The Life of Justification Opened, Appendix · Chapter 10
CHAP. X.
The Fathers give Countenance to the Doctrine of Imputation; and some Papists approve it.
THat it may not be thought, that the Doctrine of the Imputation of the Righteousness of Christ, is a new up-start opinion, I shall here set down some of their Testimonies unto this truth▪
Iustin. Martyr. Epist. ad Diognet. p. 386. Quid enim aliud peccata nostra potuit tegere, quam ejus justitia? in quo alio nos iniqui & impii pro justis haberi possumus, quam in solo Dei filio? O dulcem permutationem! o impervestigabile artificium! O beneficia expectationem omnem superentia! ut iniquitas quidem multorum in justo uno abscondatur; justitia autem unius faciat, ut multi injusti pro justis habeantur. i. e. for what else could cover out sins, but his (i. e. Christ's) Righteousness? in whom else, could we, who are naked & ungodly, be accounted for Righteous persons? than only in the Son of God? O sweet permutation! O unsearchable Contrivance! O benefites exceeding all expectation! that the iniquity of many should be hid in one just one, & the Righteousness of one should make many, who are unrighteous, be accounted Righteous.
Againe in lib. de Expositione fidei. Filius Dei, quatenus homo, vitam ab crimine remotam traduxit; mortemque voluntariam pertulit; per exactam & accuratam Conversationem, peccatum obliterans, & per mortem indebitam debitum delens. i. e. The Son of God, as Man, led a life free of all fault, and suffered a voluntary death; obliterating sin by his exact & accurat Conversation, & deleting the debt by an undue death.
Irenaeus Adv Haeres. c. 15. Dominus in Amicitiam nos reduxit per suam in…arnationem, mediator De… & hominum factus, propitians quidem pro nobis Patrem, in quem peccaveramus, & nostram inobedientiam Consolatus: nobis autem donans eam, quae est ad Factorem nostrum, Conversationem & Subjectionem. i. e. The Lord brought us into friend shipe by his Incarnation, being made a Mediator betwixt God & Man, Propitiating the Father for us, against whom we sinned & comforting us over our disobedience: but freely giving us that Conversation & Subjection, which is to our Maker.
Athanasius Tom. 2. p. 270. Necessarium est, maximeque necessarium, …re…dere Scripturis Sanctis, confiteri ex nostro genere primitias, celebrare singularem… assumentis in genus humanum amorem, obstu pescere magnâ oeconomiae atque dispo sitionis miraculum, non timere execrationem legis (Christus enim nos a maledictione legis liberavit) impletionem legis a primitiis factam toti massae asscribere (imputare, in the Greek it is foreign) i. e. It is necessary, yea most necessary, to beleeve the holy Scriptures, to confesse the first fruits (i. e. Christ) of our kind, to celebrat that singular love of him that assumed (viz. Mans Nature) unto mankind; to be astonished at that miracle of the great Oeconomie & disposition; not to feare the Curse of the Law (for Christ hath delivered us from the Curse of the Law) ascribe or impute the fulfilling of the Law, done by the first fruits, unto the whole masse.
The same Author de Incarn. Verbi contra Samosat. Tom. 1. p. 461. Impossibile est puritatem & innoeentiam in humana natura exhiberi, nisi Deus credatur in carne esse, qui justitiam omni peccato liberam in mundum introduxit, cujus quia participes redditi sumus, vivemus & salvabimur. Illud enim non est justus in terra, qui bonum faciat, & non peccet, in commune, ad omnes homines pertinet, unde ex coelo descendit, qui immaculatam ex se justitiam daturus erat. i. e. It is impossible that purity & innocency shall be exhibited in mans nature, unless we beleeve, that God is in the flesh, who hath brought into the world a Righteousness free of all sin, of which because we are made partakers, we shall live & be saved: for that there is not a just man upon earth, who doth good & sinneth not, doth appertaine to all men in common, wherefore he descended from heaven, who was to give a pure Righteousness of himself.
