riches of his grace in his kindnesse towards vs through Christ Iesus What greater loue what greater grace what richer mercy than for God to cast his eye of fauour vpon vs euen when we were dead in sinnes As the Apostle saith also Rom. 5. 8. God commendeth his loue towards vs in that while we were yet sinners when we were enemies Christ dyed for vs. And in the vulgar Latine set forth by the Diuines of Louain printed at Antwerpe 1584. in the fourth to the Romanes Verse 5. wee finde these words in the Text Ei verò qui non operatur credenti autem in eum qui iustificat impium reputatur fides eius ad iustitiam secundum propositum gratiae Dei Now to him that worketh not but beleeueth in him that iustifieth the vngodly his faith is reckoned for righteousness according to the purpose of the grace of God Now these last words are not in our vulgar translations nor in most Greeke Copies but the Louain Doctors haue noted in the margent that they are found in some Manuscripts and Greeke Copies And it were to be wished that they had added no worse than this into that their translation for it is but that which is the generall Doctrine of the Gospell of Christ. For the preaching of the Gospel what is it but a beame of this grace of God shining vpon sinners as Tit. 2. 11. The grace of God that bringeth saluation hath appeared vnto all men And the Gospel is the Gospel of the grace of God Act. 20. 24. And the Word of God is the word of his grace vers 32. And Acts 14. 3. Yea we finde the very same words in the Apostle 2. Tim. 1. 9. Who hath saued vs and called vs with an holy calling not according to our workes but marke according to his owne purpose and grace which was giuen vs in Christ Iesus before the world began but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Sauiour Iesus Christ c. So that the ground of our saluation by Iesus Christ is the meere grace of God by this grace we are saued by this grace we come to inherit eternall life for eternall life is of the grace of God it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the free gift of his grace And wee are heires of the grace of life 1. Pet. 3. 7. The Apostle Paul was so in loue with this grace that all his Epistles are perfumed throughout as it were with this precious oyntment Hee nameth it not so little as a hundreth times The salutation of each Epistle hath grace in it yea the Apostle sets it as his marke at the end of euery Epistle and would haue all his Epistles knowne by that marke to bee his As hee saith 2. Thes. 3. 17. 18. The salutation of Paul with mine owne hand which is the token in euery Epistle so I write The grace of our Lord Iesus Christ bee with you all So that besides other probable arguments I finding this marke at the end of the Epistle to the Hebrewes I conclude it to bee Pauls Epistle No one Apostle ends his Epistle with the prayer and wishing of grace but onely Paul Indeede the Reuelation endeth so The grace of our Lord Iesus Christ be with you all Amen Thus Gods gracious eternall purpose in electing to saluation such as in his speciall fauour hee was pleased to foreknow being the prime and originall cause whereon depends the whole frame of our effectuall saluation it teacheth vs a maine difference between the first Couenant and the second The first Couenant was made with the first Adam in Paradise which indeed did meerly depend vpon mans will to keep it or to break it Doe this and thou shalt liue This was that first Couenant which Man failing to keep so forfeiting his estate God now makes a second Couenant in the second Adam which he will not as he did in the first hazzard vpon mans will or ability in the keeping of it Gods wisdome well weighing that if Adam in his perfection so easily and quickly brake the first Couenant though hee had both will and power to keepe it how much more man now corrupt and weake would neuer bee able to keepe the second Couenant And therefore to make sure worke God takes a contrary course in the second Couenant which that it may for euer stand firme and immutable hee hath established it vpon the sure foundation of his owne good pleasure and will wherein is no shadow of change Well the conclusion is Gods free grace and fauour is the ground of our election it is the foundation whereon depends our whole saluation wee are elected wee are saued all by grace according to his purpose and grace This grace of God the Pontifician Church cannot away withall as being an enemy to all their Doctrine And therfore the Councell of Trent hath excluded yea and condemned the grace of God as the sole efficient cause of saluation for Ses. 6. Can. 11. the words be Si quis dixerit c. gratiam qua iustificamur esse tantum fauorem Dei anathema sit that is If any shall say that the grace whereby we are iustified is onely the fauour of God let him be Anathema or accursed If Romes Curse were of force then wofull were the case of St. Paul that doth so often mightily magnifie the grace of God in our iustification yea the only grace and fauour of God excluding workes as not hauing the least share with Gods grace therein Nay the whole Word of God which is the Word of his grace and the Gospell of his grace must fall vnder Romes Curse Howsoeuer the equiuocating Romanists would foyst and shuffle in their workes by the name of grace by which indeed they destroy and ouerthrow the grace of God Obiect But say some It is sufficient that wee grant that Gods grace doth manifest it selfe in prouiding for vs and offering vnto vs meanes whereby we may be saued without which meanes because we cannot be saued therefore we are said to be saued by the grace of God Answ. Is that sufficient O enemies of the grace of God and of your owne saluation Will you so limit Gods grace Will ye so eclipse the glory of his grace as to confine it within such narrow bounds Indeede great and infinitely great was Gods loue in so louing the world that he gaue his only begotten Sonne that all that beleeue in him should not perish but haue life euerlasting But did his gift depend vpon mans acceptance that it might be effectuall if man would otherwise not Then as Esay saith Who hath beleeued our report Had not then this great loue of God beene vtterly lost Had not this gift beene such as no man would receiue it For what saith the Scripture All haue sinned and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 come short of the glory of God The naturall man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 perceiueth not receiueth not this gift it is farre aboue out of his
quae fides Quae per dilectionem operatur Hanc daemones non habent fidem quae per dilectionem operatur sed soli serui Dei soli Sancti Dei soli fide filij Abrahae soli filij dilectionis filij promissionis ideo est charitas dicta Tell me what faith had Peter That which worketh by loue This faith which worketh by loue the Deuils haue not but only Gods seruants only Gods saints onely the sonnes of Abraham by faith onely the sonnes of loue the sonnes of the promise therefore it is called also charity Note here how St. Augustine puts a distinct difference between that kinde of Faith of Gods saints which is neuer separated from charity but alwayes working by loue and that in the Deuils and damned which is not capable of charity no more than the Salamander of heat Discernenda est ergo fides Daemonum à fide Sanctorum Plane discernenda vigilanter diligenter Therfore saith he the faith of the Diuels is to be discerned from the faith of the Saints Yea it is to be heedfully and carefully discerned Yea the whole current of ancient Fathers tunne mainly to proue that sauing and iustifying Faith is a Faith proper to the Elect and Saints of God and meerely distinct in kind and nature from that faith which is common with reprobates and deuils Hence it is that they giue sauing and iustifying Faith such Epithets and Attributes as doe distinguish it from the faith which is in the reprobate and damned As they call it Sancta integra vera viua non reproba fides c. A holy intire true liuing not a reprobate faith Origen saith Certum est quod remissionem peccatorum nullus accipiat nisi detulerit integram probam sanctam fidem per quam mercari possit Arietam cuius natura haec est vt peccata credentis abstergat