highe and notable mysterie For after almighty God of his great goodnesse had created Adam farre passing all other his creatures in the excellencie of his creation and had also but of very base and vile matter made him vnto his owne godly imâ—â—â— and similitude resembling therein his diuine maiestie in heauen and moste godly perfection of all innocencie wherwith he was highly endued at his first originall and beginning he then placed him in a most pleasant Paradise of all â—oy and singular comfort and gaue frée choise and libertie vnto him to vse all things there at pleasure and to his owne hartes desire saue only he forbad him to eate of the frute of the knowledge of good and euil which was of most amiable apearance beautifull to beholde and most pleasantly placed in the middest of Paradise The commaundement heereof was not burdenous or vnreasonable for man to beare but only requested therein due obedience and loue towardes his louing God and maker vnto whome only that noble creature man aboue all other creatures should haue had most speciall regarde considering moste déepely in him selfe the excellencie of his maiestie that so graciously formed him blessed him and moste pleasantly placed him and there to looke for al goodnesse only at his holy hand not to take as it were vpon him selfe by his owne woorthynesse the forme of goodnesse and euill but should onely haue holden that for euil and forbidden which God restrained as euill and to count that only for good and rightuous which of God is allowed and graunted God therefore toke Adam and to put him out of all doutes brought him to the same place and shewed him the very trée and the frute therof standing in the middest of the Garden of pleasure and forbad him the eating thereof with an earnest charge and threatning saying on this wise vnto him In what so euer houre thou shalt eate the frute of that trée thou shalt surely die be subiect to eternall deathe Yet notwithstanding this straighte restrainte of God Adam stackered and dealt but slipperly vntruely and carelesly with his faithful God and maker transgressing his holy commaundement and gaue more credit to the persuasion of the woman and of the wicked serpent than to the truthe of Gods woorde and his holy commaundement Whiche was nothing else but eueÌ„ so much as in them did lie to take vnto theÌ„selues the form of good and euil as out of them selues or by some other meane rather than of God their maker vnto whose only wil and pleasure they should most humbly haue yéelded their obedience as vnto him who alwayes most gratiously wisheth all goodnesse vnto euery man For he being by the woman and the serpent deceiued thought that God was not indifferent towards him but that be had rather of sette purpose withdrawne from him some parcell of his diuine and godly wisedome Therefore for as muche as in mind he was thus deceiued sodenly chaunged and departed now from God declaring thereby his vnstayednesse infidelitie and vnfaythfulnesse and looked not for all good things only at his gracious hands as of duetie he should but yelded to the Diuell receiued that was offered and tasted to his condemnation of that strayt forbidden fruite to aduance and set forwardes him selfe to the presence and secrete highnesse of Gods mightie maiestie and that rather by some bye way with his owne will and consente then contenting him selfe with the onely will of God and so to recouer thereby as he thought the fulnesse of his necessitie and lacke of perfection which he then imagined to be muche wanting in him selfe And thus with his forgetfulnesse haughtinesse of heart infidelitie slipperines disobedience vnthankfulnesse against his God and Maker and deserued therby his iust vengeance and to be for euer the fyrebrande of hell euer burning euer dying and neuer to dye the seconde death he yet fastened vppon life which he moste happily receiued through the onely compassion and great mercy of God who notwithstanding offence so gréeuously committed agaynst him wherby eternall damnation was due to the offendour and to become a bondeslaue vnto the Diuell for euer to whom he so willingly yelded so diligently obeyed beléeued folowed and serued yet as is sayde so great and vnspeakable was the mercy of God towards man so infinitely his loue abounded and so tender he was ouer him and so sorowfull for his gréeuous fall from blisse into perdurable tormente and paine and to redeeme him agayne from it and from the diuell that he moste certaynely decréed with him selfe to curse his owne deare sonne and to pushe him as it were forwards by the shoulders to most cruel death for the recouering agayne of man And so through his sonnes moste paynefull death and passion to saue mankinde from euerlasting â—â—ath and damnation which Adam himselfe and his