Chrysost. When a Cavilling jew shall object, how can the world be saved by the Rectitude, or Obedience of one Christ? Answere him againe, by asking, how came the world to be condemned by the disobedience of one Adam?
Greg. Nyssen. Orat. 2. iu Cantic. Christus in se transtatis peccatorum meorum sordibus, puritatem suam mecum communicavit; meque pulchritudinis ejus, quae in ipso est, participem fecit. i. e. Christ having translated the filth of my fins upon himself, did communicat unto me his own purity, & made me a partaker of that beauty, which is in him.
By these we may see, that even before Augustins dayes, this Truth was asserted, though Mr. Baxter, in his book against D. Tully Ch. 1. § 3. intimate the contrary.
Cyrillus Alexandr. in Ioan. lib. 11. c. 25. Quemadmodum praevaricatione primihominis, ut in primitiis generis nostri, morti addicti sumus: eodem modo per obedient…am & justitiam Christi, in … seipsum legi subjec… quamvis legis Author esset, benedictio atque vivificatio, quae per Spiritum est, ad totam nostram penetravit naturam. i. e. As by the transgression of the first man, as in the first fruits of our kind, we are adjudged unto death; so the same way by the Obedience & Righteousness of Christ, in as much as he subjected himself to the Law, though he was the Author of the Law, the blessing & Vivification, which is by the Spirit, did reach to our whole Nature.
Leo Epist. 72. ad Iuvenalem. Ut autem repararet omnium vitam, recepit omnium causam, & vim veteris chirographi pro omnibus solvendo vacuavit: ut sicut per unius reatum omnes facti f…erant peccatores, ita per unius innocentiam, omnes fierent innocentes, inde in homines manante justitia, ubi est humana suscepta Natura. i. e. But that he might repaire the life of all, he undertook the cause of all, & paying for all made void the force of the Old obligation, to the end that as by one mans guilt all were made sinners, so by one mans innocency, all might become innocent; Righteousness coming unto men thence, where the humane Nature is taken on.
August. ad Laurent. Cap. 41. Ipse peccatum, ut nos justitia; nec nostra, sed Dei sumus: nee in nobis, sed in ipso; sicut ipse peccatum, non suum, sed nostrum, nec in se, sed in nobis constitutum, similitudine peccati, in qua crucifixus est, demonstravit. i. e. He was sin as we were Righteousness, not our own, but of God, not in ourselves but in him: as he did demonstrat himself to be sin, not his own, but ours; not in himself, but in us, by the similitude of sinfull flesh, in which he was crucified.
Idem in Psal. 30. Cone. 1. in tua justitia erue me & exime me, quia non invenisti in me justitiam meam, erue me in tua, hoc est illud, quod me eruit, quod me justificat, quod ex impio pium facit, quod ex iniquo justum. i. e. Deliver me in thy Righteousness. Because thou didst not finde my Righteousness in me, deliver me in thine; that is it which delivereth me, which justifieth me, that maketh me of ungodly godly, & of unrighteous Righteous.
Id. in Psal. 70. Erue me in justitia tua, non in mea, sed in tua; si enim in mea, er… exillis, de quibus ille ait, ignorantes Dei justitiam, & suam volentes constituere, justitiae Dei non sunt subjecti. i. e. Deliver me in thy Righteousness. Not in mine, but in thine; for if in mine, I should be of them, of whom he saith, being ignorant of God's Righteousness & willing to establish their own, they did not subject themselves unto the Righteousness of God.
Id. Tom. 9. Tract. 3. in Ioan. Omnes qui ex Adamo cum peccato, peccatores, omnes qui per Christum justificati, justi; non in se, sed in illo; nam in se, si interroges, Adam sunt; in illo si interroges, Christi sunt. i. e. All that are of Adam with sin are sinners, all who are justified by Christ, are Righteous; not in themselves, but in him; for if you ask, what they are in themselves, they are Adam's; if you ask what they are in him, they are Christ's.
