might more plainly more expressedly know the thinges which he had before intricately beleued of Christ Of this mynde was Gregory in his 19 homely vpon Ezechiell For he sayth That faythe is the entry wherby we come to good workes but not contrariwyse that by good workes we can come vnto fayth And so he concludeth that Cornelius first beleued before he could bryng forth workes prayse worthy And he citeth that place to the Hebrues VVythout fayth it is impossible to please God Which sentence as it is very playne by that selfe place cannot be vnderstand but of that faith which iustifieth Bede declaryng the x. chap. of the Actes is of the same mynd and citeth yâ— wordes of Gregory Neither is the maister of the sentences of any other iudgement in hys 2. booke and 25. distinction But our aduersaries obiect vnto vs Augustine in hys 7. chap. De predestinatione sanctorum where he reasoneth against those which taught that faith Faith is not of our selues is of our selues wheÌ„ yet in the meane tyme they confessed yâ— the works which follow are of God but yet are obteyned by fayth Augustine in déede confesseth that the workes which follow fayth are of God but he denieth that fayth is of our selues For he saith that Paul writeth vnto the Ephe. By grace ye are saued through fayth and that not of your selues for it is the gyft of God But that is a harde saying which he addeth that the prayers and almes of Cornelius were accepted of God before he beleued in Christ But we must here weigh the thinges which follow For he addeth And yet prayd he not neyther gaue he almes wythout some fayth For how dyd Cornelius had faith in Christ but not a distinct and plaine fayth he call vpon hym in whome he beleued not These wordes plainly declare that Augustine tooke not away from Cornelius all maner of faith in Christ but only an expressed and distinct fayth Which thing that place most of all argueth which is cited out of the epistle to the Romanes Howe shall they call vpon hym in whome they haue not beleued For those wordes are written of the fayth and inuocation of meÌ„ regenerate as the next sentence following plainly declareth Euery one whych calleth vpon the name of the Lord shall be saued For we cannot attribute saluation but Peter came to Cornelius to edify him not to lay the foundation in hym vnto them that are iustified But Peter was sente vnto Cornelius to buylde vp not to lay the foundation For the foundatioÌ„s of fayth were before layde in hym But those things which Augustine addeth séeme to bring greater difficulty For he saith But if he could without the faith namely of Christ be saued that singuler work man the Apostle should not haue ben sent to edifie hym But seyng he already before attributed vnto him fayth and inuocatioÌ„ after which of necessity followeth saluation wherof the Apostle speaketh in this epistle how can he take away from him saluation vnles we peraduenture vnderstand that fayth and saluation is in men The saluatioÌ„ which we haue in this life is not perfect iustified not perfect so long as they liue here For our saluation commeth not in this lyfe to that degrée nor to that greatnes which Christ requireth in hys elect For no man doubteth but that we shal not attayne to perfect saluation before our resurrection and eternall saluation althoughe we now after a sorte haue the fruition therof beyng begonne Paul to the Ephesians affirmeth that we are now saued by fayth And yet Paul to the Philippians exhorteth vs Wyth feare and wyth tremblyng to worke our owne saluation Which places cannot be conciliated together vnles The saluatioÌ„ begonne by iustification is dayly to be made perfect we say that saluation begonne in vs thorow iustification is daily to be made perfect in vs For we are always more and more renued and fayth is made more full more expressed and of more efficacy These wordes of Augustine vnles we thus interprete them it must néedes be that either they are none of hys wordes or els that he is repugnaunt vnto himselfe But that that booke is Augustines we can not deny But that he is repugnaunt vnto himselfe it is not very likely But if thou say that these things may well agrée together if we graunt that Cornelius was not yet iustified when as notwithstanding he had done some woorkes gratefull and acceptable vnto God I aunswer that this can by no meanes agrée with Augustines sentence For he in his 80. treatise vpon Iohn and in his 4. boke and 3. chap. against Iulianus and vpon the 31. psalme by most firme reasons proueth that all the workes which are done before we are iustified are sinnes But that fayth is more expressedly set forth and made more perfect in them that are iustified may easely be vnderstand by yâ— which Christ sayd vnto hys Apostles Many kings and prophets desired to see the things that ye see and saw theÌ„ not And yet notwithstanding were those kinges and prophetes men godly and iustified although they knew not all the mysteries of Christ so expressedly as dyd the Apostles And Christ when he prayed thus pronounced of hys Apostles The wordes which thou gauest me haue I geuen vnto them those haue they receaued and haue knowen that I came forth from thee and that thou hast sent me These thinges declare that the Apostles beleued in Christ and therfore were iustified And yet the very history of the Gospell plainly declareth that they were ignoraunt of many thinges For oftentimes it is declared that ether they had their eies closed that they should not sée or Note the interpretation of the wordes of Augustine els that they vnderstood not the thinges whiche were spoken Wherfore Augustine denieth saluation vnto Cornelius before Peter was sent vnto him not vniuersally but onely denieth that he had a perfect and absolute saluation But they obiect moreouer the same Augustine in his questioÌ„s to Simplicianus in the 2 â–ª booke and 2. Question where he plainly teacheth that faith goeth before good workes After that he putteth a certaine meane betwene grace and the celebration of the Sacramentes For he saith that it is possible that Catechumenus that is one newly Catechumenâ— wer such which were receâ—ued into the church to be instrucâ—ed before baptisme conuerted vnto Christian Religion and that he whiche is conuersaunt among the Catechumeni may beleue and haue grace and yet the same man is not yet washed by Baptisme Moreouer he saith that after the Sacramentes is poured into vs a more fuller grace by which wordes he signifieth yâ— it is one the selfe same grace but is afterward made more plentifull And that thou mayst know that he entreateth of that faith which iustifieth he citeth a place out of the Epistle to the Ephesians By grace ye are saued through faith and that not of your selues for it is
not to be accused of blame or iniquity because he suffreth many to sinne before hys face whome he could holde backe and helpe with his grace that they should not fall vnder thys pretence because we should iustly be accâ—sed if we shuld permit any such thing We may not thinke that these thinges are repugnaunte the one to the other Namely that we are iustly accused and that we vtterly wante all excuse if we sinne and yet notwithstandyng can not abstayne from sinne neyther can we as we ought obey the commaundements of God vnles we be holpen by grace And lastly that it is God which worketh all in all Forasmuch as in him we lyue and are moued and haue our beyng And he beareth vp all thynges wyth the worde of hys power These thinges ought we to beleue for that they are Oracles of the holy scriptures Wherfore if by our reason they seme not to agree together yet must we be content for we can not perse the secretes of God neither hath God any nede of our excuses Which excuses yet if a man would narowly examine he shal fynd the they do not in any thyng satisfy our iudgement If there be a maister of a householde which hath seruantes in hys house which continually commit most greuous sinnes and would make hys excuse and say that he driueth them not therunto neither prouokee them to do naughtely but onely suffreth them wincketh at them and permitteth them what an excuse I pray you should this be Neyther is free will by thys thinge in daunger so far forth as we must graunt the free will is For we ought not to beleue the god doth so deliuer men that he compelleth them or dryueth theÌ„ agaynst theyr will They willingly gladly and of theyr owne accord serue their owne lustes The similitudes which Chrisostome bringeth are verye weake For howe can a Captayne which forsaketh hys host not be counted the cause of theyr destruction And although when the house toppe falleth the wayght thereof draweth it vnto the earth yet how shall not he which remoued the beame or piller whiche stayed it vp be sayd to be the cause of the fall therof So that whether soeuer they turne themselues when they say that God forsaketh and withdraweth his helpe they must nedes be compelled to say that God after a sort willeth sinne And the father which disinheriteth hys sonne when he can not amend hym what comparison hath he with GOD whiche can if he wyll amende men Wherefore we see not why we should be iustly perswaded by these reasons to interprete these wordes To deliuer to harden to blinden by these wordes To suffer to permit and to forsake But as touchyng this matter let vs briefely examine Augustines opinion Augustine de praedestinatione gratia Augustine de gratia libero arbitrio whether God be sayd to deliuer the vngodly vnto their lustes onely in forsakyng them or also after some maner forcyng them He semeth in this matter to be diuersly mynded For in hys booke of predestination and grace the 4. chap. he hath this interpretation of suffryng permittyng And he addeth that to harden is nothing els then the he wil not make soft To blinden is nothyng els then the he wil not illuminate to put backe is nothing els then yâ— he wil not call But in his boke of grace frée wil the 21. chap. he writeth manifestly inough as I thinke That God worketh in the hartes of men to incline their willes whether so euer it pleaseth hym eyther to good thynges according to hys mercy or ells to euill thinges according to theyr desertes and that by his iudgement being sometimes open and sometimes hidden but alwayes iuste These wordes declare that our willes are sometimes styrred vppe of God not onely in forsaking or permitting vs but also by some inclination to euill thynges Julianus Pelagianus also as the same Augustine agaynst him Augustine agaynst Iulianus in hys 5. booke and 3. chap. sayth reproueth Augustine because he had read that the same Augustine affirmed that God is wonte to punishe sinnes by sinnes And he sayth If the matter were thus then ought we to prayse and commende concupiscense and sinnes as good thynges which thou affirmest to bee inflicted vpon vs as punishmentes But there agaynst hym are brought forth many notable places of that Scripture by which is proued that God bryngeth in sinnes as punishmentes Many notable places of the scripture and paynes deserued We can not denie but that the deuill in tempting poureth in to vs wicked cogitations and that he receaueth power of God so to do God styred vp Dauid to number the people as it is written in the 2. booke of Samuell the 24. chapter But in the booke of Chronicles Sathan is sayd to haue moued Dauid vnto it And it skilleth not whether God dyd it by hym selfe or by the deuill for it is all one In the 1. booke of Kinges God would haue Achab the king deceaued by a lying spirite that hee shoulde geue credite vnto false Prophetes which without doubt was sinne And in Esaie the 63. chap. it is written Wherfore haste thou made vs to erre and haste hardened our hartes that we should not feare thee And in the 11. chap. of Iosua God hardened the hartes of the vnbeleuing Gentiles And in that Roboam harkened not vnto the elders which gaue him good admonition that was therefore because the conuersion was of the Lorde to performe hys worde which hee spake of hym by the hand of the Prophet And in the 2. Paralip the 25. chapter Amasias king of Iudah harkened not vnto Ioas king of Israell because God had so wrought in hym to deliuer hym into hys handes And in Ezechiell the 14. chap If a Prophet bee deceaued I haue deceaued hym Also in the Lordes prayer we praye Lead vs not into temptation These thynges in a maner alleageth Augustine wherby appeareth that God deliuereth the wicked vnto theyr owne lustes not onely by permission but also by a certayne incitation But agaynst these sentences Iulianus séemed to obiecte thrée thinges Fyrst that lustes Thre obiections of Iulianus are as I sayd at the beginning to be praysed for that they are said to be punishmentes inflicted of God Further as touching thys place it is manifest inough sayd he what Paules meaning is For in that he sayth that they were deliuered vp vnto their lustes it appeareth that they were before infected with them and that they had them before within them selues and that God to deliuer vp is nothyng ells then to permitte Thyrdly he sayth that God is sayd to deliuer rather by a certayne pacience or suffering then by power God in déede suffreth these thinges to bée done but he doth not by hys power and myght driue them to doe them To these thynges Augustine in the same chapter maketh aunswere and sayth that it is a very weake argument that sinnes should therefore be prayse
is it so displeasant and had in hatred Because it calleth Why the law is had in hatred men backe from those thinges which of their owne nature they are prone vnto for it gréeueth them to haue those thinges forbidden them And when we looke vpon the lawe we sée those thinges which we ought to do and by reason of the pride which is naturally plāted and grafted in vs we will not be restrained by any rules Farther thereby we sée how our actiōs are writhed from that vprightnes which is set forth in the lawe and whiche is more grieous we feele our selues to be so weake that we can not correct them and call thē backe to the prescribed rule howbeit in the meane while we behold the paines and anger of God whereinto by reason of sinnes we incurre All these thinges do so We are not angry with our selues as it is meete but wyth the law and wyth God How the law of God may please vs. Christ being ioyned with the law maketh it swete offend our minde that we are angry not indeede with our selues and with our sinnes as it were mete we shoulde but with the lawe geuen of God when as otherwise it is most perfect and most holy Howbeit this discommodity may be remedied and we may bring to passe that those thinges which before were displeasant vnto vs may afterward be pleasant vnto vs. And that shall we do if we ioyne the lawe together with Christ For euen as the waters of Marath were most bitter vnto the people of Israell in the desert and yet the selfe same by casting in the wood which God had commaunded were made swete So although the law by it selfe be bitter yet if Christ be ioyned with it whom God hath set forth vnto vs as an only sauior and also as the iust and due ende thereof we shall then feele it to be sweete Which thing to haue happened vnto Dauid the 119 Psalme manifestly declareth wherein are wonderfully set forth the prayses of the lawe of God For there it is called pleasaunt delectable sweete Prayses of the law in the Psalmes How the law of God is written in our hartes aboue hony and the hony combe And this is it which is promised vs in the prophete that God would write the lawe in our hartes which is nothing els but that he will geue vnto vs the spirite of Christ whereby we may be inclyned to those thinges which the lawe hath commaunded to be done that at the least way the commaundementes of God should be pleasant to our minde Which thing also the Apostle teacheth when he saith In minde I serue the lawe of God This they that are regenerate do fele who although they can not performe a perfect obedience vnto the commaundementes of God yet they loue them and excedingly desire them and embrace them as the chiefe good and do dilligently desire of God to come to the perfection of them as nigh as is possible By these thinges it plainly appeareth how the vtility and righteousnes of the lawe is to be defended against the Manechies But on the other side the Pelagians are no les to be auoyded which ascribe vnto the lawe more then is mete for they affirme it to The Pelagians attribute vnto the law more then is which they thinke to be sufficient vnto saluation Pelagius sometymes confessed the grace of God in woorde and not in dede By grace Pelagius vnderstoods nature and the law The schole men come very nye vnto the error of the Pelagians be sufficient vnto saluation For they say that if men once vnderstand what is to be done they may easely by the power of nature performe the same Wherfore Pelagius for feare least he should haue bene condemned of the Bishoppes of Palestine as one which vtterly denied the grace of God cōfessed the same grace in word for he affirmed that to our saluation the grace of God is necessary But by grace he vnderstoode nothing els but nature it selfe geuen vs freely of God because God hath made vs reasonable and endued vs with free will Farther he saide that the lawe or doctrine of the lawe was grace because of our selues we are ignorant what thinges are to be done or to be beleued vnles God reuele them vnto vs. Wherefore Augustine writeth in his books of the grace of Christ against Celestius that they with mouth affirme that the possibility of nature it holpen by grace But he addeth that if their meaninges were examined and narrowly waighed then shall we see that by grace doctrine and the lawe they vnderstand nothing els but that a man hauing receaued only the knowledge of the lawe hath of himselfe strength inough to do the thinges that are commaunded Vnto which error the schoole deuines approch very nye when they teach that a man euen by the power of nature can obserue the preceptes of God as touching the substance of the worke although not according to y◠intēt of the cōmaunder By which words this they signifie that we can perform the very works although not in such sort as God hath commaunded they should be done namely of charity the spirite Which latter part I thinke they added that they might seme in some point to disagree from the Palagians But Augustine so abhorred from such sentences that not euen vnto the regenerate so long as they liue in this flesh he graunteth a perfect Euen the regenerate are not able perfectly to obserue the law The Pelagians make the death of Christe vaine obseruation of the commaundementes of God whiche thing manifestly appeareth by his Retractations And that his iudgement therein is most true Paule declareth in the 7. chap. of this epistle Vndoubtedly if the thing were so as Pelagius hath taughte the comming of Christ and sacrifice of the crosse had bene nothing nedefull For these thinges were therefore geuen bycause by our owne strengths we could not attayne vnto the righteousnes of workes That thing Paul most manifestly testefieth saying That which was impossible vnto the law for asmuch as it was weakened by the flesh c These wordes apertly declare that mā by reason of the infirmity of the flesh could not fullfil the law Farther he saith The wisdome of the flesh is enmity towards God for it is not subiect vnto the law of God nether certainely can it be For although the law hath power to teach and to illustrate the minde yet it doth not therefore minister strength or change the will Wherefore Ambrose in his booke de fuga seculi The law sayth he cā stop the mouth of all men but yet it can not conuert the minde And afterward The law indede sheweth the fault but it taketh not a way the malice Wherefore vnto it must be adioyned grace which forasmuch as the Pelagians contemned they wandred from saluation were iustly condemned of the Church But as touching the office of y◠law these few thinges are to be obserued
Christ are in a far better state then they which liue wtout Christ But we shal be in most happy most free state when we shall haue put of this mortal body Wherfore we will vnto y◠questiō make answer according to these fower conditions or states That Adam when he was first created had free will Adam was free in his firste estate Thre kinds of workes all men beleue Whiche thinge before I shall declare I will note three distinct kindes of workes whiche are in vs. Some workes pertayne to nature as to be sicke to be in health to be norished to concoct meate and such other like where in although the first man was farre more happier then we are at this present yet was he subiect vnto some necessity for it behoued him both to eate and to be norished and to receaue meate Howeit he was free from all calamities which mought bring death There are other workes which after a ciuill or morall consideration are ether iust or vniuste The third kinde is of those workes whiche please God and are acceptable vnto him As touching all these man at the beginning was made free For he was created vnto y◠image of God vnto whō is nothing more agreable thē true and perfect liberty And of him it is thus writtē God crowned him with glory and honour Againe Whē he was in honor he vnderstode it not But what honor can there be where liberty wanteth lastly God made subiect vnto him all thinges which he had created whiche doubles he could not truly and after a right maner haue gouerned if he had ben created a seruaunt to affectes and lusts But touching that state in what sort it was forasmuch as therin scripture fayleth vs there can nothing certainely be affirmed Augustine in his booke de Correptione Gratia The helpe sayth he of the grace of God was geuen vnto Adam Such an helpe it was which he mought both forsake when he would wherin he mought abide if he would not wherby to wi◠And as touching this Augustine The grace whiche we now haue is preferred before the grace of Adam is not a ford to preferre that grace which we now haue obteined thorough Christ before that grace which Adam had in paradise For now by the grace of Christ we doo not onely abide if we will but also as Paul sayth by it we haue both to will and to performe For the harte of the beleuers is changed so that of not willing they are made made willing But this To will was in the choise of the first man nether was it the grace of God which wrought this in him But why Why God when he created Adam gaue vnto him free will God gaue vnto Adam free will when he was first created Augustine bringeth this reason in his 2. booke delibero Arbitrio for that God had decreed to declare towards him both his goodnes and his iustice And would haue declared towards him hys goodnes if he had done well which vndoubtedly he could not haue done vnles he had ben free But if he should behaue himselfe filthily and haue done ill God would vse towardes him the seuerity of his iustice But he when he was free fell miserably And euen as Christ describeth the man that went downe frō Ierusalem to Iericho to haue fallen vpon thienes to haue ben sore wounded of them so he hauing not only his garment taken away lost al his ornaments but also hauing receaued many woundes was left for dead and past all hope Wherefore we say that as touching thys second state when we are strangers Vnto them that are not regenerate is very little liberty left What liberty they that are not regenerate haue from Christ there is but a little liberty remayning vnto vs. For we are both subiect vnto the necessities of nature and also will we or nill we are afflicted with diseases and last of all are killed by death howbeit there is some liberty left as touching workes ciuill and morall For they are both subiect vnto our naturall knowledge and also passe not the strengths of our will although in them also men fele a greate difficulty for that outragious lusts resist morall honosty Entisements and pleasures alwayes beate our sences and these ar futhered by euil counselers Sathan also continually vrgeth and impelleth vs For he enueiyng the commodities of man and perceauing that by such workes is still retayned ciuill discipline coueteth by all maner of meanes to ouerthrowe them But y◠mans power and strengths may do much in these ciuill thinges at the least as touching iudgementes many good Lawes set forth by Licurgus Solon Numa and by others manifestly declare And Paule to the Romanes doost thou thinke sayth he o man that thou shalt escape the iudgement of God when as thou doost the self same thinges which thou iudgest Moreouer in these thinges there are two poynts which are not to be ouerhiped First that God vseth y◠wil of men to those ends God vseth the will of mē to ends by hym apappointed The euētes of thinges are gouerned by the arbitriment of God and not by ours whiche he himself hath appoynted The second is which dependeth also of y◠first that those euentes followe not which they which apply themselues vnto these ciuill workes appoynte For oftentimes farre other thinges happen then they could euer haue thought vpon And therefore the Ethnikes were oftētimes very sore troubled Pompey Cato and Cicero thought to thēselues y◠they had takē very good counsels But when they tooke not place there remained nothinge to the authors of them but desperation For they being frustrated of theyr counsels ascribed al things to fortune and chaunce But that y◠successe of things euent of counsels is in the hand of God Ieremy declareth saying The waye of man is not in his owne power nether lieth it in man to direct his owne steppes whiche God is the author of counsels and geueth successe to thinges as pleaseth him place the Hebrues expoūd of Nabucadnezar who they say wēt forth of his house not to make warre agaynst the Iewes but agaynste the Ammonites as it is written in the 21 chapiter of Ezechiell But when he came into awaye that had two turninges he began to deliberate and to aske counsell of the inwardes of beastes of idols and of lottes by the brightnes of a sworde and beinge by that meanes admonished turned to inuade Iewry and leuing the Ammonities veseged Ierusalem These two thinges are not hidden from y◠godly both that God is the author of all counsels and also geueth vnto matters whatsoeuer successe pleaseth him And therefore they appoynt nothing with thēselues but with thys The godly alwayes appointe thinges with this condition if God so wil. condition added If God so will which thing Iames warned vs that we should doo And Paul in his epistle to the Romanes saith that he desired to haue a prosperous iorney vnto
