The Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 2 · Chapter 9
The. ix. Chapter. ¶ That Christ, although he was knowen to the Iewes vnderunder the law, yet was deliuered only by the Gospell.
BYcause it pleased God in the olde time not vainely by expiations and sacrifices to declare himself a Father, and not in vayne he did consecrate a chosen people to himselff euen then without doubte he was knowen in the same image, wherein he now appereth to vsus with full brightnesse. Therefore Malachie,Mal. iiii.ii. after that he had bidden ye Iewes to take hede to the law of Moses, & to continue in studie thereof, (bicause after his death there should come a certaine interruption of the office of the Prophetes) did forthwith declare, that there shuld arise a sonne of righteousnesse. In which wordes he teacheth, that the lawe auaileth to this purpose to hold the godly in expectation of Christ to come: but yet that there was muche more light to be hoped for, when he should be come in deede.i. Pet. i.xii. For this reason doth Peter say, that the Prophetes did make searche, and diligently enquire, of the saluation that is now opened by the Gospell: and that it was reueled vntounto them, that they should minister, not to themselues, nor to their owne age but vntounto vsus, those thinges that are declared by the Gospel. Not that their doctrine was vnprofitable to the people in olde time, or nothing auailed themselues: but bicause thei enioyed not the treasure which God sent vntounto vsus by their hand. For at this day the grace wherof they testified, is familiarly set before our eyes. And wheras they did but a litle sippe of it, there is offred vntounto vsus a more plentiful enioyeng therof. Therefore Christ himself, whiche affirmeth yt he had witnesse borne him by Moses, yet extolleth the mesure of grace wherby we excel the Iewes. For speaking to the Disciples,Iohn. v.xlvi. Mat. xiii.xvi. Luc. x.xxiij. he sayd: Blessed are the eyes that see that whiche ye see, & blessed are the eares that here athat whiche ye heare. For many kinges & Prophetes hauehave wished it, & hauehave not obteined it. This is no smal cōmendation of the reuelyng of the gospel, that God preferred vsus before the holy fathers that excelled in rare godlinesse. With whiche sentence that other place disagreeth not, where it is sayd,Iohn. vi… lvi. that Abraham saw the daye of Christ, and reioysed. For though the sight of a thing farre distant was somwhat darke, yet he wanted nothyng to the assurance of good hope. And thense came that ioye whiche accompanied the holy Prophet, euen to his death. And that sayeng of Iohn Baptist,Iohn. i▪ xviij. No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten that is in the bosome of the father, hath declared him vntounto vsus, doth not exclude the godly whiche had ben dead before him, frō the …elowship of the vnderstandyng & light that shineth in the persone of Christ. But cōparyng their estate with oures, he teacheth yt those misteries, which thei saw but darkly vnderunder shadowes, are manifest to vsus: as the author of the episte to y• Hebrewes doth wel set out, sayeng, that: God diuersly and many wayes spake in olde time by the Prophetes,Hebr. i.… ▪ but now by his beloued Sonne. Although therefore that only begotten one, which is at this day to vsus the brightnesse of the glory, & the point of the substance of God the father, was in olde time knowen to the Iewes, as we hauehave in an other place alleaged out of Paule, that he was the guide of the old deliuerance: yet is it true, whiche the same Paule els where teacheth,ii. Cor. iiii vi. that God which cōmaunded the light to shine out of darknesse, hath nowe shined vponupon our heartes to set forth the knowledge of the glorie of God in the face of Iesus Christ: bicause when he appered in this his image, he did in a maner make himself visible, in comparison of the darke and shadowish forme that had ben of him before. And so much the more fowle and detestable is their vnthankefulnesse & peruersnesse, that are here so blinde at midde daye. And therefore Paule sayth, that their mindes are darkened by Satan, that they should not see the glorie of Christ shining in the gospell, though there be no veile set betwene them and it.
