per gratiam ipsius ne fides ipsa superba sit Nec dicat sibi quis si ex fide quomodo gratis quod enim fides meretur cur non potius redditur quà m donatur Non dicat ista homo fidelis quia cum dixerit vt merear iustificationem habeo fidem respondetur ei Quid enim habes quod non accepisti Being iustified freely by his grace lest faith it selfe should be proud Nor let any man say to himselfe if it be of faith how is it freely for that which faith meriteth why is it not rather rendred as due than freely giuen Let no beleeuer speake thus for when he shall say I haue faith that I may merit iustification it is answered him For what hast thou that thou hast not receiued Thus this holy man disclaimes all merit of workes in vs yea euen of faith it selfe though it bee the instrument to apply the righteousnesse of God in Christ vnto vs whereby we are truely iustified And it stands with good reason For faith iustifieth not by vertue of the act of beleeuing but as the instrument in applying the obiect which is Christ. As the hand is said to heale onely by applying the medicine or to inrich by receiuing a treasure or to feed by putting meat into the mouth as we say a childe is fed with a spoone when the milke onely feedeth So faith by applying Christ the true balme healeth by receiuing Christ the true treasure inricheth by conuaying Christ the true bread and water of life feedeth the soule St. Augustine also in his first Sermon vpon the 70. Psalme saith In eum credo qui iustificat impium vt deputetur fides mea ad iustitiam I beleeue in him that iustifieth the vngodly that my faith may be deputed hee comes very neare Imputed for righteousnesse It would fill a large volume to set downe the Tracts and sayings of this holy Father to this purpose seeing all his workes are euery where perfumed with this most sweet and Catholicke doctrine of iustification through the righteousnesse of Christ imputed to vs not for any grace inherent in vs though it be the gift of God bestowed on vs for Christs sake I will onely adde one or two sayings more of this holy man Per fidem induendo Christum omnes fiunt filij non natura sicut vnicus Filius sed filij fiunt participatione sapientiae id praeparante atque praestante Mediatoris fide quam fidei gratiam nunc indumentum vocat vt Christum induti sint qui in eum crediderunt ideo filij Dei fratresque eius Mediatoris effecti sunt In putting on Christ by faith all are made sonnes not sonnes by nature as is the onely begotten Sonne but they are made sonnes by the participation of wisedome being prepared and performed by the faith of the Mediator which grace of faith hee now calleth a clothing or putting on so that they haue put on Christ that haue beleeued in him and therefore they are made the sonnes of God and brethren of the Mediator What plainer words could this holy Father haue vsed to expresse the nature of iustification in the imputatiue righteousnesse of Christ than by calling imputation a participation of Christ by the meanes of faith in which respect hee calleth faith a putting on because thereby Christ with all his righteousnesse is put vpon vs and so wee are made the sonnes of God Iustin Martyr saith Quid aliud peccata nostra potuisset tegere quà m Christi iustitia O beneficia expectationem omnem exuperantia vt iniquit as quidem multorum in vno iusto abscondatur iustitia autem vnius faciat vt multi iniusti pro iustis habeantur What else could haue couered our sinnes but Christs righteousnesse O blessings exceeding all expectation that the iniquity of many should bee couered in one righteous person and that the righteousnesse of one should cause that many vniust should be accounted iust And of later times deuout Bernard Mors in Christi morte fugatur Christi nobis iustitia imputatur Death is vanquished in Christs death and Christs righteousnesse is imputed to vs. And againe Qui nostram induit carnem subijt mortem put as suam nobis negabit iustitiam voluntariè incarnatus voluntariè passus voluntariè crucifixus solam à nobis retinebit iustitiam Christus peccati meritum tulit suam nobis donando iustitiam Hee that both tooke vpon him our flesh and vndertooke death will hee trow you denie vs his righteousnesse voluntarily incarnate voluntarily suffering voluntarily crucified will hee keepe from vs his onely righteousnesse And writing to Innocentius he saith Homo qui debuit homo qui soluit Nam si vnus pro omnibus mortuus est ergo omnes mortui sunt vt videlicet satisfactio vnius omnibus imputetur sicut omnium peccata vnus ille portauit It was man that was indebted and man that paid it For if one died for all then were all dead to the end that the satisfaction of one should be imputed to all euen as he alone bore the sinnes of all Ambrose also vpon these words of the Apostle Christ was made a curse for vs as it is written Cursed is euery one that hangeth on tree saith Non ille maledictus sed in te maledictus Christ was not accursed but in thee was hee accursed Iust so are we in him blessed Saint Cyril also vpon these words of Esay The Deliuerer shall come forth of Sion and shal turn away iniquities from Iacob c. concludes thus from Rom. 10 10. For with the heart c. With the heart saith he man beleeueth to righteousness with the mouth confession is made to saluation We haue therefore receiued of God the word of faith and confession Which word bringeth saluation and procureth righteousnesse For Christ doth so iustifie the vngodly that hee proclaimeth Behold I haue remoued thine iniquities as a cloud and thy sinnes as a mist. For this word of faith shall be for euer in vs and shall neuer cease from our mouth but wee shall transmit and conuay it euen vnto posterity For thus also shall posterity be iustified For if Christ bee for euer both God and Lord the confession of this his faith shall neuer faile with those who haue acknowledged his appearing So Cyril This therefore was among the ancient Fathers of the Church and they haue sent it downe to vs their posterity as the Catholicke faith to bee confessed of all Gods children vntill the appearing of Iesus Christ that our iustification stands in the merits of Christ and the mercies of God in the remission of our sinnes and the not imputing them vnto vs. But the Trent-Fathers and the Church of Rome as being not the legitimate posterity but the bastard brood falsly pretending from those holy Fathers disclaime this Catholick faith concerning iustification in the remission of sinnes which God in the forenamed place
iustos haberi c. We are saith he to relye vpon this only certaine and stable foundation and for the same onely to beleeue that we are iustified before God that is accounted iust This is that precious treasure of Christians which who so findeth selleth all that he hath to buy it Thence it is that by experiment we see holy men who the greater proficients they proue in holinesse the lesse they please themselues and therefore doe so much the more perceiue they stand in neede of Christ and of his righteousnesse giuen vnto them and therefore they renounce themselues and relye onely vpon Christ. Neither doth this come to passe that becomming more holy they see lesse than before or are now more degenerous and base minded yea rather the more they grow in sanctity the more generous and quicke sighted they bee Wherefore becomming the sharper sighted they do the more looke into the weaknesse and slendernesse of their inherent sanctity and righteousnesse which they obserue to bee infected with many spots and speckes which doe so much the more offend their eyes the more sharpe sighted they grow and therefore they acknowledge that they are not to relye vpon any sanctity charity and grace inherent in them but to flye to Christ and to his grace giuen vnto them whereupon they wholly relye and repose themselues These and many other excellent sayings hath this Cardinall left recorded beseeming a learned godly and pious Diuine setting forth the true nature of the iustification of a sinner before God So that by the authority and testimony of this learned and iudicious Cardinall Gods wisedome and prouidence so disposing it it is euident that this doctrine of iustification which the Protestants teach and maintaine was not a new doctrine inuented by Luther but the same which the Catholicke Doctors and Diuines taught vntill Scotus and his Sectaries began to broach a new and contrary doctrine which this learned Cardinall by solid arguments from Scripture confuteth neuer created nor decreed for Catholicke vntill the Romane-Catholicke Councell of Trent CHAP. XI Of the Romane-Catholicke faith it selfe what kinde of faith that is which the Church of Rome admitteth as their Christian faith or the faith of Romane-Catholicke beleeuers BY that which hath beene already declared of the Romane-Catholicke doctrine touching the iustification of a sinner it is more than euident that they haue quite barred vp the beautifull gate of the Temple of Heauen blocked vp the way to saluation beset the Tree of life with their Seraphicall flaming sword of Anathema fire and fagot lest neuer a Mothers sonne of Adam should put forth his hand to taste of it and so liue for euer in the heauenly Paradise So that the Romish Doctors specially the Trent-Fathers are iust like those Scribes and Pharisees Hypocrites which shut vp the Kingdome of Heauen and for all Peters pretended keyes take away the key of knowledge neither going in themselues nor suffering others to enter in Or they are like to the Philistims who stopped vp those Wels which Abraham had digged for his flockes filling them with earth and rubbish So these Romish Philistims enuying Isaacs riches the riches of Gods grace in the children of the promise Abrahams seede haue with the earth and rubbish of humane inuentions and of Satans Sophistry stopped vp those Wels of saluation which Abraham by faith had digged and found enioyed left also to his faithfull posterity to enioy to the worlds end And in stead therof they haue hewed to themselues Cisternes broken Cisternes that will hold no water hauing forsaken the Lord the fountaine of liuing waters as Ieremy speaketh But yet say that the Romane-Catholicke Church had not thus stopped vp the Wels of saluation but that as the promiscuous Samaritans who were a perfect type of the Popish Church for they meddled not with the Iewes the true Church they had a mixt Religion of the true God and of Idols false gods they had built a Temple in Mount Garizim not onely in imitation but in emulation and opposition to the Temple in Ierusalem So the Romish Church will not meddle with the true Christian professors and true Iehudahs praysers of God vnlesse it be by treachery and treason by powder and poyson fire and fagot and sword their Religion is mixt and so mixt as their Idols haue quite shouldred out the seruice of the true God and against Christ the true Temple whose Religion is Catholicke and spred ouer the whole world as Christ told the Samaritan woman they haue built an Antichristian Church vpon the Romane Hils whose imaginary foundation is Peters Chaire and whose gates are opened and shut with Peters keyes Say I say if as the Samaritans retained Iacobs Well intire so the Pontificians did preserue the Wels of saluation pure not hauing despitefully stopt them vp as the Philistims did Abrahams Wels yet as the woman of Samaria said to Christ The Well is deepe and thou hast nothing to draw withall so the Well of saluation is deepe what is there then to draw withall that as Esay faith yee may with ioy draw water out of the Wels of saluation This may therefore be fitly obiected to the Church of Rome which the Samaritan woman foolishly obiected to Christ The Well is deepe and thou hast nothing to draw withall Nothing yea nothing not so much as a small sheard to take water withall out of the pit as Esay speaketh For there is no line to reach no bucket to take the liuing waters out of Gods Well but onely Faith With this it was wherewith the Samaritan woman her selfe both drew and dranke of the true liuing water out of Iacobs true liuing Well and the Wel was Christ. With this Faith it was wherewith the woman with the bloudy issue drew the liuing water out of Christ which washed away the running bloudy issue of her sins For it was her faith that made her whole and that by Christs own testimonie With this faith it was that the blinde man in the Gospell went and washed in the Poole of Siloam yea in the soft running waters of Shilo Iesus Christ by vertue wherof he returned seeing But the Church of Rome doth not deny faith True Yea but euery faith will not reach this Well nor comprehend this Water let vs see therefore what that faith is which the Pontificians hold and whether it will hold water as we say And now are wee come to the maine point of the matter of our iustification as Soto confesseth that this doctrine of faith it selfe is the princeps Controuersia the head controuersie betweene the Pontificians and whom they call the Lutherans But as the same Soto saith ibid. Est lis haec de sola fide adeo tum à suis exordijs abstrusae tum ob diuturnam vtrinque pugnam obuoluta ac implexa vt ad eruendam veritatem vix nobis alicunde pateat aditus This controuersie of sole faith saith
