 Section 13 of Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 3. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Curtis Mattson. Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 3. By John Cowlin. Translated by Henry Beverage. Chapter 4, Part 4. Number 30. What prey did Christ perform for us if the punishment of sin is still exacted? For when we say that he bear our sins in his own body on the tree, 1 Peter 2.24, all we mean is that he endured the penalty and punishment which was due to our sins. This is more significantly declared by Isaiah, when he says that the chastisement or correction of our peace was upon him, Isaiah 53.5. But what is the correction of our peace unless it be the punishment due to our sins and to be paid by us before we could be reconciled to God? Had he not become our substitute? Thus you clearly see that Christ bore the punishment of sin that he might thereby exempt his people from it. And whenever Paul makes mention of the redemption procured by him, he calls it apollutrosis, by which he does not simply mean redemption, as it is commonly understood, but the very price and satisfaction of redemption. For which reason he also says that Christ gave himself an antilutron, or ransom, for us? What is propitiation with the Lord, says Augustine, but sacrifice? And what is sacrifice but that which was offered for us in the death of Christ? For we have our strongest argument in the injunctions of the Mosaic Law as to expiating the guilt of sin. The Lord does not there appoint this or that method of satisfying, but requires the whole compensation to be made by sacrifice, though he at the same time enumerates all the rights of expiation with the greatest care and exactness. How comes it that he does not at all enjoin works as the means of procuring pardon, but only requires sacrifices for expiation, unless it were for his purpose, thus to testify that this is the only kind of satisfaction by which his justice is appeased? For the sacrifices which the Israelites then offered were not regarded as human works, but were estimated by their antitype, that is the sole sacrifice of Christ. The kind of compensation which the Lord receives from us is elegantly and briefly expressed by Hosea. Take with you words and turn to the Lord, say unto him, Take away all iniquity and receive us graciously. Here is remission, so will we render the calves of our lips. Here is satisfaction, Hosea 14-2. I know that they have still a more subtle evasion by making a distinction between eternal and temporal punishment, but as they define temporal punishment to be any kind of inflection with which God visits either the body or the soul, eternal death only accepted, this restriction avails them little. The passages which we have quoted above say expressly that the terms on which God receives us into favor are these. That is, he remits all the punishment which we deserved by pardoning our guilt. And whenever David or the other prophets ask pardon for their sins, they deprecate punishment. Nay, a sense of the divine justice impels them to this. On the other hand, when they promise mercy from the Lord, they almost always discourse on punishments and the forgiveness of them. Assuredly, when the Lord declares in Ezekiel that he will put an end to the Babylonian captivity, not, quote, for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, Ezekiel 36-22, he sufficiently demonstrates that both are gratuitous. In short, if we are freed from guilt by Christ, the punishment consequent upon guilt must cease with it. 31. But since they also arm themselves with passages of Scripture, let us see what the arguments are which they employ. David, they say, when upgraded by Nathan the prophet for adultery and murder, receives pardon of the sin, and yet by the death of the son born of adultery is afterwards punished. 2 Samuel 12, 13 and 14. Such punishments which were to be inflicted upon the remission of guilt were taught to ransom by satisfactions. 3 For Daniel, exhorted Nebuchadnezzar, quote, break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Daniel 4, 27. And Solomon says, by mercy and truth iniquity is purged. Proverbs 16, 6. And again, love covereth all sins. Proverbs 10, 12. This sentiment is confirmed by Peter, 1 Peter 4, 8, also in Luke. Our Lord says of the woman that was a sinner, her sins which are many are forgiven, for she loved much. Luke 7, 47. How perverse and how preposterous the judgment they ever form are the doings of God. Had they observed what certainly they ought not to have overlooked, that there are two kinds of divine judgment, they would have seen in the correction of David a very different form of punishment from that which must be thought designed for vengeance. But since it in no slight degree concerns us to understand the purpose of God in the chastisement by which he animadverts upon our sins and how much they differ from the exemplary punishments which he indignantly inflicts on the wicked and reprobate, I think it will not be improper briefly to glance at it. For the sake of distinction we may call the one kind of judgment punishment, the other chastisement. In judicial punishment God is to be understood as taking vengeance on his enemies by displaying his anger against them, confounding, scattering and annihilating them. By divine punishment, properly so called, let us then understand punishment accompanied with indignation. In judicial chastisement he is offended, but not in wrath. He doth not punish by destroying or striking down as with a thunderbolt. Hence it is not properly punishment or vengeance, but correction and admonition. The one is the act of a judge, the other of a father. When the judge punishes a criminal he animadverts upon the crime and demands the penalty. When a father corrects his son sharply it is not to moat or avenge, but rather to teach him and make him more cautious in the future. Chrysostom in his writings employs a simile which is somewhat different, but the same in purport. He says a son is whipped and a slave is whipped, but the latter is punished as a slave for his offence. The former is chastised as a free-born son standing in need of correction. The correction of the latter is designed to prove and amend him. That of the former is scourging and punishment. To have a short and clear view of the whole matter we must make two distinctions. First, whenever the inflection is designed to avenge, then the curse and wrath of God displays itself. This is never the case with believers. On the contrary, the chastening of God carries his blessing with it, and is an evidence of love as scripture teaches. This distinction is plainly marked throughout the Word of God. All the calamities which the wicked suffer in the present life are depicted to us as a kind of anticipation of the punishment of hell. In these they already see as from a distance their eternal condemnation, and so far are they from being thereby reformed or deriving any benefit, that by such preludes they are rather prepared for the fearful doom which finally awaits them. The Lord chastens his servants' sore, but does not give them over unto death, Psalm 118, 18. When afflicted, they acknowledge it is good for them, that they may learn his statutes, Psalm 119, 71. But as we everywhere read that the saints received their chastisements with placid mind, so inflections of the latter kind they always most earnestly deprecated. O Lord, correct me, says Jeremiah, but with judgment, not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing. Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name. Jeremiah 10, 24 and 25. David says, O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thine hot displeasure. Psalm 6, 1. There is nothing inconsistent with this, in its being repeatedly said, that the Lord is angry with his saints when he chastises them for their sins. Psalm 38, 7. In like matter, in Isaiah, and in that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee, though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortest me. Isaiah 12, 1. Likewise in Habakkuk, in wrath remember mercy. Habakkuk 3, 2. And in Micah, I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him. Micah 7, 9. Here we are reminded not only that those who are justly punished gain nothing by murmuring, but that believers obtain a mitigation of their pain by reflecting on the divine intention. For the same reason he is said to profane his inheritance, and yet we know that he will never profane it. The expression refers not to the counsel or purpose of God in punishing, but to the keen sense of pain endured by those who are visited with any measure of divine severity. For the Lord not only chastens his people with a slight degree of austerity, but sometimes so wounds them that they seem to themselves on the very eve of perdition. He thus declares that they have deserved his anger, and it is fitting so to do that they may be dissatisfied with themselves for their sins, may be more careful in their desires to appease God, and anxiously hasten to seek his pardon. Still at this very time he gives clearer evidence of his mercy than of his anger. For he who cannot deceive has declared that the covenant made with us in our true Solomon stands fast and will never be broken. Quote, if his children forsake my law and walk not in my judgments, if they break my statutes and keep not my commandments, then will I visit their transgressions with the rod and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. Psalm 89, 31 through 34. To assure us of his mercy, he says that the rod with which he will chastise the posterity of Solomon will be, quote, the rod of men, unquote, and, quote, the stripes of the children of men, unquote. 