It is certaine that none can receiue remission of sins vnlesse he bring an entire godly and holy faith where with he may buy the Ramme the nature whereof is this to take away the sins of the beleeuer And againe Si fidem obtuleris tanquam precium hoc est Siclum sanctum Christo velut Ariete immaculato in hostiam dato remissionem accipies peccatorum If thou shalt offer thy faith as a price that is the holy Sicle hauing Christ as an immaculate Ramme offered vp in sacrifice thou shalt receiue remission of sinnes This ancient Doctor of the Church cals faith a price as Peter cals it a precious faith Chrysostome vpon the third Chapter to the Romanes saith What is the Law of Faith To be saued by grace Hee declareth the power of God that not only he saueth but also iustifieth and glorifieth without the helpe of any workes but requiring only faith If therefore God do saue and iustifie and glorifie vs by faith without the helpe of any workes concurring in our iustification then surely wicked and godlesse men so remaining whatsoeuer other faith they may haue they haue nothing to doe with this iustifying Faith by which most properly we are called Fideles Theophylact saith Qui credit in Filium non iudicatur Nunquid si immundam egerit vitam non iudicatur Maximè quidem Non enim verè fideles sunt eiusmodi Hee that beleeueth in the Son is not condemned But if a man leade an impure life is he not condemned Yes doubtlesse For such men are no true beleeuers St. Basil saith What is the property of a Christian Faith working by loue The Faith then of a Christian is not separate from loue for it is alwayes operans working by loue And the same Father addeth What is the property of Faith A ful perswasion without reasoning c. where the same Father sheweth other common properties of faith as it apprehends the truth of Gods Oracles and is true it selfe without adding or detracting Our Sauiours words in the third of Iohn v. 16. are very powerfull God so loued the world that he gaue his onely begotten Sonne that whosoeuer beleeueth in him should not perish but haue euerlasting life Whence issueth this conclusion Whosoeuer beleeueth in Iesus Christ shall neuer perish But wicked men by the confession of Pontificians although they beleeue do perish Therefore that faith or beleefe which wicked men haue is not that faith or beleefe in Christ which will not suffer any man to perish St. Augustine to this purpose vpon these words Credo in Deum c. saith Non dicit Credo Deum vel credo Deo quamuis haec necessaria saluti sint Aliud est enim credere illi aliud credere illum aliud credere in illum Credere illi est credere vera esse quae loquitur credere illum credere quia ipse est Deus credere in illum diligere illum Credere vera esse quae loquitur multi malipossunt credere autem ipsum esse Deum Daemones possunt credere vero in Deum soli nouerunt qui diligunt illum qui non solum nomine Christiani sunt sed factis vita quia sine dilectione fides inanis est cum dilectione fides Christiani sine dilectione fides Daemonis I beleeue in God c. He saith not I beleeue that God is or I beleeue God although also these are necessarie to saluation For it is one thing to beleeu him another to beleeue that he is and another to beleeue in him To beleeue him is to beleeue those things are true which he speaketh to beleeue that he is is to beleeue that he is God or that God is to be beleeue in him or into him as the Scottish Dialect or Phrase doth more liuely expresse it is to loue him To beleeue those things to bee true which he speaketh euen many wicked men may doe it and to beleeue that God is euen the Diuels can also doe it but to beleeue in God they only can skill which doe loue him which are Christians not onely in name but also in their deeds and life because faith without loue is vaine with loue the faith of a Christian without loue the faith of Diuels So this holy Father As elsewhere throughout his workes he teacheth this as the Catholike doctrin constantly maintained in the Church of Christ That sauing and iustifying faith is a faith meerely distinct and different in kinde and nature from that faith which is in wicked men and in Diuels cleane contrary to the Romane Catholicke doctrine as the like place we alledged before in the sixt Chapter out of his 29. Tract vpon St. Iohn And it is also vsed by the Glosse vpon Rom. 4. Vega citeth the place by way of obiection but leaues it vnanswered as we haue formerly shewed For indeede it is vnanswerable And therefore but only in that one place and that by way of obiection Vega in all that voluminous Booke of Iustification neuer meddleth with Credere in Christum keeping him close to his Text to wit the Councell of
reach He may say Who shall fetch Christ from aboue that I may haue him within my reach What reach The Deuill had him within his reach when he carryed him vp to a high mountaine But thou wilt say God reacheth out Christ vnto thee in his Word The Word is neare thee True But where is thy hand to put forth to receiue him Thy hand must bee a liuely faith for to beleeue in Christ is to receiue him as Gods gift But faith also is the speciall gift of God Therefore saith the Apostle By grace are ye saued through faith and not of your selues it is the gift of God Now herein doth the glory of Gods grace shine forth and gloriously display it selfe that he hath not only in his rich mercy prouided vs the means of saluation making tender of it vnto vs in his Word but hee effectually also giueth it vnto vs giuing vs a minde and meanes to receiue it As St. Iohn saith Hee hath giuen vs a minde to know him that is true And Christ No man can come vnto mee except the Father which hath sent mee draw him And againe No man knoweth the Father but the Sonne and he to whom the Sonne will reueale him And Matth. 16. 17. Peter hauing confessed Christ to be the Sonne of the liuing God Christ answered him Blessed art thou Simon Bar-Iona for flesh and bloud hath not reuealed this vnto thee but my Father which is in Heauen As the Apostle also 1. Cor. 12. 3. No man can say that Iesus is Christ but by the holy Ghost that is No man can truly acknowledge him to be his Christ but by the holy Ghost Otherwise the very Deuill seeing his miracles feeling his power euen ouer them confessed saying I know who thou art the holy one of God and Thou art Christ the Sonne of God Yet the Deuill did not this by the holy Ghost nor was it by any power of Gods grace But herein stands that grace of God first in choosing vs freely of his meere loue and mercy not fore-seeing vs to be good but finding vs to be euill shut vp in vnbeleefe that he might haue mercy vpon vs. Secondly not only in prouiding and offering meanes of grace but also in effectuall giuing and bestowing grace vpon all those whom he hath chosen giuing them grace to receiue grace that of his fulnesse we might all receiue and grace for grace as it followeth in the definition Now as God out of his meere loue grace and fauour did from all eternity elect and appoint a certaine number of men fallen in Adam vnto saluation So for the effecting of this his eternall purpose in time hee did also appoint the meanes whereby hee would bring those vnto the end of their saluation The meanes is twofold First the only absolute meane◠which is Iesus Christ Secondly an inferiour and conditionall means whereby we are made capable to receiue Christ with all his benefits First then Christ is that only all-sufficient and absolute meanes whereby God would effectually worke saluation vnto vs vpon and to whom the eye of his grace principally and immediately reflecteth in his electing of vs. So Eph. 1. 4. He chose vs in him and Ephes. 3. 11. according to the eternall purpose which he purposed in Christ Iesus our Lord Now there is no other name vnder Heauen giuen among men whereby we must be saued neyther is there saluation in any other And other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid Iesus Christ 1. Cor. 3. 11. Iesus Christ God-man is the Centre in whom all the lines of Gods loue and mercy to mankinde doe meete Thus are wee chosen in him before the foundation of the world Ephes. 1. 