They shall bee accounted iust they shall be reputed iust So he Thus we see though St. Augustine following the etymologie of the word take iustificare to iustifie or make iust yet hee meaneth nothing else but the accounting or reputing iust and not the infusing of grace whereby to be made iust And Bernard also saith Adde huc vt credas quod per ipsum tibi peccata donantur Hoc est testimonium quod perhibet in corde nostro Spiritus sanctus dicens Dimissa sunt tibi peccata Sic enim arbitratur Apostolus Gratis iustificari hominem per fidem Adde to this that thou beleeue that by him thy sinnes are forgiuen thee This is the testimonie which the holy Ghost beareth in our heart saying Thy sinnes are forgiuen thee For so the Apostle concludeth That a man is iustified freely by faith But let vs heare from the holy Ghosts own mouth in the Scriptures he will leade vs into all truth To iustifie in Scripture is vsually taken in a iudiciall sense as beeing properly a iudiciall word iustification beeing opposed to condemnation The Hebrewes haue one word which signifies to iustifie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and it is still applyed to such a iustification as a man stands vpon in a iudiciall tryall As Genesis 44. 16. Mah nits tadhac how shall wee iustifie our selues said Iudah to his brother Ioseph in regard of the cup found in Beniamins sacke which seemed now to be brought to aiudiciall Tryall So 2. Sam. 15. 4. Absolon wisheth hee were Iudge of the Land that hee might doe euery man iustice or iustifie him Reade also for this purpose Deut. 25. 1. Psal. 51. 4. 1 Kings 8. 32. Pro. 17. 15. Esay 5. 23. 43. 26. Matth. 12. 37. 1. Cor. 4. 4. and many other places in Scripture to this purpose doe plainely shew how this word Iustifie is properly taken namely to acquit or cleere to pronounce or declare one iust by the sentence of the Iudge This sense of iustification the Church of Rome cannot endure they smother or at least smooth it ouer by slight of hand as a matter of no moment Whereas indeede there is nothing that will more directly leade vs to the true vnderstanding of the nature of iustification than the consideration of this word taken in a iudiciall sense wherein the holy Ghost doth vse it namely to acquit and absolue a man and pronounce him iust by sentence of iudgement This sheweth that the point of iustification of a sinner is not so light a matter as Papists and profane persons would make it No it is a Case to be tried at the barre of Gods iudgement-seate in whose sight shall no man liuing bee iustified Holy Iob while hee pleaded with his opposite friends hee wanted not matter for his iustification but when once the Lord God summons him out of the whirle-winde before his throne and bids him girde vp his loynes like a man Iob stands not now vpon his vprightnesse but confesseth I am vile what shall I answer thee I will lay my hand vpon my mouth c. Iob 40. 4. and 42. 5. I haue heard of thee by the hearing of the eare but now mine eye seeth thee Wherefore I abhorre my selfe and repent in dust and ashes Yea hee had said before Chap. 9. 15. Whom though I were righteous yet would I not answer but I would make supplication to my Iudge for God is a righteous and seuere iudge and who may stand in his sight when he is angry when hee sits to iudge For the heauens are not cleane in his sight how much more abominable and filthie is man which drinketh iniquitie like water Iob 15. 16. If therefore our iustification be such as must proceede from Gods iudgement seate and must be sentenced by Gods owne mouth it neerely concernes euery Mothers Sonne to bee well aduised vpon what ground we stand what euidence wee can bring to cleare ourselues to satisfie our vnpartiall Consciences to stop the mouth of the accusing Diuell and to abide the fierietriall of that Iudge who is euen a consuming fire and will condemne euen the least sinne to the pit of hell But that wee may not mistake the true acception of iustification we are to consider iustification in a two-fold relation or respect either as it hath relation to God or to man before whom also we are said to be iustified but in a different yea opposite respect whereof we shall haue occasion to speake hereafter Here wee speake of Iustification in the first relation Now this iustification of a sinner in the sight of God whereof wee speake proceedeth from a iudiciall tryall In this sense it is vsed by the holy Ghost Rom. 8. 33 34. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect It is God that iustifieth who is he that condemneth It is Christ that dyed yea rather that is risen againe c. This iustification the Lord Iesus doth oppose to condemnation Iohn 5. 24. where speaking of iudgement vers 22. he inferreth Verily Verily I say vnto you Hee that heareth my word and beleeueth on him that sent me hath euerlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but is passed from death vnto life And like as Iesus Christ was condemned by a iudiciall proceeding Pilate giuing sentence though according to such euidence as was most vntrue in it selfe so all those for whom Christ was thus iudicially condemned shall be iudicially iustified and acquitted But this wil appear more clearly in setting down the formall cause of our iustification To speake to the capacity of the simple By formall cause is meant that which giues a being to iustification as forma dat esse the forme of a thing giues being vnto it That therefore which makes a man perfectly iust is called the formall cause of his iustification Now the Pontificians would hence conclude That inherent qualities must be the formall cause of iustification alledging the authority of Philosophers who say That the formall cause is the thing or quality which is in the subiect as the soule of man is in the body And therefore they exclude the righteousnesse of Christ whereby he is formally iust from being the formall cause of our iustification because say they Christs righteousnesse is in himselfe not in vs. But no maruaile if these Pontificians doe wrest the Maximes of Philosophers from their natiue sense when they dare so familiarly force the Scriptures themselues The Philosophers speake of a physicall formality but the holy Scriptures speake of the iustification of a sinner in the sight of God the forme whereof is relatiue and not physically inherent in vs. But be it so that the formall cause must alwayes be in the subiect to which it giues a being the formall cause then of iustification must be inherent Wherein must it bee inherent In vs No but in iustification which is the subiect of this inherent formall cause For if inherent grace bee the formall cause of iustification then
illustrate the former point concerning the subiect of Faith and the manner of inherency which it hath in a beleeuer and to cleare the truth of it by Scriptures and by ancient Fathers of the Church The Romane-Catholicke doctrine is no lesse absurd and erroneous in the obiect of sauing Faith than in the subiect of it They run from one extreame to another as the Poet saith Dum vitant stulti vitiae in contraria currunt Fooles from one extremity of folly runne into the contrary But as the true Catholicke doctrine although it exclude no part of Gods Word as the obiect of Faith in generall but yet restraineth the speciall obiect of sauing Faith to Christ and the promises of God in him so though it deny not Faith to haue a place of inherency in the vnderstanding yet it intitleth it not onely to the vnderstanding but to the will to the memory to the affections and all the faculties of the soule as so many Manfions to intertain this noble Queene Faith where she may keepe her Court of residence for her selfe and all her train of Graces that attend her Or wee may compare the seuerall faculties of the soule to so many roomes or chambers in the soule wherein as in a magnificent Palace Faith resideth whose presence as a Prince puts life into euery part whose prerogatiue it is to prescribe to each of her virgin hand-maide Graces their proper taskes her selfe putting her owne hand to euery work acting directing assisting adorning the office of each Grace whereby it is made both acceptable to God and profitable to men The Catholicke Doctrine then concerning the subiect of Faith is That Faith inhereth or resideth not onely in the vnderstanding but also in the will in the memory in the affections and in euery faculty of the soule This is the Doctrine of the holy Scriptures and therefore Catholicke The Scripture saith Corde creditur ad iustitiam With the heart man beleeueth vnto righteousnesse And againe it saith Ephes. 3. 17. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith And againe Acts 8. 37. Philip said to the Eunuch If thou beleeuest with all thy heart And againe Acts 15. 9. Purifying their hearts by faith By these and such like places of Scriptures it is euident that the proper subiect of Faith is the heart of man Now by the heart is meant euery power and faculty of the soule and not onely the vnderstanding as Aquinas vnderstandeth the forenamed place of Acts 15. 9. that by purifying of the heart is meant the illuminating of the vnderstanding but also the will the memory the affections and euery faculty of the soule of man First the Sriptures oftentimes by naming the heart meaneth the vnderstanding As Ephesians 1. 18. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the vulgar Latine rendreth it word for word Illuminatos oculis cordis vestri The eyes of your heart being illuminated but our English translation hath it The eyes of your vnderstanding being enlightened thereby giuing the true meaning of the place that by the heart there is meant the vnderstanding So the Lord faith Matth. 13. 15. Ne corde intelligant Lest they vnderstand with their heart In 1. Kings 3. 9. Salomon askes an vnderstanding heart In 2. Cor. 3. 15. the vaile ouer the Iewes heart was a note of their blindnesse and ignorance in the mysterie of Christ. Secondly heart in Scripture is often taken for the will As Acts 7. 39. The Israelites in their hearts turned back into Egypt that is their will was so if they had had power So Acts 11. 23. Barnabas exhorts that with purpose of heart they would cleaue vnto the Lord that is with a ready will and constant resolution So 1. Cor. 7. 37. He that stands firme in his heart hauing power ouer his owne will and hath decreed in his heart Thirdly the heart is taken for the memory Luke 1. 66. All that heard laid vp those things in their hearts that is in their memory So Deut. 4. 9. Take heede to thy selfe lest thou forget the things which thine eyes haue seene and lest they depart from thy heart that is from thy memory And Deut. 11. 18. Ye shall lay vp these my words in your heart c. that is ye shall remember them continually as signes bound vpon your hands and as front-lets betweene your eyes Hence it is that the Latines vse Recordari for to remember or to record implying that remembrance is an act springing from the heart Hence also doth our Sauiour call the heart the treasury Matth. 12. 35. which agreeth with the memory called Thesaurus rerum the Treasury of things Fourthly heart in Scripture is also taken for the affections and passions of the soule Matth. 6. 21. Where your treasure is there will your heart be also that is your affection So Rom. 1. 24. God gaue them vp to their owne hearts lusts And Psal 62. 10. If riches increase set not your heart vpon them Thus all the motions and inclinations and cogitations in man are referred to the heart as the prime fountaine whence they all originally flow So all the vertues intellectuall and morall are said to be in the heart we say A wise heart a good heart a valiant heart an humble heart an honest heart c. And the contrary as wee say A foolish heart a wicked heart a faint heart a proud heart a deceitfull heart c. Of a valiant man we say He hath a Lyons heart and of a coward He hath the heart of a Hare and of a meeke man He hath a Lambes heart As Nabuchadnezzar for his pride had a Beasts heart giuen him that is a bruitish disposition to liue like a Beast as hee did Now the issue of all this is that faith is that same radicall grace wherein the whole life of the Saints of God all holy graces haue their being and existence of holinesse and from whence they grow and flow euen as all the branches from the roote and the streames from the fountaine For as the heart is the fountaine of all the faculties of the soule of the vnderstanding of the will of the memory of the affections motions cogitations c. all which are signified by the heart in Scripture so Faith beeing in the heart as in the proper seate and subiect and being said to purifie the heart it giues vs to know the excellent nature of Faith which is to diffuse its vertue to the purifying and possessing of euery part and faculty of the soule For possessing the heart it possesseth and filleth the whole soule It illuminates and informes the vnderstanding it reformes and conformes the will it confirmes it with hope it inflames it with loue it prompts the memory with holy meditations and remembrances of Gods loue and goodnesse it moderates and tempers all the affections and passions it directs the motions and cogitations of the soule to their right end and scope and in a word the office of this faith is to
exclude the necessity of a distinct Faith in Christ but also put a maine difference between iustification and saluation For a Pontifician may be iustified and yet not saued Vega addes his reason for saith hee although Christ bound all men to beleeue the Gospell when he commanded his Apostles that they should preach it throughout the whole world pronounced them damned that beleeued not yet seeing there may be an inuincible ignorance of the Gospell that is eyther for want of the meanes or by reason of a wicked and peruerse disposition as they say this shall be no impediment in this respect why they may not be both iustified and saued which shall obserue other naturall precepts Thus the Councell of Trent with her Pontificians deale with Faith and Iustification as Cheaters who when they play with Nouices doe so shuffle and packe the Cardes that they make the game sure on their owne side and all to cheate the other of his money So the Pontificians cheate their simple people of their siluer and soules too by shuffling the particular sauing faith in Christ with such sleight of hand in the whole pack of generall faith that they are sure neuer to rise sauers Well come wee now to shew the vanity of this generall faith by setting against it the speciall particular faith which Gods Word teacheth and requireth of euery one that is truly iustified and so consequently perfectly saued We haue spoken before sufficiently of the proper and speciall obiect of sauing faith to wit Iesus Christ the summe of the Gospell and the substance of all Gods promises Therefore we will now confine our speech to the specialty and particularity of sauing faith in respect of the common subiect of it to wit euery beleeuer in particular It is the Catholicke Doctrine of the holy Scriptures that euery beleeuer must haue a speciall particular proper faith of his owne yea a cleare explicite and vnfolded faith in Christ that hee is not onely the Redeemer of mankinde in generall nor onely that we may be saued by him but that euery one in particular doe beleeue Christ is his Redeemer and Sauiour This is the speciall property of sauing faith particularly to apply Christ with all Gods promises in him to my soule and thy soule The Scriptures are very pregnant for the proofe of this point both in the Law in the Prophets and in the New Testament In the Law this particular faith is shadowed vnto vs by three remarkable types one of the hand another of the eyes and the third of the Sicle of the Sanctuary To which also we may adde the particular sacrifice which euery man was to bring for his owne sinne We will begin with the last In the Law euery man was to bring a particular sacrifice for his particular sinne Leuit. 4. 27. 28. If any of the common people sinne c. not onely the Priest as vers 3. nor onely the Congregation vers 13. but if any one of the common people sinne c. then hee shall bring What an offering in generall no hee shall bring his offering as a Kidde without blemish for his sinne which hee hath sinned Now this offering without blemish what was it but a liuely type of Christ as of the Lambe without spot as Peter speaketh who was offered vp and sacrifised for euery sinner beleeuing in particular For the further confirmation of this point in the second place euery man bringing his particular offering for his particular sinne was to lay his hand vpon his offering as Leuit. 4. 29. Thus the Priest must doe also vers 4. thus the whole Congregation must doe vers 15. All must lay their hands vpon their sacrifice Now what is meant by the hand but a particular faith in euery beleeuer apprehending and applying Christ to the taking away and purging of his sinne This we touched before in the point of imputation where wee shewed that the hand thus layed vpon the sacrifice was a figure of faith Origen applies the laying on of the hand to the imposing of our sinnes vpon Christ the true sacrifice Hence it was that together with the imposition of the hand the sinnes of the offendors were confessed ouer the sacrifice and put vpon the head thereof Leuit. 