondly because he hath taken away the curse due for the breach of the lawe Thirdly in that he hath brought vnto them a great and an everlasting freedome so that they neyther can nor ought to be condemned though they have not perfectly nor absolutely fulfilled the lawe By these things heere spoken it is easie to be gathered that iustification is no other thing but the free remission of sinnes for Christ his sake by this remission of sinnes we are cleansed from all our sinnes for this is our purity that our sinnes be not layd to our charge but pardoned freely The Scripture vseth this word clensing in this matter For Iohn sayth playnely 1. Iohn 1.7 that the bloud of Iesus Christ cleanseth vs from all sinne And agayne in the same place a little after he sayth that Christ is faithfull and iust to forgive vs our sinnes 1. Iohn 1.9 and cleanse vs from all iniquitie But lest the doubtfulnes of the word might deceive any man wee must declare the significations thereof First therefore and properly it appertayneth vnto things outward and vncleane which are sayd to be cleansed when the spottes and staynes are washed out and taken away Then by a most fitte resemblance this very same word is translated to inward and spirituall things and so sinnes and wicked actions are most aptly compared or resembled vnto spots and staines with which whosoever are defiled and polluted are filthy and nasty in the sight of God and also odious and abhominable as long as their sinnes are not forgiven them But they are then sayd to be clensed when they are forgiven and pardoned for then are they taken away and remayne nor appeere no more So that they are purged and clensed from their sinnes Psal 32.1 Rom. 4.7.8 2. Cor. 5.19 or said to be clensed from them whose sinnes are forgiven and covered and not imputed vnto them They therefore which beleeve in Christ are righteous before God not because they are without sinne but because their sinnes are forgiven them and not layed vnto their charge This therefore is the onely and chiefe felicity of man that his sinnes are freely and mercifully forgiven him so that God alloweth and accepteth them for righteous to whom he imputeth righteousenes pardoning their sinnes so on the contrary they are guilty and shall be condemned before God whose sinne and iniquity is not pardoned but imputed vnto them and to whomsoever he imputeth righteousenes their sinnes being rased out they reioyce not with fading ioy but are in full possession of the sound ioy of everlasting life and reioyce as if they were caryed into heaven already Now the cause of this iustification is the incredible mercy of God and the merit of Christ Christ ioyneth them both together in S. Iohn Iohn 3.16 saying God so loved the world that he gave his onely begotten Sonne that whosoever beleeveth in him should not perish but have everlasting life Therefore God of his infinite love towards vs gave vs his Sonne and the Sonne of his vnspeakeable goodnes towards vs set forth his owne body for the price of our redemption and by his pretious bloud satisfied for our sinnes and by satisfying pacified the wrath of God towards the elect and reconciled the elect vnto God Here the word satisfying taken according to divinity is added by a similitude for the better light and vnderstandings sake And the similitude is taken from creditors to whom debtors make no satisfaction but with ready money Now our sinnes whatsoever they are in the phrase of the Siriack toong are called our debts because they make vs debters vnto God for they which sinne owe a punishment vnto God But we as long as we sinne do not pay that which we owe vnto God but do much rather increase our debt and are more and more firmely bound vnto God as vnto our creditor And he that shall take our debts vpon himselfe and shall free vs from the bonds of sinne he is worthily sayd to have satisfied for our sinnes But Christ hath taken from vs the curse of the law sustained and pacified the wrath of God Heere hath he overcome sinne death and the devill together with his Angels who had vs in their power and were most cruell adversaryes of our salvation he overcame them I say and that by his death contrary vnto the custome of all other conquerours which are wont being alive and armed to assayle their adversaryes and to subdue and overcome them by fighting manfully Hebr. 2.14 but he overcame and subdued his enemyes by death and when as he seemed to be overcome and slayne of them then did he conquer them and obteyne the victory He payd our debts for vs which wee were not able to pay he tooke away the hand-writing which was against vs and accused vs of the debt Col. 2.14 and vrged vs to the payment therof and he cancelled it being fastned vnto his crosse Christ therefore overcame all the enemyes of our salvation and led them captive as a conquerour to disgrace them This victory of Christ is a monument of an everlasting satisfaction for vs and is as a pillar set vp in token of victory Therefore the crosse of Christ is as a triumphant chariot in which he doth openly declare himselfe to have subdued and overthrowne all our enemyes Seeing therefore that Christ alone dyed for our sinnes seeing that he alone hath redeemed vs with his bloud and hath made most full satisfaction for vs he is the onely meritorious cause of our salvation For the death of Christ by which he hath satisfyed for vs is so farreforth the onely meritorious cause of our
of man a false and fayned cause thereof And although the scripture do oftentimes promise a reward vnto the workes of the godly yet from thence can be gathered no merit wherein God as a debtor should be bound vnto vs because that reward dependeth vpon the meere mercy of God and not vpon any worthines of the workes Therefore the Papists whilst that in this question they do ioyne the reward and merit in a mutuall relation are very much deceived Certainely such are despised and reiected of God which shall put the least part of their confidence in their owne workes This doth the Sonne of God lively expresse and teach vs in the example of the Pharisy Luk. 18.11 Moreover the Papists get nothing in this when as they bring forth the examples of the Saints how that they oftentimes did freely rehearse and plead their integrity innocency before God this they do not to this end purpose as if they would declare themselves to be free and exempt from all imperfection and stayne of sinne nor as if they hoped that they could stand in the sight of God being indued with their owne power but they do it to a far other end namely to shew that they have a good lawfull cause against their adversaryes of whom they are vniustly hurt and oppressed So that the holy men do not compare their owne integrity by the sâ—uare rule of Gods iustice but they oppose it against the violent iniury of their enemyes and do call God as a iust iudge and the onely witnes of the truth betweene themselves and their enemyes Therefore by that comparison made with their enemyes by whom they are vniustly oppressed they shew forth their owne righteousnes and singlenes of heart that by that reason they might the more easily perswade God to help them This therefore is the reason why the holy meÌ„ do labour so earnestly in pleading the cause of their owne righteousnes so that in those speaches of their owne cause the question is not concerning their whole life and continuall perfection and innocency thereof but onely the goodnes of the cause is layd open and declared against the iniury of the wicked Agayne although the Saincts sometimes lay open their good workes 2. King 20.4 Psa 18.21 that they have walked before God with an vpright heart and have not departed from his commaundements yet notwithstanding they doe not produce those works as meritorious but onely bring them in as signes and fruites of their calling that they might comfort themselves concerning their free adoption and so do not extoll and prayse their owne merits but the gifts and benefits of God and do testify that they do rely with a quiet conscience vpon the only favour of God and obedience of Christ Also sometimes when the Scripture speaketh of the integrity of the Saincts it distinguisheth them from hipocrites to whom it is sufficient to have an outward shew of godlines So this integrity is not every way the perfection of the whole life but it is taken for the singlenes of heart which is contrary to dissimulation Also the Papists by their interpretation doe corrupt all those places of Scripture which promise a reward vnto good workes and wrest them into an other sence and so doe fall into a fallacy of the ambiguity of a word And further because they ascribe that vnto the merits of man which is due alone vnto the grace of God and to the onely merit of Christ they mingle contrary causes together and out of them do frame and forge I know not what But to enforce some merit from a free reward they do not only make a foolish and rash consequence but also do deny God to be the onely fountayne of all goodnes and do conclude that there is some good thing in wretched sinners which are wholy corrupted Furthermore that which they babble of inherent righteousnes is altogether vayne and foolish for the free forgivenes of sinnes and the imputation of Christ his merit doth quite overthrow as well this inherent righteousnes as that righteousnes of workes for these are two contraryes which can never stand together nor be attributed vnto one and the selfe-same thing but one of them alwayes confoundeth and driveth away the other Surely such fictions of the Devill and vayne men are altogether to be reiected and condemned which pull in pieces the whole doctrine of the free remission of sinnes For they which goe about to establish and set vp theyr owne righteousnes do not submit themselves vnto the righteousnes of God Rom. 10.3 they do not onely deceive and as much as in them lyeth condemne themselves and others but also they arrogate the honour of God vnto themselves or at the leastwise much weaken it for as soone as they set vp their owne righteousnes they throw downe the righteousnes of God for this is the onely beginning to obteyne the righâ—…nes of God that men should altogether renouâ—â—â—â—heir owne righteousnes and to confesse and acknâ—â—â—â—dge themselves to be voyd of all righteousnes For as long as a man thinketh that he hath the least good thing of his owne he is vnfit to receive the righteousnes of God which he giveth and imputeth freely for God receiveth into favour and saveth none but sinners such as are voyd of all righteousnes Hence is it that the Prophets and Apostles do set the only grace of God and sole merit of the Messias Dan. 9. 1. Tim. 1.15 as contrary vnto all the merits of man and all outward causes which prophane and wicked men in their inconstancy and rash attempts do invent for by this meanes they teach vs that there is no other way for men to become righteous and enter into heaven but the onely and meere goodnes of God and the merit of Christ alone Agayne they teach vs that all and singular the endevours and merits of man by which men go about to deserve the grace of God are nothing else but manifest illusions and sleights of the Devill by which ignorant men are made strangers from God and throwne headlong into the deepe pit of condemnation Therefore this free iustification ought alwayes to be remembred and thought of for Sathan laboureth and watcheth for nothing more then that he might quite put out or at the least darken this free iustification of faith This he hath gone about in all ages and obtained in many places But let this suffice to be spoken of the first quality of iustification Secondly this iustification is by all meanes perfect and most absolute for God doth not pardon one or two sinnes only but he forgiveth all and every sinne Neither doth he only forgive sinnes that are already committed past but he doth remit the dayly falls of his children if they repent This the scripture teacheth vs in many places and diligently vrgeth Iohn sayth playnely 1. Iohn 1.7 that the bloud of Christ cleanseth vs from all sinne S. Paul to the Colossians
our selves and the truth is not in vs. These testimonies of scripture teach vs that not one liveth heere which is not a sinner So S. Austine sayth in an other place most fitly to this purpose Wo vnto the life of men although most holy if it be examined iudged without Gods mercy But surely although regeneration be heere but onely begun and be vnperfect yet for all that it is not vnprofitable but is very commodious vnto the elect for from thence a most sure and evident token of their election and salvation is ministred vnto them But of this matter shall be spoken more largely and purposely in the end of this treatise Regeneration hath also this commodity which is very great for when men are regenerate they are not onely delivered from the most miserable slavery of sinne and tyrany of the Devill but also are made partakers of the life of God for then are they truly grafted into Christ and Christ is ioyned vnto them agayne so that they are made one with Christ by the spirit and Christ is made one with them Also Christ then liveth in them savingly and raigneth effectually so that he giveth and bestoweth vpon them life everlasting for whom he once hath begun to renew those he never forsaketh for he leaveth not this holy and chiefe worke of all his works as it were broken of Psa 138.8 but bringeth it vnto the end and accomplishment thereof Mala. 3.6 therefore it cannot be made voyd because God doth not change his nature nor disroabe himselfe of that goodnes wherewith he is endued In this goodnes of God the salvation of the godly is grounded and setled so that what the elect have once layd hold on by a stedfast faith that doth God never take from them for the gifts and calling of God are such as are without repentance for which cause Paul sayth playnely boldly Rom. 11.29 that God would performe that which he had begun in the Philippians Phil. 1.6 and bring it vnto the last end and perfection vntill at the last after their happy resurrection their vile bodies be fashioned vnto the glorious body of Christ So this regeneration is the neere fellowship and strong band of Christ and the regenerate And where this grace is effectuall there eternall salvation and life and happines everlasting followeth and ensueth for the old man with the concupiscences perisheth and is abolished 2. Cor. 4.16 but the new man is renued and fashioned vnto the image of God This grace therefore bringeth with it a double benefit for on the one side the strength and body of sinne is weakened and decayed and on the other side our lost righteousnes is repayred and the image of God restored so that we proceede from the abolishing and putting away of the one vnto the restoring of the other as from one contrary vnto an other Therefore regeneration is the onely remedy of the grace of God by which the corruption of nature is heere after a sort restrayned and amended which renewing of nature shall be wholy perfected in the world to come for then shall we necessarily love that which is good with a perfect liking and necessarily hate that which is evill with a perfect hatred Furthermore we must note heere and diligently observe that this power of renewing is in God by nature and is changed by no outward cause or mutable occasion whatsoever and therefore is as sure and certayne as God himselfe in his essence is everlasting for God is as constant in his promises as he is vnchangeable in his essence So that seeing he is alwayes the same and continually as good as his word and ever remayneth like himselfe therefore also doth he truly and indeed perfourme and fulfill those things which he hath promised in his word for the promise of God is sure because that grace whence it dependeth and springeth is sure and grace is onely of that which is both by word promised and indeed perfourmed freely and mercifully without any expectation of reward They therefore which doubt of the promise of God and the accomplishment thereof they do rather by deedes then words accuse and argue God of vnconstancy and falsehood therefore the distrust of the good and favourable will of God and of the perfourmance of things promised is without doubt a very great sinne for God by his almighty power doth begin continue and end this his worke of regeneration wherein it consisteth and is grounded therefore this worke can no more be broken off and fall to the ground then God can of any man be vanquished and overcome The workes and obedience of the godly howsoever they be imperfect and interlaced with divers blemishes yet God in that his fatherly goodnes loveth and accepteth them Then some things are propounded and dilated somewhat largely and plainely concerning the meaning and true vse of good works that the Papists errour might be the more evident in any mans sight CHAP. 30. FVrthermore seeing this regeneration is in this life maymed and imperfect hence it followeth necessarily and infallibly that all good works also which proceede out of it as streames out of a fountayne are maymed and imperfect for such as the cause is such an effect likewise vsually followeth Therefore seeing those workes are vnperfect they can deserve nothing as due debt for to the producing and effecting of any thing there is required necessarily sound and sufficient causes for maymed and mangled causes have never brought forth any thing for imperfect causes are esteemed as no causes And although the workes of the godly be interlaced and stayned with many blemishes and imperfections yet they are pleasing and acceptable vnto God because in them he acknowledgeth the image of his spirit which maketh the persons whence those works proceed acceptable vnto God and mixeth a good quality among their good workes in which being dipped as in an heavenly and spirituall perfume God doth approve and accept them God in his fatherly compassion doth pardon the staynes and defects of good workes so that the works when the corruption of them is abolished and wiped away are accounted iust and righteous and the satisfaction of Christ is imputed vnto them for righteousnes like as it is to the persons from whom they doe proceede therefore as he doth by his favour love and iustify his Saincts vnto death for the righteousnes of the most perfect man consisteth alwayes in faith and the dayly forgivenes of sinnes so also with the same favour doth he love and iustify their workes that is to say he blotteth out and wipeth away the faults which remayne in them in this life and imputeth righteousnes vnto them As therefore the Moone doth borrow and take her light of the Sunne so also faith iustifieth the works of the faithfull and maketh them have a good savour therefore faith getteth the reward and name of righteousnes both vnto the works and also vnto the persons So that although those works
