The Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 3 · Chapter 22
¶The .xxii. Chapiter. A confirmation of this doctrine by testimonies of the Scripture.
AL these things which we hauehave set are not without controuersie among many, specially the free election of the faithfull: which yet can not be weakened. For the common sort do thinke that God, as he foreseeth that eueryevery mans deseruinges shalbe, so maketh difference betwene men: that therefore whō he foreknoweth that they shalbe not vnworthy of hys grace, them he adopteth into place of children: and whoes natures he espyeth that they wil be bent to wickednesse and vngodlinesse, them he appointeth to the damnation of death. So by cloking it with the veile of foreknowlege they do not only darken election, but faine that it hath beginning from ells where. And this opinion receiued of the commō sort is not the opinion of the common sorte alone: for in al ages it hath had greate mainteiners. Whiche I doe plainly confesse, to the entent that no mā should trust that it shall muche hurte our cause if their names be obiected against vsus. For, the truthe of God herein is more certaine, than that it may be shaken: more clere, than that it maye be darkened with y• authoritie of men. But some other neyther exercised in the Scripture, nor worthy of any voyce, doo rayle at thys doctrine wyth greater maliciousnesse, than that their frowarde pryde oughte to be suffered. Because God choosing some after hys owne wyl, leaueth other some, they picke a quarel against hym. But if the thing it selfe be knowē for true, what shal they preuaile with brawling against God? We teach nothing but that which is approued by experience, that it was alway at libertie for God to bestowe hys grace to whome he will. I will not enquire wherby the posteritie of Abraham excelled other, but by that vouchesauing, wherof there is foūde no cause ellswhere than in God. Let them answere why they be men rather than oxen or asses. Whē it was in the hande of God to make them dogges, he fashioned them after hys own image. Wyll they geue leaue to brute beastes to quarell wyth God for their estate, as thoughe the difference were vnrighteous? Truely it is no more righteous, that they should enioy the prerogatiue whiche they hauehave obteined by no deseruinges, thā for God diuersly to deale abrode his benefites according to the measure of hys own iugement. If they skippe ouer to persones, where the inequalitie is more hateful to them, at the least at the example of Christe they oughte to be afrayed to prate so boldly of so hye a mysterie. He is conceiued of the sede of Dauid, a mortall man: by what vertues wyll they say that he deserued to be in the very wombe made the hed of Angels, the onelyonly begotten sonne of GOD, the image and glorie of the Father, the lyghte, righteousnesse, and saluation of the worlde?De corrept. &. grat. ad. valent. cap. 15. De bono perseue. cap. vt. De. ver. apost. sermo. viii. Ephe. i.iiii. Thys thing Augustine wisely noted, that in the very hed of the Chirche is a moste clere mirror of free election, lest it should troble vsus in the members: and that he was not by ryghteously liuing made the sonne of God, but that he had so great honor freely geuen hym, that he myght afterwarde make other partakers of hys gyftes. Here if any man aske why other were not the same that he was, or why all we are so farr distante from hym, why all we be corrupte and he purenesse: suche a man shall bewraye not onelyonly hys madnesse but therewithall also hys shamelessnesse. But if they goe forward to labor to take from GOD the free power to choose and refuse, let them also take away that whiche is geuen to Christe. Nowe it is worth the trauayle to consider what the Scripture pronounceth of eueryevery one. Paule verily, when he teacheth that we were chosen in Christe, taketh away all respecte of our owne worthinesse. For it is al one as if he had sayd: because in the whole sede of Adam ye heauēly father founde nothing worthy of his election, he turned hys eyes vntounto hys Christ, to thoose as it were members out of hys body them whome he would take into the felowship of lyfe. Lett thys reson then be of force among the faythfull, that we were therefore adopted in Christe into the heauenly inheritance, because in our selues we were not able to receiue so greate excellence. Whiche also he toucheth in an other place, whē he exhorteth the Colossians to geuing of thankes,Col. l.xii for thys that they were by God made fytt to be partakers of the estate of the holy. If electiō goe before thys grace of God, that we be made fitt to obteyne the glorie of the life to come: what shall God hymselfe nowe fynde in vsus, wherby he maye be moued to elect vsus?Ephe i.iiii. My meaning shal yet be more openly expressed by an other sayeng of hys. He hath chosen vsus (sayeth he) ere the fundaciōs of the world were layed, according to the good pleasure of his will, that we might be holy, and vnspotted, and vnreprouable in his sight: where he setteth the good pleasure of God against al our deseruinges whatsoeuer they be.
