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AFter thou hast thus, some space, like a gil∣tie & suppliant suter, prostrated thy selfe at the feet of thy iust and righteous iudge, and art driuen vnto such a straite and narrowe issue, that thou canst not any
manner of wayes denie, but that thou hast deserued, and art most woorthie of all terrible and eternall punish∣mentes, and with the feare of this iudgement, art verie sore a mazed, terrified, and perplexed, yea altoge∣ther mortified, & brought to deathes brinke: the next waye and remedie for thee nowe is, by fayth in the mer∣cies of God, to rayse vppe thy selfe a∣gaine, meekely and humbly crauing pardon of thy sinnes and misdeedes. Vnto this humble prostrating of thy selfe, thou wast both profitably and necessarily driuen through humble confession of thy sinnes, and meeke contrition of thy heart. But nowe thou must take heede and beware, that by consideration of the seueritie of Gods iudgements, thou bee not vtter∣ly discouraged, & dashed out of coun∣tenance, and thereby enter into any dispaire, diffidence or distrust of the goodnesse of God. It shall be very re∣quisite therefore for thy comfor, and as a soueraigne salue and cordiall me∣dicine against this inconuenience, to lay downe before thee, some holesome and health some doctrine, howe thou shalt haue ful remission and foregiue∣nesse
of al thy sins through faith in Ie∣sus Christ. Cain acknowledged & con∣fessed his sinne, and being therefore in minde marueilously troubled, graun∣ted it to be most greeuous and hay∣nous. Iudas likewise openly condem∣neth himselfe for his great guilt and treacherous crime in betraying his maister, publiquely testifying and pronouncing Christ to bee iust and innocent; and further restoreth backe the money which hee had receiued. What will ye saye, lacked in him here to be done more? And yet neyther of them both obtayned pardon of their sinnes: & why? forsooth because this free & franke confession of their sinnes was not accompanied with a liuely fayth and vndoubted trust in the mercies of God, for pardon and forgiuenes thereof. Contrariwise Pe∣ter bewayled, and wept bitterly for his sinne, but yet so, that in the meane while he shrūke not frō his firme faith, And therefore within a while after, he receiued a singular comfort and spe∣ciall consolation from the mouth of Christe himselfe; after his resurrecti∣on. Therefore it is out of all doubt, that faith is altogether and necessarily
behoouefull to all true & penitent sin∣ners, wherewith they may raise vp thē selues againe, being throwen downe with the burden of their offences. And nowe, howe truely sorrowfull and re∣pentant sinners may by fayth, againe be raysed vp, we will plainely and eui∣dently declare.
Faith is a sure and stedfast trust, whereby we assure our selues that god will performe vnto vs all those things that he hath promised, chiefely and specially, spirituall benefites, and in them, remission of our sinnes; and righteousnesse in Christ & for Christ. Which is confirmed by the authour of the Epist, to the Heb, in these wordes. Faith is the grounde of thinges which are hoped for, and the euidence of thinges which are not scene. The interpretation and exposition of which description (so farre as concerneth the vse and practise thereof) who so is desirous to know, may see set down in the 4. chap. of the Epist. to the Rom. Wherein af∣ter the Apostle had sayde that Abra∣ham was iustified by faith, and that the inheritaunce of the worlde was giuen to him through fayth; he afterwarde addeth, that this reuerend and blessed
Patriarch had respect vnto the good∣nesse and power of God, whereby hee quickeneth the dead, & calleth those things which bee not, as though they were: And therefore that aboue hope, that he should be the father of many Nations, according to that which was spoken to him. So shall thy seede be. And be not weake in this fayth, considered not his owne bodie, which was now dead, being almost an hundreth yeares old, neither the deadnesse of Saraes wombe: Neyther did he doubt of the promise of God through vnbeliefe, but was strengthened in the fayth, and gaue glorie to GOD, being fully assured, that hee which had promised, was also able to doe it, and therefore it was imputed to him for righteousnesse. &c. Hereby may euery one easily perceiue that faith vndoubtedly beleeueth that those thinges shall be perfourmed, and through the goodnesse and power of God be brought to passe, which other∣wise seeme neuer possible to bee per∣formed; that faith doth alwayes looke into the promises and power of God: and finally, that faith is an assured, certaine, vndoubted, and inuincible perswasion, conceiued of the good∣nesse and power of God, whereby this glorie is ascribed, attributed, and en∣titled
to God, that hee both will and also can saue vs. All which are signi∣fied in that vsuall and accustomed fourme of confession, which euerye one priuately vndertaketh and pro∣nounceth for himselfe, saying: I be∣leeue in God. For in these fewe wordes is set foorth and contayned the whole summe and signification of fayth.
