The Ninth Sermon
THE THIRD DECADE.
[sERM.
I will not here, in the conclusion,recapitulateunto you the special points of this sermon ; partly because I have already been somewhat too long ; and partly because I have, as I hope, used so plain an order, that every point is indiffere well settledin every man's memory.
Thus have I, by God's grace and sufferance,made an end to treat of God's holy law, wherein I have been occupied a good sort of days by several sermons.
Blessed be God and our heavenly Father world without end ; whom I beseech to bless us all through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.
Amen.
CHRISTIAN
LIBERTY, AND OF
OFFENCES.
OF GOOD WORKS, AND THE REWARD THEREOF.
THE NINTH SERMON.
I HAVE already through many sermons discoursed long upon God's laws.
Now therefore,because upon the consideration and handling of the law there do arise certainpoints not1 to be omitted, which do depend upon, and are annexed hand in hand unto, the law ; of which sort are Christianliberty, good works, the reward2 of good works; 3sin,and the reward or punishment of sin; I will speak of them in order, as God shall put into my mouth : whom I shall desire you to pray unto with me, beseeching him not to suffer me to speak, in these or other points of holy doctrine,the thing that shall sound against his holy will. or chrutian Upon the abrogation of the law doth Christianliberty depend and follow,as the effectof the abrogating of the law ; which libertydoth minister us occasion to speak of offences.
Now concerning Christianlibertythe most holy apostle of Christ,St Paul, hath reasoned very diligentlyand largely; whereby we may gather that the consideration of Christian liberty is neither of no weight, nor yet of littleprofit.
But the treatisethereof is especiallynecessary to us of this age, "
Bullinger published at Zurich, A.D.
1534, and afterwards sctcrno, to his Commentaries in Epistolas Apostolorum canonicas geptem.] -appended [i non contemnenda, Lat. omitted ; not to be thought lightlyof.] [2merces sive prcemium, Lat.] [3denique, Lat omitted ; lastly.]
CHRISTIAN
LIBERTY, WORKS, AND MERITS.
IX.] among whom there are no small number of men, which do either not understand what Christian liberty is; or else,if they know it,do foullyabuse it,thereby to fulfilthe lusts of the flesh.
I will therefore tellyou who is the deliverer that setteth us at liberty; who they are that he setteth at liberty; and wherein4 and how far forth he setteth them at liberty: which things being once known, it will be an easy matter to perceive what Christian liberty is,what the property or disposition of those is which are so set at liberty,and how far forth they must beware from giving offence to any man, and from abusing their granted liberty.
There is none other deliverer promised, given5, and who is ourpreached unto us, than ChristJesus, the Son of God.
For he which doth deliver other men, must be himself free from the bands wherewith they are tied,that wish and look to be set at liberty.
But throughout allages there is none such to be found in all the world, nor yet in heaven, but Jesus Christ6 alone, the Son of God ; who for that cause did in the gospel " If the Son set you at liberty,then are ye free indeed." KohnviiiNow they, whom the Lord delivereth,are bond-slaves : wfio they say, "
'be that wherefore he doth deliver them from bondage, and doth incorporate them in the libertyof the sons of God.
He doth set all bond-servants at liberty,excluding none but such as do by their own default,their own unbelief and disobedience, exclude themselves.
For the coming of the Son of God was to set all such at liberty as were entangled in bondage.
Therefore he doth so far forth deliverus, as we are bond-servants.
For bondage and libertyare one opposed and contrary to the other, so that without the considerationof the one we cannot conceive the meaning of the other.
Wherefore I think it besthere to speak so much of bondage as thispresent argument shallseem to require.
First,bondage isnothing else but the state or conditionwhat bond- ^ wherein bond-servants be.
Now those that are in bondage are either bondmen born, or else made bond-servants.
The children that issue of bond-servants are bond-slaves born.
The other, that are made bond-servants, are so made either by captivity,whereupon they take their names, and are called captives; for Pomponius saith, Slaves were thereupon so [4a qua re, Lat.] [8exhibetur, Lat.] [6Jesus Christ, not in Lat.]
THE THIRD DECADE.
[sERM.
called,because the captainscommanded to sellthem for money, when they were in wars taken captivesby their soldiers; and so by that means to spare their lifeand save them : these bondmen are in Latin also calledMancipia, eo quod ab hostibus manu caperentur, because they were taken prisonersby the hand of their enemies : or elsethey are made bondslaves by the civillaw ; as when a freeman, above twenty years of age, doth for lucre sake sufferhimself to be sold for money1.
Bondmen therefore have lost all liberty,and do wholly hang upon their masters' government, in whose power itlieth to killthem if they list.
TWO sorts of Now of bondage there are two sorts; the politic8,and BodiiT^ the spiritual. The politicbondage is not by grace and the preaching of the gospel taken out of the church of the faithful, so that there should be no bondmen at all,or that they should not do their duty, or not do the service that of right ncor. vii. they do owe.
For the apostlePaul saith:"Let every man walk according as he is called3. And so ordain I in all churches.
Art thou called being a servant? care not for it: but yet ifthou mayest be free,use itrather."
And again :
"Servants, obey them that are your bodily masters with fearand trembling and singlenessof heart, as unto Christ ; not with eye-service,as men-pleasers ; but as the servants of Christ,doing the willof God from the heart ; with good will serving the Lord, and not men; knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doth, that shallhe receive again of the Lord, whether he be bond or free."
And in his epistleto Timothy he saith: "Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their masters worthy of allhonour, that the name of God and his doctrinebe not blasphemed.
And they which have believing masters, despise them not, because they are brethren; but rather do service,forasmuch as they are believ- [lServi autem ex eo appellati Bunt, quod Imperatores captives vendere, ac per hoc servare nee occidere solent : qui etiam mancipia dicti sunt, eo quod ab hostibus manu capiuntur.
Servi autem aut nascuntur, aut fiunt : nascuntur ex ancillisnostris ; fiunt autem jure gentium, i.e. ex captivitate; aut jure civili,cum liber homo major 20 annis ad pretium participandum sese venundari passus est.
Corp.
Jur. Civil. Par.
1628, Tom.
I. p. 9, Instit.Lib.
I. tit.3, de jureperBonarum.] [2sive civilis,Lat.] [8ut vocavit eum Dominus, Lat.]
CHRISTIAN
LIBERTY, WORKS, AND MERITS.
IX.] ing and beloved, and such as are partakers of the benefit4."
And yet in thisbondage the faithfulhave this comfort by the preaching of the gospel,that howsoever they be bond in body, yet they are free in mind and soul.
For the apostle again A paradox doth say :
" He that is called a bondman in the Lord is the n cor. vii.
Lord's freeman; likewise he that is called free is bond to Christ."
This isa comfort to the faithfulin alltheir afflictions, which know that their spiritis safe and free,howsoever their body is straitlyimprisoned or sharply tormented.
Therefore the saintsare at their liberty,although they be never so narrowly looked to and shut up in custody ; they are victorersand vanquishers, howsoever they are bound and oppressed ; finally, they enjoymost exquisitepleasures even then when they are vexed5 with most infiniteevils.
I know that the children of this world do mock and scoffat these pleasures and liberty of the faithfulbelievers,as though they were mere dreams and fantasiesof very foolsand asses : but God6 doth soundly pay them home for their scoffsand mockery, not in the world to come only, but also in thispresent life; while they themselves, like miserable caitiffs, being in extreme captivity,do notwithstanding even in that slavery7 think themselves at liberty and in most absolute felicity. For they serve a filthyservice in detestableslavery, making themselves bondmen to abominable whoredom, to beastly mad drunkenness, to the wicked mammon8, and to other most vilepleasures,wherein they die and rot with endless shame and infamy.
But of the service and afflictionsof the saints,who do even in their afflictionsenjoy theirlibertyand rejoice in the Lord, the apostlePaul speaketh " We are troubled on every side,yet are we where he saith:
9, but not in extreme not made pensive ; we are in poverty poverty ; we suffer persecution,but are not utterly forsaken therein ; we are cast down, but we perish not; bearing about [*1 Tim. vi. 1, 2, et qui beneftcia rependere possunt, Lat.] [5acerbissime, Lat.] [6justojudici, Lat. omitted ; the righteous judge.] [7Rather, inasmuch as they are in most extreme captivity and thrice miserable, even then when they think themselves most at liberty, "c.] [8Luke xvi. 9 ; mammonse iniquitatis,Lat. and Vulg.] [9laboramus, Lat.]
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always in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life rs cor. vi. 4, of Jesus might also appear in our body1."
And again: "In all things we do our endeavour to shew ourselves as doth become the ministers of Christ ; in much suffering,in afflictions in necessities,in sorrows, in stripes,in imprisonments, in seditions,in labours,in watchings,in fastings; in glory and ignominy, in reproaches2 and praises; as deceivers,and yet speakers of truth ; as unknown, and yet known ; as dying, and lo, we live; as chastened, and not killed; as sorrowful, and yet always rejoicing; as poor, and yet making many rich; as having nothing,and yet possessingallthings."
Lo, here ye see how the saints in extreme servitude have a cheerful consolationand are always at their liberty: as is to be seen by infiniteexamples in the Acts of the Apostles, and other ecclesiastical histories. we come *"
*ne second part of bondage.
The bSnd^e1 -^ow spiritualbondage hath a certainlikeness to the bodily servitude.
For Adam by his own faultbecame a bondman ; and we of him are all born bondmen3.
He was once at liberty, and had the Lord to be his friend and favourer4; but he did disloyally revolt from God, and got himself another master, the devil,a tyrant as cruel as may be, who for his sin having gotten power over him did, like a merciless lord, miserably handle him like a bond-servant.
Now we of our corrupt grandsire are born corrupt and sinners,and for our sin are also under the devil'sdominion ; we are in danger of5 the law, and of the curse thereof : for we are the bond-slaves of sin ; we are made subject to sundry calamities by reason of our sin. This therefore is calledthe spiritualbondage, not because it is only in the mind of man, but because of the oppositio whereby it is opposed to the bodily bondage6.
For otherwise sin hath made our body also subject to the curse : neither do we sin in mind alone, but in the body also; for every part and allthe members of our bodies are subject unto [*2 Cor. iv. 8"10, in nostra mortali carne, Lat. ; in our mortal flesh: as in verse 11.] [2per gloriam " per convicia,Lat.] [3nascimur ex servo servi,Lat.] [4habuerat Dominum optimum et clementissimum, Lat.] [5subjicimur, Lat.
Tyndale's Doct.
Treat, ed. P. S. p. 9, n. 6.] [6civilivel corporal!,Lat. ; to civilor bodily.]
CHRISTIAN
LIBERTY, WORKS, AND MERITS.
IX.] sin,and infectedwith iniquity.
Therefore we serve in most Abortion \" miserable bondage, while, being under the devil'sdominion, " womlneis .
" before her we do the things that please the flesh,by the egging on offj^^f evilaffections,to the bringing forth of fruit,or rather to the her chil(L making of abortion with perilof our lives,to the devil,our cruel and our rigorous master ; for this verily is our hardest and most lamentable servitude and bondage.
Now on the other side,let us see what ChristianlibertyThe spiritual is; that is to say, from what, and how far forth, the Lord hSS^V forth hath made us free.
In one word we do briefly say, that frleabyma Christ our Lord hath delivered us from a grievous bondage7; to wit,that he hath so far forth made us free,as we by sin8 were slaves and bond-servants.
This we may more largely expound and say: The Son of God came intothis world; and, having firstoppressed the tyranny of Satan and crushed his head by his death and passion, he hath translated us into his own kingdom, and hath made himself our Lord and king.
Secondarily, he hath adopted us to be the sons of God, and with his blessingtook away the bitter curse of the law ; for he took away all sins,and purged allthe faithfulfrom their iniquities. Thirdly, he did most liberallybestow the free gift of the Holy Ghost, to the end that the sons of God should willinglyand of their own accord submit themselves to the willof God, and to do the things that the Lord would have them : for the hatred of the law doth not remain, although the weakness of the fleshabideth still. Lastly, the same our Lord and King hath taken from the shoulders of his electthe burden of the law, the types and figures,with allthe costs belonging to the same ; and hath forbidden us, being once set at liberty,to entangle ourselves again with any laws and traditionsof men.
Of all this being laid together we make this definition : To deliver is to make free,Christian ht and to set at liberty from bondage.
He is free, or manumissed, that, being delivered from bondage, doth enjoyhis liberty: therefore manumission, or liberty,is nothing else but the state of him that is made free; the commodity, I say, which a free-made man hath received and doth enjoyby reason of his deliverance; to wit,in that he, being delivered from the tyranny of Satan, from sin, from the curse of the [fa gravi iliascrvitute,Lat. ; from that grievous bondage.] [8by sin, not in Lat.]
[BULLINGER,ii.J
THE 'THIRD DECADE.
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law, and from death, is made the son of God and heir of everlastinglife; and also that he hath received the Spiritof liberty,by which he doth wholly give himself to be the servant of God, to do him serviceall his lifelong ; and lastly, that, being delivered from the law of Moses and from all mortal men1, he doth altogether depend upon the gospel only, having at liberty free use of external things, as of meat, of drink, of clothing, and of such like indifferent things: and in these three lastrehearsed points doth Christian libertychieflyconsist.
Testimonies Now to this I will add such testimonies of scripture as chffin shall both better confirm and more plainly declare my expositio And, firstof all,I will allege those testimonies which are to be found in the books of the holy evangelists; and then those that are extant in the writings of the apostles.
Zacharias the priest,and father of John Baptist,in his hymn of thanksgiving, Luke i. doth declare the truth and goodness of God in performing that to us which he promised to our forefathers; to wit, " That we, being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life." In thistestimony of his we have the true liberty; that freedom, I mean, wherein we, being by the Lord delivered from all our enemies, both visibleand invisible,should no longer serve them with fear,but2 serve our God3 in joyand gladness.
There is added also the manner and order how to serve him; "in holiness and righteousness."
Holiness doth cut offand cast away alluncleannessand inconveniency4: righteousness giveth to every man that which is due, to wit, the things which we of duty do owe to every man, and doth contain in it both freedom and benevolence.
And in this kind of servicedo they, which are made free, serve the Lord their God, not for a day or two, or a certain few years, but allthe days of their life. Therefore true Christian liberty is the perpetual service which we owe and do to God.
In the eighth chapter of St John's gospel, to the Jews [!ab omnibus hominum legibus,Lat. ; from alllaws of mortal men, "d. 1577.] [2citra timorem, Lat. ; without fear.] [8ipsiDeo, Lat. ; God himself.] [4intemperantiam, Lat.; incontinency,ed. 1577.]
CHRISTIAN
LIBERTY, WORKS, AND MERITS.
IX.] which made great brags of the vain and sillylibertywhich they received of their ancestors, Christ our
Lord maketh this " Verily, verily, I say unto you, that whosoever John vm. objection : committeth sin,he is the servant of sin.
And the servant abideth not in the house for ever ; but the Son abideth for ever : if the Son therefore shall make you free, then are ye free indeed."
In these words he5 maketh mention both of bondage and of liberty.
He is a bondman to sin, as to a cruel master or a never-contented tyrant, whosoever doth commit any sin ; for he doth obey, as one that is bound to sin.
Such bondmen are allthe sons of men ; whose punishment is6 to have none inheritance in their Father's house, which is the heavenly Hierusalem7.
As for those which the Son of God restoreth to freedom, they are partakers of the heavenly kingdom and fellow-heirswith the Son of God.
But Christ maketh none free but them that are faithful8: therefore the sons of God and fellow-heirsof Christ are for Christ his sake their only deliverer made free and set at liberty. Neither is there any other in heaven or in earth, beside Christ Jesu, which is able to set us at freedom and at liberty.
" Let Bom. vi.