whole posteritie fell into through the infection of his pride disobedience and loosenesse of heart agaynst god Euen here verily as ye perceiue had the iuste God iuste occasion by iustice iustly to expell man to confounde him to damne him and to leaue him vtterly destitute of his grace and to yéelde him to the Diuell for euer for so did his righteousnesse and truthe require Consider these were the wordes that God spake vnto him I tell thée Adam in what soeuer houre thou eatest of the fruite thou shalt surely dye the death How beit the great goodnesse and mercy that was in God called him backe from moste seuere iustice and required not vtter reuengemente and thereby to suppresse man a very frayle poore and naked creature In the meane tyme therfore God found out the very true and ready way whereby his righteousnesse truth might fully to effect be satisfied and wherein also the swéetenesse of his mercy shoulde specially be exercised and declare foorth the mightinesse of it selfe that is truely to say the onely Lorde and Sauiour Iesus Chryst which as I sayde before was willingly pushed vnto deathe to deliuer Adam and his whole posteritie from their sinne and damnation through the onely fauour and mercies sake of God the eternall father Therefore bicause mankinde coulde in no wyse be saued and deliuered fréely from sinne death and the Diuell and so made agayne at one with his so louing and faythfull a God as he shewed hym selfe vnto Adam his firste creature but onely by Chryst Iesus hys owne and onely Sonne Chryst dyd moste willingly ioyne in consente with his father and so tooke vppon him selfe the rigour of his fathers terrible sentence pronounced iustely agaynst Adam the curse of the whole lawe vpon his owne backe and dyed Adams due death for him and for vs all that were by him in the lyke state of damnation For euen so sayth the Prophete Cursed is he that hangeth on trée Wée be now therefore redéemed agayne by Chrystes death from our bondage and from the seruyce and slauerie of the Diuel and from that most bitter curse that was proper vnto Adam
the truthe that knoweth some parte therof so may the Iewes be which haue Moses and the Prophets amongste them who were the proper traders and directors of them to come to the light in Iesus Christ Neither shall it be any doutfulnesse to the faithfull for them to be pertakers of the goodnesse of God that the Iewes notwithstanding their law beléeued not in Christ for shall their vnfaithfulnesse make the promise of God frustrate and of none effecte Or thinke you that God in vnconstancie wil breake his fidelitie and promisse as mē do and not performe that in déede which he hath vniuersally promised to all men God forbid but rather he wil kéepe his fidelitie to all men vnlesse it be to such as will not take it at his hands Verily men shall haue none occasion to reproue God of his fidelitie and promisse which shall appeare alwayes true and will paie that which he promised bicause he is Faithfull and true All lies come of men which through their owne corruption are most deceitfull and false in their promisses But as God him selfe cannot be deceiued so is it also farre from him to be a deceiuer of other although euery man may be a deceiuer and he him selfe also deceiued The Prophet Dauid doeth assure all men in the certitude of Gods promises which sayeth Thou Lord shalt appeare iust and true and with veritie stoppe the mouthes of them that will iudge thée a breaker of thy promisse either of suche as will furmise that thou wilt not kéepe thy promisse made to the stocke of thy seruaunt Dauid for the vngodly demenors sake of others Vndoubtedly many in their blindnesse do not discerne the true kéeping of Gods promisses with them neuerthelesse through their owne very faulte and corruption Gods veritie and truthe is made muche more manifest and commendable amongst men All which shall in time well sée that God notwithstanding the great offences done daily against him will not alter nor chaunge the constancie and sure determination of his full fixed minde and sentence And héere I am nowe sure that some buste headed body will step foorthe his foote and say If the iustice then and truth of God be made more manifest and commendable through the iniustice and faultie dooings of men then God is vniust him self which will that sinne should be amongest men to the ende his iustice shuld be the better apparant and knowne to men But God forbid that any suche thought shoulde enter into any mannes heart Also vngodlily they will say howe should God be the righfull iudge of this worlde if he be vniust him selfe For if it be prouided of God that I be a lier to the ende that through my lie his veritie shoulde be made more renoumed and my shame redounde to his honoure and glory then why shoulde