goodness. Hence believers have some perception of what we stated at the beginning, that predestination, rightly considered, neither destroys nor weakens faith, but rather furnishes its best confirmation. Yet I will not deny, that the Spirit sometimes accommodates his language to the limited extent of our capacity, as when he says, “They shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel.”[555] As though God were beginning to write in the book of life those whom he numbers among his people, whereas we know from the testimony of Christ, that the names of God’s children have been written in the book of life from the beginning.[556] But these expressions only signify the rejection of those who seemed to be the chief among the elect; as the Psalmist says, “Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.”[557] X. Now, the elect are not gathered into the fold of Christ by calling, immediately from their birth, nor all at the same time, but according as God is pleased to dispense his grace to them. Before they are gathered to that chief Shepherd, they go astray, scattered in the common wilderness, and differing in no respect from others, except in being protected by the special mercy of God from rushing down the precipice of eternal death. If you observe them, therefore, you will see the posterity of Adam partaking of the common corruption of the whole species. That they go not to the most desperate extremes of impiety, is not owing to any innate goodness of theirs, but because the eye of God watches over them, and his hand is extended for their preservation. For those who dream of I know not what seed of election sown in their hearts from their very birth, always inclining them to piety and the fear of God, are unsupported by the authority of Scripture, and refuted by experience itself. They produce, indeed, a few examples to prove that certain elect persons were not entire strangers to religion, even before they were truly enlightened; that Paul lived blameless in his Pharisaism;[558] that Cornelius, with his alms and prayers, was accepted of God,[559] and if there are any other similar ones. What they say of Paul, we admit; but respecting Cornelius, we maintain that they are deceived; for it is evident, he was then enlightened and regenerated, and wanted nothing but a clear revelation of the gospel. But what will they extort from these very few examples? that the elect have always been endued with the spirit of piety? This is just as if any one, having proved the integrity of Aristides, Socrates, Xenocrates, Scipio, Curius, Camillus, and other heathens, should conclude from this, that all who were left in the darkness of idolatry, were followers of holiness and virtue. But this is contradicted in many passages of Scripture. Paul’s description of the state of the Ephesians prior to regeneration, exhibits not a grain of this seed. “Ye were dead,” he says, “in trespasses and sins, wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience; among whom also we all had our conversation in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.”[560] Again: “Remember that at that time ye were without hope, and without God in the world.”[561] Again: “Ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord; walk as children of light.”[562] But perhaps they will plead, that these passages refer to that ignorance of the true God, in which they acknowledge the elect to be involved previously to their calling. Though this would be an impudent cavil, since the apostle’s inferences from them are such as these: “Put away lying; and let him that stole, steal no more.”[563] But what will they reply to other passages? such as that where, after declaring to the Corinthians, that “Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God;” he immediately adds, “And such were some of you; but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”[564] And another passage, addressed to the Romans: “As ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness, and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed?”[565] XI. What kind of seed of election was springing up in them, who were all their lives contaminated with various pollutions, and with desperate wickedness wallowed in the most nefarious and execrable of all crimes? If he had intended to speak according to these teachers, he ought to have shown how much they were obliged to the goodness of God, which had preserved them from falling into such great pollutions. So likewise the persons whom Peter addressed, he ought to have exhorted to gratitude on account of the perpetual seed of election. But, on the contrary, he admonishes them, “that the time past may suffice to have wrought the will of the Gentiles.”[566] What if we come to particular examples? What principle of righteousness was there in Rahab the harlot before faith?[567] in Manasseh, when Jerusalem was dyed, and almost drowned, with the blood of the prophets?[568] in the thief, who repented in his dying moments?[569] Away, then, with these arguments, which men of presumptuous curiosity raise to themselves without regarding the Scripture. Let us rather abide by the declaration of the Scripture, that “all we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way,”[570] that is, destruction. Those whom the Lord has determined to rescue from this gulf of perdition, he defers till his appointed season; before which he only preserves them from falling into unpardonable blasphemy.