morall workes which by their owne worth can make men gratious and acceptable vnto God before they have bin regenerate and grafted into Christ by faith And those merits they call merits ex congruo so called because that as they say by right and equity they deserve some reward which God by right is bound to repay them If this were true why then man belike should not be wholy infected and corrupted with originall sin But man as we have testimonyes in the holy scripture is wholy infected and corrupted with originall sinne Gen. 6.5 Psal 51.7 therefore that idle fiction of the Papists is nothing else but a meere invention of the Devill Surely those works which proceede from any man before his regeneration are every way foule and vgly sinnes to which by right and equity there is no reward else due but onely everlasting torment But it goeth very well and fayrely with vs if God doe not punish them in vs as they deserve Agayne all those workes of men although they seeme fayre and comely in the sight of man yet if they be skanned according to the rule of Gods lawe they will be found to be meere filth and vnsavoury pollution And that as the Starres which although they seeme most bright in the night time yet at the arising and presence of the Sunne they lose their brightnes so likewise those workes of men which in the common view seeme to be right and beautifull shall be manifest iniquity in the sight of God so lawdable sincerity heere shall be greater vncleanenes there and that which heere is approved as great glory shall there be reiected as extreame shame and reproach Farre therefore be from vs these faire-shewing and foule-meaning hipocrites which cover the corruption and wickednes that is wrapped vp in the heart of man with a vayne flourish and fayned maske and by their merits which are worse then extreame filthines doe labour to winne the favour of God and to make him beholding vnto them Surely it is without all doubt that they do provoke God more and more by these their workes seeing that they are execrable sinnes Agayne they doe plucke vpon their heads the more grievous iudgement and do aggravate theyr punishment in that they thinke that theyr workes which are nothing else but damnable sinnes extreamely contrary vnto the lawe and will of God are pleasing vnto God and worthy of his favour for by this meanes as much as in them lyeth they do as it were change God into a Devill and make him the patrone of sinnes to appoynt a reward for them therefore farre be from a Christian mans heart all those workes which are thus farre opposite vnto the will of God and condemned of him as meere offences Then after that God hath begun to renew men by the power of his spirit of evill they become good and that but in part onely for the corruption of nature is but onely restrayned and amended in some sort for as is aforesayd the elect are regenerate but imperfectly in this life therefore they are not wholy good and conformeable vnto the lawe of God wherefore theyr workes also can be good but in part onely and not perfect for there cannot be more in the effect then there is in the cause but whatsoever is in the effect that shall be in the cause much more therefore the workes of the godly are partly good and partly evill They are good as they proceede from the operation and motion of the holy spirit and are agreeable vnto the law of God And they are evill as they proceede from the flesh and vnregenerate part and do decline and stray from the rule and obedience of Gods law By this it manifestly appeareth that no worke of man is so prayse-worthy as Augustine sayth well which is not defiled and stayned with some blemish or other These works deserve nothing at all toward the attainement of salvation because they are imperfect and stray and swarve very farre from the law of God For the law requireth so great perfection as that it condemneth the least thought of the least sinne Agayne vnperfect works according vnto the Canonicall rule which the Lawyers so call are as if they were not done at all for such as the cause is such also must the effect needs be Seeing therefore that the cause is vnperfect the effect must needs follow vnperfect for it were extreame and ridiculous madnes to loke for a perfect and durable worke from an imperfect and transitory cause therefore these workes are proved and convinced to be vnperfect from their cause which is vnperfect so that if a man seeke for a reward by them he shall finde punishment as Saint Augustine saith for man in the least thing is not able to perfourme so much as the lawe requireth therefore he cannot be thought righteous and acquited before God and before his iust iudgement seate by the merit of his owne works Wo therefore vnto the life of men even the most commendable as the same Augustine sayth if it should be iudged according vnto the strict rigor of the lawe without the mercy of God Moreover seeing these good works proceed not from mans strength but do spring the power and grace of the holy spirit man cannot deserve or get any thing by them seeing they be not his owne but the works of God for man doth them not of himself but God doth worke them in him So that to do that which God commandeth to receive those things which he promiseth are both the gift of God and so man had no merits of his owne therefore the free works of God fall not within the compas of mans merit because those works are the effects of the holy ghost and not the deeds of mē proceeding from their own strēgth Therefore the Papists in as much as they hunt for salvation by these works are of all hunters the most vayne for their labours and endeavours are alwayes frustrate and without effect for they shall never attayne vnto that which they seeke for by them and they play the fooles more absurdly then if they should say they were able to strike fire out of the sea Certaynely in this their foole-hardy enterprise they do manifestly tempt God in that they go about to bring to passe things that are infinitely farre greater then their strength will suffer or permit Agayne in that they boast their owne deserts so confidently and boldly it is a manifest signe that they are not regenerate and that they know not themselves at all for by how much the more a man is regenerate by so much the more doth hee see and bewayle his owne sinnes and infirmityes and so findeth and perceiveth by experience that hee can do no good thing without the grace of God Therefore from his heart doth he humble himselfe before God and in the griefe of his heart with much lamenting doth he earnestly pray against those plagues which he hath deserved also he confesseth his
a reward vnto the works of the godly hee doth it not as if the works by theyr worth and dignity deserved any thing but as a good Father he applyeth himselfe to the affections desires of his childrē For he knoweth that men are thus affected that they will take paines for no man freely but that they looke for some reward from him for whom they labour and so that he might make his children diligent and obedient in his service he calleth his owne free gifts and vndeserved benefites bestowed vpon them by the name of a Reward Therefore God setteth the title of a Reward befor his benefites not to that ende to obscure the prayse of his bounty or any way to diminish it but to encourage his children and make them more willing and ready to the sincere study of obedience And so that hee might give them the more encouragement to live innocently he casteth that vpon their workes which is proper to his owne free goodnesse and mercy So that whatsoever God promiseth or performeth vnto the workes of the Sayntes he doth it not for the perfection and worthines of them but because he hath iustified them and perfumed them with the sweete savour of his grace For hee iustifieth theyr workes and cleaseth them from all the spots wherewith they are defiled and polluted So that he giveth a reward vnto them not as they are vnperfect in themselves and do savour of the flesh but because by his grace he doth account them iust and righteous By this it is more cleerely apparant then the light at mid-day that the reward which God promiseth vnto the workes of the godly is not to be referred vnto the merit of man but vnto the benefite of God Therefore whomsoever God pardoneth to those also doth he give and bestow the spirit of holinesse and righteousnesse by which they are cleansed and made studious of good workes Therefore for this cause are the godly and theyr workes wel-pleasing and acceptable vnto God because he doth behold and accept them and theyr works together with his owne gifts of the spirit Agayne hee doth appoynt sure and great rewards vnto his children that so hee might ease and asswage all the troubles all the iniuries and reproaches to which they especially are subiect and with which they are afflicted in this life as in a miserable and sorrowfull exile So that the promise of a reward doth contayne a great measure of the mercy of God and doth exclude all worthinesse of workes Otherwise if God would sift and examine the workes of his children as they are in themselves according vnto the rule of his law surely there could not be found among all mankind one worke though performed of the very best which might seeme worthy of the least reward Here therefore we must neyther dreame of any relation betweene the reward and the merit nor yet of any recompence that should be due vnto vs. Moreover if any mortall man could be found which had most perfectly fulfilled the law in every respect or could fulfill it yet could he deserve nothing for himselfe thereby nor iustly aske any reward at Gods hands for it Luk 17.10 because he hath performed that onely vnto him which by the right of creation he was bound to performe vnto him Wherefore although a man shall doe all thinges which are commanded him yet he is to be counted as an vnprofitable servant because hee hath done but that which he ought to doe cannot interest or intitle himself vnto any thing from God therby So that they are all to be condemned of intollerable pride and extreame arrogancie which say that they that they can deserve any thing at Gods hands for the worthinesse of theyr owne workes For God in this matter hath no respect of any merit and worthinesse of our owne but is altogether a free debter So that vnto the godly which stand faythfully and fight manfully vnder his banners God is made a debter not by receyving any thing of them whereby he should be bound vnto them but by promising them that which pleased him Thus the godly are they which say vnto God Thou art indebted vnto vs because thou hast promised and the wicked are they which say vnto God Thou art indebted vnto vs because we have given vnto thee as Augustine speaketh Serm. 16. col 336. Therefore all good works which the regenerate and the godly doe are not workes that deserve any thing but obedience which is due vnto God by the right of creation and redemption Agayne although the Scripture in some places doe seeme to ascribe salvation and life eternall vnto good workes this is not so to be taken as if they were the true and proper cause of Salvation but because they from whom such works doe proceed are iustified through the merit of Christ and regenerate by the holy Ghost and renewed vnto a diligent care of religion and to the bringing forth of good workes Secondly there is shewed from the effects of Iustification what are the parts and exercises of true and vnfayned religion So the Sonne of God in S. Matthew Cap. 25.35 ascribeth eternall life vnto good works not because those works do deserve life eternall but because they are certayne meanes by which God bringeth his children into the heavenly inheritance So Christ wil teach vs that this heavenly life salvation is appoynted and promised onely vnto them which with a ready and vndaunted spirit give themselves vnto good workes and strive dayly vnto the price of theyr high Calling Thus the Scripture setteth forth true faith by that which followeth namely by good workes and the fruite thereof and sheweth certayne tokens whereby men that are iustified and regenerate may bee discerned Hether appertayne all such like places of Scripture which seeme to attribute Salvation vnto the workes of men So fayth is not defyned by the causes from that which goeth before but is onely described by the effects from that which followeth after Let these thus suffice to be spoken of the second thing Now the third thing remayneth to be handled First here is to be noted that wee reiect not the good workes which God commandeth and the law setteth downe as certayne popish divines with theyr lying lips doe slaunder vs but we admit here a wise and necessary distinction because that they are not to be done to that purpose that by them the iustice of God might be satisfied and Salvation attayned For this were nothing els but to deny the merite of Christ to mocke God and leade men out of the true way to Salvation seeing there is none to be found that can performe perfect workes and agreeable vnto the Law of God So that concerning workes this is the controversie and manifest difference betweene vs and the Papists For they admit and defend workes to bee the causes of grace but wee embrace them as the effectes of grace And they have no ground for theyr opinion but onely
theyr most vayne imaginations but wee for our opinion have the mouth of God himselfe and the whole Scripture as the onely most faythfull teacher Moreover wee separate good workes from iustifying and not from the party iustified but they place them as well in the act of iustifyng as in the person iustified We do this iustly because man can bee iustified by no other meanes nor acquited of his sins but by the onely Acts 4.12 free mercy of God and merit of Christ alone But the Papistes doe vniustly because all and each of those works which they bragge of and the Monckes dreame of are rather an hinderance then a furtherance vnto iustification Therefore those workes which follow a iustified man flow from true fayth are wholy to be embraced and done as farre as mans weakenesse can performe These workes are necessary vnto every Christian because they cannot be separated from true fayth For on whomsoever God doth bestow and inspire fayth by his spirite through the word him also doth hee renew and make willing and fitte for the performance of good workes so that workes doe follow fayth as the effects doe follow the cause And as effects cannot be separated from the cause so neyther can good workes from fayth Here by evident reasons is shewed how great both publike and private commodities doe flow from the studious care of good works And the vnsavory slaunders of the Papists which say that good workes are reiected by the Protestants are refuted CHAP. 32. ANd why these good works should be done the reasons which follow in order will declare Amongst these reasons some appertayne vnto God some vnto our selves some vnto our neighbour Therefore good works ought chiefely to be done for Gods cause for he commandeth that we should depart from evill and doe good Psal 37.29 So that first of all good works are to be done because God will have it so that in this life we should begin our new obedience that is due vnto him and finish it in the life to come We are not left vnto our owne selves to do what seemeth good in our owne eyes but it standeth vs vpon to do his will vnder whose iurisdiction we are Hence it is Ioh. 15.12 that Christ in S. Iohn sayth This is my commandement that yee love one another as I have loved you This therefore is the chiefest end to obey God and his commandements for God is glorified by a godly life and an holy conversation For he that liveth godly honoureth God because hee performeth obedience vnto him and expresseth and resembleth his image and giveth occasion that others may glorifie God also Mat. 5 16. On the contrary they which live a dissolute and an vngodly life do dishonour God for albeit they prayse him with theyr lippes and tongue yet by theyr wicked deeds and vngodly life they speake evill of him though they keepe silence and say not a word Secondly good workes are to bee done for the Gospels sake that it may be beautified and adorned with good manners and vertuous and honest actions Tit. 2.10 For a godly and blamelesse life is an honor and ornament vnto the Gospel So by godly endevours and holy workes it is brought to passe that the doctrine of the Gospel is approved and well spoken of among the adversaries For often it hapneth that they by this meanes are allured to the imbracing of the Gospel Further good works are to be done for the cause of our thankefulnesse for it is a iust and equall thing that we should love and prayse him by whom we are redeemed from the power of sinne and of the divell and of whom we have receyved and dayly do receyve so many benefites which cannot be done without a pure mind an holy life and chast body For an impure and wicked life is rather the dishonouring then praysing of God Agayne as we are iustified by fayth through the grace of God and merit of Christ and freely made heires of the heavenly kingdome so also by a carefull desire of good works we ought dayly and continually to shew manifest our selves to be thankfull vnto God for so great a benefit These are the reasons why good workes are to bee done for Gods sake Now the reasons follow why they are to be done for our owne sake First therefore we ought to do good workes because they are sure and vnfallible signes of our faith For as the tree cannot be knowne what manner of one it is but by the fruites thereof so also is faith knowne by a godly and holy life For although faith hath her secret abiding inwardly in the heart yet there it remayneth not idle but bringeth forth good workes outwardly and sheweth it selfe vnto men So that where honest actions and a godly conversation is and appeareth in the outward worke there must true faith needs be likewise for dissimulation hipocrisy doth not long deceive and keepe itselfe close Therefore in whose minde soever a sincere care and desire to do good dwelleth let him know that he hath true fayth For without fayth there raigneth in man no care nor desire but onely how to sinne On the contrary fayth is exercised and strengthened by good workes 2. Pet. 1.10 so that continually by dayly increase it is augmented and groweth greater Therefore Paul admonisheth Timothy 2. Tim. 1.6 to stirre vp the gift of God that is in him that it might encrease more and more and make larger proceedinges Also it is seemely for a man to adorne and garnish his life and calling with holy and religious manners Therefore the Scripture admonisheth and exhorteth Ephes 4 1. that every one should so walke as beseemeth the Calling wherewith he is called Likewise temporall punishments are often avoyded by good workes For where sinnes are committed and heaped vp with a strong hand there also the iudgements of God against them sleepeth not For that tree which bringeth forth no fruite is wont to be cutte downe Mat. 7.19 and cast into the fire by which saying wee are taught that punishment is an vnseparable companion of an vngodly life For the more securely that man sinneth the more severely God punisheth Lastly by the serious and sincere study of good works the goods both of the body and of the soule are augmented For the more earnestly that a man giveth himselfe vnto godlinesse and striveth vnto integritie the more is his corrupt and sinfull nature amended and hee the more renewed vnto the image of God For this cause the Prophets and Apostles doe so greatly exhort and vrge men vnto all godlinesse and innocency of life Likewise good workes are very profitable and much avayleable to the attaynement of prosperity in this life For God suffereth not that his children should languish and die beeing consumed with want Of which thing there are many testimonies of Scripture extant in divers places wherein hee promiseth many and sundry good turnes
rewards vnto the religious worshippers of him Of which we may reade Moses his bookes Deut. 28. Surely such like promises are like so many heavenly spurs by which all and every one is pricked on to the doing of good as if the Prophets and Apostles should collect conclude thus 1. Tim. 4.6 Whatsoever things have the promises of this life and of that which is to come they ought to be thought vpon and to be done above all things But the works of godlinesse have the promises of this life and that which is to come therefore those works above all things ought to be thought vpon and done In this world God giveth vnto the godly some taste of his goodnesse in temporal blessings that by such a taste hee might allure and whet them on more and more vnto the desire of heavenly things S. Paul having respect vnto this 1. Tim. 4.8 writeth vnto Timothy that godlinesse is profitable vnto all things and hath the promises of this life and the life to come By this saying he doth stirre vp all the godly vnto true and sincere religion for the great goodnes sake of God in as much as God suffereth nothing to be wanting vnto them which love the wayes of God Therefore Paul setteth downe godlines alone to be the beginning accomplishment of an happy and prosperous life as if he should say whosoever attaineth vnto true godlinesse indeed possesseth God himselfe and all good things do attend vpon him and the Scripture requireth nothing els at his hands Seeing therefore that faith is nourished by good works that the holy spirit is cherished in man and that God is mooved stirred vp vnto a larger measure of liberality every man should dayly take heed that the transitory things of this world do not hinder the study and course of godlinesse So the godly and holy men by giving themselves dayly vnto good works Phil. 2.15 and by serving God faythfully are the lights of the world For on the one side by the good works that they doe they doe set forth and further the glory of God and doe adorne his Gospell and enlarge it vnto others on the other side they doe mutually edifie and benefite both themselves and others together with them Therefore good workes are precious oyntments which send forth their savour farre and wide vnto others and doe allure them vnto it by the pleasant odour whose wounds it cureth and healeth like balme and thus much of this matter Now wee must briefely runne over the reasons why good workes are to be done Phil. 2.4 for our neighbours sake A Christian man ought not only to thinke on and be carefull of those things that are his owne but also on those thinges which doe concerne his neighbour For what good thing soever a man receyveth of God hee ought not to suppresse and conceale them in his owne power as if he might enioy them alone but is bound to stretch and enlarge them further to the benefiting of others And so he should endevour himselfe to be profitable vnto his neighbour not onely by good counsell and other temporall commodity but much rather by a good and godly example of life that he may eyther be more furthered and edified in true fayth or converted vnto the fayth and continued therein For this often is effected by a godly life and an honest conversation that men which are altogether enemies of the Gospel are converted vnto the love and liking thereof So that the very infidels by a godly speech or by one good worke and holy example or other are gayned to Christ and do attayne salvation Agayne good works ought to be done lest others beeing offended with such or such faults should start backe from the love of the Gospel or should bee discouraged from embracing it for they thinke that the Gospell is such as their manners are which professe it for the world is wont to measure all religion by the manners of men If then the professours of the Gospell be holy and without blame then do they commend and prayse the Gospell it selfe But if they live wickedly after this or that sort theyr mindes are changed and they dissallow and reiect the Gospell which certaynely ought not to be so For the Gospell doth not depend vpon this or that event or vpon any manners of men but vpon God himself and hath authority from it owne nature so that the Gospell is holy and remayneth true yea though the whole world should abandon it selfe vnto the committing of all manner of wickednes and should with one consent condemne the whole worship of God together with the Gospell vnto hell and vtter darkenes notwithstanding they which live wickedly and dissolutely are infectious and bring assured destruction both to themselves and others So a wicked and prophane life is nothing else but a shame and reproach of true religion and of the Gospell and not only so but also it giveth matter and occasion vnto others to skorne and eschew the Gospell For they which professe and embrace that have after a sort the name of God engraven in their foreheads As often therefore as they do wickedly so often do they by their vncleanenes disgrace the very face of God and make his blessed Gospell a reproach and laughingstock vnto others And all they worke wickednes and live vngodly Rom. 2.24 not onely which commit evill and things that are forbidden of God but also which neglect good and things commaunded by God both which God hath decreed to punish For the Lord sayth in Mathew I thirsted Mat. 25.35 and yee gave me not to drinke and so forth These are the chiefest ends for which good works are to be done for all they are so necessary for a man of a ripe age Mat. 25.42 that without them not one can enter into eternall life not that they are the causes of salvation for of it there is not neyther can be any other cause but the merit of Christ alone and Gods onely goodnes Agayne men are reconciled vnto God and iustifyed before they have done any good workes for first theyr sinnes are forgiven and pardoned them Secondly the Holy Ghost by which they are renewed vnto a new life and to the doing of good workes is given vnto them So that in the order of nature iustification doth goe before the renewing of man and the perfourming of good workes Therefore the Papists which seeke for iustification by good workes doe make a cause of the effect and change the cause into the effect But good workes are necessary vnto men of ripe age as certayne meanes without which men cannot attayne vnto salvation for God doth acquite and iustifie man freely but he will not have man to abuse his grace by vngodly living Ephes 2.10 therefore he hath ordeyned good workes for men that they should walke in them Agayne in the last iudgement of the whole world he will pronounce eyther the sentence of