Paul in the sixth chapter to the Romans saith: not sin reign in your mortal bodies, that ye should thereunto obey by the lustsof it9; neither give ye your members as instruments10 of unrighteousness unto sin ; but give yourselves unto God, as they that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments10 of righteousness unto God.
For sin shall not have power over you ; because ye are not under the law, but under grace."
In these words he exhorteth them that are purged and made free by Christ to live holily in their spiritualbondage.
Now he saith not, Let not sin be in you, or in your mortal body : but he saith, "Let not sin reign in you, or in your mortal body."
But when reigneth sin?
Forsooth sin reigneth then, when we obey [5 Dominus, Lat.] [6id supplicii conjunctum,imo irrogatum habentes, Lat. ; whoso punishment is adjoined, nay imposed.] [7in ccelestiutique patria, Lat. ; which is the heavenly country.] [8 credentes, Lat. ; believers.] [9ut obediatis ei per cupiditates ejus,Lat. and Erasmus.
That ye shulde ther unto obey by the lustcs of it.
Cranmer, 1639.] [1(J anna, Lat.]
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[SEHM.
it through the luststhereof ; that is,when we resistnot, but do fulfilthe lustsof the flesh.
Sin therefore doth not reign in our mortal body, so long as it is but felt in the body and not obeyed or permitted to rule, but rather resistedand trod under foot1.
The same sentence doth he expound by another somewhat more easy to be understood : I would not have you to permit your members to sin,as to a tyrant, to use them as instruments to work all unrighteousness :
I rather require you to give yourselves to be ruled and governed by God.
For since he hath set you free from death and brought you to lifeagain, it is requisite2that ye should give your members to God, as livelyinstruments, to work all righteousness.
And that shall ye be easily able to do, because "ye are not under the law, but under grace."
Upon this doth all the rest of that chapter depend3 unto the end.
"What then?" saith he; "shall we sin,because we are not under the law, but under grace?
God forbid.
Know ye not, how that to whomsoever ye commit yourselves as servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey ; whether it be of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness ?
But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin,but ye have obeyed with heart the form of doctrine into the which ye are brought unto4.
Being then made free from sin,ye are become the servants of righteousness."
And yet he sheweth, that the freemen of Christ do not abuse their liberty,and give themselves again to be governed by their old and tyrannous master sin : for he maketh sin and righteousness to be, as it were, two masters ; and addeth to each of them the hire, or reward, that they give to their servants
; the one life,the other death.
Lastly, he saith generally, that we are his servants to whom we give ourselves to obey.
Upon which he inferreth:
" Being redeemed by the grace of God from the bondage of sin, and from death which is the reward of sin, we are translated into the bondage of righteousness, (whosereward is life5,) that thereby we may live."
[*quin calcantur magis cupiditates, Lat.] [2sequum est, Lat. ; it isjust.] [3hue pertinent, Lat.] [4 in earn in quam traducti estis formam doctrinse, Lat. and Erasmus : unto the rule of the doctrine that ye be brought unto, Cranmer, 1539; whereto ye were delivered, Marg.
Auth. Ver.] ["whose " life,not in Lat.]
CHRISTIAN
LIBERTY, WORKS, AND MERITS.
IX.] For he doth more significantlyexpress his meaning in that " I speak after the manner of men, which followeth, saying : because of the infirmityof your flesh. As ye have given your members servants to uncleanness and iniquity unto iniquity; even so now give your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. For when ye were the servants of sin,ye were free from righteousness.
What fruithad ye then in those things, whereof ye are now ashamed ? for the end of those things is death.
But now ye, being made free from sin and made the servants of God, have your fruit unto holiness,and the end everlasting life. For the reward of sin is death ; but the giftof God iseternal lifethrough Jesus Christ our Lord."
All this isso plain and evident,that itneedeth no largerexposition of mine.
And yet in the seventh chapter next following he doth by comparison in a parable more fully expound all that he " which isin subjection to the man, is by the law bound to the man as long as he said before.
" The woman," saith he, liveth.
If, while the man liveth,she go aside to another, she is counted an adulteress ; but if the man be dead, she may couple herself with another man.
Even so, I say, we are dead to the law."
For Christ died for us, and was in his body offered up to be a sacrifice,or oblation,to cleanse and purge our sins, that we might thenceforth be united and coupled to him ; and that we, being conceived and made with child6 with the Holy Spirit,may travail,bring forth, and be delivered of an excellentissue and holy fruitof good works : even as, while we served sin,and were subject unto it as to our master, we brought forth an ill-favouredbabe of death ; I mean, iniquity and wickedness, for the punishing whereof death is appointed and ordained.
But let us now hear tho " Even very words of the holy and blessed apostle, saying : so, my brethren, we also7 are dead concerning the law8 by the body of Christ, that we should be coupled to another9, who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
For when we were in the flesh,the lustsof sin 10, which were by the law, wrought in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
But now are we delivered from the ["imprsegnati, Lat.] [?vos quoque, Lat. ; ye also.] [8 legi,Lat.; to tho law.] [onimirum ei,Lat. ; even to him.] [10effectus peccatorum, Lat.]
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law, and dead unto it,whereunto we were in bondage1; that we may serve in newness of spirit,and not in the oldness of the letter."
That place in the eighth chapter to the Romans is un- " The law of the spiritof lifethrough Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of Bom. viii. known to no man, where he saith: sin and death."
The manner of this deliverancehe doth immediate " For what the law could not do, afteradd, saying : that God did by sending his own Son:" and so forth as followeth: for the words are sufficientlyplain, and understood of allmen2. icor. vu.
In the seventh chapter of the firstepistleto the Corinthians " Ye are bought with a price; do not ye become the servants of men."
In these words the holy apostle he saith: exhorteth servants under the colour or pretence of worldly3 bondage not to commit anything for their earthly masters* pleasure,which soundeth against sincerityand is repugnant
they be called by the to pure religion: to wit, although name of servants, yet they should not obey the wicked laws and ungodly ordinances of mortal men.
The cause that ought to pull and draw us from it is, because we are redeemed and set at libertyby the price of Christ his blood.
It would thereforebe too too bad and unworthy a thing,if we, contrary to the effectof our liberty,should obey the naughty laws and ordinances of man.
Free from This also is extended and stretcheth out to the laws of the laws and i " i t "
* ""
-n " i ordinances men which are made in matters ot religion.
Jbor in the of men.
" fifteenthchapter of the holy gospel written by the evangelist Matt. xv.
St Matthew the Lord and Saviour saith, "
In vain do they worship me, teaching doctrinesthe precepts of men ;" and, " Let them alone : they are blind leadersof the blind."
And " If ye be dead with Christ from ii.20the apostle St Paul saith: the rudiments of the world, why, as yet livingin the world, are ye led5 with traditions,(Touchnot; taste not; handle not ; which alldo perish in abusing6,) after the commandments f1So Cranmer, 1539; and marginal reading of Auth.
Ver., being dead to that wherein we were held.
Bullinger adopts Erasmus' rendering ; mortui ei in quo detinebamur.] [2notissima sunt omnibus, Lat.] p vel civilis,Lat. ; or civil.] [4quia, Lat. ; because.] [5tenemini, Lat. ; are ye bound.] [6quse sunt omnia in corruptionem ipso abusu, Lat., afterErasmus : whych allperyshe thorow the very abuse, Cranmer, 1639.]
CHRISTIAN
LIBERTY, WORKS, AND MERITS.
IX.] and doctrinesof men ? Which things have a shew of wisdom in superstitionand humbleness of mind, and in neglectingof the body ; not in any honour to the satisfyingof the flesh."
First of all he sheweth, that the faithfulones of Christ Jesu have nothing to do with the decrees of man's inventions,and that they are not bound to observe men's traditions,because they are dead to traditionswith Christ ; that is to say, they are by Christ Jesu7 redeemed and set free from traditions; which traditionsdid in Christ his death finishand come to an end, while he did make us his own, and set us at liberty.
Then also he doth by imitationcounterfeitthe words of them " Oh, touch not, taste which make those decrees8, and say, not, handle not."
These three precepts stretch very far, and comprehend many petit decrees; all which he doth immediately confute with these probable arguments.
First, because they appoint the worship of God to be in things that perish in the use thereof; but the kingdom of God is neither meat nor drink, but doth consist in spiritual things; and that which entereth in by the mouth doth not defile the man.
Secondarily,because they are not made of God, the author of all goodness ; but have their beginning of man's inventions:
"But in vain do they worship me," saith the Lord in [Matt xv. 9.3
" teaching doctrinesthe precepts of men."
Neither the gospel, doth the holy apostle St Paul wink at and slilypass over, because he will not answer to9, the things which do most commend these traditions. First of all,they are commended Forwhat it * is that men a for the shew and appearance of wisdom that is hi them ; for^ntatonbea they seem to have been not without great wisdom ordained of ""nmendedwise men, in that they do so fitlyserve to every person, time, and place. The earnest defenders of men's traditionscry out, and say : Our ancestors were no fools,theirlaws are full of wisdom.
But Jeremy crieth out on the other side, saying :
" They have rejected the word of God ; thereforewhat wisdom [J".wi.
9.j can be in them?"
Another cause why traditionsare commended isthe Greeks1 eOeXoOpqcrKeict; that isto say, a chosen
['per mortem Christi,Lat.] [8qualia shit ilia decreta commemorat per Mimeshn, Lat. : subjungit ; Bulling. Comment, in loc.] [9because " answer to, not in Lat.]
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kind of worship1,which we of our own brains have chosen, and taken ourselves to serve and do God worship withal ; for men do gladly and willinglyreceive the traditionsof men, because they are agreeable to theirinclination2. Yea, Christ
" If ye had been of the world, the [John xv. in the holy gospel saith; world would have loved her own : now for because I have chosen you out of the world, the world doth hate you."
And " That which men set such store by, is abominable again he saith: unto God3."
Moreover men's traditionsare commended for humility : which is understood in two manners or respects.
For first,that is said to be humility,if any man do readily obey and easily yield to that which is urged, obtruded, and thrust upon him by men of countenance and authority : secondarily, the laws of men do seem to exercise humbleness, and keep men in humility. But such obedience and humility may rather be calledsacrilege,because itisnot ruled and directedby the word of God, as the thing whereby alone it should be tempered and squared, but doth transferand convey over the honour of God from God to men.
Last of all,men's traditionsare commended for the neglectingof the flesh: for, Oh, that disciplineand chastisement of the fleshseemeth to them a goodly thing,by which the wantonness of the flesh is somewhat bridled and tamed.
Finally the apostle addeth, " ^ot m anv honour to the satisfyingof the flesh:" that isto thheebcxiy0f say, Which things,although they have a shew of religionand holiness,have notwithstanding in very deed no honour at all, consideringthat those external things are ordained of God for the ease and reliefof men's necessities.Yea, Paul doth flatly findfault with those decrees,because they give the body no honour for the satisfyingof the same, that is,according to the measure of the body's necessity.
For a moderate care and lookingto the body isnot only permitted,but alsocommanded, lest we perhaps by too much lack and nearness4 do mar the body, and make itunapt to do good works.
Neither is the care of the flesh in any place forbidden5, unless it tend to jRom. x"i. lustsand sensuality.
Wherefore the apostlesaith, " Cherish not the flesh unto concupiscence."
Therefore God hath granted to man for his necessity the use of meat, drink, [!Cultus elect!tius,Lat.] [2ingenio hutnano, Lat.] [3Luke xvi. 15; coram Deo, Lat.] ["inedia,Lat.] [5simpliciter,Lat. omitted ; in itself.]
CHRISTIAN
LIBERTY, WORKS, AND MERITS.
IX.] sleep, clothing, rest, allowable pleasures, and other things 6. necessary In the fourth chapter to the Galatians St Paul saith:
When the fulnessof the time was come, God sent his Son, oai. iv. born of a woman, and made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive by adoption the right (orinheritance)7 of children.
Now because ye are sons, God hath sent the Spiritof his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son : if thou be a son, thou art also an heir of God through Christ." And immediately after again: "Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath delivered us, and be not again wrapped in the yoke of bondage."
In the second to the Hebrews he saith :
Christ was Heb. ii. made partaker of flesh and blood with us, to the end that through death he might expel8 him that had lordship over death, that is,the devil; and that he might deliver them which through fear of death were all theirlifetime in danger of9 bondage."
Thus I hope these testimonies of scripture sufficefor our purpose.
These things being well weighed and throughly consi-me estate, dered will plainly teach, what kind of liberty they have J""c"fty or , i them ^ which are made free by Christ, and what their property and 1-1 L W "
A j v A ^ " are tree by inclinationis; to wit, most religious,and altogethergiven to holy things; that isto say, in allpoints addicted to the Spirit, without which there is no liberty,and by which all the sons of God are always governed.
The Lord's freemen do most diligently beware that they do unadvisedly offend no man by their liberty,nor vainly abuse their purchased freedom ; for they have continually before their minds and eyes the weighty sayings of the holy apostles of their Lord Christ Jesu.
St Peter in the second chapter of his first Epistle saith10: "As free, and not having the liberty for a cloak of maliciousness,but even as the servants of God."
And Paul [6In this exposition Bullinger has borrowed literallyfrom Calvin's Comment.
; and both from Erasmus'
Annotations, in loc. cit.] ]}ut adoptione jus filiorum acciporemus, Lat. and Erasmus : that we thorow eleccion myght receave the inheritaunce that belongeth unto the naturall sonnes.
Cranmer, 1539.] ["aboleret, Lat.] [9See page 307, note 10.] [10verse 16, praetextum vel velamen habcntcs malitioe,Lat.]
THE THIRD DECADE.
[SERM.
" Brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only let not libertybe an occasion to the flesh,but by love serve saith: one another.
For I, when I am free, have made myself servant to all,that I may win the more1.'* 2 abuse Christianliberty,who, They thereforedo specially The abuses of Christian liberty. seeking after carnal things under the colour and pretence of the Spirit and of liberty,do make their brags, that they by the preaching of the gospel are set free from all bodily debts and duties: and thereforethey do deny to their masters, creditors,magistrates, and princes, the duty that they owe them; by that means revolting and rebellingagainst them3.
These fellowsare seditiousstirrers,and not the reverencers "
Give to every of the evangelicaldoctrine.
Paul crieth:
[Bom. xiii.
7,8.] one that which is due : tribute to whom tributebelongeth ; custom to whom custom is due ; fear to whom fear ; and honour to whom honour doth appertain.
Owe nothing to any man, but this,that ye love one another."
Moreover they also do abuse Christian liberty,who, when they have not4 received the Spiritof liberty and of the sons of God, when they are not as yet delivered from Satan nor justified by Christ, do notwithstanding promise liberty to all men ; and think that, for the opinion which they have conceived of their liberty,they may do whatsoever it pleaseth them ; by that means gainsaying good laws and severe disciplinewith exclamations and outcriesthat liberty by laws is entrapped, betrayed, and trod under foot. Against such, and especiallyagainst the teachers of that vain and pernicious liberty, St Peter taketh stomach, and saith :
These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with [2Pet ii.
17-19.] a tempest ; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.
For when they have spoken the great swelling words of vanity, they entice through lusts in the voluptuousness of the flesh6such as were clean escaped from them which are f1 Gal. v.
13; 1 Cor. ix. 19; liber sim ab omnibus, Lat. ; when I am free from all.] [2primum, Lat. ; in the firstplace.] [3See Bullinger, adv. Anabapt.
Lib. n. cap. 2, and Hooker, Eccles.
Pol. Pref. Vol. I. p. 183, Oxf. 1820.] [*nondum, Lat. ; not as yet.] [5inescant homines per concupiscentias camis voluptatibus, Lat. and Erasmus : they entyse thorow lustes in the volupteousnes of the flessh. Cranmer, 1539.]
