CHAP. II.
Of the eternall counsell of God hid in himselfe, the vvhich afterwards, is known by the effects thereof.
GOd, whose iudgements no man can comprehend, 1 whose waies cannot be found out, and whose vvill I ought to stoppe all mens mouthes 2, according to the determinate & vnchangable purpose of his wil, by the vertue vvhereof all things are made 3, yea eue~ those things which are euill and execrable (not in that they bee wrought by his diuine cou~ sell, but forasmuch as they proceede of the Prince of the a⟨…⟩re, & that spirit, which worketh in the children 4 of disobedience) hath determined 5 from before all beginning with himselfe, to create all things, in their time, for his glory, & 6 namely men: who~ he hath made after two sorts, cleane contrary one to the other. Whereof hee maketh the one sort (which it pleased him to chuse by his secret will and purpose) partakers of his glory through his mercie 7, and these vvee call according to the word of God, the vessells of honour, 2 the elect, the children of promise, and predestinat to saluation 8: and the others, whom likewise it pleased him to ordain to damnation (that hee might shew foorth his wrath and power, to be glorified also in them) wee doe call the vessels of dishonour 3 and wrath, the reprobat, and cast off from all good works 9.
This election or predestination 4 to euerlasting life, being considered in the will of God (that is to say, this selfe same determination, or purpose to elect) is the first fountaine and chiefe originall of the saluation of Gods children: neither is it thereon grounded, as some say, because God did foresee their faith, or good workes: but onely of his owne good will 10, from whence afterwards the election the faith & the good workes spring foorth. Therefore when the Scripture will confirme the children of God in fu⟨…⟩l and perfit hope it doeth not stay in alledging the testimones of the second causes, that is to say, in the fruites of faith, nor in the second causes themselues, as faith, & calling by the Gospell, neither yet sometimes in Christ himselfe, in whom notwithstanding we are, as in our head, elected and adopted, but ascendeth higher, euen vnto 5 that eternall purpose vvhich GOD hath determined onely in himselfe. 11.
Likewise when mention is made of the damnation of the reprobate, although the whole fault thereof bee in themselues yet notwithstanding, somtimes when need requireth, the scripture to make more manifest by this comparison the great power of God, his patience, and the riches of his glory towards the vessels of mercy 13, leadeth vs vnto this high secret, which by order is the first cause of their damnation: of the which secret, no other cause is known to me~, 6 but onely his iust will, which wee must with all reuerence obey, as coming from him who is onely iust, and cannot by any meanes, nor of any man, in any sort be comprehended 14. For we must put difference betwixt the purpose or ordinance of reprobation, and reprobation it selfe. Because God vvould that the secret of this his purpose, should be kept close fro vs: & again we haue the causes of reprobation, & damnation which depedeth therof, expressed in Gods word, that is to say, corruption, lack of faith, and iniquitie, which as they be necessarie, so are they also voluntary in the vessels made to dishonour 15: like as on the other part, when wee describe orderly the causes of the saluation of the elect, wee put difference betwixt the purpose of electing, which God hath determined in himselfe, and the election which is appointed in Christ, in such sort, that this his purpose or ordinace, doth not onely goe before election in the degree of causes, but also before all other things that follow the same 16.
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Footnotes
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The counsell, purpose and will of God, is the fountaine & originall of all causes. ↩
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Vessels of honour. ↩
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Vessels of dishonour. ↩
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Our electio~ is hid in the secret purpose of God. ↩
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Reprobation is hid in the secret purpose of God. ↩
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The secret purpose to elect or reproue, onely appertaineth to God, but the causes of election and reprobation are manifest in the Scriptures. ↩