severall branches having bin by a divine order conceived before time are set downe in time by an Apostolike method and ordered and ranged with excellent skill And if a man should more intentively and deeply consider all the linckes of this chayne the only will of God shall be the efficient cause of all the rest for vpon it the summe of all the rest dependeth and consisteth Therefore the freewill of God is the first and most generall cause for from it proceedeth the first motion and whole power of working so that without it in this matter nothing can be wrought or brought to passe And heere is a most excellent and artificiall order of the causes of salvation for from the first and highest cause vnto the secondary causes and from thence vnto the effects there is a continuall gradation vntill we come vnto the last end whether all and every of them tend and have recourse What are the effects of predestination and how great benefits come from it vnto every beleever Next there is shewed that this cheyne of salvation is made of the meere benefites of God CHAP. 35. HEre now remayneth briefely to be handled what and how great effects and benefits doe arise and come vnto vs by the free grace of predestination These effects may be declared and enlarged by sundry and severall degrees and they are in number tenne all which are set downe in order The first of them is Christ the Mediator the head and beginning of all the elect Hee in this doctrine of election is to be esteemed the onely foundation and ground-worke of salvation for without him there can be no election vnto salvation so that of him dependeth the election of all the rest for hee vouchsafed to come downe from heaven and to become man that by his sacrifice and bloud he might redeeme and save others for ever The second effect is the creation and bringing forth of every of the elect into this world The third is an effectuall calling vnto Christ by the holy Spirit and the word of the Gospell and a true conversion vnto God The fourth is iustification a stedfast faith and a certaine hope which layeth hold vpon and applyeth vnto it selfe Christ and his merits and relyeth wholy on him not desiring nor longing after any thing else The fift is regeneration and the good workes which necessarily follow it for whome God hath appoynted vnto any end he also ordayneth and sheweth him certayne meanes by which he may attayne vnto the end that he is appoynted vnto Therefore good workes are not the beginning and cause of election as the Papists dreame but they are onely the effects and meanes by which as by certayne succeeding degrees the elect are brought vnto life everlasting The sixt is the dayly increase and accesse of faith and sanctification so that the workes of charity and effects of faith doe one after an other dayly growe greater and better for a man is not good except he have a desier to be made and become better And he that goeth not forward in the wayes of God goeth back from them as Saint Barnard sayth else-where The seaventh is invincible patience and courage in induring adversity quietly The eight is vndaunted and perpetuall constancy and finall perseverance in faith and sanctification daily increasing The ninth is resurrection from the dead and the reuniting of body and soule The tenth is glorification life eternall that is to say spirituall ioy in God with thanksgiving and everlasting gladnes in Christ By these things we may see cleerely what great and saving gifts and benefits are included in predestination onely They therfore which feele the effects of the grace of god within themselves ought with great admiration to have them in continuall remembrance to consider of them within thēselves for they which do acknowledge how greatly they are bound vnto God for so great a benefit which hath vouchsafed to choose them from out of such a number of wretched persons and being elected to reforme and renew them into his owne image and heavenly glory Let them then with certaine hope found confidence rely vpon that free goodnes of God and that his vnchangeable counsell concerning their salvation and let them be as surely perswaded and made as certayne of their salvation as if they had it already layd downe vnto them in theyr hand and did enioy it in full and present possession So that these gifts of God and merits of Christ are to be thought vpon seriously and religiously and to be preferred before all the riches of the whole world for they do bring with them everlasting life and blessed immortality But they which turne aside vnto transitory and fading good things are not wise for themselves for they perish at the last with certayne destruction Moreover these effects are some of them of one only respect and sort which are such effects as can never put on the nature nor take vpon them the turne of an efficient cause of which sort are all the secundary effects from the first effect vnto the last end Others are of a two-fold respect and sort which may sometimes be effects and sometimes efficient causes Such is the first effect namely Christ Iesus which though he be God eternall and in this respect can be an effect vnto nothing when as he maketh all things yet as he is man and a mediator he is the first effect of predestination and he is such an effect thereof as notwithstanding may neverthelesse be an operative and efficient cause of all the rest for hee is the cause of all the effects which are placed betweene predestination and glorification which is the last of all for it is he which hath called which hath iustified which hath glorified vs. So that all the linckes of this whole chayne are the meere benefits of God and no merits of man are found in it Therefore he that reckoneth vp mans merits among these free benefites of God as he doth derogate from the bountie and glory of God so also doth he hazard his owne Salvation But all they which love God and doe seeke for theyr Salvation in his goodnesse and in the Sacrifice of Christ doe know for an assured trueth that all the lincks of this Chayne are the very effects of Christ and the meere benefites of God himselfe Therefore to him only ought they to be thankefull for them Moreover out of this Chayne wee may see that in the whole course of Salvation the Scripture mentioneth and speaketh of nothing but the grace of God onely and many other gifts which proceed from that Therefore also the true fayth of the godly ought to receyve and acknowledge nothing besides them The Linckes of this Chayne ought to be considered by an Antithesis that the goodnesse of God may the more appeare and be magnified so that wee proceede from the enioying of the one contrary vnto the remooving of the other Secondly the Linckes hang together with an inseparable
wildernes and your hospitalitie and almes the one entertaining sundrie your friends and neighbours and the other relieving not onely the needie of our congregation but also bountifullie refreshing the confining poore of our whole countrie Neither that onely but in sundrie other fruites doth your godlie care love toward religion appeare which as it is in it selfe so I know your Honors do hold it the verie crest and top of your Nobilitie and Honour for the which things sake the Apostle accounted both his noble birth and all other things to be but losse and dung Phil. 3.4,8 that he might win Christ Amongst manie other testimonies and proofes thereof this one commeth unto my mind as not one of the least which I am the more bold and that without any adulatorie or mercinarie motive particularly to mention for that therein I shall but give unto your Honors your due and likewise by mentioning your religious and honourable example aime at the provoking of others to be imitators of your godly president It is this Namely for that you have beene alwaies readie rather to enlarge then to straighten our borders and to adde unto the portion of the Levites rather then to thinke that too much which is alreadie alotted unto your house name and persons by how much the contrary in the infallible iudgement of sound divinity is an undoubted marke of irreligion and impietie for how can men say that they love the temple when they shall either by their simoniacall or sacrilegious dealing iniurie those that wait about the altar or how can men say that they delight in the lawe when they shall wrong the interpreters or expounders of the lawe It were as if a man should say I would gladly have the corne troden forth and yet I will muzzell the mouth of the oxe that should tread it forth 1. Cor. 9.9 Or as if a taskemaster should say I will have my whole tale of brick made up and yet deliver no straw to make them withall Ex. 5.10.8 which speeches are flatlie contradictorie and cannot stand together Sampsons wife said unto him surely thou lovest me not Iudg. 14.16 because thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people and hast not told it me The word and ministerie may much more say to such kinde of men surely you love me not because you detaine that frō me which you ought to yeeld If Sampson were said not to love his wife because he concealed that from her which he was not bound to reveale unto her then much more may these be said not to love because they do detaine and withhold that which by all lawe equitie and conscience they ought to give These people may be resembled unto those kind of professors which S. Iarnes speaketh of who saie Depart in peace warme your selves Iam. 2.16 and fill your bellies notwithstanding yee give them not those things which are needefull to the body So these I meane the more faire spoken sort of them for there is of them a generation who as they have the vertue of subtracting our portions so have they the vice of detracting our persons howsoever they can be content to give faire words which as the common saying is will pay no debt yet they are so farre off from thinking this godlinesse to be great gaine 1. Tim. 6.5.6 as that they do rather thinke that that which is gotten this way is cleere gaine yea and do practise it as though this corrupt gaine were godlines These and many other sharp and acrimonious speaches may justly be said against these forenamed oppressors so that your Honors have much to thanke God and to reioice in that that by your religious and honorable carriage herein you have separated your selves from this kinde of men 1. Tim. 6.5 That which your Honors have many waies deserved from me and that that I do unfainedly conceive of and in all dutifull and Christian affection truly attribute unto your Honors may both iustlie occasion me to enlarge my selfe to manifest and expresse my thankfulnes but that first I do suppose you are not delighted with having your owne praises sounded forth and withall your honorable and christian fame is so sufficiently known unto the world as that my selfe the meanest of many that are shrowded under your honourable wings and protection neede not to be the trumpetter thereof I will therefore with all dutifull and thankefull remembrance unto your Honors end with the saying of Boaz unto Ruth Ruth 2.12 The Lord recompence your worke and a full reward be given you of the Lord God of Israel And likewise with that of Ruth unto Boaz Verse 13. Let me still finde favour in your sight my Right Honorable patrone and patronesse for you have comforted me and spoken comfortably unto me your poore Minister though I be not like unto one of your Ministers but am the least of those of our sort and order which are patronized and protected by you The Lord continue your prosperous health and christian welfare and ever more increase the noble honour of both your Honours From your Towne of Cheynis the ninth of Iune 1604. Your Honours humble and dutifull poore Minister ready to be commanded Peter Allibond Minister of Cheynis TO THE GENTLE Reader COurteous and christian Reader I confesse that to publish a Translation is no more then what may bee perfourmed by a Grammar Scholler as wherein indeed is shewed more industrie then Invention Yet I pray thee lend me herein thy charitable conceit and Christian affection together with thy friendly acceptance of that which with an vpright minde ayming at the glory of God and at thy good I doe here tender vnto thee And for this small worke I pray thee be like minded as the Apostle was for the matter of preaching which though it were by some perfourmed of contention and by others of love Phil. 1.16.18 yet he therein ioyed because Christ was still preached In like manner so that God be glorified and his Church edified whether it bee primarily by the deepe meditations of some or secondarily by the painefull translation of others reioyce and thanke God in it For it is in the edifying and building of the Church of God as in an earthly house or building wherein every stone is not a carved or corner stone but some are vnhewen and fillers as they call them which though they appeare not yet are they necessarily of the building So is it herein some labours are more excellent and some more meane Eph. 2.12 yet both tending to the repayring of the Saints and for the edification of the bodie of Christ. That which mooved my selfe and another who ioyned with me in this small worke was the worth and excellency of the Treatise it selfe it not being a frivolous or vnprofitable Pamphlet but a worke very well beseeming such a reverend and learned Author as wherein is contayned strong and sound doctrine to furnish
thee with knowledge and iudgement against the common Adversary as also very sweet and comfortable points to comfort thy conscience against those same strong temptations of Sathan concerning the assaults of diffidence or distrust On these two heads especially dependeth the matter and subiect of this booke which if it please thee to peruse thou shalt finde in it no doubt matter to thine edifying and contentment We have taken this paynes for the good and benefite of those which vnderstand it not in the tongue wherein it was written but for others it shall be best for them if they please to reade it in the Originall wherein it was written as wherein indeed it hath the best grace both by meanes of the elegant style and composition thereof as also because there are sundry termes and words of Arte which can hardly be familiarly expressed or resolved by our idiome or dialect This I say gentle Reader have we by the Lords assistance both attempted and atchieved in regard of the goodnesse of the Treatise and a good thing the more common and vniversall it is the more commendable and the better it is The same reasons which do vrge that the holy Scriptures should be written in a knowne tongue doe likewise proportionally enforce that divine and godly Treatises vpon severall passages and places of Scripture should be made familiar vnto the vnlearned and common people as whereby they may be the better enabled to vnderstand the Scriptures and so to be furthered in their Salvation So that if thou censure the translating of such Authours thou wilt very easily drawe vpon thee the blemish and suspition of Popery it selfe Thou must not thinke gentle Reader that the Lord would have it to be amongst vs now Gen. 11.7 as hee himselfe caused it to be amongst them which built the tower of Babel whose language was so confounded that they perceyved not one anothers speech but that God would have it so to be in his Church now as that every man should say Acts 2.11 Wee heard them speake in our owne language the wonderfull works of God But I trust I shall not neede to make excuse for this our small labour but rather presume of thy loving and friendly acceptance thereof whereof perswading my selfe I commend thee to the tuition of the almighty promising thee that if thou wilt by thy good endevours so breake the shell of an vnknowne tongue or language as that eyther my selfe or the Church may by thy good meanes come vnto the sweete kernell of any good Treatise I would give to God the glory and to thee thy due prayse And so I doubt not but that thou wilt walke according to that vpright rule set downe by our Saviour Christ Whatsoever yee would that men should doe vnto you even so doe you vnto them Mat. 2.12 for this is the Law and the Prophets Farewell The summarie Contents of this Golden Chayne WHerein consisteth mans eternall happinesse or everlasting woe Chap. 1. Fol. 1. The five linkes of this Chayne are 1. Gods foreknowledge 2. his predestination 3. his calling of men 4. his iustifying them 5. his glorifying them Chap. 2. Fol. 4. That God exerciseth those whom he calleth in continuall affliction thereby to conforme them to the image of his Sonne Chap. 3. Fol. 9. How many wayes the foreknowledge of God may be taken and the vse thereof Chap. 4. Fol. 12. Distinction betwixt predestination and foreknowledge and of how many degrees it consisteth Chap. 5. Fol. 18. Of Adams fall and Gods foreknowledge therein Chap. 6. Fol. 23. The causes of predestination the definition thereof and difference betwixt it and Gods providence Chap. 7. Fol. 34. The divers kinds of predestination and properties of election Chap. 8. Fol. 40. Election whereon dependeth salvation is the chiefe foundation of a Christians faith Chap. 9. Fol. 43. Of Gods wonderfull mercie mixed with his iustice Chap. 10 Fol. 49. Gods free mercie is the true cause of Election Chap. 11. Fol. 54. The Papists fiction of faith and good workes foreseene confuted Chap. 12. Fol. 63. The horrible offence of the Papists touching faith and good workes foreseene by vnanswerable arguments confuted Chap. 13. Fol. 71. The proprieties of Election The faith of the Elect vnmoveable Chap. 14. Fol. 84. The Consciences of the Elect are by this doctrine strengthened most stedfastly Chap. 15. Fol 94. The strong comforts of the Elect touching their salvation Chap. 16. Fol. 98. The doctrine of Election is most necessary to salvation Chap. 17. Fol. 103. God is debter to no man therefore hee may save or damne whom it pleaseth him Chap. 18. Fol. 119. The reprobate have not to blame God but their owne sinnes for their damnation Chap. 19. Fol. 126. The horrible damnation of the reprobate turneth to the good of the Elect. Chap. 20. Fol. 137. That the Elect cannot become reprobates nor the reprobates ever be elected Chap. 21. Fol. 142. In reprobation of the more parte Gods great iustice appeareth as in electing the fewer Gods infinite mercy And how men should examine themselves Chap. 22. Fol. 147. How many things necessary to be knowne in the doctrine of Election Chap. 23. Fol. 152. A passage from predestination vnto vocation as from the cause to the effect And how diversly vocation is vnderstood Chap. 24. fol. 159. The Papists confuted touching mans strength and how farre free will extendeth Chap 25. Fol. 171. Of free Iustification knowne by Vocation and what it is to be iustified after the phrase of the Gospel Chap 26. Fol. 182. What thing Iustification is with the three properties thereof Chapter 27. Fol. 191. What benefites come through Iustification by faith and to whom the same doe properly appertaine Chap. 28. Fol. 207. How to amend our corrupt nature and to restore the Image of God in man Chap. 29. Fol. 210. The obedience of the Godly though vnperfect is accepted of God The meaning and true vse of good workes Chap. 30. Fol. 223. Why God accepteth of the vnperfect workes of his Elect and calleth his owne free gift our reward Chap. 31. Fol. 233. The great commodities both publike and private comming by the studious care of good workes That the Protestants doe not reiect good workes Chap. 32. Fol. 244. Regeneration is begun in this life though vnperfectly and without it is no Salvation To whom it belongeth Chap. 33. Fol. 251. By what bands the Elect are vnited to God by what signes they are knowen and how assured of Salvation Chap. 34. Fol. 255. The effects and benefites of Predestination Chap. 35. Fol. 262. How the Linckes of this Chayne must be considered and how vnseparable they are Chap. 36. Fol. 265. The world shal fade away but the gifts of this Chayne are everlasting Chap. 37. Fol. 268. The effects of Election and of reprobation are contrary What benefites of God common to both and what not and Gods iudgement touching both vnchangeable Chap. 38. Fol. 270. The Conclusion exhorting to
