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anointed with all fulness of grace, and hath all the treasure and riches of the Spirit of God in his hand, with which he blesseth all men according to the promise made By Jesus to Abraham, and is thereto merciful to forgive unto all that call on him. And how much he loveth me unto the ensamples of his deeds.

us,

1 report

And he is righteous, both toward God in that he never sinned, and therefore hath obtained all his favour and grace; and also toward us in that he is true to fulfil all the mercy that he hath promised us, even unto the uttermost jot.

And he is the satisfaction for our sins, and not for our's only, but also for all the world's.

Christ we are made blessed.

blood is the

satisfaction

for our

sins.

That I call satisfaction, the Greek calleth Ilasmos, and the Hebrew Copar. And it is first taken for the suaging of wounds, sores, and swellings, and the taking away of pain and smart of them. And thence is borrowed for the pacifying and suaging of wrath and anger, and for an amends making, a contenting, satisfaction, a ransom, and making at one, as it is to see abundantly in the Bible. So Christ's that Christ is a full contenting, satisfaction and ransom for our sins. And not for our's only, which are apostles and disciples of Christ while he was yet here; or for our's which are Jews or Israelites and the seed of Abraham; or for our's that now believe at this present time, but for all men's sins, both for their sins which went before and believed the promises to come, and for our's which have seen them fulfilled, and also for all them which shall afterward believe unto the world's end, of whatsoever nation or degree they be. For Paul commandeth, (1 Tim. ii.) To pray for all men and all degrees, saying, that tobe acceptable unto our Saviour God, which will have all men saved and come to the knowledge of the truth, that is some of all nations and all degrees, and not the Jews only. For (saith he) there is one God, and one Mediator between

Christ gave himsell for

the redemption tion of all

and salva

the world.

God and man, the man Christ Jesus, which gave himself a redemption and full satisfaction for all men.

Let this therefore be an undoubted article of thy faith: not of an history faith as thou believest a gest of Alexander, or of the old Romans, but of a lively faith and belief, to put thy trust and confidence in, and to buy and sell thereon, as we say, and to have thy sins taken away, and thy soul saved thereby, if thou hold it fast; and to continue ever in sin, and to have thy soul damned if thou let it slip; that our Jesus, our Saviour that saveth his people from their sins, and our Christ, that is our king over all sin, death and hell, anointed with fulness of all grace and with the Spirit of God, to distribute unto all men, hath, according unto the Epistle to the Hebrews and all the Scripture, in the days of his mortal flesh, with death, hell, fasting, praying, suffering, and crying to God mightily for us, and with shedding his blood, made full satisfaction both a pana et a culpa (with our holy father's leave) for all the sins of the world; both of their's that went before, and of their's that come after in the faith; whether it be original sin or actual: and not only the sins committed with consent to evil in time of ignorance before the knowledge of the truth, but also the sins done of frailty after we have forsaken evil and consented to the laws of God in our hearts, promising to follow Christ and walk in the light of his doctrine.

Christ is king over

and sin.

Christ only is our Saviour.

He saveth his people from their sins, (Matt. i.) and that he only. So that there is no other name to be saved by, (Acts iv.) And unto him bear all the prophets record, that all that believe in him shall receive remission of their sins in his name. (Acts x.) And by him only we have an entering in unto the Father and unto all grace. (Eph. ii. 3. Rom. v.) And as many are come before him as thieves and murderers. (John x.) That is, whosoever preacheth any other forgiveness of sin than through faith in his name, the same slayeth the soul.

This to be true, not only of original but of actual, and

Christ forour sins freely for sake.

giveth all

his mercy

as well of that we commit after our profession, as before, mayest thou evidently see by the ensamples of the Scripture. Christ forgave the woman taken in adultery, (John viii.) and another whom he healed. (John v.) And he forgave publicans and open sinners, and put none to do penance, as they call it, for to make satisfaction for the sin, which he forgave through repentance and faith, but enjoined them the life of penance, the profession of their baptism, to tame the flesh in keeping the commandments, and that they should sin no more. And those sinners were for the most part Jews, and had their original sin forgiven them before, through faith in the Testament of of God. Christ forgave his apostles their actual sins after their profession, which they committed in denying him, and put none to do penance for satisfaction. Peter, (Acts ii.) absolveth the Jews through repentance and faith from their actual sins which they did in consenting unto Christ's death, and enjoined them no penance to make satisfaction. Paul also had his actual sins forgiven him freely through repentance and faith without mention Christ only of satisfaction. (Acts ix.) So that according unto this present text of John, if it chance us to sin of frailty, let us not despair, for we have an advocate and intercessor, a true attorney with the Father, Jesus Christ, righteous towards God and man, and is the reconciling and satisfaction for our sins.

