justice himself; and that God the Father imputes and applies this, as his merit, to believers, and sends the Holy Spirit to them, who operates charity, good works, and repentance, as a good tree produces good fruit; and justifies, renews, regenerates, and sanctifies; and that this faith is the only medium of salvation, and that by it alone a man's sins are forgiven. They make a distinction between the act and the state of justification:-by the act of justification they understand the beginning of justification, which takes place in a moment, when man by that faith alone apprehends with confidence the merit of Christ; by the state of justification they understand the progress of that faith, which takes place by the interior operation of the Holy Spirit, which does not manifest itself except by certain signs, concerning which they teach various things; they speak also of good works manifested, which are done from the man and his will, and follow that faith; but they exclude them from justification, because the selfhood, and therefore the merit, of man is in them. This is a summary of modern faith, but its confirmations, and the traditions concerning it, are numerous and manifold; some of which also shall be adduced; which are, that men cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, and works, but gratuitously for Christ's sake, by faith; that by this faith they believe that they are received into grace, and their sins are remitted for his sake, who by his death made satisfaction for us, and that God the Father imputes this to believers for righteousness before him; that this faith, that Christ suffered and died for us, is not only an historical knowledge, but also a cordial assent, confidence, and trust, that sins are gratuitously remitted for Christ's sake, and that they are justified; and that at this time these three things concur, gratuitous promise, the merit of Christ as a price, and propitiation: That faith is the righteousness by which we are reputed just before God by reason of the promise; and that to be justified is to be absolved from sins, and that it may also be called a kind of quickening and regeneration; that faith is reputed to us for righteousness, not because it is so good a work, but because it apprehends the merit of Christ. That the merit of Christ is his obedience, passion, death, and resurrection; that it is necessary there should be something by which God can be approached, and that this is nothing else but faith, by which reception is effected. That faith, in the act of justification, enters by the word and by the hearing, and that it is not the act of

man, but that it is the operation of the Holy Spirit, and that man does not coöperate any more than a statue of salt, a stock, or a stone, doing nothing from himself, and knowing nothing of it; but that after the act he coöperates, yet not with any will of his own in spiritual things; in things natural, civil, and moral, it is otherwise but that they can so far proceed in things spiritual as to will what is good, and to feel delight in consequence, yet this is not from their own will, but from the Holy Spirit, and that thus they coöperate not from their own powers, but from new powers and gifts begun in them by the Holy Spirit in their conversion; and that in real conversion a change, renovation, and motion are produced in the understanding and heart of man. That charity, good works, and repentance do not enter into the act of justification, but that they are necessary in the state of justification, especially by reason of God's command, and that by them are merited the corporeal rewards of this life, but not the remission of sins and the glory of everlasting life, because faith alone, without the works of the law, justifies and saves. That faith in act justifies man, but faith in state renovates him; that in renovation by reason of God's command, the works reputed good, as pointed out by the decalogue, are necessary to be performed, because it is the will of God that carnal lusts should be restrained by civil discipline, for which reason he has provided doctrine, laws, magistrates, and punishments; that, therefore, it is consequently false, that by works we merit remission of sins and salvation, and that works have any effect in preserving faith; and that it is also false, that man is reputed just on account of the rational justice or righteousness he may possess; and that reason can, from its own power, love God above all things and perform his law; in a word, that faith and salvation are not preserved and retained in men by good works, but only by the Spirit of God and by faith; but still that good works are testimonies that the Holy Spirit is present and dwells in them. They condemn as pernicious, this mode of speech,— that good works are hurtful to salvation; because the interior works of the Holy Spirit are to be understood, which are good, not exterior works proceeding from man's own will, which are not good but evil, because they are meritorious. They teach, moreover, that Christ at the last judgment will pronounce sentence upon good and evil works as effects proper and not proper to the faith of man. This faith rules at this day in the whole reformed Christian world with the

clergy, but not with the laity, except in a very few instances; for the laity by faith understand nothing else but believing in God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and that he who lives well and believes well, will be saved; and of the Lord that he is the Saviour; for they are ignorant of the mysteries of justification of their preachers, who, although they preach such things, yet, with the laity who hear them, they enter in at one ear and go out at the other; their teachers, indeed, think themselves learned, from knowing them, and labor much in their schools and universities to make themselves masters of them; therefore it is said above, that that faith is the faith of the clergy. But yet the teachers teach this same faith differently in the different kingdoms in which the Reformed Church is established; in Germany, Sweden, and Denmark, they say, that the Holy Spirit operates by that faith, and justifies and sanctifies men, and afterwards successively renovates and regenerates them, but without the works of the law; and they who are in that faith from trust and confidence, are in grace with God the Father; and that then the evils which they do, appear indeed, but are constantly remitted. In England, they teach, that that faith produces charity without man's knowledge, and that when man feels the Holy Spirit operate interiorly in himself, this operation also is the good of charity; and if he does not feel it, and yet does good for the sake of salvation, that it may be called good, but still that it derives somewhat from man, in that there is merit in it. Moreover, that such faith can operate this at the hour of death, yet they do not know how. In Holland, they teach, that God the Father, for the sake of the Son, justifies and purifies man interiorly by the Holy Spirit through that faith, but even to his own proper will, from which it turns back without touching it; some teach, that it does indeed lightly touch it, and that the evils of man's will do not appear in the sight of God. But a few only of the laity know any thing of these mysteries of the clergy, the latter indeed are unwilling to publish them as they are in themselves, because they know that the laity have no relish for them.

