saith very cleerely The band of death drawne together by the sinne of one was loosed by the death of one who alone owed nothing vnto death His personall dignity in that he was both God and man III. The third cause which is greatest of all the death of Christ was not a meere mans death although innocent and iust but it was his death who is both true God and man in one and the same person And this exceeding great dignitie of this person is the cause that this price of his blood death although it was temporall if the continuance of it be respected yet it is of infinit force to saue them for euer who come vnto God by it Which the Author to the Hebrewes chap. 9. teacheth saying If the blood of buls and goates and the ashes of a yong heifer sprinkling the vncleane do sanctifie to the puritie of the flesh how much more doth the blood of Christ who offered himselfe by the eternall spirit without blame to God purge your consciences from dead workes to serue the liuing God And Acts chap. 20. Paul is witnesse that God by his owne blood redeemed his Church Not that the deitie hath flesh or blood for God is a spirit but that person which suffered death for vs is both God and man and so this blood is and is truly called the blood of God whose excellencie therfore and dignitie is exceeding great To these this is annexed that beside his power diuine His Lordship ouer vs and his neerenes in blood vnto vs. and abundantly sufficient to deliuer our commō Redeemer had also the full and perfect right of redemption both because he is Lord of all also because he is neere vnto vs in blood For by the right of Lordship it is meete that the seruant bee redeemed of the master and the subiect of his prince and by the right of kindred the father doth well redeeme the sonne one brother another and one kinsman another And hither may be referred that which we reade Leuit. 25.25 to be specially ordained touching the right of neerenes of kindred Thirdly also this hath been a question 3. question Why must we be redeemed by his death rather than by some other meanes as touching the meanes of redemption whether the deliuerance of vs could not possibly haue been by some other meanes then by the death of the Sonne of God Wee answere with Augustine lib. 13. de trinit that another way was possible to God vnto whose power all things are subiect but this was the meetest way and most fit with God to heale our miserie Or as Thomas part 3. quaest 46. decideth this doubt we do distinguish betweene possible or impossible simply and that which is after a sort To speake simply and absolutely it was possible to God to deliuer man by another meanes then by the death of Christ because nothing is impossible with God Luk. 1.37 But after a sort Because no other was possible or by supposition of Gods foreknowledge and fore appointment it was impossible as the Lords words do plainly shew Matth. 26. Father if this cup cannot passe away vnles I drinke of it thy will be done Whereupon Hilary saith Therefore the cup cannot passe vnles he drinke it because we cannot be restored but by his passion because of the decree of Gods will Moreouer it is plaine that that way is most fit with God and meetest to cure our miserie Because this way was most iust with God which God vsed through the passion of his Sonne For it was a iust thing that for the sinnes of mankinde the iudgement of God should be satisfied thorow punishmēt and that the same nature which had sinned should also giue a recompence for sin Further it was agreeable to the trueth and goodnes of God Most agreeable to his truth Gen. 2.17 to the trueth because a threatning had gone before What day so euer thou shalt eate of the tree of knowledge of good and euill thou shalt die the death and it was promised and euer by continuall testimonies shewed and by diuers ceremonies shadowed that the sonne of God borne of a woman should dye for vs and so should confirme the new couenant by his blood To his goodnes and mercy And to the goodnes of God it agreeth because seeing man of himselfe could not satisfie for sinnes God of his exceeding great mercie gaue vnto him a satisfier euen his only begotten sonne Whereupon it was said of Christ himself Iohn 3. Rom. 5. Ioh. 3. So God loued the world that he gaue his sonne c. And Paul God doth set out his loue towards vs that when we were as yet sinners Christ died for vs. And truly this was a token of a farre more abounding mercie that he did not spare his owne sonne for vs then if he had remitted our sins without satisfaction Ephes 2. so that wee may worthily now say with the same Apostle God who is rich in mercie because of his great loue wherewith he hath loued vs euen when we were dead thorow our offences hath quickned vs together through Christ by whose grace we are saued This was most expedient to money to loue God again Besides that way of deliuerance was most expedient for our saluation For so we know by the greatest experiment of all how much God loueth vs and we are prouoked to loue God againe Then an example is giuen vnto vs of obedience loue humilitie sufferings and glorie which when all miseries are ouercome we doe expect as Peter saith 1. Epist 2. Christ suffered for vs and left vs an example that wee should follow his steps Likewise Paul Phil. 2.5 and 2. Cor. 8.9 and elsewhere To suffer afflictions for his sake propounding the example of Christ exhorteth vs to the duties of loue and other vertues Further because we are redeemed by the death of the Sonne of God To keepe our selues from sinne 1. Cor. 6. A notable saying and washed from our sinnes in his blood a greater necessitie lieth vpon vs To keep our selue from sinne 1. Cor. 6. A notable saying that we should keepe our selues to God vndefiled in bodie and soule as the Apostle saith Ye are bought with a price therefore glorifie God in your bodie and spirit which are Gods And thus much of the meanes of redemption a mysterie altogether wonderfull and vnspeakeable which the Author of Meditations in Augustine chapter 7. excellently setteth out in these words O state of wonderfull reformation A notable saying and disposition of vnspeakeable mysterie the vniust sinneth and the iust is punished the guiltie transgresseth and the innocent is beaten the vngodly offendeth and the godly is condemned what the euill deserued the good doth endure what the seruant hath done the master doth pay what man doth commit God doth suffer and abide This is a heauenly medicine O good Iesu this is the preseruatiue of thy loue CHAP. VI. The
sent me that whatsoeuer hee hath giuen me I should lose none but should raise it vp at the last day And that it pleased the father to saue vs by the offering vp of his Sonne it commeth wholly from his diuine fauour Nothing moued the father to send his son to saue vs but his meere loue and mercie to mankinde loue and goodnesse towards mankinde as the Lord witnesseth Ioh. 3. So God loued the world that he gaue his Sonne Wherevpon Paul also saith Rom. 5. God setteth out his loue towards vs that when we were sinners Christ died for vs. And Ephes 2. God who is rich in mercie of his great loue wherewith he loued vs euen when wee were dead in sinnes quickened vs through Christ And most cleerely of all to Titus chap. 3. The goodnes and loue of God our Sauiour towards men appeared and saued vs not by the righteous workes which wee had done but by his mercie The sayings of the Prophets consent hereto Esay 54.7 In a moment of my wrath I haue hid for a while my face from thee in euerlasting mercie I haue compassion on thee saith the Lord thy Redeemer I euen I am he Esay 43.12 who doth blot out thine offences for mine owne sake and I will not remember thy sins He saith for mine owne sake that is not for your sake but for my holie name as it is expounded Ezech. 36. Neither doth that tend to any other end which Esay chap. 9. prophesying of the incarnation of the Sunne and of the redemption of the Church by him from the yoke of sinne and death concludeth the whole matter with this notable sentence in the ende The zeale of the Lord of hostes shall bring this thing to passe as if he should say I foretell of great things but they be true and the almightie father enflamed with eternall loue and minding to saue them to whom he hath promised the kingdome of heauen A double vse of the loue of God Christ towards vs. will bring this thing to passe See also what Moses Deuter. 7. speaketh of the cause of the redemption of the people of Israel from Egypt which was a type of this eternall deliuerance The first vse Further the vse of this consideration is that wee should humble our selues vnfainedly before God and that hee that reioyceth should reioyce in the Lord and not in his workes or own worthines For the opposition of the mercie of God and of the righteousnes of workes is to be obserued and vrged alway in the matter or cause of saluation as Paul did oppose these things Tit. 3.5 Not by the workes of righteousnes which we had done but by his mercie he saued vs. And the same Antithesis is repeated 2. Tim. 1. vers 9. and Dan. 9. vers 18. The second The second vse is that wee also pondring in our minde the deeper sea as Damascene speaketh of Gods loue towards vs Damas lib. 3. cap. 1. orth fid should loue God againe and that not in word nor tongue onely but in deede and trueth as he hath loued vs and giuen his life for vs 1. Ioh. 3. And chap. 4. ioyning both vses together in excellent words thus he writeth Hereby the loue of God is made manifest vnto vs that he sent his owne Sonne into the world that wee might liue thorow him In this is loue not that we loued him but that he loued vs and sent his Sonne to be the propitiation for our sinnes And straightway addeth Beloued if God so loued vs wee ought also to loue one another And a little before the end We loue him because he loued vs first If any man shall say I loue God hateth his brother he is a lyar But seeing by the death of Christ we are reconciled vnto God as saith the Apostle Ephes 2. An obiection He hath reconciled vs to God thorow his crosse slaying enemitie by it How God did both loue man and hate him it seemeth to disagree with that we haue said that through the loue of God he was deliuered to death for vs. For if we were before loued of God to what end is reconciliation If any say reconciliation was needfull in respect of vs that we might cease to bee at enemitie with God and among our selues the Iewes with the Gentiles and Gentiles with Iewes Ephes 2. Colos 1. he neither saith nothing nor speaketh all by the witnesse of Paul For first of all it was the part of the reconciler to pacifie the wrath of God against vs for sinnes and to make him fauourable and gratious vnto vs. How then can it stand that God preuented this reconciliation of his free fauour and loue in giuing his sonne vnto vs The reason is thus made The same thing is not the cause and the effect But the loue of God is the effect of reconciliation Therefore it is not the cause of it Answere But the maior is true in respect of one and the same thing But the loue of God is the effect of reconciliation not simply as though then at the length he began to loue vs but respectiuely as farre forth as reconciliation by the blood of his sonne remoueth sinne whereby wee were made enemies of God and children of his wrath according to that saying Sap. 14. The wicked and his wickednesse are alike hated of God And Psal 5. Thou hast hated all that worke iniquitie And Esay crieth Esay 59. Our iniquities haue made a separation betweene our God and vs and our sinnes are the cause that he hideth away his face from vs and heareth vs not This whole matter Augustine notably expoundeth in his 110. treatise vpon Iohn After a wonderfull and diuine maner saith he God loued vs Augustines answere God hateth sin in vs but loueth his work when he did hate vs. For he hated vs as we were such as he had not made vs that is for sinnes And because saith he our iniquitie had not altogether destroyed his worke he knew in euery one of vs both to hate what we had done and also to loue what he himselfe had made and this may be vnderstood in all men according to the saying Sap. 11. Thou hast hated nothing that thou hast made For in that which he hateth there is somewhat also that he loueth For he hateth and misliketh the fault which swarueth from the patterne as it were of his workmaâ—ship yet he loueth that which is his owne euen in such as are corrupted Furthermore seeing hee hateth nothing of those things which he hath made peculiarly as Augustine there teacheth he loueth the members of his onely sonne But specially he loueth vs as we are members of his sonne For how saith he should he not loue the members of his sonne who loueth his sonne for there is no other cause of louing his members but because he loueth him Therefore he loueth vs because we are his meÌ„bers whom he
