of the ten tribes, which entailed discords in religion, [and even the loss of true religion,] and perpetual wars among the people. God would

have us deeply to consider such examples, that we may fear his anger, and consult for our own safety and that of others....Endless sins and scandals follow from one fall."

The "worthiness" of good and holy works, of which he speaks, is not their competency to procure for us remission of sins, or to recommend us to God, but their fitness for us to practise their being "worthy of our vocation,' tending to glorify God, and benefit our fellow

creatures.

The "rewards" attached to them, though unmerited and conferred of grace alone, for the sake of the Mediator, are yet rich and glorious, both in the present life, and in that which is to come, as various scriptures demonstrate.

"Let us resist, therefore," he exhorts, "our unbelief, and perform the works appointed us: and, when we feel them to be difficult, let us stir up the spirit of faith and prayer, and look to the rewards proposed to us: let us be solicitous for the church universal, for the state under which we live, for our own salvation: and, for the sake of all these objects, let us increase our diligence in our callings, and in governing our lives according to the will of God.

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1560.

of the children of God.

On the last head, of "the sins found in the On the sins children of God," we are to observe, that they are not outward, known sins, done in despite of conscience; but the evils of the heart, which cannot be wholly expelled in the present state, and the failures and offences into which we fall through infirmity of the flesh, notwithstanding much watching and prayer; but of which we

CHAP.

XII.

On the dif→

ference between the Old Testament and the New.

speedily repent, fly to Christ for the pardon of them, and increase our watchfulness against them. 1

Other topics which follow are, The difference between the Old Testament and the New-The

Church-Sacraments- Repentance-Confession-Predestination-Christ's kingdom-The resurrection of the dead-The spirit and the letter-Sufferings and the cross-PrayerMagistracy and political government — Ceremonies of human appointment-The mortification of the flesh-Scandals-Christian liberty. Only a few of these need be here distinctly

noticed.

In speaking on the "difference between the Old Testament and the New," he in the early editions makes use of crude and dangerous language concerning the moral law being abrogated, the gospel being without all conditions, and believers doing things agreeable to the law, "not because the law requires them, but because the Spirit naturally prompts those who are under his influence to do such things." Yet even here it is made sufficiently manifest to the attentive reader, that he means only that the law is abrogated to the believer as a covenant according to which he is to stand or fall, not as a rule which is to direct his life, and for every deviation from which he needs repentance, and pardon through the blood of Christ and in the later editions all such language is carefully expunged, nay, the contrary of what it appeared to convey is asserted. "The ceremonial and the judicial, or civil, laws of Moses are abrogated but those which have their foundation in the nature of things are permanent. Among Edit. 1546, p. 237–271. Op.'i. 204 —212.

these is the decalogue, which is the chief part of the law, for the sake of which the rest was established....It is the eternal and unchangeable announcement of the divine mind against sin.” 1

66

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he de- On the

On the subject of "the sacraments, livers in the main a very wise and holy doctrine. sacraments. That of the Lord's supper, as Augusti observes, was so briefly noticed in the first editions, as to be rather passed over than discussed:" but the same editor.affirms, that from the author's letters of that period it appears that, a short time before the publication of the Common Places, Melancthon's mind was not emancipated from the Romish doctrine of transubstantiation -"though he would not number it among the articles of faith." In the latter part of his life, even before the death of Luther, he had become much weaned from that reformer's doctrine of consubstantiation, and ready to acquiesce in more just and scriptural views, though he determined to avoid controversy upon the subject and it is remarkable that, in the second series of editions of the Common Places, nothing appears in the discussion of the Lord's supper, on the mode of Christ's presence in that sacrament; and, in the third series, nothing beyond a sentence or two from the fathers.2

1 Edit. 1546, p. 316. See also p. 171: "As to obedience, the law still remains in force: for the divine ordination is unchanged, that the justified must obey God." Compare p. 259.-Again, p. 253: "Let us not dream that God regards not good works: he both regards them and requires obedience, and visits wilful disobedience, contrary to conscience, with dreadful punishments, both temporal and eternal." Op. i. 222, 188, 209, 208.

This is one of the topics on which Augusti exhibits the article as it stands in all the three sets of editions: pp.

CHAP.
XII.

On the spirit and the letter.

We will conclude our review of the work with an abstract of the section on " the spirit and the letter," which will afford another specimen of the rich vein of evangelical sentiment and feeling that pervades the mind and the writings of our author.

"The letter," he says, "includes whatever doctrines, thoughts, habits, discipline, or good purposes exist without the Holy Spirit, that is, without the genuine fear of God, without true faith or confidence in him, comforting the mind through the knowledge of Christ and communion with him.

The spirit, on the other hand, signifies the Holy Spirit commencing, and by degrees perfecting, in our minds a new light, wisdom, and

218-240. That of the second series appears to be the most impressive.

The Consilia of Melancthon contain some papers, written in the latter part of his life, on the questions respecting the sacrament disputed among the protestants. In 1555, he advises a friend," in order to avoid contentions, to satisfy himself with that simplicity of language which he (Melancthon) had employed in the recent editions of his Common Places." Consil. ii. 226. In a paper addressed to the elector Palatine in 1559, he says, "It would be best in this controversy to adhere to the words of S. Paul, The bread which we break is the communion of the body of Christ, and to treat largely on the uses of the sacrament." The apostle, he observes, "does not say, with the papists, that the nature of the bread is changed; or with those of Bremen, that the bread is the substantial body of Christ; or with others, that it is the real body of Christ; but that it is the communion, or that by which we become united with the body of Christquo fit consociatio cum corpore Christi." Ib. 379. And in another paper of the same year he recites passages in which the fathers, both Greek and Latin, had called the elements symbols, types, signs, figures: and he adds, that he had once availed himself of a favourable opportunity of bringing some of these passages under the notice of Luther, and was surprised to find him lend a more willing ear to them than he had expected. Ib. 394.-Compare, below, iii. 98, 99.

righteousness; a course of life pleasing to God, and animated by holy affections-fear, faith, prayer, and love, excited by his Spirit, and leading to a life passed as in his presence, and employed in his praises: in one word, as S. Peter expresses it, it is a participation of the divine nature. So S. Paul says, We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord. That is, when alarmed by the wrath of God we fear, and cheered by his mercy in Christ we rejoice, and by faith repose in him, then we live to God and walk in the light of his Spirit.-The hypocrite Saul and the regenerate David may both perform the same external works, civil or religious, ceremonial or moral: but in the one all is mere shadow and dead letter; his mind is without the fear of God, without reliance upon him or joy in him: while in the latter, whether he makes war or offers sacrifices, the fear of God, and faith in God supporting and comforting his mind, are ever present they proceed from the Spirit of God, and are not mere fleeting shadows, but the commencement of eternal life. And these principles, derived from above, he prays to have increased in him, when he says, Create in me a clean heart, O God-a heart thinking rightly of God, and rightly affected towards him; and renew a right spirit-a firm and upright spirit-within me, such as no artifices of the devil, nor an Epicurean or sceptical imaginations may shake. He adds: Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me: govern all my thoughts and purposes: excite in me dispositions in harmony with thy law. Restore to me the joy of thy salvation: support me under all trials by

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1560.