CHRISTIAN
LIBERTY, WORKS, AND MERITS.
IX.] wrapped in error, while they promise them liberty; whereas they themselves are the bond-servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, into the same is he brought in bondage:" and so forth as folioweth.
Now when men do Licentiousne after that manner abuse liberty,that licentiouslust is not worthy to be calledby the name 6 of liberty.
Last of all, they do abuse Christianliberty,whosoever do abuse things indifferent,and have no regard of their weak brethren, but do offend them unadvisedly.
We must therefore in this case always have in mind this notable saying " All things are lawful for me, but all things [i cor. vi 12; of St Paul : x' are not expedient : all things are lawful for me, but all things do not edify."
Touching this matter there is more to be seen in the fourteenth chapter of St Paul's Epistle written to the Romans.
And here by occasion,yea, rather being compelled by or offence*, necessity, I will speak a little,and so much as shall be requisitefor the godly-disposed to know, touching offences.
Scandalum, which word the Latins borrow of the Greeks, doth signifya falling, a tripping,a stumbling-block,an offence, a let or hinderance : such as are stones in a street that stick up higher than the rest, or gins that are of purpose subtilly set or hid to snare the feet of them that pass over them : for they which do either light on or stumble at them, do fall,or else are turned out of the straightpath.
Now this kind of snare or stumbling-block is by a metaphor transferred to the estate of religionand manners of men.
For he giveth an offence, whosoever doth with overthwart, foolish,or unseasonable words or deeds either do or say to another man anything whereby he taketh an occasion to sin.
Therefore scandalum is an occasion given to sin and do wickedly, and the very impulsion or driving to a fall or to wickedness.
Other there are that do define scandalum to be an offence joinedwith a contempt7 : for an offence doth usually draw a contempt with it; or, as we may say also, an offence doth rise upon a contempt.
To conclude therefore, it is put for an injuryoffered by one man to another.
["sancto vocabulo, Lat. ; the sacred name.] [7So Zuingle defines it,De vera et falsa religione, Comment, p. 412, Tigur. 1525.]
THE THIRD DECADE.
[sERM.
HOW and by Now we offend other men either by our words, or else "aoAoM by our deeds.
The offence that is given by words is partly in evil, foolish,and unseasonable doctrine, and partly our daily talk or communication.
The greatest offence is that which doth ariseof wicked doctrine,directlycontrary to the true doctrine of the holy gospel.
The next to this is that offence which doth arise of foolishand unseasonable doctrine; which, though it be derived out of the word of God, is notwithstan either unaptly uttered, or unwisely applied.
For the preacher may sin either by too much suffering1 or lenity; or else by too much sharpness and overthwart waywardness2, so that the hearers being offended do wholly draw back from allhearing of the gospel.
And yet, for allthis,the lightof the gospel must not be hidden, nor the truth slilywinked at3, because men will be offended; but preachers must with all their diligencetake heed that the word of God be wisely set forth and aptly dispensed4. Whatsoever things are against the laws of God, those must most constantly be accused, and without fear most diligentlyconfuted, howsoever the world and worldlings do storm against the same.
Now they do by their daily talk cause their brethren to stumble, whosoever let their tongues run loose to talk they care not what; and at their pleasure, without advice, to babble they care not how : of which sort are filthyspeech and ribaldry, but especiallysuch blasphemous words as are unreverently uttered against God, the holy scriptures,and articles of our -faith; for evilwords corrupt good manners.
I do not here exclude the lettersor writings of men which do unadvisedly offend their brethren.
Lastly, stumbling-blocks of offence are laid before many men either by promises or else by threatenings: so often, I mean, as by alluring enticements of many -fairpromises, or else by terriblethreats and torments, they are turned from the right path of truth into byways and errors ; for so ^ Pharao lay a stone of offence before king Zedechias, "' by causing him to make a league with him, and by that f1licentia,Lat.] [animia mordacitate et morositate, Lat.] [3dissimulanda, Lat.] [*recte secetur, Lat. ; 2 Tim. ii.15.]
CHRISTIAN
LIBERTY, WORKS, AND MERITS.
IX.] means to trust more in the power of Egypt than in the mighty hand of God5.
Tyrants do oftentimes give weak Christians causes of offence, while they by torments drive them to deny the name of their master Christ.
Now the deeds, whereby men are offended, be of two sorts ; that is to say, they be either lawful and at our free choice,or else unlawful and utterly forbidden us.
But even lawful deeds are by abuse made unlawful.
For itis lawful for the faithfulto eat what they lust: for to the clean all things are clean.
But thy eating is made unlawful, if thou dost eat with the offence of thy weak brother : for he doth not understand that it is lawful to eat indifferentlyevery kind of thing ; and thou knowest very well that, if thou eatest, he will be offended; and yet notwithstanding thou dost eat and despise him : assure thyself in so doing thou givest cause of offence, and sinnest not a littleagainst thy weak brother.
To this we add all unseasonable using of free things and indifferent.
But here we must note, that the doctors of the church do weakim^ i i"
" i -I i I'M i " i and stubborn diligently distinguish and make a difference betwixt weak persons. brethren and stubborn persons.
The weaklings are such as be utterly ignorant in some points of religion; and yet notwithstanding are tractableenough, and fear the Lord; not erring of purpose with malicious overthwartness, but touched with a certain weakness of faith and religion,sufferingthemselves nevertheless willinglyto be instructed. Of such the [Rom. xiv.
" Him that is weak in faith receive ye, not to apostle saith: strifesof disputations." But the stubborn and obstinatepeople are they which, when they know the truth and liberty of the saints, do notwithstanding harden their minds, and set themselves against the truth of liberty6which they know; desiring to have much granted them, and every man to bear with them, not so much for that they do ever mean to give place to the truth, as to the end that by this occasion once granted them they may at lastsubvert the truth and Christian liberty,and in stead thereof set up their triflesand superstitiousvanities. Of such men the Lord speaketh in JMatt. xv. the gospel, saying:
"Let them alone; they be blind leaders of the blind."
And Paul hi the second chapter to the GaCal- ""
[spotentito et libcrationidivinse,Lat.] [6vcritatiet libcrtati,Lat.; the truth and liberty,ed. 1577.]
THE THIRD DECADE.
[sERM.
latianssaith: "Titus, being a Greek, was not circumcised, because of incomers, being false brethren, which came in privilyto spy out our libertywhich we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage.
To whom not so much as for an hour we gave any place by subjection ; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you."
An offence Moreover to this place is to be referred the difference given and an .,,..... offence that some men do very wisely make betwixt the giving and the taking of an offence.
An offence is given then, when by thy fault,by thy importunity, I say, and thy lightness,thou either doest or sayest a thing for which thy brother hath a cause to be offended1.
The other kind of offence is not given, but taken or picked out, not by thy fault,but by the malice or wickedness of another man : as for example, when thou dost sin neither in word nor deed, when thy deeds are nothing insolent, nor thy words unseasonable, when thou eithersayest or doest the thing that is both free and lawful for thee to say and do ; and yet another taketh pepper in nose2 and is offended with that liberty of thine : which is all one, as if a man that walketh in a plain path3 should hap to trip or stumble, and presently quarrel with his companion4, as though he had laid a block in his way.
Now the unlawful and forbidden deeds wherewith men are offended do tend against God and his laws, are done contrary to allseemliness,equity, right,and reason, and stir up others to imitate the like revels and desire of illrule5 : for such are idolatry,murder, whoredom, covetousness, pride,and luxury.
So did the wicked king Jeroboam set up the golden calves to be a stumbling-block unto all the people of Israel.
And in like manner do many, with their drunken tippling and overnice bravery in gaudy apparel, not only offend others, but also make them worse, and by their illexample draw them into like and more foolishvanities.
[!merito, Lat.] [aThis proverbial term for an angry person (seeRay's Proverbs, pp. 140, 197. Lond. 1817)is added by the Translator.] [8in quo nulla positaest offensio,Lat. omitted; where no stumblingblock has been laid.] [4The mention of a companion is an addition of the Translator's.] [5 ad paria studia et scelera,Lat.]
CHRISTIAN
LIBERTY, WORKS, AND MERITS.
IX.] Finally,to give an offence is a very great sin ; as the T"e^f. saying6 of the Lord in the gospel affirmeth. For in Matthew seisin. he saith: "Woe unto the world because of offences.
It must Matt. CXVUL *** 7"J needs be that offencescome; but woe to the man by whom the offence cometh ! Whosoever offendeth one of these littleones that believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea."
And Paul the apostle,speaking to the brethren that give offence,doth say : "Through thy giving of offence perisheth thy brother for whom Christ died."
And again : "And so ye sinning against your brethren,and woundjicor. vui. ing their weak consciences, do sin against Christ himself."
But what can be devised more heinous than to sin against Christ?
Let us all therefore take heed, that by abusing Christianlibertywe give no occasion of offence to the weak, but always do the things that do belong to charity.
Last of all,we must especiallyconfirm our minds against offence* rise ' i i "i i " not of the the enemies of the gospel, who cease not daily to lay innu-gospei.butof "
" the enemies merable heaps of offences upon the preachers and zealousoftnegospei. followersof the evangelicaldoctrine.
"Ye," say they, "are the causes of allthe broils,seditions,wars, and hurly-burlies, wherewith the world is at this day disquieted."
Against these offensiveoutcries,I say, we must confirm our minds with that notable saying of Christ in the gospel : "I came not to send peace, but a sword.
For I am come to set a man at variance with hisfather,and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law : and a man's foes shall be they of his own household."
Here we must callto remembrance, and lay before our eyes, the notable examples of the prophets and apostles. King Achab said to Helias the prophet, that he was the disturber and plague of the kingdom; but the prophet replieth,that not he, but the king, was the troubler of the country.
The rebelliousJews objected againstJeremy, that, since the time they began to leave the worship of their (idol) gods, and to hearken to the preaching of the word of God, they never had one jotof felicity,but that mishaps by troops fellone upon another's neck.
To which objection they were answered, that those misfortunes did light upon them because of their sins,and especiallyfor their rebellionand unthankfulness' sake.
The [6unica sententia, Lat.]
THE THIRD DECADE.
[SEKM.
unbelievingJews at Thessalonica cried out against Paul and Silas,saying:
"These fellows,that have troubled the whole [Actsxvii. world, are come hither also."
But Paul, speaking against the Jews his enemies and persecutors,said : "They, as they [1 Thess. ii.
*5,16.] have killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, so do they persecute us : they please not God, and are adversaries to allmen ; resistingus that we should not preach the gospel unto the Gentilesto their salvation,that they may stillfulfil their sins; and so at lastthe endless1anger of God may fall upon them."
These sayings and such like let the faithful think upon and have in their minds, and letthem persevere stillwith constancy and patienceto spread abroad the doctrine of the gospel,howsoever the world doth fret and cast offences in the way.
And thus much hitherto touching offences2.
It remaineth now, as my promise in the beginning was, Of Rood works. to say somewhat in the end of this sermon concerning good works.
For we have learned that Christianliberty is not licentiousness,but an adoption into the number of the sons of God, which do bestow all their lifeupon the study of godlinessand virtues: we have learned that the law of God is the rule and doctrine of good works : the course of order, therefore,doth now require to have somewhat said touching good works.
First of all,let us determine of the very true and certain What works do signify in the scripture signification of works, because the word isused diversly, and is of ample signification.For works are the labours and busy exercises of men, by the which they get their livings: for Paul commandeth every man to work with his own hands; the law forbiddeth us to do any work on the sabbath-day; and the Israeliteswere oppressed in Egypt with hard and wearisome work and toil. There are also workmen, to whom the Lord in the gospel commandeth to pay the hire that is their due.
A work also is the thing which is made or expressed by the artificeror workman ; for the prophet Jeremy, speaking of a potter,saith:
He [Jer.xviii.
3-J made a work upon a wheel."
Moreover a work doth signify " Do the work" an office or duty ; for Paul saith, [2Tim.iv.
*.] [lin finem, Lat.] [2This treatise of " offences" is transferred by Bullinger from his Comment, in Matt. cap. xviii.Lib. vin. fol.172, Tiguri. 1542.
Cf.
Calvin. Instit.Lib. HI. cap. 19, " 11, 12.]
CHRISTIAN
LIBERTY, WORKS, AND MERITS.
IX.] " of an evangelist:" and the Holy (meaningthe office) Ghost, speaking in the church at Antioch, saith, "
Separate [Actsxm.
2.] me Paul and Barnabas for the work whereunto I have chosen them."
Furthermore, the works of the Lord are3 the mighty deeds of God, whereby he doth declare his power and goodness unto men : and in that significationheaven, earth, and man himself, are said to be the works of God's hands.
Works also are the benefitsof God bestowed upon " I have shewed you us men ; for in the gospel he saith: many good works :" (asifhe should have said,I have done [John *" ^ you many good turns4.)There are also evil works, I mean works of iniquity: whereupon some men are calledworkers ^Obp^c1xi of iniquity,whose deeds are5 the works of the flesh and of 5""c-] darkness.
Again, there are good works, I mean sundry virtues,the fruitsof faith; of which sort are justice, temperance, charity, patience, hope, "c.
For the Lord in the " Let your light so shine before men, that [Matt.v. ie. gospel said : they may see your good works, and glorifythe Father which is in heaven."
The apostle saith that we are made for CEPh-lj-100 good works, to walk in them.
Those same are called the [Matt,\i\.s.
Acts xxvi. fruitsof repentance, and works worthy of repentance.
They ^O are called the works of light6,and the fruitsof the Spirit.[OaLv.as.] The same are the works of humanity, benevolence, and charity: such are commended in Tabitha, which is read to [Actsix.36.] have been full of good works.
Paul saith:
" Let us work [Gai.vt 10.3 good, while we have time, to all; but especiallyto them of the household of faith."
Such a like work of humanity and charity did Mary bestow upon Christ our Saviour, who said: ("Matt. xxvi.
She hath wrought a good work on me."
This being thus declared,we will now describe good works in their colours and qualities.
Good works are deeds, or actions, wrought of those Good work*, which are regenerate by the Spirit7 of God, through faith,aref and according to the word of God, to the glory of God, the [3vocantur, Lat. ; are called.] [*This parenthesis is the Translator's.]
[5illisrespondent, Lat.] [6The express phrase, works of light,does not occur in Scripture; but Bullinger seems to refer to Rom. xiii.12 ; for, in his exposition of that passage, he says:
Hie palam audimus " qme (sint)opera tenebrarum, quse lucis,p. 106, Tigur. 1537.] [?spiritubono, Lat. ; by the good Spirit.] r
[BULLINGER,
n.]
THE THIRD DECADE.
[SERM.
honesty1 of life,and the profitof our neighbour.
This brief descriptionI will prosecute by parts,and expound so well as the Lord shallgive me grace.
The original First, I will by proof shew that there is none other work*. well-spring,from whence good works do flow, than God himself, which isthe author of allgood things. For the prophet " All men are liars; God alone doth speak the truth2." saith:
" None is good but God ^Matt. xix.
And the Lord in the gospel saith: alone."" Good works therefore must have their beginning, not of man, who is a liarand corrupt,but of God himself, the well-spring of all goodness.
And God doth by his Spiritand by faith in Christ Jesus renew all men, so that they, being once regenerate,do no longer their own, that is, the works of the flesh,but the works of the Spirit,of grace, and3 of God himself.
For the works of them that are regenerat do grow up by the good Spirit of God that is within them ; which Spirit,even as the sap giveth strength to trees to bring forth fruit,doth inlikemanner cause sundry virtues to bud and branch out of us men, as the Lord himself noim xv.
4, doth in the gospel testify,and say :
I am the vine,ye are the branches.
As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abide in the vine; so cannot ye also, unless ye abide in me.
Whosoever abideth in me, and I in him, he bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing."
