A Treatise of Justification, Book 2 · Chapter 8
CAP. VIII. Bellarmines dispute, that remission of sinne is the utter deletion of it, confuted.
De Iustis. l. 2. cap. 7.§. I.
BVT how absurd soever their assertion is, Bellarmine willBellarmines proofe out of the Scripture. maintaine it, and set a good face upon it: telling us first, that wee may not deny it, unlesse wee will deny the Scriptures. For the Scripture, saith he, useth all manner of words to expresse the true remission of sinne; so that if a man would of purpose seeke words to signifie the utter abolition of sinne, hee could not devise any which the Scripture hath not already used. And to this purpose citeth eighteene Testimonies, nine out of the Old Testament, viz. 1 Chron. 21. 8. Esai. 44. 22. Ezek. 36. 25. Psalm. 51. 7. Prov. 15. 27. alias, 16. 6. Psalm. 103. 12. Mic. 7. 19. Psalm. 10. 15. Cant. 4. 7. And nine out of the New, Ioh. 1. 29. Act. 3. 19. 1 Ioh. 1. 7. Act. 22. 16. Heb. 1. 3. 9. 28. 1 Cor. 6. 11. Ephes. 5. 8. and 27.
§. II. Answ. These places are to be distinguished: for either theyPlaces, which mention the taking away of sinne. are alleaged to prove the abolition of sinne, or perfection of righteousnesse: the former mention, either the taking away of sinne or the wiping or blotting of it out, or the purging of it, or the not being of it. For the taking away of sinne, these are brought, 1 Chron. 21. 8. Psalm. 1 C…ron. 21. 8.103. 12. Mic. 7. 19: Ioh. 1. 29. Heb. 9. 28. In 1 Chron. 21. 8. the word is Hahaber, transire fac, cause it to passe, that is, remove it out of thy sight; not that it bee not at all, but that it bee not punished, or which is all one, take away the guilt: and so the word seemeth to be expounded, 2 Sam. 12. 13. where Nathan saith to David, the Lord2 Sam. 12. 13. Psal. 103. 12. hath taken away thy sinne, thou shalt not dye. Psalm. 103. 12. how farre the East is distant from the West, so farre hath hee made aHirchiq.our sinnes to be distant from us: which is not understood of the corruption extinguished, but of the guilt removed or taken away. Mic. 7. 19.Mic. 7. 19. thou wilt cast all their sinnes into the depth of the Sea, that is, hee will cast them out of his sight or remembrance, hee will cast them behinde his backe, he will bury them in oblivion, that they should not be seene or remembred. Ioh. 1. 29. The Lambe of God which taketh away, orIo…. 1. 2…. taketh upon him the sinne of the world, foreign is the translation of Nose: and the Verbe Nasa having reference to finn…, when it is attributed to God, it signifieth to forgive, as hath before beene shewed; and likewise when it is attributed to men, who have been offended, Gen. 50. 17. 1 Sam. 15. 25. 25. 28. when it is attributed to Christ our redeemer, as in the place alleaged, it signifieth, that he taketh away our sinnes by taking them upon him, or bearing them: as it is said of the scape Goat, the figure of Christ, Levit. 16. 22. and so that place, Ioh. 1. 29. is to beeLevit. 16. 22. Merc…r in the sauro. Voce Nasa. understood. Nasa, saith one, sometimes doth signifie tollere, that is to take up, and to beare, (as when we are commanded tollere crucem, to take up our crosse) or to take upon him, which Saint Iohn the Evangelist rendreth by the Verbe foreign: and this is fully expressed by the Prophet, Esay 53. 12.Es. 53. 12. that Christ Nasa did beare the sinne of many: as before verse 4. that hee hath borne (the Verbe is Nasa) our griefes, and carried our forrowes, and vers. 11. hee shall beare their iniquities. Heb. 9. 28. Christ wasHeb. 9. 28. once offered ad multorum exhaurienda peccata, that is, as our Rhemists translate, to exhaust the sinne of many. The word is foreign, to take up and to beare: the meaning is, that Christ was offered upon the crosse, that he might tak… up and beare our sins, even as S. Peter speaketh to the like effect, 1 Epist. 2. 24. who himselfe did beare our sinnes in his owne1 P…t. 2. 24. body upon the tree, that is, the Crosse: where the same Verbe is used, and is by the Latine interpreted pertulit, and by the Rhemists, beare our sinnes.
