The Fortieth Sermon, which is the eighth upon the fifth Chapter - Ephesians 5:25-27
doctrine of salvation that our lives may always be fashioned after His law, according to the measure of the grace which we have received from Him.
And so let us all say, Almighty God, Heavenly Father, etc.
The Fortieth Sermon, which is the eighth upon the fifth Chapter.
25. Ye husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church, and gave Himself for it.
26. To sanctify it, cleansing it in the washing of water through the Word.
27. To make it to Himself a glorious Church, without spot or wrinkle, or anything else, but that it might be holy and unblamable.
We have seen this morning how large a matter of glorifying the infinite goodness of our God we have, if we consider by what means
He has drawn us from death and taken us for His children, notwithstanding that we were cursed before in Adam. And now Saint
Paul sets forth how we are made partakers of the grace that is purchased for us by our Lord Jesus Christ: namely, by being washed
and cleansed from our spots, to the end to be dedicated to His service in all holiness.
He also adds the washing of water, because Baptism is a visible figure and record unto us, according to our rudeness and infirmity, to make us the better to perceive the grace of our God, which passes all understanding of man.
Now, first of all, there is the word sanctify, which implies that we should be separated from the world to be knit unto the Son of God.
And this doctrine is such that we can never know it enough. For (as I have said before) we must always compare the state wherein God finds us with the state whereto He calls us. For from our mothers' wombs we are nothing but utter wretchedness; we are cursed and detestable before God. Therefore, He draws us out of the dungeon of death: from there does He gather us up to Himself. And by the word sanctify, Saint Paul means the change which ought, as it were, to ravish and astonish us, as often as we consider what we were, and what we should still be if God did not pity us.
But let us come to the meaning that I spoke of. He says that our Lord Jesus Christ has washed us. No doubt, but this is to be referred to His death and passion. For how could we appear before God as it were with our countenances upright, but that our sins are done away by the sacrifice that was offered to set us at one with God? Until we are washed and scoured clean by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are fouler before God than any leper: we are full of all manner of filth and infection; and, to be short, all that we can bring shall but provoke God's wrath, and the virtues that men esteem greatest shall be but loathsomeness. Therefore, we must embrace the sacrifice whereby our Lord Jesus Christ has reconciled us to God His Father,
and His blood must flow down upon our souls to cleanse us from our filthiness and spots.
Nevertheless, it is not without cause that Saint Paul sets us down baptism here—not that we are made clean by that, nor was it his meaning to turn us aside from the death and passion of our Lord
Jesus Christ. But forasmuch as we are dull and gross and do not understand spiritual benefits as well as were requisite, therefore
Saint Paul, conforming himself to our rudeness and infirmity, has shown us here our washing by a visible sign.
That we may better profit ourselves by this manner of speech, let us consider to what end baptism was ordained and whereunto it serves.
When our Lord Jesus Christ commanded us to be baptized in His name, did He mean to turn away our faith from His bloodshed? Did
He mean that baptism should take the place of His death and passion, to perform the office of our salvation? No, surely. For baptism is but an income and an appendant to the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ; and if it did not direct us thither, certainly it would be but a trifling ceremony. The same is to be said of the Lord's Supper. When we come to partake of the bread and wine, which are the pledges of the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, although in that supper we are truly fed with the meat and drink mentioned in the sixth of Saint John (that is to wit, that our Lord
Jesus Christ makes us partakers of the truth of His own substance, to the end that His life should be common unto us), yet notwithstanding, if the supper were separated from the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, it would be a thing of nothing.
And indeed we see also what the promise contains: "This is my body," says He, "which is given for you" (Luke 22:19). True, it shows well what our ordinary food is; but therewithal, He sends us also to
His death and passion. For had He not made satisfaction for our sins and shed His blood to wash away our spots, what would it avail us now to have baptism and His supper ministered and given unto us?
We see then, that to use baptism well, and according to the institution of the Son of God, we must not set our minds upon the corruptible and transitory element. For what is the water?