Now I take the Gospell for the clere disclosyng of the misterie of Christ.i. Tim. iiii.vi. I graunt truely, that in that respect that Paul calleth the gospel the doctrine of fayth, al the promises that we here and there finde in the law, concernyng the free forgeuenesse of sinnes, whereby God reconcileth men to himself, are accompted partes therof. For he cōpareth faith against these terrors, wherewith the conscience should be troubled & vexed, if saluation were to be sought by workes. Wherupō foloweth that in takyng the name of the gospel largely, there are cō teined vnderunder it all the testimonies that God in old time gaue to the fathers, of his merciemercy and fatherly fauour. But in the more excellent signification of it, I saye it is applied to the publishyng of the grace geuen in Christ. And that meanyng is not only receyued by common vse, but also hangeth vponupon the authoritie of Christ and the Apostles. Whereupon this is proprely ascribed vntounto him,Mat. iiii.ix. Mar. i.i. that he preached the Gospell of the kingdome. And Marke maketh his preface in this maner, The beginnyng of the Gospell of Iesus Christ. And there is no neede to gather places to proue a thing sufficiently knowen. Christ therefore by his cōmyng hath made clere the life and immortalitie by the Gospell.ii. Tim. i.x. By whiche wordes Paule meaneth, not that the fathers were drowned in darknesse of death, vntil the sonne of God did put on flesh: but clayming this prerogatiue of honour to ye gospell, he teacheth that it is a newe and vnwonted kinde of message, whereby God performed those thinges that he had promised, that the truthe of his promises shuld be fulfilled in the persone of the Sonne. For although the faithful hauehave alway found by experiēce, that same sayeng of Paule to be true, that in Christ are all the promises, yea and Amen, bycause they were sealed in their heartes: yet bicause he hath accomplished al partes of our saluation in …his flesh, therefore that selfe liuely deliueryng of the thinges rightfully obteyned a newe and singular title of prayse.Ioh. i.li. Whereupon cometh that sayeng of Christ: Hereafter ye shall see the heauens open, and the Angels of God ascendyng and descendyng vponupon the sonne of manne. For though he seme to hauehave relation vntounto the ladder shewed in a vision to the Patriarch Iacob: yet he setteth out the excellēcie of his cōming by this mark, that he opened the gate of heauen to all men, that the entrie thereof maye be stand familiarly open to all men.
But yet we must take hede of the deuelish imagination of Seruet tus, which whē he goeth about, or at least faineth that he goeth about, to extoll the greatnesse of the grace of Christ, vtterly abolissheth the promises, as if they were ended together with the lawe. He layeth for him, that by the fayth of the Gospell there is brought vntounto vsus the accomplishment of all the promises: as though there were no difference betwene vsus and Christ. I did in deede euen nowe declare that Christ left nothyng vnperformed of the whole summe of our saluatiō: but it is wrongfully gathered thereupon, that we do alredy enioye the benefites purchaced by him, as though that sayeng of Paule were false, that our saluation is hidde in hope. I graunt in deede, that we by beleuyng in Christ, do also passe frō death to life: But in the meane season we muste holde this sayeng of Iohn, that although we knowe we be the children of God, yet it hath not as yet appered, till we shalbe like vntounto him: that is, till we shall see him suche as he is. Therefore although Christ offer vntounto vsus in his Gospell present fulnesse of spirituall good thinges, yet the enioyeng thereof lieth still hidde vnderunder the kepyng of hope, till beyng vnclothed of the corruptible fleshe, we be transfigured into the glorie of him that goeth before vsus. In the meane time the holy ghoste biddeth vsus to reste vponupon the promises, whose authoritie ought with vsus to put to silēce all the barkinges of that filthy dogge.i. Tim. iii… viii. ii. Tim. i. ii. Cor. vii. For as Paule witnesseth, godlynesse hath a promise as well of the life to come, as of ye life present. For which reason he boasteth that he is an Apostle of Christ, accordynge to the promise of life that is in him. And in an other place he putteth vsus in minde, that we hauehave the same promises, whiche in the olde time were geuen to the holy men. Finally, he setteth this for the summe of felicitie, that we are sealed vp with the holy spirit of promise, but yet we do no otherwise enioye Christe, but so farre as we embrace him clothed with his promises. Whereby it cometh to passe, that he in dede dwelleth in our heartes, and yet we wander in yourney abrode from him: bicause we walke by fayth and not by sight. And these two thinges do not ill agree together: that we possesse in Christ all that perteineth to the perfection of the heauenly life: and yet that faith is a beholdyng of good thinges that are not seene. Only there is a difference to be noted in the nature or qualitie of the promises: bicause the Gospell sheweth with her finger that thing, which the lawe did shadow vnderunder figures.