Nowe heare and marke in fewe wordes, howe thou art iustified by fayth. Euen as the Apostle teacheth vs, that Abraham was iustified by fayth, without workes, and that his fayth and sure perswasion of Gods goodnesse and power was imputed to him for righteousnesse: so must thou make thy reckoning (whosoeuer thou bee that acknowledgest thy selfe a greeuous sinner, and that thou art guiltie of the manifolde breache of Gods law, and that thou hast no good workes of thine owne to oppose and set against the seueritie of Gods iudg∣ment) that thou likewise and in the same sorte, shalt bee iustified by faith without workes, as the Apostle in that Chapter euidently and plainely testi∣fieth. He sayth there also further, that it is not written for him onely, that it was
imputed to him for righteousnesse, but also for vs, to whom it shalbe imputed for righ∣teousnesse, which beleeue in him that ray∣sed vp Jesus our Lorde from the dead: who was deliuered to death for our sinnes, and is risen againe for our iustification. This therefore is required at thy hand (see∣in thou hast no manner of helpe in thy selfe, whereby to obtayne thy sal∣uation, eyther by thine owne workes or any others) that thou conceaue a sure and vndoubted fayth, and a sted∣fast and firme perswasion of the good∣nesse and power of God: and that thou be fully perswaded, and throughly as∣sured in thy conscience: that God the father, will receiue thee againe into fauour, that he will pardon & forgiue thee thy sinnes, and that he will iusti∣fie and make thee righteous for his sonne Iesus Christ, as he by his owne expresse words, by his holy Prophets, and last of all, by the same his belo∣ued sonne, hath graciously promised. For if from the bottome of thy heart, thou vnfaynedly beleeue the promi∣ses of God touching this matter made vnto the holy fathers of olde, be thou assured that thou art in the kings high way to iustification and saluation.
These promises haue euer from the beginning of the worlde hither∣to beene euidently continued, and shall to the worldes end be most faith∣fully and truely perfourmed. Imme∣diately after the transgression and fall of our first parentes Adam and Eue, this promise of Christ was made vnto them, when as the Lorde spake vnto the serpent. I will put ••nmitie betweene thee and the woman, and betweene thy seede and her seede: he shall breake thine head. Afterwarde he spake vnto Abra∣ham, saying: In thy seede shall all Nati∣ons of the earth be blessed. Which pro∣mise is excellently expounded by the Apostle, to signifie and to be meant of Christ. This promise was likewise made vnto Dauid, that of his seede and posteritie, Christ the Sauiour of the worlde should be borne. Many o∣thers of the Prophetes besides did most clearely and manifestly prophe∣sie and foretell of Christes comming, and of righteousnesse by him onely to bee obtayned. Isaiah in his 53. Chapter, after manie notable spee∣ches of Christs humiliation & death, hath lastly these wordes: Hee shall see fruite of the trauayle of his soule,
and shall bee satisfied: by his knowledge shall he iustifie manie: for hee shall beare their iniquities. To be shorte, manie figures, signes and types, acertay∣ned, insinuated and represented vnto mens mindes, those thinges which were to be done & finished by Christe for our iustification: the brasen ser∣pent was set vpon a poale in the wil∣dernesse, and sundrie sacrifices by the Israelites vsed, were figures of Christ, and foreshewed both his com∣ming in the fleshe, & his death which hee shoulde suffer for our instificati∣on.
Now that thou maiest knowe, how for Christ, and in Christ our sinnes are pardoned and forgiuen vs, and righ∣teousnes imputed vnto vs, thou must looke into his death, which hee suffe∣red to pacifie and satisfie the wrath of God the father for our sinnes. This singular benefite, and vnspeakable act of Christe, together with the most so∣ueraigne vertue and efficacie of the same, is in many places both of the olde Testament and of the new, nota∣bly described. For this his death and passion was figured and foreshewed by the types and sacrifices before ex∣pressed.
