Unit. Ec. salvation lay, which is a plain direct acknowledgment of the foundation. Lest I should herein seem to hold that which no one learned or godly hath done, let these words be considered, which import as much as I affirm. Surely those brethren which, in St. Bucer. de Paul's time, thought that God did lay a necessity upon them to cles. Sermake choice of days and meats, spake as they believed, and could vanda. not but in words condemn the liberty, which they supposed to be brought in against the authority of Divine Scripture. Otherwise it had been needless for St. Paul to admonish them, not to condemn such as eat, without scrupulosity, whatsoever was set before them. This error, if you weigh what it is of itself, did at once overthrow all scriptures, whereby we are taught salvation by faith in Christ, all that ever the prophets did foretell, all that ever the apostles did preach of Christ, it drew with it the denial of Christ utterly insomuch, that St. Paul complaineth, that his labour was lost upon the Galatians, unto whom this error is obtruded, affirming that Christ, if so be they were circumcised, should not profit them any thing at all. Yet so far was St. Paul from striking their names out of Christ's book, that he commandeth others to entertain them, to accept with singular humanity, to use them like brethren; he knew man's imbecility, he had a feeling of our -blindness, which are mortal men, how great it is, and being sure that they are the sons of God, whosoever be endued with his fear, would not have them counted enemies of that whereunto they could not as yet frame themselves to be friends, but did ever, upon a very religious affection to the truth, willingly reject the truth. They acknowledged Christ to be their only and perfect Saviour, but saw not how repugnant their believing the necessity of Mosaical ceremonies was to their faith in Jesus Christ. Hereupon a reply is made, that if they had not directly denied the foundation, they might have been saved; but saved they could not be, therefore their opinion was, not only by consequent, but directly a denial of the foundation. When the question was about the possibility of their salvation, their denying of the foundation was brought to prove that they could not be saved: now, that the question is about their denial of the foundation, the impossibility of their salvation is alleged to prove they denied the foundation. Is there nothing which excludeth men from salvation, but only the foundation of faith denied? I should have thought, that besides this, many other things are death to as many as, understanding that to cleave thereunto was to fall from Christ, did notwith 104. standing cleave unto them. But of this enough. Wherefore I 27. I seek not to obtrude unto you any private opinion of my own. The best learned in our profession are of this judgment, that all the corruptions of the church of Rome do not prove her to deny the foundation directly; if they did, they should grant her Calv. Ep. simply to be no Christian church. "But I suppose (saith one) that in the papacy some church remaineth, a church crazed, or, if you will, broken quite in pieces, forlorn, mishapen, yet some church" his reason is this, "Antichrist must sit in the temple of God." Lest any man should think such sentences as these to be true only in regard of them whom that church is supposed to have kept by the special providence of God, as it were, in the secret corners of his bosom, free from infection, and sound in the faith, as we trust, by his mercy, we ourselves are; I permit it to your wise considerations, whether it be more likely, that as frenzy, though it take away the use of reason, doth notwithstanding prove them reasonable creatures which have it, because none can be frantic but they; so antichristianity being the bane and overthrow of Christianity, may nevertheless argue, the church where antichrist sitteth to be Christian. Neither have I hitherto heard or read any one word alleged of force to warrant, that God doth otherwise than so as in the two next questions before hath been declared, bind himself to keep his elect from worshipping the beast, and from receiving his mark in their foreheads: but he hath preserved, and will preserve them from receiving any deadly wound at the hands of the man of sin, whose deceit hath prevailed over none unto death, but only unto such as never loved the truth, such as took pleasure in unrighteousness. They in all ages, whose hearts have delighted in the principal truth, and whose souls have thirsted after righteousness, if they received the mark of error, the mercy of God, even erring, and dangerously erring, might save them; if they received the mark of heresy, the same mercy did, I doubt not, convert them. How far Romish heresies may prevail over God's elect, how many God hath kept from falling into them, how many have been converted from them, is not the question now in hand. For if heaven had not received any one of that coat for these thousand years, it may still be true, that the doctrine which this day they do profess doth not directly deny the Eccles. foundation, and so prove them simply to be no Christian church. One I have alleged, whose words, in my ears, sound that way: shall I add another, whose speech is plain? "I deny her not Morn. de the name of a church," saith another, "no more than to a man the name of a man, as long as he liveth, what sickness soever he hath." His reason is this, "Salvation in Jesus Christ, which is themark which joineth the head with the body, Jesus Christ with the church, is so cut off by many merits, by the merits of saints, by the pope's pardons, and such other wickedness, that the life of the church holdeth by a very thread," yet still the life of the church holdeth. A third hath these words: "I acknowledge the Zanch. præfat. de church of Rome, even at this present day, for a church of Christ, Relig. such a church as Israel did Jeroboam, yet a church." His reason is this, "Every man seeth, except he willingly hoodwink himself, that as always, so now, the church of Rome holdeth firmly and steadfastly the doctrine of truth concerning Christ; and baptizeth in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; confesseth and avoucheth Christ to be the only Redeemer of the world, and the Judge that shall sit upon quick and dead, receiving true believers into endless joy, faithless and godless men being cast with Satan and his angels into flames unquenchable." 