of the Councell haue said concerning their iustifying Faith These as all other Pontificians at this day taking the Councell of Trent for their guide and rule as Bellarmine and others with one mouth do affirm That there is no kinde of Faith but one as Soto saith Eadem vniuersorum fides est The Faith of all men is one and the same Indeede in the sixt Chapter of the same Booke he sets down a two-fold acception of Faith the first of that Faith which he cals a morall vertue which is in the will the other an intellectuall vertue in the vnderstanding The first he takes for fidelity in keeping ones word The second for the credit giuen to it In this latter sense Soto takes that Faith which is in man towards God and what this Faith is he further sheweth in the seuenth Chapter where he propounds two things concerning faith first Quod nullatenus duae sed vna penitus Fides est qua credimus vniuersa reuelata sine historiâ— sinâ— sine promissiones sine prâ—ceptiones aut consilia first that there bee not two but altogether one Faith whereby we beleeue all things reuealed whether they be histories or promises or precepts or counsels The second is Quod promissionum assensus ad fidem Catholicam pertinens non est specialis ille quo quisque de se credit seu recipere modo seu habere iam gratiam sed ille in genere quo firmiter credimus Iesum Christum vniuersalem esse Redemptorem c. That the assent of the promises appertaining to the Catholicke faith is not that speciall assent of faith whereby euery man beleeueth of himselfe that hee eyther now receiueth or hath grace already but that generall assent whereby we firmly beleeue that Iesus Christ is an vniuersal Redeemer c. Therefore that wee may trace these Pontificians to their fourmes or holes we will insist in their owne foot-steps and first shew what species or kinde of faith they hold and secondly what qualities they appropriate vnto it in particular First therefore what kinde of faith they meane wee haue had the testimony of the Councell of Trent ioyntly and generally and then more particularly the Commentary of Soto vpon it namely that it is a meere Historicall faith common both to good and wicked men To whom also wee will adde Vega's iudgement and Commentary who also excludeth all kindes of faith but this one Historicall faith as any way requisite to iustification Nor doth any of them allow vnto faith any other worke in iustification but onely as it disposeth a man thereunto Let vs heare Vega's owne words who not fearing to blaspheme the doctrine of faith deliuered by Christ and his Apostles by peruerting it to serue his Antichristian doctrine saith Et Paulus caeteri Apostoli imo ipse Christus cum fidei tribuebant nostram salutem iustificationem cum eam exigebant ab eis quibus praedicabant agebant de fide per quam acquirere possumus verè acquirimus iustitiam docebantque nos dispositionem qua nos ex parte nostra disponimus ad gratiam sed ista fides non est fides formata aut saltem non in quantum formata habet ista essicere both Paul and the other Apostles yea euen Christ himselfe when they attributed to faith our saluation and iustification and required it of those to whom they preached they handled that faith by which we may acquire and doe truely acquire righteousnesse and they taught vs that disposition whereby on our part we dispose our selues to grace but this faith is not a faith formed or at least not as it is formed doth it effect these things And by and by he explaines this more clearely saying Fides formata non est via neque dispositio ad iustitiam nostram siquidem illa iam habet secum praesentem iustitiam Faith which is formed is not the way nor the disposition to our righteousnesse for this already hath righteousnesse present with it It remaines therefore that Vega alloweth no faith in iustification but that which is vnformed or voide of charity and that this serues onely to dispose a man to iustification which iustification charity possesseth when once it hath giuen forme and life to faith Now Vega in the former question among other sundry acceptions of this word Faith doth most willingly imbrace and pitch vpon that which signifieth credulity or aptnesse to beleeue or a perswasion or a firme and certaine assent sed ineuidens tamen but yet vneuident And omitting others this hee most diuinely proueth out of a prophane Author and Historian Titus Liuius As also out of the Poet Virgil Credo equidem neque vanafides genus esse Deorum I verily beleeue there is a generation Of Gods nor is my faith a vaine imagination This example Vega worthily puts among others to demonstrate and exemplifie that faith which the Pontificians haue and hold concerning God and their owne saluation by way at least of disposition as we haue said Now this faith taken for credulity or perswasion or assent but vneuident hee diuides into sundry branches as either it is humane or diuine humane when we beleeue mans sayings diuine when we beleeue Gods sayings This diuine Faith hee sub-diuideth into actuall and habituall The actuall Faith hee cals a firme and certaine but vneuident assent of those things which are reuealed of God That it is a firme and certaine assent it exceeds opinion that it is vneuident it is inferiour to the intellect or vnderstanding science and sapience which are intellectuall vertues hauing clearnesse and euidence Habituall Faith is a certaine intellectuall habit whereby the vnderstanding is made apt and disposed to the actuall Faith This habituall Faith he further diuides into fidem acquisitam infusam into faith acquired and infused Faith acquired is a habit fitting vs the more easily to beleeue being acquired by the frequency of the acts of Faith Faith infused is a certain supernaturall habit and altogether of a diuine condition infused by God into our vnderstandings that by it wee may easily and certainly and vndoubtedly assent vnto diuine reuelations Verùm hic habitus c. but this habit saith hee may be both in righteous men and in sinners as all Catholicke Doctors for certaine hold and experience it selfe declareth Lastly he diuideth Faith in fidem informem formatam into faith vnformed and formed Faith vnformed he cals a habit of Faith separated from charity Faith formed is a habit of Faith conioyned vnto charity and hauing it present with it Although these in habit are both one for as charity ioyned to Faith makes it to be formed so being remoued from Faith againe leaues it as it found it vnformed This is the perplexed doctrine of the Pontificians or Church of Rome concerning Faith who though they be so barren of distinctions as not to finde out the true kindes of Faith grounded on the holy Scriptures but Babylonishly
confound them all in one yet againe they shew their pregnant and fruitfull veine in distinguishing when as they diuide and subdiuide this poore Faith of theirs into so many parts as at length it comes to iust nothing Not vnlike to Cyrus King of Persia who in his expedition towards and against Babylon being to passe ouer the riuer Gyndes which afforded him no Ford to passe but by shipping one of his holy white steeds proudly assaying to swimme ouer and so being drowned hee thereupon in reuenge of his holy horse vpon that goodly riuer threatned he would so diminish and diuide this riuer as women should easily wade ouer it and not vp to their knees So hee set his numerous Army aworke for a whole yeare to diuide the riuer into three hundred and threescore branches and so being as good as his word passed on the next summer to conquer Babylon So deale the Pontificians with sauing Faith which being as a goodly riuer able to carry the fairest ships of richest fraight bound for the holy Land onely because it will not suffer their proud inherent holinesse by the vertue of its owne strength to passe ouer they doe so cut and mince it as they make it common such is their common Faith for all passengers tagge and ragge to passe through vpon their owne legs Now let vs see which of these branches of Faith Vega in the name of the Councell of Trent and Church of Rome layes speciall hand on whether on the actuall or habituall acquired or infused formed or vnformed Vega shuts out all other Faith from the meaning of the Apostle in all those places where he attributes iustification vnto Faith but onely the actuall Faith All habituall Faith whether acquired or infused he peremptorily excludeth maugre all those that say the contrary of what authority soeuer Now what this actuall Faith is we haue heard by Vega himselfe that it is a credulity or perswasion firme and certaine but vneuident Note here how this Babylonish builder contradicts and confounds himselfe in one breath If this Faith of his be a firme and certain perswasion how is it vneuident and if vneuident how is it a firme or certaine perswasion Indeed this Vneuident helpes all It is like the picture of Venus drawne by Apelles who being not able to delineate and beautifie her face to the life drawes an artificiall shadow of a vaile or curtaine ouer it But what might bee the meaning of this word Ineuident Surely I finde not Vega very free to explaine himselfe in this point Onely in one place he seemeth to vnderstand by it such an assent or faith as we giue meerly for the authority of him that speaketh And so it may very well be said to be ineuident not onely in regard of any particular perswasion of good towards a mans selfe from him that speaketh but also of the particular truth to be beleeued This ineuident Faith is not vnlike the Iesuiticall blinde obedience when only the authority of the commander is respected not the equitie of what is commanded But the most commodious property of Vega's ineuidence is to leaue it as we finde it ineuident For the maine drift of the Pontificians is to fould vp Faith in a cloud that no man should know it And therefore Vega to dazell our eyes would haue vs beleeue that the Apostle Paul where hee speakes of iustifying Faith meanes not eyther Faith vnformed or Faith formed in particular but Faith in generall O miserable selfe-blinding Cardinall would you also cast a myst before the Apostles eyes that hee should not see what he said was euer impudencie and folly so yoaked together But what 's the reason that Vega will not pitch vpon one certaine and distinct Faith specially meant by the Apostle The reason is not hard to giue For if Vega should say that the Apostle meant Faith vnformed then the expresse words of the Apostle would euidently confute him where he commendeth Faith working by loue And againe if Vega should confesse that the Apostle elsewhere meant that Faith which worketh by loue then it must needes follow that Faith doth truly iustifie and not barely dispose a man to iustification as Vega would haue it But Vega hath another pretty euasion for this For he saith Aliud est c. It is one thing to say that those places of Scripture wherein our iustification is attributed to faith are to be vnderstood of Faith formed and another that they are to be vnderstood of Faith which worketh by loue For although saith he others take these two for one kinde of Faith yet we thinke these two to be most distinct and by no meanes to be confounded together Prius enim est c. For Faith working by loue goes before Faith formed by charity because saith he for this end it workes by loue that it may obtaine the holy Ghost and by it charity wherewith it may be formed O admirable subtilty surpassing all Philosophy all Diuinitie How doth Faith worke by loue before it haue charity Or what is that loue the Apostle speaketh of but charity Or is the Apostles Faith working by loue a Faith vnformed O Vega let me say that to thee truly which Agrippa falsly applyed to Paul Vega thou art besides thy selfe too much learning maketh thee madde For I am sure Vega cannot answer for himselfe as Paul did I am not madde but speake the words of truth and sobriety For Vega's wordes are meere contradictions senslesse and corrupt vnsauory salt Such is his sophisticate Sophistry and frothy wit that it may bee said to him as the Prophet saith to Babylon Thy wisedome and thy knowledge it hath peruerted thee or as the Vulgar hath it Hath deceiued thee I know their shift is to say There is a loue in man vpon the first grace disposing him to iustification wherby he beginnes to loue God aboue all things And iâ— not this loue the highest degree of charity that can bee If this loue be not charity it is meere vanitie But to sum vp the totall of that which Rome teacheth concerning faith in Iustification as we find it either expressed or implyed in the Councell of Trent illustrated by her most pregnant Interpreters First they allow or acknowledge but one kinde of Faith in the Scriptures common to good and bad Secondly that this is the Catholicke Faith of the Church the obiect whereof is the whole word of God written and vnwritten Thirdly that this Faith is a meere Historicall Faith which may be in the very Diuels and damned Fourthly that this Faith is formed by charity which while it hath it is a liuing faith but losing it it is dead and vnfruitfull Fiftly that this Faith euen without charity dead and fruitlesse as it is yet is sufficient to make a man a Christian and a Beleeuer Sixtly though they admit of no other Faith to Iustification yet that this Faith doth not iustifie by their owne confession but may be in
