Works of Joseph Hall, Section 7
SECTION VII. The Romiſh Hereſie concerning Iuſtification.
THat point of Iuſtification (of all other) is exceeding important;Caluin. De vera Pacific. contra Interim. inſomuch as CALVIN was faine to perſwade, that if this one head might bee yeelded ſafe and intire, it would not quite the coſt, to make any great quarrell for the reſt. Would to God that word of CASSANDER might bee made good,Conſultat. de Iuſtific. which doubted not to ſay, That which is affirmed, that men cannot bee iuſtified before God by their owne ſtrength, merits, or workes, but that they are freely iuſtified by faith, was alwaies allowed and receiued in the Church of God, and is at this day approued by all Eccleſiaſticall Writers: Yea, I would they would bee ruled by their Thomas Aquinas in this,In Galat. & in I…c. 2. who attributes Iuſtification to workes, not as Iuſtification is taken for an infuſion of grace, but as it is taken for an exerciſe, or manifeſtation, or conſummation of Iuſtice: If this were all, in this point all would be peace:Concil. Trid. ſeſſ. 6. c. 7. ſi quis dixerit ſola fide, &c. Com. 9. But whilſt the Tridentine Fathers take vponupon them to forge the formall cauſe of our Iuſtification, to be our owne inherent Iuſtice, and thruſt Faith out of Office, what good man can chooſe but preſently addreſſe himſelfe to an oppoſition? Who would not rather dye than ſuffer the ancient Faith of the Church to be depraued with theſe idle Dreames? Goe now ye great Trent Diuines, and bragge of your ſelues (as AETIVS did of old by Theodorets report) that God hath now at laſt reuealed to you thoſe things, which he would hauehave hitherto concealed from all the world:Rom. 4.6. Gal. 1.16.Ephes. 2.8. Rom. 3.20. Rom. 3.24. In the meane time wee cannot but ſcorne to ſee the ſoules of men ſo ſhamefully deluded; whiles we heare the Spirit of God ſo oft redoubling, Without workes, not by workes but by faith: By their workes, no fleſh ſhall bee iuſtified; Being iuſtified freely by his grace; By the power whereof, Arrius Montanus, an ingenuous Author (and as HIEROME ſayd of APPOLLINARIVS, a man of approued labour,Epiſt. ad Pa…. & Oceanum. though in many things (as the times then were) faultie in opinion) being vtterly conuinced; It followes (ſaith hee) that Faith is reputed for righteouſneſſe to him that workes not in the Law;In Rom. 4.5. and that according to the purpoſe of the grace of God.
If wee caſt our eyes backe to the Ancient Fathers, they are all ours: Not according to the worth of our workes, ſaith BASIL: OnelyOnly to beleeue (foreign) ſaith NAZIANzEN; Faith alone is ſufficient, ſaith IEROME: By beleeuing are men iuſtified, ſaith Auguſtine, In Pſal. 1.14. Vide Whitak. contra Dur. foreign. Lib. 1. aduerſ. Pelag. & in 3. ad Galat. De Patient. c. 20. & in Pſal. 31. In An…chor. In R…m. 17. hom. & in 1. Cor. hom. 11 Orat. 1. contr. Arrian. De offic. l. 2. c. 2. De Iacob. & vita beat. 2. In Rom 8. Chryſoſt. hom. de verbis Pauli. Non ſolum ſed gloriamur in affl. Tom. 3. pag. 945. In Ep. ad Tit. c. 2. Hier. in Epiſt. ad Rom. c. 10. Fides ſola iuſtificat, deleatur: ad Gal. 2. Literas quidem abol…re poteſtis, &c. Ambr. de Sp. S. l. 3. c. 11. Exam. pacifi que Rom. 4.4. Aug. de Corrept. & grat. Epheſ. 2.8. Socr. l. 4. c. 18. In vita eius. In Bonauentura non peccau…t Adam. Qu. vitam eius. Hier. aduerſ. Pelag. ad Cteſiphont. Theod. l. 4. c. 10.and with theſe conſort the reſt, Epiphanius, Chryſoſtome, Athanaſius, Primaſius, and that whole ſacred Quire of Antiquitie: But to what purpoſe doe I inſtance in theſe, when as the Expurgatory Index of Spaine, hath purpoſely wip't both out of the Tables and Text of Chryſoſtome, Ierome, Cyrill, moſt cleare Teſtimonies for the ſole Iuſtification by Faith? The Booke is eueryevery where abroad, it is needleſſe to recite the ſeueralls: See now the Inquiſitors guilty to themſelues both of errour, and fraud; To whom I muſt ſing the ſame note, that Ambroſe did of old, to the Arrians: Yee may blot out the Letters, but the Faith you can neuer aboliſh; Thoſe blurres bewray you more; thoſe blots condemne you more than the Writing.
