A Treatise of Justification, Book 4 · Chapter 11
CAP. XI. Bellarmines arguments, proving obliquè or indirectly justificationDe iustif. l. 2. c. 4. by inherent righteousnesse, and first because faith is not the integrall and onelyonly formall cause of justification.
§. I.
ANd these were all the arguments, which Bellarmine Bellarmines arguments proving iudirectly iustification by inherent iusticehath produced to proove di…ectly his assertion concerning justification by inherent righteousnesse: now follow two other ranks, of proofes▪ whereby he doth obliquè, indirectly, and by consequence prove the same; by disproving two assertions which it pleaseth him to father upon us. The one, that faith is the onelyonly formall cause of justification; the other, that justification consisteth onelyonly in remission of sinnes. For if faith be not the integrall cause formall of our justification, but that with it charity and other graces doe concurre, by which as well as by faith we are justified formally; then it followeth, that wee are justified by inherent and habituall righteousnesse, which consisteth in the habits of faith aud charity, and other graces. And if justification doth consist, not onelyonly in remission of sins, by which our soules are cleansed from sinne, but also in the renewing of us according to Gods image by infusion of righteousnesse, by which our soules are not onelyonly purged from sinne, but also adorned and beautified with grace; then it followeth, that we are justified by inherent righteousnesse.
The former question he disputeth lib. 2. de justif. c. 4. the title whereof is, fidem non esse integram formalem caussam justificationis, that faith is not the whole formall cause of justification. This opinion, hee confesseth none of us doe now hold, though falsly hee would lay it upon Luther aLuther onelyonly saith that faith (that is, Christ apprehended by faith) is our righteousnesse, …nd in the same sence …, that faith is in…puted unto righteousnesse. Bellarmines allegation of Gal. 5. 5, 6. answered.and Melancthon; for we deny faith to bee the formall cause of justification at all: and yet this is it, which he, and all of his side evermore object unto us, to make us odious to the world, as though wee required nothing to make us formally and inherently righteous, but onelyonly faith. And for this cause, though wee hold not this assertion, yet hee thinkes good to confute it, as if we held it.
§. II. Of his proofes, onelyonly the first serveth to prove, that, with faith, charity doth concurre unto justification. It is taken out of Gal. 5. 5. 6. the fifth verse containing the latter part of the Antithesis between justitiaries (who were apostates from the doctrine of grace) and the true prosessours of the Gospell. For the former looked to bee justified by the Law, that is, by obedience performed to the Law, and so were fallen from grace: but the latter looked not to be justified by the Law, but by faith, that is, by Christs righteousnesse apprehended by faith. Of this Antithesis the latter part agreeth to us; the former, to the Papists And therefore I marvell to what purpose he alleaged the fifth verse, unlesse it were to confute himselfe. Now in the sixt verse the Apostle sheweth, what manner of faith that is, which justifieth; viz. not a dead or a counterfeit, but a lively and effectuall faith: a faith, which is effectuall, or effectually worketh by love: a faith, which, as Saint Iames bIam. 2. 14 …. His wilfull depraving of Gal. 5. 6.saith, is not without workes, but is demonstrable by good workes.
§. III. But these words Bellarmine doth wilfully deprave. For in other places hee readeth and understandeth the wordes as wee doe, following the vulgar Latine translation, unto which hee is tyed by the decree of the Councell of Trent, reading, fides quae per charitatem operatur, faith that worketh by charity, as our English Rhemists also translate the words. And to seeke no further, in the very beginning of the next chapter, cDe iustif l 2. c. 5where hee confuteth the erroneous opinion of Osiander, who held, that the righteousnesse of Christ, whereby wee are justified, is the essentiall righteousnesse of the Deity dwelling in us: saith, that this errour is manifestly refuted by the Apostle, Rom. 4. proving the righteousnesse by which wee are justified, to bee faith, vivam, viz. & per dilectionem operantem, to wit a lively faith and working by love, and likewise, Gal. 5. 5, 6. we by faith expect the hope of righteousnesse, for in Christ Iesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love. Whereupon hee inferreth, quòd si fides per dilectionem operans, &c. but if faith working by charity be that righteousnesse &c. But here for a poore shift, and to serve his present turne, hee interpreteth the Greeke Participle of the middle voice, as if it were passive, fides quae agitur, faith which is acted, moved, formed, and as it were animated by love. And therupon inferreth, that charity isthe forme of faith, and that faith justifieth formally, as it is formed by charity, and not otherwise: and consequently, that charity justifieth much more, and hereupon also he buildeth afterwards that distinction of faith, that it is either formata, when it is acted by charity; or informis when it is severed from it: where also to helpe out the matter, hee saith that the Latine word operatur is passively understood (whereof, as I suppose, no example can bee given) thereby making the translation barbarous, and understanding it, as never any before him understood i….