4. Thus are we blessed with all spirituall blessings in heauenly places in Christ ver 3. Thus are wee predestinated vnto the adoption of children by Iesus Christ vers 5. Thus hath God made vs accepted in the Beloued to wit Iesus Christ in whom the Father is well pleased vers 6. Thus haue we redemption through his bloud euen the forgiuenesse of sinnes according to the riches of his grace vers 7. Thus in the dispensation of the fulnesse of time God doth gather in one all things in Christ both which are in heauen and which are in earth euen In him vers 10. Thus in him we haue obtained an inheritance to which wee are predestinated vers 11. Thus in him beleeuing we are sealed with the holy Spirit of promise Now in that God did of his meere grace elect vs vnto saluation therein appeareth the wonderfull mercy and loue of God towards vs in that hee made choice of his owne Sonne to bee the onely soueraigne meanes of this our saluation therein appeareth also the infinite wisedome of God to seale vp and to reueale vnto vs his incomprehensible loue Thus is Christ called the power of God and the wisedome of God In him are hid all the treasures of Gods wisdome This is that deepnesse of the riches of the wisdome knowledge of God wherein the Apostles admiration was swallowed vp and wherewith the blessed Angels themselues were transported with rauishment Luke 2. 13 14. This wisedome of God in Christ God-man all the Deuils could not for all their subtilty comprehend neyther can all the wisedome of flesh and bloud conceiue it it is foolishnesse to the Gentile and a stumbling blocke to the Iew. Who can conceiue that the Sonne of God could suffer and dye Yet this did Iesus Christ in that Hypostaticall vnion of his two natures Who can conceiue that a man should fully satisfie the iustice of God for the sinnes of the world And yet this did the man Iesus Christ that one Mediator betweene God and Man the Man Iesus Christ saith the Apostle 1. Tim. 2. 5. Nothing but the precious bloud of God could reconcile vs to God in appeasing his iustice towards vs nothing but the bloud of God could purchase for vs the fauour of God and eternall life So that in Iesus Christ is reuealed vnto vs 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the manifold wisedome of God as the Apostle speaketh Ephes. 3. 10. In him alone and none but him is the Father well pleased with vs. So is Christ the only soueraigne absolute meanes in whom as wee are elected so we are also saued Yet to the end that all the elect might be made effectually partakers of the loue and fauour of God in Christ the wisedome of God hath also ordained subordinate conditionall and ordinary meanes whereby we should receiue Christ for ours These meanes are the Word of God preached whereby faith is begotten in vs through the operation of Gods Spirit and the holy Sacraments administred whereby our faith in Christ is sealed and confirmed in vs. By this faith it is that we lay hold vpon Christ wherby he is made ours and we made his being mystically vnited vnto him so in him adopted the Sonnes of God by grace as
the earth of the light of the world they may strongly support thy true Religion season and lighten those places which are dark and vnsauory and all for want of faithfull Ministers thus shall they highly magnifie their office and discharge their stewardship by prouiding and sending painfull labourers into euery corner of thy field Inspire and inflame them Lord with that zeale of thine own wherewith thou didst purge thy Temple from profane merchandize that so they may with the whip-cords of sound Doctrine and wholesome Discipline chase out of thy Church all Heresie and Idolatry Why should the world O Lord complaine and cry Where is the spirit of those ancient Bishops and Martyrs and learned Champions of thy truth as of Cranmer Ridley Latimer Hooper Bucer Peter Martyr Iewel and other faithfull witnesses whose eyther bloud hath beene the seed or preaching and writing the watering of this thy noble Vineyard O keepe farre from vs the spirit of cowardise and lukewarmnesse of ambition and loue of the world lest these infeebling and infatuating our soules wee should proue a generation of peruerse and foolish children pulling downe what our religious fore-fathers with such care and paines mature iudgement and sound knowledge in the truth haue built Stirre vp O Lord the noble hearts of the two honourable Chancellors of our Vniuersities that with the ayde of soueraigne authority they may zealously set themselues to preserue those Fountaines and Nurceries from the mudde of Heresie and the bitter root of Impiety Infuse the spirit of courage zeale vprightnesse and hatred of couetousnesse in aboundance vpon all the reuerend Iudges and Iustices of the Land that they may duely execute the Lawes by freeing the poor innocent from the potent oppressor by cutting downe sinne and cutting off the traiterous ring-leaders to Idolatry Thus thy Church being purged Iustice executed Religion maintained sinne reformed our Couenant with thee renewed our vowes of better obedience and thankfulnesse performed and we through thy merits reconciled to thy Father of mercies thou the great Captaine and Lord of Hosts mayst againe take thy peoples part turne the edge of thy Sword against thine enemies and fill our mouthes with a new song of praise thanksgiuing to thee which sittest vpon the Throne with the Father and the Holy Ghost God blessed for euer Amen The Preface to the Reader CHristian Reader loe here the two great mysteries laid open the one of Godlinesse the summe whereof is Christ beleeued on in the World the other of Iniquity the head whereof is Antichrist beleeued on of the World Two Mysteries incompatible as light and darknesse They are the two bounders disterminating Ierusalem from Babylon This Mysterie of iniquity I meane the Romish doctrine of Iustification is the head-doctrine or source whence all their meritorious satisfactions doe flow And Bellarmine with other Pontificians confesseth Iustification to bee the maine Cardo or hinge whereon hangeth the whole body of controuersies betweene them and the Pretestants Nor was it for nothing that the Councell of Trent so improued all their skill and strength to oppose and oppresse the true Catholicke doctrine of Iustification as whereby the Papall magnificence and the gaine of the Romish Craftsmen for their Diana was endangered So that this their Abortiue was a hatching for seuen moneths so long was this Babylonish Ramme wherewith they would force heauen gates a hammering in the Trent-forge so as the History noteth that the most expert in the Church affirmed That if all the Councels assembled from the Apostles times to that were summed vp together they could not make vp so many Articles as the Trent-Fathers had amassed together in this one sixt Session of that Synod the best part whereof also they were beholden to Aristotle for And no maruaile they were so puzzled for they were to encounter sundry difficulties as first the euidence of Scriptures secondly the concent of ancient Fathers thirdly the powerfull preaching and writings of Luther fourthly the dissent of their Schoolemen and fiftly the diuision of the Councell it selfe some being Thomists some Scotists some Dominicans some Franciscans To satisfie and reconcile all which was more than an Herculean labour But what could be difficult to the Papall Omnipotencie who could send his holy Ghost post from Rome to Trent in a Cloake-bagge which loosed all knots and decided all doubts Nor had the Pope wanting in that Councell the most pregnant wits in the Pontifician world besides a numerous multitude of new titular Bishops as titular for learning as liuing to lay on load of down right voyces to conclude and ratifie whatsoeuer the Pope with his Cardinals in their Conclaue at Rome and his dextrous instruments in the Councell had with no lesse sweat than artifice contriued For the first maine obstacle the euidence of Scripture they are faine to collogue and speake it faire and borrow from it certaine broad Phylacteries wouen with Scripture phrases wherewith the Babylonish Whore partly decks her shamelesse forehead and partly adornes the cobwebbe Robe of her counterfeit selfe-Iustification as Coelestis Pater Iesus Christ the Sun of righteousnesse the author and finisher of our faith The