XII. As the Lord, by his effectual calling of the elect, completes the salvation to which he predestinated them in his eternal counsel, so he has his judgments against the reprobate, by which he executes his counsel respecting them. Those, therefore, whom he has created to a life of shame and a death of destruction, that they might be instruments of his wrath, and examples of his severity, he causes to reach their appointed end, sometimes depriving them of the opportunity of hearing the word, sometimes, by the preaching of it, increasing their blindness and stupidity. Of the former there are innumerable examples: let us only select one that is more evident and remarkable than the rest. Before the advent of Christ, there passed about four thousand years, in which the Lord concealed the light of the doctrine of salvation from all the Gentiles. If it be replied, that he withheld from them the participation of so great a blessing because he esteemed them unworthy, their posterity will be found equally unworthy of it. The truth of this, to say nothing of experience, is sufficiently attested by Malachi, who follows his reproofs of unbelief and gross blasphemies by an immediate prediction of the coming of the Messiah. Why, then, is he given to the posterity rather than to their ancestors? He will torment himself in vain, who seeks for any cause of this beyond the secret and inscrutable counsel of God. Nor need we be afraid lest any disciple of Porphyry should be imboldened to calumniate the justice of God by our silence in its defence. For while we assert that all deserve to perish, and it is of God’s free goodness that any are saved, enough is said for the illustration of his glory, so that every subterfuge of ours is altogether unnecessary. The supreme Lord, therefore, by depriving of the communication of his light, and leaving in darkness, those whom he has reprobated, makes way for the accomplishment of his predestination. Of the second class, the Scriptures contain many examples, and others present themselves every day. The same sermon is addressed to a hundred persons; twenty receive it with the obedience of faith; the others despise, or ridicule, or reject, or condemn it. If it be replied, that the difference proceeds from their wickedness and perverseness, this will afford no satisfaction; because the minds of others would have been influenced by the same wickedness, but for the correction of Divine goodness. And thus we shall always be perplexed, unless we recur to Paul’s question—“Who maketh thee to differ?”[571] In which he signifies, that the excellence of some men beyond others, is not from their own virtue, but solely from Divine grace.
XIII. Why, then, in bestowing grace upon some, does he pass over others? Luke assigns a reason for the former, that they “were ordained to eternal life.” What conclusion, then, shall we draw respecting the latter, but that they are vessels of wrath to dishonour? Wherefore let us not hesitate to say with Augustine, “God could convert to good the will of the wicked, because he is omnipotent. It is evident that he could. Why, then, does he not? Because he would not. Why he would not, remains with himself.” For we ought not to aim at more wisdom than becomes us. That will be much better than adopting the evasion of Chrysostom, “that he draws those who are willing, and who stretch out their hands for his aid;” that the difference may not appear to consist in the decree of God, but wholly in the will of man. But an approach to him is so far from being a mere effort of man, that even pious persons, and such as fear God, still stand in need of the peculiar impulse of the Spirit. Lydia, the seller of purple, feared God, and yet it was necessary that her heart should be opened, to attend to, and profit by, the doctrine of Paul. This declaration is not made respecting a single female, but in order to teach us that every one’s advancement in piety is the secret work of the Spirit. It is a fact not to be doubted, that God sends his word to many whose blindness he determines shall be increased. For with what design does he direct so many commands to be delivered to Pharaoh? Was it from an expectation that his heart would be softened by repeated and frequent messages? Before he began, he knew and foretold the result. He commanded Moses to go and declare his will to Pharaoh, adding at the same time, “But I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.”[572] So, when he calls forth Ezekiel, he apprizes him that he is sending him to a rebellious and obstinate people, that he may not be alarmed if they refuse to hear him.[573] So Jeremiah foretells that his word will be like fire, to scatter and destroy the people like stubble.[574] But the prophecy of Isaiah furnishes a still stronger confirmation; for this is his mission from the Lord: “Go and tell this people, Hear ye, indeed, but understand not, and see ye, indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.”[575] Observe, he directs his voice to them, but it is that they may become more deaf; he kindles a light, but it is that they may be made more blind; he publishes his doctrine, but it is that they may be more besotted; he applies a remedy, but it is that they may not be healed. John, citing this prophecy, declares that the Jews could not believe, because this curse of God was upon them.[576] Nor can it be disputed, that to such persons as God determines not to enlighten, he delivers his doctrine involved in enigmatical obscurity, that its only effect may be to increase their stupidity. For Christ testifies that he confined to his apostles the explanations of the parables in which he had addressed the multitude; “because to you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.”[577] What does the Lord mean, you will say, by teaching those by whom he takes care not to be understood? Consider whence the fault arises, and you will cease the inquiry; for whatever obscurity there is in the word, yet there is always light enough to convince the consciences of the wicked.