16. 21. So that this imposition of the hand as it did figure the laying of our sinnes vpon Christ whereby he became sinne for vs by imputation bearing them vpon him So also it was a reciprocall signification of the imputation and application of Christs righteousnesse to euery beleeuer whereby wee become the righteousnesse of God in him the hand of faith comming betweene laying our sinne vpon Christ our sacrifice and receiuing his righteousnesse vnto vs. Among the Hebrew Doctors Maimony saith of this imposition of the hand or hands that deafe men fooles children seruants weomen the blinde and the stranger might not impose their hand vpon the sacrifice Now wee know that the deafe fooles and children are voyde of actuall faith seruants weomen blinde and strangers might be in a mysterie debarred and excluded for seruants were types of the seruants of sinne weomen wee know were denyed the vse of Circumcision they were not reckoned in the number of those sixe hundred thousand that came out of Egypt who were all men of warre types of Christs Souldiers who must be of a Masculine vertue And Abraham the Father of the faithfull is said in Scripture to beget sonnes but not daughters Abraham non genuit filias saith Origen But this was in a mysterie only as Melchisedechs birth and death are not mentioned in Scripture and that in a mystery The blinde were of the nature of the deafe and the strangers argued those that were aliens from the Common-wealth of Israel and strangers from the Couenants of promise as the Apostle speaketh Not that I meane these were denyed to haue any part in Gods Couenant but in a mystery and type onely as we haue said Also the same Rabbi saith that this imposition of the hand must be done by a mans self not by another as the iust man shall liue by his faith not by anothers faith Abac. 2. 4. It must bee done with all a mans might as Philip said to the Eunuch If thou beleeuest with all thy heart And immediately vpon the imposition the sacrifice was slaine figuring our faith in Christs bloud Rom 3. 25. Origen compares faith to the figure of the holy Sicle Leuit. 3. Siclo sancto comparandus nobis est Christus qui peccata nostra dissoluat Siclus sanctus fidei nostrae formam tenet We must with the Sicle of the Sanctuary purchase vnto vs Christ who may take away our sinnes The holy Sicle is the figure of our faith for saith hee if thou shalt offer faith as a price Christ as it were the immaculate Ramme being giuen to be sacrificed thou shalt receiue remission of sinnes Now this particular faith in Christ is absolutely necessary for
Christ by which they are at least in part regenerate sanctified and cleansed Obiect But is there no preparation vnto the receiuing of grace and iustification Is not at the least the hearing of the Word a worke of preparation to grace Answ. True it is that faith sauing and iustifying faith commeth by hearing and hearing by the word of God Rom. 10. 17. So that the hearing of the Word of God is the ordinarie meanes to beget sauing Faith and Grace in vs. Obiect But hearing of the Word is in our owne power and hearing of the Word is a preparation vnto Grace therefore it is in our owne power to prepare our selues vnto grace Answ. To heare is in our owne power but hearing of the Word is not simply a preparatiue vnto grace but rather an externall meanes thereunto For vnlesse God do giue aspeciall blessing to the outward meanes of hearing the Word in opening our hearts as he did the heart of Lydia wee heare the word but as a sound or as a strange historie or parable and as a deepe mysterie hidden from vs. The Iewes did heare Christs Oracles and see his Miracles yet for all that were they no better than deafe and blinde men God must open the heart to vnderstand and to apprehend by Faith the mysterie of Christ preached else Paul may plant and Apollos water in vaine Obiect To what purpose then is it for any to come to heare the Word of God if thereby he be not the better fitted and disposed to receiue grace Answ. Although God be the only author and actor of working grace in vs yet for as much as he doth this by the Ministerie of his Word which he hath appointed as the ordinarie meanes to beget faith and all other sauing graces in vs therefore it is our part and duty to attend vpon and vse the means waiting for Gods blessing vpon it So that all the worke of preparation to grace on our part is without vs not within vs namely the hearing of the Word preached and Gods speciall blessing vpon it Obiect But it is in our free will and choyce to heare the Word of God or not to heare it and therefore something is to be ascribed to free-will in setting vs at least in the way to iustification Answ. It is no otherwise in our free will and choyce before our conuersion to heare Gods Word than to heare any humane historie propounded vnto vs. For before our vnderstanding bee by faith illuminated to apprehend and apply Christ vnto our selues and to know him to be our Sauiour in particular we haue no will to heare the Word as the Word of God which is able to saue our soules but rather as the word of man Obiect But doth not a man vnderstand the Word preached vnlesse first his vnderstanding be illuminated by Faith Answ. A naturall man may by hearing come to haue a generall vnderstanding of the Word of God as a true historie but before he bee indued with sauing faith from God his vnderstanding is not illuminated to know God in Christ to bee his Father and Christ to bee his Redeemer which is the summe of the Gospell and the seale which wee set vpon the truth of God therein Iohn 3 33. Obiect But Iohn Baptist was sent to prepare the way of the Lord. Answ. The Ministerie of Iohn was to teach men to beleeue in Christ pointing at him that was to come So that by his Ministerie men beleeuing and beeing baptized into Christ they might thereby be said to bee prepared to a more plentifull measure of receiuing Christ and his Spirit as afterwards they did hauing the first seeds of Faith already sowne in their hearts Obiect But another obiects before true conuersion a man must renounce the first couenant become humble confesse his vnworthinesse his hardnesse of heart his naturall disabilitie towards his owne saluation hee must feare God loue God and the like or else a man is incapable of and indisposed to receiue the grace of conuersion Answ. Indeed a fellow-minister of the Gospell was very earnest on a time in defending of this He desired me to resolue him in it by writing as being a matter of maine consequence and a maine ground wherewith many other opinions on foote in these daies would stand or fall Now I could haue wished to haue heard his reasons of that his obiection but time at least permitted not Therefore my answer shall be short as also in respect of all that before said First then for a man to renounce the first couenant to become humble c. I say no man can doe it till he be in Christ. My reason is because till a man be in Christ he is dead blinde proud hard-hearted without the feare of God without the loue of God Euery man is actually either the child of wrath in the state of sinne and death or the childe of God in the state of grace and life There is no terme betweene these two There is no terme or medium betweene a man liuing and dead but the very instant of his soules departing from the bodie which is in the twinckling of an eye No more terme or medium is there betweene a man dead in sinne and liuing by grace but the very instant of his conuersion For euery man I say is eyther a dead man in the state of sinne or a liuing man in the state of grace a third terme cannot come betweene Now while a man is in the state of sinne he is dead If dead he vnderstands nothing that sauours of grace nor hath hee any disposition or affection in him thereunto While he is vnder the dominion of sinne hee is nothing but meere enmitie and rebellion against God and his Grace as the Apostle saith Rom. 8. The wisedome of the flesh or To be carnally minded is enmity against God This is the state of a man vnregenerate vnconuerted Beeing thus hee is proud senslesse of his hardnesse of heart senslesse of any naturall disabilitie towards his owne saluation without loue without feare of God as Rom. 3. He is not subiect to the Law of God neither indeede can bee Rom. 8. Hee is so farre from renouncing the first couenant of works that before his conuersion the more morall vertues which Saint Augustine cals but splendida peccata either the frame of his naturall and corporall constitution or of his more liberall education hath adorned him with the more is hee apt to relye vpon the first couenant trusting to bee saued by his good workes But I say againe that when I see in a man these things that he renounceth the first couenant that he is humble that he confesseth his vnworthinesse that hee complaineth of the hardnesse of his heart that he renounceth himselfe and his owne abilities towards his owne saluation and the like these are the signes and fruits of a true Conuert say I. No say you The matter now standing betweene your No and my Yea who shall be the vmpire
here may be fitly moued Quest. Whether the obedience of the whole Law of God wrought by Christ for vs is auaileable as to redeeme vs from the punishment of sinne so to purchase vnto vs eternall life in heauen The reason of the question is because not the Law if it had beene for euer perfectly fulfilled by Adam had any promise of that eternall life and immediate vision in heauen but only of this life Heauen is not within the Couenant of workes Answ. True it is that the fulfilling of the Law in it selfe simply considered hath no proportion with that endlesse life aboue For the first Adam was of the earth earthly and all his happinesse promised vpon the condition of keeping the Law for ought is reuealed or can be demonstrated was terrestriall But now forasmuch as the Law is fulfilled by Christ this obedience reacheth to a higher reward because there is a higher promise made than that of the first Adam Because Christ the second Adam is the Lord from heauen the Eternal whose Kingdom is not of this world but of a better a heauenly whose house is not made with hands So that his obedience to the Law in regard of his person becomes a rich and inestimable purchase of that better Kingdome for vs. For as is the heauenly such are they that are heauenly to wit the generation of God in and by Iesus Christ 1 Cor. 15. 48. 49. 50. vide Iohn 3. 13. No man ascendeth vp to heauen but he c. Thus haue we proued out of the holy Scriptures how the formall cause of iustification or that which giues a perfect being to our iustification making vs perfectly iust in the sight of God is the imputation of Christs righteousnesse vnto vs and that euen of his whole righteousnesse actiue in his life and passiue in his death And that the formall cause of our iustification is not within vs but without vs not inherent but by imputation may easily appeare from the maine difference betweene the first Couenant and the second The first Couenant was that which was made with Adam in Paradise Doe this and liue the second that made with man after his fal Beleeue and liue So the first Couenant was of workes the second of faith the first of an inherent righteousnesse of our owne the second of a righteousnesse without vs not our owne simply but by relation namely made ours to wit Christs righteousnesse who of God is made vnto vs righteousnesse called in Scriptures the righteousnesse which is of faith Not to obserue and know this difference well is the ready way to leade men into all errour of this mysterie of God The Apostle doth notably set downe this difference between the first and second Couenant as termes infinitely opposite and admitting of no reconciliation Rom. 10. 3. when hee saith that the Iewes being ignorant of Gods righteousnesse and going about to establish their owne righteousnesse haue not submitted themselues to the vnrighteousnesse of God For Christ is the end of the Law for righteousnesse to euery one that beleeueth For Moses describeth the righteousnesse which is of the Law that the man which doth those things shall liue by them But the righteousnesse which is of Faith is to confesse with thy mouth the Lord Iesus and to beleeue in thy heart that God raised him from the dead and thou shalt be saued Also Rom. 11. 6. If it be by grace it is no more of workes otherwise grace is no more grace but if it bee of workes then it is no more grace otherwise worke is no more worke Also Rom. 4. the Apostle setting downe this same opposition betweene the Couenant of workes and of faith saith on this wise v. 2. c. If Abraham were iustified by workes he hath whereof to glory but not before God For what saith the Scripture Abraham beleeued God and it was counted to him for righteousnesse Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace but of debt but to him that worketh not but beleeueth on him that iustifieth the vngodly his faith is counted for righteousnesse Euen as Dauid also describeth the blessednesse of the man vnto whom God imputeth righteousnesse without workes saying Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiuen and whose sinnes are couered Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sinne What clearer Testimonies Yea this did God himselfe teach vs not obscurely by his own act Gen. 3. For when Adam had forfeited the first Couenant which was of workes made with him in Paradise before his fall and after his fall had made with him another Couenant to wit of faith in Christ the promised seede of the woman What doth God thereupon Hee shuts man out of Paradise and from the Tree of life lest putting forth his hand hee should take of it and liue for euer What is meant hereby Paradise was not only the place but also did signifie the happy condition of Adams blessednesse which he was to enioy in his innocencie the Tree of life was a sacrament and symbol of life appointed as a speciall meanes to preserue man from dying or decaying in his naturall strength so long as he continued in his obedience But by disobedience hee forfeited the Couenant brake the condition lost his former happinesse and was depriued of the meanes of that life wherein hee should haue liued for euer vpon earth Now God shutting him out from the earthly Paradise the place of earthly blisse and from the Tree of life the sacrament and symbol of immortalitie and hauing shewed vnto him another Tree of life in the middest of the Paradise of God to wit Iesus Christ who is very God and eternall life which whosoeuer by reaching out the hand of Faith eateth of shall liue for euer God I say doth hereby plainely teach vs that in attaining to the heauenly Paradise by the Tree of life Iesus Christ wee must not haue any more to doe with the things pertaining to the first Couenant now altogether forfeited and from which Adam and his posteritie is for euer banished neuer to returne or intermeddle there any more Gen. 3 22. 23. 24. Therefore to teach and beleeue the doctrine of an inherent righteousnesse whereby to attaine eternall life is euen as it were in despite of God and of his holy Angels the Cherubims keeping the way of the Tree of life to reuiue the old Couenant of workes againe and with the hand of the body to wit good workes reach out to take of the tree of life This is a Babylonish confounding of the two Couenants which stand vpon such irreconcileable termes of difference Is there no more difference betweene Do this and liue and Beleeue and liue betweene mans owne righteousnesse and Gods righteousnesse the establishing of the one being the abolishing of the other Nor is it to purpose that these Babylonians alledge that they ascribe their inherent righteousnesse to God as the author of it and by whom