the gift of God But our aduersaries will say that they also teach that the grace of God goeth before good workes and that of that grace is some faith geuen vnto men But this at yâ— beginning is so weake that it can not haue the power to iustifie how Whether a weake gracâ— anâ— faith haue the power to iustâ—fy An hiâ—â—ory of Pelagius beit there may some workes be done whiche may be acceptable vnto God But let vs remember what Augustine writeth of Pelagius in his 105. Epist to Innocentius the Bishop of Rome he saith that Pelagius in the Counsell of Palestine to the end he would not bee accursed accursed all those whiche should say that they could lyue vpryghtly without grace But he by grace vnderstoode nothyng els but the giftes geuen vnto vs in our creation as free choyse reason wyll and the doctrine of the law The Byshops of Palestine beyng beguyled by thys blynd shyft absolued and released him Augustine excuseth them for that they did it plainely and simplye For when they heard Pelagius coÌ„fesse the grace of God they could vnderstand no other grace but yâ— which the holy Scriptures set forth namely that whereby we are regenerate and grafted into Christ wherfore it is plaine that they whiche faine vnto them selues any Augustine caâ—leth Catechumentes before baptisme conceaued other grace then that wherby we are iustified and grafted into Christ obtrude vnto vs an inuention of man or rather Pelagius shift or starting hole whiche the holy Scriptures acknowledge not Farther Augustine in that place whiche we now spake of affirmeth that the Catechumeni and such as beleue although they be not Baptised are yet notwithstanding conceaued But they whiche are now conceaued to be the sonnes of God can not be straungers from him or enemies vnto The grace which succeedeth is one the same buâ— it differeth in degree and quantity him Wherefore it followeth that they are now iustified although not so perfectly Which is hereby manifest for that Augustine calleth the grace which succedeth a more ful grace as that which differeth not from the first in kind and in nature but only in degrée and in quantity And seing it is of the selfe same kinde that the other is it must nedes also iustifie Which is hereby made playne for that Cornelius is said to haue done workes which pleased God neither is that of any greate force that Augustine addeth that that grace was not so great that it could be sufficient vnto Cornelius or vnto the Catechumeni for the obteyning of the kingdome An other place of Augustine declared of heauen For these wordes affirme not that after this grace or fayth of the Catechumeni is to be looked for an other fayth which may iustifie as though by that former fayth they were not iustified This thing only he would declare that the Catechumeni ought not to stay in this degrée of faith of grace but ought to receaue baptisme and to go forward vntill the saluation and regeneration now begonne shoulde be made perfect For if any man should contemne the sacrament of Baptisme he should be excluded from the kingdome of heauen For they which haue beleued ought chiefely to sée vnto that they be by the sacrament grafted into the Church They which will not do this or neglect it sufficiently declare that they haue not ernâ—stly beleued Wherefore it is not absurd tha Cornelius and the Catechumeni had that grace which iustifieth which yet if they had contemned baptisme had not bene sufficient to the obtaynment of the kingdome of heauen And The omission or baptisme is then a let vnto saluatioÌ„ when iâ— springeth of contempt that Augustine had hereunto a respect hereby it is manifest in that he addeth that we ought not only to be conceaued but also to be borne which is so to be vnderderstand so that there be no lawfull impediment to let For if a man beleue and desire baptisme and can not attayne vnto it Augustine denieth not vnto such a one saluation For he confesseth together with other of the fathers that there is a baptisme of the spirite and that the power of the holy ghost worketh in our harts without outward signes And this he teacheth vpon Leuiticus in his 84. question For he saith that Moses without the outward ordination of the priesthode and without visible signes receaued the priestly grace and that Iohn Baptist was without outward sacramentes annoynted with the holy ghost in his mothers wombe that the thiefe vpon the crosse was without any sacramentes saued onely by the grace of God Lastly when as he saith that we are by the first grace of God conceaued and by the latter borne it is very plaine that he which is conceaued he which is borne is of one and the same kinde For a liuing creature when it is conceaued is not of any other nature then of that that it is when it is brought forth into the world This is the onely difference yâ— the one is more perfect the other Grace is encreased in baptisme more vnperfect Wherefore he that is Catechumenus when he is baptised may by the grace which he receaueth in baptism séeme more perfect theÌ„ he was before when he only beleued although theÌ„ also he was iustified through faith wherby he embrased the promises of god touching Christ Now resieth for vs to examine a place of Chrisostome in his homely De spiritu Natura lege Although if I should therin speake my iudgement I thinke that that oration is not Chrisostomes For it is both repugnant vnto it selfe and also contayneth thinges not hanging together which can by no meanes be conciliated But whosoeuers it be this is certayne that it maketh more on our side then on our aduersaries side For first he sayth that men vsing mercy haue by their almes no fruite at all before they haue faith but so soone as a man is adorned with it straight way follow good and fruitfull After Chrisostomes minde we are saued by faith onely workes but before they are not had And he addeth that we are by fayth only saned when as workes without faith coulde neuer saue them which worke them And he citeth the thiefe whom he affirmeth was saued by faith only without workes And that we should not doubt of what fayth he speaketh he speaketh of that fayth whereby we are made the citizens of heauen and houshold seruantes of God But these thinges can be ascribed only to that faith which iustifieth Farther He saith also that with out faith there is nothing good The soule is deade without faith he expressedly auoucheth that without fayth there is nothing that is good and of his saying he bringeth this reason for that that soule is dead which wanteth fayth And more plainly to declare himselfe he saith that those which do excellent workes without faith are like vnto dead carkases and to the reliques of dead men which
afflict The purpose of God noteth firmnes themselues or to take it in ill part if they haue tribulations layd vpon them for that it shall turne vnto them vnto good especially to theÌ„ that be predestinate vnto euerlasting saluation Wherfore it is very plaine both by the wordes which follow by the entent of Paul that purpose is in this place to be referred vnto God not vnto those which are called Ambrose in dede denieth not but that it is yâ— purpose Ambrose flieth vnto workes â—oresent of God Howbeit being moued as I thinke with the same reasoÌ„ yâ— Chrisostom was he saith yâ— God calleth predestinateth whoÌ„ he knoweth shal beleue shal be apt for him and deuoute But we ought not to thinke that the election and predestination of God depend of workes forsene It is in déede certaine neither can we deny it that those whom God hath predestinate shall one day if age permitte beleue and be deuoute and apt For God shall geue it vnto them for he predestinateth God predestinateth not onely the end but also the meanes A similitude Foure thinges to be noâ—ed also the meanes whereby we shall at the length come vnto the ende So we also after that we haue determined to vse any pece of timber to some vse of an house do fashion and hew it to that forme which may best serue for the accomplishing of the worke which we haue to do But here are fower things diligently to be noted of vs first that the will of beleuing and the purpose and counsell of liuing holily which shall at the length be in those which are elected neither springeth of themselues nor also naturally is cleauing vnto them For they are the giftes of God and not the endowmentes of nature Neither can any man of his owne accord attaine vnto them For what hast thou saith Paul that thou hast not receaued But if thou haue receaued it why boastest thou as though thou haddest not receaued it But if they be geuen of God as vndoubtedly they are then followeth The good meanes are not geuen of God by 〈…〉 ce but bâ— predestination it of necessity that they are not done by chaunce or rashely but by the counsel and predestination of God Wherfore these thinges also are pertaining vnto predestination For euen as God predestinateth his to eternall life so also predestinateth he them to good counsels vnto holy workes and vnto the right vse of the giftes of God And hereof followeth that which is secondly to be noted that our good purpose or faith or good workes forsene can not be the causes of predestination for so should we neuer come to an end For sithen those thinges as we haue sayd are of predestination and not of our selues it may againe be demaunded why God would geue them vnto this man rather then to that man Where if thou answere as many do because God foreséeth that this man will vse those good giftes well and the other not againe will arise as waighty a question touching the selfe same Good workes foreseene are not causes of predestination good vse For seing that also is a gift of God why should it by the predestinatioÌ„ of God more be geuen to this man then to that And by this meanes there shal be no end of enquiring vnles we will at the last fayne that there is some good thing found in vs which we haue not of God which thing to affirme is not only absurd but also impious Thirdly of this thing we ought to be fully perswaded that euen as good workes forsene can not be the causes of predestination so also are they by Good workes are not causes of eternall felicitie predestination not geuen vnto men to be causes of the chiefe good thing that is of the felicity whereunto we are predestinate they are in déede meanes whereby God bringeth vs vnto eternall life but therefore are they not causes for that blessednes is geuen fréely and we are by the mere mercy of God predestinate vnto it Lastly we ought to hold that these works are not alwayes forsene in the predestination Good works cannot alwayes be foreseene of God in them that shal be saued The foreknowledge of good workes cannot be the cause of predestination of God For many infants being taken away before they come to ripe age by the predestination of God attaine vnto eternall life who yet should neuer haue had any good workes For God foresaw that they should dye being infants Which thing very euidently proueth that the foreknowledge of good workes is not to be put as the cause of predestinatioÌ„ for a iust and sure effect can neuer want his true cause Augustine entreating of this place expressedly sayth that purpose in thys place is not to be referred vnto the elect but vnto God And which is more diligently to be noted writing against the two epistles of the Pelagians in his 2. booke to Bonifacius towardes the ende he saith That the Pelagians at the length confessed that the grace of God is necessary whereby may be holpen our good purpose but they denied The Pelagians at the length confessed that our purpose is holpen by grace Whether grace be geuen vnto theÌ„ that resist it The Pelagians tooke this word purpose as Chrisostome did Chrisostome defended froÌ„ suspition of the heresâ—e of the Pelagians Good endeuors and purposes are sent vnto vs of God that the helpe of that grace is geuen vnto them that resist which is farre wyde from the truth For at the beginnyng euery one of vs resist the pleasure wyll of God neither should we euer assent to hym when he calleth vs vnles he should come and helpe vs wyth hys grace And he addeth that the Pelagians in thys place which we haue now in hand referred not Purpose vnto God but vnto those which are called Howbeit I dare not therefore accuse Chrisostome to be a Pelagian for he at other times as Iohn sayd ascribed whatsoeuer good thing we haue vnto the grace of God and plainly confesseth originall sinne both which things the Pelagians denied Howbeit it is manifest by the wordes of Augustine that the Pelagians and Chrisostome agréed in the exposition of this place Augustine in the selfe same booke confesseth that our purpose is holpen by the grace of God But yet not in such sort as though it were of our selues and not geuen of God And for confirmation of this sentence he citeth that which is written in the latter to the Corrinthyans the 8. chapter I geue thankes vnto God which hath geuen the same endeuour for you in the harte of Titus These wordes sufficiently declare that the good endeuors and purposes which we fele in our mynds are sent of God He citeth also the 77. Psalme I sayd I haue now begonne and thys chaunging commeth of the ryght hande of the hyghest But I do not much trust vnto this testimony for out of the Hebrew
the Logicians teach that the question whether a thing be or no naturally goeth before that question whereby is demaunded what a thing is least we should goo against that order let vs first consider whether there be any predestination or no to the end we may afterward the more certainly define it As touching the first question this it is to be vnderstand that there are sundry elections of God For there are some The elections of God are diuers which serue for the executing of some certaine office as the election to the office of a king or to the office of an Apostle There are other elections vnto eternall life And these elections are somtimes seperated a sonder For it happeneth oftentimes that he which is elected vnto a kingdome is not straight way elected vnto eternall life Which thing also happeneth of the office of an Apostle as in Iudas Howbeit somtimes they are ioyned together so that whereas it is spoken of temporal election we may vnderstand that the same is ment also of the eternall election And after this sort Paul sayth that he was called to be an Apostle and put a part from the wombe of his mother namely to the Apostleship and preaching of the Gospell and yet together therewithall he vnderstandeth that he was predestinate to eternall saluation Christ also sayd that he had elected his disciples to go and to bring forth fruit and that their fruit should abide and yet together therewithall he commaundeth them to be of good comfort for that their names were written in heauen There is therefore betwene these elections a great difference and there is also betwene them a great coniunction so that oftentimes the one is taken for the other So Paul by his wonderful wisdome transferred vnto spiritual things those things which being in Genesis and Malachy forespoken of Iacob and Esay seemed to be tēporall Now as touching this latter election I sée that there haue ben many Their reasons which say that we ought not to dispute of predestination Prosperus Hilarius which haue ben of this iudgement that this disputation is not to bée medled with all whose reasons Prosperus and Hilarius bishop of Orleance sometimes disciple vnto Augustine do plainly declare in the two epistles which are prefixed vnto the books of the predestination of saintes Which epistles were vpon thys occasion written For that whereas Augustine writing agaynst the Pelagians touching the grace of Christ had in his bookes inculcated many things of predestination many of the brethren in France and not of the meanest sort were sore troubled and wonderfully offended therewithall For they affirmed that by this doctrine is taken away from such as are fallen an endeuor to rise vp againe and vnto such as stand is brought a slouthfulnes for that either party iudged that diligence should be in vain if by the predestination of God it was already determined of them that the reprobate could not be restored againe and the elect could by no meanes fall away and yet could they not kepe a constant and firme course for as much as they were vncertaine of their predestination Wherefore seing by this doctrine is taken away industry and there remaineth only a certaine fatall necessitye it is muche better that this matter be lefte vnspoken of They adde moreouer that it is superfluous to dispute of that thing which can not be comprehended For it is written who hath knowen the mynde of the Lord or who hath bene his counsellor Wherfore their iudgement was that we should teach that God of his goodnes would haue all men to be saued but in that all men are not saued it hereof commeth because all men will not be saued and this say they is a safe doctrine but contrarily this doctrine of predestination taketh away all the force and vse both of preachings and also of admonitions and corrections For if there be appointed a certaine number of the elect which can neither be diminished nor encreased then shall preachers labour in vaine For if the determination of God be vnmoueable then shall there be an intollerable confusion betwene the elect and the reprobate so that none of the one can remoue to the other nor none of these can passe ouer to them and therefore in vaine and vnprofitable shall be all the labour and trauaile of such as teach This doctrine also semed vnto them new because the old fathers had written as touching this matter either nothing at all or very litle or els entreated of it after an other sort And for as much as euen vnto Augustines time the Church had without this doctrine defended the doctrines of faith against heretikes they also could euen then be content to want it for they affirme that such as teach this do nothing els but call men backe to an vncertainty of the will of God which thing is nothing els then to driue men vnto desperation All these thinges were obiected vnto Augustine which if they were true then should we rashly and without aduisment take in hand the entreaty Reasons wherby Augustine defendeth his treatise and disputatiōs of predestination of this matter But the reasons with which Augustine defendeth himselfe may also defend our purpose Wherefore those things which we entend in this place to speake of we will briefely gather out of two bookes of his of which the one is entituled De bono perseuerantiae In which boke in the 14 15. and 20. chapters he confuteth those obiections which we haue now made menciō of The other is intitled De correptione Gratia Where in the 5. 14. 15. 16. chapters he entreateth the selfe same thing First of all he meruaileth that those men should Paul hath oftentimes inculcated the doctrine of predestination Christ and the actes of the Apostles haue made mencion of it thinke that the doctrine of predestination should subuert the profit and commodities of preaching especially seing Paul the teacher of the Gentiles and preacher of the whole world doth in his epistles both oftentimes and also plainly and of purpose inculcate that doctrine as in this epistle vnto the Romanes vnto the Ephesians and vnto Timothe Yea and he sayth that Luke also in the Actes of the Apostles And Christ himselfe in his sermons maketh mencion thereof For Christ saith Whome my father hath geuen me those can no man take out of my hand And that many are called but few elected And in the last day he sayth that he will answere vnto the godly Come ye blessed of my father possesse ye the kingdome which was prepared for you from the beginning of the world And he geueth thankes vnto the father for that he had hiddē those things from the wise men and had reuealed them vnto infants Because it was his pleasure so to do In an other place also I That is not against preaching which Paul the rest of the Apostles Christ him selfe also haue taught saith he knowe whome I haue
ioyned wyth foreknowledge and what it differeth from it Now let vs see what it hath common or diuerse with prouidence This it hath common with prouidence that either of them requireth a knowledge and is referred vnto the will and that either of them hath a consideration to thinges to come But herein they differ for that prouidence comprehendeth all creatures but predestination as we spake of it pertayneth onely to the sainctes and vnto the elect Farther prouidence directeth things to their naturall endes but predestination leadeth to those endes which are aboue nature as is this to be adopted into the sonne of God to be regenerate to be endued with grace whereby to liue vprightly and last of all to come vnto glory Wherefore we do not say that brute beastes are predestinate Brute beastes are not predestinate for they are not able to receaue this supernaturall ende Neyther are Angels now predestinate for they haue already attayned vnto their ende but predestination hath a respect vnto thinges to come Whereas we sayde Why the prouidence of God is said to be common to all thinges that prouidence pertayneth to all thynges that may thus be proued because nothyng is hydden from God otherwyse he shoulde not be most wyse And if he know all things eyther he gouerneth all those thinges or els he abiecteth the care of many of them If he abiecte the care of any thing he therefore doth it eyther because he can not or bycause he will not take vpon him the care of those thinges If he can not then is he not most mighty if he will not then is he not most good But to deny that God is most wise most mighty and most good were playnly to deny him to be God Wherefore it remaineth that Gods prouidence is ouer all thinges which thing the scriptures in infinite places most manifestly testefie For they teach that the care of God extendeth euen to the leaues of trées euen vnto the heares of the hed euen vnto sparrowes Prouidence may thus by the way be defined prouidence is Gods appoynted vnmoueable and perpetuall administration of all thinges When I say God I Dâ—finition of prouideÌ„ce The gouernment of God is not tyrannous say that he is endewed with greate authority and that he is mighty AdministratioÌ„ signifieth that his gouerment is not tiraÌ„nious but quiet gently and fatherly For tirannes violently oppresse theyr subiects and referre all thinges to to theyr owne commodity and lust But God violently presseth no man neither by this gouerment getteth any commodity vnto himselfe but only communicateth his goodnes vnto creatures And this administration extendeth vnto all thinges For there is nothing free from it neyther can without it indure It is called appoynted bycause it is ioyned with most excellent wisedome so that it Why prouidence is vn vnmoueable admitteth no confusioÌ„ It is vnmoueable bicause yâ— knowledge of this gouernor is not deceaued neyther can his power be made frustrate It is also perpetuall bycause God himselfe is present with the thinges For neyther did he when he had created thinges leue them vnto them selues yea rather he him selfe is in them and perpetually moueth theÌ„ For in him we liue we moue and haue our being And thus much of prouidence Vnto these thinges also is fate or desteny of very nigh affinity From which word if as we haue before sayd it be taken for a certaine ireuitable necessity which dependeth of yâ— power of stars the fathers haue not without iust cause absteined But if it signifie nothing ells but a certayne connextion of second causes which is not caried rashely or by chance but is gouerned by the prouidence of God and may at his wil be changed I se no cause why the thing it selfe should be of any man reiected Howbeit bicause there is danger that error might sometimes crepe in Augustine thinketh it best that we vtterly refrayne from that worde We ought also to remember that which we haue in an other place taught namely that the loue election and predestination of God are so ordered together that they follow one an other in a certaine Loue election predestination how they are ioyned together course First vnto the knowledge of God are offred all men not being in happy estate yea rather being nedy and miserable whome God of his pure and singular mercy loueth those he careth for and putteth a parte from other whome he ouerpasseth and embraseth not with his beneuolence and they by this seperation are sayd to be elected And those so elected are destinied or appoynted vnto an end Augustine in his booke de predestinatione sanctorum the 10. chapter thus defineth predestination that it is a preparation of Grace and and in the 12. chapter How Augustine defineth predestination he sayth it is foreknowledge and a preparatioÌ„ of the gifts of God by which they are certainly deliuered which are deliuered but the rest are left in the masse or lompe of perdition In an other place he called it the purpose of hauing mercy The Master of the sentences in the first booke distinction 40 defineth it to be a preparation of grace in this present time of glory in time to come These definitions I reiect not howbeit bicause they compreheÌ„d not the whole matter I will bring an other definition more full as nigh as I can I say therefore that predestination is the most wise purpose of God whereby he hath before al A full definition of predestination eternity constantly decreed to call those whome he hath loued in Christ to the adoption of his children to iustification by fayth and at the length to glorye through good workes that they may be made like vnto the image of the sonne of God and that in them should be declared the glory and mercy of the creator Thys definition as I thinke comprehendeth all thinges that pertayne vnto the nature of predestination And all the partes thereof may be proued by the holye scriptures First we take purpose for the generall word For that word is common both to predestination and vnto reprobation Paul vnto the Ephesians sayth Purpose is common to predestination vnto reprobation That we are predestinate according to the purpose of God And in this Epistle to the Romanes he sayth That the purpose might abide according to election But what thys purpose is we vnderstand by the first chapter vnto the EphesiaÌ„s For there thus it is written That God hath predestinate vs according to his good pleasure By The purpose of God is his good pleasure Purpose pertayneth vnto yâ— wil. these wordes it is manifest that that is called his good pleasure which Paul afterward called purpose And that this purpose pertayneth vnto the will those thinges whiche afterward followe doo declare By whose power sayth he God woorketh all thinges accordinge to the counsell of hys will But by thys will we ought to vnderstand that will whiche is of
he whiche geueth vnto vs to worke our saluation as it is said vnto the Philippians And in the Gospel it is many times written that many are called but few are elected Paul also declareth the liberty of the spirite in distributing his giftes whē he sayth vnto the Cor. That one and the selfe same spirite distributeth vnto all men as pleaseth him Which sentence althogh it may be vnderstanded of frée gifts gracious as they cal thē other gifts Grace is not to be put as nature also yet may it no lesse be transferred vnto the grace wherby we are renued vnto saluation whēas God is a like frée in the one as in the other Lastly whilest these men thus make grace common vnto all men they conuert it into nature whiche thing in no wise agréeth with the doctrine of the holy scriptures And howe muche they are deceued hereby it may easly be proued for that they séeke of these things to inferre that it lieth in euery mans power to receaue grace when it is offred vnto them which in no case agréeth with the holy scriptures For Paul sayth that we are not able to thinke any thing of our selues and that all our sufficiencye is of God And It lieth not in our power to receue grace when it is offred vnto the Phillippians he writeth that God woorketh in vs both to will and to performe according to his good will And vnto the Corrinthians when he had saide that he had labored much he added not I but the grace of God which is in me In this Epistle also he writeth that it is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth but of God that hath mercy Which could not be true if it lye in our will to receaue grace when it is offred Touching which place Augustine to Simplicianus in his first booke and second question saith that the meaning of those wordes is not as though it is not sufficient for vs to will vnles God ayde vs with his grace for by that meanes he moughte contrarywise haue sayd It is not of God that hath mercy but of man that willeth But the sence is as it is written vnto the Phillippians that it is God which worketh in vs to will and to performe And it is true that we in vayne will vnles God haue mercye and helpe But who will say that God in vaine hath mercye if we will not In Ezechiell the Prophet it is sayd that God himselfe would chaunge our hartes and in steade of stony hartes geue vs fleshy hartes And Dauid in the Psalme singeth Incline mine hart O God vnto thy testimonies to declare that it pertaineth vnto God to bow our wils which thing he in an other place ment when he sayd A cleane hart create in me O God And in the boke of wisedome it is written that no man can haue a chaste hart but he vnto whome God shall geue it And Christ most manifestly toughte y◠an euill trée cannot bring forth good fruites Wherefore so long as men are not regenerate A similitude they can not bring forth fruite so good that they should assente vnto grace when it knocketh Wherfore first it is necessary that they be chaunged of it and that of euill plantes they be made good As in the generation of the fleshe no man whiche is procreated any thing thereto helpeth So also is it in regeneration for that there also we are borne againe through Christ and in Christ Moreouer if we should geue place vnto the sentence of these men all boasting shoulde not be excluded for euery man mought boast of that his owne acte whereby he receaued grace when it was offred Furthermore séeing that this apprehension is by faith according to our sentence but as they thinke by charitye what will they do Will they deny that faith and charity are the giftes of God Augustine also reasoneth that as in Christ the diuine nature tooke humane nature fréely not wayting for the consent therof so they which are iustified are not iustified by theyr owne will or assent The same father also noteth that eternal life is in the scriptures somtimes Grace and rightousnes are neuer called a reward What flesh signifieth in the holy scriptures called by the name of a rewarde for that good woorkes do go before it But grace saith he and righteousnes are neuer in the holy scriptures called by the name of a reward for that before it goeth no good worke acceptable vnto God And vnto the Rom. Paul writeth I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good Where by fleshe he vnderstandeth whatsoeuer is in a man not yet regenerate And dare they notwithstanding attribute vnto man being yet in the flesh that is not yet regenerate so much good that he is able to apply saluation vnto himselfe And vnto the Corrinthians What hast thou sayth he which thou hast not receaued and if thou hast receaued why boastest thou as though thou haddest not receaued Nether wil we suffer these men to runne vnto creation for here we speake not of the soule or of the powers therof that is of will or vnderstanding which we had of God by creation but of that action or woorke which these men séeke to picke out of frée will to the receiuing of grace And forasmuch as they say that they haue this of thēselues they manifestly speake against the Apostle For the Corrinthians mought haue answered thou demaundest of vs what hath seperated vs what haue we that we haue not receaued Behold we now shew vnto thée that act and assent wherby we fréely and by our own power receaue the grace which thou preachest vnto vs this hath seperated vs from others and so Paul had in vaine in such sorte reproued thē Moreouer if grace were set foorth as common vnto all men as these men teache what shoulde we pray vnto God for the conuersion of infidels Doubtles we so do for that we beleue that it lieth in the hand of God to open theyr hartes if he wyll Why we pray for infidels Neither must we thinke as these men faine that God geueth vnto euery man so much grace as is sufficient to moue them for if that were sufficiente they shoulde without all doubt be moued For if there were set before a mā a great heuy thing Whether God do geue vnto euery man so much grace as is sufficient and he being willing to moue it had in him so muche strength as were sufficient that is as mought ouercome the waight which is to be moued thē doubtles there would follow motion So if God as they say would in very déede moue the hartes of the wicked would geue so much strength that is so muche grace as shoulde suffyce yea rather as muche as shoulde excéede the hardenes of the wycked harte nothyng coulde lette but that it shoulde be bowed not in déede by compulsion but by most effectuall persuasion Augustine