I haue my sinne laide to my charge Or why shoulde not all men thinke rather within them selues and interpretate this place as some certaine slanderous felowes say Let vs doe things that be euill that the rather by their euill appearance good things may happely come in as much as by oure sinne and vnrightuousnesse the rightuousnesse of God is made more excellent But God defend all men from suche curious Questions vaine cogitations and wycked thoughtes For all these by the iustice of God in their owne pride and vanitie be woorthily damned for suche their contempte hatred incredulitie and vnfaithfulnesse all which as they can not lay to Gods charge the cause that they thus doe sinne which in déede commeth onely of them selues euen so they shall haue no mercie nor grace shewed vnto them althoughe their naughtinesse and sinne be openly tourned into the publike shewe of hys onely prayse and glorye But to come to our purpose what shal we say Are not the Iewes better than the Gentiles No verily as touching the grace of the gospell although they seeme to be better by the prerogatiue of the law of Moses for I proued it before that bothe the Iewe and the Gentile be offenders againste God. Wherin as touching the Gentile the case is more euidente than any man can denie And as touching the Iewes their owne Psalmes do declare what they are For thus it is written in the. 14. and. 3. Psalmes againste them There is none rightuous no not one there is none that vnderstādeth there is none that séeketh after God they are all gone oute of the way they are all vnprofitable there is none that doth good no not one Their throte is an open sepulchre with their tongues they haue deceiued the poysone of Aspis is vnder their lippes whose mouthes are full of curssing and bitternesse their féete are swift to shedde bloude destruction and wretchednesse are in their wayes and the way of peace haue they not knowne there is no feare of God before their eyes Neither can the Iewes say but that all this is spoken of thē For this is euident and true what so euer the lawe sayeth it toucheth most principally them that be vnder it and are subiect vnto it But to this ende chaunced these īnconueniences amongst the Iewes that all mennes mouths might be stopped and that it be euidently knowne that euery mannes saluation depēdeth only vpon the grace of God in Iesus Christ and that the lawe of Moses though it be obserued and kepte yet it iustifieth no man before god Then one will say vnto me what profiteth the lawe if it doe not iustifie yes verily for by meanes of the lawe euery man knoweth his sinne It is a readie way and degrée vnto health for a man to knowe his disease Furthermore as the office of the law was to declare mennes offences that before were vnknown to them so doth now the Gospell declare vnto man his iustification which was before vnknowne or impertinent to the lawe Therfore mannes iustification commeth not of the lawe but of God only And that not for the circumcisions sake or Iudaicall Ceremonies but by the only faith in Iesus Christe by whome the true iustification is wrought not only to the Iewe to this or that nation but without partialitie vniuersally to all men which beléeue in him For in so much as all men were brought into sinne and fallen into suche kinde of iniquitie that they could not be iustified before God it was necessarie that al mens iustification should he had from God which is onely cleare and without all imperfection Whych iustification is not giuen to man as a rewarde for the due kéeping of the law of Moyses or of the law of Nature but it is fréely giuen of Gods owne good will towards vs and not by Moyses but by Iesus Chryst by whose onely bloud wée are redéemed from the tyrannie and tormente of the diuell from sinne and frō troublesomnesse of conscience The Iewes had in times paste their mercy seate which was the shadowe and figure of Chryst to come But it is nowe euidently knowen that
flesh or from this body of death which is thus subiecte to so many miseries to so many prouocations enticementes to naughtinesse encombred with so many vices and wel nigh confounded with these daily conflictes that alwayes haleth me pulleth me downe and draweth me forcibly to destruction and death Think not you that he hath iust cause thus to bewaile his state and to crie out that in this manner is daily beséeged assaulted and troubled with so many mischéeues cruell and deadly aduersaries But the remedie heereof considered and the most happie meanes remembred for our deliuerance O what cause of great thankfulnesse by bounden duetie and all humblenesse haue we to giue vnto our God which mercifully hath set vs in moste happie state and safetie and deliuered vs from these noysom miseries euen for the onely loues sake he bare vnto vs