To the same cause isthat to be referred,where as4 we say that a good work isdone by faith.
For faithis the giftof God, whereby we lay hold on Christ, through which we are both justified and quickened ; as the scripture saith, "
The justshall liveby his faith."
And in another place [Hab. it 4.] saithPaul:
"By faithChrist dwelleth in our hearts5.""And " I live; yet now not I, but Christ liveth in me : and the lifewhich now I livein the flesh,I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."
[Gai.ii.20.] again :
Now he that liveth doth the works of lifethrough him, no doubt, by whom he is quickened ; and he that isjustified doth the works of righteousness through him that justified [!ornamentum et honestatem, Lat.] [2Ps. cxvi. 11; Rom. iii.4: where the Vulgate has, est Deus verax; Erasmus renders, aft.] [8adeoque, Lat. ; and so.] [*cum dicimus, Lat.] [6Eph. iii.17; in cordibus vestris,Lat.]
CHRISTIAN
LIBERTY, WORKS, AND MERITS.
IX.] him : that is,the righteous do through Christ work righteousness, and righteousnesscontaineth the whole company of virtues.
So then God alone remaineth stillthe only wellspring and author of good works.
But letus now see the testimoniesof scripture,by which we may evidentlylearn, that the works of them that be regenerate are attributed to God himself, who by his Spirit and by faith doth work in the hearts of the regenerate.
Moses testifieth,saying :
" The Lord shall bless thee, and [Deut xxx. the Lord thy God shallcircumcisethy heart, and the heart 5" 6'] of thy seed,that thou mayest love the Lord thy God with allthy heart, and with all thy soul,that thou mayest live."
Lo, here the cause that godly men do rightly love the Lord doth proceed of the circumcision of the heart.
Now who, I pray you, doth circumcise the heart beside the Lord?
" Thou, Lord, n^i.
XXTI.
The prophet Esay doth more plainly say : shalt ordain peace : for even thou hast wrought allour works in us."
In the gospel after St John our Saviour saith:
'* He that worketh verity cometh to the light,that his works John riii.21
", may be seen, because they are wrought by God."
And " Whosoever abideth in me, and I in him, he bringeth again : forth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing."
Paul also to the Philippianssaith: "To you itisgiven for Christ,[PMI.L ".] not only to believein him, but also to sufferfor him."
And yet again more plainly: "It is God that worketh in you both to will and to do according to the good purpose of the mind6."
Likewise also St James saith: "Every good giving [JamesLI?.] and every perfectgift is from above, and cometh from the Father of lights." Moreover St Peter, ascribing all the parts of good works to God, doth say:
"The God of all[iPet v. 10.3 grace, who hath called you to his eternal glory through Christ Jesus, restore, uphold, strengthen, and stablishyou."
For "we are not able," as Paul in another place saith, " of [2Cor.iu.s-] ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves ; but all our ability is of God."
Therefore God alone remaineth still the only well-springof allgood works, from whom, as from [6Phil. ii.13 ; pro bono aninii proposito, Lat. and Erasmus.
Scnsus est, Deus operatur in nobis velleet perficere,idque facitquod propenso in nos animo sit,quod nos amat, ct familiariteradmodum complectitur.
Bullinger, Comment, in loc.] 21"2
THE THIRD DECADE.
[sERM.
a spring-head,good works1 do flow into the saints,as into sundry streams and channels2.
Good works Yet here by the way this must be added, that good are imputed , , * i " i t if n i to men. works, although they do in deed proceed trom God, and are in very true and proper phrase of speech the fruitsof the Spirit and of faith,both are notwithstanding, and are also said to "be,ours ; that is to say, the works of faithfulmen : partly because God worketh them by us, and useth our ministery in the doing of the same ; and partly because we are by faiththe sons of God, and are thereforemade the brethren and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ.
For by this right of inherita allthe works of God, which are in us God's gifts, do begin to be not another's,but our own and proper works.
Yea, the very scripturedoth attribute them to us, as unto sons and freeborn children; for the Lord in the gospel " The servant abideth not in the house for ever ; the saith: son abideth for ever."
Therefore, as all things in the father'shouse do, by right of inheritance and titleof propriety, come to the son, although the son hath not gotten them by his own industry, nor gathered them by his own labour, but hath received them by the liberalityof his parents ; even so the works of God, which he doth work in us and by us, which are God's gifts bestowed upon us, both are, and are said to be, our own, because we are the sons of the household, as it were, by adoption, and therefore are the lawful heirs.
Wherefore it were the sign of a very unthankfu mind for an adopted son, being forgetful of his father'sbeneficenceand liberality,to make his brags, that all those goods, which he enjoyeth by right of inheritance, were gotten and come by through his own labour and tra- " What hast ri cor. iv. vail.
Whereupon Paul said very religiously: thou that thou hast not received?
If thou hast then received it,why dost thou yet boast as though thou receivedst it not ?"
Very well thought the holy martyr of Christ, St Cyprian, who was wont to say :
We should boast of nothing, because we have nothing of our own3."
And to this f1opera vere bona, Lat.] [2as " channels, is the Translator's addition.]
[3In nullo gloriandum, quando nostrum nihil sit Cypr. Testim. in. ad Quirinum 4. Op. Par. 1633, p. 373.]
CHRISTIAN
LIBERTY, WORKS, AND MERITS.
IX.] " Shall place belongeth4 that saying of the prophet Esay : the axe boast againsthim that heweth with it; or shall the saw brag againsthim that draweth it5?"
We, verily,are the instruments or tools of God, by which he worketh ; for the " We are joint-workers with God ; ye are [icor. m. apostle saith:
God's husbandry, ye are God's building.
According to the grace which God hath given me."
Therefore, according to the meaning of the apostle'swriting, St Augustine, Lib. de Gratia et libero arb., in the sixthchapter, doth say : "When grace is given, then do our merits begin to be good, and that through grace.
For if grace be taken away, then man doth fall,not being set up, but cast down headlong, by freewill.
Wherefore, when man beginneth to have good works, he must not attributethem to himself,but unto God, to whom it is said in the Psalm, Be thou my helper :
O forsake me not.
In saying, Forsake me not, he sheweth, that if he be forsaken,he is able to do no good of himself6."
So then in these words St Augustine doth plainlyenough declare, that good works are ours after that sort, that yet notwithstanding they cease not to be the works of God ; yea, that they ought neverthelessto be ascribedto the grace of God that worketh in us*.
Now by this which we have hitherto alleged out of the NO works do * justify. scriptures touching the true original cause of good works, i we may easilyunderstand how and after what manner the scripturedoth attributerighteousnessunto our merits.
For I have in another place8 sufficientlydeclared (andwill again say somewhat, when I come to the treatise of the gospel) that faith,not works, doth justify us in the sight of God : which is the especialpoint and chief foundation of the evangelical and apostolicaldoctrine.
[4pertinere videtur,Lat.] [5Is. x.
15; qui ipsam agitat,Lat. and Calvin.] [6 Sed plane cum data fuerit (gratia), incipiunt esse etiam merita nostra bona, per illam tamen.
Nam si illam subtraxerit,cadit homo, non erectus, sed prsecipitatus libero arbitrio.
Quapropter quando cceperit homo habere merita bona, non debet^sibitribuere ilia,sed Deo, cui dicitur in Psalmo, Adjutormeus esto, ne derelinquas me.
Dicendo, ne derelinquas me, ostendit quia si derelictus fuerit,nihil boni valet ipse per se.
Aug.
Opp.
Par.
1531, Tom. vn. fol.268, col. 1.] p Cf. Calvin. Instit.Lib. n. cap. 5, $ 14.] [8Decad. i. Serm.
6, Vol. i. p. 104.]
THE THIRD DECADE.
[SERM.
All our works generallyare either the works of nature or the flesh,or elsethe works of the law, or else the works of faith or grace.
Now the works of nature or the flesh " that which is born i.e, .
. js death and
do not justify, but condemn us ; because enmity against God."
What the apostle thought and said touching the works of the law, I did declare1to you in my
^Rom.iii. former sermon :
" By the works of the law," saith he, "shall no fleshbe justified."
But if we beat out and examine the works of grace and of faith,we shallfind that they both are, and have been, done by faithfuland just men.
Whereupon it is manifest, that justification did always go before the works of righteousness: for the justman doth work righteousness; so that righteousness is the fruit that the justdo bring forth.
Man, verily,isjustified freely by grace, and not by works, which follow after justificatio What may be said to that, where the scripturesaith2,that even Abraham, the father of allthat believe,was not justified by the works of grace and of faith?
He lived 430 years before3 the law ; he believed in God, and by true faith did most excellent works : and yet by those his works of faith he was not justified.
For Paul doth plainly argue thus:
"Bom. iv.
" If Abraham were justified by works, then hath he wherein to boast; but not before God.
For what saith the scripture?
Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
To him4 that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace,but duty 5 : but to him that worketh .of not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."
Now whereas we conclude, that we also shallbe justified according to the example of Abraham by faith,and not by works, we ground that conclusion, not upon our own minds, but upon the apostle's [Rom. iv. doctrine,who saith:
Nevertheless it was not written for him6 only, that faith was imputed to him for righteousness; [*copiose exposui, Lat.] [2aperte testatur, Lat.] [8Gal. iii.17.
Hoc loco Apostolus
annos a promissione facta Abrah" ad legem usque numerat.
Bullinger, Comment, in loc.j [4Ei vero, Lat. ; now to him.] [5See Tyndale's Doctrinal Treatises, Park.
Soc. ed. p. 103.] [6propter Abraham, Lat.]
CHRISTIAN
LIBERTY, WORKS, AND MERITS.
IX.] but it was written for us also,to whom it shall be reckoned, if we believe in Christ."
Touching this matter I have already disputed in the sixth sermon of the firstDecade.
I verily am persuaded that this doctrine of the apostles and evangelistsought to be laid up in the bottom of every faithfulheart : that we are justified by the grace of God, not by merits7; through faith8,and not through works.
But while we urge and repeat this doctrine unto the Good works " i * "
?*e not re~ people, we are said of many to be the patrons of all naughti-{^Brd^bbu ness, and utter enemies to allgood works and virtues.
But doctrh^ we, by this our preaching and doctrine of faithwhich doth condemnedonly justify, do not contemn good works, nor think them to be superfluous.
We do not say that they are not good ; but do cry out upon the abuse of good works, and the corrupt doctrine of good works, which is defiledwith the leaven of the Pharisees.
For we teach to do good works, but we will not have them to be set to sale,and to be bought I cannot tellin what order of bargaining.
We will not have any man to put confidence in them ; we will not have any man to boast of the giftsof God ; we willnot have the power to justify, or to merit lifeeverlasting,to be simply attributedunto them.
For by that means Christ should wax vileand contemptible9, who hath with his death alone merited for us the heavenly kingdom of God Almighty.
Neither do we by this,as many think we do, separate good works from faith.
Our doctrine is,that works and faithare not severed, but cleave together as closelyas maybe: so yet notwithstanding,that justification is properly ascribed to faith,and not to works.
For works do consistin our worthiness, but faith doth cleave to the promise of God, which setteth before us both righteousness and lifein the only-begotten Son of God, Christ Jesus our
Saviour.
And Christ is sufficientlyable of himself, and by his own power and virtue,to justify them that believe in his name, without any aid or help of ours at all.
I will not wink at some men's objection, but freely conin what sense the fess,that the scriptureshere and there do after a sort attri-scripture bute both lifeand justification unto good works.
But the butejusti'a- " cation unto scriptureis not contrary to itself : therefore we must search "ood Work4t [' non meritis nostris, Lat.] [8per fidem in Christum, Lat.] [9et oppugnaretur, Lat. ; and be fought against.]
THE THIRD DECADE.
[SERM.
and examine, in what sense, and how, lifeand justification are ascribed to our works.
St Augustine doth so answer this objection, that he referreth our works1 unto the grace of God ; for in his book De gratia et liberoarbitrio,the eighth chapter, he writeth :
" If eternal lifebe of duty given to good works, as the scripturedoth most plainlytestify,saying, 'Because God will reward every man according to his works ;' then how is eternal lifeof grace, considering that grace is not given as due to works, but freely and without deserts? as the apostle Paul doth say, 'To him that worketh the reward is not reckoned ' The remnant,' saith he, of grace, but of duty ;* and again, ' are saved by the election of grace :' and immediately after he addeth, 'If it be of grace, then it is not now of works ; for then grace is no more grace.'
How then is eternal life,which is gotten by works, a gift?
Or else did not the apostle say, that everlasting lifeis a gift?
Yes, verily; he said it so plainly that we cannot deny it.
Neither are his words so obscure that they require a sharp understander, but an attentivehearer.
For when he had said, ' The reward ' But the giftof God of sin is death ;' he addeth straightway s : is life everlasting in Jesu Christ our Lord.'
Methinketh therefore, that this question can be none otherwise resolved, unless we understand, that even our good works, to which eternal lifeis given, must be referred to the grace and giftof God ; because the Lord Jesus saith, 'Without me ye can do nothing:' and the apostle, when he had said, 'Ye are saved by grace through faith,'doth presently add, ' and that not of yourselves; itisthe giftof God : not of works, lestany man should boast2.'"
Thus much hitherto out of St Augustine. f1bona opera, Lat.] [2Si enim vita zeterna bonis operibus redditur, sicut apertissime dicit scriptura, Quoniam Deus reddet unicuique secundum opera ejus; quoraodo gratia est vita seterna, cum gratia non operibus reddatur, sed gratis detur ? ipso apostolo dicente, Ei qui operatur merces non imputatur secundum gratiam, sed secundum meritum ; et iterum, Reliquiae, inquit, per electionem gratise salvae facts) sunt; et mox addidit, Si autem gratia,jam non ex operibus, alioquin gratia jam non est gratia.
Quomodo est ergo gratia vita seterna, quse ex operibus sumitur ?
An forte vitam seternam non dixit apostolus gratiam ?
Imo vero sic dixit,ut negari omnino non possit ; nee intellectorem acutum, sed tantummodo intentum desiderat auditorem.
Cum enim dixisset, Stipendium peccati mors ; continue subdidit, Gratia autem Dei vita
CHRISTIAN
LIBERTY, WORKS, AND MERITS.
IX.] Now although thisanswer of St Augustine be godly and plain enough to him that simply searcheth for the truth, yet I am sure that some there are which never will be answered with it.
They will,I know, go about upon St Augustine's The "mi" of "',, them which words to infer that works, and not faith alone, do mstify us attribute J * justification men.
For thus they argue : We are justified,and do obtain unto works, , . f , , e -ii.
J "
L-f eternal life,by grace : good works do belong to the grace of God : therefore good works do justify us.
Now it is not amiss to close and buckle hand to hand with these disputers,that in this littleye may perceive that they be mere shiftsof sophistry,which they set to sale under the name and colour of very sound arguments.
And firstof all,there is no man so foolish,ifhe hath read the doctrine of St Paul, but knoweth very well that those two propositions cannot hang together : we are justified by grace ; and, we are justified by works.
For that sentence of St Paul is as clear as the sun, where he saith, "
If of grace, then now not [Rom. xi. "] of works : for then grace were no grace."
We do freely grant both theirpropositions; to wit,that we are justified by grace, and that works belong to the grace of God, or be the gift of God : but we deny their consequence, and say that itis false; to wit, that works do justify.
For ifthat be true, then may we in like manner truly say, A man doth see; an hand doth belong unto a man : and thereupon infer, therefore a hand doth see.
But who would gather so vain a consequent ?
For alldo understand,that a man doth consistof sundry members, and that every member hath his effects3and offices. Again, what ishe which knoweth not, that the grace of God, which is otherwise undivided, is divided and distinguished according to the diverseoperationswhich itworketh?