Father of mercies and God of all consolation sent his sonne to redeeme Iewes and Gentiles and that all might receiue adoption of sonnes Him hath God sent forth to be a propitiation for our sinnes in his bloud for this Redemption we ought to giue thanks And ch 7. The Meritorious cause of our Iustification is our Lord Iesus Christ c. O holy Councell Will any suspect the Serpent to lurke vnder such flowers of Paradise Or that they goe about to betray Christ with Hayle Master But in this their profound hypocrisie lyeth the whole Mysterie of Iniquity Si tamen hypocrisis dici debet quae iam latere prae abundantia non valet prae impudentiâ non quaerit as Bernard saith of Romes Clergy in his time If that may be called hypocrisie which neither for the abundancy of it can nor for the impudencie of it cares to conceale it selfe Thus by egregious hypocrisie Arrius deluded the Councell of Nice confessing Christ to be God of God yet denyed his consubstantiality with the Father Thus the second Councell of Nice summoned to decree the erection and veneration of Images makes a goodly Preface giuing thankes to God that they were deliuered from Idols Thus Augustine confesseth how he was seduced by the Manichaean hypocrisie Thus dealeth the Trent Councell And besides her hypocrisie her impudencie displayes it selfe while in this Councell Rome alters the Rule of Faith addes her Traditions Decretals and Canons as a party and equall rule with Scripture guelds the Scriptures of their masculine authoritie and genuine sense closing vp all in the Cabinet of the Popes breast where lodgeth his Infallibilitie And thus the sacred Scriptures which till that Idolatrous Councell of Trent were held the sole and entire Catholicke Canon and rule of Faith must now draw in
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
appeale to the originall as Vega doth here For indeede the Latine vulgar addeth in the foresaid place of the Apostle Rom. 3. 22. In eum saying Iustitia antem Dei per fidem Iesu Christi in omnes super omnes qui credunt in eum The righteousnesse of God by Faith in Iesus Christ vnto all and vpon all that beleeue in him But note the spirit of the Trent Councell cannot endure to say or heare Credere in Christum to beleeue in Christ. Vega here disclaimes it as not found in the Greeke though the Apostle doth vse this Phrase in the very same Epistle to the Romanes at the least fiue times 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to beleeue in him And in the one Gospell of S. Iohn this phrase to beleeue in eum in him is vsed aboue thirty times yet the Councell of Trent in her whole sixt session of iustification doth not so much as once name credere in eum to beleeue in him which may make a man suspect there is something in this phrase which will not agree with the Councels stomacke But for as much as we touched a little before how that Vega attributeth our vnion with Christ to Faith vnformed and that the Councell saith that not faith alone without hope and charity doth eyther perfectly vnite to Christ or make one a liuing member of his bodie to reconcile these two we may easily see how that neyther the Councell doth altogether exclude Faith alone from vniting with Christ sauing that alone it doth not perfectly vnite nor make a liuing member but yet a dead member of Christ as they say nor Vega so admit of faith vnformed to incorporate vs into Christ saue that it doth it imperfectly and makes men only not liuing members So that in this worke of vnion Vega makes this difference betweene Faith formed and vnformed that the vnformed procureth the holy Ghost and righteousnesse and causeth Christ to dwell in vs and faith formed with charity causeth both Christ and the holy Ghost to dwell in our hearts and the Kingdome of heauen to bee within vs. But extricating our selues out of these Romane perplexities and serpentine windings wee may easily see how the Scriptures ascribe our vnion with Christ vnto faith euen by that vsuall phrase of Scripture 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Credere in eum to beleeue in him or rather as the phrase importeth to beleeue into him A phrase which the Pontificians doe so much abhorre but such as Augustine doth set forth our vnion with Christ by as we see in that very place alledged out of him by Vega Credere in Christum est credendo in eum ire eiu4 membris incorporari to beleeue in Christ is by beleeuing to go into him to be incorporated into his members And again Hoc est credere in Deum credendo ei adhaerere This is to beleeue in God by beleeuing to adhere or cleaue vnto him As that reuolting generation of Ephraim credidit Deo sed non credidit in Deum non ex fide adhaesit Deo Ephraim beleeued God but did not beleeue in God did not by faith cleaue vnto God And De verbis Domini he saith Qui in Christum credit credendo in Christum veniet in eum Christus quoquo modo vnitur in eum membrum in corpore eius efficitur Hee that beleeueth in Christ by beleeuing in Christ Christ will come into him and he is altogether vnited vnto him or rather in eum into him and is made a member in his body But note here a maine difference betweene St. Augustines sincerity and the Councell of Trents double dealing equiuocation For Augustine in the same place before mentioned saith that this faith which vniteth vs to Christ and Christ to vs hath euer hope and loue inseparably ioyned with it else it is not that faith Quae credit in Christum which beleeueth in Christ or into Christ His words are I lle credit in Christum qui sperat in Christum diligit Christum Nam si fidem habet sine spe aâ— sine dilectione Christum esse credit non in Christum credit Hee beleeueth in Christ who also hopeth in Christ and loueth Christ For if bee haue faith without hope and without loue hee beleeueth that Christ is but beleeueth not in Christ. Yet we see that this holy man ascribeth our vnion with Christ to the act of beleeuing which is the prime property of faith and not to the acts of hoping and louing which are the secondary qualities of it Euen as the act of burning is attributed to the heate of the fire the prime quality of it and not to the light nor to the drinesse of it which are secondary qualities of the fire So that as the fire hath heate hath light hath drieth all of them ioynt qualities in the fire yet it vniteth the combustible matter vnto it selfe or incorporateth it selfe into it not by reason either of the light or of the drieth of it but onely by the heate the prime property of the fire So faith hath beleeuing hath hope hath loue all of them inseparably ioyned vnto faith yet faith vnites the obiect Christ vnto it or vnto the soule not by the vertue of hope and loue but by its most proper act of beleeuing As the same Augustine saith Medicina animae omnium vulnerum vna propitiatio pro delictis hominum est in Christum credere Nec omnino quisquam mundari potest siue ab originali peccato siue ab actuali nisi per fidem coadâ—nentur compaginentur corpori eius qui sine vlla illaecebra carnali conceptus est peccatum non fecit nec inuentus est dolus in ore eius c. The medicine of all the wounds of the soule and the only propitiation for mens sinnes is to beleeue in Christ. Neither can any man be cleansed either from originall or from actuall sinne vnlesse they be by faith vnited and ioynted into the body of him who without any carnall lust was conceiued and did no sin neither was guile found in his mouth But the Trent Councell with her Pontificians will haue hope and loue so ioyned with faith in working our vnion with Christ as indeede they attribute a greater part of this worke to hope and loue than to faith which is all one as to say the fire doth more burne by vertue of his light and drieth than of his heate which is most absurd Further the Apostle sheweth this vnion by faith Ephes. 3. 17. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith Now this dwelling is reciprocall and mutuall for as Christ dwelleth in our hearts by faith so wee dwell in him by faith and so by faith are made one with Christ. Againe Rom. 11. 19. 20. Thou wilt say then the branches were broken off that I might bee graffed in Well because of their vnbeleefe they were broken off and thou standest by faith And againe ver 23. If the