XIV. It remains now to be seen why the Lord does that which it is evident he does. If it be replied, that this is done because men have deserved it by their impiety, wickedness, and ingratitude, it will be a just and true observation; but as we have not yet discovered the reason of this diversity, why some persist in obduracy while others are inclined to obedience, the discussion of it will necessarily lead us to the same remark that Paul has quoted from Moses concerning Pharaoh: “Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.”[578] That the reprobate obey not the word of God, when made known to them, is justly imputed to the wickedness and depravity of their hearts, provided it be at the same time stated, that they are abandoned to this depravity, because they have been raised up, by a just but inscrutable judgment of God, to display his glory in their condemnation. So, when it is related of the sons of Eli, that they listened not to his salutary admonitions, “because the Lord would slay them,”[579] it is not denied that their obstinacy proceeded from their own wickedness, but it is plainly implied that though the Lord was able to soften their hearts, yet they were left in their obstinacy, because his immutable decree had predestinated them to destruction. To the same purpose is that passage of John, “Though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him; that the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, ‘Lord, who hath believed our report?’”[580] For though he does not acquit the obstinate from the charge of guilt, yet he satisfies himself with this reason, that the grace of God has no charms for men till the Holy Spirit gives them a taste for it. And Christ cites the prophecy of Isaiah, “They shall be all taught of God,”[581] with no other design than to show, that the Jews are reprobate and strangers to the Church, because they are destitute of docility; and he adduces no other reason for it than that the promise of God does not belong to them; which is confirmed by that passage of Paul, where “Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness,” is said to be “unto them which are called, the power of God, and the wisdom of God.”[582] For, after remarking what generally happens whenever the gospel is preached, that it exasperates some, and is despised by others, he represents it as duly appreciated only by “those who are called.” A little before he had mentioned “them that believe;” not that he had an intention to deny its proper place to the grace of God, which precedes faith, but he seems to add this second description by way of correction, in order that those who had received the gospel might ascribe the praise of their faith to the Divine call. And so, likewise, in a subsequent sentence, he represents them as the objects of Divine election. When the impious hear these things, they loudly complain that God, by a wanton exercise of power, abuses his wretched creatures for the sport of his cruelty. But we, who know that all men are liable to so many charges at the Divine tribunal, that of a thousand questions they would be unable to give a satisfactory answer to one, confess that the reprobate suffer nothing but what is consistent with the most righteous judgment of God. Though we cannot comprehend the reason of this, let us be content with some degree of ignorance where the wisdom of God soars into its own sublimity.
XV. But as objections are frequently raised from some passages of Scripture, in which God seems to deny that the destruction of the wicked is caused by his decree, but that, in opposition to his remonstrances, they voluntarily bring ruin upon themselves,—let us show by a brief explication that they are not at all inconsistent with the foregoing doctrine. A passage is produced from Ezekiel, where God says, “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.”[583] If this is to be extended to all mankind, why does he not urge many to repentance, whose minds are more flexible to obedience than those of others, who grow more and more callous to his daily invitations? Among the inhabitants of Nineveh and Sodom, Christ himself declares that his evangelical preaching and miracles would have brought forth more fruit than in Judea. How is it, then, if God will have all men to be saved, that he opens not the gate of repentance to those miserable men who would be more ready to receive the favour? Hence we perceive it to be a violent perversion of the passage, if the will of God, mentioned by the prophet, be set in opposition to his eternal counsel, by which he has distinguished the elect from the reprobate. Now, if we inquire the genuine sense of the prophet, his only meaning is to inspire the penitent with hopes of pardon. And this is the sum, that it is beyond a doubt that God is ready to pardon sinners immediately on their conversion. Therefore he wills not their death, inasmuch as he wills their repentance. But experience teaches, that he does not will the repentance of those whom he externally calls, in such a manner as to affect all their hearts. Nor should he on this account be charged with acting deceitfully; for, though his external call only renders those who hear without obeying it inexcusable, yet it is justly esteemed the testimony of God’s grace, by which he reconciles men to himself. Let us observe, therefore, the design of the prophet in saying that God has no pleasure in the death of a sinner; it is to assure the pious of God’s readiness to pardon them immediately on their repentance, and to show the impious the aggravation of their sin in rejecting such great compassion and kindness of God. Repentance, therefore, will always be met by Divine mercy; but on whom repentance is bestowed, we are clearly taught by Ezekiel himself, as well as by all the prophets and apostles.