§ IV. But to begin with the last: it were a strange speech, if a man signifie,Bellarmines corrupt interpretation refuted. that the matter is acted by the form, or that the body is acted by the soule, should say, corpus per animam operatur. And no doubt, if the old interpreter had meant so, he would have said agitur and not operatur. As for the G…eeke word foreign, it signifieth effectuall, or effectually working, and so both the Verbe and the Participle, which are used nine times dRom. 7. 5. 2 Cor. 1. 6▪ 4. 12. Gal. 5 6. Eph 3. 20. Col 1. 29. 1 Thess. 2. 13. 2 Thess. …. 7. Iam. …. …6.at the least in the new Testament, are or ought to be effectuall, namely in it selfe, or effectuall to worke according to the twofold foreign or act, whereof the Philosophers and Schoolemen use to speake; to wit the first and the second, &c. which distinction may be applied to habits of grace, or gracious habits. The first act, which is the forme of faith, or of any other grace, is that Tushijah that essence or entity whereof eProv. 3. 21.Salomon speaketh, wherby any grace is that, which it is called foreign indeed and in truth, which is the integrity of it, and so saith Thomas, fSummi. 1. q. 48. art. 5.actus primus est forma & integritas rei, in respect whereof faith, and so every other grace, is said to be foreign g… …im. 1. 5. 2 Tim. 1. 5. Rom. 21. 9. Iam. 3 17.unfained. This is that principium agendi, that inward act or efficacie, whereby faith or any other grace is effectuall in it selfe, lively, active, operative, apt to produce operations according to their severall kinds, without which, faith, or any other grace is dead and counterfeit, and not that foreign indeede and in truth, whereof it beareth the name; but aequivocè, even as the counterfeit of any man is called by his name. The second act of faith or of any other grace is the actuall working thereof, actus secundus, saith Thomas hTh▪ ibid.est operatio. And these acts are either immediate and eliciti, as the Schoolemen speak, or mediate and imperati. As for example, the immediate or elicite acts of justifying faith, are first, to beleeve truly and effectually and by a lively assent, that Iesus the Sonne of the blessed Virgin is the eternall Sonne of God, the Messias and the Saviour of all that beleeve in him. Secondly, because I so beleeve in Christ, to beleeve that hee is my Saviour. Thirdly, by these acts, faith receiving Christ, who is our righteousnesse, doth justifie. The mediate acts, which are called imperati, are these acts which the immediate acts doe produce mediantibus aliis virtutibus, by the mediation of other vertues. For if I beleeve, that Iesus is the Sonne of God and the Saviour of all that beleeve in him, and consequently, that hee is my Saviour: hereupon, I shall be moved to trust in him, as my Saviour; which is the act of affiance, but commanded by faith: and to expect salvation from him, which is the act of hope, but commanded by faith; and likewise to love him, and by love to obey him, which are the acts of charity, but commanded by faith, as here it is said: faith working by love.Charity not the forme of faith.
§. V. Now those graces, by which faith worketh, as namely charity, have not the respect of the formall cause unto faith, but rather of the instrumentall: Neither doth faith worke by them as its forme, but as its instruments; as the soule by the body and the members thereof. But that charity is not indeed the forme of faith, whereby it is acted and formed, it may appeare evidently by these reasons. First, because those, which hold it to be the forme of faith, deny it to bee the inward and intrinsecall forme, whereby faith is that which it is, which onelyonly is the formall cause, and as it were the soule of faith; but extrinsecall, whereby, as they imagine, the acts of faith are informed and so they make it by a strange kinde of Logicke, the forme of all vertues, as well as of faith. Secondly, because one habit disparated from another (as the three Theologicall vertues, faith, hope, and charity, being also, as themselves say, seated in diverse subjects, as the seat of faith is the mind, of love the heart) cannot possibly be the forme of the other. Thirdly; that habit, which proceedeth from another, as the fruit and effect thereof, cannot bee the forme of that other. But charity, which is the fulfilling of the Law, proceedeth from faith unfained, 1 Tim. 1. 5. For therefore doe wee love God, and our neighbour for his sake, because by faith wee are pe…swaded of his love towards us: and therefore doe wee love him, because hee loved us first, 1 Ioh. 4. 19 Fourthly, if charity be the forme of faith, then faith is the matter of charity; for the mater is that, which is formed, and as it were animated by the forme: but the consequent is absurd; therefore the antecedent. And againe, howsoever faith worketh those acts, which I called mediate or imperatos, by meanes of other graces, which acts doe tend to sanctification, (for which cause, faith doth not sanctifie alone): yet the actus eliciti, or immediate acts of faith which are to believe in Christ, and by beleeving, to receive, and by receiving him, who is our righteousnesse, to justifie; faith worketh neiby charity, nor by any other grace; and therefore it justifieth alone.
§. VI. Yea, but without charity, faith is informis, & with it, it is formata.Of the distinction of faith into … and ….
