that punishment might be taken off. As for other less and more ordinary sins, there were sacrifices appointed for them; and when those sacrifices were offered and accepted, God was appeased, and the offences were released. Whatsoever else we read of sins forgiven under the Law, was of some special divine indulgence, more than was promised by Moses, though not more than was promulgated unto the people, in the name and of the nature of God, so far as something of the Gospel was mingled with the Law.

As

Now as to the atonement made by the sacrifices, it clearly had relation to the death of the Messias; and whatsoever virtue was in them did operate through his death alone. he was the "Lamb slain from the foundation of the world," (Rev. xiii. 8.) so all atonements which were ever made, were only effectual by his blood. But though no sin was ever forgiven, but by virtue of that satisfaction; though God was never reconciled unto any sinner but by intuition of that propitiation; yet the general doctrine of remission of sins was never clearly revealed,* and publicly preached to all nations, till the coming of the Saviour of the world, whose name was therefore called Jesus, because he was to save his people from their sins." (Matt. i. 21.)

Being therefore we are assured that the preaching remission of sins belongeth not only certainly, but in some sense peculiarly, to the Church of Christ, it will be next considerable how this remission is conferred upon any person in the Church.

For a full satisfaction in this particular, two things are very observable; one relating to the initiation, the other concerning the continuation, of a Christian. For the first of these, it is the most general and irrefragable assertion of all, to whom we have reason to give credit, that all sins whatsoever any person is guilty of, are remitted in the baptism of the same person. For the second, it is as certain that all sins committed by any person after baptism are remissible; and the person committing those sins shall receive forgiveness upon true repentance, at any time, according to the Gospel.

First, It is certain, that forgiveness of sins was promised to all who were baptized in the name of Christ; and it cannot be doubted but all persons who did perform all things necessary to the receiving the ordinance of baptism, did also receive the benefit of that ordinance, which is remission of sins. “John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins." (Mark i. 4.) And St. Peter made this the exhortation of his first sermon, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins." (Acts ii. 38.) In vain doth doubting and

'Lex peccatorum nescit remissionem ; lex mysterium non habet occulta purquo gantur: et ideo quod in lege minus est, consummatur in Evangelio. S. Ambres, in Lucam, 1. vi. c. 7.

fluctuating Socinus endeavour to evacuate the evidence of this Scripture attributing the remission either to repentance without consideration of baptism, or else to the public profession of faith made in baptism; or if any thing must be attributed to baptism itself, it must be nothing but a declaration of such remission. For how will these shifts agree with that which Ananias said unto Saul, without any mention either of repentance or confession, "Arise and be baptized, and wash away thy sins?" (Acts xxii. 16.) and that which St. Paul, who was so baptized, hath taught us concerning the Church, that Christ doth "sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water?" (Eph. v. 26.) It is therefore sufficiently certain that baptism as it was instituted by Christ after the preadministration of St. John, wheresoever it was received with all qualifications necessary in the person accepting, and conferred with all things necessary to be performed by the person administering, was most infallibly efficacious, as to this particular, that is, to the remission of all sins committed before the administration of this sacrament.

As those which are received into the Church by the sacrament of baptism, receive the remission of their sins of which they were guilty before they were baptized; so after they are thus made members of the Church, they receive remission of their future sins by their repentance.+ Christ who hath left us a pattern of prayer, hath thereby taught us for ever to implore and beg the forgiveness of our sins; that as we through the frailty of our nature are always subject unto sin, so we should always exercise the acts of repentance, and for ever

Vel Baptismo illi, hoc est, solemniter peractæ ablutioni, peccatorum Remissionem nequaquam tribuit Petrus, sed totam pœnitentiæ; vel si Baptismi quoque rationem ea in re habuit, aut quatenus publicam nominis Jesu Christi professionem continet, eam tantum consideravit ; aut si ipsius etiam externæ ablutionis omnino rationem habere voluit, quod ad ipsam attinet, remissionis peccatorum nomine, non ipsam remissionem vere, sed remissionis declarationem, et obsignationem quandam intellexit.' Socin. de Baptism. c. 7.

+ St. Chrysostom speaking of the power of the priests : Οὐ γὰρ ὅταν ἡμᾶς ἀναγεννῶσι μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα συγχωρεῖν ἔχου σιν ἐξουσίαν ἁμαρτήματα. De Sacerd. l. iii. t. vi. p. 17. Excepto baptismatis munere, quod contra originale peccatum donatum est, (ut quod generatione attractum est, regeneratione detrahatur ; et tamen activa quoque peccata, quæcunque corde, ore, opere commissa invenerit, tollit :) hac ergo excepta magna indulgentia (unde incipit hominis renovatio) in qua solvitur omnis reatus et ingeneratus et additus;

ipsa etiam vita cætera jam ratione utentis ætatis, quantalibet præpolleat fœcunditate justitia, sine remissione peccatorum non agitur: quoniam filii Dei, quamdiu mortaliter vivunt, cum morte configunt: et quamvis de illis sit veraciter dictum, Quotquot Spiritu Dei aguntur, hi filu sunt Dei sic tamen Spiritu Dei excitantur et tanquam filii Dei proficiunt ad Deum, ut etiam Spiritu suo (maxime aggravable corruptibili corpore) tanquam fhi hounnum quibusdam moribus humanis deficiant ad seipsos et peccent.' S. August Encher. c. 64. Οὕτω καὶ μετὰ τὸ βάπτισμα ἐκκαθαίρεται ἁμαρτήματα μετὰ πόνου πολλού καὶ καμάτου. Πᾶσαν τοίνυν ἐπιδειξώμεθα σπουδήν, ὥστε αὐτὰ ἐξαλείψαι ἐντεῦθεν, καὶ αἰσχύνης καὶ τῆς κολάσεως ἀπαλλαγῆναι τῆς ἐκεῖ καν γὰρ μυρία ὦμεν ημαρτηκότες, εν ἐθέλωμεν, δυνησόμεθα ἅπαντα ταῦτα ἀπο θέσθαι τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων τὰ φορτία. 5. Chrysost. Hom. in Pentecost. 1. Quod autem scriptum est, Et sanguis Jesu film ejus mundat nos ab omni peccato, tam it confessione Baptismatis, quam in clementia pœnitudinis accipiendum est' S Hieron. adv. Pelag. l. ii. col. 515.

seek the favour of God. This then is the comfort of the Gospel, that as it discovereth sin within us, so it propoundeth a remedy unto us. While we are in this life encompassed with flesh, while the allurements of the world, while the stratagems of Satan, while the infirmities and corruptions of our nature, betray us to the transgression of the Law of God, we are always subject to offend (from whence whosoever saith that he hath no sin is a liar, contradicting himself, and contracting iniquity by pretending innocency); and so long as we can offend, so long we may apply ourselves unto God by repentance, and be renewed by his grace, and pardoned by his mercy. And therefore the Church of God, in which remission of sin is preached, doth not only promise it at first by the laver of regeneration, but afterwards also upon the virtue of repentance; and to deny the Church this power of absolution is the heresy of Novatian.*

The necessity of the belief in this Article appeareth, first, Because there can be no Christian consolation without this persuasion. For we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God, nay, God himself hath concluded all under sin; we must also acknowledge that every sinner is a guilty person, and that guilt consisteth in an obligation to endure eternal punishment from the wrath of God provoked by our sins; from whence nothing else can arise but a fearful expectation of everlasting misery. So long as guilt remaineth on the soul of man, so long is he in the condition of the devils, "delivered into chains and reserved unto judgment." (2 Pet. ii. 4.) For we all fell as well as they, but with this difference; remission of sins is pro mised unto us, but to them it is not.

Secondly, It is necessary to believe the forgiveness of sins, that thereby we may sufficiently esteem God's goodness and our happiness. When man was fallen into sin, there was no possibility left him to work out his recovery; that soul which had sinned must of necessity die, the wrath of God abiding upon him for ever. There can be nothing imaginable in that man which should move God not to shew a demonstration of his justice upon him; there can be nothing without him which could pretend to rescue him from the sentence of an offended'

I call this the heresy of Novatian rather than of Novatus, because though they both joined in it, yet it rather sprang from Novatianus the Roman presbyter, than from Novatus the African bishop. And he is thus expressed by Epiphanius, Har. lix. §. 1. Λέγων μὴ εἶναι σωτηρίαν, ἀλλὰ μίαν μετάνοιαν· μετὰ δὲ τὸ λουτρὸν, μηκέτι δύνασθαι ἐλεεῖσθαι παραπεπτωκότα· that is, he acknowledged but one repentance which was available in baptism; after which if any man sinned, there was no mercy remaining for him. To which Epiphanius gives this reply: Η μὲν τελεία

μετάνοια ἐν τῷ λουτρῷ τυγχάνει· εἰ δέ τις παξέπεσεν οὐκ ἀπόλλει τοῦτον ἡ ἁγία τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐκκλησία· δίδωσι γὰρ καὶ ἐπάνοδον, καὶ μετὰ τὴν μετάνοιαν τὴν μεταμέλειαν Ibid. and again : Δέχεται οὖν ὁ ἅγιος λόγος καὶ ἡ ἁγία Θεοῦ ἐκκλησία πάντοτε τὴν μετάνοιαν Ibut. §. 2. and yet more generally: Tà TáνTα σαφῶς τετελείωται μετὰ τὴν ἐντεῦθεν ἐκδημίαν, ἔτι δὲ ὄντων ἐν τῷ ἀγῶνι πάντων, καὶ μετὰ πτῶσιν ἔτι ἀνάστασις, ἔτι ἐλπὶς, ἔτι θερα πεία, ἔτι ὁμολογία· καν εἰ μὴ τελειότατα, ἀλλ οὖν γε τῶν ἄλλων οὐκ ἀπηγόρευται ἡ σωτηρία, Ibid. §. 10.

and almighty God. Glorious therefore must the goodness of our God appear, who dispenseth with his Law, who taketh off the guilt, who looseth the obligation, who imputeth not the sin. This is God's goodness, this is man's happiness. "For blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered; blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth no iniquity." (Psal. xxxii. 1, 2.) The year of release, the year of jubilee, was a time of public joy; and there is no voice like that, thy sins are forgiven thee." By this a man is rescued from infernal pains, secured from everlasting flames; by this he is made capable of heaven, by this he is assured of eternal happiness.