XVI. Another passage adduced is from Paul, where he states that “God will have all men to be saved;”[584] which, though somewhat different from the passage just considered, yet is very similar to it. I reply, in the first place, that it is evident from the context, how God wills the salvation of all; for Paul connects these two things together, that he “will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” If it was fixed in the eternal counsel of God, that they should receive the doctrine of salvation, what is the meaning of that question of Moses, “What nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them as we have?”[585] How is it that God has deprived many nations of the light of the gospel, which others enjoyed? How is it that the pure knowledge of the doctrine of piety has never reached some, and that others have but just heard some obscure rudiments of it? Hence it will be easy to discover the design of Paul. He had enjoined Timothy to make solemn prayers in the Church for kings and princes; but as it might seem somewhat inconsistent to pray to God for a class of men almost past hope,—for they were not only strangers to the body of Christ, but striving with all their power to ruin his kingdom,—he subjoins, that “this is good and acceptable in the sight of God, who will have all men to be saved;” which only imports, that God has not closed the way of salvation against any order of men, but has diffused his mercy in such a manner that he would have no rank to be destitute of it. The other texts adduced are not declarative of the Lord’s determination respecting all men in his secret counsel: they only proclaim that pardon is ready for all sinners who sincerely seek it.[586] For if they obstinately insist on its being said that God is merciful to all, I will oppose to them, what is elsewhere asserted, that “our God is in the heavens; he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.”[587] This text, then, must be explained in a manner consistent with another, where God says, “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.”[588] He who makes a selection of objects for the exercise of his mercy, does not impart that mercy to all. But as it clearly appears that Paul is there speaking, not of individuals, but orders of men, I shall forbear any further argument. It must be remarked, however, that Paul is not declaring the actual conduct of God at all times, in all places, and to all persons, but merely representing him as at liberty to make kings and magistrates at length partakers of the heavenly doctrine, notwithstanding their present rage against it in consequence of their blindness. There is more apparent plausibility in their objection, from the declaration of Peter, that “the Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”[589] But the second clause furnishes an immediate solution of this difficulty; for the willingness that they should come to repentance must be understood in consistence with the general tenor of Scripture. Conversion is certainly in the power of God; let him be asked, whether he wills the conversion of all, when he promises a few individuals to give them “a heart of flesh,” while he leaves others with “a heart of stone.”[590] If he were not ready to receive those who implore his mercy, there would indeed be no propriety in this address, “Turn ye unto me, and I will turn unto you;”[591] but I maintain that no mortal ever approaches God without being divinely drawn. But if repentance depended on the will of man, Paul would not have said, “If God peradventure will give them repentance.”[592] And if God, whose voice exhorts all men to repentance, did not draw the elect to it by the secret operation of his Spirit, Jeremiah would not have said, “Turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the Lord my God. Surely after that I was turned, I repented.”[593] XVII. If this be correct, it will be said there can be but little faith in the promises of the gospel, which, in declaring the will of God, assert that he wills what is repugnant to his inviolable decree. But this is far from a just conclusion. For if we turn our attention to the effect of the promises of salvation, we shall find that their universality is not at all inconsistent with the predestination of the reprobate. We know the promises to be effectual to us only when we receive them by faith; on the contrary, the annihilation of faith is at once an abolition of the promises. If this is their nature, we may perceive that there is no discordance between these two things—God’s having appointed from eternity on whom he will bestow his favour and exercise his wrath, and his proclaiming salvation indiscriminately to all. Indeed, I maintain that there is the most perfect harmony between them. For his sole design in thus promising, is to offer his mercy to all who desire and seek it, which none do but those whom he has enlightened, and he enlightens all whom he has predestinated to salvation. These persons experience the certain and unshaken truth of the promises; so that it cannot be pretended that there is the least contrariety between God’s eternal election and the