ago He in Comment in Ioh. wherein he diligently vseth to follow Augustine thus writeth vpon this present place We take the world surely which God loued World for the elect and faithfull before and since Christ for mankinde that is quicke and dead dead truly who expected through faith Christ to come aliue who either of Iewes or Gentiles should beleeue in him For so he saith without difference of Iew or Gentile vniuersally that whosoeuer beleeueth in him should not perish but haue eternall life In the iudgement of Augustine this exposition is confirmed by the sentence immediatly added of Christ when he saith for God sent not his sonne into the world to condemne the world but that the world may be saued It is the same world doubtlesse which the father loued and which Christ came to saue And that world for whose saluation Christ came Tract 110. as Augustine witnesseth as wee cited before be the elect and beleeuers Hearken Huber and cease to be angrie if this interpretation please vs also or els if thou canst disproue it remember that thou must contend with reasons and not with railings to finde out the trueth But haue ye any reason D. Iacobus bringeth for a reason that Christ addeth in the same place This is the iudgement Coll. Momp that light is come into the world and the world loued darknes more then it Here the word world saith he cannot be vnderstood of the elect onely but specially of those who are reiected and damned But he negligently alleadged the text for it hath men loued darknes There is no mention of world Thes 119. Huberus proofe is nothing sounder Christ saith he diuideth the world into two sorts into such as receiue and such as withstand the light or of beleeuers and vnbeleeuers Therfore to both sorts of men did God send his sonne I answere the Antecedent is denied Among men truly some beleeue others doe not some loue the light others hate it but that Christ diuideth that world whereof he had said So God loued the world into two kindes it cannot be proued out of the text Thus it appeareth that there is no argument here out of the word world Further albeit it shuld bee graunted that by world there is meant al men it would not yet follow that Christ and his benefits doe therefore belong to all whether they beleeue or not seeing they are expressely restrained vnto the vniuersalitie of the beleeuers while it is added that whosoeuer beleeueth should not perish but haue eternall life What can be more cleere The 2. place Ioh. 1. As touching the place Ioh. 1.29 Behold the lambe of God that taketh away the sinne of the world we willingly graunt that the sacrificing of this Lambe is sufficient for all the sins of all men but as touching the effect Christ taketh away sinnes from such as confesse them and beleeue as Iohn himselfe witnesseth 1. Epist 1. If we confesse our sinnes he is faithfull and iust to forgiue vs our sinnes and to clense vs from all iniquitie Againe If wee walke in light as he is the light wee haue fellowship with him and the blood of Christ purgeth vs from all sinne He calleth it sinne in the singular number for any kinde of iniquitie And where he saith of the world he draweth the efficacie of this sacrifice indifferently vnto the redemption of Gentiles and Iewes least the Iewes should thinke that the redeemer was sent to them alone Hereupon the Saints in that song of the Lambe doe sing Apoc. 5 9. Thou wast slaine and hast redeemed vs to God by thy blood out of euery tribe and language people and nation and hast made vs to our God kings and priests and wee shall raigne vpon the earth As touching the words of Christ Ioh. 6.51 The 3 place Ioh. 6. The bread which I will gâ—ue is my flesh which I will giue for the life of the world out of that whole Sermon it is cleerer than the noone day that not euery one is made partaker in very deede of this spirituall eternall life and also of that true heauenly bread but such as by faith come vnto him and eating his flesh and drinking his blood are incorporated into him as they bee whom the father hath giuen to the sonne For the truth saith Verely I say vnto you vnlesse ye eate the flesh of the sonne of man and drinke his blood ye shall haue no life in you He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath euerlasting life For my flesh is meate in deede As the liuing father hath sent mee and I liue by the father so also hee that eateth mee doth liue by me Than which words what can bee spoken more cleere for the confirmation of our opinion to wit that the effect of this sacrifice whereby Christ offered himselfe to the father as a sweet smelling fauour for the life of the world belongeth not vnto all without respect of faith or vnbeleefe but vnto them who are incorporated into Christ to be partakers of the spirit Tract 26. For participation saith Augustine whereby we eate him is the cause that we liue through Christ Neither can a man liue by the spirit of Christ vnlesse he be of his bodie as my bodie liueth by my spirit and thy bodie by thine How is then Christ the life of the world 2. Obiections for he witnesseth that he giueth life vnto the world and that he will giue himselfe for the life of the world Further Christ sayd vnto all to whom he preached My father doth giue you true bread from heauen and yet many of them afterward went away from him Therefore that bread of life belongeth to al alike Hub. thes 125. to backsliders and continuers to the saued and the damned Answere to the first To the first obiection I say Rom. 4. as the Apostle writeth of Abraham that by promise he was made the heare of the world that is the father of all the faithfull so that much more Christ is rightly termed the life of the world as farre forth as he bestoweth eternall life vpon the sonnes of Abraham dispersed through the world Secondly he is also the life of the world taking now the world for all men who are haue been and shall be as farre forth as no one man of all mortall men can haue life but by him albeit notwithstanding not all in verie deede are quickened For there is not in any other saluation or life Acts 4. neither is there any other name vnder heauen which is giuen among men whereby we must be saued Thirdly he did that which lay in him offering such a sacrifice which was sufficient to haue taken away the destruction of all and to haue restored life to all but that the vnbeleeuers receiue not life they are in fault by refusing Christ as Theophilact vpon this very place and vpon the 9. to the Hebrewes teacheth The same man noteth that the life
the Iewes The scope of the ninth chapter to the Romanes wherewith in that age the minds of many meÌ„ were greatly tempted as though Gods word either should fayle and the promise be made frustrate or else Iesus of Nazareth should not be the Sauiour promised of God for one of these twaine seemed to follow because the couenants seruice of God and promises belonged to the Israelites at large sheweth that the elect onely to wit the sonnes of the promise and not of the flesh indifferently from among the Iewes and Gentils are the true seed of Abraham and the true Israelites to whom the promised blessing and saluation in Christ do appertaine And so the Apostle entreth into the ample and profound doctrine of predestination wherein that wee may speake of the matter now in hand omitting other thing he plainely teacheth as touching the cause of predestination that God considering that he is most free electeth whome hee will of meere grace and reprobateth whom hee will in the iust albeit secret counsell of his owne will Iacob 8. Esau 1. He teacheth this by the example of Iacob and Esau of whom the one was prefered before the other by the meere fauour of God because when as they were both equall in all things being conceaued of one copulation the children as yet vnborne wheÌ„ they had done neither good nor euill an oracle was giuen vnto their mother Rebecca The elder shall serue the yonger Therefore election is not of workes but of grace And in vaine shall a man flee here vnto the cauill of foreseeing of some good in Iacob because Paul would remoue all difference from those two bretheren that wee might throughly vnderstand them to bee alike in respect of themselues 2. The Apostle expresselie bringeth backe the cause of the difference betweene Iacob and Esau and by their example in generall between the elect reprobates vnto the purpose and good pleasure of God whereby surely hee elected and reiected whom he would and because he so would Rom. 9.11 For this purpose of God is according to his election 3. The Apostle to make it more plaine addeth Not of workes but of the caller Which wordes some conster with that that goeth before that it may be a description of election free and not of works other referre them to the verbe following 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it was said which reading Augustine followeth ad Laur. cap. 98. whatsoeuer it be it appeareth that election and vocation which is the effect thereof is of grace and â—ot of workes And simply hee remooueth whatsoeuer respect of workes so that without anie merites of good or euill workes God loueth one and hateth the other For if he would that the future either good workes of the one or the euill workes of the other which God foresaw should be meant he would not say not of workes but he would say of future workes and thus hee would haue answered that question as Augustine noteth Enchir. ad Laur. cap. 98. and ad Simplic lib. 1. quaest â— 4. That prophetical speech teÌ„deth hereunto Iacob I haue loued and Esau I haue hated Therefore Gods election discerneth betweene the elect and reprobates And that consisteth herein saith Iohn not that we loued him but that he loued vs. 1. Ioh. 4. Neither is this anie obstacle that we knowe that God loueth all his workes and hateth not anie thing that he hath made because as it is said also before there be degrees of the loue of God and because he willeth not to all men this benefit which is eternall life therefore it is said that he loueth some Wisd 11. and hateth some 5. The