we to the Chrystall fountaines of Christs truth CHAP. VII The Catholike Faith of the Doctrine of Faith as the sole immediate Instrument to apprehend and apply the righteousnesse of Christ imputed to vs to our Iustification as beeing the effectuall meane of our vnion with him HAuing seene what credit Faith carryeth among the Pontificians in the work of Iustification which at the best is allowed no more but eyther to dispose and make a man the more apt that also with the helpe of other disposing graces to receiue Iustification which notwithstanding for all his Faith he may faile and come short of or else to come in for a share but must be content with the least share or none at all among other graces as Charity Penance Martyrdome and such like all which take place of Faith in Iustification Let vs now come to take an estimate of Faith according to the standard of Catholike Doctrine weighing it in the most vnpartiall ballance of the Sanctuary Nor doe we purpose in this place to speake particularly and punctually of the propertie and kinde of Faith whereby a man is said to be iustified as referring that to the more proper place but wee will content our selues so to speake of faith here in generall as the only immediate instrumentall cause in vs whereby we come to bee made righteous in the sight of God For as our Iustification is by the Imputation of Christ and his righteousnesse vnto vs so the only instrumentall meane comming betweene to apply and effectually to worke this imputation of Christ to vs is the act of beleeuing which is the property of Faith As Augustine saith Fidelis est à fide fides à credendo A beleeuer hath his name of Faith and Faith of beleeuing As the Apostle saith With the heart man beleeueth to righteousnesse Faith is the hand of the soule which applyes the sacrifice of Christ for sinne It is the hand that puts on the Robe of the righteousnesse of Christ our elder brother vpon vs by the sweete smell whereof God being well pleased bestoweth the blessing of heauen and earth vpon vs of grace and glorie and all Yea faith hath another singular propertie that it is as it were the ligament or sinew which fasteneth and vniteth euery faithfull member to the head Christ Iesus from the influence of whose fulnesse we receiue and grace for grace And the Councell of Trent seemeth to professe as much though with limitation and restriction to her owne reserued sense saying Nam â—ides nisi adeam spes accedat charitas neque vnit perfectè eum Christo neque corporis eius viâ—um membrum efficit For Faith say they vnlesse hope and charitie bee added vnto it doth neither perfectly vnite with Christ nor make a liuing member of his body The Councell neede not here equiuocate for the matter as if she did admit of our spirituall vnion with Christ by Faith indeed but such a Faith as hath hope and charitie ioyned with it whereas in truth her meaning is that not Faith so much as Hope and Charitie doe vnite vs to Christ sith Hope and Charitie make the vnion perfect which faith doth not Yea Charity and Penance as her intimous Vega saith doe more closely vnite vs to Christ than Faith doth But we shall discusse and discouer this mystâ—rie more cleerely when we come to speak of the kinde of Faith required in Iustification In the mean time suffice it vs that we haue the Councels confession That Faith at least with the helpe of Hope and Charitie doth vnite vs to Christ. And though Vega preferre Charitie and Penance before Faith in this worke of vniting with Christ yet thereby hee doth not altogether exclude Faith Faith therefore according to the Pontificians conâ—ession hath at least a share though the least according to their allowance in working our vnion with Christ. But the Catholicke beliefe ascribeth this worke of vnion with Christ primarily yea and solely to Faith namely as the immediate and onely instrument of Gods spirit in vs. Now our iustification by the imputation of Christs righteousnesse stands in our vnion with Christ. This is confeâ—led of all That whatsoeuer we receiue from Christ it is by vertue of our mysticall vnion with him And saith it is that worketh this vnion not Faith as Pontificians teach before it bee formed by Charity To which Faith only Vega ascribeth a certaine vnion with Christ Comparamus enim nobis Spiritum sanctum iustitiam facimusque vt Christus inhabitet in nobis per Eidem informem aut saltem per â—idem vt prius est natura quà m formetur For saith he wee get vnto our selues the holy Ghost and righteousnesse and doe cause Christ to dwell in vs by Faith vnformed or at least by Faith as it is by nature before it bee formed So that by this doctrine a dead Faith or that which differeth not from the Faith of Diuels doth cause our vnion with Christ or Christ to dwell in vs. But let vs see how Vega cleereth this doctrine from this imputation A little after in his second question of faith and workes taking vpon him as he is very venterous to answer an argument brought to proue that Paul excludes no beleeuer from saluation where he saith The righteousnesse of God by the Faith of Iesus Christ vnto all and vpon all that beleeue To this place saith Vega many commonly say that Paul said not Vnto all and vpon all that beleeue him but in him which is onely proper to those that haue charitie and by loue tend vnto him Aliud enim inquiunt est credere Deo quod est ei â—idem adhibere aliud credere Deum quod est credere Deum esse aliud credere in Deum quod est credendo amare credendo diligere credendo in eum ire eius membris incorporari For it is one thing say they to beleeue God that is to giue credit vnto him another thing to beleeue God that is to beleeue that God is and another to beleeue in God that is by beleeuing to loue him by beleeuing to affect him by beleeuing to goe into him and to bee incorporate into his members They are the words of St. Augustine vsed by him very frequently throughout his workes and by name in his nine and twentieth Tract vpon Iohn which Vega quoteth Well how doth Vega auoyde this Argument concerning Faith in Christ bringing saluation vpon all that beleeue Nihil valet hoc refugium commune Non enim habetur graece â—i neque in eum sed absolute dicitur In omnes super omnes qui credunt This common refuge saith hee is nothing worth For it is said absolutely Vnto all and vpon all thatbeleeue the Greeke hath not him or in him Note here good Reader that these Pontificians howsoeuer they would magnifie and preferre their vulgar Latine translation before the originall Hebrew and Greeke yet where it makes not for them they can
yet the speciall obiect of it is Christ Iesus the word incarnate and the speciall promises of life made vnto vs of God in him Now by this which hath beene already said we may easily see the sequell and issue of all the rest of those priuiledges and markes that the Pontificians put vpon their Catholick Faith For seeing they admit of no other Faith in kinde than the Historicall we will easily yeeld vnto them that this their Faith may be and is in the very Deuils and Damned We will yeeld them also that their Faith being dead of it selfe and without forme or being and receiuing life forme and being from Charity may also vpon the losse of Charity become as well dead and vnformed againe as before it receiued life from Charity But whereas they say that this Faith dead as it is and being fruitlesse and without Charity yet is sufficient to make a man a Christian and a Beleeuer wee allow them this also thus farre that it may make them such Christians and Beleeuers as to send them to hell amongst the Deuils and Damned their fellow-Beleeuers as their fideles fornicarios adulteros molles musculorum concubitores fures c. their faithfull fornicators adulterers effeminate Sodomites and Catamites theeues and other such their Christian beleeuers whom by Trents owne confession their Faith excludes from the Kingdome of Heauen But this Faith of theirs being no other in kinde but that which is common with the damned to wit of it selfe dead and fruitlesse let them deuise neuer such precious wares to stuffe it withall as Charity Hope and the like to put life into it it will proue no more a liuing Faith than Michals Image with the pillow stuffed with Goates haire laide vnder the head of it proued a liuing man And so consequently it can neuer make a man such a Christian and Beleeuer as to bring him to the possession of Gods Kingdome But are they to be accounted Christians and Beleeuers that goe to Hell Yes surely as good as Romane-Catholickes for such onely they account their Christians and Beleeuers Well let them enioy their priuiledge In the meane time they must know that God hath another kinde of beleeuing Christians For as the Apostle saith As he is not a Iew that is one outwardly nor that Circumcision which is outward in the flesh but hee is a Iew that is one within and Circumcision that of the heart in the spirit not in the letter whose praise is not of men but of God So he is not a Christian that is one outwardly neither is that Baptisme which is outward on the flesh but hee is a Christian that is one inwardly and Baptisme that of the heart in the spirit not in the letter whose praise is not of men but of God But the Romane-Catholicke Christian beleeuers are they that haue receiued their outward forme of Baptisme and professe themselues members of the Romane-Catholicke Church be they otherwise neuer so damnable in their liues What saith Bernard in his Sermon ad Pastores Neminem vestrum credo esse haereticum omnes creditis c. I beleeue none of you is a hereticke you all beleeue one God in Trinity that Christ suffered and was buried that hee descended and ascended But doth this faith make a man a Catholicke By this faith the very Deuils should bee Catholickes for as St. Iames saith they beleeue and tremble But not that faith which is common with Deuils and men maketh a true Catholick but that only which is common to men with Angelicall spirits What faith is that That which worketh by loue So he Therefore by Bernards doctrine faith voyde of charity which is common with Deuils howsoeuer it may make a Romane-Catholicke and so saith Bernard it may the Deuill as well but a true Catholicke it cannot make St. Augustine also puts a maine difference saying Cum dilectione fides Christiani sine dilectione fides Daemonum the faith of a Christian is ioyned with loue the faith of Deuils is without loue Hee is therefore a Christian that hath such a faith as hath loue ioyned with it and consequently they are no Christians but rather of the number of Deuils as being members of the Deuill whose faith is without loue And the same Austine elsewhere plainly declareth who are the faithfull saying Corpus Christi est Ecclesia non ista aut illa sed toto orbe diffusa Tota autem Ecclesia constans ex omnibus fidelibus quia fideles omnes membra sunt Christi habet illud caput positum in coelestibus quod gubernat corpus suum etsi separatum est à visione sed annectitur charitate Totus Christus caput est corpus eius The body of Christ is the Church not this or that Church but diffused ouer the whole world And the whole Church consisting of all the faithfull in as much as all the faithfull are members of Christ hath that head now set in the heauenly places which gouerneth his body and although it bee separated from vision or sight yet it is knit vnto him by loue For whole Christ is the head and his body So we see St. Augustine confesseth none to bee faithfull but such as are the members of Christ nor any his members but the members of his body the Church nor Christs Church to be any one particular Church as the Romane-Catholicke Church but indeed the Catholicke Church spread ouer the whole world Now if none bee faithfull but such as are the members of Christ of his Church of his body Christ is the Sauiour of his body and not one of his members can perish yea not a haire of their heads shall perish how then are they members of Christ sith Christians sith faithfull that haue no part in that saluation whereof the whole body is partaker But such are members of Christ though not perfectly vnited as Trent saith Chapt. 7. and Vega commends it But St. Augustine knew no such members of Christ. Although by a common appellation or account all Christians as being baptized are called Faithfull in as much as they haue receiued the character of Faith which is Baptisme as Augustine saith yet properly and in a strict sense none are true beleeuers but such as are indued with a true liuing holy iustifying Faith in Christ whereby they are perpetually and inseparably vnited vnto him as liuing members of the same body to reigne with him for euermore So Saint Paul doth exemplifie this in describing a true Iew Hee is not a Iew that is one outward neither is that Circumcision which is outward in the flesh but he is a Iew that is one within and the Circumcision of the heart in the spirit not in the letter whose praise is not of men but of God St. Chrysostome saith Whence art thou made holy Whence art thou called faithfull Is it not therefore because thou art sanctified by the death of Christ Is it not therefore because
Gods Aqua coelestis is neuer wanting to reuiue it Faith may for the time bee asleepe in a mans heart as Christ was in the ship while the heart is euen couered ouer with waues of temptations yet being awakened by prayer by and by the Coast is cleered againe and faith recouering its natiue strength assureth the heart as the Angell did Paul in that dangerous Nauigation That none in this litle Barke of ours shall perish but safely arriue vpon the Honey-hauen of Melita euen at that true Honey-flowing-land of Canaan Indeede Faith suffereth many paroxismes or fits of tentations but all such fits are but as so many fits of an Ague in the Spring which make a man the healthier and stronger all the yeare after What if Faith now and then doe sleepe yet sleepe wee know though it binde vp and as it were deaden the senses for the time that vneath a man sleeping is discerned from a dead man yet this very deepe sleepe tends to the refection of the body and makes it arise more vigorous euen as a Gyant refresht with wine or as a Dazie drooping all the night displayes its cheerfull lookes at the approach of the morning sunne The Sunne may bee eclypsed or clouded a while but anon breakes through all interpositions and oppositions with the fresh darts of his piercing beames and during the Eclipse it lacked none of its light in our vnderstanding but we lacked the light of it in our sense So Faith may be eclipsed or ouer-clouded with tentations for a time yet lose none of its vertue sauing onely we are not so sensible of it till at length it haue ouercome the tentation The fire that is raked vp close vnder the embers though it cannot now be seene yet it is fire still and is the better peserued against the next morning to feede vpon new fewell So Faith though it bee not easily discerned while it lyeth couered vnder the dead ashes of deepe contrition and humiliation for sinne and of mortification yea of tentation yet it is the better preserued that while heauinesse for sinne may endure for a night yet the ioy of Faith returnes in the morning as it were feeding it selfe with new workes of obedience flaming forth in a Christian life So that Faith be it lesse or more is alwayes in its own nature certaine though not alwaies alike in our sense and apprehension The most fruitfull Tree is not free from windes and tempests whereby it is shrewdly shaken yet for all that it is not hindred but rather helped as the Philosophers speake in bringing forth more plentifull fruit in his season sith the roote thereof firmely fastned in the ground is not loosened but rather inlarged to receiue a fresh supply of sappe from the earth to become the more fruitfull Such is a faithfull man whom Dauid compares to a Tree planted by the riuers of water who though he be shaken with sundry windes of temptation yet he bringeth forth his fruit in due season his leafe not withering and his actions prospering sith his Faith as the roote is fixed in Christ hauing the Riuer of the water of life flowing from Gods holy Spirit to nourish it continually for as Esay saith Chap. 27. 10. In measure in the branches thereof wilt thou contend with it in the day when hee bloweth with his fierce winde God moueth the branches of his liuing Trees and that in measure by afflictions and temptations but the rootes are vntouched A ship wee see lying at hull in the Harbour is tossed and tumbled on this side and that side yet being fastned by the Anchor it is not subiect to wracke yea being now vnder sayle exposed to the windes and waues yet it is wafted onwards to the intended Port by the direction of the wise Pilot sitting and steering the Helme according to his Card and Compasse So the faithfull man euen when he rides securely in the Harbour of Tranquility as Dauid did Psal. 30. when hee said In my prosperity I shall neuer bee moued yet God turning away his face for the time hee is troubled but keeping his Anchor-hold of hope both sure and stedfast and adhering to God by faithfull prayer and humble supplication he is preserued from wracke keeping still his faithful station Or let him lanch out into the Deepe and hoyse vp saile for some noble voyage though he be driuen with fierce windes yet Gods Spirit sitting and steering the Helme of his Faith by the Card of Gods Word he bringeth him at length safely to the Hauen where hee would be although through most extreame difficulties So wee see the fruit of sauing Faith may bee suppressed yet the roote not supplanted the act of it may be suspended yet the habit not lost Faith may sleepe and yet liue it may be eclipsed yet hold on his course faint yet not faile sicke yet not to death bruised yet not broken to peeces shaken and weather-beaten yet not suffer vtter shipwracke languish yet not perish Bernard alledging St. Augustines words to wit Fides non coniectando vel opiniando habetur in corde in quo est ab eo cuius est sedcerta scientia acclamante conscientia that is Faith is found in the heart wherein it is of him whose it is not by coniecture or opinion but by certaine knowledge the conscience according with it Bernard thereupon inferreth these words Ego securus in Magistri Gentium sententiam pergo scio quoniam non confundar Placet mihi fateor illius de fide definitio Fides est ait substantia rerum sperandarum argumentum non apparentium Substantia inquit rerum sperandarum non inanium phantasia coniecturarum Substantia nomine aliquid tibi certum â—ixumque praefigitur Non est enim fides estimatio sed certitudo I doe securely follow the iudgement of the Teacher of the Gentiles and I know that I shall not bee confounded His definition of Faith I confesse pleaseth me well Faith saith he is the substance of things hoped for and the euidence of things not seene The substance of things hoped for not the phantasie of vaine coniectures Vnder the name of substance thou hast something certaine and fixed layd downe For faith is not opinion but certainty So Bernard And this was the Catholicke Doctrine of the ancienter Fathers of the Church St. Chrysostome vpon the wordes of the Apostle Heb. 10. 19. Hauing therefore Brethren boldnesse to enter into the most holy by the bloud of Iesus saith Whence is this boldnesse from remission of sins And vpon the 22. vers Let vs draw neere with a true heart in full assurance of faith c. Hee saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which of vs draw neare Hee that is holy by faith And that with a true heart in full assurance of Faith How is that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wee must so beleeu as if we did with our eies behold things visible before vs. And much more certainely