testimony of his grace offered to believers. But why does he mention all? It is in order that the consciences of the pious may enjoy the more secure satisfaction, seeing that there is no difference between sinners, provided they have faith; and, on the other hand, that the impious may not plead the want of an asylum to flee to from the bondage of sin, while they ungratefully reject that which is offered to them. When the mercy of God is offered to both by the gospel, it is faith, that is, the illumination of God, which distinguishes between the pious and impious; so that the former experience the efficacy of the gospel, but the latter derive no benefit from it. Now, this illumination is regulated by God’s eternal election. The complaint and lamentation of Christ, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered thy children together, and ye would not,”[594] however they cite it, affords them no support. I confess, that Christ here speaks not merely in his human character, but that he is upbraiding the Jews for having in all ages rejected his grace. But we must define the will of God which is here intended. It is well known how sedulously God laboured to preserve that people to himself, and with what extreme obstinacy, from the first to the last, they refused to be gathered, being abandoned to their own wandering desires; but this does not authorize the conclusion, that the counsel of God was frustrated by the wickedness of men. They object, that nothing is more inconsistent with the nature of God than to have two wills. This I grant them, provided it be rightly explained. But why do they not consider the numerous passages, where, by the assumption of human affections, God condescends beneath his own majesty? He says, “I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people;”[595] early and late endeavouring to bring them to himself. If they are determined to accommodate all this to God, and disregard the figurative mode of expression, they will give rise to many needless contentions, which may be settled by this one solution, that what is peculiar to man is transferred to God. The solution, however, elsewhere stated by us, is fully sufficient—that though to our apprehension the will of God is manifold and various, yet he does not in himself will things at variance with each other, but astonishes our faculties with his various and “manifold wisdom,” according to the expression of Paul, till we shall be enabled to understand, that he mysteriously wills what now seems contrary to his will. They impertinently object, that God being the Father of all, it is unjust for him to disinherit any but such as have previously deserved this punishment by their own guilt. As if the goodness of God did not extend even to dogs and swine. But if the question relates to the human race, let them answer why God allied himself to one people as their Father; why he gathered even from them but a very small number, as the flower of them. But their rage for slander prevents these railers from considering that God “maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good,”[596] but that the inheritance is reserved for the few, to whom it shall one day be said, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”[597] They further object, that God hates nothing he has made; which though I grant them, the doctrine I maintain still remains unshaken, that the reprobate are hated by God, and that most justly, because, being destitute of his Spirit, they can do nothing but what is deserving of his curse. They further allege, that there is no difference between the Jew and the Gentile, and therefore that the grace of God is offered indiscriminately to all: I grant it; only let them admit, according to the declaration of Paul, that God calls whom he pleases, both of the Jews and of the Gentiles,[598] so that he is under no obligation to any. In this way also we answer their arguments from another text, which says, that “God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all;”[599] which imports that he will have the salvation of all who are saved ascribed to his mercy, though this blessing is not common to all. Now, while many arguments are advanced on both sides, let our conclusion be to stand astonished with Paul at so great a mystery, and amidst the clamour of petulant tongues let us not be ashamed of exclaiming with him, “O man, who art thou that repliest against God?” For, as Augustine justly contends, it is acting a most perverse part, to set up the measure of human justice as the standard by which to measure the justice of God.
Footnote 521: Rom. viii. 29, 30.
Footnote 522: Footnote 523: John vi. 46.
Footnote 524: John xvii. 6.
Footnote 525: John vi. 44.
Footnote 526: Isaiah lxv. 1.
Footnote 527: Joshua xxiv. 2, 3.
Footnote 528: 1 John iii. 24.
Footnote 529: Acts xiii. 48.
Footnote 530: Deut. xxx. 14.
Footnote 531: Isaiah xxv. 1.
Footnote 532: Matt. iii. 17.
Footnote 533: Rom. viii. 32. John iii. 15, 16.
Footnote 535: John vi. 35-58.
Footnote 536: Footnote 537: Rom. viii. 30.
Footnote 538: Matt. xxii. 14.
Footnote 540: Rom. xi. 17-23.
Footnote 541: John vi. 37, 39.
Footnote 543: Matt. xv. 13.
