The Institutes of the Christian Religion

• John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion is a foundational Protestant text published initially in 1536.
• The work is structured in four parts corresponding to the Apostle's Creed, focusing on the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and the Church.
• Book First specifically examines the knowledge of God the Creator, divine providence, and creation.
• Henry Beveridge's English translation, first published in 1845, remains a standard edition for modern readers.
• The text explores the complex relationship between the knowledge of God and the knowledge of ourselves.

Through these four parts, it explores both "knowledge of God" and "knowledge of ourselves" with profound theological insight, challenging and informing all the while.

• Outlines the structure of theological arguments concerning human fall, original sin, and the loss of free will.
• Details the necessity of redemption through Christ as mediator, spanning both the Old and New Testaments.
• Explores the mechanics of the Christian life, focusing on faith, repentance, self-denial, and justification.
• Addresses complex doctrines such as Christian liberty, prayer, and eternal predestination.

CHAPTER 21. - OF THE ETERNAL ELECTION, BY WHICH GOD HAS PREDESTINATED SOME TO SALVATION, AND OTHERS TO DESTRUCTION.

• The text outlines the detailed chapter contents for Book Four of Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion.
• Major sections cover the true church, the comparison to the false church, church government, and the corruption of the papacy.
• Subsequent chapters address church power, councils, laws, jurisdiction, discipline, vows, and the sacraments.
• Detailed focus is given to baptism, infant baptism, the Lord's Supper, the refutation of the popish mass, and civil government.
• The document concludes with metadata regarding the Christian Classics Ethereal Library digital publication and translation details by Henry Beveridge.

OF THE BEGINNING AND RISE OF THE ROMISH PAPACY, TILL IT ATTAINED A HEIGHT BY WHICH THE LIBERTY OF THE CHURCH WAS DESTROYED, AND ALL TRUE RULE OVERTHROWN.

• The publication of a new English edition of Calvin's Institutes is seen as an encouraging sign of spiritual renewal amidst modern decadence.
• Prominent critics, including Joseph Scaliger, have historically praised Calvin as preeminent among theologians.
• Calvin's unique eminence stems largely from his exceptional skill as an exegete and biblical theologian.
• He maintained a profound veneration for the Word of God, warning against tampering with Scripture or treating it carelessly.
• Calvin established crucial standards of sobriety in interpretation, steering exegesis away from the dangers of allegorical distortion.

It is therefore an audacity, closely allied to a sacrilege, rashly to turn Scripture in any way we please, and to indulge our fancies as in sport; sport; sport.

• Calvin's exegetical work is rooted in the analogy of Scripture, ensuring unity and harmony across biblical texts.
• His approach avoids isolated interpretations, making his exegesis thoroughly and cohesively theologically oriented.
• Despite his exceptional exegetical talent, Calvin's greatest gift was his preeminent genius as a systematic theologian.
• His theology was strictly non-speculative, vehemently rejecting empty theorizing in favor of humble discipleship to Scripture.
• Rather than seeking novel inventions, Calvin focused on accurately apprehending, classifying, and defending the truths of God's Word.

No one has ever fulminated with more passion and eloquence against vacuous and meteoric speculation than has Calvin.

• John Murray notes that Calvin's Institutes combines rigorous Christian theology with a model of deep personal devotion and godly fear.
• The volume presents Henry Beveridge's 1845 English translation, which faithfully reflects Calvin's teachings despite the inherent limitations of translation.
• A truly ideal English edition would require extensive scholarly footnotes reproducing the original Latin and cross-referencing Calvin's other writings.
• Early printers offered excuses for delays in publication, explaining that they had commissioned a completely new translation vetted by trusted scholars.
• Thomas Norton's historical translation included marginal notes and scripture indexes to help readers navigate the complex theological material.

It would also involve prodigious labour. We may hope that the seed being sown by the present venture may bear fruit some day in such a harvest.

• Thomas Norton introduces the fourth English printing of John Calvin’s Institution of Christian Religion.
• Calvin continuously expanded the work throughout his life, growing in his writing as he aged.
• The book serves as a comprehensive storehouse of doctrine so readers can be referred to it rather than scattered commentaries.
• Norton translated the text into English at the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's reign to benefit the Church of Christ.
• The original Latin text was crafted with extreme precision and conciseness to withstand the scrutiny of theological adversaries.

So great a jewel was meet to be made most beneficial, that is to say, applied to most common use.

• The author faced significant difficulty translating a text filled with scholastic controversies and specialized terminology.
• He struggled between a literal translation that risked obscurity and a free translation that risked doctrinal error in matters of faith.
• Translating faithfully requires not just grammatical accuracy, but preserving the exact order, grace, and emphasis of the original words.
• He ultimately chose to follow the Latin words as closely as English idiom allowed, making the translation useful for learning Latin as well.
• To ensure complete doctrinal soundness, he submitted his entire translation sentence by sentence to learned scholars like M. David Whitehead for review.

If I should follow the words, I saw that of necessity the hardness in the translation must needs be greater than was in the tongue wherein it was originally written.

• The author explains that the text remains unchanged from previous editions because no one requested alterations and professional duties prevented him from reviewing it.
• To assist readers, an alphabetical table of contents translated from Latin was added, detailing doctrines and their specific locations by book, chapter, and section.
• Efforts were made to improve accessibility, including numbering chapters on every leaf and incorporating additional tables gathered by M. Marlorate.
• Poor handwriting and printer errors in the first edition led to over three hundred corrections in subsequent impressions.
• The new edition features a smaller volume, fair and legible type, and a more affordable price to make the work widely available for Christian instruction.
• The author asserts that Calvin's work surpasses all other common-place religious books by Melancthon, Sarcerius, and others in doctrine and depth.

Moreover, whereas in the first edition the evil manner of my scribbling hand, the inter-lining of my copy, and some other causes well known among workmen of that faculty, made very many faults to pass the printer, I have, in the second impression, caused the book to be composed by the printed copy, and corrected by the written...

• Thomas Norton praises a translated theological work as exceptionally profitable for students of Christian divinity.
• Norton asks readers not to hastily condemn difficult passages, promising that perseverance will reveal their clarity and truth.
• John Calvin explains that his original intention for the Institutes was merely to provide elementary instruction for French seekers.
• Calvin expanded his purpose to present a confession to King Francis, defending his persecuted countrymen against false accusations.
• Calvin warns the king that malicious men have filled his mind with atrocious insinuations to make their cause hateful.

When I first engaged in this work, nothing was farther from my thoughts than to write what should afterwards be presented to your Majesty.

• The author defends a suppressed religious cause against violent oppression and fraudulent calumnies.
• False accusations claim the doctrine aims to destroy governments, laws, social order, and property.
• Popular hatred is dangerously inflamed by horrible insinuations and widespread, iniquitous accusations.
• Judges condemn individuals simply for following a forbidden doctrine without allowing a fair defense of its truth.
• The author appeals to the Sovereign for a thorough, impartial investigation of the cause of Christ.
• This is not a personal defense for exile, but a plea for the persecuted and broken Church.

The cause which I plead is the common cause of all the godly, and therefore the very cause of Christ—a cause which, throughout your realm, now lies, as it were, in despair, torn and trampled upon in all kinds of ways, and that more through the tyranny of certain Pharisees than any sanction from yourself.

• Opponents attack the truth of God while cowardly dismissing it as mere error and imprudence.
• The author appeals to a sovereign prince to defend the vital interests of God's glory and kingdom.
• A true ruler must serve God's divine glory, otherwise acting merely as a robber rather than a king.
• Kingdoms lacking the rule of God's word and heavenly vision face inevitable destruction.
• Despite their own insignificance and wretchedness before men, the defenders rely entirely on divine mercy.
• The doctrine must remain invincible above all worldly power because it belongs solely to God and His Anointed.

He who does not make his reign subservient to the divine glory, acts the part not of a king, but a robber.

• Adversaries falsely accuse the authors of corrupting the word of God and acting maliciously.
• The doctrine is tested against the rule of faith, acknowledging human weakness and total dependence on God.
• Opponents complain that this reliance on divine grace overturns free will, human merit, and works.
• True faith rests on the assurance of God as a propitious Father through Jesus Christ.
• Confidence in God is condemned by critics as arrogance, but it is actually the foundation of true hope.
• The authors suffer reproach and persecution solely because they trust in the living God.

But we read not of any having been blamed for drinking too much of the fountain of living water; on the contrary, those are severely reprimanded who “have hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water”.

• Reformers face severe persecution, slander, and indignity while their adversaries display hypocrisy.
• The priesthood neglects true scriptural religion in favor of implicit faith and church authority.
• Adversaries fiercely defend human traditions like the mass and purgatory primarily out of self-interest and greed.
• Critics attack the reformed doctrine by labeling it as new, uncertain, and the cause of societal disturbances.
• The author argues that true doctrine is not novel, but rather the restored word of God long buried by human impiety.

Why? just because their belly is their God, and their kitchen their religion; and they believe, that if these were away they would not only not be Christians, but not even men.

• The author cites Isaiah to lament that people fail to truly know or consider the Lord, despite animals recognizing their masters.
• True faith provides a confidence that remains unappalled even by the terrors of death and the judgment-seat of God.
• Opponents demand new miracles, ignoring that the gospel's truth is already confirmed by Christ and the apostles.
• Modern miracles claimed by adversaries are dismissed as frivolous, false, and unable to stand against the truth of God.
• Scripture indicates that miracles are designed to confirm previously established doctrine, not to subvert it or promote human glory.

Very different is our confidence—a confidence which is not appalled by the terrors of death, and therefore not even by the judgment—seat of God.

• Miracles alone do not validate religious truth, as false prophets and tricksters have historically used wonders to deceive the unwary.
• Scripture explicitly warns believers against false signs and lying wonders associated with antichrist and deception.
• Opponents argue their miracles are performed by saints rather than sorcerers, but Satan is known to transform himself into an angel of light.
• Divine judgment often allows those who reject the truth to fall under strong delusion and believe lies.
• The authors defend themselves against charges of opposing the early Church Fathers, asserting instead that their opponents selectively adore only the slips and errors of the Fathers.

What, then, shall we say but that it has been, and always will be, a most just punishment of God, to send on those who do not receive the truth in the love of it, strong delusion, that they should believe a lie?

• Christians must owe ultimate obedience exclusively to Christ rather than relying blindly on the shifting and sometimes contradictory opinions of the holy Fathers.
• Opponents misuse scripture by applying boundaries meant for property lines to the obedience of faith.
• Historical figures explicitly warned against luxury and opulence in sacred rites, yet modern practices indulge in insane luxury.
• Fathers advocated for labor and self-sufficiency among monks, which contrasts with the practice of supporting lazy, gluttonous clergy.
• Early councils and Fathers condemned the use of images and paintings in temples, a boundary that was entirely disregarded.
• Early testimonies affirmed that the substance of bread and wine remains in the Eucharist, contradicting later doctrines of transubstantiation.

It is a horrid abomination to see in Christian temples a painted image either of Christ or of any saint.

• Early Church Fathers strictly barred the profane and unrepentant from the Eucharist, whereas modern practices admit all paying attendees regardless of moral purity.
• Ancient rules regarding communion in both kinds and the prohibition of withholding the cup have been overturned by unalterable modern laws.
• Fathers warned against deciding obscure questions without clear scriptural authority, yet modern authorities enacted numerous canons without divine sanction.
• While early leaders opposed imposing fasting laws and mandatory clerical celibacy, later institutions rigidly enforced both.
• Fathers taught that Christ alone should be heard and that the Church should never prefer herself to Him, a boundary bypassed by subordinating Scripture to ecclesiastical judgment.

These landmarks, also, they removed, when, by an unalterable law, they ordered the very thing which the former Father punished with excommunication, and the latter condemned for a valid reason.

• Early Church Fathers unitedly condemned corrupting the word of God with sophistical subtleties and dialectic brawls.
• Modern speculative theologians entangle the simplicity of Scripture in endless disputes, unrecognizable to the ancient Fathers.
• These scholastic doctors hypocritically claim obedience to the Fathers while actually shaking off their yoke and chastising others.
• Appeals to prevailing custom are invalid because public error and human vice frequently masquerade as law.
• In the kingdom of God, human custom and the passage of time hold no weight against eternal truth.

Were the judgments of mankind correct, custom would be regulated by the good.

• Believers are instructed not to join in impious confederacies or fear the threats of the ungodly.
• Following the multitude in sin does not protect individuals from divine judgment, as evidenced by the flood.
• Depraved customs function like a general pestilence, destroying people even when they fall in a crowd.
• Those who obstinately reject the truth have no defense, unlike those who sin in ignorance.
• The Church of Christ is sustained and preserved by His power and will endure until the end of the world.
• The true controversy lies in whether the Church is visibly confined to the hierarchy of Rome or exists beyond external splendour.

In short, depraved custom is just a kind of general pestilence in which men perish not the less that they fall in a crowd.

• Critics wrongly demand a visible, pompous church structure defined by physical buildings and episcopal dignity.
• Historical precedents like Elijah and the ministry of Christ show that the true Church can be obscured by wars, seditions, and heresies.
• Hilary warned against loving physical walls and buildings, suggesting instead that true prophets often dwell in solitary places.
• God may sometimes hide the external manifestation of His Church as a fearful punishment for human ingratitude and wickedness.
• Despite apparent darkness and dispersion among men, God always preserves His own people from total destruction.

Safer to me are mountains, and woods, and lakes, and dungeons, and whirlpools; since in these prophets, dwelling or immersed, did prophesy.

• The text argues that possessing external religious insignia and titles does not automatically exempt priests and pontiffs from error.
• Biblical examples such as Aaron making the golden calf and the majority of prophets opposing Micaiah and Jeremiah illustrate that truth often rests with the persecuted minority rather than the institutional majority.
• Historical councils, such as the Council of Basle, expose deep hypocrisies and power struggles among rival popes and prelates.
• The author challenges the opposing side to define where the true Church resided when a legitimate council deposed Eugenius, leading to a succession of figures tied to schismatics.
• Ultimately, the passage warns against relying on external masks and worldly splendor while branding true prophets as schismatics.

He was alone, indeed, and despised, but from his mouth the truth proceeded.

• The author accuses corrupt church leaders of falsely claiming the title of the Church while actually destroying it with their deadly doctrines.
• The opposition argues that the preaching of the new doctrine has brought disturbances and tumults in its train.
• The author counters that these evils should not be blamed on the doctrine itself, but rather on the malice and awakening of Satan.
• A true characteristic of the divine word is that it disrupts Satan's tranquil and undisputed dominion over a world immersed in darkness.
• When divine light beamed from above, Satan abandoned his torpor, first trying to violently suppress the truth and later stirring up dissensions and disputes.
• Despite Satan's ongoing assaults using violence and deceit, his attempts to extinguish the true seed will ultimately prove to be in vain.

It is one of the characteristics of the divine word, that whenever it appears, Satan ceases to slumber and sleep.

• Critics unfairly blame the word of God for the seditions and tumults stirred up by wicked men.
• Historical precedents show that Elijah, Christ, and the apostles faced the exact same false accusations of causing social commotion.
• True defenders of the faith must comfort the weak who waver in perplexity when facing modern scandals and controversies.
• Scripture records early believers twisting inspired writings, exploiting spiritual freedom, and preaching the gospel through envy.
• Despite immense perils and internal strife, the apostles pressed forward because Christ was always intended to be a rock of offense.
• Believers today must remember that the gospel inherently acts as a savour of death to the perishing unless corrupted by human ingratitude.

What, then, were the apostles to do? Were they either to dissemble for the time, or rather lay aside and abandon that gospel which they saw to be the seed—bed of so many strifes, the source of so many perils, the occasion of so many scandals?

• The author defends the new gospel against false accusations of promoting sedition and vice.
• Believers are portrayed as peaceful, loyal subjects who pray for the prosperity of the king and kingdom.
• Any genuine lawbreakers who use religious liberty as a cloak for licentiousness should be dealt with by existing laws rather than condemning the gospel itself.
• The appeal asks the king to calmly read their Confession rather than listening solely to the whispers of malevolent enemies.
• Believers accept that they may face persecution like sheep to the slaughter, yet they patiently wait for the deliverance and justice of the Lord.

we, indeed, like sheep doomed to slaughter, shall be reduced to every extremity; yet so that, in our patience, we will possess our souls, and wait for the strong hand of the Lord

• The author approaches the revised edition with deep gratitude after the unexpected success of the First Edition.
• He felt compelled to respond to the public favor and divine blessing by applying greater diligence to this new work.
• A two-year period of extraordinary trials delayed this publication, but the author believes it arrives in good season.
• The primary objective of the book is to prepare and train theology students for the study of the Sacred Volume.
• This foundational summary aims to provide an easy introduction to Scripture so readers can navigate doctrines efficiently.
• The author hopes future commentaries will be shorter because readers will have mastered this essential prerequisite.

This return I would have made much earlier, had not the Lord, for almost two whole years, exercised me in an extraordinary manner.

• The author aims to guide readers on how to properly approach and profit from studying the Holy Scriptures.
• Although Scripture is a perfect doctrine, untrained readers often need direction to avoid wandering and find the intended spiritual path.
• Those blessed with greater understanding have a duty to assist the simple by outlining the principal matters of Christian philosophy.
• Understanding these core principles allows a reader to make rapid progress in comprehending God's word and testing new information against a reliable rule.
• The author initially wrote this work in Latin and later translated it into French to serve as a key granting access to the sacred volume.
• Readers are encouraged to imprint this summary on their memory, persevere through difficult passages, and always cross-reference with Scripture.

For he who understands these will be prepared to make more progress in the school of God in one day than any other person in three months...

• The author expresses profound gratitude for the unexpected success and pious reception of the first edition.
• Motivated by this support, he dedicated himself to diligently improving and reorganizing the work across multiple editions.
• Even while facing a severe illness that he believed would be fatal, he pushed himself to complete the book as an offering to the Church.
• He remains indifferent to the unjust criticisms and calumnies of malicious or ignorant detractors.
• His sole motivation throughout his career as a teacher has been to maintain pure doctrine and serve the public good.

last winter, when I thought I was dying of quartan ague, the more the disorder increased, the less I spared myself, in order that I might leave this book behind me

• The author defends himself against malicious rumors circulating in European courts regarding an alleged defection to the papacy.
• False accusations and vile falsehoods from detractors fail to diminish the author's zeal or perseverance in his holy vocation.
• The primary objective of the work is to prepare and train candidates for the sacred office to study scripture with ease.
• The author has digested a comprehensive summary of religion to help readers ascertain the core teachings of Scripture.
• By establishing this foundational system, future scriptural commentaries will be concise and spare pious readers unnecessary trouble.

But the devil, with all his crew, is mistaken if he imagines that, by assailing me with vile falsehoods, he can either cool my zeal, or diminish my exertions.

• The first book of the Institutes explores the knowledge of God as the Creator, Preserver, and Governor of the universe.
• Every individual possesses an innate, self-taught sense of the Creator from the womb.
• Human depravity and wicked design cause people to stifle and corrupt this natural knowledge, preventing true happiness and glorification of God.
• Because natural knowledge and the mirror of creation fail due to human blindness, God provides the written word and Holy Scriptures for salvation.
• The text addresses original creation, free will, and original righteousness before concluding with a thorough discussion of Divine Providence.

Such, however, is man’s depravity, that he stifles and corrupts this knowledge, partly by ignorance, partly by wicked design; and hence does not by means of it either glorify God as he ought, or attain to happiness

• Man possesses no inner means to escape guilt and must seek redemption entirely outside himself through Christ.
• The primary purpose of the Law was never to secure self-worship, but rather to lead humanity directly to Christ.
• The eternal Son of God assumed a true human nature and was appointed to the offices of Prophet, Priest, and King.
• Union with Christ is achieved through the Holy Spirit, which acts as the divine bond between humanity and the Savior.
• Faith must be accompanied by a genuine desire for repentance and is intrinsically linked to justification and prayer.

So long as Christ is separated from us we have no benefit from him.

• Believers are united to Christ through the effectual calling of the Gospel and await the final resurrection for complete regeneration and felicity.
• The Holy Spirit uses means such as the preaching of the Gospel, the Sacraments, and discipline to ingraft humanity into Christ.
• The Holy Catholic Church is formed by gratuitous election, granting perpetual remission of sins and full restoration to eternal life.
• Civil governments serve as temporary hospitable entertainers of the Church while distinct from the spiritual kingdom of Christ.
• Man finds his entire salvation outside of himself in Christ, obtaining both righteousness and sanctification through the Holy Spirit.

And because civil governments are, in this life, the hospitable entertainers (hospitia) of the Church (though civil government is distinct from the spiritual kingdom of Christ), the author shows how great blessings they are...

• The text outlines chapter topics focusing on creation, divine providence, and the original state of man.
• Book Two explores the fall of man, original sin, the loss of free will, and the role of Christ as Mediator under both the Law and the Gospel.
• Book Three details the acquisition of Christ's grace, faith, repentance, and the daily life of a Christian.
• Subsequent chapters within Book Three address justification by faith, Christian liberty, and the doctrine of eternal election and predestination.

Through the Fall and revolt of Adam the whole Human race made accursed and degenerate. Of Original Sin.

• The text outlines theological doctrines regarding election, reprobation, and the last resurrection.
• Book Fourth focuses on the external means and helps used by God to allure and keep believers in fellowship with Christ.
• Chapters are dedicated to defining the true church, its teachers, ministers, and forms of primitive government.
• A sharp contrast is drawn between the true church and the corrupted tyranny and primacy of the Romish Papacy.
• Final chapters detail church discipline, vows, sacraments such as baptism and the Lord's Supper, and civil government.
• The section concludes with the table of contents transitioning into Book First concerning the knowledge of God the Creator.

The Ancient Form of Government utterly corrupted by the tyranny of the Papacy.

• The First Book divides its study into two main themes: the knowledge of God the Creator and the knowledge of man.
• True knowledge of God cannot be reliably found within fallen human nature or the frame of the world alone, but must be sought in Scripture.
• The text addresses the impiety of giving a visible form to God and emphasizes that He is to be solely and wholly worshipped.
• Subsequent chapters explore the creation, the nature of angels and devils, and human powers in relation to divine providence.
• The concluding sections examine the divine government of the world and human actions, clarifying that God remains pure from sin despite employing wicked instruments.

Although naturally implanted in the human mind, it is stifled, partly by ignorance, partly by evil intent.

• Human wisdom consists primarily of two interconnected parts: the knowledge of God and the knowledge of ourselves.
• Surveying our own endowments and daily blessings naturally leads our thoughts toward the divine source.
• Human misery, ruin, and awareness of personal corruption compel individuals to look upward in fear and humility.
• Our realization of ignorance and weakness reminds us that true wisdom, virtue, and goodness dwell solely in God.
• True self-knowledge ultimately requires a prior contemplation of the face of God to strip away innate human pride.

For as there exists in man something like a world of misery, and ever since we were stript of the divine attire our naked shame discloses an immense series of disgraceful properties every man, being stung by the consciousness of his own unhappiness, in this way necessarily obtains at least some knowledge of God.

• Humans naturally fall into hypocrisy, easily mistaking empty semblances for true righteousness.
• Without a higher standard, relative cleanliness or minor improvements can deceptively satisfy the human conscience.
• Earthly self-evaluation flatters human wisdom and virtue, much like daytime vision makes us feel exceptionally sharp-sighted.
• Gazing upon the absolute perfection of God instantly exposes human righteousness as polluted, foolish, and impotent.
• True conviction of human insignificance only occurs when mortals contrast themselves directly with divine majesty, striking holy men with terror and awe.

So long as we do not look beyond the earth, we are quite pleased with our own righteousness, wisdom, and virtue; we address ourselves in the most flattering terms, and seem only less than demigods.

• Humanity appears as mere dust and ashes when brought near to the dreadful glory of the Lord.
• The knowledge of God and the knowledge of ourselves are mutually connected, though God must be considered first.
• True knowledge of God involves understanding what is conducive to His glory and essential for piety.
• A foundational, primitive knowledge of God exists independently of recognizing Him as a Redeemer through Christ.
• A twofold knowledge of God emerges, viewing Him first simply as Creator and subsequently as Redeemer.

And what can man do, man who is but rottenness and a worm, when even the Cherubim themselves must veil their faces in very terror?

• True piety and religion spring from recognizing God as the source of all blessings and divine perfections.
• Without understanding that we owe everything to God's paternal care, humans will never submit to him in voluntary obedience.
• Inquiring into the abstract essence of God is a frigid speculation compared to knowing what kind of being he is.
• The true knowledge of God inspires reverence, fear, and the understanding that his will should be the law of our lives.
• A pious mind seeks the true God as revealed rather than inventing a deity, trusting him as a guardian and protector in times of need.

Those, therefore, who, in considering this question, propose to inquire what the essence of God is, only delude us with frigid speculations,—it being much more our interest to know what kind of being God is, and what things are agreeable to his nature.

• A truly religious person respects God's authority, reverences His majesty, and keeps His judgment-seat constantly in view.
• Genuine devotion is driven not merely by the fear of punishment, but by a sincere love and reverence for God as a father and master.
• True religion consists of a combination of deep confidence in God coupled with a serious, willing reverence and lawful worship.
• While ostentatious ceremonies are common among men, genuine sincerity of heart remains exceedingly rare.
• Every human being possesses a natural instinct and sense of deity implanted by God, leaving no one without excuse.
• The universal presence of religion across all known nations and the persistence of idolatry demonstrate that the impression of a Deity is indelibly stamped on the human heart.

For we know how reluctant man is to lower himself, in order to set other creatures above him.

• Religion was not simply invented by cunning individuals to control the masses.
• The success of religious deception relies on a pre-existing, innate belief in God within human minds.
• Even notorious despisers and deniers of God secretly experience profound dread and conscience-stricken terror.
• Attempts by the wicked to escape or erase the divine presence ultimately fail, as the conviction always returns.
• A sense of deity is indelibly engraved on every human heart and fixed within our very bones.

The most audacious despiser of God is most easily disturbed, trembling at the sound of a falling leaf.

• The world constantly attempts to suppress and corrupt all knowledge of God.
• Despite stubborn efforts to erase it, the innate sense of Deity frequently breaks through.
• Human beings are born with an intrinsic awareness of God rather than learning it at school.
• Failing to direct one's life toward knowing God means failing to fulfill the very purpose of existence.
• Philosophers like Plato recognized that the soul's chief good is found in its resemblance to God.
• Without religion, human life becomes wretched, and the worship of God is the sole path to immortality.

When the stupid hardness of heart, which the wicked eagerly court as a means of despising God, becomes enfeebled, the sense of Deity, which of all things they wished most to be extinguished, is still in vigour, and now and then breaks forth.

• Genuine godliness is exceedingly rare, as true knowledge of God is lost to superstition and wicked revolt.
• Human blindness toward the divine is typically paired with vain pride and stubbornness.
• Instead of seeking God properly, people measure Him by their own carnal stupidity and indulge in vain speculation.
• Worship based on human imagination and mental figments holds no value in God's sight.
• Paul describes this intellectual pride as a process where people, thinking themselves wise, actually became fools.
• This pervasive human folly is inexcusable, stemming from licentious desire and overweening confidence in forbidden knowledge.

Mingled vanity and pride appear in this, that when miserable men do seek after God, instead of ascending higher than themselves as they ought to do, they measure him by their own carnal stupidity, and, neglecting solid inquiry, fly off to indulge their curiosity in vain speculation.

• Wicked individuals intentionally stupefy themselves and banish the remembrance of God to live in sin without restraint.
• By stripping God of His justice, providence, and active government of the world, such people virtually deny His true existence.
• God punishes this willful blindness by making the hearts of the wicked dull and heavy, leading to a state of brutish oblivion.
• Superstitious people construct a fictitious deity to their own liking, ignoring God's actual commands and standards.
• True religion requires conformity to God's revealed will, rendering any self-fashioned worship or ignorance of the true God invalid.

Those, therefore, who set up a fictitious worship, merely worship and adore their own delirious fancies; indeed, they would never dare so to trifle with God, had they not previously fashioned him after their own childish conceits.

• Wicked individuals experience a forced and servile fear of divine judgment, which they ultimately hate.
• Sinners wish for the destruction of God's tribunal because his justice stands in direct opposition to their transgressions.
• Hypocrites attempt to appease God with superficial religious observances and paltry sacrifices while continuing to indulge in vice.
• This false shadow of religion and confused knowledge of God bears no resemblance to the true piety found in believers.
• Despite their efforts to suppress it, an innate conviction of the Deity remains naturally engraven on every human heart.

When at their ease, they can jest about God, and talk pertly and loquaciously in disparagement of his power; but should despair, from any cause, overtake them, it will stimulate them to seek him...

• Divides the works of God into two primary classes for elucidating divine knowledge.
• The first class of works, including nature and human anatomy, reveals God's omnipotence and eternity.
• The second class comprises extraordinary works demonstrating justice, mercy, and providence.
• Human stupidity and ingratitude lead people to attribute divine order to mere fortune.
• This blindness results in polytheism and corrupted religions despite the clear glories of creation.

The latter part of the chapter shows, that, in consequence of the extreme stupidity of men, those manifestations of God, however perspicuous, lead to no useful result.

• God implanted a seed of religion in human minds and clearly manifested His perfections throughout the universe.
• Although God's essence is incomprehensible, His glory is vividly engraven upon every part of creation.
• The Psalmist and Apostle Paul both affirm that creation acts as a visible garment and mirror of the invisible Creator.
• Every portion of the world, no matter how minute, exhibits sparks of beauty that overwhelm observers with divine glory.
• Both the heavens and earth provide undeniable proofs of divine wisdom accessible to everyone, from scholars to illiterate peasants.

His essence, indeed, is incomprehensible, utterly transcending all human thought; but on each of his works his glory is engraven in characters so bright, so distinct, and so illustrious, that none, however dull and illiterate, can plead ignorance as their excuse.

• Simple observation of the heavens and human body reveals undeniable proofs of divine wisdom without requiring advanced scientific skill.
• Investigating celestial mechanics or human anatomy simply offers a loftier and more detailed view of the Creator's glory.
• Philosophers correctly termed man a microcosm, containing within himself a rare specimen of divine power, wisdom, and goodness.
• Scripture points to humanity and even infants as living mirrors that eloquently proclaim the glory of God.
• Recognizing these abundant internal and external proofs leaves humanity without excuse for failing to seek and serve God.

Thus he declares not only that the human race are a bright mirror of the Creator’s works, but that infants hanging on their mothers’ breasts have tongues eloquent enough to proclaim his glory without the aid of other orators.

• Humanity often responds to the divine treasures and operations within them with pride rather than praise.
• Many individuals use the gifts and seed of Deity within human nature as a pretext for suppressing the name of God.
• Skeptics substitute nature as the architect of the universe to deny the agency of God in human faculties.
• The soul's capacity for lofty investigations, such as astronomy and abstract thought, proves its functions are not confined to the body.
• Attempts to chain the soul to the body or attribute its wondrous capabilities to mere physical organization rob God of His rights.

Can any thing be more detestable than this madness in man, who, finding God a hundred times both in his body and his soul, makes his excellence in this respect a pretext for denying that there is a God?

• Human mental activity during sleep and the capacity for deep thought reveal a stamp of immortality.
• The human ability to distinguish justice implies the existence of a supreme judge in heaven.
• Attributing divine qualities to a universal world-soul rather than a personal Creator is profane and diminishes God.
• Poetic descriptions by Virgil and others risk treating the created world as its own creator.
• Confusing the Creator with inferior operations of nature undermines true piety and reverence.
• Humans should contemplate their own nature to recognize and worship the one true God who governs all.

The plain object is to form an unsubstantial deity, and thereby banish the true God whom we ought to fear and worship.

• Humanity tends to neglect the divine benefactor while receiving unmerited blessings.
• The boundless universe is sustained by divine energy, visible in thunder, lightning, storms, and sudden calms.
• Scriptural descriptions of nature, such as those in Job and Isaiah, illustrate these magnificent displays of power.
• Observing the created firmament and earth is a universal method for investigating divine perfections.
• Recognizing God's power naturally leads to understanding His eternity and His infinite goodness.

at one time making heaven reverberate with thunder, sending forth the scorching lightning, and setting the whole atmosphere in a blaze; at another, causing the raging tempests to blow, and forthwith, in one moment, when it so pleases him, making a perfect calm;

• God's providence clearly demonstrates His favor toward the righteous and severity toward the wicked through daily arrangements.
• Temporary impunity for the guilty or adversity for the innocent does not negate the uniform justice of divine procedures.
• Unpunished crimes in the present merely indicate that a future judgment is reserved for final retribution.
• God frequently visits miserable sinners with unwearied kindness to subdue their depravity and woo them back.
• The Psalmist uses various examples of unexpected rescue to prove that seemingly fortuitous events are actually proofs of divine providence.

It is indeed true, that the brightest manifestation of divine glory finds not one genuine spectator among a hundred.

• Divine power is frequently displayed by overturning the mighty and elevating the oppressed and weak.
• Proofs of the Divine Majesty are readily accessible everywhere and require no elaborate argumentation.
• True knowledge of God must be rooted in the heart rather than limited to empty mental speculation.
• God is best known through experiencing His perfections and benefits rather than prying into His essence.
• Contemplating God through His works draws Him closer and makes His presence familiar to humanity.

On the other hand, the poor are raised up out of the dust, and the needy lifted out of the dung hill, the oppressed and afflicted are rescued in extremity, the despairing animated with hope, the unarmed defeat the armed, the few the many, the weak the strong.

• Present manifestations of divine mercy and severity are incomplete and serve as preludes to a future state.
• The temporary prosperity of the wicked and suffering of the righteous imply a future life of ultimate reward and punishment.
• Chastisements experienced by the righteous suggest that the unrighteous will not ultimately escape divine anger.
• Augustine argues that some sins are punished now to prove providence, while others are reserved for the final judgment to ensure a future reckoning.
• God's perfections are vividly displayed to invite humanity to acquire the knowledge of God and true felicity.
• The wonders of divine wisdom in human governance are innumerable, requiring deep personal reflection to fully appreciate.

Conversely, when we see the righteous brought into affliction by the ungodly, assailed with injuries, overwhelmed with calumnies, and lacerated by insult and contumely, while, on the contrary, the wicked flourish, prosper, acquire ease and honour, and all these with impunity, we ought forthwith to infer, that there will be a future life in which iniquity shall receive its punishment, and righteousness its reward.

• Humanity remains perpetually dull and stupid regarding the bright manifestations of the divine kingdom.
• People typically look upon the magnificent fabric of the universe without ever thinking of the Creator.
• Supernatural events are frequently attributed to the blind evolutions of chance rather than God's providence.
• Even when forced to contemplate the Deity, humans immediately corrupt heavenly truth with carnal dreams and depraved fictions.
• Even the noblest and most acute philosophers, including Plato, substitute monstrous fictions for the true God.
• Every individual mind acts as a labyrinth of ignorance, presumption, and wantonness, spawning countless idols and phantoms.

Every individual mind being a kind of labyrinth, it is not wonderful, not only that each nation has adopted a variety of fictions, but that almost every man has had his own god.

• Human beings possess an inherent tendency to devise peculiar forms of divinity according to their own subjective views.
• Even philosophers and intellectuals, despite their genius and learning, produce shameful disagreements and vain shows when attempting to understand God.
• The endless confusion and contradictory doctrines among the wise emboldened groups like the Epicureans to deny God altogether.
• Human ignorance regarding divine matters does not diminish the reality of God, but rather exposes the dullness and blindness of the human mind.
• Simonides aptly demonstrated that natural human inquiry without divine guidance only makes the subject of God appear darker and more uncertain.

The higher any one was endued with genius, and the more he was polished by science and art, the more specious was the colouring which he gave to his opinions.

• Those who cling to their own views and substitute demons for God are considered apostates by the Holy Spirit.
• Paul declared that the Ephesians and mankind generally were without true knowledge of God until enlightened by the Gospel.
• Even the Samaritans, despite approaching true piety, were deluded by vain errors because they worshipped without divine instruction.
• Humanly devised opinions and customs regarding heavenly mysteries inevitably lead to error and random worship.
• The consent of antiquity and city customs are too fragile for true piety, necessitating God to bear witness from heaven.

Any opinion which man can form in heavenly mysteries, though it may not beget a long train of errors, is still the parent of error.

• Natural creation provides a witness to God, but human dullness and corruption prevent mankind from perceiving it fully.
• Paul indicates that creation's manifestation of God only serves to render us inexcusable rather than impart true saving knowledge.
• Despite the undeniable testimonies of the created world, humans inevitably turn away from the true God to follow deadly errors and idols of their own making.
• Although humans are inexcusable for their ignorance due to internal sloth and ingratitude, creation alone remains an insufficient guide.
• God ultimately provides His elect with a necessary, superior help to know Him through the Holy Scriptures, oracles, and the prophets.

No sooner do we, from a survey of the world, obtain some slight knowledge of Deity, than we pass by the true God, and set up in his stead the dream and phantom of our own brain.

• Nature provides a mirror of God's Deity in his works, leaving human ingratitude without excuse.
• Despite natural revelation, human minds wander without a certain resting-place.
• God provided the light of His Word and chose the Jews as a peculiar people to prevent them from going astray.
• Scripture acts like glasses for defective sight, dissipating darkness and revealing the true God clearly.
• God employs His Word as a surer and more direct means of discovering Himself beyond common proofs.

For as the aged, or those whose sight is defective, when any books however fair, is set before them, though they perceive that there is something written are scarcely able to make out two consecutive words, but, when aided by glasses, begin to read distinctly, so Scripture, gathering together the impressions of Deity, which, till then, lay confused in our minds, dissipates the darkness, and shows us the true God clearly.

• Patriarchs like Abraham attained a familiar knowledge that distinguished them from unbelievers.
• True knowledge of God begins with recognizing Him as Creator and Ruler of the world.
• The deeper knowledge of God as Redeemer through a Mediator is postponed for later consideration.
• Scripture must be applied to find the sure marks distinguishing the true God from fictitious idols.
• God ensured the certainty of His revelations by engraving them on hearts and later preserving them in public records and the law.

I am only showing that it is necessary to apply to Scripture, in order to learn the sure marks which distinguish God, as the Creator of the world, from the whole herd of fictitious gods.

• Man's special duty is to listen to the Word of God as a guide to properly understanding His creation.
• Without heavenly teaching, the human mind inevitably lapses into forgetfulness, error, and fictitious religions.
• God provided Scripture as a necessary depository of doctrine to secure true knowledge from human corruption and neglect.
• Attempting to know God without the guidance of the Word is like running swiftly in a labyrinth without a thread.
• True religion and the eradication of error depend entirely upon the implantation of the true knowledge of God through doctrine.

We should consider that the brightness of the Divine countenance, which even an apostle declares to be inaccessible, is a kind of labyrinth,—a labyrinth to us inextricable, if the Word do not serve us as a thread to guide our path; and that it is better to limp in the way, than run with the greatest swiftness out of it.

• The heavens and natural creation proclaim the majesty and works of God, yet this natural revelation proves insufficient for humanity on its own.
• Psalms illustrate that natural wonders like thunder and raging seas fail to reach unbelievers, who remain deaf to God's voice in creation.
• Without the sacred word to guide and uphold human weakness, mankind inevitably labors under vanity and error.
• The authority of Scripture derives directly from the Spirit of God rather than human institutions or the judgment of the church.
• Subordinating scripture's credibility to the will of man insults the Holy Spirit, establishes tyranny, and subverts the conscience.
• The true authority of Scripture is ultimately sealed upon the hearts of believers by the inner testimony of the Holy Spirit.

unbelievers being deaf to all God’s words when they echo in the air.

• Scripture must be accepted with absolute reverence as the direct Word of God, requiring no daily heavenly confirmation.
• A widespread and pernicious error falsely claims that the authority of Scripture depends entirely on the suffrage of the Church.
• Attributing the permanence of divine truth to human will insults the Holy Spirit and introduces unbridled tyranny.
• Miserable consciences seeking assurance of eternal life find no solid support if divine promises rest merely on human judgment.
• Treating the authority of faith as precarious and dependent on the goodwill of men exposes it to the jeers of the wicked.

Thus profane men, seeking, under the pretext of the Church, to introduce unbridled tyranny, care not in what absurdities they entangle themselves and others, provided they extort from the simple this one acknowledgement—viz. that there is nothing which the Church cannot do.

• The Church is founded upon the doctrine of apostles and prophets, which existed prior to the Church itself.
• The certainty of Scripture does not depend on the judgment or subsequent approval of the Church.
• Scripture bears internal evidence of its own truth, just as light is naturally distinguished from darkness.
• Augustine's famous quote regarding the Church's authority is often misinterpreted and only applies to unbelievers.
• For strangers to the faith, the Church's authority serves as an initial introduction rather than the ultimate foundation of certainty.

Scripture bears upon the face of it as clear evidence of its truth, as white and black do of their colour, sweet and bitter of their taste.

• Augustine did not intend for religious faith to depend entirely on the decisions or authority of the Church.
• Reverence for the Church merely serves as a preparatory step to make unenlightened individuals teachable.
• The true certainty of the godly rests upon a different foundation rather than human definitions and devices.
• Augustine strategically used the universal consent of the Church when arguing against the Manichees.
• The authority of Scripture itself does not derive from human tradition or institutional decree.
• Initial belief acts only as an introduction to inquiry, leading believers to strive for substantial truth.

It is plain that Augustine would have the certainty of the godly to rest on a very different foundation.

• The ultimate proof of Scripture's authenticity comes from the character and sacred name of God rather than human arguments.
• True certainty of the Bible's truth must be derived from the secret testimony of the Holy Spirit rather than human conjectures.
• While rational arguments and evidence can powerfully defend Scripture against critics, they cannot alone implant true faith.
• The Holy Spirit acts as an inward seal and witness, penetrating human hearts to convince them of divine inspiration.
• Without the enlightening work of the Spirit, individuals remain tossed to and fro in a sea of doubts regarding religion.

Profane men think that religion rests only on opinion, and, therefore, that they may not believe foolishly, or on slight grounds, desire and insist to have it proved by reason that Moses and the prophets were divinely inspired.

• Scripture carries its own inherent evidence and derives its full conviction from the testimony of the Holy Spirit rather than human proofs.
• Believers are enlightened to feel perfectly assured that the Scriptures came directly from God, transcending human judgment and reason.
• This deep conviction is accompanied by a living, divine energy that animates believers to willingly and effectually obey the Word.
• True faith is produced exclusively by divine revelation and sealed upon the hearts of believers by the Spirit of God.
• The treasure of divine intelligence is reserved exclusively for the elect, explaining why spiritual truths remain incredible to the generality of mankind.

We ask not for proofs or probabilities on which to rest our Judgment, but we subject our intellect and Judgment to it as too transcendent for us to estimate.

• The chapter outlines proofs for the credibility of Scripture as far as natural reason admits.
• General proofs include the arrangement, dignity, truth, simplicity, efficacy, and majesty of the sacred volume.
• Special proofs from the Old Testament cover the antiquity of the books of Moses, miracles, prophecies, and objections refutations.
• New Testament proofs highlight the harmony of the Evangelists, the majesty of apostolic writings, and the conversion of Paul.
• Ecclesiastical history provides evidence through the perpetual consent of the Church, the power of truth, and the constancy of martyrs.

In vain were the authority of Scripture fortified by argument, or supported by the

• Human judgments and ecclesiastical approvals are ultimately insufficient for establishing the true authority of Scripture without a higher, divine assurance.
• When Scripture is received with reverence, its internal qualities—such as the admirable arrangement of divine wisdom—serve to deeply confirm our belief.
• The unpolished and simple style of the heavenly mysteries prevents skeptics from dismissing divine power as mere human rhetoric.
• Unlike classical orators and philosophers whose writings charm the intellect, Scripture pierces the heart and works its way into the very marrow.
• The unique, transformative power of the Sacred Volume demonstrates an inherent divine truth that far surpasses all human gifts.

turn from them to the reading of the Sacred Volume, and whether you will or not, it will so affect you, so pierce your heart, so work its way into your very marrow, that, in comparison of the impression so produced, that of orators and philosophers will almost disappear

• The Holy Scriptures contain sublime sentiments and divine qualities that far surpass human intellectual reach.
• The antiquity of Scripture heavily supports its credibility, predating all other historical religious monuments.
• Moses did not introduce a novel deity, but rather reminded the Israelites of the ancestral covenant with Abraham.
• The widespread notoriety of the Israelites' deliverance from bondage established a shared historical foundation.
• Ancient writers and external evidence confirm that the law's doctrine was recognized across various nations from remote ages.

Let each of the prophets be examined, and not one will be found who does not rise far higher than human reach.

• Moses exposed the infamous behavior of his own ancestors, such as Levi and Aaron, rather than hiding their disgrace.
• He voluntarily proclaimed that the founder of his family was declared detestable by a Divine oracle, risking his own reputation.
• Moses bestowed the office of High Priest upon others instead of his own sons, showing a lack of personal ambition.
• The numerous striking miracles described by Moses serve as undeniable sanctions of the law and his divine authority.
• These miracles were published before the actual eye-witnesses of the people, making deception impossible.
• The miracles were combined with disagreeable circumstances and reproaches, yet the people assented because they experienced them firsthand.

“Simon and Levi,” says he, “are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly mine honour be not thou united,”

• Moses deflected personal glory to prove his divine mandate.
• Miracles like daily manna and divine punishments defy human explanation.
• Prophetic foresight regarding the tribe of Judah validates divine inspiration.
• The unexpected rise of David from a herdsman family fulfills prophecy.
• Long-term predictions about the Gentiles confirm the prophetic spirit.

What kind of incantation could cause manna to rain from heaven every day, and in sufficient quantity to maintain a people, while any one, who gathered more than the appointed measure, saw his incredulity divinely punished by its turning to worms?

• Prophets like Isaiah accurately predicted events, such as the rise of Cyrus, long before they occurred.
• Jeremiah precisely specified a seventy-year duration for the captivity of the people.
• The agreement between Jeremiah and Ezekiel, despite living far apart, demonstrates a shared divine source.
• Daniel's detailed prophecies spanning six hundred years further establish the credibility of Scripture.
• Skeptics who question the existence of Moses or the authenticity of the books display foolishness that would not be tolerated regarding classical philosophers.
• The law of Moses has been remarkably preserved across generations through divine providence.

Were any one to question whether there ever was a Plato, or an Aristotle, or a Cicero, would not the rod or the whip be deemed the fit chastisement of such folly?

• The writings of Moses were continuously preserved and transmitted through unbroken generations.
• Neglect by priests and people led to a temporary lapse in public reading, not a loss of the texts.
• Antiochus ordered scripture to be burned, but copies immediately reappeared after the persecution ended.
• Even hostile critics acknowledged Moses as the founder of the religion without alleging forgery.
• God miraculously preserved the sacred monuments from destruction amid severe national disasters.

Who does not recognise it as a signal and miraculous work of God, that those sacred monuments which the ungodly persuaded themselves had utterly perished, immediately returned to resume their former rights, and, indeed, in greater honour?

• The Jews preserved the Law and the Prophets despite being enemies of Christ, acting as librarians for the Christian Church.
• The humble style of the first three evangelists conceals heavenly mysteries beyond human capacity.
• John's gospel speaks with such majesty that it pierces the conscience and silces human petulance.
• The apostles were uneducated fishermen yet spoke magnificently of heavenly mysteries without human schooling.
• Paul's sudden and radical conversion from a bloody foe to a preacher demonstrates a compelling heavenly power.
• The historical survival of Scripture across ages despite immense opposition further proves its divine support.

John, again, fulminating in majesty, strikes down more powerfully than any thunderbolt the petulance of those who refuse to submit to the obedience of faith.

• The survival and global spread of Scripture despite fierce opposition demonstrates its divine origin rather than human assistance.
• The doctrine is further confirmed by the countless saints who boldly embraced death in its defense with sober, godly zeal.
• Human testimonies serve as helpful secondary supports, but true certainty of Scripture ultimately relies on the inward persuasion of the Holy Spirit.
• Attempting to prove the Word of God to infidels through reason alone is futile, as it can only be truly known through faith and prior piety.
• Fanatics and libertines subvert piety by substituting their own perceived spiritual revelations for the written Word.

There are other reasons, neither few nor feeble, by which the dignity and majesty of the Scriptures may be not only proved to the pious, but also completely vindicated against the cavils of slanderers.

• Certain giddy individuals reject the reading of Scriptures under the guise of superior spiritual inspiration.
• Early apostles and believers held deep reverence for the word of God rather than despising it.
• Prophets and apostles like Paul consistently relied on and profited from scriptural doctrine.
• The Spirit promised by Christ does not invent new revelations, but seals the existing truth of the gospel.
• Separating the Spirit from the written Word of God is considered a fearful sacrilege.

What an infatuation of the devil, therefore, to fancy that Scripture, which conducts the sons of God to the final goal, is of transient and temporary use?

• Attentive study of Scripture is essential for receiving any true benefit from the Spirit of God.
• Any spirit that bypasses the wisdom of God's Word must be suspected of vanity and falsehood.
• Critics wrongly argue that testing the Spirit against Scripture subjects him to a foreign standard and brings him into bondage.
• The Holy Spirit remains entirely consistent with himself, and Scripture serves as the infallible mark and image by which he is recognized.
• To refuse this biblical test and seek the Spirit from oneself is a dangerous path driven by deception and destruction.

It ought to be enough for us when once we hear his voice; but lest Satan should insinuate himself under his name, he wishes us to recognise him by the image which he has stamped on the Scriptures.

• The law without Christ acts as a dead letter that kills its readers rather than touching the heart.
• The Holy Spirit and the written word of God are inseparably linked and mutually confirm one another.
• God employs the same Spirit who administered the word to complete His work through its confirmation.
• True spiritual illumination is found through reverence for Scripture rather than abandoning it for empty speculation.
• The children of God recognize the word as the essential instrument by which the Spirit's illumination is dispensed.

How is this answered by those swelling enthusiasts, in whose idea the only true illumination consists, in carelessly laying aside, and bidding adieu to the Word of God, while, with no less confidence than folly, they fasten upon any dreaming notion which may have casually sprung up in their minds?