§. III. Other places are alleaged, which mention the deletion,Places, which mention the blotting out of finne that is, the wiping or blotting out of sinne, Psal. 51. 1. 9. Act. 3. 19. Esa. 44. 22. But I aske, from whence? Delere, saith Vatablus, bin Psal. 51. 10.est metaphora ab iis qui delent, qui prius in rationes scripserant, to wipe out is a metaphore from those, who wipe out such things, as before they had written upon their account, or in their debt-bookes. The booke is Gods remembrance, out of which those things are wiped which are forgotten: and thus deletion is often ascribed toeDeut. 31. 21. Est. 9. 28. Eccl …. 4. Ier. 23. 4…, 50, 5. Es. 43. 25. oblivion. For Gods wiping out of sins is his blotting them out of his remembrance: and so it is expounded, Es. 43. 25. his not remembring them. Psal. 25. 7. 79. 8. Ier. 31. 34. as contrariwise, his not blotting them out, is his remembring of them, his not forgiving them. Ier. 18. 23. forgive not their iniquity, neitherIer. 18. 23. blot out their sinne from thy sight. Psal. 109. 14. Let the iniquity of hisPsal. 109. 14. father be remembred with the Lord; and let not the sinne of his mother be blotted out, (ne deleatur, id est, non tradatur oblivioni,) but let them be before the Lord continually, verse 15. And thus David prayeth, Psal. 51. 9. hide thy face from my sinnes, and blot out all mine iniquities,Psal. 51. 9. namely out of thy remembrance: and no more can bee gathered out of Act. 3. 19. that your sinnes may be blotted out (of Gods booke) whereAct. 3. 19. Tremellius noteth it to bee a metaphore taken from those who keepe bookes of account, &c. Howsoever, it is not to be doubted, but that before the day of judgement, whereof Saint Peter there speaketh, there shall be a totall deletion of the sinnes of the faithfu…l, both in respect of the guilt, and also of the pollution. As for Es. 44. 22. the Lord professethEs. 44. 22. his reconciliation with Israel in taking away their sinnes, which as a cloud, yea as a thicke cloud had hid his face from them: the guilt whereof being taken away, the light of his countenance did shine uponNumb. 6. 25. Psal. 4. 6. them. Howbeit Tremellius and Innius read, Deleo ut densa nubes defectiones tuas, according to which reading, that place hath affinity with those, which mention washing, cleansing, purging; of which … am now to speake.
§. IV. Of these, some are to be understood of justification and takingPlaces which mention the purging of sin Psal. 51. 2. 7. away the guilt of sinne, as all the first part of the 51. Psalme, which is a prayer for the pardon of sinne; out of which are cited verse 2. and 7. where David prayeth, that God would wash him, and cleanse him from his sinne, namely by the bloud of Christ: for that is it whichd1 Iohn 1. 7. cleanseth us from all our sinnes. Purge me with hyssope which was the foreign (wherewith they used to sprinkle theeLevit. 14. 6. Num. 19. 18. Heb. 9. 19. bloud upon those which were cleansed) that is, sprinkle me with the blood of that eternall sacrifice of Christ prefigured in the Law, without which bloudfHeb. 9. 22. being shed, there was no remission. And there is no doubt but the blood of Christ was shod for the remission of sinnes, Mat. 26. 29. and that our conscienc…sgHeb. 9. 14. (the seat of guiltinesse) might bee purged from dead workes. The words following, and I shall bee whiter than snow, doe plainely argue the purity, not of sanctification (for to such a degree thereof we never attaine in this life) but of justification: in respect whereof our soules being perfectly just, are whiter than snow. Some are to be understood of sanctification, as Ezek. 36. 25. Some of both, as 1 Cor. 6. 11. Act. 22. 16. 1 Ioh. 1. 7. Heb. 1. 3. but with this difference, that we are cleansed and purged from the guilt of sin past, wholly and at once: but from the corruption in part, and by degrees in this life, wherin we are to be renewedb2 Cor. 4. 16. in the inner man from day to day. The Corinthians, to whom the Apostle giveth thisi1 Cor. 6. 11. testimony, that they were washed, &c. were farre from perfection of inherent righteousnesse, as appeareth by that Epistle; wherein he calleth them carnall, and reproveth them both for their errours in judgement, and for their misdemeanours in their conversation. That which he citeth out of Pro. 15. per mifericordiam & fidem purgantur peccata, is found in the Latine, v. 27. but not in the originall: the like sentence is found Pro. 16. 6. but there the Verbe purgatur, for which the Text is alleaged, is not used in the Latine.