If it stands but one day, it will corrupt; and how then can it cleanse our souls forever and give us a purity that shall continue after death, though we ourselves turn to rottenness? If this power cannot be in the water, we must of necessity repair to the death and passion of our
Lord Jesus Christ. And indeed the water also is a figure of His blood and of His Holy Spirit. Then let us mark that our Lord Jesus did then wash us when He shed His blood whereby He cleansed us. That is the means whereby we may resort unto God with full trust that we shall be received as righteous and perfect, because He lays not our sins to our charge. Mark that for one point.
Now (as Saint Peter says in his first Epistle), we are washed with the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, by the Holy Ghost. We see then that we have the substance and truth of our salvation in the person of the Son of God. Moreover, we have to note also that He communicates
Himself unto us and thereby puts us in possession and fruition of all His goods through the power of the Holy Ghost.
How is it, then, that Saint Paul has made no mention here of the blood that cleanses us and of the working of the Holy Ghost? It seems that he has forgotten the chief thing and busies himself about a matter that is very small. I have told you already that he did not mean to abridge anything that belonged to the Son of God, that we should not seek the whole fullness of our salvation in Him alone and settle our faith solely upon Him; neither did he mean to dispossess
the Holy Ghost of His office. Rather, he had respect for our infirmity.
And that is the reason why he sets down the sign by which the thing that (of itself) is too high and too far hidden from our understanding is set before our eyes. That is the essence of what we are to bear in mind.
From this declaration, we may receive a very profitable lesson in general: that is to say, the true and lawful use of sacraments is to lead us directly to our Lord Jesus Christ; otherwise, we make them but idols. Therefore, in popery, baptism is but a charm, because they think there is no salvation except by the water. I will pass over the things they have added of their own devising, for they have corrupted and marred the very institution of Jesus Christ by mingling baptism with the superstitions that are known. But let us suppose they used nothing else but pure water; yet, it is a devilish opinion that baptism is able of itself to save us. For by that means, our Lord Jesus Christ is as good as thrust away, so as they make no account of Him. They stand gazing upon the visible sign and are, as it were, utterly bewitched by it. The same applies to all the rest of their ceremonies.
So much the more, therefore, does it stand us in hand to bear this lesson in mind: that to apply the sacraments to their right use, and to such use as God allows and ordains, they must guide us to our Lord
Jesus Christ. Just as in baptism, we see but the water, but thereby we must be lifted up higher to the blood of the Son of God, assuring ourselves that it is not the water that makes us clean, but that it is only a warrant of the washing that was obtained for us when our
Lord Jesus Christ was crucified for us.
In the Supper, we have bread and wine. Now, to hold ourselves to that which is set before our eyes would be to withdraw ourselves from Jesus Christ. Therefore, our faith must be lifted up and
conveyed to Him in whom all the parts of our salvation are enclosed.
Forasmuch then as we have the whole perfection and fullness of all good things in the only Son of God, it is to Him that we must look up and labor to attain when the sacraments are set before us, for that is their very office. Otherwise, we pervert all, and it is, as it were, a profaning of the thing that God has hallowed for our benefit if our
Lord Jesus Christ is separated from the visible signs.
We have also to note that we do not communicate with Jesus Christ but by the grace of the Holy Ghost. Yet, notwithstanding, let us not scorn the helps that our Lord has ordained for us, because He knew them to be necessary for our infirmities. Why are we not taught simply that if we run to our Lord Jesus Christ, in Him we shall find our washing and cleansing? It seems that this ought to suffice us and that the water of baptism is but a veil to keep us from coming unto
Jesus Christ.
Yes, but let us consider a little what our own rudeness is. If we had the minds of angels, we would no longer need this outward baptism than the angels do. But as we are earthly, and it is hard for us to attain unto God and the secrets of His heavenly kingdom, it is for our benefit to be helped in this manner. It is a wonderfully gracious goodness of God that He stoops to our infirmity and supplies it with suitable and convenient remedies. Thus, baptism does not hinder us from coming to the Son of God (so long as we are able to apply it to our benefit) or keep our faith from aiming at Him; rather, without it, we would remain here and waver continually as if floating in water.
But when we see how water is cast upon the child's head, we ought to remember the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ and consider that just as water washes away the filth of the body, so the blood of our Lord
Jesus Christ is the very cleansing of our souls.