• Scripture provides a clearer explanation of the divine character that is obscurely exhibited in the frame of the world.
• The text serves as a guide for readers to understand what knowledge of God to search for within Scripture.
• The present discussion focuses on God as Creator and Governor of the world, stopping short of Christ the Mediator.
• Scripture portrays God's paternal kindness alongside examples of His severity as a just punisher of the wicked.
• Passages like Exodus 34 vividly describe God's attributes in relation to humanity rather than as empty speculation.

The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty.

• The names and epithets used by prophets declare the divine power, energy, and perfections of Jehovah.
• Divine perfections are observable both in creation and through the guidance of personal experience and scripture.
• Jeremiah identifies loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness as the three most essential divine attributes for humanity to know.
• These core attributes implicitly encompass God's truth, power, goodness, and holiness.
• The ultimate purpose of knowing God through scripture and creation is to worship Him with integrity and depend on His goodness.
• Scripture directs humanity to the true God by explicitly rejecting the adulterated and multiple deities of the heathen.

“Let him that glorieth,” says he, “glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise loving-kindness, Judgment, and righteousness, in the earth,” (Jer. 9:24).

• The innate sense of God's unity inscribed on human hearts only serves to render mankind inexcusable.
• Philosophers and the wisest minds have corrupted divine truth, inevitably wandering into the worship of unknown gods and lying fictions.
• The scriptures strictly condemn attributing any visible form to God or representing divine mysteries through bodily shapes.
• Arguments defending images as the books of the unlearned are thoroughly refuted by ancient theologians and scripture.
• The creation and adoration of idols represent a severe defection from the true God and true piety.

However subtle the evasions devised by philosophers, they cannot do away with the charge of rebellion, in that all of them have corrupted the truth of God.

• Scripture consistently opposes the true God to idols to expose the folly of human speculation.
• Assigning any visible form to God corrupts His glory with an impious lie.
• God strictly prohibits the creation of graven images or likenesses of anything in heaven, earth, or water.
• Different nations devised various forms of idolatry, from worshipping celestial bodies to animals and human shapes.
• God rejects all symbols, shapes, and pictures without exception, viewing any longing for visible forms as rebellion.

We see how plainly God declares against all figures, to make us aware that all longing after such visible shapes is rebellion against him.

• Representing God through material statues or paintings is argued to be an insult to His divine majesty.
• Historical figures like Paul and Seneca both condemned the practice of reducing the divine to base materials or monstrous shapes.
• Defenders of religious images incorrectly claim that ancient prohibitions were meant only for the Jews rather than all humanity.
• Divine manifestations like clouds, smoke, and flame served as symbols that actually restrained human minds from trying to penetrate God's essence.
• Temporary symbols, such as the Holy Spirit appearing as a fleeting dove, taught the faithful to recognize God's invisibility.
• Authorized biblical signs like the mercy-seat were intentionally designed to conceal God rather than provide an excuse for physical idols.

He says “The sacred immortal, and invisible gods they exhibit in the meanest and most ignoble materials, and dress them in the clothing of men and beasts; some confound the sexes, and form a compound out of different bodies, giving the name of deities to objects, which, if they were met alive, would be deemed monsters.”

• Images are inherently unfit to represent the divine mysteries, as demonstrated by the veiled faces and wings of the Cherubim and Seraphim.
• The Old Testament tutelage of physical rudiments has passed away, making it absurd to use those ancient symbols as examples for the modern era.
• Human nature is intensely prone to idolatry, rushing toward visible idols with the force of gushing water.
• Idols crafted from silver, gold, wood, or stone are merely dull human fictions, born entirely from the will of mortal men.
• It is the height of infatuation for a person to use a piece of wood to warm themselves and bake bread, and then fashion a god from the leftover scraps.

I was once the trunk of a fig-tree, a useless log, when the tradesman, uncertain whether he should make me a stool, &c., chose rather that I should be a god.

• All modes of worship and religious images devised by humans are condemned as detestable and insulting to divine majesty.
• The argument that images serve as 'books for the unlearned' is firmly rejected by biblical prophetic authority.
• Prophets consistently contrast visible shapes with the true God, declaring that any knowledge gained from images is futile and false.
• Human attempts to give a visible shape to God are treated as vanity and lies that lead people into spiritual madness.
• Making or trusting in any likeness of Deity—whether sculptured or painted—brings severe spiritual imprecations.

For when Jeremiah declares that 'the stock is a doctrine of vanities,' and Habakkuk, 'that the molten image' is 'a teacher of lies,' the general doctrine to be inferred certainly is, that every thing respecting God which is learned from images is futile and false.

• Historical authorities like Augustine and the Libertine Council explicitly condemned the use and worship of religious images.
• Varro asserted that the introduction of divine images eliminated reverential fear and promoted theological error.
• Augustine argued that while images did not start human error regarding God, they fueled and worsened it.
• Foolish and absurd visual representations diminish and impair the genuine fear and majesty of God.
• The traditional defense of images as 'books of the unlearned' is thoroughly refuted by Scripture and reality.
• Many church statues and pictures exhibit extreme luxury, obscenity, and immodesty rather than true holiness.

Those who first introduced images of the gods both took away fear and brought in error.

• Papist decorations and idols in sacred spaces run contrary to proper Christian instruction.
• God commands that people be taught through the preaching of the Word and the administration of sacraments rather than visual distractions.
• The reliance on images as books for the unlearned stems directly from leaders who have neglected their duty of teaching and become dumb.
• True preaching of the gospel portrays Christ crucified far more effectively than crosses made of wood, stone, silver, or gold.
• Idolatry predates the superstitious honoring of the dead, proving that the human mind is a perpetual forge of idols.

Hence we may infer, that the human mind is, so to speak, a perpetual forge of idols.

• Humanity naturally tends to invent gods suited to its own limited capacity, replacing the true deity with vanity and empty phantoms.
• People attempt to embody their inward conceptions of false gods outwardly by creating physical idols.
• The Israelites demanded a visible god because they lacked confidence in the unseen divine presence governing them.
• Once an image is formed, men instinctively move to adoration, becoming engrossed and brutish as they fix the divine power to the physical object.
• Any veneration or bowing before an image constitutes idolatry, regardless of whether the idol itself or God through the idol is being worshipped.

At length their eyes and minds becoming wholly engrossed by them, they began to grow more and more brutish, gazing and wondering as if some divinity were actually before them.

• Authors and apologists of idolatry frequently argue that visible images are merely representations and not worshipped as actual gods.
• Historical examples, such as the Israelites with the golden calf and various Gentile traditions, demonstrate that people always claimed to recognize a supreme deity behind the physical form.
• Augustine noted that both common people and refined religionists used excuses claiming they worshipped the invisible deity or a spiritual symbol rather than the wood and stone.
• Despite these sophisticated excuses, human nature continually degrades into seeking a tangible, visible impression of God through these physical objects.
• This ancient delusion persists in modern practices, evidenced by people praying directly toward images, making pilgrimages to specific statues, and treating different representations with varying degrees of reverence.

When once this preposterous representation of God was adopted, there was no limit until, deluded every now and then by new impostures, they came to think that God exerted his power in images.

• The author compares contemporary practices of honoring idols with ancient errors, noting that people often show more devotion to physical objects than to God.
• Critics of idolatry attempt to evade charges by using subtle Greek distinctions, claiming to only 'serve' (dulia) rather than 'worship' (latria) images.
• This linguistic defense is exposed as a childish contradiction, since the Greek terms fundamentally overlap and a mere change in terminology cannot alter the nature of the act.
• Attempting to excuse idolatry through renaming is compared to a criminal trying to escape conviction by mislabeling their crime.
• The author clarifies that while sculpture and painting are lawful gifts of God for His glory, giving a visible shape to God remains a dangerous perversion.

For as a murderer or an adulterer will not escape conviction by giving some adventitious name to his crime, so it is absurd for them to expect that the subtle device of a name will exculpate them.

• Corporeal representations of God are forbidden because they dishonor His divine majesty and tarnish His glory.
• Historical representations of events may offer some instruction or admonition, but pictorial depictions of bodily shapes are merely fitted for amusement.
• Early Christian churches functioned successfully without visible images for five hundred years during a period of purer doctrine.
• The eventual introduction of images into churches coincided with the degeneration and decline of ministerial purity.
• Images have the dangerous psychological effect of affecting weak minds and leading them to form false conceptions of the divine.

When images are thus placed aloft in seats of honour, to be beheld by those who are praying or sacrificing, though they have neither sense nor life, yet from appearing as if they had both, they affect weak minds just as if they lived and breathed.

• Images in churches inevitably lead to idolatry and superstitious worship due to human folly.
• The author argues that churches should only contain living symbols consecrated by God, such as the sacraments.
• Human-made images are unnecessary and detract from the true focus required in sacred spaces.
• The Council of Nice, under Empress Irene, decreed that images should be both used and worshipped.
• Defenders of images used weak and misapplied scriptural arguments during that Council to justify their position.

the moment images appear in churches, idolatry has as it were raised its banner; banner; banner; because the folly of manhood cannot moderate itself, but forthwith falls away to superstitious worship.

• Defenders of religious images use ingenious and absurd interpretations of scripture to justify their practices.
• Bishops and councils cite fabricated scriptures and irrelevant historical examples to prove the validity of image worship.
• Proponents of images rely on dubious dreams and claims, bringing their own synod into profound discredit.
• Extreme arguments escalate to blaming regional calamities on the neglect of images and equating their honor with the Trinity.
• One official even declared it preferable to fill a city with brothels rather than ban image worship.
• The council ultimately equates the reverence of images with the worship of the living God, erasing theological distinctions.

In short, their absurdities are so extreme that it is painful even to quote them.

• Scripture asserts the unity of God to demand that all religious honor and worship be directed to Him alone.
• True piety confines itself within due bounds to avoid the vagrant license and superfluous vanities of superstition.
• Papists attempt to oppose pure doctrine through distinctions that are ultimately subversive of true biblical worship.
• God vindicates His exclusive right by proclaiming Himself a jealous God who will not be confounded with false deities.
• Religious worship is universally vitiated whenever false opinions and inconsiderate zeal are introduced into it.

But God, in vindicating his own right, first proclaims that he is a jealous God, and will be a stern avenger if he is confounded with any false god...

• God establishes the Law as a bridle to maintain human obedience and prevent spurious forms of worship.
• True divinity requires that all honors peculiar to God alone must remain uncompromised.
• Superstitious practices often attempt to preserve the supreme God while distributing his offices among minor deities and saints.
• The historical invention of distinctions like dulia and latria serves to justify dividing divine honors.
• Word distinctions fail because assigning the higher duty of service rather than mere reverence to saints inverts proper devotion.

In revolting to strange gods, it avoids the appearance of abandoning the Supreme God, or reducing him to the same rank with others.

• Paul condemns pagan superstition and service to false gods just as strictly as supreme worship.
• Christ rejects Satan's proposal for mere obeisance, emphasizing that religious worship belongs to God alone.
• Instances involving John and Cornelius demonstrate that even civil obeisance connected with religion risks profaning divine glory.
• Men easily fail to distinguish between the worship of God and creatures, promiscuously transferring divine honors.
• Zechariah highlights that the restored church will have one God and one name to avoid sharing glory with idols.
• Any offices of piety bestowed outside of God constitute sacrilege, as humans continually descend into sharing divine honors.

Therefore, if we would have one God, let us remember that we can never appropriate the minutest portion of his glory without retaining what is his due.

• The chapter outlines the orthodox doctrine of the Holy Trinity, dividing the discussion into the divine essence and the refutation of modern heresies.
• Scripture portrays the essence of God as immense and spiritual, rejecting idolatry and anthropomorphic misconceptions.
• The orthodox position maintains that three distinct persons exist within the single divine essence without dividing it.
• Through numerous scriptural proofs, the eternal deity of the Son and His identity as Jehovah and Creator are firmly established.
• The divinity of the Holy Spirit is similarly supported by His role as the Creator and Preserver of the world.

Scripture, in teaching that the essence of God is immense and spiritual, refutes not only idolaters and the foolish wisdom of the world, but also the Manichees and Anthropomorphites.

• The text outlines the divine attributes and offices of the Holy Spirit, affirming His divinity and unity within the Trinity.
• Heretical views such as those of the Arians, Macedonians, and modern Anti-Trinitarians like Servetus are systematically refuted.
• Ancient Christian writers and scriptural passages are invoked to defend the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity against various objections.
• God's immensity and spirituality dispel gross human imaginations and philosophical subtleties regarding His divine nature.
• Scriptural descriptions of God using bodily parts are explained as a necessary accommodation to human feebleness, much like a nurse lisping to a child.

For who is so devoid of intellect as not to understand that God, in so speaking, lisps with us as nurses are wont to do with little children?

• God's nature is proclaimed as a unity existing distinctly in three persons.
• Scripture assigns to the Father a subsistence that differs from the Son.
• The simple and undivided essence of God is not partitioned by these distinctions.
• Scriptural evidence supports the conclusion of three hypostases or persons in God.
• Despite linguistic debates over terms like Person, both Greek and Latin churches agree in substance.

For the essence of God being simple and undivided, and contained in himself entire, in full perfection, without partition or diminution, it is improper, nay, ridiculous, to call it his express image.

• Rejection of idle, superstitious, or divisive religious language.
• The necessity of speaking and thinking of God with utmost reverence.
• Scripture serves as the unerring standard for all thoughts and words.
• The use of clearer terms to explain dark and intricate scriptural passages is permissible if subordinate to Scripture.
• Terms like Trinity and Person became necessary to defend truth against quibbling calumniators.

When it has been proved that the Church was impelled, by the strongest necessity, to use the words Trinity and Person, will not he who still inveighs against novelty of terms be deservedly suspected of taking offence at the light of truth, and of having no other ground for his invective, than that the truth is made plain and transparent?

• Early Christians were forced to use scrupulously exact language to combat heretics who used ambiguous terms as hiding-places.
• Arius confessed Christ was God, but deceitfully maintained that Christ was a created being with a beginning.
• The ancient Church exposed Arius by declaring Christ consubstantial with the Father, a term the Arians utterly detested.
• Sabellius reduced the Trinity to mere attributes of God and was countered by doctors affirming three distinct subsistences.
• While precise theological terms are necessary to defeat dishonesty, the author wishes the words themselves could be buried if core truths are universally held.

These slippery snakes escape by their swift and tortuous windings, if not strenuously pursued, and when caught, firmly held.

• Early church councils and theologians often disagreed and contradicted themselves regarding divine substances.
• Jerome and Hilary held vastly different views on whether to use one or three substances in reference to God.
• Jerome expressed intense suspicion and perplexity over the Greek term Hypostasis.
• Augustine showed greater moderation and tolerance toward different linguistic expressions used by Greeks and Latins.
• Hilary and Augustine both apologized for relying on human terminology to describe profound spiritual mysteries.
• The modesty of early church fathers serves as a warning against arrogance in theological debates.

He suspects some lurking poison, when it is said that there are three Hypostases in God.

• Precise theological terminology is necessary to expose and counteract the evasions of heretical factions like the Arians and Sabellians.
• Using terms like 'consubstantial' or 'Trinity of Persons' strips away the disguises of those who twist scripture to obscure doctrine.
• While some may be overly scrupulous about theological words, the underlying confession of a unified substance and distinct persons is what truly matters.
• The author defines a 'person' as a subsistence in the Divine essence, distinguished from others by incommunicable properties.
• John's gospel is cited to show that the Word existed with God while also being God, proving the necessity of distinguishing subsistence from essence.
• Tertullian's definition of a divine arrangement or economy is accepted as long as it preserves the fundamental unity of the divine essence.

Say, he is consubstantial, and you immediately pluck the mask from this chameleon, though you add nothing to Scripture.

• The Word of God in Scripture is not merely a fleeting voice, but the eternal wisdom dwelling with God.
• Ancient prophets and apostles spoke by the Spirit of Christ, indicating the Word was begotten of the Father before all ages.
• Moses' creation account demonstrates the Word as an intermediate agent through whom God brought worlds into being.
• Apostolic and solomonic writings confirm that the Son is the essential Word and eternal Wisdom presiding over creation.
• John provides the clearest explanation, stating that the Word was from the beginning, with God, and is God.

I know prattlers would easily evade this, by saying that Word is used for order or command; but the apostles are better expositors, when they tell us that the worlds were created by the Son...

• Opponents argue that the Word began at creation, implying a change in the divine essence.
• Such views contradict scriptural assertions that God is unchanging and without shadow of turning.
• The divine Word existed long before creation, as demonstrated by the immediate exertion of its energy and scriptural testimony.
• John and Jesus both confirm the eternal pre-existence and divinity of the Word before the world began.
• Scriptural passages like the forty-fifth Psalm assert the eternal divinity of Christ as the Word incarnate.

For if any thing adventitious took place, the saying of James would cease to be true, that “every good gift, and every perfect gift, is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning,” (James 1:17).

• The text argues that scriptural titles such as 'eternal Ruler' and 'Mighty God' are explicitly applied to the Messiah rather than merely being used as generic honorifics.
• Prophetic passages from Isaiah and Jeremiah are cited to demonstrate that Christ shares the ineffable substantive essence and name of Jehovah.
• Counterarguments regarding similar titles being given to altars or Jerusalem are dismissed as symbolic memorials of God's presence rather than assertions of divine essence.
• The application of the title 'The Lord our Righteousness' to the Church is interpreted as an effect flowing from Christ as the true fountain of righteousness.
• The author concludes by noting that Jehovah frequently appeared in the form of an Angel who claimed the name of the Eternal God.

For as the Jews themselves teach that the other names of God are mere epithets, whereas this, which they call the ineffable name, is substantive, and expresses his essence, we infer, that the only begotten Son is the eternal God...

• Manoah and his wife recognize that the angel who refused bread and accepted sacrifice was truly God.
• Servetus falsely maintained that God was never directly manifested to the patriarchs, claiming an angel was worshipped in His stead.
• Orthodox doctors correctly explain that the Word of God acted as the supreme angel and anticipatory Mediator.
• Biblical passages from Hosea, Genesis, and Zechariah confirm that the angel appearing to the patriarchs possessed divine identity.
• Prophets like Isaiah and Malachi explicitly attribute divine salvation and the ownership of the holy temple to Christ.

We shall die; for we have seen the Lord.

• Old Testament prophecies concerning the eternal God are directly applied to Christ by New Testament writers.
• Passages describing divine attributes, dominion, and glory are fulfilled by and attributed to Jesus Christ.
• Apostles such as Paul and John explicitly proclaim Christ's divine nature and identity as the true God.
• The scriptures maintain the unity of one God while identifying Christ as sharing fully in that divine essence.
• Thomas's confession of Christ as his Lord and God reflects the unanimous view held by the godly.

And lest the wicked should glamour and say that he was a kind of spurious God, John goes farther, and affirms, “This is the true God, and eternal life.”

• Christ's own words and actions, such as claiming God as His Father, led contemporaries to recognize His claim to divine equality and power.
• The divine role of governing and regulating the world through inherent energy belongs exclusively to the Creator, and is ascribed to Christ.
• Christ demonstrated the exclusive divine authority to forgive sins independently, proving it through miracles rather than acting merely as a minister.
• His ability to penetrate and interrogate the secret thoughts of the human heart further confirms His divinity.
• Unlike prophets and apostles who acted as ministers, Christ performed miracles using His own inherent might and authorized others to do the same.

I admit that similar and equal miracles were performed by the prophets and apostles; but there is this very essential difference, that they dispensed the gifts of God as his ministers, whereas he exerted his own inherent might.

• Christ possesses salvation, righteousness, and life inherently, proving that he is truly God.
• Scripture commands believers to place their ultimate faith and hope in Christ, an act that would be blasphemous if he were merely a creature.
• Prayer and invocation, which belong exclusively to divine majesty and Jehovah, are directly addressed to Christ.
• The New Testament demonstrates believers calling upon the name of Jesus for salvation and receiving his spirit.
• The knowledge of Christ forms the sole ground of human glorying, which God commands to be reserved for himself alone.
• A pious soul experiences God directly when it feels quickened, enlightened, and saved by Christ.

For the pious soul has the best view of God, and may almost be said to handle him, when it feels that it is quickened, enlightened, saved, justified, and sanctified by him.

• Scriptural testimony from Moses and Isaiah demonstrates the active, sustaining presence of the Holy Spirit from the creation of the world.
• Believers experience the Spirit through familiar divine operations, such as being diffused over all space and quickening all things.
• The Spirit is proven to be divine because he is the independent author of regeneration, future immortality, and all spiritual gifts.
• Scripture attributes distinct Godhead characteristics to the Spirit, including searching the deep things of God and bestowing wisdom.
• Apostolic writings confirm the Spirit's hypostatic existence and sovereign will through the distribution of diverse gifts to every man.
• Paul explicitly designates believers as the temple of God based on the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.

For nothing can be more alien from a creature, than the office which the Scriptures ascribe to him, and which the pious actually feel him discharging,—his being diffused over all space, sustaining, invigorating, and quickening all things, both in heaven and on the earth.

• Believers serve as the living temple of the Holy Spirit, which directly signifies the Spirit's divine nature.
• Scriptural passages where prophets credit the Lord of Hosts are frequently attributed to the Holy Spirit by Christ and the apostles.
• The Holy Spirit is identified as the true Jehovah who authored ancient prophecies and whose grief mirrors the provocation of God.
• Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is deemed an unpardonable sin, pointing to an inherent and ultimate divine majesty.
• The baptismal formula commanding initiation into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit reinforces the Trinity and perfect light of faith.

that majesty must certainly be divine which it is an inexpiable crime to offend or impair.

• God is fully manifested in three distinct persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
• The unity of baptism into one name confirms the absolute unity of the Divine essence and a singular faith.
• Heretical views that deny either the divine essence of the Son or reduce the Spirit to mere gifts are firmly refuted.
• Scripture demonstrates a real distinction between the persons without implying any division of the divine essence.
• Contemplating the Trinity should always lead the mind directly back to the contemplation of the divine unity.

I cannot think of the unity without being irradiated by the Trinity: I cannot distinguish between the Trinity without being carried up to the unity.

• The text establishes a clear distinction between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit based on scriptural evidence.
• This divine distinction existed eternally before the incarnation rather than beginning when Christ assumed human nature.
• Human analogies for the Trinity are treated with great caution by the author to avoid presumption or misinterpretation.
• Distinct operations are attributed to each person: the source to the Father, wisdom to the Son, and efficacy to the Spirit.
• An order of persons is recognized where the Father comes first, followed by the Son, and then the Spirit from both.

And hence it is that I have a great dread of any thing like presumption here, lest some rash saying may furnish an occasion of calumny to the malicious, or of delusion to the unlearned.

• The Son and the Holy Spirit share the same divine essence and nature with the Father.
• Ecclesiastical writers emphasize that the divine persons are united without any separation of essence.
• Apparent contradictions among early Fathers are reconciled by distinguishing between absolute essence and relative distinctions.
• The Father is understood as the origin or beginning when considered in relation to the Son.
• Sober faith requires accepting the unity of essence across three persons without getting lost in vain speculations.

It is far safer to rest contented with the relation as taught by him, than get bewildered in vain speculation by subtle prying into a sublime mystery.

• The Son and the Father share a unity of essence, making it blasphemy to consider them entirely different Gods.
• Scriptural evidence demonstrates that the title Jehovah is appropriately applied to Christ by the apostles.
• The Holy Spirit is likewise recognized as God, representing the complete spiritual essence of the divine.
• Satan has historically incited fierce disputes and heresies regarding the divine essence and the distinction of persons.
• Believers must approach the hidden mysteries of Scripture soberly, remaining strictly within the confines of God's word rather than relying on human reason.

For how can the human minds which has not yet been able to ascertain of what the body of the sun consists, though it is daily presented to the eye, bring down the boundless essence of God to its little measure?

• True knowledge of God is found exclusively through His word rather than human speculation.
• Chrysostom unsuccessfully attempted to curb the presumption and garrulity of sophists regarding the divine nature.
• The human mind enters a labyrinth when it indulges curiosity beyond the limits of divine revelation.
• Historical heresies and modern errors by figures like Servetus attempt to distort the Trinity and the unity of the Godhead.
• Servetus viewed Trinitarians as atheists and reduced the divinity of the Son and Spirit to mere parts or external ideas.

The very unhappy results of their temerity should be a warning to us to bring more docility than acumen to the discussion of this question, never to attempt to search after God anywhere but in his sacred word, and never to speak or think of him farther than we have it for our guide.

• The author argues that the Logos existed eternally as a distinct hypostasis rather than a mere figurative splendor or visible appearance.
• The eternal Spirit operated as the essential power of God during creation, contradicting the notion of being a mere shadow or image.
• Servetus's theology is condemned for reducing Christ's divinity and treating the divine essence as divisible among creatures.
• A secondary heresy emerged claiming the Father transfused His divinity into the Son and Spirit, functioning as the sole essentiator.
• The author maintains that while the Father is the source of divinity, the Son is simultaneously true God and the Son of God.

But the most execrable heresy of all is his confounding both the Son and Spirit promiscuously with all the creatures.

• The name of God must be understood in relation to the divine persons without denying the rank of the Son.
• Scriptural passages where Jehovah appears and speaks are explicitly applied to Christ by New Testament writers.
• The divine name Jehovah is repeatedly attributed to Christ, establishing his independent Deity.
• Denying the self-existence of the Son or claiming his essence is derived from the Father reduces him to a titular god.
• The Creator who made the heavens and the earth must possess his own essential divinity rather than a borrowed one.

On the supposition, then, that the whole essence is in the Father only, the essence becomes divisible, or is denied to the Son, who, being thus robbed of his essence, will be only a titular God.

• The text argues that the Holy Spirit cannot belong solely to the Father because scripture indicates the Spirit is shared by both Christ and the Father.
• Distinctions between the Father and the Son cannot be based on the divine essence, as dividing the essence would imply an impossible division of God.
• If the Father alone possessed the essence exclusively, Christ would be reduced to a merely figurative or nominal God rather than a real one.
• The assumption that absolute references to God apply only to the Father is shown to be inconsistent through contextual scriptural analysis.
• Christ is designated as the Son both through eternal generation as the Word and through His earthly office as the Mediator uniting humanity to God.

If they reply that the Father, while essentiating, still remains the only God, being the possessor of the essence, then Christ will be a figurative God, one in name or semblance only, and not in reality.

• Denying the intrinsic goodness of the Eternal Word of God is viewed as manifest impiety.
• Christ's rejection of ordinary human salutations of goodness actually affirms his divine property.
• Biblical attributes like immortality, wisdom, and truth are fully applicable to Christ.
• Christ rightfully claims the worship reserved exclusively for the God of the law.
• Equality with God existed prior to Christ humbling himself and assuming human form.

If they insist on applying to the Father only the words of Isaiah, “I am, and besides me there is none else,” I turn the passage against themselves, since we see that every property of God is attributed to Christ.

• Critics argue that the Son is only God in subordination, making his divine essence formed and begotten.
• Pious readers recognize that the plural phrasing in Genesis implies multiple persons within the Godhead.
• The divine nature of the Spirit and Word demonstrates that the power of creation is shared among the divine persons.
• Scripture teaches there is essentially one God, while the Father is regarded as the fountain of all Godhead.
• The doctrine of the Trinity distinguishes persons residing within a single essence rather than dividing them into multiple gods.

The hallucination consists in dreaming of individuals, each of whom possesses a part of the essence.

• The persons of the Trinity cannot exist without the divine essence, as the Father and Son derive their very divinity from it.
• The Son's essence is without beginning, while his personhood as the Son originates from the Father in terms of order.
• Orthodox writers strictly applied distinctions to the persons of the Trinity rather than the essence to avoid gross impiety.
• Confusing synonymous terms for God and the Father would reduce the Son to a mere shadow or creature.
• When acting as Mediator, Christ humbles himself and speaks in a middle place between God and man without diminishing his eternal divinity.

For the Son has some being, or he has none. If some, here are two essences to tilt with each other; if none, he is only a shadow.

• Christ holds a celestial glory yet shares a common eternal essence with the Father.
• Denying the perpetuity of Christ's divinity or confining the name of God solely to the Father is considered erroneous.
• John asserts that Christ is the true God without placing him in a subordinate rank.
• Misinterpretations of Irenæus stem from ignoring the specific heretical contexts he was arguing against.
• Scripture ultimately affirms that Christ, when called God absolutely, shares fully in the one true Godhead.

I wonder what these fabricators of new gods mean, when they confess that Christ is truly God, and yet exclude him from the godhead of the Father, as if there could be any true God but the one God.

• Irenaeus maintains that the Son, along with the Father, is proclaimed as the true God by prophets and apostles.
• References from Irenaeus demonstrate that Christ is identified as the maker of heaven and earth and the God of the living.
• Tertullian's writings are cited to support the doctrine of one God with a distinct Word and Trinity.
• Tertullian argues that the unity of substance is arranged into a Trinity of three degrees, forms, and orders without creating multiple gods.
• The text defends the orthodox theological view against alternative interpretations of early church writers.

Should any babbler now insist that, according to Irenaeus, the Father alone is the God of Israel, I will refer him to a passage in which Irenaeus distinctly says...

• Tertullian explicitly distinguished between the persons of the Father and the Son to counter the fiction of Praxeas.
• Writings from early fathers like Irenaeus, Justin, and Hilary consistently support the orthodox doctrine of the divine essence.
• Heretical attempts to rely on mutilated excerpts or spurious works attributed to Ignatius are thoroughly discredited.
• The Council of Nicea demonstrated a unanimous front against Arius without any approved author to cloak his heresy.
• Augustine meticulously examined ancient texts, acknowledging that the anti-Arian doctrine was received from the earliest antiquity without dispute.

Nothing can be more nauseating, than the absurdities which have been published under the name of Ignatius; and therefore, the conduct of those who provide themselves with such masks for deception is the less entitled to toleration.

• The author defends the doctrine of the Father as the beginning of the Godhead to preserve the unity of divine essence.
• Readers are advised to avoid excessive speculation and fruitless disputes in order to focus on the edification of the Church.
• The second part of Book First begins with the knowledge of God through the creation of the world and distinguishes the true God from fictitious ones.
• The creation account is structured across six days to demonstrate God's infinite goodness in providing thoroughly for humanity before creating Adam.
• Angels are examined regarding their nature, offices, and roles as guardians of the Church and dispensers of divine beneficence.
• The text addresses the doctrine of bad angels and devils to help believers guard against assaults and stimulate piety.

This idea of continual generation becomes an absurd fiction from the moment it is seen, that from eternity there were three persons in one God.

• Believers are called to perpetually resist the devil, who operates only through the permission and consent of God.
• Wicked spirits are ultimately overruled by God to test the faithful and govern the wicked.
• The history of creation was provided to give humanity an intimate knowledge of God and prevent them from falling into false worship.
• Understanding the timeline of creation acts as an antidote to ancient fables and highlights the eternal nature of God.
• Humanity should avoid arrogant speculation about what God did before creation, acknowledging the limits of our understanding.

It was a shrewd saying of a good old man, who when some one pertly asked in derision what God did before the world was created, answered he made a hell for the inquisitive.

• Human attempts to question God's will, secret counsels, or timing lead to vain imaginations and blasphemy.
• Augustine warns that demanding a higher reason than God's will is an insult to Him.
• People who question God about infinite space or why the world wasn't created sooner display a sinful presumption.
• God deliberately created the world in six days to give humanity ample time to contemplate His works.
• The sequential order of creation demonstrates God's paternal goodness by preparing a fully furnished earth before creating Adam.

Those who now indulge their petulance, and refuse to take warning, will learn, when too late, how much better it had been reverently to regard the secret counsels of God, than to belch forth blasphemies which pollute the face of heaven.

• Moses omits mention of angels in the initial creation account to accommodate popular ignorance, yet later scripture establishes them as creatures created by God.
• Studying the doctrine of angels is essential for knowing God through His works and refuting various theological errors.
• Some erroneous beliefs elevate angelic natures to a fancied divinity, independent of God's supreme authority.
• Manichaeism falsely attributes the origin of evil things to the devil as a co-equal principle with God, threatening divine glory and omnipotence.
• Orthodox faith maintains that nothing in the universe is naturally bad; rather, depravity and sin stem from the subsequent corruption of nature.
• Believers must remain within the bounds of scriptural instruction regarding invisible things, avoiding speculative wanderings that lead away from faith.

Were this delirium to take possession of our minds, God would be denied his glory in the creation of the world.

• Inquiring excessively into obscure matters like the precise timing or order of creation shows perverseness rather than true industry.
• The first rule of modesty in religion is to avoid thinking or speaking beyond what the Word of God has delivered.
• The second rule requires that scriptural study should always focus on edification, solid piety, and holiness rather than useless curiosity.
• Superfluous speculations about angels, such as those found in the subtle disquisitions of Dionysus, should be dismissed as idle talk.
• A true theologian's duty is not to tickle the ear with shrewd theories, but to confirm the conscience with things that are true and useful.
• Scripture reveals that angels are heavenly spirits employed by God as messengers and ministers to execute His decreed purposes.

When you read the work of Dionysus, you would think that the man had come down from heaven, and was relating, not what he had learned, but what he had actually seen.

• Angels are designated by various titles such as virtues, principalities, powers, and dominions to reflect their role in God's administration of the world.
• They are sometimes referred to as gods because the brightness of the divine glory and the presence of God's power are conspicuously displayed in their service.
• While ancient writers and scriptural references suggest that Christ Himself was often the specific angel appearing to patriarchs, the term generally applies to the heavenly host.
• Scripture emphasizes that angels primarily act as ministers and dispensers of divine bounty to comfort and confirm the faith of believers.
• Believers are guarded by angels who watch for their safety, direct their paths, and deliver them from adversaries as delegated by God.
• Throughout biblical history, angels have actively defended God's people, ministered to Christ, and executed vengeance upon enemies.

There are whole passages which relate, in the first instance, to Christ, the Head of the Church, and after him to all believers.

• Biblical references suggest that certain angels are appointed as presidents over kingdoms and provinces, and entrusted with the safety of children.
• While some scriptures hint at protective angelic presence, it remains uncertain whether every individual believer is assigned their own specific, permanent guardian angel.
• Believers are cared for by all angels collectively, as demonstrated by their shared rejoicing over a single repenting sinner and the collective carrying of Lazarus.
• The early church's reaction upon Peter's release from prison reflects a common belief in personal guardian angels, though this may merely refer to a temporary charge.
• Fixating on whether one has a single guardian angel is less beneficial than recognizing that all heavenly hosts are perpetually watching over our safety.
• Limiting God's angelic care to a single guardian diminishes the comforting promises of auxiliary troops encircling and defending the entire Church.

If any one does not think it enough to know that all the orders of the heavenly host are perpetually watching for his safety, I do not see what he could gain by knowing that he has one angel as a special guardian.

• Scriptural descriptions mention specific archangels like Michael and Gabriel, but determining strict gradations of heavenly honor is impossible.
• References to legions and myriads indicate that angels exist in vast, innumerable multitudes.
• Although spirits lack physical bodies, scripture depicts them with wings to symbolize their incredible swiftness in aiding humanity.
• Detailed knowledge regarding the exact ranks and numbers of angels is a mystery deferred until the final judgment.
• Believers should avoid presumptuous speculation while firmly maintaining that angels serve as ministering spirits for human protection.

It is certain that spirits have no bodily shape, and yet Scripture, in accommodation to us, describes them under the form of winged Cherubim and Seraphim; not without cause, to assure us that when occasion requires, they will hasten to our aid with incredible swiftness, winging their way to us with the speed of lightning.

• Some people mistakenly believe that angels are merely divine movements or manifestations rather than real beings.
• Numerous biblical passages explicitly describe angels as possessing spiritual essence, acting, rejoicing, and guarding the faithful.
• Scripture contrasts Christ with angels and places them in heaven alongside the souls of believers, confirming their literal existence.
• Angels frequently appeared to patriarchs in human form, spoke, and accepted hospitality throughout biblical history.
• Believers must be warned against superstitions that mistakenly attribute the unique honors and offices of God and Christ to angels.

To say nothing of the passages I have already quoted, passages which refer to thousands and legions of angels, speak of them as rejoicing, as bearing up the faithful in their hands, carrying their souls to rest, beholding the face of their Father, and so forth.

• Paul contested early adversaries who exalted angels to a status nearly superior to Christ.
• Humans are naturally prone to adore angels and mistakenly attribute divine blessings to them.
• God employs angels not out of necessity, but as a compassionate help to human weakness and fear.
• Angels serve as guardians committed to our safety, protecting us against the perils that surround us.
• Divine provision through angelic attendants elevates our hopes and strengthens our confidence in times of terror.

This he certainly does not from necessity, as if he were unable to dispense with them.

• God provides spiritual protection through angels to strengthen our confidence in Him rather than to distract us.
• True faith directs us to view angels solely as instruments of God's direct assistance, pointing always toward Christ as the only Mediator.
• Scriptural examples like Jacob's ladder and Abraham's servant demonstrate that prayer and reliance must be directed to God alone.
• Superstitious practices of seeking access to God through intermediate beings are rejected as alien to true religious devotion.
• Descriptions of Satan and demonic forces in scripture serve to make believers more cautious, vigilant, and prepared for spiritual conflict.

Away, then, with that Platonic philosophy of seeking access to God by means of angels and courting them with the view of making God more propitious.

• Believers are commanded to put on spiritual armor and remain constantly alert against a powerful and crafty enemy.
• Because spiritual warfare ends only with death, individuals must resist sloth and rely continually on God for strength.
• Scripture reveals that our adversaries are a vast host rather than a few isolated foes, signifying an infinite multitude of temptations.
• Satan represents the dominion of iniquity and serves as the ultimate prince of the faction of the wicked.
• Believers must wage irreconcilable war against Satan because he constantly seeks to extinguish the glory of God and destroy human salvation.

Being forewarned of the constant presence of an enemy the most daring, the most powerful, the most crafty, the most indefatigable, the most completely equipped with all the engines and the most expert in the science of war, let us not allow ourselves to be overtaken by sloth or cowardice...

• Satan actively opposes God by spreading lies, obscuring light, stirring hatred, and instigating war to destroy human salvation.
• The inherent depravity of Satan and his demons is not part of their original creation by God, but stems entirely from their own voluntary revolt and fall.
• Scripture avoids satisfying idle curiosity about the exact details of Satan's fall, focusing instead on practical edification and moral instruction.
• Originally created as angels of God, the fallen spirits ruined themselves and now act as instruments of perdition, contrasting with the elect angels.
• Satan's hostility toward God is strictly limited because he cannot execute any enterprise or act against the ultimate will and consent of God.

The Holy Spirit could not deign to feed curiosity with idle, unprofitable histories.

• Satan operates strictly under the ultimate power and permission of God.
• Despite his wicked disposition and desire to rebel, Satan is bound by divine authority.
• God employs unclean spirits to test and exercise believers through various trials and spiritual warfare.
• While believers may be wounded or alarmed by Satan, they can never be utterly conquered or oppressed.
• Wicked individuals are held in thraldom by Satan and used as bond-slaves to iniquity, unlike the children of God.

They fall by the violence of the blows, but they get up again; they are wounded, but not mortally.

• The struggle against Satan begins in this life and is fully completed only after death.
• Christ's victory over Satan is already perfect in the Head, but only partially obtained in believers for now.
• Christ's death disarmed Satan, preventing him from destroying the Church through his raging fury.
• Satan retains dominion only over the impious and unbelieving, who serve as children of disobedience.
• Scriptural evidence refutes the notion that devils are merely bad affections, proving they are true spirits with intellect.

For (such being our weakness, and such his raging fury), how could we withstand his manifold and unintermitted assaults for any period, however short, if we did not trust to the victory of our leader?

• Scriptural references establish the distinct, personal reality of angels and devils rather than mere metaphorical evil.
• Passages concerning the torment and eternal punishment of fallen angels demonstrate that they are active, conscious entities.
• Dismissing the existence of devils leaves believers dangerously unguarding themselves against real spiritual enemies.
• Creation itself stands as a magnificent theatre displaying the clear and manifest works of God.
• The history of creation, as recorded by Moses, reveals how God fashioned heaven and earth out of nothing with admirable order.

Meanwhile, being placed in this most beautiful theatre, let us not decline to take a pious delight in the clear and manifest works of God.

• Man was created as the most glorious specimen of God's works, though a detailed history of creation is best left to Moses and other faithful accounts.
• No human diction can fully express the inestimable wisdom, power, justice, and goodness of God displayed in the formation of the world.
• Believers are called to dwell long upon the creation as a mirror of divine treasures, rather than merely glancing at them hastily.
• A genuine apprehension of God as Creator requires avoiding thoughtless oversight of His perfections and applying these observations directly to one's heart.
• The starry host, their orderly movements, and the sustenance of the vast universe serve as profound examples of divine architecture and power.

Undoubtedly were one to attempt to speak in due terms of the inestimable wisdom, power, justice, and goodness of God, in the formation of the world, no grace or splendour of diction could equal the greatness of the subject.

• God demonstrated His providence by preparing the world with all necessary goods before creating man.
• The deliberate six-day creation highlights God's paternal care and forethought for human existence.
• Believers are called to view God as a providing Father and expect all good things from Him alone.
• The text introduces the subsequent examination of man's original state, soul faculties, and the image of God before the fall.
• Arguments for the immortality of the human soul include conscience, noble faculties, and scriptural testimony.

How ungrateful, then, were it to doubt whether we are cared for by this most excellent Parent, who we see cared for us even before we were born!

• Refutation of various heretical and philosophical theories regarding the origin and essential faculties of the human soul.
• The division of the soul's faculties into intellect and will aligns closely with Christian doctrine.
• Man possessed free will before the fall, a freedom that was subsequently lost and whose loss philosophers failed to recognize.
• Understanding the creation of man is essential for properly knowing God and recognizing the condition of human nature.
• Examining humanity in its original integrity prevents mistakenly attributing human vice and corruption to the Author of nature.
• Man consists of a mortal body of clay animated by an immortal spirit or soul, placing a curb on human pride while highlighting divine liberality.

For there is need of caution, lest we attend only to the natural ills of man, and thereby seem to ascribe them to the Author of nature.

• Calvin and Christian doctrine assert the immortality of the soul, contrasting with ancient pagan views like those of Pliny who saw no future consciousness.
• The soul is not merely a transient breath or divine energy without substance, but an enduring essence capable of surviving the body.
• Conscience and the innate knowledge of God serve as primary proofs of an immortal spirit, as only an enduring soul can experience guilt and fear spiritual judgment.
• Human faculties—such as the ability to contemplate the invisible, understand abstract justice, and reason across time—demonstrate a capacity far beyond the physical body.
• Phenomena like dreams and sleep further suggest a spiritual existence independent of physical senses.
• Scriptural references describing the body as a temporary 'house of clay' reinforce the distinction and preeminence of the soul over the flesh.

How could motion devoid of essence penetrate to the Judgment-seat of God, and under a sense of guilt strike itself with terror?

• Scriptural references across both Testaments demonstrate that the soul possesses a distinct and enduring essence.
• Apostolic and Gospel teachings emphasize that souls are subject to eternal salvation, divine accountability, and moral purification.
• Passages concerning the afterlife, such as the parable of Lazarus and Dives, prove that souls survive separation from the body.
• The divine image in man resides primarily within the spiritual faculties of the soul rather than the physical form.
• Arguments that extend the image of God indiscriminately to the physical body conflate the spiritual realm with the earthly.

Moreover, did not the soul, when freed from the fetters of the body, continue to exist, our Saviour would not have represented the soul of Lazarus as enjoying blessedness in Abraham’s bosom, while, on the contrary, that of Dives was suffering dreadful torments.

• Critique of the notion that Christ is an image of the Spirit, arguing it destroys theological distinctions.
• Rejection of Osiander's hypothesis that Adam was formed after the model of the future incarnate Christ.
• Explanation that the terms 'image' and 'likeness' in Hebrew are synonymous repetitions rather than distinct entities.
• Refutation of overly philosophical distinctions that separate the image and likeness into different parts of the soul.
• Affirmation that man is called the image of God due to direct marks of resemblance impressed upon him.

First, we know that repetitions are common in Hebrew, which often gives two words for one thing; And, secondly, there is no ambiguity in the thing itself, man being called the image of God because of his likeness to God.

• The divine image in man originally encompassed a clear intellect, controlled affections, and overall human integrity.
• While the primary seat of God's image is the soul, even the physical body reflected rays of divine glory.
• Adam's fall corrupted this original state, leaving a fearful deformity rather than a total erasure of the image.
• Deliverance and the restoration of this divine image are achieved through Christ, the second Adam.
• Paul defines this renovation through knowledge, true righteousness, and holiness as the key features of the renewed image.

Wherefore, although we grant that the image of God was not utterly effaced and destroyed in him, it was, however, so corrupted, that any thing which remains is fearful deformity

• St. Paul's reference to man as the image of God pertains strictly to civil order rather than excluding women from spiritual equality.
• The image of God encompasses human intelligence and the spiritual life, elevating humanity above other animals.
• While the image was nearly destroyed in Adam's fall, it is partially restored in the elect through the Spirit and will fully shine in heaven.
• The divine likeness is an internal quality of the soul rather than mere dominion over creation or Augustine's Trinity mirror theory.
• The Manichean error claiming the human soul is a transmission of God's own substance is refuted because it would attribute human vices and inconstancy to the divine nature.

Who does not shudder at a thing so monstrous?

• Souls are created out of nothing by God rather than being a portion or transfusion of the divine essence itself.
• Errors like those of Osiander and Manicheism falsely claim that God's image requires a substantial transfusion of Christ into humanity.
• Scripture and the apostle Paul clarify that human transformation into God's image occurs through the grace and working of the Spirit, not by sharing God's substance.
• Ancient philosophers struggled to define the soul's immortality, with Plato being a rare exception who recognized it as an image of God.
• The incorporeal soul inhabits the body to direct its actions and engage in the service of God.
• Even in a corrupt state, human traits like a thirst for glory and a sense of shame reveal a foundational consciousness born to cultivate righteousness.

For whence have men such a thirst for glory but from a sense of shame? And whence this sense of shame but from a respect for what is honourable?

• Man's understanding and felicity are perfected through union with God.
• The soul's primary action is to aspire toward divine approach and reason.
• The theory that man possesses multiple souls is rejected due to a lack of sound arguments.
• Internal conflicts within the soul stem from the depravation of nature rather than multiple souls.
• While philosophical faculties like imagination, reason, and intellect exist, a simple definition suffices for the pious.

As if reason also were not at variance with herself, and her counsels sometimes conflicting with each other like hostile armies.

• Philosophers traditionally divide the soul into appetite and intellect, further subdividing them into contemplative, practical, will, and concupiscence.
• The text departs from philosophical traditions by noting that philosophers are unacquainted with the corruption of human nature.
• For the purposes of this work, the soul is simplified into two primary parts: the intellect to distinguish objects and the will to choose them.
• The intellect acts as the guide and ruler of the soul, determining what is good or bad while the will follows its decisions.
• God provided humanity with an intellect to discern good from evil, illuminated by reason in our primitive, excellent condition.

For philosophers, being unacquainted with the corruption of nature, which is the punishment of revolt, erroneously confound two states of man which are very different from each other.

• Adam was originally created with a sound mind and freedom of will, perfectly submissive to reason.
• Man possessed the native ability to obtain eternal life, but lacked the unchangeable constancy to persevere.
• The Fall was entirely the result of man's own pliable will corrupting its original rectitude and bringing self-destruction.
• Philosophers and misguided Christians err by attributing uncorrupted free-will to fallen humanity.
• God was under no obligation to grant man a nature that could not or would not sin, retaining full right to determine the measure of His gifts.

Hence the great darkness of philosophers who have looked for a complete building in a ruin, and fit arrangement in disorder.

• The chapter outlines the doctrine of God's special providence over all creation, distinguishing it from Epicurean and philosophical errors.
• Wicked individuals may acknowledge God as Creator through carnal sense, but the godly recognize Him as a wise and powerful preserver.
• Epicurean views of fortune and fortuitous causes are refuted in favor of Scripture, which demonstrates divine governance.
• God's omnipotence and providence are combined to show His active and continuous involvement in the world.
• Special providence is proven through divine justice, scripture regarding nature, and the specific history of the human race and Israel.

It were cold and lifeless to represent God as a momentary Creator, who completed his work once for all, and then left it.

• True comprehension of creation requires moving beyond the carnal mind to recognize God's active providence.
• While secular minds view the universe as a self-sustaining machine energized at the beginning, faith perceives a continuous divine governance.
• Scripture demonstrates that God sustains all things, down to the minutest detail, rather than simply maintaining a general cosmic motion.
• Human philosophy and secular thought fall short of true piety because they lack an appreciation for God's special, paternal care.
• The biblical doctrine of providence directly opposes the widespread erroneous belief in fortune and fortuitous causes.

In short, it imagines that all things are sufficiently sustained by the energy divinely infused into them at first.

• All events and natural phenomena are governed entirely by the secret counsel and immediate hand of God.
• Inanimate objects and natural forces act merely as instruments that God continuously infuses with energy and directs at His pleasure.
• The sun, despite its vital role in fostering life, is not an independent primary cause because light and plant life existed before the sun was created.
• Biblical miracles such as the sun standing still demonstrate that celestial bodies are governed directly by God rather than by a blind instinct of nature.
• Seasonal variations and the progression of time are regulated by a continuous, special providence of God rather than a static natural order.
• God's omnipotence is defined not as an indolent or general principle, but as a vigilant, efficacious, and energetic force focused on individual movements.

No pious man, therefore, will make the sun either the necessary or principal cause of those things which existed before the creation of the sun, but only the instrument which God employs, because he so pleases; though he can lay it aside, and act equally well by himself.

• God governs heaven and earth by His sure and deliberate purpose, ensuring nothing happens without His counsel.
• Believers find solace in adversity knowing their sufferings are ordained and commanded by God.
• Limiting God's providence to a perpetual law of nature defrauds Him of glory and deprives humans of a comforting doctrine.
• Recognizing God's total control over all creatures and adversaries calms immoderate and superstitious human fears.
• Unbelievers mistakenly attribute worldly power to stars and created objects rather than to the divine will.