2 Samuel 7.14. While by these terms he denotes moderation and levity, he at the same time intimates that those who feel the hand of God chose to them cannot but tremble and be confounded. How much regard he has to this levity in chastening his Israel, he shows by the prophet, behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver. I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. Isaiah 48.10. Although he tells them that they are chastisements with a view to purification, he adds that even these are so tempered that they are not to be too much crushed by them. And this is very necessary for the more a man reveres God and devotes himself to the cultivation of piety, the more tender he is in bearing his anger. Psalm 90, 11. The reprobate, though they groan under the lash, yet because they weigh not the true cause, but rather turn their back as well upon their sins as upon the divine judgment, become hardened in their stupor, or because they murmur and kick and so rebel against their judge, their infatuated violence fills them with frenzy and madness. Believers, again, admonished by the rod of God, immediately begin to reflect on their sins and, struck with fear and dread, retake themselves as suppliants to implore mercy. Did not God mitigate the pains by which wretched souls are excruciated, they would give way a hundred times, even at slight signs of his anger? Psalm 33. The second distinction is that when the reprobate are brought under the lash of God, they begin in a manner to pay the punishment due to his justice, and though their refusal to listen to these proofs of the divine anger will not escape with impunity, still they are not punished with the view of bringing them to a better mind, but only to teach them, by dire experience, that God is a judge and a avenger. The sons of God are beaten with rods, not that they may pay the punishment due to their faults, but that they may thereby be led to repent. Accordingly, we perceive that they have more respect to the future than to the past. I prefer giving this in the words of Chrysostom rather than my own, quote, his object in imposing a penalty upon us is not to inflict punishment on our sins, but to correct us for the future, unquote. So also Augustine, quote, the suffering at which you cry is medicine, not punishment, chastisement, not condemnation. Do not drive away the rod if you would not be driven away from the inheritance. Know, brethren, that the whole of that misery of the human race under which the world groans is a medicinal pain, not a penal sentence, unquote. It seemed proper to quote these passages lest anyone should think the mode of expression which I have used to be novel or uncommon, to the same effect are the indignant terms in which the Lord expostulates with his people for their ingratitude in obstinately despising all his inflections. In Isaiah he says, Why should ye be stricken any more? Ye will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick and the whole heart faint. Isaiah 1, 5, and 6. But as such passages abound in the prophets, it is sufficient briefly to have shown that the only purpose of God in punishing his church is to subdue her to repentance. Thus, when he rejected Saul from the kingdoms he punished in vengeance for Samuel 1523, when he deprived David of his child, he chastised for amendment 2 Samuel 1218. In this sense, Paul is to be understood when he says, When we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. 1 Corinthians 1132. That is, while we as sons of God are afflicted by our heavenly Father's hand, it is not punishment to confound, but only chastisement to train us. On this subject Augustine is plainly with us, for he shows that the punishments with which men are equally chastened by God are to be variously considered. Because the saints, after the forgiveness of their sins, have struggles and exercises, the reprobate without forgiveness are punished for their iniquity. Enumerating the punishments inflicted on David and other saints, he says, it was designed by thus humbling them to prove and exercise their piety. The passage in Isaiah in which it is said, Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, for she has received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. Isaiah 42. Proves not that the pardon of sin depends on freedom from punishment. It is just as if he had said, sufficient punishment has now been exacted for their number and heinousness you have long been oppressed with sorrow and mourning. It is time to send you a message of complete mercy, that your minds may be filled with joy on feeling me to be a father. For God there assumes the character of a father who repents even of the just severity which he has been compelled to us toward his son. These are the thoughts with which the believer ought to be provided in the bitterness of affliction. The time has come that judgment must begin at the house of God. The city which is called by my name 1 Peter 4, 17 and Jeremiah 25, 29. What could the sons of God do if they thought that the severity which they feel was vengeance? He who, smitten by the hand of God, thinks that God is a judge inflicting punishment cannot conceive of him except as angry and at enmity with him, cannot but detest the rod of God as curse and condemnation. In short, can never persuade himself that he is loved by God while he feels that he is still disposed He only profits under the divine chastening who considers that God, though offended with his sins, is still propitious and favorable to him. Otherwise the feeling must necessarily be that the psalmist complains that he had experienced quote, Thy wrath lieeth hard upon me and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Also what Moses says for we are consumed by thine anger and by thy wrath we are troubled. Thou hast set our iniquities before thee our secret sins in the light of thy countenance. For all our days are passed away in thy wrath. We spend our years as a tale that is told Psalm 97-9 On the other hand, David, speaking of fatherly chastisements, to show how believers are more assisted than oppressed by them, thus sings, Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law, that thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity until the pit be digged for the wicked. Psalm 94-12 and 13 It is certainly a sore temptation when God, sparing unbelievers and overlooking their crimes, appears more rigid towards his own people. Hence, to solace them, he adds the admonition of the law which teaches them that their salvation is consulted when they are brought back to the right path. Whereas the wicked are born headlong in their errors, which ultimately lead to the pit. It matters not whether the punishment is eternal or temporary. For disease, pestilence, famine, and war are curses from God as much as even the sentence of eternal death. Whenever their tendency is to operate as instruments of divine wrath and vengeance upon the reprobate. Psalm 95-35 All, if I mistake not, now see what view the Lord had in chastening David. Namely, to prove that murder and adultery are most offensive to God. And to manifest this offensiveness in a beloved and faithful servant that David himself might be taught never again to dare to commit such wickedness. Still, however, it was not a punishment designed in payment of a kind of compensation to God. In the same way are we to judge of that other correction in which the Lord subjects his people to a grievous pestilence for the disobedience of David in forgetting himself so far as to number the people. He indeed freely forgave David the guilt of his sins, but because it was necessary, both as a public example to all ages and also to humble David himself not to allow such an offense to go unpunished. He chastened him most sharply with his whip. We ought also to keep this in view in the universal curse of the human race. For since, after obtaining grace, we still continue to endure the miseries denounced to our first parent as the penalty of transgression. We ought thereby to be reminded how offensive to God is the transgression of his law, that thus humbled and dejected by a consciousness of our wretched condition we may aspire more ardently to true happiness. But it were most foolish in any one to imagine that we are subjected to the calamities of the present life for the guilt of sin. This seems to me to have been Peter's systems' meaning when he said, If the purpose of God in inflicting punishment is to bring those persisting in evil to repentance, when repentance is manifested, punishment would be superfluous. Therefore, as he knows what the disposition of each requires, he treats one with greater harshness and another with more indulgence. Accordingly, when he wishes to show that he is not excessive in exacting punishment, he upbrades a hard-hearted and obstinate people because after being smitten they still continued in sin. Jeremiah 5.3 In the same sense, he complains that, quote, Ephraim is a cake not turned. Hosea 7.8. Because chastisement did not make a due impression on their minds and correcting their vices make them fit to receive pardon. Surely he who thus speaks shows that as soon as one repents he will be ready to receive him and that the rigor which he exercises in chastising faults is rung from him by our perverseness, since we should prevent him by a voluntary correction. Such, however, being the hardness of our hearts that they stand universally in