whom all the promises of God are Yea and Amen to the glory of God the Father yet withall it doth not restraine its generall influence of beleefe from any part of Gods Word no more than the eye of the body doth shut it selfe from seeing any other thing present before it than that particular obiect to which the radius or beam directly pointeth What need more testimonies yet the ancient Fathers of the Church haue not left vs without witnesse in this point I will vse but one or two for breuity Chrysostome saith This is the propertie of true Faith when aâ— the promise being made not after a manner customary or familiar with men we confidently beleeue the power of the promiser Thou seest how euen before the euent and accomplishment of the promises Abraham in as much as he beleeued receiueth a sufficient reward For to beleeue the promise of God was imputed to him for righteousnesse Therefore to beleeue Gods promise is both able to make vs iust and shall cause vs to obtaine the promises By Faith we procure righteousnesse and obtain the good promises And the same Father vpon the tenth to the Romanes saith Hoc potissimum peculiare est fidei vt promissa Dei cunctacomplectamur This is chiefly peculiar to Faith that we embrace all the promises of God Thus we see this holy man placeth the promises of God in Christ as the prime obiect of iustifying Faith St. Ambrose saith Si exclusa fuerit promissio sine dubio frustratur Fides Abrahae Quod ne audire quidem se patiuntur Iudaei scientes quia promissio ex Fide est Abrahae Quae promissio ex Fide iustificat non per Legem sicut Abraham iustificatus ex Fide est Hi ergo haeredes sunt promissionis Abrahae qui illi succedunt suscipientes Fidem in qua benedictus iustificatus est Abraham Testimonium ergo promissionis Abrahae testamentum appellatur vt post mortem eius Haeredes essent in promissione Filij eius factiper Fidem That is If the promise be excluded without doubt the Faith of Abraham is made voyde which not euen the Iewes themselues endure to heare knowing that the promise is of the Faith of Abraham Which promise doth iustifie by Faith not through the Law as also Abraham is iustified by Faith They therefore are Heires of the promise to Abraham which succeede him by entertaining the Faith wherein Abraham is blessed and iustified Therfore the testimonie of the promise to Abraham is called a Testament that after his death they might bee Heires in the promise beeing made his Sonnes by Faith So Ambrose Thus wee haue the testimonies of two faithfull witnesses testifying this most Catholicke doctrine of Faith not onely of Abraham but consequently of all the faithfull That the promises of God in Christ are the maine obiect of sauing and iustifying Faith And these witnesses shall stand in stead of many Hence it is that Faith in Scripture is called Confidence or Assiance because it embraceth the promise of God in Christ as the proper obiect of it as we touched before In a word those famous ancient Creeds vniuersally receiued in the Church especially the Apostolicall the Nicene and Athanasius his Creede all of them called the obiect of Faith as being the abridgement of the Word of God what do they commend vnto vs as the maine and sole obiect of sauing and iustifying Faith but Iesus Christ his incarnation passion resurrection ascention session at Gods right hand c. together with the fruits we reape from this tree of life as to bee made his liuing members beleeuing the holy Catholicke Church the Communion of Saints the Remission of sinnes the Resurrection of the body and the life euerlasting all the effects and fruits of Gods promises in Christ. But say the Pontificians faith is an act of the vnderstanding as being seated in the intellectuall part of the soule and not in the will and therefore it is but a bare assent to the truth of Gods word in generall and so also of the promises contained therein and no speciall affiance in the goodnesse of God particularly towards a mansselfe And so they make onely the truth of God reuealed as being apprehended and assented vnto by the vnderstanding to be the obiect of faith and not the goodnesse of God contained in his promises as being entertained and embraced by the will But for the clearing of this point we may first obserue how the Church of Rome as in other points of doctrine so in this maine point of Faith doth most pitifully interfeere For which cause let me here insert a passage in the Prouinciall Councell of Colen celebrated Anno 1536. some nine years before the Councell of Trent which will partly confirme what hath beene formerly said concerning the nature of true Faith and confront this Pontifician obiection now in hand This Prouinciall Synod setteth downe a three-fold kinde of beleeuing following therein St Augustine vpon the Creed Credo in Deum which we haue a little before cited We will set down the very words of the Synod which acknowledgeth Duplicem seu triplicom esse fidei sâ—u credendi rationem Siquidem vna est qua Deum esse ac caetera quae Scriptura commemorat non aliter quam historica quadam fide recitata vera credimus Vnde historica fides appellatur quam nobiscum Damones communâ—m habent Altera qua Deo credimus quae persuasio constans opinio est quae fidem promissionibus comminationibus diuinis adhibemus quam habent iniusti cum iustis communem Tertia fidei ratio est qua in Deum credimus solis pijs peculiaris quae certissima quaedam fiducia est qua tâ—tâ—s nos Deo submittimus totique à gratia misericordia Dei pendemus Haec spem complectitur charitatem indiuiduam comitem habet Prima credendi ratio seu fides illa Historica si solam accipias informis est veluti adhuc mortua Altera verò qua Deo tantum credimus nec dum tamen erga Deum religiosa pietate assicimur manâ—a Sedtertiâ— qua in Deum credimus pioque affectu in â—um tendimus ea demum viuida atque integra fides est c. That is There is a two-fold or three-fold sort of faith or beleeuing One is whereby wee beleeue that God is as also other things which the Scripture relates wee beleeue to be true no otherwise than by a kinde of Historicall faith recorded whence it is called an Historicall faith which the Deuils haue in common with vs. The second is whereby wee beleeue God which is a perswasion and constant opinion whereby wee giue credit both to Gods promises and threatnings which faith the wicked haue in common with the righteous The third sort of faith is that whereby wee beleeue in God which is peculiar onely to the godly being a kinde of most certaine confidence or affiance
testified by those scarres in his sacred side My Lord and my God In a word all those Creeds vsed in the Church from all antiquity do vnanimously and with one ioynt consent confirme this Catholicke truth of that speciall explicit cleere particular Faith in Christ required in euery true beleeuer For first of all they do all say I beleeue in God c. not We beleeue So the Apostles Creed the Nicene Creede saith I beleeue in one God c. not We beleeue Athanasius his Creede saith Whosoeuer will be saued before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholicke Faith c. that is Euery man in particular must beleeue And this particular Faith is required not only in regard of euery beleeuer but also in regard of the speciall obiect of Faith which is no confused or vniuersall I wot not what obiect but a speciall obiect to wit the sauing knowledge of God in Christ and the promise of life in him Looke vpon all the Creeds which the Fathers call the obiect of Faith as containing the summe of that which we are to beleeue to our saluation and doe they not mainely present to our Faith Iesus Christ and him crucified Nor this onely in generall that Christ is the redeemer of the world but the specialties of this redemption are set downe to teach vs That not a generall implicit faith will serue the turne but it must bee a particular explicit faith comprehending all those particulars in the Creede declared at large in the Word of God Thus the foundation of Popish vncertainty of Faith being remoued to wit a certaine vncertaine implicit general faith the building it selfe threatneth immediate ruine CHAP. XIV Of the vncertainety of Romane-Catholicke Faith THe Councell of Trent being in generall an enemie to the certainety of Faith which giueth a true beleeuer an assurance of his saluation and withall considering how euident both Scriptures and Fathers were in this point so strongly propugned and maintained by Luther and thirdly the Councell it selfe in the canuase of this point while it was in consultation or rather in contention being diuided into contrary parties and sides some holding for certainety as Catarinus and others for vncertainety as Vega and others as the History of the same Councell doth notably discouer Therefore it became the politicke spirit of the Councell to vse all cautelous circumspection in the definite concluding of this point contriuing it vnder such vmbratilous and sub-obscure termes as that they might seeme neither grossely to oppose the open truth nor yet displease that party of the Councell that seemed to encline to the truths side nor yet leaue Luther vncondemned for defending the truth nor yet betray their owne cause which was to aduance the vncertainty of Romane-Catholicke Faith Vncertainety being the very hint which gaue occasion to the Serpent boldly to insult and so to ouerthrow mankinde For when Eue said lest yee dye the Serpent finding her staggering takes the aduantage strikes her with a down-right blow to the ground Yee shall not dye at all But let vs see the mystery of Trents iniquitie in their wily winding vp this bottomlesse bottome of their implicite Faith in the vncertaintie of it In the ninth Chapter of the sixt Session they haue these words Quamuis necessarium sit credere neque remitti neque remissa vnquam fuisse peccata nisi gratis diuina misericordia propter Christum nemini tamen fiduciam certitudinem remissionis peccatorum suorum iactanti in ea sola quiescenti peccata dimitti vel dimissa esse dicendum est cum apud Haereticos Schismaticos possit esse imo nostra tempestate sit magna contra Ecclesiam Catholicam contentione praedicetur vana haec ab omni pietateremota fiducia Sed neque illud asserendum est oportere eos qui verè iustificati sunt absque vlla omnino dubitatione apud semetipsos statuere se esse iustificatos neminemque à peccatis absolui nisi eum qui certò credat se absolutum iustificatum esse atque hac sola fide absolutionem iustificationem perfici quasi qui hoc non credidit de Dei promissis deque mortis resurrectionis Christi efficacia dubitâ—t Nam sicut nemo pius de Dei misericordia de Christi merito de Sacramentorum virtute efficacia dubitare debet sic quilibet dum seipsum suamque