betweene them then there is betweene fire and water or then can be shewen betweene any other naturall disagreeing contraries So that whatsoever is attributed to the one must needes be withdrawne from the other one and the selfe same thing doth not please nor agree to them both nor one and the selfe same thing can in no sort bee attributed and given to both They therefore which follow the one must needes shunne and flie from the other and they which shunne and flie from the one must needes follow and embrace the other For there can come no meane betweene two things so extreamely contrary And let this suffice to be briefely touched and spoken by the way concerning the first Linke of Saint Paules Chayne Of Predestination howe it is distinguished from Foreknowledge how many wayes it is taken of how many Degrees it consisteth what it is and how it is distinguished from Fore-knowledge CHAP. 5. THe second Linke of Pauls Chayne is Predestination and this Predestination is put vnder Fore-knowledge as vnder the first and larger Cause For Gods Fore-knowledge stretcheth it selfe vnto the whole compasse of the vniversall World and to all the parts thereof and to all the qualities and actions of the parts of it and as well to those thinges that shall be made as vnto those things that are made and beholdeth and comprehendeth as well the evill workes of the wicked as the good workes of God But Predestination is restrayned and bound vnto reasonable Creatures Who seeth not therefore that Fore-knowledge is a word of a larger signification and Predestination a word of a stricter signification Yet notwithstanding the Apostle doth restraine this generall word vnto the Salvation of the Elect in this present place and therefore rightly affirmeth that whom God knew before that is whom hee determined to save those also hath hee predestinate that they might bee made like vnto the Image of his Sonne to witte first in the Crosse and afterward in glory For Gods chosen Children must vnder-goe and suffer many reproches and slaunders a hard Warre-fare and Conflictes and diverse and sundry Persecutions and Oppressions as long as they remayne in this life for the name of Christ and the Profession thereof before they can come to that ioyfull Tryumph and heavenly Glorie There also shall they be like vnto Christ as they have beene Partakers of his Crosse heere in this life But before wee beginne or declare the Definition of Predestination three things must be cleared first whether there bee Predestination or no secondly in howe many Degrees this worde Predestination is contayned and expressed and lastly howe many wayes it is taken First therefore wee must diligently enquire whether there be Predestination or no lest this Labour and Treatise may seeme to be vndertaken and pursued in vayne But that there is Predestination it appeareth and may evidently bee prooved first by diverse and pregnant places of Scriptures and also by famous Myracles The Scripture certainely in many places prooveth and declareth that God doth alwayes choose some certaine Flocke out of the whole companie of Mankinde which hee loveth adorneth and beautifieth with eternall blessings over and above all the rest For the proofe of this many manifest places of Scripture may be produced and cited as namely these Many are called Cap. 20. vers 16. Cap. 15. vers 16. Cap. 10. vers 16. but fewe are chosen sayth Christ in Saint Matthewe And agayne You have not chosen me but I have chosen you sayth Christ in Saint Iohn And agayne And other Sheepe I have which are not of this Folde them also must I bring and they shall heare my voyce and there shall be one Fold and one Shepheard saith Christ in Saint Iohn Also he hath chosen vs in him before the foundations of the world were layd that wee should bee holy and without blame before him through love Cap. 1. v. 4. sayth Saint Paul to the Ephesians Againe I have much people in this City saith the Lord vnto Paul in the Actes of the Apostles Many such testimonies may bee produced out of the holy Scriptures which clearely and playnely shewe and teach that God hath mercifully chosen some to Salvation and hath iustly reiected some from it Neither of which come by any chance of Fortune or Will of man but both proceede from Gods eternall and vnchangeable Decree And where Election is allowed there cannot be allowed or approved the accepting of all Furthermore there are almost an innumerable company of sayings and sentences all about in the holy Scriptures in which God hath promised to a fewe even to such as love him eternall ioyes such as neyther eye hath seene nor eare hath heard nor hath entred into the heart of man Hither belong all those Testimonies of Scripture which preach and teach of free Remission of sinnes of Vocation of Iustification and of Sanctification They therefore which doubt whether there be any Predestination and Election or no doe call in question the whole Scriptures of God and doe defame and accuse it of manifest vntrueth And further they seeme to accuse of lightnesse and to laugh at all the Promises concerning eternall Life and the Heavenly Glory which is to bee revealed and bestowed as though they were olde wives fables As if God had inserted vayne and fruitlesse wordes in his holy Scriptures which should feede man with vayne hope and not performe and make good the Promises indeede And to conclude they which waver and remayne doubtfull concerning Election doe also doubt whether there bee any certayne Iudgement of GOD whereby hee knoweth and discerneth as by a true and infallible marke the godly from the wicked and those that shall be saved from those that shall be damned and by making a doubt of that they make a doubt whether God be God or no which thinges seeing they are false and absurde wee must conclude as a most certayne and knowne Trueth that Election is a thing certayne and vndoubted of Over and besides these testimonies of Scripture and words of promise there are divers and sundry Myracles of the conservation of the Godly found in many places of the Scripture which God hath wrought since the beginning of the world whereby it is clearely and vndoubtedly confirmed that there are some chosen of God from among the rest and beloved of him more then others Hither belongeth the saving of Noah in the Flood Gen. 6.7 Gen. 13. the delivering of Lot from the destruction of Sodome the bringing of the people of Israell out of Egypt Exod. 12.13.14 hither also belong all the places of Scripture wherein we reade that GOD hath defended the good and beaten downe and destroyed the wicked These Myracles and wonderfull workes of God doe confirme more clearely then the Noone-light that there is a certayne Flocke which above the rest God loveth with a most tender affection and with his Fatherly care doth conserve and keepe wonderfully in this life and which hee defendeth and
them with eternall torments This therefore must firmely be resolved vpon that al those things which are brought to passe either by God he himselfe effecting them or which are done by other by his permission are not exempt from his providence but are brought to passe by his iust iudgement And God seeing he is the onely and soveraigne goodnes could not but make man good at the first and like vnto himselfe For every piece of worke vsually is like and correspondent to the workeman because that every cause bringeth forth an effect like it selfe So that it is often seene that a good cause generally and naturally bringeth forth a good effect and an evill cause likewise an evill and corrupt effect But when God by his eternall and vnchangeable decree had appointed mankind for the manifestation partly of his mercy and partly of his iustice it was therefore necessary that man should be created such a one by God as should be meete and fit to attayne vnto those ends for which he was created Therefore although man were created by God good and without sinne yet notwithstanding he was created good and without sinne in such sort that of good he might become evill otherwise God could have neither manifested nor exercised his iustice nor mercy in him and those ends which were fore-knowne and appoynted of God from everlasting had fallen to the ground and had not come to their proper effect and purpose Man therefore was to be created of God not necessarily good but changeably so that in respect of the things that happened in his way he might be changed and become otherwise But if he had bene created necessarily and vnchangeably good he had been rather a God then a creature For vnchangeablenesse in it selfe is the propriety of God alone and cannot be found in any creature which alone is or may be changed But God only is one and the same alwayes constant ever like himselfe and is never changed And howsoever the holy Angels are already and holy men shall be in the world to come placed in such degree of goodnes as that they may by no meanes fall from it into the contrary yet in both these this vnchangeablenes is not a naturall propriety but is and shall be the free gift and benefite of God Moreover God was not the proper author of this change in man from God to evill For he created man such an one that if he would himselfe he might have remayned without sinne For as his will was made free by God so he also of his owne accord without any outward constraint or compulsion chose the evill that was forbidden by God and by choosing that did contrary to the will of God and so sinned But if God should have made that change in man from good to evill certainely he should have been no lesse accounted the cause of the evill then if he had created it from the beginning For if he had eyther constreyned man to do evill by some forced and violent motion or by any other meanes inclined his will to this evill certaynely God himselfe had sinned together with man yea had sinned much more then man For there remayneth more evill in the cause that doth compell then in the cause that is compelled But in as much as man of his owne accord leaned vnto the perswasion of the Devill and withall of his owne free will without any outward compulsion desired the evill that was forbidden by God and so fell from God this change therefore from good to evill did arise from Sathans perswasion and from mans will freely choosing and committing the evill Therefore Adams free will and the Devils motion are the true causes of mans misery So that although our first Parents were created by God according to his owne image in holines and righteousnes both in body and minde and had free will given vnto them yet this their free will was not sufficient of it selfe to retayne Gods image and originall righteousnes because they were overcome by temptation and sinned But if the participation and ayde of the divine grace had vpheld them they had not fallen but had remayned innocent as at the first they were created Therefore although man was deceived by the temptation and subtilty of Sathan and brought into sinne yet notwithstanding because that of his owne free will he did assent and agree vnto the perswasion of the Devill therefore he himselfe was the first and chiefest cause of his owne ruine and decay for Sathan may perswade a man to evill but he cannot by force draw or compell any man to evill Therefore this willing revolting from good to evill is the cause of originall corruption which first began to be in the first mans will and afterward that infection and corruption by the iust iudgement of God descended and was derived vnto all and every of his posterity which hath made them altogether and every one apart by himselfe subiect to Gods iust iudgement and guilty of eternall damnation and that so that God the continuall enemy and revenger of all evill may iustly suffer all and every of them to be destroyed and to perish in that corruption without doing iniury to any of them because he is indebted to none of them So that the first man was so created of God and so left vnto the free choyse of his owne will that he might remayne in his innocency or fall from it if he would himselfe Although therefore that to fall and not to fall were vnto man indifferent and contingent and eyther of them as well one as the other might have happened and fallen out yet of these things which were otherwise meere matters of contingency that only fell out which God from everlasting had foreseene and decreed that it should happen So that those things which in respect of man are doubtfull and of their owne nature apt to fall out on either side which may happen or not happen or which may come to passe otherwise then man had purposed these very same things I say in respect of God are certayne and determined so that they cannot fall out otherwise then God from everlasting hath fore-ordained Hereby it is manifest that in things that pertayne vnto man if a man respect the counsell and end of man they are as it were matters of chaunce But if a man consider Gods decree and the end appoynted of him there are no matters of chance at all in inferior things nor in any thing els whatsoever For the creatures which are said to be second causes by reason of the want of wisedome do not foresee and know the future events of things and if peradventure they do foresee any yet they have them not in their power nor are indued with any such ability as to accomplish them and bring them to their wished and appoynted end wherefore many things oftentimes fall out and happen contrary to their intent and meaning and even their setled counsels are many times broken off and
hindred that they cannot come to their purposed and determined end so the effect and end doth not alwayes answere the purpose and intent of the doer because one thing is intended and an other thing happeneth But God doth now see the future events of things and beholdeth them as if they were present and by his almighty power can direct and bring them to their foreappoynted end and scope against all lets and hinderances whatsoever The event therefore and end is alwayes answerable to his eternall intent and purpose so that that commeth to passe in time which he purposed to himselfe before time The will of God is the precise and absolute necessity of things as Augustine elsewhere speaketh Moreover although the first man could not of himselfe change his will that was created good into evill without the motion of God comming in and concurring with it for in God all things are moved and without him there is no motion yet the fault and crime that was committed by the first man can not nor ought not to be ascribed vnto God for that remayneth onely in the will of man That this may be vnderstood more plainely and distinctly of every man there are two things to be considered in sinne to wit the action and the evill that is annexed and knit vnto the action For the action it selfe as far forth as it is an act and worke is good and God doth begin and finish it but as farre forth as it is wicked and hath evill annexed vnto it it proceedeth and floweth from the corrupt nature of man Moreover although God may produce and performe some worke in the evill actions of men yet God doth nothing but that which is good for in him there is no evill therefore also out of him can proceede no worke but good Seeing therefore that he is wholy good likewise must all his works be good also For the effects are wont to imitate and resemble their causes so that they are such as their causes have been before them So that whomesoever God stirreth vp and moveth he doth it well and right wisely although the creature so moved by him may sinne and so fall from him But man sinned against the expresse commaundement of God in that he freely chose the evill therefore the sinne that was committed by him is to be ascribed properly to his owne will and to be iudged as proceeding from it Therefore although the fall of the first man did proceede of his owne free and voluntary will yet could it by no meanes be done without Gods eternall decree because that onely falleth out which God from everlasting did purpose and foresee But sinne it selfe as it is a thing contrary vnto God did spring from the will of man approoving and committing it Gods heavenly will suffering and permitting it Therefore it may be gathered by the fall of man that the first man was pliant and easy to be inclined on eyther side For such a will was given him that if he would he might have stoode still and remayned innocent but he had no promise nor constancie given him to continue so and therefore did he fall so easily and tooke the fruite that was forbidden by GOD and did eate it Wherefore this change and fall from good to bad was by all meanes necessary for the accomplishment of Gods eternall counsell For by it on the one side there was as it were an open dore and a most fit occasion offered for God to shew his mercy by and on the other side an open gappe and a most iust cause given him to exercise his iustice For as the elect could not have been saved by mercy except they had first sinned and thereby deserved Gods most iust wrath and eternall damnation so likewise the reprobate could not have beene condemned by his iustice except they had beene first subiect vnto iust condemnation by reason of their sinne and falling from God So God on the one side did erect his everlasting iudgement seate and on the other side opened and layde forth the infinite treasures of hys mercy God therefore that he might shew forth his power and his wisedome together with his vnspeakeable goodnes thought it better of evill things to produce good things then to suffer no evill things at all In Enchirid cap. 21. sayth Saint Augustine For what can be better and wiser then hee is who knoweth how to bring forth exceeding great goodnes out of that which is very bad and to convert vnto salvation those things that are ready for destruction For except God could have produced good out of evill he would never have suffered the evill to have beene committed In as much therefore as he hindred not the fall of the first man who shall call him into question and who can or dare accuse him of vnrighteousnes for by permitting that fall he gat a most ample occasion to shew forth his glory by So that the fall of the first man Adam was no lesse necessary then the manifestation and execution of Gods eternall purpose By all this it is manifest that God is such a worker that he is able to fulfill and performe his good will even by the wicked and vngodly wills of men not that the wicked have any purpose to be obedient vnto Gods will but because by the secret working of God and his direction they are drawne vnto it themselves not knowing of it For God by his hidden power as with an invisible cord doth draw the wicked although they know it not to the performance of those ends which themselves never aymed at So the vngodly are directed to an end which themselves know not of by the secret power of God without any purpose or indeavour of theirs like as arrows flye without any feeling vnto the marke to which the Archer directeth them Heere behold and admire Gods provident bounty and favour which disdaineth not for our sake to direct the wandring steps and indeavours of the wicked vnto an wholesome end to turne the greatest hurt into the chiefest health and a desperate evill into good In as much therefore as the wicked sinne and do wickedly it is their owne worke but in as much as they bring to passe this or that by their sinning that is by the power of God sayth Saint Augustine Epist 48. ad l'incentium And although that God and wicked men seeme to do one and the selfesame worke yet the men are faulty and God only iust because in that one thing which they do there is not one cause for which they do it Lib. 21 de Gratia libero Arbitrio sayth Augustine So the wicked do not become good nor are held excused although they do the same things which God would have done because in their actions they have not respect vnto the will of God with a desire to obey it but follow their owne lewd counsels and wicked desires So also God becommeth not evill and vniust but remayneth good and