without any merite much more are we without any merite either of cōgurity or of worthines receaued into It is not in our power to be touched with that sight wherby the will may be moued vnto faith adoption And vnto Simplicianus in the first booke and 2. question who sayth he can lyue vpryghtly and worke iustly except he be iustified by fayth Who can beleue except he be touched by some calling that is by some testification of thyngs who hath in hys power to haue hys mynde touched wyth such a sight whereby the wyll may be moued vnto fayth And in his 61. sermon vpon Iohn All sinnes sayth he are comprehended vnder the name of infidelity And he addeth That fayth can not be wythout hope and charity Which thing also he most playnly teacheth vpon the 31. Psalme The same father in his 1. booke and 19. chapiter against the 2. epistles of the Pelagians at large entreateth after what maner we are drawen of God and amongst other thinges sayth that the Pelagians would to much triumph ouer the Christians if they had not the worde of drawing in the holy scriptures But forasmuch as that word is expressed euen in the Gospell they haue now vtterly no place whereunto to flye There are infinite other places in Augustine which confirme thys sentence whiche nowe for briefenes sake I thinke good to ouerpasse Cyrillus agaynst Iulianus in his 1. booke and 14. page sayth The fayth of Abraham and ours is vtterly one and the same And the same author vpon Iohn in the 3. booke and 31. chapiter expounding this sentence This is the worke of God that ye beleue in hym whom he hath sent For fayth sayth he bryngeth saluation and grace iustifieth but the commaundements of the lawe rather condemneth Wherefore fayth in Christ is the worke of god In these words we ought to note that faith is it wherby is brought saluation and that we are iustified by grace And he declareth these things more plainly vpon John in his 9. booke and 32. chapiter vpon these words The fathers were iustified by the fayth of those promises which we beleue And whether I go ye know and ye know the way For we are iustified by fayth and are made pertakers of the diuine nature by the participation of the holy ghost Leo in his 13. Sermon of the Passion of the Lord The fathers sayth he beleued together wyth vs that the bloud of the sonne of God should be shed Wherefore there is nothyng dearely beloued straunge in Christian religion from the old significations nor at any tyme from the iust men that haue gone before vs but that saluation is in the Lord Iesus Christ which was hoped for This and many other like testimonies confute those chiefe which dare say that Abraham was indéede iustified but not by in Christ but by faith touching earthly promises But the same author may séeme to make agaynst vs in that that we say that true fayth is not found without charity For in his Sermon de Collect eleem he thus writeth of Sathā He knowing that God is denied not onely in wordes but also in deedes hath taken away charity from many from whome he could not take away fayth and possessing the field of theyr hart with the rootes of couetousnes he hath spoiled of the fruit of good works those whom he hath not depriued of the confession of their lippes These wordes if they be déepely considered make nothing at all agaynst vs. For we speake of a true sound and liuely fayth But Leo vnderstandeth onely a certaine outward profession of faith For when he would render a reason whereby it might appeare that fayth was not taken from them he setteth forth onely an outward confession of the lippes which we also graunt may consist without charity is oftentimes boasted of of many men which yet are most wicked And after this maner I suppose are to be expounded such like testimonies if any happen in the fathers Gregory Byshop of Rome in his 19. homely vppon Ezechiell We come not sayth he to fayth by workes but by fayth we attayne vnto vertues For Cornelius the Centurian came not vnto fayth by workes but by fayth came vnto workes For it is sayd Thy prayers and almes But how prayed he if he beleued not But that he now knew not that the mediator was incarnate by workes he came vnto a more fuller knowledge Hereby I would haue our aduersaries to know y◠fayth necessarily goeth be fore al good workes For they contend y◠morall works which are done of Ethniks and of men not yet beleuing in Christ are good Which thing is in this place of Gregory confuted The same author in his 2. booke and 25. chapiter de moralibus speaking of the same thing thus writeth Vnles fayth be first gotten in our harts all other thynges whatsoeuer they be can not in deede be good although they seeme good Bede vpon the 2. chapiter of Iames He onely beleueth truely which by working excerciseth that which he beleueth For fayth and charity can not be seperated a sender And this shall suffice as touching the Fathers But what these counsels Aphricanum Mileuitanum and Arausicanum teach concerning iustification fayth grace and workes we haue before at large declared in the first article This onely wil I now adde that our aduersaries when they say that God offreth his grace vnto all men and geueth his giftes vnto men that desire them and take hold of them and forgeueth sinnes to them that do that which they ought to do forasmuch as in the meane tyme they omit the breathing of the holy ghost and the power of God which draweth vs and the inward perswasion of the mynde and all those things which are most chiefly required in this matter are most manifestly against those coūsels which we haue now cited Howbeit I can not leaue vnspoken y◠in the counsell of Mence which was celebrated vnder Carolus Magnus in the 1. chapiter is cited Gregory who thus writeth He beleueth truely which by working excerciseth that which he beleueth Forasmuch therefore as we haue now hetherto spoken as touching this article namely that men are iustified by fayth in Christ and haue confirmed the same by scriptures haue ouerthrowen the obiections of our aduersaries and alleadged testimonyes of the Fathers to confirme our sentence let vs nowe come vnto the third article Wherefore we say that iustification consisteth of fayth only Which sentence The third article We are iustified by faith onely all those places of scriptures proue which teach that we are iustified fréely and those which affirme that iustification commeth without workes and those also which put an antithesis or contrariety betwene grace and workes All these places I say most truely conclude that we are iustified by fayth onely Although this word Onely be not red in the holy scriptures But that is not so much to be weighed for the signification of that word is of necessity
that that righteousnes which is geuen vnto vs pertayneth vnto the whole man and vnto all the faculties of the mind Shall it therefore follow that that righteousnes which is offred of God is not apprehended by fayth only Vndoubtedly the meate which we eate is destributed into all the members and into the whole body And yet is it receaued with the mouth only and not with the The righteousnesse wherby we are iustified is in God and not in vs. whole body Farther the disputation is not about any righteousnes which cleaueth vnto vs which in very dede is dispersed into the whole man but about iustificatiō which is the forgeuenes of sinnes But this righteousnes hath no place or seate in our mindes but in God only by whose will only our sinnes are forgeuen vs. But now forasmuch as this article hath ben sufficiently defended agaynst the cauillations of importunate men we will omitt this and briefely declare that the auncient fathers abhorred not from thys woorde Only which our aduersaries so muche detest Origen vpon the epistle vnto the Romanes vpon these woordes Thy glorieng is excluded By what law by the law of dedes No. But by the law of fayth For we suppose that a man is iustified by fayth without the woorkes of the law The iustification sayth he of fayth only is sufficient that a mā only beleuing should be iustified although he haue done no good woorke at all and for example he bringeth forth that thiefe which was crucified together with Christ and that wooman vnto whome Christe answered Thy fayth hath made thee safe Afterward he obiecteth vnto him selfe that a man hearing these thinges mought be made secure and contemne good woorkes But he answereth that he which after iustification liueth not vprightly casteth away the grace of iustification For no man sayth he receaueth forgeuenes of sinnes to vse licence to sinne For pardon is geuen not of faultes to come but of sinnes past Then which sentence can nothing be sayd more conformable vnto our doctrine Ciprian to Quirinus in his 42. chapiter Fayth sayth he only profiteth and looke how much we beleue so much are we able to doo Basilius in his sermō de Humilitate writeth that a man is iustified by faith only Hilarius also vpon Mathew the 8. chapter Fayth sayth he only iustifieth Ambrose vpon the 3. chapter vnto the Romanes vpon these wordes Being iustified freely Because sayth he they woorking nothing nor rendring turne for turne are by faith onely iustified by the gift of God The same author vpon these wordes According to the purpose of the grace of God So Paul sayth he sayth it was decreed of God that the law ceasing onely faith should be required vnto saluation And straight way after God hath ordeyned that men should by faith onely without labour and any obseruation be iustified before God The same father vpon the. 1. chapter of the. 2. epistle vnto the Corrinthians It is appoynted sayth he by God that he which beleueth in Christ should be saued without workes by faith only And he hath the like sentences in his booke de vocatione Gentium Out of Chrisostome I could bring a greate many places to confirme this sentence but of them I will picke out onely a few Vpon the 3. chapter vnto the Romanes vpon these wordes Thy glory is excluded In this sayth he is set foorth the might and power of God in that he hath saued iustified and wroughte glorification by faith onely without workes And at the beginning of the 4. chapter That a man being destitute of workes should be iustified by faith peraduenture it may appeare to be well But that a man being adorned with vertues good workes is not for all iustified by thē but by faith only this assuredly is wonderfull Hereby our aduersaries may vnderstand that although faith haue as companions hope and charitie and other good workes which thing cannot be doubted of Abraham yet they serue nothing to the apprehending of righteousnes And vpon the. 10. chapter vpon these woordes They being ignorant of the righteousnes of God and going aboute to establish theyr owne righteousnes were not subiect vnto the righteousnes of God He calleth sayth he the righteousnes of God that righteousnes which is of fayth Bycause we are without labour by fayth only iustified thorough the gift of God Of Augustine I will speake nothing For he is full of this agaynst the Pelagians and any man may easely by his writings proue this sentence Hesichius vpon Leuiticus in his first booke and second chapiter Grace sayth he is comprehended by fayth only not of woorkes Which selfe thing in a maner he hath in his 4. booke and 14. chapiter Theophilactus vpon the 3. chapiter vnto the Galathians expoūdeth these words Bycause by the law no mā is iustified before God Now sayth he Paul playnly declareth that fayth euen alone hath in it the power to iustifie Phocius vpon the fift chapiter vnto the Romanes Iustification sayth he consisteth of fayth only Acacius in Oecumenius vpō the first chapiter vnto the Romanes He hath saith he by fayth onely raysed vp and quickened vs being mortified by sinnes Bernardus in his 22. Sermon vpon the Canticles By fayth only sayth he he that is iustified shall haue peace And in the selfe same sermon That wanteth sayth he of grace whatsoeuer thou ascribest vnto merites Grace maketh me iustified freely Whome these things suffice not let him reade Genuadius vpon the 5. chap. to the Romanes Cirillus in his 9. booke 3. chapiter vpon Iohn Theodoretus vpon the 5. chapiter to the Romanes Didimus vpon the 2. chapiter of Iames Eusebius in his Ecclesiasticall history the 3. booke and 27. chap. Ciprian or whatsoeuer he were in his exposition of the simbole Liranus vpon the third to the Galathians The ordinary glosse vpon the epistle vnto Iames Haimo vpō the Gospell of Circumcision Sedulius vpon the 1. and 2. chapiters vnto the Romanes Thomas vpon the 3. to the Galathians Bruno vpon the 4. vnto the Romanes Arnobius vpon the 106. Psalme Now I thinke I haue spoken inough as touching this question Wherfore I will now returne to the exposition of the wordes of the Apostle The twelfth Chapiter I Besech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that ye offer vp your bodyes a liuing sacrifice holy and acceptable vnto God whiche is your reasonable worshipping I besech you therefore brethren Phisitions are accustomed to clense a sore or wound of all matter and corruption and then to anoint it with soft and gentle medicens So Paul hath first by a sharp disputacion confuted the arrogancy of thē which had confidence to be iustified by the lawe or by philosophy and that through their owne strengthes now therefore he turneth himselfe to perswade to an holy life and to good workes whereby we are renewed and are made perfect by a righteousnes cleauing vnto vs. Wherefore first he establisheth the doctrine of iustification and then that being finished he
them vnto righteousnes their vices sufficiently declare which a litle before he hath expressed They often alleaged that Moyses through the A commendatiō of circumcision helpe of circumcision was deliuered from the daunger of death For the Angell woulde haue killed hym if hys wife had not circumcised hys sonne And after the generall Circumcision celebrated by Iosua the people were brought into the promised land and that not without a wonderfull miracle For the waters of Iordane were compelled to go backe to their spryng And in the booke of Genesis the 17. chap. it is manifest with what waight and seriousnes this Sacrament was instituted of God Wherunto as he added excellent promises so also added he horrible threatnynges that the soule of hym which was not the eight If circumcision being cōtemned destruyeth a man ▪ then being added it saueth a man day Circumcised should be destroyed Whereupon it semeth that the Iewes reasoned a contrariis that is from contraries If Circumcision being intermitted destroyeth a man then contrarywise where it is had it saueth a man But thys kynd of argument is not of necessitie It is in dede probable but it doth not alwayes conclude well as many instancies teache vs and Augustine oftentymes affirmeth And those thynges whiche are here spoken are not so to be vnderstanded The dignitie of the sacramentes depend not of our faith and vprightnes The fruite of the Sacramentes dependeth of our fayth as though the dignitie of the Sacramentes should depende of our fayth or goodnes For as much as here is not entreated of the nature or excellency of the Sacrament but of the fruite and vtilitie therof Whiche we must nedes graunt dependeth both of the fayth and godlines of the receauers And by this place we learne that outward thynges of them selues nothing profite vnto saluation vnlesse there be a mutation or chaunge made by the holy Ghost in our hartes either before or els whilest they are put in vse Neither is this to be obiected that the Baptisme of children is an outward thyng and yet bryngeth saluation vnto infantes For the infantes haue no commoditie by the force of the outwarde What fruite childrē haue by Baptisme washyng vnles there come with all some spiritual thyng and such as pertaineth to the soule Augustine thinketh that saluation commeth vnto them by the fayth of them whiche offer them whom we call Godfathers and Godmothers or by the fayth of the Churche I know in déede that the fayth of godly men may vnto some obtaine grace conuersion and excellent spirituall giftes But saluation hapneth not vnto them that are of full age but only by their owne faith and vnto in fantes by the spirit and grace which secretly worketh in them regeneration of which regeneration baptisme is the outward sealyng Wherfore it is apparant how miserably the Iewes erred in attributyng so much to their circumcision And there were some if we will geue credite vnto Augustine in hys booke De ciuitate Dei. which affirmed as much of Baptisme Namely that a man being once baptised although he liued wickedly should not vtterly perishe He shall in They which are baptised may perish dede said they suffer many thinges but at the last he shall be saued peraduenture by fire But this error both Augustine hath confuted we haue subscribed vnto hym in our exposition of the first epistle to the Corinthians The purpose of the Apostle in this place is to shew that God will haue no regard to the outward circumcision if there want piety and holines and agayne on the other side that vncircumcision shall not be a let vnto the Gentiles so that they meane wel and Outwarde thinges by themselues profite litle yea rather they are hurtfull if the spirite faith be wātyng If the receiuers haue faith then the sacraments haue some vtility liue godly Let vs note as I began to say how little is to be attributed vnto outward things if they be taken by themselues And yet so great is the error in our dayes that men make prayers recited in a strange vnknowen tonge pilgrimages certaine fastes rashly taken in hand as the chief anker holde of their saluation Yea they are now at the length come to this point that sometimes they attribute remission of sinnes vnto these trifles The prophets cry out euery where that God despiseth hateth and detesteth worshippinges without fayth and godlines Howbeit we must vnderstand as we may gather by the wordes of the Apostle that if they which receiue the sacramentes haue faith and pietie then out ward things haue theyr certain vtilities For forasmuch as they are instituted by God we must nedes graunt that they are good vnles it happen that through our fault they be made hurtfull But they are good and profitable vnto the iust in whō through faith iustification goeth before For sacramentes to speake in general What circumcision is are visible signes which signifie by which the holy ghost exhibiteth vnto those which beleuyng receaue them both grace and coniunction with Christ and also seale vnto vs the promises of saluation And to tooch somwhat of circumcision it was a signe or to speake more apertly a sealyng of the promise league made with God through Christ And they were marked in the partes apointed to generatiō to geue vs to vnderstand that Christ as touching his manhode should be borne of the séede of man And by that signe they were continually put in minde of the league made with God and thereby they professed the obseruation of the law Wherfore to the Galathians it is sayd that he which is circumcised is debter to kepe the whole law It was also in stede of a marke or cognisance wherby that people was discerned from other nations Wherfore whilst they iorneyed in the desert they were not circumcised because there were no other nations there from whō they might by that signe be discerned as the commentaries which are ascribed vnto Ierome alledge although of that thyng there may an other cause more probable be assigned By this sacrament also was noted the mortifieng of the flesh and Circumcision in stede of baptisme Children ought to be baptised filthy lustes and that all superfluous things should be cut of from the godly And superfluous things are whatsoeuer displease God This rite was to the old men in stede of baptisme was counted for the sacrament of regeneration Whereby it appeareth that our infantes ought to be baptised forasmuch as their lotte is no worse then the lotte of the chyldren of the Hebrewes yea rather it is in many partes more happy For our baptisme somewhat to speake thereof now is not bound to the eight day as was the circumcision of the Iewes in the olde time for we are by Christ deliuered from circumstaunces of tyme and place And sacred rites are certayne outward professions of piety And such not onely the Iewes had but also those
the law is two maner of wayes cōfirmed by fayth First because by it we obtaine the holy ghost whereby are ministred vnto vs strengthes to obey the lawe But a man may paraduenture doubt how this can be that by fayth we haue the holy ghost when as of necessity he alwayes goeth before fayth For fayth The holy ghost goeth before fayth in vs. Betwene causes and effects are certayne circuites The holy ghost both goeth before and also followeth fayth The Law maketh vs vncertaineof the good will of God The Law with out fayth is weake and can not consiste is both his gift and also commeth from him to vs. But we answere that betwene the causes and the effectes seme to be certayne circuites as it is manifest by cloudes and showers From cloudes discend raynes out of waters which are in the inferior places are taken vp vapors by the heate of the heauēs which are thickened into cloudes out of which againe discend showers vpon the earth But in this circute we must alwayes haue a recourse to the first according to the order of nature which is whē there is supposed an humor of which cloudes may encrease So also must we do here We will graūt that fayth by the benefite of the holy ghost springeth in vs. By which fayth is increased the aboundance of the selfe same spirite whose encrease the former fayth hath preuented and of a greater fayth is still made a greater encrease of the spirite But yet notwithstanding we constantly affirme that there is but one thing chiefely from whence all these good things flow namely the holy ghost Secondly saith Augustine the lawe is by the helpe of fayth otherwise confirmed Because by fayth we pray and calling vpon God with prayers we do not only obtayne remission of sinnes but also so greate a portion of the spirite and of grace that we haue strengthes to obey the lawe Vndoubtedly the lawe if it be taken by it selfe maketh vs both vncertayne of the good will of God and after a sort bringeth desperation vnles fayth come and helpe which both maketh vs assured that God is pacefied and mercifull towards vs and also by grace obtayneth the renuing of strengthes And the Apostles phrase whereby he sayth that by fayth he establisheth the lawe is to be noted For thereby he signifieth that the lawe if it be left vnto it selfe and without fayth is weake so that it can not consiste And therefore vnles it be vpholden by fayth it shall easely fall And The woonderful sharpnes of wit in Paule The Law and sayth helpe one an other this is the poynte of a singular artificer not only to depel from him that which is obiected but also to declare that the selfe same maketh most of all for hys purpose The lawe and fayth helpe one an other and as the common saying is geue handeseche to other For the lawe doth as a scholemaster bring men vnto the fayth of Christ and on the other side fayth bringeth this to passe that it maketh them after a sort able to accomplishe the lawe For strayght waye so soone as a man beleueth in Christ he obtayneth iustification and is liberally endued with aboundance of the spirite and with grace The entent and purpose of the lawe was that a man should both be made good and also be saued But this thing it was not able to performe Then succeded fayth and did helpe it for through it is a man renued so that he is able to obey God and his commaundementes Chrisostome sayth that Paule here proueth three thinges First that a man may be iustified without the lawe Secondly that the lawe can not iustify Thirdly that fayth and the lawe are not repugnant one to the other Ambrose teacheth that therefore by fayth is the lawe established because that those thinges which by the lawe are commaunded to be done are by fayth declared to be done And we haue alredy before heard that this righteousnes which Paule here commendeth hath testemony both of the lawe and of the Prophetes And if any man obiect that therefore the lawe is made voyde by fayth because by it ceremonies are abolished he answereth that this thing therefore so happeneth because the lawe it selfe would haue it so and foretold that it should so come to passe In Daniell we reade that after the comming of Christ and after that he was slayne the dayly sacrifice should be taken away and the The Law Would and fortold that ceremonis should be made voide Testimonis witnessing that the ceremonis of the Hebrues should cease holy anoynting and such like kinde of ceremonies Wherefore Christ did not without cause saye The lawe and the Prophetes endured vnto Iohn baptistes tyme. Ieremy also most manifestly sayd that an other leage should be made farre diuers from that which was made in the olde tyme. The epistle vnto the Hebrues thereby concludeth that that which was the olde leage and was so called should one day be abolished Zachary the Prophet in his 2 chapter sayth that the city of Ierusalem should be inhabited without walles Which signified that the Church of the beleuers should so be spred abroade and dispersed through out the whole world that it should not be enclosed in by any borders or limites Which selfe same thing Esay semeth to testefy when he sayth That mount Sion and the house of the Lord should be on the toppe of the hilles so that the Gentiles should come vnto it out of al places And Malachy the Prophet pronounced that the name of God should be called vpon frō the rising of the sunne to the going downe of the same so that vnto God should euery where be offred Minchah which many haue transferred vnto y◠Eucharist as though it were a sacrifice when as yet the prophet thereby vnderstādeth prayers and the offring vp euen of our selues as Tertullian testefieth in his booke agaynst the Iewes and also Ierome when he interpreteth that place Wherefore when the Prophets seme to affirme that ceremonyes should be transferred vnto the Ethnikes they are so to be vnderstād as though by the signes they ment the thinges themselues The Ethnikes being conuerted vnto Christ receaued that which was represented by the ceremonies of the elders But they reiected the How the Ethnikes receued the ceremonis of the Hebrues outward signes and thys was by fayth to confirme the lawe And forasmuch as the Prophetes foretold that ceremonyes should be abolished the same is to be taken as if it had bene spoken of the lawe for that the Prophetes were interpreters of the lawe And that Christ when he should come should chaunge the ceremonies euen the Iewes them selues doubted not whych thing is manifest by Iohn Baptist shewed that ceremonis should bee abrogated the historie of Iohn Baptist which we reade in the Gospell For when he would purge menne conuerted vnto God he sente them not vnto sacrifices and vnto the ceremonies of Moses by