need of castigation, our infinitely wise parent has seen it meet to exercise all without exception during their whole lives with chastisement. It is strange how they fix their eyes so intently on the one example of David and are not moved by the many examples in which they might have beheld the free forgiveness of sins. The publican is said to have gone down from the temple justified Luke 18.14. No punishment follows. Peter obtained the pardon of his sin Luke 22.61, quote, We read of his tears, says Ambrose. We read not of satisfaction. To the paralytic it is said, Son, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee. Matthew 9.2. No penance is enjoined. All the acts of forgiveness mentioned in scripture are gratuitous. The rule ought to be drawn from these numerous examples rather than from one example which contains a kind of specialty. Number 36. Daniel, in exhorting Nebuchadnezzar to break off his sins by righteousness and his iniquities by showing mercy to the poor Daniel 4.27 meant not to intimate that righteousness and mercy are able to propitiate God and redeem from punishment. Far be it from us to suppose that there ever was any other apollutrosis or ransom than the blood of Christ. But the breaking off referred to in that passage has reference to man rather than to God. As if he had said, O King, you have exercised an unjust and violent domination. You have oppressed the humble, spoiled the poor, treated your people harshly and unjustly. Instead of unjust exaction, instead of violence and oppression, now practice mercy and justice. In like manner Solomon says that love covers a multitude of sins. Not, however, with God, but among men. For the whole verse stands thus, hatred stirs up stripes, but love covers all sins. Proverbs 10.12 Here, after this manner, he contrasts the evils produced by hatred with the fruits of charity. In this sense, those who hate are incessantly biting, carping at, abrading, lacerating each other, making everything a fault. But those who love mutually conceal each other's faults, wink at many, forgive many. Not that the one approves the vices of the other, but tolerates and cures by admonishing rather than exasperates by assailing. That the passages quoted by Peter, 1 Peter 4.8, in the same sense we cannot doubt unless we could charge him with corrupting and craftily resting scripture. When it is said that, quote, by mercy and truth iniquity is purged, Proverbs 16.6, the meaning is, not that by them compensation is made to the Lord, so that he being thus satisfied remits the punishment which he would otherwise have exacted, but intimation is made after the familiar manner of scripture, that those who, forsaking their vices and iniquities turned to the Lord in truth and piety will find him propitious. As if he had said that the wrath of God is calmed and his judgment is at rest whenever we rest from our wickedness. But indeed it is not the cause of pardon that is described, but rather the mode of true conversion. Just as the prophets frequently declare that it is in vain for hypocrites to offer God fictitious rights instead of repentance, seeing his delight is in integrity and the duties of charity. In like manner also the author of the epistle of the Hebrews, commending kindness and humanity reminds us that with such sacrifices God is well pleased. Hebrews 13.16 And indeed when Christ rebuking the Pharisees because intent merely on the outside of the cup and platter they neglected purity of the heart, enjoins them in order that they may be clean in all respects to give alms. Does he exhort them to give satisfaction thereby? He only tells them what the kind of purity is which God requires. Of this mode of expression we have treated elsewhere. Number 37 In regard to the passage in Luke Luke 7.36 no man of sober judgment who reads the parable there employed by our Lord the Pharisee with us the Pharisee thought that the Lord did not know the character of the woman whom he had so easily admitted to his presence for he presumed that he would not have admitted her if he had known what kind of sinner she was and from this he inferred that one who could be deceived in this way was not a prophet. Our Lord to show that she was not a sinner in as much as she had already been forgiven spake this parable there was a certain creditor which had two debtors the one owed him five hundred pence and the other fifty and when they had nothing to pay he frankly forgave them both tell me therefore which of them will love him most the Pharisee answers I suppose that he to whom he forgave most then our Saviour rejoins her sins which are many are forgiven for she loved much by these words it is plain he does not make love the cause of forgiveness but the proof of it the similitude is borrowed from the case of a debtor to whom a debt of five hundred pence had been forgiven it is not said that the debt is forgiven because he loved much but that he loved much because it was forgiven the similitude ought to be applied in this way you think this woman is a sinner but you ought to have acknowledged her as not a sinner in respect that her sins have been forgiven her her love ought to have been to you a proof of her having obtained forgiveness that love being an expression of gratitude for the benefit received it is an argument by which something is demonstrated by the results produced by it our lord plainly attests the ground on which she had obtained forgiveness when he says by faith therefore we obtain forgiveness by love we give thanks and bear testimony to the loving kindness of the lord number 38 I am little moved by the numerous passages in the writings of the fathers relating to satisfaction I see indeed that some I will frankly say almost all whose books are extant have either erred in this matter or spoken too roughly and harshly but I cannot admit that they were so rude and unskillful as to write these passages in the sense in which they are read by our new satisfaction areas criticism somewhere says quote when mercy is implored interrogation ceases when mercy is asked judgment rage is not when mercy is sought there is no room for punishment where there is mercy no question is asked where there is mercy the answer gives pardon how much so ever these words may be twisted they can never be reconciled with the dogmas of the school men in the book de dogmatibus ecclesiasticis which is attributed to Augustine you read the satisfaction of repentance is to cut off the causes of sins and not to indulge an entrance to their suggestions from this it appears that the doctrine of satisfaction said to be sin's committed was everywhere derided in those ages for here the only satisfaction referred to is caution abstinence from sin for the future I am unwilling to quote what chrissostom says that God requires nothing more of us than to confess our faults before him with tears as similar sentiments abound both in his writings and those of others Augustine indeed calls works of mercy remedies for obtaining forgiveness of sins but lest anyone should stumble at the expression he himself in another passage obviates the difficulty quote the flesh of Christ says he is the true and only sacrifice for sins not only for those which are effaced in baptism but those into which we are to infirmity and because of which the whole church daily cries forgive us our debts Matthew 6 12 and they are forgiven by that special sacrifice 39 by satisfaction however they for the most part meant not compensation to be paid to God but the public testimony by which those who had been punished with excommunication again to be received into communion assured the church of their repentance for those penitents were enjoying certain fasts and other things by which they might prove that they were truly and from the heart weary of their former life or rather might obliterate the remembrance of their past deeds in this way they were said to give satisfaction not to God but to the church the same thing is expressed by Augustine in a passage in his Incaridian odd Larentium chapter 65 from that ancient custom the satisfactions and confessions now in use took their rise it is indeed a viperous progeny not even a vestige of the better form now remaining I know that ancient writers sometimes speak harshly and I as I lately said that they have perhaps erred but dogmas which were tainted with a few blemishes now that they have fallen into those unwashed hands of those men are altogether defiled and if we were to decide the contest by authority of the fathers what kind of fathers are those whom they obtrude upon us a great part of those from whom Lombard their corpheus framed his centos are extracted from the absurd dreams of certain monks passing under the names of Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine and Chrysostom on the present subject almost all his extracts are from the book of Augustine de Penitentia a book absurdly compiled by some rhapsodist alike from good and bad authors a book which indeed bears the name of Augustine but which no person of the least learning would deign to acknowledge as his wishing to save my readers trouble they will pardon me for not searching minutely into all their absurdities for myself it were not very laborious and might gain some applause to give a complete exposure of dogmas which have hitherto been vaunted as mysteries my object is to give useful instruction I desist end of section 13 recording by Curtis Mattson Wheaton Illinois section 14 of Institutes of the Christian Religion book 3 this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit www.vox.org