holy although he willeth those things which the vngodly do because God willeth them with a farre other manner of counsell and end then the vngodly do will and do them So in the death of Christ the action of the wicked was so evill that in respect of them it could not be worse nor more vile for they slew the innocent and killed the Lord of glory and intended in that one consent and outrage of theirs to hinder the salvation of mankinde yet that very same action in respect of God was so good and holy that no other coulde bee better nor more holy because he by the death of his sonne would redeeme miserable sinners from eternall death and translate them into heavenly glory and eternall life Wherefore wicked and vniust men oftentimes vnwittingly and intending some other thing doe fulfill and performe the good and righteous will of God Yet notwithstanding afterward God iustly punisheth condemneth them because they pursue their owne wicked desires and vngodly enterprises and respect not nor regarde Gods will at all They preferre their owne perverse affections before God and before his will So the actions of Almighty God and of wicked men differ by their diverse purposes and are distinguished one from another in their diverse ends So also at this day God suffereth many sinnes to bee committed of wicked men throughout sundry Nations and in the greatest kingdomes where he doth not vouchsafe them his word nor reforme them by his spirite and doth not enlighten their mindes with the knowledge of himselfe nor governe and incline their willes and affections so that they may propose to themselves this principall end as their onely marke namely to endevour to execute Gods knowne will earnestly and continually and to frame and fashion themselves their life and their manners vnto it as vnto a continuall rule to walke by and to honor God by their obedience in eschewing of evill and dooing of good these things except God worke in them by his word and spirite whatsoever they intend or doe howsoever before men it may seeme good and iust yet all that in the sight of GOD is nothing else but vglie and execrable sinne For God doth not at all regard nor respect the outward workes except the integrity of the heart go with them and appeare in them therefore where that wanteth there sinnes are accounted for no sinnes and vertue with vices and one thing with an other are confounded and so there will be but little difference betweene honesty and dishonesty Heere the author returneth to his purpose and ioyneth the third degree of praedestination then the causes of praedestination are vnfoulded next the definition of it is given and lastly praedestination is distinguished from providence CHAP. 7. THese things it seemed good to touch by the way and lightly to handle concerning permission which is the second degree of predestination now we must come vnto the third degree of predestination Thirdly to predestinate heere is nothing els then to purpose to choose some and to adopt them for sonnes in Christ out of the vniversall company of wicked men For God by his mercifull foresight did ordayne and appoynt from amongst sinfull men and such as were past cure in respect of themselves to receive some vnto mercy without any merit of theirs to redeeme them through Christ and by him also to bring them vnto eternall life But heere more properly and peculiarly is meant the other acceptation of this word election as in the definition heereof a little before we have declared This word election is taken diversely in the scripture so that sometimes it hath reference vnto some office or duty and sometimes to life eternall After the former manner Saul and Iudas were elected the one of which was chosen to a Kingdome and the other to an Apostleship neyther of them to eternall life But seeing that no definition can rightly be made or vnderstoode vnlesse the causes of which it is compounded and made be well perceived and knowne therefore I thinke I shall not do amisse if first I lay open the causes of predestination before I set downe the definition of it As for the efficient and first moving cause of predestination there can no other be set downe and appoynted but onely the eternall and onely purpose and good pleasure of God For God onely is hee which by his most wise counsell and iudgement doth discerne betweene men and men and hath decreed from everlasting what shall become of every man God hath lively expressed and declared this in his word manifestly and playnely for men considered in themselves and by themselves are all alike corrupted so that some are no whit better then other some Therefore in the iudgement of man some cannot be preferd before others because there is one and the selfesame condicion of all But God the highest iudge of all hath elected some men to eternall life in Christ and hath in his iust iudgement appoynted others to everlasting destruction and whome he hath chosen vnto salvation those hath he chosen by his owne meere mercy and vndeserved grace hee regarded nothing that is without himselfe but whome he hath elected he did onely for himselfe and in himselfe and not for any other cause Moreover he could finde nothing in those whome he hath chosen that might be worthy of election because they were all defiled and strangers from God also he could foresee no good thing in them as proceeding from them for which they should be chosen If he foresaw any good thing in them himselfe wrought it wholy and altogether in them For there can be found no good thing in them nor elsewhere of which God is not the sole author and onely effector Therefore what good thing so ever is and abideth in them that God himselfe wholy beginneth and finisheth in them And he beginneth and finisheth nothing in them but he decreed from everlasting that he would begin it and finish it in them For if in time he should worke any thing in them how little soever which he decreed not before time then should there be found manifest change in God which should do some thing by a new will and not by his eternall will Those things which the Papists pratle of here concerning workes foreseene whose cause and beginning should be man are vayne and frivolous fictions which after in their places shall more largely be confuted and reiected seeing the efficient and first moving cause of election is onely and alone Gods mercy and goodnesse hee by his bountifull and more then fatherly good will hath from everlasting made and finished the whole decree of Election Ephes 2.5 moreover Election is altogether the free and vndeserved favour of God For all men by nature were wholy corrupt and the children of wrath therefore in them God could foresee nothing at all but extreame and most absolute wretchednes They also which take the name of election which is found in many places of the
scripture for a certaine singular excellency whereby a man may be worthy to be chosen so that he should be called elect which is excellent and singular they I say are the authors of fables and trifle with toyes seeing that every man is esteemed farre otherwise in this civile and earthly court then he is or iudged to be in the court of heaven Moreover no other cause of reprobation can be alleaged or produced out of the scriptures but the iust and vnchangeable will of God for as much as he in that his eternall and secret counsell hath of himselfe and by himselfe adiudged some men vnto eternall death destruction and that before they were and had done any evill For sinne can in no wise be the cause of reprobation For all have sinned and are alike polluted Ephes 2.3 and by nature the children of wrath so that all even every one should have perished if sinne had bin the cause of reprobation Sinne verily is the cause of those things that necessarily follow reprobation of which we shall speake more hereafter Although sinne that is committed of man be in it selfe a iust and efficient cause of damnation yet the cause of reprobation is not to be sought for in man but the first and chiefest cause thereof is even the free and righteous will of God But in as much as the reprobate are damned that they have deserved by their owne sinne this is the iust cause of damnation for if they had not sinned they should not have beene punished For God is every way so iust that he punisheth none except he be inthralled to sinne and most worthy of punishment And now seeing that it is proved by evident testimonies of the scripture that there is praedestination and that the doubtfulnes of the word and divers signification thereof is playnely discussed and that the causes thereof are produced and layd open it remayneth that wee should playnely define what this praedestination is which except it be done those things which follow to be handled cannot be conceaved and vnderstood Praedestination therefore is the eternall free iust and vnchangeable purpose of God by which of his mercy he hath determined to adopt some men for sonnes through Christ and hath appoynted them to eternall life and glory and hath not vouchsafed othersome that grace and favour but hath reiected them by his iust iudgement and appoynted them to eternall death This definition many places of the scripture do deliver and prove Rom. 9.13 Malac. 1.3 but chiefely the example of Iacob and Esau do wonderfully declare it These two although they were bretheren borne of the same parents although they were sinners both alike and by nature the children of wrath yet the wisedome of God did so discerne betweene them that by his free grace he loved and elected one of them and by his iust iudgement hated and reiected the other and that not according to the good or evill workes foreseene eyther of the one or of the other but according vnto his purpose he did choose Iacob Rom. 9.11 and hated Esau and that when as yet neyther of them were borne and had done neyther good nor evill The scriptures have set forth these two persons as it were two opposite and contrary arguments from which it inferreth two generall propositions namely that Almighty God from everlasting before all ages hath so discerned betweene men by his firme and vnchangeable wisedome that some without any merit of theirs should obtayne vndeserved grace and that some should have and vndergoe deserved iustice and due punishment This praedestination is distinguished from providence as a speciall thing from a generall or as a part from the whole seeing that predestination is not so common nor so large as providence For predestination hath his operation and working eyther in the saving or condemning of men although the created spirits namely the Angels may not vnfitly be referred herevnto But providence reacheth further spreading and extending it selfe vnto all the workes of God So that praedestination is as well the iust councell of God in forsaking the reprobate and casting him off into eternall punishment as the voluntary purpose of God in the salvation of the elect to be begun in this life and finished in the life to come Also providence is the eternall counsell of God and such an order and ratified governement in things that are created according to which all things are directed and do fall out to the glory of God and for the profit and salvation of the elect To this his governement even the temptations and sleights of Sathan are held in subiection which are so guided by the most wise God that they still turne to the good of his Saints although his devises are hurtfull in themselves yet God knoweth how to prevent them and to turne them to a contrary event Therefore although the endevours of Sathan are in their owne nature most pernitious yet by Gods direction they become wholesome vnto his children For God is such a workemaister as is able to alter and withdraw the effect from the cause so as the effect by an accident becommeth good and helpfull whose cause was most ill and hurtfull This providence of God although it reach vnto the creation of all things and to the ordering and governement of them yet it chiefely intendeth the counsels and actions of reasonable creatures and is so intentive about them that although they be very much confused and out of order yet it doth most wisely turne and bring them to those ends which from everlasting were foreordayned and appoynted for them So that all those things which God from everlasting by his vnsearchable wisedome did foresee and know before they were those things by his wonderfull and mervailous providence in the instant and moment of time appointed he doth create ordereth them being created maintaineth them being ordered governeth them being mayntayned and in governing them he doth so draw forth the course and line of his providence in this world that nothing can happen or be done in it then that which God from all eternity did fore-ordayne and appoynt All things do so depend and hang vpon this providence and power of God that without it not one action can be done nor one motion be produced in any creature For God is he by whose power and working is brought to passe all in all and that so as without this power and working of God neyther the godly can do that which is good nor the wicked commit that which is evill This providence of God is so ioyned and combined with his foreknowledge that the one of them seemeth as it were to shake hands with the other For what things soever God by this his vnsearchable foreknowledge did from all ages and from everlasting determine to doe those things being created in time he doth by his infinite providence bring vnto those appoynted ends even as he had decreed from everlasting What and how many are the
Will Therefore the everlasting good pleasure of God is the onely vnmooveable ground of our Salvation so that our Salvation is subiect and in danger to none of the devices of Sathan to no troubles of the world nor to no waverings of the flesh because it hath a most strong foundation vpon Gods everlasting Decree Secondly this circumstance of eternall time hath prevented the entrance of Sathans temptations For if God should have taken the first care of our Salvation after the Fall of man was committed and had not thought of it before then surely this Will of God might seeme to have a beginning And Sathan might thereby take occasion maliciously to alledge against God and to perswade vs that the Will of God concerning our Salvation is not certayne and constant because that as it had a beginning so it might likewise have an ende and wee being prone vnto all diffidence might quickly have thought it had beene so and by this meanes might have beene in doubt of our Salvation Therefore God by his provident goodnesse hath timely prevented these temptations and sleights of Sathan and hath found out an excellent remedy for our diffidence teaching vs that his Decree for our Salvation is no sudden thing nor limitted within the listes of momentany time but eternall and vnchangeable So our fayth is then builded and grounded vpon a strong and vnmooveable foundation when we heare and know that our Salvation was ordayned and appointed of God from everlasting Lastly this Note of eternall Time is profitable for this purpose namely to withdraw and reclaime vs as well from all regard or respect of our owne merits and worthinesse as also from the opinion of the intercession of other men for vs. For God did know that the divellish opinions of our owne satisfaction and merit would often times steale vpon vs so that wee should thinke that there is some goodnesse in vs by which we should be gratious and acceptable before God For man doth not willingly humble and cast himselfe downe thus farre as to attribute all the prayse of his Salvation vnto the Grace of God only These things and the like the holy Scripture doth prevent and dispell shewing that God hath elected vs from everlasting before we were and hath given vs Salvation in Christ and so doth condemne vs of foolishnes and vngodlinesse if wee now created would get or deserve our Salvation by any other meanes For such is the vntowardnesse and blindnesse of mans disposition because that wretched men are so bewitched of Sathan by sinne that when there is any speech of Salvation and everlasting Felicitie they would gladly beginne from themselves Hence they frame to themselves divers preparations by which they strive to prevent and deserve the favour of God But by what meanes I pray you can they deserve any thing which are not at all And what good works or merits of theirs could there be before the world was made and before their owne Creation Therefore the eternall Election of God doth every where throughout the whole Scripture proove that this Mercy is the free gift of GOD and that hee for his owne sake onely was mooved to elect vs. So that this eternall Election doth not onely set farre aside all respect of mans worthinesse but also throweth man downe even to Hell together with all his merites if hee should bee dealte withall according to his owne desertes and Gods iust iudgement Here therefore is set downe a continuall contrariety and opposition betweene mans merite and worthinesse and Gods eternall Election yea such and so great an opposition that the affirming of the one is the manifest deniall of the other Looke how much therefore the Scripture attributeth to Gods Election 2. Tim. 2.9 so much it detracteth from mans worthinesse For this cause the holy Scripture hath set that eternall Election and mans worthinesse as two things extreamely contrary one to an other teaching vs that a man may sooner and easier wring oyle out of a Flint stone or strike fire out of the middest of the Ocean then that God should finde any thing in mans Nature worthy of his Election They therefore which seeke for Salvation or the least parte thereof without the eternall Election of GOD they doe not onely seeke Life in death and Salvation in the middest of condemnation but also they seeke God without GOD and by such seeking shall finde nothing else but hell fire and eternall punishment because that one and the selfe same thing cannot proceede from divers causes For God onely is good and so good that hee can finde no good elsewhere at any time or in any place but onely in himselfe and contrariwise mans Nature is so wicked and depraved that out of it can proceede nothing but wicked deedes and vngodly practises But of this hereafter wee will speake more largely It is therefore the vndeserved and altogether the free goodnesse of God in that hee from everlasting ordained and appointed eternall Salvation for vs when wee were not as then created And therefore of so good and bountifull a God who would not hope well Moreover seeing God hath elected vs to Salvation and Life everlasting hence it manifestly appeareth that none could bee our Intercessour to God for vs. Because then there was no man beside God onely and alone which was the whole cause of our Election Hence likewise as out of a most cleare Glasse we may see what care God hath of our Salvation because that from everlasting he did so providently prevent and turne away all the hindrances of our Salvation So the incredible and more then fatherly goodnesse of God is chiefely made knowne in this namely that he was carefull for our Salvation before we were And let these thinges suffice to bee briefely compiled concerning the first Proprietie of Election The second Proprietie of Election is that Election is an high and hidden Decree not onely because God from all eternitie before the foundation of the world before any thing was created did fore-ordaine and appoynt it with himselfe but also in respect of those things which are contayned and ordayned in that eternall decree which are so deepe and hidden in the meaning and vnderstanding of them that they doe not onely farre out-strippe mans capacity but also doe as farre exceed the vnderstanding of the Angelles themselves as the highest Heaven is distant from the lowest earth For the manner of redeeming and saving of Mankinde is so deepe and secret that the very Angels themselves cannot surmise the least of it much lesse consider and determine of it For this cause it is often called in the Scripture the Mysterie that is hidden in God Ephes 3 9. Col. 1.26 because it is manifest and knowne vnto God onely and because no Creature can know it but by Revelation And so it is called by Paul to the Romans Cap. 16.25 the secret Mysterie that is vnknowne to the Creatures In this great and secret Consultation the Sonne
