man, when he is come into the depth of sins, contemneth.” But Christ, after His triumphant return from the dead, immediately showed Himself to His disciples and, having had intercourse with them for forty days, ascended of His own motion to the Father in sight of the disciples [Acts 1:3]. All this I have briefly narrated the more willingly, in order to make clearer to every beholder the righteousness of Christ by which He healed the wound of Adam. For we are still dealing with the point that Christ is our righteousness, our innocence, and the price of our redemption. For to this end He died for us and rose again, that He might declare the mystery of our deliverance and confirm the hopes which, when men saw that He had died and afterwards by His own power had become alive again, could not but be made sure in regard to life everlasting after this life. For “in that he died, he died unto sin,” Rom. 6:10; but not unto His sin, for He was absolutely free from sin, but unto ours. And He rose again in order that we may know that we have been made alive through Him.
[7]. Gospel
Christ suffered all these things for us. If we could have won salvation by our own works or our own innocence, He would have died in vain, Gal. 2:21. The nature of the Gospel may, therefore, now be briefly expressed as follows. As regards the name, to preface the subject with that, it is known to all that it means nothing but “good tidings.” But what those tidings are must be learned from the words of Him who brings them. He sent forth His disciples with the injunction, Mark 16:15: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be condemned.” Here we learn, first, that the gospel is a thing which saves the believer We have, then, what it does, but we do not yet have what it is. We must, therefore, consult another Evangelist, which is by far the most convenient way of coming to an understanding of the Holy Scriptures. Luke, then, 24: 45-47, writing of the same idea and of what happened on the same day, namely, that on which Christ rose, says: “Then opened he their mind, that they might understand the Seriptures, that it is written
so and so, and that it behooved Christ to suffer so and so, and on the third day to rise from the dead, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name unto all nations.” Here we have clearly what the gospel is and how it ought to be preached. This is the gospel, that sins are.” remitted in the name of Christ; and no heart ever received tidings more glad. But it is desirable to explain the plan thereof a little further, for when that is known we shall get a closer view of the thing itself. Christ taught [Lk. 24: 47] that repentance and remission of sins were to be preached in His name unto all nations. First, I think it is generally agreed that “name” is used here for “force, power, might, majesty,” as in Mark 16:17: “In my name,” i. e, in my might or power, “shall they cast out demons.” And in Acts 3:6 Peter says: “In the name,” i. e., through the force or power, “of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.” And, a little later [3:16]: “And by faith in his name hath his name made this man strong, whom ye see and know, etc.” “By faith in his name”— what else can it mean than having faith in His power and force? “His name hath made strong,” i. e., His power and majesty? Through Christ, therefore, it is brought about that we repent of our former life. For I showed clearly enough, where we were considering man, that without the grace of God man knows himself just as little as without it he recog- nizes God. It has to be through the power of God that man knows himself. In order, then, that one may repent of one’s errors, it is necessary that one shall know that one’s errors are errors, which certainly is not in the power of the flesh, 1. e., of man. For he is so blind in his own concerns that he never condemns himself in anything. If it comes to pass that he condemns himself, it comes to pass not through his own power but another’s. But this other’s power cannot be the power of other flesh, for the nature of all flesh is the same. The other power, therefore, that brings man to a knowledge of himself must be of the Spirit. And this I constantly inculcate in the sense that I leave nothing to man, to whom some, on the contrary, ascribe so much. It is a result wrought by the Divine Spirit alone that man knows himself. But unless knowledge precedes, no self-abasement follows. For who would abase him-
self unless he saw in himself something offensive? Christ teaches first, therefore, how repentance should arise and be preached in His name; ὁ. e., that it is through His power that man knows himself and is disgusted with himself when known. Then, to return to the exposition of Luke’s words, unless we repent, are disgusted with ourselves, ashamed of ourselves, Christ does not become saving and valuable to us who now know what law is and what sin is.
Hence I must tell, in the second place, how repentance must take its beginning.