propriam infirmitatem indispositionem respicit de sua gratia formidare timere potest Cum nullus scire valeat certitudine fidei cui non potest subesse falsum se gratiam Dei esse consequutum Thus farre the whole ninth Chapter That is Although it be necessary to beleeue that sins neyther are nor euer were remitted but freely by diuine mercy for Christ yet no man boasting of confidence and certainty of the remission of his sinnes and therewith wholly * resting ought to say that his sinnes are or haue been remitted seeing this vain confidence voide of all piety both may be amongst Heretickes and Schismatickes yea and is now in these our dayes and is preached with great contention against the Catholicke Church But neither is that to be affirmed that they who are truely iustified ought without any doubting at all to conclude with themselues that they are iustified and that none is absolued and iustified from sins but he that certainly beleeueth that he is absolued and iustified and that in this sole faith absolution and iustification consisteth as if a man not beleeuing this should doubt of the promises of God and of the efficacy of Christs death and resurrection For as no godly man ought to doubt of the mercy of God of the merit of Christ and of the power and efficacy of the Sacraments so euery man while hee looketh vpon himselfe and his owne proper infimity and indisposition may be affraid and fearfull of his owne grace seeing no man can know by the certainty of faith wherein there may not lye some error that he hath obtained the grace of God Now I desire the Christian iudicious Reader to obserue the sundry passages and as it were the seuerall threads of this Copwebbe First like the painted Whoore she sets a faire face or preface vpon the matter as attributing remission of sinnes to Gods mercy for Christ which euery one must necessarily beleeue she could say no lesse though in the vp-shot of the matter she would haue men to beleeue nothing lesse but in the next place shee comes with a by-blow and condemnes the confidence and assurance of faith vnder the termes of boasting And therefore prefixeth this a title before the Chapter Contra inanâ—m Haereticorum fiduciam Against the vaine confidence of Heretickes A notable packe of cunâ—â—ng well beseeming the mysterie of iniquity They doe not goe bluntly to worke to beate downe-right that confidence and certaine assurance which is in a true iustifying faith but slily they wound
or prouinciall Synods or generall Councels In those times the man of sinne had not thus exalted himselfe aboue all that is called God or that is worshipped as to vsurpe authority ouer the sacred Scriptures whose authority is venerable as Augustine saith Omnia quâ— proferâ—â—tur à sanctis Scripturis plena veneratione suscipere debemus All things whatsoeuer are deliuered out of the holy Scriptures wee ought to entertaine with all reuerence As Tertullian saith Adoro Scripturae plenitudinem I adore the fulnesse of the Scriptures But what need we further testimonies to vindicate thisi Catholick truth that the authority of holy Scriptures was euer aboue the Church yet we will only adde a testimony or two that in the mouth of two or three witnesses euery word may be established In St. Chrysostomes workes the vncertaine author but allowed of all euen of the Pontificians themselues vpon the 24. Chapter of St. Matthew vpon these words Then when yee shall see the abomination of desolation stand in the holy place let them which are in Iudea flee to the mountaines saith thus that is When ye shall see wicked heresie which is the Army of Antichrist standing in the holy places of the Church then they which are in Iudea let them flye to the Mountaines that is they which are in Christianity let them betake themselues to the Scriptures For as a true Iew is a Christian as the Apostle saith Hee is not a Iew that is one outward but hee that is one inward So the true Iudea is Christianity whose name doth signifie Confession And the Mountaines are the Scriptures of the Apostles and Prophets as it is said of the Church her foundation is vpon the holy Mountaines And why at this time doth hee command all Christians to betake themselues to the Scriptures Because at this time since Heresie hath inuaded the Churches there can be no triall of true Christianity nor other refuge for Christians which desire to know the truth of faith but the holy Scriptures For formerly it was knowne many wayes which was the Church of Christ and which was Gentilisme but now those which would know which is the true Church of Christ cannot know it by any other meanes but by the Scriptures Why Because all those things which are proper to Christ in the truth the same also heresies haue in a figure or similitude they haue likewise Churches they haue likewise the Diuine Scriptures themselues likewise Bishops and other Orders of Clerkes likewise Baptisme likewise the Eucharist and all other things and in a word Christ himselfe Therefore if any would know which is the true Church of Christ how can he in the confusion of so great a similitude discerne it but only by the Scriptures And many other things to this purpose doth the same author there set downe sending vs to the Scriptures as the only touch-stone to try the true Church from the false counterfeit Antichristian Church If therefore the true Church of Christ be known onely by the Scriptures then surely the Scriptures depend not vpon the authority of the Church But that must needes bee the Antichristian Church that challengeth and vsurpeth an absolute power ouer the Scriptures which for their authority and sense must be beholden to the Church to wit the Church of Rome to wit the Pope And the same Authour in the 44. Homily vpon the 23. of Matthew saith Hereticall Priests doe shut the gates of truth to wit the holy Scriptures for they know that if the truth should once bee made manifest then their Church is to be forsaken and themselues must come downe from their sacerdotall dignity to a popular basenesse and neither themselues doe enter into the truth of the Scriptures because of their auarice nor suffer others to enter by reason of ignorance But in a point so cleare and not once called into question among the Fathers of former ages but onely by a sort of Heretiques as the Arrians and Manichees and the like still the authority of the Scriptures was preferred aboue all till of late dayes the Church of Rome hauing called from the dead the old hereticall vsurpation hath cryed downe this authoritie of the Scriptures We shall not need to produce more authorities out of the Fathers to vindicate the Scriptures authority aboue the Church or any man whatsoeuer Let vs conclude the controuersie onely with one question The Church of Rome challengeth authoritie ouer the Scriptures I would faine know who gaue her this authoritie For whatsoeuer authority the Church of Rome hath if shee haue it not from the Scriptures of what worth is her authority And if she haue her authority from the Scriptures how comes shee to challenge authority ouer that from whom shee receiueth her authority vnlesse the Church of Rome deale with the Scriptures in the case of authoritie as she hath dealt with the Emperours in the case of supremacy For the Bishop of Rome first receiued his supremacy ouer other Bishops from the Emperour hauing it confirmed by that vsurping Parricide Phocas This supremacy not long after grew to that height as that it ouer-topt the imperiall Soueraignety it selfe and so the Pope began to vsurpe authority ouer the Emperour of whom hee receiued his supreame authority Thus he dealeth with the Scriptures For the Pope cannot but confesse that what authority hee hath is grounded vpon the Scriptures else his authority is of no value yet notwithstanding the Pope is not ashamed to auouch that now the authority of the Scriptures doth wholly depend vpon him But if the Popes authority bee such as it hath no ground nor foundation in the Scriptures then he must proue it to bee some diuine Numen falling vnto him immediately from Heauen like the image that came downe from Iupiter so adored of those Ephesians whose Goddesse Diana was so famous Nor euer was that image nor that great Goddesse Diana more adored of the Ephesian world than this imaginary vnlimited transcendent power of the Pope ouer Scriptures and all adored of the Pontifician world But say some Angell from heauen brought him this power in a boxe Vnlesse this power haue vtterly taken away all power and Authoritie yea and truth from the Scriptures it cannot escape Pauls Anathema which Augustine applyeth and wherwith we will shut vp this point Siue de Christo c. Whether it be of Christ or of his Church or of any thing whatsoeuer pertaining to our faith and life I will not say Wee for wee are not to be compared to him that said Although that wee but as he addeth there If an Angel from heauen shall preach vnto you besides that which you haue receiued in the Legall and Euangelicall Scriptures let him bee accursed Now what can be of greater moment concerning faith and life than the Popes authority ouer the Scriptures which being not found in the Scriptures it is together with the Pope and all his worshippers branded with Anathema Which
themselues both beauty and wit wit to inâ—â—nt and compose a new plat-forme of vertue a new way to Heauen and beauty to expresse this vertue and to demonstrate this way with the very hand of their owne immaculate exemplary life Let them therefore come forth vpon the Stage and act before vs but a Scene of their Christian life Wee are willing to be Spectators of this rare spectacle and will be as beneuolous to giue them a Plaudite if they deserue it as by their fame and claime we are erected to a high expectation of their performance for we expect to see them act the parts not as common Actors and Comedians act others good parts vpon the Stage whence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Hypocrites haue their names as Gregory saith Haereticorum hypocrisis decoros ipsos hominibus ostendit The hypocrysie of Heretickes makes them appeare beautifull vnto men wee expect I say to see them act the parts not of the ordinary ranke of morall men but as they professe to goe before others in learning and wit so let them goe before all men in sanctity of life and conuersation which if they doe not their owne Doctrine shall turne to their greater condemnation For seeing they attribute so much to their naturall abilities if they make it not good in their owne practice God will say vnto them Out of thine owne mouth will I condemne thee thou euill seruant Hast thou so much power to doe good and dost it not If the Lord condemne that feare at the best which is taught towards him by the precepts of men how shall hee confound those that for all their humane politicke precepts come infinitely short of the feare of God in their liues But if not only defect of the true feare of God be found in them but excesse of all corruption doe beare sway in their lusts if they be extreame proud couetous ambitious malicious contemners of the true seruants of God if back-biters selfe-louers louers of pleasures more than louers of God hauing a forme of godlinesse but denying the power thereof what reward shall they haue for all their new deuices and quaint doctrines What honour with God What credit with men What comfort in themselues but horrour of conscience What else can bee expected of such as haue lost or neuer had the true faith Can a bad tree bring forth good fruit saith Christ Gregory compareth such to brazen Pipes Sonum bene loquendi habent sed sensum bene viuendi non habent They haue the sound of saying well but they haue not the sense of liuing well But take their workes at the best yet seeing they flowe not from the holy roote of sound faith they are but as many flowers whose colour is beautifull but their sauour banefull Such do stincke odious in the pure nostrils of God yea they are abominable to the Church of God As the same Gregory saith Quia nonnunquam haeretici quanto magis in perfidiae errorem dilabuntur tanto amplius in exteriori sese operatione custodiunt ita vt agere prae caeteris magna videantur sancta vniuersalis Ecclesia cuncta eorum opera despicit quae ex authoritate fidei non prodire perpendit Because some times hereticks the more they sinke into the errour of perfidiousnesse so much the more warily doe they keepe themselues