That the profe may be more strong, it is worth the labor to note al ye partes of that place, which being coupled together doe leaue no doute. Where he nameth the elect, it is no dout that he speaketh to the faithful, as he also by and by afterwarde affirmeth. Wherefore they doe with to fowle a glose abuse that name, whiche wrest it to the age where in the Gospel was first published. Where he sayth that they were elect before the beginning of the world, he taketh away all respect of worthinesse. For, what reason of difference is there betwene them whiche yet were not, and those which afterwarde should in Adam be egall? Now if they be elect in Christ, it foloweth yt not only eueryevery man is seuered without hymselfe, but also one of them from an other, forasmuch as we see that not al are the members of Christ. That which is added, that they were elect that they might be holy, plainly cōfuteth the error which deriueth election from foreknowlege, forasmuch as Paule cryeth out against it and sayth that whatsoeuer vertue appeareth in men, it is the effecte of electiō. Now if a hyer cause be sought, Paul answereth, that God hath so predestinate, yea and that according to the good pleasure of his will. In which wordes he ouerthroweth whatsoeuer meanes of their electiō men do imagine in themselues. For he also teacheth that whatsoeuer thinges God geueth towarde spirituall lyfe, they flowe out of thys one fountaine, because God hath chosen whom he would, and ere they wer borne he had seuerally layed vp for them the grace which he vouchesaued to geue them.
But whersoeuer this pleasure of God reigneth, there no works come to be considered. He doth not here in dede pursue the comparison of cō traries, but it is to be vnderstanded such as he himselfe declareth.ii. Timo. i.ix. He hath called vsus (sayth he) wt a holy calling, not according to our workes, but according to hys purpose and the grace which is geuen vsus of Christ before the tymes of the world. And we hauehave alredy shewed that al dout is takē away in this which foloweth, that we might be holy and vnspotted. For if thou say, because he foresawe that we should be holy, therefore he chose vsus, thou shalt peruert the order of Paule. Thus therefore thou mayest safely gather. If he chose vsus that we might be holy: then he chose vsus, not because he foresawe that we would be such. For these two thinges are contrarie the one to the other: that the godly hauehave it of election that they be holy, and that they come to it by meane of woorkes. Neyther is their cauillation here any thing worth to which they commonly flee, that the Lord doth not render the grace of election to any workes going before, but yet graunteth it to workes to come. For whē it is sayd that the faythfull were chosen, that they might be holy: therewithall is signified that the holinesse which was to come in them toke beginning at election. And how shall thys sayeng agree together, that those thinges which are deriued from election gaue cause to election? The same thing which he sayd he semeth afterwarde to confirme more strongly, where he sayth, According to the purpose of his wil whiche he had purposed in himselfe.Eph. i.v. For, to say that God purposed in hymselfe, is as much in effect as if it had ben said, that without himselfe he considered nothing wherof he had any regarde in decreing. Therfore he by & by addeth, that ye whole summe of our election tendeth to this ende, that we shoulde be to the prayse of the grace of God. Truely the grace of God deserueth not to be praysed alone in our electiō, vnlesse our election be free. But free it shal not be, if God in electing his, doe consider what shalbe the workes of eueryevery one. Therfore we fynde that ye whiche Christ sayd to hys disciples, hath place vniuersally among al the faythful, Ye hauehave not chosen me,Iohn xv.xvi. but I hauehave chosen you. Where he not onelyonly excludeth deseruinges past, but also signifieth that they had nothing in themselues why they should be chosen, if he had not preuented them then wt hys merciemercy. Lyke as thys sayeng of Paul is also to be vnderstode: Who first gaue to him,Rom. xi.xxxv. and shal receiue recompense? For he meaneth to shewe that the goodnesse of God so preuenteth men, that it fyndeth nothing in them neither past nor to come, wherby he may be wonne to be fauourable to them.