"IV. ON THE LAW AND THE GOSPEL. That the law was given by God, that it might be known what sin is, and that thus it might be restrained by threats and by fear, and afterwards by promise and the annunciation of grace; therefore the principal office of the law is, to reveal original sin and all the fruits of it, and to make known to how horrible a degree the nature of man is fallen and totally depraved; by

this means it terrifies, humbles, and reduces man to despair of himself, and anxiously to desire aid: this effect of the law is called contrition, which is not active or factitious, but passive, and the torment of conscience; but the gospel is the whole doctrine concerning Christ and faith; and, therefore, concerning the remission of sins; consequently, a most joyful messenger, not reproving and terrifying, but comforting: by the law the wrath of God against all impiety is revealed, and man is condemned, therefore, it causes man to look up to Christ, and to the gospel; they must both be preached, because they are connected. The gospel teaches that Christ took upon himself the curse of the law, and expiated all sins, and that we consequently obtain remission by faith. That the Holy Spirit is given and received, and the heart of man renewed, not by the preaching of the law, but of the Gospel; and that the Spirit afterwards makes use of the ministry of the law, to teach and shew, in the decalogue, what the good will and pleasure of God is; thus the Spirit mortifies and quickens. That a distinction is to be made between the works of the law and the works of the Spirit, therefore, the faithful are not under the law, but under grace, for that very reason. That the righteousness of the law does not justify, that is, does not reconcile nor regenerate, nor, by itself, make men accepted of God; but when the Holy Spirit is given, the fulfilling of the law follows. That the works of the second table of the decalogue do not justify, because by it we act with men, and not properly with God, and yet in justification we must act with God. That Christ without sin suffered the punishment of sin, and was made a sacrifice for us, whereby he took away that right of the law, that it might not condemn believers, because he is a propitiation for them, for the sake of which they are reputed just.

That repent

"V. ON REPENTANCE AND CONFESSION. ance consists of two parts; one is contrition, or terror struck into the conscience by reason of sin; the other faith, which is conceived from the Gospel, and by the remission of sins, comforts the conscience and delivers from terrors. He who confesses himself to be nothing but sin, comprehends all sins, excludes none, and forgets none; thus sing are purged away, man is purified, rectified, and sanctified; because the Holy Spirit does not suffer sin to have dominion, but represses and restrains it. That the enumeration of sins ought to be free, as the person may choose or not

VOL. I.

choose; and that great stress is to be laid upon private confession and absolution; therefore, if any one chooses, he may confess his sins, and receive absolution from the confessor, and that in such case his sins are remitted. The words which the minister is to make use of on this occasion are; May God be propitious to thee, and confirm thy faith; be it unto thee as thou believest, and I, by the commandment of the Lord, remit to thee thy sins:' but others say, 'I announce to thee the remission of thy sins:' that still, however, sins are not forgiven by repentance any more than by works; but by faith. Therefore, the repentance of the clergy is only a confession before God that they are sinners, and a prayer that they may persevere in faith. That expiations and satisfactions are not necessary, because Christ is expiation and satisfaction.

That after the fall

"VI. ON ORIGINAL SIN they teach. of Adam all men propagated according to nature are born in sin, that is, without the fear of God, and with concupiscences; and that this condemns and brings eternal death upon those who are not born again by baptism and the Holy Spirit that it is a privation of original righteousness, and at the same time an inordinate disposition of the parts of the soul, and a corrupt habit. That there is a difference between the nature itself into which man was created, which exists even after the fall, and remains a creature of God, and original sin; therefore, that there is a difference. between corrupt nature, and the corruption which is inherent in nature, and by which nature is corrupt: that no one but God alone can separate the corruption of nature from nature itself; that this will manifestly be done in the blessed resurrection, because then nature itself, which encloses man in this world, will rise again without original sin, and enjoy eternal felicity; that the difference is as great as between the work of God and the work of the devil; that this sin did not invade nature in such a manner, as if Satan had created any evil substantially, and commixed it with nature, but that concreate and original righteousness was lost that original sin is an accident; and that by reason of it, man is, as it were, spiritually dead before God: that this evil is covered and pardoned by Christ alone that the seed itself from which man is formed, is contaminated with that sin; that hence also it is, that man receives from his parents depraved inclinations and internal uncleanness of heart.

VII. ON BAPTISM. That baptism is not simply water,