not through the lawe of Moses or Circumcision but by his onely and moste deare sonne our Lorde Iesus Christ the which if by him it had not so ben ended and done I my selfe being but one man among others shuld haue bene a runner but in an vnconstant race and drawne in such sorte hither and thither with the impious cordes of inconstancie vanitie that happily now and then I should with ioyfulnesse haue serued the lawe of my God with my spirite in desiring the things that be honest and godly but with my faultie flesh the lawe of sinne in coueting corruptly the things that bée dishonest and by the deadly force thereof my pore spirite alwayes preuailed against and turmoiled with miserie The eight Chapter The lavve of the spirite giueth lyfe The spirite of God maketh vs Gods children and heires with Christ The abundant loue of God can not be separated BVt now although there be yet many blots and stumbling blocks of the old boÌ„dage stil remaining among christen men ther is yet no dout but through their godly study christen endeuer they may easily passe by them and not be so violently drawn vnto such horrible sinnes for they are now entred into the heauenly fréedom of Christ vnited and made one with him through their lyuely faith and true promise made at baptism All whiche by this chaunge haue now cessed to liue again after the illectation or wanton enticing of the sensuall lustes of their flesh in asmuch as the lawe of Christ which is heauenly spiritual and the author of lyfe béeing also strong and full of might hath fréely deliuered them all from the bondage and lawe of sinne from death the famyliar companion of sinne and the iust reward of the same Whiche thing bycause the lawe of Moyses was carnall and in consideration thereof very weake of it selfe God did foresée and prouide for the saluation of man after an other sorte and fashion And lyke as I haue sayde before that in one man there was two menne one carnall and an other spirituall euen so within the precinct of Moses lawe there are two lawes the one grosse and carnall and the other holy and spirituall The fyrst of these two lawes haue Moyses for his auctour and beginner whiche as it was not perpetuall euen so it was not of vertue to giue any saluation to man The seconde lawe is spirituall straunge full of efficacie and immortall whiche Chryste himselfe hath consummate and fulfilled to all suche as beléeue in him Howbeit it was very expedient that one fleshe shoulde abolishe and put awaye an other one sacrifice to preuayle before an other and one death moste mightily to suppresse an other Therfore God the father hungring and thirsting in his mercie after mans saluation sent his onely deare sonne whiche though he were frée from all contagion of sinne yet he toke vpon hym the same fleshe that all other sinners had and became conuersant amongst the wicked as one of them himself for the most precious redemption of man vnto the same saluation And yet verily so vnkyndely he was entreated amongst the sinners so despitefully and cruelly handled that they put him to the moste shamefull death and crucified him among the synfull moste vyle and false théeues Which for mannes sake tooke vpon hym our very body of synne that he might vnder the same fourme and similitude of sinne ouercome sinne and after that abolishe it and putte it cleane awaye Hée was made a sacrifise for oure trespasses and so dying in the fleshe whiche he tooke amongst vs broughte death to subiection and bondage whiche before bare rule ouer vs thorough the lawe and the corrupt affections of our bodies whiche also brought all things to suche a passe that considering the putting away of the grosse and fleshely parte of the Ceremoniall lawe wée shoulde thencefoorthe embrace the seconde part of the lawe whiche is heauenly and spirituall And that ministreth not ire and threatnings as doth the olde parte of the lawe but very rightuousnesse to all suche as doe not leade their liues after the letter and Ceremonies of the Iewes but after the spirite and inwarde minde of the lawe as men regenerate and newe borne againe in Iesus Christ The Iewes in their Ceremonies had as it were but the deade picture and image of rightuousnesse but we haue the verâ—â—â—e liuing and quicke rightuousnesse it selfe and the very perfecte rule of all godlinesse which Christ by his spirit hath wrought in vs Wherfore the true change of our state conditions and fashions of religion declareth the manner of a newe life in vs And we perceiue very euidently that all such of the Iewes which still continue in the rottennesse of their olde forme of religion and in the fleshe or grosenesse of the lawe are delighted and pleased with all suche things as are grose carnall and fleshly Contrariwise all suche as are engrafted into Christ are