saying that free-will is altogether lost and extinguished by Adams fall The praise which Vega their Interpreter giues to Richardus learned saying as he cals it of free-will wee also with its proper limitation admit of When thou hearest saith he that free-will is a captiue vnderstand nothing else but that it is weake and depriued of the vertue of its natiue power Being thus weake then how should it dispose it selfe to receiue grace No saith the Councell as also their Schoole-men Free-will being weake it must be stirred vp moued and helped by grace and then it disposeth it selfe freely to receiue the grace of iustification So free-will as the God Baal being asleepe must bee awakened and stirred vp by Gods grace Well but what grace of God is this I pray you that thus moueth mans free-will as the waight that sets the wheele a going Surely I can learne no more from the Councels own mouth who knowes full well how to temper her words but that this mouing grace of God is some sound in the eare whereby Popish faith is conceiued Or else when God toucheth mans heart by the illumination of the Holy Ghost according to that of Gabriel Biel who saith that the will in the acts of it doth presuppose the acts of the vnderstanding and the vnderstanding wee know must be informed by hearing or by speciall illumination But in generall this grace they call the first grace or a grace that is freely giuen differing from the second grace which they call a grace that makes a man gracious and acceptable They say this first grace is freely giuen because no merit goes before it neither is this any sauing grace because as they confesse all men are alike capable of it and many receiue it that neuer come to saluation This is that grace which Arminius cals his sufficient grace But Aquinas saith plainly that this first grace is not the grace of the Holy Ghost for to the grace of the Holy Ghost hee attributeth the merit of Condignity but to that grace whereby the will disposeth it selfe the merit only of Congruitie But this first grace being once receiued and entertained by free-wil cooperating with it a man disposeth prepareth himselfe to merit the second grace by way of Congruity And yet Aquinas speaking of this grace saith Deus non dat gratiam nisi dignis c. God giues not grace but to the worthy yet saith hee not so as being first worthy but because hee by grace makes them worthy O miserable perplexity If God giue grace to none but to the worthy then they were worthy before hee gaue them grace but if they were not worthy before he gaue them grace how doth he giue grace to none but to the worthie But whatsoeuer this first grace is wherby the will is first moued Aquinas tels vs what it is not namely that it is not the grace of the Holy Ghost for the merit that proceedeth of the grace of the Holy Ghost is of Condignity but the merit that proceedeth from free-will moued by the first grace is onely the merit of Congruity farre inferiour to that of Condignitie But that we may not lose our selues in this Maze let Vega and Soto tell vs the Counsels minde in this point as being themselues most prinie to it Onely the worst is wee finde them two of opposite opinions in this point of merit by Congruitie Vega admitteth merit of Congruity after the first grace disposing a man to the grace of iustification But it is pretty to note the vafrous and subtile elusion and euasion that he findeth against the streame of Fathers and especially of St. Augustine in this point For whereas they as himselfe confesseth shut out all kind of merit from iustification teaching that it is freely giuen to all Vega turnes the Cat in the pan and saith Loquuntur de gratia iustificationis c. They speake saith he of the grace of iustification as it comprehends all the gifts of God belonging to our iustification whereof in that proposition a little before hee makes the first grace to be one And so take iustification as it comprehends the first grace in it it excludes all merit because no merit goes before the first grace as the most of them teach but taking the grace of iustification alone by it selfe which is the gratia gratum faciens the grace that makes a man accepted it may bee questioned saith he whether that may not fall vnder the merit at least of Congruitie Whereupon hee inferreth his fourth proposition which is That faith and other good workes whereby wee are disposed vnto the second grace by which wee are formally iustified and made acceptable to God doe by Congruitie merit such grace and our iustification Yea Vega ibid. saith Alia sunt merita ex congruo quae in peccatoribus reperiuntur quae nullo praemiâ— digna sunt quia fiunt ab hominibus Deo ingratis exoâ—is sed tamen eiusmodi ex se sunt vt Congruum sit diuinam bonitatem condeceat ea ex liberalitate benignitate sua acceptare vt trahat peccatores ad suam gratiam Of another sort are those merits of Congruitie found in sinners which are worthy of no reward as being done by men not liked nor beloued of God but yet of themselues they are such that it is Congruous and meete and beseeming the diuine goodnesse out of his liberalitie and bountie to accept them that hee may draw sinners to his grace But Soto on the other side shutteth out all manner of merit of Congruity going before iustification Pergimus pro ingenio nostro constituere c. Wee proceede saith Soto according to our capacitie to define that before iustification which is wrought by that grace that makes a man accepted there is in mans workes no merit either of Condignitie or of Congruitie But a little after hee makes a full amends for it saying Cum autem quis c. When a man begins once to be in the state of grace to wit of iustification then may hee merit both for himselfe by Condignitie and for others by Congruitie Other merit of Congruity going before the grace of iustification Soto confesseth he findes no foundation of any vnlesse that of St. Augustine alleadged by Thomas Fides meretur iustificationem that faith meriteth iustification But Soto would haue this put among St. Augustines retractations whereas by Merit in that place is meant not either any Congruity or Condignity termes vnknowne to the ancient Fathers in any such sense but onely the meanes or instrument to procure or acquire grace And as Soto himselfe a little after acknowledgeth St. Augustines meaning expressed by himselfe by the word Impetrare iustificationem That whereas he saith Faith doth merit iustification his meaning is faith obtaineth iustification sine aliqua ratione meriti without any respect of merit Here let mee insert by the way a worthy annotation
can reach vnto I enuie it not But at the best when all is done is it euer the neerer to grace or iustification If nature haue any faculty at all this way surely it is to be found in those men that most excell in the gifts of nature as in the Philosophers the learned the disputers of the world Wherefore then doe not these receiue the Gospell with all readinesse and freedome of will Nay are they not rather the further off from Christ by how much nature seemes more excellent and perfect in them Saint Paul makes a challenge 1. Cor. 1. 20. Where is the wise Where is the Scribe Where is the disputer of this world Hath not God made the wisedome of this world foolishnesse and vers 21. he concludeth flatly that seeing the world by wisedome knew not God in the wisedome of God it pleased God by the foolishnesse of preaching to saue them that beleeue And vers 26. Not many wise men after the flesh are called c. And our Sauiour Mat. 11. 25. I thanke thee O Father Lord of heauen and earth that thou hast hid these things from the wise and men of vnderstanding and hast reuealed them vnto babes And therefore hence we may conclude That the more our nature presumeth of its owne perfection any way in disposing it selfe to grace the more blinde it is and further off from grace though the Councell of Trent accurseth those that shall condemne natures disposing of it selfe to grace Can. 7. Nay bring me an Angell in his pure naturals innocent as Adam in his first creation his will most free vntainted vncaptiued yet what relation is there betweene him and the word incarnate This is a high and hidden mysterie which neither Adam in his purest naturals no nor Angell but by speciall reuelation Ephes. 3. 10. could by their naturall knowledge attaine vnto As the Lord said to Peter Flesh and bloud hath not reuealed this vnto thee What free-will then can there be in vs by nature towards that thing which our naturall vnderstanding is altogether ignorant of The naturall man receiueth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishnesse vnto him neither can hee know them because they are spiritually discerned Now that which the vnderstanding apprehends not the will desires not Ignoti nulla cupido Thomas Aquinas saith well and truly Hoc est ex institutione diuinae prouidentiae vt nihil agat vltra suam virtutem Vita autem aeterna est quoddam bonum excedens proportionem naturae creatae quia etiam excedit cognitionem desiderium eius secundum illud 1. Cor. 2. 9. Oculus non vidit c. This is of the appointment of Gods prouidence that nothing should worke beyond its proper vertue But eternall life is a certaine good exceeding the proportion of created nature because it also exceedeth the knowledge and desire of it according to that 1. Cor. 2. 9. Eye hath not seene nor eare heard neither haue entred into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that loue him for God hath reuealed them vnto vs by his spirit c. And so Thomas concludeth that not euen Adam in his perfection could merit eternall life without a supernaturall grace And the same Aquinas Ea quae sunt fidei excedunt rationem humanam those things which are of faith exceede humane reason And a little after Homo assentiendo his quae sunt fidei eleuatur supra naturam suam c. A man by assenting to those things which are of faith is eleuated aboue his nature therefore it is necessary that faith be infused into him by a supernaturall gift of God Yea say the Pontificians We ascribe the first motion of free-will to the worke of a preuenting grace But by their owne confession this work of grace is no other but to moue stirre vp as it were to awaken the will Indeede if the Trent-Fathers would not hypocritically halt in this point but speake ingenuously and plainly and say That God by his spirit through the preaching of the word doth illuminate the blinde vnderstanding of the naturall man as he did the heart of Lydia to see the mysterie of Christ and so the will is inflamed to desire and long after saluation then wee and all Catholicke beleeuers would in this point giue them the right hand of fellowship This is indeede the right and true preparation vnto the grace of iustification if not rather the true grace it selfe already begun in our hearts For this is life eternall that they know thee to bee the onely true God and whom thou hast sent Christ Iesus And as the Prophet Esay speaketh By his knowledge shall my righteous seruant iustifie maâ—ie for he shall beare their iniquities which implyeth that holy knowledge and illumination is the first worke of grace and iustification knowledge there being taken for sauing faith faith being that to the soule which the eye is to the bodie as the Lord applyeth it Iohn 3. 14. 15. Or if these Romane-Catholicke Doctors would but vse the same language that the ancient Fathers of the Church haue vsed concerning free-will they should herein shew themselues honest men Saint Augustine confesseth plainly that man by abusing his free-will hath lost both himselfe and it And by this reckoning more is required than a bare mouing helping or stirring vp of the will as if it were onely lame when it is quite lost That therefore in the Prophet must here take place I will take from them their stonie heart and giue them a heart of flesh The heart in mans conuersion must be new made and moulded againe But they will obiect that free-will by mans fall is not altogether lost according to that of St. Augustine Peccate Adâ— liberum arbitrium de hominum natura perisse non dicimus Wee doe not say saith hee that by the sinne of Adam mans nature is depriued of free-will or that free-will is perished But note what St. Augustine there addeth Sed ad peccandum valere in hominibus subditis Diabolo ad bene autem pieque viuendum non valere nisi ipsa voluntas hominis Dei gratia fuerit liberata ad omne bonum actionis sermonis cogitationis adiuta But wee say saith he that free-will in men subiect to Satan preuaileth to the committing of sinne but to good and godly liuing it is of no force vnlesse mans will be freed by Gods grace and assisted vnto euery good worke and word and thought And in his book de gratia libero arbitrio ca. 17. he saith He worketh first that we may will who when we do wil doth perfect vs by cooperating that therfore we may wil he works without vs but whe we are willing seruile that we may perform he cooperates with vs. And c. 16. vpon Phil. 2. Deus est qui operatur in vobis c. Certum est nos facere cum
spem vitae aeternae After this disposition or preparation doth follow iustification it selfe which is not onely the remission of sinnes but also sanctification and renouation of the inner man by a voluntary receiuing of grace and of gifts Whence a man of vniust is made iust and of an enemy a friend that he may be an heire according to the hope of eternall life To which also agreeth the eleuenth Canon of this Session Si quis dixerit homines iustificari vel sola imputatione iustitiae Christi vel sola peccatorum remissione exclusa gratia charitate quae in cordibus eorum per Spiritum sanctum diffundatur atque illis inhaereat aut etiam gratiam qua iustificamur esse tantum fauorem Dei anathema sit If any man shall say that men are iustified either by the onely imputation of Christs righteousnesse or by the onely remission of sins excluding grace and charity which is shed abroad in their hearts by the holy Ghost and is inherent in them or else that the grace whereby we are iustified is onely the fauour of God Let him be Anathema In these words of the Councell is infolded the very mysterie of iniquity For their iustification is composed partly of remission of sins and partly yea principally of sanctification as they call it and renouation of the inner man and to this is added mans free-will And thus their vniust man is made iust Note also how in the Canon they name the imputation of Christs righteousnesse as one of the ingredients in this composition of iustification But the plaine truth is this imputation they quite shut out from hauing any thing to doe with their iustification as this very terme of imputation had no good entertainment in the Councell And note againe how they denie the grace of iustification to be the onely fauour of God reseruing a roome for mans merit contrary to that of the Apostle Rom. 3. 