For Christ's works are perfect, so that he hath obtained us all mercy and hath set us in the full state of grace and favour of God, and hath made us as well beloved as the angels of heaven, though we be yet weak. As the young children though they can do no good at all are yet as tenderly beloved as the old. And God, for Christ's sake, hath promised that whatsoever evil we shall do, yet if we turn and repent, he will never more think on Our sins.

is our advocate.

Popish for.

Thou wilt say, God forgiveth the displeasure, but we must suffer pain to satisfy the righteousness of God. A giveness.

ness that

we have of God for

Christ's

then God hath a righteousness which may not forgive pain, and all that the poor sinner should go scot free without The forgiv- ought at all! God was unrighteous to forgive the thief his pain, and all through repentance and faith, unto whom for lack of leisure was no penance enjoined. And my sake is free faith is, that whatsoever ensample of mercy God hath shewed one, that same he hath promised all; yea, will he peradventure forgive me, but I must make amends? If I owe you twenty pounds, ye will forgive me, that is, ye will no more be angry with me, but I shall pay you the twenty pounds. O popish forgiveness, with whom it goeth after the common proverb, No penny, no pardon! His fatherhood giveth pardon freely, but we must pay money abundantly.

Faith in

Christ is a ccounted to

teousness.

Paul's doctrine is (Rom. ix.) If a man work, it ought not to be said that his hire was given him of grace or of favour, but of duty. But to him that worketh not, but believeth in him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith (he saith not, his works, although he commandeth us diligently to work and despiseth none that God commandeth) his faith (saith he) is reckoned him for his righteousness. Confirming his saying with the testimony of the prophet us for righ David in the thirty second Psalm, saying, Blessed is the man unto whom God imputeth or reckoneth not his sin, that is to say, which man, although he be a sinner, yet God layeth not it to his charge for his faith's sake. And in the eleventh he saith, If it come of grace then it cometh not of works; for then were grace no grace, saith he. For it was a very strange speaking in Paul's ears to call that grace that came of deserving of works; or that deserving of works which came by grace; for he reckoned works and grace to be contrary in such manner of speech. But our holy father hath coupled them together of pure liberality, I dare say, and not for covetousness. For as his holiness, if he have a cause against any man, immediately breatheth out an excommunication upon him, and will have satisfaction for the uttermost farthing, and somewhat above, to

We are sav

elby grace,

and not by works of the law.

The pope,

when any man offendeth him,

filleth to cursing.

teach them to beware against another time, ere he will bless again from the terrible sentence of his heavy curse, even so of that blessed complexion he describeth the nature of the mercy of God, that God will remit his anger to us upon the appointment of our satisfaction. When the Scripture saith, Christ is our righteousness, our justifying, our redemption, our atonement, that hath appeased God, and cleanseth us from our sins, and all in his blood, so that his blood is the satisfaction only.

Works can be no satissin to God

faction for

ward.

God is a Spirit, and must be worshipped in the spi

rit.

And that thou mayest the better perceive the falsehood of our holy father's fleshly imagination, call to mind how that the Scripture saith, (John iv.) God is a Spirit and must be worshipped in the spirit. That is, repentance, faith, hope, and love toward his law and our neighbour for his sake, is his worship in the spirit. And therefore whosoever worshippeth God with works, and referreth his works to God, to be a sacrifice unto him, to appease him as though he delighted in the work for the work's sake, the same maketh of God an image or idol, and is an image server, and as wicked an idolater as ever was any blind heathen, and serveth God after the imagination of his own heart, and is abominable unto God: as thou seest in how many places God defieth the sacrifice of the children of Israel, for the said imagination. So that whosoever sup- Popish poseth that his candle sticking before an image, his putting a penny in the box, his going a pilgrimage, his fasting, his woolward going, barefoot going, his crouching, kneeling, and pain-taking, be sacrifice unto God, as though he delighted in them, as we in the gestures of Jack Napes, is as blind as he that gropeth for his way at noon. God's worspip is to love him for his mercy, and of love to bestow worship. all our works upon our neighbour for his sake; and upon the taming of our flesh, that we sin not again, which should be the chiefest care of a Christian man, whilst Christ careth for that that is once past and committed already, whether before our profession or after. For the conditions of the peace that is made between God and us

works.

God's

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