but beleeueth c. Secondly in respect of their opposite conditions The condition of the Law is Doe this and liue but the law of Faith is Beleeue and liue as the Apostle declares at large Rom. 10. 4. c. Now all this opposition between the Law and Faith is mainely in the point of Iustification There is a Iustification by the Law a Iustification by Faith but so opposite and incompatible as they can in no wise bee reconciled together the one doth necessarily exclude the other Oyle and vineger cannot bee mingled together but the one will euer floate aboue the other and admit of no mixture so the oyle of grace and of faith can abide no mixture with the sharpe vineger of that killing letter the Law in the worke of iustification in Gods sight vnlesse where the Law is entirely and exactly kept in all points But otherwise the Law and Faith the Law and the Gospell doe sweetly conspire together For as for the Ceremonies of the Law in as much as they were types all answering to the patterne of heauenly things shewed to Moses in the Mount which patterne was Christ as the Apostle to the Hebrewes most diuinely sheweth those Ceremonies those Types are now all swallowed vp and for euer fulfilled in the substance and truth which is Christ And as for the morall Law it is made subordinate to the Faith of the Gospell so that in euery beleeuer it is the rule of Christian obedience and holy conuersation And therefore when the Law was giuen in Mount Sinai Iesus Christ stands at the top saying I am the Lord thy God which brought thee out of the land of Egypt out of the house of bondage Thou shalt haue no other Gods but me c. Now what deliuerance was this A temporall deliuerance only No it was a liuely type of our spirituall freedome from the Egyptian seruitude of sinne and Sathan witnesse the Pascall Lambe which slaine the blood sprinkled saued the Israelites which was a type of the Lambe of God that taketh away the sins of the world And the Sea diuided a type of Baptisme sauing the soule and drowning sinne together with the power of darkenesse Pharaoh and his Hoast So that howsoeuer the giuing of the Law was with much terrour in regard of the manner yet in regard of the matter being well vnderstood it must needes bee most comfortable to all the faithfull who beleeue in Iesus Christ the Deliuerer from Egypt who hath freed vs from the curse of the Law and will worke in vs both to will and to doe the duties of the Law as fruits of faith euen of his good pleasure Indeed that notable and excellent Preface to the Morall law I am the Lord thy God which brought thee out of the land of Egypt c. to the common carnall and vnbeleeuing Iewes was a Riddle but to the Eagle-ey'd Beleeuer Iew or Gentile it is a most cleere Gospell setting forth what Iesus Christ hath done for vs and consequently what wee should doe for him that as wee beleeue in him who hath saued and redeemed vs out of the house of bondage and from the seruitude of the spirituall Pharaoh so wee should testifie this our faith in louing fearing seruing and obeying him in keeping those commandements of Loue written not with pen and inke but with the finger of Gods spirit not in tables of stone but in the fleshie tables of our hearts As it is in the Song of Zachary That wee being deliuered from the hands of our enemies should serue him without feare in holinesse and righteousnesse all the dayes of our life Therefore seruants were called à seruando as being saued by those to whom therefore they did owe their seruice In this respect the Law and Faith the Law and the Gospell are not opposite but sweetely subordinate the one vnto the other that as Christ hath saued vs from the curse of the Law so he propounds himselfe to be serued of vs by conformity to the Law in a Christian conuersation So that the Tree of life sweetning these waters of Marah Iesus Christ sweetning and sanctifying the Law vnto vs wee drinke thereof with comfort to strengthen vs in our way to Canaan through this wearisome Wildernesse As Dauid saith I will runne the way of thy Commandements when thou hast enlarged my heart So that Faith and the Law to wit the obedience of Gods will are sweete yea inseparable companions and goe hand in hand together throughout the whole Pilgrimage of this life but in the worke of our Iustification in the sight of God they are meere strangers one vnto the other yea sworne opposites that can neuer be reconciled though the Pontificians would neuer so faine ioyne together Faith Gods Arke and their owne worke Dagon in their Temple to stand as copartners in their iustification But Dagon fals downe where the Arke standeth yea hee loseth his head all deuices to pleade for himselfe and his hands too that hee cannot doe one good deede towards his Iustification but remaines a meere trunck and senslesse blocke And as the Philistims while they boasted they had gotten the Arke of God to their Dagon were not free but the more followed with diuine vengeance So the Pontificians while they bragge of faith and good workes as concurring in iustification they are so farre from being saued from Gods wrath as that they doe the more incense him against themselues Nor shall they euer bee free from feeling and fearing Gods plagues till with the Philistims they send home the Lords Arke with a sinne-offring that is vntil they repent of this their profanation of the Faith of Christ which is that onely wherein Israel must be saued renouncing their own workes as hauing no more hands than Dagon left them for to worke their iustification in the sight of God CHAP. X. A plausible obiection of the Pontificians for the confirmation of their Iustification by inherent righteousnesse answered and diuers reasons added to shew the absurdities of Iustification by inherencie BVt the Pontificians in the behalfe of their iustification by inherent righteousnesse obiect What difference is there say they betweene Gods pardoning our debts and giuing vs money to pay them A pretty deuice indeede For so long as they can colour and varnish ouer their hypocrisie by seeming to ascribe the glory of their inherent iustification to God they thinke all is well enough and if probability might stand for proofe our penny of inherent righteousnesse might proue as good siluer to satisfie for our debts to God as the price of Christs bloud payde for vs and imputed to vs. But let Baal pleade for himselfe seeing he is a God And for the deciding of this doubt we haue a leading case in the Gospell that will easily stint the strife The case is betweene the Pharisee and the Publican both went vp to the Temple to pray The Pharisee prayed thus Lord I thanke thee I am not as other
angry Iudge within the conscience boyling without the world burning The righteous shall scareely be saued the sinner taken tardy where shall hee appeare To lurke shall be impossible to appeare intolerable Who shall aduise me Whence shall I expect saluation Who is he that is called the Angell of great counsell The same is Iesus The same is the Iudge betweene whose hands I tremble Pause awhile O sinner doe not despaire Hope in him whom thou fearest flye to him from whom thou hast fled O Iesus Christ for this thy name sake deale with mee according to this name looke vpon this wretch calling on thy name Therefore O Iesus bee my Iesus for thy names sake If thou shalt admit me into the large bosome of thy mercy it shall be neuer a whit the narrower for me True it is my conscience hath deserued damnation and my repentance sufficeth not for satisfaction but certaine it is that thy mercy surpasseth all misdeedes c. It is recorded of Edward the Confessor once King of this Island that lying on his death-bed his friends about him weeping he said If ye loued mee ye would forbeare weeping and reioyce rather because I goe to my Father with whom I shall receiue the ioyes promised to the faithfull not through my merits but by the free mercy of my Sauiour who sheweth mercy on whom he pleaseth Thus by these and such like testimonies of holy and deuout men not in their Rhetoricall declamations to winne applause with men but in their saddest meditations as standing in the presence yea before the dreadfull Tribunall of that iust God it may easily appeare what