24. Being iustified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Iesus Now by the way let vs see what the Pontificians meane by Imputation For this purpose I will insert here a saying of Pighius though otherwise a Pontifician writer which Soto answereth and laboureth to cleare from suspicion of heresie Pighius hauing considered sundry places of Scripture as in the Psalmes and Iob c. that the Saints of God dare not bring their own inherent righteousnesse to the strict triall of Gods iudgement Ex his confecit Pighius c. saith Soto Pighius thence concludes That our inherent righteousnesse if it be strictly examined by the diuine rule is not perfect but we are iustified rather by that righteousnesse of Christ imputed vnto vs. Which he exemplifieth that as Iacob hid vnder the habit of his elder brother the true first-borne receiued his fathers blessing so wee receiue glory vnder anothers person to wit Christ. Now how doth Soto with all his subtilty acquit his Pighius from being an hereticke in so saying Haes omnia saith hee all these things by one word of equiuocation are detorted to a finister sense Who can euer doubt but that we the sons of Adam which by our owne nature and ability can bring no merits or worthinesse into Gods presence can pretend or couer our faults with the onely righteousnesse of Christ in whose right we are sonnes and heires of the Kingdome But when wee say Christs the genetiue case wee doe not meane the subiect of inherency that the sense should bee The righteousnesse which is in Christ as the heretickes grossely erre but it is a note of the efficient cause that the sense should bee The righteousnes which is that of Christ being accepted of God nos influit doth poure into vs so Soto Thus we see by what a pretty neate distinction he would assoile his brother Pighius from being an herericke although hee speake the same thing with vs. Only I pitie Soto his sottishnesse that while hee would haue Pighius to meane by our righteousnesse our naturall righteousnesse which may not abide Gods strict tryall he remembers not vpon what instances Pighius inferred this his true Catholicke conclusion For his instances by Soto his owne allegation were holy Iob and holy Dauid who disclaimed their owne righteousnesse But I hope Soto will not say these were now naturall men and vnregenerate Now for the clearer vnfolding of this mysterie let vs hear their great champions what they in their voluminous commentaries vpon this Session meane by Iustification Soto makes a threefold iustification Prima genuinaque notio huius nominis inquit est acquisitio iustitiae nempe ex iniusto iustum fieri The prime and proper notion of this word Iustification saith he is an acquisition of righteousnesse namely of vniust to be made iust As calefaction or heating of cold to be made hot according to the Text of the Councell which saith Thus the vniust man is made iust So they take Iustificare to be as much as iustum facere to make iust Secunda c. the second notion and next to this is saith he that it signifieth an augmentation of righteousnesse The first of these he compareth to that originall righteousnesse that Adam once had which importeth a rectitude or right ordering of the whole man which he proues diuinely out of Aristotle in the fift of his Ethicks And the second hee proueth Apoc. 22. 11. Qui iustus est iustificetur adhuc He that is iust let him be iustified still But in this as in many more their Latin Translation will not abide the touch of the originall which saith He that is righteous let him be righteous still or let him doe righteousnesse still The like place he bringeth out of Ecclesiasticus but with the like felicitie and successe And he alledgeth that of St. Iames You see that a man is iustified by workes and not by faith only By which words saith hee hee had contradicted Paul where he saith Arbitramur hominem iustificari per fidem non ex operibus Wee iudge that a man is iustified by faith and not of workes vnlesse Paul had spoken of the former iustification and Iames of the latter Although saith he we will declare in his proper place how our workes also doe concurre in iustification Nisi quod Paulus loquitur de praecedentibus Vnlesse that Paul speaketh of precedent workes I suppose he meaneth workes going before iustification So hee Where you see he speakes very perplexedly yet so as hee cannot dissemble his meaning For the iudicious Reader may well perceiue that hee would faine force that speech of the Apostle Rom. 3. 28. Therefore we conclude that a man is iustified by Faith without the deeds of the Law to be meant of that faith going before iustification which they rancke among their preparatory workes for that is their fides informis their faith without charity as yet vnformed as they say sauing that herein he forgets himselfe for the Apostle speakes
imputation of Christs righteousnesse or in the remission of sinnes without our inherent righteousnesse as appeareth in the former Chapter What needes more testimony in such a cloud of witnesses Among all which not a word of any inherent righteousnesse not a word of infusion of grace not a word of hope and charity ioyned with faith as equally concurring much lesse precurring and out-stripping faith in the worke of iustification not a word of imputation so to bee vnderstood as if Christ did therefore merit that we might haue grace inherent or of our owne whereby to bee iustified in Gods sight Although true it is that the same ancient Fathers doe often call our inherent righteousnesse which is our sanctification by the name of iustification but they neuer say that hereby we are iustified in the sight of God In a word the consideration of the true difference betweene the first couenant and the second doth easily conclude the truth of this doctrine The first couenant made with Adam in Paradise was the couenant of workes Doe this and liue but the second couenant opposite to that is of grace Beleeue and liue as the Apostle doth notably oppose faith against workes in our iustification Therefore vnlesse wee would bring man againe into the estate of Adam in his earthly Paradise before his fall and so shut out Christ the second Adam to pleade iustification by workes is a monstrous dreaâ—â—e Therefore it was not for nothing that our first Parents were banished out of that earthly Paradise typically to teach them that now they had no more to do with that first condition of their creation the happinesse whereof depended vpon the couenant of workes but now they must seek a new Paradise that is a heauenly and that by a new and liuing way to wit by faith in Christ which is that couenant of grace opposite to the couenant of workes So opposite that as the Apostle saith If it be of grace then it is no more of workes otherwise grace is no more grace But if it bee of workes then is it no more grace otherwise worke is no more worke Rom. 11. 6. CHAP. VI. Of the instrumentall cause of iustification and first of the Romane Catholicke doctrine herein THE Councell of Trentputs no other instrumentall cause of iustification but the Sacrament of Baptisme which saith she is the instrument of faith without which faith no man could euer obtaine iustification Where notwithstanding shee would seeme not altogether to exclude faith as a party-instrument But because Baptisme is so vnderstood as an instrumentall cause as will require rather a particular discourse by it selfe wee will shew here what allowance they giue to faith in iustification That which the Pontificians ascribe to faith in the worke of iustification is either that it is a worke of grace preparing and disposing a man to receiue the grace of iustification as being the beginning of other graces and going before iustification as appeareth out of the Trent Councell Ses. 6. cap. 8. or else that it is a grace concurring with other graces infused and inherent as hope and charity and such like by which ioyntly a man comes to be iustified otherwise they allow faith no hand at all in iustification As may appeare in the Councell of Trent the sixth Session the ninth and eleuenth Canons Si quis dixerit sola fide impium iustificari c. If any man shall say that a sinner is iustified by faith alone c. And if any man shall say that men are iustified either by the onely imputation of Christs righteousnesse or by the onely remission of sinnes excluding grace and charity which is shed abroad in their hearts by the holy Ghost and is inherent in them or also that the grace whereby we are iustified is onely the fauour of God let him bee Anathema or accursed Whereupon Vega in his glosse vpon this place sets this downe for his prime conclusion Certissima fide est tenendum fidem solam absque operibus alijs neque satis esse ad iustificationem acquirendam neque ad tenendam acquifitam Wee are to hold by a most certaine beliefe that faith alone without other workes is neither sufficient to procure iustification nor being procured to preserue it And what those other workes bee hee telleth vs to wit first Baptisme secondly the Eucharist or the Masse thirdly Penance fourthly Confession and Absolution fiftly the keeping of the Commandements c. And againe Multipliciter posse hominem iustificari prima quidem ac communior magisque protrita via est per poenitentiam secunda dilectio Dei super omnia c. Wee say that a man may be iustified many waies The first and more common beaten way is by penance the second by the loue of God aboue all the third by martyrdome the fourth by prayer no doubt so many Pater-nosters and Aue-maries vpon beades and obseruing Cannâ—nicall houres the fift by the Sacraments of the Church and especially by Baptisme Penance and the Eucharist Penance you must note is in great request in the worke of iustification being here againe repeated and rancked in the middest betweene Baptisme and the Eucharist because in Penance there is not onely Confession to know what is in the conscience but satisfaction to tell what is in a mans purse if hee will deale by commutation And in the last place Probabilis est etiam sexta vt videtur via nempe per fidem It seemeth also probable that there is a fixt way namely by Faith But this way of faith comes lag in the reare and it is but probable neyther nay it doth but seeme probable The other wayes therefore are their common high-wayes of iustification this of Faith is onely a way of sufferance and that in some case of Necessitie yet with speciall restriction too as iustifying a man onely from originall sinne as Vega there addeth Videtur enim probabile c. For it seemeth probable that if a man be infected only with originall sinne and so soone as he should come to the vse of reason hauing heard the preaching of faith and seene miracles to confirme it should be willing to receiue it for the sauing of his soule by this onely that he giues credit vnto it hee should be iustified and haue his originall sinne pardoned But here mee thinkes Vega forgets himselfe in two things first that he puts faith in the last place which elsewhere he puts in the first Secondly that he attributes that to faith to wit the taking away of original sinne which eyther was taken away before in the baptized or if the party were not yet baptized Faith is not sufficient to iustifie him from originall sinne without Baptisme eyther in facto or in voto in deed or in desire Yea in the conclusion he saith peremptorily Non fides sed poenitentia primas partes tenet in reconciliatione peccatoris Not faith but penance hath the chiefe place in the reconciliation
as vnto euery faithfull receiuer wheresoeuer the visible signe is administred the inuisible grace signified is together exhibited by vertue of the Sacramentall vnion hauing dependance on Christs promise and reference to the condition of faith in the Communicant So such is the vnion betweene Christ and the beleeuer that wheresoeuer faith is there also is Christ with all his graces present to the beleeuer for hee dwels in our hearts by faith Ephes. 3. 17. Fourthly this vnion betweene Christ and the beleeuer is not naturall or natiue as Bernard cals it as that betweene the soule and the body in man because the one of them may be separated from the other by death but Christ and the beleeuer are neuer separated no not in death for to me to liue is Christ and to dye is gaine Phil. 1. 21. For who shall separate vs from the loue of Christ Rom. 8. 35. vers 38. I am perswaded that neither death nor life c. shall be able to separate vs from the loue of God which is in Christ Iesus our Lord. But herein they agree as the body hath no life but from the soule so the soule of euery faithfull man hath no life but in and from Christ as the Apostle saith Gal. 2. 20. I am crucified with Christ Neuerthelesse I liue yet not I but Christ liueth in mee and the life which I now liue in the flesh I liue by the faith of the Sonne of God who loued mee and gaue himselfe for me And as the soule and the body make one naturall man so Christ and the beleeuer make one spirituall and mysticall Christ and all beleeuers both of Iewes and Gentiles are made one new man not naturall but supernaturall in him Ephes. 2. 15. Fiftly this vnion between Christ and the beleeuer is not â—n artificiall vnion as that betweene the hand and the instrument of the Artificer for the instrument is subiect to wearing to breaking and at length to casting away when there is no more vse of it but we are so in the hand of Christ as we are preserued for euer as Ioh. 10. 28. I giue vnto them eternall life and they shall neuer perish neither shall any man plucke them out of my hand yet herein it agreeth that as the instrument can do nothing of it selfe not moue not work without the hand of the Artificer so we can do no good thing without the hand of Christ mouing and directing vs as himselfe saith Without mee ye can doe nothing for hee worketh in vs both to will and to worke of his good pleasure That as the Hatchet may not exalt it selfe against him that heweth with it but yeelds the praise of the worke to his workeman so saith euery faithfull soule as Esa. 26. 12. Lord thou wilt ordaine peace for vs for thou also hast wrought all our workes in vs or for vs. Sixtly this vnion betwixt Christ and euery beleeuer is not an accidentall vnion as betweene a man and learning whereby he becomes a learned man for an accident may be both present and absent without the destruction of the subiect as a man may be learned or vnlearned he may get learning and lose it againe and be a man still but the learning of the holy Ghost wherewith all the faithfull are inspired cannot be missing without destruction to the soule He is no faithfull man that wanteth the knowledge of God in Christ whom to know is eternall life and not to know is eternall death for all the faithfull are taught of God as Ier. 31. 33. 34. verses Yet herein doth our vnion with Christ resemble the accidentall vnion because as no man is borne learned or borne a Philosopher but is made so by education and instruction so no man is borne by nature the childe of God the scholar of Christ but in time becomes a Christian Philosopher by the instruction of the Word of God and the inspiration of the Spirit of God whereby hee is made a faithfull man and a Disciple of Christ. Seuenthly this vnion betweene Christ and the beleeuer is not a morall vnion such as is between friends which though it be founded at the best vpon vertue yet it is no lesse mortall than it is morall for if the friendship dye not before the friend dye yet death makes a separation as Dauid lamented the death of his louing friend Ionathan the memory of whom lasted for a while in Dauids kinde vsage of Mephibosheth Ionathans sonne but it soone cooled vpon a small occasion of Mephibosheths false seruant Ziba who by belying his master to Dauid got halfe his masters inheritance from him when himselfe deserued rather to haue beene punished for wronging his master than so rewarded for his dissembling officiousnesse in bringing a present to Dauid of his masters store So friendship is very mortall it dyes often in a mans life time or seldome suruiues death And therefore the Poet said well Foelices ter amplius Quos irrupta tenet copula Nec malis dâ—â—ulsus querimonijs Suprema citiùs soluet amor die O happy and thrice happy they Whom loues knot holds inuiolate Nor loosened till lifes last day By back-complaints begetting hate But the vnion betweene Christ and his faithfull ones though it be somewhat like that betweene morall friends but mortall men as being betweene Christ and his friends as he calleth his faithfull Ioh. 15. 15. I haue called you friends c. yet this friendship between Christ and his excelleth all other friendship The Philosophers could say Amicus est alter idem A friend is another selfe And Animus est non vbi animat sed vbi amat The soule is not where it liueth but where it loueth And Amicorum omnia sunt communia Betweene friends all things are common Now these in comparison as they are in practice amongst men are but in a manner meere sayings nominals rather than realls For as Salomon saith Most men will proclaime euery one his own goodnes but a faithfull man who can find Salomon found one among a thousand which I thinke was the Prophet that told him freely of his folly Such friends few can finde especially such as Salomon was But now whatsoeuer can be spoken in praise of friendship is really true betweene Christ and the beleeuer his faithfull man for they are so mutually each of them alter idem another selfe as that they are indeed oneselfe Their soules and spirits are so interchangeably in each other as the spirit of Christ doth really liue in vs and our soules doe liue in him Wee are in the Spirit and the Spirit of Christ in vs Rom. 8. 9. And Now I liue saith the Apostle yet not I but Christ liueth in mee and the life which I now liue in the flesh I liue by the faith of the Sonne of God who loued mee and gaue himselfe for mee Here is true loue indeede where the soule is not where it liueth but where