recording by Curtis Mattson Institutes of the Christian Religion book 3 translated by Henry Beverage chapter 5 of the modes of supplementing satisfaction that is indulgences and purgatory divisions of the chapter Roman numeral 1 is summary description and refutation of Popesh indulgences section 2 Roman numeral 2 Confutation by Leo and Augustine answer to two objections urged in support of them sections 3 and 4 a profane love of filthy lucre on the part of the Pope the origin of indulgences unfolded section 5 Roman numeral 3 an examination of Popesh purgatory its horrible impiety section 6 endeavor to support that dream section 7 and 8 sentiments of the ancient theologians concerning purgatory section 10 sections 1 the dogma of satisfaction the parent of indulgences vanity of both the reason of it evidence of the avarice of the Pope and the Romesh clergy also of the blindness with which the Christian world was smitten view of indulgences given by the Sophists their true nature refutation of them refutation confirmed by seven passages of scripture number 3 confirmed also by the testimony of Leo a Roman bishop and by Augustine attempts of the Popesh doctors to establish the monstrous doctrine of indulgences and even supported by apostolic authority first answer number 4 second answer to the passage of an apostle adduced to support the dogma of indulgences answer confirmed by a comparison with other passages and from a passage in Augustine explaining the apostles meaning another passage from the same apostle confirming this view number 5 the Pope's profane thirst for filthy looker and he proposed the origin of indulgences number 6 examination of the fictitious purgatory of the papists one from the nature of the thing itself two from the authority of God three from the consideration of the merit of Christ which is destroyed by this fiction purgatory what it is number 4 from the impiety teeming from this fountain seven of the passages of scripture quoted in supportive purgatory one of the impardonable sin from which it is inferred that there are some sins afterwards to be forgiven two of the passage as to paying the last farthing eight three the passage concerning the bending of the knee to Christ by things under the earth four the example of Judas Maccabeus in sending an oblation for the dead to Jerusalem number 9 five of the fire which shall try every man's work the sentiment of the ancient theologians answer containing a reductio ad absurdum confirmation by a passage of Augustine the meaning of the apostle what to be understood by fire a clear exposition of the metaphor the day of the Lord how those who suffer loss are saved by fire number 10 the doctrine of purgatory ancient but refuted by a more ancient apostle not supported by ancient writers by scripture or solid argument introduced by custom and a zeal not duly regulated by the word of God writers as Augustine speak doubtfully in commending prayer for the dead at all events we must hold by the word of God which rejects this fiction a vast difference between the more ancient and the more modern builders of purgatory this shown by comparing them section one from this dogma of satisfaction that of indulgences takes its rise for the pretense is that what is wanting to our own ability is hereby supplied and they go the insane length of defining them to be a dispensation of the merits of Christ and the martyrs which the pope makes by his bowls though they are fitter for hellebore than for argument and it is scarcely worthwhile to refute these frivolous errors which already battered down begin of their own accord to grow antiquated and totter to their fall yet as a brief refutation may be useful to some of the unlearned I will not omit it indeed the fact that indulgences have so long stood safe and with impunity and wantoned with so much fury and tyranny may be regarded as a proof into how deep the night of ignorance mankind were for some ages plunged they saw themselves insulted openly and without disguise by the pope and his bull bearers they saw the salvation of the soul made the subject of a lucrative traffic salvation taxed at a few pieces of money nothing given gratuitously they saw what was squeezed from them in the form of oblations basely consumed on strumpets pimps and gluttony the loudest trumpeters of indulgences being the greatest despisers they saw the monster stalking abroad and every day luxuriating with greater license and that without end new bulls being constantly issued and new sums extracted all indulgences were received with the greatest reverence worshipped and bought even those who saw more clearly than others deemed them pious frauds by which even in deceiving some good was gained now at length that a considerable portion of the world have begun to rethink themselves indulgences grow cool and gradually even begin to freeze preparatory to their final extinction number two but since very many who see the vile imposter theft and repine with which the dealers and indulgences have hitherto deluded and sported with us are not aware of the true source of the impiety it may be proper to show not only what indulgences truly are but also that they are polluted in every part they give the name of treasury of the church to the merits of Christ the holy apostles and martyrs they pretend as I have said that the radical custody of the granary has been delivered to the roman bishop to whom the dispensation of these great blessings belongs in such a sense that they can both exercise it by himself and delegate the power of exercising it to others hence we have from the pope at one time plenary indulgences at another for certain years from the cardinals for a hundred days and from the bishops for forty these to describe them truly are a profanation of the blood of the delusion of Satan by which the Christian people are led away from the grace of God and the life which is in Christ turned aside from the true way of salvation for how could the blood of Christ be more shamefully profaned than by denying its sufficiency for the remission of sins for reconciliation and disfaction unless its defects as if it were dried up and exhausted are supplemented from some other quarter Peter's words are quote to him give all the prophets witness that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins acts ten forty three but indulgences show the remission of sins through Peter Paul and the martyrs quote the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin on quote says John 1 John 1 7 indulgences make the blood of the martyrs an ablution for sins quote he has made him to be sin that is a satisfaction for sin for us who knew no sin says Paul 2 Corinthians 5 21 quote that we might be made the righteousness of God in him unquote indulgences make the satisfaction of sin depend on the blood of the martyrs Paul exclaimed and testified to the Corinthians that Christ alone was crucified and died for them 1 Corinthians 1 13 indulgences declare that Paul and others died for us Paul elsewhere says that Christ purchased the church with his own blood Acts 20 28 indulgences assign another purchase to the blood of martyrs quote by one offering he has perfected forever them that are sanctified unquote says the apostle Hebrews 10 14 indulgences on the other hand insist that sanctification which would otherwise be insufficient is perfected by martyrs John says that all the saints have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb Revelation 7 14 indulgences tell us to wash our robes in the blood of the saints number 3 there is an admirable passage in opposition to their blasphemies in Leo a Roman bishop quote although the death of many saints was precious in the sight of the Lord Psalm 116 15 yet no innocent man's life here was the propitiation of the world the just received crowns did not give them and the fortitude of believers produced examples of patience not gifts of righteousness for their deaths were for themselves and none by his final end paid the debt of another except Christ our Lord in whom alone all are crucified all dead buried this sentiment as it was of a memorable nature he has elsewhere repeated certainly one could not desire a clearer computation of this impious dogma Augustine introduces the same sentiment not less oppositely quote although brethren die for brethren yet no martyr's blood is shed for the remission of sins this Christ did for us and in this conferred upon us not what we should imitate but what should make us grateful again in another passage quote as he alone became the son of God and the son of man that he might make us to be with himself sons of God so he alone without any ill dessert undertook the penalty for us that through him we might without good dessert obtain undeserved favor indeed as their whole doctrine is a patchwork of sacrilegion blasphemy this is the most blasphemous of the whole let them acknowledge whether or not they hold the following dogmas that the martyr's by their deaths performed more to God and merited more than was necessary for themselves that they have a large surplus which may be applied to others that in order that this great good may not prove superfluous their blood is mingled with the blood of Christ and out of both is formed the treasury of the church for the forgiveness and satisfaction of sins and that in this sense we must understand the words of Paul quote who now rejoice in my sufferings and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake which is the church Colossians 124 what is this but merely to leave the name of Christ and at the same