Bernard. Serm. 61. in Cantic. Nunquid justitias meas? Domine, memorabor justitiae tuae solius: Ipsa est enim & mea; nempe factus es mihi tu justitia a Deo. Nunquid verendum, ne non una duobus sufficiat? non est pallium breve, quod secundum Prophetam, non possit operireduos, justitia tua justitia in aeternum, & te pariter & me opertet larga & aeterna justiti…, & in me quidem operit multitudinem delictorum. i. e. Shall I make mention of my Righteousness? Lord, I will make mention of thine only: for that is also mine, because thou art made of God unto me Righteousness. Is it to be feared that that one shall not serve two? It is not a short cloak, that according to the Prophet, cannot cover two; thy Righteousness is an everlasting Righteousness, & that large & eternal Righteousness shall cover both thee & me, & in me indeed it shall cover a multitude of sins.
Id. Dom. 1. post Octav. Epiph. Serm. 1. Veruntamen, ut jam non sit quod causeris, O homo, contra inobedientiam Adae, datur tibi obedientia Christi, ut si gratis venundatus es, gratis & redimaris. i. e. But, that thou ô man, should not have whereof to complean, fore against the disobedience of Adam (which he said before, was imputed) the obedience of Christ is given unto thee, to the end, that if thou be sold for nothing, thou shalt also be redeemed for nothing.
Idem Epist. 190. ad Innocent. Pont. Rom. Quid namque ex se agere poterat, ut semel amissam justitiam recuperaret homo, servus peccati, vinctus diaboli? assignata est ei proinde aliena, qui carui… sua, & ipsa sic est. Venit Princeps mundi & in Salvatore non invenit quicquam, & cum nihilominus innocenti manus injecit, justissime quos tenebat amisit; quando is qui morti nihil debebat, accepta mortis injuria, jure illum qui obnoxius erat & mortis debito & Diaboli solvit Dominio Qua enim justitia id secundo exigeretur? homo siquidem qui debuit, homo qui solvit: nam si unus, inquit, pro omnibus mortuus est, ergo omnes mortui sunt, ut viz sa… factio unius omnibus imputetur, sicut omnium peccata unus ille portavit, nec alter jam inveniatur, qui forte fecit, alter qui satisfecit, quia Caput & Corpus unus est Christus. Satisfecit ergo Caput pro membris; Christus pro Visceribus suis &c. quod si dixerit, Pater tuus addixit te, Respondeb…, sed Frater men's redemit me, cur non aliunde justitia, quia aliunde reatus? alius qui peccatorem constituit, alius qui justificat a peccato? alter in semine, alter in sanguine. An peccatum in semine peccatoris, & non justitia in sanguine Christi? - non convenit filium portare iniquitatem patris, & fratern… fieri exortem justitiae. i. e. For what could man, a servant of sin & a bound slave of the devil, do of himself, to recover the Righteousness, which he had once lost? Therefore another is assigned unto him, because he wanted his own, & the same is so. The Prince of the world came, & found nothing in the Saviour, & when notwithstanding he put hands on the Innocent, he lost those most justly, when he held; when he, who owed nothing to death, having received the injurie of death, he did by right loose him, who was liable to the debt of death, & deliver him from the Dominion of Satan, for by what Right could he exact that the second time? seing as it was man, who owed, so it was man, who payed: for if one, he saith, died for all, then are all dead, that, to wit, the Satisfaction of one, might be imputed to all, as that one did bear the sins of all; Neither now is it found, that one did the wrong & another satisfied, for the Head & the body are one Christ: the Head therefore did satisfie for the members; Christ for his own bowels. But if he shall say. Thy Father bound thee over; I shall answer, but my Brother hath redeemed me, why should not Righteousness be from another; as guilt was from another▪ one who made man a sinner, & another who justifieth from sin; the one in the seed, the other in blood. Was sin in the seed of a sinner; & shall not Righteousness be in the bloud of Christ. It is not right, that the Son should bear the iniquity of the Father, & be defrauded of the Righteousness of his Brother.