in their exteriour operation so that they may seeme in comparison of others to doe great things the holy vniuersall Church doth despise all their workes which it confidereth not to proceede from the authority of faith Now hauing spoken of the nature of Predestination according to the expresse tenure of the holy Scriptures come wee to set downe the certainty of Catholicke and true iustifying Faith in regard of the certainty of predestination vnto grace and of perseuerance therein vnto glory The Pontificians alledge and obiect That we cannot be certaine of our saluation but depend alwayes doubtfull because say they we cannot know who is predestinate and who shall perseuere in grace without speciall reuelation Now true it is that no beleeuer can know whether another be predestinate or shall perseuere but by speciall reuelation Samuel came to know King Saul to be a reprobate by speciall reuelation Ananias came to know persecuting Saul to bee an elect vessell by speciall reuelation So Paul came to know that Clement and other his fellow-labourers had their names written in the Booke of life Againe no man how wicked souer can know or conclude with himselfe that he is a reprobate but eyther by diuine reuelation as Saul came to know this by Samuel from God or else by the effects of finall impenitency and desperation such as commit the sinne of the Holy Ghost especially But that euery true beleeuer may and doth come to know himselfe to be of the number of Gods elect and predestinate vnto life and that not onely by extraordinary reuelation from the Spirit of God but by the illumination of iustifying Faith and consequently is hereby assured of his perseuerance in grace vnto glory is a Doctrine most euident in the holy Scriptures Two generall points therefore come here to be handled First that euery true beleeuer in Christ may and doth certainly know that hee is one of the number of Gods Elect. Secondly that euery true beleeuer may and doth know certainly that he shall perseuere in grace vnto glory For the first of these Euery true beleeuer in Christ may and doth certainly know that hee is one of the number of Gods Elect. And this hee knoweth first by Faith The Faith of Gods Elect is as a chrystall perspectiue glasse though which euery true beleeuer clearely seeth himselfe enrolled in the Booke of life Reioyce in this saith Christ that your names are written in Heauen Now how can any man reioyce of that whereof hee is vncertaine and doubtfull and which he knoweth not So that for the Elect to reioyce that their names are written in Heauen in the Booke of life must needes imply a certaine knowledge that we are of the number of those whose names are written in the Booke of life as also some in the Trent-Councell iudiciously alledged from this very place But the aduersaries obiect that this was spoken in especiall to the elect Disciples to whom Christ gaue a speciall reuelation of their election I answer with Augustine vpon these very words of the Gospell of Christ In this reioyce that your names are written in Heauen Nullus fidelis habet spem si nomen eius non est scriptum in coelo No faithfull man hath any hope if his name bee not written in Heauen So that Augustine applyeth this speech of Christ to all the faithfull As hee there saith Non eos voluit gaudere ex eo quod proprium habebant sed exeo quod cum caeteris salutem tenebant Inde voluit gaudere Apostolos vndo gaudeâ— tu Christ would not haue his Disciples to reioyce of
lodgeth his Infallibilitie And thus the sacred Scriptures which till that Idolatrous Councell of Trent were held the sole and entire Catholicke Canon and rule of Faith must now draw in the Popes yoake with his sophisticatâ— Traditions Now the pure gold and siluer of Gods word must goe no longer for currant vnlesse it be stamped in the Popes owne Mynt and subiect also to be abased or inhansed at his pleasure Now the waters of life are of noforce vnlesse distilled through the Popes Limbeck nor those riuers of Paradise medicinable if they flow not from the sacred Minerals of the Romish Mountaines Thus in effect the Romish Amazon cuts off the right pap of Scripture which yeelds the sincere milke reseruing only the left to suckle her Paplings withall as that Lupa did Romes founder Romulus or at least the right Pap is so patched to that slepmothers breast as it yeelds no other milke but such as relisheth of the corrupt complexion of the Popes infallibility Thus the first Rubbe is remoued the Scriptures which are made cock-sure for the Pope 2 For Luther they could easily hisse him out for an arch heretick and blast and brand with Anathema those euident truths by him deliuered So that hard it was to iudge whether fared worse Luther for the truths sake or the truth for Luthers 3 For the consent of ancient Fathers the most they stand vpon is S. Augustine who indeed writ more of this diuine mysterie than all the rest put together But the Councell could easily euade him saying as Catarinus about Predestination that S. Aug. his opinion therin was nouel neuer heard of before his time or that S. Aug. was drawn to speake many things awry through heat of disputation against the Pelagians or as Vega Non necesse est c It is not necessary to beleeue all S. Aug. his arguments to be demonstratiue or altogether to stand in force Thus all the Fathers corne though growing from the field of Scriptures proues but chaffe comming once to be sisted in the mysticall if not Satanicall sanne of this actiue Councell 4. 5. For the dissenting Schoolemen and those Dominicans and Franciscans in this Councell whereof Vega and Soto were the two Standard-bearers and bore a great sway therein it behooued the Councell to heepe good quarter with them and to vse all their witts eyther to reconcile them or with some pretty equiuocations to please all parties For this purpose Marcellus Priest intituled of the holy Crosse President of the Councell Cardinall and Apostolicall Legate à latere whose wits were as veâ—satilous as his titles magnificent and various after much sweat spent in chopping and changing peecing and payring after an hundred Congregations wherein these matters were canuased Pro Con at length licked the Decrees and Canons to that forme that each side was pleased and Marcellus applauded on all hands when each Sect might from the same Delphick Oracle pick out his owne meaning Thus came these Trent Decrees to be like a curious Picture which euery one in the Roome imagineth to looke directly vpon him Or like an indented Table-Picture vpon a Wall wherein the one side of the Roome may behold the face of a man the other of a woman and they in the midst of an Owle Thus Soto and Vega who in the time of this Session writ each a Volume of this Subiect though in some smaller points different in their opinions which they grounded vpon the Decrees and dedicated to the Councell were both well pleased yet no otherwise reconciled but as Herod and Piâ—ate Brethren in euill to crucifie Christ. The writing of which two Champions of Trent I haue mostly all along this Treatise confuted Thus as S. Ambrose saith Fucum faciunt qui non audent explicare quod sentiunt censoriè They do but iuggle that dare not set downe in plaine termes what they captiously conceiue And as Hierome against the Pelagian Hereticks Sola haec haeresis quae publicè erubescit loqui quod scripto docere non metuit This only is heresie which blusheth to speake that publickly that it feares not to teach secretly But as there hee saith Ecclesiae victoria est vos apertè dicere quod sentitis sententias vestras prodidisse superasse est It is the Churches victory for you to speake plainly as you think to detect your opinions is to confute them But we haue assayed to pull off Romes vizard and to make the Whore naked Her figge-leaue-righteousnesse will not salue her sinne or hide her shame Only I cannot but lament to see many of my brethren the sonnes of my mother in show to stand vp to plead for Baal Is it the symptome of this our age wherein there is so much learning and so little sound knowledge in the Mysterie of Christ or wherein the Spirit of the world is so predominant that men are so transported with an vnnaturall zeale and loue to Babylon But Wisedome is iustified of her children And now I begin to conceiue the reason why the Iesuites pennes are of late so silent surely because they see ours sopoynant in one anothers sides while our mother-Mother-Church bleeds for it But those that be the true Ministers of Christ will say with S. Paul Wee cannot speake any thing against the truth but for the truth Now I could heartily wish that my brethren of the Ministry would imploy the greater part of their paines in preaching and pressing this maine Doctrine of Iustification It would be a maine Bulwarke to batter Babels Tower whereby she would scale heauen with her merits And for Antichrist I wonder to see such a deepe silence of him Doth the Councell of Laterans Decree dare vs not to mention Antichrists comming Otherwise to presse Iesuites with the point of Antichrist would easily stop their mouthes while they would put vs to show the vninterrupted lineall pedâ—gree of the Professors of our Religion from the Apostles all along downeward to Luther Alas this is but a poore shift to gaine time and to cause vs to put vp our weapons against them We can easily descry the pearles of our Religion strawed all along in the bottome of those muddy streames of Popery We can discouer the starres which haue giuen light in all ages of the Church notwithstanding all Romes mysts labouring to eclipse them And although iniury of time had consumed with fire our particular euidences yet we finde them registred in the Court-rowles of Scripture which no fire nor moth shall consume But not to detaine you too long in the Porch of this larger edifice know Christian Reader that this poore Worke hath lien by me licensed for the Presse a pretty space It was borrowed from the interrupted succisiue houres of my Court-attendance If it displease many I passe not so much if it may profite some and therein shall I prayse God This is the fruit of all my labour I seeke no reward so I may shun reproofe What can be said in
seruile that we may perform he cooperates with vs. And c. 16. vpon Phil. 2. Deus est qui operatur in vobis c. Certum est nos facere cum facimus sed ille facit vt faciamus praebendo vires efficacissimas voluntati And Epist. 107 to Vitalis Carthaginen vpon that of the Apostle Phil. 2. God worketh in vs euen to will he saith Vera Dei gratia praevenit hominis voluntatem bonam nec eam cuiusquam inuenit in corde sed facit The true grace of God preuenteth mans good will neither findes he it in any mans heart but makes it good Whereupon in his second booke against Iulian the Pelagian hee calleth it Seruum arbitrium saying Hic vnltis hominem perfici atque vtinam Dei dono non libero vel potius seruo propriae voluntatis arbitrio You would haue a man perfected and I would it were by the gift of God and not by the free or rather seruile arbitrement of his owne will Thus according to St. Augustine mans liberum arbitrium is by Adams fall turned into seruum arbitrium seruing onely to sinne and to turne it to good it must not onely bee moued stirred or helped but freed by Gods grace which is a worke of power in disarming the strong man And what this grace is hath beene shewed afore to wit Gods sauing grace The true grace of God saith Augustine not a common grace Deuout Bernard vnderstands by free-will a meere will in man without respect to the obiect good or euill Velle inest nobis ex libero arbitrio non etiam posse quod volumus Non dico velle bonum aut velle maelum sed tantum velle To will is in vs proceeding from free-will but not to performe what we will I say not to will good or to will euill but onely to will And againe Corruit homo de posse non peccare in non posse non peccare amissa ex toto complaciti libertate Man fell from a possibility not to sinne to an impossibility of not sinning hauing altogether â—ost the liberty of delight Per propriam quippe voluntatem seruus peccati factus meritò perdidit libertatem consilij for by his owne proper will being made the seruant of sinne hee hath deseruedly lost the liberty of his election or counsell Now how shall all this be repaired againe The same Bernard resolueth it Velle homini vt esset creans gratia fecit vt proficiat saluans gratia facit vt deficiat