same thing appeareth by his preuention Is there vnrighteousnes then with God For this question should haue no place at all vnles it were the Apostles meaning that election surely is not of anie workes done or to be done but of the alone good pleasure of God Aug. ad â—awâ— cap. 38. For if anie man be elected or reprobated of God as he foresaâ— that a man would vse wellâ— or ill his free wil humaine reason it selfe wil confesse that this is most equall But because it heareth where all things be alike that yet God according to his owne will chooseth one and refuseth another and so to them that are equall giueth vnequall things from hence ariseth that raging of mans reason against the righteousnes of God 6. Vnles it were thus the Apostle answering the obiection alleaged would not reiect it with indignation saying God forbid but thus he would or might answer the question that God destinating euery one to punishment or rewarde according to his merits at the least foreseene cannot bee thought vniust This had been a most plaine and easie defence of Gods iustice 7. He vseth a farre other answere whereby hee seemeth not so much to dissolue as to binde fast and confirme the question when he saith He said to Moses I will haue mercy on whom I wil haue mercie and I will haue compassion on whom I will haue compassion By which sentence we are taught that God albeit in a generall speech he withdraweth his mercie from none yet according to a certaine manner of mercie he hath appoynted to haue mercie vpon some and not vpon others and that therefore because it so pleaseth him for so when we would signifie a certaine free power we are wont to say I will doe that I will doe 8. From whence also the Apostle thus out of that oracle inferreth Therefore it is not in him that runneth nor in him that willeth but in God that sheweth mercie But if the beginning of saluation were of ourselues as they imagine that auouch that election commeth of our good workes or good will foreseene then surely it were in him that willeth and in him that runneth contrarie to the Apostles saying Neither is it any thing worth that some Semipelagian may say that grace helpeth the will being weake to accomplish that which is good yet prone thereunto and therefore it is saide It is not in the willer nor runner but in God shewing mercie as though it were saide The onely will of man is not sufficient if there be not also the mercie of God for we answere with Augustine if Enchir. ad Laur. cap. 32. ad Simpl. lib. 1. because the onely will of man doth not accomplish saluation it is well saide It is not in man that willeth but in God shewing mercie euen on the other side if the mercie of God alone doth not accomplish it it should be well said It is not in God shewing mercie but in man that willeth which godly eares cannot abide It remaineth then that for this cause it is said it is not in man that willeth and runneth An excellent saying that the whole may bee giuen to God who both prepareth mans good will that is to be holpen and doth helpe it being prepared For as it is written His mercie preuenteth vs
man corrupted thinking that no nature is so depraued or extinguished that it ought not or cannot will it selfe to bee healed And vpon this ground to wit that such a will remained in all men whereby a man was able either to contemne or to obey they supposed that a reason is soone rendered of the elect and reprobates Gods foreknowledge chusing such as would beleeue and condemning vnbeleeuers Vnto which error that is not vnlike which some in our time goe about to maintaine that euery one hath such strength in him that he is able to beleeue sauing that they say that this strength commeth not from any remnants of our corrupt nature but of renouation which they by a new error affirme to be common to all none excepted As though God gaue vs onely ability to beleeue and not rather faith it selfe whereby beleeuers are separated and discerned from vnbeleeuers But not to stand now vpon this point this is certaine Marke this well so long as we say that there is somwhat in vs whether the beginning of faith or the good vse of freewill or of that common grace also or whatsoeuer it be whereby we are discerned from the rest beside the onely grace of God the Pelagians alwaies will conclude that grace is giuen according to our merites and that saying of Cyprian will faile that we must glorie in nothing because nothing is ours And that of the Apostle who doth put thee apart from others or what hast thou 1. Cor. 4. that thou hast not receiued For are some men discerned from others by these giftes which whether of nature or by grace are common to all And that grace may be grace The orthodexall saith we must needes confesse as the truth is laying aside all respect of our owne worthynes and disposition that it is onely Gods gift and that free altogether not onely that grace is offered vs but also much more that we assent by faith to grace offered and refused of others and in faith perseuere vnto the end to saluation as the Apostle claymeth this wholly for God Phil. 1. 2. both that he hath begunne in vs a good worke and also that he finisheth it against the day of Christ Iesu and worketh in vs to will and to do of his good pleasure And the Lords saying is most plaine Ioh. 15. without me ye can do nothing And if al these things depend of the grace of the giuer he also foreknew from al eternity to whom he would giue them to whom not and disposed that is predestinated theÌ„ in his foreknowledge which cannot be deceiued nor changed For as it hath bin said before that grace the predestination of the Saints differ only herein Aug. de praedest sanct cap. 10. that predestination is the preparation of grace whereby they are most certainely freed whosoeuer shall be freed but grace is now the gift it selfe and effect of predestination Whereupon the Apostle also annexing predestination to grace saith ye are saued by grace through faith and that not of your selues it is the gift of God and not of â—orks least any man should bâ—ast For we are his worke created in Christ Iesu to good works which God hath prepared that we should be exercised in them 2. Tim. 1. Againe to Tim. he hath saued vs and called vs with an holy calling not through our works but of his purpose and grace which is giuen vs in Christ Iesu before the world Therefore to gainesaie predestination and to wish it were suppressed is a signe of too much contention if we do confesse sincerely as is meet the grace of God whereby alone we are put a part from such as perish that he that glorieth may glorie in the Lord. The 3. reason Thirdly this also is the vse of the doctrine of predestination that it instructeth vs to patience and armeth vs with a true and liuely faith in afflictions and whatsoeuer temptations of this wretched life Hereupon the Apostle wee know that all things worke for good to such as loue God euen to such as are called according to purpose For whom he foreknew he predestinated them he predestinated he called c. If therefore God be for vs who can be against vs who shall separate vs from the loue of God shall persecution or daunger And in many places to this very end doth the Scripture inculcate predestination that we might haue a sure hope in God and euen in the maddest of oppressions may reioyce vnder the hope of the glory of God as at large before hath been shewed against slaunderers as though this doctrine conteyned more matter of desperation than consolation The 4. reason Fourthly it serueth to stirre vp in vs the loue of God and the studie of good workes For why should wee not with all our haâ—t loue God who first hath loued vs and passing by very many others with whom we had alike deserued damnation hee hath chosen vs freely before the foundations of the world were laid in Christ his beloued sonne And he hath spread abroade in our hearts by the holy Ghost the feeling both of his loue and also election Further it cannot be but we should be stirred vp to the studie of good workes when we consider that wee were predestinated not onely to the end but also to the meanes such as these be faith and good workes which as Paul testifieth God hath prepared Ephes 2. that we should walke in them And what is more effectuall to moue the faithfull to leade their life aright as becommeth them than if they daily remember that they are the sonnes and heires of the most high and that they were predestinated to so high and great a glorie before they were borne and called when they were straungers iustified when they were condemned quickened when they were dead in offences and sinnes and that for no merit of theirs forebeeing or foreseene but of the onely grace of the caller Who would not thinke himselfe bound to GOD for so great benefites to bee thankefull in all dueties Thus let it bee sufficient to haue touched these things concerning the vtility and necessity of this doctrine If any man desire to knowe more let him reade Bucer in 1. cap. ad Eph. Zanchie li. 3. Miscell cap. 5. and Luthers booke de ser arbit cap. 38. and so in order Where against Erasmus he largely defendeth that the doctrine of seruile will and predestination must not be concealed but publikely and freely preached notwithstanding the iudgement of mans reason to the contrary For in that vngodly reason telleth vs The obiections of Reason that this doctrine is against the profite of preaching as though it maintayned slothfulnes and the lustes of the flesh blunted the edge of exhortations prouoked men to despaire excused sinnes and which God forbid laieth vniustice to the Lords charge besides making him the author of sin and establisheth a fatall necessity these and such like are
restraint is it to be taken as oft as it is read in our writers that Christ suffered not for all to wit in respect of the effect of his passion which belongeth to such as are to bee saued and not to them that shall be damned to the faithfull and not to Infidels And so Beza also declareth himself Colloq Mompelg pa. 217. And there is nothing in him which is not in so many words and in the same sense written by the old writers Neither are cauillers to be regarded which say what need is there to say Huberus thes 1154. that Christ is a price sufficient for the whole world why bewitch ye men with these termes I answere this is no bewitching but the ancient and right explication of this controuersie against them that loue to bewitch the world with new opinions Huber comp thes 5. 