Idem Serm. ad Milites Templi c. 1. Qui peccati meritum tulit, suam nobis donando justitiam; ipse meritis debitum solvit, & reddit vitam; sic namque mortua morte, revertitur vita, quemadmodum ablato peccato redit justitia; porro mors in Christi morte fugatur, & Christi nobis justitia imputatur &c. Qui nostram & induit carnem & subiit mortens, putas suam nobis negabit justitiam? Voluntarie incarnatus, voluntarit passus, voluntarie crucifixus, solam à nobi… retinebit justitiam; afterward ibid. Unus peccavit & omnes tenentur rei, & unius innocentia soli reputabitur uni? Unius peccatum omnibus operatum est mortem, & unius justitia uni vi…am restituet? Haud Dei justitia magis ad condemn…ndum, quam ad restaurandum valuit? aut plus potutt Adam in malo, quàm Christus in bono? Adae peccatum imputabitur mihi, & Christi justitia non pertinebit ad me? i. e. He who took away the desert of sin, giving to us his Righteousness, the same by his merites, paid the debt, & restored life; for if death be dead, life returneth; even as sin being taken away, Righteousness returneth: Moreover death is banished away in Christ's death, and Christ Righteousness is imputed to us &c. He who took on our flesh, & underwent death, thinks thou, that he shall deny to us his Righteoysness? He who willingly was incarnate, willingly suffered, willingly was crucified, shall he withold his Righteousness from us?-one man sinned & all are guilty, & shall the innocency of one be accounted only to one? One mans sin hath wrought death unto all, & shall the Righteousness of one restore life only to one? Shall God's Righteousness be more powerfull to condemne, than to restore? Could Adam do more in sin, than Christ in good? Shall Adam's sin be imputed unto me, & shall not Christ's Righteousness belong unto me?
Ambros. lib. 3. de Virginit. p. 100. Om…ia Iesus est nobis si volumus. Si vulnus curari defideras, Medicus est: Si febribus aestuas, sons est: Si gravaris iniquitate, justitia est: si auxilio indiges, virtus est: Si mortem times, vita est: si c…lum desideras, via est: si tenebras fugis, luxest: si cibum quaeris, alimentum est. i. e. Christ is all things to us, if we be willing, if thou desirest to have thy wound cured, he is the chyrurgen: if thou burn with feavers, he is a fountain: If thou be burdened with sin, he is Righteousn…ss: If thou want help, he is vertue: If thou fear death, he is the life: if thou desirest heaven, he is the way: If thou fleest from darkness, he is light: if thou seek meat, he is aliment.
Idem de side lib. 2. c. 4. O sides the sauris omnibus opulentior! O vulnerum nostrorum peccatorumque medicina praestantior! Consideremus, quia nobis prodest bene credere. Mihi enim prodest scire, quia propter me Christus suscepit infirmitates meas, mei corporis subiit passiones, pro me peccatum, - pro me maledictum factus est, pro me atque in me subditus atque subjectus. i. e. O faith more rich than all treasures! O most excellent medicine for all our wounds & sins! Let us consider, for it is profitable for us to beleeve well: It is profitable for me to know, because Christ for me took on my infirmities, he underwent the passions of my body, he was made sin for me-for me was he made a curse, for me & in me, was he made a subject.
Macarius Homil. 20. Quicunque enim in propria sua justitiâ & redemptione consistit, in vanum & cassum laborabit; nam omnis opinio de propria justitia concepta, tanquam pannus menstruat… mulieris, in novissimo die manifestabitur, sicut inquit Esaias Propheta-Petamus itaque & obtestemur Deum, ut induat nobis vestem salutis, Dominum nostrum, Jesum, Christum, ineffabilem lucem, quem ferentes animae in aeternum non exuentur. i. e. Who ever standeth in his own Righteousness & redemption laboureth in vaine: for all conceived opinion of our own Righteousness shall be manifest to be a menstruous cloth, in the last day, as the Prophet Esai saith - Let us ask therefore; & beseek the Lord, that he would cloth us with the garment of Salvation our Lord Jesus Christ, that ineffable light, whom if our souls put on & wear, they shall never be denuded thereof.