This rather is the solace of the faithful, in their adversity, that every thing which they endure is by the ordination and command of God, that they are under his hand.

• Divine providence involves active government and control over all events, not merely passive observation.
• Abraham's faith demonstrates resigning unknown outcomes to God's capacity to resolve perplexed matters.
• Views limiting providence to a general impulse or bare prescience fail to recognize God's specific direction of every creature.
• Some erroneous doctrines reduce God's role to supplying energy while leaving human actions entirely to free will.
• True providence means the world and human affairs are governed by the deliberate decree of God, rejecting idle or inert concepts.

I say nothing of the Epicureans (a pest with which the world has always been plagued), who dream of an inert and idle Deity, the Deity, sitting idly in heaven...

• The author aims to refute the common misconception that God rules the world in name only while leaving its actual direction to fortune.
• True divine government requires not just maintaining natural order, but actively disposing and directing every thing to its proper end.
• While creatures are moved by the instinct of nature, Scripture clearly teaches a special providence that oversees single events.
• Conceding only a blind universal providence strips away God's paternal favor and judgments regarding weather, crops, and daily occurrences.
• The core argument maintains that all events proceed from God's determinate counsel so that nothing truly happens fortuitously.

Against such evident madness even dumb creatures lift their voice.

• Attributing the fertility or barrenness of the earth merely to ordinary natural power is deemed a meager and inadequate explanation.
• Scriptural evidence demonstrates that weather phenomena, famines, and harvests are direct manifestations of divine favor or vengeance.
• Every detail of creation, from the feeding of ravens to the falling of a sparrow, is governed by the express command of God.
• The world was made chiefly for the sake of mankind, and human paths are entirely directed by divine decree rather than independent human will.
• Even events that appear purely accidental or fortuitous are ultimately subject to the overarching governance of God.

It is a strange infatuation, surely for miserable men, who cannot even give utterance except in so far as God pleases, to begin to act without him!

• Events commonly attributed to chance, such as the casting of lots or accidental encounters, are actually directed by the secret counsel and will of God.
• Scripture instructs the poor to patiently endure their divinely appointed conditions rather than attempting to shake off a burden imposed by God.
• Particular natural events, including winds, storms, and the fertility of the womb, are direct evidences of God's special providence and active governance.
• Common occurrences like the rising of the wind and the calming of the sea demonstrate the constant, active presence of divine power in nature.
• Human sustenance relies not merely on bread, but fundamentally on the secret, sustaining blessing of God.

Who does not attribute the lot to the blindness of Fortune? Not so the Lord, who claims the decision for himself.

• God acts as a paternal provider, actively sustaining all living creatures and fulfilling their needs.
• Scripture demonstrates that God's special providence and watchful care extend over both the righteous and the wicked.
• Critics wrongly accuse this doctrine of divine providence of being the pagan Stoic dogma of fate.
• The doctrine asserts that God is the active ruler of all things, decreeing and executing events from eternity.
• Human counsels and wills are governed directly by God's destiny rather than left to autonomous chance.
• Pious minds should reject the heathen terms of fortune and chance, attributing all outcomes to divine order.

It was a true saying of Basil the Great, that Fortune and Chance are heathen terms; the meaning of which ought not to occupy pious minds.

• Augustine argues that attributing any event to random fortune undermines divine governance.
• He maintains that the will of God is the supreme and primary cause behind all occurrences.
• Divine permission is viewed as an active ordination rather than passive observation by God.
• Human limitations prevent us from fully comprehending the hidden counsel and arrangement of God.
• Events that appear purely fortuitous to human observers are actually fixed by divine decree.

He certainly does not figure God sitting idly in a watch-tower, when he chooses to permit anything.

• Even those who lack explicit faith often retain an innate awareness of a higher, secret providence governing events rather than mere random chance.
• Biblical examples, such as the sudden Philistine inroad that saved David from Saul, demonstrate how divine intervention directs human affairs unexpectedly.
• Faith recognizes God's secret agency behind events that appear to human observers as mere coincidence or contingency.
• Events determined by divine counsel are certain to occur, yet they do not always stem from absolute or rigid physical necessity.
• The preservation of Christ's bones illustrates the theological distinction between what is naturally possible and what God's counsel has decreed.
• The doctrine of divine providence embraces past and future events, operating through various means while offering deep instruction and consolation to the godly.

What seems to us contingence, faith will recognise as the secret impulse of God.

• Divine Providence does not contradict human deliberation regarding future events.
• Past crimes remain punishable despite divine decrees because the guilt resides entirely within the wicked actors.
• All events are ordained by God to ultimately contribute to the advantage and safety of the godly.
• God actively curbs enemies, overrules Satan, and uses various trials to train the righteous in patience and repentance.
• Reflecting on Providence renders the servants of God prudent, diligent, and secure amidst innumerable evils.

He overrules all creatures, even Satan himself, for the good of his people.

• The doctrine of divine providence is often misunderstood, leading to perplexing difficulties for those who fail to see its proper use.
• God's providence applies to both past and future events, operating sometimes through means, sometimes without them, and occasionally against them.
• While God cares for the entire human race, He maintains a special vigilance in governing and favoring the Church.
• Hidden causes behind events can make human affairs appear subject to blind fortune, tempting people to view God as arbitrarily toying with humanity.
• Ultimately, God's hidden counsel serves purposeful ends such as training believers in patience and humility while confounding the ungodly.

our carnal nature inclines us to speak as if God were amusing himself by tossing men up and down like balls.

• We must view the glory of God in all things with modesty and revere his hidden judgments rather than demanding an account.
• Just as a violent storm on earth does not disrupt the serene firmament, human turmoil is kept subordinate to God's pure justice and wisdom.
• Many display monstrous infatuation by presuming to subject God's works to their own calculations and passing precipitate judgments.
• True contemplation of divine providence requires humility, recognizing that we deal with our Maker and must exercise fear and reverence.
• Critics petulantly attack the doctrine of providence, refusing to grant God more license than their own limited human reason dictates.

Hence it is, that in the present day so many dogs tear this doctrine with envenomed teeth, or, at least, assail it with their bark, refusing to give more license to God than their own reason dictates to themselves.

• Divine mysteries transcend human senses, yet God enlightens believers to understand revealed truths safely.
• The method of governing the world remains hidden from us and must be reverently adored.
• Moses distinguished between secret things belonging to God and revealed things belonging to humanity.
• The Book of Job emphasizes human humility in the face of the vast and unfathomable works of God.
• Believers are called to exercise modesty and acquiesce in God's supreme authority and universal Providence.

O! the depths of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his Judgments, and his ways past finding out!

• Men often mistakenly blame fate, Jupiter, or God for their own wickedness rather than taking personal responsibility.
• True believers seek to understand what is pleasing to God through Scripture rather than using divine will as an excuse for crime.
• Profane critics argue that if death and destiny are predetermined by God, all human precautions and remedies are rendered vain.
• Such critics foolishly infer that prayers are superfluous if God has already decreed all things from eternity.
• Erroneous reasoning leads some to attribute deliberate crimes, such as murder and theft, directly to divine ordination, turning sins into virtues.

The profane make such a bluster with their foolish puerilities, that they almost, according to the expression, confound heaven and earth.

• Human plans and divine decrees work in harmony, as God directs our steps while we devise our ways.
• God entrusts us with the care of our lives by providing means, warnings, and remedies to defend against dangers.
• Neglecting precautions and acting with slothful temerity invites the very evils that God's providence warns us against.
• Human prudence and folly act as instruments of divine dispensation in determining our safety or destruction.
• Critics wrongly argue that if all events depend on divine will, wrongdoers like thieves and murderers should not be punished.

How comes it that a provident man, while he consults for his safety, disentangles himself from impending evils; while a foolish man, through unadvised temerity, perishes, unless it be that prudence and folly are, in either case, instruments of divine dispensation?

• Wicked individuals do not serve God's will when following their own malignant desires, as true obedience requires instruction by His word.
• Acting contrary to God's precepts constitutes transgression and contumacy, not obedience, even if it ultimately fulfills His ordination.
• Evildoers such as thieves and murderers act as instruments of Divine Providence to execute judgment, but this does not excuse their misdeeds.
• The guilt of wickedness belongs entirely to the wicked person, just as the stench of a rotting corpse comes from the carcass, not the sun's rays.
• A pure and holy meditation on Divine Providence dispels frenzied dreams and calumnies, yielding the best and sweetest fruit for believers.

Have done, then, with that dog-like petulance which may, indeed, bay from a distance at the justice of God, but cannot reach it!

• God holds complete power to direct the counsels, wishes, and faculties of all human beings, both good and bad, as He pleases.
• Scripture offers numerous promises demonstrating that a special providence continuously watches over the safety of believers.
• Historical books of the Bible emphasize that God carefully guards the ways of His saints to prevent them from harm.
• Believers are urged to recognize God's personal care, reinforced by assurances that even the hairs of their head are numbered.
• God governs the actions of all men, exercising His power either to conciliate their minds or to curb their wickedness.
• He can defeat the malice of enemies by depriving them of presence of mind, infatuating their judgment, or filling them with terror.

He even extends this so far, as to assure us that the hairs of our head are all numbered.

• God frequently interrupts and overrules human wickedness to protect and benefit His people.
• Recognizing God as the ultimate source of prosperity fosters deep gratitude in times of abundance.
• Viewing adversity as part of divine providence enables believers to respond with patience rather than revenge.
• Biblical figures like Joseph, Job, and David overcame personal injuries by looking past human malice to God's greater purpose.
• Meditating on divine providence teaches the soul to bear hardships calmly, accepting that God wills nothing unjust.

The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.

• Adversity and enemies are permitted through divine dispensation to exercise our patience rather than provoke retaliation.
• Scripture attributes both prosperity and adversity to the sovereign command and curse of God.
• Christians must recognize God as the principal author of blessings while still honoring human beings as His ministers.
• Human faults, negligence, and malice cannot be excused or palliated under the pretext of divine providence.
• Future planning should utilize available human aid as divine assistance while remaining prudent and active.

Far less where, in the case of theft or murder, fraud and preconceived malice have existed, will he palliate it under the pretext of Divine Providence, but in the same crime will distinctly recognise the justice of God, and the iniquity of man, as each is separately manifested.

• The pious person acts zealously while remaining resigned to the wisdom and guidance of God.
• Confidence in divine providence prevents individuals from being paralyzed by fear or overly reliant on external circumstances.
• Human life is constantly surrounded by innumerable dangers, from disease and accidents to nature and malice.
• Without the light of providence, man would live in perpetual misery, feeling as though a drawn sword hangs constantly over his neck.
• Recognizing the doctrine of providence frees believers from the illusion that they are exposed to blind and random fortune.

Amid these perils, must not man be very miserable, as one who, more dead than alive, with difficulty draws an anxious and feeble breath, just as if a drawn sword were constantly suspended over his neck?

• Believers find relief from extreme fear and anxiety by committing themselves entirely to God.
• Divine providence ensures that nothing happens except by God's appointment and sovereign wisdom.
• The saints maintain exulting confidence because they know God is actively at work in the world.
• The devil and the ungodly are restrained by God's hand as if with a bridle, unable to act without permission.
• God determines the measure and end of all opposition, preventing foes from breaking loose at will.

When they call to mind that the devil, and the whole train of the ungodly, are, in all directions, held in by the hand of God as with a bridle...

• Human life is unstable and subject to constant vicissitudes, but all changes are under divine regulation.
• Ignorance of divine providence is portrayed as a profound misery, while knowing it brings the highest happiness.
• Scriptural passages that mention God repenting or changing his decrees seem to contradict His eternal stability.
• True divine repentance is impossible, as God does not lack foreknowledge, power, or wisdom.
• Figurative language of regret in scripture is clarified by explicit statements of God's unchangeable and unlying nature.

He might have said the course of life or time in the singular number, but by times he meant to express, that how unstable soever the condition of man may be, the vicissitudes which are ever and anon taking place are under divine regulation.

• God's ordination of human affairs is constant and superior to any human concept of repentance.
• Biblical descriptions of God's repentance or anger are accommodations to human capacity rather than literal emotional changes.
• When God is said to repent, it merely signifies a change in His outward procedure rather than any alteration of His eternal will or counsel.
• Divine threatenings often contain tacit conditions aimed at eliciting repentance rather than announcing unalterable fates.
• Warnings like those given to Nineveh or Hezekiah are intended to reform and save people rather than simply foreshadow disaster.

Because our weakness cannot reach his height, any description which we receive of him must be lowered to our capacity in order to be intelligible.

• God uses threatening language and warnings not to alter His eternal decree, but to arouse sinners to repentance and help them escape deserved judgment.
• Analogous biblical cases, such as God's interaction with King Abimelech, demonstrate how preliminary harsh announcements are intended to make a deep impression and elicit satisfaction.
• When God recalls a promulgated judgment after repentance, His will and counsel remain unchanged, fulfilling His immutable purposes as declared by Isaiah.
• The text introduces the final chapter of Book One regarding the instrumentality of the wicked and how God employs them while remaining free from taint.
• Common objections to divine providence include the false distinction between God's permission versus His will, the false notion of two contrary wills in God, and the fear that God is made the author of sin.

The Lord of hosts has purposed, and who shall disannul it? And his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?

• The carnal mind struggles to comprehend how God can use wicked agents without contracting moral taint from their impurity.
• A distinction has been invented between God's active doing and mere permitting to explain this theological difficulty.
• Satan and the wicked are entirely under the hand and authority of God, who directs their malice to His own ends.
• God employs human iniquities to execute His judgments while remaining entirely exempt from guilt.
• While some are alarmed by this apparent absurdity out of a desire to defend divine justice, their methods rely on defending untruths.

For the carnal mind can scarcely comprehend how, when acting by their means, he contracts no taint from their impurity, nay, how, in a common operation, he is exempt from all guilt, and can justly condemn his own ministers.

• It seems paradoxical that humanity is blinded by divine command yet punished for that blindness.
• Scripture demonstrates that men act only through the secret instigation and prior decree of God.
• Scriptural examples, such as the trials of Job, show that Satan and wicked men act as mere instruments of God's will.
• The concept of mere divine permission is rejected because God actively decrees and commissions actions, as seen in the deception of Ahab.
• Even the crucifixion of Christ by the Jews and Pilate was executed according to the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God.

If the blinding and infatuation of Ahab is a Judgment from God, the fiction of bare permission is at an end; for it would be ridiculous for a judge only to permit, and not also to decree, what he wishes to be done at the very time that he commits the execution of it to his ministers.

• Scriptural passages repeatedly attribute human conflicts, military actions, and the cruelties of conquerors directly to the work and command of God rather than mere chance.
• Biblical figures like David and Jeremiah recognized divine agency even behind curses, political revolts, and tragic deaths.
• God actively directs the secret movements and thoughts of the entire human race, guiding every human conception to its intended end.
• Scripture explicitly states that God takes away prudence, instills terror, blinds minds, and hardens hearts as part of His just judgments.
• Attempts to explain away these direct divine interventions as mere passive permissions by God or Satan are rejected by the clear language of the Holy Spirit.

He is said to have hardened the heart of Pharaoh, to have hardened it yet more, and confirmed it.

• The text argues that divine action and human agency coexist, with God actively hardening hearts rather than merely permitting evil.
• Scriptural references from Exodus, Joshua, Psalms, and Isaiah are used to demonstrate that God bends wicked men to execute His judgments.
• Even when Satan acts as an agent in blinding or troubling individuals, he does so only by divine permission and as a minister of God's vengeance.
• The overarching conclusion is that all human counsels and actions are governed by God's providence, forcing even the reprobate to serve His will.
• The author warns against arrogance in questioning these scriptural teachings under the guise of modesty or differing opinions.

Now, could any thing be more feeble and insipid than to interpret as if Pharaoh had only allowed himself to be hardened?

• Wicked men throughout history have blasphemed and argued against divine doctrine, yet their rebellion ultimately highlights the unchanging justice of God.
• Scriptural examples demonstrate that even human injustices and acts of robbery are used as instruments of divine chastisement.
• Critics argue that God's secret decrees must contradict His open laws, but this objection is directed against biblical teaching rather than human philosophy.
• Scripture repeatedly affirms that God directs both good and evil, operating sovereignly even through the wicked actions of historical figures like Herod and Pontius Pilate.
• The divine will is fundamentally one and undivided, appearing manifold and contradictory to human intellect only because of our intellectual feebleness.

Such petulance, indeed, is not new.

• Human limitations prevent full comprehension of how God's secret will can seemingly differ from His revealed commandments.
• Augustine's perspective clarifies that human intentions, whether good or bad, are judged by their underlying motives rather than mere coincidence with outcomes.
• Even when rebellious agents act in direct defiance of God's will, His omnipotence ensures that His overarching purpose is still fulfilled.
• God's permission of evil relies on His supreme ability to ultimately bring good out of wickedness.
• Confusing God's secret decrees with His explicit moral precepts leads to the false conclusion that He is the author of sin.

nor would He who is good permit evil to be done, were he not omnipotent to bring good out of evil

• Wicked actions can be used by God to fulfill secret decrees without excusing the perpetrators of those actions.
• David patiently endured Shimei's curses, recognizing them not as righteous obedience, but as a divine scourge.
• Jeroboam's rise to kingship illustrates how God's secret providence can decree an event while the human means remain rebellious.
• The revolt of the ten tribes violated the divinely sanctioned unity of David's kingdom, yet simultaneously served as punishment orchestrated by God.
• Human agents like Jehu executed divine prophecies against Ahab's house while remaining culpable for their own conspiratorial violence.

For, while he confesses that Shimei acts by the order of God, he by no means commends the obedience, as if that petulant dog had been yielding obedience to a divine command; but, recognising in his tongue the scourge of God, he submits patiently to be chastised.

• The same act can simultaneously manifest human guilt and divine righteousness through differing motives and purposes.
• Augustine explains that God can work within the hearts of the wicked to execute His will while still holding them accountable for their deeds.
• God judges individuals based on their inner will and purpose rather than merely the outward outcome of their actions.
• Human captiousness should not reject difficult scriptural truths simply because they exceed mortal capacity to fully comprehend.
• True wisdom requires embracing the teachings of Scripture with meek docility and without reservation.
• This section concludes the first book and introduces the second book, which focuses on the knowledge of God the Redeemer in Christ.

Who can refrain from trembling at those Judgments when God does according to his pleasure even in the hearts of the wicked, at the same time rendering to them according to their deeds?

• The text outlines the systematic structure of theological arguments regarding Christ as the Mediator and Redeemer.
• It emphasizes that true self-knowledge requires the abandonment of pride and the embrace of humility.
• Adam's fall is identified not merely as sensual intemperance, but as a foundational infidelity that caused a revolt from God.
• The consequences of this transgression extend universally to all creation and to the entire posterity of Adam.
• Original sin is defined as a hereditary depravity propagated to all faculties of the soul, exposing humanity to divine wrath.

This the result not of sensual intemperance, but of infidelity (the source of other heinous sins), which led to revolt from God, from whom all true happiness must be derived.

• God is not the author of sin, as human corruption stems from an inherent viciousness rather than divine creation.
• True self-knowledge requires understanding both our original created dignity and our subsequent fallen corruption.
• Philosophers who encourage self-knowledge to inflate human pride and confidence are mistaken and use the precept preposterously.
• Reflecting on our miserable condition since Adam's fall overthrows all boasting and produces true humility.
• Recognizing our utter destitution drives us to seek after God so we may regain the qualities we have lost.

For as God at first formed us in his own image, that he might elevate our minds to the pursuit of virtue, and the contemplation of eternal life, so to prevent us from heartlessly burying those noble qualities which distinguish us from the lower animals, it is of importance to know that we were endued with reason and intelligence, in order that we might cultivate a holy and honourable life, and regard a blessed immortality as our destined aim.

• Humanity is blinded by innate self-love, leading people to falsely believe they are entirely sufficient for a good and happy life.
• Flattering discourses that praise human excellence are universally applauded because they feed man's spontaneous pride.
• Teachers who encourage contemplation of human good qualities actually plunge people into pernicious ignorance rather than true self-knowledge.
• When a person is judged by divine justice rather than human standards, thorough self-examination leads to profound despondency.
• Although God bestowed a primeval dignity on our first parents, remembering this origin only humbles us because we have fallen from it.

For what avails it to proceed in vain confidence, to deliberate, resolve, plan, and attempt what we deem pertinent to the purpose, and, at the very outset, prove deficient and destitute both of sound intelligence and true virtue, though we still confidently persist till we rush headlong on destruction?

• Human self-knowledge requires understanding our divinely created purpose and our inherent limitations.
• Adam's fall was driven by a deep spiritual rebellion rather than mere sensual intemperance over fruit.
• The prohibition served as a trial of obedience to keep man contented with his lot rather than arrogantly aspiring higher.
• Infidelity, pride, and ambition lay at the root of the revolt when Adam despised the truth and turned to lies.
• By longing for more than was allotted, Adam showed monstrous impiety and contempt for God's liberality.

It was surely monstrous impiety that a son of earth should deem it little to have been made in the likeness, unless he were also made the equal of God.

• Adam's withdrawal from God was a heinous crime driven by infidelity, ambition, and rebellion rather than simple apostasy.
• By believing Satan's calumnies, Adam and Eve insulted God and attempted to annihilate His divine glory.
• Estrangement from God resulted in the death of the soul, plunging humanity into hereditary corruption known as original sin.
• The curse of human transgression extended throughout the entire creation, affecting the natural world and all subsequent offspring.
• Early church writers were sometimes timid in explaining original sin, paving the way for false doctrines that denied its generational impact.

It was accompanied with foul insult to God, the guilty pair assenting to Satan’s calumnies when he charged God with malice, envy, and falsehood.

• Human beings are not corrupted merely by acquired wickedness, but bring an innate corruption from the womb.
• Scriptural passages like Psalm 51 and Job confirm that all humans descend from an impure seed and are tainted with sin from birth.
• Adam serves as the root of human nature, and his corruption was deservedly transmitted to the entire human race.
• The argument that Adam's sin was only propagated by imitation is rejected as blasphemy, akin to denying the true communication of Christ's righteousness.
• Just as Adam involved and ruined humanity through his disobedience, Christ restores believers to salvation through His obedience.

Can any man tolerate such blasphemy?

• Adam's sin brought ruin and corruption not only to himself, but infected his entire posterity.
• Humanity is born vitiated and depraved, making regeneration necessary to enter the gate of life.
• The transmission of sin does not depend on the biological origin of the soul, but on Adam acting as the depository of human endowments.
• Adam received divine gifts and lost them for the entire human race, leaving human nature naked and destitute.
• Guilt is an inherent product of corrupt human nature, whereas holiness and sanctification come strictly from supernatural grace.

Thus, from a corrupt root corrupt branches proceeding, transmit their corruption to the saplings which spring from them.

• Original sin is defined as a hereditary corruption and depravity extending to all parts of the human soul.
• This innate corruption makes humanity obnoxious to the wrath of God and produces the works of the flesh.
• Humanity is not condemned merely for another's fault, but because Adam's transgression brought universal pollution and obligation.
• Augustine and the Apostle Paul confirm that individuals, including infants, are involved in original sin and suffer for their own inherent defect.
• Even infants possess the seed of unrighteousness within them from birth, carrying their own condemnation.

Hence, even infants bringing their condemnation with them from their mother's womb, suffer not for another's, but for their own defect.

• Human nature is described as a seed-bed of sin that is inherently odious to God.
• This perversity is constantly active, continually producing the works of the flesh much like a furnace sends forth sparks.
• The corruption of sin is not limited to mere appetites or sensuality, but has seized the very citadel of the mind and heart.
• Historical theologians like Peter Lombard are criticized for incorrectly localizing this corruption solely to the flesh.
• True spiritual renewal requires a complete transformation of the entire mind and nature, as mere cure is insufficient.

For our nature is not only utterly devoid of goodness, but so prolific in all kinds of evil, that it can never be idle.

• Humanity's ruin stems from our own carnality and degeneracy rather than from any flaw in divine workmanship.
• Objections regarding why God did not prevent Adam's fall touch upon the mystery of predestination and border on daring presumption.
• Scripture clearly teaches that God made man upright, but human infatuation led to vanity and self-destruction.
• While corruption is natural to us now by a hereditary law, it is an adventitious event rather than an original property of our substance.
• Attributing human corruption to a hereditary condition avoids blaming God while refuting the Manichean error of a separate evil creator.

Let us have done, then, with those who dare to inscribe the name of God on their vices, because we say that men are born vicious.

• The chapter investigates whether the sons of Adam are completely deprived of liberty following the fall of man.
• Removing the obstacles of sloth and pride is necessary to lay a proper foundation for discussing human free will.
• Ancient theologians and philosophers produced a wide variety of contradictory opinions by mixing philosophy with theology.
• Scholastic divines created numerous puzzles and distinctions regarding free will while attempting to explain its mechanics.
• The true doctrine establishes that man only begins to truly know himself when he recognizes his own ruined condition.
• Despite natural endowments being corrupted and supernatural ones lost, the human intellect retains some perception regarding terrestrial things and arts.

Too great fondness for philosophy in the Church has obscured the knowledge of God and of ourselves.

• Individual endowments and talents are intended for the common benefit of mankind, sometimes even bestowed upon the wicked.
• The human intellect is entirely blind regarding celestial things, divine knowledge, and adoption unless illuminated by God.
• Scripture and reasoning demonstrate that human intellect is ignorant of the true knowledge of the divine law.
• Plato and Themistius are critiqued regarding their views on whether sins stem from ignorance or intentional malice.
• The natural desire for good does not prove freedom of the will, as the entire mind and will are subject to the power of sin.

The whole man being subject to the power of sin, it follows that the will, which is the chief seat of sin, requires to be most strictly curbed.

• Man's lack of inherent righteousness tempts him either to indulge in sloth or to falsely arrogate virtue to himself.
• To avoid these dangers, we must recognize our complete lack of internal goodness and destitution.
• Acknowledging our poverty and stripping away false boasting actually provides a stronger stimulus to seek true goodness.
• Originally, man's happiness and noble ornaments were derived by divine communication rather than being inherently his own.
• Renouncing all praise of wisdom and virtue is necessary to glorify God and avoid the ruin of relying on our own fragile strength.
• Attempting to defend free will ultimately destroys it, and overthrowing human virtue serves to exalt the power of God.

When we are taught to contend in our own strength, what more is done than to lift us up, and then leave us to lean on a reed which immediately gives way?

• Philosophers traditionally view reason as a governing lamp and queen within the mind, directing counsels and ruling the will.
• Sense is characterized as dull and short-sighted, prone to groveling among inferior objects unless elevated by true vision.
• The appetite acts variably, either transforming into virtuous will through reason or degenerating into lust through sense enslavement.
• Intellect, sense, and will are housed in the soul, with intellect serving as the primary guide to a virtuous and happy life.
• Philosophers acknowledge that establishing the supremacy of reason is exceptionally difficult due to human allurements, false goods, and unruly passions.
• Mind diseases are famously compared to fiery steeds that have thrown off their charioteer and scamper away unchecked.

They confess that when once diseases of this description have seized upon the mind, their course is too impetuous to be easily checked, and they hesitate not to compare them to fiery steeds, which, having thrown off the charioteer, scamper away

• Philosophers traditionally argued that virtue and vice are entirely within human power and choice.
• Ancient thinkers maintained that human reason is sufficient for right government and moral guidance.
• Early ecclesiastical writers often minimized human impotence to avoid the ridicule of philosophers.
• These writers attempted to reconcile scriptural doctrine with philosophical dogmas regarding free will.
• Church fathers like Chrysostom emphasized that human beings must contribute their own effort alongside divine grace.

Some of the most ancient writers appear to me to have exalted human strengths from a fear that a distinct acknowledgment of its impotence might expose them to the jeers of the philosophers with whom they were disputing...

• Early theologians like Jerome attempted to balance human effort with divine completion, yet exaggerated human capability to combat innate sluggishness.
• Ancient Greek Fathers, particularly Chrysostom, excessively extolled human will, leading to general confusion and contradiction among early writers.
• Succeeding writers increasingly defended human nature, culminating in the flawed dogma that only the sensual part of man was corrupted while reason remained intact.
• Despite using phrases about corrupted natural gifts, few writers understood the true depth of human vitiation and instead spoke more like secular philosophers.
• Both Latins and Greeks adopted terms like free will and autexousion, presumptuously implying that man retains full power within himself.
• Because the common belief in free will remains pervasive yet ill-defined, it is necessary to examine the actual term and appeal to Scripture to determine man's true power for good or evil.

the Greeks were not ashamed to use a still more presumptuous term—viz. aujtexouvsion, as if man had still full power in himself.

• Various historical theologians like Augustine, Bernard, and Anselm defined free will as a combination of reason and will.
• Thomas Aquinas further refined free will as an elective power combining intelligence and appetite.
• Scholars generally restricted human free will to intermediate matters, attributing true righteousness to divine grace.
• Writers focus primarily on free will's relation to divine law rather than just civil or external actions.
• The schools of thought categorized freedom into three types: freedom from necessity, from sin, and from misery.

When writers treat of free will, their inquiry is chiefly directed not to what its power is in relation to civil or external actions, but to the obedience required by the divine law.

• Human beings cannot perform good works without the specific assistance of divine grace granted to the elect.
• The theological debate questions whether human nature retains any feeble innate power to desire good on its own.
• Peter Lombard's distinction between 'operating' and 'co-operating' grace falsely implies that human nature possesses an ineffectual natural desire for goodness.
• Subsequent interpretations of co-operating grace wrongly suggest that humans can independently merit reward by choosing not to reject divine grace.
• True Christian freedom, according to Lombard, does not mean an equal inclination toward good and evil, but merely freedom from external compulsion while remaining enslaved to sin.

This liberty is compatible with our being depraved, the servants of sin, able to do nothing but sin.

• Man acts voluntarily and not by compulsion, yet his will remains bound by sin as a voluntary slave.
• The use of the term 'free will' is dangerous because people easily misinterpret it to mean they can choose good or evil independently.
• Human minds are prone to drawing error from a single word rather than truth from an extended discourse.
• Ancient writers like Augustine frequently described the human will as enslaved, chained by lusts, and devoid of liberty without divine grace.
• True freedom of the will is not achieved through human strength, but only when the Spirit assists and God frees the will.

An admirable freedom! that man is not forced to be the servant of sin, while he is, however, ejthelodou'lo" (a voluntary slave); his will being bound by the fetters of sin.

• Boasting about free will is contradictory because those who are in bondage to sin are actually servants to their conqueror.
• True freedom comes solely through the grace of the Savior rather than through human effort or personal work.
• The unassisted human will is described as free only from righteousness and entirely enslaved to sin.
• While earlier ecclesiastical writers often spoke ambiguously, they ultimately ascribed the credit for all good to the Holy Spirit.
• The author advises against using the term 'free will' due to the great danger of misleading believers into false security.

That the will is indeed free, but not freed—free of righteousness, but enslaved to sin.

• Patristic writers like Augustine, Eucherius, and Chrysostom emphasize that human beings possess no inherent goodness and depend entirely upon God.
• Attempting to share the merit of a good work between God and man contradicts the foundational doctrine that man is wholly sinful.
• The primary goal of early theological teachings on free will was to strip man of all self-confidence and direct his strength toward God alone.
• True self-knowledge begins when an individual is thoroughly abased and conscious of their nakedness, want, and misery.
• Arrogating any virtue to oneself is a dangerous form of impiety that mirrors the original temptation to become like gods.
• Scriptural passages explicitly warn against trusting in human strength and instead command individuals to place their hope entirely in divine mercy.

It is sweet, indeed, to have so much virtue of our own as to be able to rest in ourselves; but let the many solemn passages by which our pride is sternly humbled, deter us from indulging this vain confidence.

• Scriptural passages emphasize that believers must abandon reliance on their own strength to receive divine favor.
• God's blessings are exclusively reserved for those who recognize their spiritual poverty and thirst.
• Chrysostom and Augustine both declare that humility is the absolute foundation and primary precept of the Christian religion.
• True humility requires acknowledging that human nature is wounded and that righteousness comes entirely from God.
• Recognizing our own complete insignificance allows us to be sustained entirely by the mercy and grace of God.

Let no man flatter himself: of himself he is a devil: his happiness he owes entirely to God.

• Man's withdrawal of allegiance to God resulted in the loss of supernatural gifts necessary for eternal salvation.
• Spiritual qualities like faith, love, and righteousness were completely extinguished and must be restored by Christ's grace.
• While natural gifts like reason and will were not entirely destroyed, they were severely corrupted and weakened.
• The human intellect remains capable of some intelligence, but it is smothered by darkness and unable to reach divine truth.
• The human will persists as part of human nature, yet it is enslaved by depraved lusts and incapable of righteous desire.

Therefore, since reason, by which man discerns between good and evil, and by which he understands and judges, is a natural gift, it could not be entirely destroyed; but being partly weakened and partly corrupted, a shapeless ruin is all that remains.

• The human mind possesses a natural love for truth, distinguishing it from animals, yet it ultimately falls into vanity.
• Human investigation is characterized by dullness and bewilderment, leading to wasted effort on superfluous and useless discussions.
• Despite these deep flaws, human efforts do yield some results when directed toward inferior, earthly objects.
• Human ability is most severely limited and exposes human weakness when attempting to soar above the sphere of the present life.
• A clear distinction exists between earthly intelligence, which involves social order and mechanical arts, and heavenly knowledge, which pertains to God.
• All human beings share an innate impression of civil order and honesty, naturally understanding how societies must be regulated by laws.

As the human mind is unable, from dullness, to pursue the right path of investigation, and, after various wanderings, stumbling every now and then like one groping in darkness, at length gets completely bewildered, so its whole procedure proves how unfit it is to search the truth and find it.

• Even those who violate laws and act out of passion still retain an underlying concept of equity and civil order.
• The capacity to learn, devise, and improve upon manual and liberal arts demonstrates a universal human intelligence.
• This innate human reason should be recognized as a special, gratuitous gift of divine beneficence rather than mere common shrewdness.
• The existence of idiots reveals how human souls would function entirely devoid of divine light.
• Profane authors display an admirable light of truth, proving the human mind is still adorned with gifts from its Creator despite its fallen state.
• Because the Spirit of God is the sole fountain of truth, one must not reject truth wherever it appears to avoid insulting Him.

If we reflect that the Spirit of God is the only fountain of truth, we will be careful, as we would avoid offering insult to him, not to reject or condemn truth wherever it appears.

• Ancient philosophers, lawmakers, and scientists demonstrated remarkable intellect and skill that compel our deep admiration.
• Denying the excellence of human arts, laws, and sciences is an ungrateful dismissal of the Giver's work.
• The Holy Spirit imparts special knowledge and abilities for human benefit even to those alienated from God.
• Believers should wisely utilize secular sciences and talents provided by God rather than foolishly neglecting them.
• Despite human intellectual brilliance, worldly talents remain fleeting and vain without a solid foundation in divine truth.

Nor is there any ground for asking what concourse the Spirit can have with the ungodly, who are altogether alienated from God?

• Reason distinguishes humans from lower animals as an essential property of divine creation.
• Variations in human intellect and talent demonstrate the distribution of God's unearned grace.
• Special inspirations and divine control guide individuals throughout their callings and governance.
• Human reason encompasses three spiritual discernments: knowing God, His paternal favor, and His law.
• Despite intellectual brilliance, humans remain completely blind to spiritual truths without divine direction.

Their discernment was not such as to direct them to the truth, far less to enable them to attain it, but resembled that of the bewildered traveller, who sees the flash of lightning glance far and wide for a moment, and then vanish into the darkness of the night, before he can advance a single step.

• Human reason fails to comprehend the true nature of God without divine assistance.
• People possess an arrogant and false opinion of their own spiritual discernment.
• Scripture portrays the human soul as possessing only a faint spark of divine light yet remaining in spiritual darkness.
• The flesh holds no inherent capacity to grasp divine wisdom unless illuminated by the Holy Spirit.
• Spiritual regeneration and the true recognition of God come exclusively as special gifts from heaven.

He intimates that the human soul is indeed irradiated with a beam of divine light, so that it is never left utterly devoid of some small flame, or rather spark, though not such as to enable it to comprehend God.

• Human words and external miracles are ultimately ineffective in imparting divine knowledge without inner spiritual enlightenment.
• Biblical passages from Moses to the prophets emphasize that human beings lack an inherent heart to perceive spiritual truths.
• Jesus Christ affirms that no one can come to him unless drawn by the Father and taught by the inner work of the Spirit.
• Even with Christ's visible manifestation and faithful preaching, nothing is accomplished in the human mind without the Spirit.
• The Apostle Paul explicitly confirms that the natural man cannot grasp the things of the Spirit because they are spiritually discerned.

True! He did; but nothing is accomplished by his preaching unless the inner teacher, the Spirit, open the way into our minds.

• Spiritual truths and hidden mysteries of God are only made known through the revelation of the Holy Spirit.
• The natural wisdom and mind of the world act as a veil, rendering human understanding fundamentally blind to divine things.
• Even with the written law as a guide, humans lack the inherent capacity to perceive its wonders without divine illumination.
• Apostles themselves required the Spirit of truth to complete their understanding despite prior instruction.
• Humans possess slightly more natural discernment regarding moral conduct and the works of righteousness written on their hearts.

What would we more? The Apostle declares that God has made foolish the wisdom of this world, and shall we attribute to it an acuteness capable of penetrating to God, and the hidden mysteries of his kingdom?

• Natural law and conscience provide humanity with a fundamental understanding of just and unjust conduct.
• The primary purpose of natural law is to render individuals inexcusable for their wrongdoing by stripping away the pretext of ignorance.
• Humans frequently attempt to suppress their awareness of sin, proving that wrongdoing is rarely committed through genuine ignorance alone.
• While abstract moral rules are widely understood, individuals often obscure or forget these principles when applying them to particular actions.
• Certain crimes weigh so heavily on the conscience that sinners knowingly and willingly rush into wrongdoing rather than deceiving themselves.

For this reason, Aristotle seems to me to have made a very shrewd distinction between incontinence and intemperance.

• Human conscience is imbued with a sense of justice to prevent ignorance, yet it fails to discern the truth in specific cases.
• Natural human reason is blind to the principal tenets of the First Table, such as true worship, trust, and devotion to God.
• While there is greater understanding of the Second Table due to its role in civil society, natural reason still rejects divine patience and humility.
• Unchecked concupiscence and subtle depraved desires entirely escape human animadversion, as the natural mind cannot recognize diseases in its lusts.
• Human reason is exposed to countless delusions, errors, and snares, causing us to fall repeatedly even when our intentions are good.

The light of nature is stifled sooner than take the first step into this profound abyss.

• Paul asserts that humans lack the native capability to think or perform anything right before God.
• Scriptural evidence portrays the thoughts of the human heart as continually evil and vain.
• Even spiritually mature figures like David and Paul continually prayed for divine understanding and direction.
• Augustine compared the necessity of divine grace for the mind to the sun's light for the physical eye.
• Spiritual illumination is not a one-time event, but an ongoing process requiring constant divine renewal.

he deems the grace of illumination not less necessary to the mind than the light of the sun to the eye

• The power of choice resides in the will rather than the intellect.
• True free will requires deliberation and reason, distinguishing humans from brutes.
• Natural instincts to desire good are shared with animals and do not prove human free will.
• The universal human desire for happiness or blessedness is a natural inclination, not a movement of a free will.
• Without the impulse of the Spirit, humans do not aspire to eternal blessedness despite desiring it.

They, too, desire what is good; and when any semblance of good capable of moving the sense appears, they follow after it.

• The text critiques the misinterpretation of Romans 7 as applying to unregenerate natural man rather than the spiritual struggle of believers.
• Paul's description of sin dwelling in the flesh actually characterizes the ongoing internal conflict experienced solely by those who are regenerated.
• Scriptural evidence from Paul, Moses, and Christ confirms that humanity without grace is entirely incapable of good thoughts and is universally subject to sin.
• Because the will is the primary seat of sin, human free will is bound under the dominion of sin without divine intervention.
• Any righteous desires, prayers, or preparations in believers originate entirely from God's grace rather than human autonomy.

We are all sinners by nature, therefore we are held under the yoke of sin.

• Scriptural evidence demonstrates that the intellect, will, and heart of man are thoroughly corrupted by sin.
• Apparent virtues found in heathens are not ordinary human properties, but special gifts of God restrained or defiled by ambition.
• Man's will remains a slave to sin, bound necessarily yet voluntarily without physical compulsion.
• Conversion and the restoration of soundness to the human will are ascribed entirely to the grace and work of God.
• The beginning, continuation, and completion of every good desire and perseverance in faith originate solely from divine election and grace.

He falls under the bondage of sin necessarily, and yet voluntarily.

• Perseverance is maintained as a gift of God rather than a human capability, supported by the arguments and testimonies of Augustine and Bernard.
• Scripture portrays human nature through the concept of the flesh, denoting a miserable creature entirely opposed to God and incapable of divine righteousness.
• The objection that the term 'flesh' applies only to sensual desires and not the higher soul is refuted by Christ's demand for total spiritual rebirth.
• The antithesis between Spirit and flesh leaves no intermediate nature, meaning everything derived purely from unregenerate human nature is carnal.
• Apostolic teachings further place depraved desires within the mind itself, demonstrating that every part of human nature is perverted and corrupted.

Grant that there is nothing in human nature but flesh, and then extract something good out of it if you can.

• Scripture portrays humanity as darkened, alienated from God, and marked by blindness of heart.
• Divine grace through Christ is presented as the sole remedy for human ignorance and blindness.
• Biblical passages uniformly condemn human nature, describing thoughts as foolish and the heart as deceitful.
• The Apostle Paul indicts the entire posterity of Adam rather than specific individuals or eras.
• Humanity is depicted as completely ruined, overwhelmed by calamity, and dependent entirely on God's mercy for deliverance.

Thus he thunders not against certain individuals, but against the whole posterity of Adam—not against the depraved manners of any single age, but the perpetual corruption of nature.

• Paul strips man of both righteousness and sound intelligence, proving apostasy from God.
• Humanity is shown to have universally gone astray, with no one naturally doing good.
• Even if all iniquities do not break out in every individual, the seeds of vice lurk in every breast.
• Apparent earthly virtues do not disprove human corruption, as divine grace provides internal restraint.
• Without God's restraining grace, every human mind would unleash the full capacity for crime.

I confess indeed, that all these iniquities do not break out in every individual. Still it cannot be denied that the hydra lurks in every breast.

• Human nature is inherently corrupt and inclined toward endless wickedness.
• Without divine intervention and restraint, human passion would destroy established order.
• God curbs human perverseness through various means such as shame, fear of laws, and social station.
• Seemingly virtuous traits in natural men are not proof of an inherently good human nature.
• Apparent virtues are actually special gifts distributed by God to otherwise profane individuals, rather than common endowments of nature.

No ravenous beast would rush so furiously, no stream, however rapid and violent, so impetuously burst its banks.

• God sometimes endows specific leaders and individuals with special qualities or a spirit of heroism for their roles.
• Great talents in ungodly men are often defiled by ambition and lack a true zeal for the glory of God.
• Virtues that appear praiseworthy in civil society hold no value before the judgment-seat of God without spiritual regeneration.
• The unregenerated human will is enslaved to sin and entirely incapable of moving toward true goodness without divine grace.
• While man retains a will that eagerly inclines toward evil, it lacks soundness unless healed by grace.
• True freedom of the will involves distinguishing between necessity and compulsion, as seen in the unchangeable goodness of God and wickedness of the devil.

When the will is enchained as the slave of sin, it cannot make a movement towards goodness, far less steadily pursue it.

• Man sins voluntarily through the corruption of his own nature rather than by external force.
• Augustine argued that the fall converted human liberty into a necessary bondage of sin.
• Bernard described the human condition as a voluntary servitude where the will remains inexcusable.
• This dual state of being both bond and free renders humanity simultaneously guilty and enslaved.
• This theological perspective on human corruption and necessity is rooted in historical church doctrine.

Thus the soul, in some strange and evil way, is held under this kind of voluntary, yet sadly free necessity, both bond and free; bond in respect of necessity, free in respect of will: and what is still more strange, and still more miserable, it is guilty because free, and enslaved because guilty, and therefore enslaved because free.

• God initiates conversion by exciting a desire for righteousness and guides the heart toward it.
• Scripture likens the transformation of the human heart to replacing a stony heart with flesh, demonstrating complete renewal rather than mere assistance.
• The human will left to itself cannot aspire effectually to good without being wholly transformed by God.
• While the faculty of the will remains, its orientation is entirely recreated from evil to good by divine action.
• Scripture confirms that God is the sole author of spiritual life, working in believers both to will and to do.

If there is any softness in a stone; if you can make it tender, and flexible into any shape, then it may be said, that the human heart may be shaped for rectitude, provided that which is imperfect in it is supplemented by divine grace.

• Salvation is entirely gratuitous, originating solely from the second creation in Christ Jesus.
• Human beings possess no inherent merit or ability of their own, leaving no ground for boasting.
• Scripture indicates that God not only corrects our depraved will, but actively substitutes a good will from Himself.
• Augustine's description of the will as a handmaid of grace was meant to refute Pelagian merit, not to assign the will a secondary cooperative role.
• Grace produces the very will itself, making God the exclusive author of all good works.

Men labour to find in our will something that is our own, and not God’s; how they can find it, I wot not.

• The will is aided by God's grace not only to know what is right, but to actually desire and perform it.
• The text argues that the beginning of any good will originates solely with God and the elect.
• Because faith is a free gift of God, human conversion from evil to good stems entirely from divine grace.
• Scriptural passages involving the replacement of a stony heart with a heart of flesh demonstrate that all goodness in conversion belongs to God.
• The prayers of saints, such as Solomon asking God to incline human hearts, reflect the inherent perversity of unassisted human nature.

He could not more clearly claim to himself, and deny to us, everything good and right in our will, than by declaring, that in our conversion there is the creation of a new spirit and a new heart.

• Human hearts are naturally rebellious against Divine law and require correction to achieve obedience.
• David's prayer in the Psalms acknowledges the inherent impurity and crookedness of the human soul.
• Human pride fiercely resists the divine command to renounce our own works and rely entirely on God.
• Christ uses the metaphor of the vine and branches to show that humans can do nothing good without Him.
• Separated from Christ, humans are merely dry, useless wood with zero native capacity for righteousness.

If we can no more bear fruit of ourselves than a vine can bud when rooted up and deprived of moisture, there is no longer any room to ask what the aptitude of our nature is for good.

• God is described as the sole author of both the human will and the vigorous effort to execute good works.
• Claiming any personal credit for a good will or moral action is viewed as robbing God of His glory.
• God not only inspires the initial desire for rectitude but also supplies the persevering strength to overcome fleshly burdens.
• Scriptural references from Paul and David illustrate that believers require divine fortification to remain steadfast against distractions.
• The movement of the divine will is strictly efficacious rather than merely an offered aid waiting for human permission.

It is, therefore, robbery from God to arrogate anything to ourselves, either in the will or the act.

• Divine grace is effectual in itself and is not bestowed promiscuously on all people.
• Only those whose hearts are inspired by heaven begin to seek and ask for God's favor.
• Augustine argues that human free choice cannot claim the merit of finding the right way without divine assistance.
• The doctrine of effectual perseverance excludes the sophist idea that grace can be freely accepted or rejected at will.
• Perseverance is a gratuitous gift of God rather than a reward for human merit or cooperation.

Such a reverie, I say, which is neither fish nor flesh, is excluded, when it is said that God makes us so persevere that we are in no danger of declining.

• God rewards the faithful use of previous grace with larger measures of future grace according to scriptural principle.
• This multiplication of grace must not be viewed as a reward earned by human industry or independent effort.
• Augustine's distinction of operating and co-operating grace emphasizes that God initiates and perfects all good works.
• Even the human good will required to follow grace is itself a gift bestowed freely by the Lord.
• Believers exhibit a voluntary readiness to obey only because the Spirit of God first begat and continues to strengthen that obedience.
• Claiming that man is able of himself to be an independent fellow-laborer with grace is rejected as a pestilential delusion.

If it is meant that man is able of himself to be a fellow-labourer with the grace of God, I hold it to be a most pestilential delusion.

• The Apostle Paul attributes the entire merit of spiritual labor to divine grace alone rather than to human cooperation.
• Mistranslations and ambiguity in the Greek text have historically misled commentators into viewing grace as merely a fellow-worker.
• Augustine argues that the human will itself is a gift from God that precedes other gifts and corrects human unwillingness.
• Bernard and Augustine agree that God actively draws reluctant souls and instills both the will and the power to obey.
• Unlike Adam's original freedom to potentially sin, believers are granted the enhanced freedom not to be able to sin through the Holy Spirit.

Draw me, who am in some measure unwilling, and make me willing; draw me, who am sluggishly lagging, and make me run.

• Augustine argues that all good works and choices in humanity are the direct fruit and effect of divine grace.
• Human will is not destroyed by grace, but rather transformed from bad to good and inwardly affected to obey.
• Divine grace is given freely and specially to the elect, independent of any human merit or works.
• The human will cannot turn to God or continue in God without the ongoing, sustaining power of grace.
• God's active role in human and devilish actions is explored, distinguishing divine purpose from satanic design.

Thus the will (free will, if you choose to call it so), which is left to man, is, as he in another place (Ep. 46) describes it, a will which can neither be turned to God, nor continue in God, unless by grace...

• Man remains enslaved to sin and necessarily sins voluntarily, despite distinctions between compulsion and necessity.
• Augustine compares the human will to a horse, with God and the devil acting as contrasting riders.
• A skilled divine rider guides the will calmly, correcting its speed, temper, and course.
• An ignorant and rash devilish rider drives the will over broken ground, ditches, and precipices into fury.
• The unguided will yields to Satan not through forced resistance, but through fascination and spiritual blindness.
• Satanic works originate within the root of evil situated inside the human will itself.

If God mounts, he, like a temperate and skilful rider, guides it calmly, urges it when too slow, reins it in when too fast, curbs its forwardness and over-action, checks its bad temper, and keeps it on the proper course.