Now to ye Romaines, where he fetcheth thys questiō further of, and foloweth it more largely,Ro. ix.vi. he denyeth yt al they are Israelites, which are issued of Israel: because although by ryght of inheritance they were all blessed, yet the succession did not egally passe to them al. The beginning of thys disputation proceded of the pryde and deceitful glorieng of the Iewishe people. For whē they claimed to themselues the name of the Chirch, they would hauehave the credit of the Gospell to hang vpō their wil: as the Papistes at thys day would gladly wyth thys fained color thrust themselues into ye place of God. Paul, although he graunt that the ofspryng of Abraham is holy by reson of the couenaūt, yet affirmeth yt the most parte of them are strangers in it: and that not onelyonly because they …warue out of kynde, so that of lawful children they become bastardes, but because the speciall election of God standeth aboue and reigneth in the hyest top, which alone maketh ye adoption therof sure. If their owne godlinesse stablished some in the hope of saluation, and their owne fallyng away alone disherited other some: Paul verely should both fondly and vnconueniently lift vp the reders euen to the secrete election. Now if the wil of of God (the cause wherof neither appeareth nor is to be sought without hymselfe) maketh the one sorte differing from the other, so that not al the children of Israel be true Israelites, it is vainly fayned that eueryevery mans estate hath beginning in hymselfe. Then he further foloweth the mater vnderunder the example of Iacob and E…au. For when they bothe were the sonnes of Abraham, bothe together enclosed in one mothers wombe, it was a monsterlyke change that the honor of firste birth was remoued to Iacob, by whiche change Paul affirmeth that there was testified the election of the one and the reprobation of the other. The originall and cause of it is enquired, whiche the Teachers of foreknowlege wyll hauehave to be sett out in the vertues, and vices of men. For thys is an easy shorte way wyth them, that God shewed in the persone of Iacob, that he chooseth the worthy of hys grace: and in the persone of Esau, he refuseth them whom he foreseeth to be vnworthy. Thus they saye boldly. But what sayeth Paule? when they were not yet borne, and had not done any good or euell, that according to election the purpose of GOD mighte abyde:Ro. ix.x… not of workes, but of hym that calleth it is sayed, The elder shall serue the yonger: as it is written, Iacob I hauehave loued, but Esau I hauehave hated. If foreknowlege were of any force in this difference of the brethren, then verily mention were vnfittly made of the tyme. Let vsus graunt yt Iacob was chosen, because he had worthinesse gottē by workes to come: to what purpose should Paul say that he was not yet borne? And this now should be vnaduisedly added, that he had yet done no good: because this shalbe a redy answer, that nothīg is hidden from God, and that so the godlinesse of Iacob was presente before hym. If workes do win grace, they shold then worthily hauehave had their price before that Iacob was borne as if he had ben growen to full age. But the Apostle goeth forwarde in vndoing this knot, and teacheth yt the adoption of Iacob was not made of workes, but of the calling of God. In works he enterlaceth not the time to come or time past: & then he directly setteth them against ye calling of God, meaning by stablishīg of the one expresly to ouerthrow the other: as if he had sayd that it is to be considered what hath pleased God, not what men hauehave brought of themselues. Last of al it is certayne that by the wordes of Election and Purpose, al causes whatsoeuer men are wont to faine ellswhere than in the secret counsel of God, are quite remoued from thys mater.
What color wil they bring to darkē these things, who in electiō assigne some place to workes either past or to come? For this is vtterly to mocke out yt which ye Apostle affirmeth, yt the difference of the brethrē hangeth not vponupon any consideration of works, but vponupon ye mere calling of God: because it was put betwene them whē they wer not yet borne. Neither had he ben ignorant of this their sutteltie, if it had had any soundnesse in it: but because he very wel knewe, yt God can foresee no goodnesse in man, but yt which he hath first determined by the benefit of his election to geue him: he fleeth not to yt vnorderly order, to set good workes before the cause of thēselues. Thus hauehave we by ye words of ye Apostle that the saluation of the faythful is founded vponupon the wil of the only electiō of God: and that the same fauor is not gotten by workes, but cometh of free calling. We hauehave also as it were an image of that thing sett before vsus. Esau and Iacob are brethrē, issuing bothe of one the same parētes, enclosed yet bothe in one wombe, not yet brought out into the world. In them al thinges are egal, yet of them ye iugement of God is diuerse. For he taketh the one, and forsaketh the other. There was nothing but the only first birth, by right wherof the one excelled the other. But this also being passed ouer, that thyng is geuen to the yonger which is denied to the elder. Yea and in other also God semeth alway as of set purpose to hauehave despised first birth, to cutt of from the fleshe al mater of gloryeng. Refusing Ismaell, he cast hys mynde to Isaac. Plucking backe Manasse, he more honored Ephraim.