6. But say they the word sufficiently taken in that signification wherein sacred antiquitie tooke it we refuse not but rather approue it But our Caluinists say they deuising a wrong and doubtfull signification of the word doe deceiue the simpler sort For this they meane that Christs death is so mightie that if he would helpe all men by the same he could easily doe it thes 1152. But if they would vse the word of sufficiencie in another signification as when we say against the Papists that the death of Christ is sufficient for al men that is needeth no helpe of mans works to redeeme vs or els also in this sense when we say that Christs death is sufficient for all whether men beleeue and be saued or beleeue not and perish yet that Christ hath satisfied for al we would not refuse the vse of this terme in such a signification But I thinke it is plaine enough by the things which are recited before how antiquitie hath vsed those termes of sufficiencie and efficiencie neither that wee change any thing in the sense or deceiue any by doubtfull signification In the meane while the thing it selfe proueth that the simpler sort are here beguiled by our aduersarie who when hee would seeme to allow the terme of sufficiencie in that sense wherein antiquitie accepted it yet he deuiseth of his own head significations altogether vnknowne vnto antiquitie in his propounded opposition otherwise we defend also against the Papists that the merit of Christ needeth no helpe of mans workes neither deny we that he hath satisfied for al whether they bee saued or perish to wit as touching the sufficiencie and greatnes of the price so mighty and rich for redemption that if the vniuersalitie of captiues would beleeue in him the bands of the deuill should hold back none CHAP. XII Another maner of vniuersall redemption THis also we affirme that albeit not all All taken for all that bee Christs and of his Church as many as are borne of Adam are by the death of Christ effectually borne againe redeemed and iustified rightly neuerthelesse it may be said that Christ died for all euen in respect of the effect of his death iustification regeneration and such like benefits not that they redound to all and euery man but to all who are Christs as the Apostle saith If God be for vs Rom. 8. who can be against vs who also spared not his owne sonne but gaue him for vs all Who be those all in whose mouth that saying is and faith in their hearts If God be for vs who can be against vs Truly they whom he foreknew and predestinated whom he also calleth iustifieth glorifieth the elect of God whose is saluation and eternall life whom no creature can separate from the loue of God in Christ as there it is said Who shall lay any crimes against the elect of God The author of the bookes de vocat gentium a man surely very learned and eloquent Prosper Aq. whether he were Ambrose or rather Prosper of Aquitaine lib. 1. cap. 3. writeth notably in this sort Therefore saith he the people of God haue their fulnes and albeit a great part of men either reiect or neglect the grace of the Sauiour yet in the elect and soreknowne which are seuered from the generalitie of all there is a certaine speciall vniuersalitie that out of the whole world the whole world seemeth to bee set at libertie and out of all men all men seeme to be receiued Where let vs note a doubt A three-fold vniuersalitie nay a three-fold vniuersalitie namely the generalitie of all men then the generalitie of the elect who are saued and on the other side the vniuersalitie of the reprobates who perish Of these as well elect as reprobates as the same author well obserueth the diuine stile doth so order his speech Lib. 2. cap. 1. that both those things which are spoken of one part of men seeme to appertaine to all and also whereas there bee some who perish and some who are saued yet neither part is without the name of all men the portion of rebels bearing the losse of their saluation and the dignitie of the faithfull obtaining the account of fulnes But the matter shall bee made more cleere by examples When the Lord saith Ioh. 12. When I shall be lifted vp from the earth All taken for all the elect only I will draw all things or after another reading all men vnto me doth not the conuersion of all men seeme to be promised and yet many thousands to this day do serue the deuill and the world But rightly wee vnderstand with Augustine Aug. tract 53. all that is all men predestinate to saluation of all whom none shall perish So that which is written in the Prophets Esay 54.13 Esay 31.34 Ioh. 6. All shall be taught of God and all shall know me from the least vnto the greatest are alike true of the men of Gods kingdome according to the limitation of Augustine Athanasius Tract 26. See also Athanasius of these three sayings now alleaged in Euang. de pass cruce Domini What when it is said Esay 65. All flesh shall come into my sight and worship in Ierusalem saith the Lord. Or els that Ioel. 2. And in the last daies it shall come to passe that I will powre out of my spirit vpon all flesh Or this The Lord vpholdeth all that fall Psal 145.14 and lifteth vp all that are bowed downe Are not these so vttered as though no man were seuered from this gift of God Of this sort are these sayings also Vntill wee all grow into the vnitie of faith Ephes 4. 2. Cor. 5. and knowledge of the Sonne of God vnto a perfect man Old things are passed away behold all things are become new Matth. 26. Drinke ye all of this c. Are these things spoken of the vnbeleeuers also and such as be notoriously wicked Of the vniuersalitie of the vngodly the sacred Scriptures speake in like maner All taken for all the wicked only as
world is spoken of whereupon God hath bestowed his grace they maintaine that the word cannot otherwise bee taken then indifferently for all men beleeuers and vnbeleeuers For of many significations of the World they acknowledge onely three chiefe wherein they say the rest may easily be included as that the word World is taken for the frame and vniuersall compasse of heauen and earth then for the common multitude of all men good and bad lastly for that part of men which comprehendeth the reprobates and vnbeleeuers Of these significations the first and the third agree not with those places It remaineth then that all those places bee taken in the second signification I answere that the reckoning was insufficient in the maior For as the world in the holie Scriptures is taken for the reprobates and vnbeleeuers only so also it is often vsed for the elect and faithfull dispersed throughout the whole world There be many plaine testimonies to proue this Ioh. 14.31 he ioyneth both those significations together in those words of Christ The prince of this world commeth and hath nothing in me but that the world may know that I loue the father and that I doe as the father hath commanded rise let vs goe hence Of this world also is that Ioh. 17.21 that the world may know that thou hast sent me Which is that world which shal know Christ and beleeue in him but that which is discerned from the world of reprobates For of these about the end of the same chapter he speaketh Righteous father Vers 25. the world doth not know thee but I know thee and these haue knowne that thou hast sent me and I haue manifested thy name vnto them and will manifest it to wit vnto them of whom hee had spoken that the world may beleeue that I am sent of thee So Rom. 4. the promise is said to bee made to Abraham that he should be the heire of the world that is the father of all beleeuers circumcised and vncircumcised as Paul himself declareth And chap. 11. he saith that the fall of the Iewes is the riches of the world and the casting away of them the reconciliation of the world that is of the Gentiles to whom he saith saluation happened by the ruine of the Iewes that they might bee prouoked to follow them Where wee see the word world also restrained for them that appertain vnto that fulnes of the Gentiles which is appointed to come into the roome of the Iewes Therefore it is idle and impudent wrangling to say Huber thes 143 where be we able to finde and plainly shew in the whole Scripture that the world is taken onely for a certaine kinde of men whom God hath chosen to be saued But goe to let vs annexe to these the testimonies of Augustine the very chiefe of the old Diuines Augustine and most practised in such questions against the Pelagians He tract in Ioh. 110. vpon that saying that the world may beleeue The word world attributed sometime to the reprobates onely sometime to the elect and faithfull onely writeth after this sort Behold he that said I pray not for the world doth pray for the world that it may beleeue because there is a world whereof is written that wee may not bee condemned with the world For this world he praieth not for he knoweth whereto it is predestinated And there is a world whereof it is written The sonne of man came not to condemne the world but that the world by him may be saued Whereupon the Apostle also saith God was in Christ reconciling the world to himselfe for this world he prayeth saying That the world may beleeue that thou hast sent me The same man in the next tract saith Who are those whom he saith are giuen him of his father They be those whom he receiued of the father and whom he himself chose out of the world that they might not be of the world and yet they themselues are the beleeuing and knowing world that Christ was sent of God the father that so the world may be deliuered from the world and that the world which is reconciled to God may not bee damned with the world that is enemie to God And about the end of the same Tract vpon that saying The world doth not know thee he saith The world surely which is predestinated to damnation by desert doth not know but the world which he reconcileth to himselfe through Christ doth know not of desert but of grace Againe tract 53. Euill men are called the world because they bee scattered through the whole earth and good men also are called the world because they likewise bee dispersed through the whole earth Wherevpon the Apostle saith God was in Christ reconciling the world to himselfe And in this sense in the same place hee expoundeth the saying Now is the iudgement of this world to wit the iudgement not of damnation but of separation whereby it shall come to passe that farre and wide sins shall bee pardoned and thousand thousands shall be deliuered through faith from the power and rule of the deuill and reconciled vnto God Ambrose Likewise Ambrose saith in Psal 118. serm 12. The whole world is truly in the Church wherein there is not the Iew only nor Grecian Barbarian Scythian bond or free but we are all one in Christ Iesu By these sayings it appeareth that it is a very rotten foundation that the word world wheresoeuer it is expressed in the Scripture in the matter of grace doth note out an vniuersalitie of all mankinde none at all excepted The first place Ioh. 3. World taken for mankinde indefinitly Now let vs consider the places by themselues seuerally As touching the words Ioh. 3.16 So God loued the world we say that by the name of world mankinde indefinitly is meant as Christ saith Ioh. 17. I pray not for the world that is for the reprobates but onely for them whom the father gaue vnto him and should beleeue in him Rom 8. Paul also to the Romanes declareth that the loue of God in Christ is so great that the beloued of God are made vnconquerable against things present and to come and against all the temptations of the world which thing certainly cannot be spoken of all men Therefore that loue belongs not to all albeit generally God hateth nothing of those things hee hath made as wee haue seene before But goe to let vs answere the contrary reasons whereby they endeuour to proue that the word world which is verie doubtfull in the Scripture is here necessarily taken for the whole masse of mankinde altogether say they as it is taken Rom. 5. By one man sinne came into the world and death by sinne D. Iacob Andreas Colloq Mompel appealeth vnto the iudgement and one consent of all writers and interpreters old and new Great rashnes certainly which to suppresse I will produce one of many euen Rupertus Tuitiensis who florished about 400. yeres