When, therefore, Divine Majesty formed the plan of redeeming man, it did not intend that the world should persist and become inveterate in its wickedness. For if this had been the plan, it would have been better never to have sent a redeemer than to have sent one under such conditions that after redemption there should be no change from our former diseased state. It would have been laughable if He to whom everything that is ever to be is seen as present had determined to deliver man at so great a cost, and yet had intended to allow him immediately after his deliverance to wallow in his old sins. He proclaims, therefore, at the start, that our lives and characters must be ehanged. For to be a Christian is nothing less than to be a new man and a new creature [II Cor. 5: 17]. Therefore, when He had sent His forerunner, he began by saying, “Repent! For Divine Justice is so exasperated that unless you change your character you are sure to suffer bitter punishment, yea, utter destruction and death. I proclaim no far off event, lest forsooth you scorn me, as once happened to Ezekiel [Ezek. 33:30-32], but one which is already at your doors. For now is the axe laid at the root of the trees, so that, unless you change your life, you will be utterly rooted up” [Mt. 3:10]. Thus it came about that those who were influenced by the preaching of that most blameless man saw clearly that their way of life must be absolutely changed; and so they came to him in erowds, and were washed by him in the River Jordan as the sign by which he marked those who, having reviewed their former lives, found nothing in them which did not deserve condign punishment, and, understanding this, turned their
[John the Baptist.]
hearts to repentance. This was an initiatory rite with which he initiated all the repentant, not a cleansing. This Peter also teaches, I Pet. 3: 20-21, saying that we are washed in baptism in the same way in which the men of old were once purified by the flood. And, that we shall not understand here the baptism of water but the internal change of the old man through repentance, he adds that this is not effected by “the washing away of the filth of the flesh” (for that is all the water could do), but by the conscience asking itself how it stands towards God and giving a good answer. Hence it is manifest that the famous baptizing of Christ by John in the water is nothing but an initiatory rite, and not a washing away of the filth of the soul, for that is the function of the blood of Christ alone. For as the flesh has no shame when it is away from witnesses (for it is blown hither and thither by any wind), it would have been easy for anyone to pretend that he had been deeply impressed by the preaching of John, and yet to live irreverently and impiously. This evil was met by the symbol of baptism. For, having received that mark, one did become ashamed to be openly sealed with the seal of repentance and then openly to defile oneself with the old vices. Thus briefly on the symbol of Baptism, on whieh much elsewhere on account of those who think that it wipes away sins or is the seal and certification of their having been wiped away. Both sets of men speak what pleases themselves, not what the word of the Lord has taught. —I come back to repentance. When, then, John taught that man must review his life and change it, what hopes, pray, did he hold out? Did he ever teach, By doing so and so ye will besaved”? By no means. But, knowing very well that it could not but be that, when man examined himself thoroughly, nay, the oftener he did it, the oftener and more surely he would despair of himself and his own righteousness (whence it is sure that disgust with one’s self first arises), he presently pointed out Him through whom salvation should come, directing his discourse to Him who was to come, Acts 19: 4 and John 1:19, 27, 29-30, and declaring that salvation lay with Him who eame after him in time, but in His divine birth and dignity was long before him. He says in Matt. 3: 11, “1 indeed
[In Von der Taufe, von der Wiedertaufe und der Kindertaufe.]
T 122 The Works of Huldreich Zwingli baptize you with water unto repentance”: (by the baptism of water, therefore, they were inducted into repentance) “but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he will baptize you in the Holy Spirit, and in fire.” But what else is it to baptize with the Holy Spirit than to make the conscience glad and at peace through His coming? And how can it be made at peace unless it have a firm hope in someone who it knows for certain cannot deceive? To baptize ” with the Holy Spirit is, therefore, nothing else than Christ’s giving us His spirit, which so enlightens and attracts our hearts that we trust in Him, lean on Him, who is the Son of God, who was sent for us, whose brothers we become by His mercy, not by our own merits. John, therefore, shows that our life is such that it needs correction, although when we have corrected it we find not in ourselves anything through which we can hope to be saved. John, then, sends us to Christ, saying that it is He in whom we shall find salvation, even free salvation. This the divine Evangelist and Prophet thus set forth, John 1: 26-27: “I” (John, namely, who was baptizing) “baptize in water; but in the midst of you standeth one whom ye know not. He it is who will come after me, who was before me, the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to unloose.” Here we rightly understand that John sends us to one who stood among them, or was born in the midst of them. A little while after he says [Jn. 1: 29-31]: “John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said” (notice how he repeats his previous words), “After me cometh a man who was before me, who was mightier than I. And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, for this cause came I baptizing in water.” The divine Baptist shows by these words that Christ is the Lamb that atones for the universal disease of sin, and that he himself is preaching a baptism of repentance before Him that He may be made manifest to Israel. For when man through repentance has come to the knowledge of himself, he finds nothing but utter despair. Hence, wholly distrusting himself, he is forced to take refuge in the mercy of God. But when he has begun to do that, justice makes him afraid. Then Christ appears, who has satisfied
the divine justice for our trespasses. When once there is faith in Him, then salvation is found; for He is the infallible pledge of God’s mercy. For “he that gave up a Son for us, how will he not with him also give us all things?’ Rom. 8:32. The justice of God and a heart conscious of all its sins frighten us. For what do we not all meditate and concoct? What hopes do we not indulge in of pleasure, pelf, and greed for glory? Hence, when we are so terrified by the righteousness of Him to whom we are hastening, and by our consciences, which are driving us headlong to despair, Christ, the Son of God, comes to help our distress; for with Him as Redeemer, with Him as Advocate, with Him spending everything for us, we may hope all things in the hands of the Father. O unspeakable wisdom of God, O measureless bounty, O still greater mercy, surpassing all men’s hopes! God enlightens us, so that we know ourselves.” When this happens, we are driven to despair. We flee for refuge to His mercy, but justice frightens us. Here Eternal Wisdom finds a way by which to satisfy His justice—a thing wholly denied to ourselves—and at the same time to enable us, relying on His mercy, to enjoy Him. He sends His Son to satisfy His justice for us, and to be the indubitable pledge of salvation; but on condition that we become new creatures, and that we walk having put on Christ [II Cor. 5:17]. The whole life of a Christian, therefore, is repentance. For when do we notsin? Hence Christ, when He first sent out His disciples to preach, bade them preach the same thing which John and which He Himself had preached, Matt. 4: 17 and 10:7; Mk. 6:12; Lk. 9:2. For they, too, warned men to change their very wicked lives, and declared that the kingdom of God was at hand.