time make him a vulgar saintling who can scarcely be distinguished in the crowd he alone ought to be preached alone held forth, alone named alone looked to whenever the subject considered is the obtaining of the forgiveness of sins, expiation and sanctification but let us hear their propositions that the blood of martyrs may not be shed without fruit it must be employed for the common good of the church is it so was there no fruit in glorifying God by death in sealing his truth with their blood in testifying the intent of the present life that they looked for a better in confirming the faith of the church and at the same time disabling the pertenacity of the enemy by their constancy but thus it is they acknowledge no fruit if Christ is the only propitiation if he alone died for our sins if he alone was offered for our redemption the less they say Peter and Paul would have gained the crown of victory though they had died in their beds a natural death but as they contended to blood it would not accord with the justice of God to leave their doing so barren and unfruitful as if God were unable to augment the glory of his servants in proportion to the measure of his gifts in common by the church is great enough when by their triumphs she is inflamed with zeal to fight number four how maliciously they rest the passage in which Paul says that he supplies in his body that which is lacking in the sufferings of Christ Colossians 124 that defect or supplement refers not to the work of redemption satisfaction or expiation but to those afflictions with which the members of Christ in other words all believers behave to be exercised so long as they are in the flesh he says therefore that part of the sufferings of Christ still remains namely that what he suffered in himself he daily suffers in his members Christ so honors us as to regard and count our afflictions as his own by the additional words for the church Paul means not for the redemptions or reconciliations or satisfaction of the church but for edification and progress as he elsewhere says I endure all things for the elect's sake that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus second glory 2 Timothy 2.10 he also writes to the Corinthians whether we be afflicted it is for your consolation and salvation which is effectual in the enduring of the same suffering which we also suffer 2 Corinthians 1.6 in the same place he immediately explains his meaning by adding that he was made a minister of the church not for redemption but according to the dispensation which he received to preach the gospel of Christ but if they desire another interpreter let them hear a guston quote the sufferings of Christ are in Christ alone as in the head in Christ and the church as in the whole body hence Paul being one member says fill up in my body that which is behind of the sufferings of Christ therefore oh hearers whoever you be if you are among the members of Christ whatever you suffer from those who are not members of Christ was lacking to the sufferings of Christ he elsewhere explains the end of the sufferings of the apostles undertaken for Christ quote Christ is my door to you as ye are the sheep of Christ purchased by his blood acknowledge your price which is not paid by me but preached by me unquote he afterwards adds quote as he laid down his life so ought we to lay down our lives for the brethren to build up peace and maintain faith thus far Augustine far be it from us to imagine that Paul thought anything was wanting to the sufferings of Christ in regard to the complete fullness of righteousness, salvation and life or that he wished to make any addition to it after showing so clearly and eloquently that the grace of Christ was poured out in such rich abundance as far to exceed all the power of sin Romans 5.15 all saints have been saved by it alone not by the merit of their own life or death as Peter distinctly testifies Acts 15.11 so that it is an insult to God and his anointing to place the worthiness of any saint in anything save the mercy of God alone but why dwell longer on this as if the matter were obscure when to mention these monstrous dogmas is to refute them 5. moreover, to say nothing of these abominations who taught the Pope to enclose the grace of Jesus Christ in lead and parchment grace which the Lord is pleased to dispense by the word of the Gospel undoubtedly either the Gospel of God or indulgences must be false that Christ is offered to us in the Gospel with all the abundance of heavenly blessings with all his merits all his righteousness wisdom and grace without exception Paul bears witness when he says now then we are ambassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you by us we pray you in Christ's stead be ye reconciled to God for he has made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him 2 Corinthians 5 20 and 21 and what is meant by the fellowship Koinonia of Christ which according to the same apostle 1 Corinthians 1 9 is offered to us in the Gospel all believers know on the contrary indulgences bringing forth some portion of the grace of God from the armory of the Pope fix it to lead parchment and a particular place but dissever it from the word of God when we inquire into the origin of this abuse it appears to have arisen from this that when in old times the satisfaction imposed on penitence were too severe to be born those who felt themselves burdened beyond measure by the penance imposed petitioned the church for relaxation the remission so given was called indulgence but as they transferred satisfactions to God and called them compensations by which men redeemed themselves from the justice of God they in the same way transferred indulgences from as expiatory remedies which free us from merited punishment the blasphemies to which we have referred have been feigned with so much effrontery that there is not the least pretext for them number six their purgatory cannot now give us much trouble since with this axe we have struck it thrown it down and overturned it from its very foundations I cannot agree with some who think that we ought to dissemble in this matter and make no mention of purgatory from which as they say fierce contests arise and very little edification can be obtained I myself would think it right to disregard their follies did they not tend to serious consequences but since purgatory has been reared on many and is daily propped up by new enemies since it produces many grievous offenses assuredly it is not to be connived at however it might have been disguised for a time that without any authority from the word of God it was devised by prying audacious rashness that credit was procured for it by fictitious revelations the wiles of Satan and that certain passages of scripture were ignorantly through its support although the Lord bears not that human presumption should thus force its way to the hidden recesses of his judgments although he has issued a strict prohibition against neglecting his voice and making inquiry at the dead Deuteronomy 1811 and permits not his word to be erroneously contaminated let us grant however that although this might have been a time as a thing of no great moment yet when the expiation of sins is sought elsewhere than in the blood of Christ and satisfaction is transferred to others silence were most perilous we are bound therefore to raise our voice to its highest pitch and cry aloud that purgatory is a deadly device of Satan that it makes void the cross of Christ that it offers intolerable insult to the divine mercy that it undermines and overthrows our faith for what is this purgatory but the satisfaction for sins paid after death by the souls of the dead hence when this idea of satisfaction is refuted purgatory itself is forthwith completely overturned but if it is perfectly clear from what was lately said that the blood of Christ is the only satisfaction expiation and cleansing for the sins of believers what remains but to hold that purgatory is mere blasphemy horrid blasphemy against Christ I say nothing of the sacrilege by which it is daily defended the offenses which it begets in religion and the other innumerable evils we see teeming forth from that fountain of impiety number seven those passages of Scripture on which it is their want falsely and iniquitously to fasten it may be worthwhile to wrench out of their hands when the Lord declares that the sin against the Holy Ghost will not be forgiven either in this world or the world to come he thereby intimates they say there is a remission of certain sins hereafter but who sees not that the Lord there speaks of the guilt of sin but if this is so what has it to do with their purgatory seeing they deny not that the guilt of those sins the punishment of which is there expiated is forgiven in the present life lest however they should still object we shall give a planer solution since it is the Lord's intention to cut off all hope of pardon from this flagitious wickedness he did not consider it enough to say that it would never be forgiven but in the way of amplification employed a division by which he included both the judgment which every man's conscience pronounces in the present life and the final judgment which will be publicly pronounced at the resurrection as if he had said beware of this malignant rebellion as you would of instant destruction for he who of set purpose endeavours to extinguish the offered light of the spirit shall not obtain pardon either in this life which has been given to sinners for conversion or on the last day when the angels of God shall separate from the goats and