§. V. For the not being of sinne, he alleageth, Psalm. 10. 15. aliàs For the not being of sinne. Psal. 10. 15.9. 35. quaeretur peccatum illius, & non inveniatur, against the true meaning of the place, it being not a prayer for the justification or sanctification of the wicked, that his sinne may bee no more, as Bellarmine absurdly expoundeth it; dicet peccatum fuisse & non esse: but is a propheticall imprecation against the wicked, that God would break their arme, that is, their power and strength: and that when he, as a judge, should inquire into their wickednesse, they should not be found (according to that Prov. 10. 25. he shall be no more, that is, as Augustine expoundethProv. 10. 25. it, that the wicked, when he is judged, shall perish for his sinne. And so Vatabius, make inquiry into his sinne, thou shalt not finde him, neither doth the Psalmist say, non invenietur ipsum, scil. peccatum, sed non invenietur ipse, scilicet peccator, not it, but he shall not be found.
§. VI. For the perfection of righteousnesse hee alleageth three Places for the perfection of righteousnesse, Ephes. 5. 8.places, two out of Ephes. 5. vers. 8. Yee were sometimes darkenesse, but now light in the Lord; where the abstract Light is put for the concrete Lightsome, as being inlightned, as the Children of Light: not that they are that light in which there k1 Ioh. 1. 5.is no darkenesse. Neither is it said, that we are in our selves Light, but, notwithstanding that darkenesse, which remaineth in us, wee are Light in the Lord. The second Ephes. 5. 26, 27.place is, Ephes. 5. 26, 27. where it is said, that Christ did give himselfe for his Church, that he might sanctifie and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that hee might present it to himselfe a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinckle, or any such thing; but that it should be Holy and without blemish. In which words there is no mention of justification, but of sanctification, which in this life is begun and increased by the worke of the Spirit in the Ministery of the Word and Sacraments, that at the Marriage of the Lambe it may bee presented unto him, a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinckle, &c. Wherefore Augustine, lRetract. lib. 1. c. 19. the like he hath lib. de persectione justific. p. 975. Col. 3. ….That which I said, saith he, that God hath chosen unto himselfe a glorious Church, I did not therefore speake it, because now it is altogether such; though no doubt she was chosen, that she might be such, when Christ who is her life, shall appeare: for …en she also with him shall appeare in glory; for which glory she is called a glorious Church. And againe, mRetract. lib. 2. cap. 18.wheresoever I mentioned the Church not having spot or wrinckle, it is not so to bee taken, as though now it were, but because it is prepared to be such, when she also shall appeare glorious. And the same answer will serve for the third place cited out of the Canticles 4. 7. Tota pulchraes, & macula non est in te, Cant. 4. 7.thou are all faire, there is no spot in thee; unlesse perhaps he speake of the beauty of the Spouse adorned in her justification with the perfect righteousnesse of Christ; for of her Sanctification, which is but begun in this life, it is not true. But the Papists are without shame, who apply such texts of Scripture to the now Church of Rome.
§. VII. Besides these places of Scripture, Bellarmine saith, many Bellarmines arguments out of his booke de Baptismo, lib. 1. cap. 13.other very weighty arguments might bee brought; but hee hath already produced them in his first booke De Baptismo, cap. 13. which when they shall call come to bee weighed, will be found light enough. For those places, which speake of the efficacie of Baptisme, in washing, cleansing and taking away our sinnes, prove not, that in justification sinnes are utterly abolished. For in Baptisme is sealed to them that are Baptized, yea, and conferred to the faithfull, the benefits, not onelyonly of justification, but also of sanctification. And therefore as it is the Sacrament of remission of sinne, and the seale nRom. 4. 11.of that righteousnesse which is by faith: so it is called the LaveroTit. 3. 5. of regeneration, wherein we are Baptized into the similitude pRom. 6. 3, 4.of Christ his death and resurrection. And therefore, though in Baptisme sinne were wholly taken away, as well in respect of the corruption, as of the guilt: yet it would not follow, that in justification there is a Totall deletion of sinne. But neither in Baptisme is there a totall abolition of sin; seeing it is manifest, that originall sinne, which is called the flesh, the old man, and evill concupiscence, remaineth in all the faithfull, though in some measure mortified, yet never fully and altogether extinguished in this life. And although the Papists for maintenance of their severall errors, viz. of justification by inherent righteousnesse, of the perfect fulfilling of the Law, of merit, of works of supererogation, doe maintaine, that concupiscence, remaining in the faithfull after Baptisme, is not a sinne; and the Councell of TrentqSess. 5. c. 5. hath denounced Anathemà against them that shall say it is a sinne: yet it is manifest, not onelyonly by the testimony of antiquity, and evident reasons, which I could produce, if I would runne into another controversie; but also by the doctrine of the Apostle; who doth not onelyonly in many placesrRom. 6. 12. 7 8. 11. 13. 17. 20. 23. 8. 10. Heb. 12. 1. expressely call it a sinne, and describeth it as a sinne, but also setteth it forth as the mother of sinne, the sinning sinne; which because it taketh occasion by the Commandement forbidding lust, to worke in men all manner of evill concupiscence, is not only convinced to be a sinne, but also to be*Rom. 7. 8. 13. foreign, exceedingly sinnefull.Concupiscence a sinne.