all things wherein there is found such consent ought to be blotted out of Christian Religion as erronious false foolish Turkish and heathenish As for example the Turkish religion acknowledgeth one God Almightie creator of heauen and earth also it teacheth that Christ the sonne of Marie was sent of God whose precepts euery seruant of the Gospell in iudging ought to follow and such like Therefore let Huber denie that there is one God let him denie him to be Almightie let him denie him to be the Creator of all let him denie Christ to be the sonne of Marie let him denie him to be sent of God let him denie his precepts to be kept of Christians and such like things least hee seeme to haue some thing in common with the Turkes Lastly let him goe on his head because the Turkes goe a foote And if this be ridiculous it is more than Turkish furie and madnes to condemne this proposition as Turkish A true godly proposition though the Turkes teach the same in effect That God is able surely to saue all men but he will not because he hath otherwise from euerlasting decreed What the Alcoron teacheth of this or not teacheth we nothing passe who haue not learned to draw the truth out of the stinking puddles of men but out of the cleere fountaines of Israel and we doe stand onely vnto the iudgement of the diuine Scriptures And they teach vs that God hath mercy vpon whom hee will Exod. 33. and hardeneth whom he will and that he hath raised vp Pharao Rom. 9. and by his example generally vessels of wrath conioyned vnto destruction and doth daily raise vp that in them he may shew his power and wrath as contrariwise he hath prepared vessels of mercie vnto glory that he might make knowne the riches of his glorie What that the Iudge at the last day shall say vnto them that shall be at his left hand Goe ye cursed into euerlasting fire Matth. 25. prepared for the diuell and his Angels Doe these things obscurely testifie if we would rather follow the iudgement of the spirit than of the flesh that albeit God is able to saue all yet he will saue some surely of the damnable masse of mankind and damne others according to the eternall counsell of his will A Dilemma prouing that some are saued and others damned and that by the will of God Further seeing it is without all doubt that some shall be saued and some damned it must needes be done either with or against the will of God Not against his will for so he should not be omnipotent therefore with his will and because he willeth it therefore from euerlasting he willeth it vnles we would thinke that God doth any thing by chance or rashly or else that some new thing falleth into his prescience and will Aug. Enchâ—r ad Laur. cap. 103. Augustine confirmeth this reason We are by no meanes to beleeue saith he that the Almightie God would haue any thing done which is not done because without any alteration or change he hath done whatsoeuer he would in heauen and earth Psalm 115.4 as the truth declareth and therefore certainely he would not doe whatsoeuer he hath not done The same man saith De cor grat cap. 14. No free will resisteth God when he is willing to saue for so to will and to be vnwilling is in the power of the willer or niller A notable saying that it hindreth not the diuine will nor doth ouercome his power For concerning those men who doe the things that God willeth not he himselfe doth what he will Luther Luther also in praefat ad Rom. plainely writeth That all things depend of predestination who shall beleeue who not who shall be saued who damned And addeth that which I leaue to be diligently obserued of the aduersaries that the sentence is stable and the necessitie immoueable of predestination that it cannot be changed nor ouerthrowne of any creature But chiefely in his booke de seruo Arbitrio he confesseth it at large that the saluation of some and the damnation of others doe wholy arise from hence that God will haue some saued and others damned according to that saying of Paul He hath mercie on whom he will and whom he will he hardeneth And as touching the reprobates he expressely writeth chap. 161. That God of his owne meere will forsaketh hardeneth and damneth men And addeth manifestly that this is it that greatly offendeth common sense and reason as though God were delighted with the paines and torments of miserable persons Also chap. 168. he saith that the loue of God is eternall and immutable and also the hatred of God toward meÌ„ euerlasting before the world was made And many such sayings doth that booke containe as that by his secret and fearefull will God ordaineth whom and what manner of men he will haue to be partakers of mercy that is preached and offered that the will of his maiestie reiecteth and leaueth some of purpose that they may perish that such as be forsaken or hardened by that secret will of his maiestie doe not receiue God willing speaking dooing and offering himselfe againe that willinglie he hardeneth by that vnsearcheable will c. And that admonition of his is very godly In such things it is not our parts to search out the cause of Gods will but to reuerence loue and adore it restraining the rashnes of reason seeing Christ also Matth. 11. bringeth no other cause why the Gospell is hid from the wise and reuealed vnto little ones than the good pleasure of the father This doctrine of Luther O Huber sauoreth more certainely of the spirite of God than those prophesies which thou hast drawne out of him and doest wish to be fastened vnto all the dores of the Temple and to be written in all mens hearts Why then doe ye not admit it into all your Churches and without contention engraue it in your owne and other mens mindes If yee shall doe it it is well but if yee continue to finde faulte with it in vs and after your wonted boldnes by your wicked stile and tongue banish it as Turkish or else opening the dore to Turcisme and other vnspeakeable mischiefe I aduise you consider in time whether you will cast downe the authoritie of Luther in the aduauncing whereof euen vnto heauen you haue hitherto so greatly laboured CHAP. XII Vnto the third accusation FVrthermore it is an impudent speech that the Catholike and true Church is condemned of vs which hath beleeued and alwaies with one mouth confessed that Christ died for all men The Catholike Church hath euer beleeued that Christ died for all men that beleeue in him and not otherwise Iohn 3. Acts 10. Heb. 11. We also confesse that Christ died for all men For who can denie that without distinction which diuers times is expressely set downe in the sacred Scriptures But hereof is the question
here come together for the proofe of our opinion First Christ is called the head of the Church and that not according to creation and preheminence onely as he is the head of euery creature but after a peculiar maner as the Church is his bodie and the fulnes of him who filleth all in all As therefore such as be members of the bodie and not such as are without the bodie are quickened of the head so wee who are members of his bodie of his flesh and of his bones draw peculiarly from Christ spirit and life Secondly the same is the Sauiour of his bodie For no man euer hated his owne flesh but nourisheth and cherisheth it as Christ also doth his Church This is rehearsed as a document of his singular loue to his Church which thing should not so well accord if as touching the grace of redemption there were no difference betweene the Church and the world betweene the spouse of Christ and the spouse of the deuill but all alike should bee saued by Christ as these new disputers hold Amb. thes 270. Thirdly it is expressely added that Christ loued the Church and exposed himselfe for it to sanctifie it to make it glorious vnto himselfe without wrinkle or spot holy and blameles The Apostle giueth to the Church the prerogatiue of so great grace I meane redemption sanctification glorification neither doe redemption and sanctification more agree to the common vile company of men without the Church than glorification doeth To the Collossians also there is a very excellent place The 4. place Cap. 1. cha 1. We giue thankes to the Father who hath made vs meete to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saintes in light and hath deliuered vs from the power of darknesse and translated vs into the kingdome of his beloued sonne in whom wee haue redemption that is the remission of sinnes Foure things proper to the faithfull Foure things here be published as properly belonging to the faithfull 1. The inheritance of the Saints in light 2. Deliuerance from the power of darkenesse 3. Translation into the kingdome of Gods sonne and 4. Redemption If these be proper to the faithfull as they be for this description of grace is wholly applied to the faithfull the vnbeleeuers haue no part in them Ambrose And thus Ambrose expoundeth them whose words are these vpon the Epistle to the Collossians Being deliuered from the state of darkenes that is plucked out of hel wherein we were held by the deuill as well through our owne sinne as through the sinne of another we are translated through faith into the heauenly kingdome of Gods sonne For without the faith of Christ Hub. Thes 4â— and 41. there is no going out of hell Therefore these new Sectaries are deceiued and doe deceiue contending that there is not one excepted who is vnder the power of the deuill whom Christ hath not deliuered from the power of the deuill and hath not receiued into his kingdome Moreouer hitherto tendeth that which is written in the same chapter to the Collossians in these wordes Col. 1. The 5. place Therefore you who were in time past strangers and enemies hauing your minds set in euill workes hath hee now reconciled in that body of his flesh through death that hee might make you holy and blameles before him if ye continue grounded and firme in faith Here is an exposition of a double state of vnbeliefe and faith and the state of vnbeliefe by the doctrine of the Apostle hath estranging of the minde from God and enemitie with him but the state of faith hath reconciliation and sanctification For significantly he saith Nowe surely he hath reconciled to wit since ye beleeued in Christ The 6 place 1. Tim. 4. In the 1. to Timothie chap. 4. the Apostle writeth that God is the Sauiour of all men yet especially of the faithfull Which saying being very short and of great force wipeth away this whole controuersie whereof wee intreate if it bee considered with a calme regard For in saying who is the sauiour of all men he confirmeth the generall goodnes of God vpon all For hee suffereth his sunne to arise vpon the bad and good Matt. 5. Act. 17. and in him we are we liue and are moued This surely is a certaine common saluation to all men yea and to beasts as it is said in the psalme 36. Thou O Lord wilt saue men and beastes August tract 34 in Io. For by whome men is preserued by him also is the beastes Neither must we be ashamed to thinke this of God yea wee must so conceiue and trust so and take heede that we thinke not otherwise He that saueth vs hee saueth our horse our sheep yea to come to the least things our henne But by adding specialitie of the faithfull hee sheweth that there is a part of mankind which through faith inspired from God is aduanced by speciall benefits to high and eternal felicitie Hereupon also in the former Psalme it is read The sons of men doe trust in the shadow of thy wings They shall be satisfied with the fatnes of thy house thou shalt giue them drinke out of the riuer of thy delights For with thee is the well of life and in thy light we shall see light Bring forth thy mercie for them that knowe thee and thy righteousnes for such as bee vpright in heart Therefore they receiue this speciall saluation who trust in him they doe not receiue it who doe despaire The iust receiue it the vniust and such as know not God receiue it not The 7. place Heb. 5. In the Epistle to the Hebrewes which also of many olde writers is attributed to Paul wee haue these testimonies among other Chapter 5. Albeit he was the sonne yet by those things that he suffered he learned obedience and being consecrate to wit by afflictions as it is sayd ca. 2. he is made the authour of eternall saluation to all that obey him Therefore this saluation was not brought to such as be obstinate Saluation by Christ is Eternall not temporall and short as the aduersarie seemeth to make it and refuse the grace of Christ through vnbeliefe And seeing that saluation purchased by Christ is not temporary and short as that which was wont to be brought to men being in great danger in warre but Eternall how shall it be sayd to belong to such as shall be damned whose portion shall be in the lake of vnquenchable fire So in the 9. The 8. place cap. 9. Chapter there is mention made of eternall redemption By his owne blood saith the Apostle he once entred into the holy place and hath obtained eternall redemption Eternall redemption And redemption is called eternall both because it shal be effectuall foreuer and also for that the cause of eternall good things is theirs who be partakers of the same The contrary of both might bee found in the greater part of