If any mā interrupt me with sayeng that we must not by these inferior & smal benefites determine of the summe of ye lyfe to come, that he which hath ben aduaunced to ye honor of first birth, should therefore be reckned to be adopted into the inheritance of heauen: (for there be some which spare not Paul himselfe, as though in alleging these testimonies he had wrested the Scripture to a strange sense.) I answere as I hauehave done herebefore, that the Apostle nether slipped by vnaduisednesse, nor wilfully abused the testimonies of the Scripture. But he sawe (whiche they can not abide to consider) that God minded by an earthly signe to declare the spiritual election of Iacob, which otherwise was hidden in his inaccessible throne. For vnlesse we refer ye first birth graunted to him vntounto the worlde to come, it shoulde be a vaine and fonde forme of blessyng wherby he obteined nothyng but manyfolde miseries, discommoties, grefefull banishement, and many bitternesse of sorow and cares. Therefore when Paule sawe without douting, that God by outwarde blessyng testified the blessing whiche he had in his kyngdome prepared spirituall and neuer decayeng for his seruant: he douted not for profe of this spirituall blessyng, to fetche an argument from that outward blessyng. This also we must remembre that to the land of Canaan was adioyned the pledge of the heauenly dwellyng: so that it ought not at al to be douted yt Iacob was graffed with the Angels into the body of Christ that he might be partaker of the same lyfe. Iacob therefore is chosen, when Esau is reiected:Rom. ix.xv. and by the Predestination of God is made different from hym from whom he differed not in any deseruyngs. If you aske a cause, the Apostle rendreth this, because it is sayde to Moses, I wyll hauehave merciemercy vponupon whom I will hauehave merciemercy: and I wil vouchsaue to graunt merciemercy to whome soeuer I will vouchsaue to graunt merciemercy. And what, I beseche you, meaneth this? Uerily, the Lord himself most plainly pronoūceth that men hauehave in themselues no cause why he shold do good to them, but he fetcheth the cause from his owne merciemercy onelyonly: and therfore that the saluation of his is his own worke. When God setteth thy saluation in himselfe alone, why wilt thou descende to thy self? When he appointeth to thee his merciemercy alone, why wilte thou runne to thyne owne deseruinges? When he holdeth thy thoughte wholly in his merciefulnesse alone, why wilt thou turne part to ye beholding of thyne owne works? Therfore we must nedes come to that lesser people, which Paule in an other place saith to hauehave ben foreknowen to God:Rom. xi.ii. not in suche sort as these men imagine, to foreknow out of an idle watchtoure the thinges that he worketh not:Act. ii.xxiii. but in suche sense as it is ofte red. For truely when Peter sayth in Luke, ye Christ was by the determined coū sel & foreknowlege of God appoynted to death, he doth not bryng God as a loker on but the author of our saluation.i. Pet. i.ii So the same Peter also, where he sayth that the faithfull to whome he wrote were chosen accordyng to the foreknowlege of God, proprely expresseth that secrete Predestination wherby God hath marked for his children whome he wold. And the worde Purpose, whiche he ioyneth for a diuers woorde, expressyng all one thing, forasmuche as it dothe eueryevery where signifie a stedfast determination as they commonly calle it, vndoutedlye teacheth that God when he is author of our saluation goeth not oute of hymselfe. In whiche sense he sayth in the same Chapiter, that Christe was the lambe foreknowen before the creation of the worlde. For what is more fonde or triflyng, than to say that God from on hye did stande lokyng whense saluation should come to mankynde? Therefore in Paule the foreknowen people is as muche as a small portion mingled with the multitude which falsly pretendeth the name of God.ii. Tim. i… xij. In an other place also Paule to beate downe their bostyng which beyng but couered with a visor, doo take vponupon themselues the thefe preeminence among the godly before the world, sayth that God knoweth who be his. Finally by that sayeng Paule poynteth vntounto vsus two sortes of people: the one, of the whole kynrede of Abraham: the other, seuerally chosen oute of it, and whiche beyng layde vp vnderunder the eyes of God is hidden from the sight of men. And it is no dout that he toke this out of Moses, whych affirmeth that God will be mercifull to whome he wyll (althoughe he there spake of the electe people, whoes estate in outwarde seemyng was egall) as if he shoulde hauehave sayde, that in the common adoption is included with hym a speciall grace towarde some, as it were a more holye treasure: and yt the common couenaunt withstandeth not but that the same small numbre maye be exempte in degree: and he wyllyng to make hymselfe the free disposer and ruler of this thyng, precisely denyeth that he will be merciefull to one rather than to an other, for any other reason, but for that it so pleaseth hym: because when merciemercy commeth to hym that seeketh it, though he in deede suffer not a denyall, yet he either preuenteth or partely getteth to hymselfe the fauor wherof God claymeth to hymselfe the prayse.