§. VIII. And not only habituall concupiscence in generall which is thesRom. 6. 6. body of sinne, and the bodyt7. 24. of death (in respect of which sinne, the body of the faithfull is said to be dead, Rom. 8. 10.) is sinne: but also the severall members and branches thereof, which remaine even in the best, are so many habituall sinnes: as a spice at the least of pride, selfelove, carnall security, infidelity, hypocrisie, envy, worldly and carnall love of pleasure, profit, preferment and glory in this world, &c. Which, though they bee not imputed to the faithfull, yet in themselves are sins, as being foreign, swervings from the Law of God; not onelyonly as defects of righteousnesse (which were enough to make them sinnes) but as positive vices. Neither is it to be doubted, but that as the acts of pride and other habituall vices remaining even in the best are sinnes; so, much more the vices themselves, from which they proceed, are sinnes, and are by the same Commandement of the Law forbidden. Now whatsoever is foreign is sinne: For as every sinne is foreign,u1 Iohn 3. 4. so every foreign is a sin, that being a perfect definition of sinne, as Bellarmine himselfe confesseth,*De amiss gratiae & statu peccati, lib. 2. ca. 18. Non potuit rectius & brevius definiri peccatum, quàm ut à S. Ioanne fuit definitum illis verbis, foreign. But all evill concupiscence, both habituall and actuall; both in generall the body of sinne, and in particular the severall branches, being so many habituall sinnes, in whomsoever they are found, even in the most regenerate, are foreign, aberrations from the law of God. Therefore all evill concupiscence whatsoever, in whomsoever remaining, is a sinne.
§. IX. Yea, but concupiscence is no sinne unlesse the Will consent unto Object. that concupiscence without consent is no sinne.it. Then, say I, not a sinne in infants not baptized. But the Law doth not say, non consenties concupiscentiis, sed omninò non concupisces: thou shalt not consent to concupiscences, but thou shalt not have any evill concupiscence at all. And it is most evident, that the concupiscence forbidden in the tenth Commandement, is such as goeth before the consent of will. For it is such, as Saint Paul himselfe had not knowne to be sinne, if the Law had not said, xRom. 7. 7.Non concupisces, thou shalt not covet. But such concupiscences, as have the consent of the will, the very Heathen knew to bee sinnes. And the Papists themselves must acknowledge them to be forbidden in the former Commandements, unlesse they will deny the Law of God to be spirituall yRom 7. 14.and preferre the foreign, corrupt interpretations of the Elders of the Iewes before the exposition of the Lawgiver himselfe, zMa…th. 5. 28.Matth. 5. True therefore is that, which some Writers cite out of aDe Nupti…s & Concupis…. lib. 1. cap 25.Augustine, that Originall sinne is remitted in Baptisme, not that it be not, but that it be not imputed unto sin. Here Bellarmine takes on, and saith, that Luther first falsified this testimony of Augustine, and that all who have followed him, have continued the same fault, though they have beene told of it. A great accusation, if true. Augustines words in answere to an objection, (which the Papists cannot answer) how can originall sinne bee transmitted from regenerate parents, if in Baptisme it be wholly taken from them, are these: I answer, saith he, dimitti concupiscentiam in baptismo, non ut non sit, sed ut in peccatum non imputetur. Where Augustine speaking of the traduction of originall sinne, calleth it (as his manner is) Concupiscence, in stead whereof, some of our Writers have said sinne, both Augustine and they meaning nothing else, but originall. Now, that Augustine by that which he calleth Concupiscence, meant sinne, hereby appeareth; first, he saith it is remitted in Baptisme, and remission is of debts onelyonly, and of sinnes, as debts; secondly, because he saith it is remitted, not that it should not bee any longer, but that (though it be a sinne, yet) it should not be imputed unto sinne; for nothing is wont to be imputed unto sin by God, but that which is sinne. Where by the way wee may observe, that in Augustines judgement remission of sinne is not the utter deletion of it, that it bee no more, but the not imputing of it. For whereas the Papists for a poore shift and evasion say, that Concupiscence is called sinne, not because it is a sinne, sed quia expeccato est, & ad peccatum inclinat; this hindereth not its being a sinne, but rather setteth forth the greatnesse of this evill, as having all the respects of evill in it: being both a sinne, and a punishment of sinne, and the cause of all other sinnes, a… Augustine saith, bContr. Iulian. lib. 5. cap. 3. Bellarmines unanswerable argument out of Rom. 5. 19.Concupiscentia carnis adversus quam bonus concupiscit Spiritus (sc. in renatis) & peccatum est, & poena peccati, & causa pecca…i.