But I ask your attention to what follows, in order that the nature of repentance may become still elearer and that at the same time I may answer an objection, which is to this effect: If we are to understand Christ in this way, as the sacrifice which, offered but once, made satisfaction for the sins of all, we shall all be more inclined to follow our lusts, inasmuch as all these sins can be committed with impunity; for Christ is Compare with this treatment Zwingli’s Eine ree Christliche Ein-leitung, the section on the Gospel.
the pledge that all sins are washed away.
I will first of all show by the Holy Scriptures how Christ is the only One through whom there is approach to the Father, and that He alone blots out all sins. For then the argument that these people use will find its place. That Christ, then, is the only One through whom there is approach to the Father will be plain for this reason, that if God could have been reached in any other way there would have been no need of Christ’s death.
It is well, however, to bring His own words before us. Of these I will first set down those by which He bears clear witness that He is One sent for the salvation of all; then those by which He bears witness that He is the only One through whom salvation is given; for “is” precedes “is the only.”
John 3:16 says: “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life” By these words the whole reason and meaning of the Gospel are explained—the reason, that God gave His Son because He so loved the world; the meaning, that whosoever believeth on Him attains eternal life. A little later the divine Baptist says [Jn. 3: 35-36]: “The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life; but he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.” This passage makes for both points; that is, as well for the point that Christ is a means of salvation for all, as for the point that He is the only means of salvation for all.
In John 6: 53-58, Christ’s main purpose is to show that He is such food that whosoever eateth Him shall live; that is, He is such a treasure of the soul that whosoever fixes his heart and hope on Him will have eternal life. For He came down from heaven, He says, that the world through Him might have life. In this same chapter He says: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath eternal life.” To all, therefore, whose hope is in Him He is a means of salvation.
In John 8: 12 He says: “I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life” To everyone that follows him, therefore, He is light; to all the faithful He is, therefore, a means
of salvation.
In John 10: 9 He says: “I am the door; by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved.”
Thus, by ever varied metaphor, He teaches the same thing, namely, that He is our light, salvation, leader, shepherd, father, all.
In John 12: 31-32 He speaks after this fashion: “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be east out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself.” He cast out the Devil from his kingdom, and suffered Himself to be set up as an ensign for all the nations, according to the prediction of the Prophet, Isa. 5: 26- 30 and 11: 12, that all the nations might come to Him. For on that account was He stretched upon the four arms of the cross, that they might come from the north and the south, from the east and the west, as the same prophet foretold, 43: 5, and that Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob might sit down with God, Matt. 8: 11.
The passages testifying to this idea are too many to be all f brought together here. The very thing that recommends the gospel is just this [Mk. 16:16], that “whoso believeth the gospel when it is preached shall be saved, and whoso believeth not, shall be condemned.” ‘The gospel, as from what precedes is now clearer than day, is nothing else than sure salvation through Christ, than which no tidings more pleasant, more healthful, more precious, can be brought to us. For when our consciences are laboring amid the narrows and cliffs of despair, what tidings more joyful can be brought us than that there is at hand a Redeemer who will “bring us forth into a large place,” Ps. 18:19, and a Deliverer and Leader who can do all things, for he is God? Hence also Paul, Rom. 1: 16, gives this definition: “The gospel,” he says, “15 the might or power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth”; that is, the gospel is nothing else than the might of God by which He gave His own Son for us. Whosoever, therefore, believeth on Him, whether he be Jew or Gentile, will be saved.