For there is in God a certain (asit were)general grace, whereby he created allmortal men, and by which he sendeth rain upon the justand unjust : but this grace doth not seterna in Christo Jesu Domino nostro.
Ista ergo quaestionullo modo mihi videtur posse dissolvi,nisi intelligamus et ipsa bona opera nostra, quibus seterna redditur vita, ad Dei gratiam pertinere, propter illud quod aitDominus Jesus, Sine me nihilpotestisfacere.
Et ipse apostolus cum dixisset,Gratia salvifacti estisper fldem ; et hoc non ex vobis, sod Dei donum est, non ex operibus ne forte quis extollatur ; yidit utique, "c."
Aug.
Opp.
Par.
1531, Tom. vn. fol.268, col. 3.] [3 8Uas vires,Lat.]
THE THIRD DECADE.
[SERM.
justify ; for if it did, then should the wicked and unjust1 be justified.
Again, there is that singular grace, whereby he doth, for his only-begotten Christ his sake, adopt us to be his sons : he doth not, I mean, adopt all,but the believers only, whose sins he reckoneth not, but doth impute to them the righteousness of his only-begotten Son our Saviour.
This is that grace which doth alone justify us in very deed. Moreover there is a grace, which, being poured into our minds, doth bring forth good works in them that are justified.
This grace doth not justify, but doth engender the fruitsof righteousness in them that are justified.
Therefore we confess and grant, that good works belong to grace, but after a certain manner, order, and fashion2.
Again, they objectand say :
But grace or faith and works, justification also and sanctification, are so joinedtogether, that they cannot be severed one from another : therefore the thing that agreeth to one is also appliable unto the other.
I verily neither dare nor do in any case gainsay, that faith and works do cleave together ; but I do utterly deny that they twain are all one, so that the thing which is attributed to the one may also be applied unto the other.
For faith,although it be weak and unperfect in us, doth notwithstanding lean and stay upon Christ his perfectionalone, and so far forth it doth justify us.
But our works have in them (forI use the mildest phrase of speech) some sprinkling of vice and sparkle of error, because of the originaldisease that is natural in us all: but it followeth not therefore, that the grace of God is polluted by any vice or fault of ours ; which should of necessityfollow consequently, if,by reason of the strait knot betwixt them, the properties of the one were common to the other.
Although the light of the sun be not separate from the heat thereof,yet is not the light the same that the heat is.
Neither is it a good consequence to say, The sun giveth lightto the world ; therefore the heat of the sun giveth light to the world, because in the sun the heat and light cannot be separated.
Yea rather, the sun in respect of his light doth lighten the world, not in respect of the heat that it hath.
And yet the sun doth both warm and t1 omnes impii, Lat.] [2sed sua ratione, suo modo, Lat.]
CHRISTIAN
LIBERTY, WORKS, AND MERITS.
IX.] lighten the earth at once.
In like manner we are freely justified by the merciful grace of God, for Christ his sake, our
Lord and Saviour, not in respect and consideration of the works of grace, that are found in us ; although these works are engendered and brought forth by that free grace.
And so we must attribute all glory wholly to the grace of God, and not part stakes with him, and take to our own share any part of his glory.
These wranglers have yet another shift,and say : Although we say that eternal lifeis given by God to all faithfulbelievers, not for faith only in Christ Jesus, but also for the works of faith; all the glory nevertheless shallredound to God ; namely since we acknowledge and confess that those works are wrought in us by the power and grace of God.
To this our answer is; that glory must so be given to God as he doth please to have itgiven him.
If the will,purpose, and counsel of God were to receive us into his friendshipfor the works' sake, which his Spirit and grace doth bring forth in us ; then should he unadvisedly, without discretion,have sent his only-begotten Son into the world, and rashly have appointed him to the terriblepangs of bitter death.
But God, in all that he hath created either in heaven or earth, much lessin this case, which is the greatest that belongeth to man, the chief and most excellent creature that he hath made3, did never at any time do any thing rashly, without great advisement.
Wherefore it is assuredly certain,that it was never the counsel and purpose of God for our own good works4 and virtues to redeem us from the tyranny of Satan, and to accept us for his sons; but for the only sacrificeand satisfactionof his only-begotten Son Christ Jesus, our Lord and Saviour.
For the judgmentof Paul in this matter remaineth firm and invincible,where he saith: "If righteousness[Oai.". 210 come of the works of the law, then did Christ die in vain."
And that divine saying of St Peter remaineth for ever uncontrollable " There is salvationin none other."
[Actsiv.12.] Again, they do lay certain places of scripture together, : and thereupon do argue thus :
Although Paul in one place doth say, "Ye are saved by grace through faith;" yet in jEph. u.8:
" We are saved by **"! another place the same Paul doth say, [3that belongeth " hath made, not in Lat.] [*opera fidei,Lat. ; the works of faith.]
THE THIRD DECADE.
[SERM.
hope."
Now who knoweth not that hope is, as it were, "
Christ himself in the upheld and strengthened by patience?
" In your patienceye gospel agreeing thereunto, and saying, shallpossess your souls."
Therefore not faithonly,but hope and patience do bring us to salvation.
To this we answer thus; That the holy apostle doth sufficientlyexpound himself,if a man will take the pains to read him throughout, and weigh with himself the end and " Ye are," cause for which he spake every several sentence. saith he, " saved by grace through faith; and that not of yourselves,it is the giftof God ; not of works, lestany man should boast," "c.
Hath he not in these few words most evidently declared what his beliefis touching grace or faith, and works ?
Who would desirea plainer speech ?
There is none so very a dorhead1 as that he understandeth not, that the benefit2 of salvation is wholly and merely ascribed to grace. For he doth not dividesalvationor justification partly to faith or grace, and partly to works ; neither doth he attributethe firstplace to faith,and the second place to works
: he doth utterly exclude all boasting.
" Ye are,'' saith he, " saved by grace through faith." And immediately after he addeth, "and that not of yourselves." He annexeth the cause:
" itis the giftof God."
And again :
" not of works."
He " Lest any man should boast." He that understandeth sheweth why : not thisdoth undoubtedly understand nothing at all. i contra He that wresteth or otherwise cavillethat this doth speak : a r against the sun, and saith that the lightis darkness.
Now f t whereas the same apostle doth in another place say, "We are themuh. gayed Dv n0pe ."
^ isby the marking of the whole place to be " I told you, that they which believe in Christ are the sons and heirs of God, and have thereby their salvation and felicity ; but I gathered, that his meaning is as ifhe had said: would have every one to understand it hi hope and expectation, not in enjoying the very thing itself,and present fruition."
Now who can hereupon infer, Therefore hope doth justify ?
But we do rather make this argument : Patience is no patience at all, unless the patient man be first justified by true faith:thereforethe commendation of patience3 [*bardus, Lat.
Dor : a drone.] [2totum beneficium, Lat.] p patienticelaus ot virtus,Lat.]
CHRISTIAN
LIBERTY, WORKS, AND MERITS.
IX.] doth wholly depend upon faith,and not the praise of faith upon patience; although faith be declared and shewed forth by patience.
For itis a sentence utterly unworthy to come out of a Christianman's mouth, to say, that faith is made perfect by good works ; that is to say, where faith doth want a piece, that there good works do patch it up.
For when we name faith,we do not name simply the quality of believingwhich is in our minds, but we have an eye to Christ himself4, our Lord and Saviour, together with his righteousness and heavenly gifts; upon whom alone, as upon a base and sure foundation,our faithdoth rest and firmly stand.
But to go about to supply the want of any thing in Christ Jesus, is nothing else but with devilish blasphemy to disgrace the Son of God.
The faith of saints, I confess, doth declare and shew itselfby works; but it followeth not thereupon, that works do therefore make perfect that which seemeth to be wanting in Christ his perfection.
For there is nothing lacking in our deliverance, redemption, and justification wrought by Christ.
The apostle James did say indeed, " Seest thou how faith was made perfect by works ?"
But his meaning was none other but to say, Seest thou how faith,by the works which followed it,did declare itselfto be a true and righteous faith,and not an hypocriticalfaith?
" Seest thou how his faith For before these words he said : was effectualthrough works ?"
Again, the apostle Paul said :
"I fulfil5that which is lacking to the afflictionsof Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church."
But you may better translate the Greek rd v"TeprjmaTa to be that rather which is behind, than that which is lacking to 6 the afflictionsof Christ : for the Greeks call TO. va-reprjuara not only those things that are wanting, but also the remnant (whichword St Ambrose also used)7,I mean the remnant [" See Vol.
I. addend, p. 112, line 32.] [6 Col. i. 24.
Suppleo vel adimpleo, Lat.
The former is the rendering of Erasmus, the latter of the Vulgate.] [6 quse supersunt, quam quse desunt, Lat.] [7 " qui mine gaudeo in passionibus pro vobis, et suppleo relliquias pressurarum Christi,"c.
Ambros.
Comment, in Ep. ad Coloss. cap. 1, v.
24, Tom. ii. Append, pag. 266, Par.
1690.
But these commentaries are not genuine.
See James'
Corruption of Scripture, Councils, and Fathers, ed. Cox, Lond.
1843, p. 26.]
THE THIRD DECADE.
[SERM.
and those things that are remaining behind.
And St Peter saith,that "Christ sufferedfor us, leaving behind him an example for us, that we might follow his trace and footsteps."
[1 Pet ii.
Therefore the apostleaffirmeth,that he by sufferingfulfilled the remnant which was behind1.
After this again they allege the words of the apostle Paul, where he saith:
Another objection.
[1Cor. xiii.
2-] " If I have all faith,so that I can remove mountains out of their place,and yet have not charity, I am nothing." For upon this they infer, " Therefore not faith only, but also charity, yea, rather charity than faith,doth justify."
But we say that Paul in this sentence doth neither deny that faithalone doth justify, nor yet doth attributethe justifica of the saintsto charity.
For when we affirm that we are justified by faith,or when we make faith the cause of justification, (whichthing must be by often repetition beaten into our memories,) we do not understand that faith, as itis a virtue in us, doth work, and by the quality2 that sticketh to us doth merit, righteousness in the sight of God; but so often as we make mention of faith,we understand the grace of God exhibited in Christ, which is through faith freelyapplied to us, and received8 as the free gift of God bestowed upon us.
And in that sense doth Paul4 use the name of faith, when he affirmeth that faith doth justify.
But in thisplace of the thirteenthchapter to the Corinthians he doth not so take the name of faith,but putteth it for the power of working miracles; as is manifest by that which followeth,where he saith, " so that I can remove mountains."
That faith doth not comprehend Christ wholly, but only the power in shewing of miracles : and therefore it may be sometime in an unjust man and an hypocrite ; as it was in Judas Iscariot,to whom the faithof miracles profitednothing, because he was without the justifying faith;which faithisnever without, but of itselfengendereth, charity.
Again, whereas they object that saying out of the gospel of St John, " Whosoever knoweth6 my commandments and keepeth them, he itis that loveth me ; and my Father will John [xiv. f1hasce relliquias,Lat.] [2qualitate sua, Lat. ; itsquality.] [3apprehenditur recipiturque, Lat.] [*et Paulus, Lat. ; doth Paul also.] [5habet, Lat.]
CHRISTIAN
LIBERTY, WORKS, AND MERITS.
IX.] love him, and we will come to him, and make our abiding in him ;" therefore for the observationof the commandments, that is,for our works'*sake, God is joined to us : we again allege this saying of the same evangelist and apostle John :
" By n j0hn iy. this we know that we abide in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit." But that Spiritof God is a free gift: therefore we are joined to God by mere and free grace.
It followeth in John :
" And we have seen and do testify, that the Father hath sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world."
Thou hearest, I hope, by what it isthat the world is saved, and what Christ the Saviour of the world is6. Now who knoweth not that he was sent unto us of the Father by the mere and only grace of God?
It followeth now, how "
Whosoever confesseth that Jesus that grace is received : is the Son of God, God abideth in him, and he in God."
But in the sixth of John, instead of 'confesseth,'is put 'beJohn vi. lieveth:' and no marvel, since out of a true faith a true confession doth arise.
By faith therefore are we saved7, and by faith are we joinedunto God.
But letting pass these wranglers, who will never be without store of such sophistical shifts,we do again return to our purposed argument, to shew you how, and in what sense, lifeand justification are attributedto works.
They that are well exercised in the reading of the holy The places "
. of faith and scriptures,that they may reconcile the places of scripture works, that .,'',, ., , . i? that seem at a blush to be at discord,do teach that faithand b!ushto disagree, works in very deed are not separated one from another.
For the same Holy Spirit which giveth faithdoth therewithal also regenerate the understanding and will,so that the faithful doth ardently desire,and do his endeavour in all things,to do service to God his maker.
Therefore, for the unseparable knot betwixt faithand good works, which always keep company and attend upon8 faith, we say, that justification is sometimes9 somewhat unproperly attributedto works, which is somewhat more properly to be attributedto faith,but most properly of all to be ascribed to Christ apprehended by faith, who is in very deed the foundation and subject of our faith.
[6rather, and who the Saviour of the world is,namely Christ.] [*recipimus salutem, Lat.] [8sequuntur, Lat.] [9rather, that there is attributed to works that which, "c. ; 'justification* is not in Lat.]
THE THIRD DECADE.
[sERM.
I willyet essay to make this more manifest.
In true faith there are two things to be considered, reconciliationand obedience
: reconciliation,because by faith we understand and verilybelieve,that God isreconciledto us for Christ his sake, by whom we are adopted into the number of the sons of God; and obedience, because they that are reconciled do wholly yield themselves to him to whom they be reconciled,with earnest desireand zeal to do his will and pleasure.
So then we say that faith1is of two sorts,the justifying and the obeying faith2. Of the justifying faith2St Paul maketh mention, FRom. v. where he saith: "Being justified by faith,we have peace toward God through the Lord Jesus Christ,by whom we are reconciled."Again he maketh mention of the obeying faith2, [Rom.vi.ia] where he saith: "Know ye not, that to whom ye give yourselves as servants to obey, hisservants ye are to whom ye do obey ; whether it be of sin unto death, or of obedience unto " that is to say,which obedience maketh you to do the things that are righteous,and to be the servants of righteousness?1' righteousness,which shallturn to you to eternallife; and not the servants of sin,which turneth unto death.
Now therefore justification is properly attributed to the reconciling righteousnessthrough ChristJesus, and isimproperly ascribed to the obeying righteousness,or righteousness of obedience.
For the obeying righteousness is of the reconciling,and without the reconcilingrighteousnessobedience should not be calledrighteousness.
To which thisis also to be added, that they which are justified do not put any confidence in this obedience, as that which is always spotted in this world by reason of our flesh.
{""
To this also agreeth this other exph'cationwhich I will here annex.
The most proper work of faith is purification [Actsxv.
9.] and sanctification ; for St Peter doth expressly say, that by faithour hearts are purified. But in sanctificationthe holy scripturesdo shew to be two especialthings: first,that all the faithfulare freely purifiedby the blood of Christ Jesus;
" Ye know that you are n Pet. i. is, for again the same St Peter saith: redeemed not with transitory things,as gold and silver; but with the precious blood of Christ,as of an unspotted Lamb."
StPaul saith: "Ye are sanctified3by the willof God through [ljustitiam, Lat. ; righteousness.] [2faith,not in Lat.] [8Heb. x.
10, 14, sanctincuti sumus, Lat.]
CHRISTIAN
LIBERTY, WORKS, AND MERITS.
IX.] the oblation of the body of Jesus Christ once made.
For with that one oblation he made them perfect for ever which " The blood of Jesus [iJohn L 7.] Christ the Son of God doth cleanse us from allsin."
Therefore are sanctified." St John also saith : the most proper phrase of speech is to say, that we are sanctifiedthrough faithby the blood of Christ,who said : "I [1")]hnxv sanctify myself for them, that they also may be sanctified through the truth."