Now let the soueraigne Iudge and maister pronounce of the whole mater. When he saw so great hardnesse in his hearers, that he dyd in a maner waste his wordes without fruite among the multitude: to remedie this offence, he crieth out, Whatsoeuer my Father geueth me, it shall come to me. For this is the wyll of my Father, that whatsoeuer my Father hath geuen me,Iohn. vi.xxxvii. I shall not lose any thyng of it. Note that the begynnyng is taken at the Fathers gyfte, that we may be deliuered into the faithfull kepyng and defence of Christe. Here some man peraduenture will turne a circle aboute, and wyll take exception, sayeng that they onelyonly are accompted in the propre possession of the Father, whoes yeldyng hath ben voluntarie by Fayth. But Christe standeth onelyonly vponupon that poynte, that althoughe the fallynges awaie of greate multitudes doo shake the whole worlde, yet the counsell of God shallbe stedfast and stande faster than the heauens themselues, that his election may neuer fayle. They are sayde to hauehave ben the elect of the Father, beefore that he gaue to them his onelyonly begotten Sonne. They aske whether it were by nature: yea rather, them whyche were straungers he made his owne by drawyng them to hym. There is a greatee clearenesse in the woordes of Christe, than can by shiftyng be couered with any darknesse.Iohn. vi.…l…iii. No man (sayth he) can come to me, vnlesse my Father drawe hym. But who so hathe hearde and learned of my Father, he commeth to me. If all generally without difference should bow their knee before Christ, then the election were common: but nowe in the fewnesse of the beleuers appeareth a manifest diuersitie. Therfore after that Christe had affirmed that the disciples whiche were geuen him, were the peculiar possession of God the Father, within a little after he added,Ioh xvii. I praie not for the worlde, but for those whom thou hast geuen me, because they are thyne. Whereby is proued that the whole worlde belongeth not to the Creator of it, sauyng that grace delyuereth a fewe from the wrath of God, and from eternall deathe, whiche otherwyse shoulde hauehave perished: but the worlde it selfe is lefte in his owne destruction to whiche it was appoynted. In the meane time although Christe putt hymselfe meane betweene, yet he claymeth to himselfe the power of choosyng in common with the Father.Ioh. xiii.…viii. Iohn. xv.xix. I speake not (sayth he) of all: I knowe whome I hauehave chosen. If any man aske from whense he hath chosen them, he answereth in an other place, Oute of the worlde, whiche he excludeth out of his prayers when he commendeth his disciples to his Father. This is to be holden, that when he affirmeth that he knoweth whome he hath chosen, there is signified some speciall sort in the generall kynde of men: then, that the same speciall sort is made to differ not by the qualitie of their owne vertues, but by the heauenly decree. Wherupon foloweth that many excell by their own force or diligence, when Christ maketh hymselfe the author of election. For when in an other place he reckeneth Iudas among the elect, wheras he was a deuell, this is referred onelyonly to the office of Apostleshyp: whyche althoughe it bee a cleere myrror of the fauor of God (as Paul so oftentymes acknowlegeth in his owne persone,) yet it conteyneth not in it selfe the hope of eternal saluation. Iudas therfore, when he did vnfaithfully beare the office of an Apostle, myght be worse than the deuell: but of those whome Christ hath ones graffed into his bodye, he will suffre none to perishe: because in preseruyng their saluation he wil performe that whiche he hath promysed, that is, he will stretche foorth the power of God whiche is greater than all. For whereas he sayth in all other place, Father, of those whome thou haste geuen me, I hauehave loste none but the sonne of perdition:Iohn x.xxviii. although it be an abusiue speche by figure, yet it hath no doutefull meanyng. The summe is, that God maketh them his chyldren by free adoption whome he will hauehave to be his chyldren: and that the inwarde cause therof is in hymselfe: because he is content with his owne secrete good pleasure.