Footnote 544: 1 John ii. 19.
Footnote 545: Rom. viii. 35-39.
Footnote 547: Psalm cxxxviii. 8.
Footnote 548: 1 John ii. 19.
Footnote 550: Psalm xv. 1.
Footnote 551: Psalm xxiv. 6.
Footnote 552: John xvii. 12.
Footnote 553: John vi. 70.
Footnote 554: John xiii. 18.
Footnote 555: Ezek. xiii. 9.
Footnote 557: Psalm lxix. 28.
Footnote 558: Phil. iii. 5, 6.
Footnote 560: Ephes. ii. 1-3.
Footnote 561: Ephes. ii. 11, 12.
Footnote 562: Footnote 563: Ephes. iv. 25, 28.
Footnote 564: 1 Cor. vi. 9-11.
Footnote 565: Rom. vi. 19, 21.
Footnote 566: 1 Peter iv. 3.
Footnote 567: Josh. ii. 1, &c.
Footnote 568: 2 Kings xxi. 16.
Footnote 569: Luke xxiii. 40-42.
Footnote 570: Isaiah liii. 6.
Footnote 571: 1 Cor. iv. 7.
Footnote 572: Exod. iv. 21.
Footnote 573: Ezek. ii. 3; xii. 2.
Footnote 575: Isaiah vi. 9, 10.
Footnote 576: John xii. 39, 40.
Footnote 577: Matt. xiii. 11.
Footnote 578: Rom. ix. 17.
Footnote 579: 1 Sam. ii. 25.
Footnote 580: John xii. 37, 38.
Footnote 581: John vi. 45.
Footnote 583: Ezek. xxxiii. 11.
Footnote 584: 1 Tim. ii. 4.
Footnote 585: Deut. iv. 7.
Footnote 586: Psalm cxlv. 9.
Footnote 587: Psalm cxv. 3.
Footnote 588: Exod. xxxiii. 19.
Footnote 589: 2 Peter iii. 9.
Footnote 590: Ezek. xxxvi. 26.
Footnote 592: 2 Tim. ii. 25.
Footnote 593: Jer. xxxi. 18, 19.
Footnote 594: Matt. xxiii. 37.
Footnote 595: Isaiah lxv. 2.
Footnote 597: Matt. xxv. 34.
Footnote 598: Rom. ix. 24.
Footnote 599: Rom. xi. 32.
CHAPTER XXV. THE FINAL RESURRECTION.
Though Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, after having “abolished death,” is declared by Paul to have “brought life and immortality to light,” shining upon us “through the gospel,”[600] whence also in believing we are said to have “passed from death unto life,”[601] being “no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God,”[602] who “hath made us sit together in heavenly places” with his only begotten Son,[603] that nothing may be wanting to our complete felicity,—yet, lest we should find it grievous to be still exercised with a severe warfare, as though we derived no benefit from the victory gained by Christ, we must remember what is stated in another place concerning the nature of hope. For “since we hope for that we see not,”[604] and, according to another text, “faith is the evidence of things not seen;”[605] as long as we are confined in the prison of the flesh, “we are absent from the Lord.”[606] Wherefore the same apostle says, “Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God;” and “when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.”[607] This, then, is our condition, “that we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world, looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.”[608] Here we have need of more than common patience, lest, being wearied, we pursue a retrograde course, or desert the station assigned us. All that has hitherto been stated, therefore, concerning our salvation, requires minds elevated towards heaven, that, according to the suggestion of Peter, we may love Christ, whom we have not seen, and, believing in him, may “rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory,” till we receive “the end of our faith.”[609] For which reason, Paul represents the faith and hope of believers as having respect to “the hope that is laid up in heaven.”[610] When we are thus looking towards heaven, with our eyes fixed upon Christ, and nothing detains them on earth from carrying us forward to the promised blessedness, we realize the fulfilment of that declaration, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”[611] Hence it is, that faith is so scarce in the world; because to our sluggishness nothing is more difficult than to ascend through innumerable obstacles, “pressing toward the mark, for the prize of the high calling.”[612] To the accumulation of miseries which generally oppress us, are added the mockeries of the profane, with which our simplicity is assailed; while voluntarily renouncing the allurements of present advantage or pleasure,