become spirituall and precise in rightuousnesse vtterly banishing from them all such olde things as appertaine to the fleshe and are constantly rapte in their mindes to all suche things as are spirituall For truely euen suche as the state condition and nature of the man is suche is his desire and common inclination to worke As touching our fleshe we be all mortall but Christe that is immortall hathe nowe called vs to a life in him which is immortall Againe the carnall lawe of the Iewes is alwayes againste Christe and calleth vs from him which for the same cause bringeth death with it in as muche as it contendeth and striueth againste him which is the only author of life By reason whereof the Iewes being stricken with the zeale and loue of the same lawe did put to death the author of their life and iustification But coÌ„trariwise they that set the grosenesse of the lawe at naught and folowe the spirite doe finde most plentuous life in Christe Iesus Neither doe they argue vppon the barren and hungrie obseruances of the lawe but hauing in their hartes the pleasant sauor and taste of charitie be well stayed in them selues liue ioyfully
and mightie Prince Edvvarde Duke of Somerset for the seeking and quiet establishing of peace and rightuousnesse in the Churche of Englande immediatly vpon the commotions sodainly raised vp in the VVest partes as also in Suffolke and Nâ—â—â—olke in the yeare of our Lord Christe 1549. 86 ¶ A Paraphrase vpon the Epistle of the holy Apostle S. Paule to the Romanes The first Chapter I Paul whom men heretofore haue called Saule that is to say one which is now become of a busie and troublesome felow or of a very tyrant and persecuter a well stayed peaceable and quiet man and was bound many yeres agone vnder the law of Moyses strayghtly to serue and obey him but now at this tyme â—n made frée from him set at libertie and prefâ—rred to the highe fréedome seruice and dignitie of the great God our Lorde Iesus Chryst yet notwithstanding I am not thereby falne into the corrupte state of Apostacie or a cleane forsaker of Moyses institutions but am called to be Chrystes true messanger and therefore now more highly aduaunced than when I was one of the stoute and mightie dâ—â—â—â—ders of the Pharisies secte against Moyses For the cause thereof was that béeing then not truely godly nor ledde by the spirite of truthe and although learned yet not rightly learned but a wanderer in darkenesse and error I missed very farre from the veritie and from the true vnderstanding of the holy law of god But now I may rightly be called a true Pharisie that is one which by grace am chosen separated and put aparte by the Lorde Iesus Chryst him selfe who hath endued me with the spirite of truth to preach and teache the Gospell of his eternall father which is not any new Gospell of lately inuented but the same that was promised long before by the holy Prophets vppon the sonne of man which at hys tyme appoynted was borne of the stocke of Dauid as touching the fleshe and was also declared of the holy Ghoste to bée the eternall Sonne of the euerlasting God as moste truely appeareth bycause after hys bodily death and buriall in the Sepulchre he triumphantly rose agayne euen with the same very flesh In which mightie and notable mysterie he dyd not only teache vs the resurrection also to come of our fleshe but also him selfe to be the beginner and onely author of the same By whom I am appoynted to the function and high office of an Apostle that like as the Gospell of God hath ben promulgate and taught among the nation of the Iewes so it might also by me be declared vnto the Gentiles Not to any suche intente that they should be burdened with the mightinesse and charges of the law but rather that they shoulde submitte them selues to the onely true fayth in Iesus Chryste and to be brought herevnto not by the vayne gloses of Philosophers of the which sort all you be that are Gentiles but by receiuing the name of Chryst in holy baptisme and so made the children of God by adoption to refrayne your selues from al vayne and fantasticall persuasions paynted and damnable opinions as be now and long hath ben amongst you inasmuche as the adoption it selfe is through grace in Chryst Iesus generally offered to all men Therfore I say to al you that be at Rome the faythfull louers of God and forsakers of your olde iniquities I wish the grace mercy and peace of God not such peace verily as the world giueth but the very true perfect and new peace which onely procéedeth from the father almightie God of heauen And first of all things I thanke the same father of heauen for you that it hath pleased him by his sonne Iesus Chryst to giue this inestimable benefite vnto you Which although you haue ben heretofore al infidels miscreants and idolaters