ouerthrowen For he saith not onely that we are iustified by faith but also he excludeth workes For he saith without workes and that it mighte the playnlier and Here is no Synecdoche vsed easeliar be vnderstand he addeth freely and other wordes which apertly are repugnant with tropicall kindes of speach And vndoubtedly this is to be considered that the man or if I may so speake the person it self be first both iust and also acceptable vnto God and then afterward shal good workes follow But those things which are written in the xx chap. of Genesis are nothing at all repugnaunt vnto this sentence A place of Genesis For there it can not be shewed that Abraham for that worke was counted iust before God For that had he before obteined But he receiued promises of hys posteritie that God would also geue them many and excellent thinges And we deny not but that God very oftentimes promiseth vnto good workes diuers rewards as well spirituall as temporall both as touching the elect themselues as also touching their posteritie Neither was Iames meaning that Abraham was iustified A place of Iames. by workes after that maner that Paul here speaketh of iustification For he speaketh of that iustification which may be known of men and according to which we are pronounced iustified For this spirituall iustification wherof we now intreat we can not know in other men but by those thinges which are done by them outwardly And in summe whatsoeuer places of the scripture do attribute righteousnes vnto workes they speake of that righteousnes which followeth iustification But to him that worketh the reward is not imputed according to grace but accordynge to debte But to him that woorketh not but beleueth in him that iustifieth the vngodly his faith is counted for righteousnes Euen as Dauid declareth the blessednes of a man vnto whome God imputeth righteousnes without workes Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgeuen and whose syns are couered blessed is the maÌ„ vnto whom the Lord imputeth not sin But to hym which worketh c. He goeth about now to shew that Abraham could not be iustified by workes forasmuch as now it is manifest by the holye scriptures that he had righteousnes by imputation For these thinges are so contrary that both of them cannot consist at one time And in that Paul saith To hym that worketh to him that worketh not we ought not so to vnderstand it as though they which beleue worke not For he speaketh of that working onely wherby we deserue or desire to deserue righteousnes And in this place this is worthy of noting which among the deuine scholemen is now common to say that Paul calleth A saing of the Scholemen merite debt Wherfore seyng Paul here excludeth debt from iustification he also of necessity taketh away merite if we will speake properly and truely of it But now I do so speake of it not as it is referred vnto the promises of God but as it is compared with our workes In summe Pauls meaning is that imputation and debt are vtterly repugnant the one to the other By this place we may very manifestly Imputacion and debt are contraries perceiue that this is the foundation of the Apostle But it shal appeare more plainly afterward where it is said And if of grace then not of workes and contrariwise if of workes then not of grace In this place are thrée antitheses or contrary positions One is of hym which woorketh and of hym whyche woorketh not the seconde of debte and of grace Thre Antitheses The thirde of rewarde and of imputation Whyche antitheses we oughte by no meanes to lette slippe And by thys place it manifestlye appeareth that the question put forth concerning ceremonies is entreated of generally For here the Apostle without any contraction entreateth of him whiche worketh and of hym which worketh not of grace and of debt of reward and of imputation of righteousnes Which extend much farther then to ceremonies For they comprehend all the good workes that may be done But beleueth in him which iustifieth the vngodly By the vngodly he vnderstandeth This reason of Paul is vniuersall Vngodlines the hâ—d of all wicked actes a sinner which is a straunger from God for impietie is the head of all wickednes And where as God is said to iustifie the vngodly it is not so to be vnderstand so long as he abideth vngodly or as thoughe God should accepte wicked actes for good or shoulde pronounce them iuste For that he forbad in the law also pronounced yâ— he wil neuer at any tyme so do But he is sayd to iustify yâ— vngodly bicause he forgeueth him his sinnes and of an vngodly person maketh him godlye Hitherto we haue heard that Abraham was iustified by faith And moreouer that What it is to iustifâ— the vngodlye his righteousnes consisted in imputacion Now followeth Euen as Dauid declareth the righteousnesse of a man vnto whome GOD imputeth righteousnesse wythout workes By these wordes also it is manifest that by woorkes are generallye vnderstande all good actes and not This also is a generall reason onelye ceremonies Whiche thynge the Antithesis dothe well declare For when he had sayd that we haue blessednes without works he opposeth and setteth vnto them as contrary sinnes and iniquities whiche in iustification are forgeuen But iniquities and sinnes haue not place onely in ceremonies And that in this place hee allegeth Dauid it serueth very much to his purpose For Dauid was endued with many good workes eueÌ„ as was Abraham And yet he thought he could not be iustified by them but onely for that that hys sinnes were forgeueÌ„ hym And by this testimony of the Scripture it appeareth that iustification and Why he vseth the testimony of Dauid Iustification and blessednes are taken for one and the selfe same thing Iustification is felicity begon Basilius affirmeth that the thinges which are done before iustificatioÌ„ are sinnes blessednes are one and the self same thyng Otherwise the conclusion should not be strong And vndoubtedly iustification if a man rightly consider it is nothyng els then a felicitie begon And Dauid testifieth that this blessednes or iustification doth not onely herein consiste that sinnes should not be imputed but also to expresse that thyng more playnly he sayth it consisteth herein that sinnes should be forgeuen And hee whiche is in hym selfe assured that iustification is the remission of sinnes the same man I say shall easely vnderstand that we bryng not good works vnto God that by the workyng and merite of them he should iustify vs but rather that we bryng sinnes vnto hym to be pardoned Basilius expressedly sheweth that the workes whiche we do whilest we are strauÌ„gers from God can not please hym He of purpose demaundeth that question in his second booke De Baptismo the seuenth question and bryngeth this sentence of the Prophet A sinner whiche sacrificeth vnto me a calfe is like vnto hym
of the law when as otherwise we our selues can not perticularly render a reason of these ceremonies The Apostles haue only generally made them playn vnto vs. And though there haue benne some amongst vs as Origen and a greate many other like which haue attēpted to frame for euery perticular ceremony a proper alegory yet haue they in a manner but lost theyr labour For theyr inuentions could We must not geue our selues to much to Allegories Error of the scholemen bring no profite at all vnto vs. For they most plainely want the woord of God Nether is it to be meruayled at that they so muche delighted in such inuentiōs For euen as euery where our owne deuises woonderfully please vs so in this matter the curiosity of man excedingly delighted it selfe Now those things which we haue spoken most playnly declare how farre the schole men haue missed of the marke which haue betwen the old sacrementes and the new put this difference that the old sacramentes only signified grace and Christ but ours largly and aboundantly exhibite both For the elders say they were holpen by the woorke of the worker For when any man came with fayth and a godly Of the worke working◠and the worke wrought motion of the hart and of the minde vnto those holy seruices he had therby merite But the woorke wrought as they call it nothing profited them as touching saluation But in our sacraments they say it is farre otherwise that not only fayth and the spirituall motion of the minde which they call the woorke of the worker helpeth vs but also euen the outward sacramente it selfe and the institution of God which they call the worke wrought conferreth vnto vs both remission of sinnes and also saluation But I will demaund of these men what that is which the outward worke and the visible sacrament exhibiteth vnto vs that we do not attayne vnto by fayth if they aunswere that it is Christ as for hym we comprehende by fayth If remission of sinnes that also we obtayne by fayth if reconciliation wherby we returne into fauor which God this also we can not obtayne without fayth if last of all the encrease of grace and of the spirite neither vndoubtedly doo we by anye other meanes obtayne this but by fayth what is there then remaning that this worke wrought bringeth This word is altogether strange nether is it once mēcioned of in the holy scriptures Worke wrought a woorde neuer heard of Nether would I at this time haue vsed it but that I haue to contēd agaynst the aduersaries But paraduenture they will say Forasmuch as besides fayth is also added the outward woorke is there nothinge to be attributed vnto it yes vndoubtedly I attribute much vnto it when it procedeth of fayth For I know that such a worke pleaseth God and that he vseth to recompence many thinges vnto such workes But what maketh that to this present purpose Did not the elders vnto theyr fayth adioyne also those workes wherby they exercised and receaued the sacraments of theyr law Wherfore as touching this part wee see that they had in theyrs as many things which pleased God as we haue in ours vnles paraduenture they wil contend that the exercising and receauing of our sacramentes is ether a better or nobler woorke then was the exercising and receauing of the sacramentes of the elders which thing I will not graunte vnto The receauing of our sacraments is not more excellent or better then the receauinge of the sacraments of the elders Whither the sacramentes conferre grace and remitt◠sinnes thē especially seing y◠the perfectin of the worke is to be cōsidered by faith and charity from whēce it procedeth wherfore if Abraham and Dauid had more faith when they receaued theyr sacramentes then any weake Christian when he is baptised or communicateth who will not iudge but that theyr worke is more notable and more excelēt then the other mans worke And moreouer as for that kinde of speach which these men so often vse namely that sacraments remitte sinnes ar conferre grace we do not easly admite vnles paraduenture in that sēse wherin Paule affirmeth that the Gospell is the power of God to saluatiō as vnto Timothe the reading of the holy scriptures is sayd to make saffe which vndoubtedly is nothing ells but that the might and power of God wherby he remitteth sinnes geueth grace and at the end saueth vseth these instruments and meanes to our saluation And euen as to bring vs to saluatiō he vseth the word of the Gospell and the preaching of the holy scriptures so also adioyneth he ther vnto the sacraments For by ether of them is preached vnto vs the liberall promisse of God which if we take hold of by fayth we shall obtayne both saluatiō and also remission of sinnes This is the true sense vnto which also are the fathers to be applied when they say that grace is the power of the sacramentes Which is all one as if they had sayd vnderstanding and sense is the power of speach and of wordes And how vnaptly the Scholemen speake of theyr stay or Of the stay or let of the scholemen let herby it is manifest for that they say that he putteth not a staye or let which although he haue not the acte ether of louing or of beleuing yet obiecteth nothing that is contrary or opposite vnto grace namely the acte of infidelity or of hatred Thē in such case say they the sacraments of the Gospel conferre grace But this is nothing ells then to attribute vnto creatures the cause of our saluation and to binde our selues to much to signes and elements of this world Thys ought to bee certayne and most assured that no more is to be attributed vnto the sacramentes as touching saluation then vnto the worde of God Wherfore We oughte to attribute no more vnto the sacraments then vnto the woord of God How our sacraments are better then the sacramentes of the elders Sometimes is receaued the sacraments onely sometimes the thinge onelye Grace is not bounde vnto the sacramentes as we put corne into sackes if sometimes we heare as Augustine also saith our sacramentes are better then the sacramentes of the elders this ought so to be vnderstanded that it be refer red vnto perspicuitie For we graunt that our sacraments both speake and preach more plainly of Christ then did the sacraments of the elders Wherfore seing we are more clearely and plainly instructed faith is the more fuller and bringeth vnto vs more grace and spirite And we gladly admit that which the same Augustine saith That sometymes it commeth to passe that the sacrament is receyued wythout the thing For so the wicked and infidels vsinge the sacramentes receiue onelye the outwarde signes and are vtterly voyde of saluation and of grace Sometimes also it contrariwise happeneth that the godly being excluded by any necessitie frō the vse of the sacramentes yet are in no wise defrauded
of the thing it selfe and of the thing signified Neither let any man here lay to our charge that we affirme that sacraments depend of our faith For neither teach we any such thing yea rather we affirme that the sacraments are sacramentes although thy faith be either weake or els none at all And Augustines iudgement is very good concerning him which onely carnally receiueth the sacrament when he sayth It doth not therefore cease to be spirituall but vnto them it is not spirituall And now at length to make an ende we must neuer come to this point to thinke that grace and our saluation is conteined in the sacramentes as in certaine sackes or bagges which may be poured out vpon the communicantes and receiuers For the sacramentes are as certaine tidyng bringers of our saluation whom he that beleueth shall obtaine saluation And thus much hitherto haue I sufficiently spoken of sacraments generally Now resteth for vs somwhat to speake of circumcision for the better vnderstanding wherof we haue spoken these things the more largely and with more words But here we shall not nede so long a treatise For if we remēber all those things which haue bene generally spoken of sacraments it shall be no hard matter to vnstand all that which may be spoken of circumcision And circumcision not to go from the wordes of the Apostle was the seale of y◠What circumcision is How circumcisyon is sayd to haue brought remission of synnes Whether remission be had of sinnes to come righteousnes of faith bicause it preached and confirmed the promise concernyng righteousnes which the elders receiued by faith And hereof it followeth that the elders by it had remission of sinnes For forasmuch as righteousnes as we haue be fore more at large debated consisteth chiefly in the remission of sinnes whosoeuer beleued the promise set forth and by circumcision sealed it followeth of necessitie that he was pertaker of the remission of sinnes Some demaund whether circumcision and baptisme which succeded it bring remissiō onely of those sins which are alredy past or also of those which are afterward cōmitted Let these mē cōsider y◠the vse of Circumcision and of Baptisme is not for a tyme but perpetuall For as the faithfull oftentimes fal so when they forthwith come againe vnto themselues they thinke vpon the promise of the Gospell which is of the remission of sinnes Wherin also euen for this cause they are confirmed for that they remember them In erroure of those which would not be baptised but in the last houre selues to be either baptised or circumcised and so by putting to of faith they are deliuered from sinnes and are reconciled vnto God Hereby it is manifest how they wer in the old time deceiued which would not be baptised but euē now whē death approched that they were in a maner geuing vp y◠ghoste Neither let any man thinke y◠this is repugnant vnto the kayes of the Church by which are receiued the penitent For that they may the better vnderstande the matter this they must nedes graunt that those kayes of the church are nothing els but the preachyng of the Gospell wherby the ministers do perswade the beleuers that their sinnes are forgeuen them But they which are to be perswaded are by the benefite of the holy ghost persuaded their faith concerninge the promise is also hereby confirmed for that they call to memory the signe of Baptisme or of Circumcision whiche in times past they receiued And Paule when he said For the remission of the sinnes going before ment y◠iustification when it is applied vnto vs alwayes putteth away those sinnes which we haue before committed But that nothing letteth but that the promise of the remission of sinnes and the sealing therof may oftentimes with profite be called to our memory But so oftentimes as sinne is so forgeuen it followeth of necessitie that the same sinne went before but that which we speake of tendeth to this to declare that the vtilitie of the sacraments is not for a tyme but pertaineth to the whole course of our life Circumcision differed from other sacramentes for that it was the beginning and first steppe and visible entrance to the couenaunt of God But what maner ones the vncircumcised were counted the Apostle declareth in the epistle to the Ephesians Remember saith he that ye wer somtymes Gentiles in the flesh which were called vncircumcision of circumcision in the flesh made wyth hāds ye were sometimes without Christ aliants frō the cōmon wealth of the Israelites straungers from the couenantes of the promises without hope in the world and without God And in the epistle vnto the Phil. he teacheth which is the true spirituall What i◠the spirituall circumcision circumcision For we saith he are circumcision which serue the Lord in spirite and glory in Christ and haue no confidence in the flesh And vnto the Coloss he writeth In whom saith he ye are circumcised with circumcision not made with handes by the puttyng of the sinfull body of the flesh By whiche place we sée as we haue before also noted that forgeuenes of sinnes is to be put as well in Circumcision as in Baptisme Wherfore Augustine in his booke against Iulianus the Pelagian in that part wherin he heapeth vp a great many authorities of the fathers reproueth the Pelagians by these wordes of the Apostle for that notwithstanding they denied original sinne yet they baptised their infāts for forasmuch as they affirmed y◠in them is no sinne how could that Baptisme as Paule saith be circumcision not made with handes by the putting of of the sinful flesh These places of the Apostle serue very much to the explication of the proprietie and nature of circumcision And in Deut. the x. chap. the Lord saith Thou shalt circumcise the vncircumcision of thyne hart neither shalt thou harden thy necke In stede of vncircumcision the Chaldey interpreter hath Tephaschoth that is foolishnes therby signifieng y◠the first ground of sinne herein consisteth that we are blinde to all thinges pertaining to God and that we The first ground of sinne The promyse which circumcisiō sealed are wonderfully infected with the ignoraunce of God The 70. interpreters haue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is hardnes of hart The promises which are offred vnto them y◠are circumcised are these that God is made our God and the God of our séede in which onely thing we haue the horne of plenty that is the sūme of all good things Hereof also springeth our felicitie consolatiō in all afflictiō They were therbye also put in mind of y◠mortifiēg of y◠flesh y◠is of y◠cutting away of superfluous plesures moreouer by it they professed pure religiō And in sum therby was signified y◠couenāt made with god These wer y◠things signified the matter of this sacramēt and pertayne truly vnto the nature and substance therof In baptisme also all those selfe same thinges are
forgeueth vs our sinnes geueth the holy ghost an vpright life and eternall felicity By this definition is séene not onely what we call grace but also by whom we haue it and which are the principall effects thereof Now must we sée after what maner God By what meanes God worketh in vs his good thinges Why the outward ministery is needefull in the church worketh in vs so excellent good thinges First he offreth the promises of these thinges then by his inspiration he openeth the harte that they may be receaued which if he did not those good things should neuer take place in vs for the hart of man is stubborne and repugnant to spirituall things and therefore in the Church the minstery is alwayes néedefull For the duety of the pastors is to set forth the promises of God vnto the people and not to vrge them in wordes onely but also to seale thē with sacraments which are certaine visible wordes And in especially it belōgeth vnto them to remoue away two impediments which do most of al draw men away from the promises of God For on the one side men think that The ministers ought in teachyng to haue regard to two thinges they can not attaine vnto the promises of God bicause they are vnworthy of thē Here must the faithfull minister diligently resist and teach that these thinges are fréely geuen of God not by workes or any dignity of such as receiue thē On the other part some vse to doubt whether they by the electiō of God are excluded frō these promises As touching this point they must teach y◠the faithful ought generally to receiue the promises of God as they are deliuered vs by the holy ghost in the holy scriptures neither ought they to be carefull concerning the secret will of God For without doubt God would haue reueled and shewed who they be that be elect or who be reprobate if he had known that it should haue bene profitable to saluatiō Wherfore seing the scriptures exclude no man perticulerly from the promises euery man ought so to receue thē as if they peculiarly pertained vnto himself And vndoubtedly together with faith shall be geuen vnto them that beleue through y◠persuasion of the holy ghost that they shall not doubt but that they do in very déede belong vnto the elect After this maner the ministery of the church serueth God and worketh together with him towards our saluation not that the goodnes and power of God can not without it both offer his promises vnto vs and also inclyne our mindes to receiue them For neither is the grace of God of necessity bound either to the ministery or to the sacraments or to y◠outward worde But we speake The grate of God is not bound to outward thinges now of the accustomed maner wherby God bringeth men to saluation But whē we haue once receiued the promises of God we which before were dead vnto sinne begin streight way to reuiue and so being restored vnto lyfe in some part we obey the law of God not in dede with a perfect obedience but with an obedience begon Farther against our enemies the flesh and Sathan we haue the present helpe of God and a wonderful consolation in afflictions and the powers and faculties both of the soule and also of the body are renued And to speake briefly the grace of God God doth not onely offer the promises but also boweth the hart to embrase them What manner of grace the Pelagians graunted which we haue described is the spring of all good thinges But yet we haue affirmed one thing which is not yet confirmed by the scriptures namely y◠God doth not onely offer the promises which we haue now spoken of of his mere grace and beneuolence but also with his spirit boweth the harte to receiue them The first part the Pelagians also admitted namely that there is required the grace of doctrine and illustration But the other part they thought consisted in frée will ether to receiue or to refuse the promises offred But the scripture teacheth farre otherwise For Ezechiell in the 11. chap. sayth That God woulde geue vnto hys faythfull a new hart a new spirite would take away frō thē their stony harte and geue them a fleshy hart These wordes most manifestly teach that there must be a chaunge The meaninge of the fathers made in our hartes Wherfore when we reade either in Augustine or in other fathers that grace commeth first whom our will followeth as an handmayden we may not so vnderstand it as though our will followeth of his owne strengthes beyng It is not sufficient that the will be stirred vp vnlesse it be moued also only stirred vp and admonished by grace for vnles it were changed it would neuer follow This therfore is required first that the will be chaunged and then that it obey We must warely also geue eare vnto Chrisostome who in his sermon of the inuention of the crosse saith That neither the grace of God can doe any thyng without our wyll nor our wyll without grace For vniuersally it is not true that grace can doo nothyng without our will vnles thou vnderstande will to be that about which grace worketh But that grace should tary for the consent of the will it is not true For grace changeth y◠wil before it can geue any consent Dauid therfore Grace ought not to tary for our consent prayeth Create in me a cleane hart O God ▪ Salomon also Incline O Lord the harte of thys people to execute thy commaundementes And agayne Dauid Incline myne harte to thy testimonies The Pelagians taughte that the beginnyng of good workes is of oure selues namelye of frée wyll And that grace dothe helpe them The opinion of the Pelagians easlier and more readely to accomplishe them But the latter Diuines or Sophisters least they shoulde seeme vtterlye to agrée with Pelagius haue thus defined The opiniō of the Scholemē grace that grace in déede commeth first but it is in vs either to receaue it or to refuse it but this is as vntrue as that sentence of Pelagius for from hence haue we power to receaue this grace If this were true then saluation should be of our selues But Paul sayth what hast thou which thou hast not receaued But if thou hast receaued it why boastest thou as though thou haddest not receaued it And against these men Augustine citeth these wordes of Paul which we shall afterward reade It is not of hym that wylleth nor of hym that runneth but of God that hath compassion If these mens opinion saith he were not true the Apostle mought in like maner haue sayde It is not of God that hath compassion but of hym that wylleth and runneth For as these men teach this matter semeth to be deuided so that one part is geuen vnto God and the other part is leaft vnto our selues And by that meanes the grace of God is not sufficient