Now, as for the inworking of the Holy Ghost, we know it is likened to water because He makes us partakers of the benefits purchased for us by our Lord Jesus Christ. Again, because by His grace and working, we are renewed, die to the world, and all our own corruption is put away, that we should come to the newness of life, which is obtained for us by the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
All this must we behold in baptism.
Likewise, the Supper must serve us as a ladder to climb up to our Lord Jesus Christ and be thoroughly confirmed that He dwells in us and that we are made one with Him so that He quickens us as the branches of a tree, which take their strength from the root, and as the body of man, which draws its strength from the head. The thing we must mark upon this point is that the sacraments do not turn us away from the trust we ought to put wholly in our Lord Jesus Christ, nor cause us to stray aside, but that being persuaded by them that Jesus Christ suffices, we find all our contentment and rest in Him, to the end also that all the honor which belongs to Him is given unto
Him. For it is not for us to deprive Him of that which His Heavenly Father has given Him. Let that serve for one point.
That is also why Saint Paul says, "having cleansed it." Then he ascribes the dignity of cleansing us to our Lord Jesus Christ. It is true that if He had not been appointed to be the Mediator, He could not have done it, for it is a work altogether belonging to God. But since
He was sent to that end and had that office committed unto Him, therefore we are washed by Him. Indeed, it is not only in His human nature that we are washed by His blood, but we must also bear in mind how the Apostle in the Epistle to the Hebrews says, "He suffered in spirit" (Hebrews 9:14). How in spirit? That is to say, His death must not be considered as if a mere man died, but we must understand that He is in such wise the Son of God manifested in the
flesh as He has shown His everlasting power. And although there appeared nothing but curse in His death, yet ought we to understand that He worked in that respect with a wonderful power that surpasses all our understanding and all that we can conceive.
You see, then, that Saint Paul has well confirmed what I told you: that is to say, all our faith is but a wavering and vanishing opinion until it is so grounded in our Lord Jesus Christ that it rests wholly there and neither swerves nor staggers one way or another. For as soon as we go about adding one thing or another to our Lord Jesus
Christ, surely He shakes us off as unworthy to have any part or portion of His benefits. Therefore, we must leave Him that which is
His own: that is, that He alone cleanses us, according also to His mere grace, that we have all righteousness before God.
And Saint Paul's speaking of baptism (as I said before) is to the end that we, considering our own ability, should bend ourselves to confirm our faith by these means which are beneficial for us. For he that rejects baptism as superfluous does well to reveal that he knows not himself. Insomuch that when we have well examined what is in us, it is certain that even the perfectest shall find themselves inclined to unbelief and to many doubts, as you would marvel. They shall see themselves feeble and weak, and subject to infinite temptations. So then, it must needs be that a man is too much blinded by pride when he thinks that baptism can serve him in no stead.
Considering, therefore, what need we have to draw near to God by certain degrees, let us make account of baptism and the holy Supper, and let them always be means to guide us to Jesus Christ.
Again, it is not without cause that Saint Paul matches the word and the washing of water together. For (as I have touched on before), to be so drawn away by visible things that instead of looking up aloft,
we are held down below, is too common a vice, and so deeply rooted in us that it is very hard to be plucked up. God, pitying man's weakness, has at all times (as you would say) come down to them; not by changing His place (for His being is infinite, and His majesty fills both heaven and earth), but by making Himself familiar unto them, as if He were conversant with them (Isaiah 66:1).
And for that cause did He term His temple His house, His dwelling place, and His rest, and said that He dwelt between the Cherubim; however, that was not to harden the people in their superstitions. To what end then? He meant to draw them to Him by little and little, who were unable to come to Him at the first dash. For where are the wings that we should fly above the clouds withal? But our faith must fly up above the heavens. So then, God meant to relieve men's infirmities by ceremonies, sacraments, and such other things.
But the vice, on the contrary part, has shown itself too much; that is to wit, that men have taken occasion to hold themselves down and to entangle themselves in ceremonies; and whereas they should have lifted them up, they have abused them by turning them to the clean contrary. And that is the cause also why the prophets were continually occupied in rebuking the Jews, for they thought that God had dwelt in the material temple.