• The biblical story of Job illustrates how a single calamity can be attributed to God, Satan, and man simultaneously.
• God intends to test Job's patience, Satan aims to drive Job to despair, and the Chaldeans seek unlawful financial gain.
• The diversity of purposes behind an action creates a fundamental moral distinction in the act itself.
• God permits Satan to act and hands the Chaldeans over to their depraved impulses to execute divine judgment.
• Satan operates within the reprobate as an instrument of divine wrath while remaining completely under God's command.
• Despite overlapping actions, God maintains spotless righteousness while Satan and human actors bear full guilt for their iniquity.

The Lord permits Satan to afflict his servant; and the Chaldeans, who had been chosen as the ministers to execute the deed, he hands over to the impulses of Satan, who, pricking on the already depraved Chaldeans with his poisoned darts, instigates them to commit the crime.

• Authors sometimes fear that speaking too plainly about divine works might give impiety a handle against God.
• Scripture clearly demonstrates that divine interference in blinding and hardening hearts amounts to more than mere prescience or permission.
• God acts firstly by withdrawing His light, Spirit, and guidance, which naturally leaves humanity in darkness and hardness.
• God acts secondly by employing Satan as a minister of His anger to direct counsels and excite wills to execute His judgments.
• The hardening of King Simon's heart by the Lord served as a direct divine preparation for his ultimate ruin and delivery into Israelite hands.

The second method, which comes much nearer to the exact meaning of the words, is when executing his judgments by Satan as the minister of his anger, God both directs men’s counsels, and excites their wills, and regulates their efforts as he pleases.

• Scriptural passages sometimes depict God hardening human hearts and instigating actions, such as with Pharaoh and Sihon.
• God actively employs Satan and the reprobate as instruments and ministers to accomplish his purposes and execute justice.
• Augustine noted that while human sin originates from individuals, the resulting direction and outcome are governed by God's mighty power.
• Evil spirits sent by the Lord function completely subservient to his divine will rather than as independent agents.
• Although God uses wicked instruments to achieve his ends, a clear ethical distinction remains between divine justice and human or demonic malice.

He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way.

• Human liberty in corporeal and indifferent actions is a debated topic with varying degrees of concession.
• While spiritual righteousness requires God's grace, even worldly and advantageous choices depend on divine intervention.
• Divine Providence not only shapes external outcomes but actively directs the internal wills and inclinations of men.
• Scriptural examples demonstrate that human favor, fear, and strategic decisions are often overruled or inspired by God.
• Instances such as Jacob seeking mercy from Egypt and the altering of kingly counsels illustrate God working in human hearts.

Who gave the Israelites such favour in the eyes of the Egyptians, that they lent them all their most valuable commodities?

• Divine providence shapes and bends human wills, rendering choice ultimately subject to God's disposal.
• Daily experience demonstrates that human judgment and courage fluctuate under forces beyond personal control.
• Scriptural evidence, including Proverbs, affirms that even the hearts of kings remain entirely in the hand of the Lord.
• Augustine noted that God directs both good and worldly human wills to perform acts of kindness or punishment.
• The true freedom of the human will must be measured internally rather than by outward success or worldly obstacles.

If men possess both of these, Attilius Regulus, shut up in a barrel studded with sharp nails, will have a will no less free than Augustus Caesar ruling with imperial sway over a large portion of the globe.

• The text addresses and refutes multiple perceived absurdities and arguments used by Pelagians and Neo-Pelagians in defense of free will.
• Arguments derived from the Law demanding perfect obedience are answered by distinguishing precepts and pointing to the grace of God.
• Divine promises and upbraidings are defended against the objection that they are vain if human will is not autonomous.
• Various scriptural passages from Genesis, Romans, Corinthians, Ecclesiastes, and Luke are systematically explained and reconciled with theological doctrine.
• Augustine and various Apostles are frequently cited to support the arguments against free will and establish the necessity of divine grace.

The Law demands perfect obedience and therefore God either mocks us, or requires things which are not in our power.

• Opponents argue that if sin is necessary, it ceases to be sin, and if it is voluntary, it must be avoidable.
• The author denies that sin is less imputable because it is necessary, or that it is avoidable simply because it is voluntary.
• Human impotence and the slavery to sin stem from Adam's voluntary revolt and the resulting corruption of nature.
• Both the devil and the elect angels demonstrate that actions can be performed both voluntarily and necessarily.
• Critics wrongly equate actions done voluntarily with those resulting from a free choice.

I have also shown, in the case of the elect angels, that though their will cannot decline from good, it does not therefore cease to be will.

• The text addresses the objection that grace undermines human responsibility, arguing that punishment is just as long as sin is committed voluntarily.
• It cites Augustine to support the premise that divine rewards stem from God's kindness and gifts rather than human merits.
• The author contends that denying free will does not eliminate reward, but rather attributes the glory of believers entirely to God's mercy.
• Scriptural references, including Paul's letters, are used to emphasize that everything is a received gift, leaving no room for human boasting.
• Ultimately, God's inexhaustible liberality allows Him to recompense virtuous acts as if they were our own, despite originating entirely from grace.

If you wish to be an alien from grace, boast your merits.

• The text argues that all humans are naturally depraved, and human will alone cannot account for moral differences.
• Divine election and mercy are what distinguish those who recover from wickedness from those who do not.
• Perseverance in faith is framed as a specific gift from God rather than a universal trait.
• The author cites Augustine to address objections regarding the apparent vanity of moral exhortations and warnings.
• God's precepts are said to show humans their duty and fault, while prayer provides the power to fulfill them through grace.

The others whom, in just judgment, he passes over, pine and rot away till they are consumed.

• The author argues that doctrine, exhortations, and rebukes are consistently paired in scripture with the acknowledgment that God alone provides the grace and power for obedience.
• Paul and Moses both utilized heavy exhortations and laws, while simultaneously confessing that a receptive heart and spiritual renewal are the exclusive work of God.
• A central question arises as to why God demands obedience and chastises failures when He alone can grant the necessary will and grace.
• Exhortations serve a dual purpose: they act as a condemning testimony against the obstinate wicked at judgment, and they are actively employed by the Spirit to strengthen believers.
• Hardness of heart cannot be blamed on divine withholding, but remains the fault of the sinner, while the strength of the godly rests entirely in God's grace.

Why then do they not expostulate with God for making sport with men, by demanding of them things which he alone can give, and chastising them for faults committed through want of his grace?

• God utilizes both inward spiritual guidance and outward exhortations through His Word to direct believers.
• Exhortations serve to convict of sin, arouse from lethargy, and make righteousness desirable rather than being superfluous.
• The Word acts effectively in the elect to renew them, while leaving the reprobate without excuse on the day of judgment.
• Critics who question the necessity of exhortations if the Spirit already guides are rebuked for replying against God.
• Opponents of this doctrine who amass numerous scriptural passages are likened to an unwarlike multitude that quickly flees in battle.

O, man! who art thou that replies against God?

• Opponents argue that divine precepts imply human ability to fulfill them, assuming God would not command what is impossible.
• These precepts are categorized into those enjoining conversion, law observance, and perseverance.
• The belief that human ability matches divine law is rooted in a fundamental ignorance of the law's true purpose.
• Scripture indicates that the law was established to reveal human feebleness and the knowledge of sin rather than to match human strength.
• Divine promises annexed to commands demonstrate that the power to obey comes solely from divine grace rather than human capability.

Is it not rather meant that it was placed far above us, in order to convince us of our utter feebleness?

• The Law serves to reveal human weakness and compel both the ungodly and the godly to recognize their need for grace.
• Augustine explains that God commands what humans cannot do so they will learn to ask Him for help.
• Scripture contains apparent paradoxes where God commands humans to turn to Him, yet also declares that He alone causes them to turn.
• Every degree of purity, piety, and obedience is ultimately a divine gift rather than a product of autonomous human free will.
• Paul's exhortations to remain in grace and be strong imply that the power to obey must be sought directly from God.

God orders what we cannot do, that we may know what we ought to ask of him.

• Paul's epistles are cited to argue that human actions and promptings are entirely directed by God rather than originating from independent human will.
• Opponents attempt to use prophetic passages like Zechariah to claim that human conversion is a collaborative effort shared between God and man.
• The text refutes the notion that being commanded to obey the Law implies we possess the inherent power to fulfill it.
• Jeremiah's reference to the broken covenant demonstrates that the Spirit must intervene to train the human heart for true obedience.
• Passages about turning to God are reinterpreted to mean receiving His temporal favor and prosperity rather than an inner renewal of the heart.

Since, in order to our fulfilling the divine precepts, the grace of the Lawgiver is both necessary, and has been promised to us, this much at least is clear, that more is demanded of us than we are able to pay.

• Critics argue that conditional divine promises mock human free will if people lack the power to secure or reject blessings.
• The text denies that God mocks humanity, explaining that promises serve distinct purposes for both believers and the ungodly.
• For the ungodly, promises serve as testimony to their unworthiness and justify their exclusion from divine favor.
• For believers, promises act alongside precepts to stimulate prayer, arouse indolence, and cultivate a love for righteousness.
• God does not attribute full power of willing to humans, nor does He mock their impotence through conditional commands.

It is, indeed, an easy matter to indulge in declamatory complaint on this subject, to say that we are cruelly mocked by the Lord, when he declares that his kindness depends on our wills if we are not masters of our wills.

• Scriptural examples demonstrate God upbraiding His people for their ingratitude and disobedience, noting that their lack of favor stems from turning away from the Lord.
• Objectors argue that such rebukes are unfair because their bondage to sin leaves them powerless to choose obedience or avoid adversity.
• The text dismisses the excuse of necessity as a flimsy defense, emphasizing that individuals remain guilty for their own perverseness.
• Sinners are challenged to recognize their own will as the depraved cause of their rebellion rather than blaming external causes or divine cruelty.
• When faced with calamities, individuals should detest their own wickedness and return to the right path with serious contrition.

Prosperity was dear to us: we feared adversity; that we did not, in order to obtain the one and avoid the other, obey the Lord, and listen to his voice, is owing to its not being free for us to do so in consequence of our subjection to the dominion of sin.

• Speaking to the deaf served to show that human wickedness rests solely in themselves rather than in God.
• Scriptural rebukes regarding stubborn hearts imply that human depravity is the true source of rebellion.
• Human efforts and obedience are gifts derived entirely from God rather than originating in autonomous free will.
• Admonitions to work out salvation or add virtue are meant to arouse sluggish flesh rather than grant independent power.
• Divine commands directed at believers point to duties that ultimately remain the exclusive work of God.

distinctly intimating, that believers act (if I may so speak) passively in as much as the power is given them from heaven, and cannot in any way be arrogated to themselves.

• Believers achieve victory in spiritual warfare solely through the armour of God rather than human strength.
• A passage from Deuteronomy is often cited to argue for human capability, suggesting the law is easy to observe.
• Apostle Paul interprets this passage as referring to the Gospel of grace rather than mere legal precepts.
• Relying on human strength to fulfill the law inevitably leads to failure and spiritual destruction.
• The true readiness to obey comes from the covenant of mercy and the help of the Holy Spirit.
• Ultimately, these biblical passages support divine grace rather than establishing the freedom of the human will.

Where, then, was that easy means of observing the law, when the only access to it was over a fatal precipice?

• Opponents argue that God waiting for Israel to seek His face implies human minds are naturally flexible and capable of turning to God independently.
• Scriptural threats of God withdrawing His presence and testing people are misconstrued as evidence of human free will rather than divine discipline.
• Divine grace is fundamentally necessary for conversion, as humans abandoned by God cannot initiate turning to Him on their own.
• God withdrawing prophecy and afflicting people aims to humble them and reveal their utter nothingness, not to measure inherent free will.
• A common objection claims that because sins and righteous works are both attributed to human action, humans must share credit for righteousness.
• The chapter explores theological arguments surrounding the degree of human ability versus divine assistance in salvation.

Both he does that he may humble us the more; for we shall sooner be broken than corrected by the strokes of adversity, unless his Spirit train us to docility.

• Good works are called ours only through the free gift and liberality of God, similar to how daily bread is asked for as our own.
• Scriptural commands for man to worship, obey, and do justice raise questions about how these actions can be attributed to both man and the Holy Spirit.
• The comparison of human movement to a stone driven by an external impulse is false and rejected by church doctrine.
• Natural human powers left to themselves gravitate toward evil, vanity, and the resistance of righteousness.
• God actively guides, curbs, and strengthens the will of the godly through His Spirit rather than replacing human agency entirely.
• Augustine explains that humans act and are acted upon simultaneously, meaning divine grace assists human effort rather than destroying it.

Nay, you act and are acted upon, and you then act well when you are acted upon by one that is good.

• The grace of God acts as the rule of the Spirit, directing, governing, and renovating the human will.
• Augustine's doctrine is upheld: the human will is not destroyed by grace, but rather repaired and renewed.
• The human will contributes nothing of itself apart from grace, and any attempt to mix human effort with divine grace corrupts it.
• Because the mind, will, and study are guided by God toward what is good, believers are rightly said to do the things for which God claims all praise.
• Alternative interpretations of biblical passages like Genesis 4:7 fail to prove natural human ability or free will independent of grace.

Any intermixture which men attempt to make by conjoining the effort of their own will with divine grace is corruption, just as when unwholesome and muddy water is used to dilute wine.

• The text examines interpretations of biblical passages concerning human will and divine mercy.
• Opponents argue that human will and endeavor, when aided by God, contribute to salvation.
• Paul's teachings are cited to demonstrate that salvation depends entirely on God's gratuitous election rather than human effort.
• The argument that partial human will exists within Paul's statements is rejected as absurd.
• Salvation is presented as originating solely from divine mercy rather than works of righteousness or human striving.

Paul’s meaning is more simple—there is no will nor running by which we can prepare the way for our salvation—it is wholly of the divine mercy.

• Augustine's reasoning explains that divine mercy and human willing are not mutually exclusive, as God prepares and produces both within man.
• Paul's description of ministers as labourers together with God simply highlights divine instrumentality rather than independent human virtue.
• Apocryphal citations from Ecclesiasticus regarding human choice must be weighed against the reality of humanity's fallen and degenerate state.
• Although man was originally created upright, he made shipwreck of his blessings and is now the sole cause of his own destruction.
• Humanity's current ruined condition requires a physician to heal it rather than a defender to justify its inherent power.

If you mean to tell man that in himself there is a power of acquiring salvation, your authority with us is not so great as, in the least degree, to prejudice the undoubted word of God.

• Opponents argue that the parable of the traveler left half dead implies humanity retains a remnant of free will and reason.
• The author counters that allegories should never be used as a foundation for establishing actual theological doctrines.
• Scriptural evidence consistently depicts fallen humanity as entirely dead in sin rather than merely half alive.
• Even if the allegory were conceded, human capacities remain corrupted and incapable of true spiritual wisdom.
• The fallen human mind is entirely alienated from divine righteousness and incapable of conceiving true goodness without corruption.

The Word of God leaves no half life to man, but teaches, that, in regard to life and happiness, he has utterly perished.

• Christ is presented as the eternal solace, banner of faith, and promised redeemer for the afflicted.
• The human race was completely undone and defiled in the person of Adam.
• The original knowledge of God the Creator becomes useless without faith holding forth God as a Father in Christ.
• The natural world was intended to be a school of piety leading to eternal life, but the fall brought divine malediction.
• Human conscience, sloth, and ingratitude blind our minds and prevent us from perceiving God's paternal favor through nature alone.
• God ultimately chose to save believers through the foolishness of preaching after the world failed to know God through worldly wisdom.

For although God is still pleased in many ways to manifest his paternal favour towards us, we cannot, from a mere survey of the world, infer that he is a Father.

• Humanity naturally fails to profit from the knowledge of God, necessitating faith in Christ.
• The preaching of the cross contradicts human wisdom but is required for reconciliation with God.
• No knowledge of God without a Mediator has been effectual to salvation since the fall of man.
• Scripture consistently presents grace through Christ as the sole door to eternal life.
• Gentile religions and those estranged from God lack true worship and the hope of life.
• Only those engrafted into Christ through faith can attain the status of sons of God and inherit heaven.

Therefore, although the preaching of the cross is not in accordance with human wisdom, we must, however, humbly embrace it if we would return to God our Maker, from whom we are estranged, that he may again become our Father.

• The prosperous and happy state of the Church has always been fundamentally rooted in the person of Christ.
• Paul argues that Christ is the true seed of Abraham through whom all nations are blessed, distinguishing spiritual lineage from physical descent.
• Divine election is demonstrated through choices such as Jacob over Esau and the ultimate concentration of the covenant in the lineage of David.
• The primary adoption of the chosen people depends entirely on the grace of the Mediator rather than human merit.
• Prophetic songs and scriptures, from Hannah to the Psalms, establish David and his royal posterity as a living image of Christ.
• Despite division, revolt, and near-destruction, God preserved a remnant and a lamp in Jerusalem for the sake of His servant David.

Nay, how came it that the first-born was rejected, and the younger alone admitted?

• God preserved His Church by ensuring its security and salvation depended entirely on Christ as its head.
• Believers historically placed their sole confidence in the unseen government of the King for their safety and help.
• Prophets continually directed the people to the promise made to David regarding an everlasting kingdom to maintain the stability of the covenant.
• Isaiah prophesied about the coming of Emmanuel to demonstrate that the covenant would not fail even when rejected by unbelieving rulers.
• The prophets consistently emphasized David's kingdom to show that God is placable and that eternal salvation depends on redemption through Christ.

The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen.

• Prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel consistently directed believers toward a future righteous branch, king, and shepherd.
• Scriptures across Hosea, Micah, Amos, and Zechariah point to the restoration of the house of David as the ultimate banner of salvation.
• God intended for the Jewish people to learn that all deliverance and hope were exclusively treasured up in Christ.
• Despite their degeneration, the people retained a general knowledge that God would deliver the Church through Christ's hand.
• This enduring expectation manifested in familiar hymns and the crowds shouting hosannas to the son of David upon his entry into Jerusalem.

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation.

• Christ instructs his disciples to believe in him so they might have a distinct and complete belief in God.
• The majesty of God is too high for mortal men, who are described as creeping like worms on the earth.
• Christ serves as the image of the invisible God, allowing humanity to behold divine salvation.
• The first step in true piety is to acknowledge God as a protecting and governing Father.
• Without a Mediator, humanity cannot truly enjoy the mercy of God or feel persuaded of his fatherhood.
• Those who reject Christ ultimately substitute an idol in his place despite proclaiming the Creator.

The majesty of God is too high to be scaled up to by mortals, who creep like worms on the earth.

• The religious system delivered by Moses, including sacrifices and ceremonies, consistently pointed forward to Christ.
• The Moral Law leads believers to Christ by revealing God's perfect righteousness and convincing humans of their inability to fulfill it.
• The Law acts as a mirror that shows us our wretchedness and guilt, driving us to seek deliverance in the mercy of God.
• A secondary use of the Law is to curb sinners, which benefits the community by restraining both the reprobate and the unregenerate elect.
• The third and most appropriate use of the Law instructs the elect, encouraging them to make daily progress in obedience and the will of God.
• While ceremonial observances and the curse of the Law were abrogated by Christ, the Moral Law retains its vital instructional and convicting offices.

The Law fitly compared to a mirror, which shows us our wretchedness.

• The Law was given not to lead people away from Christ, but to keep them in suspense and heighten their expectation for his coming.
• Moses functioned to renew the free covenant made with Abraham rather than to abolish its promises.
• Without spiritual meaning and prophetic types, the external ceremonies and animal sacrifices would be a mere mockery.
• Profane critics often dismiss these ancient rituals as childish toys because they fail to understand their higher spiritual end.
• God is a spirit who desires spiritual worship, meaning earthly exercises were only meant to elevate the mind to higher truths.

For what could be more vain or frivolous than for men to reconcile themselves to God, by offering him the foul odour produced by burning the fat of beasts?

• The Law served to direct the people toward a greater goal rather than standing alone.
• Israel's calling to be a royal priesthood required an atonement far superior to animal blood.
• Believers under the Gospel obtain greater grace and boldness through Christ as their Mediator.
• The institutions of the Davidic kingdom and the Levitical priesthood functioned as a double mirror reflecting Christ.
• Paul rightly described the Law as a schoolmaster guiding immature people until the coming of Christ.

For what could be less in accordance with reason, than that the sons of Adams who, from hereditary taint, are all born the slaves of sin, should be raised to royal dignity, and in this way made partakers of the glory of God, if the noble distinction were not derived from some other source?

• Ceremonies and rituals are ultimately vain and valueless unless they point believers directly to Christ.
• Christ acts as the end and fulfillment of the Law, granting righteousness through free imputation and spiritual regeneration.
• The Law was originally added because of transgressions to humble humanity under a profound sense of condemnation.
• While perfect obedience to the Moral Law promises eternal life, human weakness prevents anyone from actually achieving it.
• Because humanity cannot fulfill the Law's demands, the Law serves to expose our misery, cut off false hope of salvation, and lead us to despair if viewed in isolation.

The doctrine of the Law transcending our capacity, a man may indeed look from a distance at the promises held forth, but he cannot derive any benefit from them.

• The Law curses and condemns humanity because complete obedience is impossible to attain.
• Conditional promises of the Law are not in vain, as they lead believers to seek God's free goodness through faith.
• God graciously forgives human deficiencies, accepting imperfect obedience as complete.
• Humanity has never seen a saint attain the perfection of loving God with their whole heart.
• Scripture and experience both reject the foolish superstition of human sinless perfection.

Is the Lord, then, you will ask, only sporting with us?

• Scripture provides extensive testimony that no human being is entirely free from sin or capable of full justification before God.
• Paul establishes that those relying on the works of the law remain under a curse because perfect obedience is humanly unattainable.
• Augustine argues that true love for God requires full comprehension of His goodness, which remains impossible while we are pilgrims in this world.
• Due to the inherent feebleness of human nature, fulfilling the moral law while remaining in the flesh is definitively impossible.
• The first primary office of the Moral Law is to exhibit God's righteousness, thereby convicting and condemning human unrighteousness.

So long as we are pilgrims in the world, we see through a glass darkly, and therefore our love is imperfect.

• Measuring oneself by an internal standard fosters misplaced confidence and blinds a person to their own true feebleness.
• Confronting the stringent requirements of the Law humbles human presumption and exposes deep-seated arrogance.
• Relying on personal judgment leads to a hypocritical righteousness that ignores genuine holiness and grace.
• The Law acts as a mirror, revealing human impotence, inherent iniquity, and the subsequent curse of transgression.
• Without the Spirit of grace, the unregenerate Law functions merely to accuse, condemn, and slay the sinner.

So soon, however, as he begins to compare them with the requirements of the Law, he has something to tame his presumption.

• Our carnal and corrupt nature turns the Divine law, which should give life, into an occasion of sin and death.
• The law reveals human unrighteousness and the righteousness of God, highlighting our weakness and depravity.
• Rather than causing despair in the children of God, the law's condemnation silences all excuses and humbles humanity.
• Concluded in unbelief, people learn to abandon self-righteousness and rely entirely upon divine mercy.
• While the law acts as a stern avenger, Christ reveals God's countenance as full of grace and gentleness toward unworthy sinners.

In the precepts of the law, God is seen as the rewarder only of perfect righteousness, and, on the other hand, as the stern avenger of wickedness.

• The primary utility of the divine law is to convince humanity of its inherent weakness.
• By exposing human inability, the law compels people to seek the grace of Christ for power to act.
• God commands what cannot be fulfilled without grace so that human pride is eliminated and all remain humble.
• Even the reprobate experience the terror of the law, which manifests the equity of divine judgment.
• A secondary office of the law is to use fear of punishment to curb the outward depravity of unregenerate people.
• Unrestrained by an inward change of heart, those held back by the law often harbor secret hatred and resentment toward the Lawgiver.

For although restrained by terror or shame, they dare not proceed to what their mind has conceived, nor give full license to their raging lust, their heart is by no means trained to fear and obedience.

• Fear-driven obedience enforces societal peace and prevents universal tumult and confusion.
• Unconverted individuals and future believers are restrained from open transgressions through the terror of divine vengeance.
• The law acts as a schoolmaster to humble the self-righteous and bridle the unbridled passions of those needing discipline.
• Even before regeneration, the law serves to train individuals and preserve them in a state of useful fear until their effectual calling.
• The principal and ultimate use of the law belongs to believers whose hearts are already governed by the Spirit of God.

When, by the fear of Divine vengeance, they are deterred from open outbreakings, though, from not being subdued in mind, they profit little at present, still they are in some measure trained to bear the yoke of righteousness...

• Even those guided by the Spirit profit from the Law as an instrument to better learn and confirm God's will.
• No believer has attained enough wisdom to be exempt from needing the daily instruction of the Law.
• Frequent meditation on the Law excites believers to obedience and draws them away from the paths of sin.
• The Law acts as a necessary stimulus or whip against the sluggishness of the flesh in spiritual people.
• Rightly understood, the Law provides joy and illumination, pointing believers toward the Mediator rather than just bringing terror.

The Law acts like a whip to the flesh, urging it on as men do a lazy sluggish ass.

• The moral law serves as an inflexible and perpetual rule of life that remains relevant across all ages.
• Although the holiness prescribed by the law is stricter than human capability, it acts as a guiding goal rather than a harsh taskmaster.
• For believers, the law's power to bind consciences with a curse has been abrogated, yet its instructional and moral force remains fully intact.
• Christ came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it and remedy transgressions, maintaining its role in preparing us for good works.
• Paul explains that the abrogation of the law applies strictly to its power of constraining and condemning the conscience, not to its underlying moral demands.

It does not now perform toward us the part of a hard taskmaster, who will not be satisfied without full payment; but, in the perfection to which it exhorts us, points out the goal at which, during the whole course of our lives, it is not less our interest than our duty to aim.

• Those under the works of the law face rigorous and austere demands without remission or forgiveness.
• Christ redeemed humanity from the curse of the law by taking that curse upon himself.
• This redemption frees believers from lifelong bondage and the oppressive fear of death.
• Despite this freedom, the moral authority and demand for respect toward the law remain unchanged.
• Ancient ceremonies were abrogated in use only, as their true meaning is now illuminated by Christ.

By the death of Christ, the veil of the temple was rent in vain, the living and express image of heavenly things, which had begun to be dimly shadowed forth, being now brought fully into view...

• Paul's letter to the Colossians suggests a broader abolition of the Law than just softening its rigour.
• While the passage in Ephesians specifically concerns ceremonial walls between Jews and Gentiles, Colossians addresses a sublimer mystery.
• Jewish ceremonies functioned more as a confession and attestation of sins rather than an actual expiation or removal of them.
• The rituals and sacrifices served as handwritings that openly sealed the impurity and condemnation of the worshipers.
• True grace was obtained through Christ rather than through the continued use of ceremonies, which ultimately obscured Christ's glory.

For what more was done in sacrifice by those who substituted purifications instead of themselves, than to confess that they were conscious of deserving death?

• Paul warned the Colossians against the yoke of formal instruments and daily sacrifices that attested sin without destroying it.
• The Moral Law was committed to writing to provide a full and perfect knowledge of God and ourselves that nature teaches obscurely.
• From the Law, we learn that God is our Father and Ruler, making righteousness pleasing and iniquity an abomination in His sight.
• The Law reveals our utter powerlessness and drives us to seek righteousness outside of ourselves.
• Unlike civil laws, God's Law demands inward and spiritual righteousness rather than mere external honesty.
• The Law is divided into two inseparable tables encompassing our duty to God and our duty to our neighbor.

From the knowledge of ourselves, furnished by the Law, we learn to discern our own utter powerlessness, we are ashamed; and seeing it is in vain to seek for righteousness in ourselves, are induced to seek it elsewhere.

• The moral law is divided into Two Tables, with four commandments in the first and six in the second.
• The preface to the Decalogue establishes its authority through divine majesty, paternal kindness, and the deliverance from Egypt.
• The first three commandments address proper worship, the prohibition of idolatry and false shapes, and the sanctity of God's name.
• Oaths are defined as a species of divine worship and their lawful use is defended against Anabaptist rejections.
• The fourth commandment serves multiple purposes, highlighting spiritual rest, the cessation of human works to allow divine action, and the avoidance of superstitious observances.

An oath defined. It is a species of divine worship. This explained.

• The text continues the detailed theological exposition of the Ten Commandments, beginning with the Fifth Commandment regarding parental honor and its duties of reverence, obedience, and gratitude.
• The Sixth and Seventh Commandments are interpreted to govern internal spiritual purity, forbidding murder of the heart and regulating continence, chastity, and marriage.
• The Eighth and Ninth Commandments forbid various forms of theft and falsehood, demanding strict adherence to truth, equity, and charity in all social relations.
• The Tenth Commandment prohibits covetousness, establishing that God's law requires absolute internal purity and supreme charity toward one's neighbor.
• The chapter concludes by defining the Law as a perfect standard of righteousness modelled on divine purity, rooted fundamentally in love for one's neighbor rather than self-love.

Any man not gifted with continence wars with God and with nature, as constituted by him, in remaining unmarried.

• The text addresses theological errors regarding monastic counsels and the misclassification of hidden impiety as venial sins.
• It introduces an exposition of the Ten Commandments to demonstrate that God's original prescribed worship remains in force.
• The Law accomplishes the knowledge of God by commanding reverence for His majesty and prescribing proper conduct.
• It reveals human impotence and unrighteousness by establishing a standard of justice that our depraved nature and weak abilities cannot attain.
• While conscience acts as an internal monitor, human arrogance and blindness prevent people from forming a correct understanding of acceptable worship without divine assistance.
• The Lord provided the written Law as a necessary remedy to remove the obscurity of the natural law and awaken humanity from its lethargy.

At all events, he is very far from forming any correct knowledge of it. In addition to this, he is so swollen with arrogance and ambition, and so blinded with self-love, that he is unable to survey, and, as it were, descend into himself, that he may so learn to humble and abase himself, and confess his misery.

• The Law demands absolute obedience, reverence, and the practice of righteousness from humanity.
• Human inability to follow the Law is the result of internal sin and lust, for which we bear full responsibility.
• Examining our conduct against the Law reveals our unworthiness and the complete nullity of our natural powers.
• Conscience burdened by guilt naturally anticipates divine judgment, evoking deep anxiety and the dread of death.
• Despairing of one's own strength and humility before God ultimately drives the sinner to seek mercy as the only haven of safety.

Conscience cannot feel the burden of its guilt, without forthwith turning to the judgment of God, while the view of this judgment cannot fail to excite a dread of death.

• God allures humanity to love righteousness through the promise of rewards and eternal felicity.
• Iniquity is met with divine anger, present suffering, and the threat of eternal death.
• The blessings and curses of the Law serve to attest both God's spotless purity and his infinite love of righteousness.
• Although God is entitled to demand complete obedience as a debt, he graciously foregoes his right to offer rewards.
• The human mind constantly invents unauthorized modes of worship, seeking righteousness outside of God's Word.

This irreligious affectation of religion being innate in the human mind, has betrayed itself in every age, and is still doing so, men always longing to devise some method of procuring righteousness without any sanction from the Word of God.

• Moses strictly commanded the Israelites not to add to or diminish from the laws given by God.
• Despite divine warnings, humans continually invent endless varieties of good works and new forms of righteousness.
• True worship consists solely of obedience to the perfect righteousness taught by the divine Law.
• Augustine noted that obedience rendered to God serves as the parent, guardian, and source of all virtues.
• Unlike human lawmakers who only regulate outward acts, God evaluates purity of heart and internal motives such as wrath and lust.

Not contented with it, however, we labour prodigiously in feigning and coining an endless variety of good works, one after another.

• Divine law addresses the soul, condemning internal sins like wrath, covetousness, and lust just as human laws punish external actions.
• Human laws only examine external behavior and intentions once manifested, whereas heavenly law requires restraining secret thoughts and desires.
• Many people hypocritically follow the letter of the law with their bodies while keeping their hearts entirely estranged from true obedience.
• The apostle Paul declares that the law is spiritual, demanding absolute purity of the soul, mind, and will.
• Christ correctly interpreted the law by exposing Pharisaical delusions and showing that internal hatred and immodest looks are true violations.
• Christ did not add a new evangelical law superior to Moses, but merely restored the original law to its integrity by clearing away false interpretations.

They think it enough to have carefully concealed from man what they are doing in the sight of God.

• Scriptural interpretation must avoid licentious twisting while acknowledging that meanings extend beyond the strict literal words.
• Excessive liberty in interpretation lowers scriptural authority and causes people to abandon hope of understanding it.
• A sober and reliable interpretive rule is to be guided by the underlying principle and purpose of each commandment.
• Examining the end of a commandment reveals what is pleasing or displeasing to the divine Lawgiver.
• Commands and prohibitions operate on a binary logic where requiring one action inherently forbids its opposite.

This, however, must be understood so as not to convert it into a kind of Lesbian code; and thus, by licentiously wresting the Scriptures, make them assume any meaning that we please.

• Virtues and commandments require active positive duties and charity, not merely abstinence from vice.
• The commandment against killing means we must actively preserve and aid our neighbor's life.
• God expresses commandments elliptically to use extreme examples that provoke a deeper abhorrence of sin.
• Human nature tends to extenuate hidden sins and minimize offenses unless they are made perceptible.
• Grouping sins under severe headings like murder helps humans judge the true heinousness of lesser offences like wrath and hatred.

As the flesh is always on the alert to extenuate the heinousness of sin... and to cover it with specious pretexts, the Lord sets forth, by way of example, whatever is foulest and most iniquitous in each species of transgression, that the delivery of it might produce a shudder in the hearer.

• God divided the Law into two distinct tables to separate the duties of religion toward Himself and the duties of charity toward mankind.
• The worship of God serves as the foundational first part of righteousness, without which all other moral duties collapse.
• True righteousness cannot exist apart from religion, functioning like a body without a head when divorced from the fear of God.
• Religion acts as the very soul of righteousness, inspiring human justice, equity, and temperance through the reverence of a divine judge.
• Jesus Christ summarized the entire Law by condensing it into the twin commandments of loving God supremely and loving one's neighbor.
• The Lord explicitly detailed these principles within the Ten Commandments to thoroughly eliminate any human excuses for moral failure.

It is vain, therefore, to talk of righteousness apart from religion. Such righteousness has no more beauty than the trunk of a body deprived of its head.

• Matters of theological interpretation and methodological division should be approached with mutual freedom of judgment and without contention.
• The divine authority clearly establishes that the Law is divided into ten heads, though scholars disagree on the exact method of grouping them.
• Alternative methods of dividing the commandments—such as altering the treatment of images or coveting—are argued to be historically novel and flawed.
• The preferred structural division separates the text into a preface, four commandments in the First Table, and six in the Second Table.
• Historical authorities like Origen and Augustine offer varying supports and approaches to numbering the commandments across the tables.
• The division of five commandments per table is rejected as conflicting with the distinct boundaries between piety and charity as affirmed by Christ.

Let us now hear God speaking in his own words.

• Laws must be protected from contempt to prevent immediate abrogation by the people.
• The Lord introduces the Law with a triple sanction to establish power, allure with favor, and remind of kindness.
• The name Lord denotes supreme power and lawful dominion, establishing our necessary obedience.
• By declaring himself the God of the Church, he offers not just present good, but future felicity.
• Partnership with God entails being a holy and peculiar people who keep His commandments.

It were monstrous for us to wish to withdraw from the dominion of him, out of whom we cannot even exist.

• God reminds Israel of their recent deliverance from bondage to demand prompt submission and obedience.
• Human proneness to vanity leads the mind toward empty delusions and idols whenever God is mentioned.
• Specific titles and historical manifestations are used by prophets to confine human thoughts to the living God.
• The physical bondage of Israel in Egypt serves as a type of universal spiritual bondage under the devil.
• Believers are rescued by divine power to embrace the Lawgiver and anticipate a blessed immortality.

For, as I formerly observed, such is our proneness to vanity and presumption, that as soon as God is named, our minds, unable to guard against error, immediately fly off to some empty delusion.

• The first commandment requires that the Lord alone be exalted and claim the entire possession of his people.
• Believers must abstain from all ungodliness and superstition so that the glory of God's divinity is not obscured.
• The duties owed to God are categorized into four heads: Adoration, Trust, Invocation, and Thanksgiving.
• True religion directs the mind to the living God, making him the sole aim of all human actions.
• Believers must not only refrain from false gods, but must also devote themselves wholly to the living God.

The purport of this commandment is, that the Lord will have himself alone to be exalted in his people, and claims the entire possession of them as his own.

• God demands exclusive worship without any partition of his divine glory or the introduction of fictitious deities.
• The introduction of idols or strange gods is likened to open adultery, deeply provoking divine jealousy.
• Every human plan, thought, and hidden intention lies entirely open to the penetrating sight of God.
• The second commandment explicitly forbids forming carnal ideas of God or representing the incomprehensible deity through visible shapes.
• True religion is immediately corrupted and adulterated the moment physical idols appear in worship.

God being provoked to jealousy whenever we substitute our fictions in his stead; just as an unfaithful wife stings her husband’s heart more deeply when her adultery is committed openly before his eyes.

• God demands exclusive devotion and compares his covenant with humanity to a sacred marriage.
• He reveals himself as a jealous God who will not tolerate his glory being transferred to idols or creatures.
• Apostasy is described as spiritual adultery and prostitution of the soul to Satan.
• God promises severe generational punishment for idolatry alongside enduring mercy for those who keep his law.
• The text grapples with the apparent contradiction of punishing children for the iniquities of their fathers.

Therefore, as the purer and chaster the husband is, the more grievously is he offended when he sees his wife inclining to a rival; so the Lord, who has betrothed us to himself in truth, declares that he burns with the hottest jealousy whenever, neglecting the purity of his holy marriage, we defile ourselves with abominable lusts...

• Temporal punishments can extend to descendants, as seen in biblical accounts of captivity and household suffering.
• Limiting divine curses strictly to temporal punishments is often viewed as an evasion rather than a true interpretation.
• A curse from the Lord falls upon the lineage, leading generations to follow a destructive road of evil-doing.
• Human nature is universally condemned, meaning those lacking divine grace perish by their own iniquity rather than unjust hatred.
• The prophet Ezekiel clarified that children do not suffer for their parents' sins, as the afflicted suffer for their own wickedness.

When it has fallen, what can be anticipated but that the father, being deprived of the Spirit of God, will live most flagitiously; that the son, being in like manner forsaken of the Lord, because of his father’s iniquity, will follow the same road to destruction; and be followed in his turn by succeeding generations, forming a seed of evil-doers?

• Scriptural covenants promise divine favor not only to believers but also to their descendants.
• The remembrance of righteousness and iniquity influences the divine procedure across generations.
• Generational blessings and curses serve as proofs of God's ultimate favor toward the righteous and judgment toward the wicked.
• Divine mercy is emphasized by extending to thousands, whereas vengeance is limited to four generations.
• The Third Commandment mandates that the majesty of God's name must be held sacred and never profaned.

Moreover, the Lord, as it were by the way, commends the riches of his mercy by extending it to thousands, while he limits his vengeance to four generations.

• The divine name and mysteries must be maintained in high honor, reflecting God's true sublimity.
• Using sacred words for ambition, avarice, amusement, or nefarious purposes profanes the name of God.
• The commandment specifically addresses the sanctity of oaths as a form of divine worship rather than interpersonal duties.
• God's law is distinctly divided into two tables, separating duties owed directly to God from those owed to human society.
• A duly taken oath acts as an appeal to God as witness, which constitutes a legitimate species of divine worship.

The inference then is, that God here vindicates his own right, and defends his sacred name, but does not teach the duties which men owe to men.

• Swearing by the name of the Lord signifies a formal profession of true religion and veneration.
• Appealing to God as a witness acknowledges His omniscience and status as the sole arbiter of truth.
• Swearing by strange gods is viewed as an act of open revolt and incurs severe divine punishment.
• Treating oaths as a form of divine worship requires avoiding false swearing, which constitutes profanation.
• False oaths rob God of His truth and falsely brand His sacred name with falsehood, bringing grievous dishonor.

For if God is robbed of his truth, what is it that remains? Without truth he could not be God.

• Oaths are designated strictly for necessity involving religion or charity rather than passion or pleasure.
• The indiscriminate use of God's name in frivolous discourse is a widespread sin that will face divine judgment.
• Swearing by saints instead of God improperly confers the glory of the Godhead onto holy servants.
• The Anabaptists mistakenly condemn all oaths entirely by misinterpreting Christ's teachings in the New Testament.
• Christ and the Father are one, meaning God does not contradict His own laws permitting and commanding necessary oaths.

The name of God is everywhere profaned by introducing it indiscriminately in frivolous discourse; and the evil is disregarded, because it has been long and audaciously persisted in with impunity.

• Christ aimed to restore the genuine meaning of the Law rather than curtail it, correcting the corruptions introduced by the Scribes and Pharisees.
• The Law prohibits not only perjury, but also vain, superfluous, and indirect oaths.
• People falsely believed they could escape guilt by avoiding the explicit name of God and swearing instead by heaven, earth, or other divine mercies.
• Frivolous oaths insult God's majesty because His name is inscribed upon every one of His mercies.
• The phrase 'swear not at all' specifically targets these evasive, frivolous oaths and the cavils of the Jews, rather than forbidding lawful oaths altogether.

For it ought here to be observed in passing, that although the name of God is not expressed, yet men swear by him in using indirect forms, as when they swear by the light of life, by the bread they eat, by their baptism, or any other pledges of the divine liberality towards them.

• Apostolical examples and biblical precedents suggest that swearing oaths is not universally forbidden.
• While public and magistrate-administered oaths are heavily supported by scripture, private oaths require careful evaluation.
• When facing obstinate malice and jeopardy to one's good name, individuals may reverently appeal to God as a witness.
• Historical figures such as Jacob, Laban, Boaz, and Obadiah engaged in private oaths without condemnation.
• Properly regulated oaths must serve a just necessity to vindicate God's glory or promote the edification of a neighbor.

If, through his obstinate malice, your good name is brought into jeopardy, you can appeal, without offence, to the judgment of God, that he may in time manifest your innocence.

• The Sabbath commandment requires a unique mode of exposition beyond mere external observance.
• The first purpose of the seventh-day rest was to symbolize spiritual rest, where believers cease from their own works.
• The second purpose was to provide a dedicated day for assembling, hearing the Law, and meditating on divine works.
• The third purpose was to grant servants and laborers a necessary intermission from their daily toil.
• The Sabbath serves as a sacred sign representing that God is the sanctifier of His people.
• True spiritual rest requires the complete mortification of human will so that God may work within us.

Verily my sabbaths shall ye keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that does sanctify you.

• The number seven in scripture signifies perfection and perpetuity, modeling divine rest for humanity.
• Believers begin their spiritual rest in God daily, but full consummation awaits the final fulfillment of prophecy.
• The Sabbath was designed to train people under the Law to meditate constantly on spiritual rest rather than mere physical inactivity.
• With the advent of Jesus Christ, the ceremonial and shadow aspects of the Sabbath commandment were abolished.
• Christ is the true completion of the Sabbath, requiring a lifelong commitment rather than a superstitious observance of specific days.

He is the truth, at whose presence all the emblems vanish; the body, at the sight of which the shadows disappear.

• Even though the Jewish sabbath is abrogated, the need for stated religious assemblies and labor relaxation remains.
• Scriptural mandates from Deuteronomy and Exodus emphasize that servants, laborers, and even animals deserve rest.
• Fixed days for meetings are essential to preserve decency, order, and the very survival of the Church.
• Daily spiritual meetings would be ideal, but human weakness and charity necessitate a designated weekly rule.
• Critics who complain about observing the Lord's day misunderstand that Christians adopt it for order rather than Judaic ceremony.

My reply is, That those days are observed by us without Judaism, because in this matter we differ widely from the Jews.

• Early false teachers obscured the Gospel by treating cessation from manual labor as a superstitious religious observance.
• The Apostle Paul opposed this superstitious adherence to days while supporting legitimate selections for church peace and order.
• Early Christians substituted the Lord's day for the Sabbath to signify Christ's resurrection and warn against shadowy ceremonies.
• The true spiritual significance involves a constant rest from our own works so that God may work within us by His Spirit.
• Rejecting Jewish sabbatism prevents falling into gross and carnal superstitions while still maintaining necessary religious assemblies.

Those who cling to their constitutions go thrice as far as the Jews in the gross and carnal superstition of sabbatism.

• Believers are commanded to respect, thank, and obey those whom the Lord has placed in authority over them.
• The natural human inclination is to resist authority and ambition makes submission difficult for the mind to accept.
• God shares a portion of His divine titles and authority with earthly figures such as parents, rulers, and leaders.
• Earthly superiors must be honored regardless of whether they are personally deserving, simply because of their appointed station.
• The divine law enforces parental authority strictly, categorizing rebellion and disrespect as severe offenses worthy of severe punishment.
• True honor toward authorities consists of a threefold obligation comprising reverence, obedience, and active gratitude.

For they are monsters, and not men, who petulantly and contumeliously violate the paternal authority.

• Paul refers to the commandment regarding parents as the first with a promise to rouse us from lethargy.
• The original promise of inheriting the land signifies the broader divine favor of long life as a blessing.
• Long life is viewed as an ordinary symbol of divine benevolence rather than the sum of true happiness.
• Even if an obedient child dies young, God maintains the integrity of the promise through greater spiritual fulfillment in death.
• Rebellious children face inevitable curses, ranging from untimely violent deaths to being reserved for severer punishment.
• Obedience to parents and earthly superiors must always be in the Lord, superseding commands that violate divine law.

Wherefore, if any one who is obedient to parents happens to be cut off before mature age (a thing which not infrequently happens), the Lord nevertheless adheres to his promise as steadily as when he bestows a hundred acres of land where he had promised only one.

• The sixth commandment establishes human unity, entrusting the safety of all individuals to the care of every single person.
• It strictly prohibits all violence, injustice, and physical harm while requiring active defense of a neighbor's life and tranquillity.
• The law extends beyond physical actions to the regulation of the mind, forbidding internal wrath, hatred, and the murder of the heart.
• Scripture equates harboring hatred or unjustified anger toward a brother with the guilt of murder.
• The commandment is founded on two equities: man is made in the image of God, and we share the same flesh, making every person sacred.

It were ridiculous, that he, who sees the thoughts of the heart, and has special regard to them, should train the body only to rectitude.

• The moral law commands individuals to guard against all uncleanness and regulate their conduct chastely.
• Marriage was instituted by God as the necessary means to prevent unbridled lust and provide companionship.
• Any cohabitation outside of the sanctioned bond of marriage is considered cursed by God.
• Virginity is recognized as a virtue, but it is a special gift not bestowed upon all individuals.
• Those who lack the gift of self-restraint and struggle with incontinence are instructed to seek the remedy of marriage.
• Resisting God's provided remedies by presumptuously striving against natural feelings goes against divine ordinance.

Those incapable of self-restraint, if they apply not to the remedy allowed and provided for intemperance, war with God and resist his ordinance.

• Marriage and celibacy should be chosen carefully based on individual capacity and spiritual readiness.
• Celibacy is only appropriate for those who can genuinely endure it and remain devoted to pious duties.
• Those who struggle with incontinence are commanded by the Apostle to marry as the proper remedy.
• True chastity requires purity of both mind and spirit, preventing inward lust just as much as outward acts.
• Married couples are called to exercise sobriety, measure, and modesty rather than unrestrained indulgence.
• The Lawgiver demands integrity of body, soul, and spirit, forbidding any behavior that threatens chastity.

This excess Ambrose censured gravely, but not undeservedly, when he described the man who shows no modesty or comeliness in conjugal intercourse, as committing adultery with his wife.

• God requires absolute chastity, condemning any form of wantonness, whether in the mind, eyes, speech, or appearance.
• The Eighth Commandment, 'Thou Shalt Not Steal,' demands that we render to every person their due and avoid longing for others' goods.
• What each individual possesses is distributed by divine providence, meaning misuse of property is a fraud against God.
• Theft manifests in many forms, including violence, malicious imposture, hidden craft, and sycophancy.
• Deceptions and unfair advantages that escape human judgment are still fully seen and condemned by God.
• Violating this commandment extends beyond money to withholding any duty we are bound to perform toward our neighbors.

He sees the long train of deception by which the man of craft begins to lay nets for his more simple neighbour, until he entangles him in its meshes.

• We must seek honest gain without injustice, avoiding the cruel accumulation of wealth at the expense of others.
• People should honor and obey their rulers, while rulers must maintain peace and protect the public.
• Church ministers must deliver pure doctrine by example, and the congregation should support and respect them.
• Parents, children, the elderly, youth, servants, and masters all hold specific reciprocal duties rooted in divine order.
• The Ninth Commandment strictly requires the cultivation of unfeigned truth and the avoidance of false accusations.

Let masters also not be stern and disobliging to their servants, nor harass them with excessive asperity, nor treat them with insult, but rather let them acknowledge them as brethren and fellow-servants of our heavenly Master.

• The moral law prohibits injuring others through petulance, evil-speaking, or false testimony.
• Individuals are commanded to faithfully assist others in maintaining their truth, good name, and estate.
• Transgressions against a neighbor's reputation or property include both formal judicial perjury and private calumny.
• A good name is considered more precious than riches, meaning reputation damage is as severe as physical robbery.
• People frequently and casually violate these precepts due to an envenomed delight in exposing faults.
• God desires that we keep our neighbor's reputation untarnished as much as truth permits, condemning evil-speaking in general.

Indeed, very few are found who do not notoriously labour under this disease: such is the envenomed delight we take both in prying into and exposing our neighbour’s faults.

• The commandment against malicious speech forbids not judicial correction or public safety warnings, but rather the odious crimination born from a malicious love of slander.
• It also prohibits scurrilous and affected urbanity where people use sportiveness and wit to bitterly assail the failings of others.
• The Lawgiver's authority extends over the mind and ears, meaning that eagerness to listen to slander and censorious judgments are equally forbidden.
• True fear and love of God require us to avoid uttering bitter charges, listening to them, or entertaining sinister suspicions.
• Believers should act as just interpreters of others, candidly maintaining their honor through judgment, ear, and tongue.
• The tenth commandment further requires that the soul be pervaded with love, banishing any adverse thoughts or noxious concupiscence tending to a neighbour's loss.

Nay, the commandment extends so far as to include that scurrilous affected urbanity, instinct with invective, by which the failings of others, under an appearance of sportiveness, are bitterly assailed, as some are wont to do, who court the praise of wit, though it should call forth a blush, or inflict a bitter pang.

• The text addresses a potential redundancy regarding the prohibition of covetousness when other commands already forbid actions like theft and adultery.
• This difficulty is resolved by distinguishing between deliberate design and passive covetousness, which can arise when the mind is merely stimulated by perverse objects.
• God commands that all powers of the mind, including thoughts and wishes, be regulated by charity towards one's neighbor.
• Any harmful desires entering the mind stem from a disregard for others and a focus solely on the self, proving the mind is devoid of charity.
• Even transient fancies that excite the heart and stimulate cupidity are condemned, requiring a mind entirely free from concupiscence.
• Ultimately, the law demands a strong, ardent affection completely aligned with the law of love, prohibiting every kind of perverse desire.

How comes it that so many desires of a nature hurtful to your brother enter your mind, but just because, disregarding him, you think only of yourself?

• The Second Table of the Law instructs humans in their duties toward one another based on the love and fear of God.
• Covetousness is prohibited comprehensively, forbidding even the slightest feeling of desire against a neighbor's property.
• The ultimate end of the entire Law is the fulfillment of righteousness, modeling human life on divine purity.
• God's character is so clearly delineated in the Law that obeying it creates a living image of God on earth.
• True holiness connects humanity intimately to God, encouraging believers to cleave to Him with all their heart and soul.

Wherefore Moses, when he wished to fix a summary of the whole in the memory of the Israelites, thus addressed them, 'And now, Israel, what does the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him...'

• The Law requires total love for God which immediately overflows into genuine charity toward one's neighbor.
• True piety and faith unfeigned form the essential foundation from which all good works and moral duties are derived.
• Interpreting the Law as merely providing dry or introductory elements fails to grasp its ultimate spiritual perfection.
• Christ and the Prophets frequently emphasize the Second Table of the Law because works of charity provide a solid attestation of righteousness.
• Omitting explicit mention of the First Table in certain prophetic exhortations serves to demand visible, practical proof of inward devotion.

For the obedience of the First Table consisted almost entirely either in the internal affection of the heart, or in ceremonies.

• God does not demand direct duties for his own benefit since human good deeds cannot reach him.
• True piety is demonstrated through good works and charity directed toward our neighbors.
• Apostles and scriptures emphasize that love for one's neighbor fulfills the entire law and the prophets.
• The law contains no rules for serving our own carnal nature because natural self-love is already excessive.
• Self-love is used merely as a standard of intensity to measure how fervently we ought to love others, not as a superior virtue.

For this is the very thing which Christ himself teaches when he says, 'All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.'

• The concept of the neighbor encompasses all humanity, requiring us to embrace the entire human race with charity.
• True love for mankind is not based on human merit, but must be viewed through God, loving others because God is loved.
• The Schoolmen dangerously corrupted divine precepts regarding love and revenge by turning strict laws into optional counsels.
• Biblical scriptures consistently command kindness toward enemies, such as feeding the hungry or helping stray cattle.
• Divine law strictly forbids vengeance and grudges, demanding that God be acknowledged as a definitive lawgiver rather than a mere counsellor.

Have they, indeed, the hardihood to remodel the eternal law of God concerning the love of our neighbour?

• Christians are commanded to love and pray for their enemies to prove themselves children of God.
• The Schoolmen wrongly restrict these divine commands to monks, excluding the broader Church.
• Augustine and Paul both confirm that moral commandments like avoiding theft and adultery apply equally to everyone.
• Rejecting the universal duty to love enemies reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of Christian law.
• While the moral law is difficult for human weakness, believers find strength and grace through Christ.

Those, then, show themselves to be in truth the children of Satan who thus licentiously shake off a yoke common to the children of God.

• The text discusses the theological definition of venial sin as fleeting desires without deliberate assent.
• The author argues that even the smallest improper desire originates from a spiritual lack and violates the divine Law.
• Internal movements of distrust or covetousness demonstrate a failure to love God completely with the whole soul.
• Scripture teaches that every transgression of the Law, regardless of perceived magnitude, incurs a fatal sentence.
• Paul's declaration that the wages of sin is death rejects any distinction between venial and mortal sins.
• Human hypocrisy easily minimizes offenses, but divine scripture provides a true standard rather than soothing torpid consciences.

When the mind, under the influence of distrust, looks elsewhere or is seized with some sudden desire to transfer its blessedness to some other quarter, whence are these movements, however evanescent, but just because there is some empty corner in the soul to receive such temptations?

• Every transgression of divine law insults the majesty of God and derogates from his authority.
• Scripture explicitly declares that the penalty for any sin is death.
• Human attempts to minimize sin and deny its mortal consequence are acts of infatuation and rebellion.
• The faults of the saints are only venial because they receive pardon through divine mercy, not because sin is harmless.
• The knowledge of Christ, though present to the holy fathers under the law, is more clearly revealed under the gospel.

Having already indulged this madness too long, let them learn to repent; or, if they persist in their infatuation, taking no further notice of them, let the children of God remember that all sin is mortal...

• Malachi and Peter indicate that ancient prophets ministered for the benefit of future generations who would receive the fuller gospel light.
• While the ancient pious individuals possessed a slight foretaste of grace, modern believers enjoy a fuller fruition and direct revelation.
• Jesus emphasizes the superior measure of grace bestowed upon his disciples compared to righteous men of old who only desired to see those things.
• Abraham and other patriarchs rejoiced because they had full assurance of Christ's coming event, despite viewing it from afar and obscurely.
• The mysteries beheld dimly under shadows by the fathers are made clear and manifest to us through the person of Christ.
• The ingratitude of those who remain blindfolded in this meridian light is deemed shameful and detestable by scripture.

Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.

• The Gospel encompasses the broad doctrine of faith and divine promises of mercy found even throughout the Law.
• In its most excellent sense, the term Gospel applies specifically to the promulgation of grace manifested in Christ.
• Christ brought life and immortality to light, fulfilling previous promises through the new and extraordinary embassy of his incarnation.
• Servetus falsely claimed that the Gospel entirely abolished the ongoing necessity of promises by suggesting everything is already fully realized.
• Believers are currently saved by hope, meaning that full fruition and final transformation are reserved for the future revelation of Christ.

Paul does not mean by these words that the Fathers were plunged in the darkness of death before the Son of God became incarnate...

• Godliness holds promises for both the present life and the life to come through Christ.
• Believers possess spiritual perfection in Christ while still walking by faith rather than sight.
• The Law and the Gospel do not introduce fundamentally different methods of salvation.
• The Gospel confirms the Law by transforming ancient shadows into present substance.
• The primary difference between the Law and the Gospel lies in the clearness of their manifestation.

What was shadow, it has made substance.

• John the Baptist summarized the Gospel by calling Christ the Lamb of God.
• Despite his greatness, John was considered lesser than the Apostles because he preceded Christ's resurrection.
• John described himself merely as a voice preparing disciples for Christ rather than carrying out the full embassy.
• He functioned as a burning and shining light before the full day of the Gospel appeared.
• The Old and New Testaments share fundamental similarities, including the promise of immortality and divine mercy through Christ.

In this sense, he is said by Christ to have been 'a burning and a shining light,' because full day had not yet appeared.

• The divine word possessed the power to quicken souls and raise believing Jews to the hope of eternal life before Christ was manifested.
• The form and nature of the covenant remained fundamentally one and the same both before and after the manifestation of Christ in the flesh.
• Early patriarchs such as Adam, Abel, and Noah aspired with living faith and invincible hope to a heavenly rather than an earthly existence.
• Ancient figures viewed their earthly existence as a pilgrimage and desired burial in Canaan as a figure of eternal happiness.
• Subsequent proofs from David, Job, and the later Prophets established that the true happiness of the righteous lies beyond the present life.
• All people whom God adopted from the beginning of the world shared the same covenant conditions and common salvation through the same Mediator.

They, therefore, had the same aim as believers under the Gospel.

• The text addresses the theological error of Servetus and certain Anabaptists regarding the Old Testament.
• These heretical groups absurdly claimed the ancient Israelites were given only temporal blessings without hope of immortality.
• The author aims to guard pious readers from this pestilential error by explaining the true relation between the testaments.
• The fundamental covenant made with the fathers is substantially the same as the modern covenant, differing only in administration.
• The Jewish people were invited to aspire to immortality rather than mere temporal opulence, founded on God's mercy and mediated by Christ.

seeing they think that our Lord only wished to fatten them on the earth as in a sty, without any hope of heavenly immortality.

• The Apostle Paul affirms that the Gospel preached concerning Jesus Christ was promised aforetime by the prophets in the holy Scriptures.
• The Gospel directs human hearts away from earthly delights toward the hope of immortality and heavenly treasure.
• Scripture passages from Ephesians, Colossians, and Thessalonians establish the Gospel as the word of salvation and the earnest of our inheritance.
• Because the Gospel doctrine is spiritual and grants access to incorruptible life, the faithful under the old law did not live merely for bodily pleasures.
• Paul demonstrates that the Old Testament had direct reference to a future life by showing that Gospel promises were comprehended within it.
• The Old Testament was established by God's free mercy, meaning the ancient Jews were not destitute of Christ since they shared in the Gospel.

let us not suppose that those to whom it was promised and declared altogether neglected the care of the soul, and lived stupidly like cattle in the enjoyment of bodily pleasures.

• Believers under the ancient covenant shared equally in the doctrine of justification by faith and the promise of gratuitous salvation through Christ.
• Scripture demonstrates that Christ was known, experienced, and rejoiced in by figures like Abraham and the early patriarchs.
• Biblical hymns and New Testament writers confirm that the revelation of Christ fulfilled the ancient oaths made to Abraham and his descendants.
• Paul argues that ancient Israelites shared our exact equals in sacramental grace, receiving symbols analogous to Christian baptism and communion.
• The miraculous manna and water from the spiritual Rock in the wilderness point directly to Christ as the sustaining spiritual nourishment for all believers.

They were baptised in passing through the sea, and in the cloud which protected them from the burning heat of the sun.

• Christ compares the manna given by Moses to his own body to address the carnal views of the Jews who sought earthly food.
• The physical manna only relieved temporary bodily hunger, whereas the true food provided by Christ bestows immortality and superior grace.
• Paul recognized that the historical manna also contained a spiritual mystery that typified the spiritual quickening found in Christ.
• The text asserts that the same promises of eternal life given to believers today were communicated to the ancient Jews through spiritual sacraments.
• The author prepares to provide further proof from the Law and the Prophets demonstrating that the spiritual covenant was shared by the early fathers.

If, in your opinion, it was a great and memorable miracle when the Lord, by Moses, supplied his people with heavenly food that they might be supported for a season, and not perish in the wilderness from famine; from this infer how much more excellent is the food which bestows immortality.

• The divine word communicates knowledge of God and links pious minds to Him, granting patriarchs like Adam and Abraham entrance into His immortal kingdom.
• God's foundational covenant promise to walk among His people and be their God encompasses eternal life, salvation, and the sum of all blessedness.
• Scriptural passages demonstrate that having the Lord as one's God guarantees rescue from death and the ongoing bestowal of eternal mercy.
• God's presence cannot be fully enjoyed without the simultaneous possession of spiritual life, particularly for souls united to Him in righteousness.
• Promises extending into the future, such as being the God of believers and their seed, stretch hope forward into eternity and ensure God will never desert them.

For if his face, the moment it hath shone upon us, is a perfect pledge of salvation, how can he manifest himself to any one as his God, without opening to him the treasures of salvation?

• God extends His kindness and mercy across generations, proving that death does not end His care for the faithful.
• Jesus used the example of God calling Himself the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to refute the Sadducees and prove the resurrection.
• Believers are under the protection of the disposer of life and death, meaning death is not the extinction of the soul.
• The earthly lives of early believers, such as Adam, Abel, and Noah, were marked by profound struggles and sorrow rather than luxury.
• These historical hardships served as an exercise reminding believers to look past the present world toward a better life in heaven.
• Abraham stands as the supreme model of faith for all generations to follow.

It would have been just the same as if he had said, I am the God of men who exist not.

• Abraham holds a foundational and honorable place among the faithful, essential to the existence of the Church.
• His life is immediately disrupted when God commands him to leave his friends, parents, and homeland.
• He repeatedly faces severe hardships, including famine, exile, and the danger of compromising his wife for safety.
• Familial strife forces him to part with his beloved nephew Lot, whom he views as a son.
• After finally having a son in his old age, he faces the ultimate psychological terror of being commanded to sacrifice Isaac.
• His entire existence is characterized by relentless distress rather than calm enjoyment of present blessings.

What can the human mind conceive more dreadful than for the father to be the murderer of his son?

• Patriarchal figures face relentless earthly vexations including famine, displacement, and the constant need to fight for basic resources.
• Family dynamics are plagued by severe domestic strife, including conflict between daughters-in-law and bitter dissensions among sons.
• Jacob's life serves as a primary example of profound wretchedness, marked by early threats from his brother and forced exile.
• Decades of servitude under Laban subject Jacob to deceit, extreme weather exposure, and ongoing daily injuries.
• Domestic turmoil and jealousies among his wives continually disrupt Jacob's household stability.
• Even during his return journey, Jacob endures pursuits, accusations, and paralyzing terror when facing his vengeful brother.

For the sake of another wife, he must undergo a new servitude, during which, as he himself complains, the heat of the sun scorches him by day, while in frost and cold he spends the sleepless night.

• Jacob endured a relentless series of profound personal tragedies, including the loss of his beloved wife Rachel and the apparent death of his favored son Joseph.
• His family was further plagued by violence, the dishonor of his daughter, and grave sins committed by his own sons Reuben and others.
• Faced with famine and the imprisonment of yet another son, Jacob's life was defined by constant wretchedness rather than earthly prosperity.
• Jacob himself confessed to Pharaoh that his days had been few and evil, reflecting a life devoid of the promised earthly peace.
• This enduring misery proves that the patriarchs' hopes could not have been fixed on earthly objects, but rather on a heavenly city.
• Scripture confirms that figures like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob viewed themselves as strangers and pilgrims seeking a better country prepared by God.

Jacob, therefore, either formed a malignant and ungrateful estimate of the Lord’s favour, or he truly declared that he had lived miserable on the earth.

• Ancient patriarchs like Abraham pursued divine promises with the expectation of their completion in an afterlife rather than on earth.
• By viewing their earthly existence as a pilgrimage and purchasing only burial sites in Canaan, they testified that the promise of possession awaited them after death.
• Jacob's dying words expressing a wait for divine salvation indicate he saw death not as an end, but as the beginning of a new life.
• Even Balaam recognized the unique significance of the righteous's death, implying that different ultimate fates await the righteous and wicked.
• Prophets like David further illuminated this spiritual covenant, demonstrating that hope must be anchored in a happiness reserved beyond this transient earth.

What salvation could he have waited for, when he felt himself breathing his last, if he did not see in death the beginning of a new life?

• Scriptural passages contrast the fleeting nature of the physical world with the everlasting mercy and salvation of God.
• The survival and establishment of the godly through cosmic destruction link their salvation directly to divine eternity.
• Promises of prosperity and righteousness for believers ultimately point toward the future manifestation of celestial glory.
• In earthly reality, believers often face poverty, oppression, and violence while the wicked experience immense worldly success.
• This stark earthly contrast tempts the faithful to doubt divine justice until they look beyond present circumstances into the sanctuary of God.

But the Lord often leaves his servants, not only to be annoyed by the violence of the wicked, but to be lacerated and destroyed; allows the good to languish in obscurity and squalid poverty, while the ungodly shine forth, as it were, among the stars.

• Old Testament believers understood that God rarely fulfills all promises in the present, earthly life.
• They directed their minds and hopes toward God's sanctuary and the final judgment, apprehended through faith rather than sight.
• Scriptural passages from the Psalms illustrate how the righteous looked beyond temporary hardships to an eternal reality.
• Believers recognized the fleeting nature of worldly wealth and the eventual downfall of the wicked.
• The concept of the 'morning' in scripture points directly to the hidden doctrine of the resurrection and a new life.

It is here. He set before his eyes not merely the unstable vicissitudes of the world, tossed like a troubled sea, but what the Lord is to do when he shall one day sit to fix the eternal constitution of heaven and earth...

• Believers historically found patience in affliction by looking beyond earthly life to heavenly eternity.
• Scriptural passages contrast the fleeting happiness of the wicked with the everlasting mercies reserved for the righteous.
• Job's profound declaration of faith in a Redeemer demonstrates a clear hope for future immortality rather than just present relief.
• These expressions of spiritual life were not hidden mysteries, but public oracles taught openly within the Jewish Church.
• It is perverse to confine these clear spiritual declarations entirely to a carnal covenant of earthly riches.

To those who think only of the present life, death is the extremity of despair; but it could not destroy the hope of Job.

• God administered the covenant of mercy by gradually increasing the light of revelation over time.
• The first promise of salvation to Adam was like a few slender sparks, culminating in Christ as the Sun of righteousness.
• Prophets used temporal blessings to shadow forth divine goodness and lift believers' minds toward a future spiritual life.
• The vision of dry bones in Ezekiel demonstrated God's power to restore life even when restoration seemed like a fable.
• Passages from the prophets extend beyond immediate restoration to point toward the ultimate resurrection of the dead.

The Lord, in order to show that, even in that case, there was nothing to prevent him from making room for his kindness, set before the prophet in vision a field covered with dry bones, to which, by the mere power of his word, he in one moment restored life and strength.

• Prophecies in Isaiah and Daniel clearly point to the future immortality and resurrection awaiting believers.
• The Old Testament covenant made with Israel was not limited to earthly objects but promised spiritual and eternal life.
• Believers must reject the notion that ancient Jews sought only carnal delights, wealth, and earthly prosperity.
• Old Testament figures shared in the same spirit of faith and inheritance of gospel grace as New Testament believers.
• Christ's resurrection granted many ancient saints to be seen in the city, confirming their share in eternal salvation.

Let us then lay it down confidently as a truth which no engines of the devil can destroy—that the Old Testament or covenant which the Lord made with the people of Israel was not confined to earthly objects, but contained a promise of spiritual and eternal life...

• Those who reject the Gospel suffer from a self-inflicted spiritual blindness, keeping a veil over the teachings of Moses.
• Chapter 11 outlines the fundamental differences between the Old and New Testaments regarding their administration.
• Five distinct differences include temporal versus heavenly blessings, ceremonial typifying versus immediate truth, and literal versus spiritual framing.
• Further differences separate the Old Testament bondage from New Testament liberty, and the restricted Jewish covenant from the universal New Testament.
• The text addresses objections concerning divine immutability and why God did not handle the early dispensation like the modern one.

They read, and are constantly turning over the pages of Moses, but a veil prevents them from seeing the light which beams forth in his countenance.

• The text addresses the perceived differences between the Old and New Testaments while asserting their underlying unity.
• The author argues that differences pertain to the mode of administration rather than the core substance of faith.
• Christ serves as the shared foundation for the promises found in both testaments.
• The first major difference lies in how heavenly inheritance was once foreshadowed through earthly blessings like Canaan.
• Misinterpreting these earthly blessings as final rewards rather than mirrors of spiritual reality demonstrates a lack of understanding.
• Paul’s comparison in Galatians likens the early Jewish nation to an heir under a tutor's guidance.

These differences seem to be chiefly four, or, if you choose to add a fifth, I have no objections.

• Early believers were kept under tutelage due to their nonage, receiving spiritual promises typified by earthly objects.
• The land of Canaan was promised to Abraham and his descendants not as a final limit, but as a symbol of true immortality.
• Abraham's thoughts were directed beyond earthly elements to God as his shield and exceeding great reward.
• Psalms and prophets use earthly blessings and Jerusalem as types pointing toward the true heavenly city.
• Saints under the Old Testament valued mortal life more deeply because it bore the lineaments of divine favor tailored to their feebleness.

Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.

• God historically used temporal blessings and punishments to typify spiritual realities for the Israelites.
• Misunderstanding this divine administration often leads people to incorrectly imagine the Old Testament God differs from the New Testament God.
• A major distinction between the testaments is that the former presented types and shadows while the latter exhibits full truth and substance.
• The Epistle to the Hebrews refutes the notion that Mosaic Law is permanent by arguing that Christ's eternal priesthood necessitated a change in the covenant.
• External carnal observances and animal sacrifices under the law were inherently weak and incapable of perfecting the conscience or taking away sins.

The unskilful, not considering this analogy and correspondence (if I may so speak) between rewards and punishments, wonder that there is so much variance in God...

• The legal covenant served merely as an introduction and a shadow of the better hope exhibited in the Gospel.
• Ceremonies and sacrifices were formal symbols and accessories that administered the old covenant until its completion in Christ.
• The Old Testament ceremonies were temporary and had to be annulled to make room for Christ, the surety of a better covenant.
• The covenant became truly new, realized, and eternal only when it was consecrated and sealed in the blood of Christ.
• Believers under the Law were like heirs in their nonage, guided by a tutor under a slender measure of intelligence until Christ's coming.

Then only did it become new and eternal when it was consecrated and established in the blood of Christ.

• Christ is presented as the ultimate manifestation of the kingdom of God, containing all treasures of wisdom and understanding.
• Despite the greatness of past prophets, their teachings were often obscure, symbolic, and akin to the tutelage of children.
• Even the most distinguished prophets possessed a degree of discernment that still savored of the obscurity of their age.
• Christ explicitly highlighted the superior clarity and blessedness of the revelation experienced by later believers compared to past kings and prophets.
• Jeremiah prophesied a new covenant characterized by an internal law written directly on the hearts of the people rather than external ordinances.

Many kings and prophets have desired to see the things which you see, and have not seen them, and to hear the things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

• The Apostle compares the Law and the Gospel using Jeremiah's prophecy to contrast the doctrine of the letter with the doctrine of the spirit.
• Paul speaks more disparagingly of the Law partly to correct false zealots who obscured the clearness of the Gospel through ceremonies.
• The Law commands right actions and threatens transgressors without altering the naturally depraved human heart.
• The Old Testament is characterized as literal and deadly, serving as a ministry of condemnation, while the New Testament is spiritual and an instrument of life.
• Ceremonial laws were merely shadows destined to vanish, whereas the Gospel exhibits the very body and is permanently established.
• The contrast between letter and spirit is used comparatively to highlight the immense riches of grace manifested in the preaching of the Gospel.

The Old is deadly, because it can do nothing but involve the whole human race in a curse; the New is the instrument of life, because those who are freed from the curse it restores to favour with God.

• The Old Testament is associated with bondage and fear because it induces terror and anxiety in the conscience.
• The New Testament is associated with freedom because it inspires confidence, security, and gladness through the Gospel.
• Paul uses the allegory of Abraham's sons, Agar and Sara, to illustrate the contrast between slavery under the Law and liberty under the Gospel.
• Holy fathers of Israel who experienced liberty and joy did so by fleeing to the Gospel, not through the Law itself.
• Despite their faith, Israelites under the Old Testament were still subjected to the burdensome and anxious observance of ceremonies resembling a tutelage of slavery.

Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

• The Law is designated as the Old Testament and the Gospel as the New Testament, though the former is of wider extent.
• Augustine noted that believers from the beginning of the world actually belonged to the New Testament through faith.
• All saints from the beginning of time shared equally in the blessings of eternal salvation.
• The primary difference in divisions relates to the degree of gospel light versus the preceding obscure dispensation.
• Holy fathers under the Old Testament always aspired to the New rather than contenting themselves with mere shadows.
• Until Christ's advent, God confined the specific covenant of His grace to one chosen nation.

To say nothing of other matters, what greater blindness can be imagined, than to hope for the expiation of sin from the sacrifice of a beast, or to seek mental purification in external washing with water, or to attempt to appease God with cold ceremonies, as if he were greatly delighted with them?

• Israel was exclusively chosen by God, favoured with His covenant, and regarded as His special people while other nations wandered in vanity.
• Other nations were left in darkness as aliens, kept far aloof from God without the preaching of His word.
• With the arrival of the Mediator, the wall of partition was broken down, uniting Jew and Greek as one people through Christ.
• The calling of the Gentiles represents a distinguishing feature demonstrating the superiority of the New Testament over the Old.
• Even Christ initially limited His earthly ministry and the Apostles' first commission exclusively to the lost sheep of Israel.
• The eventual inclusion of the Gentiles initially seemed so extraordinary and monstrous to the Apostles that they were horrified by it.

However plainly the thing may have been declared in numerous passages, when it was announced to the Apostles, it seemed to them so new and extraordinary, that they were horrified at it as something monstrous.

• The sudden shift to include Gentiles on an equal footing with the Jews caused understandable reluctance and startled believers.
• Past examples of Gentiles joining the faith were rare and required adoption into Abraham's family.
• Paul describes this sudden inclusion of the Gentiles as a mystery hidden from previous ages and generations.
• Critics argue that God changing rites and ceremonies implies divine mutability and inconsistency.
• This diversity in divine governance is defended using the analogy of a father or husbandman adapting rules to changing times and ages.
• God's constancy remains evident because the underlying doctrine and required worship stay unchanged while external forms accommodate human capacity.

If the husband man prescribes one set of duties to his household in winter, and another in summer, we do not therefore charge him with fickleness or think he deviates from the rules of good husbandry which depends on the regular course of nature.

• Critics question why God did not reveal eternal life in clear terms or institute simpler sacraments from the very beginning.
• Such complaints are compared to questioning why God created the world late or ordained the natural cycles of seasons.
• God instituted Levitical sacrifices and ceremonies not for His own pleasure, but as transient methods suited to men's salvation at that time.
• A physician uses different treatments for a patient at different ages, illustrating why God employed different signs before and after Christ's advent.
• God holds the sovereign right to distribute His gifts, choose nations for illumination, and dispense His grace according to His own wise counsel.
• The chapter transitions to discussing why the Mediator necessarily had to be both God and man to accomplish human redemption.

If a physician, adopting the best method, effects a cure upon a youth, and afterwards, when the same individual has grown old, and is again subject to the same disease, employs a different method of cure, can it be said that he repudiates the method which he formerly approved?

• The text addresses various theological objections and provides answers supported by scripture and the law.
• The necessity of a Mediator who is both God and man stems directly from the divine decree for human salvation.
• Humanity was utterly alienated from God by sin, creating a desperate chasm that neither humans nor angels could cross.
• Because of the vast repugnance between human pollution and divine purity, the Godhead itself had to descend to us.
• Christ was designated as man so that believers would not feel perplexed about how to approach a holy God.

What, then, must it have been, when by fatal ruin he was plunged into death and hell, defiled by so many stains, made loathsome by corruption; in fine, overwhelmed with every curse?

• The Mediator had to be both Son of God and Son of man to bridge the divine and human divide.
• By taking on human flesh, Christ transferred his divine inheritance and status to humanity, making believers sons of God.
• Only someone who was truly God could conquer death, swallow up sin, and hold dominion over heaven.
• Christ came as very man to adopt the person of Adam and satisfy the justice of God through perfect obedience.
• By uniting human weakness and divine power in one person, Christ was able to suffer death and simultaneously gain the victory over it.

It was his to swallow up death: who but Life could do so?

• Some speculative thinkers argue that Christ would have become man even if human redemption had been unnecessary.
• While Scripture designates Christ as the head of angels and creation, his incarnation is explicitly tied to redemption.
• The entire Bible proclaims that Christ was clothed in flesh specifically to act as a Redeemer for fallen humanity.
• Old Testament sacrifices served as typified promises to inspire hope that God would be reconciled through sin expiation.
• Imagining alternative causes for the incarnation beyond human salvation is deemed presumptuous.

One speculation of this class is, that Christ, even though there had been no need of his interposition to redeem the human race, would still have become man.

• The shedding of blood was established in the eternal counsel of God as a symbol of expiation and a promise of a Mediator.
• Prophets like Isaiah foretold that the Mediator would bear human iniquities and suffer as an offering for sin.
• Upon his arrival, Christ explicitly declared his mission was to appease God and bring humanity from death to life.
• Apostolic testimonies and scripture uniformly affirm that Christ's priesthood relies on his role as a reconciling sacrifice.
• Without the purpose of propitiation, Christ would be stripped of his biblical titles and core theological doctrines would collapse.

It is sufficient to refer to the very remarkable prophecy of Isaiah (Is. 53:4, 5), in which he foretells that he was 'smitten for our iniquities;' that 'the chastisement of our peace was upon him;'

• Christ explicitly assigned his assumption of human nature to his role as a propitiatory victim to take away sin.
• Scripture connects Christ's incarnation and redemption together as an eternal, inseparable decree of God.
• Inquiring beyond the immutable ordination of God regarding Christ's nature shows discontentment with the Redeemer given.
• Paul directs our attention to what God predetermined before all ages to provide a cure for human misery.
• Attempting to know more of Christ than God's secret decree invents a new and unauthorized Christ.
• Paul sets strict boundaries around the human mind to keep focus entirely on the gift of reconciliation.

He who is tickled with a desire of knowing something more, not contented with the immutable ordination of God, shows also that he is not even contented with that Christ who has been given us as the price of redemption.

• The author resolves to firmly adhere to the gospel grace given in Christ before the world began.
• Osiander is criticized for arguing that the Son of God would have appeared in the flesh even if Adam had not fallen.
• The text condemns extreme speculations, such as questioning whether the Son of God could have assumed the nature of an ass.
• Osiander's foundation that man was formed on the model of the future Messiah is dismissed as frivolous and silly.
• While Adam bore the image of God, true likeness is found in his superiority over animals and his relation to Christ as the ultimate image.

To such insanity have some proceeded in their preposterous eagerness to seem acute, that they have made it a question whether the Son of God might not have assumed the nature of an ass.

• Man was created in the image of God, reflecting the Creator's glory through the favor of the only begotten Son.
• Angels share a similar dignity and likeness to God, as they are also called the sons of God and enjoy His immediate presence.
• Osiander's argument that angels were postponed to men because they lacked the image of Christ is dismissed as ignorant trifling.
• Scripture portrays Christ as the second Adam, whose human condition and incarnation were decreed to restore the ruined posterity of man rather than preceding creation.
• The necessity of Christ's incarnation arises from the accidental circumstance of human fall and redemption, not as a primary blueprint preceding the creation of Adam.

For why should he be alarmed at what the Scripture plainly teaches, that "he was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin?"

• Osiander argues that the incarnation of the Son of God was primarily driven by human restitution following Adam's fall rather than solely for redemption.
• The author counters that Adam already bore the divine image in body and soul before any incarnation, with Christ maintaining pre-eminence as the eternal Word.
• Paul's epistles establish that Christ possesses dominion over angels as the eternal Word and acts as Redeemer specifically through becoming man.
• The claim that humanity and angels would lack a head without the physical incarnation is dismissed as a false and speculative principle.
• Osiander's use of Adam's marital quote from Genesis as an infallible prophetic oracle is shown to be exegetically unfounded.

Taking an intoxicating delight in his own speculations, his wont is to extract ridiculous plans out of nothing.

• The author argues that Osiander misinterprets the literal meaning of marital fidelity as a mystical union.
• Paul distinguishes the earthly marriage tie from the spiritual union between Christ and the Church.
• Such theological subtleties and dreams are dismissed as unnecessary and absurd.
• The solid truth of scripture regarding Christ sent to redeem humanity is abundantly sufficient.
• The text transitions to Chapter 13, focusing on the true human substance of Christ against ancient heretics.

I deem it unnecessary to discuss similar absurdities: for from this very brief refutation, the vanity of them all will be discovered.

• Ancient heresies like those of the Manichees and Marcionites falsely claimed Christ possessed a celestial or phantom body rather than true human flesh.
• Numerous biblical passages explicitly connect Christ's lineage to Abraham, Jacob, and David, proving his actual human descent.
• Scriptural references highlight that Christ partook in human infirmities such as hunger, thirst, and cold.
• Christ assumed the seed of Abraham rather than the nature of angels to genuinely conquer death and act as a merciful high priest.
• Sins of the world had to be expiated specifically in human flesh, uniting believers to their head, Christ.
• The divine gifts and the Spirit bestowed upon Christ were meant for humanity's shared enrichment.

The Holy Spirit having so often, by so many organs, with so much care and plainness, declared a matter which in itself is not abstruse, who could have thought that mortals would have had the effrontery to darken it with their glosses?

• Marcion and Manes mistakenly argued that Christ assumed a phantom or aerial body rather than true human flesh.
• Paul's letter to the Philippians demonstrates that Christ voluntarily concealed His divine glory under the veil of human humility.
• Scriptural references to Christ being put to death in the flesh necessitate His true participation in human weakness and nature.
• The argument for human resurrection depends entirely on Christ sharing our identical bodily essence.
• Frivolous subtleties and misinterpretations of scripture fail to disprove the orthodox doctrine of Christ's genuine humanity.

If his body were not of the same nature with ours, there would be no soundness in the argument which Paul pursues with so much earnestness,—If Christ is risen we shall rise also; if we rise not, neither has Christ risen.

• The Hebrew idiom 'Son of man' denotes true humanity, confirming Christ's genuine shared nature with mankind.
• Scriptural references from Psalms and Hebrews demonstrate that Christ shares in our flesh and blood as an associate and partner.
• Christ's willingness to call believers brethren stems from his boundless grace in associating with the mean and ignoble.
• Spiritual brotherhood requires the intervention of faith and the Spirit, distinguishing believers from unbelievers despite a shared physical origin.
• Primogeniture regarding Christ refers to a degree of honour and pre-eminence of virtue rather than chronological age.
• Prophetic references to the seed of the woman indicate that Christ descends from the human race to secure victory over the devil.

When Christ of his boundless grace associates himself with the mean and ignoble, we see why it was said that 'he is not ashamed.'

• Opponents absurdly treat the literal seed of David as a mere allegory.
• Paul explicitly designates Christ's physical nature through his descent from David and the Jews.
• Scripture validates Christ's lineage through both Joseph and Mary.
• Heresies claiming Christ's body was unsubstantial subvert the elementary principles of nature.
• Civil and scriptural traditions reckon descent primarily through males while still acknowledging the female's proper share.

the new Marcionites, for the purpose of giving a gloss to their heresy, namely to prove that the body which Christ assumed was unsubstantial, too confidently maintain that the expression as to seed is applicable only to males, thus subverting the elementary principles of nature.

• The legal and natural condition of a child follows that of the mother.
• Biblical precedent indicates that offspring share the maternal seed and lineage.
• Scripture demonstrates that Christ was truly begotten of Mary and descended from David.
• Christ is exempted from the common corruption of Adam not through a pure maternal seed, but by the sanctification of the Holy Spirit.
• Paul's theology distinguishes Christ as a true man who remains entirely free from fault and corruption.

The absurdities which they wish to fasten upon us are mere puerile calumnies.

• Scripture affirms the absolute purity of Christ's true human nature, exempting him from Adam's common corruption.
• The divine and human natures of Christ are united into one person without confusion, change, or enclosure of the divine essence.
• Chapter 14 establishes the doctrine of Christ's two distinct natures through scriptural proofs and the analogy of body and soul.
• The hypostatic union maintains that the entire properties of each nature remain intact while constituting a single Mediator.
• Historical heresies such as those of Servetus, Nestorius, and Eutyches are refuted for destroying the proper distinction or eternity of Christ's natures.

For although the boundless essence of the Word was united with human nature into one person, we have no idea of any enclosing.

• The union of soul and body in man serves as an analogy for how two different natures constitute a single person.
• Scripture attributes certain qualities of Christ specifically to his humanity, others to his divinity, and some to his dual nature.
• Passages regarding Christ's preexistence and eternal power, such as 'Before Abraham was I am,' demonstrate his divine attributes.
• References to Christ growing in wisdom, suffering, and being handled are correctly assigned to his human nature.
• The figure of speech known as the communication of properties allows human actions, like shedding blood, to be ascribed to his divine personhood.

God certainly has no blood, suffers not, cannot be touched with hands; but since that Christ, who was true God and true man, shed his blood on the cross for us, the acts which were performed in his human nature are transferred improperly, but not ceaselessly, to his divinity.

• Certain biblical passages regarding Christ's powers apply to both his divine and human natures simultaneously.
• Prerogatives such as forgiving sins and being the Light of the world were invested in the Son upon his manifestation in the flesh.
• Christ's temporary kingdom and subjection to the Father stem from his humble clothing of flesh and role as Mediator.
• Ancient writers often obscured gospel doctrines by failing to properly account for the specific office of Mediator.
• Christ will eventually deliver up the kingdom to the Father so that God may be all in all, revealing his divine majesty fully.

His giving up of the kingdom to the Father, so far from impairing his majesty, will give a brighter manifestation of it.

• Ignorant and frantic spirits often become perplexed by biblical expressions regarding Christ that do not neatly fit his divinity or humanity in isolation.
• Troubled interpreters mistakenly use attributes of Christ's humanity to deny his divinity, and vice versa.
• Christ possesses two distinct natures that are united rather than confused, making him both true God and true man as our Mediator.
• Believers must avoid the heresy of Nestorius, which dissects the two natures to create a double Christ, and Eutyches, which destroys the two natures in pursuit of unity.
• Scriptural references, such as Christ calling His own body a temple, clearly prove the distinct indwelling of the Godhead within His humanity.

But what else is this than to contend that Christ is not man because he is God, not God because he is man, and neither God nor man because he is both at once.

• Servetus denies that Christ is inherently the eternal Son of God, arguing instead that he only became the Son upon being begotten in the Virgin's womb.
• This theological maneuver attempts to dissolve the distinct divine and human natures into a confused hybrid entity.
• Orthodox doctrine maintains that the eternal Word assumed human nature through a hypostatic union, uniting two natures into one person.
• While the eternal Word was always the Son, his celestial paternity became far more visibly manifested and celebrated with his incarnation.
• Believers are granted adoption as children of God solely through their relation to the only-begotten Son by nature.

His aim throughout is to establish, that before Christ was manifested in the flesh there were only shadowy figures in God, the truth or effect of which existed for the first time, when the Word who had been destined to that honour truly began to be the Son of God.

• Christ's adoption as the Son of God is not merely a figurative concept, but is fundamentally rooted in his eternal pre-existence.
• Scripture establishes Christ as the first-born and head of all creation, including both angels and men, prior to the world's creation.
• Heresies arguing that Christ only became the Son of God upon his incarnation fail to distinguish between his two natures.
• Believers become sons of God through gratuitous adoption and grace, whereas Christ possesses this status by nature as the only-begotten Son.
• Paul distinguishes Christ's human lineage as the seed of David from his divine status as the Son of God declared with power.

How is he an only Son in so great a multitude of brethren, except that he possesses by nature what we acquire by gift?

• Christ is called the Son of God based on his eternal divine essence and Godhead.
• The distinction between Christ's two natures demonstrates that he is both the Son of Man in the flesh and the Son of God in his divine nature.
• Heretical arguments claiming Christ only became the Son of God at his conception rely on flawed logical methods.
• Augustine noted that Christ as a man obtained unmerited honor as a bright mirror of God's grace from the womb.
• Maintaining the unity of Christ's person does not require intermixing his two distinct natures or stripping the Godhead of its peculiar traits.

They indeed find a blustering defence of their heresy in its being said, that “God spared not his own Son,” and in the communication of the angel, that He who was to be born of the Virgin should be called the “Son of the Highest,”

• The title of Father implies a mutual eternal relation to the Son existing from the beginning.
• Ancient writers and scripture support the existence of the invisible Son of God prior to His incarnation.
• Denying the pre-existence of the Son leads to false analogies akin to ancient heresies.
• Views reducing the Son to a mere human creation or phantom destroy the eternal generation of Wisdom.
• Servetus's errors attempted to substitute a preordained human idea for the true divine Word.

Thus, the eternal generation of Wisdom, celebrated by Solomon, is destroyed, and no kind of Godhead exists in the Mediator: or a phantom is substituted instead of a man.

• The text critiques erroneous theological views regarding the divine and human natures of Christ.
• False theories that convert flesh into deity ultimately undermine the true eternal personality of the Word and the promised Redeemer.
• A valid Redeemer must truly share in human nature as a descendant of Abraham and David.
• The union of two distinct natures in one person is affirmed without confusing them.
• Christ is acknowledged by believers through his threefold anointed offices of Prophet, King, and Priest.
• The spiritual kingdom and unction of Christ provide believers with eternal life, fortitude, and victory over spiritual foes.

Now, the only Redeemer we can have is He who being begotten of the seed of Abraham and David according to the flesh, truly became man.

• The death of Christ yields vital spiritual fruits including intercession, prayer confidence, peace of conscience, and the priesthood of all believers.
• Augustine noted that heretics and the Papists use the name of Christ in word only while depriving him of his true virtue and dignity.
• A solid ground of salvation requires understanding the three distinct parts of Christ's office: Prophet, King, and Priest.
• Scriptural history reveals that believers always anticipated the Messiah as the ultimate source of full understanding and divine doctrine.
• Prophets in the Old Testament served to sustain the Church and direct its hope toward the eventual coming of the Mediator.

Thus in the present day, though the Papists have the words, Son of God, Redeemer of the world, sounding in their mouths, yet, because contented with an empty name, they deprive him of his virtue and dignity.

• Prophets, priests, and kings were anointed with holy oil under the law, earning the promised Mediator the name Messiah.
• Isaiah explicitly notes that the Spirit anointed Christ to preach good tidings, bind the broken-hearted, and proclaim liberty.
• Christ's unction as a teacher was not just for himself, but for his entire body so that the Spirit's efficacy accompanies the Gospel.
• The perfection of doctrine brought by Christ puts an end to all prior prophecies, making it unlawful to seek wisdom outside the simple Gospel.
• Christ's kingly office is spiritual in nature, providing eternal governance and defense for the Church and its individual members.

The voice which thundered from heaven, 'This is my beloved Son, hear him' gave him a special privilege above all other teachers.

• The earthly kingdom of David faced decay and a dishonourable end, pointing toward a deeper spiritual reality.
• Christ's eternal power and survival over death ensure the perpetual safety and preservation of the Church.
• Scripture assures believers that despite raging enemies and turbulent agitations, God's decree for His Son's kingdom cannot be broken.
• The eternal nature of Christ's kingdom elevates believers' hopes toward a blessed immortality beyond earthly temporality.
• True happiness in Christ does not consist of external advantages or a tranquil earthly life, but belongs properly to the heavenly life.

For we see that every thing which is earthly, and of the world, is temporary, and soon fades away.

• Christ provides both temporal peace and eternal salvation, reigning primarily for the benefit of his people rather than himself.
• The kingdom of God is internal and spiritual, consisting of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost rather than earthly pomp.
• Christians are equipped with spiritual gifts and strength to remain victorious against the devil, sin, and death.
• The spiritual nature of Christ's kingdom enables believers to endure present earthly hardships and indignities with patience.
• Christ's royal unction is derived from the Holy Spirit, which he shares abundantly to refresh and enrich his followers.

It is probable that on his declaring himself to be that King under whom the highest blessing of God was to be expected, they had in derision asked him to produce his insignia.

• Christ's kingdom is spiritual rather than earthly, requiring believers to renounce worldly delights.
• The Holy Spirit resides in Christ as a fountain from which believers receive copious spiritual supplies and grace.
• Believers are called Christians because they draw invincible strength and riches from their King.
• Christ acts as a mediator and vicegerent of the Father, governing and sustaining the Church during our earthly pilgrimage.
• Paul's writings indicate that Christ's current administrative office will eventually be completed when God becomes the all-in-all.

there is not a drop of vigour in us save what the Holy Spirit instils, who has chosen his seat in Christ, that thence the heavenly riches, of which we are destitute, might flow to us in copious abundance.

• Christ reigns by divine authority as the appointed Judge, Lawgiver, and King of believers.
• Those who voluntarily submit experience Christ as a King and Pastor, while rebels face his iron sceptre.
• Christ's priesthood serves to appease God's wrath and procure divine favor for humanity.
• Access to God requires the expiation of sin, which Christ fulfilled through the sacrifice of his own death.
• The solemn oath regarding the order of Melchizedek ratifies the eternal importance of Christ's priesthood for our salvation.

For as he unites the offices of King and Pastor towards believers, who voluntarily submit to him, so, on the other hand, we are told that he wields an iron sceptre to break and bruise all the rebellious like a potter’s vessel.

• Christ's priesthood begins with his death, making him a perpetual intercessor who grants believers confidence and peace.
• Christ serves as both victim and priest because no other sacrifice could satisfy the demands for sin.
• Through Christ's holiness, believers are consecrated and enabled to offer acceptable sacrifices of prayer and praise.
• The text condemns the Catholic mass as a detestable fiction that attempts to repeat Christ's unique sacrifice.
• Redemption encompasses Christ's entire obedience, though it is specially ascribed to his death, agony, and condemnation.

The more detestable, therefore, is the fiction of those who, not content with the priesthood of Christ, have dared to take it upon themselves to sacrifice him, a thing daily attempted in the Papacy, where the mass is represented as an immolation of Christ.

• The text outlines theological discussions on the crucifixion, death, and descent into hell of Christ, refuting various fables and expositions.
• It details the doctrine of Christ's descent into hell as a source of great comfort and scriptural confirmation.
• It addresses objections regarding Christ's fear of death, affirming that he was tempted and troubled yet remained without sin.
• The resurrection, ascension, and session at the Father's right hand are presented as foundational advantages for human righteousness and hope.
• Christ's return to judgment and the concluding summary of the Apostles' Creed encapsulate the entire scope of the chapter.
• The ultimate conclusion emphasizes that humanity is lost in itself and must seek complete salvation and righteousness exclusively in Christ.

All that we have hitherto said of Christ leads to this one result, that condemned, dead, and lost in ourselves, we must in him seek righteousness, deliverance, life and salvation...

• The office of Redeemer was assigned to Christ with the explicit purpose that he might be our Saviour.
• Salvation is entirely contained within Christ, and turning aside from him even slightly causes it to disappear.
• Bernard eloquently describes the name of Jesus as light, food, oil, salt, honey, melody, joy, and medicine for the soul.
• True faith requires embracing Christ as a sure foundation to avoid wavering and to understand how we obtain salvation.
• Sinners naturally feel God's anger and enmity, recognizing that a just judge cannot permit the law to be violated with impunity.

The name of Jesus is not only light but food also, yea, oil, without which all the food of the soul is dry; salt, without which as a condiment whatever is set before us is insipid; in fine, honey in the mouth, melody in the ear, joy in the heart, and, at the same time, medicine.

• Scripture frequently describes God as an enemy to humanity before reconciliation through Christ.
• These expressions are accommodated to human capacity to help us understand our miserable and calamitous condition.
• Without realizing our wretchedness and the divine wrath hanging over us, we would not properly value the blessing of deliverance.
• Detailed descriptions of our alienation, eternal death, and the slavery of sin deepen our gratitude toward God.
• God cannot love iniquity due to His perfect righteousness, making all humans inherently offensive to Him in their corrupted nature.
• Despite our sinfulness, God's gratuitous love prompts Him to find His creation within us and receive us into favour.

Such modes of expression are accommodated to our capacity, that we may the better understand how miserable and calamitous our condition is without Christ.

• God's love precedes our reconciliation, acting as the foundational cause that anticipates our redemption in Christ.
• Human iniquity naturally provokes God's indignation and creates a barrier preventing full communion with the divine.
• The expiation found in Christ's death abolishes the evil within us, transforming the impure into the just and holy.
• Believers must focus entirely on Christ, as it is solely through him that our sins are not imputed to us.
• Augustine explains the paradox of divine love, asserting that God loved us before the foundation of the world even while our sin made us objects of his wrath.

Accordingly in a manner wondrous and divine, he loved even when he hated us.

• Christ accomplished human righteousness and divine favor through his entire course of earthly obedience.
• Biblical texts extend the ground of pardon and redemption to the whole life of Christ, beginning from his birth and baptism.
• Scripture specifically ascribes the definitive mode of salvation and the price of deliverance peculiarly to the death of Christ.
• The Apostles Creed transitions directly from Christ's birth to his death and resurrection as the completion of salvation.
• Christ's obedience required voluntary subjection, as his sacrifice would have been unavailing for justification if not offered spontaneously.

Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

• Christ voluntarily yielded to his Father's will by facing suffering and judgment without self-defense.
• He endured dire terrors and renounced his own feelings to fully propitiate God on behalf of humanity.
• Christ was officially condemned by a mortal governor to bear the punishment and guilt for our sins.
• His specific mode of death at the judgment bar demonstrated that he took on the character of an offender.
• He was numbered with transgressors to fulfill prophecy, yet simultaneously maintained his complete innocence.

It was no ordinary example of incomparable love towards us to struggle with dire terrors, and amid fearful tortures to cast away all care of himself that he might provide for us.

• Christ was sentenced as a criminal by Pontius Pilate despite being declared innocent, demonstrating that our guilt was transferred to him.
• This penal substitution relieves believers from a lifetime of anxiety regarding divine vengeance.
• The physical form of death on the cross symbolizes Christ bearing the curse of the Divine Law in our place.
• By taking upon himself the disgrace of our iniquities, Christ clothed us in his spotlessly pure righteousness.
• Rather than being overwhelmed by the curse, Christ endured it to break, annihilate, and triumph over its force.

Accordingly, faith apprehends acquittal in the condemnation of Christ, and blessing in his curse.

• The cross of Christ is transformed from a symbol of ignominy into a triumphal chariot of victory over principalities and powers.
• Christ's role as a sacrifice and substitute-ransom requires the continual mention of blood for genuine redemption and propitiation.
• By dying in our place, Christ submitted to death's power not to be consumed by it, but to annihilate it and purchase life for humanity.
• Christ's death destroys the power of the devil and liberates those who lived their entire lives in bondage to the fear of death.
• Fellowship with Christ's death and burial mortifies our earthly members and crucifies the world to us so our faith remains fruitful.

By dying he prevented us from dying; or (which is the same thing) he by his death purchased life for us.

• The disputed clause concerning Christ's descent into hell holds a vital place in the summary of Christian redemption.
• Although the phrase was integrated into the Creed gradually rather than from the beginning, its theological importance is widely supported by the ancient Fathers.
• Rejecting the interpretation that the descent is merely a synonym for burial, the text argues that such a redundant tautology would violate the Creed's concise nature.
• Alternative interpretations suggest Christ descended to announce accomplished redemption to the patriarchs confined under the law.

What folly would it have been, after explaining a matter attended with no difficulty in clear and unambiguous terms, afterwards to involve rather than illustrate it by clothing it in obscure phraseology?

• The author dismisses the traditional belief in a subterraneous cavern known as Limbus as a childish fable resulting from misinterpretations of scripture.
• Scriptural passages concerning deliverance from pits or prisons historically referred to temporal captivities like the Babylonian exile rather than a geographical underworld.
• Christ's preaching to the spirits in prison signifies that past believers partook of the same grace and witnessed the manifestation of redemption.
• True exposition of Christ's descent to hell requires looking beyond the Creed to understand that he suffered the invisible, divine vengeance necessary to redeem humanity.
• Christ acted as a surety, enduring the spiritual horrors of eternal death and the wrath of God in his soul to fully pay the penalty for human guilt.

It is frivolous and ridiculous to object that in this way the order is perverted, it being absurd that an event which preceded burial should be placed after it.

• Christ endured the profound pains of death, which stemmed directly from the curse and wrath of God.
• He experienced the dread of abandonment, crying out in agony as he stood as humanity's representative.
• Although God was never truly hostile to His beloved Son, Christ bore the overwhelming weight of the divine anger.
• He conquered the deep-seated fear of death and the pains of hell through a genuine and fierce contest.
• By achieving this victory, Christ successfully delivered mortals from a lifetime of bondage to the fear of death.

To such a degree was Christ dejected, that in the depth of his agony he was forced to exclaim, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

• Critics falsely accuse the author of insulting Christ and alleging despair by acknowledging his fear and dread.
• The Evangelists clearly record that Christ was troubled in spirit, exceedingly amazed, and filled with grief.
• Denying Christ's agony strips his sacrifice of meaning, as his soul had to share in the punishment to redeem humanity.
• Unlike fallen human nature, Christ's pure infirmities were kept strictly within the limits of obedience and moderation.
• Reducing Christ's suffering to a mere fear of physical death makes him cowardly compared to ordinary mortals facing execution.

If the Son of God was amazed and terror-struck at the prospect of it, where was his firmness or magnanimity?

• Christ endured a fierce and arduous struggle surpassing ordinary death to ransom humanity from God's justice.
• His descent to hell and the agony of standing as a criminal in our stead reveals the immense cost of our salvation.
• Despite feeling forsaken and crying out in agony, Christ maintained unwavering confidence in God's goodness.
• This profound spiritual struggle refutes both the Apollinarian and Monothelites heresies regarding Christ's human nature and soul.
• The resurrection is essential to complete our salvation, as faith must transcend the weakness of the cross and death.

Amid all his agony he ceases not to call upon his God, while exclaiming that he is forsaken by him.

• Salvation is divided between the death of Christ, which abolished sin, and his resurrection, which restored righteousness.
• Christ's resurrection demonstrated his victory over death and serves as a sure support for believers' faith and hope.
• Mentioning either Christ's death or resurrection implicitly includes the efficacy of both through a theological synecdoche.
• Without the resurrection, faith would be in vain and believers would remain in their sins, as Paul argues.
• Communion with Christ's resurrection empowers believers to walk in newness of life and seek heavenly things.

For how could he by dying have freed us from death, if he had yielded to its power? how could he have obtained the victory for us, if he had fallen in the contest?

• Christ's resurrection not only urges a new life but assures believers of their own future resurrection.
• The terms used for rising from the dead emphasize the reality of his death and human flesh.
• Although Christ's resurrection displayed his glory, his reign truly commenced with his ascension into heaven.
• His physical departure was necessary to send the Holy Ghost and provide greater spiritual utility.
• Through his ascension, Christ's power and efficacy are propagated beyond all bounds of heaven and earth.

It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you.

• Augustine distinguishes between Christ's spiritual presence, which is eternal, and his bodily presence, which is limited by his ascension.
• The Church currently apprehends Christ through faith rather than physical sight, having lost his bodily presence after forty days.
• Sitting at the right hand of the Father is a metaphor for Christ's installation in the governance of heaven and earth.
• All creatures in heaven and earth are meant to reverence Christ's majesty, submit to his power, and recognize his universal dominion.
• The phrase 'sitting' does not refer to a physical posture, but rather to presiding on the heavenly judgment-seat with supreme authority.

Now, she apprehends him by faith, but sees him not by the eye

• Christ's ascension opens access to the heavenly kingdom, allowing believers to consider themselves already seated there in him.
• He serves as an eternal advocate and intercessor before the Father, turning divine wrath away from human sin and offering grace.
• Through his exalted position, Christ exerts supreme power, leading captivity captive and showering his people with spiritual riches.
• His current reign is veiled by earthly humiliation, requiring believers to focus on his future visible return.
• At the final day, Christ will descend in glory to judge all humanity, separating the living and the dead from the extremities of the universe.

From the extremities of the universe shall be heard the clang of the trumpet summoning all to his tribunal; both those whom that day shall find alive, and those whom death shall previously have removed from the society of the living.

• Ancient writers sometimes debated the interpretation of certain doctrines, but the meaning intended here aligns closely with popular creeds.
• The inevitability of death for all men is maintained, though those surviving at the last day will undergo a transformative change rather than a natural death.
• Scriptural references support the doctrine that both the quick and the dead will be summoned to final judgment.
• Believers find great consolation in knowing that judgment is vested in Christ, who acts as their advocate and protector rather than their condemner.
• The Father committed all judgment to the Son specifically to pacify the consciences of believers who might otherwise fear the judgment seat.
• The Apostles' Creed serves as a concise summary of redemption and Christian doctrine, highlighting the essential points of faith.

How could a most merciful prince destroy his own people? how could the head disperse its own members? how could the advocate condemn his clients?

• The text discusses the Apostles Creed as an ancient and universally accepted summary of Christian faith.
• Regardless of its exact authorship, the creed provides a clear and succinct statement sanctioned by Scripture.
• Believers are cautioned to derive salvation and all spiritual gifts exclusively from Christ rather than any other source.
• Every aspect of Christ's earthly life, passion, resurrection, and ascension corresponds to a specific spiritual blessing for humanity.
• Seeking hope or blessings outside of Christ constitutes a deviation from the right path of faith.

If we seek salvation, we are taught by the very name of Jesus that he possesses it; if we seek any other gifts of the Spirit, we shall find them in his unction; strength in his government; purity in his conception; indulgence in his nativity...

• The chapter explores the compatibility of God's grace with the merit of Christ in achieving human salvation.
• Scriptural evidence and logical reasoning show that Christ is not merely a minister, but the author and prince of salvation.
• Christ truly merited divine favor and paid our ransom through his obedience and the shedding of his blood unto death.
• Some theologians object to the term merit, fearing it obscures divine grace, but this objection fails when properly understood.
• The merit of Christ does not oppose God's mercy; rather, Christ's role depends entirely on the pre-ordained good pleasure and grace of God.

I admit that were Christ opposed simply, and by himself, to the justice of God, there could be no room for merit, because there cannot be found in man a worth which could make God a debtor.

• Scripture presents God's love as the ultimate origin of salvation, with faith in Christ acting as the proximate cause.
• Christ serves as the propitiation for human sins, appointed by God to remove obstacles to His love.
• God is paradoxically described as simultaneously loving humanity while remaining hostile to sinners until reconciled through Christ.
• The sacrifice of Christ provides free justification, transforming individuals from children of wrath into the righteousness of God.
• Christ truly purchased and merited grace for humanity through His obedience, satisfying the penalty due for human sin.

There is great force in this word “propitiation”; for in a manner which cannot be expressed, God, at the very time when he loved us, was hostile to us until reconciled in Christ.

• God's wrath against human sin was appeased through the sacrificial death of His Son.
• Just as Adam's disobedience made humanity sinners, Christ's obedience restores us to divine favor.
• Believers are cleansed by the blood of Christ, which acts as an expiation for sin.
• The shedding of Christ's blood satisfies the justice of God and prevents the imputation of our sins.
• Christ fulfills the role of the ultimate Lamb of God, surpassing all ancient sacrificial figures of the Law.

God, to whom we were hateful through sin, was appeased by the death of his Son, and made propitious to us.

• The text argues that without the shedding of blood, there can be no remission of sins, drawing heavily from the Epistle to the Hebrews.
• It asserts that Christ's sacrifice of himself was necessary to take away sin, surpassing the old sacrificial system of goats and heifers.
• Christ is described as having been made a curse for humanity, paying the exact debt that others owed to acquire righteousness for them.
• Scriptural references from Isaiah and Peter emphasize that Christ bore the full burden of human condemnation and punishment on the tree.
• The apostles declare that believers are ransomed not with corruptible things like silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ as a divine price.

It had been superfluous and therefore absurd, that Christ should have been burdened with a curse, had it not been in order that, by paying what others owed, he might acquire righteousness for them.

• Scriptural passages demonstrate that believers are justified and acquitted before God through the satisfaction of Christ's blood.
• Christ fulfilled what the Law required, acting as our substitute to obtain the righteousness we could not earn ourselves.
• The imputation of righteousness without works means Christ's own righteousness is accepted on our behalf.
• Christ is described as our spiritual food and the source of our life because his crucifixion served as the price of our justification.
• The Father is propitious toward us solely on account of Christ, whose name and sacrifice secure our forgiveness.
• Speculating on whether Christ merited anything for himself is dismissed as foolish and unnecessary curiosity.

If righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

• The Father gave up his Son to death out of love for the world, removing all doubt regarding divine intention.
• Prophetical expressions highlight that the Son was given and the King came specifically for humanity.
• Christ explicitly states that he sanctifies himself for the sake of others, acquiring nothing for himself.
• Devoting himself entirely to human salvation, Christ in a manner forgot himself.
• Paul's description of Christ's exaltation is a consequence of his suffering and example rather than a reward for human-like merit.

And surely it is most worthy of remark, that Christ, in devoting himself entirely to our salvation, in a manner forgot himself.

• The text outlines the Third Book's focus on the Holy Spirit's role in procuring the grace of Christ and salvation.
• Seven principal heads structure the argument, revolving primarily around the doctrine of faith, repentance, and justification.
• Faith is described as the hand by which we embrace Christ, naturally flowing into true repentance and Christian liberty.
• Special topics like prayer, the doctrine of election, and the final resurrection are addressed to support believers through their warfare.
• Chapter one specifically details how the benefits of Christ are made available through the secret operation of the Spirit.

Faith being, as it were, the hand by which we embrace Christ the Redeemer, offered to us by the Holy Spirit, Faith is fully considered in the Second Chapter.

• Christ's sufferings and achievements provide no benefit to humanity unless individuals are united with him.
• Believers must be ingrafted into Christ and clothed with him to truly partake of his divine blessings.
• Faith alone does not explain why some embrace Christ while others do not, pointing to the secret efficacy of the Spirit.
• The Holy Spirit acts as the essential bond connecting believers to Christ and sealing his sacrifice upon their hearts.
• The Spirit of sanctification serves as the seed and root of heavenly life, separating believers from the world for an eternal inheritance.

The whole comes to this that the Holy Spirit is the bond by which Christ effectually binds us to himself.

• Believers are guided and sustained by the indwelling Spirit of God as proof of their spiritual renewal.
• Scripture attributes spiritual gifts to both the Father as the author and Christ as the distributor.
• The Holy Spirit is designated as the 'Spirit of Christ' due to His vital office as Mediator.
• Christ breathes a special, quickening life into His people, distinguishing them from the reprobate.
• The communion of the Holy Ghost is essential for experiencing the paternal favor of God and the love shed abroad in believers' hearts.
• The Spirit is specifically titled the 'Spirit of adoption' because He testifies to God's free favor and grants believers boldness of access.

First, he is called the "Spirit of adoption," because he is witness to us of the free favor with which God the Father embraced us in his well-beloved and only-begotten Son, so as to become our Fathers and give us boldness of access to him; nays he dictates the very words, so that we can boldly cry, "Abba, Father."

• The Spirit quickens believers and assures them that their salvation is secure in God's hands.
• Scripture metaphorically describes the Spirit as water, oil, fire, and a fountain to illustrate spiritual renewal, cleansing, and zeal.
• Without the active operation of the Spirit, Christ remains distant and unemployed in the believer's life.
• Through the Spirit, believers enter into a sacred union with Christ, becoming bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh.
• Faith is the principal work of the Spirit, enabling people to receive Christ through a supernatural gift rather than human will.

To this is to be referred that sacred marriage, by which we become bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh, and so one with him, for it is by the Spirit alone that he unites himself to us.

• Faith is produced exclusively within the human mind by the operation of the Holy Spirit.
• Christ promised the Spirit of truth to grant disciples the capacity for heavenly wisdom.
• The Spirit acts as the internal key that unlocks the treasures of the heavenly kingdom to believers.
• External preaching remains ineffective without the internal quickening and illumination of the Spirit.
• Christ baptizes believers with the Spirit to enlighten their faith and regenerate them as new creatures.

for in vain were light offered to the blind, did not that Spirit of understanding open the intellectual eye

• Faith is offered through Christ and embraced with faith, defined as a gift of the Spirit inseparable from pious affection.
• The text distinguishes between temporary faith found in hypocrites and reprobates versus the firm, perpetual faith of the elect.
• Faith has various meanings and is explained through multiple heads, emphasizing certain knowledge and firm divine promises.
• True believers experience conflict between the flesh and the Spirit, but faith ultimately achieves victory.
• Even when shaken by fear or trials, the faith of the elect remains firm and ultimately overcomes doubt.
• True fear is categorized properly as filial reverence toward God as a Father rather than mere servile dread.

For this reason the conflict between the flesh and the Spirit in the soul of the believer described. The issue of this conflict, the victory of faith.

• The word of God serves as the essential prop and root of faith, demanding strict adherence without deviation.
• All divine promises are fulfilled and included solely within Christ.
• The Holy Spirit reveals faith to our minds and seals it upon our hearts, purifying our understanding.
• Believers may face trials and be shaken, but they ultimately overcome and remain steadfast.
• Hope acts as the inseparable attendant of true faith, mutually supporting and establishing it during temptations.

Believers sometimes shaken, but not so as to perish finally. They ultimately overcome their trials, and remain steadfast.

• The Law demands perfection, and failure to fulfill it subjects humanity to the judgment of eternal death.
• Because fulfilling the Law is beyond human strength, deliverance is found only through Christ the Redeemer.
• True faith requires more than a mere opinion, persuasion, or common assent to the Gospel history.
• Since God dwells in inaccessible light, Christ must intervene as the light, the way, the truth, and the life.
• Faith ultimately has respect to God only, but it necessarily acknowledges Jesus Christ whom He sent.

For seeing that God dwells in light that is inaccessible, Christ must intervene.

• The invisible Father can only be found and known through Jesus Christ, who acts as the true image of God's glory.
• Apostles like Paul and Peter emphasize that true faith toward God must be anchored and stabilized in Christ.
• Schoolmen and theologians are criticized for veiling Christ and inventing a harmful fiction known as implicit faith.
• True faith is defined as knowledge of the divine will and God's goodness, not mere ignorant submission to the Church.
• While human ignorance remains until we cast off the flesh, ignorance should not be praised or mistaken for genuine faith.

Faith consists not in ignorance, but in knowledge—knowledge not of God merely, but of the divine will.

• Critics argue that people can hold a valid faith through blind adherence to the authority of the Church, finding truth even within ignorance.
• The text counters this by asserting that Scripture consistently teaches that true faith must always be conjoined with understanding.
• Human beings remain pilgrims in the world, meaning our earthly faith is inevitably partial, clouded by error, and limited by our own ignorance.
• God utilizes obscure scriptural passages and ongoing confusion to keep believers humble, encouraging even the most excellent teachers to remain teachable.
• Christ's own disciples exhibited an early, implicit faith that was deeply intertwined with hesitation, doubt, and a lack of full comprehension.
• True implicit faith functions as a hidden seed or a necessary preparation for faith, inevitably existing alongside moments of incredulity.

With this curb God keeps us modest, assigning to each a measure of faith, that every teacher, however excellent, may still be disposed to learn.

• Initial reverence and submission to Christ are honored as the commencement of faith, even before full doctrinal understanding.
• Scriptural examples like the nobleman and the Samaritans show a progression from accepting Christ's word to fully devoting oneself to his doctrine.
• God graciously honors a pious disposition and docility to learn by calling such individuals believers.
• This genuine docility and desire for progress sharply contrast with the sluggish ignorance of implicit faith.
• True knowledge of Christ requires receiving him as offered by the Father, guided by the unfolded treasures of grace in the Gospel.

If Paul severely condemns those who are 'ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth,' how much more sharply ought those to be rebuked who avowedly affect to know nothing?

• Faith is fundamentally connected to doctrine and the word of God, existing in an inseparable relation comparable to light and the sun.
• Although the Gospel provides a fuller manifestation of Christ, earlier revelations given to Moses and the prophets also formed a foundation of faith.
• Hearing the word is consistently equated with believing, distinguishing true members of the church from strangers.
• Without the word of God as its mirror and foundation, faith degenerates into uncertain credulity and a vague wandering of the mind.
• True faith encompasses not only knowing that God exists, but possessing a firm persuasion and perception of His will toward us.

Wherefore, if faith declines in the least degree from the mark at which it ought to aim, it does not retain its nature, but becomes uncertain credulity and vague wandering of mind.

• Divine declarations of judgment and wrath inherently terrify the conscience rather than establish faith.
• Faith requires a foundation in the benevolence, mercy, and gracious promises of God to draw the human heart toward Him.
• Scripture continually links God's mercy and truth together as the necessary support for human trust.
• Christ serves as the vital pledge of divine love, transforming a universe that otherwise speaks of hatred and wrath.
• True faith demands the elimination of doubt, requiring the mind to be enlightened and the heart confirmed.
• Faith is ultimately defined as a firm and sure knowledge of God's favor founded on a free promise in Christ and sealed by the Holy Spirit.

When conscience sees only wrath and indignation, how can it but tremble and be afraid? and how can it avoid shunning the God whom it thus dreads?

• The text refutes the Schoolmen's distinction between formed and unformed faith, rejecting the idea that genuine faith can exist without the fear of God or piety.
• True faith is described as a special gift of the Holy Spirit that serves as a witness of human adoption by God.
• Assent in faith is argued to be a matter of the heart and affection rather than merely the intellect.
• Faith cannot be disjoined from pious affection because knowing Christ inherently involves receiving the sanctification of the Spirit.
• The opponents' misinterpretation of Paul's words on faith and charity stems from a fundamental misunderstanding of the specific kind of faith the Apostle addresses.

From this it will clearly appear how unskillfully and absurdly they babble, rather than discourse, on this subject.

• Paul emphasizes that spiritual gifts are only valuable when they serve charity and the edification of the Church.
• Miraculous powers and faith can theoretically be possessed and abused even by wicked individuals.
• People often confuse the varying definitions of faith, leading to doctrinal errors regarding the wicked.
• Many hold a superficial belief in God and Scripture, akin to accepting historical records.
• A shadow or image of faith lacks true substance, as seen in the temporary belief of figures like Simon Magus.

Such, we doubt not, eagerly receive the word with a kind of relish, and have some feeling of its divine power, so as not only to impose

• Hypocritical individuals often deceive themselves into believing their superficial assent to religious words constitutes genuine piety.
• This false semblance of faith lacks roots in the heart, rendering such individuals no better than trembling devils.
• Experience shows the reprobate can sometimes be affected by faith in ways strikingly similar to the elect.
• God temporarily instills a sense of His goodness in the reprobate to convict them and leave them without excuse.
• True believers alone possess the full, enduring assurance of adoption sealed by the Spirit.
• Believers must examine themselves carefully to ensure carnal security does not replace true faith.

The human heart has so many recesses for vanity, so many lurking places for falsehood, is so shrouded by fraud and hypocrisy, that it often deceives itself.

• The reprobate may temporarily believe God is propitious to them and exhibit a superficial faith through hypocrisy.
• God can illuminate the minds of the reprobate to recognize His grace, yet they never attain the full fruition or result.
• Unlike the temporary grace experienced by others, God implants a living root of faith exclusively in the elect that endures to the end.
• Temporary impressions of divine love can vanish in the reprobate just like a shallowly rooted tree that eventually withers away.
• The Spirit of God serves as an indelible seal of adoption for the elect, ensuring their faith can never be effaced.

There is nothing to prevent His giving some a slight knowledge of his Gospel, and imbuing others thoroughly.

• Even the reprobate can occasionally experience a sense of divine grace and a temporary pious affection.
• Unlike the elect who possess true confidence, the reprobate act from a mercenary affection lacking rooted conviction.
• God may cause His true children to feel His anger temporarily to humble them, yet they retain tranquil confidence in Him.
• Temporary faith is not always mere pretence, as individuals can be misled by sudden impulses and slothful self-examination.
• Christians must continue in the word to progress in genuine faith, distinguishing themselves from those whose temporary belief fades.

He certainly hates them not, but he alarms them with a sense of his anger, that he may humble the pride of the flesh, arouse them from lethargy, and urge them to repentance.

• The term faith is frequently used in scripture to signify sound doctrine and purity of heavenly teaching.
• In certain biblical contexts, faith is narrowed to specific objects, such as the trust shown by the centurion for his son's healing.
• Paul occasionally applies faith to describe the extraordinary gift of miracles possessed even by the unregenerate.
• True saving faith distinguishes the children of God from unbelievers and brings eternal life through Christ.
• Spiritual knowledge differs fundamentally from human comprehension, relying on a certain persuasion of things beyond natural sense.

For that knowledge is so much superior, that the human mind must far surpass and go beyond itself in order to reach it.

• Faith encompasses a knowledge that surpasses all human understanding and embraces the infinite.
• The knowledge derived from faith consists more of absolute certainty than rational discernment.
• True faith requires a full and decisive persuasion to combat deeply rooted human unbelief.
• Divine promises act as purified words designed to eradicate perverse doubts from our hearts.
• Many believers experience anxiety by limiting divine mercy and doubting its individual reach.
• Scriptural faith yields full assurance, confidence, and boldness rather than disquietude.

So deeply rooted in our hearts is unbelief, so prone are we to it, that while all confess with the lips that God is faithful, no man ever believes it without an arduous struggle.

• True faith is rooted in the confidence of divine favor and salvation.
• Believers must inwardly embrace God's promises of mercy rather than viewing them as external.
• This internal confidence brings peace and quiets the conscience against the dread of divine judgment.
• Without this assurance, the conscience is constantly tormented by the memory of judgment.
• A true believer confidently triumphs over death and evil, resting securely in God's eternal love.

It never long enjoys that miserable obliviousness, for the memory of the divine judgment, ever and anon recurring, stings it to the quick.

• Believers sometimes experience intense terror and disquietude when recognizing God's grace.
• True faith is defined not by an absolute absence of doubt, but by a perpetual struggle against distrust.
• Despite being assailed by anxiety, believers never completely abandon their confidence in God's mercy.
• King David serves as a prime biblical example of someone whose deep faith coexisted with severe emotional turmoil and complaints.
• David's explicit expressions of feeling forsaken reveal the very real human tension between faith and unbelief.

When we say that faith must be certain and secure, we certainly speak not of an assurance which is never affected by doubt, nor a security which anxiety never assails; we rather maintain that believers have a perpetual struggle with their own distrust...

• Believers often experience deep agitation and doubt, sometimes feeling overwhelmed and deserted by God.
• Despite severe trials and inner weakness, true faith sustains the believer like a resilient palm tree rising under heavy weight.
• Unlike the impious king Ahaz who trembled hopelessly at danger, believers actively combat their timidity through prayer and perseverance.
• Believers experience an internal duality where delight in divine goodness struggles against bitterness from a sense of fallenness.
• The ongoing conflict between trust and distrust stems directly from the imperfection of faith during mortal life.

faith sustains the believer’s heart, and truly acts the part of the palm tree, which supports any weights laid upon it, and rises above them

• Faith does not require absolute certainty and can coexist with lingering doubt and human frailty.
• Even the smallest particle of faith allows believers to perceive the divine favor of God.
• Partial ignorance and obscurity do not invalidate the genuine experience of spiritual light and mercy.
• Believers are like prisoners receiving indirect sunlight, recognizing its true source despite surrounding darkness.
• The ongoing struggle with unbelief, temptation, and a burdened conscience is a natural part of spiritual growth.

For as one shut up in a prison, where from a narrow opening he receives the rays of the sun indirectly and in a manner divided, though deprived of a full view of the sun, has no doubt of the source from which the light comes, and is benefited by it...

• Unbelief uses internal doubt and fears of divine wrath to make believers view God as a hostile foe.
• Faith counters these assaults by arming itself with the word of God and remembering His mercy.
• Believers continue to invoke God even in distress, proving they retain a fundamental hope for solace.
• True faith can never be completely eradicated, remaining safely hidden like a flame under embers.
• Unbelief only assails believers from without, acting as darts that are ultimately blocked by the shield of faith.

Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.

• Faith may be shaken or wounded like a soldier in battle, but it is never fatally destroyed.
• Believers naturally shudder at the shadow of death, yet the presence of God ultimately overcomes all fear.
• True faith achieves ultimate victory, successfully withstanding countless assaults from the world.
• A healthy fear and trembling does not weaken faith, but rather guards believers against carnal torpor and arrogance.
• Divine warnings and examples of judgment serve to keep believers humble and dependent on God's mercy rather than their own strength.

Doubtless it is a terrific thing to walk in the darkness of death, and it is impossible for believers, however great their strength may be, not to shudder at it; but since the prevailing thought is that God is present and providing for their safety, the feeling of security overcomes that of fear.

• Recognizing our own weakness and impurity compels us to place our complete confidence in the Lord.
• True religious fear produces caution and humility rather than despair, driving believers to seek refuge in God.
• Believers can simultaneously experience fear regarding their own vanity and secure consolation in divine truth.
• God actively humbles and disciplines His people, training them in modesty while they remain courageous.
• Grace inspires both reverence and admiration, making dependent individuals submit humbly to divine power.

The fear he speaks of is that which renders us more cautious, not that which produces despondency, the fear which is felt when the mind confounded in itself resumes its equanimity in God, downcast in itself, takes courage in God, distrusting itself, breathes confidence in God.

• Satan attempts to undermine the certainty of faith through indirect methods of alternating hope and despair.
• False teachers argue that looking to oneself brings damnation while looking to Christ brings salvation, thus separating believers from Christ.
• True faith relies on the reality that Christ dwells within believers rather than standing at a distance.
• Christ's righteousness covers sin and extinguishes condemnation because believers are in wondrous communion and made one with Him.
• Although faith may experience interruptions and bend under violent temptations, it ultimately never ceases to long for God.

When I look at it as it is in itself and of itself, the truest thing I can say of it is, that it has been reduced to nothing.

• Human nature is described as deeply flawed, ensnared by lust, passion, and various delusions.
• Despite human nothingness and unrighteousness, individuals find value and existence within the heart and affection of God.
• True glorying is directed not toward oneself, but rather found entirely in the Lord and His determination to save.
• The fear of the Lord stems from a twofold cause, blending the reverence of an obedient son with the service of a faithful servant.
• Considering God as a loving father makes the thought of offending Him more dreadful than any death.

Although we are nothing in our hearts, perhaps something of us may lurk in the heart of God.

• Distinguishes between the terrified fear of the wicked and the respectful caution of true believers.
• The wicked only tremble at impending vengeance because they expect punishment for their offenses.
• Believers dread offending God out of love rather than fearing immediate punishment.
• Scripture uses warnings to admonish believers to avoid provoking God's wrath rather than threatening them with it.
• Faith apprehends the love of God, providing ultimate security for salvation and eternal life regardless of earthly miseries.

It seldom happens that mere threatening have the effect of arousing the reprobate; nay, becoming more callous and hardened when God thunders verbally from heaven, they obstinately persist in their rebellion.

• Material comforts are rendered miserable if one remains uncertain of divine love.
• The favor of God transforms earthly miseries into instruments of salvation.
• Faith properly begins, continues, and ends with the free and gratuitous promise of mercy.
• Conditional promises fail because they throw believers back upon their own works and worth.
• The Gospel serves as the definitive word of faith and ministry of reconciliation.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me.

• Faith encompasses God's entire word, including both His threatenings and promises of favor.
• True saving faith requires anchoring in the free mercy of God and uniting believers with Christ.
• Belief in divine justice and threats alone does not distinguish true believers from the reprobate.
• Faith relies entirely upon the word of God, much like a fruit tree depends upon a living root.
• Human beings frequently allow trivial temptations to overshadow their trust in God's supreme power.

But let any one consider with himself, how he is ever and anon assailed with doubts in regard to the power of God, and he will readily perceive, that those who duly magnify it have made no small progress in faith.

• Isaiah emphasizes the boundless power of God to impress the certainty of faith upon the people.
• True piety makes a practical application of God's power, keeping His paternal works in view.
• Believers are encouraged to remember past redemptive acts and personal benefits to strengthen future faith.
• All human conceptions of God's power remain evanescent without the foundation of His word.
• Even figures like Sarah erred when their zeal for the promise led them beyond divine limits.

Because all our conceptions of the power and works of God are evanescent without the word, we are not rash in maintaining, that there is no faith until God present us with clear evidence of his grace.

• Rebekah secured the blessing for Jacob through deceptive and vicious stratagems, yet her underlying desire was rooted in genuine faith.
• Isaac maintained his preference for Esau despite divine notification, illustrating how human error frequently mingles with true faith.
• Imperfections and infirmities may obscure faith, but they do not extinguish it when the foundational principle remains real.
• Divine providence actively restrains believers, preventing them from completely losing their way without the word of God.
• All promises of God find their fulfillment in Christ, serving as evidence of His ultimate good will and mercy.
• Human infidelity and ingratitude do not extinguish the inherent reality and power of divine promises, though rejection leads to severer judgment.

In this, nevertheless, Rebekah showed how prone the human mind is to turn aside whenever it gives itself the least indulgence.

• God's promises are a manifestation of His divine favor and love toward humanity.
• Divine love exclusively dwells in Christ, extending to us solely through His intervention and mediation.
• All divine promises are confirmed, completed, and directed toward Christ as our ultimate peace.
• Historical figures like Naaman, Cornelius, and the Ethiopian eunuch possessed a slender, foundational foretaste of Christ despite obscure knowledge.
• Human blindness and perverseness prevent the external word from producing faith without the illumination of the Spirit.
• True faith transcends human understanding, requiring the heart to be strengthened by the power of God.

A simple external manifestation of the word ought to be amply sufficient to produce faith, did not our blindness and perverseness prevent.

• Faith involves more than intellectual assent, encompassing confidence and security of the heart.
• The Holy Spirit is the author and sustainer of faith, gradually increasing it to lead believers toward the heavenly kingdom.
• Human discernment is inherently defective and must be renounced to understand sublime heavenly wisdom.
• Divine mysteries are spiritually discerned and remain foolishness to the natural man without the agency of the Holy Spirit.
• Believers can only come to Christ when drawn by the Father, elevating their soul far above ordinary human understanding.

Here human discernment is so defective and lost, that the first step of advancement in the school of Christ is to renounce it.

• The human intellect remains spiritually blind to heavenly mysteries until irradiated by the Holy Spirit.
• Scripture and divine teaching make no internal impression unless the Spirit acts as an internal teacher.
• Faith is not a product of human nature or merit, but a direct work and gift of God's power.
• God bestows faith selectively through special privilege rather than promiscuously to all people.
• The distinction of why some believe while others despise remains an unsearchable depth of divine judgment.
• Producing faith through the Spirit simultaneously ingrafts believers into Christ's body to partake of all blessings.

I see that I am able; but how I am able I see not:—this far only I see, that it is of God.

• True faith is received not just in the intellect, but takes deep root in the heart as a bulwark against temptation.
• The Holy Spirit acts as a seal and an earnest, confirming God's promises and inspiring security in the soul.
• Believers frequently experience doubts and anxieties, yet faith allows them to escape temptation and remain steadfast.
• Scripture repeatedly connects true faith with peace, quietness, and a confident hope in God's sustained favor.
• Scholastic dogmas that reduce divine favor to moral conjecture based on personal worthiness are deemed pernicious.

It is more difficult to inspire the soul with security than to imbue it with knowledge.

• Faith requires a free and simple promise rather than conjecture or doubt regarding God's disposition.
• Relying on personal merit for divine favor destroys the confidence that true faith demands.
• Misinterpreting Ecclesiastes to measure God's love or hatred by worldly prosperity is a common error.
• Human intellect is often blind to matters of the highest importance when relying solely on earthly appearances.
• Believers rely on the Spirit of God to know divine grace, which is distinct from human presumption.

Were any one thence to infer that we hold the immortality of the soul by conjecture merely, would he not justly be deemed insane?

• True believers are defined as those led by the divine Spirit, making any form of Christianity devoid of this guidance an illusion.
• Critics argue that claiming awareness of the Holy Spirit's presence is arrogant, advocating instead for a humble uncertainty.
• Scriptural passages from Paul and John firmly command self-examination to confirm that Jesus Christ and His Spirit dwell within.
• Separating faith from the Holy Spirit directly insults His work and brings the foundational promises of Christ into doubt.
• Opponents also attack the certainty of faith by claiming that final perseverance and future grace cannot be truly known.
• Paul's absolute assurance in Romans 8 applies to all believers in common, establishing that nothing can separate them from God's love.

These being the first rudiments of religion, it is the most wretched blindness to charge Christians with arrogance, for presuming to glory in the presence of the Holy Spirit; a glorying without which Christianity itself does not exist.

• Faith extends far beyond the present life, stretching forward into a future immortality enabled by God's favor.
• True faith relies upon the substance of divine promises, serving as a secure foundation and prop for the pious mind.
• Salvation-related matters transcend human senses and intellect, requiring believers to look beyond worldly objects.
• Faith acts as the evidence and conviction of things not seen, making invisible divine mysteries apparent through God's word.
• Experiencing the profound joy and goodness of God naturally inflames the believer's heart with divine love.

For as Paul says, A hope that is seen is not hope, that we hope for that we see not.

• Faith is presented as the foundational necessity that precedes and engenders love.
• True faith requires the witness of conscience and the persuasion of the Holy Spirit regarding remission of sins.
• Hope acts as the inseparable companion and natural product of a living, active faith.
• Faith believes God's promises are true, while hope patiently expects their future manifestation.
• Hope sustains fragile faith, preventing it from wavering, growing weary, or quitting before the final goal.

Faith believes that he is our Father; hope expects that he will always act the part of a Father towards us.

• Hope acts as a vital support system when faith grows languid during periods of divine delay or hiddenness.
• Scripture occasionally confounds or interchanges the terms faith and hope due to their close affinity and connection.
• Hope serves as the nourishment and strength that sustains faith while waiting for God's revealed time.
• Peter Lombard's assertion that hope requires the merit of works rather than God's mercy alone is strongly criticized.
• True hope relies entirely on the truth and goodness of God, casting aside all confidence in human works.

Who, dear reader, does not execrate the gross stupidity which calls it rashness, and presumption to confide in the truth of God?

• Although titled after faith, the chapter exclusively examines repentance as the inseparable attendant and consequence of faith.
• Various theological opinions and common errors regarding the origin and order of repentance are scrutinized and refuted.
• The orthodox doctrine defines repentance as a lifelong turning of our life to God, driven by the fear of divine judgment.
• Repentance fundamentally consists of the mortification of the flesh and the quickening of the Spirit, renewing the divine image within.
• Because concupiscence remains in the regenerate, true repentance must be prolonged throughout the entirety of a believer's life.
• The chapter concludes by detailing both the internal and external fruits of repentance, warning against the delusions of superficial exercises.

Not completed in a moment, but extends to the last moment of life.

• Repentance fundamentally consists in turning to God through confession and acknowledgment of sins.
• Christian repentance is a lifelong process that originates entirely in the grace of God.
• The text distinguishes between ordinary and special repentance, as well as the unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost.
• Repentance and forgiveness of sins together form the essential sum of the Gospel.
• Repentance flows directly from faith, much like fruit is produced by a tree rather than preceding it.

Those who think that repentance precedes faith instead of flowing from, or being produced by it, as the fruit by the tree, have never understood its nature, and are moved to adopt that view on very insufficient grounds.

• Preachers like John and Jesus urged repentance as a direct consequence of the offer of grace and the nearness of the kingdom of heaven.
• True repentance and the desire to obey God originate from faith and the comforting knowledge that one belongs to God.
• No person can truly reverence God or willingly follow the Law without trusting that God is propitious and forgiving toward them.
• The hope of divine pardon acts as a necessary stimulus that prevents people from falling into recklessness and despair in sin.
• Some groups mistakenly prescribe a fixed, short-term duration for repentance before granting access to grace, contradicting its lifelong nature.

no man will ever reverence God who does not trust that God is propitious to him, no man will ever willingly set himself to observe the Law who is not persuaded that his services are pleasing to God.

• Repentance is traditionally divided into two core components: mortification and quickening.
• Mortification involves soul-grief, terror, and deep contrition produced by the conviction of sin and divine judgment.
• Quickening is defined by the comfort found in faith through Christ's mercy, though the author refines it to mean a desire for holy living.
• Legal repentance traps the sinner in terror and despair without escape, akin to the fates of Cain, Saul, and Judas.
• Evangelical repentance leads the sinner from fear to confidence in divine mercy, resulting in true spiritual renewal like that of Hezekiah and the Ninevites.

Their repentance, therefore, was nothing better than a kind of threshold to hell, into which having entered even in the present life, they began to endure the punishment inflicted by the presence of an offended God.

• Biblical figures like David and Peter demonstrate a repentance that combines deep contrition for sin with an enduring hope in divine mercy.
• Paul distinguishes between repentance and faith in Acts 20:21, treating them as two separate yet inseparable concepts.
• Although faith and hope are distinct, they are constantly linked together in the spiritual life much like repentance and faith.
• Repentance is etymologically rooted in conversion, turning again, and undergoing a fundamental change of mind and purpose.
• True repentance is defined as a real conversion of life unto God, proceeding from a sincere fear of God and involving the mortification of the old self.
• Prophets and apostles labored to fill people with a dread of divine judgment so they would humble themselves and return to the right path.

For in comprehending faith under repentance, they are at variance with what Paul says in the Acts, as to his “testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ,”

• Moses and the prophets emphasize that true repentance requires turning to the Lord with the whole heart and soul.
• The circumcision of the heart points directly to internal affections rather than merely external acts.
• Righteousness cannot take root unless impiety is first eradicated from the inmost heart.
• Isaiah criticizes hypocrites who focus on ceremonies while ignoring true justice and the relief of the oppressed.
• Repentance fundamentally proceeds from a sincere fear of God and the ultimate realization of divine judgment.

Before the mind of the sinner can be inclined to repentance, he must be aroused by the thought of divine judgment; but when once the thought that God will one day ascend his tribunal to take an account of all words and actions has taken possession of his mind, it will not allow him to rest, or have one moment’s peace.

• Godly sorrow involves hating and abhorring sin because it displeases God, rather than merely fearing punishment.
• Human carnal nature and rebellious spirits are so sluggish and depraved that stern disciplinary measures are required to awaken them.
• Virtues that do not reference God are considered mere abominations in heaven because true righteousness requires submitting to His authority.
• Repentance fundamentally consists of two parts: the mortification of the flesh and the quickening of the Spirit.
• Renouncing our natural disposition and desires is an arduous achievement because all desires of the flesh are enmity against God.
• True renovation requires the Holy Spirit to instill holiness and new affections into our souls, making us entirely new.

There is, moreover, a rebellious spirit which must be broken as with hammers.

• Repentance is understood as spiritual regeneration, aiming to restore the image of God within believers.
• This renewal is a gradual process rather than an instantaneous event, continuing throughout the believer's entire life.
• God slowly abolishes carnal corruption and cleanses the elect, establishing holiness through an uninterrupted warfare against sin.
• Believers are delivered from the bondage of sin by regeneration, yet they still experience an unremitting contest against the flesh.
• Writers of sound judgment agree that a spring of evil remains in the regenerate, prompting them with desires to sin.

Materials for an unremitting contest remain, that they may be exercised, and not only exercised, but may better understand their weakness.

• The text argues that any human desire contrary to God's law constitutes sin.
• Believers remain burdened by sin throughout their mortal lives because depraved concupiscence continues to reside within their flesh.
• While God destroys the dominion of sin in the elect through the Spirit, the remains of sin still survive to humble them.
• The survival of sin does not result in imputation or guilt, which is avoided solely through the divine mercy of God.
• Paul's writings and the commandment to love God entirely demonstrate that even sudden motions of the flesh indicate a deviation from perfect righteousness.

Sin, however, though it ceases to reign, ceases not to dwell in them.

• Natural human appetites are not condemned in themselves, but rather the violent and lawless movements that violate God's order.
• Due to the corruption of human nature, all faculties and desires are vitiated, excessive, and ultimately sinful.
• Augustine supports the view that the law of sin remains in mortal flesh even after baptism, producing desires against which believers must fight.
• While the guilt of sin is remitted in spiritual regeneration, concupiscence continues to rebel until the perfection of burial.
• Lust is categorized as sin because it is disobedient to the mind, serves as a punishment for disobedience, and causes further sin through contamination.

This law of sin is both remitted in spiritual regeneration and remains in the mortal flesh; remitted, because the guilt is forgiven in the sacrament by which believers are regenerated, and yet remains, inasmuch as it produces desires against which believers fight.

• Certain extremists falsely claimed that spiritual regeneration restores human innocence, eliminating the need to curb fleshly lusts.
• These individuals argued that Christ exempts believers from traditional moral distinctions between good and evil, virtue and vice.
• The true biblical Spirit guides believers toward love, chastity, sobriety, and truth rather than lawless licentiousness.
• Scripture teaches that the Holy Spirit is given for sanctification to purge iniquity and subdue human lusts.
• Believers remain weak and imperfect in the body, requiring constant vigilance and a daily struggle against remaining vices.

There will be no difference, then, between whoredom and chastity, sincerity and craft, truth and falsehood, justice and robbery.

• Godly sorrow produces various effects and affections, though whether they are strictly causes or effects remains debatable.
• A person truly dissatisfied with their sin is stimulated to carefulness to avoid future snares and temptations.
• Excuse in this context does not mean defense or denial of fault, but rather a humble apology seeking pardon.
• Like children confessing errors to their parents, repentant sinners employ deprecation to show lingering reverence.
• The ultimate goal of this excuse is not to prove righteousness or innocence, but strictly to obtain mercy and forgiveness.

Next comes excuse, which in this place means not defense, in which the sinner to escape the judgment of God either denies his fault or extenuates it, but apologizing, which trusts more to intercession than to the goodness of the cause

• Fear of divine judgment produces a necessary disquietude that trains believers in humility and future caution.
• The awareness of misdeeds acts as a powerful stimulus toward diligence in duty and zeal for service.
• Strict self-censure and self-punishment for sins encourage hope for divine favor and mercy.
• Believers must exercise moderation in their sorrow to avoid the trap of despair set by Satan.
• Repentance must be balanced by reflecting on the divine mercies, mingling honey with wormwood.
• True repentance bears fruit through piety towards God, love for mankind, and conformity to the divine law.

Let us mingle honey with wormwood, that the salubrious bitter may give health when we drink it tempered with a mixture of sweetness: while you think humbly of yourselves, think also of the goodness of the Lord.

• Prophets and scripture consistently deride the idea that mere ceremonies can appease God or substitute for genuine internal repentance.
• True repentance must begin with the internal affections of the heart rather than external observances alone.
• External exercises like sackcloth, tears, and fasting can serve as private remedies to humble the flesh or public testimonies of repentance.
• Ancient writers and early ecclesiastical leaders often overemphasized corporal discipline, inadvertently obscuring more weighty matters.
• Fasting and weeping are not invariable or necessary effects of repentance, but rather special circumstances suited to specific moments of impending disaster.

Rend your heart, and not your garments.

• Public signs of sorrow and wretchedness are traditionally used to appease divine severity during times of calamity.
• Prophets and ecclesiastical teachers appropriately call upon people to weep and fast when facing ruin or divine vengeance.
• True fasting is specially destined for seasons of calamity, mirroring how Christ connected it with mourning and sorrow.
• The ongoing life of a Christian should be tempered with frugality and sobriety, presenting a continuous appearance of fasting.
• Applying the name of repentance to external professions is improper, as it serves more as a confession of fault and deprecation of punishment.
• Self-condemnation and judging oneself before God and the world help prevent harsher divine judgments.

In presenting the appearance of danger, he declares that he is preparing, and, in a manner, arming himself for vengeance.

• True repentance requires sincere confession of both daily sins and long-buried lapses without hypocrisy.
• David serves as an example by examining his entire life, even acknowledging his inherent corruption from infancy rather than making excuses.
• General repentance must be cultivated continuously throughout life to combat ongoing depraved desires.
• A distinct form of repentance is required for those who have fallen into shameful sins or open revolt against God.
• Repentance and the remission of sins form the complete summary of the Gospel, leading to justification and true holiness.

Filled with shame for a recent crime he examines himself, going back to the womb, and acknowledging that even then he was corrupted and defiled.

• The gospel message consistently links the proclamation of repentance with the promise of the remission of sins through Christ.
• True repentance begins when individuals recognize their corruption and realize they must be born again to enter God's kingdom.
• Forgiveness is granted freely through Christ, who serves as wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption for believers.
• Hatred of sin provides the necessary access to Christ, who specifically calls and manifests himself to miserable and burdened sinners.
• Believers are called to cultivate repentance continuously throughout their entire lives as a response to divine mercy.

Moreover, as hatred of sin, which is the beginning of repentance, first gives us access to the knowledge of Christ, who manifests himself to none but miserable and afflicted sinners, groaning, laboring, burdened, hungry, and thirsty, pining away with grief and wretchedness, so if we would stand in Christ, we must aim at repentance, cultivate it during our whole lives, and continue it to the last.

• Repentance is not a condition for meriting pardon, but rather the divine goal toward which God leads men through His mercy.
• The Christian life is defined as a constant struggle and exercise in mortifying the corrupt flesh until the Spirit of God obtains dominion.
• True spiritual progress is marked by a deep dissatisfaction with oneself, coupled with a genuine hatred of sin born from a love of righteousness.
• Repentance is fundamentally a special gift of God rather than something achieved by human strength or natural disposition.
• The efficacy of all exhortations to repent depends entirely upon the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit.

Wherefore, he seems to me to have made most progress who has learned to be most dissatisfied with himself.

• Those who fall away from the gospel faith are described as mocking God and cruelly rejecting His favor.
• Scripture warns that apostasy is entirely without excuse, justifying severe divine punishment for such sacrilegious contempt.
• Passages concerning those who fall away have historically been misinterpreted, leading some to wrongly reject the Epistle.
• The Apostle must align with Christ's teaching that all sins except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit may be forgiven.
• This unpardonable sin stems from desperate fury rather than mere human infirmity, demonstrating a complete possession by evil.

Hence it follows, that to no sin is pardon denied save to one, which proceeding from desperate fury cannot be ascribed to infirmity, and plainly shows that the man guilty of it is possessed by the devil.

• Sinning against the Holy Spirit is defined as deliberately resisting undeniable divine truth merely for the sake of resistance.
• Attacking the Son of Man in ignorance can be forgiven, as seen in those who oppose the Gospel without knowing its true divine origin.
• Those who recognize the word of God in their conscience yet choose to impugn it are guilty of blasphemy against the Spirit.
• The Pharisees and certain adversaries of Stephen demonstrated this deliberate rebellion by maliciously raging against known truth.
• Paul received mercy because his opposition stemmed from ignorance in unbelief, contrasting with the unforgivable nature of knowing resistance.

Those who in ignorance assail the unknown truth of God, and yet are so disposed that they would be unwilling to extinguish the truth of God when manifested to them... sin against the Father and the Son.

• Distinction is made between minor moral transgressions and the total, deliberate rejection of Christ's doctrine.
• True falling away involves an intentional apostasy and a universal aversion to God, rather than isolated vices.
• The text argues that those who willfully abandon the truth cannot return to repentance due to divine judgment and eternal blindness.
• Apparent cries for mercy from the wicked do not represent true conversion, but rather the torment of despair.
• God's promise to forgive those who genuinely turn from their sins remains absolute, driven entirely by His preventing grace.

Such modes of expression do not denote true conversion or calling upon God, but that anxiety with which the wicked, when in calamity, are compelled to see what they before securely disregarded—viz. that nothing can avail but the assistance of the Lord.

• Ahab and Esau received temporary relief and temporal blessings despite insincere repentance.
• Such temporary sparing of hypocrites serves as a public example rather than true spiritual pardon.
• God grants these mitigations to encourage sincere repentance in the pious and leave the rebellious without excuse.
• Remitting punishment temporarily does not obligate God permanently, and hypocrisy often incurs greater later severity.
• The text transitions from discussing true repentance to refuting the false doctrines and sophistical jargon of the Schoolmen.

He rather at times rises with greater severity against hypocrites, and doubles their punishment, that it may thereby appear how much hypocrisy displeases him.

• The text refutes the Schoolmen's false doctrines regarding contrition and the divine authority of auricular confession.
• Historical and scriptural evidence demonstrates that auricular confession was not a divine mandate for nearly twelve hundred years after Christ.
• True confession, according to the word of God, is directed to God alone rather than mandating human intermediaries.
• The author outlines valid forms of confession, distinguishing between secret confession to God, public confession, and private counsel.
• Popish errors regarding mandatory universal confession of every sin and fictitious priestly keys are systematically dismantled.
• The traditional Catholic doctrine of satisfaction in repentance is rejected in favor of the free and full forgiveness obtained through Christ.

Necessarily leads to despair or indifference.

• The text addresses theological arguments surrounding the fiction of satisfaction and the impairment of Christ's honor.
• It critiques the arbitrary and unscriptural distinction made by schoolmen between venial and mortal sins.
• It distinguishes between God's judgments for punishment versus correction in the lives of the elect.
• The author examines scholastic teachings on repentance, arguing that sophists enveloped a clear concept in perplexities.
• Scholastic definitions of repentance are criticized for relying on isolated patristic expressions rather than true understanding.