The latteris,that they which are sanctified by the blood of Christ through faith,do day by day sanctifythemselves, and give their minds to holiness; to the doing and study whereof the apostlesdo most earnestlyexhort the saints. For Peter saith:"As he which calledyou is holy, so be ye also holy in your conversation4; because it iswritten,
Be ye holy,for I am holy." St Paul saith: "This isthe willof God, even your holiness,""c.
1 Thessal. iv.
St John saith:
"Now are we the sons of God; and yet it doth not appear [uohn in.
* a] what we shall be : but we know that, when he shallappear, we shallbe like him ; for we shallsee him as he is. And every one that hath this hope in him purifiethhimself,even as he also is pure."
Now this purging or purification,which is made by our care 'and industry, is called by the name of sanctification, not because itismade by us as of ourselves,but because itis made of them that are sanctifiedby the blood of Christ,in respect of Christ his blood5.
For unless that sanctification, which is the very true and only sanctificationin deed, do go before, our sanctification(Imean, that which we work)is none at all.
But if that go before,then is this of ours imputed for sanctification, although in the meanwhile the spots of sin remaining in us do defileit,and that we do put no confidencein it.
Therefore, so often as thou shalt read in the holy scripturesthat righteousnessisattributed to our good works, thou shalt think straightways,that itis done for none other causes than those which I have hitherto already declared unto thee.
For the apostolicalSpiritcannot be repugnant or contrary to itself.
This will yet be made a great deal more manifest,if we The apo"n"
* againstthe call to remembrance and do consider,that the apostles had to nBhteou"ne*"
* of works. deal with two kinds of men : the one sort whereof did affirm, [4 1 Pet. i.15, 16, in omni convereatione, Lat.] [5 in respect of Christ his blood, is an addition of the translator's.]
[BULLINOER,
n.]
THE THIRD DECADE.
[sERJI.
that they were sufficiently able of their own strength to satisfy or fulfilthe law, and that they could by theirdesertsand good works merit eternal life; yea, they affirmed that the merit of Christ was not sufficientenough1 to the getting of salvation,unless the righteousnessof men were added there^ unto.
Against these Paul disputed very constantly and pithily in all his epistles; for they made Christ and the grace of God of none effect. The other sort of men were such as, abusers of abusing the doctrine of grace and faith,did wallow like swine grace and O " faith. m au filthysins,because they thought that it was sufficient unto salvation if they did say that they believed; but they never declared their faith or beliefby any good works, although occasion thereunto were given them.
Against these did St Peter very well and wisely2 dispute in the firstchapter of his second epistle,and St James in the second chapter of his epistle. For he affirmeth,that Abraham was not justified by faithonly, but by works : that is to say, that he was not justified by a vain opinion,but by faithwhich bare and was fullof good works.
For James doth use the names of faith and justification in one sense, and Paul in another.
Paul putteth faithfor an assured confidence in the merit of Christ; and he useth justification for absolutionand remissionof sins, for adoption into the number of the sons of God, and lastly3 for the imputing of Christ his righteousness unto us.
But in James faith doth signify a vain opinion : and justification doth import, not the imputing of righteousness, but the declaring of righteousness and adoption.
For it is undoubted true, that the holy 4 apostles of Christ, St Peter and St James, would not by their writings make void the grace and merit of Christ,to advance the merits of mortal men; but rather to withstand the unpureness of them which put the faithof Christ in perilof disgracing6,to the offenceof allgood men, living in the mean while most wickedly in detestable sins without repentance.
Therefore the apostles of Christ, requiring good works at the hands of the faithful, do firstof [*per se, Lat. qmitted ; of itself.] [2constanter et acriter,Lat.] [3adeoque et, Lat. ; and thus also.] [4fidelissimos,Lat. ; the most faithful.] [5rather, which made a boast of faith in Christ to the offence, "c.]
CHRISTIAN
LIBERTY, WORKS, AND MERITS.
IX.] allrequire a true and livelyfaith,and do refer them both8 unto the grace of God.
Let us therefore most firmly hold, that the apostlesdo Faith ju"uattribute justification, life,and salvation,to good works imworksproperly ; to true faithproperly ; but most properly to Christ, who is the subject and foundation of true faith. For although true faith7 is not without good works, yet doth it justify without good works, by itselfalone.
For itis most certain, that lifeand salvation are bestowed on us after the same manner that health and lifewas given to the children of Israel,which in the wilderness were poisoned of the serpents.
They had their health restored them not by any works, but by the only beholding and looking,upon the brasen serpent : therefore we also are made partakers of eternal lifeby faith alone, which is the true beholding and looking up to Christ.
"As Moses," saith our Saviour, "did liftup the serpent rjohn UL 1 4, in the wilderness,so must the Son of man be liftedup ; that every one which believeth in him should not perish, but have " Ye are saved by [Eph. u. e, eternal life." And the apostle Paul saith: grace through faith; not of yourselves ; itis the giftof God: not of works, lestany man should boast," "c.
With this doctrine of the evangelistsand apostlesdo the testimoniesof certain doctors of the church agree : some of which I willreciteunto you, dearly beloved, not because these testimoniesof the scriptureare not sufficient, but because we will not seem to be the beginners and bringers in of new doctrines: although in very deed that can not be new, which is derived out of the evangelical and apostolicdoctrine,albeit that all the doctors of the church should gainsay or deny it.
Now therefore give ear how some, even of the best of them, do not in words only say and write, but also by proofs shew, that faithalone doth justify.
Origen, a very ancient writer,upon the third chapter ofP^f!^ the epistleof St Paul to the Romans, doth say :
" Paul saith R"mathat the justification of faith alone is sufficientfor a man; so that every one that doth believe only isjustified, although no works are once wrought by him.
Now if we require an example, where any was ever justified by faithalone without good works ; that thief,I suppose, is example good enough, [6omnia, Lat. ; all.] [' communi lege, Lat. omitted ; by a general law.] 22"2
THE THIRD DECADE.
[SERM.
who, being crucifiedwith Christ, did cry from the cross, ' Lord Jesu, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.'
In the writings of the evangeliststhere is mention made of no good work which he in his lifetime did ; and yet, ' Verily [Luke xxiii. because of this his faithonly, Jesus said unto him :
I say unto thee, this day thou shalt be with me in paradise.'
Therefore this thief was through faithjustified without the works of the law.
For after thisrequest and prayer of his the Lord made no inquisitionwhat his works were allhis life long ; neither did he look what works he would do after this faithand believing; but did immediately, upon his confession, both justify, and take him as a companion to go with him to paradise. Moreover to the woman, of whom mention ismade in the gospel afterSt Luke, not forany work of the law, but for ' Thy sins are forgiven thee.'
And again, 48,U5oe]ViL ^ta ontyhe said, ' Go in peace, thy faith hath made thee safe.'
Furthermore, in many places of the gospel we find that our Saviour used the like kind of speech, making faithalways to be the cause of men's salvation. And a littlewhile after the same ' God forbid that I should glory in any thing but in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,by whom the world iscrucifiedto me, and I to the world.'
Thou seest here that [Gai.vt 14.]apostle saith: the apostlegloriethnot of his own righteousness,or chastity, or wisdom, or other works or virtues of his own, but doth * Let him that glorieth most plainly pronounce and say : glory in the Lord ;' and so by that means all boasting is excluded1." And so forth,with many other sayings tending to this purpose.
[!Dicit (Paulus) sufficeresolius fideijustificationem, ita ut credens quis tantummodo justificetur, etiamsi nihilab eo operis fuerit expletum.
Imminet igitur nobis, qui integram esse scripturam apostoli conamur asserere, et ordine suo cuncta constare, ut requiramus, quis sine operibus sola ftde justificatus sit. Quantum igiturad exemplum pertinet, sufficere arbitror ilium latronem, qui, cum Christo crucifixus,clamavit ei de cruce, Domine Jesu, memento mei cum veneris in regnum tuum.
Nee aliud quicquam describitur boni operis ejusin evangeliis,sed pro hac sola fide ait ei Jesus, Amen dico tibi,hodie mecum eris in paradiso .
. Per fidem enim justificatus est hie latro, sine operibus legis.
Quia super hoc Dominus non requisivitquid prius operatus esset, nee exspectavit quid operis cum credidisset expleret, sed sola confessione justificatum comitem sibieum paradisum ingressurus assumpsit.
Sed et mulier ilia,de qua in evangelic secundum Lucam refertur ... ex
CHRISTIAN
LIBERTY, WORKS, AND MERITS.
IX.] St Ambrose in his exposition of Paul his epistleunto the Ambrose.
" They Romans, upon the third and fourth chapters, doth say : are freely justified, saith St Paul, because, when they work nothing, nor do any thing for God again, they are yet through faithonly justified by the giftof God2.
' According to the purpose of God's grace,' saith Paul : it was so ordained of God, that, laying the law aside, the grace of God should require faith only unto salvation3."
This doth by the example of the prophet confirm the blessedness of the man to whom the Lord imputeth righteousness without works : he calleth them blessed, with whom the Lord hath covenanted, that without labour and keeping of the law they should be justified before their Maker4."
St John Chrysostom, treating of faith, of the law of curysost.
" I cannot nature, and of the Holy Ghost, doth expressly say : prove that he which worketh the works of righteousness without faith doth enjoyeternal life: but I can by good proof shew that he which believed, without works, did both live and obtain the kingdom of heaven.
No man without faith hath obtained life; but the thief believed only, and for his faith was justified by the most merciful God.
And whereas nullo legis opere, sed pro sola fide, ad earn (ait), Remittuntur tibi peccata tua : et iteruin, Fides tua te salram fecit,vade in pace.
Sed et in multis evangelii locis hoc sermone usum legimus Salvatorem, ut .
. Audi quid dicit (apostolus) : Mihi autem absit gloriari,nisiin cruce Domini mei Jesu Christi, credentis fidem causam dicat esse salutis ejus. per quern mihi mundus crucifixus est, et ego mundo.
Vides apostolum non gloriantem super justitia sua, neque super castitate,neque super sapientia,neque super ceteris virtutibus vel actibus suis,sed apertissime pronunciantem et dicentem, Qui gloriatur, in Domino glorietur; et sic exclusa est Judaica gloriatio, "c.
Orig.
Comment, in ep. ad Roman.
Lib. m.
Tom. iv.
Par.
59, pp. 616, 17.] [2 Justificati sunt gratis, quia nihil operantes, neque vicein reddentes, sola fide Justificati sunt dono Dei "
Ambros.
Comment, in ep. ad Rom. cap. m. v.
24, Tom. n.
Append.
Par.
1690, col. 46.
But see above, page 336, note 3.] [3 Secundum propositum gratia) Dei] Sic decretum dicit Paulus a Deo, ut cessante lege solam fidem gratia Dei posceret ad salutem.
Ib. cap. iv. v.
5, col. 48.] [4 Sicut et David dicit.] Hoc ipsum munit exemplo prophetw beatitudinem bominis cui Deus accepto fert justitiamsine operibus.
Beatos dicit,de quibus hoc sanzit Deus, ut sine labore et aliqua observatione sola fide justificentur apud Deum.
Ib. cap. iv. v. 6, col.48.]
THE THIRD DECADE.
[sERM.
here, peradventure, them wilt object, that he wanted time to livejustly, and to do good works : I answer, that I do not greatly striveabout that ; but thisonly I stick to, that faith alone did justify and save him.
For if he had lived any longer,and had neglectedfaithand works, he had undoubtedly fallen from salvation.
But the only end and argument whereat I now shoot is,that faith of itselfdoth bring salvation, and that works of themselves did never save any workers that wrought them :" as Chrysostom doth at large declare by the example of the captain1 Cornelius2.
These testimonies,I suppose, are sufficientto wits that willbe answered and do not stand obstinatelyin quarrellings and janglings ; otherwise I could allege a great number more.
But I will not be over-tedious unto you, dearly beloved, nor seem to be endless3 in an evident matter, or merits or But now because to thistreatiseof the righteousness of of g'"deward works there is a question annexed touching the merits of good works; I will therefore summarily say somewhat of merits, or rather, of the hire and reward of good works : to this end specially,lestany man, thinking irreligiouslyof the merits of good works, do thereby win to himself not good but evil works.
The name of merits is an unacquainted term, not used in NO good the scriptures. For in that significationwherein our meritworkers use it, to wit, for meritorious works; for that, I mean, whereunto both lifeand the grace of God is of duty given as debt that is due ; in that signification,
I say, itdoth obscure the grace of God, and maketh man too proud and arrogant.
What, I pray you, can our works deserve, since [:centurionis, Lat.] [a"Avfv iri(rrt"as rbv epyu"6fj.fvov fpya 8ufaioa~vvr]s ov 8vvflirapaaTijcrai fto-aiTa, avfv 8e tpyov TOV rriarov 8vvapat,SeT"at KOI (jjcravra icat ftaa-iXfias a"ia"d(iTa.
Ov8fls avtv 7rurre"os tfrcrfv'
8e Xfltrr^r TTifrreixras v-ovov (8iKat"adr).Kat pi]poi Xrye, OVK "o"Xe naipbv iro\iTfv"rdai'ov8f yap ty"a TOVTO "pi\ovfiKw, dXX* fttdvo irapt"m)"ra, on q iriarisnaff favrrjv ecratcrfv.
TTt'oret, *at tpytav i^/iieXTjcrev, """rt7rre rfs crurrjplas,Ti 8e crKOTTOv^evov vvv Kal ^rfrov^fvov, on KOI q Trt'orts Kad* eavrrfv eo~(oo-fv, fpya 8e Kad* iavra ovftapov TOVS cpydras (SiKaiaxrf. Kat 6e\fis I8fiv aicpificos, Et yap fTrf"r)(re rfj on fpya avtv 7rl"rrfu"s ov ftoorrotft ; MfpaprvpyTo KopinjXio?, "c.
Chrysost.
Serm. de Fide et Lege Naturae et Sancto Spir.
Opp.
Tom. i. Par.
1718, p. 826.
But this treatiseis not Chrysostom's.] [3spinoBus,Lat.]
CHRISTIAN
LIBERTY, WORKS, AND MERITS.
IX.] none of the saints durst be so bold as to plead their merits before the Lord?
Job crieth:
If I will justify my self,rJob ix. 20, mine own mouth shall condemn me.
If I will go about to shew myself to be an innocent, he4 shall prove me a wicked doer.
If I wash myself with snow-water5, and make my hands never so clean at the well6, yet shalt thou dip me in the mire, and mine own garments shalldefile7 me."
David "
Enter not into judgmentwith thy servant ; for in rrsai. cxiiu. crieth: thy sight shall no man lA^Mg be justified."
Christ our Lord " When ye have done all things that in the gospel saith : are commanded you, then say, We are unprofitableservants ; we have done that we ought to do."
But a littlebefore our " Doth the master thank the servant which doth jxukexvii. the things that are commanded him to do ?"
The holy Lord said :
I do not despise the grace of coai.u. 21.] God : for if righteousnessbe of the law, then did Christ die apostle St Paul also crieth: in vain."
Again, in the gospel after St Luke, the Pharisee rmke xvui. is greatly blamed, which could not be content to put confidence in his own righteousness,but would needs boast of his merits also.
And Nabuchodonosor feltno littleplague for saying ["an. ifthat the kingdom of Babylon did come unto him by his own art, industry, power, and virtue.
By how much a greater punishment, therefore,shall we think them to be worthy of which are persuaded, and make their brags, that they by their merits have deserved or earned the kingdom of heaven ?
And yet all this doth not tend to the making void of A reward "
" given to good the stipend of good works, or to the denying of the reward worksthat is prepared for virtues: for he is true which promised, and what he promised he will perform.