deserued by Gods iustice to be eternally damned yet now he wil that your fayth and profession shuld in such sort be changed made 〈…〉 strong in him that it may most happily redounde to your â—â—â—noume and speciall commendation throughout all the whole world The which thing considering my deare tender loue towards you can not be but most ioyfull and comfortable to me for God the father is my recorde whom I now serue not in vayne and dead Ceremonies but in the powre of his spirite preaching the glad tidings of his deare sonne that always from time to time I haue you in my thought remembraunce praying continually to God that if it be possible I might once come vnto you and sée you at Rome for I thinke very long there to sée you and to be made ioyfull of your godly companies Not séeking therby mine owne profite or singuler aduauntage but most hartily desirous to bestow vpon you some healthsome frute of my Apostleship and to exhibite vnto you not the grosse seruice or dead Ceremonies of Moses but the very delectable yea most swete and spiritual good taste of the sauiour Iesus Christ and to speake vnto you after mine affection familiaritie togither to the ende that one of vs may comfort another in the onely true fayth which wée now haue in our Lord Iesus and to the confirmation establishing one another in the same heauenly gifte All whiche though they be not yet hitherto done as moste rightly behoueth surely for my parte I am in no faulte thereof for I haue most earnestly wished to haue ben among you but alas I haue had many impediments and lets to the contrary And for this cause specially I haue desired to sée you that it might bée my lotte and good happe aswell to profite you and to doo you good as I haue doone vnto other Nations For as God him selfe is an vniuersall God and Lorde of mercy to all men euen so by his mercy is the Gospell vniuersall and in time to be vttered to all nations Wherefore in déede I confesse it my duetie not onely to declare the holy Gospell to the Iew but also to the Gentile not onely to the wise and learned but also to the most barbarous rude vnlearned yea to euery man whatsoeuer he be without exception onlesse he most wickedly and with fixed will withstande and resist the same For which consideration in the zeale of my Lorde Chryst to do you good mine hart melteth within me vntil I preache the Gospell also vnto you that be at Rome And you shall vnderstande that as I feare not at all the state of your great mighty famouse and pompouse Empire so am I not ashamed of the humble and base state or appearaunce of Chrysts kingdome nor of the preaching of his holy Gospell in the simplicitie and plainenesse therof which although it bée to the vnfaythfull but a scoffe a mocke or scorne yet is the same to all the faythfull the moste high mightie and puissaunt vertue of GOD through which onely they bée brought to the hauen of felicitie and to eternall saluation The
the true mercy seate and substaunce it selfe is come amongst vs through which though before wée were worthily hated of God for our sinnes yet now wée bée reconciled agayne vnto him not by the bloud of beasts as the fashion was among the Iewes but by the onely and moste pure innocente bloud of the Lambe Iesus Chryst washing away therewithall the sinnes of all men and thereby declareth truely vnto them their sauing health preciouse redemption iustification and eternall saluation which forgiueth in suche sorte the offences of the former lyfe that in any wise he will not haue them fall agayne into the lyke sinnefull and moste damnable state Neyther hath he hitherto suffered men to offende as though he were ignoraunt of their offence or else in knowing their sinnefulnesse hath at any time allowed the same but onely to this ende bycause at his time appoynted he shall then manyfestly and truely declare vnto men the vertue of their iustification to the ende it should appeare that he is of him selfe naturally true and righteous and the onely Author of righteousnesse to euery suche as constantly wyll beléeue in the Gospell of our Lorde Iesus Chryst Therfore O thou Iewe where is now thy glory become Verily it is taken from thée séeing that Gods pleasure is to make all nations equall with thée in the fayth of the Gospell The Gentiles haue their health and saluation giuen vnto them but by what lawe I pray you Is it by the olde lawe of Moyses which appoynteth vnto vs Ceremonies No forsooth but by a new law which requireth nothing but fayth For we suppose as the truthe is that euery man may obteyne hys iustification although the prescriptes of the law of Moyses be not obserued The Lawe was onely appropriate vnto the Iewes but thys benefite commeth onely from God the father in and by Iesus Chryst to all men And is God the God of the Iewes