ipsum se deijcit That man should haue a will is from creating grace that this will should profit is from sauing grace that it should decay is of its owne voluntary defection It is therefore a worke not of common grace as they vnderstand by the first grace whereby they say the will is moued but of effectuall sauing grace to restore the will of man and fit it for Christ. Habet igitur homo necessariam Dei virtutem Dei sapientiam Christum qui ex eo quod sapientia est verum ei sapere re-infundat in restaurationem liberi consilij ex eo quod virtus est plenum posse restituat in reparationem liberi complaciti Man therefore hath the necessarie vertue of God and wisedome of God which is Christ who as hee is wisedome doth re-infuse wisedome to know the truth to the restauration of the freedome of election and as he is vertue doth restore a full power to the reparation of the freedome of delight and happinesse which saith he is begun here in grace and consummate hereafter in glory And again concerning free-will he saith Nemo putet ideo dictum liberum arbitrium quod aequa inter bonum aut malum potestate aut facultate versetur cum cadere per se quidem potuerit non autem resurgere nisi per Domini spiritum Ergo si à Domini spiritu iam non à libero arbitrio Let no man thinke that free-will is therefore so called as hauing an equall and indifferent power or faculty betweene good and euill seeing it could fall by it selfe but not rise againe but by the spirit of the Lord. And if it bee by the spirit of the Lord it is not now of free-will And St. Augustine tells vs plainly what that grace is whereby the will is freed to wit Gratia Dei per Iesum Christum Dominum nostrum in qua nos sua non nostra iustitia instos facit c. That grace whereby the will is freed is the grace of God by Iesus Christ our Lord wherein hee maketh vs iust by his owne not by our righteousnesse c. But saith the carnall minde If man haue not free-will to accept grace offered what cause hath God to complaine or to condemne man for that which is not in his power to performe I might answer with the Apostle O vaine man who art thou that repliest against God But I answer againe Though man haue no will of himselfe to receiue grace offered yet he hath a will to reiect grace offered for which he is 〈◊〉 condemned So that mans corrupt will is sufficient to conuict him though no way able to conuert him after that manner which Pontificians teach And thus God needeth not mans carnall wit to pleade for the equity of his iustice sith God doth not simply condemne men for that which by nature they are inuincibly vnable to performe as by the vertue of free-will to receiue grace offered but for that which is in their power and will to doe namely when they not only not willingly receiue but wilfully and contemptuously reiect and put from them the grace of God offered them in the Gospel And iustly doe all such obiecters come within the compasse of Iobs censure Iob 13. 7. Will yee speake wickedly for God and talke deceitfully for him c. As Saint Hierome Concede Deo potentiam sui nequaquam te indiget defensore Let God be Master of himselfe he needes not thee to pleade for him Now by the former testimonies as by a cloud of witnesses the Church of Rome is sufficiently conuicted of grosse absurditie and of grieuous impiety in her doctrine of preparation to iustification wherein her Gordian knot of manifold errours while the Romish Harlot would haue the liuing childe diuided betweene her and the true Mother Gods grace is cut asunder and dissolued by the sharpe sword of Salomons wisedome First because the worke of preparation is rather the worke of iustification it selfe and that so soone as the vnderstanding is inlightened and the will inflamed to apprehend Christ by faith Secondly because that grace of God whereby the will of man is prepared to iustification as they say is no common grace receiued as well by the reprobate as the elect but the sauing and iustifying grace of God which whosoeuer receiueth is more truly said to bee already actually iustified than disposed and prepared thereunto Thirdly because the work of Gods grace
iust namely of him who iustifieth the vngodly that of impious he may be made righteous Or surely it is so said They shall be iustified as if it were said They shall bee accounted iust they shall be reputed iust So he Thus we see though St. Augustine following the etymologie of the word take iustificare to iustifie or make iust yet hee meaneth nothing else but the accounting or reputing iust and not the infusing of grace whereby to be made iust And Bernard also saith Adde huc vt credas quod per ipsum tibi peccata donantur Hoc est testimonium quod perhibet in corde nostro Spiritus sanctus dicens Dimissa sunt tibi peccata Sic enim arbitratur Apostolus Gratis iustificari hominem per fidem Adde to this that thou beleeue that by him thy sinnes are forgiuen thee This is the testimonie which the holy Ghost beareth in our heart saying Thy sinnes are forgiuen thee For so the Apostle concludeth That a man is iustified freely by faith But let vs heare from the holy Ghosts own mouth in the Scriptures he will leade vs into all truth To iustifie in Scripture is vsually taken in a iudiciall sense as beeing properly a iudiciall word iustification beeing opposed to condemnation The Hebrewes haue one word which signifies to iustifie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and it is still applyed to such a iustification as a man stands vpon in a iudiciall tryall As Genesis 44. 16. Mah nits tadhac how shall wee iustifie our selues said Iudah to his brother Ioseph in regard of the cup found in Beniamins sacke which seemed now to be brought to aiudiciall Tryall So 2. Sam. 15. 4. Absolon wisheth hee were Iudge of the Land that hee might doe euery man iustice or iustifie him Reade also for this purpose Deut. 25. 1. Psal. 51. 4. 1 Kings 8. 32. Pro. 17. 15. Esay 5. 23. 43. 26. Matth. 12. 37. 1. Cor. 4. 4. and many other places in Scripture to this purpose doe plainely shew how this word Iustifie is properly taken namely to acquit or cleere to pronounce or declare one iust by the sentence of the Iudge This sense of iustification the Church of Rome cannot endure they smother or at least smooth it ouer by slight of hand as a matter of no moment Whereas indeede there is nothing that will more directly leade vs to the true vnderstanding of the nature of iustification than the consideration of this word taken in a iudiciall sense wherein the holy Ghost doth vse it namely to acquit and absolue a man and pronounce him iust by sentence of iudgement This sheweth that the point of iustification of a sinner is not so light a matter as Papists and profane persons would make it No it is a Case to be tried at the barre of Gods iudgement-seate in whose sight shall no man liuing bee iustified Holy Iob while hee pleaded with his opposite friends hee wanted not matter for his iustification but when once the Lord God summons â—im out of the whirle-winde before his throne and bids him girde vp his loynes like a man Iob stands not now vpon his vprightnesse but confesseth I am vile what shall I answer thee I will lay my hand vpon my mouth c. Iob 40. 4. and 42. 5. I haue heard of thee by the hearing of the eare but now mine eye seeth thee Wherefore I abhorre my selfe and repent in dust and ashes Yea hee had said before Chap. 9. 15. Whom though I were righteous yet would I not answer but I would make supplication to my Iudge for God is a righteous and seuere iudge and who may stand in his sight when he is angry when hee sits to iudge For the heauens are not cleane in his sight how much more abominable and filthie is man which drinketh iniquitie like water Iob 15. 16. If therefore our iustification be such as must proceede from Gods iudgement seate and must be sentenced by Gods owne mouth it neerely concernes euery Mothers Sonne to bee well aduised vpon what ground we stand what euidence wee can bring to cleare our selues to satisfie our vnpartiall Consciences to stop the mouth of the accusing Diuell and to abide the fierie triall of that Iudge who is euen a consuming fire and will condemne euen the least sinne to the pit of hell But that wee may not mistake the true acception of iustification we are to consider iustification in a two-fold relation or respect either as it hath relation to God or to man before whom also we are said to be iustified but in a different yea opposite respect whereof we shall haue occasion to speake hereafter Here wee speake of Iustification in the first relation Now this iustification of a sinner in the sight of God whereof wee speake proceedeth from a iudiciall tryall In this sense it is vsed by the holy Ghost Rom. 8. 33 34. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect It is God that iustifieth who is he that condemneth It is Christ that dyed yea rather that is risen againe c. This iustification the Lord Iesus doth oppose to condemnation Iohn 5. 24. where speaking of iudgement vers 22. he inferreth Verily Verily I say vnto you Hee that heareth my word and beleeueth on him that sent me hath euerlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but is passed from death vnto life And like as Iesus Christ was condemned by a iudiciall proceeding Pilate giuing sentence though according to such euidence as was most vntrue in it selfe so all those for whom Christ was thus iudicially condemned shall be iudicially iustified and acquitted But this wil appear more clearly in setting down the formall cause of our iustification To speake to the capacity of the simple By formall cause is meant that which giues a being to iustification as forma dat esse the forme of a thing giues being vnto it That therefore which makes a man perfectly iust is called the formall cause of his iustification Now the Pontificians would hence conclude That inherent qualities must be the formall cause of iustification alledging the authority of Philosophers who say That the formall cause is the thing or quality which is in the subiect as the soule of man is in the body And therefore they exclude the righteousnesse of Christ whereby he is formally iust from being the formall cause of our iustification because say they Christs righteousnesse is in himselfe not in vs. But no maruaile if these Pontificians doe wrest the Maximes of Philosophers from their natiue sense when they dare so familiarly force the Scriptures themselues The Philosophers speake of a physicall formality but the holy Scriptures speake of the iustification of a sinner in the sight of God the forme whereof is relatiue and not physically inherent in vs. But be it so that the formall cause must alwayes be in the subiect to which it giues a being the formall cause then of iustification must be inherent Wherein