vnles we also put to our endeuor and do wyll and also runne But the Apostle affirmeth farre otherwyse saying that it is neither of hym that wylleth nor of hym that runneth but of God that hath compassion And in an other place of hymselfe he sayth I haue laboured more then all but yet not I but the grace of God which is in me By which wordes he taketh away all from hymselfe and ascribeth it wholy vnto the grace of God And Augustine addeth we pray for our enemyes which are yet euill and will not be obedient vnto God and do reiect his promises which thynge seing we do what els do we desire but that God should change theyr wylles which vnles it were in the hand of God to do it should be in vayne to desire it of hym Paul also in an other place sayth Not that we are apt to thynke any thinge of our selues as of our selues And if that we can not so much as thynke much les vndoubtedly can we wyll for the The will being changed of God is not idle wyll followeth knowledge and thought Neither speake I these thinges as though the will being changed of God ought to lye styll idle and to do nothing For it being renued ought to worke together with grace that as Bernard also sayth of frée wil that which was begon of the one may be performed of both For then we are not only The regenerate do worke together with God pure men or naked men but are made the childreÌ„ of God and haue ioyned with vs the mouing of the holy ghost And Paul to Tymothe sayth that the man of God being instructed in the holy scriptures is now mete and apt to all good thinges But they are accustomed to say and commonly do teach that the grace of God is laide forth vnto all men And therefore if it be not receaued it commeth through our owne default for euery man say they may obtayne it if he will This doubt we will Whether the grace of God be laid foorth vnto all men briefely dissolue We may in déede graunt that the grace of God is in this sort setforth to all men because the generall promises of God are offred and preached indifferently vnto all men Neither do the preachers which publishe them abroade any thinge regard the secret will of God or thinke thus Peraduenture this man is not predestinate or my labour shall nothing profite him They thinke vpon no such matter but do set forth the word of God vnto all men vniuersally After this When a maÌ„ receaueth grace he doth it not by the power of his owne will maner grace or the calling of God may be saide to be coÌ„mon vnto all meÌ„ Howbeit when anye man receaueth the promises offred he doth it not by his owne power or will For it is nedefull that his hart be opened which thing Luke in the Actes maketh mencion of the woman that solde silke For all men are not called with efficacy and according to purpose But these meÌ„ seme to faine vnto theÌ„selues a grace as though it were a certaine garment hanging in the ayre which any man that will may put on But these are the inueÌ„tioÌ„s of mans wisedome The holy scriptures Grace working and workyng together speake farre otherwise They vse also thus to deuide grace that they make one a working grace the other a grace working together FroÌ„ which distinctioÌ„ Augustine abhorred not For it semeth to be deriued of these wordes of the Apostle It is God which worketh in vs both to will and to performe Therfore yâ— working grace is that which at the beginning healeth and chaÌ„geth the wil and afterward causeth that the will being changed and healed may worke vprightly And first indede it is called a working grace and then a grace working together And thys is One and the selâ—e same grace is working and workinge together one and the selfe same grace and not two graces But the distinction is taken of his effectes For first the will when it is healed concurreth with Grace passiuely For by it it is sayd to be changed and we are sayd to be regenerate But afterward it behaueth it selfe both actiuely passiuely For being moued of God it also willeth and choseth And in this sence is that true which is written vnto the Hebrues Be not wanting from the grace of God For we beinge Regenerate ought not to sit idle but to liue and worke according to Grace which followeth But they excedingly erre which thinke that the will by it selfe can will good The wil of it selfe cannot will good thinges thinges and that by grace and the spirite is nothing ells brought to passe then to cause it with efficacy to will and that it may obteyne those thinges which it willeth which thing as we haue now shewed is repugnant vnto the holy scriptures They demaund farther whither we may merite any thing by that first grace Our aduersaries in dede say that we may but we deny it and doo vtterly reiect all consideration of merite Which thinge with what iust reasons we doo After the first giftes we descrue not the latter we shall in an other place haue more opportunity to declare We graunt that God of his liberality and mercy is wont after many benefites alredy geuen to geue others but yet not that any of the first giftes of God can merite the other later giftes And so are these places in the Gospel to be vnderstand To him that hath shal be geuen thys also well good seruant bycause thou hast bene faythfull in Grace preuenting and grace after following few things I will set the ouer many thinges Moreouer they deuide grace into grace preuenting and grace after following Which deuision Augustine semeth to proue by the wordes of Dauid in the 59. Psalme His mercy shall preuent me and his mercy shall follow after me But this distinction is so to be receaued that it be It is one and the selfe same grace but the variety is in the effectes The order of the effects of grace vnderstand of one and the selfe same grace and the variety to consiste in the effectes For there are many and sundry giftes wherewith the mercy of God adorneth vs. For first the will is healed and it being healed it beginneth to will well afterward the thinges that it hath willed well it beginneth to execute after that it perseuereth in doing well at the last it is crowned Grace therefore preuenteth our will in healinge of it the same also followeth in causinge those thinges to please vs which are vpright It preuenteth in causing vs to will it followeth after in driuing vs to performe those thinges which we would It preuenteth in mouinge vs to good woorkes it followeth after in geuing perseuerance It preuenteth perseueraÌ„ce in geuing of it it followeth after in crowning A similitude of it And euen as that is one and the selfe
same light of the sonne which nourisheth and prepareth the earth to receaue séedes and which when they are committed vnto the earth causeth them to spring and being now sprong vp so norisheth them that they bring forth fruite so also is it vtterly one and y◠selfe same Grace of God both that which preuenteth our will and also that which followeth after Wherefore Augustine sayth Grace preuenteth that we should be healed the same followeth after that we should be nourished It preuenteth that we might be called it followeth after that we might be glorified Wherefore they iudge not well which thinke that Grace preuenting is a certaine common motion wherewith God striketh the hartes of men in stirring thē vp to doo well as though it were in their power ether to come vnto him that calleth them or to reiect him And no les doo they erre which bable in the Scholes that there is one Grace freely geuen All grace ought to be geuen frely We are not by gifts and habits made acceptable vnto God but by his meere grace and mercy There are many free giftes wherby the godly cannot be discerned from the vngodly Certaine giftes are peculier vnto the saintes Some called naturall giftes grace What grace the churche mēt against Pelagius A similitude Nothing maketh vs acceptable vnto God but his mercye and an other which maketh vs acceptable For euery grace ought to be geuen freely for otherwise as Paul sayth it should be no Grace And forasmuch as by Grace that maketh acceptable they vnderstand an habite as we haue before taught they doo wickedly in affirming that men are by such giftes made acceptable vnto God For before hym we are receaued into fauor by hys onely mercye and for Chrystes sake and it is not conuenient to attribute that vnto creatures which belongeth only to Christ and to the goodnes of God Farther we are first acceptable vnto God by his free election before that any suche giftes be geuen vs. I graunt indede that there are many free giftes whereby the godly can not be discerned from the vngodlye as are the gifte of tounges prophecying the gift of healing and such other like which happen as wel vnto the euill as to the good Contrarily fayth hope and charity belong onely to the godly Naturall giftes also are somtymes called graces as sharpenes of wit strength of body And after this maner the Pelagiās craftely confessed that men nede grace to liue vprightly But by grace they vnderstood frée choise reason and wil. We deny not but that these things are fréely geuen of God But yet we deny that they are graces which happen vnto the elect through the redemptiō of Christ And whē the church confuted the error of Pelagius it ment not this kind of grace but that grace wherby we are regenerate and iustified without which no man can either be acceptable vnto God or liue vprightly Sometymes the will of man is compared with a horse and grace with him that sitteth vpon the horse which comparison as touching many conditions is not to be misliked But this is chiefly to be takē héede of that howsoeuer we take grace we alwayes appoint it to be geuē fréely and not of workes Neither doth it by any meanes make a man acceptable but so far forth as it is taken for the good will of God And thus much as touching grace The sixte Chapter WHat then shall we say shall we continue in sinne that grace may abounde God forbid How shall we that are dead to sinne liue any longer therein Knowe ye not that all we which are baptised into Iesus Christ are baptised into his death We are buried then with hym by baptisme into his death that euen as Christ was raised vp from the dead by the glory of the father so we also should walke in newnes of lyfe What then shal we say shal we continue in sinne that grace may abound Paules methode Paul was accused as though he taught that we shoulde sinne Towardes the ende of the former chap. Paul mencioned two thinges namely that the law entred in that sinne should abound and where sinne abounded there also grace did much more abound These two things were offensiue vnto the mindes of many bicause he semed to much to depresse the law to geue men an entisemēt to sinne Wherefore by preuention he repulseth these false accusations In the 7. chap. he plainly teacheth that that which he hath in this place written concerning the law happeneth not vnto it of his owne nature but through our default Now presently he cleareth his doctrine of that wherof he was accused namely that he should teach that men should sinne to the end the grace of God might the more abound That offence which Pauls doctrine semed to brede euen then when he was The same thing is layde to our charge yet on lyue is also now a dayes layd to our charge For when we teach that iustification is promised by faith only without workes they cry out euery where that workes are condemned the law made vnprofitable a way opened to lyue losely so by that meanes all discipline of maners vtterly perisheth This may be a most sure token that we haue attayned vnto the naturall and true meanyng of the doctrine of Paul when as we know that the selfe same accusations are layd to our Our sentence excedingly stirreth vp mē to do well charge which we are assured were layd vnto his But that these are mere false slāders hereby it may easely be manifest bicause there is nothyng more profitable to stirre vp men to lyue godly and well then to shew that so great is the goodnes of God that he fréely geueth righteousnes vnto vs without our desertes For who would not endeuour himselfe to be answerable to so great goodnes And it should It should be miserable if felicity should begotten by woorkes be a miserable case if felicitie and blessednes should be geuen vs accordyng to our workes For forasmuch as the imperfection of our actions cannot be hidden from vs vndoubtedly we should dispayre of the thing y◠we séeke for Then whiche thyng there can be nothyng more miserable The Apostle sheweth how great a griefe of minde it was vnto him to sée his doctrine drawen into so euill part and that of so true principels should be gathered such absurdities But this is the corruption of Men corrupt do of true principles gather thinges absurde mans nature that if there be neuer so litle an occasion offred it will straight way snatch those things which are rede or heard in the holy scriptures ether to the fulfilling of the lust of their owne desires or els to the confidence of their owne strengthes Wherefore Paul to withstand these euils when he had hetherto with many reasons confirmed the healthfull doctrine of iustification doth now on the other side vrge good workes and vehemently exhorteth vs not to abide any longer in
threatneth Death is improperly called a rewarde Eternall life is not called a rewarde death vnto sinners Agayn he by the figure Catachresis calleth it a stipend For no man committeth sinne with this intent that for a reward he would obteyne death Here Paul inuerteth the Antithesis or contrary position for he sayth not that eternall life is the reward of righteousnes but rather attributeth it vnto Grace which thing he therefore doth to assigne and appointe the whole nature of merite in Christ only And therfore he addeth thorough Iesus Christ our Lord. that no man shoulde imagine any other mediators â—thâ—â— deade saintes or ells theyr owne workes Farther Paul semeth of purpose 〈…〉 a 〈…〉 stipeÌ„d to set Grace or a gifte and by that meanes he excedinglye stirreth vs vp to the study of eternall life sithen it is a thing so excellent that vnles it be geuen by God it can not be gotten by any of our workes He taketh this greke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the stipeÌ„d or wages of a souldier and he continueth still in his metaphore of a king and of a Lord which he a little before vsed For they vse to geue stipendes vnto theyr The maner of the elders towardes souldiers seruauÌ„ts And the Greke word sauoreth much of the maner of the elders where by they were wont to geue vnto theyr souldiers vittayles to eate when they were one warfare And at Rome it was the maner a long time that the souldiers with theyr owne meate but afterward were vittayles geuen them of the common treasory And it well appeareth by the etimology of the word that it was first instituted only for yâ— releauing of necessity and to signify some honour Vnto laborers is geuâ—n a rewarde Vnto warriours is geuen a stipende not as though they semed stipendes of such worthines for which men should put theyr life in danger Wherefore as to laborers was geuen a reward so vnto warriors was geuen a stipend But now let vs especially consider in what sort grace and workes are as touching eternall life And as much as may be gathered ether out of the holy scriptures or out of those thinges which Augustine hath left in writing as touching this matter we will playnly declare so that it shall be made manifest how much our aduersaries dissagree from vs in thys poynt As touching the first if by Grace we vnderstand the fauour and mercy of God then is it the only cause thoroughe Iesus Christe why we obteyne eternall life For our workes can by no meanes be the causes of our felicity Howbeit they are certayne meanes by which God bringeth vs vnto felicity As the way is not the cause of the end thereof nor the runninge place the cause of the gole or The difference betwenâ— the cause and meanes marke and yet by them men are led both vnto the end of the way and vnto the marke So God by good workes bringeth vs to eternall life when as yet the only cause thereof is the election of God as Paul most manifestly teacheth in thys epistle Whome he hath predestinate sayth he those also hath he called whome he Againste merite hath called those also hath he iustefied whoÌ„ he hath iustefied those also will he glorifie Thys declareth that all these thinges do so come from the Grace of God that they consequently follow the one the other and God which geueth the one will also liberally and freely geue the other Wherefore the whole consideratioÌ„ and nature of merite ought vtterly to be taken away For that which properly meriteth The nature of merite any thing must of necessity haue in it a free geuing vp nether ought it by any other meanes to be due Wherefore forasmuche as we owe of dewty vnto God all thinges that we haue vndoubtedly whatsoeuer we do it can merite nothing Farther those things by which we will merite any thing ought to be our owne But good workes are not our own but are of God Besides this also all imperfection and vncleanes must of necessity be remoued awaye otherwise our workes are contaminated nether can they be leueled to the rule which is prescribed by God wherefore we ought rather to craue pardon then once to thinke vpon price or reward Farther betwene merite and reward there ought to be some proportion But there can be no proportion betwene our workes and eternall felicity Wherefore they can not properly be called merites Moreouer God will that there should be taken froÌ„ vs all matter of glorying which thing were not possible if by our workes we should deserue eternall life And forasmuch as Paul in this place describeth eternall life by yâ— name of grace vndoubtedly it can not be of workes Let this suffice as touching the first Now will I briefely declare what Augustine hath written as touching this place In his Enchiridion to Laurentius the 107. chapter A stipend sayth he is payd in warfare as a debt and not geuen as a gift therefore Paul sayth the stipend of sinne is death to declare that death is rendred vnto sinne not wythout desert but as due But grace vnles it be free it When eternall 〈…〉 is gâ—â—en after 〈…〉 a it iâ— grace for grace is not grace Wherefore as touching the good workes of man forasmuch as they are the giftes of God in that vnto them eternall life is rendred grace is recompensed for grace The same Augustâ—â—e in his booke De gratia Libero arbitrio the ix chapter In the Gospell of Iohn sayth he it is written that we all haue receaued of hys fulnes and grace for grace euery man as God hath deuided vnto him the measure of fayth For euery man hath receaued a proper gift from God one thus and an other thus Wherefore when eternall life is rendred grace is rendred for grace But so is it not of death because it is rendred as due vnto the warfare of the deuill Wherefore whereas the Apostle mought haue sayd and that rightly the stipend of righteousnes is eternall life he would rather say But the grace of God is eternall life that therby we myght vnderstand that The Apostle 〈◊〉 hâ—â—e sayâ— and that iust 〈…〉 that eter 〈…〉 〈…〉 God bringeth vs vnto eternall life not for our owne merites but for hys mercy Wherefore it is written in the 103. Psalme Which crowneth thee in mercy and compassions Because it is he which worketh in vs both to wyll and also to performe The Apostle had sayde before worke your saluation wyth feare and trembling Afterward least we should attribute thys thyng vnto our selues he sayth that God worketh these thy 〈◊〉 vs and that not for our merites but according to his good pleasure And in the same booke the 8. chapter he sayth that there is no small ambiguity how eternall life is â—â—ndred vnto good workes For the scripture sayth that euery man shall haue according to his works And yet on the other side Paul
calleth grace eternall life But the propriety of grace is to he reÌ„dred freely Paul also sayth vnto hym which worketh not the reward is not imputed according to debt but accordyng to grace And saith moreouer that grace if it be of workes is not grace Also that the renantes shall through the electioÌ„ of grace be saued Agayne vnto the Ephesians Grace hath made vs safe throughe fayth and that not of our selues Agayne Not of workes least peraduenture any man shoulde glory This doubt Augustine sayth can not otherwise be dissolued vnles we grâ—unt A that an vpright and holy life is grace For so ether sentence may take place For eternall life is rendred vnto workes But because workes are freely geuen vs of God therâ—fâ—re also is eternall lyfe called gracee And in his booke De correctione Gratia the 13. chapter he sayth that Iames writeth that iudgemente shal be wythout mercy vnto hym which sheweth not mercy By which wordes saith he appeareth that they which lyue well shall in the last iudgement be iudged wyth mercy and they which haue 〈◊〉 wickedly shal be iudged wythout mercy And if that in iudgement we haue nede of mercy theÌ„ is it not now done for merites And in the same sence he alleageth the mother of the Machabees who as it is written in the 2. booke and 7. chapter thus speak 〈…〉 vnto her son That in that mercy I may receaue the wyth thy brethâ—rn In which place she calleth the day of iudgement mercy And vndoubtedly when we shall come before the iudgement seate of God who shall boast that he hath a chast hart Or who shall boast that he is cleane from sinne Wherefore there also mercy is nedefull whereby he may be made blessed vnto whome the Lord hath not imputed sinne The same father in hys 105. epistle to Sistus When the Apostle had sayd The stipend of sinne is death who Paul mightâ— haue 〈◊〉 righteousnes would not iudge that he should most aptly and consequently haue added but the stipend of righteousnes is eternall lyfe And it is true Because euen as vnto the merite of sinne is death rendred as a stipend so also vnto the merite of righteousnes is eternall lyfe rendred as a stipend But the blessed Apostle most vigylantly warryng agaynst pride when hee â—ad sayde that the stipend of sinne is death least humane ryghteousnes should extoll it sâ—lfe sayd not contrariwyse that the stipend of ryghteousnes is eternall lyfe but the grace of God sayth he is eternall lyfe But it is not sufficient to thynke that thesâ— things are spo 〈…〉 for humility moderation sake For the matter is so in very dede For our workâ— receaue not eternall life for a iust and deserued stipend And therefore he sayth that humane righteousnes is pride and which in name only is called righteousnes But that ought Eternall 〈◊〉 a 〈◊〉 vnto 〈…〉 ousneâ— but vnto 〈…〉 it is gracâ— If righteousnes were of our selues 〈…〉 should haue eternall life as a 〈…〉 When God shall reward 〈…〉 be 〈…〉 it selfe to be a true righteousnes vnto which eternall life is due which righteousnes if it be not of thy felfe then is it from aboue discending from the father of lightes Wherefore O man if thou shalt receaue eternall life it is â—n dede the stipend of righteousnes but vnto thee it is grace vnto whome also euen righteousnes is grace For it should be rendred vnto thee as a debt if the righteousnes vnto whome it is due were of thy selfe By all these thinges is gathered that with Augustine eternall life is therefore called grace because the workes which go before it are geuen fréely Farther he confesseth that in the last iudgement when God shall reward them we shall haue nede of mercy and compassion And that also we haue alwayes néede of mercy that our sinnes should not be imputed vnto vs. Lastly that eternall life although it may be the stipend of righteousnes being taken by it selfe yet vnto vs it is grace partly because it is not of our selues and partly also because it is vnperfite Hilâ—â—ius also writeth vpon the 50. Psalme My hope is in the mercy of God for euer and euer world without ende For the workes of ryghteousnes are not sufficient vnto the merite of perfect blessednes Vnto vs it is gâ—ace because good workes are not of our selues and because they are vnperfect That good workes are geuen by grace both we and our aduersaries graunt but with a difference vnles in thys wyll of ryghteousnes the mercy of God impute not the faultes of humane changynges and motions Also Ierome vpon Esay the 46. chapter If we should consider our owne merites we shoulde dispayre Our aduersaries and we contende not whether by the grace of God good workes are geuen vnto the regenerate Although neither herein also do we vtterly agrée with them For they thinke that it lieth in our power to receaue good workes when they are offred But we say that it is néedefull that our will bée changed by the grace and spirit of God otherwise as touching in this point also we abhorre from the giftes of God But of this matter we haue before sufficiently spoken when we entreated of grace Wherfore I will now stand no longer about it But there is an other thing about which there is at this day a more waighty controuersye They which defend merites do thinke that the good workes which are geuen of God vnto men are sufficient They whiche defend merites do say that good workes are sufficient to attaine vnto eternall lifâ— which thinge we deny vnto eternall life Which thinge we do vtterly deny And this maketh very much on our side which a litell before we alleged out of August That in the last iudgemeÌ„t we shall nede the mercy of God not only because good works were geuen of hym freely but also because when the iust iudge shall sit in hys throne no man can boast that he hath a chast hart or that he is cleane from sinne Wherefore it is nedefull that sinnes as sayth Dauid be not imputed vnto hym which shall come vnto felicity Wherefore seyng we haue nede of mercy it is manifest that our good workes are not sufficient The same Augustine writeth in an other place that the perfection of the sayntes herein consisteth to acknowledge how much they want still of perfection And that sentence of Paul I haue fought a good battayle I haue finished my course I haue kepte fayth he so expoundeth that he thinketh that the Apostle sayth not that he is vtterly Augustine saith not that Paul was without sinne but affirmeth the contrary Note what Augustine thinketh of this place vnto the PhillipiaÌ„s wythout sinne but that he leaning vnto fayth and vnto hope did wholy appoynte wyth hymselfe that it shoulde come to passe in the laste houre of hys death whiche was euen then at hand that whatsoeuer sinne or wickednes had crept into hym the same should
them but yet by the will of God Wherefore if thinges happen otherwise then they hoped for they comfort themselues for that they know that God theyr most louing father prouideth better both for his kingdome and for theyr saluation then they coulde haue prouided for themselues And they haue alwayes that in theyr mouth which Dauid sang Vnles the Lord builde the house they labour in vaine which build it Wherefore this is theyr care to frame theyr counsels to the word of God And the euent they committe vnto God And so on euery parte they worke surely But in those workes which are acceptable In thoâ— workes which are acceptable vnto God they 〈…〉 r straungers from Christ haue no liberty at all and greatefull vnto God men being strangers from God haue no libertye at all Hereof it came that Augustine sayth in his Enchiridion That man vsing frâ—e will ill lost both himselfe and free will For when in the battaile sinne got the vpper hande it broughte man into bondage I knowe there are some whiche thus interpretate thys sentence of Augustine that Adam lost free will as touchinge grace and glorye wherewyth he was adorned but not as touchynge nature Verelye here I will not muche striue to denye that reason and will whiche pertayne vnto nature were left vnto man after the fall But that the same nature After sinne nature remayned but â—et mayned and wounded is mayned wounded nether can they themselues vndoubtedly deny For thys thinge also affirmeth the Master of the Sentences in hys 2. booke and xxv distinction For he sayth that man nowe after hys fall is in that state that he maye sinne and that he is in such condition that he can not not sinne And although Augustine and others should not so affirme yet may most firme reason teach it For holy workes depend of two groundes namely of knowledge and of appetite Of knowledge Paul sayth The naturall man vnderstandeth not A reason why man can not not sinne the thinges which are of the spirite of God yea neither vndoubtedly can he For vnto him they are foolishenes But now if we know not what is to be done and what pleaseth God by what meanes then can we performe it in act â–ª And in what sort our appetite and cogitacions are towardes those holy workes it is manifest by the sixt chapter of Genesis My spirite sayth God shall not striue in man for euer for he is flesh And straight way God saw that the malice of men was great and all the imaginations of the thoughtes of his hart were only vnto euill continually And in the 8. chapter The imagination of mans hart is euilleuen from his infancy And these things speaketh God himselfe And we ought touching our strengthes to beleue none Touchinge our strengthes we must most of all beleue him that made vs. more then our maker when he geueth testemony of his owne worke In Ieremy the 18. chapter the people sayd we wyll go after our own thoughtes Which place Ierome expounding thus writeth Where then is the power of free wyll without the grace of God and the iudgement of a mans owne wyll When as it is a great offence to God for a man to follow his own thoughtes and to do the will of his wicked hart That we are obnoxious vnto seruitude Christ declareth in Iohn saying he which doth Without grace we ar seruants sinne is the seruaunt of sinne Wherefore seing we sinne in many thinges and haue from our mothers wombe sinne fast cleuing vnto vs we must of necessity confesse that we are seruanntes But then shall we be in very deede frée when the sonne hath deliuered vs. Otherwise we serue a most bitter seruitude Wherefore Paul sayd that he was sold vnder sinne and so solde that in his fleshe he confessed to dwell nothing that is good and that he did the thinges which he would not and which he hated and felt an other lawe in his members resisting the lawe of hys minde and leading him away captiue vnto the lawe of sinne And vnto the Galathyans he sayth that the flesh fighteth agaynst the spirite and the spirite agaynst the fleshe so that we do not the thynges which we would Which thinges if they be true of so great an Apostle and of holy men regenerate by Christ what is to be thought of yâ— vngodly which pertain nto vnto Christ For they can not come vnto him vnles they be draweÌ„ For Christ sayth No man can come vnto me vnles my father draw hym He which before would of his owne accord go is not drawen as sayth Augustine No man can come vnto Christ vnles he be drawen Places prouing that we are not free before regeneratioÌ„ but is led Wherfore if we must be drawen vnto Christ before we would not which is a most gréeuous sinne And therefore we will not because the wisedome of the fleshe is enmity towardes God For it is not subiect vnto the lawe of God yea neither vndoubtedly can it And as many as are not by Christ set at liberty liue vnder the lawe and as Paul aâ—deth vnto the Galathyans vnder the curse whiche should not be true if they could fulfill the lawe of God For none incurre the curse but they which transgresse the lawe Farther Paul expressedly sayth It is not of hym that willeth nor of him that runneth but of God that hath mercy For our saluation is his worke and not the worke of our strengthes For it is he which worketh in vs both to wyll and to performe Before he bringeth that to passe if he deale any thing with vs ether by the lawe or by the doctrine of his worde he dealeth with stones for our hartes are stony vnles Christ chaunge them into fleshy Which thing in Ezechiell he promiseth that he will do and will so worke that we shall walke in his commaundemenntes And doubtles if we coulde without grace liue iustly and vprightly we should be able also by our workes to be iustified which sentence is vtterly condemned both of Paul and of all the whole scripture Ieremy It is Gods worke and not ours to be conuerted vnto him sayth Conuert me Lord and I shal be conuerted And Dauid sayth Creat in me O God a cleane hart And that this commeth not to passe in all men we playnly sée by the 29. chapter of Deutromony where it is thus written The Lord hath not geueÌ„ vnto you eyes to see nor an eare to heare nor an hart to vnderstaÌ„d And in the 30. cha God promised to circumcise their hartes and the hartes of their séede that they may walke in his preceptes For he both beginneth and maketh perfect our saluation For so Paul sayth vnto the Phillippians I hope that he which hath begon in you wyll accomplishe it euen vnto the day of Christ This thing holy men right well vnderstanding pray with Dauid Incline myne hart to thy testimonyes and wyth Solomon The Lord