And hereby also is their errour conuinced, whiche do neuer otherwise compare the lawe with the Gospell, but as they compare the merites of workes with the free imputation of righteousnesse. Although in deede this comparison of contraries be not to be reiected: bycause Paule doth oftentimes vnderstand by the name of the lawe, a rule to liue righteously, wherin God requireth of vsus, that whiche is his, not geuing vsus any hope of life, vnlesse we in al pointes obeye it: & on the other side adding a curse if we do neuer so litle swarme frō it: that is in such places as he disputeth, yt we do freely please God, & are by pardon reckened righteous, bicause the obseruation of the law, wherunto the reward is promised, is no where found. Therfore Paule doth fitly make ye righteousnesse of the law & of the gospel, contrarie the one to the other. But the gospell did not so succede in place of yt whole lawe, that it shoulde brynge any diuerse meane of saluation, but rather to confirme and proue to be of force, what so euer the law had promised, and to ioyne the body to the shadowes. For when Christ sayth, that the lawe and the Prophetes were vntill Iohn: he maketh not the fathers subiect to the curse, whiche the bound seruantes of the lawe can not escape: but rather only that they were instructed with certayne …udimentes, so as they stayed a great way beneath the heygheth of the doctrine of the Gospell.Ro. l.xvi. Therefore Paule callyng the Gospell the power of God, to saluation to eueryevery beleuer, by and by addeth, that it hath witnesse of the lawe and the Prophetes. But in the ende of the same Epistle, although he shew that the litle of praise of Iesus Christ is the reuelation of the misterie kepte secret in euerlastyng times: yet he doth qualifye that sayeng, with adding an expositiō, teachyng that he is openly shewed by the writynges of the Prophetes. Wherupon we gather, that when we are to entreate of the whole lawe, the Gospell differeth from the lawe only in respecte of the playne disclosyng thereof. But yet for the inestimable flowyng store of grace, whiche hath ben layed open for vsus in Christ, it is not without cause sayde, that at his commyng the heauenly kingdome of God was erected in earth.
Nowe betwene the lawe and the Gospell came Iohn, whiche had an osfice that was meane and of affinitie to them bothe. For though when he called Christ the lambe of God, and the sacrifice for the cleansyng of sinnes, he shewed forth the summe of the Gospell: yet bicause he dyd not expresse that same incomparable strēgth and glorie, which at length appered in his resurrection, therefore Christ sayeth, that he was not egal to the Apostles.Matt. xi.xi. For so do those wordes of his meane: y• though Iohn excell amonge the sonnes of womē, yet he that is least in the kingdome of heauen, is greater than he. Bicause he doeth not there commend the persones of men, but after he had preferred Iohn before all the Prophetes, he auaunceth the preachyng of the Gospell to the hiest degree: whiche preachyng we see in an other place signified by the kyngdome of heauen.Ioh. i.xxiii But whereas Iohn himselfe dothe answere that he is but a voice, as though he were inferiour to the prophetes, he dothe not that for fayned humilities sake, but meaneth to teache that the propre office of the Embassadour was not committed to him, but that he only executeth the office of an apparitor: as it was forespoken by Malachie:Mal. iiii.v. Beholde, I sende Elias the prophet, before that the great and terrible daye of the Lorde doe come. And truely he dyd nothing els in the whole course of his ministerie, but endeuour to get disciples to Christ: as also Esaye proueth, that this was enioyned hym from God. And in this sense Christ is called a candell burnyng and shinyng,Iohn. v.xxiv. bycause the broade daye had not yet appered. And yet this is no let, but that he maye be reckened among the publishers of the Gospell, like as he vsed the same Baptisme, whiche was afterwarde deliuered to the Apostles. But that whyche he beganne, was not fulfilled but by the Apostles, with free procedynge, after that Christ was taken vp from them into the heauenly glorie.