Epistle when he had said before that Christ came downe to be the redeemer of al to take away the sinnes of all and had abased himselfe to bring liberty to all and had taken flesh vpon him to purchase by his death resurrection for all he addeth these words He that is saith he a true freeman a true Hebrew is wholly Gods whatsoeuer he hath is libertie he hath nothing of his that for the loue of the world refuseth libertie So elsewhere he teacheth that a Lib. 2. Câ—p. â— de Cain Abel redemption belongeth to them that repent and cleaue vnto Gods commandements that b Apol. Dauid remission of sinne is through faith c De Sal. ca. vit and that by the grace of faith washing from offences is obtained d Serm. 15. in 118. Psalm that the crosse of the Lord is life to beleeuers and destruction to vnbeleeuers And in another place The e Serm. 21. ibid. crosse saith he is shame to him that is vnfaithfull but to the faithfull person it is grace to the faithfull it is redemption to the faithfull it is resurrection And all these things he setteth out in another place by a notable similitude of light A similitude of the light For Christ is the light of the world sufficient truly to inlighten and conuert all men yet not actually and in very deede driuing away all darknes but as he saith himselfe I am the light of the world that no man that commeth vnto me may abide in darknes Ambrose his words are these Serm. 19. in 118. Psalm Although he that was borne of the Virgin for all both good and bad haue a large power in all and vpon all as he maketh his Sunne to rise vpon the good and euill yet hee fauoureth him that commeth neere vnto him For as he that shutteth the windowes excludeth froÌ„ himselfe the brightnes of the Sunne so he that is turned from the Sunne of righteousnes cannot behold the brightnes therof He walketh in darknes and in the light of all men hee is the cause of blindnes to himselfe Open therefore thine eyes to see the Sunne of righteousnes arising vnto thee If a man shut the doores of his house is the fault in the Sunne that it doth not shine into his house Out of Augustine the chiefe of the soundest writers among other testimonies these we haue Tom. 7. Augustine ad articul falso impos Vnto the first article which was that Christ suffered not for the redemption of all men he giueth his iudgement of the whole controuersie distinguishing after this sort As touching the greatnes and weight of the price and as touching the onely cause of mankinde the blood of Christ is the redemption of the whole world But they that passe through this life without the faith of Christ and without the sacrament of regeneration are voide of redemption Seeing therefore by reason of the one nature and cause of all men which the Lord took vpon himselfe in trueth all may bee rightly called redeemed yet seeing all are not plucked out of captiuitie the proprietie of redemption doubtles is theirs out of whom the prince of this world is cast and they be now not the wasse â—s of the deuill but the members of Iesu Christ Whose death was not so bestowed for mankinde that they who shall not bee borne againe should belong to the redemption thereof but so that what was done by one example for all might by one sacrament be celebrated in euery one Augustines simile of the cup. For the cup of immortalitie which was made of our infirmitie and the diuine power meaning Christs death hath truly in it selfe to profit all men but if it be not drunke it doth not profit Against Faustus the Manichean lib. 11. cap. 7. Of those men for whom Christ died and rose againe and who now liue not to themselues but to him that is the people that bee renewed by faith that hee may haue in the meane while in hope what may bee accomplished afterward in very deede none of those men saith he hee knew any more after the flesh Here hee taketh them that are renewed by faith and shal be saued to be all one with those for whom Christ died and rose againe Lib. 13. cap. 15. In his booke of the Trinitie he denieth that any of them whom Christ redeemed by his bloodshed be drawne of the deuill as men intangled in the snares of sinne vnto the destruction of the second and eternall death and affirmeth that such die the death of the flesh onely and not of the spirit And most plainly remoueth from redemption such as shall be damned addeth straightwaies in expresse words that such as were foreknowne predestinate and elected before the foundation of the world pertaine to the grace of Christ and that Christ died for them The same man vpon 21. Psalme writeth That Christ suffered for the Church and that the great Church is the whole world for which he shed his blood And by and by confuting the Donatists including the Church within Africa he saith What saiest thou to me O Heretike Is he not the price of all the world Was onely Africa redeemed Thou dare not say A notable saying of August the whole world was redeemed but it is perished What inuader hath Christ suffered to destroy his goods Behold Christ died his blood was shed behold our redeemer behold our price What hath he bought All the ends of the earth shall be converted to the Lord and all nations shall worship before him Behold the Church which I shew behold what Christ hath bought behold what he hath redeemed behold for whom he gaue his blood So in his Enchiridion to Laurentius chap. 61. he saith that the Church which is among men is redeemed from all sinne by the blood of the Mediator that is without sinne and it is the voyce thereof If God be for vs who is against vs Who also spared not his owne sonne but gaue him for vs all And in the next chapter The Apostle saith that all things in heauen and earth are epaired in Christ for in him are restored the things that bee in heauen when that that was decayed in the angels from thence was recompensed of men But things in earth are repaired when men themselues who are predestinate to eternall life are renewed from the oldnesse of corruption The same man chapter 30 witnesseth that God promised freedome and the kingdome of heauen to a part of mankinde that is to the elect Againe in his 13. Booke of the Trinitie chapter 12. and the rest when hee had sayed that by the remission of sinnes men are plucked away from the deuill through the gratious reconciliation of God straightway he sheweth at large that not all men are set free from the power of the deuil but all the faithfull and the predestinate that all men beeing carnally borne of Adam are through him alone held vnder the
reason of the election of the one so of the reiection of the other but because it so pleaseth God for the manifestation of his mercie or iudgement Hereunto may be added the case of innumerable children without the Church who are preuented with death The 5. reason before they haue the iudgement of reason and cannot bee iustly reproued for the neglect of helping grace If such as dissent from vs be asked concerning these whether they thinke that none of them doe perish they dare not I suppose denie If they perish they are reckoned among those whom God hath reiected yet he could foresee in them no contempt of grace seeing they should not haue it yea he foreknew rather that they should not contemne grace Neither doth that deuice any thing helpe them that God saw what they would doe if they had recouered For God in punishing and pardoning respecteth not what any man would doe but what good or euill he hath done in his body Thus it is manifest that the reprobation of the vngodly no lesse than the election of the Saints dependeth vpon the only will of God and not vpon the foreseene good or euill wils of men Neither is it materiall that some persons defame this doctrine by this or that name and endeuour to make it odious It is the doctrine of the Scriptures and defended by Augustine constantly as we see Augustine and many other writers auouch and maintaine this doctrine of reprobatioÌ„ according to the Scriptures As also by Hilarie Prosper Primasius and others who long agoe well perceiued the naughtines of the Pelagian spirit Prospers words out of his epistle to Augustine of the remnants of Pelagian heresie are That according to Gods purpose before the world there was made a difference betweene them that were to bee elected and reiected and that some were created vessels of honor and others vessels of dishonor according to the good pleasure of the creator And againe he saith that God according to the purpose and counsell of his owne will in his secret iudgement but yet in a manifest worke made one vessell to honour another to dishonour whereas no man is iustified but by grace and no man is borne but in sinne And this saith he they of necessitie graunt that confesse that all good merits are preuented by grace and by it haue this free gift that they might be Lib. 1. dist 4â— Thom. part 1. q. 23. in 9. ad Rom. Neither is the doctrine any other of the Master of Sentences as they call him for he saith He chose whom it pleased him of his free mercie not because they would be faithfull but that they might be faithfull So also he reprobated whom he would not for future merits which he foresaw yet in most vpright trueth and beyond our vnderstanding The same opinion Thomas Aquinas and other Schoolemen of no obscure account doe follow and doe confirme it with strong reasons Looke also Luthers iudgement in his booke of seruile will where vpon the place of Malachie hee boldlie writeth these wordes Eternall and vnchangeable is the loue of God Luther de seruo arbis eternall is the hatred of God towards men before the world was made not onely before the merite and worke of frewill And he manifestly reiecteth it as a fained thing that God should bee said to hate them while they were yet vnborne because hee foreknewe that they would commit things worthy of hatred Rom. 11. Neither is this anie hindrance saith he because we reade that the Iews for the merits of their vnbeliefe were cut off