it loueth And between these friends all things are most freely common He partakes of our flesh we of his spirit Hee of our nature we of his grace He of our infirmities we of his perfections He of our pouerty we of his riches yea Hee of our sinnes which hee bare vpon the Tree wee of his righteousnesse the best Robe He is called the sonne of man we the Sonnes of God He the Lord our righteousnesse and we the Lord our righteousnesse yea He and we one Christ. O incomparable communion O incomprehensible vnion Neuer such an immediate intercourse and community betweene friends And this not for a day or a yeare or for terme of life but for life without terme For as Christs loue to his is from euerlasting so it is to euerlasting it is without beginning and therefore without ending Ioh. 13. 1. So that of this loue betweene Christ and his faithfull friends and brethren we may sing the Psalme of Dauid the burthen whereof is principally the loue between Christ and his brethren Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in vnity It is like the precious oyntment vpon the head that ran downe vpon the beard euen Aarons beard and went downe to the skirts of his garments As the deaw of Hermon and as the deaw that descended vpon the mountaines of Sion for there the Lord commanded the blessing euen life for euermore This Psalme is a mirrour and cleare type of that vnion and communion of grace betweene Christ and the faithfull Behold therefore it is Christ that maketh his faithfull ones to dwell together in vnitie to bee of one minde in the house of God Psalme 68. 6. He it is that perswades Iaphet to dwell in the Tents of Sem the Gentiles to become one Family with the Iew vnder Christ that one head whose type was Aaron From him our head our high Priest flowes downe the oyle of grace vpon vs vnto the skirts of his clothing euen vpon vs whose nakednesse hee hath couered with the skirts of the robes of his righteousnesse of whose fulnesse wee haue all receiued and grace for grace His head is full of the dew of grace distilling vpon the barren Mountaines of his Sion his Church and chosen to poure a blessing vpon it and there to giue life for euermore Such is the vnion betweene Christ his faithfull ones farre passing the loue betweene dearest friends euen that betweene Ionathan and Dauid passing the loue of women Eightly nor is this vnion betweene Christ and the beleeuer a ciuill vnion such as is betweene the King and the Subiect for alas to what dis-vnion and diuision is this subiect too especially where the Pope is Lord Paramount whenas eyther his roaring Buls of excommunication and deposition of Kings or the poysoned steellettoes or pistols of his all-daring brats doe euen teare the head from the body as too lamentable experience hath proued True it is that Christ is our King and we his seruants hee commands vs wee obey him he is our Princely head we his members but his commandements are not grieuous his yoke is easie and his burden light He hath lightened the burden and sweetened the yoke vnto vs by both hauing borne the grieuousnesse and bitternes of it himselfe alone and for the remnant hee both beares it with vs and giues vs strength to beare it yea he hath so loued vs and so shed his loue abroad in our hearts by his holy Spirit giuen vnto vs that as hee can neuer deny vs the grace and protection of a louing Prince so hee hath giuen vs grace neuer to deny him our most humble homage and louing obedience So that neuer was there such a strait bond betweene Prince and People as betweene Christ and the Beleeuer Ninthly this vnion betweene Christ and the Beleeuer is not a coniugall vnion such as is betweene a man and his wife although this be a mysticall resemblance whereby Christ setteth forth his vnion with vs. For this Coniugall vnion suffereth dissolution and death giues the Suruiuer libertie to marry a new mate Not so with Christ and his Spouse This is a band indissoluble The marriage band is but during this life it holds not in heauen for there they neither marry nor are giuen in marriage but this with Christ suffereth no diuorse but death is a degree to the full consummation of it Also the man and the wife are but one flesh but Christ and the beleeuer one spirit In a word this vnion betweene Christ and the Beleeuer is not the vnion of dependency as between the Creature the Creator for this is common to all the Creatures who haue their being life and sustentation in a dependency from the Creator his raine showreth and his sunne shineth vpon the good and euill vpon the iust and the vniust indifferently All depend and waite vpon thee saith Dauid and thou giuest them their meate in due season when thou openest thine hand they are filled with good when thou withdrawest their breath they returne to their dust But the vnion betweene Christ and his although it be an vnion of dependency wherein the Beleeuers eternall well-beeing hath a necessary dependance on Christ yet this dependance is proper and peculiar to the faithfull and not common with any other Creature vnlesse with the elect Angels who depend vpon Christ for the perpetuation of their happinesse So that the faithfull haue their dependance on Christ not onely as their Creator being the eternall Word common with other Creatures but chiefly as their Redeemer and Sauiour proper to them only and that not only for the supply of things temporall but much more of graces spirituall and glory eternall Thus by shewing what kinde of vnion this between Christ and the Beleeuer is not wee come to see the more cleerely what it is The Scripture also setteth forth this vnion by sundry similitudes especially foure as betweene a house and the foundation betweene the vine and the branches or the oliue roote and the tree betweene the man and the wife betweene the head and the members What more neare the foundation and building make one house the vine and branches one tree the man and wife one flesh the head and members one body So Christ and the beleeuer are one spirit Being vnited to Iesus our head hee becomes the Sauiour of vs his body Ephes. 5. 23. Beeing vnited to Christ wee are annoynted with all his titles and graces we are made Kings and Priests to God his Father Beeing vnited to this foundation we become liuing stones growing vp to an holy Temple in the Lord. Being vnited to this Vine this Oliue we partake of the sweetnesse of the one and of the fatnesse of the other Being vnited to this Spouse wee are endowed with all his goods Being vnited to this head wee receiue the rich influence of spirituall life and motion quickning euery member Yea that which is
procure vs the possession of heauen yet hee meanes not a solitary and dead faith but such a faith as is a liuing and sauing faith working by loue which hath as well a worke of sanctification in a holy life amongst men as of iustification by a holy beliefe in the sight of God For there is frequent mention of a twofold righteousnesse in the workes of ancient Fathers The one of iustification before God which is the righteousnesse of faith the other of iustification before men which is the righteousnesse of workes This second is via regni the way to the kingdome that other of faith is causâ—â—egnandi the cause of our reigning in this kingdome Saint Paul also disclaimeth all his former Phâ—risaicall life which as touching the Law was vnreprouable calling and accounting it but drosse and dung Nay now after his conuersion hauing walked holily and faithfully in his Apostolicall vocation and Ministery so that he knew nothing by himselfe yet what saith he Although I know nothing by my selfe yet am I not therby iustified but he that iudgeth me is the Lord. And renouncing all his inherent righteousnesse all his desire was to bee found in Christ not hauing his owne righteousnesse which is of the Law but that which is through the faith of Christ the righteousnesse which is of God by faith To omit the multitude of testimonies of holy men of God the fathers of the Church from time to time who in their writings doe renounce their own inherent righteousnesse as iustifying them in the sight of God Let vs for conclusion of this point adde a few memorable sayings vttered by dying men such as were of a holy life conuersation now agoing to appear before the dreadfull Tribunall of Gods most strict and vnpartiall iudgment now sealing vp their faith with their last breath Possidonius in his 27. Chapter of the life of Augustine tels a memorable story Augustine saith he told vs that hee heard a most wise and pious answer of Ambrose of blessed memory drawing neare his end which he much praised and commended for when that venerable Father lay vpon his death-bed and was desired of the faithfull standing about his bed with teares that hee would aske of the Lord a longer time of his Pilgrimage here he answered them I haue not so liued as that I am ashamed to continue amongst you nor yet am I affraid to dye because we haue a good Master And herein saith Possidonius our Augustine now aged did admire and praise his words as refined in the fire and weighed in the ballance For therefore is hee to be vnderstood to say Nor doe I feare to dye because wee haue a good Master lest he might be thought to trust and presume too much vpon his most sanctified life But I haue not so liued that I am ashamed to liue among you this he said in regard of that which one man might know of another for knowing the tryall of diuine iustice he said he relyed more vpon the goodnesse of his Lord than vpon his owne merits to whom also he prayed daily in the Lords Prayer Forgiue vs our debts c. Bernard when hee seemed to drawe his last breath being in a trance he thought he was presented before the Tribunall of his Lord And Sathan also stood opposite against him charging him with many wicked accusations And when hee had prosecuted all to the full then the man of God was to pleade for himselfe And being no whit terrified or troubled he said I confesse I am vnworthy nor can I obtaine the Kingdome of Heauen by mine owne merits But my Lord obtaining it by a double right to wit by the inheritance of his Father and by the merit of his passion contenting himselfe with the one hee bestoweth the other vpon mee by whose gift claiming it as mine owne right I am not confounded At this word the enemy went away confounded There is extant an exhortation of Anselme to a dying brother set downe in most sweet words When any brother seemeth to be extremely oppressed it stands both with piety and prudence that he be exercised by a Prelate or some other Priest with these questions and exhortations vnder written And first let him be demanded Brother doest thou reioyce that thou shalt dye in the faith and let him answer I do Confesse that thou hast not liued so wel as thou shouldest I confesse it Doest thou repent of it I doe repent Hast thou a will and purpose to amend if thou shouldst haue time to liue longer Yes Doest thou beleeue that the Lord Iesus Christ the Sonne of God dyed for thee I beleeue it Doest thou beleeue thou canst not bee saued but by his death Yea. Doest thou from thy heart thank him for this I doe Giue therefore while there is life in thee alwayes thankes vnto him and put thy whole trust in this his onely death Commit thy selfe wholly to his death Couer thy whole selfe with this death and wrap thy selfe wholly in it And if the Lord goe about to iudge thee say Lord I put the death of our Lord Iesus Christ betweene me and thy iudgment otherwise I will not contend with thee If he shall say that thou hast deserued damnation say thou I set the death of our Lord Iesus Christ betweene mee and my illdeseruings and assigne me the merit of his most precious passion for my merit which I my selfe should haue had but alas haue not Let him say againe I put the death of our Lord Iesus Christ betweene mee and thy wrath Let him also say three times O Lord into thy hands I commend my spirit And let those that stand about him answer Into thy hands O Lord we commend his spirit And he shall dye secure and shall neuer see death The same Anselme in his meditations as it were setting himselfe before the Tribunall of Gods iudgement whereby he declareth that neither the life of the regenerate nor good workes can stand against diuine iustice but onely Christ the Mediator saith My life doth terrifie mee for my whole life being exactly discussed and sifted doth appeare to me either to be sinne or meere barrennesse And if any fruit appeare therein it is either so counterfeit or imperfect or one way or other corrupt as it cannot but displease God for all of it is either sinnefull and damnable or vnfruitfull and contemptible But why doe I separate or distinguish vnfruitfull from damnable For if it be vnfruitfull it is damnable For euery tree which bringeth not forth good fruit shall be cast into the fire O therefore drie and vnprofitable tree worthy of eternall fire what wilt thou answer in that day when it shall be required of thee euen to a moment how thou hast spent all that time limitted and bestowed on thee to spend thy life in O extremity On the one side sinnes accusing on the other iustice affrighting vnderneath Hels horrible Chaos gaping aboue the
persecutions nor windes of temptations can shake it downe Hence Esay saith of God and God of Christ Behold I lay in Sion for a foundation a stone a tryed stone a precious corner-stone a sure foundation He that beleeueth shall not make haste What is this that he saith He that beleeueth shall not make haste Haste wee know is a signe of feare which causeth slight feare is a token of a guilty conscience in wicked men who flye and haste away when none pursueth But the righteous is as bold as a Lyon A Lyon hasteth not away at the sight of men such is he that beleeueth he makes no haste but as Dauid saith his heart standeth fast and beleeueth in the Lord. So Paul and Peter both speaking by the same Spirit expound the same place thus Rom. 9. 33. and 1. Pet. 2. 6. Behold I lay in Sion a chiefe corner-stone c. and hee that beleeueth on him shall not bee confounded or shall not be ashamed Now what is it that maketh a man confounded or ashamed but sinne and shame the punishment of sinne But he that beleeueth on the Son of God this precious corner-stone hath his sinnes remitted and his shame remoued there remaines not so much as the least staine or guilt of sinne in his conscience whereby to affright or ashame him or that hee should for feare or shame make haste Now certainty being a natiue and inherent quality of Faith is not therefore any extrinsicke or accidentall thing giuen out of speciall grace to such such beleeuers as it were by extraordinary reuelation as if some few of Gods speciall Fauourites had this granted and ingrossed vnto them in the nature of a Monopoly But this certainty is as inseparable a quality of sauing Faith as the heate is of fire And therefore certainty of Faith is common to all true beleeuers without exception Not onely Iob had it nor onely Paul but all and euery true beleeuer the poore Palsie-man who while his body was trembling as it were in a motion of trepidation yet his Faith was fixed in his orbe The silly weak woman had no lesse strong Faith to stay the running issue of her bloud than the valiant Ioshua had in staying the course of that Gyantlike-running Sunne For the woman said within her selfe If I may but touch the hemme of his garment I shall be whole not I may perhaps bee whole or I haue a probable perswasion or coniecturall opinion to be made whole but I shall bee whole In a word this Faith yea this certaine confident Faith this substance of things hoped for and this euidence of things not seene was in all beleeuers of the Old Testament none excepted whereof the Apostle giues vs a summary Catalogue in the 11. to the Hebrewes Tell mee what shall wee say of the very women a sexe whom the Pontifician Church much scorneth in the point of Faith yet the Apostle saith of them That by Faith the women receiued their dead raised to life againe others of them were tortured not accepting deliuerance that they might obtaine a better resurrection But I trow if they had not beene certaine but doubtfull of their saluation would not the sense of their tortures in their more tender bodies the naturall feare of death in their more passionate mindes and the loue of life haue easily perswaded them to haue accepted deliuerance being offered Would they thinke you so easily haue parted with their liue bird in the hand vpon the vncertaine hazzard of two in the bush No it was their Faith and the certainty of their Faith that made them despise present life and imbrace present death because they were sure to receiue a better resurrection than the receiuing of their temporall life from a temporall death Deuout Bernard saith Nonne si fluctuat fides inanis est spes nostra Stulti ergo Martyres nostri sustinentes tam acerba propter incerta nec indubitantes sub dubio remunerationis praemio durum per exitum diuturnum inire exilium If Faith wauer is not our hope also vaine Our Martyrs then were fooles to vndergo such bitter torments for vncertainties nor to make no doubt vnder a doubtfull recompence of reward to goe into a long exile by a hard passage Yea saith the Apostle and he speaks it in the behalfe of all true beleeuers Citizens of the Heauenly Ierusalem we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolued we haue a building of God an house not made with hands but eternall in the Heauens We know it and it is by Faith that we know it and what greater certainty than knowledge And to conclude the Apostle makes this knowledge of Faith to pertaine in common to all beleeuers and so in common as peculiar only to Gods Elect sith they that want this certainty of Faith are Reprobates Examine your selues whether yee bee in the Faith proue your owne selues Know yee not your owne selues how that Iesus Christ is in you except yee bee Reprobates Therefore a man by examining himselfe may know whether hee bee in the faith a man by prouing himselfe may know that Iesus Christ is in him If he cannot at all come to know that Christ is in him and if hee neuer can bee certaine but euer remaines doubtfull of it so that hee knoweth it not then hee is a reprobate if hee perseuere in this doubting and doting ignorance vnto the end Then by the Apostles rule and the rule is infallible they that doubt of their faith of their saluation by Christ of their iustification are concluded to bee reprobates What shall then become of the whole Pontifician Church who teach and professe yea who peremptorily decree and command that none vnder paine of Anathema doe beleeue certainely and without doubting of his saluation O Reprobate Church But leauing them wee see the Apostles peremptory command to the Corinthians and so to Christians so to examine themselues so to proue their owne selues as that they know and knowledge is certaine that they are in the Faith and that Iesus Christ is in them Whosoeuer hath not this knowledge this certainety of Faith is by the holy Ghost doomed and damned for a Reprobate whatsoeuer the Councell of Trent say to the contrary Ob. But the most firme beleeuer is not without doubtings yea such as sometimes doe border and trench vpon despaire through some fierce assault of tentation It is true indeede But this doubting is not the effect of faith but rather a defect or weakenesse of Faith while the act of it is for the time suspended or suppressed God so disposing it for our tryall and further approbation As the soule remaines intyre euen in deliquio though it haue not for the time its organicall operations in the body So of Faith Faith may bee brought euen vsque ad deliquium to an extreame fainting in our sense and apprehension and as it were to the last gaspe yet