"How now?" (says Isaiah) "Has not the Lord made all these things?
Has He not created both the stones and the wood? And will you shut Him up within them? Does He not fill all the heavens? And the earth is not able to contain Him. And yet, notwithstanding, you would lock
Him up in some cabin of your own building" (Isaiah 66:1-2).
Whereby he shows that it is too gross a folly for men to snare themselves in visible figures, ceremonies, and sacraments, and to dwell upon them, whereas they should be led unto God. Now,
forasmuch as this has reigned in all ages, Saint Paul, to redress it, says that we have our washing warranted in baptism under the figure of water. Yes, but yet we must have an eye to the word, says he.
For if there were no teaching to show us that we find the things in our Lord Jesus Christ which are represented to us in baptism, and that it is in His person that we have the full performance and assurance of them, certainly baptism would turn us away from God, and it would be better to have none at all. For it would be an evil thing if we should be withdrawn from the Son of God to give ourselves to the corruptible world.
Therefore, let us beware that we do not separate the sacraments from the word at any time. And hereby we see what Christianity there is in a number of people. For all is well with them if they are baptized; neither do they consider that having the sign without the promise added to it is but a deceitful and unprofitable thing. To what purpose does a seal serve when it is set only to a piece of leather, or to bare parchment, paper, or cloth? Surely, it serves no purpose, for it ought to confirm and ratify some evidence, whether it be of a gift or otherwise.
So it is with the sacraments when they are not matched with the word. A man shall see a seal there, but to no purpose, for he shall see no benefit come of it. And surely, those who continue still doting in their ignorance because they were baptized as soon as they came into the world, show therein too lewd an unthankfulness; for they falsify
God's truth as much as they can. If a man should counterfeit a seal, it would be felony, even if it were in a case of five shillings. But those who are so drowned in their ignorance that they cannot abide to be drawn out of it are falsifiers and forgers in a matter more valuable than all the world. For here the case concerns the ratifying of the
things that have been purchased for us by the death and passion of the Son of God, as has been declared already.
Furthermore, let us mark also that Saint Paul speaks of the word that is full of instruction and edifies our faith. For the pronouncing of some words is not enough. If a man should say, "I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost," and think that the virtue and power of baptism were enclosed in those words, it would be an abuse, and truly it could not serve us but for a charm and enchantment.
But the word is the promise whereby our Lord Jesus Christ has told us that He is verily given to us to be our righteousness, to the end that all our sins should be covered and buried in His obedience, and all our spots washed away by His cleanness. Therefore, when we once have this promise and know what things are brought to us by the only Son of God, then is the water matched with the word. And we ought so much the more to note this, because we see how Saint Paul says in another place to Timothy that not even our meat and drink can be sanctified but by the word (1 Timothy 4:5).
True it is that bread, wine, water, and all other things are pure in respect of their creation by God; however, we cannot use them without turning them to uncleanness, and without committing felony against God. But by His word, says he, whereby all things are made holy unto us. And how is that? By teaching us that God shows
Himself to be our Father, having a care for us to maintain and feed us; and also by telling us that all these things are given to us to the intent that by using His liberality, first, we should be provoked to serve and honor Him, and to be ravished in love of Him; and secondly, be confirmed in the hope of the heritage that is promised to us. For seeing He makes us feel His goodness beforehand in this
world, it is certain that when we come to the glory whereunto He calls us, we shall then have our fill of the good things, whereof there is but some little taste shown to us as yet. You see then that all the benefits which we receive for the body are made holy by the word.
And what shall be done then in things concerning the everlasting salvation of our souls? Is it not much more reasonable that they should be sanctified by the same word?
Now then, to be short, we see that the Papists are destitute of the power of the sacraments through their own misbelief, because they have robbed our Lord Jesus Christ of His power and virtue and conveyed over His prerogative unto corruption and dead things.
Therefore, God has so blinded them through His rightful vengeance that they think themselves to have the sacraments still, but yet without the word. For example, indeed in baptizing, they mumble enough, and they make their conjurations and charms, and all in an unknown language; but yet their speaking is rather to the devil than to the godfathers and godmothers that are there to answer for the teaching of the child and for the common instruction of the whole
Church.