from the oliue tree and that the Gentiles were graffed in by faith We knowe that men by faith are ingraffed and by infidelity cut off and that they are to be exhorted to beleene leaest they be cut off The very poynt of the controuersie of predestination But we dispute not what followeth beleeuers or vnbeleeuers but by what merite by what helpe doe men attaine to faith whereby they are ingraffed or to vnbelief whereby they are cut off This merite Paul describing vnto vs teacheth that by no worke of ours but by the onely loue hatred of God it commeth to passe All these words are Luthers The same man afterward vpon the similitude of the potter and claie answering the cauill that this potter as Erasmus in his Diatribe did interperet maketh a vessell to dishonour through precedent merits as he reiected the Iewes for vnbeliefe and receiued the Gentils for their faith If God saith he do thus why murmure they and find themselues grieued why saie they wherefore doth he complaine who shall resist his will Marke this wel what neede had Paul to represse them further where is the power that the potter hath to do what he will if being subiect to merites and lawes he is not suffered to doe what he will for the respect of merites fighteth with the power and libertie to doe what he will c. Therefore what vnreasonable dealing is it and what enuie against the truth to cast in our teeth Caluinisme because we auouch that neither the righteousnes nor maliciousnes of men but the secret will of God is the cause why grace plucketh some out of the common destruction whereunto we are all subiect by nature and doth not plucke others If this be Caluinisme what shall be done to Luther to saie nothing of the auncient writers Yet it is to be obserued that we doe not maintaine as our aduersaries spitefully doe imagine of vs The slaunders of Hub. thes 350. Zanch de nat Deâ—fol 669. Visi admon Neost pag. 113. Bez. resp 2. ad Col. Momp fol. 223. That no man is condemned for sinnes or vnbeliefe as the foregoing cause We teach the contrary and our men with one consent haue alwaies taught that God taketh punishment of none and no man shal be damned of him but for sin For punishment hath no place but in respect of sin Moreouer this is also true That as God damneth not anie but sinners and such as deserue damnation for sins so also he hath not decreed to damne anie but for sin For whatsoeuer God doth in his time also he determined froÌ„ euerlasting to do after the very same way as it is done Therefore because he damneth the reprobates and wil damne them for sins doubtles he also decreed from euerlasting to damne them for sins And from hence againe the deprauing of our doctrine by the aduersaries appeareth when they faine that wee teach that God without respect of sin Note God decreed to condemne none but for sinne of his sole and absolute will hath appointed some men to damnation Yea Gods decree is of the condemnation of sinners onely and that for sins But seeing wee bee all sinners and worthy of damnation why God hath predestinated these men to bestowe vpon them freely glory and hath predestinated others to bee punished in his iust iudgement for sins hereof wee haue
was first made became wicked Is God a debter vnto vs to restore vs because we lost grace receiued Or shall it not therefore be lawfull for him to require againe of vs that which is his owne He hath power to exact it and hath power also to remit it But of whom it must bee exacted and to whom it must be remitted it belongs to the Lord to iudge and not to the debters Obiection But say they the reprobates while God forsaketh and hardeneth them cannot auoide sinnes And it seemeth vniust if God should punish a man for those things that he cannot auoide Answere I know surely that this seemeth vniust to Albert Pighius and other Sophisters whose wisedome God hath made foolishnes but how vniustly it is manifest for if that reason were any thing worth God could not without a token of crueltie and iniustice punish originall sinne which certainly no man can auoide in his birth Obiection They obiect this also He that foreseeth sinne and doth not hinder it when he may is not without fault God foreseeth sins and doth not hinder them when he might most easily Therefore c. Answere Hereunto some make answere that God doth not put away sinnes because hee will haue his reasonable creature to retaine his libertie and choise of good and euil which otherwise he should lose But if that reason were forcible either Gods grace should be destroyed whereby the godly and elect auoide sinnes or els they must be said to want the choise of good and euill Therefore to answer more truly we must here remember that wee ought not to dispute of the righteousnes of God after the rule of mans righteousnes The first proposition taketh place concerning men and not concerning God For men both by the societie of nature Gods law are bound one to â—nother that one should procure the welfare of another and hinder the destruction But God is bound to none and he may doe with his creature what hee will without the iniurie of the creature as Lord of all and hauing full dominion ouer his owne goods Further because of his omnipotent goodnes and wisedome he can tell how to worke good euen of euill which men cannot doe Which things seeing they stand thus let no man in his heart accuse God who will render to euery one according to his workes Psalm 102. but let euery one blame himselfe when he sinneth and let him say when he is damned Thou art iust O Lord in all that thou doest vnto vs and all thy iudgements are true And whosoeuer is set free let him say Psalm 144. The Lord is mercifull and full of compassion he hath not recompenced vs according to our sinnes Obiection 7 As for that that was added touching despaire that it was bred in the mindes of men by the doctrine of the constant and vnchangeable purpose both of Gods election and reprobation Predestination is 〈◊〉 ground of our comfort and no cause of despeâ—ation it is also a meere slaunder Nay it is the most true ground of all our comfort and saluation that we know that God hath chosen his owne in Christ before the foundation of the world who beleeue in him and hath predestinated them vnto adoption according to the good pleasure of his owne will and that this purpose of free election and predestination is so firme that neither it can bee changed of any creature neither doth God euer repent him of his gifts and calling This thing the places of Scripture euery where confirme which speake of predestination as what the Apostle saith â— Tim. 2. The foundation of God standeth sure hauing this seale The Lord knoweth who are his Doubtles the Scripture speaketh this to our consolation least wee should be troubled for the reuolt of some men from the Gospell and for other offences And more fully Rom. 8. We know that all things work for the best to them that loue God that is to them who are called of purpose For whom he foreknew them he predestinated also to be made conformable to his image c. And thus concludeth I am perswaded that neither death nor life nor Angels nor any creature can separate vs from the loue of God which is in Christ Iesu We see how the Apostle armeth vs against all temptations of this world with this perswasion that election is sure and stable whereby wee are chosen in Christ vnto eternall life freely and of his meere loue as the Lord also in the Gospell comforteth vs therewith Matth. â—3 Ioh. 10. Luke 10 11. that the elect cannot be seduced that he suffereth not his sheepe to bee pluckâ— out of his hand that our names are written in heauen Also feare not little flocke for it pleaseth your father to giue you a kingdome And in Iohn Ioh. 6. least the faithfull should be offended through the obstinacie of the vnbeleeuers what soeuer the father giueth me saith he commeth vnto me and he that commeth vnto me I will not cast him forth because I came downe from heauen to doe his will that sent me Therefore by the view of these sayings of Scripture it appeareth that the doctrine of the firmenes of Gods election is reuealed vnto vs for this cause that it might bee the foundation of all certaintie against all kinde of temptations which arise either in respect of our infirmitie among so many dangers of the godly or of the vnbeliefe or apostacie of others from the faith or in respect of other thing Hereof saith Luther notably when he had auouched Praefat. ad Rom. that the decree of predestination is sure and vnmoueable addeth moreouer that this necessitie is most necessarie vnto saluation and consolation He assigneth the reason because we be so wâ—â—ke in our selues that if our saluation consisted in our owne stregth very few or none should bee saued for the deuill would ouercome all men But now saith he seeing Gods decree is sure and most certaine and cannot be altered by any creature wee haue hope to ouer come sinne at the length Luth. de ser arb cap. 144. Hee teacheth the same thing at large and amplifieth it by the consideration of so many perils and deuils daily assaulting vs. Aâ—â—de praedâ—st sanct cap. â— And surely it is a wonder among so many streites wherewith our life is beset that any man had rather betake himselfe to his owne infirmitie than to the certainety of Gods promise and grace Obiection I am vncertaine of my election which maketh me sad But thou wilt say the will of God concerning my selfe is vncertaine vnto me And this is it that maketh me sad and sorowfull that seeing there is a certaine and sealed number of them that be predestinate which cannot be increased nor diminished I am vncertaine whether I belong to that number if I knew this I would rest my selfe in that sure foundation Answere Answere This is one question whence we may knowe our selues to be elect