28. I may, and will, rein the question shorter than they do. Let the pope take down his top, and captivate no more men's souls by his papal jurisdictions; let him no longer count himself lord paramount over the princes of the world, no longer hold kings as his servants paravaile; let his stately senate submit their necks to the yoke of Christ, and cease to die their garments, like Edom, in blood; let them from the highest to the lowest hate and forsake their idolatry, abjure all their errors and heresies, wherewith they have any way perverted the truth; let them strip their church, till they leave no polluted rag, but only this one about her, "By Christ alone without works we cannot be saved:" it is enough for me, if I shew, that the holding of this one thing doth not prove the foundation of faith directly denied in the church of Rome. 29. Works are an addition: be it so, what then? The foundation is not subverted by every kind of addition. Simply to add unto those fundamental words is not to mingle wine with water, heaven and earth, things polluted with the sanctified blood of Christ of which crime indict them which attribute those opera tions in whole or in part to any creature, which in the work of our salvation wholly are peculiar unto Christ; and if I open my mouth to speak in their defence, if I hold my peace, and plead not against them as long as breath is within my body, let me be guilty of all the dishonour that ever hath been done to the Son of God. But the more dreadful a thing it is to deny salvation by Christ alone, the more slow and fearful I am, except it be too manifest, to lay a thing so grievous to any man's charge, Let us beware, lest if we make too many ways of denying Christ, we scarce leave any way for ourselves truly and soundly to confess him. Salvation only by Christ is the true foundation whereupon indeed Christianity standeth. But what if I say you cannot be saved only by Christ, without this addition, Christ believed in heart, confessed with mouth, obeyed in life and conversation? Because I add, do I therefore deny that which I did directly affirm? There may be an additament of explication, which overthroweth not, but proveth and concludeth the proposition whereunto it is annexed. He which saith, Peter was a chief apostle, doth prove that Peter was an apostle: he which saith, Our salvation is of the Lord, through sanctification of the Spirit, and faith of the truth, proveth that our salvation is of the Lord. But if that which is added, be such a privation as taketh away the very essence of that whereunto it is added, then by the sequel it overthroweth it. He which saith, Judas is a dead man, though in word he granteth Judas to be a man, yet in effect he proveth him by that Rom. very speech no man, because death depriveth him of being. In xi. 6. like sort, he that should say, Our election is of grace for our works' sake, should grant in sound of words, but indeed by consequence deny, that our election is of grace; for the grace which electeth us is no grace, if it elect us for our works' sake. 30. Now whereas the church of Rome addeth works, we must note farther, that the adding of works is not like the adding of circumcision unto Christ. Christ came not to abrogate and put away good works: he did to change circumcision; for we see a I deny not but that the church of Rome requireth some kinds of works which she ought not to require at men's hands. But our question is general about the adding of good works, not whether such or such works be good. In this comparison it is enough to touch so much on the matter in question between St. Paul and the Galatians, as inferreth those conclusions. "Ye are fallen from grace; Christ can profit you nothing" which conclusions will follow circumcision and rites of the law ceremonial, if they be required as things necessary to salvation. This only was alleged against me: and need I touch more than was alleged? that in place thereof he hath substituted holy baptism. To say, ye cannot be saved by Christ except ye be circumcised, is to add a thing excluded, a thing not only not necessary to be kept, but necessary not to be kept by them that will be saved. On the other side, to say, ye cannot be saved by Christ without works, is to add things not only not excluded, but commanded, as being in their place and in their kind necessary, and therefore subordinated unto Christ by Christ himself, by whom the web of salvation is spun: "Except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the Matt. scribes and pharisees, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of 20. heaven." They were rigorous exacters of things not utterly to xi. 39. be neglected and left undone, washing and tithing, &c. As they were in these, so must we be in judgment and the love of God. Christ, in works ceremonial, giveth more liberty, in moral much Matt. less, than they did. Works of righteousness therefore are added v. 21. in the one proposition; as in the other, circumcision is. 31. But we say, our salvation is by Christ alone; therefore howsoever, or whatsoever we add unto Christ in the matter of of salvation, we overthrow Christ. Our case were very hard, if this argument, so universally meant as it is supposed, were sound and good. We ourselves do not teach Christ alone, excluding our own faith, unto justiñcation; Christ alone, excluding our own works, unto sanctification; Christ alone, excluding the one or the other unnecessary unto salvation. It is a childish cavil wherewith in the matter of justification our adversaries do so greatly please themselves, exclaiming, that we tread all Christian virtues under our feet, and require nothing in Christians but faith, because we teach that faith alone justifieth; whereas by this speech we never meant to exclude either hope or charity from being always joined as inseparable mates with faith in the man that is justified; or works from being added as necessary duties, required at the hands of every justified man: but to shew that faith is the only hand which putteth on Christ unto justification; and Christ the only garment, which being so put on, covereth the shame of our defiled natures, hideth the imperfection of our works, preserveth us blameless in the sight of God, before whom otherwise the weakness of our faith were cause sufficient to make us culpable, yea, to shut us from the kingdom of heaven, where nothing that is not absolute can enter. That our dealing with them be not as childish as theirs with us; when we v. Luke |