Hence it is clearely proved that God could foresee no good thing in man but that which hee himselfe doth worke in him Therefore the Papists in this poynt doe betray theyr owne grosse ignorance or wicked malice in that they are not ashamed to affyrme and to defend that Gods fore-knowledge is contrary to his grace especially seeing that wee heare nothing throughout the whole Scripture in the doctrine of Election but onely Gods good purpose and meere mercy and concerning workes fore-seene and mans merites there is not a word spoken Therefore the Papists seeing that they wrest this word of fore-knowing from the true and naturall sence thereof into a strange and mischievous vnderstanding by a glosse of their owne interpretation and vnderstand not the propiety of the phrase they fall into an errour of ambiguity of wordes and through the likenesse of words bring in a fallacy and by theyr like kinde of speaking as with a cloake they hide the colour of their mistaking of the word and as much as they can suppresse and diminish the truth Out of this which is spoken may be gathered not darkly nor doubtfully but cleerely and plainely what is the disposition of the Devill and wicked men which because they are enimyes vnto God and do hate him they cease not to darken and obscure his glory wheresoever they may And in this respect they shew their malice two manner of wayes First in that they do most earnestly hate and detest that which most especially pleaseth God and is acceptable vnto him Secondly in that they only love and most desire those things which God hath in the greatest hatred and abomination So likewise the Papists in this matter are most against that which pleaseth God most and on the contrary side do most approve and desire that which God hateth For God is most delighted with this and this is his certaine will that the elect should attaine salvation by his only free mercy But the Papists pleasure is that the elect should be saved by their owne worthines and merits Againe God doth reiect and altogether exclude mans merits in the matter of salvation but the Papists like of them and make them the causes of election salvation So that betwixt God and the Papists there is a most manifest and vehement contrariety Therefore they are not lovers of God but his sworne enimies And that they are such they do sufficiently declare by this in that they make works foreseene the causes of salvation In which thing they commit two grievous offences namely first in that they set nothing by the first and true cause in respect of their owne merits and so erect an imaginary and false cause thereof Secondly in that they labour to withdraw mankind from God and having withdrawne thē from him as much as in them lieth sell them as bondslaves to the devill So that the Papists on the one side are cruell and iniurious against men and on the other side sacrilegious and blasphemous against God because they alwayes hinder his glory and derogate from his Maiesty as much as their ability can stretch vnto On the contrary S. Paul although before his conversion he was in the Iewish profession vnreproveable and after his conversion farre more holy then all the popelings yet he to the Philippians Phi. 3.6.8 not onely constantly and boldly excludeth all workes and merites as well going before as following after faith but also accounteth them for dung that in steed of them having gayned Christ of an vngodly and wretched man he might become iust and rich Heere also we must know that the Papists as they do forsake God and resist his grace so also they do not onely shut vp the dore of his mercy against themselves but even pluck on their owne necks an horrible curse and most certayne destruction For cursed is he sayth Ieremy Iere. 17.5 that trusteth in man Therefore this glosse of the Papists concerning good works fore-seene is to be reiected as wicked and blasphemous because it is not onely not found in all the holy Scriptures but also is most extreamely contrary vnto them For God in the electing of man had respect vnto himselfe and had no regard vnto works eyther past or to come which the Apostle to the Ephesians delivereth in expresse words Ephes 1.5 saying he hath predestinated vs whom he hath adopted through Iesus Christ in himselfe according to the good pleasure of his will In that he sayth in himselfe he teacheth that God in choosing vs saw nothing but himselfe which he made any account of Therefore Gods goodnes and love is the onely roote of our election Whereas he sayth according to the good pleasure of his will that is put downe for the better cleering and expressing of the truth and by that we are taught that Gods free goodnes could not but with great difficulty by perswasion have beene beaten into vs. And what I pray you could God foresee in vs in our election seeing that our whole being Act. 17.28 and what good thing so ever we have 1. Cor. 4.7 we have received it and inioy it by him onely Wherefore that the true cause of election may be held of vs we must in no wise frequent the schoole of the Papists but we must search and follow the holy Scripture which is the onely Schoolemaister and the most faithfull expositor of eternall salvation Sathan hath inspired and suggested into the Papists this opinion of workes foreseene that by it he might withdraw men from the true cause of their salvation and so cast them headlong into eternall destruction For Sathan well knew that mans whole salvation would fall to the ground except it were wholy fetched and derived from God Surely there cannot be given vnto mankinde a greater nor more pernicious hurt then this opinion is and there is no vice worse then this divelish pride which snatcheth from God his chiefest honour and stealeth away the prayse of his mercy Therefore this more then frantike opinion of faith foreseene is vtterly to be cast off and refused Heere is shewed by cleere and vnanswereable arguments how horribly and grievously the Papists do offend against Gods divine Maiesty by their pestilent opinion of faith or workes foreseene CHAP. 13. FOr the Papists in that divelish opinion do offend against God against his Maiesty many waies and do commit many sacrilegious offences First they do offend against the fatherly goodnes free mercy of God For Gods mercy is the onely fountayne of all goodnes in such sort that there is no good which may any where be found but it floweth and springeth of that fountayne Moreover God is so good and mercifull that he will be acknowledged and honoured for no other vertue nor property more then for his free goodnes and mercy Hence it commeth to passe that the holy scripture when it speaketh of Gods mercy doth heape and recken vp as it were in a catalogue many words signifying one and
to redeeme and save vs. Seeing therefore that Christ as we have sayd before out of Augustine is the head of all those that are predestinate and that all they that do fly vnto him as vnto their onely refuge are redeemed of him and do attayne vnto everlasting Salvation surely I see not how the doctrine of Predestination should be the matter of desperation especially seeing that Salvation which it bringeth with it and bestoweth vpon vs is altogether of free gift But if that our Salvation were to bee merited and gotten by our owne ability or workes then surely a man might feare certayne and present danger of desperation For we are all sinners and not able to fulfill the least tittle of the Law much lesse can we make satisfaction for our sinnes and redeeme our selves from the wrath of God and the power of Sathan Moreover although we were perfect at this day yet wee could by no meanes satisfie for the sinnes that wee have committed already For sinne doth most grievously offend God and deserveth his wrath and his curse and eternall damnation which no creature as it is barely a creature can turne away or put off For the wrath and curse of God is infinite and not to bee borne of the Angels themselves Without all doubt in the doctrine of Predestination a man ought to bee in despayre and yet to hope well concerning himselfe and his owne merites whereby to attayne Salvation he ought to bee in great despayre because that by this meanes he shall never come vnto Salvation but concerning the grace of God which is by all meanes free hee ought to be in very good hope especially seeing that God doth more willingly afford and bestow Salvation vpon man then miserable man can require or wish that Salvation might bee imparted or bestowed vpon him For God for his vnspeakeable goodnesse sake doth make man earnest and desirous of his Salvation which was an enemie of his Salvation Also God doth prevent a man and seeketh him out man seeketh not for God but hateth him extreamely and doth dread and shunne him as a terrible Iudge Therefore in this worke of Salvation the grace of God is so great as that it cannot be sayde to bee greater Therefore there ariseth no desperation at all out of this doctrine of Election if it bee well and truely vnderstood and according to the meaning expounded but contrariwise great consolation commeth there from which if it be well taught vnto men and diligently insisted vpon an admirable trust and confidence in God and a most certayne hope of Salvation proceedeth and commeth out of it Therefore hath God appoynted the holy ministery of the Gospel that men might diligently bee informed of his so great mercy Also he would that admonitions and threatnings should be drawne from thence and be propounded vnto men For they are certayne meanes by which God is powerfull and expelleth all drowsines from his children and striketh in them a serious feare and reverence of himselfe So God by this meanes doth bring men vnto Salvation ordayned for them from everlasting They therefore which suppose that the course of a good life is overthrowne or hundred by this doctrine of Election are grossely deceyved But of all they doe most grievously sinne which reason thus If I bee predestinated vnto Salvation then howsoever I live I shall be saved and shall not perish But if I be appoynted to destruction it will nothing avayle me to live well yea though I should exercise my selfe in all kind of vertue yet it would doe me no good but in the ende I shal of necessity bee condemned and perish everlastingly why therefore shouid I be carefull of the course and order of good living and exercise my selfe one while with this and an other while with that kind of labour or study This is not a speech of the children of God but of the children of the Divell Ephes 2.10 For whomsoever God hath elected those also doth he call to repentance although some sooner some later and doth regenerate them to the performance of good workes so that they shall here beginne to study how to hate and shunne those things that are evill and love and practise those things that are good but they which remayne obstinate in theyr wickednesse and stubborne in the hatred and contempt of the trueth of the Gospel and do prostitute and sell themselves vnto all kind of vices and wickednesse boldly without any feare or reverence of Gods divine Maiestie and continue as it were buried in them without any feare neyther will by admonitions bee brought to leave them they are to bee warned that they should watch For the iudgement of God which hangeth over them to destroy and condemne them sleepeth not neither is idle So that in theyr obiection there is nothing of any strength but there is a manifest fallacy in it in that a supposed and false cause is of them put for a true cause So that of the contrary side they should conclude thus changing the former sentence or proposition in this wise If I be predestinate vnto eternall life I must call vpon God and live godly because to this end am I elected of God that I may live godly and holily For the Scripture sayth Ephes 1.4 God did elect vs before the foundations of the world were layd that wee should bee holy and vnblameable before him through love Therefore the Elect must shunne wickednesse and not commit it Agayne they which thinke themselves to be reprobates must not for that cause do wickedly but ought rather to hate and fly all vngodlinesse least that by theyr more grievous wickednesse they do likewise plucke more grievous condemnation vpon theyr owne heads For they shall bee farre more gently dealt withall which doe avoyd these or those sinnes and defile not themselves with all wickednesse and all pollution of sinne then with them who do plunge themselves into all wickednesse and vngodlinesse and wallow and defile themselves in it as a Sowe in the myre For this is a perpetuall law and vnchangeable rule of Gods iustice that punishments should be proportioned vnto sinne So that more grievous and more haynous sinnes shall be tormented with more grievous and more hainous torments Wherefore to avoyd evil and to doe good is profitable vnto the reprobate For so theyr punishment of condemnation is eased and made more gentle Agayne they doe greatly offend because they doe thinke themselves reprobates from everlasting and that they shall be damned for ever For so they would prevent Gods iudgement For hee hath fore-appoynted a set and certayne time to call his Elect in which seeing they expect not but doe iudge and condemne themselves they doe not onely prevent God and his iudgement but also by theyr rash attempt they goe about to prescribe God a time and meanes to call them and doe invade and arrogate the parts of that worke vnto themselves Therefore they ought while they live here to
best reiected For there are many good men found which want those outward things and many times they are wicked which overflow and abound with them Therefore that obiection of the accepting of persons is not simple but doth comprehend many evils vnder it by which Sathan on the one side doth with mayne force push at the glory of God and on the other side doth openly set himselfe against the salvation of mankind and laboureth to overthrow and hinder it For salvation cannot be obteyned if the true cause of salvation be not vnderstoode and knowne for nothing can be brought forth by any thing else but by his owne proper and true cause But if this obiection should take place salvation should be transported from the true cause thereof vnto a false cause and so be in ieoperdy of losing Moreover God when he elected vs did call vs as it were from nothing For there was no good thing in our nature which could be acceptable and approved vnto him therefore of his free goodnes and mercy he decreed to adopt vs for children by election By all these things it evidently appeareth and is sufficiently proved that God hath absolute power and free will in the electing and reprobating of men For God is bereft of the chiefest part of his honor and glory vnlesse this authority be granted him over men to be the only iudge and disposer of life and death eternal Although God from everlasting hath in his iust iudgement cast away the reprobates from all hope of salvation yet they are condemned for nothing but for their owne sinnes and misdeedes so that they cannot complayne but of their owne deservings CHAP. 19. ELeventhly this decree of Predestination is a iust decree For God in his works is not onely most free but also in the same is most iust and vpright Therefore whatsoever he willeth and doeth he willeth and doeth iustly In as much therefore as he hath reprobated some men and appoynted them to eternall damnation he hath reprobated and decreed to condemne them iustly But that this question may the more cleerely be discussed and the better vnderstoode we must note two things First that God in his nature is iust Secondly that over and besides his nature he willeth and doeth nothing in his workes but that which is iust Moreover God is so iust in his nature as that his iustice is not any accidentall quality which is gotten and attayned by such or such actions or which sometimes admitteth augmentation and sometimes diminution but it is an essentiall propriety in God which cannot be absent from God except he cease to be God So that iustice most properly agreeth vnto God for he is iust indeede properly and so iust that not the least part of iustice can be found to be which proceedeth and commeth not from Gods iustice Therefore the creatures have so much iustice and vprightnes as it pleaseth God to instill and powre into them So that Gods iustice is the fountayne and welspring of all other iustice Certaynely God in his nature and will is so iust that no vniust thing can not onely be found in him but withall likewise he can endure no iniquity in his creatures For the will of God is not onely iust continually but also it is the onely imitable measure and rule of all other righteousnes and that so that no other things can be eyther iust or vniust but those which GOD shall pronounce iust or vniust Therefore whatsoever he shall iudge vniust cannot in any wise be iust and on the contrary those things which he shall esteeme as iust no man ought to thinke vniust Therefore seeing that GOD both in his nature and in his will is exceeding iust it followeth that all things which hee willeth and doeth must needes bee iust For as every cause doth bring forth his effect so also that effect doth declare of what sort the cause is For as the essence of the effect proceedeth from the cause so in like manner the knowledge of the cause is by his effect For such as the cause was such also must the effect needes follow therefore from a iust cause there must needes proceede iust effects wherefore in that that God hath reprobated many men and reiected them from his grace he hath reprobated them and reiected them iustly For all the works of God are iust as the scripture sayth but reprobation is a worke of God therefore it must needes be iust For who would deny that to be in the * Species particular kinde which is in the )( Genus generall or who would say that the nature of the causes is not in the effects This iustice or righteousnes of God is altogether incomprehensible and stretcheth and enlargeth it selfe as farre as the very nature and essence of God doth Therefore God can deliberate and do many and infinite things farre above the capacity of man and that most vprightly although they seeme to be otherwise in the wisedome of man Therefore howsoever God from everlasting hath appoynted certayne men to eternall perdition before they were created or had done any evill yet for all this he cannot be convinced of any iniustice because that he hath free power over all things and a iust will in all things so that he may iustly do in all his creatures whatsoever he doth or will do Therefore in that he hath appoynted some men vnto everlasting destruction hee hath done iustly for hee is a most free agent Therefore though he take pity vpon some and reiect others though he regenerate some and harden others though he save some and destroy others yet these and such like works are the iust works of God which he may do freely Is it not lawfull forme sayth that Lord of the Vineyard in the Parable Mat. 20.15 to do what I will with mine owne Therefore those works as they are done of God are iust and good works but if the same works or the like to these should be done of man they were vniust and great offences because they would be manifestly repugnant contrary to the law of God For the law commandeth that men should love others as themselves and that they should at all times and by all meanes and dutyes that they can save and defend them and not destroy them So that God gave a law vnto men to love and save others but he gave not that law to himselfe for he may iustly hate them whom men by the law are commanded to love Therefore God is iust at all times and in every place although some things which he willeth and doeth seeme very vniust vnto flesh and the wisedome of man For what can seeme more vnrighteous or vniust vnto flesh then to condemne a man vnto eternall destruction before he hath done any evill when as notwithstanding it is the iust worke of God which is therefore iust because it is Gods will This worke and decree of reprobation in the iudgement of man seemeth contrary
CHAP. 25. THe Papists in this doctrine of Vocation doe erre most shamefully which thinke and write that there is a certayne naturall faculty in man by which hee may come of his owne accorde vnto the embracing of the grace of God For so they doe not onely wickedly seduce and miserably deceyve men but also doe open iniurie vnto God For they take so much from the iustice and grace of God as they doe give vnto the naturall facultie and power in man For the grace of God and the power and faculty of man are in this matter opposed as contrary one vnto an other by which ioyntly together Salvation cannot bee wrought For one and the selfe matter and thing cannot by any meanes bee brought to passe and proceede from contrary causes And in this matter they doe follow and maintayne the damnable opinion and manifest dotage of the Pelagians For they did wickedly thinke and teach as ill that it was in the power and will of man to beleeve or not to beleeve But the Scripture of God depriveth man of all goodnesse and that so that it leaveth him not so much as a good thought the least part of a good worke For the Apostle to the Corinthians doth expressely say that wee are not sufficient of our selves to thinke any thing that is good 2. Cor. 3.5 So that this spirituall grace cannot bee conceyved with our naturall senses and naturall reason cannot direct a man vnto God This place ministreth occasion to speake some fewe things concerning free wil. But that they may the more rightly be vnderstood and the more familiarly bee conceaved we must consider the two estates in man The first in a good and innocent nature before the fall of man the second in an evill and depraved nature after his fall Man before his fall was indued with most free power to will and doe that which was good for man was created wholy according to the Image of God Gen. 1.27 Therefore all his actions as well outward as inward were agreeable to the will of God But by his fall man lost not onely himselfe but also his free-will together with himselfe So that looke how great ability there was in him before his fall to please and serve God so great desire of sinning is there in him now and wilfulnesse of rebellion against God Agayne as before his fall there was in him the habite of all goodnesse and the absence of all evill so now there is in him the habite of all evil the absence of all good for there is no evill in man but by the losse of the contrary good Here therefore we must know that in outward and civill matters a man hath some free-will as that he may be obedient and subiect vnto civil iustice so hee may obey his Parents and reverence the Magistrates so he may yeeld a certaine kind of duty vnto his Masters and Instructers so he may keepe his hand from theft and murder so he may keepe his tongue from slandering and reproching So in other outward actions and things man hath some freedome to will or not to will accordingly as reason shall perswade him that the thing is to be chosen or refused And although that there bee in man by nature a desire of good and profitable thinges and a loathing and hatred of thinges evill and hurtfull yet in all these and in every of these there is imperfection and error because he doth not chuse do these naturall civil good things so as they ought to be chosen and done nor