the heavenly kingdom shall be purged of all that offends the next passage they produce is the parable in Matthew quote agree with thine adversary quickly whilst thou art on the way with him lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge and the judge deliver thee to the officer and thou be cast into prison verily I say unto thee thou shalt by no means come out thence till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing Matthew 5 25 and 26 if in this passage the judge means God the adversary the devil the officer and angel and the prison purgatory I give in at once but if every man sees that Christ there intended to show to how many perils and evils those expose themselves who obstinately insist on their utmost right instead of being satisfied with what is fair and equitable that he might thereby the more strongly exhort his followers to concord where I ask are we to find their purgatory number 8 they seek an argument in the passage in which Paul declares that all things shall bow the knee to Christ quote things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth Philippines 210 they take it for granted that by quote things under the earth unquote cannot be meant those who are doomed to eternal damnation and that the only remaining conclusion is that they must be perils suffering in purgatory they would not reason very ill if by the bending of the knee the apostle designated true worship but since he simply says that Christ has received a dominion to which all creatures are subject what prevents us from understanding those under the earth to mean the devils who shall certainly be listed before the judgment seat of God there to recognize their judge with fear and trembling in this way Paul himself elsewhere interprets the same prophecy quote we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ for it is written as I live saith the Lord every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess to God Romans 14 10 and 11 but we cannot in this way interpret what is said in the apocalypse quote every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea heard I saying blessing and honor and glory and power beyond to him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the lamb forever and ever Romans 15 this I readily admit but what kinds of creatures do they suppose are here enumerated it is absolutely certain that both irrational and inanimate creatures are comprehended all then which is affirmed is that every part of the universe from the highest pinnacle of heaven to the very center of the earth each in its own way proclaims the glory of the creator to the passage which they produce from the history of the Machabees 1st Machabees 1243 I will not deign to reply lest I should seem to include that work among the canonical books but Augustine holds it to be canonical first with what degree of confidence quote the Jews says he cannot hold the book of the Machabees as they do the law the prophets and the Psalms to which the Lord bears testimony as to his own witnesses saying ought not all things which are written in the law and the Psalms and the prophets concerning me be fulfilled Luke 2444 but it has been received by the church not uselessly if it be read or heard with soberness to the world Jerome however unhesitatingly affirms that it is of no authority in establishing doctrine and from the ancient little book De Expositione Symboli which bears the name of Cyprian it is plain that it was in no estimation in the ancient church and why do I here contend in vain he himself did not sufficiently show what degree of deference is to be paid him when in the end he asks pardon for anything less properly expressed second Machabees 1538 he who confesses that his writings stand in need of pardon certainly proclaims that they are not oracles of the Holy Spirit we may add that the piety of Judas is commended for no other reason than for having a firm hope of the final resurrection in sending his oblation for the dead to Jerusalem for the writer of the history does not represent what he did as furnishing the price of redemption but merely that they might be partakers of eternal life with the other saints who had fallen for their country and religion the act indeed was not free from superstition and misguided zeal but it is mere fatuity to extend the legal sacrifice to us seeing we are assured that the sacrifices then in use ceased on the advent of Christ number nine but it seems they find in Paul an invincible support which cannot be so easily overthrown his words are now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones wood, hay, stubble every man's work shall be made manifest for the day shall declare it because it shall be revealed by fire and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is to be burnt he shall suffer loss but he himself shall be saved yet so as by fire unquote first Corinthians 3 12 through 15 what fire they ask can that be but the fire of purgatory by which the defilements of sin are wiped away in order that we may enter pure into the kingdom of God but most of the fathers give it a different meaning namely the tribulation or cross by which the Lord tries his people that they may not rest satisfied with the defilements of the flesh this is much more probable than the fiction of a purgatory I do not however agree with them for I think I see a much sure and clear meaning to the passage but before I produce it I wish they would answer me whether they think the apostle and all the saints have to pass through this purgatorial fire I am aware they will say no for it were too absurd to hold that purification is required by those whose superfluous merits they dream of as applicable to all the members of the church but this the apostle affirms for he says not that the works of certain persons but the works of all will be tried and this is not my argument but that of Augustine who thus impunes that interpretation and what makes the thing more absurd he says not that they will pass through fire for certain works but that even if they should edify the church with the greatest fidelity they will receive their reward after their works shall have been tried by fire first we see that the apostle used a metaphor when he gave the names of Wood, Hay and Stubble to doctrines of man's device the ground of the metaphor is obvious namely that as Wood when it is put into the fire is consumed and destroyed so neither will those doctrines be able to endure when they come to be tried moreover everyone sees that the trial is made by the spirit of God therefore in following out the thread of the metaphor and adapting its parts properly to each other he gave the name of fire to the examination of the Holy Spirit for just as silver and gold the nearer they are brought to the fire give stronger proof of their genuineness and purity so the Lord's truth the more thoroughly it is submitted to spiritual examination has its authority the better confirmed as Hay, Wood and Stubble when the fires applied to them are suddenly consumed so the inventions of man not founded on the word of God cannot stand the trial of the Holy Spirit but forthwith give way and perish in fine if spurious doctrines are compared to Wood, Hay and Stubble because like Wood, Hay and Stubble they are burned by fire and fitted for destruction though the actual destruction is only completed by the spirit of the Lord it follows that the spirit is that fire by which they will be proved this proof Paul calls the day of the Lord using a term common in Scripture for the day of the Lord is said to take place whenever he in some way manifests his presence to men his face being specially said to shine when his truth is manifested it has now been proved that Paul has no idea of any other fire than the trial of the Holy Spirit but how are those who suffer the loss of their works saved by fire this it will not be difficult to understand if we consider of what kind of persons he speaks for he designates them builders of the church who retaining the proper foundation build different materials upon it that is who not abandoning the principle and necessary articles of the faith are in minor and less perilous matters mingling their own fictions with the word of God such I say must suffer the loss of their work by the destruction of their fictions they themselves however are saved yet so as by fire that is not that their ignorance and delusions are approved by the Lord but they are purified from them by the grace and power of the Holy Spirit all those accordingly who have tainted the golden purity of the divine word with the pollution of purgatory must necessarily suffer the loss of their work number 10 but the observance of it in the church is of the highest antiquity this objection is disposed of by Paul when including even his own age in the sentence he declares that all who in building the church have laid upon it something not conformable to the foundation must suffer the loss of their work when therefore my opponents object that it has been the practice for 1300 years to offer prayers for the dead I in return ask them by what word of God by what revelation by what example it was done for here not only our passages of scripture wanting but in the examples of all the saints of whom we read nothing of the kind is seen we have numerous and sometimes long narratives of their mourning and sepulchral rites but not one word is said of prayers but the more important the matter was the more they ought to have dwelt upon it even those who in ancient times offered prayers for the dead saw that they were not