The Institution of Christian Religion

But before I proceed any further, it shall be necessary, that I make some §8preambles to dissolve certain doubts that otherwise might make some stop to the readers. And first I must confute the distinction that flieth about in the schools, between faith, formed and unformed. For they imagine that such as are touched with no fear of God, with no feeling of godliness, do believe all that is necessary to salvation. As though the holy ghost in lightening our hearts unto faith, were not a witness to us of our adoption. And yet presumptuously, when all the ⟨image 191⟩Scripture crieth out against it, they give the name of faith to such persuasion void of the fear of God. We need to strive no further with their definition, but simply to rehearse the nature of faith, such as it is declared by the word of God. Whereby shall plainly appear how unskilfully & foolishly they rather make a noise than speak of it. I have already touched part, the rest I will add hereafter as place shall serve. At this present I say, that there can not be imagined a greater absurdity, than this invention of theirs. They will have faith to be an assent, whereby every despiser of God may receive that which is uttered out of the Scripture. But first they should have seen whether every man of his own power do bring faith to himself, or whether the holy ghost be by it a witness of adoption. Therefore they do childishly play the fools, in demanding, whether faith, which quality addeth doth form, be the same faith or an other and a new faith. Whereby appeareth certainly, that in so babbling they never thought of the singular gift of the holy ghost. For the beginning of believing doth already contain in it the reconciliation, whereby man approacheth to God. But if they did weigh that saying of Paul:¹ With the heart is believed to righteousness, they would cease to feign that same cold quality. If we had but this one reason, it should be sufficient to end this contention: that the very same assent (as I have already touched, and will again more largely repeat) is rather of the heart than of the brain, rather of affection than of understanding.² For which cause it is called the obedience of faith, which is such as the Lord preferreth no kind of obedience above it: