And whose heart, hearing these things, is not all gladness within, and sweetened, under the enjoyed consolation, into the love of Christ? To which love, he never can attain by any laws or works. And who is there that can hurt such an heart, or cause such an one to fear? If consciousness of sin, or the horror of death should rush upon him, he is prepared to hope in the Lord nor is he afraid nor moved at these evil tidings, until he see his desire upon his enemies, Psalm cxii. For he believes that the righteousness of Christ is his; and that his sin, is no longer his, but Christ's. And all sin must be swallowed up before the face of the righteousness of Christ, by faith in him, as we have before observed. Thus he learns with the apostle to triumph over death and sin, and say, "O grave, where is thy victory! O death, where is thy sting! The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord," 1 Cor. xv., " For death is swallowed up in victory: "not in the victory of Christ only, but ours also; for it becomes ours by faith, and in it we also conquer.

Suffice it to have spoken thus concerning the inward man, his liberty, and his glorious righteousness by faith, which needs neither laws nor good works; nay, they tend to the destruction of any one, who should presume to be justified by them.

PROPOSITION II.

Now let us come to the OTHER PART of our subject, the outward man.-Here an answer shall be given to all those, who, being offended at the word Faith, and all that is said to exalt it, say, 'If faith do all things, and alone suffice unto righteousness, why then are good works commanded. Contented with faith therefore, let us be at rest, and do no works at all!'-I answer, Not so! ye ungodly, not so! This would indeed be the case if we were renewed altogether, and perfectly and wholly spiritual but this will not be till in the last day of the resurrection of the dead. As long as we live in the flesh,

we only begin, and grow a little in that which is to be perfected in the life to come. And therefore it is, that the apostle, Rom. viii., calls that which we have in this life "the first-fruits of the Spirit;" intimating, that we shall receive the tithes and fulness of the Spirit, in the life which is to come.

To this part of our subject, therefore, belongs that which we laid down at the beginning as our SECOND PROPOSITION-"The Christian man is the most dutiful servant of all, subject to all." For as to his spirit, which is free, he worketh not; but as to his body, in which he is subject, he worketh all things; and how this is, let us now consider.

Although the Christian man, as I have shewn, is, inwardly, as to his spirit, fully and abundantly justified by faith, having all that he needs to have; (except that this abundantly filling faith itself, must be increased day by day, even unto the life to come,) yet, he still remains in this mortal life upon earth; in which he must, of necessity, govern his own body, and have intercourse with men. Now here begin good works! Here is no sitting down at ease! Here, certainly, begins a care, that the body, by fastings, watchings, labourings, and other moderate discipline, be exercised and brought into subjection to the spirit; so that it may obey and be conformable to the inward man, and to faith, and may not rebel or hinder; which it is its nature to do, if it be not restrained. For the inner man being by faith created conformable to God, and after the image of God, joys and takes pleasure in him through Christ, in whom such a treasure of all good is laid up for him: and therefore all his concern is, that he may be enabled gladly and willingly to serve God in the freedom of love.-While he strives to do this, behold! he offends a contrary will in his own flesh, which lusts to serve the world and fulfil its own desires. And this, the spirit of faith cannot endure, and will not; and therefore, it struggles with ardent desire to repress and restrain it: accordingly, as Paul saith, Rom. vii., “I delight in the law of God after the inward man, but I see another law in my members warring against the law of

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my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin in my members." And so also in another place, "But I keep under my body and bring it into subjection; lest after I have preached to others I myself should be a cast-away." And again Gal. v., "They who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts."

But these works are not to be done with this opinion, that, by them, any one may become righteous before God; for this false opinion faith will not endure, which alone is righteousness before God; but they are to be done with this view only,-that the body might be brought into subjection and purified from its lusts; so that its eye might never be so much as turned, but with a desire to shun concupiscence. For as the soul is purified by faith and made to love God, it would that all things were purified together with it, especially its own body, that all things might join with it in loving and praising God. Hence it is that the man, from the urgent necessity which he feels in his own body, can never be at ease, but is compelled, on that account, to do many good works in order to bring his body into subjection. And yet, he does not look upon these works as making him righteous before God, but he does them in the freedom of love in obedience to God; having nothing else in view but the divine good pleasure, to which he would be most dutifully conformed in all things.

In this case, every one will be able to judge for himself, and use his own discretion (as they say) as to what measure he ought to mortify his body; for he will fast, watch, and labour, so much, as he shall judge necessary to repress the lasciviousness and concupiscence of the body. But they who presumptuously imagine to become righteous by works, look not to the mortification of concupiscence, but to the works themselves: and if they have done very many and great works, they imagine that they are in a good state, and are become righteous. And they sometimes go so far in this working zeal, as to affect their brain, and destroy their constitution; or at

least to render it unserviceable; which is the greatest folly and ignorance of the Christian life and of faithto desire to be justified and saved by works, without faith.

But, that what we have said concerning works may be the more easily understood, let us explain the matter by similitudes.-The works of a Christian man, then, justified and saved by the free grace and pure mercy of God, through his faith, ought to be considered in no other light, than the works of Adam and Eve in paradise, and of all their children, would have been, had they never sinned. Concerning which it is said, Gen. ii., "God placed the man whom he had created in paradise, that he might work in it, and keep it." Now Adam was created of God just, upright, and without sin; so that he had no need of this working and keeping in order to become upright and justified; but God gave him this employment of tilling and keeping paradise, that he might not live at ease; which would have been works of perfect freedom, performed with no other view than doing the good-pleasure of God; not in order to the attainment of righteousness, for that he had already to the full, and the same all we should have inherited by nature. So it is with the works of the believing man, who, by his faith, is placed again in paradise, and created anew; he needs not works in order to be, or to become, righteous; but, that he might not live at ease, and that he might exercise and preserve his own body, there are works of the same liberty enjoined him; which are to be done, only with a view to the good-will of God. Except that, our graces of Faith and Love, though created anew, not being fully perfected, must be increased; yet, not by works, but by growing in the graces themselves.

Again, for further example-a holy bishop when he consecrates a church, or confirms children, or performs any other part of his official duty, is not consecrated a bishop by the performance of those works: nay, unless he were first consecrated a bishop, no one of those works would be of any avail, but would be foolish, puerile, and ludicrous. So the Christian being consecrated by his

faith, does good works; but he is not by these made more holy, or made a Christian, for this is of faith alone: nay, unless he first believed and were a Christian, all his works would be of no avail whatever, but would, in truth, be impious and damnable sins.

These two sayings, therefore, are true. Good works do not make a good man, but a good man makes good works. Evil works do not make an evil man, but an evil man makes evil works.'-So that, the substance itself, or person, must always be first good, before all good works; and good works must follow and proceed from the good person: as Christ also saith, "An evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit, neither can a good tree bring forth evil fruit." For it is evident, that the fruits do not bring forth the trees, nor the trees grow out of the fruits; but, on the contrary, the trees bring forth the fruits, and the fruits grow out of the trees. As therefore the trees must, of necessity, exist before the fruits, and the fruits can neither make the trees good nor bad, but on the contrary, such as the trees are such the fruits must be; so, must it also of necessity be, that the person of the man must be good or bad, before he can make a good or bad work, and that, the works do not make him bad or good, but he makes the works bad or good.

The same may be seen in every kind of workmanship. A bad or good house does not make a bad or good builder, but a good or bad builder makes a good or bad house. And, to speak universally, no work can make the workman like itself, but the workman makes the work like himself. So it is with the works of men, such as the man is himself, either in faith or unbelief, such is his work; good, if done in faith; if done in unbelief, evil. For as works cannot make the man a believer, they cannot make him righteous: but faith, as it makes him a believer, and righteous, so does it make his works good works.

As, therefore, good works can make no one righteous, and as the man must be first righteous before he can do any good work, it is most manifest, that it is faith alone

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