But Ambrose, Origene, and Hierome thoughte that God distributeth his grace among men,Retract. lib. 1. cap. 2. Epist. ad Si…. … as he forseeth that eueryevery man will vse it well: Yea and Augustine was ones in the same opinion. But when he had better profited in Knowlege of the Scripture, he not only reuoked it as euidently false, but also strongly confuted it: yea & after his reuokyng of it, in reprouyng the Pelagians for that they continued in the same error, sayeth: Who can not meruayl that the Apostle knew not this moste suttle sense? For when he hadde sette out a thyng to be wondred at of these brethren, while they were not yet borne, and afterwarde obiected a question agaynste hymselfe, sayeng; what then? Is there vniustice with God? Here was fytte place for hym to answere, that God foresawe the merites of them bothe: yet he sayeth not this, but fleeth to the iudgements and merciemercy of God.Homil. in Ioh. … And in an other place, when he had taken awaye all merites before election, Here (sayth he) is confuted their vayne reasonyng whyche defende the foreknowlege of God agaynste the grace of GOD, and therefore saye that we are chosen before the makyng of the worlde, because God foreknewe that wee woulde bee good,Iob. xv.xvi. not that he hymselfe woulde make vsus good. He sayeth not this, whyche saythe, Ye hauehave not chosen me, but I hauehave chosen you. For if he hadde therefore chosen vsus, because he forknewe that we woulde be good: he shoulde therwithall also hauehave forknowen that we we woulde choose hym: and so foorthe as foloweth to that effecte. Let the testimonie of Augustine bee of force among them that wyllyngly reste in the authoritie of the Fathers. Howe be it Augustine suffreth not hymselfe to be seuered from the reste: but by cleere testimonies sheweth that this disagreemente is false with the maylyce whereof the Pelagians burdened hym.De praed. sanct. ca. For in the .xix. chapiter of his booke of the Predestination of Sainctes, he allegeth out of Ambrose, Christe calleth whome he hathe merciemercy on. Agayne, If he had willed, of the vndeuoute he myghte hauehave made devoute. But God calleth whome he vouchesaueth: and whome he wylle he maketh religious. If I lysted to knytte together a whole volume out of Augustine, I coulde readily shewe to the readers that I neede no other woordes but his: but I wyll not loade them with tediousnesse. But goe to, lett vsus imagine that they speake not at all: but lett vsus geue hede to the mater it selfe. A harde question was moued, whether God dydde ryghteously in this that he vouchesaued to graunte his grace but to some: Of whyche question Paule myght hauehave vncombred hymselfe with one woorde if he had alleged the respecte of woorkes. Why therefore dothe he it not, but rather continueth on a discourse whyche abydeth in the same hardenesse? Why, but because he oughte not? For the Holye ghoste whyche spake by his mouthe, had not the disease of forgetfullnesse. Therefore withoute any circumstances he answereth, that God therefore fauoreth his electe, because he will: therefore hath merciemercy, because he will. For this Oracle of God, I wyll hauehave merciemercy vppon whome I wyll hauehave merciemercy,Ex. xxxiii xv. and I wyll shewe merciemercy to whome I will shewe merciemercy, is as muche in effect as if it had been sayd, that God is moued to merciemercy by no other reason but because he wyll hauehave merciemercy. Therefore this sayeng of Augustine remaineth true, that the grace of God doth not find, men fitt to be chosen, but maketh them.