But ſome per…ps may thinke this a meere ſtrife of words, and not hard to bee reconciled: For, that which to the Papiſts is inherent iuſtice, is no other to the Proteſtants, than Sanctification; both ſides hold this equally neceſſary, both call for it equally: True; but doe both require it in the ſame manner? doe both to the ſame end? I thinke not; yea, what can be more contrary than theſe opinions, to each other? the Papiſts make this inherent righteouſneſſe the cauſe of our iuſtification; the Proteſtants, the effect thereof: The Proteſtants require it as the companion or Page, the Papiſts as the Vſher, yea, rather as the Parent of Iuſtification. But what matters it (ſay they) ſo both aſcribe this whole worke to God? As though it comes not all to one, to pay a ſumme for mee, and to giuegive it me to pay for myſelfe. I know not how theſe things ſeeme ſo little diſſonant to theſe mens eares, which the Spirit of God hath made vtterly incompatible; To him that worketh, the wages is not imputed of grace, but of debt; If by grace, now not of workes, or elſe grace ſhould bee no more grace; for neither is it grace any way, if it be not free eueryevery way, ſaith Auguſtine: But theſe men ſay, Therefore of grace, becauſe of workes. Not of workes, leſt any man ſhould boaſt, (ſaith the Spirit:) But of workes, and yet a man ſhall boaſt in the Lord, ſaith BELLARMINE. And wherefore ſhall he boaſt? becauſe hee is iuſt, becauſe void of ſinne; perhaps ſome ISIODORE may ſay thus of himſelfe, which voluntarily proteſted that for forty yeares ſpace he found not in himſelfe any ſin, not ſo much as in his thought, not ſo much as any conſent to anger or inordinate deſire: Or perhaps ſome BARONIVS or BELLARMINE may report this of their late Saint, Gonzaga; or the offall of the Schooles may ſay ſo of BONAVENTVRE; in whom, (if wee beleeue them) ADAM ſinned not, or Manicheus may ſay it of his elect Maſters; or perhaps Priſcilian, Euagrius, Iouinian, the Meſſalians, may bragge thus of themſelues; But farre otherwiſe is that ſpeech of Ambroſe, I will not boaſt becauſe I am iuſt, but becauſe I am redeemed; I will boaſt, not becauſe I am voyd of ſinne, but becauſe my ſinnes are forgiuen mee: Otherwiſe, wee ſhall come to that poynt which INNOCENTIVS condemned in the Pelagians, What need hauehave we now of God? But thou ſayeſt, GOD hath giuen mee this whereby I am iuſt: Indeed this ſeemes at the firſt a great and glorious praiſe of the grace of God; and at the firſt hearing ſounds well to an ignorant eare; and yet, (when it is better conſidered) vnderunder a pretence of piety, ſpoyles Chriſt of his glory: Why doeſt thou not as well ſay, Hee hath giuen mee wherewith I may redeeme my ſelfe?Rom. 5.9. for by the ſame wherewith wee are iuſtified, wee are redeemed, (Being iuſtified by his Bloud;) Behold, the bloud of him that is God and man, iuſtifies vsus, and the ſame redeemes vsus: But goe on a little: God hath giuen thee this; But hath hee giuen it thee without thy ſelfe? Is this done without the interuention, without the operation of our Free-will?Abiurat. Artoc. 45. Let the Monkes of Burdeaux ſpeake, in their Abiurations: let ANDRADIVS, Let BELLARMINE (the …ower of the Popiſh Schoole) let any Papiſt deny this, if hee dare; It is onelyonly Chriſts therefore which is imputed: that which is inherent, is ours; for all (ſaith Auſten) which are iuſtified by Chriſt, are iuſt not in themſelues, but in him: That which is Chriſts, becauſe it is his, is moſt perfect▪ that which is ours,Hier. aduerſ. Pelag. lib. 3. becauſe ours, is weake and imperfect. GOD hath made vsus men, not Gods: Our perfection is ſeaſonable in Heauen▪ Iuſtly doth HIEROME deride CTESIPHON; wee the Papiſts: O bleſſed, O happy men, if that Iuſtice which is not thought to bee any where but in Heauen, may bee found with you onelyonly vponupon earth; In the meane time, it is ſufficient for vsus, to mourne for our wants, to hate iniuſtice: It is the very ſpeech of Donatiſts, Optat. l. 2. Cont. Don. Non habeo quod ignoſcas. Ser. in Cant. & Ser. 4. de verbis Eſa. Rectam ſortitam iuſticiam, &c.I hauehave nothing for thee to pardon. Let Bernard now (to conclude) ſhut vp this Stage; Not to ſinne, (ſaith hee) is Gods iuſtice, but the iuſtice of man is the pardon of God. To be imputed therefore, and to be inherent, differ no leſſe than God and man, Trent and Heauen: Wherefore let our Romaniſts confeſſe that, which both Scriptures, and Fathers, and all their modeſter Doctors hauehave both thought and reported to bee the common voyce of the former Church in all times; and we are agreed: Otherwiſe, What fellowſhip hath God with Belial, light with darkneſſe?