A17599:505
Aphorisms of Christian religionAphorismes of Christian religion
Aphorisms of Christian religion: or, a very compendious abridgement of M. I. Calvins Institutions set forth in short sentences methodically by M. I. Piscator: and now Englished according to the authors third and last edition, by H. Holland.Aphorismes of Christian religion: or, a verie compendious abridgement of M. I. Calvins Institutions set forth in short sentences methodically by M. I. Piscator: and now Englished according to the authors third and last edition, by H. Holland.
London: printed by Richard Field and Robert Dexter, 1596
Title page typeset from the transcription.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
XIII.
The fifth petition, Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors: by the word debts he meaneth our sins, for that we owe the punishment of them unto God and this Christ himself hath borne for us, in his death upon the cross, and so hath obtained the pardon of sins for us. We beg that the heavenly father would impute unto us that satisfaction & obedience of Christ & work in us a sense & a feeling of this imputation, that so we may sweetly rest in his fatherly favour in Christ, and in his love purchased for us in and by the sufferings of Christ. To this petition is annexed an argument drawn from the like example: that is, the example of our remission in pardoning our neighbour his trespasses: The reason of which example doth not consist in the merit of our work, but in the promise of Christ, saying. For aif ye forgive men their offences, your heavenly father will also forgive you. But if ye do not forgive men their trespasses, no more will your father forgive you your trespasses. By which words it doth ⟨p. 102⟩manifestly appear, that they only can be assured of the pardon of sins, that are assured and know in their consciences, that they have pardoned their neighbours. The reason whereof is this, it can not be, that any man pardon from his hart his brother,2 unless he first love him: now he can not love his brother, which first doth not love God; and no man can love God, which is not persuaded in his hart, that God of his mere grace hath pardoned him all his sins by and through Jesus Christ. And again he that is assured of this, he can not, but love God, and his neighbour in & for the Lord: from which love, it can not be, but the pardoning of all offences must proceed. Lastly this argument is also noted with these words as and also,