§. X. But howsoever Bellarmine letteth passe (as well he might) his other arguments alleaged in his Booke of Baptisme, as impertinent to this present question; yet one of them hee hath thought good not to omit, as being in his conceit cDe justif. l. 2. c. 7. §. multa.unanswerable; which notwithstanding I have not onelyonly answered elsewhere dLib. 2. c. 5. §. 1. 2. l. 4. c. 9. §. 2, 3, 4., but also have used it as an invincible argument eLib. 5. c. 2. §. 1.to prove justification by imputation of Christs righteousnesse, viz. the argument taken from the antithesis of Adam to Christ, Rom. 5. 19. which Bellarmine here straineth beyond the extent of the antithesis made by the Apostle. In other places Bellarmine hath thus argued: As through Adams disobedience we were made sinners, so through Christs obedience wee are made righteous: but through Adams disobedience we were made truely sinners, namely by unrighteousnesse inherent, and not onelyonly fNon …ola imputatione de bap…is. l. 1. c. 13.by imputation. Therefore through the obedience of Christ we are made truly righteous, namely by righteousnesse inherent. But here, to serve his present turne, he altereth both the assumption and the conclusion. The assumption; for where before he said, not onelyonly by imputation, here he saith, not by imputation. The conclusion: for first, in stead of concluding, that wee are by the obedience of Christ made inherently just, which we confesse, though not intended by the Apostle in that place; he concludeth, that the obedience of Christ hath truly taken away and wiped out or abolished all our sinnes. And secondly, that he hath taken away our sinnes non imputa…ivè, sed verè, not by imputation, but truly. His former argument I retorted after this manner:
As through Adams disobedience wee were made sinners, that is, guilty of death and damnation: so by Christs obedience wee are made just, that is, absolved from that guilt, and accepted as righteous unto eternall life.
But by imputation of Adams disobedience we were made sinners.
Therefore by imputation of Christs obedience wee are made righteous.
The assumption, that we were made sinners by imputation of Adams disobedience, I proved, as by other arguments, so by Bellarmines owne confession in other places. Secondly, I have acknowledged it to bee true, that as we are made truely sinners through Adams disobedience, not onelyonly by imputation of Adams sinne, but also by transfusion of both that privative and positive corruption, which by that disobedi- ence he contracted: so we are made truly just through the obedience of Christ, not onelyonly by imputation of his obedience, but also by infusion of righteousnesse from him. But though we be truly made just by righteousnesse inherent yet it followeth not, that we are in this life made perfectly just. Neither doth it follow, that because Christ doth free us from the dominion of sin, we are therfore freed wholly from the being of sinne in us: neither, that if we be freed from sinne by imputation, we are not freed truly. For the Apostle useth these termes promiscuously, remitting of sinne and not imputing of sinne, justifying and imputing righteousnesse. And as Christ g… Cor. 5. 21was truly and really made a sacrifice for sinne in our behalfe: so wee are truly and indeed made the righteousnesse of God in him.
Thus have I proved, that neither remission of sinne is the abolishing of sinne, nor justification all one with sanctification: and that the Papists by confounding justification and sanctification, and of these two making but one, have utterly taken away and abolished out of their Divinity, that great benefit of our justification.