They have managed to envelop a matter, otherwise not much involved, in so many perplexities, that it will be difficult to find an outlet if once you get plunged but a little way into their mire.

• Statements by early Church Fathers regarding repentance were meant as exhortations rather than strict doctrinal definitions.
• Scholastic definitions reduce repentance to external disciplines, austerity, and physical punishments while ignoring internal spiritual renovation.
• Traditional teachings focus heavily on contrition and anxiety of the soul, only to resolve deep spiritual wounds with superficial ceremonies.
• The tripartite division of repentance into contrition, confession, and satisfaction lacks logical consistency and sound structural defense.
• Defenders of these doctrines often rely on convoluted dialectics and arbitrary distinctions to excuse logical flaws in their sacraments.

No doubt, they talk much of contrition and attrition, torment the soul with many scruples, and involve it in great trouble and anxiety; but when they seem to have deeply wounded the heart, they cure all its bitterness by a slight sprinkling of ceremonies.

• The author dismisses various scholastic debates on repentance as frivolous, absurd, and indicative of profound ignorance.
• Scholastic theologians needlessly complicate matters like repentance and divine punishment, entangling themselves in empty sophistry.
• The dispute under discussion concerns one of the most critical subjects in all of religion: the true method of obtaining the forgiveness of sins.
• Traditional teachings demand a three-part process of contrition, confession, and satisfaction to earn pardon from God.
• Without clear and certain knowledge of how sins are forgiven, the human conscience remains perpetually tormented, anxious, and terrified of God.
• If pardon truly depended on fulfilling the exacting and immeasurable conditions set by the schoolmen, human existence would be utterly wretched and hopeless.

Unless our knowledge here is clear and certain, our conscience can have no rest at all, no peace with God, no confidence or security, but is continually trembling, fluctuating, boiling, and distracted; dreads, hates, and shuns the presence of God.

• Urging men to lament their sins is a necessary part of repentance, but demanding a specific measure of sorrow leads to miserable perplexity.
• Sinners can never be certain they have done their utmost in bewailing their sin, leaving them trapped in an endless and torturous circle.
• Traditional doctrines of contrition often drive individuals to despair or force them to offer pretended fear instead of true repentance.
• True forgiveness is never merited by human contrition, but is found by fixing one's eyes solely upon the mercy of God.
• Christ came to comfort the broken-hearted and heavy-laden, while self-righteous Pharisees who feel no poverty of spirit are excluded from this grace.

Therefore, when consciences, after a lengthened struggle and long contests with themselves, find no haven in which they may rest, as a means of alleviating their condition in some degree, they extort sorrow and wring out tears, in order to perfect their contrition.

• Theologians have corrupted and violently twisted biblical passages to argue that confession is of divine authority.
• Quibblers attempt to trace confession back to Genesis by absurdly citing God calling out to Adam.
• Proponents of auricular confession rely on allegories, comparing Levitical priests judging physical leprosy to spiritual sin.
• All sacerdotal functions and priestly rights were transferred exclusively to Christ with the change of the law.
• Christ sent cleansed lepers to the priests simply to fulfill the legal requirements of the Mosaic law, not to institute confession.

This, for sooth, is not to play upon Scripture!

• Christ presents undeniable miracles even to his adversaries to serve as a testimony and conviction against them.
• Arguments attempting to use allegories, such as the loosening of Lazarus, fail to securely establish valid doctrines.
• Christ intentionally involved bystanders in the miracle of Lazarus to eliminate any suspicion of fraud.
• An alternative and more apt allegory suggests that followers should forgive and not condemn those whom Christ has acquitted.
• The text criticizes the sophistical jargon and flawed arguments employed by schoolmen regarding penitence.

Let them go now and vend their allegories.

• Those who sought John's baptism confessed their sins as a necessary prerequisite of repentance.
• James instructs believers to confess their sins to one another, which implies a reciprocal relationship rather than a hierarchy.
• Mutual confession is designed to foster shared counsel, sympathy, comfort, and intercessory prayer among brethren.
• Acknowledging one's misery and sinfulness is essential to truly receiving and recognizing the divine mercy of God.
• Mandatory auricular confession lacks ancient divine authority and was not legally instituted until the time of Innocent III.

If, then, we are to confess to priests only, we are also to pray for them only.

• The mandatory annual confession rule instituted by Innocent III is a recent historical development rather than an ancient divine law.
• Critics mocked the crude Latin phrasing 'utriusque sexus' in the decree as applying only to hermaphrodites rather than men and women generally.
• Historical records demonstrate that auricular confession originated as a politic discipline introduced by bishops centuries after Christ, not by the Apostles.
• The custom of confession was historically not universal, being managed by a single specially appointed penitentiary priest rather than all priests indiscriminately.
• The revered Bishop Nectarius of Constantinople abolished the custom of confession after a scandal, proving it was considered a changeable church discipline rather than an immutable divine law.

If auricular confession was a divine law, how could Nectarius have dared to abolish or remodel it?

• Chrysostom advises believers to confess their sins directly to God in private rather than to human witnesses.
• The text emphasizes that God is a kind physician who cures wounds without upbraiding or public exposure.
• Chrysostom did not free men from divine law, but recognized that private confession was not strictly bound by scripture as a public necessity.
• The author intends to contrast true biblical confession with the later inventions and tyrannical edicts of schoolmen.
• A critique is raised regarding mistranslations of biblical texts that confused the concepts of confession and praise.

Show your wounds to the Lord, the best of physicians, and seek medicine from him.

• Scripture dictates that confession of sins must be made directly to God as the sole physician and forgiver.
• Biblical examples from David, Daniel, and John emphasize humbling oneself and seeking mercy from God alone.
• A genuine secret confession to God naturally inspires public testimonies of divine grace among men.
• Public confessions were historically enjoined to help individuals form a just idea of their own misery.
• Corporate confessions are both an ordinary church practice and a necessity during extraordinary communal faults.

He is the physician, therefore let us show our wounds to him.

• Collective guilt and the presence of human flaw make public confession an essential part of religious assemblies.
• A formal method of confession serves as a salutary remedy against human carelessness, drowsiness, and sloth.
• Well-ordered churches utilize a common confession of iniquity led by the minister to open the door for prayer.
• Scripture approves of private confession to one another for mutual counsel, consolation, and reconciliation.
• Pastors are specifically qualified to guide believers, act as witnesses of forgiveness, and help relieve burdened consciences.

Let every believer, therefore, remember, that if in private he is so agonized and afflicted by a sense of his sins that he cannot obtain relief without the aid of others, it is his duty not to neglect the remedy which God provides for him—viz. to have recourse for relief to a private confession to his own pastor...

• Confession must remain entirely voluntary to avoid burdening the conscience with unnecessary yokes.
• Believers should never be forced or artfully manipulated into enumerating all of their individual sins.
• Faithful pastors have a duty to defend Christian liberty and resist any slide into tyranny or superstition.
• Scripture mandates reconciliation with brethren and the broader church when an offense has been committed.
• While private consultations with pastors are encouraged for spiritual benefit, they must not become mandatory chains.

Faithful pastors, as they would both eschew tyranny in their ministry, and superstition in the people, must not only leave this liberty to churches, but defend and strenuously vindicate it.

• Public confession before God finds profound solace when an ambassador of Christ pronounces absolution.
• Reparation of offenses aims primarily to suppress hatred and reunite brethren in peace.
• Private confession offers a special remedy for individuals who remain disquieted in conscience after hearing general promises.
• Hearing specific words of absolution from a pastor allows troubled minds to escape trepidation and feel secure.
• The power of the keys and any privilege of binding and loosing must never be separated from the preaching of the Gospel.

Should this individual lay open the secret wound of his soul to his pastor, and hear these words of the Gospel specially addressed to him, “Son, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee,” his mind will feel secure, and escape from the trepidation with which it was previously agitated.

• Scholastic theologians created complex theories involving discernment and power to explain the binding and loosing authority of priests.
• Priests claim the authority to declare sins remitted or retained through confession and excommunication rather than directly forgiving them.
• To resolve contradictions when people are mistakenly bound or loosed, theologians argue that Christ approves properly pronounced priestly sentences.
• The author criticizes the requirement to enumerate all sins, arguing it contradicts biblical descriptions of human sinfulness.
• Demanding a complete catalogue of every transgression cruelly racks the souls of believers who attempt to calculate them.

He knew how deep was the abyss of our sins, how numerous the forms of wickedness, how many heads the hydra carried, how long a tail it drew.

• Travelers initially weighed their actions carefully before finding themselves lost in an endless expanse of sea and sky with no hope of escape.
• Trapped by despair, these individuals applied superficial remedies to their guilt, which only introduced new torments and anxieties.
• Repentance was prescribed as a remedy, but it functioned like poison smeared with honey, penetrating deep into the vitals.
• A relentless voice demanded the full confession of all sins, creating a terror that required true consolation to pacify.
• Examining the faults of even a single day overwhelms human memory, revealing an innumerable multitude of errors.
• True worshipers tremble before a divine Judge whose comprehensive knowledge far surpasses human comprehension.

All these things, however, could not heal the wound, being not so much alleviations of the sore as poison besmeared with honey, that its bitterness might not at once offend the taste, but penetrate to the vitals before it could be detected.

• Human attempts to satisfy divine law through religious observance ultimately fail and lead only to despair.
• Superficial legalistic observation of laws blinds sinners to their true internal defilements and secret iniquities.
• True confession requires acknowledging that one's sins constitute an abyss far beyond human comprehension.
• The publican's prayer serves as the ideal model for confession, focusing on boundless mercy rather than itemized lists.
• Sinners must sincerely pour out their whole hearts while recognizing that the true depth of their corruption remains unfathomable.

For, while they are wholly occupied with the enumeration of their sins, they lose sight of that lurking hydra, their secret iniquities and internal defilements, the knowledge of which would have made them sensible of their misery.

• The author challenges the Schoolmen's doctrine that mandatory auricular confession is required for the forgiveness of sins.
• Historical examples from scripture show that sinners obtained forgiveness from God without whispering into a priest's ear.
• According to biblical scripture, anyone who turns away from sin and keeps God's statutes will surely live.
• Earthly priests lack the divine ability to truly know the completeness of a sinner's confession or the state of their faith.
• The true system of loosing depends on faith and repentance, meaning certainty is not subjected to an earthly judge.
• The text ultimately condemns auricular confession as pestilent and injurious to the Church.

Nor does it belong to the priest to know for certainty whether or not a sinner is loosed, but to Him from whom acquittal is asked; since he who only hears can ever know whether or not the enumeration is full and complete.

• Useless practices that breed impiety and blasphemy ought to be immediately abolished.
• Proponents argue that the shame of confession punishes penitents and deters future sin.
• True humility comes before God, whereas human confession often emboldens people to sin more freely.
• The belief that a priest can wipe away sins makes individuals careless and forgetful of God's judgment.
• Confession is generally approached with dread, resembling being dragged to prison rather than a joyful duty.
• The vast abuses and abominations tied to auricular confession demand its total removal.

Who goes with a cheerful mind to confess, and does not rather, as if he were dragged to prison with a rope about his neck, go unwillingly, and, as it were, struggling against it?

• Priests claim the authority of the Apostles, yet they lack the fundamental prerequisite of possessing the Holy Spirit.
• True authority to bind and loose requires the Holy Spirit to precede, teach, and dictate what actions should be taken.
• The undeniable contradictions in the behavior of priests reveal that they do not truly possess or manifest the Holy Spirit.
• Priests attempt to defend their indiscriminate binding and loosing by claiming they hold power without needing knowledge.
• Scriptural doctrine and the word of the Gospel serve as the true measure for determining who is worthy of being bound or loosed.

Christ did not give his Apostles the power of binding and loosing before he endued them with the Holy Spirit.

• The author questions the validity of priestly absolution when the dispenser's moral or spiritual fitness is uncertain.
• Relying on a priest's fallible judgment reduces divine forgiveness to an arbitrary and unreliable mechanism.
• Restricting remission of sins to complete confession leaves both the penitent and the priest in a state of profound anxiety.
• The ignorance and lack of qualification among many priests render them entirely unequipped for such spiritual authority.
• Grounding absolution in human jurisdiction rather than the word of God creates insurmountable doubt and spiritual peril.

Here no firm footing can be found, nay, there is a profound abyss; because, where confession is not complete, the hope of pardon also is defective.

• Absolution is conditional upon sincerely seeking expiation and accepting the grace offered through Christ.
• The Papacy improperly misinterprets scriptural teachings regarding the power of the keys and secret confession.
• True absolution is an evidence of pardon derived from the free promise of the Gospel, not secret priestly jurisdiction.
• Schoolmen and figures like Lombard rely on spurious texts and traditions to justify the necessity of private priestly confession.
• Demanding penalties and satisfaction for remission arrogates a divine prerogative and undermines God's entire promise of grace.

For it is just as if the priest, assuming the office of tribune, were to interfere with God, and try to prevent him from admitting to his favor by his mere liberality any one who had not previously lain prostrate at the tribunicial bench, and there been punished.

• Humanly imposed laws on confession are tyrannical, insulting to God, and wrongfully bind consciences meant to be free.
• Requiring confession to obtain pardon encroaches upon God's exclusive domain of forgiving sins and securing salvation.
• This oppressive system of confession emerged during a period of shameful barbarism and destroys true spiritual peace.
• Instead of encouraging genuine repentance, these laws either plunge sensitive consciences into despair or foster false security.
• Mitigations and adjustments offered by religious authorities only serve to obscure pure doctrine and conceal their own iniquities.
• The scholastic doctrine of satisfaction falsely claims that human works, tears, and fastings are necessary to pay the remaining debt of divine justice.

Besides, I have proved that the law is pestiferous, inasmuch as when the fear of God exists, it plunges men into despair, and when there is security soothing itself with vain flattery, it blunts it the more.

• The text argues against the doctrine of human satisfactions for sin, asserting that true forgiveness is a gift of pure liberality and divine goodness.
• Scripture states that sins are blotted out for God's own sake, completely excluding human works or merit as the basis for forgiveness.
• The name of Christ alone is cited as the means to obtain forgiveness, requiring believers to bring nothing of their own.
• Opponents argue that baptism handles initial forgiveness, while subsequent lapses require human satisfactions and repentance alongside Christ's blood.
• The author contrasts this scholastic dogma with apostolic writings, which emphasize Christ as the ongoing advocate and propitiation for believers who sin.

With what confidence, then, do they still set up their satisfactions, which are thus struck down as with a thunderbolt?

• Christ serves as a perpetual advocate and propitiation, meaning there are no other methods or satisfactions by which an offended God can be appeased.
• The right and power of pardoning belong to the Father, while Christ assumes the punishment due to humanity to wipe away guilt.
• Preserving the unimpaired honor of Christ ensures that the human conscience can have true peace regarding the pardon of sin.
• Scriptural passages from Isaiah, Peter, and Paul emphasize that Christ bore the weight, curse, and condemnation of human sin directly on the cross.
• The theological dogma claiming that human works co-operate to obtain a second pardon after falling undermines the absolute sufficiency of Christ.
• Relying on human satisfactions rather than Christ leaves the conscience in a state of perpetual doubt, fluctuation, and trembling.

It will always doubt whether God is propitious; will always fluctuate, always tremble.

• Forgiveness of sins through Christ's cross applies continually to regenerate believers, not just at initial baptism.
• The distinction made between mortal and venial sins is criticized as an arbitrary and absurd invention.
• Scripture teaches that all sin inherently merits death, but believers are spared through God's mercy and pardon.
• The Roman Catholic doctrine of human satisfactions is impossible to fulfill because people sin repeatedly every day.
• Attempts to make satisfaction for sins only accumulate new sins, ultimately destroying all confidence in human works.

If the satisfaction for one sin requires one day, while preparing it they involve themselves in more sins; since no man, however righteous, passes one day without falling repeatedly.

• The text distinguishes between the forgiveness of guilt and the remaining requirement of divine punishment.
• Critics argue that despite claiming remission is gratuitous, theologians often demand merit through prayers and tears.
• Scriptural passages from Jeremiah and Ezekiel demonstrate that God forgives fully by neither remembering nor imputing sins.
• Metaphors like blotting out clouds and casting sins into the sea illustrate complete divine pardon.
• Augustine's interpretation confirms that God's act of covering sins means he chooses neither to animadvert nor to punish them.

I will subjoin some other passages, by which these slippery snakes will be so caught as to be afterwards unable to writhe even the tip of their tail.

• Prophetical passages from Isaiah and Jeremiah declare that God completely forgives and renounces vengeance for sins.
• Contrasting metaphors show that while sealed sin brings punishment, God's pardon fully removes guilt.
• Christ bore the punishment and penalties due to human sins as a substitute to reconcile humanity to God.
• The apostle Paul describes Christ's redemption as a direct price, satisfaction, and ransom.
• Mosaic law demanded sacrifices rather than human works for expiation, prefiguring the sole sacrifice of Christ.

What, pray, did Christ perform for us if the punishment of sin is still exacted?

• Scriptural passages demonstrate that God remits both guilt and its associated punishment when pardoning sinners.
• The distinction between eternal and temporal punishment fails because pardoning guilt inherently removes deserved penalties.
• Critics argue that David's punishment after receiving pardon proves that temporal punishments remain to be satisfied.
• Scriptural references like Daniel and Proverbs are often misinterpreted to support the necessity of human satisfactions.
• Divine interventions serve two distinct purposes, categorized as retributive punishment for the wicked versus corrective chastisement for believers.

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.

• Divine punishment is categorized into judicial chastisement driven by wrath and parental correction driven by love.
• A judge punishes a criminal to demand a penalty and destroy, whereas a father corrects a son to teach and protect.
• Believers never experience the vengeful curse and wrath of God, but rather receive chastening as an evidence of His blessing and love.
• Calamities suffered by the wicked serve as an anticipation of eternal condemnation rather than a means of reform.
• Saints receive their chastisements with a placid mind, viewing affliction as a beneficial tool to learn divine statutes.

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 mulct or avenge, but rather to teach him, and make him more cautious for the future.

• God's chastisements cause profound pain and fear among believers, making them feel close to perdition.
• Despite severe trials, God maintains His eternal covenant and tempers His discipline with mercy.
• Divine correction is described as the rod of men, denoting moderation to prevent believers from being crushed.
• While reprobates become hardened or frantic under punishment, believers use the rod as a call to seek mercy and reflect on sin.
• Believers are disciplined to lead them to repentance and focus on the future rather than merely paying past penalties.

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.

• Chrysostom and Augustine view human suffering and misery as medicinal pain rather than penal punishment.
• God's sole purpose in punishing or afflicting His Church is to subdue her to repentance and amendment.
• Scriptural examples like the chastisement of David contrast with vengeful punishments like the rejection of Saul.
• Believers are chastened as sons of God by their heavenly Father's hand so they will not be condemned with the world.
• If believers viewed God's severity as judicial vengeance rather than correction, they could never persuade themselves of His love.

What could the sons of God do, if they thought that the severity which they feel was vengeance?

• True spiritual profit under divine chastening requires believing that God remains favorable despite one's sins.
• Without this assurance, divine correction feels like overwhelming wrath, as expressed by the Psalmist and Moses.
• Believers are assisted rather than oppressed by fatherly chastisements, which teach them through the law and grant rest.
• A sore temptation arises when God appears more rigid toward His own people while sparing unbelievers.
• Temporal hardships like disease and war serve as instruments of divine discipline or vengeance.
• God chastened David sharply for his sins to humble him and provide a public example, not as a compensatory payment.

Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves.

• God's chastisements are intended to lead to repentance rather than serve as excessive punishments.
• Human stubbornness makes lifelong castigation necessary for all individuals.
• Numerous biblical examples demonstrate that forgiveness of sins is entirely gratuitous and unearned.
• Exhortations to righteousness, such as Daniel's advice to Nebuchadnezzar, concern human actions rather than propitiating God.
• Solomon's teaching on love covering sins refers to relationships among men rather than divine ransom.

In the same sense he complains, that “Ephraim is a cake not turned,” because chastisement did not make a due impression on their minds, and, correcting their vices, make them fit to receive pardon.

• Believers should tolerate and cure each other's faults through admonishing rather than exasperating.
• Scriptural passages referring to mercy and truth purging iniquity describe the mode of true conversion rather than the cause of divine pardon.
• True repentance involves forsaking wickedness and turning to God in truth, integrity, and charity rather than offering fictitious rites.
• In the parable of the two debtors, Christ demonstrates that love is the proof of forgiveness rather than its cause.
• Faith is the mechanism by which forgiveness is obtained, while love serves as an expression of gratitude for the benefit received.

It is not said that the debt is forgiven because he loved much, but that he loved much because it was forgiven.

• The author questions the writings of the Fathers concerning the doctrine of satisfaction.
• Early writers like Chrysostom emphasized mercy over punishment and interrogation.
• Repentance was historically defined as cutting off the causes of sins rather than paying a penalty.
• Augustine identified the flesh of Christ as the true and only sacrifice for sins.
• Satisfaction was largely understood as public testimony and caution for the future rather than compensation to God.

When mercy is implored interrogation ceases; when mercy is asked, judgment rages not; when mercy is sought, there is no room for punishment.

• The text traces the historical evolution of ancient church satisfactions into modern corrupt dogmas.
• The author criticizes scholastic theologians for relying on spurious writings falsely attributed to church fathers like Augustine.
• Popish indulgences are denounced as a viperish progeny born of avarice and a desire for filthy lucre.
• The doctrine of purgatory is examined and condemned as a horrible impiety that undermines the merit of Christ.
• Various scriptural passages misused by sophists to support purgatory are refuted through careful textual exposition.

It is indeed a viperish progeny, not even a vestige of the better form now remaining.

• The doctrine of purgatory lacks solid foundation in scripture and ancient writers, serving as a human fiction.
• Indulgences emerged directly from the dogma of satisfaction as a supposed remedy for human inability.
• The papal administration turned the salvation of souls into a lucrative and abusive traffic.
• Indulgences were long revered and bought despite being openly consumed on corruption, gluttony, and vice.
• As society begins to rethink these practices, indulgences are finally cooling down toward extinction.

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.

• Indulgences are analyzed in their ideal form to understand their true theological mechanics.
• The text fiercely condemns indulgences as a profanation of the blood of Christ and a delusion of Satan.
• Indulgences mistakenly substitute the blood of martyrs, Peter, and Paul for the sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice.
• Historical authorities like Leo the Roman Bishop and Augustine are cited to argue that no innocent man's slaughter is the propitiation of the world.
• The doctrine of indulgences is ultimately denounced as a patchwork of sacrilege and the most blasphemous of all theological errors.

These, to describe them truly, are a profanation of the blood of Christ, and a delusion of Satan, by which the Christian people are led away from the grace of God and the life which is in Christ...

• Catholic theology claims that martyrs generated surplus merits used to form the treasury of the Church.
• The text criticizes this doctrine for eclipsing the unique and sufficient role of Christ in redemption.
• It argues that the martyrdom of saints already yielded immense fruit through glorifying God and inspiring the faithful.
• The author refutes the idea that God owes a fruitful earthly reward for the bloodshed of saints.
• Paul's reference to supplying the afflictions of Christ is reinterpreted as routine suffering for the Church's edification rather than expiation.

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?

• Augustine explains that the sufferings of Christ extend to His whole body, the Church, wherein believers share in tribulations for the edification of faith.
• Paul's statement about filling up what is lacking in Christ's sufferings does not imply any deficiency in the complete fullness of righteousness and salvation.
• All saints are saved by the mercy of God alone, and attributing saintly worthiness to personal merit is an insult to God and Christ.
• Indulgences erroneously attempt to enclose the grace of Jesus Christ in lead and parchment, separating it from the word of the Gospel.
• The historical abuse of indulgences originated from relaxing severe penances, eventually distorting them into expiatory remedies that free people from merited punishment.

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?

• The author argues that purgatory cannot be ignored because it leads to serious consequences and daily blasphemies.
• Purgatory is described as a human invention devised without biblical authority through fictitious revelations and satanic wiles.
• Silence regarding purgatory is deemed perilous because it shifts the expiation of sins away from the blood of Christ.
• The text asserts that purgatory makes void the cross of Christ, insults divine mercy, and undermines believers' faith.
• Opponents incorrectly use scripture, such as the passage regarding the sin against the Holy Ghost, to falsely justify remission of sins hereafter.

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.

• The text addresses theological arguments used by opponents to defend the concept of purgatory through various biblical passages.
• It argues that Christ's warning about sins not being forgiven in this life or the next refers to absolute judgment rather than a transitional purgatorial state.
• The parable from Matthew regarding the adversary and the prison is interpreted as a call to equity and concord rather than evidence of purgatory.
• Paul's mention of every knee bowing to Christ is examined, noting it signifies universal subjection to divine dominion rather than souls in purgatory.
• The author concludes that misinterpreting these scriptural references forces unwarranted theological conclusions about the afterlife.

If in this passage the judge means God, the adversary the devil, the officer an angel, and the prison purgatory, I give in at once.

• The text examines the theological status and varying canonical authority of the books of the Maccabees.
• Augustine viewed Maccabees as useful when read with sobriety, whereas Jerome and ancient church leaders deemed it without authority for establishing doctrine.
• The original author of Maccabees himself asks for pardon for any imperfect expressions, proving the work is not an oracle of the Holy Spirit.
• Judas's actions regarding oblations for the dead are interpreted as reflecting a hope in the resurrection rather than serving as a price for redemption.
• Proponents of purgatory cite Paul's writing on trial by fire in First Corinthians, though early Church Fathers generally interpreted this fire as earthly tribulation.

He who confesses that his writings stand in need of pardon, certainly proclaims that they are not oracles of the Holy Spirit.

• The text rejects the concept of purgatory in favor of a clearer interpretation of Pauline scripture regarding the trial of believers' works.
• The Apostle Paul asserts that the works of all individuals, including saints and apostles, must undergo a process of testing.
• Wood, hay, and stubble are used as metaphors for human-devised doctrines that are consumed when tested.
• The fire mentioned in the passage is identified metaphorically as the examination and trial of the Holy Spirit.
• Just as precious metals are proven pure by fire, God's truth is confirmed through rigorous spiritual examination.
• Spurious doctrines ultimately perish under this spiritual trial, though faithful builders of the Church still attain salvation.

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.

• Believers who err in minor matters while holding to core articles of faith suffer the loss of their flawed works through divine purification.
• The practice of offering prayers for the dead lacks support from scripture, divine revelation, or the examples of biblical saints.
• Ancient believers adopted the practice without God's command, driven largely by natural human sorrow and the desire to attest their love.
• Pagan customs and traditions also influenced Christians to adopt rites for the dead in imitation of Gentile practices.
• Scripture mandates that believers must act with a firm conviction of propriety in all works, especially in prayer.

Scripture relates oftentimes and at great length, how the faithful lamented the death of their relations, and how they buried them: but that they prayed for them is never hinted at.

• Fear of disgrace and cultural custom drove early practices of funeral feasts and oblations for the dead.
• Scripture offers genuine comfort regarding the deceased through passages declaring that those who die in the Lord rest from their labors.
• Ancient writers and figures like Augustine supported prayers for the dead out of personal affection or deference to vulgar ignorance rather than strict biblical truth.
• True prayer must be strictly subordinated to the word of God without human inventions or additions.
• Because the Law and Gospel lack any sanction for praying for the dead, practicing it constitutes a profanation of prayer.

Should any one, in pretending to be a patron of the dead, deal merely in probabilities, the only effect will be to make those indifferent who were formerly solicitous.

• The text criticizes the traditional doctrine of purgatory as an uncertain and superstitious human invention.
• Ancient writers like Augustine are cited to argue that the righteous enjoy blessed rest immediately after death.
• The author condemns the gross superstitions and shameful traffickings associated with prayers for the dead.
• The transition into subsequent chapters introduces the foundational principles governing the life of a Christian man.
• True Christians are defined by a special love for righteousness and a commitment to daily progress rather than instant perfection.

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.

• The primary goal of regeneration is to align the lives of believers with the righteousness of God.
• Scripture provides vital helps and incentives to guide believers who might otherwise go astray in their zeal.
• While individual virtues are extensively covered by the Fathers, the author aims to provide a concise, universal rule for Christian conduct.
• Scripture offers a superior, divinely inspired arrangement for teaching rectitude compared to human philosophy.
• The scriptural system focuses on instilling a love of righteousness and prescribing a rule to prevent believers from straying.

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 too which is every way much more certain than that of philosophers.

• The foundation of Christian life begins with the call to be holy because God is holy.
• Holiness acts as the bond of union with God, reflecting His glory and refusal to associate with impurity.
• Believers are rescued from worldly pollution and expected to inhabit the holy city without profaning it.
• Scripture surpasses philosophical ethics by deriving exhortations directly from God and the model of Christ.
• Adoption as sons of God requires a life that mirrors Christ, or else one revolts against the Creator and Saviour.
• Every spiritual blessing and act of salvation obligates the believer to reject earthly taints and aspire to heaven.

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.

• Believers are called to keep their souls and bodies pure in anticipation of heavenly incorruptibility.
• True knowledge of Christ requires putting off the old corrupt nature and putting on Christ.
• Christian doctrine is not merely a matter of intellectual speech, but must permeate the entire life and heart.
• Those who boast of the Christian name without embodying its teachings falsely pretend to know Christ.
• While absolute perfection may not be immediately attained, believers must constantly aim toward evangelical perfection and integrity.

Doctrine is not an affair of the tongue, but of the life; 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.

• The spiritual commencement of a good life begins when internal affections are sincerely devoted to God.
• Believers should not despair over human weakness and slender success, as daily incremental progress has lasting value.
• The Christian life requires abandoning one's own will and devoting oneself entirely to God's service.
• Self-denial is the sum of Paul's doctrine, requiring the suppression of ambition and the embrace of humility.
• The advantage of our neighbor must be promoted, acting as members of the same human body.
• True Christian life cannot exist without charity, patience, kindness, and perseverance.

No one will travel so badly as not daily to make some degree of progress.

• Believers are called to present their bodies as a living sacrifice, dedicating every thought and action entirely to the glory of God.
• Because individuals do not belong to themselves, they must abandon personal reason, carnal desires, and self-will.
• Surrendering personal dominion to God represents the true haven of safety and the essential first step of the Christian life.
• Unlike secular philosophy, which places human reason in complete control, Christian philosophy requires complete submission to the Holy Spirit.
• Believers must shun avarice and ambition, casting all their care upon God and expecting prosperity solely from his blessing.

For as the surest source of destruction to men is to obey themselves, so the only haven of safety is to have no other will, no other wisdom, than to follow the Lord wherever he leads.

• Scripture requires believers to lay aside personal ambition, worldly glory, and self-regard.
• True Christian self-denial ensures that an individual directs their whole life and mind toward God.
• Without self-denial, human actions are ultimately driven by pride, ostentation, or a desire for applause.
• Even pagan philosophers who praised virtue did so out of arrogance rather than pure motives.
• Denying one's own reason and following God's commands is the only true remedy for the iniquity within the human soul.

The philosophers who have contended most strongly that virtue is to be desired on her own account, were so inflated with arrogance as to make it apparent that they sought virtue for no other reason than as a ground for indulging in pride.

• Virtues such as chastity, temperance, righteousness, and godliness collectively form complete spiritual perfection.
• The difficulty of subduing fleshly lusts requires looking toward the hope of a blessed immortality and Christ's final advent.
• Believers are instructed to act as pilgrims in this world to ensure they do not miss their heavenly inheritance.
• Self-denial involves directing our duties toward both our fellow men and God.
• Natural self-love drives individuals to blindly exalt themselves, despise others, and inflate their own virtues while concealing vices.
• True moderation and overcoming internal arrogance can only be achieved by completely plucking up and eradicating self-love.

For so blindly do we all rush in the direction of self-love, that every one thinks he has a good reason for exalting himself and despising all others in comparison.

• Scripture roots out self-love and pride by reminding believers that all personal endowments are free gifts from God.
• Examining one's own faults and respecting the divine gifts present in others fosters true humility and modesty.
• Seeking the good of one's neighbor requires setting aside self-interest and renouncing natural selfishness.
• Divine gifts are described not as private possessions, but as deposits entrusted to individuals for the common good.
• Believers are compared to members of a single body, functioning mutually to support and benefit the whole community.

How difficult it is to perform the duty of seeking the good of our neighbour!

• Believers are commanded to act as stewards of God's gifts, using them primarily for the common edification of the Church rather than personal gain.
• The proper administration of any blessing from God requires that it be regulated by love and subordinated to the advantage of one's neighbor.
• Ancient offerings of first-fruits serve as a symbolic reminder that goods must be consecrated to God and shared through alms to the needy.
• Endurance in well-doing is sustained by patience and kindness, looking past personal merit to see the image of God in every human being.
• Even strangers, the unworthy, and those who have caused injury must be embraced with love because they bear the divine image and represent God's place.

Say that he is unworthy of your least exertion on his account; but the image of God, by which he is recommended to you, is worthy of yourself and all your exertions.

• Forgiving others requires looking past human wickedness to see the image of God within them.
• True charity demands that duties are fulfilled not just externally, but from a pure feeling of love.
• Giving alms or assistance must be free from arrogance, insults, or haughtiness.
• Helpers should put themselves in the place of the needy, showing genuine pity and humanity.
• Benefactors ought to view helping others as a natural duty rather than a gesture that places recipients under obligation.
• Individuals should consider themselves indebted to their neighbors, limiting beneficence only by their means.

Every one should rather consider, that however great he is, he owes himself to his neighbours, and that the only limit to his beneficence is the failure of his means.

• Scripture instructs believers to resign themselves and all their possessions to the disposal of the Lord to achieve equanimity and endurance.
• Humanity possesses a frenzied desire for wealth, honor, and luxury, paired with an intense dread of poverty and humble conditions.
• Those who frame their lives after their own counsel remain endlessly restless, subjecting themselves to fatigue and intrigue driven by avarice.
• Christian men must realize that no prosperity can be achieved apart from the blessing of God, upon which they must safely recline.
• Riches or fame obtained without divine blessing ultimately turn out ill and add to human misery.
• Recognizing that success depends entirely on God restrains the frantic striving for wealth and encourages living and acting uprightly.

We have a frenzied desire, an infinite eagerness, to pursue wealth and honour, intrigue for power, accumulate riches, and collect all those frivolities which seem conducive to luxury and splendour.

• Believers avoid wicked arts to fulfill desires, knowing cursed pursuits lack divine blessing.
• Success is attributed entirely to God rather than personal diligence or fortune.
• Adverse conditions are accepted with equanimity and moderation, trusting in divine order.
• True self-denial involves placing the entire course of life at the Lord's disposal.
• Believers maintain tranquillity amidst severe life accidents, such as disease, war, and loss.
• Pious minds continue to bless God and recognize His paternal indulgence even during famine and bereavement.

These are the events which make men curse their life, detest the day of their birth, execrate the light of heaven, even censure God, and (as they are eloquent in blasphemy) charge him with cruelty and injustice.

• The true believer maintains confidence in God and accepts all hardships with gratitude rather than murmuring.
• Christians must reject the heathen view of blind fortune, recognizing instead that God's hand directs all events with perfect regularity.
• Disciples of Christ must prepare for a hard and troubled life as the heavenly Father exercises and proves His people.
• The cross is necessary to humble pride, drive believers to seek divine aid, and produce patience and firm hope.
• Bearing the cross involves submitting to God's discipline, subduing the flesh, and enduring pain with true patience modeled after Christ rather than Stoic apathy.

Especially let the Christian breast eschew that foolish and most miserable consolation of the heathen, who, to strengthen their mind against adversity, imputed it to fortune, at which they deemed it absurd to feel indignant, as she was a σκοπος (aimless) and rash, and blindly wounded the good equally hinaus.

• Jesus Christ experienced a perpetual cross during his earthly life, learning obedience through suffering.
• Believers are predestined to be conformed to Christ, meaning they must also pass through tribulations to reach celestial glory.
• Afflictions and hardships grant believers fellowship with Christ's sufferings, which ultimately furthers their salvation.
• Human nature is prone to false confidence, arrogance, and relying on our own flesh rather than God's grace.
• Trials such as disgrace, poverty, and disease humble believers and force them to invoke divine strength rather than trusting themselves.

In my prosperity I Said, I shall never be moved.

• Adversity strips away false human confidence and teaches believers true humility.
• Tribulation produces patience, which gives saints experimental proof of divine aid.
• Experiencing God's faithfulness in hardship confirms and strengthens future faith.
• Bearing the cross is essential for eliminating self-love and self-reliance.
• Afflictions also serve to try patience and publicly display the graces conferred by God.

Patience, therefore, gives the saints an experimental proof that God in reality furnishes the aid which he has promised whenever there is need.

• Afflictions and the cross are necessary for the saints because they provide the material needed for patience to exist.
• Through adversity, believers are trained in obedience, learning to live according to God's disposal rather than their own wishes.
• Human carnal nature is prone to rebellion when treated with indulgence and gentleness, much like refractory horses.
• God uses discipline and the cross to restrain human arrogance, wealth-induced pride, and insolence.
• The heavenly Physician applies various remedies tailored to each person's specific spiritual disease, ensuring that no one is left untouched.
• Afflictions also serve to correct past faults and keep believers in due obedience, prompting them to reflect on their past lives.

It just happens to it as with refractory horses, which, if kept idle for a few days at hack and manger, become ungovernable, and no longer recognize the rider, whose command before they implicitly obeyed.

• Divine affliction acts as a merciful correction rather than destruction, demonstrating God's fatherly love and care for human salvation.
• Enduring chastisement distinguishes true believers, who turn to repentance, from unbelievers who become hardened in their wickedness.
• Persecution for righteousness is framed as a high honor and a special badge of being among God's soldiers.
• While earthly hardships like poverty, exile, and death are naturally miserable, God's favor transforms them into sources of ultimate happiness.
• Temporary worldly losses are directly offset by eternal heavenly gains, such as increased spiritual riches and assured entrance into eternal life.

Poverty, indeed considered in itself, is misery; so are exile, contempt, imprisonment, ignominy: in fine, death itself is the last of all calamities.

• Believers should cheerfully accept hardships and disgrace endured for the sake of righteousness as a way Christ is glorified.
• True patience does not require total insensibility to pain, hardship, or the natural bitterness of adversity.
• Fortitude and moderation are demonstrated when believers struggle boldly against pain while remaining curbed by the fear of God.
• Ancient Stoics and modern Christian counterparts who demand complete emotional detachment from sorrow misunderstand true human endurance.
• Christ Himself wept, experienced profound sorrow, and shed tears of blood, demonstrating that grief and sadness are not inherently sinful.

Now also we have among Christians a new kind of Stoics, who hold it vicious not only to groan and weep, but even to be sad and anxious.

• True patience does not require individuals to become emotionless blocks or abandon natural human grief.
• Scripture praises endurance when believers feel hardships bitterly yet remain sustained by spiritual joy and divine consolation.
• Human nature naturally shuns adversity, creating a repugnance and a double will even within faithful saints.
• Peter experienced this internal tension when facing his martyrdom, feeling natural horror at a bloody death alongside the alacrity to obey God.
• Disciples of Christ must subjugate contrary human affections to divine appointment while still experiencing the natural bitterness of adversity.

It must therefore be our study, if we would be disciples of Christ, to imbue our minds with such reverence and obedience to God as may tame and subjugate all affections contrary to his appointment.

• Philosophical patience relies solely on the cold necessity of submitting to an inescapable power.
• Christian patience views affliction as a purposeful expression of divine justice, equity, and mercy.
• Believers are called to recognize that afflictions are salutary chastisements designed to subdue the flesh.
• Scripture transforms endurance from a begrudging yielding to necessity into an active obedience to God's justice.
• Tribulations are ultimately meant to provide for our salvation, turning bitterness into spiritual joy and thanksgiving.

We no longer hear the frigid cant, Yield, because it is necessary; but a living and energetic precept, Obey, because it is unlawful to resist; bear patiently, be- cause impatience is rebellion against the justice of God.

• Tribulations and afflictions are designed to train believers to despise the present life and aspire to the future one.
• Human beings are naturally inclined to a slavish love of the world, easily blinded by wealth, power, and earthly honors.
• God uses constant trials, such as war, poverty, and bereavement, to cure believers of their worldly attachment and reveal the vanity of this life.
• Earthly blessings are uncertain, fleeting, and mixed with evil, ensuring that believers view their time on earth as a constant contest.
• The human mind never seriously desires or aspires to the future life until it has truly learned to despise the present one.

That they may not long with too much eagerness after fleeting and fading riches, or rest in those which they already possess, he reduces them to want, or, at least, restricts them to a moderate allowance, at one time by exile, at another by sterility, at another by fire, or by other means.

• Believers must carefully strive to disencumber themselves from the fetters and intemperate love of the present life.
• The present life offers many enticements, delights, and sweetness that tend to soothe and bewitch humanity.
• Despite acknowledging common proverbs about human mortality and life being like smoke or a shadow, people rarely remember them.
• Individuals consistently form plans and indulge in supine security as if they had secured an earthly immortality.
• Even when confronted with funerals or graves, philosophical reflections on the vanity of life remain merely momentary.
• God finds it necessary to shake people from their torpor so they can hasten to despise the world and aspire to the future life.

For what, pray, would happen, if we here enjoyed an uninterrupted course of honour and felicity, when even the constant stimulus of affliction cannot arouse us to a due sense of our misery?

• Earthly life, despite its wretchedness, is a divine blessing that must not be despised.
• Failing to recognize God's kindness in daily blessings makes us ungrateful.
• For believers, earthly life is a proof of divine benevolence designed to promote salvation.
• Earthly existence acts as a preparation and warfare necessary before achieving heavenly glory.
• Experiencing a foretaste of divine goodness on earth wheত্রের our hope for the future life.
• Recognizing life as a gift helps us avoid an excessive fondness for it while desiring a better one.

For the Lord hath ordained, that those who are ultimately to be crowned in heaven must maintain a previous warfare on the earth, that they may not triumph before they have overcome the difficulties of war, and obtained the victory.

• Ancient peoples rightly perceived the misery of mortal life devoid of divine light, yet their despair lacked the redemptive context of faith.
• Believers should view earthly existence as a place of exile, imprisonment, and spiritual absence from God.
• When compared to heavenly immortality, the present mortal life can be securely neglected and disdained.
• Christians must not hate life itself, but rather the sin that binds them to it, while remaining ready to endure until God calls them.
• Believers ought to patiently maintain their post until recalled, leaving the exact timing of life and death entirely at the Lord's disposal.

If heaven is our country, what can the earth be but a place of exile?

• Christians often fear death despite their faith, viewing dissolution with dread rather than hope.
• True piety and faith should allow believers to look past earthly corruption and eagerly desire heavenly renewal.
• Death is portrayed as a return from exile to our true heavenly home, offering permanent existence.
• Creation itself longs for the final resurrection, shaming believers who fail to rise above earthly corruption.
• Scripture intends for the promise of redemption to bring joy and exultation rather than sadness and consternation.
• Believers should earnestly desire the advent of the Lord as a deliverance from evil and misery into eternal glory.

For if we reflect that this our tabernacle, unstable, defective, corruptible, fading, pining, and putrid, is dissolved, in order that it may forthwith be renewed in sure, perfect, incorruptible, in fine, in heavenly glory, will not faith compel us eagerly to desire what nature dreads?

• Believers must look beyond earthly suffering and earthly affairs by focusing their minds on heaven.
• Though the wicked may flourish in wealth and luxury, their final fate involves torments and eternal punishment.
• Faithful servants of God are promised ultimate consolation, glory, and participation in divine happiness.
• Without the hope of future divine recompense, believers are prone to despondency or envy of the wicked.
• True spiritual triumph comes only when believers direct their eyes toward the power of Christ's resurrection.

My feet were almost gone: my steps had well nigh slipt: for I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

• The present life is viewed as a pilgrimage toward the heavenly kingdom, requiring us to use earthly blessings only as aids to our progress.
• Believers are admonished by scripture to use the world without abusing it, maintaining a pure conscience in both necessity and pleasure.
• Some historically pious individuals advocated for extreme austerity, limiting consumption to bare necessities like bread and water to curb luxury.
• Others, like Cratetes the Theban, went so far as to destroy their riches out of fear that wealth would corrupt them.
• While scripture does not bind consciences with rigid, definite laws regarding every earthly use, it does provide necessary general rules and limits.

Others were still more austere, as is related of Cratetes the Theban, who threw his riches into the sea, because he thought, that unless he destroyed them they would destroy him.

• God created food, clothing, and nature not only to meet human necessities but also to provide enjoyment, delight, and beauty.
• Scripture explicitly highlights God's benignity through mercies that bring gladness to the human heart and senses.
• The inherent qualities and aesthetic values of materials like gold, silver, and flowers demonstrate that they are meant for lawful enjoyment.
• An inhuman philosophy that restricts the use of creation solely to bare necessity maliciously strips humanity of divine beneficence and sensory life.
• Conversely, physical pleasures must be strictly moderated to prevent excess, lust, and the spiritual deadening of the mind.
• True gratitude to the Creator requires enjoying His gifts without allowing them to corrupt piety, duty, or moral discernment.

many are so delighted with marble, gold, and pictures, that they become marble-hearted—are changed as it were into metal, and made like painted figures.

• Believers should use the present world without abusing it, detaching their affections from earthly comforts.
• Moderation in abundance must be matched by patience and contentment during poverty or scarcity.
• Excessive focus on bodily care and luxury distracts the soul from cultivating a heavenly and virtuous life.
• Earthly blessings are granted by God as trusts, requiring every individual to act as a responsible steward.
• God ultimately evaluates how we manage these provisions, condemning luxury while approving of charity and sobriety.

he who is ashamed of a sordid garment will be vain-glorious of a splendid one; he who not contented with a slender, feels annoyed at the want of a more luxurious supper, will intemperately abuse his luxury if he obtains it

• God assigns distinct duties and modes of life to prevent human confusion and restlessness.
• These assigned roles, known as callings, serve as stations to keep individuals from random direction.
• Actions are judged by God based on whether they align with one's divine calling rather than human philosophy.
• Recognizing a divine post prevents individuals from rashly overstepping their boundaries or abandoning humble positions.
• Knowing that burdens and hardships are superintended by God provides alleviation and consolation in daily life.
• No work is considered too mean or sordid if it is performed within the proper calling, possessing splendour in God's eyes.

There is no more illustrious deed even among philosophers than to free one’s country from tyranny, and yet the private individual who stabs the tyrant is openly condemned by the voice of the heavenly Judge.

• Chapter 11 initiates an eight-chapter exposition on the doctrine of Justification by Faith and the refutation of opposing errors.
• The subsequent chapters systematically confirm faith-based righteousness by dismantling the validity of works-based righteousness.
• The eleventh chapter is divided into three main parts: defining terms, refuting Osiander's views on essential righteousness, and establishing justification by faith.
• Definitions and comparisons clarify concepts such as remission of sins, imputation of righteousness, and reconciliation with God.
• The text refutes Osiander's specific arguments and addresses sophistical evasions regarding a compounded righteousness of faith and works.

In Chapter 12 the doctrine of Justification is confirmed by a description of perfect righteousness; in Chapter 13 by calling attention to two precautions; in Chapter 14 by a consideration of the commencement and progress of regeneration in the regenerate; and in Chapter 15 by two very pernicious effects which constantly accompany the righteousness of works.

• Refutation of various sophistical evasions regarding righteousness and good works using Pauline arguments.
• Reaffirmation of the definition of justification by faith supported by scripture and ancient church fathers.
• Explanation that man is justified by faith not through inherent spiritual transformation, but by laying hold of Christ's righteousness.
• Summary of the twofold benefit received through faith: reconciliation with God as an indulgent Father and sanctification by the Spirit.
• Emphasis on justification as the principal ground of religion that requires careful and thorough understanding.

Christ given to us by the kindness of God is apprehended and possessed by faith, by means of which we obtain in particular a twofold benefit; first, being reconciled by the righteousness of Christ, God becomes, instead of a judge, an indulgent Father; and, secondly, being sanctified by his Spirit, we aspire to integrity and purity of life.

• Iniquity is abominable to God, meaning a sinner cannot find grace while regarded as a sinner.
• A justified person is regarded not as a sinner, but as righteous and acquitted at the judgment-seat of God.
• A man is justified by faith when he lays hold of the righteousness of Christ instead of relying on works.
• Justification is interpreted simply as the acceptance with which God receives us into His favor.
• This justification consists fundamentally in the forgiveness of sins and the imputation of Christ's righteousness.

Hence, wherever sin is, there also are the wrath and vengeance of God.

• The term justification is understood relatively and does not denote an inherent quality in man.
• Paul uses Scripture to show that God imputes righteousness to believers through faith.
• To justify fundamentally means to acquit from guilt as if innocence were proven.
• Believers are deemed righteous in Christ through gratuitous acquittal rather than personal merit or works.
• Forgiveness of sins and justification are closely linked as explanations of the same divine grace.

To justify, therefore, is nothing else than to acquit from the charge of guilt, as if innocence were proved.

• Scriptural passages demonstrate that justification is rooted entirely in the free grace and mercy of God.
• Paul equates justification and reconciliation with the non-imputation of sins and the pardon of iniquities.
• Believers are accounted righteous strictly through the obedience and merit of Christ rather than in themselves.
• Osiander introduced a confusing notion of essential righteousness that obscures the true sense of divine grace.
• Scriptural unity with Christ is achieved by the secret agency of the Spirit rather than a transfusion of divine essence.

But as Osiander has introduced a kind of monstrosity termed essential righteousness, by which, although he designed not to abolish free righteousness, he involves it in darkness...

• The author critiques an opponent's argument that Christ's divine essence is comingled with ours for our justification.
• While the author acknowledges that the Father, Son, and Spirit dwell in believers, he rejects the idea of a substantial mixture or infusion of divine essence.
• The text argues that the opponent mistakenly believes justification requires God to essentially unite with us, rather than relying solely on Christ's obedience and sacrificial death.
• The opponent is accused of leading believers away from Christ by treating the separate indwelling of the Father and Spirit as a physical transfusing of God into humanity.
• The author warns that this erroneous principle obscures the true source of salvation and robs believers of the full assurance found in Christ's grace alone.