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. For in these things wee may bee vncertaine and so be deceiued but faith cannot bee deceiued And here wee are ledde by sense but in matter of faith wee are ledde by the spirit And vpon the Epistle to the Romanes Ch. 4. where the Apostle saith vers 21. Being certainly perswaded c. Chrysostome saith Obserue that he saith not simply He beleeued but He was certainely perswaded For such a thing is faith that it is more manifest and cleare than those demonstrations which are deduced from reason and doth more perswade than they For he that is perswaded by reasons may be induced by other reasons to wauer in his iudgement but he that is settled vpon faith hath now long agoe carefully guarded and guirt about his hearing as it were with a Rampart or strong Wall round about lest hee should be infected with peruerse speeches And a little after It is the property of a weake pusillanimous and wretched minde not firmely to beleeue If therefore at any time it happen that any doe flout vs for our certainty and confidence in beleeuing let vs againe obiect vnto them incredulity as to those that are wretched pusillanimous foolish and weake and which haue no better vnderstanding than the very Asses For as to beleeue is the point of a magnanimous and noble minde so to bee incredulous and wauering is a signe of a most foolish minde light and abased euen to the bruitishnesse of the vnreasonable Beasts Therefore saith hee leauing these let vs imitate the Patriarch Abraham and glorifie God as he also gaue glory to God And what is it that he saith giuing glory to God Hee considered Gods righteousnesse and his neuer sufficiently comprehended vertue and power and so conceiuing in his minde a thought worthy and beseeming such a person hee got a most certaine perswasion of the promises So he Thus wee see this holy man disclaimes all hesitation or doubting in faith he propounds the patterne of Abraham whose faith was most certaine whom we are to follow in the same steps as the Apostle saith Rom. 4. 12. for the promise is made sure to all the seede to all those that are of the faith of Abraham vers 16. He that wants this certainty of faith doth not truly beleeue as Chrysostome saith he vnderstandeth no more than a beast than the very Asses hee is of a base and pusillanimous spirit he denieth to giue glory to God which as Chrysostome saith is the most excellent property of a Christian mans life Let the Pontificians and among them Vega with his Councell of Trent looke to their credit in this point least as men without vnderstanding they be found like to the beasts that perish St. Basil saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what is the property of faith an vndoubting assurance or full confidence voide of distrust The same Sain Basil also in another place saith That faith beyond all reasons of Sciences and Arts doth draw the soule to a consent yea and that faith relyeth not vpon Geometricall or necessary demonstrations but is iufused into the soule by the operations of the holy Ghost And againe Faith is an vndoubted assent to those things which are heard in a certaine perswasion of the truth of those things which are preached by the grace of God which Abraham shewed saith hee hauing testimony that hee doubted not through distrust but was strong in the faith giuing glory to God and being certainly perswaded that he which had promised was able also to performe Tertullian afore him saith Fides integra secura est de salute sound and intire Faith is secure of saluation But shall wee neede to bring candles to shew vs the light of the Sunne The Sunne-shine of the Scriptures hath so clearly manifested the truth of the certainty of faith that the ancient Doctors of the Church borrowing their light from that Sunne are as so many Starres witnessing the same truth So as not so much as a cloud of doubtfulnesse is to be seene in them as touching this point howsoeuer the Pontificians dazzled with the bright beames of truth would also cast a myst before faiths eyes and would perswade vs that where the Fathers speak of the certainty of faith they meane some morall or experimentall certainty distinctions which their simple hearted spirits neuer dreamed of in this kinde and where the Fathers speake of our manifold infirmities and weaknesses that are in our nature and of those doubts and feares that arise from our carnall corruption the Pontificians would perswade vs that they meane of the doubts and feares that are in faith So witty are the Pontificians in their selfe-deceiuings Now besides this natiue certainty of sauing faith in euery beleeuer there be many other accruing and concurring helps seruing to seale vp this infallible certainty of faith with all fulnesse of assurance As first the infallible testimony of the Spirit of truth witnessing to our spirits to the spirit of faith that we are the Sonnes of God Rom. 8. 16. And Gal. 4. 6. Because yee are sonnes God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Sonne into your hearts crying Abba Father And Ephes. 1. 13. In whom also yee trusted after that ye heard the Word of truth the Gospell of your saluation in whom also after that yee beleeued yee were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance vntill the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of his glory This place is very pregnant and worthy our best attention The holy Ghost is called the seale wherewith wee are sealed and the earnest of our inheritance Now a seale and earnest are Symboles of assurance But marke this seale and earnest is giuen vs after that we haue beleeued So that here is the seale of the Spirit annexed to the seale and certainty of our faith ad corroborandum titulum as the Lawyers speake to strengthen our title That as the Apostle saith by two immutable things wee might haue strong consolation who haue fled for refuge to lay hold vpon the hope set before vs which hope wee haue as an anchor of the soule both sure and stedfast and which entereth into that within the vaile whither the fore-runner is for vs entred euen Iesus made an High Priest for euer after the Order of Melchisedech So 1. Ioh. 4. 13. Hereby we know that we dwell in him and he in vs because he hath giuen vs of his Spirit Faith then being certaine and confirmed also by the seale of Gods Spirit what more certaine Hence it is that Bernard writing to Pope Innocent against Abailardus saith Abailardus fidem definiebat aestimationem quâ—si cuique in ea sentire loqui quae libeat liceat aut pendeant ab incerto in vagis ac varijs opinionibus nostrae fidei Sacramenta non magis certa veritate subsistant Nonne si fluctuat fides inanis est spes
that it is as it ought to be but the contrary rather so neither can he be certaine of any grace receiued by the Sacrament But as the good King Ezechias prayed for the commers to the Sacrament of the Passeouer saying The Lord God pardon euery one that prepareth his heart to seeke God the Lord God of his Fathers though hee be not cleansed according to the purification of the Sanctuary that is so exactly as hee ought And the Lord hearkened vnto Hezechias and healed the people So though we come short as the best doe in the performance of holy duties according to that perfection which the Lord requireth yet there is place alwayes left for humble prayer both to procure Gods pardon for our faylings and his speciall grace and blessing in our reuerent vse of his holy Ordinances But this in briefe by the way to confute Vega's folly Secondly he answereth That though there bee no errour nor inuincible ignorance remaining in a man that is to receiue the Sacraments yet saith Vega I do not see it euery way certaine that those things are sufficient which are accounted requisite to iustification with the Sacrament of Baptisme or Penance For it is not certainly receiued of all that these Sacraments doe conferre the first grace As the Master of the Sentences Alexander Hales and Gabriel Biel are of the contrary opinion And sith these opinions saith hee are not condemned expresly by the Church although the opposite opinions be much more probable therefore there is place left for all kinde of doubtings and hesitations about our iustification as well after the receiuing of the Sacraments as before So that there is no more ground whereof to gather the certainty of grace because of the Sacraments receiued than by reason of our owne disposition But his third answer is the maine one he stands vpon for he saith Vtque radicitus totum hoc argumentum subruamus eneruemus dico tandem c. And that wee may ouerthrow this whole argument by the rootes and vtterly disable it I say thirdly c. Here we cannot chuse but erect our expectation vnto some prodigious exployt to be performed by this Champion What will he doc He comes Sampson-like and makes no more reckoning to pull downe the pillars whereon the whole frame of Christian faith standeth than Sampson did to pull downe the house vpon the Philistims heads But let Vega beware hee pull not an old house vpon his owne head Well Dico tandem c. I say once for all that although it may be certaine by faith that any kinde of repentance for sinnes with a purpose of keeping the Commandemets and a desire to receiue Baptisme be together with Baptisme and Penance sufficient to obtaine grace yet it doth not follow that our grace may by faith be certaine vnto vs. For although it may appeare euidently to euery one whether he hath these things or no yet none can be certaine by faith or euidently that he is truely baptized or absolued because there is necessarily required vnto the accomplishing of these and all other Sacraments an intention in the Priest to doe that which the Priest doth as is decreed in the seuenth Session of this our Councell Can. 11. But of that intention in the Priest no man without diuine reuelation can by faith or euidence be certaine And so forth to this purpose Thus doth Vega at one blow stagger the certainty of faith confirmed by the Sacraments nay not onely stagger it but strike it dead if certainty as the Pontificians in their Councell haue decreed must depend vpon the intention of the Priest in the time of consecrating the Sacraments and without the Priests intention the whole Sacrament is voyde and vaine and whether the Priests intention were going a wool-gathering or no no man knoweth Into such a miserable exigent of vncertainty haue the Pontificians implunged themselues as into the very Gulfe of Hell where doubt and despaire dwels Now for those diuine helpes to the natiue certainty of sauing Faith we may summe them vp and reduce them to this gradation As first Gods Word Dictum Iehouae secondly Gods promise thirdly his oath fourthly his hand-writing fifthly his scale sixthly his carnest or pledge 2. Cor. 5. 5. So that God as it were by so many steppes and degrees leades our Faith to the very top of the impregnable Rocke of all infallible and vnmoueable certainty Another accessory testimony confirming the certainty of faith is a good conscience which is not onely conscientia rectè factorum but faciendorum not onely a good conscience in regard of our life past wherein we haue endeauoured to liue vprightly and heartily repented vs of whatsoeuer we haue mis-done eyther by omission or commission but also in regard of the time to come while we resolue in a sincere purpose of heart and endeauour with all our power to serue God in holinesse and righteousnesse all the dayes of our life Of the good conscience of the life past the Apostle speaketh whereby the certainty of his faith is sealed vp vnto him 2. Tim. 4. 6. 7. I am now ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand I haue fought a good fight I haue finished my course I haue kept the faith Whereupon hee concludes in the certainty of Faith Henceforth is laide vp for mee a Crowne of righteousnesse which the Lord the righteous Iudge shall giue mee at that day And of his good conscience for the time to come he speakes Phil 3. 13. Brethren I count not my selfe to haue apprehended but this one thing I doe forgetting those things which are behind reaching forth vnto those things which are before I presse towards the marke for the price of the high calling of God in Christ Iesus Also Heb. 13. 18. Pray for vs for we trust we haue a good conscience in all things willing to liue honestly Now the conscience of a man is weighty and magn◠in vtramque partem as the Orator said It is a powerfull testimony eyther to accuse or to acquite a man As Rom. 2. 15. The Apostles good conscience was a comfortable testimony vnto him Acts 23. 1. So 2. Cor. 1. 12. Our reioyciug is this the testimony of our conscience that in simplicity and godly sincerity not with fleshly wisedome but by the grace of God we haue had our conuersation in the world Now a good conscience hath many branches eyther as it reflects vpon Faith so it is priuie to the remission of sinnes and reconciliation of the soule with God or as it respecteth our loue both of God and of the godly in especiall Loue is another seale of Faith as 1. Iohn 3. 18 My little children let vs not loue in words neither in tongue but in deed and in truth And hereby wee know that wee are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before him And vers 14. We know that we haue passed