The sum and substance of this section, therefore, is that Christ is a means of salvation unto all men of all nations and races. For He “would have all men to be saved, and to come
to the knowledge of the truth,” I Tim. 2:4. And He is not only so good that He would have it, but also so rich that He can. For “of his fulness have we all received,” John 1: 16. For ^he is rich unto all that call upon him,” Rom. 10: 12.
Now I will show that Christ is the only means of salvation. In John 6: 53 He who is alone our salvation Himself speaks thus: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.” I will first of all give a summary of this sixth chapter. Christ had fed many thousands of people on a few loaves of bread, and they afterwards followed Him the more eagerly in order to fill their bellies without trouble. For there were but few who came to Him in order to be made better by His teaching. When Christ, who knows the heart, saw this, He reproved their hypocrisy and insatiable gluttony and warned them to seek the true and life-giving food of the soul; that this was the work most pleasing to God. And although they, remembering their former feast, understood by food or bread nothing but that provision by the eating of which we sustain our strength, Christ was yet ever speaking of that food which restores the famished heart. For He had come to refresh hearts ahungered for heavenly things. He says, therefore, that He is the bread of life [Jn. 6: 33, 51] which cometh down out of heaven, and which giveth life unto the world. What else would they think of here who had come for their belly’s sake than how Christ could be eaten? And so they recoiled in horror. But He, to show plainly in what way He is food or bread, says: “The bread which I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world.” His meaning is this: “Ye are turning over many things in your minds as to this food which I am promising. One wonders at its charcter, another is aghast at an apparent barbarity. Why do ye ever stay so close to earth? See ye not that I am trying to rouse your sluggish minds with parables? Why rise ye not, therefore, at last to higher things? Again, see ye not that, though I sometimes seem to those who are still too much given over to the flesh to do it rather violently—see ye not, I say, that I purposely go from these external and crude things to the internal and spiritual? I came not to feed the body, but to bring back the human heart to God. While ye are occupied
with the memory of bread for the body, I am occupied with the way in which I may put into the mouth of your souls food that is spiritual. And while ye are thinking of bread for the body, I am teaching that there is a food that can renew the heart, which bread made of flour cannot in the least do. This food is myself: the bread which I promise to give is my flesh, which shall be given up for the life of the world. This makes the heart glad and secure of salvation, if it believes unshakenly that I have been given up for the life of the world through the glory and grace of the Father. This is the food in the strength of which ye shall walk even unto the mountain of God” [ef. Ps. 15:1; Isa. 2:3]. But the more the Jews were taught, the less they understood and the more they shrank from the flesh and blood of Christ, imagining that it was these they were invited to crunch and to drink, and thinking it a monstrous and savage thing that they should be summoned to such a feast. Christ, perceiving that their stolidity proceeded from unbelief, smote them still more heavily, and according to the prophecy of Isaiah 6:10 [cf. Jn. 12:40] made their heart fat, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, saying [Jn. 6:53]: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you”; as if to add, “however much commotion ye make among yourselves, I certainly must be eaten and must be drunk.” And after much more He says plainly [Jn. 6:63] that the flesh of which they were thinking profiteth nothing, eaten, of course, in the physieal way they shrank from; that it is the spiritual manducation of which He was speaking that quickeneth; that by the words which He was going to speak the human heart becomes alive and strong. “If you eat bread, I say, the body is strengthened; if you eat mei. e., if you trust in me, your hearts will be strong unto God.” So much on the subject of this chapter, at greater length, perhaps, than brevity allows, and yet more briefly than the oceasion demands; but it has been done for the sake of those who do not see the allegory here and have found therein occasion for many errors, while yet Christ meant to teach by it nothing other than the sum and substance of the Gospel, namely, that He was sent from heaven to suffer death for poor
mortals. This fact would have such saving virtue for the poor creatures that the soul that would rely thereon would be far more strengthened and be rendered far stauncher than the body is by the use of bread.
But now I come to the words I quoted [Jn. 6:53]: “Except ye eat,” i. e., except ye firmly and heartily believe that Christ was slain for you, to redeem you, and that His blood was shed for you, to wash you thus redeemed (for that is the way we are in the habit of showing bounty and kindness to captives—first freeing them by paying a ransom, then when freed washing away the filth with which they are covered), ye have no life in you.” Since, therefore, Christ alone was sacrificed for the human race, He is the only One through whom we can come to the Father.