supported by the command of God and legitimate example why then did they presume to do it I hold that herein they suffered the common lot of man and therefore maintain that what they did is not to be imitated believers ought not to engage in any work without a firm conviction of its propriety as Paul enjoins Romans 14 23 and this conviction is expressly requisite in prayer it is to be presumed however that they were influenced by some reason they sought a solace for their sorrow and it seemed cruel not to give some attestation of their love to the dead when in the presence of God all know by experience how natural it is for the human mind thus to feel received custom too was a kind of torch by which the minds of many were inflamed we know that among all the Gentiles and in all ages certain rights were paid to the dead and that every year lustrations were performed for their mains although Satan deluded foolish mortals by these imposters yet the means of deceiving were borrowed from a sound principle namely that death is not destruction but a passage from this life to another and there can be no doubt that superstition itself always left the Gentiles without excuse before the judgment seat of God because they neglected to prepare for that future life which they professed to believe thus that Christians might not seem worse than heathens they felt ashamed of paying no office to the dead as if they had been utterly annihilated hence their ill-advised assiduity because they thought they would expose themselves to great disgrace if they were slow in providing funeral feasts and oblations what was thus introduced by perverse rivalship ever and on received new additions until the highest holiness of the papacy consisted in giving assistance to the suffering dead but far better and more solid comfort is furnished by Scripture when it declares blessed are the dead that die in the Lord and adds the reason for they rest from their labors Revelation 14-13 we ought not to indulge our love so far as to set up a perverse mode of prayer in the church surely every person possessed of the least prudence easily perceives that whatever we meet with on this subject in ancient writers was in deference to public custom and the ignorance of the vulgar I admit they were themselves also carried away into error the usual effect of rash credulity being to destroy the judgment meanwhile the passages themselves show that when they recommended prayer for the dead it was with hesitation Augustine relates in his confessions that his mother Monica earnestly and treated to be remembered when the solemn rites at the altar were performed doubtless and old woman's wish which her son did not bring to the test of Scripture but from natural affection wished others to approve his book Kura pro mortals agenda on showing care for the dead is so full of doubt that its coldness may well extinguish the heat of a foolish zeal should anyone in pretending to be a patron of the dead deal merely in probabilities the only effect will be to make those indifferent who were formally solicitous the only support of this dogma is that as a custom of praying for the dead prevailed the duty ought not to be despised but granting that ancient ecclesiastical writers deemed it a pious thing to assist the dead the rule which can never deceive is always to be observed namely that we must not introduce anything of our own into our prayers but must keep all our wishes in subordination to the word of God because it belongs to him to prescribe what he wishes us to ask now since the whole law and gospel do not contain one syllable which countenances the right of praying for the dead it is a profanation of prayer to go one step farther than God enjoins but lest our opponents boast of sharing their error with the ancient church I say that there is a wide difference between the two the latter made a commemoration of the dead that they might not seem to have cast off all concern for them but they at the same time acknowledged that they were doubtful as to their state assuredly they made no such assertion concerning purgatory as implied that they did not hold it to be uncertain the former insist that their dream of purgatory shall be received without question as an article of faith the latter sparingly and in a perfunctory manner only commended their dead to the Lord in the communion of the Holy Supper the former are constantly urging the care of the dead and by their importunate preaching of it make out that it is to be preferred to all the offices of charity but it would not be difficult for us to produce some passages from ancient writers which clearly overturn all those prayers for the dead which were then in use such is the passage of Augustine in which he shows that the resurrection of the flesh and eternal glory is expected by all but that rest which follows death is received by everyone who is worthy of it when he dies accordingly he declares that all the righteous not less than the apostles immediately after death enjoy blessed rest if such is their condition what I ask will our prayers contribute to them I say nothing of those grosser superstitions by which they have fascinated the minds of the simple and yet they are innumerable and most of them so monstrous that they cannot cover them with any cloak of decency I say nothing more over of those most shameful traffickings which they plied as they listed while the world was stupefied for I would never come to an end and without enumerating them the pious reader will here find enough to establish his conscience end of section 14 recording by Curtis Mattson Wheaton Illinois section 15 of Institutes of the Christian Religion Book 3 this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Graham Dunlop Institutes of the Christian Religion Book 3 by John Calvin translated by Henry Beverage chapter 6 the life of a Christian man scriptural arguments exhorting to it this and the four following chapters treat of the life of the Christian and are so arranged as to admit of being classed under two principal heads first it must be held to be a universally acknowledged point that no man is a Christian who does not feel some special love for righteousness chapter 6 secondly in regard to the standard by which every man ought to regulate his life although it seems to be considered in chapter 7 only yet the three following chapters also refer to it for it shows that the Christian has two duties to perform first the observance being so arduous he needs the greatest patience hence chapter 8 treats professedly of the utility of the cross and chapter 9 invites to meditation on the future life lastly chapter 10 clearly shows as in no small degree conducive to the Christian's end how we are to use this life and its comforts without abusing them this sixth chapter consists of two parts one connection between this treatise on the Christian life and the doctrine of regeneration and repentance arrangement of the treatise sections 1 to 3 2 1 false Christians denying Christ by their works condemned section 4 and 2 Christians should not despair though they have not attained perfection provided they make daily progress in piety and righteousness sections 1 connection between this chapter and the doctrine of regeneration necessity of the doctrine concerning the Christian life the brevity of this treatise the method of it plainness and unadorned simplicity of the scripture system of morals 2 two divisions first personal holiness 1 because God is holy 2 because of our communion with his saints 3 second division relating to our redemption admirable moral system of scripture 5 special inducements or exhortations to a Christian life 4 false Christians who are opposed to this life censured 1 they have not truly learned Christ 2 the gospel not the guide of their words or actions 3 they do not imitate Christ the master 4 they would separate the spirit from his word 5 Christians ought not to despond provided 1 they take the word of God for their guide sincerely cultivate righteousness 3 walk according to their capacity in the ways of the Lord 4 make some progress 5 persevere 1 we have said that the object of regeneration is to bring the life of believers into concord and harmony with the righteousness of God and so confirm the adoption by which they have been received as sons but although the law comprehends within it that new life by which the image of God is restored in us yet as our sluggishness stands greatly in need both of helps and incentives it will be useful to collect out of scripture a true account of this reformations lest any who have a heartfelt desire of repentance should in their zeal go astray moreover I am not unaware that in undertaking to describe the life of the Christian I am entering on a large and extensive subject one which when fully considered in all its parts is sufficient to fill a large volume we see the length to which others in treating of individual virtues extend their exhortations this they do not from mere loquaciousness for whatever be the virtue which you undertake to recommend your pen is spontaneously led by the copiousness of the matter so to amplify that you seem not to have discussed it properly you have not done it at length my intention however in the plan of life which I now propose to give is not to extend it so far as to treat of each virtue specially and expatiate in exhortation this must be sought in the writings of others and particularly in the homilies of the fathers for me it will be sufficient to point out the method by which a pious man may be taught how to frame his