unto God wholly, with all our will, hearts, might, and power; to serve him in all good deeds, obeying his commandments during our lives; to seek in all things his glory and honour, not our sensual pleasures and vain glory; evermore dreading willingly to offend such a merciful God and loving Redeemer, in word, thought, or deed. And the said benefits of God, deeply considered, move us for his sake also to be ever ready to give ourselves to our neighbours; and, as much as lieth in us, to study with all our endeavour to do good to every man.

These be the fruits of true faith: To do good as much as lieth in us to every man; and, above all things, and in all things, to advance the glory of God; of whom only we have our sanctification, justification, salvation, and redemption: To whom be ever glory, praise, and honour, world without end. Amen.

TINDAL.

A LIVELY DESCRIPTION

OF OUR

JUSTIFICATION.1

MARK therefore, the way toward justifying, or forgiveness of sin, is the law. God causeth the law to be preached unto us and writeth it in our hearts, and maketh us by good reasons feel that the law is good, and ought to be kept, and that they which keep it not, are worthy to be damned. And on the other side, I feel that there is no power in me to keep the law, whereupon it would shortly follow that I should despair, if I were not shortly holpen. But God, who hath begun to cure me, and hath laid that corrosive unto my sores, goes forth in his cure, and setteth his Son Jesus before me, and all his passion and death,

1 Sir Thomas More wrote a dialogue in which he found much fault with Tindal's translation of the New Testament; he also objected to many of the doctrines of truth taught by the reformers. Tindal wrote in reply an Answer unto Sir Thomas More's Dialogue, wherein first he declareth what the church is, and giveth a reason of certain words which master More rebuketh in the translation of the New Testament; after that he answereth particularly unto every chapter which seemeth to have any appearance of truth through all his four books.' The motto prefixed was, "Awake thou that sleepest and stand up from death, and Christ shall give thee light." (Eph. v.) The whole of this treatise would not be interesting to readers in general at the present day; but the lively description of our justification,' here given, is too valuable to be omitted.

and saith to me, this is my dear Son, and he bath prayed for thee, and hath suffered all this for thee, and for his sake I will forgive thee all that thou hast done against this good law; and I will heal thy flesh, and teach thee to keep this law, if thou wilt learn. And I will bear with thee, and take all in good part that thou doest, till thou canst do better. And in the mean season, notwithstanding thy weakness, I will yet love thee no less than I do the angels in heaven, so thou wilt be diligent to learn. And I will assist thee, and keep and defend thee, and be thy shield, and care for thee..

And the heart here begins to mollify and soften, and to receive health, and believe the mercy of God, and, in believing, is saved from the fear of everlasting death, and is made sure of everlasting life; and then being overcome with this kindness, begins to love again, and to submit herself unto the laws of God, to learn them and to walk in them.

Out of which Now repentance

Note now the order; first God gives me light to see the goodness and righteousness of the law, and minę own sin and unrighteousness. knowledge springeth repentance. teaches me not that the law is good, and I evil, but is a light which the Spirit of God hath given me, out of which light repentance springeth.

Then the same Spirit worketh in mine heart, trust, and confidence to believe the mercy of God and his truth, that he will do as he hath promised, which belief saveth me. And immediately out of that trust springeth love toward the law of God again. And whatsoever a man worketh of any other love than this, it pleases not God, nor is that love godly.

Now love does not receive this mercy, but faith only; out of which faith love springeth, by which love I pour out again upon my neighbour that goodness which I have received of God by faith. Hercof ye see that I cannot be justified without repentance,

and yet repentance justifies me not. And hereof ye see that I cannot have a faith to be justified and saved, except love spring thereof immediately, and yet love justifies me not before God. For my natural love to God again, does not make me first see and feel the kindness of God in Christ, but faith through preaching. For we love not God first, to compel him to love again; but he loved us first, and gave his Son for us, that we might see love, and love again, saith St. John in his first epistle: which love of God to usward we receive by Christ through faith, saith Paul.

And this example have I set out for them in divers places, but their blind eyes have no power to see it, covetousness hath so blinded them. And when we say, Faith only justifies us; that is to say, faith only receiveth the mercy wherewith God justifies us and forgives us; we mean not faith which has no repentance, and faith which has no love unto the laws of God again, and unto good works, as wicked hypocrites falsely belie us.

For how then should we suffer, as we do, all misery, to call the blind and ignorant unto repentance and good works, which now do but consent unto all evil, and study mischief all day long, for all their preaching their justifying by good works? Let M. More improve this with his sophistry, and set forth his own doctrine, that we may see the reason of it and walk in light.

Hereof ye see what faith it is that justifies us. The faith in Christ's blood, of a repenting heart toward the law, justifies us alone, and not all manner of faiths. Ye must understand therefore, that ye may see to come out of More's blind maze, that there are many faiths, and that all faiths are not one faith, though they all are called with one general name. There is an historical faith, without feeling in the heart, wherewith I may believe the whole history of

the Bible, and yet not set mine heart earnestly thereto, taking it for the food of my soul, to learn to believe and trust God, to love him, to dread him, and fear him by the doctrine and examples thereof; but to seem learned, and to know the history, to dispute and make merchandise, as we have examples enough. And the faith wherewith a man doeth miracles is another gift than the faith of a repenting heart, to be saved through Christ's blood, and the one is no kin to the other, though M. More would have them so appear. Neither is the devil's faith, and the pope's faith, (wherewith they believe that there is a God, and that Christ is, and all the story of the Bible, and may yet stand with all wickedness and full consent to evil,) kin unto the faith of them that hate evil, and repent of their misdeeds, and acknowledge their sins, and are fled with full hope and trust of mercy unto the blood of Christ.

And when he saith, If faith certify our hearts that we are in the favour of God, and our sins forgiven, and become good, ere we do good works; as the tree must be first good, ere it bring forth good fruit, by Christ's doctrine; then we make good works but a shadow wherewith a man is never the better. Nay, sir, we make good works fruits, whereby our neighbour is the better, and whereby God is honoured, and our flesh tamed. And we make of them sure tokens whereby we know that our faith is no feigned imagination and dead opinion, made with captivating our understandings after the pope's traditions, but a lively thing wrought by the Holy Ghost.

And when he disputes that if they that have faith, have love unto the law, and purpose to fulfil it, then faith alone justifies not; how will he prove that argument? He juggles with this word alone:' and would make the people believe that we said, how a bare faith that is without all other company, of repentance, love, and other virtues, yea, and without