A Brief and Pithy Sum of the Christian Faith

8 Another execrable error of the papists in the using of the only medicine of health, which is the benefit of Jesus Christ.

8 Another execrable error of the papistes in the vsing of the onely medicine of health, which is the benefit of Iesus Christ.

AS there is but one only Justice by imputation for the which we be esteemed, and holden for righteous before God, & be consequent saved that is to say, by the righteousness of Jesus Christ, which is declared to us in the gospel. So is there but one mean to be joined & united with Jesus Christ ⟨p. 139⟩for to have salvation in him, that is to we•e faith, which is an assurance that all Christians ought to have of their election & salvation by the only grace and goodness of God, in Jesus Christ. Faith and assurance is created, and daily increased by the virtue of the holy ghost, within the hearts of the elect, by the mean of preaching the word of God, and the ministration of the sacraments, as we have amply and largely declared in the third and fourth point of this confession. So then this faith is as the hand, which only doth receive and apprehend Jesus Christ to the salvation of him that believeth. It followeth that those do take away all means of salvation from men, which directly strive and fight against this doctrine, not knowing them selves what faith is, much less can they declare it to others. For according to their doctrine, faith is no other thing than to believe in general, that which is contained in the holy scriptures to be true, & that the Romish ⟨image 154⟩[…] ⟨p. 139⟩[…] ⟨image 155⟩Church as they call it, cannot err, what soever they say or do. Notwithstanding, concerning the first of these two points, it is forbidden to translate the Scriptures into the mother tongue, and to read it, to know what is contained therein, to the end it may be known what it is that they do believe, except he be a Doctor or a man of the Church, as they call them. And so by this means it is folly to permit the greatest part of their priests to read it. For consider the greatest part of them cannot scarcely read it truly. And of those which can read, yea even the greatest Prelates, (setting aside those which have not much more knowledge of Christs doctrine, than beasts which feed in the field, and those which pass not greatly for it, in exercising them selves rather in other things than in their vocation, & namely mock it with open mouth) I believe the rest shall be found marvellous few. Notwithstanding according to their own doctrine all this is not without faith, although he