To be short, in Popish baptism there is not the word, and therefore (as much as in them lies) they have abolished baptism. Yet, notwithstanding, God has not suffered the remembrance of His goodness to be utterly put away, like as in the time of the Law, although the priests were idolaters, and had preached false doctrine, and had imbrued the simple people with many errors and false opinions. Yet notwithstanding, circumcision was not changed in the times of Hezekiah and Josiah, when things were redressed, and God's service set in its right state. And why? Because it had been ordained of God, and it was not lawful to have taken the sign of His
covenant utterly away. But it behooved them to forsake all the income that had been put to by Satan's policy.
Even so, say I now, that in the Papacy there is not the word of God, as in respect of those that pretend to minister the sacraments. And yet we do not refuse to receive the thing that is witnessed unto us in baptism, though we were infected with much filthiness. But we must renounce the cream that was administered unto us, and all the other wicked trash, and retain the pure institution of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Furthermore, let us understand that our baptism, as we received it then, would have been unavailing; nay, rather, it would have been a cursed treachery if we had gone no further than so. And why? For we would have been perverted, and we would have falsified the ordinance of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In like case is it with the Supper. In truth, there is no supper remaining nowadays in Popery. For that which they call God's Table is a flat mockery and reproach to the death and passion of our Lord
Jesus Christ, because it is knit in an inseparable bond with the Mass, and we know that the Mass is an utter renouncing of the sacrifice that was made by the Son of God. However, although they used some convenient resemblance to the institution of our Lord Jesus Christ, yet for all that, they do not have the Word.
For they mumble between their teeth in their consecrating (as they term it) of the spiritual sacrament, which they have perverted. How do they use it? They prattle over the bread and blow upon it to change it into the body of Jesus Christ, at least to their seeming.
Also, they chatter over the Chalice and bear themselves on hand that all is changed there, and that they have made such an alteration as though they were able to create a new world. For it is much more to make a piece of bread become the Son of God than to have created a
whole world. But Satan has so bewitched the Papists that they believe they do all that.
And by what power? Not by God's Word. However (as I said), the Word that Saint Paul treats of here is not a bare sound, but a teaching that edifies our faith, so that we receive the promise that is made to us there and apply it to our use, to the end that in Baptism the water may serve as a warrant of our spiritual washing. Also, when we receive the bread and the wine in the Supper, it is an infallible pledge unto us that we are nourished with the very substance of the Son of God, so that his flesh is our meat, and his blood our drink.
You see then that the Word is required.
As touching the huge and confused heap of things that the Papists have in all their ceremonies, and especially as touching their five sacraments, which they have forged and devised out of their own heads: there is no Word of God at all in them. For what promise have they for their anointing, as they term it? No doubt, they can devise enough of it; but where shall a man find any whit of it in the Scripture? In the same plight are all the rest.
As for marriage, it shall be treated of at another time, because Saint Paul makes mention of it later on. However the world goes, we see that the Papists have falsified the sacraments, and they can now receive no profit by them because they have put asunder the things which God had knit together. So much the more, therefore, does it stand us in hand to remember the thing that Saint Paul tells us here: that is to say, that we be well washed in Baptism, accordingly as Ananias says to Saint Paul, "Wash away your sins." And how? By Baptism (Acts 22:16). Even to show that the washing of us with the water which we see is not a vain or deceivable figure, but that Jesus
Christ does indeed accomplish the thing that is shown before our faces.
Therefore, we must bear that well in mind. Yet, the Word is requisite withal, without which all that men can set forth concerning ceremonies is but abuse and deceit, though it be countenanced with the name of God a hundred thousand times.
Furthermore, Saint Paul adds that our Lord Jesus Christ's washing and cleansing of us is to set us as excellent and singularly beautiful before His own face. For the understanding hereof, let us note that we are washed not only through the forgiveness of our sins, when they come not to account before God, but also when we are renewed by the Holy Ghost to fight against all the temptations of the world and to mortify the vices of our flesh and all the froward affections to which we are too much wedded.