incline our hartes that we may walke in hys wayes and wyth Paul to the Thessalonians The Lord direct your hartes in patience and in the wayting for of Christ. And Solomon in his prouerbes sayth The hart of the kinge is in the hand of God and to what end he wyll he enclineth it These testemonyes sufficiently declare that it is the worke of God and not our worke to be conuerted vnto hym and to liue vprightly Here some obiect vnto vs the commaundementes which are set forth vnto vs in the holy scriptures for they séeme to signifie that it lieth in our selues to performe the thinges which are commaunded For Esay sayth If ye will and wyll harken vnto me ye shall eate the good thynges of the earth And the Lord oftentimes commaundeth vs to conuert our selues vnto him Be ye conuerted sayth he vnto me I wyll not the death of a sinner I had rather he should be conuerted and lyue And when he had published abroade the lawe he sayd that the had set before them life and death blessing and cursing And infinite such other like testemonies mought be brought But here we ought to consider that these thinges in Commaundements in deede are geuen but we are not taught that is lieth in humane strengthes to performe them By the law of God we must measure our infirmity and not our strengthes dede are commaunded vnto men but we are no where tought that a man is able to performe them by his owne proper strengthes Neither is it mete that by the preceptes of the lawe of God we should gather the power of our strengthes as though we of our owne accord are able to performe so much as the lawe of God commaundeth Yea rather hereby is to be measured our infirmity that when we sée that the excellency and dignity of the commaundementes of God infinitly passeth our strenthes we should remember that the law hath a certayne other end then to be performed of vs. That ende Paul declareth to be sondry and diuers By the lawe sayth he commeth the knowledge of sinne which lawe he sayth was therfore geuen that the number of transgressions mought be increased For by this meanes the lawe is made a scholemaster to leade men vnto Christ that when they sée themselues oppressed with the waight of the commaundementes and with the greatnes of sinnes they should vnderstand that their saluation lieth only in the mercy of God in the redemption of Christ For when we perceaue our owne imbecillity and vnworthynes straight way we beginne to pray vnto God that he would both forgeue our sinnes through Christ and also minister vnto vs the helpe of his spirite that we may endeuor our selues vnto his will Geue what thou commaundest sayth Augustine and commaund what thou wylt Farther an other end of the law is that we should sée whereunto we must apply our selues It is possible also that if by the grace of God there be geuen an obedience begon men may frame thēselues vnto y◠law Lastly though in this life be not geuen vnto vs to be able exactly to satisfye the lawe yet in an other life when we haue caste of all this corruption we shall fully obtayne it And yet ought not God therefore to be accused of iniustice for it commeth not throughe his fault that his commaundements can not be obserued Neither can any of vs be excused for y◠we willingly Why God is not to be accused of iniustice desirously violate y◠law geuē vnto vs. The law was geuē as a thing most agréeable vnto our nature as it was first instituted For y◠image of God could not otherwise more liuely plainly be expressed And although by reason of sin we are not able to accōplish the law yet this at y◠least way we sée what maner ones we ought to be And that sentence which is commonly obiected that nothing is to be counted for sinne which dependeth not of election ought to be vnderstand as Augustine interpreteth it of that kind of sinne which is not a punishement of sinne For otherwise originall sinne is neither voluntary nor receaued by election But thou wilt say Seing the matter goeth so we shall séeme of necessity to sticke fast in sinne Which thing doubles I will not deny Although such is this necessity that it hath not compulsion ioyned with it God is of necessity good neither can he by any meanes sinne and yet is he not violently compelled to be good which thyng The necessity of sinning is without compulsion Augustine in his 22. booke De ciuitate dei and 30. chapter excellently well declareth Shall we sayth he for that God hymselfe can not sinne therefore deny that he hath free will Ambrose in his 2. booke and third chapiter de Fide to Gratian the emperor testefieth that God is free when as sayth he one and the selfe same spirite worketh all thinges diuiding vnto all as pleaseth him according to the choyse of hys free will and not for the dewty of necessity In these sentences of these fathers free wil is so taken that it is contrary vnto violence and compulsion not that it is equally prone to ether part Wherefore Ierome in his homely of the prodigall sonne which he wrote vnto damasus for that he tooke free will in an other sence therefore wrote otherwise For it is God only sayth he on whome sinne falleth not nether can fall But others forasmuch as they haue free will may be bowed to ether part Vnto blessed spirites also and angells forasmuch as theyr felicity is nowe confirmed this belongeth that they can not sinne Wherefore Augustine in his 22. booke de Ciuitate Dei the. 30. chapiter Euen as sayth he the first immortalitye whiche Adam thorough sin lost was that he mought not die so the first free wil was that he mought not sin but the last free wil shall be that he can not sin And yet notwithstanding there is graunted a certayne kinde of libertye not whereby they can be bowed to ether part but whereby although that which they do is of necessity yet are they not compelled or violentlye driuen For euen as there are certayne true thinges so manifest that the minde can not but assent vnto them so the presence of God A similitude Why the blessed can not sinne now reuealed and made manifest is so greate a good thing that the saintes can not fall away from it So also although we of necessity sinne before we be regenerate in Christe yet are not therefore the powers of the will violated for whatsoeuer we do we do it both willingly and also being induced by some certayne hope And yet are we not therefore to be counted nothinge to differ from brute beastes For they although they be moued by some certayne iudgmēt yet They that are not regenerate differ from brute beastes is it not by a free iudgement But in men although not yet regenerate there is still as we
haue sayd much liberty remayninge as touchinge ciuill and morall workes Farther euen amongst the sinnes in which they are of necessity conuersant they haue yet a choyce to chuse one and to reiect an other althoughe vnto those thinges which please God they can not aspire which things brute beasts haue not For they are rather driuen by the force of nature then that they can do any thing with any liberty Men may be said to be free ether as touching Three kindes of liberty compulsion or as touching sinne or as touching misery The first liberty from compulsion is geuen vnto all men But vnto sinne and misery all men doubtles are subiecte whiche are not yet come vnto Christe But howe menne regenerate are subiecte either vnto sinne or vnto miserye so longe as they liue here we will afterward declare In the meane time this we ought to be certayne of that by this necessity which we put the will is not compelled to sinne But the more playnly to declare all this whole matter we must first be thoroughly setled what these wordes signifie Free violent and willinge That we call free What is free violēt and of his own accord They that are not regenerate haue no liberty but such a one as is very much contracted which hauing two or mo thinges set before it can as it lusteth chuse what it will And therefore we deny that the wil of man not regenerate is vniuersallye free For it can not chuse those thinges which pertayne vnto saluation Violent is that which is so moued of an outward beginning that it of it selfe nothinge helpeth vnto that motion but rather resisteth it As whē a stone is cast one high That is sayd to worke of his owne accord or willinglye whiche hath an inward beginning enclining to that motion wherby it is impelled By these thinges it is manifest that to do of his owne accord to do of necessity are not contrary the one to the other For they may be ioyned together as it is playne in our wil which of necessitye embraceth felicity and yet it embraseth it not agaynst hys will or by compulsion but of his owne accord and gladly Nether is it possible The will cannot be compelled that the will should euer be compelled to will that which it will not Yea Augustine thinketh it to be so absurd that a man shoulde will that which he wil not as if a man should say that any thing can be hote without heate Howbeit that The necessity of sinning is not absolute in the vngodlye Augustine sayth that it is in nature to be able to haue faith The sentence of Augustine compared with the sentence of Pelagius What is the power of nature towardes faith How the will hath a respect vnto good euell Aristotles definition of felicity necessity whereby the vngodly are said to sinne is not absolute and perfect that it can not be otherwise For so sone as the spirite and grace of Christ commeth that necessity is streight way losed Wherfore Augustine saith that it is of nature to be able to haue faith hope and charity but to haue them indede is vtterly of grace For that power or ability bursteth not forth into acte vnles grace be geuen vs of God Herein Augustine agreed with y◠Pelagiās y◠to be able is of nature But this thing Augustine added which Pelagius could not abide that to will well and to liue vprightly is to be attributed vnto grace only But I thinke that as touchinge thys power of nature is to be made a distinction For if they meane thys that our nature is so made of God that nether fayth nor hope nor charity striue agaynst it if they be geuen of God but rather accommplishe it make it perfect and adorne it I confesse that to be true which they say But if they wil haue the power of nature to signifye any force that it hath whereby it can clayme vnto it selfe these thinges I will by no meanes graunt thereunto For it is a wicked and damnable sentence Wherefore we saye that the wil of man hath a respect both vnto good and to euil but yet in a diuerse consideratiō For it of hys owne accorde maye embrase euill but it can not embrase good vnles it be restored by the grace of God For that we haue nede of a certayn deuine inspiratiō to performe those thinges which are in very dede good euen the Ethnike writers also beinge forced by the trueth haue sometimes declared For Aristotle in hys first booke of Ethikes sayth If there be any gifte of God we must verely thinke that felicity is it And felicity he defineth to be nothing ells but a most excellent actiō proceding from the principallest power of our minde by a most notable vertue Plato also in a certayne place confesseth that vertues are ingenerated in men by the inspiration of God The Scholemen also if there were any amongst thē that were whom what sunder thē the rest cōfessed that vnto euery good work the grace of God is necessary to ayde humane strengths Howbeit afterward howsoeuer they forgat thēselues they affirm that a mā not regenerate may do some good workes which may please God and which may merite as they vse to speake of congruitye the grace of Christe Congruite they call that which we may call mete good which is whē the rigor sharpenes of the law is remitted But condignitie they cal y◠which is of right due But these mē which Congruum Cōdignum first deuised these terms cōsidred not y◠those goodly ciuil works though in shew they seme neuer so much vnto men good yet before God they are sinnes as Augustine by moste certayne reasons proueth And it hath bene before declared neither wil we thinke it much agayne to repete the same namelye That before we be conuerted vnto God we are by nature the children of wrath And Iohn sayth He which beleueth not in the sonne of God hath not eternall life but the wrath of God abideth vpon him But what can there be offred vnto God of enemies and haters That before regeneration can not be done of vs any good worke whiche please God of God which may be acceptable vnto hym Paul to the Ephesians sayth that before we came vnto Christ we were dead in our offences and sinnes But dead mē as they fele nothing so can they worke nothing whereby to call themselues to life agayne Paul vnto the Phillipians counted all the things which he had done before he was conuerted vnto Christ for losse and for dong so farre is it of that in them he did put anye merite God in Esaye the first chapiter testefieth that he abhorred detested and counted for an abhomination those oblations which the Iewes offred without fayth piety The same prophet cōpareth all our righteousnes with a cloth stayned with y◠natural dissease of a womā And our sauiour saith I am the vine and ye
are the braÌ„ches As the brauÌ„ch caÌ„ not bring forth fruite vnles it abide in the vine so ye caÌ„ not bring forth fruite vnles ye abide in me And strait way he addeth Without me ye can do nothing And in an other place he saith that an euill tree can not bring forth good fruite For first it behoueth yâ— roote to be good before there caÌ„ be hoped any good fruite to come froÌ„ it But good trees we caÌ„ not be before we be grafted into Christ This grafting is in the holy scriptures called regeneration And euen as no man can helpe anye thinge to the generation of himselfe so can no man any thing helpe to the regeneration of himselfe Paul also in this selfe same epistle sayth whatsoeuer is not of fayth is sinne Wherefore seing the wicked want fayth whatsoeuer they do ought to be counted for sinne If thyne eye be single thy whole body shal be lightsome But if thy light be darkenes how great shall that darknes be Vnles fayth be present we are conuersant in darkenes and of necessity sticke fast in sinnes Farther if we follow the opinion of these men we shall vtterly ouerthrow the nature of grace For grace if it should be of works as Paul saith should then cease to be grace Paul also addeth that the Israelits following after the lawe of righteousnes attayned not vnto righteousnes for that they sought it by workes and not by fayth Vnto the Collossians also he playnly teacheth what maner ones we be before we are iustified Estranged saith he from God enemies in mynd conuersant in euill workes And in this epistle vnto the Romans men not yet grafted into Christ he calleth wild Oliue trées And we know that wilde Oliue trees are barren neither can they bring forth fruite Farther workes can not be good vnles they either satisfy the lawe or if they any thing stray from the lawe the same be not imputed vnto theÌ„ through Christ But men not regenerate can not satisfy the lawe for euen the regenerate can not do it And forasmuch as they are not by faith ioyned vnto Christ they can not attaine vnto the benefite of Christ whereby such defectes or wants are made whole againe And he whiche teacheth that a man canne without the grace of God do workes which are acceptable vnto God must of necessity also teach that Christ is not the redemer of the whole man For he ascribeth vnto our nature no small portion of saluation without Christ which teacheth that we can without the grace of Christe woorke wel and liue vprightly Paul also in this place when we were sayth he the seruauntes of sinne we were free vnto righteousnes Which is nothing els but that we had no consideration at all vnto righteousnes or fellowship therewith Moreouer he exhorteth vs that euen as we haue serued sinne so we should now serue righteousnes And he also teacheth that we should now altogether without any sinnes serue righteousnes Wherefore it is certaine that before we serued sinne and were vtterly without all righteousnes Lastly he hath left no meanes at all betwéene the seruitude of sinne and of righteousnes But these men contrariwise fayne certayne men what they be I know not which although they be not yet iustified do yet notwithstanding iust and good workes which may be acceptable vnto God All these thinges sufficiently declare how absurd and found these mens opinion is Howbeit in the meane time they crye out that we are blasphemous which auouch the whole nature of man to be euill But as Augustine warely writeth Vnder the prayses of nature lye hidden the enemyes of grace They ought to haue considered vnto what Vnder the prayses of nature lie hidden the enemies of grace ground we referre that euill whereof we complayne For we ascribe it not either to nature as it was created or vnto God but vnto sinne which through the first man had an entrance made open vnto it For by al maner of meanes we disagrée from the Manichies For they dreamed both that our nature is euill and that it was created of an euill God But we confesse and acknowledge that man was created frée But that he hath now lost that liberty we make not God the author thereof but his owne fault They were called of the Church heretiques Why they are called heretikes which deny free will Our aduersaries some what drawnye vnto the manichies which denied frée will But this is to be vnderstand of the first creation of our nature For otherwise there is none of the fathers which if the truth be diligently examined bewayleth not the calamity of man whereinto he fell through sinne Our aduersaries rather approch vnto the Manichies which contend that our corrupt affectes as they are now were so created of God For so they affirme that he created euill But we forasmuch as we sée that these troublesome affections want not sinne therefore deny that they were so created of God but through our own fault are become vnbrideled and resisting the word of God For it is certaine that man was at the beginning made vnto the image of God But nothing more besemeth it then liberty But seing that image is in a maner blotted out in vs so that it hath nede now to be restored through Christ what meruayle is it if liberty also be for the most part taken away from it when they reason that man is frée it is all one as if they should say that man is a two footed creature and therefore must nedes go vpright But if they shoulde so conclude of a lame man it shoulde A similitude easely appeare how much they are deceaued For the proprieties of man which belong vnto his nature being perfect agrée not when they are applied vnto his nature corrupted Neither do the opinions of our aduersaries much disagrée from the Pelagyans For they tought that nature being holpen by the grace of creation A coÌ„parison bâ—tweene our aduersaries and the Pelagâ—ans and by the doctrine of the lawe may liue vprightly and these men say that nature being holpen by grace preuenting and knocking may do good workes which may please God The catholike Church resisted the PelagyaÌ„s nether coÌ„teÌ„ded it about the grace of creatioÌ„ or of yâ— law nor also about grace preuenting but tought yâ— without the grace of Christ wherby we are iustified no man can do any good workes And with Augustine who was a great fighter against these men there is no difference To be with out grace without the faith of Christe are all one with Augustine betwene to do good works wtout grace to do good works wtout yâ— faith of Christ He vpon the 31. Psalme to declare that there is no good worke without faith thus writeth A good entent maketh the worke good but that entent doth fayth direct Wherefore consider not what a man doth but what he hath a regard vnto whilest he is in doyng And wheÌ„ as in
then our aduersaries are brought to yâ— issue yâ— they now openly fight not only agaynst vs but also agaynst Christe vnles peraduenture they will say that an infidel and an aleant from God is a good tree But if they confesse this how do they deny that he pleaseth God wheÌ„ as vnto the good God that which is good can not be but acceptable But he which pleaseth God must nedes without all doubt haue fayth For vnto the Hebrues it is written without fayth it is impossible to please God But these men by this theyr heresy wil obtrude If we consider nature there is no ill tree at all Natures are not to be weighed as they were made of God but by that condition which we haue added vnto them Mercy shewed vnto our neighboure without faith is vnfaithful Mercy is not of it selfe good God dissalowed many woorkes of mercy vnto vs that whiche in that epistle is pronounced to be impossible But a man say they in that he is a man is not an euill tree But Augustine sayth If thou consider only nature then shall there be no where any euill tree For both angel and man wer created of God and receaued good natures But these natures are not to be considered of vs as they wer made of God but according to that coÌ„dition which came afterward vnto theÌ„ A man hauing a good will is called a good trée and a man hauing an euill wil is called an il trée But after the fal of Adam and the first ruine of our kind we say that men are such that they are not moued by a good will but by an euill But to returne to the almes of an infidell whereof we began to speake we may demaund whither thys mercy which is shewed be done with fayth or faythles And forasmuch as it is done without faith it must nedes be faithles Wherfore it can not be without vice and sinne It is not inough for a man to be mercifull vnto his neighbour vnles the same be also done faythfully and rightly For mercy is not of it selfe good For God hath dissalowed many benefites bestowed vp on our neighbours as when the kinge of Israell spared the kinge of Siria and Saul Agag king of Amaleck But fayth whiche worketh thoroughe loue is alwayes good nether can at anye time be euill But forasmuch as mercy is not of yâ— nature therefore is it necessary yâ— there be added an vprightnes wherby it may be done faithfully that it may receaue commendation They crye out that this naturall affection to be mercifull is good Which thing peraduenture we will not deny But they ought to haue considered that men not regenerate abuse The vngodly abuse natural affections this good thing when as they direct it not vnto God which is the only ende of all our actions Neither doubtles doth he commit a light sinne which peruersly abuseth so great a gift of God Farther the same Augustine affirmeth that whatsoeuer good thing can be noted in the worke of an infidell the same is wholy of God Wherefore that our neighbour is holpen and some order of nature kept and ciuill honesty retained it is not had by any other meanes but at Gods hand only But so farre forth as it commeth from an infidell and a man corrupt it is sinne and displeaseth God By these and such like reasons was Pelagius Pelagius putteth certainâ— good men but yet baren brought to that point that he confessed that these men thus by nature liuing honestly are in deede good men but yet barrenly or vnfruitfully Augustine here againe replieth against them saying Such is the nature of barren trees that ether they bring forth no fruit at all or els ill fruit But Pelagius still laboureth They appoint good workes which conduce not to the obtâ—inment of the kingdome to wind himselfe out and sayth that therfore these men are to be called barren for that although those thinges which they do be good yet helpe they nothing to the attainment of the kingdome of heaueÌ„ But in so saying he saith nothing yea he rather hindreth himselfe Doubtles the Scholemen of our time haue euen the like sentence against which yet Augustine all that he may resisteth For he saith By this meanes the Lord shall cut downe and cast into the fire a good tree bringing forth as ye say good fruit What maner of iustice of God is this whiche ye euery where so seuerely defend Of this your sentence do follow many thinges fond and absurd Thus much hetherto out of Augustine But our men boast that they much differ A certaine coloured opinioÌ„ of our aduersaries from Pelagius For we put say they a certaine grace preuenting and knocking whereby may in the hartes of men be included some good treasure whereout they are able to worke some good thing Wherefore they are not trees vtterly A similitude dead for after a sort they bring forth fruite And although that which they bring forth can not budde forth into flowers and into good fruits yet are they bowes and leaues whiche may come and do come out of some sappe of yâ— grace of God whereof no not euen the aleantes from Christe are vtterlye destitute But this selfe thing Pelagius also confessed For he abhorred not from the name of grace when yet notwithstanding by that name as Augustine notably discouereth him he vnderstood what he listed rather then what he ought and a farre other thing then that worde signifieth with the catholike writers in the Church of Christ or in the holy scriptures But these men in their similitude Against the similitude brought haue very small consideration For they remember not that the Lord in the Gospell cursed the trée which had only leaues without fruite and commaunded it to be cut downe and to be cast into the fire But vnto the curse and vnto eternall fire nothing is obnoxious but only sinne But they haue yet another colour whereby to auoyde this place For they say that these trees in dede are euill but not vtterly dead for in them is found some sappe of grace For they put in man a certaine grace knocking and preuenting whereby in the hartes of men not regenerate may be included some good treasure whereout may spring some blossomes froÌ„ a maÌ„ not repeÌ„tant For although they can not bring to perfection that which they bring forth or produce ripe fruite or also flowers yet at the least they bring forth bowes and leaues which verily are a signe of some hidden grace and life It is wonderfull to see how these men delight theÌ„selues in this knocking and preuenting grace Of which grace what is to be thought we haue before declared But they which speak and hold these things are to to much without consideratioÌ„ For they consider not that this their grace is nothing els but a certayne inuiting vnto Christ but yet not of efficacy for men are left together with it vnder the wrath