Even some Papists of old, (though few or none now since the Councel at Trent,) did assent unto this Imputation of the Righteousness of Christ.
In Colon there was a book written an. 1475. directing, how to comfort dying persons, wherein these words are found. Age ergo dum superest in te anima, in hac sola morte fiduciam tuam constitue, in nulla re fiduciam habe, huic mortite totum committe, hac sola tetotum contege, totum immisce te in hac morte, in hac morte totum te involve; & si Dominus Deus te voluerit judicare, dic Domine, mortem D.N.I.C. objicio inter me & tuum judicium, aliter …ecum non contendo. Et si tibi dixerit, quia peccatores, dic mortem D.N.I.C. pono inter te & peccata mea. Si dixerit tibi quod meruisti damnationem, dic Domine, mortem D.N.I.C. obtendo inter te & mala mea merita, ipsiusque merita offero pro merito, quod ego debuissem habere, nec habeo, Si dixerit, quod tibi est iratus, dic, Domine, mortem D.N.I.C. oppono inter me & iram tuam. i. e. Go to then, while thy soul is in thee, put all thy confidence in this death alone, have confidence in no other thing, commit thy self wholly unto this death, cover thy self wholly with this death alone, mixe thy self wholly in this death, roll thy self wholly in this death; & if the Lord will judge thee, say, Lord, I cast up the death of our Lord. J. C. betwixt me & thy judgment; no other way do I contend with thee. And if he say to thee, that thou art a sinner, say, I put the death of the Lord Jesus Christ betwixt thee & my sins. If he say, that thou hast deserved damnation, say, Lord, I hold forth the death of our Lord J. C. betwixt thee & my evil merites; & I offer his merites, for the merite, which I should have had, & have not. If he say, that he is angry at thee; say, Lord, I set up the death of our Lord J. C. betwixt me & thine anger.
Isidorus Clarius Orat. 40. in Luc. Nos dicimus neque fide primò, neque charitate, sed una Dei justitiâ in Christo nobis impertitâ justificari. i. e. We say, we are justified at first neither by faith, neither by charity, but by the Righteousness of God alone in Christ, bestowed upon us.
Albertus Pighius Controv. 2. de side. Fortassis etiam nostram hanc damnarent (n. Scholastici) sententiam, qua propriam, & … ex suis operibus esset … Deo, justitiam derogamus omnibus Adae filiis, & docuimus una Dei in Christo niti nos pesse justitid, una illa justos coram Deo, destitutos propria, nisi hoc ipsum astruxissemus aliquanto diligentius. i. e. It may be they (i. e. the Scholasticks) would condemne this opinion of ours, whereby we take away from all the Sons of Adam, their own Righteousness, which is of their own works, before God, & did teach, that we must leane upon the Righteousness of God, in Christ, alone, & that by that alone, we are Righteous before God though destitute of our own, if we had not confirmed it a little more diligently.
Idem ibid. Nam quod nen operibus nostris, non in justitia nostra, sed in una ignoscente iniquitates nostras misericordia, benevolenti… erga nos divinae, & salutis a Deo assignandae nobis spes sit Davidis Testimonio Apost. ad Rom. comprobans, non alia justiti… niti nos posse, nisi quam imputari nobis absque nostris operibus affirmat-non dicit, beati qui ex operibus suis justi coram Deo sunt, beatus vir, qui non commisit, nec fecit injustitiam, sad beati, quorum a Deo misericorditer remissae sunt iniquitates quorum ipse, sua justitia tegit & abscendit peccata. i. e. That our hope of the Lord's good will, & of life is not by our works, nor in our Righteousness, but only in the mercy of God, forgiving iniquities, Paul to the Rom. confirmeth by the testimonie of David, proving to us, that we may lean to no other Righteousness, but that, which he affirmeth to be imputed to us without our works.—He saith not blessed are they, who are Righteous before God by their own works; blessed is the man, that hath done no iniquity; but blessed are they, whose iniquities are mercifully pardoned, whose sins he covereth, and hideth with his own Righteousness.