This death and passion of our Sauiour and redeemer Christe, was most excellently, pithily, and cleere∣ly set out and foretolde by the Pro∣phet Isaiah in the Chapter afore re∣cited. And Christ sayth himselfe: This is the bloud of the new Testament which is shed for you and for manie, for the remissi∣on of sinnes. By the death and bloud∣shed of Iesus Christ, we are sayed, in many places of scripture to be sancti∣fied and clensed from our sinnes. In an other place also the Apostle speaking of Christ, sayth:a He gaue himselfe for vs, to be an offering and a sacrifice &c. In this sort therefore, and after this man∣ner, doth our heauenly father (being pacified and pleased with vs through the death of Christ) forgiue and par∣don our sinnes, and imputeth vnto vs his righteousnesse.
But thou wilt saye; howe knowe I, whether this merite of Christe, this remission of sinnes, and this gift and imputation of righteousnesse for Christ, be beneficiall, profitable, and applyable to mee or no? For we must euer stande in feare and doubt, least wee be excluded from the participa∣tion of those so vnestimable benefites,
as Christ brought and wrought. But to answere thee in this case, and be∣cause thou shalt not be vnfurnished of a stayed perswasion herein, be thou thus assured, that the worde of God doeth most plainly direct and point thee to sundry places, and alledgeth vnto thee manifolde textes and rea∣sons, whereby thou mayst vndoub∣tedly knowe that thy sinnes are forgi∣uen thee for Christs sake, if thou doest earnestly repent thee of thy wicked∣nesse, and withall beleeue that God the father for Christ his sonne, will receiue thee into fauour, and forgiue thee thy sinnes, in this thy beleeuing, be thou sure thou shalt obtaine par∣don and remission of all thy sinnes and offences, which the scripture doeth in many places testifie and de∣clare. Abraham beleeued God, & it was imputed to him for righteousnesse. Which sentence, the Apostle in his Epistle to the Romans, namely in his fourth Chapter, vseth for his theme, or prin∣cipall ground-worke to his whole discourse of this matter there by him handeled. The author of the Epistle to the Hebrewes affirmeth, that all the holy fathers, and Patriarches in
the olde time, were in this sort iusti∣fied by faith. In the Gospel after Iohn; it is in sundry places by expresse words saide, that so many as beleeue on the name of Christ, shalbe saued, shall haue life e∣uerlasting, and shall neuer come into con∣demnation. The Apostle Peter also witnesseth the same, saying: To him (euen Iesus Christ) geue the Prophets witnesse, that through his name all that beleeue in him, shall receiue remission of sinnes. In another place also Paul & Silas, to the same effect, said to the Iai∣lers whom they conuerted. Beleeue in the Lord Iesus Christ, and thou shalt be saued. Also to the Romans out of the prophet Abacuc. The iust shall liue by his faith. Againe, The righteousnes of God by the faith of Jesus Christ, is vnto al, and Vpon all that beleeue. Againe, all are iustified freely, by his grace, through the re∣demption that is in Christ Iesus, whome God hath set foorth to be a reconciliation through faith in his bloud. And againe, Therefore we conclude that a man is iusti∣fied freely without the workes of the lawe, Yea, in the thirde to the Galatians, in the second to the Ephesians, the third to the Philippians, and the thirde to Titus, it moste manifestly appeareth,
and is moste plainly shewed, that by faith onely in Christ, without any wo••kes of our owne, ey∣ther coucurring, or fur∣thering, we are free∣ly iustified. ∵
Thomas Newtonus, Ce∣streshyrius.
Gen. 4. 13.
Mat. 27. 3.
Mat. 26. 75▪
Mar. 14. 72.
Luc. 22. 92.
Joh. 18. 25▪
Joh. 20. 15.
Heb. 11. 17
Rom. 4. 17.
Gen. 15. 5.
Rom. 4. 5.
Gen. 3. 58.
Gen. 22. 1.
Gal. 3. 19.
••. Sam. 7. ••2.
Psal. 132. ••1.
••say. 9.7.
••ere. 23. 5.
Mat. 17. 5.
Act. 13. 23.
••sa. 53. 11.
Num. 21. 9.
Joh. 3. 14.
Exod. 2. 48.
Heb. 9. 9.
Isa. 53.
Mat. 26. 28
Mar. 14. 24
Rom. 4. 25.
Eph. 1. 7.
Collos. 1. 14
Heb. 13. 12
1. Iohn. 1. 7.
Eph. 5. 20.
Gen. 15. 6.
Heb. 11.
Ioh. 1. 12. & 3. 15. & 36. & 47.
Act. 10 43
Act. 13. 31
Rom. 1. 17
H••bak. 2. 4
Rom. 3. 22
Ver. 24.
Ver. 28.
Gal. 3. 7.
Ephes. 2. 8.
Phil. 3. 6.
Tit. 3. 5.