of those yâ— say that the wil of God in willing or not willing â–ª is either of efficacy or remisse his wil doubtles he permitteth it not for nothing can be done against gods wil wherefore he willingly permitteth it And therefore his will is that sinne should not be letted Some to auoyde this appoint in God a double will the one of efficacy the other remisse And the signe of his will of efficacy they say are commaundemeÌ„tes preceptes and lawes but of his remisse wil they put counsels and exhortacions to be the signe They adde also that God will not sometymes with efficacy somtimes remissedly And the signe of his not willing with efficacy they say is prohibitioÌ„ but of his not willing remissedly they put permission to be the signe And after this maner they say that God willeth not sinne But because they sée that if God with efficacy willed not sinne it could by no meanes be committed they say that he in dede willeth not sinne but yet remissedly This is in dede a witty distinction but I am somwhat in doubt whether We can not put in the will of God either increace or diminishing it can in such sort take place in God But that we shoulde not in vayne contend graunt that it were so yet for all that they auoyde not but that God may be sayde after a sort to wil sinne For how commeth it that he in dede willeth not sinne but yet remissedly Here they haue nothing to answere but that he after a sort willeth it For reiection is not remisse vnles something of the contrary be mixed with it namely of the wil as water froÌ„ whote water is not made luke warme vnles some cold be mingled with it Wherefore in that they say that God willeth not sinne but yet remissedly that can be by no other meanes but that he after a sort willeth it wherefore this permission which they imagine is at the lengthe reduced to the will But it is a thing ridiculous that they should be aferd least God by this meanes should seeme to be vniust for thâ— will of God is the first and chiefe iustice so that whatsoeuer he willeth the same Permission is reduced to the will The wil of God is the first iustice God when he will punish sinnes by sinnes withdraweth hys grace straight way is of necessity iust And one and the selfe same action as it is in vs and commeth from vs forasmuch as it proceedeth from a corrupt ground is sinne but as it commeth from God it is iust These men seke some way to satisfie humane reason which yet they can not by this meanes attayne vnto For they are compelled to graunt that God when he wyll punishe sinnes by sinnes withdraweth his grace by which stay only our will may be vpholden that it sinne not Wherefore if of purpose he remoue away that by which onelye sinne is prohibited although he doo not vniustly how can he be sayde vtterly not to will sinne which of necessity followeth the withdrawing of grace Wherefore we say that God in dede willeth the action which is by nature produced for vnles God would it coulde by no meanes be produced but the deformitie and priuation of iustice whereby that action faileth and straieth froÌ„ his rule he in consideration of it selfe willeth not â–ª but so farforth onely as it is a punishement of sinne and as we haue sayd an instrument to declare the iustice of God Yea also Augustine sayth That God will not onely remoue awaye his grace but also hiddenly worketh in the mindes of sinners no les then he vseth to worke in the bodyes and inclineth their wils either to good according to his mercy or to euill according to hys iudgement being in dede iust but yet hidden And this sentence he hath against Iulianus in his 5. booke and 3. chapiter And in his booke de Gracia libero arbitrio the 21. chapter and he proueth it by sundry and many testimonies of the scriptures But in that God is said not to will and to hate sinne that is to be vnderstand as touching the law and the Scriptures and the rule of lyfe reueled vnto vs He is said also to hate sinne because he punisheth it and because he willeth it not for his owne sake but as we haue sayde in consideration of an other thing Wherefore in that he worketh sinne he hateth it not and in that he hateth it he worketh it not â—n suÌ„me if we will speake properly Election reiection depend of the wil of God We are not wonne but by those things which please vs and simply we cannot say yâ— God ether willeth sin or is the author therof Thus much by the way but now to returne to August He goeth on to declare that both election reiection depeÌ„d of the wil of God He saith in dede yâ— we haue free will but what auayleth that to these things For who caÌ„ beleue vnles his will be moued But it is not in our power that we should be moued by those things which are offred for we are not allured takeÌ„ but by those things which please vs. But that preaching reading coÌ„teÌ„placioÌ„ vpoÌ„ things diuine do please vs it coÌ„meth by the breathing of the holy gost And August addeth that as touching the masse or loÌ„p of al humane nature By the spirit of God â—â— commeth to passe â–ª that thinges in very deede good do please vs. wherof all we are brought forth there is no difference wherby God mought be moued to elect this maÌ„ rather then that yea rather if setting aside the grace of Christ we consider only the nature of men there can come no difference at all but that one is more witty then an other or contaminated with fewer wicked factes or endewed with better artes But if any man would say that God in election or reiection hath a respect to these things he shall playnly speake agaynst the holy scripture For Paul to the Corrinthians thus writeth Be hold your calling brethern for not many wise men not many noble men not many mighty men are called but the folish thinges of the world hath God elected c. There haue bene moreouer a greate many philosophers endewed with most excellent wittes and other men of singular grauity as Socrates Cato and Scipio who if they be compared with others may seme to haue bene enfected but with a very few vices There haue bene others endued with most excellent artes and sciences whom God yet hath ouerpassed and hath called vnto him men vnlerned sinners and wicked men wherefore this only remayneth that if God haue not a respect vnto these thinges they must say that he hath notwithstanding a consideration to the will But neither doubtles can that be affirmed For as we haue sayd it lieth not in the power of our will to be moued with good and holy perswasions For An example of Paul what maner of will had Paul at that selfe
elected Also ye haue not chosen me but I haue chosen you And if Christ and the Apostles haue in their sermons oftentimes made mencion hereof no man saith he ought to doubt that this doctrine is against the fruit and commodity of preaching He affirmeth also that it followeth not that although our will saluation and good workes depend of the will and appointment of God therefore we should cast away all our diligence endeuour and care For Paul when he had said that God worketh in vs both to will and to performe yet Saluation our good workes depeÌ„d of God yet ought not we â—o cast away all maner of care to lyue well cessed not to geue good admonishments And when he had written vnto the Phillippians that GOD which had begonne in them would accomplishe the worke whiche he had begonne that they might be blameles in the daye of the Lorde in whiche woordes he attributeth vnto GOD bothe the beginning and successe of good works yet in the selfe same epistle wonderfully exhorteth he them to holynes Christ also commaunded his Apostles to beleue and yet on the other side he sayth That no man can come vnto him but whome the father shall draw He also sayth He which hath eares to heare let him heare And yet God sayth in the scriptures that he would geue them an hart from aboue to vnderstaÌ„d eyes to sée eares to heare Wherfore these thinges are not repugnant one to the other namely that the appointment of good works lieth in God and that the gift of them is to be hoped for at Gods hands only and that we also must put to our care and endeuour to liue vprighly and holyly for as we haue before sayd the holy scriptures teach both Farther if for thys cause we should deny predestination seing that by the selfe same maner the foreknowledge of God is certayne and can not be deceaued shall we therefore deny that God foreknoweth all thinges As well the foreknowledge of god â—s predestination is certaine An example brought by Augustine if peraduenture there be some which may be offended with this doctrine And in his booke de bono perseuerantiae the 15. chapter he bringeth an example which happened in his time He saith that in the same monastery that he was in was a certaine man not of so vpright a life This man when he was admonished of his faulte was accustomed to say Such a one shall I be as God hath foreknown me to be And when he so spake saith Augustine he spake indede the truth but although his iudgement were true yet became he euery day worse and worse at the last also saith he he returned to his olde vomite howbeit saith he what manner of one he shall as yet in time to come be God onely knoweth Though this man abused the truth yet will not therefore any godly man deny that God foreknoweth all things And that this foreknowledge of God is no let vnto good workes Christ declared when he coÌ„maunded his disciples to pray when as yet in the meane time The thyng is not made euill by the abuse therof he plainely told them that God knewe right well what thinges they had néede of Wherefore the foreknowledge of God doth not call vs backe from the endeuor of praying for the thinges profitable and necessary which God hath decréed to geue The foreknowledge of God ought not to call vs backe from our endeuor to prayers The giftes of God are not acknowledged â–ª except the fouÌ„taine of theÌ„ be knowne What is the fountaine of the giftes of God vs he hath decréed to geue theÌ„ by this meane They also are deceaued which thinke that this doctrine is an vnprofitable doctrine yea their sight is but small and they vnderstand not the profite therof Vnto the godly it is very profitable to the ende they should not put any confidence either in themselues or in any other men but should fixe all theyr whole hope and affiaunce in God onely Which thing vndoubtedly none can truely and from the harte do but those whiche are fully persuaded both that their saluation and also theyr good workes depend not vpon themselues but of God No we cannot acknowledge the giftes of God except we vnderstande from what fountaine they spring But that fountaine is the fre purpose and mercy of God geuen vnto them whome he hath elected before the constitution of the world He which seeth not this seeth not the goodnes of God towardes him By this doctrine may men be brought not to glory in themselues but in the Lorde which thing they cannot do which ascribe vnto their own frée will that litle how much so euer it be for which thing sake they affirme that God electeth them For they haue in themselues whereof to glorye Farther the scripture willeth vs that we should mortifye our selues and behaue our selues lowly there is nothing that is more easelier bringeth this to passe then doth this doctrine The certainety also of saluation which we defend is by no other means better made manifest And in the We are coÌ„maunded to geue thaÌ„ks for our election It confirmeth the doctrine of free iustification It is no â—â—w doctrine sâ—yng it is set forth in the holy scriptures Heresies were the causes that doctrines were more diligently entreated of latter Epistle to the Thessalonians Paul willeth vs for this thing to geue thankes vnto God that we are elected of God But this can we not do vnles this thing also be wholy made plaine and knowne vnto vs. Neither without this doctrine can the grace of God be defended against the Pelagians for they toughte that the election of God commeth by our merites Frée iustification also should pearish excepte we be rightly taught of predestination Séeing therefore this doctrine being soundlye vnderstande is vnto so many thinges so profitable no man oughte to count it vnfruitfull And sithen it is set foorth in the holy scriptures it can not vndoubtedly be called a new doctrine And if the fathers before Augustines time haue not so diligeÌ„tly spoken of it it ought not to be meruailed at for the occasions wherfore doctrines were more diligently discussed and searched out wer heresies which dayly sprang vp in the Church a freshe And for that before Pelagius time no man had spoken against the grace of God there was no néede that any maÌ„ should defend it but wheÌ„ there arose vp a new error it was necessary that this doctrine should the more diligently be examined And yet did not the fathers which were before Augustines time alwayes leue this thinge vnspoken of Which thing Augustine himselfe proueth in the. 19. chapter of his booke de bono perseuerantiae Ambrose vpon Luke saith that God could if he would of vndeuout persons make deuout And againe he saith that God calleth them whome he vouchsafeth and him whome he will he maketh religious The fathers that were before Augustines time tought this
piety and vnto the true worshipping of God yâ— she sought vtterly to destroy all the Prophetes Whose fury yet the piety of Abdias at that time resisted and hid an hundreth Prophets in caues fifty in one caue and fifty in an other They seeke saith he my lyfe For at what time he fled Iesabell had threatoned to kill him the next day I haue reserued vnto my selfe When God thus maketh answer he manifestly declareth that others which had bowed their knées vnto Baal had kissed him pertayned not vnto him And in that he saith I haue reserued vnto my selfe he declareth that that was his gift that these men also went not astraye Neither All whole is of God sayth he yâ— his helpe was the chiefest part of their staying from idolatry but plainly saith I haue reserued them vnto my selfe Hereof Paul concludeth that not all the people of the Iewes are reiected neither yet are all chosen And in that example which he bringeth when he so plainly and largely handleth it he most sharply accuseth the Iewes For by the doings of their elders he declareth what maners ones they also presently were For if they had said we crucified Christ as a deceauer and we persecute his Apostles as seducers What did your fathers saith he vnto Helias What did they to the Prophetes This place declareth in what sort the Iewes alwayes behaued themselues against the messengers of God The accusation as saith Chrisostome is after a sort transferred is as if he should haue said Now Paul accuseth you not nor Peter nor Iames nor Iohn but Helias who shut vp heauen whom the rauen fed who slew the Balites and obtayned fire from heauen with whom the Lord as ye haue heard spake so familiarly They haue cut downe thine alters These were the high places in which High places the Father 's Abraham Isaacke and Iacob in the old time offred sacrifices their alters erected in the name of the Lord were yet remayning and it was lawfull to sacrifice on them vntill the temple was built But the Israelites namely the ten tribes were such enemies vnto the name of God that they could not abide so much as his alters to remayne for they would haue no sacrifices done but vnto their golden calues or to Baall and to other idols and could not abide that any monuments of the true God should be left remaining But as touching alters Alters ought 〈◊〉 to â—â— vsed in this time â–ª they haue no place in the tyme of the Gospell For forasmuch as the only sacrifice of our saluation is accomplished by the death of Christ Iesus our sauior vpon the alter of the crosse and the oblations of sacrifices are vtterly taken away therefore alters also haue ceassed But we erect a table in the congregacion of the faithfull vpon which we celebrate the supper of the Lord. And now at the length to make an end of this place I thought it good to admonish that we in examining of the scriptures vse the like diligence that Paul did for vnles he had with great attentiuenes red these thinges he coulde not with such dexterity haue entreated of them Euen so at this present tyme is there a remnaunt according to the election of grace And if thorough grace then not of works Or els were grace now no more grace But if it be of workes it is no more grace or els were worke no more worke Euen so also at this present time is there a remnaunt according to the election of grace He applieth the example which he hath now entreated of to the state of his time When he sayth a remnaunt he thereby signifieth that that part which perisheth is farre greater as he before had sayd Though the multitude They that shal be saued are called a remnaunt for that they are few of the children of Israell be as the sand of the sea a remnaunt only shal be saued Againe Vnles God had left vnto vs seede we had bene as Sodom and had ben like to Gomorrha Wherefore if in Helias time when the lesse part was saued the promises fell not away so now also in so great a blindnes of Israell they are not made voyde And the more to abate the Iewes pride he saith that this remnaunt is remayning vnto vs not of merite or of workes but of grace Wherefore we haue here a new proposition whose first part is not proued namely that they which are saued are saued by grace for that thing all men graunt but this he declareth that this saluation is not of workes which neded a demonstracion or profe The Iewes would not denie the first part as our Sophisters also at this day deny it not but either of them haue alwayes gone aboute to mingle therewithall the merites of men The Apostle expresseth what he chiefely ment by grace Merites caÌ„ not be mingled with grace Election is the chiefest grace What election of grace is namely the election of God for that is the first chiefest of all graces giftes Election of grace in yâ— Hebrue phrase is a gracious or free election which is not of merites Howbeit Chrisostome and the Greke Scholies thought that by this word election is after a sort corrected or contracted the name of grace that whersoeuer election is added we should vnderstand that grace is geuen according to approbatioÌ„ But what they vnderstand by approbation it is not so playne but that one of these two wayes we se it must of necessity be vnderstanded namely that they take approbation either actiuely or passiuely Actiuely that the remnauntes haue grace for that they elect and approue the thinges which are vpright sound and iust Or passiuely that they are approued of God as men godly iust and beleuing The first way can not be admitted for it is manifest that here is not entreated of the election of men wherby as it pleaseth them they elect good or euill thinges but of the election of God for Paul manifestly saith that God had not cast away his people whome he foreknew or as Augustine saith predestinated Neither can the other be graunted for election dependeth not of our workes foresene as we haue before declared Origen hath in a maner the selfe same sentence for he saith that all in dede are saued by grace but Here is not entreated of ceremoniall workes when election is added thereby are signified perfecter soules which vnto purenes and holynes of workes added a singular endeuor and diligence Moreouer he would fayne haue the workes which are heare excluded of Paul to be vnderstanded only of ceremoniall workes which can not be when as Paul as we shal sâ— addeth an vniuersall reason that vnto the nature of grace it is repugnaunt to be of workes and this is true what kinde of workes so euer we put But it semeth that he therefore taketh such great paynes in this matter for that he is aferd least if workes should be excluded from the cause of
oliue tree against nature neither in this respect are miracles done eyther besides nature or agaynst nature But if we looke vpon the proprieties and qualities of things both miracles are not according to nature yea rather they are repugnant vnto it and men are contrary to nature called backe to true piety and grafted into a good tree Wherefore Augustine aptly said that to haue possibility to beleue is of nature but to beleue is of grace I knowe that there are some which in this place referre contrary to nature this way that the spirituall grafting in is contrary to the naturall grafting in which men according to yâ— rules of husbandry vse wheÌ„ as in naturall grafting the grafte which is grafted in bringeth forth fruite agreable to his owne sappe not to the sappe of the stock wherinto it is grafted But here the braunches of the wild oliue tree grafted into the fatte oliue tree draw their sappe whereout they bring forth good fruites not of their owne naturall plant but of that whereinto they are grafted These thinges without Braunches proper haue greater conformity to theyr owne plante then straunge plantes doubt as I haue before mencioned are true but they seme not to serue to the purpose of Paul The summe is that there is a greater conformity agreeablenes and proportion betwene braunches broken of to their owne plant then betwene straunge braunches to the selfe same plaÌ„t But because this conformity though it be neuer so nigh is not of it selfe sufficient therefore the power of of God is necessarily to be had Whiche power is sufficient to grafte in any whether they be nigh or farre of or howsoeuer they be God is able saith Iohn of these stones to rayse vp children vnto Abraham And the Lord sayth Thinges which are impossible with men are possible with God The Prophets and all yâ— scriptures in a manner when any great thinges or after a sort incredible are to be looked for at Gods hands commaunde vs to consider the power of God And thereof commeth vnto the godly most swete consolation if at any time any great aduersityes hange ouer their heddes for they doo not easely feare the power of their aduersaries which set before their eyes the power of their heauenly father And hereof it commeth that the Church when it prayeth for helpe at Gods In the beginnyng of prayers are well put these words almighty God The power of God extendeth farther theÌ„ his will How an argument a posse ad esse is in this place of force hands alwayes in a manner in the beginning of their prayers hath these two wordes Almighty God Neither is this to be passed ouer that it commeth to passe farre otherwise in vs then in God both in all other thinges in a maner and also in this thing chiefly For in vs the will extendeth a great deale farther then the power when as oftentimes we will very many thinges which yet we are not able to performe But it is cleane contrary with God for he is able to do many more thinges then he will For the Father coulde haue geuen vnto his sonne which was euen at the point to be crucified eleuen legions of Angels which should straight way haue deliuered him but he would not But if a maÌ„ say that it is not a strong argument a posse ad â—sse as the Logicians vse to speake that is from possibility to being and therefore Paul ought not to conclude that the Iewes shal be grafted in againe for that God is able to performe that thing for besides power is also required will We answere that here can no controuersy be made touching his will for that he is redy to do them good the promises the couenant which he made and the benefits which he bestowed vpon their elders playnly declare Further if he would graft in the Gentles being straungers why should we doubt but that he will one day bestow the A similitude like benefit vpon the Iewes Wherefore this we may affirme that the nation of the Iewes is at this tyme like vnto the roote of some good tree in the tyme of winter which roote if one that hath no skill looke vpon he will soone contemne plucke vp and burne it if it lye in him But a skilfull husbandman will say that it ought to be spared and will be more carefull to cherishe it for he knoweth that when the time commeth he shall haue thereof leaues flowers God hath not extinguished the Iewes but daily calleth some of theÌ„ fruites So vndoubtedly doth God deale with the Iewes he extinguisheth not that stocke but oftentimes out of it calleth some vnto him and towardes the end of the world looketh for great plenty of his elect to come thereout Not that any holynes is to be attributed vnto that stocke or generation if it be considered by it selfe for as we haue already twise admonished as touching it selfe it is condemned and obnoxious vnto the curse Which thing Paul acknowledged when he sayd We are by nature the children of wrath as others are But when these excellent things are spoken in the commendation of the nation of the Iewes vnto it is adioyned the fauor of God and his promise and couenant which yet burst not forth into acte but only as touching the elect Of which things yet there appeare Certain tokens of the nobilitie of the natioÌ„ of the Iewes some markes in others for they are studious of the law and of the word of God although they vnderstand it not rightly and as Paul sayd They haue the zeale of God but not according to knowledge which things although vnto them they are sinnes yet is it a certaine light and shew of that nobility wherof we speake For I would not brethern that ye should be ignoraunt of this mistery least ye should be high mynded that partly blindnes is come vnto Israell vntil the fulnes of the Gentiles be come in And so all Israell shal be saued as it is written Out of Sion shall the deliuerer come shal burne away the vngodlines from Iacob And this is my testament with them wheÌ„ I shall take away their sins For I would not brethern that ye should be ignoraunt of this mistery The entent of the Apostle now is to proue that in the nation of the Iewes still remayneth séede of election which thing he doth many wayes First he setteth forth his prophesy which he calleth a mistery after that he bringeth testimonies of the Prophets then he declareth the nature of the vocation and giftes of God namely that they are without repentance last of all he teacheth that the order of thinges so requireth and he abideth long in this matter for that of the full knowledge thereof much depended the peace and quietnes of the Church at that tyme. And how much the peace and tranquillity of Churches is to be desired we may How much the tranquilitie of churches is to be be
the corne which groweth in theyr fieldes true corne Augustine confuteth them and sheweth that this is no apt similitude for the bodies of infidels forasmuch as they are made of God are true bodies their corne also for y◠it is his worke is true corne but theyr chastitie forasmuch as it procedeth out of their corrupt vitiate wil can by no meanes be counted true chastitie And he addeth that vniuersal sentence wherof we haue much spoken before Whatsoeuer is not of faith is sinne The same Augustine vpon the 30. Psalme expounding these wordes Deliuer me in thy righteousnes who is he saith he which is saued freely Euen he in whome our Sauiour findeth not any thing worthy to be crowned but findeth much worthy to be condemned in whome he findeth not merites of good thinges but merites of punishments Hereby we sée what is the nature of humane workes before iustification The same father in his first booke 30. question to Simplicianus saith that we are commaunded to lyue vprightly and that by a reward set before vs namely that we may merite to liue blessedly for euer But who saith he can liue vprightly and worke well vnles he be iustified by faith Here we are taught that there mought be in men a merite and deseruing of happy and eternall life if they could accomplishe that which is commaunded But forasmuch as that is impossible for vs to do therefore we fall away from merite The same Augustine in his Enchiridion ad Laurentium the 121. chap. The end saith he of the commaundement i◠of charity out of a pure hart a good conscience and an vnfayned fayth The ende of euery precept is charity and is referred vnto charity And whatsoeuer is done without such charity is not done as it ought to be done Wherefore if it be not done as it ought to be done it can not be denyed but that it is sinne Chrisostome expounding these wordes of Paul The ende of the law is Christ If the Chrisostom ende of the lawe saith he be Christ it followeth that he which hath not Christ though he seeme to haue the righteousnes of the lawe yet hath he it not in very deede By these wordes we gather that he which is without Christ may indéede haue workes which may séeme good which yet in very dede can not be iust And straight way he saith Whosoeuer hath fayth the same also hath the end of the law and whosoeuer is with out fayth is farre from either of them Hereby we gather that they which haue not faith are straungers not only from Christ but also from the righteousnes of the lawe which herein consisteth to do that which is commaunded And straight way For what desireth the lawe To make a man iust but it can not For no man hath fulfilled it But because a man might obiecte although a man not regenerate can not fulfill the lawe yet if he take paynes therein and go about and trauaile he may attaine vnto righteousnes this thing also Chrisostome excludeth And a litle before when he expounded these wordes Being ignoraunt of the righteousnes of God and willing to establishe their owne righteousnes they became not subiect vnto the righteousnes of God This sayth he he calleth the righteousnes of God which is of fayth because it is altogether of the heauenly grace wherein we are iustified not by our labours but by the gift of God This selfe same thing also writeth Ambrose whē he expoundeth these words Ambrose of Dauid Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgeuen and whose sinnes are couered He calleth saith he them blessed of whome God hath decreed that without labour or any obseruation they shal be iustified by fayth only And vpon those words of Paul Being iustified freely by his grace They are iustified freely sayth he because by the gift of God they are iustified by faith only they themselues working nothyng nor making any recompence The same Ambrose vpon these words of Paul Wherefore death hath raigned vpon them which haue not sinned after the similitude of the transgression of Adam He wrote this saith he because it is impossible for a man not to sinne Which thing seing he peraduēture spake of men regenerate what is to be thought of mā that are straungers from Christ Cyprian also ad Quirinum We ought saith he to boast in nothing because we Cyprian haue nothing of our owne I suppose it sufficiently now appeareth that that is true which we affirmed namely that men before iustification can not frame their workes according to the prescript of the law and therfore are they sinnes neither can they merite iustification But if our aduersaries will obiect and say that they affirme not that those works which they call preparatory do merite iustification but only are certayne preparations by which men are made more apt to attayne vnto iustification we may thus aunswere them If they merite not why fayne ye vnto them that your merite of congruity Farther why call ye them good whē as as we haue taught they neither please God nor are done according to y◠prescript of the lawe Lastly forasmuch as they want their end and not only are but also by good right are called sinnes how teach ye that men by them are prepared vnto righteousnes when as they should much rather by them be prepared vnto punishmentes Wherfore let them once at the length ceasse to adorne them wyth these goodly titles For though peraduēture God somtimes by these workes bringeth men to saluation he doth it because of his mercy towardes men which is so great that he will vse workes whiche are of themselues euill and sinnes to their good Now let vs sée if iustification be not geuen vnto works how it is then geuen fréely and it wholy dependeth of the mere grace of God For no manner of way it dependeth of merites Which thing Origen saw for he vpon this Epistle expounding these wordes of Paul Vnto him which worketh the reward is not imputed according to grace but according to debt But I saith he when I desire excellency of speach whereas he sayth that vnto him that worketh is rendred a debt can scarsely perswade my selfe that there can be any worke which can of duety requyre a recompence of God forasmuch as euen thys that we can do or thinke or speake any thing we do it by hys gift and liberality What debt then shall he owe vnto vs whose grace preuenteth vs A little afterward he rendreth a reason of hys saying which reason Augustine oftentimes vsed For he bringeth that place of Paul The stipend of sinne is death But the grace of God is eternall life For here the Apostle added not But the stipend of righteousnes is eternall life which yet the nature of the Antithesis required For Pauls meaning was to declare that our wicked workes of duty deserued death and that euerlasting death but eternall life is not geuen but only by grace wherefore in