Thereafter the same man saith. In illo ergo justificamur coram Deo, non in nobis, non nostra sed illius justitia, quae nobis cum illo jam communicantibus imputatur. Propriae justitiae inopes extra nos in illo docemur justitiam quaerere. Cum inquit, qui peccatum non noverat, pro nobis peccatum fecit, hoc est hostiam pecc…ti expiatricem, ut nos efficeremur justitia Dei in ipso: non nostra, sed Dei justitia justi efficimur in Christo: quo jure? Amicitiae, quae communionem omnium inter amicos facit, juxta vetus & celebratissimum proverbium, Christo insertis, conglutinatis & unitis, & sua nostra facit, suas divitias nobis communicat, suam justitiam inter Patris judicium & nostram injustitiam interponito, & sub ea, veluti sub umbone & clypeo, a divina, quam commeruimus, ira nos abscondit, tuetur ac protegit, imo tandem nobis impertit, & nostram facit, qua tecti, ornatique audacter & secure jam divino nos sistamus tribunali & judicio; justique non solum appareamus, sed etiam simus. i. e. In him (that is, Christ) therefore are we justified before God, not in ourselves; not by our own but by his Righteousness, which is imputed to us, when now we communicat with him. Being void of a Righteousness of our own he teacheth us to seek a Righteousness, without ourselves; in him, when he saith he made him sin for us, who knew no sin, that is, he made him a sacrifice for sin, that we might be made the Righteousness of God in him. By what Law? By that of friendship, which maketh a community of all things among friends, according to the old & well known proverb. Being insert into Christ glued & united unto him, he maketh what is his to be ours, he communicateth unto us his riches, he interposeth his Righteousness betwixt the Fathers judgment & our unrighteousness, and under it, as under a shield, he hideth, defendeth, & protecteth us from God's wrath, which we had deserved; Yea at length giveth it to us, & maketh it ours; with which being covered & adorned, we may boldly & saifly sist ourselves before the Tribunal of God, and we not only appear Righteous, but also are Righteous.
Ruardus Tapperus Tom. 2. Art. 8. p. 36. Sicut Christo nostra scelera a Patre, ob spontaneam eorum assumptionem, & corporis mystici intimam unionem, imputantur: ita ejus justitia, quasi capitis, nobis ejus membris, ad justitiam & via…m aeternam imputatur. i. e. As our iniquities were imputed by God unto Christ, because of his voluntary assuming of them, & of the neer union of the mystical body: so his Righteousness, as head to us his members, is imputed unto us unto Righteousness, & life eternal.