confidence is to be put in the best mans workes or inherent righteousnesse All these will proue but dry fewell and stubble when they come to that consuming fire to those euerlasting burnings It is an easie matter for a carnall man seduced with errour and possessed with the spirit of pride while hee is in his prosperitie and senslesse securitie as little considering as conceiuing the power of Gods wrath as Dauid speakes as little knowing the nature of sin as the terrour of Gods strict iustice to be pussed vp with an opinion of a few poore beggarly supposed good deeds Iust like our first Parents who when they had sinned and so incurred Gods eternall wrath got a few figge-leaues to couer their nakednesse and shame thinking themselues now safe and secure enough But no sooner did they heare the voyce of the Lord God comming as a Iudge towards them but for all their figge-leaues they runne and hide themselues among the Trees of the Garden Their figg-leaues quickly beganne to wither when once the fire of Gods iealousie beganne to approach But let now the brauest Pontifician of them all standing so much vpon the pantofles of inherent righteousnesse let him lav aside his carnall security his loue of the world his wilfull blindnesse hauing looked his face in the glasse of Gods Law and catechised himselfe according to the strict Canon thereof c. and let him now bethinke himselfe of an account he is to make and that presently before a most seuere and vnpartiall vncorrupt Iudge of all his thoughts words workes omissions commissions let him take into his consideration if hee haue so much grace and iudgement to consider the nature of sinne which is such as the least sinne is sufficient to damne him soule and body for euer for Hee that keepeth the whole Law and yet faileth in one point is guilty of all And the Law saith Cursed is euery one that continueth not in all things written in the Law to do them Mark In all things yea such is sin as it could not be purged nor mans soule redeemed from it nor Gods wrath appeased nor his iustice satisfied but by the only death of the only son of God Tel me what that iustice is which will not be satisfied Tell me what that sin is which will not be expiated but by the extreame humiliation bloud-shedding death passion of the deerest son of the eternall God Tell me how seuere is that iustice how implacable that indignation against sin which would not spare the most immaculate Lambe of God the pure spotlesse Sonne of righteousnes euen righteousnes holines innocency it selfe These things well weighed digested in thy more refined iudgment according to the standard of the Sanctuary come now Pontifician glittering in thy white linnen of thine inherent righteousness set thy self before Gods dreadful Tribunall to receiue thy eternal doom according to thine own deseruings bring with thee all thy merits number now before the iudge of heauen earth thy many pilgrimages thy many Prayers Pater-nosters Aue-Maries Canonicall houres Shrifts Shrines adored Saints inuoked and the like But thy conscience will giue thee that all these being but will-worship and humane inuentions of which God wil say Who required these things at your hands condemned also in Esay saying Their feare towards me was taught by the precept of men they will vanish into smoke when they are tryed in Gods Test. Therefore howsoeuer the Romane-Catholicke Church preferres these her own Rites and Ceremonies and Ecclesiasticall obseruances of her own inuention as beeing more holy and more meritorious than those duties of Christian holinesse commanded and prescribed in Gods Word yet in the more sober iudgement of thine vnpartiall Conscience know that if God respect any righteousnesse at all in vs it must be that especially which himselfe hath commanded If therefore thou hast any store of these bring them with thee If thou canst Tell this Iudge that thou hast dealt truely and iustly with all men that thou hast beene liberall to the poore giuen much Almes yea perhaps bequeathed all thy goods and possessions to pious vses euen in thy life time and that not to the maintenance of a Monasticall Society of lazie and lustfull Abbey-lubbers but vpon the truly poore indigent Brethren of Christ that thou hast dispossessed and diuested thy selfe of all earthly preferment and honor so become poore for Christs sake thou hast exercised thy self with watchings fastings not as man but as the Lord hath commanded and much more than all this if thou canst alledge for thy selfe Well But all these things must now bee weighed in a iust and euen ballance not of mans imagination but of Gods strict iudgement Now will not he finde thinkest thou an infinite lightnes in thy best works will not his most pure eyes easily discerne thy most pious actions to be fraught with many imperfections defiled with the mixture of manifold corruptions as water running through a puddly chānel he will discouer in all these works of thine besids infinite defects faylings in all thy many sinister ends the pride of thy heart thy self-loue the loue of vaine glory the loue of thine own felicity more than of the glory of God a thousand secret corruptions lurking in the secret corners of thy selfe-deceiuing heart Nay besides
sperare eum diligere To beleeue in God is to hope in him and to loue him And againe Vera plena fides vniuer sa praecepta complectitur A true and complete Faith comprehendeth all the Commandements Hieronymus Osorius in his first Booke de Iustitia hath these words Fides continet omnem religionem atque pietatem omnes enim virtutes ex fide aptè nexeque sunt cum illa sanctissimo vinculo colligatae atque implicitae sunt That is Faith containeth all religion and pietie for all vertues are by Faith consorted and connexed together and with it are bound and intwined in a most holy knot But yet I dare not warrant the Reader that he shal finde these words in Osorius from henceforth seeing in the Index at Madrid these very words are commanded to passe the flames of their Index expurgatorius And in the second booke hee saith Ergo cum Fides totum animum regat in Verbi diuini studium rapiat consequens necessariò est vt non cernatur solum in credendo sed etiam in obediendo Therefore seeing Faith doth gouerne the whole soule and drawe it to the study and loue of Gods Word it followeth necessarily that it is seene not onely in beleeuing but also in obeying But these words also vndergoe the same doome with the former Yea why should Pontificians make it so strange that Faith should haue all other graces inseparably coupled with it seeing that euen their Doctors Aristotle and Cicero doe teach that all morall vertues are conioyned and combined in one and he that hath one hath all and that Iustitia est omnis virtus Iustice is euery vertue It is a maruaile that they haue escaped Purgatory seeing that not euen Gratian himselfe hath had the grace to be fauoured of them his Glosse but bordering vpon Tullies Offices for where he saith Sed quomodo possum habere talem Fidem that is to remoue mountaines non charitatem cum qui habeat vnam virtutem habeat omnes Nonpossem quidem nisi miraculosè that is But how can I haue such a Faith to remoue mountaines and not charity sith hee that hath one vertue hath all I could not haue it but miraculously All these words must out as yee may see in Collat. censurae in Gloss. iuris canon num 84. His excellent Maiesty also in his peerlesse Paraphrase of the Reuelation Chapt. 