the second part he left out the name of stipend and of righteousnes and in stéede of them put in the name of grace Neither do I greatly passe that Augustine in an other place writeth that Paul mought haue sayd the stipend of righteousnes is eternall life and yet he would not say so least he should haue geuen occasion of erring For how Augustine thought that Paul mought haue sayd it vndoubtedly I sée not vnles paraduenture by righteousnes he vnderstand the workes of men regenerate forasmuch as with those workes the merites of Christ are ioyned For so it might be true that eternall life is the stipend of such a righteousnes Farther Origen goeth on and sheweth that men are so iustified fréely How eternall lyfe may be called the 〈…〉 pend of righteousnes that good workes are not required to go before For expounding this sentence Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgeuen The soule saith he whose sinnes are forgeuen must needes now be in good state for it is called blessed Wherefore it hath righteousnes which God imputeth vnto it although it haue not yet done any workes of righteousnes but only for that it hath beleued in him whiche iustifieth the vngodly Out of these words we gather many thinges First that God for works sake is not made debtor vnto any man Secondly that not only iustification but also eternall life is geuen fréely Lastly that righteousnes is imputed vnto the mindes of the beleuers although no good workes went before in them Basilius vpon these wordes of the 114. Psalme Be thou conuerted my soule into thy rest for the Lord hath done good vnto thee For saith he eternall rest is set forthe vnto them which in this life haue wrestled lawfully which yet is not rendered accordyng to the merite of workes but is geuen according to the grace of the most liberall God vnto them which haue hoped in him Seyng these thinges are spoken of the workes of men already iustified as touching eternall felicity then are they to be counted much more true if they be referred vnto the workes of them which are yet strangers frō Christ Wherfore euen as those merite not an eternall reward no more also can these merite iustification For both these thinges are geuen fréely Augustine in his booke De dogmatibus ecclesiasticis chap. 48. If by the law saith he commeth righteousnes then dyed Christ in vayne So also may we say if by nature come righteousnes Christ dyed in vayne This spake he against the Pelagians who affirmed that the liberty of man was so great that by nature onely it could do thynges acceptable vnto God And Augustine warely transferreth vnto nature that which Paul spake of the law and sheweth that the selfe same absurditie followeth either namely that the death of Christ is made in vayne For in very dede there is no other cause why the law bringeth not righteousnes but onely because nature is vitiate and weake Wherfore that which is spokē of the one may rightly agrée with the other The same Augustine vpon the first chapter of Iohn expoūding these wordes Grace for grace what saith he is grace He aunswereth That which is frely geuen What is grace frely geuen That which is not rendred saith he as due For if it were due vnto thee then it is a reward rendred If it were due thou wast before good And in his booke de predestinatione sanctorum the 7. chap. Let no man extoll himselfe as it is customably said Therfore deserued he to beleue because he was a good man and that before he beleued which thyng semeth to be written of Cornelius when as yet he had fayth when he did good workes These wordes are so playne that they haue no néede of declaration Chrisostome in his 2. homely vpon the first epistle Chrisostom vnto the Cor. Where grace saith he is there are not workes and where works are there is not grace Wherfore if it be grace why are ye proude by what meanes are ye puffed vp Chrisostome according to the maner of Paul so opposeth grace against workes that the one excludeth the other so far is it of that he will haue grace to be geuen for workes Ierome vpon the epistle to Philemon Grace saith he is whereby ye are saued and Ierome that by no merite or worke The same Ierome vpon the epistle vnto the Ephes expoūding these wordes By grace ye are made safe through fayth and that not of your selues for it is the gift of God Paul saith he therefore spake this least some hidden thought should crepe into vs if by our workes we be not saued vndoubtedly yet by faith we are saued so that in an other kinde it commeth of vs that we are saued All these testimonies sufficiently declare that iustification is geuē fréely neither can it be gotten by any merites or workes goyng before Now resteth to declare out of the fathers how good workes are to be estemed Vndoubtedly they follow iustification as the fruites therof which spring and burgē forth out of true faith Wherfore Origene sayth in that place which we haue before cited expounding these wordes vnto the Romanes But vnto him which worketh the reward is not imputed according to grace but according to debt Wherfore saith he not out of workes commeth the roote of righteousnes but out of the roote of righteousnes encreaseth the fruite of workes Whiche selfe thing Augustine affirmeth vnto Honoratus saying Hereout spring good works for that we are iustified and not because good workes went before therfore are we iustified And in his first booke second question ad Simplicianum Yea and workes saith he if there be any that be good do follow as it is said that grace and go not before it And therfore he addeth If there be any good because euen the workes of the regenerate haue in thē much imperfection and vnles the righteousnes of Christ which is imputed vnto the beleuers were ioyned with those workes they should not in very dede be good The same father in his 26. chapter de spiritu Litera at large entreateth this place vnto the Romanes Not the herers of the law shal be iustified but the doers and by many reasons he proueth that good workes follow iustification and go not before To this also tendeth that which Basilius writeth in his second booke De spiritu sancto the 7. chap. of the wordes of the Lord that first it behoueth that the trée be good then his fruites to be good that the Phariseis were reproued which in theyr dishes cups made cleane y◠which was without Make cleane sayth he that which is within and that which is without shal be cleane otherwise ye shal be compared vnto painted sepulchers which in dede without seme beautiful but with in are vncleane and full of dead mens bones What counsels are to be harkned vnto Now let vs come vnto the Counsells which yet are not without choyce and iudgement
regarde to his body being past getting of children nor to the wombe of Sara being past childbearing and that he staggered not by reason of distrust but was by faith confirmed most certainely persuaded that God was able to performe what so euer he had promised This example teacheth vs that we ought not to haue a regarde vnto those things which either may or seeme to hinder our iustification but our faith ought vtterly to be fixed in the words and promises of God but contrariwise these men will call vs backe to our owne indispositions as they cal them and will haue vs therefore alwayes to be in doubt of our iustification In dede we ought not to dissemble whatsoeuer imperfection or fault is in vs and that for this cause that it may be daily amended and corrected Yet ought we not therefore to be in doubt and wauering touching our iustification and the grace of God Now haue we to proue the second proposition namely that a man is iustified by faith Which thing we entend first to proue by testimonies of the holy A confirmation that we are iustified by faith scriptures Paule in the first chapter of this Epistle thus defineth the Gosple that it is the power of God to saluation to euery one that beleueth In these wordes is touched the efficient cause of our iustification namely the power of God and the ende which is our saluation and also the instrument wherby it is receiued namely faith for he addeth vnto euery one that beleueth And this he confirmeth by a testimony of Abacucke the Prophet In which sentence he so much delighted that he vsed it both to the Galathians and also to the Hebrues in the self same sense He addeth moreouer that the wrathe of God was reueled from heauen by reason of the knowledge of the Philosophers which withheld the truthe of God in vnrighteousnesse and which when they knew God glorified him not as God but fell to the worshipping of Idols But contrariwise in the gospell is reuealed the righteousnesse of God namely that righteousnesse whereby men are iustified from faith to faith which phrase of speache we haue in his due place sufficiently expounded in the third chapter Now is the righteousnesse of God saith he made manifest without the law the righteousnesse I say of God by the faith of Iesus Christ in all and vpon all them which beleue in him And a little afterward wherefore being iustified frely by his grace by the redemption which is in Christ Iesus whome God hath set forth a propitiator by faith in his bloud Here also is not onlye shewed the grace by which God fréely iustifieth vs but also Christ his deathe is set forthe that it may manifestly appeare that he is the reconciliator and the mediator Wherunto also is added faith wherby we receiue the fruit of his redemption to the shewing forth also of his righteousnesse in this time that he might be iust and iustifying him which is of the faith of Iesus Christ. If men coulde by theyr workes get vnto themselues righteousnesse the righteousnesse of God shoulde not then be so declared But seeing we sée that it is communicated vnto vs by faith without any preparation of workes it must needes seeme vnto vs very great And amongst other things which God requireth of men this is the chiefest that they should not any thing glory of themselues But if iustification should consist of workes men might boast of their owne endeuor and industry But seeing we are freely iustified by faith there is no place left for boasting Wherfore Paule saith Thy boasting is excluded by what law by the law of works No but by the law of faith Wherfore he concludeth after this manner We iudge that man is iustified by faith without works And that we should not think that that proposition is particular he declareth that it is vniuersall â–ª God saith he is he the God of the Iewes only is he not the God of the gentiles also Yea of the Gentiles also For it is one God which iustifieth vncircumcision through faith and circumcision by faith Wherefore euen as there is but one God ouer all men so iustifieth he all men by one and the selfe same way And in the fourth chapter he saith but vnto him which worketh not but beleueth in him which iustifieth the wicked faith is imputed vnto him vnto righteousnesse By this sentence are bothe workes excluded and also faith is set forth by which is imputed righteousnesse vnto men And straight way he addeth of Abraham that he is the father of all them that beleue by vncircumcision that it might also be imputed vnto them and that he is the father of circumcision not only vnto them which are of circumcision but also vnto them which walke in the steps of faith which was in the vncircumcision of Abraham our father Afterward by the nature of the promesse he sheweth that iustification is by faith For he saith by the lawe was not the promesse made vnto Abraham and vnto his seede to be the heire of the worlde but by the righteousnesse of faith for if those which are of the law should be heires then shold faith be abolished and the promesse made voide In these words are two excellent things to be noted The first is that the promesse is free â–ª neither is it ioyned with the condition of workes and therfore seing faith is as a correlatiue referred vnto the promesse it must needes follow that it is such as the promesse is and therefore it hath a respecte vnto the promesse by it selfe and not to the conditions of our vntowardnesse or indisposition as the good holy Fathers of Trent â—eache The second is that if the inheritance and righteousnesse should depend of that condition of works then had there bene no néede of the promesie For meÌ„ might haue sayd why is that fréely promised vnto vs which we can claime vnto our selues by our owne endeuor and labor Or why is it so necessary that we shold beleue when as by our owne workes we can attaine vnto righteousnesse Afterward Paule addeth the finall cause why iustification commeth by fayth By grace sayth he that the promesse might be firme for if by our owne works and preparations we should be iustified the promesse should alwayes be vnstedfast neither could we appoint any certaintie of it Afterwarde he putteth the example of Abraham who as it is before said contrary to hope beleued in hope neither had he a regarde vnto those things which as touching his owne part mought haue bene a let vnto the promesse of God namely his own body being nâ—w as it were dead and an hundreth yeare olde and the age of Sara his wife These things sufficiently declare what maner of faith that was by which vnto Abraham was imputed righteousnesse so that thereby we also may vnderstande the power and nature of faithe which iustifieth Paule also addeth that by suche a faith is muche aduaunced the
to haue peace with God For it reconcileth vs vnto God when our sinnes are taken away which had before made vs enemies vnto GOD. And afterwarde vppon these wordes The law of the spirite of life It is fayth sayth he which iustifieth them that flye vnto it to remit vnto them that which the law helde them guiltie of that liuing vnder faith they might be free from sinne And in his 2. boke vpon the Gospell of Luke he saith that Peter wepte not but when the Lord had looked backe vpon him And he addeth that the Lord brought forth in him both repentance and the power to weape But Augustine when he entreateth of this matter séemeth to be in his owne field so that to hunt in him for testimonyes touching this controuersie is as the common saying is to séeke water in the sea Howbeit it shal not be strange from our purpose to picke somewhat out of him also In the sermon of the Lord vpon the mountaine touching the wordes of the Gospell in Mathew in his 7. Sermon towardes the end If thou presume of thine owne worke a reward sayth he is rendred vnto thee and not geueÌ„ vnto thee by grace I demaund now Beleuest thou o sinner I beleue What beleuest thou that thy sinnes may by him freely be forgeuen thee Then hast thou that which thou beleuest In his preface vpon the 31. Psalme Thou hast done no good and yet remission of sinnes is geuen thee Thy workes are considered and they are al found nought If God should render vnto these woorkes that which is dew doubtles he should condemne thee And in his booke de Spiritu Litera the 12 chapiter We gather that a man is not iustified by the rules of good life but by the fayth of Iesus Christ. And in his booke agaynst the 2. epistles of the Pelagians in his 3. boke and 5. chapter Our fayth sayth he that is the catholike fayth discerneth the iust from the vniust not by the law of workes but euen by the law of fayth And Augustine and Alpius in his 106 epistle of righteousnes is of fayth whereby we beleue that we are iustified that is that we Note diligeÌ„tly what grace we ought to confesse are made iust by the grace of God thorough Iesus Christ our Lord. The same father agaynst Pelagius and Coelestius in his 1. booke and 10. chap. It is not inough sayth he to confesse what grace thou wilt but that grace whereby we are perswaded whereby we are drawen and whereby euen that which is good is geuen This maketh planly agaynst theÌ„ which put I know not what generall grace and will haue it to lye in euery mans power either to admitt or to refuse the same But this grace wherby we are so persuaded is nothing ells but fayth Which fayth indede is necessary to iustifie but those workes which are done before we be iustified doo nothing auaile For the Workes which seme good are turned into sinnes same Augustine agaynst the 2. epistles of the Pelagians the 3. booke and 5. chapter Euen as workes sayth he which seme good are vnto the vngodly turned into sinnes c And in his booke de Spiritu Litera the 28. chapter Euen as saith he there are certayne veniall sinnes without which euen the iust men can not liue and yet they hinder vs not from saluation so are there certayne good woorkes without which euen the most wicked men can very hardly liue which workes yet nothing profite them vnto saluation And that we should not thinke that this faith whereby we are iustified is a thing common What may be aunswered to be the causes why one man is persuaded and an other is not and straying at pleasure he addeth afterward in the 34 chap. Why is this man so instructed that he is vtterly persuaded an other not so There are onely two thinges which I thinke good to answer O the deapth of the riches c. Also what is their iniqâ—ity with God He that is displeased with this answere let him seeke saith he men better learned but let him beware of presumptuous persons If we should geue credit vnto our aduersaries this had ben a very rude blind doubt For they would haue straight way answered at one word that the one was perswaded because he would the other was not perswaded because he would not But Augustine considering yâ— matter more depely namely that it is god which worketh in vs both to wil to performe according to his good wil perceiuing the Paul himselfe being ouercome with the admiratioÌ„ of this thing made such exclamatioÌ„ thought it most mete rather to referre the whole matter vnto God who distributeth vnto euery man yâ— which semeth vnto hym good that without doubt iustly although we sée not the reasons of his iustice Yea neither is it méete for vs to search them out vnles we will haue that to happen vnto vs which commonly happeneth vnto flies which being allured by the The grace which the Pelagians taught was set forth to be common vnto al men was nature Grace is geuen vnto some and is not geuen vnto other some light of the candell and flying more nigh vnto it are oftentimes burnt with the slame thereof The same Augustine de Predestinatione sanctorum in his 5. chapiter reproueth Pelagius for that he had fayned that common grace vnto all the saints which he would haue to be nothing els but nature which selfe thing our aduersaries also at this day do when as they cry out that that grace is set forth as it were openly vnto all men and that it lieth in euery mans power to receaue it so that he will The same author ad Vitalem in his 107. epistle Vnto those sayth he whose cause is a like with those vnto whome grace is geuen vnto whome yet it is not geuen that they vnto whome it is geuen might vnderstand how freely it was geuen vnto them And in the selfe same place he playnly declareth that it is God which of vnwilling maketh vs willing and taketh away our stony hart and geueth vs a fleshy hart This manifestly declareth that it is fayth whereby we are iustified and that God distributeth it according to his good will The same father de dogma tibus ecclesiasticis in the 4. chap. for that booke whosoeuer was the author thereof beareth the name of Augustine To be purged from sinnes saith he God tarieth not for our will and in the 44. chapter The holy ghost maketh vs to chuse thinke and consent vnto euery good thyng pertaynyng vnto saluation And in his 13. booke and 17. chapiter de Trinitate The word of the sonne of God sayth he toke vpon hym the nature of maÌ„ without any maner of merite And after the selfe same maner also is the grace of God geuen vnto vs. This comparison is taken of the greater For if that man which was made the sonne of God obtayned the same
be present they are profitable vnto iustification But this is worthy to be laughed at For we haue before most playnly taught that all workes which are doone before iustification are sinnes So far is it of that they can serue any thing vnto iustification And if they should by any meanes profite vnto iustification our glorieng should then not be excluded For we might glory that we had doone those thinges by whose helpe and ayd we were iustified But of this sayth he we can not boast for that they were done by a certayne grace of God preuenting But this is chiefly to be marked that these men attribute a great part of such works vnto frée will And therfore in yâ— be halfe at the least we may glory Neither also shall yâ— be true which the Apostle sayth what hast thou that thou hast receaued And agayne why dost thou boast as though thou hadst not receaued Here some of theÌ„ answer yâ— we can not glory of this liberty of will for that we haue it not of our owne For it is God which hath endued vs with this faculty and gaue vs frée will when he created vs. But this is not sufficient The Pelagians fâ—ed vnto the common grace of creation to take away boasting First for that this were to fly vnto the coÌ„mon grace of creation which thing the Pelagians did and by that meanes should at the lest may be left vnto vs a good vse of frée will of which we might glory For although we haue the same of God by creation yet the right vse thereof is ours namely to assent vnto God when he calleth vs and to apply our selues vnto good workes which of God are set forth vnto vs. And therefore vtterly to take away all glorying it is nedeful yâ— we continually haue this in our mynde which Auguctine hath admonyshed vs of in his booke de spiritu Litera the 24. chapiter That not onely the wyll and election of well doyng is of God because by creatioÌ„ he hath geuen choyce free wyll but also because by the perswasion of thynges sene he hath made vs both to wyll and to beleue and that not onely by the outward preaching of the Gospell but also by inward perswasion For he doth not onely stirre vp the hart but also perswadeth draweth and boweth it to beleue I graunt indéede that it is the office of the will to will and to embrace that which God offreth for we do not will by vnderstanding or by memory but by will And yet for all that I doubt not but that it is God which maketh vs to wil and to follow good things Farther our aduersaries think that although workes concurre vnto iustification yet is that notwithstanding true which the holy scriptures teach namely that we iustified fréely Because say they those workes are geuen of God and are done of grace If this refuge mought helpe then had not Paul done well when he tooke away from ceremoniall works the power of iustifiyng For a Iew might say Our fathers which in the old tyme were circumcised and performed other obseruations of the law did not the same by their owne naturall strengthes but by the grace of God both helping them and stirring them vp thereunto Wherefore if other workes which were commaunded in the lawe coulde profite vnto iustification to merite it as ye speake of congruity why coulde not ceremoniall workes do â–ª the same Neither will this any thing helpe to say that Paul taketh not away from them the power iustifiyng but onely after the comming of Christ For he manifestly speaketh of Abraham which was iustified by fayth and not by circumcision and vseth a testimony of Dauid of whome it is most certayne that he liued vnder the lawe But whereas this man sayth that charity and hope can not be excluded I would gladly know of hym whether the workes of these vertues be iust or no. I know he will graunt that they are iust What will he then answere vnto Paul who vnto Titus sayth Not by the workes of righteousnes which we haue done But I know these meÌ„s fond deuises They answere that such workes also are excluded if they be done by the law and by frée will without grace But what nedeth to exclude that which can A strong reason to proue that faith onely iuâ—tifieth not be For who will either loue God or hope in him without grace Farther in what maner so euer they be done they can not serue to iustification for we are iustified by grace as it playnly appeareth by the holy scriptures But betwene grace and workes is so great contrariety that Paul sayth If of grace then is it not now of workes and if of workes then is it not of grace Neither ought these men to be so much displeased for yâ— we vse this word Only For we necessarily conclude it of that which Paul sayth First that we are iustified by fayth and afterward addeth without workes How aptly we thus conclude I will declare by a similitude in the 6. chapiter of Deutronomy if we follow the truth of the Hebrew it is thus written Thou shalt feare the Lord God and hym thou shalt serue Here as thou séest wanteth this particle Only yet because there followeth Thou shalt not go after straunge Gods The seuenty interpreters haue thus turned that place Thou shalt feare the Lord thy God and hym onely shalt thou worship These men of the first proposition being affirmatiue that God is to be worshipped and of the other beyng negatiue that straunge Gods are not to be worshipped concluded that God onely is to be serued Whose authority should not be of so great waight with me but that Christ himselfe hath cited that place in that sort For thus he rebuked the deuill Depart from me Sathan for it is written thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and hym only shalt thou serue Here we sée that to disproue the worshipping which is geuen vnto a creature this particle only is necessary which although it be not had in the Hebrew yet is it necessarily gathered out of it Now when as we also after this maner reason why should these men so much be offended Let them consider that the best and the most auncieÌ„st Fathers abhorred not from this word It is a thing ridiculous to sée with how colde toyes and poore shifts Smith goeth about to The fathers vsed this worde Onely resist them First he sayth that they ment nothing els but to represse men that they should not waxe insoleÌ„t But let Smith in one word according to his good wisdome aunswere me whether the Fathers spake this truely or falsely If they spake it truely then make they on our side and why doth this man so much impugne it But if falsely this good end nothing helpeth theÌ„ to represse the insolency of men For euen as euill is not to be committed that good may ensew so false doctrine is not to be affirmed to ouerthrow other