Now he promised rewards to them that work righteousness : even as also according to his justice and truth he hath threatened terrible punishments to wicked and impenitent sinners.
But the promises of God are of two sorts ; to wit, they lay before our eyes the gifts and rewards of this present life,and of the lifeto come.
For the Lord hi the gospel after St Mark " Verily I say unto you, there is no man that "*"* doth say :
*" ". hath forsaken house, or brethren, or lands, for my sake [* So Coverdale, 1535.] [5quasi aquis nivis,Lat. ; as it were with.] ["at the well, not in Lat.] [7 abominabuntur me, Lat.]
THE THIRD DECADE.
[SERM.
and the gospel's,but he shall receive an hundreth-fold now at this present with persecutions; and in the world to come rsTim.iv. lifeeverlasting."
And Paul saith: "Godliness is profitable to all things,having promise of the lifethat is now, and of that which is to come.
This is a sure saying, and by all means worthy to be received.
For therefore we both labour and sufferrebuke, because we have our hope settledin the living God, "c."
And here it will do well to reckon up and cite the testimonies of scrif*ur'3, which do concern the reward of good works.
I will therefore recite a few, but such as shall be evident and pertainingto the matter.
The risai. iu. io, Lord in Esay crieth:
"Say to the just, that it shall go well with him ; for he shall eat the fruitof his study, or travail.
And woe to the wicked sinner; for he shall be rewarded according to the works of his hands."
In Jeremy we read : jjer. xxxi.
" Leave off from weeping ; for thy labour shallbe rewarded [Matt v. M.] thee."
And in the gospel the Lord saith: "Blessed are ye, when men speak all evil sayings against you, lying, for my sake.
Rejoice ye, and be glad ; for great is your reward " Glory, honour, [Bom. ii.10.]in heaven."
The apostle Paul also saith: and peace, to every one that worketh good, to the Jew first, [2 cor. v. 10.]and also to the Gentile."
Again:
We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may bear the deeds of his body, according to that which he hath done, " Every one shall whether it be good or bad."
And again : receive a reward according to his labour1."
TO whom the Now let us remember, that the reward is promised and promised?6 great gifts are prepared for them that labour manfully.
To sluggards and slow-backs are imminent the evils of this present life,and also of the life to come.
To them that strive lawfully the garland is due.
But if it happen that the reward be deferred, and that they which strive receive not the promises by and by out of hand ; yet letthe afflicted think that their afflictionstend to their commodity, and that they are laidupon them by their heavenly Father.
Let not their courage therefore failthem, but let them shew themselves men in the fight, and call to God for aid ; for " whosoever persevereth unto the end, he shall be saved."
Let every one call to his remembrance the old examples of the holy fathers,to whom many promises were made, the [Mattxxw.
[l1 Cor. Hi. 8 ; suara mercedem, Lat.]
CHRISTIAN
LIBERTY, WORKS, AND MERITS.
IX.] fruitwhereof they did not reap tillmany a day were come and gone, wherein they strove against and did overcome fullmany a sharp temptation.
The apostle Paul crieth:
" I [2Tim. ir. have fought a good fight,I have fulfilledmy course, I have kept the faith.
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness,which the Lord, the righteousjudge,shall give me in that day : not to me only, but to them also that have loved his appearing."
They must lay before their " Heaven and earth shallJjMatt. eyes the truth of God, who saith: xxtv. pass, but my word shall not pass."
The Israelites,verily, were a long time holden captive in Egypt : but the Lord did not forget his promise ; for in a fit and convenient time he set them out at libertywith abundant joyand glory for the triumph gotten over their oppressors.
The Amalechites and Chanaanites did a great while, I confess, exalt themselves in sin and wickedness ; but when the measure of their iniquity was fully filled,then were they throughly recompensed for their pains by him that is the severe revenger of unrepented wickedness.
The scripture therefore exhorteth all men to have sure hope, persevering patience, and constancy invincible: of which I spake in the third sermon of this third Decade.
To this place do belong, as I suppose, those excellentwords of St Paul, where he saith:
" It is a faithfulsaying : for if we be dead with him, we [2Tjm. u. n shallalso live with him : if we be patient,we shallalso reign with him : if we deny him, he also shall deny us : if we be unfaithful,he abideth faithful; he cannot deny himself."
" Cast not away your confidence, which hath And again : great recompence of reward.
For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye may receive the promise.
For yet a very littlewhile, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.
And the justshall live by faith: and if he withdraw himself, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
But we are not of them that withdraw ourselves unto perdition; but we pertain to faith, to the winning of the soul2."
Yet for allthis we must not abuse these and such likeWe muft not testimoniestouching the reward of works, nor the very name p^^ch of merits,where itis found to be used of the fathers; neitherreSSSVf16 must we wrest it against the doctrine of mere grace and800*5 P Heb. x.
39.
So Cramner, 1539.]
THE THIRD DECADE.
[SERM.
the merits of Christ our Saviour.
We must think that the kingdom of heaven and the other special giftsof God are Hire is due, but heritage proceedetn of the parents' good-will. not as the hire that is due to servants, but as the inheritance of the sons of God.
For although in the last day of judgment the judgeshall reckon up many works, for which he shall seem as it were to recompense the elect with eternal life; yet, before that recital of good works, he shall say :
Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you since the beginning of the world."
Now if [Matt.xxv. thou demandest, why he shall in the day of judgmentmake mention rather of works than of faith; mine answer is,that it is a point or usual custom in the law for judgmentnot only to be just, but also by the judge's pronunciation to have the cause made manifest to all men wherefore itisjust.And God doth deal with us after the order of men : wherefore he doth not only give justjudgment, but will also be known of allmen to be a justand upright judge. But we are not able to look into the faith of other men, which doth consist in the mind ; and therefore we judgeby their words and deeds.
Honest words and works bear witness of a faithful heart ; whereas unhonest pranks and speeches do bewray a kind of unbelief.
The works of charity and humanity do declare that we have faith in deed: whereas the lack of them do argue the contrary.
And therefore the scripture admonisheth us, that the judgmentshall be according to our works.
To thissense agreeth that in the twelfth of Matthew, where it is said,"By thy deeds1 thou shalt be justified, and by the same thou shalt be condemned."
To Abraham, after he had determined to offerhis son Isaac, it was said :
"Because [Gen.xxii.
16, 170 thou hast done this thing, and hast not spared thine only-begotten son, I will bless thee, and multiply thee exceeding "c."
But it is manifest that God made that promise to Abraham before Isaac was born ; yea, he made it as soon as Abraham was brought out of his country : therefore the promise was not now firstof allannexed as a reward unto the works of Abraham, "c.
Therefore God examineth our works according to his How or in what sense God issaid, to give a reward unto our nood work*. own favourable mercy, and not with the extremity and rigour of law ; and doth reward them with infinitebenefits,because they proceed from faith in Christ, albeit that, for the sin f1verse 37 ; but Bullinger'sLatin is ex dictistuis, by thy words.]
CHRISTIAN
LIBERTY, WORKS, AND MERITS.
IX.] which abideth in us, they be impure and nothing meritorious.
Now he doth hereby give us a proof that he hath a regard of us and our works ; because, in testifyingthe greatness of his love toward us, he doth vouchsafe so to honour not only us, but also his own giftsin us, which he of his great goodness hath graciously bestowed upon us.
Our bountiful God doth herein imitate the manner of dealing which fleshly fathers use in this world toward their children: for they bestow gifts upon their children as rewards of their welldoing, thereby provoking them to greater virtues,when as in very deed all things belong to the children by right of inheritance; and the true and proper cause of this reward, which the father giveth to the child,is not the obedience of the son, but the mere good-will and favour of the father.
Moreover herein are two things to be observed.
First, although God doth after the manner of men allure us with rewards, draw us on with gifts,and keep us in good works with manifold recompences ; yet must not the reward or recompence be the mark whereat the worker ought to look, respectingrather his own glory and commodity than the love and honour that he oweth to God.
God will be worshipped for love'ssake only ; and he willbe loved of mere good-will, and not for the hope of any reward.
For as he requireth a cheerful giver, so doth he look for such an uncoacted2 affection,voluntary love, and free good-will,as children do naturally bear to theirparents.
The lastis,that our works, which some call merits, are nothing else but the mere gifts of God.
Now he were a very unthankful person, which, when of another man's liberalityhe hath licence given to occupy his land to his bestcommodity, willat length go about to translate the right thereof from the true owner, which lent it him, unto himself.
But because I would be loath, by drawing out this treatise too far, to detain you longer than reason would, I will recite unto you, dearly beloved, a notable conference of places in the scripturemade by St Augustine, whereby ye may evidently understand and infer a conclusion,that the rewards of good works, or merits of the saints,are the very free and mere grace of God.
Therefore hi the seventh chapter of hisbook, De Gratia st Augustine et Liber o Arbitrio, thus he saith: "John the forerunner [auncoacted: uncompelled.]
THE THIRD DECADE.
[sERM.
menu of the our Lord doth say, 'A man can receive nothing, unless it [joim m.
27.]be given him from heaven.'
If therefore thy good works be the giftsof God, then God crowneth thy merits, not as thy merits, but as his own gifts. Let us therefore consider the merits of the apostle Paul, (thatis to say, the merits which he saith are in himself,) whether they be the giftsof God or ' fought a good fight,I have fulfilled ' I have,' saith he, r? Tim. iv. nomy course, I have kept the faith.' First of all,these good works had been no good works, unless good thoughts had gone before them.
Give ear, therefore,what he sayeth [2cor. ui.so of those good thoughts :
'not because we can think anything of ourselves, as of ourselves, but our ability is of God.v ' I have Then also letus considerevery several particularity.
' a good fight.' I demand, by what power he fought? whether by that which he had of himself, or fought,"1saith he, by that which was given him from above ?
It is unlikely that so great a teacher of the Gentiles as the holy apostle St Paul was should be ignorant of the law, which in Deu- ' Say not thou in thy heart, roeut viii. teronomy is heard to say :
Mine own strength and the power of mine own hand hath done thiswonderful thing : but thou shalt remember the Lord thy God, because he giveth thee strength and power to do it.' But what doth itavailto fightwell,unless the victory do ensue ?
And who, I pray you, giveth the victory, but ' Thanks be to God, ricor. xv. he of whom St Paul himself doth say, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ?'
And in another place, when he had cited the place out of the Psalms, where it is said, ' Because for thy sake we are killed allday, and are counted as sheep appointed to the ' But in all these things we overcome, or have the victory,through him [Rom viii. slaughter,'he did immediately add, and say : which loved us.'
We have the victory, therefore, not through ourselves, but through him that loved us.
After * I have fulfilledmy course.'
But as that again he said:
' It is not FRom. ix. he said this,so in another place also he saith: of the wilier,nor of the runner, but of God which taketh mercy.'
Which sentence cannot be by any means so inverted, that we may say, It is not of God which taketh mercy, but of the wilier,and of the runner.
For whosoever dare take upon him so to invert that sentence of the holy apostle,he doth openly shew that he flatlygainsayeth the
CHRISTIAN
LIBERTY, WORKS, AND MERITS.
IX.] ' I have kept the faith:' but in another place again he confesseth, saying, words of St Paul.
Last of all he said ; ' I have obtained mercy that I might be faithful.'
He said [icor. vit. not, I have obtained mercy because I am faithful; but, ' that I might be faithfulr1 declaring thereby that faith itselfcannot be obtained without the mercy of God ; and that faith is the gift of God, as he doth most evidently teach where he ' Te are saved by grace through faith; and that not of [EPh. ". s. saith, yourselves, it is the gift of God.'
For they might say, We have therefore received grace, because we have believed ; by that means attributing,as it were, faith to themselves, and grace to God : but, to prevent that insinuation,the holy ' By faith,'doth straightapostle St Paul, when he had said, ways add, 'And that not of yourselves, it is the giftof God.'
Again, lest they should say that they by their works did meritoriously deserve such a gift,he doth presently annex, ' Not of works, lest any man should boast.'
Not because he did deny or make void good works, considering that he saith, that God doth reward every man according to his works ; but for because works are of faith,and not faith of works.
And so by this means our works of righteousness proceed from him, from whom that faith doth also come, * The justdoth live by faith1.'" touching which it is said, [!Dicit et Joannes, precursor Domini nostri, Non potest homo accipere quicquam, nisifuerit ei datum de coelo ...
Si ergo Dei dona sunt bona merita tun, non Deus coronat merita tua tanquam merita tua, sed tanquam dona sua.
Proinde consideremns ipsa merita apostoli Pauli, " et videamus, utrum merita ipsius,tanquam ipsius,id est, ex ipso ei comparata, an dona sint Dei.
Bonum, inquit, certamen certavi, cursum consummavi, fidem servavi.
Primo, ista bona opera, si non ea prsecessissent cogitationes bonse, nulla esscnt.
Attendite itaque quid de ipsis cogitationibus dicat; ait enim scribens ad Corinthios, Non quia idonei sumus cogitaro aliquid a nobis, tanquam a nobismetipsis, sed sufficientia nostra ex Deo cst.
Deinde singula inspiciamus : Bonum, inquit, certamen certavi.
Qusero qua virtute certaverit, utrum quse illi ex semetipso fuerit, an quse desuper data sit?
Sed absit ut tantus doctor gentium ignoraverit legem Dei, cujusvox est in Deuteronomio :
Ne dicas in corde tuo, Fortitude mea et potentia manus mese fecit mibi virtutem magnam hanc ; sed memoraberis Domini Dei tui : quia ipse tibidat fortitudinem facere virtutem.
Quid autem prodest bonum certamen, nisi sequatur victoria?
Et quis dat victoriam, nisi ille de quo dicit ipse, Gratias Deo qui dat nobis victoriam per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum?
Et alio loco, cum commemorasset testi-
THE THIRD DECADE.
[sERM.
All this have I hithertoword for word recited out of St Augustine : wherein allthat may be said concerning the merits of good works are sufficientlywell contained, and so soundly confirmed by proofs of scripture,that I mean not to add any thing unto them : for I see it sufficientlymanifest for all to understand what and how the ancient fathers thought and taught of the merits of sinfulmen.
For what can be said more briefly,sincerely,and fully,than that a reward is prepared for the good works of men ? but yet that that reward is nothing else but the grace, and that the merits or good works of the saints are the gift1,of God ; which merits while he crowneth, he crowneth his own gifts. In all this therefore the ecclesiastical and apostolicdoctrineremaineth stillimmutable and unreprovable ; that we are justified and saved by the grace of God2 through faith,and not through our own good works or merits.
Good works We do now again return to good works, and are come to ^rordingto6 expound the descriptionor definitionof good works which we he word Of did set down in the beginning of thistreatise.Now therefore, monium de psalmo, Quoniam propter te mortiflcamur tota die, deputati sumus ut oves occisionis; subjecit atque ait, Sed in his omnibus supervincimus per eum qui dilexit nos.
Non ergo per nos, sed per eum qui dilexit nos.
Deinde dixit, Cursum consummavi.
Sed ille hoc dixit,qui alio loco dicit,Non volentis,neque currentis, sed miserentis est Dei.
Quae sententia nullo modo potest etiam sic converti ut dicatur, Non miserentis Dei, sed volentis atque currentis est hominis.
Quisquisenim hoc ausus fuerit dicere, aperte se ostendit Apostolo contradicere.
Postremo dixit, Fidem servavi.
Sed ille hoc dixit qui alibiait,Misericordiam consecutus sum ut fidelisessem.
Non enim dixit,Misericordiam consecutus sum, quia fideliseram ; sed, ut fidelis essem: hinc ostendens etiam ipsam fidem haberi nisi Deo miserante non posse, et esse donum Dei : quod apertissime docet dicens, Gratia salvi facti estis per fidem; et hoc non ex vobis, sed Dei donum est.
