Faith Justifies Us Before We Can Bring Forth any Good Work, Treatise · Part 22
THis do ād thou ſhalt lyve Luc. x. that is to ſay / love thy lorde God with all thy hert / with all thy ſoule / ād with all thy ſtrengh / ād with all thy mynde / ād thy neighboure as thy ſelfe. As who ſhuld ſaie / if thou do this / or though thou canſt not do it / yet if thou fealeſt luſt ther vntounto / & thy ſprite ſigheth morneth / and longeth after ſtrength to do it / take a ſigne and evident token thereby that the ſprite of lyfe is in the / and that thou art electe …o life everlaſtinge by Chriſtes bloude / whos gift and purchaſe is thy fayth and that ſprite that worketh the wyll of God ī the / whos gift alſo are thy deades or rather the deades of the ſpirite of Chriſt and not thine / and whos gift is the rewarde of eternall lyfe which foloweth good workes.
It foloweth alſo in the ſame place of luc. when he ſhuld depert / he plucked ou… .ij. pēce / and gave them to the hoſt / and ſayd vntounto hym Take the charge or cure of hym / and whatſoever thou ſpendeſt more I will recompenſe it the at my cominge agayne. Remēbre this is a parable / and a parable maye not be expounded word by worde. But the entent of the ſimilitude muſt be ſought out only in the whole parable. The entēt of the ſimilitude is to ſhowe to whom a man is a neighboure or who is a mans neyghboure (which is both one) ād what it is to love a mās neyghboure as hym ſelfe. The Samaritane holpe him and ſhewed mercy as lōge as he was preſent / ād when he cowld be no lenger preſent / he left his monye behinde him. And if that were not ſufficient / he left his credēs to make good the reſt / ād forſoke him not / as longe as the other had neade Then ſaid Chriſt go thou and do like wiſe / that is / without difference or reſpection of perſons who ſo ever neadeth thy helpe / him count thy neighboure / ād his neyboure be thou ād ſhewe merci on hī as lōge as he neadeth thy ſoccoure / and that is to love a mans neyboure as him ſelfe. Neyghboure is a worde of love and ſignefieth that a man ſhuld be ever nye and at hand and readie to helpe in time of neade.
They that will enterpret parables worde for worde fall in to ſtraytes oft times / whēce they can not rid thē ſelfes. And preach lies in ſteade of the trueth. As do they which ēterpret by the twoo pence the old teſtament and the newe / & by that wich is beſtowed / Opera ſupereroga…ionis. How beit ſuperarogancia were a meter terme. That is to ſaye / deades which are moare then ye lawe requireth / deades of perfectiō & of liberalite / which a mā is not bownde to doo / but of hys fre will. And for thē he ſhall have ā heyer place in hevē / & may give to other of his merites: or of which ye pope after his death maye gyve pardons▪ from the paynes of purgatorye.
Againſt which expoſiciō I anſwere. Fyrſt a gretter perfection thā the lawe / is there not. A gretter perfection thē to love God ād his will / which is the cōmaundementes / with all thine hert / with all thy ſoule / with all thy ſtrength / with all thy mīde / is there none. And to love a mās neiboure as hī ſelf / is like y• ſame. It is a wonderfull love where with a mā loveth hym ſelfe. As glad as I wold be to receave pardon of mine awne life (if I had deſerved deeth) ſo glad ought I to be to defēde my neybours life whith out reſpect of my life / or of my good. A mā ought nether to ſpare his goodes nor yet hī ſylf for his brothers ſake / after the enſample of Chriſt .i. Iohn. iij. Here in ſayeth he / perceave we love / in that he (that is to ſaye Chriſt) gave his lyfe for vsus. We ought therfore to beſtowe our lives for the bretherne. Now ſayth Chriſt Iohan .xv. there is no gretter love than that a man beſtowe his lyfe for hys frende.
More over no man cā fulfyll the lawe. For (Ihon ſayth .i. Chapter of the ſayd piſtle) if we ſaye / we have no ſinne / we deceave our ſelves & trueth is not ī vsus. if we knowleage our ſinnes he is faithfull & righteous to forgeve vsus our ſinnes / & to purge vsus frō all iniquite. And in y• pater noſter alſo we ſay father forgeve vsus oure ſinnes. Now if we be all ſinners / none fulfilleth ye lawe. For he that fulfilleth y• law is no ſinner. In the lawe maye nother Peter nor Paulener any other creature ſave Chriſt ōly reioyſe. In the bloude of Chriſte which fulfylled y• lawe for vsus maye every parſon that repenteth bileveth / loveth the lawe ād morneth for ſtrē gh to fulfyll it reioyſe / be he never ſo weake a ſynner. The two pence therfore and the crede n… that he left behynde hym / to beſtowe more if neade were / ſignefieth that he was every where mercyfull / both preſent and abſent / with our faynīge / cloking / cōplaynīge / or excuſinge ād forſoke not his neyboure as lōge as he had neade. Which exemple I praye God men maye folowe & let / opera ſuperrogationis a lone