You see then that it is a double grace that we receive from our Lord Jesus. That is to say, because He has satisfied for us and discharged us of our debts, we come before God as righteous. For our sins are not laid to our charge, but we are reconciled freely, at least as in respect of ourselves, though it is by the ransom that Jesus Christ has offered. Yet, it is not meant that God will have us left alone still in our uncleanness, but that He also intends to draw us to Himself by His Holy Spirit.
Therefore, it follows of necessity that the foresaid washing should be matched with regeneration. And that is the cause why Saint Paul affirms that Jesus Christ has washed us, to the end that we should excel in beauty, yea, and be unblamable also before Him. Now, whereas he sets us forth to be honorable or glorious (for so does the word which he uses import), he has an eye back to the things which he treated of before, concerning men and their wives. For now he
goes forward in treating of the spiritual wedlock that is between the Son of God and us, of which he will speak yet more at length hereafter.
Therefore, just as a man will love his wife when she is to his liking, so Saint Paul tells us in this text that the Son of God will like well of us if we wear the badges that He gives us: that is to say, first, if upon the knowledge of our own wretchedness, we humble ourselves to seek the pardon that He has purchased for us, to the end that being acquitted at God's hand, we may call upon Him with full trust. That is one point. Also, that we are renewed by His power, so that we do not follow our worldly lusts or give liberty to our wicked affections, but rather fight against ourselves and labor to put away more and more the things that we have of ourselves, that God may reign and live in us, and we be governed by His Holy Spirit, so that our life may be nothing else but a yielding of obedience to His holy will.
You see then what beauty will make us acceptable to the Son of God: namely, not the beauty that is adorned with corruptible deckings, but the beauty which comes by being cleansed of all our stains through faith and by being so sanctified by the Holy Ghost that we may live continually as new creatures. That, in effect, is the thing that we have to bear in mind.
For where it is said that Jesus Christ is given to us to be our redemption, Saint Paul declares therewithal how it is done, namely, because (says he) He is given to us to be our wisdom, righteousness, and holiness (1 Corinthians 1:30). And why to be our wisdom? That all our wits might rest upon Him, and not wander from Him one way or another. Again, He is given to us to be our righteousness, to the intent that there should not be any spot or wrinkle in us when we should appear before the face of our God, but that the blood of Jesus
Christ should be sufficient incorruptness for us. Also, He is given to us for our sanctification or holiness, to the intent that we should be renewed by His Holy Spirit. And whosoever separates these things one from another intends to rend Jesus Christ in pieces, as much as lies in him.
Now then, would we be partakers of the spiritual washing, whereof Saint Paul treats here? Let us ensure that we are holy and that we walk in pure conversation before God. Not that it can be done by our own power or cunning, but all is attributed here to Jesus Christ, and Saint Paul shows that it is His office to make us so excellent. For it is certain that when men will need to come to it with presumptuousness, they may well enforce themselves, but yet they shall be never the nearer; but as for us, we must only suffer our Lord
Jesus Christ to work in us by His Holy Spirit. And by that means, we shall be passing beautiful, that He may have delight in us.
And for the same cause also, he says that He may present unto Himself a beautiful and glorious Church. In saying so, he declares that all the outward show and glittering appearance that we can have toward the world is but smoke, and that we must have a purity of heart. He could have said, "Our Lord Jesus has cleansed His Church, to the intent it should be pure and righteous," but he intended to express that our purity or cleanliness is not to please the sight of the world, that we may be praised and commended here below, as hypocrites are, whom men gape and gaze at from a great distance, clapping their hands at them, and esteeming them holier than the angels. Rather, it is much better for a man not to be so precise, but to walk plainly, and if there be imperfections in him, to let them be known, and yet to hold on his full pace still, having the fear of God unfailingly in him all the while.
Wherefore, following this instruction of Saint Paul, let us learn to set ourselves in the presence of the Son of God; and when it comes to the ordering of our life, let us look to Him, knowing that either we must be approved there, or else we gain nothing by being exalted and commended here beneath. Though men may have a marvelous opinion of us, all (I say) shall be but mere vanity and falsehood until we have ruled and framed our life in such a way as if we walked before the face of the Son of God, albeit that in very deed nothing can be hidden from Him. This is what we have to remember further.