Possent enim dicere, Ideo accepimus gratiam quia credidimus, tan. quam sibi fidem tribuentes, gratiam Deo : propter hoc Apostolus cum dixisset, per fidem, et hoc, inquit, non ex vobis, sed Dei donum est.
Rursus, ne dicerent se suis operibus donum tale meruisse, continue subjecit, Non ex operibus, ne forte quis extollatur : non quia negavit aut evacuavit opera bona, cum dicat Deum unicuique reddere secuudum opera ejus; sed quia opera sunt ex fide,non ex operibus fides; ac per hoc ab illosunt nobis opera justitiae, a quo est ipsa fides de qua dictum est, Justus ex fide vivit.
Augustin. de Grat. et Lib. Arb. ad Valentin.; Opp.
Par.
1531, Tom.
VII. p. 268, coll.2, 3, capp. 6, 7.] P gratiam, Lat.j [2sola gratia Dei, Lat.]
CHRISTIAN
LIBERTY, WORKS, AND MERITS.
IX.] unless our works do spring in us from God through faith,they cannot have the name of good works : but contrarily, if they do proceed from God through faith,then are they also framed according to the rule of the word of God.
And for that cause did I in the definition of good works significantly say, that they are done of them which are regenerate by the good Spirit of God, through faith,according to the word of God.
For God is not pleased with the works which we of 8, without warourselves do of our own brains and authority rantise of his word, imagine and devise. For the thing that he doth most of alllike and look for in us isfaith and obedience, which is most evident to be seen in the very example of our grandfather Adam ; and contrarily,he doth mislike and utterly reject the works of our own choice and our good intents, which spring in and rise upon our own minds and judgments ; as I will by these testimonies of scripture declare unto you.
In the twelfth of Deuteronomy we read :
Every man Deut. xi shall not do that which is righteous in his own eyes.
Whatsoever I command you, that shall ye observe to do it: neither shalt thou add anything to it,nor take anything from it."
Moreover in the history of Samuel there is a notable example of this matter to be seen.
For Saul, the king of Israel, received a commandment to killall the Amalekites, with all their beasts and cattle: but he, contrary to the precept,through a good intent (ashe thought)of his own, and for a religious zeal'ssake of his own choosing,reserved the fattestoxen for to be sacrificed: and for that cause the prophet came and said unto him, "
Is a sacrificeso pleasant and acceptable to the "
^ Lord as obedience is?
Behold, to obey isbetter than sacrifice; " M and to hearken isbetter than the fat of rams.
For rebellion4is as the sin of witchcraft,and stubbornness6 is as the vanity of idolatry."
Lo, here in these few words thou hast the goodly praise and commendation of the religionof our own inventing, and of our own good works which do arise of our own good intents and purposes.
They which do neglect the precepts of the Lord to follow their own good intents and forecasts are flatlycalled6 witches, apostates, and wicked idolaters.
They [* et intentiono bona, Lat. omitted ; and good intention.] [4 apostasia sire rebellio, Lat.] [*vel nolle obsequi, Lat. omitted; or unwillingness to be obedient.] [" a veritate divina, Lat. omitted ; by the truth of God.]
THE THIRD DECADE.
[SEKM.
seem in their own eyes verily to be jolly fellows,and true "worshippers of God, and zealous followersof the traditionsof the holy fathers,bishops,kings, and princes : but God, which cannot lie,doth flatlypronounce that their works do differ nothing from witchcraft,apostasy, and blasphemous idolatry, than which there can be nothing more heinous by any means devised.
Therefore the Lord in the gospel,citingthat place out of Esay's prophecy, doth plainlycondemn, reject, and tread under foot all those works which we choose to ourselves, having their beginning of our own good intentsand purposes, LMi3Ui4 1' wnere he saith :
" In vain do they worship me, teaching doctrines the precepts of men.
Every planting, which my Father hath not planted,shallbe plucked up by the roots.
Let them alone ; they be blind leaders of the blind."
And theretut i. i4.j upon it is that St Paul did so boldly affirm,that the precepts of men are contrary to the truth, and are mere lies.
The " Whatsoever is not of faithis rRom. xiv. same Paul in one place saith, " Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." sin :" and in another place, Whereupon we may gather, that the works which are not framed by the express word of God, or by a sure consequence derived from it,are so far from being good works, that they are plainlycalledsins.
Enforce thou, I pray thee, never so great a good turn upon a man against his will,and see what favour thou shalt win at his hand, and how thou shalt please him with that enforced benefit.
Therefore good works do firstof allrequire the precise and express observing of God's will,to which alone they ought to tend1.
In his epistleto the Colossiansthe same apostledoth openly condemn the Greek eOeXoOprj"Keiav,that is, the voluntary religion which they of their own choice and mind brought in to be observed.
And what need have we, I pray you, to invent to ourselvesother new kinds of good works, consideringthat we have not yet done those works which God himself2prescribeth, and doth in express words require at our hands ?
By this now our adversaries may perceive,that we do not altogether simply condemn good works, but those alone which we, by rejecting the word of God, do firstset abroach by our own imaginations and fantasticalinventions: of which sort are many " tend, not in Lat.] [2jure,Lat. omitted ; of good right.] t1to which
CHRISTIAN
LIBERTY, WORKS, AND MERITS.
IX.] upstart works of our holy monks and sacrificingshavelings3.
But to conclude : the works that are repugnant to the word of God are by no means worthy of any place or honour.
And that we may more rightly perceive the sense or Good work* ,.
, * "
" j-v i lndeedmeaning of good works, we must in mine opinion diligently " We are created in Christ cEPh- "" 100 observe these words of the apostle:
Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."
He maketh here two notes concerning those that are good works indeed. The firstis, "We " created in Christ Jesus unto good works."
It doth therefore necessarily follow, that good works are are," saith he, wrought of him which isby true faithgraffedin Christ Jesu : for unless the branch abide in the vine,it cannot bring forth fruit.
All the works therefore of the unfaithful,howsoever they shine with the titleof righteousness,are notwithstanding not good works in very deed.
The latteris,"Which God hath before ordained, that we should walk in them."
We must not therefore make account, that all the works which men may do are to be counted good works indeed ; but those only which God hath ordained of old that we should walk in them.
Now what works those be, the Lord in his law (which is the eternalwillof God)hath very plainlyexpressed.
And thereupon it is that the Lord in the gospel,being demanded questions concerning eternal lifeand the very true virtues, sendeth the demander unto the law, and saith: "What is[Lukex.se.] written in the law?"
And again; "If thou wilt enter intoIj^att xu. life,keep the commandments."
Therefore the ten commandments are a most sure and absoluteplatform of good works : The ten comwhich that ye may the better understand, I will brieflyrea
, , .
" fo capitulate,and as it were in a picture lay it before your workseyes.
To the firstprecept thou shalt refer the fear,the faith, and love of God, with assured hope, perseveringpatience,and constancy invinciblein trouble and afflictions.To the second belongeth the true and sincere worship wherewith God is pleased,with the utter refusalof allsuperstitionand perverse religion. Upon the third doth depend the reverence of God's majesty, the freeconfessionof his might, the holy 4 invocation of his name, and the sanctification of the same.
In the fourth [3monachorum et sacrificorum, Lat.] [4et perseverantem, Lat. omitted; and enduring.]
[BULLINQER,
11.]
THE THIRD DECADE.
[sERM.
is comprehended the moderate conservation of the ecclesiastical ceremonies, the preaching of God's word, public prayers, and whatsoever else doth belong to the outward serviceor external worship due to God.
To the fifththou mayest annex the natural love of childrentoward their parents,of men toward their country and kinsfolks,the due obedience that we owe to the magistratesand allinauthority,and lastly,the officesof civilhumanity.
To the sixth thou shaltjoinjustice and judgment, the protection of widows and orphans, the deliveringof the oppressed and afflicted, well-doing to all men, and doing hurt to no man.
To the seventh thou shalt add the faith of wedded couples,the officesof marriage, the honest and godly bringing up of children,with the study of chastity,temperance, and sobriety.
To the eighth is to be reckoned upright dealing in contracts, liberality,bountifulness,and hospitality.
Under the ninth iscouched the study of truth through all our life-time,faith in words and deeds, with decent, honest, and profitable speech.
In the tenth and last thou mayest remember good affections,holy wishes, with ah1holy and honest thoughts.
And so this is the compendious platform of good works.
Now ifthou desire to have it more brieflyexpressed than this that thou seest, then turn thyself,and hearken to the words of Christ our Lord, who gathereth these ten into two " Thou shalt love the Lord thy ^ii.?2'.]and God with allthy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy [Matt xxii. principalpoints,and saith: mind ; and thy neighbour as thyself.
Whatsoever therefore ye would that men should do to you, even so do ye to them." what be Upon these precepts of the Lord all the faithful,which fi^rydwd, desire to do good works, must surely fix their eyes and thTtesu?minds, and that too so much the more diligentlyand conmoniesof 11-1 . t^ancumt stantly as they do more surely and evidently perceive and see, that God in the law and the prophets doth requirenothing else nor any other works at the hand of his electand chosen servants.
Go to now therefore,let us hear out of the holy prophets some such evident testimoniestouching good works as do consent and wholly agree with the law of the Lord.
" And now, Israel,what doth roeut x.
12, Moses in Deuteronomy crieth: the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, and to walk in all his ways, to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with allthy heart and with all thy soul; that thou keep the commandments of the Lord, and his ordi-
CHRISTIAN
LIBERTY, WORKS, AND MERITS.
IX.] nances, which I command thee this day ?"
And the kingly prophet David in the fifteenthPsalm asketh this question :
"Lord, who shall dwell in thy tabernacle?" and presently answereth it himself, saying:
"Even he that walketh uprightly, and doth the thing that is justand right ;" and so forth, as it is contained in the ten commandments.
Esay also,in his thirty-thirdchapter, moveth the same question, and answereth it even so as David had done before him.
Jeremy, in the twenty-second chapter,doth urge and reiterate these words to the Jews :
" Thus the Lord commandeth : keep equity and righteousness,deliverthe oppressed from the power of the violent,do not grieve nor oppress the stranger, the fatherless,nor the widow, and shed no innocent blood in thisplace." And Ezechiel,in his eighteenth chapter,knitteth up a beadrow1 of good works, in no point unlike to these, saving only that itissomewhat more largely amplified.
In Osee the Lord saith: "I desire mercy2 more than sacrifice, [Hoseavi.6.] and the knowledge of God more than whole burnt-offerings."
Micheas doth diligentlyinquire what the worshipper of God CM'c.vi. 8.3 should do to please him withal,and what works he should do to delight the Lord ; and immediately, by the inspirationof the Holy Ghost, he maketh answer, saying :
" I will shew thee3, O man, what is good ; and what the Lord requireth of thee : namely, to do justly, to love mercy, and with reverence to walk before thy God."
In like manner the prophet Zachary, to them that demanded of him certain questions touching virtues and such good works as please the Lord, gave this answer, saying:
"Thus saith the Lord of hosts ; rzech. vu. 9, .
, .
, . i 10 J and viii.
Execute true judgment, shew mercy and loving-kindnessevery n-i man to his brother : do the widow, the fatherless,the stranger and the poor, no wrong : let no man imagine evilin his heart against his brother : neither be ye lovers of falseoaths : for these are the things which I do hate, saiththe Lord."
With this doctrineof the prophets doth the preaching of the evangelists and apostles fully agree, teaching in every place that charity, righteousness, and innocency are the scope and sum of allgood works.
The apostle James saith:
"Pure religionand undefiledbefore God and the Father isCJames1.27.1 t1 catalogum, Lat.] [2beneficentiam, pietatem seu misericordiam, Lat.] [3So Corerdale's Bible, 1535, and the Vulgate.] 23"2
THE THIRD DECADE.
[SERM.
this,To visitthe fatherlessand widows in theiradversity,and to keep himself unspotted of the world."
TO what end It remauieth now for me to draw to an end, and in the nustbe rest that is yet behind to be spoken touching the description of good works to confer places of the scripturefor the confirmation and plain expositionof the same.
Now therefore we said,that good works indeed are wrought by them that are regenerate,to the glory of God, the ornament of our life,and the profit of our neighbour.
For the Lord in the gospel " Let [Matt.v. 16.]prescribeth this end to good works, where he saith: your lightso shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."
The apostle Paul also oftener than once, exhorting us to good works, doth, as a most effectualcause to set them forward, " That by those works of ours we may adorn the doctrine [Titu. 10.] add : of our Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus."
And even as a comely and cleanly garment adorneth a man, so do good works indeed set forth the life of Christian people.
For hereupon it riseth,that the apostles of Christ did so often [Eph. iv. 22 persuade us to put offthe old man, and put on the new which "24
; Col. iiL f ...
9. """] iscreated in the similitudeand likenessof God.
For thereby we obtain both honour and glory ; we both are, and are called,the servants, yea, and the sons of our Lord God, whose property and virtue shineth in us, to the glory and praise of his holy name.
And as he doth require good works at our hands, so, if we do them, we on the one side do please and delight him, and he on the other doth honour us again : as may be proved by many testimoniesof the holy scripture.
But the thing itselfisso plainand without allcontroversy,that itneedeth no businessto prove itat all. He, verily,doth every minute augment in us his gifts,while we are intentiveto do " To every one that hath shallbe given,and he shallabound ; and from him that hath not shall be taken even that which he hath, and shall be given to him that hath."
To thisalso may be added, that God is favourable to them that work righteousness,and doth 2Matt xxv. good works ; for in the gospel he saith: enrich them even with many temporal gifts,and at the last bring them to lifeeverlasting. For the apostle Paul doth " God shall reward every man according to Bom. u. expressly say : his deeds ; to them which, by continuingin well-doing,seek for glory, and honour, and immortality, eternal life;" and
CHRISTIAN
LIBERTY, WORKS, AND MERITS.
IX.] "
Glory, and honour, and peace, to every one that again, worketh well:" although the godly in all their good works do not (asI told you before) respect so much the recompence and reward at God's hand, as the advancement of God's glory, the fulfilling of his will,and the profitof our neighbour.
For " Do allthings to the glory of God :" and again, Paul saith:
'* Let no man seek his own, but every one another's profit: [icor. x.
31, even as I do in all things please all men, not seeking mine own commodity, but the profit of many, that they may 'be saved."
Therefore all the godly do so direct and temper their works, that they may please,delight,and honour God, and profit many men ; for in so doing they express, or represent, the nature of God, whose sons they both are, and are also called; for he doth liberallypour out his benefitsupon allcreatures ; and thereforehis sons are beneficialand bent to do good to allmen.
Thus much had I hithertoto say touching the nature or property, cause, end, and effect,that is,the very true and l, of good works : by which I hope it2 is evident to be perceived, how and in what sense the Lord in the right meaning scripturesis said to attributethe name of righteousness and justification3 unto the good w'orks of the saintshis servants
: and that true principle4 of our religion remaineth5 firm and unreproveable, wherein -we confess and hold that "we are justified by the grace of God for Christ his sake through faith,and not for works."
Now therefore there is nothing more behind but thisonly ; for us to make our humble petition to God for true faith in Christ our Lord, and that by his grace he willso guide us, that we may now in works put that in practicewhich hitherto we have been taught in the words of this treatise6; that is to say, that we may hi good works indeed express the faithwhich we in words profess that we have in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen7.
[iratione, Lat.] [2etiam illud,Lat.] [3mercedemque reddore, Lat. omitted ; and to render a reward.] [4orthodoxum et primarium dogma, Lat.] [5nihilominus, Lat. omitted ; notwithstanding.]
[6de bonis operibus, Lat. omitted ; concerning good works.] [' The greater part of this ninth Sermon is extracted from Bullinger'streatise,De yera hominis Christian! justiftcatione, which, dated at Zurich, August 1643, forms the preface to his Commentary on the Gospel of St John.]