Neyther do we any thyng passe vpō that sutteltie of Thomas, that the foreknowyng of deseruyngs, is not in dede the cause of predestination on the behalfe of the act of hym that doth predestinate,In…. Deu. Tract. 25. quest. 23. but on our behalfe it maye after a certayne maner be so called, that is, accordyng to the particular weyeng of Predestination: as when it is sayd that God predestinateth glorie to man by deseruynges, because he hath decreed to geue to hym grace by which he may deserue glorie. For sythe the Lorde will in election hauehave vsus to loke vntounto nothyng but his mere goodnesse, if any man shall couete here to see any more, it shalbe a wrongfull gredinesse. If we lusted to striue in sutteltie, we want not wherwith to beat backe this silly suttletie of Thomas. He affirmeth that to the electe glorie is after a certayne maner predestinate to them the grace, by whithe they may deserue glorie. What if I answer on the contrary syde and say that predestination vntounto grace, serueth election vntounto lyfe, and is as it were a waityng maide after it? that grace is predestinate to them, to whome the possession of glorie hath ben long agoe apoynted: because it pleaseth the Lord to bryng his children from election into iustification? For therupon it shall folowe that the predestination of glorie was rather the cause of the Predestination of grace, than contrariwise. But away with these striuynges, as thynges superfluous for suche as shall thynke that there is wysedome enough for them in the worde of God.Ambro. de vocat gent. li. 1. cap. 1. For this was in olde tyme truely written of an Ecclesiasticall writer, that they whiche assigne the election of God to merites are more wyse than they ought to bee.
Som do obiect yt god shold be cōtrari to hiself, if he shold vniuersally cal al mē to hi, & receue but a few elect. So by their opiniō yt vniuersalues of the promise taketh awaye the difference of speciall grace. And thus certayne sobre men speake, not so muche to oppresse the truthe, as to debarre exabhed questions, and to brydle the curiositie of many. Their wyll is prayse woorthye, but theyr counsell is not to be allowed: because dallyeng by shiftes is neuer excusable. But theyr obiectyng of it whiche doo more raylyngly inuep agaynst it, is verily to fonde a cauillation, or to shamefull an error. Howe the Scripture maketh these two to agree together, that by outward preachyng al men are called to Repentance and Faithe, and yet not to al men is geuen the Spirite of Repentance and Faith, I hauehave in an other place already declared, and by and by somewhat of it muste bee repeted agayne. Nowe that whyche they require I denye to them, sythe it is two wayes false. For, he that thretneth that whyle it rayneth vppon one citie,Amos. iiii vii.… viii.xi. Acc. xxi.vi. there shall be droughte vppon an other: He that pronounceth that there shal in an other place be famine of doctrine, byndeth not hymselfe with a certayne lawe to call all men egally. And he whiche forbyddyng Paule to speake in Asia, and turnyng hym from Bythinia draweth hym into Macedonia, sheweth that it is in his owne power to distribute this treasure to whomesoeuer it shall please hym. Yet more playnely he sheweth by Esaie,Esa. viii.xvi. how he peculiarly directeth to the electe the promyses of saluation: for he sayeth of them onelyonly, and not of all mankynde indifferently, that they shall be his disciples. Whereby it is certayne that the doctrine of saluation is wrongfully sette open in common to all men to profite effectually, whyche is sayde to be seuerally layde vp onelyonly for the chyldren of the Chirche. Lette this suffice at this presente, that althoughe the voyce of the Gospell speake generally to all, yet the gifte of Faithe is rare.Esa. liii.i. Esaie assigneth a cause, for that the arme of the Lorde is not open to all men. If he had sayde that the Gospell is maliciously and frowardlye despised, because many doo stubbornly refuse to heare: peraduenture this color touchyng vniuersall callyng should preuayle. Neither is it the purpose of the Prophet to dymynyshe the faulte of men, when he teacheth that the fountayne of blyndnesse is that God vouchsaueth not to open his arme to them: onelyonly he geueth warnyng, that because fayth is a singular gift, the eares are beaten in vayne with outwarde doctrine. But I woulde fayne know of these doctors, whether onelyonly preachyng, or fayth, make the chyldren of God. Certainly when it is sayde in the fyrste chapiter of Iohn,Iohn. ….xii. Whosoeuer beleue in the only begotten Sonne of God, are themselues also made the children of God, there is not in that place a cōfused heape iumbled vp together: but a speciall order is geuen to the faithfull, whiche are borne not of blood, nor of the wil of the fleshe, nor of the will of man, but of God. But (say they) there is a mutuall consent of faith with the word. Namely whersoeuer is faith. But it is no newe thyng that seede fall among thornes or in stonie places: not only because the greater part appeareth in dede obstinate against God, but also because not al men hauehave eies and eares. How then shall it agree that God calleth to him them who he knoweth will not come?Dever…. apost se… n.o.