20. saith That God by Faith onely iustifieth man which not withstanding is done according to his workes because they as the fruits of Faith cannot be separated from it and bear witnesse of the same to men in the earth S. Augustine saith Quid est ergo credere in eum credendo amare credendo diligere credendo in eumâ—re eius membris incorporari What is it then to beleeue in him by beleeuing to loue him by beleeuing to affect him by beleeuing to goe into him and to be incorporated into his members Paulus Fidem quae per dilectionem operatur approbat atque commendat quae vtique sine spe esse non potest proinde nec amor sine spe est nec sine amore spes neque vtrumque sine Fide Paul approueth and commendeth that Faith which worketh by loue which cannot bee without hope therefore neyther is loue without hope nor hope without loue nor both without Faith And vpon the 139. Psalme hee saith Fides sic est in anima vt radix bona quae pluviam in fructum ducit Faith is in the soule as a good roote which bringeth the raine into the fruit And St. Chrysostome saith Fides est Religionis sanctissimae fundamentum charitatis vinculum amoris subsidium Haec sanctitatem firmat caestitatem roberat gubernat sexus gradus prouehit officia cuncta custodit Fides mandaeta tenet praecepta seruat promissae consummat Faith is the foundation of the most holy Religion the bond of charity the supply of loue It confirmes sanctity it strengthens chastity it gouernes all sexes it promotes all degrees it obserueth all offices Faith keepeth the commandements practiseth the precepts accomplisheth the promises And much more to this purpose according to his golden elegancy Ambrose also saith there are in Faith great prerogatiues and dignities What bee they Piety Iustice Sobriety Charity Discipline or good Gouernment And in a word St. Augustine saith In ipsa Fide sunt omnia opera quae diligit Deus in Faith it selfe are all those works which God loueth Thus Faith being in the heart as in the proper subiect of inherency and so consequently in the whole soule and euery faculty thereof as the life and soule of the soule animating euery power and property of it it followeth that as morall iustice is euery morall vertue as the Philosopher speaketh so iustifying Faith which is reckoned for righteousnesse is euery grace and holy vertue as being the liuing roote and holy seede sustaining quickening supplying sanctifying all other graces which are as so many fruits growing vpon this Tree of life as Reuel 22. 2. holy Faith being the foundation whereon all graces are built the ground whereon they grow Hence they haue all their rise motion yea their formall and essentiall goodnesse For whatsoeuer is not of Faith is sinne If we hope not from Faith if we loue not from Faith if we be not patient because wee beleeue and so in the rest Hope Loue Patience and the rest are so many sins For as Faith is the ground or foundation of things hoped for so of things loued of things suffered and the rest And why may not so many habits of grace grow vpon the same roote and stemme of Faith as so many distinct fruits vpon the same Tree of life Yea the Apostle elsewhere also tels vs that from Faith doe spring not onely peace of conscience towards God but accesse vnto all grace reioycing vnder hope of the glory of God Patience Hope Loue c. Thus it is euident by the authority of the holy Scriptures and by the testimonies of ancient Fathers that sauing and iustifying Faith is not a Faith common with Deuils and Reprobates as being in nature and kinde a dead Faith but it is proper and peculiar onely to the Saints and Elect as being a holy and liuing Faith which receiueth not life from any infusion of charity into it but is a liuing roote from whence doe spring and wherein do liue all holy graces as Charity Hope Patience Meeknesse c. That this is called also the Catholicke Faith not because it is common to good and bad or because it hath for the generall obiect of it the Word of God as it is a true History containing things done and to be done whether they be acts precepts threatnings or promises one with another but because it is the Catholicke Faith of the Elect from in and to all ages past present and to come whose generall obiect though it be the whole Word of God
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
away were once in the true faith and therefore a man may fall away from true faith and consequently from grace finally and totally But Saint Augustine cleareth this in many places of his Bookes shewing that a man cannot fall away from the faith of the elect As Fides Christi fides gratiae Christianae id est ea fides quae per dilectionem operatur posita in fundamento neminem perâ—â— permittit The faith of Christ the faith of Christian grace to wit that faith which worketh by loue being built vpon the foundation permitteth none to perish And therefore where hee speakes of such as were once in the faith and fall from it hee meaneth not the proper faith of the Elect but the common faith of Christians As he also saith Appellamus nos electos Christi Discipulos Dei Filios quia siâ— appellandi sunt quos regeneratos pâ—è viuere cernimus We doe call men euen the elect Disciples of Christ and the Sonnes of God because they are so to bee called whom we see to be regenerate and to liue godly but if they haue not perseuerance they are not truely called sith they are called that which they are not And therefore Quia non habuerunt perseuerantiam sicut non verè Discipuli Christi ita nec verè Filij Dei fuerunt etiam quando esse videbantur ita vocabantur Because they had not perseuerance as they were not truely Christs Disciples so neyther were they truely the Sons of God euen when they seemed to be so and were called so Of this sort and sense is another place of St. Augustine to bee taken which the Author of the new Gagge for the old Goose for haste as Charity may deeme rather than eyther of malice or ignorance not easily incident to a man of such rare and extraordinary learning hath perhaps casually in such a swift flowing current of discourse dropped from his Goose-quill His allegation out of St. Augustine is in these words Credendum est quosdam de filijs perditionis non accepto dono perseuerantiae vsque in finem in fide quae per dilectionem operatur incipere viuere aliquandiu fideliter iustè viuere postea cadere neque de haâ— vita priusquam hoc eis contingat auferri The author of the Gagge seemeth to alledge this place to proue that a man may totally fall away from grace sith from faith working by loue And the words as he alledgeth them seeme to fauour that opinion as if it were Augustines definitiue conclusion for all peremptorily to beleeue it Credendum est But as a guelt man though he haue all the other signes of a man hath lost his virility the chiefe difference of his Sexe so this sentence being but a little guelt how much is it made to degenerate from the Masculine stile of St. Augustine For Augustine speaking there of the gift of perseuerance inferreth this sentance thus Propter huius vtilitatem secreti credendum est quosdam c. For the benefit of this secret to wit of perseuerance credendum est where wee are to note that these first words left out by the Author are a speciall qualification and limitation of our faith herein namely how farre forth and in what respect Augustine would haue vs thinke so that men may fall from that faith which worketh by loue to the end that thereby they should bee more carefull to keepe their standing therefore he saith Propter huius vtilitatem secreti A clause in no case to bee neglected for little though it bee it leaueneth and seasoneth the whole lumpe As the same Augustine elsewhere saith Deus melius esse iudicauit miscere quosdam non perseueraturos certo numero Sanctorum suorum vt quibus non expedit in huius vitae tentatione securitas non possint esse securi God iudged it better to mingle some that should not perseuere with the certaine number of his Saints that they for whom security in the tentation of this life is not expedient might learne not to be secure Now that Augustine by that faith working by loue mentioned in the former allegation from whence he would haue vs beleeue for our owne profit and proficiency in perseuering that the reprobate fall did not meane that true reall faith of the Saints and Elect which worketh by loue but onely such a faith in appearance and common account besides many other places and those also which we haue forecited that one may conuince it where he saith vpon 2. Tim. 2. 