“Thus this kingdom consists of two parts; the one, God’s correcting by the power of his Spirit all our carnal and depraved appetites, which oppose him in great numbers; the other, his forming all our powers to an obedience to his commands.”
“Thus we simply explain justification to be an acceptance, by which God receives us into his favour, and esteems us as righteous persons; and we say that it consists in the remission of sins and the imputation of the righteousness of Christ.”
“Thus, when David said to Saul, “The Lord render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness”[167] he did not mean that the Lord should examine every individual by himself, and reward him according to his merits; but he called the Lord to witness the greatness of his innocence in comparison with the iniquity of Saul.”
“To a lawyer, who asked him what was necessary to salvation, he replied, “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.”[221] What can we wish more, say they, when the Author of grace himself commands to obtain the kingdom of heaven by an observance of the commandments?”
“To conclude in one word, the cross of Christ triumphs, in the hearts of believers, over the devil and the flesh, over sin and impious men, only when their eyes are directed to the power of the resurrection.”
“To enable faith to surmount so great an obstacle, the Scripture supplies us with two assistances: one consists in the similitude of Christ, the other in the omnipotence of God.”
“To this may be referred the exhortation which Paul gives believers of his age, “that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands without wrath;”[415] because by admonishing them, that discord shuts the gate against prayers, he advises them unanimously to unite all their petitions together.”
“Unable to resist the clear testimonies of the Scriptures, Arius confessed Christ to be God, and the Son of God; and, as though this were all that was necessary, he pretended to agree with the Church at large.”
“Was it no advantage to glorify God by their death? to subscribe to his truth with their blood? to testify by their contempt of the present life, that they sought a better one? by their constancy, to confirm the faith of the Church, and vanquish the obstinacy of their enemies?”
“We confess that Christ is called “the Son” in his human nature, not as the faithful are, merely by adoption and grace, but the true and natural, and therefore the only Son; that by this character he may be distinguished from all others.”
““We do not cease to pray for you,” says he, “and to desire, that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing.”(600) Whenever he represents that as a blessing of God, we should remember that he thereby testifies it to be placed beyond the ability of man.”
“We grant, indeed, that they are not imputed, any more than if they did not exist; but we likewise contend that it is owing to the mercy of God that the saints are delivered from this guilt, who would otherwise be justly accounted sinners and guilty before him.”
“What is the meaning of that observation of Augustine and Eucherius, when they represent Christ as the tree of life, to whom whosoever shall have stretched forth his hand shall live; and free will as the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and say that whosoever forsakes the grace of God and tastes of it shall die?”
“What respects the Scripture and images may belong to the knowledge of God; what respects the formation of the world, the holy angels, and the devils, to the knowledge of man; and what respects the manner in which God governs the world, to both.”
“When he adds, a little after, “Therefore it is of faith” that we obtain the inheritance, in order “that it might be by grace,”(1940) he infers that the inheritance is gratuitous, because it is received by faith: and why is this, but because faith, without any assistance of works, depends wholly on the Divine mercy?”
“When they allege that there must be some reason why the Church is said to be holy, it is necessary to examine the holiness in which it excels; lest by refusing to admit the existence of a Church without absolute and sinless perfection, we should leave no Church in the world.”
“When we speak of the merit of Christ, therefore, we do not consider him as the origin of it, but we ascend to the ordination of God, which is the first cause; because it was of his mere good pleasure, that God appointed him Mediator to procure salvation for us.”