Thirdly, It is necessary to believe the forgiveness of sins, that by the sense thereof we may be inflamed with the love of God: for, that love doth naturally follow from such a sense, appeareth by the parable in the Gospel, "There was a certain creditor which had two debtors, the one owed him five hundred pence, the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both." (Luke vii. 41, 42.) Upon which case our Saviour made this question, "Which of them will love him most?" He supposeth both the debtors will love him, because the creditor forgave them both; and he collecteth the degrees of love will answer proportionably to the quantity of the debt forgiven. We are the debtors, and our debts are sins, and the creditor is God: the remission of our sins is the frank forgiving of our debts, and for that we are obliged to return our love. Fourthly, The true notion of forgiveness of sins is necessary to teach us what we owe to Christ, to whom, and how far we are indebted for this forgiveness. Through this man is preached unto us the forgiveness of sins," (Acts xiii. 38.) and without a surety we had no release. He rendered God propitious unto our persons, because he gave himself as a satisfaction for our sins. While thus he took off our obligation to punishment, he laid upon us a new obligation of obedience. We "are not our own" who are "bought with a price:" we must "glorify God in our bodies, and in our spirits, which are God's." (1 Cor. vi. 19, 20.) We must be no longer "the servants of men; we are the servants of Christ, who are bought with a price." (1 Cor. vii. 22, 23.)

Fifthly, It is necessary to believe remission of sins as wrought by the blood of Christ, by which the covenant was ratified and confirmed, which mindeth us of a condition required. It is the nature of a covenant to expect performances on both parts; and therefore if we look for forgiveness promised, we must perform repentance commanded. These two were always preached together, and those which God hath joined ought no man to put asunder. Christ did truly appear" a Prince and a Saviour," and it was " to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins;" (Acts v. 31.) he joined these two in the apostles' commission, saying, that "repentance and remission of sins

should be preached in his name throughout all nations.” (Luke xxiv. 47.)

From hence every one may learn what he is explicitly to believe and confess in this Article of forgiveness of sins; for thereby he is conceived to intend thus much: I do freely and fully acknowledge, and with unspeakable comfort embrace this as a most necessary and infallible truth, that whereas every sin is a transgression of the Law of God, upon every transgression there remaineth a guilt upon the person of the transgressor, and that guilt is an obligation to endure eternal punishment; so that all men eing concluded under sin, they were all obliged to suffer the miseries of eternal death; it pleased God to give his Son, and his Son to give himself to be a surety for this debt, and to release us from these bonds, and because without shedding of blood there is no remission, he gave his life a sacrifice for sin, he laid it down as a ransom, even his precious blood as a price by way of compensation and satisfaction to the will and justice of God; by which propitiation, God, who was by our sins offended, became reconciled, and being so, took off our obligation to eternal punishment, which is the guilt of our sins, and appointed in the Church of Christ the sacrament of baptism for the first remission, and repentance for the constant forgiveness of all following trespasses. And thus I believe THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS.

ARTICLE XI.

27

The Resurrection of the Body.

THIS Article was anciently delivered and acknowledged by arr Churches, only with this difference, that whereas in other places it was expressed in general terms, the resurrection of the flesh, they of the Church of Aquileia, by the addition of a pronoun propounded it to every single believer in a more particular way of expression, the resurrection of this flesh. And though we have translated it in our English CREED, the resurrection of the body; yet neither the Greek nor Latin ever delivered this Article in those terms, but in these, the resurrection of the flesh;

Cum omnes ecclesiæ ita sacramentum Symboli tradant, ut postquam dixerint peccatorum remissionem, addant carnis resurrectionem; sancta Aqilueiensis ecclesia, ubi tradit carnis resurrectionem, addit unius pronominis syllabam; et pro eo quod cæteri dicunt, carnis resurrectionem, nos dicimus hujus carnis resurrectionem.' Ruffin. Apol. 1. i. adv. Hier. inter Op. Hieron. t. iv. par. 2. col. 354. • Satis cauta et provida adjectione fidem Symboli ecclesia nostra docet, quæ in eo quod a cæteris traditur, carnis resurrectionem, uno addito pronomine tradit, hujus carnis re

surrectionem.' Id. in Symb. §. 42. Sive ergo corpus resurrecturum dicimus, secundum Apostolum dicimus (hoc enim nomine usus est ille) sive carnem dicimus, secundum traditionem Symboli confitemur.' Idem, Prol. in Apolog. Pamphili.

The Greeks always use caguic àváGraw, the Latins carnis resurrectionem And this was to be observed, because, being we read of spiritual bodies some would acknowledge the resurrection of the body, who would deny the resurrection of the flesh. Of this St. Jerome gives