onely is not he God also as well to the Gentiles as to the Iewes Verily he is God euen vnto them bothe Wherefore séeing he is God vnto all men it is expedient that his benefite also be common to all men He is therfore none other that iustifieth the Circumcised drawyng men from the confidence of the Lawe vnto the fayth of the Gospell than he that iustifieth the vncircumcised callyng them from the worshipping of Idolles vnto the same true seruice and perfecte fayth in Chryst But héere wyll one of the Iewes say vnto me what sayest thou Paule if it bée true that thou sayest that all things muste bée done by fayth then thou makest the Lawe of Moyses to be vayne and vnprofitable vnto the Iewes God forbidde that for wée doo not onely not disalowe nor despise the lawe but wée doo also confirme and establish the Lawe declaring nowe that thyng truely and iustely to bée doone and fulfilled which the Lawe heretofore hath promysed to come to passe shewyng foorth also him in whom onely the summe of the Lawe is wholly and altogither comprehended Neither can a man say that to bée cleane abolyshed and put away which is rather repaired and brought into a better state but it chaunceth in this behalfe as in a Trée that beareth frute which when the blossomes thereof doo vanishe and fall away then in their stede dothe follow the pleasant frute it self or as in the stéede of the vanishing shadow doth follow the very perfect and liuely body The .iiij. Chapter He declareth by the example of Abraham that fayth only iustifieth and not the Law nor the workes thereof ANd if there be any amongs the Iewes that so stifly will holde the ceremonies of Moyses law which are grosse carnal and by confidence in them promise vnto others hope of saluation to him wil I obiect lay agaynst not one of the least of the Iewes but Abraham him self the author of their circumcision of whose stocke to haue descended they greatly vaunt and boast them selues throughout all Iewry Which althogh that he be the father of al the Iewes as touching his flesh yet notwithstanding the same is father to al men which do represent him in the similitude of fayth and do declare him in the image of his minde and not of his body for circumcision which as I sayd before was first giuen vnto Abraham as an earnest and a seale and as one would say a priuie badge or token of the law of Moyses by which onely badge the Iewes were called Iewes yet let vs consider with our selues what this mightie father did obtein for the scriptures do gretly prayse and commend him which commendation prayse if it came vnto him by circumcision or else by the obseruance of other things appointed in Moses law I can not deny but he hath occasion to glory but the glory is not with god but with men And why with men verily bicause he hath the bodily signe note whereby he was onely knowen to be a iewe And why not with God bicause the prayse commeth not through the excellencie of fayth which is the very onely thing that commendeth all men to the perfecte clerenesse of the face of god But Abraham to speake more of hym obtayned the prayse of iustification with God him selfe Therefore it came not to him by the obseruation of the law but onely by the true fayth which all the Iewes and also all Gentiles shoulde diligently searche for as the louing chyldren of faythfull Abraham And let this which I now say be taken to none effect onlesse the holy Scriptures do truely approue the same For thus ye shall read in the Booke of Genesis the .xv. Chapter Abraham beléeued in God and his beléefe was imputed vnto him for his iustification God promised him that his posteritie should bée in number equall to the starres of heauen at suche tyme as his wife was barren and had no childe Yet for all that he doubting nothing at all trusted to the promise of almightie god Neither marked he what it was that was promised vnto him but who was the promiser therof and so forthwith he was reputed righteous not by Circumcision at whiche time he had not receiued it but by his onely faith which was not testified of men but of God him selfe with whom onely Abraham wrought this mysterie at that time and God dyd impute vnto him his iustification when he had not perfourmed the prescriptes of the lawe of Moyses Wherefore if Abraham the holy Patriarche did not obtayne his iustification by the merite of Circumcision but before Circumcision by the commendation and dignitie of fayth I wonder howe it chaunceth that the Iewes trust so muche in the Ceremonies of Moyses lawe vnto whom it was giuen but for a tyme Also I greatly maruell why the Gentiles vse so many supersticiouse Ceremonies séeing they had no law at all giuen vnto them And if the Iewe receiue any rewarde for kéeping of the lawe it séemeth to bée of duetie vpon the couenaunts that God made