blessed But the Apostle or rather the holy Ghost by the Apostle is the best interpreter of that prophecie Gal. 3. 16. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made Hee saith not and to seeds as of many but as of one And to thy seed which is Christ. And this was that promise of God which Abraham beleeuing his faith was counted to him for righteousnesse as it is there in the sixt verse euen as Abraham beleeued God and it was accounted to him for righteousnesse Therefore Vega's diuinitie hath very much failed him in propounding these two examples of Noah and Abraham to proue the iustification of his generall Faith whereas we plainely see both these Patriarches faith had speciall and principall reference and respect to Christ Iesus And therefore their faith was reckoned to them for righteousnesse For the other examples which Vega there addeth in generall out of the eleuenth to the Hebrewes they are all of the same nature and all confirme this infallible and vndeniable truth That the promises of God in Christ and Christ alone with all his righteousnesse is the obiect of that Faith which is reckoned to Abraham to Noah and to euery beleeuer for righteousnesse Here then comes in the true formall cause of our iustification namely Christ himselfe with all his righteousnesse which being apprehended by faith it is imputed vnto vs for righteousnesse This is it that giues a true being to iustification Iustification therefore consists in the imputation of Christ and his righteousnesse comprehending also all the promises of God in him apprehended by faith Now concerning this Catholicke doctrine of imputation of Christs righteousnesse by faith the Scriptures are very pregnant in the proofe of it This Gospell hath testimonie before the Law in the Law and in the Prophets and is confirmed by Christ and his Apostles Before the Law to omit other examples wee haue two famous ones that of Noah and Abraham of whom wee spake euen now who are layd downe for exemplary patterns yea and liuely types to all beleeuers Noah before the floud and Abraham after the floud and before the Law which St. Paul doth especially note to put a difference betweene faith and the workes of the Law in the point of iustification In the Law also we haue two principall types liuely shadowing this doctrine of imputation The first we finde in Leuiticus 1. 4. And hee shall put his hand vpon the head of his burnt-offering and it shall bee accepted for him to make attonement for him The burnt offering waâ— a figure of Christ sacrificed for vs vpon the crosse the man that brings this burnt-offering is a type of euery true beleeuer and the hand which hee putteth on the head of the sacrifice is faith laying hold on Christ and as it were owning him for our proper sacrifice which God accepteth to bee an attonement for vs a sacrifice of a sweet sauour vnto the Lord. The Apostle applies this sacrifice with the fruits of it to Christ Rom. 5. 11. Wee reioycein God through our Lord Iesus Christ by whom we haue receiued the attonement Also Ephes. 5. 2. Walke in loue as Christ also hath loued vs and giuen himselfe for vs an offering and a sacrifice to God of a sweete smelling sauour Christ is then this burnt-offering our attonement with God and an offering of a sweete sauour vnto the Lord. Now the instrument or hand whereby Christ is apprehended and applyed to euery true Beleeuer is Faith It was the hand of Faith which the diseased woman in the Gospell touched Christ her Sauour with and fetched vertue out of him To whom the Lord said Daughter be of good comfort thy faith hath made thee whole goe in peace This the Apostle doth also liuely setout Rom. 3. 25. Whom God hath set forth to wit Iesus Christ to be apropitiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousnesse for the Remission of sinnes that are past through the forbearance of God to declare at this time his righteousnesse that hee might be iust and a iustifier of him that beleeueth in Iesus How fully doth the Apostle parallel and compare this truth with that type A second type of our righteousnesse or iustification by imputation of Christ vnto the beleeuer in the time of the Law is set downe Num. 21. 8. 9. The Lord said vnto Moses make thee a fiery serpent and set it vpon a pole and it shall come to passe that euery one that is bitten when he looketh vpon it shall liue and Moses did so and the serpent-bitten-man looked and liued The brazen Serpent was a type of Christ the serpent-bitten-man is euery sinner whom that old serpent hath already stung with sinne as he did our first Parents The looking on the brazen serpent so lifted vp vpon a pole is the faith of the beleeuer beholding Christ lifted vp vpon his Crosse. This Christ Iesus himselfe applyeth Ioh. 3. 14. 15. As Moses lifted vp the Serpent in the wildernesse euen so must the sonne of man be lifted vp that whosoeuer beleeueth in him should not perish but haue eternall life A most sweet collation of the truth with the type shewing that as faith is the hand of the soule laying hold vpon the bloudy sacrifice of Christ for our atonement with God so faith is also the eye of the soule so to looke vpon Christ crucified as to bee thereby cured of all the deadly wounds of sin and so to liue eternally The Prophets also are full of testimonies to confirme this doctrine of iustification by imputation Esa. 53. 4. Surely hee hath borne our grieses and carried our sorrowes yet we did esteeme him stricken smitten of God and afflicted as if hee had beene a malefactor But hee was wounded for our transgressions hee was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was vpon him and with his stripes are wee healed All wee like sheepe haue gone astray we haue turned euery one to his owne way and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of vs all And vers 8. he was cut off out of the land of the liuing for the transgression of my people was he stricken Though he had done no violence neither was any deceipt in his mouth yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him he hath put him to griefe when thou shalt make his soule an offering for sinnes he shall see his seede c. Here wee see most liuely set downe a mutuall imputation of our iniquities vnto Christ and of his merits vnto vs. And then the Prophet vers 11. sheweth by what meane or instrument this righteousnesse of Christs obedience is imputed to vs By his knowledge shall my righteous seruant iustifie many for hee shall beare their iniquities By his knowledge or by the knowledge of himselfe that is by faith in him knowing and acknowledging seeing and beholding him with the eye of faith to bee that Lambe of God before the shearer taking away our sinnes for hee
they greatly triumph to proue the authority of the Church aboue the Scriptures Ego Euangelio non crederem â—isiâ—e Catholicae Ecclesiae câ—â—mâ—â—eret authoritas that is I should not beleeue the Gospell vnlesse the authority of the Catholicke Church did moue me Now if we obserue the occasion of this saying of Augustine it will easily appeare that hee had no such meaning as to preferre the authority of the Catholicke Church before the authority of the holy Scriptures for then hee should with one breath contradict the whole tenure of all his writings wherein hee still aduanceth the authority of the Scriptures aboue all as irrefragable supreame and subiect to no authority Now the occasion of this speech of Augustine was this Manicheus a grand Heretique writes an Epistle to Augustine wherein he stiles himselfe Manichaeus Apostolus Iesu Christi prouidentia Dei Patris that is Manicheus the Apostle of Iesus Christ by the prouidence of God the Father Whereupon Augustine saith Haec sunt salubria verba de perenni ac viâ—â— fonte These are wholesome words from the eternall liuing fountain But with your good patience saith Augustine if it please you obserue what I require Non credo istum esse Apostolum Christi quaeso ne succenseatis maledicere incipiatis c. I doe not beleeue that this is an Apostle of Christ I pray you bee not angry and fall a reuiling for you know that I am resolued to beleeue nothing rashly that you say I aske therefore who this Manicheus is you will answer me an Apostle of Christ. I doe not beleeue it Now thou hast nothing what to say or doe for thou didst promise me the knowledge of the truth and now thou constrainest mee to beleeue that which I know not But haply thou wilt reade the Gospell vnto me and out of that thou wilt assay to proue the person of Manicheus Now if thou shouldst finde any man who as yet doth not beleeue the Gospell what wouldst thou doe if he said vnto thee I doe not beleeue it Ego vero Euangelio non crederem nisi c. For I should not beleeue the Gospell vnlesse the authority of the Catholicke Church did moue me Quibus ergo c. whom then I haue obeyed when they said Beleeue the Gospell why should I not beleeue them saying vnto me Doe not beleeue Manicheus Elige quid velis Choose which thou wilt If thou wilt say Beleeue the Catholickes they admonish mee to giue no credit to you Wherefore giuing credit to them I cannot but not beleeue thee if thou shalt say Doe not beleeue the Catholickes thou goest not the right way to compell me by the Gospell to the faith of Manicheus seeing I beleeued the Gospell it selfe being preached vnto mee by the Catholickes And so forth to this purpose Augustine pursueth his discourse So we see the question is about the truth of Manicheus his title calling himselfe an Apostle of Iesus Christ c. This hee obtrudes and thrusts vpon Augustine to giue credit to it Augustine and that worthily makes question of it Hee would haue him proue it by the Gospell Well But Manicheus foylteth in some counterfeit Gospell wherein he stiles himselfe an Apostle of Iesus Christ a Gospell that was neuer acknowledged for Canonicall Scripture But Manicheus will haue it receiued for Gospell How shall it be tryed Is it therefore Gospel because Manicheus saith it Or doth the Gospell depend vpon the testimony of one man No saith Augustine Pagan-Infidels are brought to receiue and beleeue the Gospell by the preaching of the Catholicke Church which hath from time to time kept the Canon of Scriptures intire without the mixture of counterfeit Gospels By this authority of the Catholicke Church to wit by the preaching of the Gospell by the Church Augustine himselfe when hee was a Manichee was wonne to the faith of the Gospell Hence it is that instancing himselfe for one that as yet beleeued not the Gospell hee saith Ego non crederem Euangelio c. I should not that is I if I were as once I was an vnbeleeuing Manichee I should not beleeue the Gospell vnlesse the authority of the Catholicke Church did moue me So that hee makes the comparison betweene the authority of the Catholicke Church and the authority of one man Manicheus The question is Whether Augustine if he were a neutrall beleeuer as yet neyther beleeuing that Gospell which Manicheus bringeth neuer heard of before nor that which the Catholicke Church preacheth and hath euer taught should rather bee induced by the peremptory authority of one sole man to beleeue a new Gospell than by the authenticke authority of the Catholick Church of Christ to beleeue the euerlasting Gospell of Iesus Christ comprehended in both the Testaments and perpetually receiued preserued professed preached and beleeued of the Catholicke Church from all ages In this case Augustine inclines cleaues to the authority of the Catholick Church And what true Catholicke doth not reuerence the authority of the Church of God bringing him to Christ by the preaching of the Gospell as the Samaritan woman brought her neighbour Citizens to Christ But being brought vnto Christ after they had heard him themselues they said to the woman Now we beleeue not because of thy saying for wee haue heard him our selues and know that this is indeede the Christ the Sauiour of the world So euery beleeuer may say I was first induced and as it were led by the hand and voice of the Church to beleeue the Gospell of Christ but after that I haue heard receiued and beleeued Christ himselfe speaking in the Scriptures I now beleeue not for the Church or any mans saying but for the authority of Christ and the Scriptures themselues As Augustine ingeniously saith to Paulina Nolo authoritatem meam sequaris vt c. I would not haue you follow my authority that you should therefore thinke it necessary to beleeue any thing because it is spoken by mee but beleeue eyther the Canonicall Scriptures or the truth that doth inwardly teach and giue testimony thereof For if a truth bee once confirmed by the euident authority of holy Scriptures to wit those which in the Church are called Canonicall it is without all doubting to be beleeued And in his third booke against Maximinus an Arrian Bishop disputing about the word Homousion Augustine saith Nec ego Nicenum nec tu debes Ariminense c. Neyther ought I to vrge the authority of the Nicene Councell nor you that of Ariminum for neyther am I bound to the authority of this nor you of that but both of vs are bound to the authorities of the Scriptures common witnesses to vs both and vnpartiall to eyther So let thing with thing cause with cause reason with reason contend Such was the Catholicke Doctrine of those times wherein Augustine liued that the authority of the Canonicall Scriptures was aboue all other authority eyther of Bishops