Answ. This distinction of faith, that it is either formata, or informis in a right sence may bee admitted; as namely, if by forme bee understood, the integrity, or inward efficacie; and if that be called formata, which is sound, unfained, lively and effectuall; and that informis, which i… uneffectuall, dead and counterfeit. For that distinction is intimated by the Apostle, when he speaketh, either of faith unfained, or contrariwise of a dead faith, for in the former, it is implyed that there is also a fained and a counterfeit faith: and in the latter, that there is also a lively faith. And so wee admit this distinction that faith is either
Formata, which is lively and unfained.
Informis, which is dead and counterfeit.
But in the popish sence it is to be rejected, and that in three respects. First, because they propound this distinction, as agreeing to a true justifyingIn the popish sence it is to be reiected for three reasons. faith, as if a true faith might be without forme: when as that, which is without forme is dead and counterfeit, and no more to bee called a true justifying faith, than the carcase, or counterfeit of a man is to be called a man. For howsoever such a faith may perhaps be true in respect of the object, because it is of the truth: yet it is not true in respect of the integrity, efficacy, and soundnesse thereof, and that which is not truely faith, is not faith foreign or indeed. Hee that saith, either that he beleeveth that there is a God, iTit. 1. 16.and in deeds doth deny him: and that he is just, and feareth not to offend him; or good, and doth not love him; or omnipr…sent and omniscient, and feareth not to play the hypocrite before him &c. such a one doth not indeed and in truth beleeve that, which he pro…esseth himselfe to beleeve. He that saith, he knoweth Christ, that is, beleeveth in him, and hath not a desire and care to keepk1 Iohn 1. 4 his Commandements, hee is a lyar, and the truth is not in him. That faith which is dead and counterfeit cannot justifie or save a man, as Saint Iames lIam. 2 14.sheweth. For howsoever faith alone doth justifie; yet that faith which is alone doth not justifie; neither alone nor at al, becauseit is not a true and lively, but a dead and counterfeit faith. Neithercan that be a true justifying faith which is common to the wicked, both men and Angels. Neither may wee omit Bellarmines confession in this place. Here, saith hee, the Apostle to prevent occasion of errour, explaineth what manner of faith, that is, that justifieth, non quaecunque fides, sed quae per dilectionem operatur, not every faith, but that which worketh by love.The second Reason.
§. VII. Secondly, this distinction is to bee rejected being understood in the popish sense, wherein it is implyed, that charity is the forme, and as it were the soule of faith: which opinion I have already confuted. Neither can they ground it upon Iames 2. 26. As the body without the Spirit is dead, so faith without workes is dead. For if the habit of charity cannot bee the forme of faith, as I have shewed, then much lesse can good workes, which are the outward fruits both of faith and of charity, bee the soule of faith it selfe. Of the profession indeed of faith a godly life is, as it were, the soule, and without which it is dead: but of faith it selfe it is not anima the soule, but foreign, the breath, as the word foreign, being derived from foreign, to breath, doth properly fignifie, in which sense it is often used, being called the Spirit of the mouth, the spirit of the nostrils. And in this sense it may be said, that as the body without breathing is judged to bee dead; so faith without workes, which are as it were the breathing of a lively faith, is also judged to be dead; not because it ever had lived, but because it wanteth life.
§. VIII. Thirdly, this distinction is to bee rejected, because, asThe third Reason. Bellarmine saith, it is to be understood of one and the same faith, which being informis may become formata; and being formata, may become informis againe, remayning still the same: But fides informis is not of the same kinde with that, which is formata, or justifying faith: as things which be without life, are not of the same kinde with those that are living: or as counterfeits are not of the same kinde with those things which they doe resemble. Besides, justifying faith is divine, the informis is humane: that, infusa, infused and supernaturall; this, acquisita, required by the strength of nature in the use of meanes: that, a grace of regeneration proper to the Elect; this, a gift of illumination onelyonly common to the reprobate: that, is vera being truely that whereof it beareth the name; this, simulata, not being that truly which it is called, but aequivocè: that doth so beleeve in Christ, that it doth imbrace him, and willeth and desireth, at the least, to apply him to the beleever: this, so beleeveth Christ, that either it is joyned with horrour, as in the Devils and desperate sinners, or is severed from any will or desire of application: this, is without fruit and root, and therefore is temporary; that hath both root and fruit, and never faileth. And howsoever that which is informis may by Gods grace bee changed into formatam; yet that which is formata can never be informis. No more than hee, who is once borne of God, can be unborne againe.
The rest of his arguments serve to prove, that faith is not the whole formall cause of justification, that is, as wee speake according to the Scriptures, of sanctification, which we deny not: for wee doe acknowledge a concurrence of many graces with faith unto sanctification. As for justification, we deny faith, either in whole or in part to bee the formall cause thereof. Neither doth any other of his arguments prove, that either charity, or any other grace doth with faith concurre unto justification.