from death vnto life because we loue the brethren Yea this is such a badge as all men may know vs to belong to Christ Iohn 13. 35. By this shall all men know that yee are my Disciples if yee haue loue one to another Another seale of the certainty of Faith is affliction for Christs cause Hereupon the Apostle saith 2. Cor. 1. 5. As the sufferings of Christ abound in vs so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. And hereupon hee groundeth the certainty of his hope not onely touching himselfe but also the Corinthians themselues vers 7. And our hope of you is stedfast knowing that as you are partakers of the sufferings so shall you be also of the consolation Yea the afflictions which Gods children suffer for Christ are occasions and meanes to fasten our faith the more surely vpon God as vers 9. We had the sentence of death in our selues that we should not trust in our selues but in God which raysed the dead The Apologue of the Traueller may be a Morall vnto vs in this matter The Sun and the Winde plaid each their part by turnes to see which could first cause the wayfaring man to cast his cloake off The Winde blowing and blustring vpon him caused him to buckle it closer to him but the Sun working vpon him with his warme rayes at length made him weary of his weede and to cast it aside So preualent are the blasts of afflictions to cause the Christian Pilgrim to buckle his mantle of Faith closer vnto him when as the flattering gleames of outward prosperity doe cause oftentimes a feeble fainting in the soule To this purpose the Apostle saith excellently 2. Cor. 4. 8. We are troubled on euery side yet not distressed we are perplexed but not in despaire persecuted but not for saken cast downe but not destroyed Alwayes bearing about in the bodie the dying of the Lord Iosus The Apostle keepes his Cloake close about him for all the storme that the life also of Iesus might be made manifest in our mortall flesh And vers 16. For which cause we faint not but though our outward man perish yet the inward man is renewed day by day For our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for vs a farre more exceeding and eternall weight of glorie For our suffering with and for Christ is a sure token of our reigning with him Rom. 8. 17. If so be that we suffer with him we shall also bee glorified together with him Hereupon the Apostle reioyceth yea and glorisieth in this behalfe 2. Thes. 1. 4. We our selues glory in you in the Churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye indure which is a manifest token of the righteous iudgement of God that yee may bee counted worthy of the Kingdome of God for which ye also suffer seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompence tribulation to them that trouble you and to you who are troubled rest with vs when the Lord Iesus shall be reuealed from Heauen with his mighty Angels c. And Rom. 5. 1. c. Therefore being iustified by Faith wee haue peace with God through our Lord Iesus Christ by whom also we haue accesse by Faith into this grace wherein we stand and reioyce in hope of the glory of God And not onely so but we glory in tribulations also knowing that tribulation worketh patience and patience experience and experience hope and hope maketh not ashamed because the loue of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the holy Ghost which is giuen vnto vs. So that by these places of holy Scripture wee may note what a strong euidence and assurance of saluation a faithfull man receiueth from the vse of afflictions such as he suffereth especially for Christs cause They are infallible tokens vnto vs of Gods righteous iudgement to come yea they are the very Characters of Christ. As the same Apostle saith Gal. 6. 17. From henceforth let no man trouble me for I beare in my body the markes of the Lord Iesus As if the Apostle had said Let no man go about to disturbe my Faith or to trouble and blunder the clear chrystall fountaine of that Euangelicall Doctrine which I haue both preached and practised with the mixtures of legall Ceremonies and carnall Rites for I am ready to seale vp with my dearest bloud this my Faith and Doctrine bearing already about in my body the ignominious markes as the world accounts them of the Lord Iesus as the most certaine seales and testimonies of my reioycing in Christ Iesus by which reioycing I dye daily In a word the afflictions of Christ are the Christians high-way to Heauen Acts 14. 22. Paul confirmed the soules of the Disciples by exhorting them to continue in the Faith concluding that we must through much tribulation enter into the Kingdome of God So that a Christian asking the way by which he must trauell to the Kingdome of Heauen his Country and being told that the way through which he must passe is a very narrow and strait passage incumbred with many difficulties and dangers strowed with thornes and bryars beset with band-dogs and wilde beasts crawling with serpents and snakes and lying through a barren and desolate desert where hee must looke to finde but hard entertainment suffer much hunger and thirst cold and nakednesse c. will not this Christian Traueller meeting with such signes and tokens of his way chawked out vnto him aforehand perswade himselfe that he is now in the right way to his Countrey Whereas if hee meete with pleasant pathes through fertile fields and bespangled meadowes and pleasant groues and chrystall riuelets to refresh and delight him and in stead of saluage wilde beasts and serpents finde courteous entertainment and kinde vsage of the Natiues and Patriots of the Country may he not iustly suspect he is out of his way For as one saith Non est ad astra mollis è terris via The passage from earth to Heauen is not strowed with Roses Afflictions then being the way to Gods Kingdome the Christian mans Country it is a strong euidence that he is one of Gods Sons and Children whom the Father thus chasteneth as the Apostle saith Another meanes to strengthen our Faith in the certainty of it concerning saluation is our manifold infirmities a thing not more strange than true For as the Apostle saith 2. Cor. 12. 10. When I am weake then am I strong Therefore saith he I take pleasure in infirmities most gladly therefore will I reioyce in mine infirmities that the power of Christ may rest vpon me Now the reason why our infirmities and weaknesses doe tend to our further strengthning in Grace and Faith is not out of the nature and property of infirmities but because they driue vs from reposing confidence in our selues to rest the more strongly vpon Christ. This is like that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Philosopher speakes of As
vsum experientiae terminos Disce id habere certiùs id tutiùs sequi quod illa suaserit Noli me tangere nondum enim ascendi ad Patrem meum nam tangi à fide voluit Touch me not saith Christ that is dis-wont thy selfe with this seducible sense rest on the Word acquaint thy selfe with faith faith that knowes not how to bee deceiued faith that comprehendeth things inuisible doth not feele the want of sense For it transcendeth the bounds euen of humane reason the vse of nature and the limits of experience Learne to account that for more certaine to follow that more safely which faith shall perswade thee of Touch mee not for I am not yet ascended to my Father is as if he had said he would then be touched by faith Besides the sure and viue testimony of faith we haue the attestation of Gods holy Spirit the testimony whereof is no lesse infallible than it is most euident in the heart of euery true beleeuer This holy Spirit assureth all those that beleeue in Christ and belong to him both of their election and perseuerance This Spirit witnesseth to our spirits that wee are the Sonnes of God that 's for our election and adoption and the Apostle addes If sonnes then also heires yea coheires with Christ of his Kingdome that 's for our perseuerance This Spirit sealeth all beleeuers and is the earnest of our inheritance Till when Euen vntill the redemption of the purchased possession vnto the praise of his glory that is vntill the consummation of all our blessednesse in and with Christ. Therefore is the Holy Ghost the seale and earnest euen of our perseuerance vnto glory This Spirit is that Annointing whereof Saint Iohn speaketh The annointing which yee haue receiued of him abideth in you And againe Hereby wee know that hee abideth in vs by the Spirit which he hath giuen vs. And againe Hereby wee know that wee dwell in him and bee in vs because hee hath giuen vs of his Spirit The Pontificians and Vega by name being consciously conuict and pressed with these cleare euidences are faine to flye to most miserable shifts and euasions Forsitan c. saith Vega Perhaps it appeareth more probable that eyther Saint Iohn spake these things of himselfe onely and his fellow-Apostles or else that hee speakes not here of the mansion and habitation of the Spirit in some particular persons but of his generall residence in the Church Yea moreouer saith hee that testimony whereby Paul proueth that the faithfull doe not vnfitly call God Father as wee call him in the Lords Prayer is not any inward testimony whereby the Holy Ghost doth testifie to euerie righteous man that hee is absolutely the Sonne of God by grace but this testimony forsooth is that glorious and most excellent testimony whereby the Holy Ghost by admirable signes and wonders and peculiarly by his visible descending Acts 2. hath openly testified to all the world that they are the Sonnes of God which did receiue the Faith of Christ and his Baptisme But to assay to answer these Pontifician Peraduentures and seeming Probabilities what were it else but to goe about to shape a coate for the Moone Such lunaticke interpretations such miserable tergiuersations such slye euasions such absurd and senselesse shifts such false and profane glosses deserue no other answer than to be hissed and exploded out of euery common Schoole yea whipped also and lashed out of Gods Sanctuary for such their monstrous and shamelesse profanation of the sacred Truth FINIS Bellarmin de Iustif. l. 1. c. 4. Act. 19. Hist. Concil Trid. lib. 2. Concil Trid. Sess. 6. Proem cap. 2. 5. 7. Bern. Serm. ad Clerum Et super Cant. Serm. 33. See Bulla Pii 4 super confirmatione Conc. Trid. super Forma iuramenti professinis fidei a Luke 22. 31. Amb. de fide l. 1. c. 8. Hier. ad Ctesiph de libero arbitr contra Pelag. Ep. 3. Concil Trid. Ses. 6. cap. 5. Ibid. cap. 6. Free-will the mother of Romes preparatory workes Vega lib. 6. de preparatione adultorum ad Iustif. cap. 12. * Per â—am paenitentiam Which I translate Penance according to the vsuall and vulgar language of their Rhemes Testament nor haue they any other repentance but Penance Can. 1. â—â—el â—ist 14. lib. â— quaest 2. Aqu. 12. qu. 114 art 3. c. â— c. Aqu. 12 qu. 1â—4 a. 6. c. quian homo c. The vanity and incongruitie of Popish preparation Concil Trid. Ses. 6. cap. 6. Aqu. 12. quaest â— 14. art 7. c. * This Councell speakes of a former and later grace but names them not Ses. 4. cap. 5. Concil Trin. Ses. 6. Can. 5. a Doctè Richardus de statu inter hom cap. â—2 Cum audis liberum arbitrium esse captiuum nihil aliud intellige quà m infirmum natiuae potestatis virtute priuatum Andr. Vega lib. 15. de vera sicta iustiâ— cap. â— Concil Trin. Ses. 6. cap. 5. Prima gratia seu gratia gratis data secunda gratia seu gratia gratum saciens Romes first and second grace Aqu. 12. qu. 114 art 3. 6. Aqu. 12. qu. 114 art 5. ad 2. Aqu. 12. qu. 114 art 3. c. Vega de meritis ex Congruo iustif cap. 7. Ibid. propos 3. A notable Pontifician shift Ibid propos 4. Fides alia bona opera quil us disponimur ad gratiam gratum facientem qua â—orâ— aliter iustificamur simus accepti Deo meritoria sunt ex Congruo eiusmodi gratiae nostra iustificationis Soto de nat grat lib. 2. cap. 4 de merito ex congruo What the ancient Fathers vnderstood by the word Merit August Aug de tempore ser. 35. * Greg. in Fuang hom 34. * See Histor. Concil Trid. lib. 2. Pontificians can with facility reconcile flat contradictions Si quis dixerit hominem suis operibus quae vel per humanae naturae vires vel per legis doctrinam siant absque diâ—ina per Iesum Christum gratia possè iustificari coram Deo Anathema sit Can. 1. Ioh. Sarisbury in Polychron lib. 6 cap. 4. Greg. Past. Curae pars 3. admon 33. Qui morbum suum nescit quomodo medicum quaerit maior enim quò citius quia sit culpa agnoscitur co etiam celeriùs emendatur minor verò dum quasi nulla creditur cò peiùs securiùs in vsu retinetur a Rom. 7. 18. b Gen. 6. c Rom. 7. 13. Seâ— 6. Caâ— 7. Si quis dixerit opera omnia quae ante iustificationem fiunt quacunque ratione facta sunt verè esse peccata vel odium Dei mereri c. Anathema sit a Pelagians Pontificians compared together b Aug. contra Pelagianos lib. 3. in fine tom 7. Aug. contra Iul. Pelag. lib. 4. cap. 3. tom 7. Obiection Answer Why Romes doctrine of preparation is hereticall antichristian To receiue Christ is to beleeue in him Vega de meritis ex congruo
Iewes abide not still in vnbeleefe they shall bee graffed into the true Oliffe tree that is into Christ againe If they abide not still in vnbeleefe implying if they beleeue they shall be re-ingraffed so that faith is the instrumentall meane of our ingraffing into Christ of our vniting with him Whereupon Augustine saith Quam insertionem Oleastri amputatis propter infidelitatis superbiam naturalibus ramis etiam ipse Dominus in Euangelio praedixit occasione illius Centurionis qui in eum ex Gentibus credidit significans inseri Oleastrumpropter humilit atem fidei Which ingraffing of the wilde Oliffe the naturall branches for their proud infidelity being cut off the Lord himselfe foretold in the Gospell by occasion of that Centurion who of the Gentiles beleeued in him signifying the implanting of the wilde Oliffe for his humblefaith Thus we see vpon what ample proofes and testimonies this truth standeth that by faith wee are vnited vnto Christ. Now because our vnion with Christ is a doctrine of singular vse setting forth the nature and excellency of our Iustification by Christ and wherein we put on and possesse Christ our righteousnesse therefore wee esteeme it fit to bee treated of in an intire Chapter by it selfe CHAP. VIII Of the nature and kinde of the vnion betweene Christ and the faithfull and of the fruits and effects arising from the same VNion is a making of many into one Now there are sundry kindes of vnion there is a consubstantiall vnion as Bernard cals it in the diuinity but this so transcendent as it may be called rather vnity than vnion and rather one than vnity The Father the Word and the Spirit these three are one 1. Ioh. 5. 7. and Christ saith I and the Father are one not vnited but one Ioh. 10. 30. So that this vnion in the diuinity this vnity this one hath no parallel As Bernard saith speaking of some other vnions Haec omnia quid ad illud summum atque vt ita dicam vnicè vnum vbi vnitatem consubstantialitas facit All other vnions what are they to that one supreame and as I may so say that onely one where consubstantiasity makes the vnity And super Cantica serm 71. Singularis ac summa illa est vnitas quae non vnitione constat sed extat aeternitate That is the most singular and excellent vnity which consists not by vnition but existeth by eternity There is also a personall vnion and that is of the two natures in Christ which Bernard cals dignatiua vnitas qua limus noster à Dei verbo in vnam assumptus est personam a vouchsafing or gracious vnity whereby the word of God vouchsafed to assume our slimie nature into the vnity of his person There is a Sacramentall vnion between the signe and the thing signified in the Sacraments There is a naturall or animall vnion of the soule and body in man There is an accidentall vnion betweene the mind and learning found in a learned man There is an artificiall vnion betweene the hand and the instrument as when the work is predicated of or denominated of them both ioyntly as a carued worke implies both the hand and toole wherewith it was wrought There is a morall vnion between two friends as Dauid and Ionathan There is a ciuill vnion between the Prince and the People There is an vnion of dependency betweene the Creature and the Creator for in him wee liue and moue and haue our being Acts 17. 28. Finally to passe by others there is a spirituall and mysticall vnion betweene Christ and beleeuers which is called spirituall especially from the principall efficient of it the Spirit of God and of Christ as the Apostle declareth 1. Cor. 12. 13. By one spirit are we all baptized into one mysticall body of Christ. Now this spirituall vnion between Christ the beleeuer as it comes short of that first transcendent vnion in the sacred Trinity in vnity so it doth as farre excell all those other vnions yet so as it seemeth to partake in some thing of them all For first concerning that stupendious and wondrous vnion in the diuine Hypostaces or Persons our vnion with Christ is resembled to it as Ioh. 17. 20. 21. Neither pray I for these alone but for them also which shall beleeue on mee through their word that they may all be one as thou Father art in mee and I in thee that they also may be one in vs. And Ioh. 14. 20. At that day ye shall know that I am in the Father and you in mee and I in you Yea Christ and his beleeuers are so vnited in one in one mysticall body as Christ and they are called one Christ 1. Cor. 14. 12. So is Christ that is Christ and all his members being there compared to one body compacted of many members So is Christ saith the Apostle So then as the Father is in the Sonne and the Sonne in the Father one God so beleeuers are in Christ and Christ in beleeuers one Christ. So that the vnion betweene the Father and the Sonne and betweene Christ and vs seemeth to be alike It is somewhat like indeede but nothing alike for the Father and Christ are one so is Christ and the beleeuer one but yet in different respects The Father and the Sonne are one but essentially and naturally Christ and the beleeuer are one not essentially nor naturally but are made so by grace as Ioh. 17. 23. That they may be made perfect in one So 2. Pet. 1. 4. We are made partakers of the diuine nature by gift And as Bernard saith Hanc vnitatem nontam essentiarum cohaerentia facit quam continentia voluntatum This vnity is wrought not so much by the coherency of essences as by the correspondency and nearenesse of wils And againe Homini Deo sua cnique natura substantia est cum Patris Filijque coâ—stet penitus esse vnam In the vnion betweene God and man each of them notwithstanding retaine their nature and substance proper to themselues but the Father and the Sonne haue both one and the same substance So that in our vnity with God in Christ there is not confusio naturarum sed voluntatum consensio not a confusion of natures but a consent of wils Secondly this vnion betweene Christ and the beleeuer is not an hypostaticall or personall vnion such as is betweene the two natures in Christ but it is mysticall onely and such as maketh the beleeuer in Christ to be with him one Christ yet not personally but spiritually mystically as 1. Cor. 6. 17. He that is ioyned vnto the Lord is one spirit Thirdly this vnion betweene Christ and the beleeuer is not that Sacramentall vnion between the signe and the thing signified sith the signe hath no benefit from the thing signified nor is it any longer a signe than in the Sacramentall vse and application to the beleeuing Communicant and so the Sacramentall vnion ceaseth yet