19. Horum fides quae per dilectionem operatur profecto aut omnino non deficit aut si qui sunt quorum deficit reparatur antequam vita ista finiatur deleta quae intercurrerat iniquitate vsque in finem perseuerantia deputatur The faith of those which worketh by loue eyther doth not faile at all or if there be any whose faith doth faile it is repaired before this life be ended and the inquity which came betweene being blotted out perseuerance is deputed euen vnto the end Yea he saith definitiuely Fides eius qui aedificatur super Petram pro qua etiam or auit Christus ne deficiat non deficit His faith that is built vpon the Rocke for the which also Christ prayed that it should not faile faileth not And Christ saith expresly That the house built vpon the Rocke faileth not but standeth firme against all windes and waues of tentations The Rocke is Christ and the house vpon this Rocke is euery true beleeuer But say that former allegation out of Augustine had beene altogether set downe by him eyther in those termes or in that sense as the Author citeth it what if one such speech tending that way should haue fallen from that excellent holy man shall that one preponderate the whole tenure of St Augustines workes Nay rather let it bee interpreted by his other sayings than they be ouerthrowne and euacuate by this And let the learned Author of that booke of the Gagge so maintaine the truth of Christ in the maine current of his other writings as they may not only extenuate but wholly expiate and expunge to omit other things at least this blot dropping from his penne Augustine though a most excellent light in Gods Church yet wherein he saw his errours such was his rare humility and dextrous ingenuity hee writ a Booke of Retractations But for his Doctrine in the point of the Saints perseuerance in the state of grace vnto the end it is so cleare and consonant to the Scriptures that it needes no retractation and as vneasie it is almost by any wit to bee peruerted as subuerted Onely let not a misalledged place or a mis-conceiued allegation out of Augustine stand as the Rest whereon the state of the Doctrine of the Church of England must lye at hazzard Nor euer let it be said that the Doctrine of the faith of the Church of England is any other
of this Tabernacle were dissolued wee haue a Building of God a House not made with hands eternall in the Heauens Hee sayth not onely I know but Wee know Saint Augustine vpon these words of Christ You haue not chosen me but I haue chosen you and ordained you that yee should goe and bring forth fruit and that your fruit should remaine sayth thus Quibus verbis eis non solùm iustitiam verùm etiam in illa perseuerantiam se dedisse monstrauit Christo enim sic eos ponentevt eant fructum afferant fructus eorum maneat quis audeat dicere Forsitan non manebit Sine poenitentia sunt enim dona vocatio Dei sed vocatio eorum qui secundum propositum vocati sunt Pro his ergo interpellante Christo non deficiet fides eorum sine dubio non deficiet vsque in finem that is By which words of Christ sayth Augustine hee declared that hee gaue vnto them not onely Righteousnesse but also Perseuerance in the same For Christ so ordayning them that they should goe and bring forth fruit and that their fruit should remaine who dare then say Perhaps it shall not remaine For the Gifts and Calling of God to wit the Calling of those who are the Called according to his purpose are without repentance Christ therefore making intercession for these their Faith shall not faile without doubt it shall not faile vnto the end Who then shall dare to say the contrarie Yes the all-daring Pontificians dare say Forsitan non manebit Perhaps Faith shall not remaine and It is doubtfull whether such Faith shall continue vnto the end But me thinkes I heare the Pontificians say Saint Augustine doth not yet say That the Elect doe know certainely that they shall perseuere vnto the end No Quis audeat dicere Forsitan non manebit Who dare say Perhaps it shall not continue And shall the Elect themselues who bring forth this Fruit and haue this Faith say Perhaps they shall not perseuere Or that their perseuerance is doubtfull Yea if none ought to doubt of it much lesse themselues The same Augustine sayth againe Quando rogauit Christus ne fides Petri deficeret quid aliud rogauit niâ—i vt haberet in fide liberrimam fortissimam inuictisfimam perseuerantissimem voluntatem When Christ prayed that Peters Faith should not faile what else did he pray for but that in his Faith hee might haue a most free most firme most inuincible and most perseuering Will And Christs prayer cannot bee in vaine as Augustine sayth Now if Faith haue a most constant Will to perseuere doth not the Faithfull certainely know that hee shall perseuere sith hee cannot but know his owne Will as also that this Will of his is established by Christs effectuall prayer Hence Saint Augustine to Consentius sayth Quis it a euanescat vt existimet Petrum hoc habuisse in corde quod in ore quando Christum negauit Nempe in illa negatione intus veritatem tenebat foris mendacium proferebat Who so vaine as to thinke that Peter had that in his heart which hee had in his mouth when hee denyed Christ For in that denyall hee held the Truth inwardly and vttered a Lye outwardly But say they this was spoken specially to Peter No sayth Saint Augustine Dicente Christo Rogaui pro te ne deficiat fides tua intelligamus ei dictum qui aedificatur super Pâ—â—raâ—s Christ saying I haue prayed for thee that thy Faith faile not let vs vnderstand it to bee spoken to him who is built vpon the Rocke By which place wee see that Saint Augustine did neyther hold Peter to bee the Rocke nor that stability of Faith was giuen to him alone but to euery one built vpon the Rocke But the Pontificians obiect that both Saint Augustine and others doe say that God onely knoweth who are the predestinate vnto life And Bernard saith Solus Deus scit quos elegerit à principio Onely God knoweth whom he hath chosen from the beginning I answer that when Bernard or Augustine c. say thus it is euident they meane that God onely knowes this secret immediately and of himselfe alone also from eternity and before the elect themselues namely before their effectuall vocation come to know it but that the Saints themselues being now effectually called doe know this mediately to wit by meanes of their Faith giuen them of God and by the infallible testimony of the Spirit of Christ dwelling in all the faithfull let vs heare what Bernard saith Quando sine testimonio electos suos deserat Deus Aut certè quâ—nam eis esse poterat consolatio inter spem metum sollicitudine anxia fluctuantibus si nulluns omnino electionis suae habere testimonium mererentur When doth God leaue his elect without witnesse Or what consolation I pray you could they haue floating in an anxious doubtfulnesse betweene hope and feare if they could obtaine no testimony at all of their election Quam enim requiem habene potest spiritus noster dum praedestinationes suae nullum adhuc testimonium tenet For what rest can our spirit haue while it retaineth as yet no testimony of its predestination And for perseuerance the same Bernard saith Quis nos separabit à charitate Dei Hoc glutine agglutinauit nos sibi ille diuinus intuitus à constitutione mundi vt essemus sancti immaculati in conspectu eius in charitate Scimus enim quia qui natus est ex Deo non peecat quia generatio coelestis sernat eum Generatio coelestis est aeterna praedestinatio qua Deus praeuidit eos conformes fieri imagini Filij sui Ex his nullus peccat id est in peccato perseuerat quia nouit Dominus qui sunt eius propositum Dei manet immobile Who shall separate vs from the loue of God With this glue that diuine looke and respect of God vpon vs hath from the foundation of the world cemented vs vnto himselfe that wee should be holy and without blame before him in loue For wee know that hee that is borne of God sinneth not because the heauenly generation preserueth him The heauenly generation is the eternall predestination whereby God did fore-see that wee should be made conformable vnto the image of his Son Of these none sinneth that is none perseuereth in sin because the Lord knoweth who are his and the purpose of God abideth vnmoueable So Bernard Now of the certainty of Faith in the particular apprehension and application of the whole mystery of our redemption wee haue spoken largely before in the fifteenth Chapter Onely let mee adde here one saying of Bernard Noli me tangere inquit Iohn 20. hoc est desuesce huic seducibili sensui innitere Verbo fidei assuesce fides nescia falli fides inuisibilia comprehendens sensus penuriam non sentit Denique transgreditur fines etiam rationis humanae naturae