life a right and briefly lay down some universal rule by which he may not improperly regulate his conduct I shall one day possibly find time for more ample discourse or leave others to perform an office for which I am not so fit I have a natural love of brevity and perhaps any attempt of mine at copiousness would not succeed even if I could gain the highest applause by being more prolix I would scarcely be disposed to attempt it while the nature of my work requires me to glance at simple doctrine with as much brevity as possible as philosophers have certain definitions of rectitude and honesty from which they derive particular duties and the whole train of virtues so in this respect scripture is not without order but presents a most beautiful arrangement one, two, which is every way much more certain than that of philosophers the only difference is that they under the influence of ambition constantly affect an exquisite perspicuity of arrangement which may serve to display their genius whereas the spirit of God teaching without affectation is not so perpetually observant of exact method and yet by observing it at times sufficiently intimates that it is not to be neglected but to the scripture system of which we speak aims chiefly at two objects the former is that the love of righteousness to which we are by no means naturally inclined may be instilled and implanted into our minds the latter is see chapter 7 to prescribe a rule which will prevent us the pursuit of righteousness from going astray it has numerous admirable methods of recommending righteousness many have already been pointed out in different parts of this work but we shall hear also briefly advert to some of them with what better foundation can it begin than by reminding us that we must be holy because God is holy Leviticus 19 1 1 Peter 1 16 for when we were scattered abroad like lost sheep wandering through the labyrinth of this world he brought us back again to his own fold when mention is made of our union with God let us remember that holiness must be the bond not that by the merit of holiness we come into communion with him we ought rather first to cleave to him in order that pervaded with his holiness we may follow wither he calls but because it greatly concerns his glory not to have any fellowship with wickedness and impurity wherefore he tells us that this is the end of our calling the end to which we ought ever to have respect if we would answer the call of God for to what end were we rescued from the iniquity and pollution of the world into which we were plunged if we allow ourselves during our whole lives to wallow in them besides we are at the same time admonished that if we would be regarded as the Lord's people we must inhabit the holy city Jerusalem which as he hath consecrated to himself it were empires for its inhabitants to profane by impurity hence the expressions who shall abide in thy tabernacle who shall dwell in thy holy hill he that walketh uprightly and worketh righteousness Psalm 15 1 and 2 Psalm 24 3 and 4 for the sanctuary in which he dwells certainly ought not to be like an unclean stall 3 the better to arouse us it exhibits God the Father who as he hath reconciled us to himself in his anointed has impressed his image upon us to which he would have us to be conformed Romans 5 4 come then and let them show me a more excellent system among philosophers who think that they only have a moral philosophy duly and orderly arranged they when they would give excellent exhortations to virtue can only tell us to live agreeably to nature that derives its exhortations from the true source when it not only enjoins us to regulate our lives with a view to God its author to whom it belongs but after showing this that we have degenerated from our true origin this the law of our creator adds that Christ through whom we have returned to favor with God is set before us as a model the image of which our lives should express what do you require more effectual than this nay, what do you require beyond this if the Lord adopts us for his sons on the condition that our life be a representation of Christ the bond of our adoption then unless we dedicate and devote ourselves to righteousness we not only with the utmost perfidy revolt from our creator but also abduer the saviour himself then from an enumeration of all the blessings of God and each part of our salvation it finds materials for exhortation ever since God exhibited himself to us as a father we must be convicted of extreme ingratitude if we do not in turn exhibit ourselves as his sons ever since Christ purified us by the laver of his blood and communicated this purification by baptism it would ill become us to be defiled with new pollution ever since he ingrafted us into his body we who are his members should anxiously beware of contracting any stain or taint ever since he who is our head ascended to heaven it is befitting in us to withdraw our affections from the earth and with our whole soul aspire to heaven ever since the Holy Spirit dedicated us as temples to the Lord we should make it our endeavour to show forth the glory of God and guard against being profaned by the defilement of sin ever since our soul and body were destined to heavenly incorruptibility and an unfading crown we should earnestly strive to keep them pure and uncorrupted against the day of the Lord these I say are the surest foundations of a well regulated life and you will search in vain for anything resembling them among philosophers who in their commendation of virtue never rise higher than the natural dignity of man for this is the place to address those who having nothing of Christ but the name and sign would yet be called Christians how dare they boast of this sacred name none have intercourse with Christ but those who have acquired the true knowledge of Him from the gospel the apostle denies that any man truly has learned Christ who has not learned to put off the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts and put on Christ Ephesians 4 22 they are convicted therefore falsely and unjustly pretending a knowledge of Christ whatever be the volubility and eloquence with which they can talk of the gospel doctrine is not an affair of the tongue but of the life it is not apprehended by the intellect and memory merely like other branches of learning but is received only when it possesses the whole soul and finds its seat and habitation in the inmost recesses of the heart let them therefore either cease to insult God by boasting that they are what they are not or let them show themselves not unworthy disciples of their divine master to doctrine in which our religion is contained we have given the first place since by it our salvation and our senses but it must be transfused into the breast and pass into the conduct and so transform us into itself as not to prove unfruitful if philosophers are justly offended and banished from their company with disgrace those who while professing an art which ought to be the mistress of their conduct into mere loquacious sophistry with how much better reason shall we detest those flimsy sophists who are contented to let the gospel play upon their lips when from its efficacy it ought to penetrate the inmost affections of the heart fix its seat in the soul and pervade the whole man a hundred times more than the frigid discourses five I insist not that the life of the Christian shall breathe nothing but the perfect gospel though this is to be desired and ought to be attempted I insist not so strictly on evangelical perfection as to refuse to acknowledge as a Christian any man who has not attained it in this way all would be excluded from the church since there is no man who is not far removed from this perfection while many who have made but little progress would be undeservedly rejected what then let us set this before our eye as the end at which we ought constantly to aim let it be regarded as the goal towards which we are to run for you cannot divide the matter with God undertaking part of what His word enjoins and omitting part at pleasure for in the first place God uniformly recommends integrity as the principal part of His worship meaning by integrity real singleness of mind devoid of gloss and fiction and to this is opposed a double mind as if it had been said that the spiritual commencement of a good life is when the internal affections are sincerely devoted to God in the cultivation of holiness and justness but seeing that in this earthly prison of the body no man is supplied with strength sufficient to hasten in his course of acuity while the greater number are so oppressed with weakness that hesitating and halting and even crawling on the ground they make little progress let every one of us go as far as his humble ability enables him and prosecute the journey once begun no one will travel so badly as not daily to make the journey of progress this therefore let us never cease to do that we may daily advance in the way of the Lord and let us not despair because of the slender measure of success how little so ever the success may correspond with our wish our labour is not lost when today is better than yesterday provided with true singleness of mind we keep our aim and aspire to the goal not speaking flattering things to ourselves nor indulging our vices but making it our constant endeavour to become better until we attain to goodness itself if during the whole course of our life we seek and follow we shall at length attain it when relieved from the infirmity of flesh we are admitted to full fellowship with God End of section 15