…. Let Augustine answere for me. Wilt thou dispute with me? Meruaile with me, and crie out, O depthe. Lett vsus bothe agree in feare, least we perishe in error? Moreouer if election (as Paule witnesseth) be the mother of faith, I turne back the argumēt vponupon their owne head,Ehhes. i.iii. that Faith is therfore not general, because election is speciall. For by the orderly hangyng together of causes and effectes, it is easily gathered that where Paul saith, that we are full of al spirituall blessing, as God had chosen vsus before the creation of the worlde: therefore these richesse are not common to all, because God hath chosen onelyonly whome he woulde.Tit. i.i. This is the reason why in an other place he commendeth the faith of the electe, least it should be thought that any man doeth by hys own motion get faith to himself: but that this glorie may remaine with God, that they are freely enlightned of hym, whome he had chosen before. For Bernarde saith rightly, Frendes do seuerally heare, to whom he also saith,Ad Tho. prepos. Beuer…. epist. …. Feare not thou small flocke: for to you it is geuen to know the mysterie of the kyngdom of heauen. Who be these… euen they whom he hath foreknowen and predestinate to be fashioned like to the image of his Sonne. A great and secrete counsel is made knowen. The Lord knew who be his: but that which was knowen to God, is made many…est to men: neither doth he vouchsafe to make any other partakers of so great a mysterie, but those selfe same men whome he hath forknowen and predestinate to be his. A little after he concludeth. The merciemercy of God is from eternitie euen to eternitie vponupon them that feare hym▪ from eternitie, by reason of predestination: to eternitie, by reason of blessed makyng: the one without beginnyng, the other without endyng. But what nede I to cite Bernarde for witnesse, when we heare of the masters owne mouthe,Iohn. vi.xlvi. that none doo see but they whiche are of God? By which wordes he signifieth, that all they which are not begotten agayn of God, do dasell at the brightnesse of his countenance. And to election faith in dede is fittly ioyned, so that it kepe the second degree. Which order the wordes of Christ doo clerely expresse in an other place, This is the wil of my Father, that I lose not that which he hath geuen. For this is his will, that whosoeuer beleueth in the Sonne shall not perishe. If he would hauehave all saued, he would appoint ouer them his Sonne to be their keper, and would graffe them all into his body with the holy bond of Faith. Now it is certain that faith is a singular pledge of his fatherly louelove, la…ed vp for his childrē whom he hath adopted. Therfore Christ in an other place faith that ye shepe folow the shepherd, because they know his voice:Ioh. x.iiii but they folow not a strāger, because they know not the voice of strangers. Whense cōmeth his difference, but because their eares are boared by God? For no mā maketh himselfe a shepe: but he is made one by ye heauēly grace. For which cause also the Lord teacheth yt our safetie shall alway be certaine and free from danger, because it is kepte by the inuincible power of God. Wherfore he concludeth that the vnbeleuers are not of his shepe: namely because they are not of the nūber of them, whom God hath promised by Esaie that they shalbe his disciples. Nowe because in the testimonies which I hauehave alleged is expressed perseuerance, they do therwithal testifie the vnmouable stedfastnesse of electiō ▪
Now let vsus speake of the reprobate, whō the Apostle ioineth there together. For as Iacob,Rom. ix.xiii. hauing yet with good works deserued nothing, is taken into grace: so Esau, beyng yet defiled with no wicked dooyng, is hated. If we turne our eies to workes, we do wrong to the Apostle, as though he sawe not the same thyng whiche we clerely see. It is proued that he sawe it not▪ forasmuch as he expresly enforceth this pointe, that when they had not yet done any good or euell, the one was chosen, and the other refused, to proue that the fundation of the predestination of God is not in workes. Agayne when he moued the obiection, whether God be vnrighteous, he allegeth not that which had ben the moste certaine and plaine defence of his righteousnesse, namely that God reduced to Esau according to his euellnesse: but he was cōtent with an other solution, that the reprobate are stirred vp to this ende, that the glorie of God may be sett foorth by them. Last of all he adioyneth a concluding sentence, that God hath merciemercy vponupon whom he will, & hardeneth whom he will. See you not howe he imputeth bothe to the onelyonly will of God? Therfore if we can not declare a reason why he vouchsaueth to graunt merciemercy to them that be his, but because it so pleseth him: neither also shal we hauehave any other cause in reiectyng of other, than his owne will. For when it is sayd that God hardeneth, or sheweth merciemercy to whom he wil, men are therby warned to seke no cause ells where than in his will.