Yea Bellarm. granteth lib. 2. de justif. C. 10. That Christ may be called our Righteousness, because he satisfied the Father for us, & did so give & communicat that Satisfaction to us, when he justifieth us, that it may be called our Satisfaction & Righteousness. And againe; this way it were not absurd to say, that Christ's Righteousness & merites were imputed to us, when they are given & applied to us, as if we ourselves had satisfied God. So in Resp. ad 3. Arg. We are said to be the Righteousness of God, not in ourselves, but in Christ, because he is our head, & what agreeth to th… head, agreeth to the members, not as they are distinct from the head, but as they are one with it. So c. 11. in Resp. ad Arg. 2. The similitude of putting on agarment may be saifly accommodat unto imputed Righteousness; if one say, we must put on Christ's merits, & some way be covered with them, seek pardon of sins. cap. 7. Arg. 4. he saith Christ's merits are imputed to us, because gifted to us, & we may offer them to the Father for our sins, because Christ took upon him the burden of satisfying for us, & of reconciling us to God the Father. Thus he
After Cardinal Bellarmin. we may mention Cardinal Contarenus, who is more orthodox here, than any of them; & speaketh as plaine truth, as any of the orthodox themselves can do: for so doth he, in Tract. de Iustif. state the question. Quoniam ad duplicem justitiam pervenimus, per fidem, justitiam inharentem nobis & charitatem ac gratiam, qua efficimur consortes divina naturae; & justitiam Christi nobis donatam & imputatam, quoniam inserti sumus Christi, & induimus Christum: Praetat inquirere Utra-nam debeamus niti, & existimare nos justificari coram Deo, id est, justos & Sanctos haberi. i. e. Because by faith we obtaine a twofold Righteousness, one inherent in us, love & grace, whereby we are made partakers of the divine nature; the other the Righteousness of Christ, given & imputed to us, because in…ert into Christ, & because we have put on Christ: It is fittest to Enquire, unto which of these we ought to leane ourselves, & account ourselves justified before God, that is looked upon as Righteous & holy.
The question thus proposed he thus determineth. Ego prorsus existimo, pi… & Christian…egrave, di…i, quod debeamus niti (niti inquimus, tanquam rei stabili, quae cert…nos sustentet) justitia Christinobis donota, non autem justitia & sanctitate nobis inhaerente: h…c enim nostra justitia est inch…ata & imperfecta, quae impedirenon potest, quin assidue pe…cemus; idcirco in conspectu Dei possumus eb hanc justitiam haberi justi & boni, quemadmedum deceret filios Dei esse bonos & Sanctos; Sed justitia Christi est vera & perfecta justitia, quae omnino placet oculis Dei, in qua nihil est quod Deum offendat, quod Deo non summopere placeat; h…ac ergo sola re certa & stabili nobis nitendum est; & ob eam solam credere nos justificari coram Deo, id est haberi justos & dioi justos. Hic est pretiosus Thesaurus, quem qui invenit, vendit omnia quae habet, & emit illum. i. e. I verily think, that it is piously & christianly said, that we ought to lean (I say lean, as to a stable thing, that shall certainly hold us up) unto Christ's Righteousness, given unto us; but not unto the Righteousness & holiness, that is inherent in us: for this Righteousness of ours is inchoate & imperfect, that cannot hinder us from ssinning dayly; therefore we cannot for this Righteousness, in the sigt of God be accounted just & good, as would become the Sones of God to be: but the Righteousness of Christ is true & perfect Righteousness, which every way pleaseth God's eyes, in which is nothing that can displease God, & doth not highly please him: Therefore we must only leane to this certaine & stable thing, and beleeve, that for it alone we are justified before God; that is, accounted Righteous, and so called. This is the Precious Treasure, which who findeth, he selleth all he hath, & buyeth it.
Yea this he confirmeth afterward by Experience, saying. Inde est, quod pro experimento videmus viros Sanctos, qui quanto magis in veritato proficiunt, tanto minus sibi placent; ac propterea tanto magis intelligunt se indigere Christo & justitia Christi sibi donata; ideoque se relinquunt, & soli Christo incumbunt: …c non obeam accidit causam, quod facti sanctiores minus videant quam prius; neque quia facti sunt animo dimissiori vel viliori; imo quanto magis in sanctitate proficiunt, tanto majore sunt animo, tanto sunt perspicaciores. i. e. Hence it is, that by experience we see, holy men, how farther they advance in the truth, please themselves the less, & therefore do more understand, that they have need of Christ, & of his Righteousness given unto them: wherefore they relinquish themselves; and leane upon Christ alone: This cometh not to passe, because they become of a more base & Law spirit: Yea the further they advance in holiness, they are of greater spirits, & see more clearly.
FINIS