avoyd the contrary evilles as hee should avoyd them So that the love and loathing in choosing and avoyding of those things which by nature are to bee chosen and avoyded is common vnto men with bruit beastes for they desire those things which are agreeable vnto theyr nature and avoyd and hate things contrary and hurtfull Notwithstanding these thinges which the vnregenerate man willeth and doeth in these outward things rather deserve the name of vice then of true Vertue because they are not aymed vnto that ende vnto which they ought to be directed For every thing hath his reward and is to be esteemed by the ende The honour of God and Salvation of men should be preferred before private commodities But a man that is left vnto himselfe cannot thinke nor do any thing vnto these endes therefore that which seemeth fayre in the sight of men and carrieth a great shew of vertue and godlinesse is vncleane and abominable in the sight of God But in inward and spirituall things a man of himselfe hath no free-will and libertie at all but in man there is a meere bondage of sinne and a most miserable slavery of Sathan Here man is so vntoward impotent as that he is not able to begin or perfect any good worke nay he is not able in his least thought to attayne vnto any thing that may be acceptable or well pleasing vnto God 2. Cor. 3.5 but with all the affection of his whole nature he is obstinate and rebellious against God because that of himselfe he can doe nothing but sinne and that continually and of necessity yea beside all this he is so corrupted and blinded that he can neyther see nor acknowledge his sinne except God by his law reveale it and by his spirite declare it vnto him So that the misery of man consisteth chiefely in these things First because he is so corrupted both in body in soule and in all the parts of both that he is more repugnant and contrary vnto God then any one thing can be to another Secondly because he neither knoweth this his corruption neither wil be brought to confesse it without much indignation and murmuring Thirdly because he dayly increaseth this his corruption with many actuall transgressions and maketh it alwayes worse and worse Fourthly because that by this accesse and increase of sinnes hee provoketh the iudgement of God against himselfe and day by day maketh his condemnation the more grievous Fiftly because that by his owne strength of nature hee cannot amend his owne corruption of nature nor pacifie the wrath of God nor overcome and escape death Therefore as man by his owne voluntary will depraved himselfe and offended God so by his owne power he cannot amend himselfe nor reconcile himselfe vnto God So that man could proceed from the habite of goodnes vnto the privation and losse thereof but he cannot returne from the privation vnto the habite Therefore free-will in man is so maymed that it is sound on no side For God when he created man in the beginning gave him over vnto his owne will But hee by abusing his free-will lost both himselfe and it as Augustine sayth And to conclude In enchirid cap. 130. the Scripture doth not onely teach vs but even the experience of every one doth proove vnto vs that all libertie to will that which is good and all power to doe that which is right is lost
as it neither ariseth nor dependeth of any naturall causes so also can it not bee knowne by them Agayne the knowledge thereof is not to be sought in the secret hidden fore-knowledge of God but to bee found out by the latter namely by the effects and signes thereof For there is nothing more preposterous nothing more dangerous then omitting and neglecting the effects of Vocation to seeke for the certaynety thereof in the counsell of God And they which labour to do this enter into an endlesse Labyrinth out of which the light of mans reason can never ridde or deliver them Now the effects whereby every man may know his Calling are sundry and manifest First whosoever are called effectually vnto Christ Iohn 8 47. do desire earnestly to heare the word of God and to profile truely in it Secondly Gal. 4 6. the holy Ghost doth stirre vp in them a diligent worship of God and doth kindle and inflame theyr hearts with the desire of thinking and doing good workes Tit. 2.14 and doth beget in them a true hatred of evill as to detest avoyd sinne with all their strength They therefore which love God are called of him 1. Cor. 8.3 for no man can love him except first he be called and taught of him Thirdly God doth beget in his children an hatred of this world and a love of theyr heavenly Country which can be in none but in those that are called and regenerate So that faith and the fruites of fayth are the true and infallible effects and signes of a saving Calling all which as vnseparable companions and vndoubted witnesses doe follow an effectuall Calling by which is begotten in a man a lively and an effectuall feeling of the favour of God Whereas otherwise if a man were not called and regenerate his whole mind and will would be set vpon evill things he should feele no true taste of the grace of God and should be able to doe no good thing before God as furnished onely with humane strength They therefore which doe conceave in theyr minde any good thing and feele it in themselves all that hath his beginning from God that calleth them which worketh in them every good thing that maketh for the Salvation of their soules iustification before God For he onely enclineth the wils and the hearts of men to thinke and doe that which is good and iust They therefore which have an hearty desire to doe that which is good howsoever the worthinesse of their worke answere not their will yet neverthelesse they may know that they are called of God and that they have the holy spirite within them which worketh effectually vnto their Salvation For where hee stirreth vp that spirituall contention betweene vertue and vices there doth an effectuall calling manifest it selfe and declareth and sheweth the power that it hath because that striving betweene the spirit and the flesh can be in none but in those that are called and regenerate For sinne doth wholy possesse the vnregenerate men but it doth but onely hinder the regenerate and set vpon them with great and continuall bickerings They therefore which doe acknowledge and confesse themselves to be vnperfect they may certaynely resolve with themselves that they are called and renewed For this is as one sayth the perfection of Christians to acknowledge theyr owne imperfections But if men feele no such effectes at all or very small and slender effects yet from thence they ought to take no occasion to doubt of the mercy of God or of theyr calling For God doth not give all his gifts and benefites at the first and in one day but enlargeth and encreaseth them by degrees Rom. 1.17 and by little and little Agayne there are sundry and divers times of calling Matth. 20. vers 1. and so forward For some he calleth in theyr first age some in theyr middle age some in their old age some for his great mercy sake he draweth to himselfe in theyr last gaspe of life So that they which as this day feele not the effectes of theyr Vocation they may feele them to morrow or the day after But when God deferreth fayth and repentance even vnto the last pang of death then doth hee witnesse his singular love and mercy towardes miserable sinners For by such examples he comforteth them who have fallen into such or such sinnes and have remayned in them as it were ensnared and lulled a sleepe for a long time that they should not for those sinnes though growne old by long continuance be cast downe and despayre of obtayning mercy because that the incomprehensible grace of God doth remit all manner of sinnes vnto those which are penitent from the bottome of theyr hearts and because that the greatnesse and power of grace is of farre more force to save man then the strength and power of iniquitie is to condemne him as Barnard elsewhere speaketh Lastly we must thinke this that true conversion vnto God and repentance is never too late Whosoever therefore shall truely and heartily repent even at the panges and poynt of death for him is the grace of God prepared and hee may hope for certayne Salvation Agayne true and lively experience teacheth vs by the examples of those whom God calleth even in the last gaspe of life that Salvation and Life eternall is altogether free and every way an vndeserved benefite Therefore no man should despayre of the great Grace of God but all should be in very good hope of it as long as they live here in this world And these thinges bee spoken of Vocation Now it remayneth to speake of Iustification Here is intreated of free Iustification and shewed how it may bee knowne by Vocation or Calling also what it is for a man to be iustified after the phrase of the Gospel and lastly what are the speciall causes of Iustification CHAP. 26. IVstification is the fourth lincke in Pauls Chayne and this is set vnder Vocation or calling in a most convenient and methodicall order For after that God hath called a man vnto himselfe and hath wrought fayth in him by his spirite through the word straight wayes are shewed by the Apostle those benefites which fayth seeketh in God and receyveth of him Fayth therefore that ariseth from an effectuall calling hath respect vnto Iustification Moreover fayth doth not by the proper merite and worke thereof absolve and iustifie any man but it is sayd to iustifie a man because it beholdeth and apprehendeth the free mercy of God in his promises So that true fayth embracing the promises of God and applying them vnto it selfe is imputed by God vnto man for righteousnesse or that I may speake more properly the obedience of Christ his death is imputed to him for righteousnesse through fayth For our righteousnesse before God consisteth in the forgivenesse of our sinnes Rom. 4.6.7 as it appeareth by the wordes of Saint Paul vnto the Romanes But the remission of our sinnes could not
doe call vpon God Gal. 4.6 as our loving and mercifull Father without trembling So that fayth by which we relie vpon God and love which wee have towardes God and prayer by which wee call vpon him are three most certayne signes of our Iustification For these doe necessarily follow Iustification But of these more shall be spoken hereafter in Glorification Last of all this Iustification belongeth onely to the Elect and such as shal be saved This Paul plainly teacheth here whilest hee sayth that God calleth and iustifyeth those onely whom hee hath predestinate Here therefore Vocation and Iustification are set vnder Predestination as the effects vnder theyr cause So that Iustification doth not reach farther then Predestination For the effectes cannot bee larger and reach farther then theyr causes They therefore which thinke that Iustification belongeth vnto all in generall ought first to teach and proove by the word of God that Predestination or Election is common to every one Agayne Act. 13.48 Tit. 1. Iohn 10.26 the Scripture playnely teacheth vs that Iustification is given and belongeth onely vnto those that are appoynted before vnto Life eternall But this thing is so cleere and manifest that it needeth no long proofe Let these things therefore bee spoken here briefely concerning Iustification Here is declared by what remedy the corruption of our nature is amended and the Image of God restored in man and in what partes especially regeneration is wrought Likewise how grossely the Papists and the grosser sort of Vbiquitaries doe erre which thinke that there is an hidden power in the outward water of Baptisme which is able to convert a man in the very act of Baptizing CHAP. 29. NOw Glorification beeing the last Lincke of Pauls Chayne this followeth to be set vnder Iustification very fitly For so Paul teacheth that the gift of the holy Spirit and the renewing of our corrupt nature vnto the Image of God doth necessarily follow our free receyving into the favour of God and cannot bee separated from it Wherefore Glorification followeth Iustification in a most divine order because it is the finall cause of it For therefore is this or that man iustified that in the end he may be glorified Therefore after Paul had taught that sinnes are forgiven men by the onely free mercy of God now he proceedeth rightly to teach and declare how sinnes are abolished and purged and so sheweth how Glory and the Image of God is recovered in man This hee sheweth in the worde glorifying Therefore to glorifie is nothing els then to abolish the corrupt nature of man and so to reforme man vnto the Image of God and make him fit for eternall Glory So that regeneration from the effect and last end thereof is called by the name of Glorification in asmuch namely as the Elect by it are renewed vnto the Image of God and then translated into everlasting Glory For God wil have his Glory and holinesse to shine in the Elect here after a sort And fayth being in some sort inflamed by the holy Spirite in our calling and our will somewhat changed is here more inflamed and changed But this is perfourmed and brought to passe by no other meanes but onely by our regeneration For God doth not beginne and finish the worke of our regeneration in one day and at one instant but doth continue and perfect it by little and little Here therefore a few things ought to be spoken concerning Regeneration which that they may be handled and intreated of the better and more plainely with the greater fruite wee ought to consider these foure severall heads First what Regeneration is and by what meanes it commeth Secondly in what parts it consisteth and of what sort it is in this life Thirdly how necessary it is and for what thinges it is profitable Fourthly by what signes and tokens it may bee knowne Concerning the first thing Regeneration is not the abolishing of the former substance and the establishing agayne of a new neyther is it the changing of one substance into an other but it is the reforming of our corrupt nature and the repayring and restoring of the Image of God in man So that in this Regeneration there remayneth the same frame of the body and substance but the inward and wicked affections of the mind onely are amended and changed which seeing it is a spirituall change it is felt inwardly before it bee learned as Saint Cyprian speaketh elsewhere And it is nothing els but the amending and abolishing of the corrupt and wicked qualities that remayne in the substance of man Therefore whom God hath iustified those also hee doth regenerate and change vnto his most blessed glorie and purity of life that they may repent and be ashamed of theyr former life that so they may betake themselves vnto a better course For no man can have an earnest desire vnto the grace of God except first he know his sins and be displeased with himselfe in them So that a renewing is required For God will not have his Elect to abuse his gentlenesse and long suffering and therefore doth he renew and frame them to sincere manners and holy actions Therefore they which are effectually regenerated do begin to be displeased with themselves for their sins and to be grieved in their hearts that they have displeased God and with theyr whole heart doe detest all wicked deedes whatsoever so that hereafter they will not commit or doe them and so doe shew theyr thankefulnesse by eschewing of evill and doing of good and there is in them a turning away from Sathan and evill deedes and a turning vnto God and to good workes And although the regenerate doe fall often yet they doe not defend nor allow of theyr sinnes but desire dayly more and more to hate and eschew them So they which are converted begin to savour of better thinges and doe change theyr evill custome and kind of life and revoke theyr former course of living and so convert theyr actions and endevours from evill vnto good as from one contrary vnto an other They which are thus affected doe feele true ioy in theyr hearts in that they have God at one with them for theyr Mediatours sake from whence followeth an earnest desire to obey God in all his Commandements Let the regenerate therefore know that now the time is come wherein they ought to approve and fulfill those most wholesome precepts of divinity not so much by discoursing of them as by performing them constantly living godly because they can by no other way obtaine blessed immortality heavenly Glory but onely by true fayth and ready obedience vnto the commandements of God Therefore how much or little soever it be which the children of God have and savour of regeneration to it they ought to frame theyr manners sayth Augustine Tom. 7. colum 694. Now this renewing as is abovesayd in the Treatise of Vocation is begun and finished by the word and spirit of God By
the word he sheweth vs what things he wil have done or not done by vs and by his Spirite there is strength ministred vnto vs to performe them This regeneration is especially wrought continued in the mind will and heart of man So that God sheweth forth and declareth his goodnesse towards his children here three manner of wayes First hee doth enlighten and dispell the blindnes of the mind by the Sun-shine of his Spirit For whatsoever man savoureth of his owne selfe Rom. 8.6 7. is enmity against God bringeth death with it This blindnesse of mans mind is not simply the ignorance of God and of himselfe but it is a stubborne rebellion and prowd presumption against God So that by how much a man excelleth and is indued with the greater quicknes of nature by so much the more doth he resist and strive against God himselfe and his owne Salvation Because such an one feareth not to charge the wisedome of God with extreame folly For all men as long as they are not renewed with this new and heavenly light do thinke the holy mysteries of God to be foolishnesse So Paul whilst hee preached Christ crucified vnto the Grecians sayth 1. Cor. 1.23 that to them he preached foolishnes So that the enlightning of this rebellious and hurtfull blindnesse is a great and inestimable benefite of God After this inlightning followeth a right iudgement and opinion of God of his will and of his workes because that then men begin to know God rightly and to iudge of him accordingly when they be inlightened by the spirit of God Secondly it changeth and reformeth the will of man which is extreamely contrary vnto the law of God And of evill it maketh it good and of vnwilling and stubborne it maketh it ready and obedient Phil. 2.13 So the will of man doth then begin to be good when it is reformed and renewed by God Here also the infinite goodnesse of God sheweth it selfe whilest that it maketh man of an adversary and foe to become a friend and heyre of heavenly glory which otherwise in himselfe is so corrupted and depraved that hee hath mind to nothing but evill and hateth God extremely This will of man howsoever by nature it be so wicked and perverse as to resist and withstand God and his will yet no will can be so wicked and stubborne but God if he will can mollifie it and make it good as Augustine sayth well Now God will doe this in the Elect Ezech. 36.26 27. because that of his owne accord hee hath promised that he will doe it Thirdly it converteth and reneweth the stubborne vnapt and disobedient heart and so doth weaken and debilitate the strength of sinne in his children and doth create in them an earnest study and desire to live godly and maketh them altogether forward vnto all piety Lastly it stirreth vp in them good workes and endueth them with sincere and holy behaviour Phil. 2.13 So God worketh in them both to will that which is good and doe that which is right So that all power to live godly proceedeth and commeth not from theyr owne power but from God onely which worketh in them effectually by his Spirit For this spirituall renewing is called in many places of the Scripture by an excellencie The creation and worke of God because that it is his worke to illuminate the blind vnderstandings of men with the knowledge of himselfe and to change theyr crooked willes and hard heartes and to frame them vnto the obedience of his owne will For these are so hard and difficult workes that they can bee brought to passe and effected by none other but by God onely Therefore the Lord by EZechiel promiseth that he will cause that we shal walke in his commandements shewing that regeneration and power to doe well is a worke farre surmounting all creatures The vse of this doctrine is divers First that the grace of God by which onely the Elect are changed into new creatures may be maintayned agaynst that divellish invention of free will which the Papists dreame of But here the Papists offend grievously for looke how much they attribute vnto the power of man so much doe they detract from the grace of God and merit of Christ For the grace of God and the power of man are in this matter two contraries which cannot be maintayned of one and the selfe same subiect at one time Therefore Saynt Austine in one place sayth very well that that is not free which the grace of God hath not made free For the Scripture as we have sayd before doth not leave a man so much as a good thought which is the least part of a good worke 2. Cor. 3.5 For such is the blindnesse and frailty of mans wit that it is not onely vnable to conceyve and bring forth of it selfe any thing rightly or truely but also that it frameth and inventeth to it selfe many and most dangerous errors even from most true principles An evident example of this we may see in the free-will of the Papists But that most fond dreame of theyrs vanisheth like a vapour by this doctrine of regeneration and the spirit of God onely is prooved to bee the onely beginning and true cause of every good worke Agayne seeing God doth regenerate man and make him fit for good works that other fiction which the Papists have dreamed concerning workes fore-seene is overthrowne and beaten to pieces For seeing no man can doe good except by the grace of God hee be changed into a new creature it thence followeth that God could fore-see no other workes in man but such as hee himselfe should worke in him whence a man may easily gather which considereth the matter any thing at all that this opinion concerning workes fore-seene is a meere and forged fable Moreover the Papists and the more grosse sort of Vbiquitaries do in this place after their manner erre and invent a new fiction whenas they thinke that there is some secret and hidden power in tne water of Baptisme which is able to convert and renew a man And from thence they labour to inferre that they which are baptized are regenerate in the very act of Baptisme This vnsavory invention is the fosterer of noysome errours But the falshood thereof is found first in this that it evidently appeareth by the holy Scriptures that all are not regenerate which are baptized as we may see not onely in Simon Magus but also in many others eyther openly wicked or hypocrites vnder hand and secretly which although they have beene baptized and receyved Baptisme as a true marke of their regeneration yet theyr lives sufficiently declare that they were not regenerate For although that the Sacraments are meanes or instruments by which the holy Ghost is effectuall in the Ministery of the Church yet in his power and efficacy hee hath not tyed himselfe vnto them neyther doth hee so worke by them that that working should alwayes shew it selfe