In John 10:1 He teaches the same thing in other words: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber”; and a little farther on: “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved.” Since, therefore, to enter by any other way than by the door is the mark of thieves and robbers, and since Christ is the door, they are thieves and robbers who either seek, or teach others to seek salvation in any other way than through Christ. Christ, therefore, is our only means of salvation. And let no one at this point raise the objection that this passage applies to the shepherds only and not also to the general method of salvation; for it is so pregnant with meaning that it teaches just as clearly by what way everyone can come to God as it does how they to whom that charge has been committed ought to feed the sheep of Christ. For He speaks just as solemnly and anxiously of the sheep as of the shepherds, as is easily apparent to one who considers attentively.
In John 8:36 He says to the Jews: “If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” But there is one only Son of God; it is, therefore, only through Christ that we are freed from the yoke of sin and made sons of God.
To the same effect is the allegory of the vine and the branches, in John 15, since Christ deduces the following: “As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the
vine; so neither can ye, except ye abide in me” [15: 4]; and, a little later: “If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered, ete.” On Christ alone, therefore, must they be grafted who would attain salvation. But His reply to Thomas in John 14: 6 is the clearest statement of all: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Since He is the way, by Him alone must we enter in. And again: “To the Father no man cometh but by him.” He, therefore, is the only one through whom and in whom we find salvation.
And Peter says in Acts 4: 12: “For neither is there any other name under heaven given among men, wherein we must be saved.” There is no name, no force or power, which can make us blessed save that of Christ. Christ, therefore, is the only one in whom we are blessed. Paul, I Tim. 2: 5-6, confirms this: “There is one God, one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all.” Now it is sure that “unus” [one] is used here in the sense of “solus” [only one], as in the passage, Matt. 19: 17, “Unus,” i. e., solus,” “bonus est deus,” “One,” i. e., “only one,” “is good, God”; for Luke 18: 19 expresses the same idea by the words, “nemo bonus, nisi solus deus,” “none is good but God alone.”
I think it is now sufficiently clear that through Christ alone we are given salvation, blessedness, grace, pardon, and all that makes us in any way worthy in thesight of a righteous God. However, from these premises (namely, that Christ is the expiation for the sins of all and the way of salvation, and that He alone is this way and expiation, and this to him only who trusts in Him), those who either have not faith enough in the gospel or have not taken it in in its full purity think it follows that all who lean upon it must degenerate from over freedom. For, they reason, when the human heart learns that all sins are so bountifully pardoned through Christ, it quite naturally must become more prone to vice. Hence some of them, out of
[a foolish prudence, have wished to guard against anything of]
[this sort happening, and have proclaimed that Christ made]
[atonement either for the original guilt only, or only for those]
sins which were committed before He came. These errors arose from the fact that, while thinking themselves profoundly versed in the nature of Christianity, they were profoundly ignorant of it; for it is based upon faith, not upon wisdom, knowledge, or prudence; and since they had not faith they became vain in their reasonings [cf. Rom. 1:21]. For Christian faith is a thing that is felt in the soul of the believer, like health in the body. Any one can easily feel whether that is bad or good. So the Christian feels how his heart is in a bad plight because of the burden of sin, and, on the other hand, feels how well off it is in that there is a sure remedy in Christ. It usually happens, also, that those who are always well do not make sound health of so much account as do those who suffer from long or severe illnesses. So Christ is not so priceless a possession to those who feel no sickness of the soul as to those who feel and suffer pain. Hence it has come about, since we do not know ourselves thoroughly, ὁ.e., deep in to the core (for we know nothing of the illness and its gravity), that for us Christ has never been the means of salvation and priceless treasure that He is. But if we had ever truly suffered pain from our disease, ὁ. e., if we really know ourselves, what worthless and diseased cattle we are, while we yet wish to appear to all men as great, noble, righteous, holy; how completely given over to evil desires, so that we let our passions guide us in everythingif, I say, we had ever been sensible of our disease, our pain would have been so great that after the physician had relieved it we never should have thought of saying, “I will be ill again,” i. e., “I will sin again.” The man who has broken a leg, and has found a good physician who has restored the injured limb, does not say to himself, “You are lucky to have found such a physician. Go and break your leg often; for that physician ean cure anything.” But all through his life, wherever he goes, whithersoever he turns, he looks out and takes care not to break his leg again. For he has felt how painful it is to restore a broken limb, how tedious to lie a whole month upon one’s back or upon the one side only. So those who, when they hear that Christ has made atonement for the sins of all, exult-
[“This Romish doctrine Zwingli has refuted at length in his Ad Frido-]
[linum Lindoverum expostulatio.]
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