Now, when Saint Paul says, "to the end that the Church should be without spot or wrinkle, and unrebukable in holiness," he does not mean that this is accomplished and performed in us already, nor that it can be as long as we are encompassed with this body. For it is like a prison and bondage, and we drag our shackles after us continually while we are here beneath. And although we have profited well in the fear of God, yet must we always say with Saint Paul that we are held in a miserable bondage and cannot serve God but in part, as it were
(Romans 7:24).
However, Saint Paul also meant to show simply whereunto we are called, to the intent we should hasten thitherward all the time of our life. Now then, what is the end of our redemption? Wherefore are we reconciled to God? Wherefore are we made clean by the blood of our
Lord Jesus Christ? Wherefore also are we sanctified and regenerated? It is to the intent that we might, in the end, be unblamable before God. And what in this world? There will always be much to be blamed and found fault with; but let us be contented that our sins shall not be laid to our charge.
This is well worth noting because there was a group of malicious and lewd people in old times who surmised an angelic perfection in their
minds, as though men might attain to a full and perfect righteousness in this world. That was an abolishing of the covenant that God has made with us, wherein consists our salvation. For therein are two inseparable points: the forgiveness of sins and the new birth, as it is said in Ezekiel 37 and Jeremiah 13, and in effect, everywhere. These things, then, cannot be put asunder, namely, that God does so receive and adopt us that we need still to have our sins forgiven until we are rid quite and clean of all earthly corruption; and again, that we must go forward daily in newness of life.
But there are yet still those incarnate devils who would abolish the remission of sins, insomuch that they dare slander us by saying that we hold men still to their Apsie when we make them believe that they must needs be sinners still. Nevertheless, it is certain that whosoever will be a Christian must needs be a sinner. This is strange at first sight, but yet it is moved so by the Holy Ghost (1 John 1:8). It is Saint
John who speaks it, but the doctrine is God's. "If we say," says he, "that we have no sin, we make God a liar, and His truth is not in us."
Then, if we imagine ourselves to be so holy that we have no more sin in us, shall God be a liar for our fancies' sake?
Also, if we will be Christians, ought we not to be Christ's disciples?
And if we are desirous to learn in His school, is not the manner of praying unto God His Father the principal point which He teaches us
(Matthew 6:9)? And what does He show us there?
Forgive us our offenses. We beseech God daily to forgive us the great multitude of our sins. Now, if any man intends to erase this petition of asking forgiveness for our faults, that same person forsakes the school of Jesus Christ. Let us understand, then, that in this world we cannot be without spot or wrinkle, but we must be cleansed little by little, and the vices to which we are prone must be corrected
gradually until we come to the perfection that is spoken of in the first chapter.
To be short, as long as we are in this world, since we have so many sins and vices in us, let us be careful in praying to God to show
Himself always merciful towards us and in bearing with us by forgiving our misdeeds. Yet, at the same time, let us take heart to fight against all our vices, to yield ourselves obedient to our God, and to use force and determination to subdue all our passions and lusts until we have gained the upper hand over evil, even though we cease not to commit it. Although sin dwells in us, yet let it not reign in us.
Thus, you see how we must continue daily in this exercise of presenting ourselves before God with all humility, beseeching Him to pardon our offenses, and yet still strive to make progress in the renewal that is spoken of here until we are wholly fashioned like unto the righteousness and glory of our God.
Now, let us fall down before the majesty of our good God, with acknowledgment of our faults, praying Him to make us feel them more and more, that we may be sorry for them, and so strive to follow His service, that we may show by our deeds, all our life long, that He has not redeemed us in vain from the tyranny of Satan and set us at liberty, even to serve Him with a free will and to give ourselves wholly to the glorifying of His holy name.
And let us beseech Him also to grant us the grace to so taste the benefits which He bestows upon us, that they may provoke us more and more to glorify Him, and that it may be our continual exercise and study to sing and preach His praises always, to acknowledge how greatly we are bound and indebted to Him. By this means, our Lord
Jesus may so reign over us that we may be linked to Him in an