adult ad iustif cap. 19 gnorantia rauae dispositinis cap. 18. bid in fine 1. Pet. 1. 19. * Chapt. 4. Orig. in Leuit. â—aimony in â—act de sacriâ— â—erend cap. 3. â—phes 2. 12. Acts 8. 37. Origen super â—euit Iob 19. 27. Iohn 3. â—ug in Ioan. â—act 12. c. 3. Abac. 2. 4. Iohn 20. 28. 2â— * The most ancient and authenticke Creeds require explicit faith in Christ and the promises of God in him Histor. Conciâ— Trid. lib. 2. Concil Trid. Sess. 6. cap. 9. No rest or â—eace to the â—icked * Certainty of â—ith a great â—duersary to Romane-Caâ—holickes a The Pontifician Opus operatum yoaked with Godâ— mercy and Christs merit b Faith of fearfull Diuels approued and commended Concil Trid. Sess. 6. Can. 12. Can. 14. Chemnitij Examen de fide Iustific Ier. 2. 24. Soto de nat grat lib. 3. c. 10. Luther in Gen. cap. 41. Liu. lib. 1. Dec. 1. Soto de nat grat lib. 3. c. 10. Iudges 8. 21. Vega lib. 6. de incertitud grat cap. 2. Certainety oâ— the true Catholicke faith opposite to Roâ—ish vncertainety â—on poena sed â—usa facit â—artyrium â—uangelium faâ—t Martyrium â—ypri â— troubled â—nsettled conscience like the troubled sea â—ude 13. Vega de incertitud grat c. 25. Concil Trid. Sess. 6. can 15. * The reason is naught if he meane that thâ— knowledge of predestination must precede the knowledge of our iustification For we do not therefore beleeue our iustification because we must first know our predestination but we come to know our predestination by the fruit of it iustification Histor. Concil Trid. lib. 2. * Note the iudgement oâ— some Pontificians themselues concerning their Schoole-men As we noted â—efore out of Vega reiecting â—he vulgar laâ—ine when it makes not for â—is turne * In this Councell of Trent if the most learned and iudicious of them had not beene ouerswayed by humane affection no doubt but the truth had preuailed in a great measure Vega lib. 9. de incertitud grat Iob 13. 15. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * Concil Trid. Sess. 6. c. 12. quoted in the Margent Rom. 2. 15. Pro. 28. 1. Vegal 9. de iâ—cert grat c. 11. * So Pagnin himselfe rendreth it by Vega's own confession ibid. Note here how impertinent this place is for Vega sith hee would proue by it vncertainty of faith of a mans own saluation whereas the place speakes of Daniels vncertainty of anothers saluation Multa videntur non sunt â—cle 5. 5. Aug. in Psal. 50 â—r 51. vers 8. * As Aug. de vera falsa poenitentia c. 19 expresseth himselfe saying Poenitere est poenam tenere vt semper puniat in se vlciscendo quod commisit peccando ille poenam tenet qui semper punit quod commisisse dolet tom 4. Vâ—e saâ—hum Chocmah Thodhigneni Psal. 91. 11. Matth. 4. 6. Though the ext be Yetâ— dayes * Deuils â—ames 2. * Bulla Pii Quarti super â—rma iuraâ—enti profesâ—onis fidei â—ffixed to â—heir Councell â—f Trent â—Bulla Pii â—uarti P. R. â—â—per confirmaâ—â—one Consilii â—riden Sexti â—e of ficio deleâ—ati lib. 1. Papa â—st Lex animaâ—a â—â— terris The â—ope is a liâ—ing Law vpon â—arth And hee â—â— said to haue â—ll Lawes in â—he cabinet of â—is brest as â—heir extrauagants say Ephes. 2. 20. Reuel 8. 10. 11. Aug. Epist. lib. Epist. 130. Cirtensibus Aug. de vnitate Eccles. c. 16 Aug. de Baptisme contra Donat lib. 2. c. 3. * He excepts none no not the Bishop of Rome * Not a word of the Bishop of Romes authority ouer general Councels Those former ages were ignorant of it Aug. contra faustum Manichaeum lib. â— cap. 19. Aug. contra Epist. Manich. quam vocaâ—t fundamenti lib. cap. 5. tom 6. â—ohn 4. 4â— Aug Paulinae Epist. 112. August contra Maxim Arrian Epist. lib. 3. c. 14. August Tertul. adners Hermog lib. Chrys. in Mat. 24. hom 49. ab incerte autoâ— Rom. 2. 29. â—rys in Mat. â— homil 24. Acts 19. 35. Aug. contra literas Petillianâ— Donatistâ— lib. 3. cap. 6. * Marc. 9. 24. * Rom. 4. 18. Tremel pascerâ— fide Esay 7. 9. * Heb. Lachâ—soth Mat. 23. 37. Heb. 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys. in Heb. 11. 1. homil 21. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. The ophrast lib. 5. de causis plantarum * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vega lib. 14. de peccato mortali veniali Esay 28. 16. Pro. 28. 1. Psal. 11â— 7. Matth. 9. * Psal. 19. Iosh. 10. Heb. 11. 35. a Bern. Epist. 190. b He meaneth the old Martyrs of the Church that suffered for the true religion not the new Martyrs of Rome that iustly suffer for rebellion and treason Concil Trid. Sess. 6. Can. 12 13. 14. Acts 27. Acts 28. 1. Psal. 1. â—hrysost in â—eb 10. hom 19 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 v. 22 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Chrys in Rom. c. 4. serm 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Basil. Ethica iâ— fine definitioni 80. Basil. in Psal. 115. Basil. in asceticâ— Tertul. lib. de Baptismo Vega de inertitud grat ap 32 33. 34. c. Where hee akes vpon â—im to interâ—ret the authoâ—ities of the â—athers maâ—ing against â—ontifician â—ncertainty Bern. epist. 190 * To wit by Christ. Iohn 5. 39. Aug. in Psal. 144. Bern. sermo Guerrici super Cantica Canticorum serm 47 Ambros. de Cain Abel lib. 2. cap. 7. Ambr. in Epist. ad Rom. cap. 1. Theoph. in Luc. 16. Vega lib. 9. de incertitud grat cap. 41. 1. Chron. 30. 18. 19. 20. vers Ad Triarios re redijt The Priests intention a Supercedeas to all certainty of faith The testimonie of a good conscience Cicero Godly loue seale badge of the certaintie of saluation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Seneca Heb. 12. 6. 2. Cor. 12. * Concil Trid. Ses. 6. cap. 1â— Phil. 2. 12. 13. Aug. de nat grat contra Pelag. cap. 33. tom 7. Aug. in Psal. 130. concio 4. Esay 66. Aug. in Psal. 147. in prâ—oemio Psal. 107. Concil Trid. Ses. 6. Can. 12. 13 Plato in Phâ—done Vega. * To wit the Trent-Fathers so vsually termed by equiuocation * By some good chance doubtlesse Vega lib. 12. 〈◊〉 incertitud prae destinat per seuerantiae c. Saul one of Vega's Elect. Aug. lib. 2. ad Simplic qu. 1. Greg. lib. 4. ca. 3. in 1. Reg. 9. Salomon one of Vega's Reprobates though once Elect. Salomon fell not away totally Salomons falâ— as not totall sâ— not finall Eccles. 2. 3. Aug confes lib. 6. cap. 7. Numb 20. 12. Example of Iudas Matth. 10. 8. Iudas had not sauing grace Aug. quaest super Genes lib. 1. qu. 117. tom 4. Aug. in Psal. 55 Aug. de haeresibus ad Quod-vult-deum lib. 6. 18. Cainites Rom. 3. 22. 23. * We are too well acquainted with youâ— Pontifician promises Pet. 2. Pro. 28. 14. â—ern in Septuâ—ges serm 1. Eccles. 9. 1. Psal. 137. Aug. de â—onâ— perseuer lib. 2 cap.
hath borne our iniquities The Prophet Ieremy also doth set this downe most sweetly by a reciprocall or mutuall relation betweene Christ and his Church calling Christ and his Church by one and the same name and such a name as implyeth the imputation of his righteousnesse vnto vs For Ier. 23. 6. Christ the righteous branch and the iust King by whom Iudah shall bee saued and Israel shall dwell safely to wit the whole Israel of God as Rom. 11. 26. elect Iewes and Gentiles this is his name whereby hee shall bee called The Lord our righteousnesse And Ier. 33. 16. speaking of the saluation of the same Iudah and Ierusalem he saith And this is the name wherewith she shall be called The Lord our righteousnesse O what a glorious name is this for vs to be called The LORD Our Righteousnesse What tongues of men or Angels can with greater eloquence expresse that sweete communion that is betweene Christ and his Church wherein the Church and euery beleeuer is so inuested in the righteousnesse of Christ as to be called the Lord our righteousnesse Indeede the vulgar latine hath much dimmed and diminished the life of those places in Ieremy translating in stead of Dominus iustitia nostra Dominus iustus noster as much to say as our righteous Lord yet the interlineary Glosse vpon it saith Qui factus est nobis sapientia à Deo iustitia who is made vnto vs of God wisedome and righteousnesse the same in effect that Christ is the Lord our righteousnesse Thus are wee Iudah saued by the Lord our righteousnesse and by grace are wee saued through faith Ephes. 2. 30. The new Testament makes vp the testimony of the Law and Prophets fully 1. Cor. 1. 30. Of him are yee in Christ Iesus who of God is made vnto vs wisedome and righteousnesse and sanctification and redemption Thus Christ is wholly ours by imputation This the same Apostle doth excellently demonstrate and conclude 2. Cor. 5. 21. where hauing spoken of our reconciliation with God by Iesus Christ which reconciliation standeth in the not imputing of our sinnes vnto vs vers 19. he addes the reason vers 21. For he hath made him to be sin for vs who knew no sin that weimight be made the righteousnesse of God in him Now how are we made the righteousnesse of God in Christ by any inherent righteousnesse in vs although deriued from the merit of Christs righteousnesse imputed in the Popish sense Surely wee are no otherwise made the righteousnesse of God in Christ than as Christ was made sinne for vs. How is that Was Christ made sinne for vs by hauing our sinnes inherent in him or infused into him God forbid for hee knew no sinne But if sinne had been inherent in him or infused into him hee had knowne sinne yet hee was made sinne for vs that is by the imputation of our sinne Note here also Christ is not said here simply to be sinne for vs but to bee Made sinne for vs and that wee simply are not but are made the righteousnesse of God in him implying a passiuenesse in both both of Christ made sinne and of vs made righteousnesse made that is not of or in our selues but extrinsically from without from another As therefore our sinne being imputed to Christ made him become sinne for vs euen so are we made the righteousnesse of God in him that is by the imputation of his righteousnesse which righteousnesse of Christ imputed to vs is no more inherent in vs to our iustification than our sinne imputed to Christ was inherent in him to his condemnation Whereupon St. Augustine saith Ipse peccatum vt nos iustitia nec nostra sed Dei sumus nec in nobis sed in ipso sicut ipse peccatum non suum sed nostrum nec in se sed in nobis constitutum He was made sin that we might be made righteousnesse not our owne righteousnesse but the righteousnesse of God nor in vs but in him euen as he was made sin not his owne but ours not in himselfe but in vs. And Bernard excellently to this purpose Homo qui debuit homo qui soluit Nam si vnus pro omnibus mortuus est ergo omnes mortui sunt vt videlicet satisfactio vnius omnibus imputetur sicut omnium peccata vnus ille portauit It was man that owed the debt and man that paid it For if one dyed for all therefore are all dead that the satisfaction of one might be imputed to all as hee alone bore the sins of all We are then made the righteousness of God in Christ as Christ was made sinne for vs. But Christ was made sinne for vs by the imputation of our sinnes vnto him not by infusion of them into him Therefore we are iustified or made the righteousnesse of God in Christ by the imputation of Christs righteousnesse vnto vs not by inherency or infusion of righteousnesse into vs. This is such an vnmoueable Rocke of truth as the gates of Hell can neuer preuaile against it Here all Popish arguments are put to silence no Romish sophistrie or schoole-subtilty can inuent any probability or seeming-reason to oppose this cleer and inuincible truth But perhaps they wil find some glosse vpon this scripture that shal make another sense of it Indeed they want not their glosses But mala glossa quae corrumpit Textum It is an ill glosse that corrupts the Text. Indeede the ordinary glosse vpon these words Hee was made sinne for vs vnderstands by sinne eyther the sacrifice of sinne according to the Hebrew phrase in the old Testament as Hos. 4. 8. or else the similitude of sinnefull flesh as Rom. 8. 3. So the glosse is vncertaine it pitcheth vpon no one sense But the Scripture hath one prime and proper sense Now that the Apostle should not simply meane by sin the sacrifice of sinne as being an obscure Hebrew phrase is more than probable because he writes this Epistle not to the Hebrewes to whom writing his Epistle is full of Legall types and termes a language which they well vnderstood but to the Romanes who were not acquainted with the Law terms But the maine reason why the Apostle cannot meane here by sinne barely the sacrifice of sinne is in regard of the Antithesis or relatiue opposition here betweene sinne and righteousnesse For sinne and righteousnesse stand here as termes opposite one to the other looke therefore how righteousnesse is here vnderstood namely properly as opposite to sinne So sinne is to bee vnderstood properly as opposite to righteousnesse Christ then was so made sinne for vs as we are made the righteousnesse of God in him and wee are so made the righteousnesse of God in him as hee was made sinne for vs. Againe Christ who knew no sinne was made sinne for vs So are we made the righteousnesse of God in him euen wee who knew no righteousnesse that is who had no righteousnesse of our owne but as the