and exercise the strength thereof in the very act of administring them Agayne they doe offend and sinne exceedingly and out of measure agaynst the office of the holy Spirite and the blood of Christ For the holy Spirite is the onely efficient cause and principall worker of regeneration and the bloud of Christ is the meritorious cause thereof therefore they attribute that vnto the outward water of baptisme which is due only vnto the holy spirit the bloud of Christ so fall into a fallacy from that which is no cause as if it were a cause for they do cast that vnto the false and fayned cause which ought to be attributed vnto the true and proper cause and so as much as in them lyeth do overthrow and vndermine the principall heads of Christian religion And whereas they inferre that the purer and preciser sort of Divines do deny that Baptisme is the washing of the new birth Tit. 3.5 as Paul to Titus speaketh This is an vnsavory and a vile cavill for they doe not onely admit and like of those words of Paul in their true and naturall meaning but do receive them as a most sound confirmation and strengthening of our cause for Paul there playnely pronounceth that the power of the holy spirit doth effect and worke regeneration in vs. But our adversaryes do misvnderstand those words of Paul and do abuse them whilest they wrest them into an other sence as seducers vse to do and apply them amisse and so do fall into a fallacy of the ambiguity of a word whilest they interpret that ill which they apply worst of all Among true and sound Divines it is a thing firmely resolved and agreed vpon that the Sacraments do not bring grace but do for the strengthening of faith seale vp that which was bestowed before as we may see in Abraham Rom. 4.10 as in the common example and father of all them which beleeve Lastly they erre not a little by this their most vayne fiction whilest that they place the first beginning of salvation and the ground thereof in the water of baptisme for so they forge and frame the causes of salvation from the instruments that are vsed as meanes and from the manner of applying them but with deepe silence they do passe by and with wonderfull craft neglect the true and proper cause of salvation namely everlasting and free election and the onely merit of Christ that they might the more easily deceive and cast a mist before the eyes of the ignorant For there is no greater nor more plentifull occasion to beguile and deceive then where false and imaginary causes are supposed for true and proper causes Moreover this regeneration heere is alwayes defective and imperfect and a small beginning of a new life and a certayne onset vnto it This is prooved by manifest testimonyes of Scripture and also by dayly experience of the godly The testimonyes of Scripture say that we ought to be changed into the image of God from glory to glory 2. Cor. 3.18 Rom. 1.17 and to go forward dayly more and more from faith to faith Also that the children of God ought to walke in his commaundements Eze. 36.27 Tit. 2.14 and to keepe his statutes and to be zealous of good workes These and the like places of Scripture doe teach vs that the elect are not the first day polished vnto the highest perfection but that by little and little as it were by degrees they are brought from one vertue vnto an other vntill after this life they shall come vnto the highest perfection for they are not perfect which must be changed from one glory to another and goe forward from faith to faith Secondly they which walke in the commaundements of God are yet in the way and are not come vnto the end of theyr race therefore they are vnperfect For wayfaring men are often weeryed and now and then stumble and fall by reason of these or these lets and hindrances so also the regenerate men beeing as it were weeryed in the course and study of godlines doe slip often and fall into these and these sinnes Therefore the Apostle Saint Iohn sayeth playnely 1. Iohn 1.8 that they which say they have no sinnes deceive themselves and the truth is not in them Also the most holy Prophets do playnely and freely confesse of themselves that theyr best workes are poluted and stayned with many and great imperfections Esay 64. for in them alwayes the dregges of sinfull flesh remayne and abide and very often the sparkles of theyr lewde affections doe breake forth and shewe themselves but these hinder them not because they have a promise of a pardon These things the testimonies of Scripture teach vs that the children of God do onely obtayne some beginnings of a new life heere so that regeneration heere is maymed and vnperfect For the holy spirit doth so illuminate and renew the mindes of the elect 1. Cor. 13.9 that heere they doe know but in part and doth so change and refine their wills that they can will and do that which is good but in part as long as they live in this life So that whether a man respect the vnderstanding of the regenerate or whether a man consider theyr will hee shall easily finde that they are vnperfect for they which are renewed still day by day are not as yet wholy renewed but the children of God as long as they live heere are renewed day by day therefore they are not as yet perfect nor wholy renewed Besides these there are many other tokens whereof the scripture is very plentifull as which are wrought successively by the children of God eyther in reioycing at the benefites of God or sorrowing at theyr owne sinnes and surely these do bewray theyr imperfections So that infirmity alwayes abideth and dwelleth in them with which they must strive even vnto the death of the body with an entercourse of going backward and going forward as Augustine sayth in one place Secondly dayly experience it selfe doth convince and prove the imperfection of the godly For the most holy men of all ages have offended and sinned very often which they could not have done if they had not bin vnperfect for they which by regeneration are quite perfected are set out of all danger of sinning any more furthermore God hath no where promised that he will indue his children in this life with exquisite perfection therefore they cannot be made perfect heere for God doth not perfourme more in this worke of regeneration by the power of his spirit then he hath declared in the revealed word of promise and they themselves by their owne power cannot make themselves better and more holy then God will have them to be Also the most holy Apostles themselves say Iames. 3.2 that in many things they sinne all Iohn also in his Epistle pronounceth most plainely saying 1. Iohn 1.8 If we say that we have no sinne we deceive
condemnation or salvation according to theyr workes so that none shall then be saved except he be endued and clothed with good workes By all this it appeareth manifestly with what an vniust and vndeserved slander the Papists do accuse and backbite vs among the rude and ignorant common sort of men when with open and impudent mouth they cry out vpon vs that we despise and reiect good works when as they rather are they which do this for they reiect and despise those workes which are acceptable and well pleasing vnto God and out of theyr owne brayne do forge and invent workes of their owne by which they say they can prevent and deserve the grace of God With these fayned workes they vaunt themselves vnto the rude and simple that they can attayne vnto glory by them but seeing they have not true workes which proceede from the renewing of grace or at the least do not teach the right vse of true workes they lost theyr glory with God And heere an end of these things thus spoken briefely as by the way concerning good workes Now returne we vnto the further handling of regeneration Although the regeneration of the godly be vnperfect and but onely begun in this life yet it is so necessary vnto every Christian as that without it not one can be saved Secondly although it he vnperfect yet it is never at an end Lastly it is declared by the scripture vnto whom regeneration hapneth CHAP. 33. ALthough regeneration be vnperfect and be but onely begun in this life so that the godly can never in deed and in act perfourme so much as in will they are prest to do Heb. 12.14 yet neverthelesse it is so necessary vnto every one that without it no man can attayne vnto salvation For the generation of every one is condemned in Adam as in the common father of vs all for which cause as Augustine sayth Tom. 10. col 336. every one that is begotten is condemned except he be begotten againe Therefore the scripture sayth playnely and absolutely that no man can see the kingdome of God except he be borne againe Iohn 3.3 Heb. 12.14 their eyes onely shall see God which have bene renewed vnto his image For man in his nature is wholy corrupted and a stranger from God Ephes 4.18 and from the life of God and sinne doth wholy possesse him By this it is cleere enough Rom. 7.16 how necessary regeneration is and a new creature in Christ Iesus Moreover although regeneration in this life be very small and vnperfect continually yet by the holy spirit it is made so great in the elect as that the power of sinne is restrayned and weakened in them that it beareth not the whole sway nor raigneth and ruleth at large So that although the godly and the regenerate doe fall now and then into such or such sinnes Rom. 7.18 yet they never sinne with all their mind and with their whole will but do so resist the corruption of nature that they never fully approve and do that which it perswadeth and biddeth So that in them there is such reluctation and striving Rom. 7.25 that the refourmed will desireth one thing and the corruption of nature perswadeth another Thus they doe not that which they would but that which they hate that do they So with theyr minde they serve and obey the lawe of God but with their flesh the â—â—â—w of sinne so that in them there is in a divers respect both a will and no will There is a will as they are reformed and renewed by the heavenly grace There is no will in them as farre forth as they are not regenerate and obey the flesh In them the refourmed and renewed will fighteth and striveth with the vnregenerate part that at the length it becommeth conquerour and overcommer For the grace of regeneration that perswadeth and inviteth men vnto goodnes is more mighty then the corruption of nature that tempteth vnto evill And thus farre of the second poynt to be observed in this regeneration now the third remayneth briefely to be vnfolded and declared This regeneration and renewing of the corrupt nature is afforded vnto none but vnto the elect onely This the scripture in expresse words sayth and playnely proveth that they onely are enlightened and do come vnto faith which are ordeyned vnto eternall life Act. 15.48 for faith proceedeth and commeth from regeneration and both are conteyned vnder election Therefore none are regenerate but the elect and againe none are elected but they which shall be regenerate and endued with faith Heere therefore are convertible termes which are equall one to an other and may one be affirmed of the other Also Paul in this cheyne affirmeth playnely that the elect onely are glorified For so hee sayth whom hee predestinated those also hee called and whom hee called those also hee iustifyed and whom hee iustifyed those also hee glorifyed therefore this glorification happeneth vnto none but vnto those that are predestinated By this most heavenly gradation from the highest vnto the lowest it commeth to passe that the conclusion of the grace of God answereth and agreeth very fitly vnto the preface or beginning thereof Now they which are glorified are first regenerate vnto a sincere and holy life then they are renewed more fully and perfectly dayly by continuall proceeding toward the attaynement of everlasting life vntill that their glorification being fully ended and finished they be made happy both in body and soule together and translated into the heavenly rest So God doth prepare man and make him fit by regeneration for the heavenly inheritance which can neither perish nor be defiled 1. Pet. 1.4 nor fade away Therefore whom he adorneth in this world with his grace those also he crowneth in heaven with glory This regeneration howsoever in respect of man it be very weake yet in respect of the foundation and beginning thereof it is farre more firme then the frame of heaven for it hath the holy spirit the Almighty God for the effector and preserver thereof Hee therefore which will disanull and overthrow that must first vanquish God and thrust him from his throne for God doth not onely glorify his children but also doth preserve them in that glorification and other spirituall gifts vntill at the length he finally glorify and crowne them both in body and soule For after that true faith hath once begun to be in a man it can never fall quite away and wholy decay for it is grounded and propped vp by the power of God 1. Pet. 1.5 and in it it hath a most strong foundation Indeed it may be that the course and fervency of faith may be much interrupted and alayed by this or that fall but the roote of faith being fastned and planted in the heart of man by the holy spirit and the bud that springeth from thence can never be quite supplanted and cleane rooted out And if that faith once given
striveth vnto the obedience of Gods law with a carefull endeavour Therefore this wrestling betweene the flesh the spirit and the love of goodnes and hatred of evill are such works in a man as can be found in none but in the regenerate only for where there is no regeneration there can be no strife betweene the flesh and the spirit but men wallow nuzzle themselves in sin without feare But in a regenerate man there are contrary affections which alwayes fight one with an other They therefore which feele within themselves this conflict betweene the flesh the spirit and yet in the meane while doubt whether they be elected vnto salvation or no they do great iniury vnto God as if he did regenerate and call men vnto Christ in vayne and would not save them By this conflict the imperfection of the godly in this life may easily be perceived because that the corruption of nature is not fully and wholy vanquished and subdued in this world so that the godly should strive and contend manfully against it vntill by the holy spirit they have subdued it and so obtayne a ioyfull victory and rule over the stubbernes of the flesh Therefore Paul commaundeth Gal. 5.17 that the godly should not doe that which they would So in this life there is such a condition and conflict in the Saints that the flesh alwayes lusteth against the spirit Rom. 7.15 and the spirit against the flesh So that what they do they approve and allow not for that which they would they doe not but that which they hate that do they So Paul in his owne person as in the common example of all the godly doth teach vs that such is the infirmity of the best that they cannot do that good which they would but contrarywise that they doe that evill which they would not By this it is evident that the children of God are never such good proficients heere as that the perfection of their worke should be answerable vnto their will And so Paul sayth playnely and confesseth freely of himselfe That to will is alwayes present with me but I finde no meanes to do that which is good so the corruption of nature doth alwayes hinder the most godly in this life that they cannot perfectly serve and obey God Therefore let every Christian carefully examine himselfe whether he do acknowledge Christ for his redeemer and stedfastly beleeve in him or no if he shall find that he hath any whit of Christ within him so that for the love and feare of God he hateth evill loveth that which is good then surely he hath the beginning of life in himselfe Rom. 8.1 and neede to have no feare of condemnation at all They therefore which beleeve that they are elected do honour God by giving credit vnto his word Certainely we should by faith embrace the promise of God and not respect the frailty of man for they which by a true faith do beleeve that they shal be saved for Christ his sake his merit are the sonnes of Abraham shal be the heires of promise Gal. 3.29 Therfore by faith may every one be assured of his salvation So that this is a sure infallible conclusion I do beleeve truly and sincerely in Iesus Christ and do put the whole confidence of my salvation in him alone therefore I am elected and cannot be lost For true faith is a most certayne and vndoubted argument of salvation that is to say a most infallible and evident token which maketh an end of all wavering and doubting For the scripture sayth in playne and expresse words 2. Thes 3.2 Tit. 1.1 Act. 3.28 Rom. 5.1 14.17 that faith is not given vnto every one but is a gift peculiar vnto the elect only Now this faith is not idle but doth glad the conscience and bringeth peace vnto it This the scripture expresseth saying that God sheadeth abroade the feeling of his love into the hearts of the elect by the holy spirit by which they cry Abba father So Paul sayeth playnely that hee knoweth whom he hath beleeved on 2. Tim. 1.12 teaching every of the godly by his example that he may iudge and discerne of his owne faith Therefore whosoever beleeveth in his heart and desireth to go forward that is to make better proceedings in faith and in the workes thereof he may set it downe for a certayne truth that he is elected of God redeemed by Christ and regenerate by the Holy Ghost So God witnesseth and declareth in theyr consciences how he is affected toward every one so that where there is a quiet and peaceable conscience toward God there doth God set vp the throane of his fatherly and saving grace and ruleth and worketh by his holy Spirit vnto everlasting life Moreover although faith be an evident testimony of election yet the want of faith is no evident signe of reprobation Therefore this consequence is false and deceitfull I beleeve not therefore I am not elected but reprobated That is as vntrue as this The Sunne is not as yet risen therefore it will never rise for after a little while it may rise So also although this or that man beleeve not to day nor feeleth any effect of faith yet when the time shall come which God hath appoynted and set downe for his calling hee may have faith attaine vnto the true feeling therof Therfore we should hope very well in our good God evē vntil the last gaspe of life especially seeing he is endewed with so kind and mercifull a nature as that he is infinitely more desirous to save miserable sinners then they are to be saved of him Let every man therefore repent him and betake himselfe vnto a better way and through Christ he shall obtayne salvation For sinnes passed as Augustine sayth do not hurt a man if sinnes that are present do not delight him And he that is displeased with himselfe in his sinnes he is well pleasing vnto God in grace For the favour of God and a wicked life agree not together neyther can be in one man both together Therefore 2. Tim. 2.19 let every man that nameth Christ depart from iniquity for so hee shall indeede feele that hee is not of the number of the reprobates but of the elect So that whosoever loveth God truly 1. Cor. 8.3 and studieth and desireth to order his life according to his will let him know that he is truly elected and regenerate indeede For the vnregenerate men with their whole soule and will are at enimity with God Rom. 8.7 Col. 1.21 and are wholy caryed headlong into all wickednes and every kinde of sinne for theyr minde is alienated from that which is good and is wholy addicted and given vnto that which is evill These things being thus considered both in a generality and common view concerning the chayne of salvation is also being divided and vnfolded through the five linckes thereof as it were by