booke of life cannot otherwise be taken than as farre forth as they gloried for a while in the title of the Church till they were blotted out that is were declared to be cast awaies no waie pertainnig to the body of the Church But Moses was one of the predistinate sonnes of God An instance and truely written in the booke of the liuing Therfore some truly written in the booke of life are blotted out of it or may be blotted out Answere I denie the consequence because the Maior which is omitted in the argument is false to wit that Moses was blotted out or could be blotted out of the booke of life He surely wished to be blotted out for the sin of Israel rather than the name of God should be blasphemed among the Gentiles but it was not done or could be done because he wished it Nether are we to maruell that Moses wished that that could not bee seeing this is vsuall in the praiers of the Saints that through a certaine vehement loue of God and their neighbor their will is caried away euen vnto things that cannot be done Example hereof we haue in this very wish of Moses who desired to drawe rather vpon himselfe the punishment and damnation of transgressors if God would not at all pardon their sin For the iustice of God doth not suffer him to punish an innocent for an offender but the soule that sinneth shall die Euen as Moses that wished such a thing was answered of the iudge of the worlde He that sinneth against me I will blot him out of the booke that I haue written So Dauid prayed 2. Sam. 18. Who will graunt me that I might die for thee sonne Absolom Whereas yet it could not be that hee should die for Absolom Christ also knew well enough that he must drinke of the cup yet he said Father if it be possible let this cup passe from me And to vse a most like example Paul wished to bee accursed from Christ Rom. 9. for his brethren the Israelites that is for the loue of Christ hee was ready if it were possible to lose the kingdome of heauen and to goe to hell De compunâ—t â—ora lib. 1. serm de nulla regni spe as often Chrysostome expoundeth that place But as touching the Lordes answere to Moses when hee saith That he will blot him out of his booke that hath sinned against him the answere is all one with that that we made before to the place of the Psalme which Ambrose also vpon the ninth to the Romanes plainely approueth by his iudgement and among the later writers Doctor Heerbrand subscribeth vnto him Heerb disp de elect praed thes 115. Hub thes 771. Equiuocos doctores Therefore let Huber rather consult with them than scorne the trueth and the louers of it and tauntingly terme them doubtfull Doctors when as he himselfe plaieth more truely the doubtfull disputer dallying with the doubtfull significations of wordes to deceiue others Obiection 4 Beside it is obiected out of the twelfth chapter to the Hebrewes Heb. 12. Yee are come to mount Sion the citie of the liuing God the heauenly Ierusalem and to thousands of Angels and to the companie of the first borne c. Take heede that yee despise not him that speaketh for if they escaped not that despised him that spake in Gods name in the earth much more wee if wee abhorre him who is from heauen Some of these of whome this speech is doe fall away and perish for euer because hee terrifieth them with eternall punishments if they resist the worde But these that are spoken of are written in heauen therefore some of such doe pertsh Answere I answere that of pure perticulars nothing is concluded Certainly the Minor is onely particular because it is spoken of those first begotten that are written in heauen and not of other whomsoeuer that pertaine to their societie and the Churches among whom it is not to be doubted that many are hypocrites that shall in their time be iudged of the Lord. But say they it is written keepe that thou hast that no man Obiection 5 take away thy crowne He that standeth Apoc. 3.11 let him take heed lest he fall If God spared not the naturall branches take heed 1. Cor. 11. Rom 11. Phil. 2. that he spare not thee also In feare and trembling worke your saluation These and the like exhortations and threatning pertaine to all euen to Gods elect Therefore the elect are not without perill of losing saluation Answere I answere There is a fallacie from that which is not the cause as if it were the cause for whereas such exhortations and threatnings meete vs in the Scriptures it is not therefore done because the saluation of the elect is not in good safetie as touching the grace of the chuser but seeing the elect carry about them and in them manifolde infirmities and endure sundry temptations of the world the holy Ghost thinketh good by those meanes to worke in them watchfulnes and perseuerance for their saluation But what shall we say to that of the Apostle I beat downe Obiection 6 my body bring it into subiection least by any meanes 1. Cor. 9. when I haue preached to others my selfe became a reprobate Paul doubtlesse was elected yet he laboured that he might not bee a reprobate Answere I answere Grammar vndoeth this knot For a reprobate is here opposed to one approued and the meaning is that hee went before others in example least by not doing what he taught he should bring himselfe into contempt So siluer is called reprobate Ieremie 6.30 And diuerse times this signification meeteth vs as 2. Cor. 13.6.7 Secondly though we should grant that reprobate here is taken for one that is to be condemned in eternall death what consequence is this Paul and other elected to life chastise their flesh and vse other exercises of faith and repentance that they perish not Therefore some of the elect doe fall away from grace Nay therefore they doe not fall away because they carefully shunne falles and vse the meanes vnto saluation WHETHER AND HOW WE MAY BE CERTAINE AND SVRE OF OVR Election in Christ CHAP. XXIII Of the certainety of saluation and therefore of Election against the Papistes THe elect of God as we haue seen haue an excellent prerogatiue and dignitie whom no creature can separate from his loue in Christ Iesu in whom before the world they were vnchangeably predestinated to eternall glory But that we may be partakers of this consolation we must consider 1. Whether and 2. how wee may be certaine of our election in Christ Where also we wil touch 3. what we must iudge in this point of our brethren in Christ and of our neighbour in generall The first of these three questions was wont to be in controuersie betweene vs and the Papistes The Papists say that election is certaine in it selfe but vncertaine to vs. For
teach vs. Cal. li. 3. Iust cap. 24. sect 3. and dangerous questions of the secret counsels of God we enquire not but by the expresse word of God of his gracious will and loue towards vs whereby hee hath chosen vs in Christ before the world And that thou mayest not doubt Christian reader behold the testimonies of two notable writers of this point I meane Caluin and Luther who haue most diligently taught the doctrine of predestination Thus then Caluin saith That we may bee made sure of our saluation wee must begin at the word of God therewith we must be content for our assurance that we may call God father For some men preposterously that they may be certaine of the counsell of God which is neere vs in our mouth and in our hearts desire to flee aboue the cloudes That rashnes must be bridled by the sobrietie of faith that God who is the witnesse of his secret grace may content vs in his externall word And in the next Sectiō We shall obserue the best order if in seeking out the certainty of our election we rest our selues in those latter signes which are the certaine witnesses thereof and doe not inquire after our election without the way By inquiring without the way I meane when wretched man goeth about to pearce into the hidden secrets of Gods wisedome to vnderstand It is very dangerous to seeke for our election without the word what is determined of him before Gods iudgement seate But as they plunge themselues into a deadly gulfe that search into the eternall counsell of God without his word to bee certified of their election so they that seeke for it rightly and orderly as it is shewed in the worde receiue from thence great fruite of consolation In Gen. 16. And Luther intreating of this matter writeth after this sort Such thoughts as search out any high misterie aboue and without the reuelation of God are altogether deuillish whereby no other good commeth than our headlong destruction because they lay before vs an vnsearcheable obiect that is God vnreuealed And at large in that place he reproueth that horrible disease as they cal it whereby men go on to search out God speculatiuely and rush at length into desperation contempt Contrariwise Luther teacheth Try thy faith and the fruites of it if thou wilt know thy election that this examination Whether thou bee predestinated or no dependeth on faith in Christ and the fruites of a true faith saying If thou heare the sonne and be baptized in his name and loue his word then surely thou art predestinated and certaine of thy saluation Also If thou beleeuest in God reuealed and receiuest his worde thou shalt by little and little know God also who is secret yea euen now thou knowest him And interlasing a few words he saith Thou ought certainely and without doubting to make account of God that he is mercifull vnto thee for Christs sake that thou art redeemed and sanctified through the precious blood of the sonne of God and so thou shalt be sure of thy predestination without all curious and dangerous questions of the secret counsels of God Behold thou hast the sonne he that beleeueth and is baptized is written in the booke of life c. Our election must be found a posteriore And this way of finding out our election a posteriore that is by that which cōmeth after he elegātly compareth with the vision of Moses to whom when he desired to see Gods face the Lord answered I will shew thee my backe partes but thou canst not see my face Exod 33. as though God should say to euery one of vs by Luthers exposition I will shew thee plainely my foreknowledge and predestination but not by way of natural searching and carnall wisedome being God vnreuealed I will bee reuealed and yet I will abide the same God still I will send my sonne heare thou him behold him what he doeth and what hee saith if thou heare him thou art certainly predestinated Concerning this vision of the Lord wee may vse that saying of Bernard O place of true rest this vision doth not terrifie but comfort it doth not stirre vp restles curiositie but doth alay it neither doth it weary a man but giue him ease here is true quietnes a peaceable God calmeth all things and to behold him peaceable is to be at rest and quiet Further this caueat also must not bee omitted that A needefull admonition if any man finde not as yet in himselfe these later signes whereof we haue spoken he ought not therefore despaire of the predestination of himselfe to life For there bee twelue houres of the day and he that is not called in the morning or about the third houre may bee called of God at the sixt or ninth peraduenture euen at the eleuenth houre Albeit wee ought not in the meane while to deferre repentance as it is written Put not off from day to day to turne to the Lord Eccles 5. neither make any delay for his wrath will come suddenly and in the time of vengeance he will destroy thee And in the Psalme Psalm 95. To day if ye will heare his voyce harden not your hearts CHAP. XXV What is meete for vs to iudge of the election of other men FVrthermore by the grounds that hitherto haue been laid open concerning the certaintie of our election it is no hard thing to iudge what we are to thinke being Christians of the election of others in Christ according to the rule of Christ that is Charitie to wit we ought not onely to be sure of the predestination of our selues in Christ but also to iudge the same thing of our brethren in Christ and not to despaire of others before their death We here make a difference betweene brethren that professe with vs the same faith and those that are without who are vnbeleeuers as yet and strangers from the societie of a holy brotherhood As touching our brethren albeit a faithfull man cannot iudge so certainly of others as of himselfe ye the ought to account and acknowledge them for elect In whom we see faith and repentance we must count them for elect so long as the contrary doth not appeare The reason is because faith and conuersion be signes of election Therefore whom we iudge to be partakers of faith conuersion those also must we needs comprehend in election And of this iudgement we haue the Apostles of the Lord for authors 1. Pet. 1. Eph. 1. 1. Thes 1. where Paul saith Wee know brethren beloued that ye are chosen of God because our Gospell was among you not in word only but in power in the holy Ghost and in much assurance And 2. Thes 2. We thanke God brethren beloued of the Lord because God hath chosen you vnto saluation from the beginning through the sanctification of the spirit and faith in the trueth Obiection But many such often happen to fall