Declaration of the Chief Points of Christian Religion, Chapter 3
CHAP. III.
How God putteth in execution his eternall counſell, aſwell towards the elect, as the reprobate.
THe Lord God, that hee might put in execution Why man was created good, but yet ſo, that he might willingly becom euil.this eternall counſell to his glory, prepared away according to his infinite wiſedom, indifferēt both to thoſe that hee would chuſe, and thoſe alſo which hee would refuſe. For when he determined to ſhevv his infinite merciemercy in the ſaluation of the elect, and alſo his iuſt iudgement in the condemnation of the reprobate; it was neceſſary that hee ſhould ſhut vp both vnderunder diſobedience & ſinne, to ſhew his mercy to all 1 thoſe that belieue 2. that is to ſay, to the elect: becauſe faith is a gift of god which properly belongeth vntounto thē 3: and cōtrariwiſe to hauehave iuſt cauſe to condemne them, to whom it is not giuē to belieue 4. nor to know Gods myſteries 5. Therefore GOD did this in ſuch ſort, and with ſuch wiſdome, that the whole fault of the reprobates damnation lyeth in themſelues: and on the other ſide, all the glory and praiſe of the elects ſaluation belongeth wholly to his onelyonly mercy.
For he did not create man a ſinner (for then he ſhould The creation of man.hauehave beene, with reuerent feare bee it ſpoken, the author of ſinne, which afterwards hee could not iuſtlie hauehave puniſhed) but rather he made him after his owne image 6: to wit, in innocēcie, purity, & holineſs: who notwithſtanding without conſtraint of any, neither yet forced by any neceſsitie of concupiſcence as touching his will (which as yet was not made ſeruaunt vntounto ſinne 8) Corruption.willinglie, and of his owne accord rebelled againſt God: binding (by this meanes) the vvhole nature of man to ſin, and ſo conſequently to the death of bodie & ſoule 9.
Yet we muſt confeſſe that this fall came not by chance The fall of Adam chanced not with out the wil & ordinance of God.or fortune, ſeeing his prouidence doth ſtretch forth it ſelfe euen to the ſmalleſt things 10: neither can we ſay, that any thing doth happen, that God knoweth not, or careth not for, except wee would fall into the opinion of the Epicures, from the which God preſerue vsus, neither yet by any bare or idle permiſſion or ſufferance, which is ſeparate from his will and ſure determination. For ſeeing hee hath appointed the end, it is neceſſarie alſo that he ſhould appoint the cauſes which lead vsus to the ſame end: vnleſſe we affirme with the wicked Manichees, that this end happeneth at all aduentures, or by meanes of cauſes ordained by ſome other God.
Further more, wee cannot thinke that any thing happeneth contrary to Gods will, except wee deny blaſphemouſly that hee is omnipotent & Almightie: As Saint Auguſtine noteth plainly, in his booke De correptione & gratia, chap 104. Wee conclude F…c…ir. ad Laurent. Chap. 99.therefore, that this full of Adam did ſo proceede of the motion of his will, that notwithſtanding it happened not without the vvill of God: whom it pleaſeth by a maruailous and incomprehenſible mean that the thing which hee doth not allow (for aſmuch as it is ſin) ſhold not happen without his will. And this is done, as wee ſaid before, that hee might ſhew the riches of his glory towards the veſſels of merciemercy: and his vvrath and power vponupon thoſe veſſels, which hee hath made to ſet foorth his glory by their ſhame & confuſion 12. For the finall end of Gods counſell is neither the ſaluation of the elect, nor the damnation of the reprobate: but the ſetting forth of his own glory, in ſauing the one by his mercy, and condemning the other by his iuſt iudgement.
Then to auoid al theſe blaſphemies, vntounto the which the infirmitie of our wits doth draw vsus, let vsus confeſſe that the corruption of the principall worke that GOD hath made (which is man) is not happened by chaunce, nor without the will of him, who according to his incomprehenſible wiſedome, dooth make and gouerne all things to his glory. Albeit wee muſt confeſſe (in deſpight of mans iudgement, which was limitted in the beginning within a certaine compaſſe, and after was miſerably corrupted) that the whole fault of his damnation lieth in man: foraſmuch as betwixt the ſecret and incomprehenſible will of God and that corruption of mans nature, which is the verie firſt occaſion of the reprobates damnation, the The whole fault of mās perdition, is in himſelfe, and not in God.wil of the firſt man is a mean, vvhichwhich being created good, hath willingly corrupted it ſelfe, and therby opened the doore to the iuſt iudgement of God, to condemn al thoſe, to whom it doth not pleaſe him to ſhew merciemercy. And if they would yet obiect, and cauill, ſaying, that they cannot reſiſt the will of GOD 13, let vsus ſuffer them to their owne deſtruction to plead againſt him, vvho wil be able enough to defend his iuſtice, againſt their quarrelling. Let vsus rather reuerence that which paſſeth the reach and compaſſe of our wits & turne our minds whollie to praiſe his merciemercy, who by his onelyonly grace hath ſaued vsus, when wee deſerued the like puniſhment and damnation, and were no leſſe ſinners and wicked then they.