For this is the reason why he so vehemently contends that not only Christ but the Father and the Spirit dwell in us.

• Righteousness is understood not merely as a free imputation, but as the holiness inspired by the divine essence dwelling within.
• Justification and sanctification are inseparable, united in Christ just as the heat and light of the sun are connected.
• Osiander mistakenly conflates free acceptance with the gift of regeneration, treating them as one and the same.
• Scripture carefully distinguishes between being justified and being made a new creature, displaying the manifold grace of God.
• Osiander's arguments and scriptural interpretations are compared to a cuttlefish clouding the water with ink to hide itself.
• Paul maintains that works have no room in justification, as even the virtuous Abraham pleased God only through faith.

He is not a whit sounder in discussing the term righteousness, when it is said, that faith was imputed to Abraham for righteousness after he had embraced Christ (who is the righteousness of Gad and God himself) and was distinguished by excellent virtues.

• Faith does not justify by its own intrinsic virtue, which is inherently weak and imperfect.
• God alone properly justifies, and Christ is given to us as our righteousness.
• Faith is compared to a vessel because it is merely the instrument used to receive Christ's grace.
• Faith should not be confused with Christ himself, just as a clay vessel is not the treasure it holds.
• Osiander's view that Christ justifies solely through his divine nature rather than his dual nature is rejected.

Still, however, I admit not the tortuous figure of the sophist, that faith is Christ; as if a vessel of clay were a treasure, because gold is deposited in it.

• The text discusses the theological distinction between Christ's divine nature and his specific office as mediator regarding human righteousness.
• Arguments by opponents like Osiander who infer a purely divine substance of righteousness from scriptural passages are critiqued as heretical and simplistic.
• Christ achieved justification not through his abstract divine nature, but specifically through his obedience, suffering, and incarnation in human flesh.
• Although purifying souls and appeasing the Father required divine capacity, Christ executed these priestly duties entirely in his human nature.
• Believers are justified through Christ's obedience in the form of a servant, grounding the fountain of righteousness firmly in the incarnation.

Were any one to infer from this that the blood by which sins were expiated was divine, and of a divine nature, who could endure so foul a heresy?

• The author argues that justification comes through the expiation made by Christ, not through an essential righteousness inherent to human nature.
• The phrase 'righteousness of God' is explained as that which is approved by God and bestowed upon believers to help them stand before His tribunal.
• Christ seals our righteousness and salvation through His flesh, serving as the physical manifestation and Mediator of God's hidden nature.
• Christ is likened to a fountain from which believers draw spiritual benefits that would otherwise remain inaccessible in the deep abyss of God's majesty.
• The work of justification involves the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, granting believers a share in the eternal righteousness of God.

For this cause I am accustomed to say, that Christ is to us like a fountain, of which every man may draw and drink at his ease and at his pleasure...

• The author emphasizes the highest rank of the mystical union between Christ and believers, making us partners in his gifts.
• Believers do not view Christ as distant, but have put him on and are ingrafted into his body through faith.
• The author defends against Osiander's calumny, rejecting the gross, carnal mixture and essential righteousness advocated by Osiander.
• Osiander's views mistakenly apply promises meant for the heavenly life and final advent directly to our present earthly state.
• The author dismisses Osiander's frivolities as not worth dwelling upon to avoid burdening the reader with superfluous labor.

For my part, I count it the highest honor to be thus assailed by a haughty man, devoted to his own impostures; though he assails not me only, but writers of known reputation throughout the world, and whom it became him modestly to venerate.

• The author criticizes Osiander's theological views as both vapid and impious for undermining the assurance of salvation.
• Scriptural evidence from Paul and the Psalms is used to demonstrate that justification is a forensic term meaning acquittal and pardon.
• God justifies believers not through inherent righteousness, but by the free imputation of grace and the forgiveness of sins.
• Righteousness is described as complete through gratuitous forgiveness rather than as a partial definition involving works.
• Although justification and regeneration are distinct, the lingering presence of sin in believers proves justification must be separate from reformation.

Say, then, if God does not justify us by acquitting and pardoning, what does Paul mean when he says “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them”?

• God initiates newness of life in the elect, continuing this gradual process throughout their entire earthly existence.
• True justification is absolute and free, clothing believers in the purity of Christ so they appear completely righteous before God.
• The doctrine of justification is subverted whenever doubt is introduced, shaking the believer's confidence and hindering free prayer.
• Justification and regeneration must be clearly distinguished, as Paul demonstrates the tension between personal wretchedness and divine mercy.
• Believers maintain victorious assurance above all fears, relying entirely on the righteousness founded solely on the mercy of God.

O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

• It is arrogant to condemn the Supreme Judge when He freely acquits and shows mercy according to His divine will.
• Believers are justified before God through the burial of their sins and are clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
• Osiander argues incorrectly that Christ is made unto us righteousness solely in respect of His divine rather than human nature.
• Paul's application of wisdom and righteousness to Christ refers to our practical use and was manifested through His human nature.
• Justification depends entirely upon the divine ordination of Christ, who redeemed us by being made a curse for us.

He does not now twist his rope of two righteousnesses, but plainly deprives the human nature of Christ of the office of justifying.

• Christ is recognized as the author of life and death's destroyer without stripping away his divine character.
• The author critiques Osiander's confused use of scriptural passages regarding the essential righteousness of God.
• Righteousness and life are maintained to be specifically rooted in the death and resurrection of Christ.
• God renews humanity through the agency and abundance of His Son, who holds the fulness of the Spirit.
• Conflating God's role as the source of righteousness with humans possessing divine essence is rejected as a phantom.
• Complicating justification with a twofold righteousness ultimately prevents souls from resting on God's mercy.

In short, every one who, by the entanglement of a twofold righteousness, prevents miserable souls from resting entirely on the mere mercy of God, mocks Christ by putting on him a crown of plaited thorns.

• Believers must renounce their own righteousness based on the law to attain the righteousness of Christ.
• The rejection of the Jews was caused by their ignorance of God's righteousness and reliance on their own.
• True faith entirely excludes boasting, meaning the righteousness of works cannot be associated with it.
• Scripture argues that justification by faith is a matter of grace, not a reward paid as a debt to works.
• Any notion of a righteousness compounded of faith and works is rejected as a mere dream.

Away, then, with the dream of those who invent a righteousness compounded of faith and works.

• Paul argues that righteousness comes solely as a gift from Christ rather than through human effort.
• The antithesis between Legal and Gospel righteousness excludes all works regardless of their spiritual nature.
• Even an almost angelic and spiritual life could not procure justification before God by its own merit.
• Schoolmen and Papists err by mingling human preparations and merits with the concept of divine grace.
• True peace for a trembling soul is found only by hiding within divine mercy rather than relying on personal holiness.

Under cover of the Spirit and grace, they hide the divine mercy, which alone can give peace to the trembling soul.

• The author criticizes scholastic theology and parts of Augustine's thought for corrupting true doctrine.
• Scripture directs believers away from their own works and toward the mercy of God and the perfection of Christ.
• Faith is the means by which a destitute sinner embraces divine grace and obtains pardon.
• The Gospel is contrasted with the Law, bestowing justification freely without any condition of human works.

He, therefore, seeks the cause of kindness in himself, that thus he may affect the sinner by a sense of his goodness, and induce him, in distrust of his own works, to cast himself entirely upon his mercy for salvation.

• The promises of the Gospel are gratuitous and founded on mercy, while Law promises depend on the condition of works.
• No human being, even the most perfect, is able to fully fulfill the commands of the Law.
• Paul argues that justification by faith is completely separated from and independent of the merit of works.
• Faith receives the righteousness bestowed by the Gospel by leaning entirely on the mercy of God.
• Critics cavil at the doctrine of justification by faith alone, even though Scripture repeatedly declares it.

How could the argument hold unless it be true that works are not to be taken into account, but are to be altogether separated?

• Opponents reject the use of the word alone regarding faith and righteousness, despite scriptural support for gratuitous grace.
• Paul declares that righteousness in the Gospel is full, perfect, and manifested without the Law.
• Critics attempt a childish subterfuge by claiming Paul only excludes ceremonial works rather than moral works.
• Paul's arguments clearly apply to the Moral Law because the law brings the knowledge of sin, works wrath, and cannot pacify conscience.
• Righteousness is given freely without being due, thereby excluding human boasting.
• The undeniable conclusion is that the power of justifying is denied to the whole Law.

Do they think the Apostle was raving when he produced, in proof of his doctrine, these passages?

• Good works derive their entire value and reward solely from the goodness and promise of God, not from inherent human merit.
• Apostolic arguments confirm that works possess no power of justifying apart from divine testimony and covenantal grace.
• Arguments attempting to base justification on love, even through a faith that works by love, misinterpret the mechanism of grace.
• Justification comes exclusively through faith where no reward-deserving works exist, conferring righteousness freely without merit.
• Justification by faith is fundamentally reconciliation with God and consists entirely in the remission of sins.
• Sin creates an absolute separation between God and humanity, leaving man at enmity with God until restored to favor.

Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: but your iniquities have separated between you and your God.

• God justifies individuals by admitting them into union and changing their condition from sinners to righteous.
• This transformation is accomplished specifically through the remission and forgiveness of sins rather than human works.
• Scriptural passages from Paul and David demonstrate that righteousness and reconciliation are fundamentally synonymous.
• Believers are justified before God not by their own virtue, but entirely through gratuitous divine acceptance.
• Ancient theological writers like Augustine and Bernard similarly argued that human righteousness consists in divine indulgence.

Not to sin is the righteousness of God, but the righteousness of man is the indulgence of God.

• Justification before God is obtained not through personal inherent goodness, but through the imputed righteousness of Christ.
• Man possesses no righteousness in himself and must look entirely outside of himself to Christ for salvation.
• Scriptural references like 2 Corinthians 5:21 demonstrate that believers are made the righteousness of God through Christ's sacrifice.
• The obedience of Christ is credited to believers as if it were their own personal achievement.
• Ambrose's analogy of Jacob wearing his brother's garments illustrates how believers conceal themselves under Christ's purity to receive God's blessing.

Isaac’s smelling the odour of his garments, perhaps means that we are justified not by works, but by faith, since carnal infirmity is an impediment to works, but errors of conduct are covered by the brightness of faith, which merits the pardon of faults.

• The righteousness of God directly overturns the concept of the righteousness of works as supported by scripture and the saints.
• Examining the conscience against divine perfection exposes human imperfection and strips away false confidence.
• A serious consideration of divine majesty and human misery prevents the rise of hypocritical merit.
• True Christian humility abandons all self-righteousness and relies entirely on divine mercy through faith.
• Arrogance and self-confidence must be discarded because they impede the flow of divine goodness.

It is strange with what rashness and presumption this is commonly defined.

• Human righteousness is easily praised in academic settings, but human flaws become glaringly apparent in the actual presence of God.
• When faced with the absolute purity, strength, and brightness of the heavenly Judge described in Scripture, no person can feel secure.
• Scriptural passages from Job and the Psalms emphasize that even saints and angels cannot withstand God's ultimate scrutiny.
• Comparing human actions to the written law reveals countless maledictions that should arouse fear and urgency in the conscience.
• True spiritual reflection requires humbling oneself before the divine judgment seat rather than engaging in empty theological debates.

Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his Maker?

• Human pride and a sense of superiority easily flourish when we compare ourselves only to other people.
• When man attempts to measure himself against God, all false confidence immediately shatters.
• This limitation is compared to the human eye, which functions well with local objects but is utterly dazzled and blinded by the sun.
• Divine judgment exposes the true nature of human righteousness as utterly insufficient, because God sees the hidden heart.
• Scriptural figures and pious writers like Augustine agree that humanity has no hope in personal works and must rely solely on Jesus Christ as Mediator.

The bodily eye, while employed in surveying adjacent objects, is pleased with its own perspicacity; but when directed to the sun, being dazzled and overwhelmed by the refulgence, it becomes no less convinced of its weakness than it formerly was of its power in viewing inferior objects.

• Bernard emphasizes that true security and safe rest for the soul are found exclusively within the wounds of the Savior.
• Human merit is redefined as relying entirely on the compassion and righteousness of God rather than personal righteousness.
• The Church is encouraged to place its hope in divine grace rather than human achievements, avoiding empty boasting.
• Aroused consciences recognize God as the sole asylum where they can breathe safely amid the strict divine scrutiny.
• When exposed to the brilliant purity of God, human purity fades, and hidden thoughts and dissembling consciences are brought to light.

For if the stars which shine most brightly by night lose their brightness on the appearance of the sun, what think we will be the case with the highest purity of man when contrasted with the purity of God?

• Human self-righteousness and pride will ultimately collapse when brought before the judgment of God.
• People naturally deceive themselves into believing their ways are clean and right.
• True self-examination requires standing before the judgment-seat of God and using His light to reveal hidden wickedness.
• Scripture confirms that human works are ultimately vile and polluted when measured against divine perfection.
• This deep realization of human destitution and the laying aside of all pride is necessary to receive the grace of Christ.

To examine ourselves properly, our conscience must be called to the judgment-seat of God.

• Pretending to confess sin before God while holding onto personal righteousness teaches a pernicious hypocrisy.
• True humility requires the complete destruction of all pride and boasting before God.
• Biblical humility is not merely moderate behavior toward others, but an unfeigned submission born of recognizing one's utter want and misery.
• God consistently promises salvation only to the afflicted, the poor, and those of a contrite spirit who tremble at His word.
• Contrition is defined as a wounded heart that humbles an individual to the earth, preventing self-exaltation.
• The parable of the publican and the Pharisee illustrates that true humility stems from an internal feeling of sinfulness rather than external religious boasting.

By the term contrition which you so often hear, understand a wounded heart, which, humbling the individual to the earth, allows him not to rise.

• The self-righteous person departs from God unaccepted, while the humble individual acknowledging iniquity is justified.
• God highly values humility, withholding mercy until a person is completely deprived of any opinion of their own worth.
• Christ's mission was specifically to preach to the meek, bind the broken-hearted, and call sinners rather than the righteous.
• To receive Christ's grace, individuals must discard all arrogance, self-righteousness, and the spiritual torpor of vice.
• Full consolation and confidence in Christ can only be attained by becoming utterly distrustful of oneself.

It is not less necessary to shake off torpor of this description than every kind of confidence in ourselves, in order that we may haste to Christ unencumbered, and while hungry and empty be filled with his blessings.

• Gratuitous justification secures both the glory of God and peace of conscience for the believer.
• Scripture emphasizes that true righteousness belongs to God alone, who freely grants it to the undeserving.
• Any human attempt to boast in personal righteousness directly infringes upon and insults the glory of God.
• Peace of conscience can never be attained through the law, but only through faith in the mercy of Christ.
• Acknowledging our own iniquity and total unworthiness is a vital part of truly knowing and glorifying God.

For so long as a man has any thing, however small, to say in his own defense, so long he deducts somewhat from the glory of God.

• To glory in oneself is considered glorying against God, as true submission requires the complete withdrawal of human boasting.
• The elect are justified solely by the Lord so that all praise, righteousness, and strength are attributed to Him alone.
• Recognizing any personal righteousness inevitably generates confidence and boasting, undermining divine glory.
• Conscience cannot find true peace before God through works, as every individual is covered with pollutions and subject to condemnation.
• True righteousness must be stable enough to support the soul, allowing it to stand intrepidly before the divine tribunal.

Will he feel calm and quiescent, as if all matters were well arranged between himself and God; or will he not rather be stung with dire torment, when he sees that the ground of condemnation is within him if he be estimated by his works?

• Faith is invalidated if righteousness depends on the merit of human works or law observance.
• No human being can ever fully satisfy the demands of the law through their own efforts.
• Hypocrisy blinds individuals into a false sense of security before the judgment of God.
• Sincere self-examination inevitably leads believers to recognize their heavy burden of debt.
• Without grace, the realization of one's shortcomings leads directly to hesitation and despair.
• True faith provides unshakeable certainty and complete security rather than perpetual fluctuation.

Hence it appears how deep and dark the abyss is into which hypocrisy plunges the minds of men, when they indulge so securely as, without hesitations to oppose their flattery to the judgment of God, as if they were relieving him from his office as judge.

• The fulfillment of divine promises depends entirely on faith rather than human merits.
• God's mercy and truth are inseparably linked, ensuring that whatever He promises is faithfully performed.
• Believers must place their absolute hope in divine mercy while completely ignoring their own works.
• Doubt or uncertainty makes the promises of God void, requiring faith to apprehend them with full assurance.
• True peace and the remission of sins are attained only by relying on grace rather than human dignity.

Therefore, either our righteousness must perish, or without any consideration of our works, place must be given to faith alone, whose nature it is to prick up the ear, and shut the eye; that is, to be intent on the promise only, to give up all idea of any dignity or merit in man.

• Prophets use external mercies as types of spiritual blessings, pointing to Christ as the ultimate source of peace.
• True conscience peace is found exclusively in the agonizing sacrifice of Christ and being justified freely by faith.
• Without the assurance of God's love and the Spirit's comfort, the soul remains in constant fear and trembling.
• Faith is passive in justification, receiving everything from Christ rather than relying on defective human regeneration.
• Mankind is categorized into different spiritual states, emphasizing that all human virtue is corrupted without Christ.

In short, peace must be sought nowhere but in the agonies of Christ our Redeemer.

• Even the regenerate remain corrupted by sin and cannot be justified before God by their own works.
• Good works contribute nothing to salvation, which relies solely on faith and the imputed righteousness of Christ.
• Schoolmen arguments regarding works of supererogation and partial righteousness are thoroughly refuted.
• Scripture emphasizes that humanity has no grounds for boasting and remains completely dependent on divine grace.
• Mankind is categorized into four classes, revealing universal moral corruption and spiritual helplessness outside of faith.

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.

• Humanity is prone to boasting in works of various vices and pollutions that corrupt the soul.
• True righteousness requires penetrating beyond outward appearances to examine the hidden affections of the heart.
• Endowments and civic virtues seen in unbelievers are ultimately divine gifts meant to preserve earthly order.
• God rewards even the outward semblance of virtue in this world to demonstrate His delight in true righteousness.
• Despite their worldly utility, the virtues of unbelievers are tainted by impure motives like ambition and self-love.
• Because true righteousness aims exclusively at the service of God, actions lacking this core are ultimately indistinguishable from disguised vices.

So great is the difference between justice and injustice, that it may be seen even where the former is only a lifeless image.

• Actions without the light of faith are considered sins because they lack the proper divine motive.
• Augustine argues that true righteousness requires faith, distinguishing the righteous from the wicked.
• Those without union with Christ are hastening toward destruction regardless of their seemingly good deeds.
• Everything a person thinks or performs before being reconciled to God by faith is deemed cursed and merits damnation.
• Scripture proclaims that God finds nothing in man to induce kindness, demonstrating that grace is a matter of free liberality.

He who is off the course, the more swiftly he runs is the more distant from the goal and, therefore, the more unhappy.

• Human beings bring nothing to God except destitution, as our very capacity to do good is derived entirely from regeneration.
• Scriptural evidence demonstrates that salvation and justification are entirely gratuitous gifts of divine mercy, untouched by human works.
• If works contributed in any degree to justification, the fundamental definition of grace would be rendered null and void.
• Christ explicitly came to call sinners rather than the righteous, exposing the futility of seeking admission through fictitious righteousness.
• Prophetic writings confirm that in recovering salvation, humanity offers no assistance to God, leaving no foundation for our own righteousness.

For, as we are formed by nature, sooner shall oil be extracted from stone than good works from us.

• Humanity exists as avowed enemies of God until justification and friendship are established.
• God initiates salvation spontaneously through His love, preceding any human works.
• Union with Christ through the Spirit is necessary for purification, transforming individuals from death to life.
• Impurity of conscience and lack of regeneration demonstrate a fundamental absence of faith.
• Wicked individuals and hypocrites falsely believe their spurious works merit divine approval.
• Prophetic scripture confirms that impurity defiles all works, rendering them unclean before the Lord.

Assuredly he is not influenced by works if his love turns to us spontaneously.

• The Lord rejects the idea that any degree of holiness is acquired through the law unless the heart is first made pure.
• Works performed by sinners are considered contaminated and polluted by the impurity of the heart.
• Scriptural passages from Isaiah and Proverbs demonstrate that religious services and sacrifices from the wicked are an abomination to God.
• Even the most splendid works performed by unregenerate individuals are regarded by God as sins rather than righteousness.
• God must first be propitious to the person before He will accept their works, establishing that purification of heart through faith precedes acceptable obedience.

What is meant by the Lord thus nauseating the observance of his law?

• God reconciles believers and grants them righteousness through Christ while actively mortifying their fleshly lusts through the Holy Spirit.
• Despite spiritual guidance, human imperfection remains to keep believers humble and prevent undue pride.
• Even the most excellent actions produced by holy servants of God are tainted and corrupted by the impurity of the flesh.
• Even if works were pure, a single sin is sufficient to efface and extinguish all remembrance of former righteousness according to scripture.
• Because perfection is unattainable in the flesh, human efforts continuously deserve death and destruction if judged by their own worthiness.

Let the holy servant of God, I say, select from the whole course of his life the action which he deems most excellent, and let him ponder it in all its parts; he will doubtless find in it something that savors of the rottenness of the flesh...

• Human works are inherently polluted by sin and cannot withstand divine judgment or earn merit.
• Schoolmen argue that after initial forgiveness, believers are deemed righteous based on their good works and renovation.
• Scriptural examples, such as Abraham and the teachings of Paul, demonstrate that righteousness always consists in faith rather than works.
• The blessedness of forgiveness and free reconciliation with God is a perpetual necessity for believers throughout their entire lives.
• Christ permanently remains the Mediator whose death and perfect obedience provide continual ablution and cover all iniquities.

It is very true that the poor world has been seduced hitherto, to think that man could of himself perpare to be justified by God, and that this blaspheme has commonly reigned both in sermons and schools...

• Good works are deemed insufficient to procure justification without accepting grace.
• Imperfect works require the constant forgiveness of sin and compensation by supererogation.
• True grace is the free goodness of the Father embracing us through the innocence of Christ.
• Christ's perfect righteousness alone stands the scrutiny of God and represents us judicially.
• Our imperfections are covered by this purity and are not imputed under divine judgment.
• Works cannot please God independently, but only when covered by the righteousness of Christ.

For the righteousness of Christ (as it alone is perfect, so it alone can stand the scrutiny of God) must be sisted for us, and as a surety represent us judicially.

• The text argues against the doctrine of justification by works and human satisfactions.
• It asserts that partial observance of the Law is invalid and all human righteousness cannot compensate for even a single sin.
• Because humanity was completely alienated by sin, the power to offer satisfaction to God was entirely lost.
• Sins must be gratuitously covered and forgiven before God can accept any human works.
• Believers are urged to acknowledge themselves as unprofitable servants who merely pay due service rather than boasting of supererogation.

all the righteousness of men collected into one heap would be inadequate to compensate for a single sin.

• Paul voluntarily renounced his rights to avoid causing offense or endangering the doctrine of Christ.
• Chrysostom notes that everything a Christian possesses is held like the private property of a slave, entirely due to the Master.
• Even the most industrious servant does nothing beyond the absolute bounds of their condition, as their utmost ability belongs to their master.
• Self-proclaimed works of supererogation are dismissed as uncommanded frivolities that God will neither approve nor accept.
• Academic discussions by indolent scholars in soft chairs will utterly vanish before the judgment seat of the Supreme Judge.

It is, indeed, an easy matter for these indolent Rabbis to carry on such discussions sitting in their soft chairs under the shade, but when the Supreme Judge shall sit on his tribunal, all these blustering dogmas will behave to disappear.

• Human righteousness is viewed as offensive to God and subject to divine vengeance unless purified by Christ.
• Scriptural references such as Psalms and Job demonstrate that mortals must stand silent before divine judgment.
• True confidence and glorying in one's own works are completely banished in the presence of God.
• The causes of salvation are entirely external to human works, rooted instead in divine mercy, Christ's obedience, and faith.
• Scriptural passages confirm that God's grace, redemption through Jesus, and the final demonstration of divine righteousness are the true sources of salvation.

Who can attribute any merit of righteousness to works, which instead of giving confidence, only make us tremble in the presence of God?

• Salvation is achieved entirely through God's mercy and the intervention of Christ, leaving no room for human boasting in works.
• Scripture affirms that Christ is both righteousness and life, and the blessing of justification is attained by faith alone.
• Saints sometimes find comfort and security in their integrity, either by comparing their cause with the ungodly or through the purity of their conscience.
• When building salvation, believers look solely to God's goodness, treating good works merely as proofs of God dwelling within them.
• Good works act as signs of divine favor and rays of God's countenance, strengthening faith without contributing to the merit of salvation.

When the saints repeatedly confirm and console themselves with the remembrance of their innocence and integrity, and sometimes even abstain not from proclaiming them, it is done in two ways.

• Believers derive confidence not from their own imperfect works, but from the certainty of God's promise and free favor.
• Good works serve merely as proofs of the Holy Spirit's dwelling and signs of divine calling rather than grounds for merit.
• When human works are examined by themselves, they reveal numerous faults and flaws that provoke fear rather than security.
• Believers must remain wholly occupied in meditating on the boundless love of Christ, which alone surpasses all knowledge.
• Augustine expresses that God should only look upon His own work within the believer, lest human faults incur condemnation.

Should they begin to estimate it by their good works, nothing will be weaker or more uncertain; works, when estimated by themselves, no less proving the divine displeasure by their imperfection, than his good-will by their incipient purity.

• The efficient cause of salvation is the love of God the Father, while the material cause is the obedience of the Son.
• Good works act as inferior causes or steps in the administration of eternal life, serving as an order rather than the true fundamental cause.
• Eternal life is a free gift of God rather than a direct wage earned by human righteousness, contrasting with how sin directly earns death.
• Believers must always trace their spiritual gifts and subsequent graces back to the primary source of God's free election.
• The boasted merit of works is viewed as subversive to both the glory of God in bestowing righteousness and the true certainty of salvation.

Why, when setting down sin as the cause of death, does he not also set down righteousness as the cause of life?

• Justification before God cannot depend upon human works and must rely solely on His mercy and faith in Christ.
• Many people, including scholars, become confused when passages suggest that good works hold some value in God's sight.
• True justification by works requires absolute perfection and an entirely flawless fulfillment of the law without a single transgression.
• A critical distinction must be made between whether insufficient works can somehow still merit divine favor.
• The text warns against sophistry that undermines the supreme merit of Christ in order to establish human righteousness.

Though works by no means suffice to justify, do they not merit favor with God?

• Christian writers should avoid introducing terms foreign to the Scriptures that produce offense rather than fruit.
• The use of the high-sounding term 'Merit' obscures the grace of God and inspires pernicious human pride.
• Ancient writers like Augustine denied human power to act aright, laying human merit prostrate before divine mercy.
• Bernard softened his use of the word merit by emphasizing that believers must always look to God's promises rather than their own works.
• True boasting belongs to God alone, who acts for His holy name's sake rather than for human worthiness.

It is certain that, being a high sounding term, it can only obscure the grace of God, and inspire men with pernicious pride.

• Even perfect observance of God's law only fulfills a baseline duty without earning any inherent favor.
• Good works are rewarded not because humans deserve them, but solely due to divine grace and benignity.
• Every praiseworthy aspect of human action belongs entirely to God, while any impurity originates from man.
• Human pride wrongfully attempts to claim divine rewards as earned merit rather than unearned gifts.
• Failing to acknowledge the true source of divine blessings is an act of ingratitude akin to stealing property.

The most perfect thing which proceeds from man is always polluted by some stain.

• The author questions the Latin translation of Ecclesiasticus, arguing the Greek text means God makes room for all mercy rather than giving place according to merit.
• Scripture teaches that even good works are stained with flaws, meaning they cannot independently conciliate God or earn His favor.
• God graciously accepts imperfect good works as if they were pure, rewarding them with blessings despite our lack of true desert.
• All helps to salvation and eternal life itself are strictly gifts of God's free benignity and grace, not earned achievements.
• The foundation of Christian doctrine is Christ alone, ensuring that salvation is neither initiated by Him and completed by us nor pursued in our own strength.

It is the doctrine of Scripture, moreover, that our good works are constantly covered with numerous stains by which God is justly offended and made angry against us, so far are they from being able to conciliate him.

• True righteousness is found entirely in Christ, who serves as our complete redemption, wisdom, purity, and life rather than merely assisting us to procure it ourselves.
• Believers are chosen and reconciled to God strictly according to His good pleasure and through Christ's blood, entirely apart from human merit.
• Participation in Christ transforms the believer completely, supplying all spiritual strengths and protections against sin, death, and Satan.
• False teachers and sophists have long taught a system of moral good works that attempts to please God before being ingrafted into Christ.
• Scripture explicitly refutes the idea that Christ only provides an initial opportunity to merit salvation, affirming instead that true faith directly grants all of Christ's merits.

O the daring effrontery of impiety! Who would have thought that men professing the name of Christ would thus strip him of his power, and all but trample him under foot?

• The schools of Sorbonne undermine justification by faith by falsely claiming that good works contribute to human justification.
• The Sorbonne theologians and later Sophists attempt to derive merit from free-will rather than attributing it solely to divine grace.
• Peter Lombard and his disciples exhibited blindness both to Scripture and to the explicit teachings of Augustine regarding human merit.
• Apostolic scripture clearly establishes that all Christians are God's workmanship, leaving no ground for human boasting or claimed merit.
• True believers find comfort and assurance in knowing their works please God through faith, entirely apart from any inherent personal merit.

It is less strange that Lombard was blind to the light of Scripture, in which it is obvious that he had not been a very successful student.

• Wise architects build upon the foundational doctrine of Christ by emphasizing the destruction of the works of the devil and pursuing holiness.
• Denying oneself and taking up the cross daily represent cutting off the root of all evils and preparing for endurance.
• The example of Christ provides a complete model of obedience, devotion to the Father, and love for enemies.
• Scripture offers profound comfort in times of trouble, assuring believers that suffering is tied to fellowship with Christ's death and resurrection.
• Believers are regenerated and made new creatures, transitioning from the kingdom of sin into the kingdom of righteousness.
• Justification by faith does not destroy good works; rather, it establishes their necessity as the fruits by which believers are known.

He who has denied himself has cut off the root of all evils so as no longer to seek his own; he who has taken up his cross has prepared himself for all meekness and endurance.

• Critics falsely accuse reformers of destroying good works and making righteousness too easy by teaching justification through the free remission of sins.
• The author rejects the notion that faith is ever devoid of good works, arguing instead that faith and works are necessarily connected.
• Justification is placed in faith rather than works because faith apprehends the righteousness of Christ, which reconciles humanity to God.
• Christ cannot be divided; therefore, he never justifies any man without also sanctifying him through an inseparable tie.
• The participation of Christ, which grants justification, simultaneously contains sanctification, proving that well-doing is not undermined.

We leave them as much liberty to bring the charge, as they take license to taint the whole world with the pollution of their lives.

• Critics wrongly infer personal merit from divine reward, failing to recognize God's liberality.
• True worship requires serving God freely and out of love rather than merely expecting a reward.
• Divine scripture provides powerful stimuli for righteous living based on redemption, grace, and gratitude.
• Believers are called to holiness and purity of life as a direct response to being sanctified and redeemed.
• The love of God and the sacrifice of Christ serve as the ultimate incentives for mutual charity and moral conduct.

he desires to be freely worshipped, freely loved: I say he approves the worshipper who, even if all hope of reward were cut off, would cease not to worship him.

• Apostolic exhortations and rebukes consistently avoid mentioning human merit, instead basing salvation entirely on the mercy of God.
• Paul urges believers forward not through earned status, but by appealing directly to the mercy and kindness already bestowed upon them.
• Opponents argue that discarding the concept of merit removes the motivation for good works, which misinterprets true divine obedience.
• God desires a cheerful giver and rejects forced or grudging service born out of legalistic obligation.
• True piety and the proper worship of God can only begin after fully embracing the doctrine of justification by faith alone.
• The fear of God cannot be considered a merit because it is fundamentally rooted in the prior forgiveness and remission of sins.

For he shows that the worship of God cannot exist without acknowledging his mercy, on which it is founded and established.

• Justification is considered a gratuitous gift of such high value that human good qualities cannot earn it.
• The price of forgiveness was paid solely by the sacred blood of Christ rather than through human merit.
• Understanding the high cost of divine forgiveness creates a deeper horror of sin among believers.
• Opposing views that rely on frivolous human satisfactions are argued to diminish the true dignity of justification.
• Righteousness is deemed too precious to be repaired by works, requiring recourse solely to the mercy of God.
• Subsequent chapters address sophistical arguments attempting to undermine the doctrine of justification by faith.

If they have any reverence for God, how can they, after being once purified, avoid shuddering at the thought of again wallowing in the mire, and as much as in them lies troubling and polluting the purity of this fountain?

• Those seeking justification before God must be exempted from the power of the law.
• Legal promises depend on the condition of doing, whereas evangelical promises depend on believing.
• Good works avail nothing by themselves, as humanity is justified by faith only.
• Paul and James do not contradict each other; Paul addresses the cause of justification while James addresses its effects.

In James the faith said not to justify is a mere empty opinion; in Paul it is the instrument by which we apprehend Christ our righteousness.

• Good works are encouraged, but they are denied as the basis for justification to prevent human boasting and misplaced trust in salvation.
• True confidence in salvation rests solely in Christ and the unmerited kindness of God, rather than personal worth.
• Opponents argue that biblical legal promises to observers of the law prove that justification is not by faith alone.
• Because no human is a perfect observer of the law, the entire human race is actually convicted and exposed to God's curse by it.
• Spiritual freedom rescues the alarmed conscience from the condemnation of the law by apprehending God's mercy through faith.

to be saved from this they must escape from the power of the law, and be as it were brought out of bondage into freedom,—not that carnal freedom which indisposes us for the observance of the law, tends to licentiousness, and allows our passions to wanton unrestrained with loosened reins; but that spiritual freedom which consoles and raises up the alarmed and smitten conscience...

• Humanity can never fulfill the strict requirements of the law due to inherent depravity.
• Divine aid does not supplement our works, but offers Christ as our complete righteousness.
• Believers must withdraw from seeking justification through the law and turn entirely to faith in Christ.
• Biblical figures like David acknowledge both the rewards of the law and the overwhelming reality of human sin.
• The favor of God offered in the law never actually reaches us through our own deserts.

Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.

• The promises of the law are inaccessible and unavailing when based on the merit of human works due to inherent human infirmities.
• When gospel promises of free pardon are substituted, God accepts believers and shows favor to their works.
• The reward of good works stems from a threefold cause, beginning with God reconciling believers to Himself through faith alone.
• God honors works through fatherly kindness and extends pardon to them by not imputing their inherent imperfections.
• Sophists were deluded in believing works could merit salvation through agreement without first requiring a justification founded on faith alone.

God turning his eye away from the works of his servants which merit reproach more than praise, embraces them in Christ, and by the intervention of faith alone reconciles them to himself without the aid of works.

• Some incorrectly infer that human right conduct can procure the favor of God and contribute to salvation.
• Scriptural passages like the story of Cornelius are often misinterpreted as proof that human good works prepare a person for divine favor.
• In reality, a person left to themselves is entirely lost, naked, and destitute of any inherent good quality.
• Any virtue or righteousness a person displays is actually a fruit of the Spirit and a gift of divine grace rather than human strength.
• God ultimately accepts and delights in the good works of believers only because those works are produced by His own Spirit after adoption.

If it is clear then that man, when God first interposes for him, is naked and destitute of all good, and, on the other hand, loaded and filled with all kinds of evil,—for what quality, pray, shall we say that he is worthy of the heavenly kingdom?

• God takes pleasure in His children when He beholds the traces of His own image renewed within them through holiness.
• Believers remain encompassed by mortal flesh and corruption, meaning God can only be propitious toward them through Christ.
• Scriptural passages referencing God's mercy to those who keep His commandments demonstrate the character of His true servants rather than a legal reward system.
• Covenants of mercy stipulate integrity and holiness to keep servants to their duty while remaining fundamentally gratuitous.
• Legal promises require rewards to be paid strictly upon the completion of commanded actions.
• Free mercy always takes precedence as the ultimate origin of all divine gifts, even when good works are recognized.

As the Lord in all covenants of mercy stipulates on his part for integrity and holiness of life in his servants, lest his goodness might be held in derision, or any one, puffed up with exultation in it, might speak flatteringly to his soul while walking in the depravity of his heart, so he is pleased that in this way those whom he admits to communion in the covenant should be kept to their duty.

• The ultimate goal of scriptural promises and divine mercy is that humanity may reverence and serve God as a father.
• Believers are called to walk uprightly and work righteousness as the manner in which the Father introduces them into His fellowship.
• The first cause of salvation is God's grace and mercy in adoption, while regeneration and its fruits describe the manner of this calling.
• Scripture frequently associates good works with righteousness and speaks of man being justified by them, creating theological tension.
• The Pharisees and critics argue that acknowledging any justification by works invalidates the doctrine of justification by faith alone.

There seems much more difficulty in those passages which distinguish good works by the name of righteousness, and declare that man is justified by them.

• The Law of God theoretically contains a perfect righteousness, and obedience to its precepts represents righteous action.
• True righteousness requires total obedience to the entire law, meaning any single transgression destroys it completely.
• Due to the inherent weakness of human flesh, this kind of perfect righteousness never actually exists among mortals.
• References in Scripture to righteous saints are based on God's evaluation according to the standard of the law rather than human perfection.
• Human works always contain some degree of imperfection or vice, meaning no individual work truly merits being called pure righteousness.

Hence we discard the righteousness of the law, not as being in itself maimed and defective, but because of the weakness of our flesh it nowhere appears.

• Opponents argue that Phinehas's righteous work implies justification requires both faith and works.
• Paul's scriptures establish that those justified by faith are completely excluded from the righteousness of works.
• When evaluated on their own worth, human works are unfit to appear in the presence of God.
• Justification is defined as being reconciled to God through communion with Christ and the remission of sins.
• Believers' good works gain value only because Christ covers their imperfections and blemishes.

If a price is to be put upon works according to their own worth, we hold that they are unfit to appear in the presence of God: that man, accordingly, has no works in which he can glory before God, and that hence, deprived of all aid from works, he is justified by faith alone.

• Human works are inherently impure, imperfect, and unable to meet the absolute authority and demands of the divine law.
• Even good works are defiled by transgression and personal corruption, meaning they cannot independently stand as righteousness before God.
• Justification by faith is the essential foundation that allows impure works to be imputed as righteousness.
• Works are approved and deemed perfect by God only through pardon and being viewed through the innocence of Christ.
• Because the righteousness of works depends entirely on faith and free justification, works can never share the office of justifying.

Are they desirous of having a viper’s birth?

• Human blessedness depends fundamentally on divine mercy and the forgiveness of sins rather than human works.
• Passages attributing happiness to righteous deeds do not invalidate Paul's doctrine, because human qualities never perfectly attain God's absolute approbation.
• True blessedness is derived entirely from the pardon of sins, which precedes and gives rise to any subsequent righteousness.
• Apparent contradictions between Paul's teaching on justification by faith and James's teaching on works must be harmonized, as the Holy Spirit cannot contradict Himself.
• Any righteousness found in believers stems from faith and free justification rather than standing independently to destroy divine grace.

What then? Will they engage Paul in a quarrel with James? If they hold James to be a servant of Christ, his sentiments must be understood as not dissenting from Christ speaking by the mouth of Paul.

• Opponents of justification by faith fail to provide any true certainty or peace of conscience.
• The passage in James is frequently misused as a shield against the doctrine of faith alone.
• James specifically targets hypocrites who boast of an empty name of faith while living in vice.
• The apostle distinguishes between true, living faith and a dead opinion akin to that of devils.
• True faith justifies by uniting the believer to Christ rather than merely acknowledging God's existence.

For how does true faith justify unless by uniting us to Christ, so that being made one with him, we may be admitted to a participation in his righteousness?

• Paul and James use the word justify differently, with Paul referring to the imputation of righteousness and James referring to its outward manifestation.
• Abraham was justified by faith long before he offered Isaac, proving James cannot mean works are the foundational cause of righteousness.
• James argues against a dead faith, requiring that true believers prove their justification through active obedience and good works.
• Paul's statement that doers of the law shall be justified aims to crush the false confidence of Jews who merely knew the law without keeping it.
• While true righteousness requires the observance of the law, no human can actually fulfill it to attain justification solely by works.

Therefore, let them twist the words of James as they may, they will never extract out of them more than the two propositions: That an empty phantom of faith does not justify, and that the believer, not contented with such an imagination, manifests his justification by good works.

• Paul distinguishes between those who sinned without the law and those judged by the law.
• The law requires active obedience and works rather than mere hearing to achieve righteousness.
• Because all people fall short of fulfilling the law, no one can boast of righteousness through it.
• Believers sometimes appeal to God for judgment based on their personal integrity and righteousness.
• These biblical passages regarding integrity must be understood within their specific context.

The righteousness of the law consists in the perfection of works; but no man can boast of fulfilling the law by works, and, therefore, there is no righteousness by the law.

• People seeking partial judgments usually wish only to be compared against the wicked rather than tried by their whole lives.
• True justification requires a lifetime fully aligned with righteousness, far exceeding human standards.
• Saints imploring divine justice rely on God's goodness and contrast their sincerity with the malice of their enemies.
• Biblical figures like David and Paul appealed to their relative innocence and integrity against unjust adversaries, not divine perfection.
• Believers recognize that absolute divine scrutiny condemns everyone, leading them to ultimately depend entirely on God's loving-kindness.

If thou, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?

• Scripture promises life to the righteous, but since no son of Adam possesses absolute integrity, all must seek the asylum of divine mercy.
• The partial and imperfect integrity of believers is accepted not through inherent merit, but through God's paternal indulgence and gratuitous pardon.
• While perfection remains the ultimate goal for the pious, true present perfection consists largely in the humble recognition of one's own imperfection.
• Chapter 18 addresses objections regarding justification by works, particularly examining passages that connect divine rewards and eternal life to human actions.
• Works are understood not as the fundamental cause of salvation, but rather as the pathway or way to the kingdom, with eternal life functioning as an inheritance.

When we speak of the perfect virtue of the saints, part of this perfection consists in the recognition of our imperfection both in truth and in humility.

• The text addresses various theological objections concerning righteousness, the commandments, and faith.
• It examines biblical passages stating that God will render to everyone according to their deeds.
• The author explains that rewards and expressions of working for salvation indicate the order of sequence rather than the cause.
• Good works act as the path and preparation by which God leads believers into the possession of eternal life.
• Working is shown to be compatible with grace, as believers do not author their own salvation but are perfected by God.

For that mode of expression indicates not the cause but the order of sequence.

• The kingdom of heaven is established not as the hire of servants, but as the inheritance of adopted sons.
• Scriptural passages that promise eternal glory as a reward for works specifically define it as an inheritance.
• Passages mentioning rewards are carefully framed to attribute eternal blessedness to divine adoption rather than works.
• Abraham's obedience resulted in a repeated promise, demonstrating that God rewards works with blessings already promised beforehand.
• The ultimate cause for all blessings bestowed by the Lord remains His own mercy rather than human merit.

Did Abraham by his obedience merit the blessing which had been promised him before the precept was given?

• Good works are a means of exercising our faith and hastening toward the heavenly hope, though the promise itself is given freely.
• Scriptural passages from Paul and Peter clarify that eternal hope and salvation depend entirely upon Christ and faith, not human works.
• The parable of the householder and the laborers illustrates that rewards are distributed according to grace rather than earned labor.
• Late-hour laborers receiving equal pay emphasizes that God sheds the riches of His goodness without regard to prior works.
• When eternal life is termed a reward, it refers to the final fruition of blessedness and adoption rather than a wage for human merit.

not paying the price of labor, but shedding the riches of his goodness on those whom he chose without works

• Scripture is designed to completely crush human pride and eliminate boasting before God.
• Christ trains His disciples by requiring them to renounce themselves and endure the discipline of the cross.
• Believers face worldly despair, which makes hope in Christ essential to prevent them from failing.
• Eternal life is termed a reward and recompense not to denote merit, but to comfort and sustain believers.
• Holiness of life serves as the path by which God leads His elect to the manifestation of His kingdom.
• God's grace hides the unrighteousness in human works and bestows eternal life as a gratuitous gift.

If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

• Human works are inherently defiled by impurity and cannot satisfy the strict standard of divine justice.
• Good works find their acceptance before God solely through divine pardon and mercy rather than intrinsic perfection.
• Augustine's perspective aligns with the idea that faith unites a person to God and transforms seemingly good works from sins.
• Scriptural passages urging believers to lay up treasures in heaven are meant to be understood through the proper spiritual scope.
• Believers ought to act like travelers sending their effects ahead to their future eternal home rather than clinging to temporal wealth.

Without it works which seem good are converted into sins.

• Believers are encouraged to send their wealth to heaven by giving to the poor.
• Scripture portrays charity as a loan deposited with the Lord that will be restored with interest.
• Acts of obedience and charity do not establish human merit but reflect God's indulgent kindness.
• Tribulations and sufferings are means by which believers are conformed to Christ and marked as God's children.
• Scriptural references to being counted worthy of the kingdom signify bearing the marks of the Master rather than earning salvation.

What we give to our brethren in the exercise of charity is a deposit with the Lord, who, as a faithful depositary, will ultimately restore it with abundant interest.

• God balances vengeance upon enemies with granting ultimate rest and release to the faithful.
• Divine promises of reward for labor depend entirely on a foundation of mercy rather than inherent human worth.
• Augustine famously noted that God has made Himself our debtor solely through His own promises.
• Opponents argue for justification by charity based on Pauline texts, claiming charity is a greater virtue.
• Charity is greater than faith not in merit, but in fruitfulness, duration, and general utility.
• The power of faith to justify does not stem from its own worth as a work, but from divine grace.

Faithful is the Lord, who has made himself our debtor, not by receiving any thing from us, but by promising us all things.

• Faith justifies as an instrument to obtain Christ's righteousness rather than through its own inherent merit.
• Opponents argue that charity justifies humans before God through its superior merit and divine acceptance.
• Comparing charity's superiority to practical roles illustrates the flawed logic of attributing righteousness directly to works.
• Paul's theological framework subordinates various spiritual gifts to faith and hope as the primary means of knowing God.
• The attainment of perfection through charity is practically impossible because humans fail to fulfill all parts of it.

Just as if one were to maintain that a king is fitter to make a shoe than a shoemaker, because the king is infinitely the superior of the two.

• Christ tailored his answers regarding eternal life to the specific character and motives of those questioning him.
• The lawyer asking about works was rightfully referred to the law as a mirror of true righteousness.
• Attempting to seek salvation through works requires absolute obedience to the commandments, which is impossible for anyone to achieve.
• Recognizing our failure to keep the law drives us to seek the necessary remedy found in the grace and faith of Christ.
• Critics attempt to argue that faith is merely another work of obedience, misunderstanding that faith actually embraces the unearned mercy of God.

For how should they retake themselves to Christ, unless they perceived that they had fallen from the path of life over the precipice of death?

• The text explores the theological distinction between the strict requirements for righteousness and the singular failure required for unrighteousness.
• Obedience to the law demands an indefatigable and inflexible lifetime of perfection, whereas a single transgression makes one guilty before God.
• A transition is made to the subject of Christian liberty, outlining its necessity for purifying the conscience and maintaining the merits of Christ.
• Believers renounce the righteousness of the law to look exclusively toward Christ.
• Freed from the rigorous exactions and the yoke of the law, believers are able to voluntarily and cheerfully obey the will of God.
• A third component of liberty addresses things indifferent, serving to remove despair and superstition from the believer's life.

The moment you decline from it you have fallen into unrighteousness.

• Christian liberty is an essential component of Gospel doctrine, necessary for a confident and untroubled conscience.
• Without a clear understanding of this liberty, believers experience hesitation, fickleness, and spiritual trepidation.
• The doctrine frequently faces abuse from wicked scoffers who use it as a pretext to shake off obedience to God.
• Licentious spirits often pervert the concept of liberty, either breaking out into unbridled lawlessness or falsely believing all order is abolished.
• Proper exposition of Christian liberty requires addressing and refuting these common objections without suppressing the doctrine itself.

For they either, under pretext of this liberty, shake off all obedience to God, and break out into unbridled licentiousness, or they feel indignant, thinking that all choice, order, and restraint, are abolished.

• Believers must rise above the law and abandon the idea of achieving justification through their own works.
• Attempting to bring any degree of works makes a person a debtor to the entire law with no limitation.
• For justification, individuals must look away from themselves and rely solely on the mercy of God through Christ.
• Despite being freed from the law for justification, believers still need the law to teach and urge them toward holiness.
• The requirements of the law must be set aside before God's judgment-seat, holding forth Christ alone for righteousness.

For the question is, not how we may be righteous, but how, though unworthy and unrighteous, we may be regarded as righteous.

• Paul argues against interpreters who claim he only defends freedom from Jewish ceremonies.
• Passages like Galatians show redemption from the curse of the law and a higher spiritual freedom.
• False apostles sought to bring back abolished shadows and teach salvation through works.
• Believers are freed from the law's condemnation to rest securely in Christ alone.
• True obedience to God stems from voluntary devotion rather than legal compulsion and terror.

Being constantly in terror so long as they are under the dominion of the law, they are never disposed promptly to obey God, unless they have previously obtained this liberty.

• The ultimate divine command demands absolute love for God, requiring the soul to be completely divested of all other desires and distractions.
• Even those who have made significant spiritual progress remain hindered by the lusts of the flesh, falling short of the law's strict perfection.
• Because the law demands absolute perfection, any human work that falls short is inherently considered a transgression and under a curse.
• When bound strictly by the law, individuals are like fearful servants who can expect no reward and dare not face their masters without completed tasks.
• Under a paternal relationship with God, believers operate like children whose imperfect, half-finished works are lovingly accepted by an indulgent parent.

In one word, those who are bound by the yoke of the law are like servants who have certain tasks daily assigned them by their masters.