Reasons 5–8: instrument; matter of prayers; our inability; first origin
V. From the reason of the instrument that moves and directs. For no instrument acts unless first moved by the principal cause and put to use.d Scripture is an instrument, and the Holy Spirit's illumination is the principal cause of Scripture's opened sense (Job 32:8; Wisdom of Solomon 7:21 and chapter 8:1; 2 Corinthians 3:6; Acts 16:14 and Acts 26:18; Deuteronomy 29:4; Psalm 119:34; Ephesians 4:23; Jeremiah 31:18). Therefore.
VI. From the matter of prayers. For whatever the sons of God ask in order to obtain from God the salutary, living, and inward sense of Scripture precedes by nature the obtaining of that sense. But now they ask the Holy Spirit's illumination in order to obtain Scripture's sense (Psalm 119:18; Colossians 4:3). Compare also the old hymn "Purify the eye of the inward man," &c., and the preface which Luther prefixed to German volume 1 in the year 1539. Therefore we can obtain no living sense of Scripture without the Holy Spirit's prior illumination.
VII. From the reason of our inability. For if by nature a person with no powers can inwardly affirm and effectually will God's word, which proposes its sense to him — which properly, according to Scripture's phrase, is to understand it rightly — then altogether the Holy Spirit's illumination must precede this effectual and inward affirmation in the order of nature, even though they are simultaneous in time. But the former is true (John 15:5: "You can do nothing without me"; and 1 Corinthians 12:3: "No one can call Jesus Lord without the Holy Spirit"; add Philippians 2:13; Acts 16:14). Therefore so is the latter.
VIII. From the reason of first origin. For whence Scripture's sense has its principle, thence it is also known. For what is the cause of a cause is also the cause of what is caused. Whence Bernard in a sermon to the brothers on the mount: "You will never," he says, "enter Paul's sense unless you have drunk in Paul's spirit." And not a few of the ancients otherwise: "No one can find God unless he has first been found by God." So Didymus On the Holy Spirit: "No one," he says, "ever receives spiritual blessings unless the Holy Spirit has gone before." But Scripture's sense has its principle from the Holy Spirit's illumination (2 Peter 1:20–2 Peter 1:21; 2 Timothy 3:16–2 Timothy 3:17). Therefore, &c.
Latin
V. A ratione instrumenti movendi ac dirigendi. Nam nullum instrumentum agit, nisi a causa principe prius motum & ad agendum applicatum. Jam vero sacra Scriptura est instrumentum, illuminatio vero Spiritus sancti causa princeps aperti sensus Scripturae, Job 32.v.8. Sap. 7.v.21. & cap. 8.v.1. 2. Cor. 3.v.6. Act. 16.v.14. & cap. 26.v.18. Deut. 29.v.4. psal. 119.v.34. Eph. 4.v.23. Jer. 31.v.18. Ergo. VI. A materia precum. Nam quicquid filii Dei petunt, ut a Deo impetrent, ad consequendum salutarem, vivum & interiorem Scripturae sensum, id consecutionem istius sensus ordine naturae praecedit. Jam vero petunt illuminationem Spiritus sancti ad consequendum Scripturae sensum, psal. 119.v.18. Col. 4.v.3. Confer etiam veterem hymnum, Purifica oculum interioris hominis &c. & praefationem, quam Lutherus tomo 1. Germanico anno 1539 praemisit. Ergo nullum vivum sensum Scripturae consequi possumus, sine praevia Spiritus sancti illuminatione. VII. A ratione ἀδυναμίας nostrae. Nam si homo a natura nullis viribus verbum Dei, quod illi sensum suum proponit, interius affirmare & efficaciter velle potest, quod proprie juxta Scripturae phrasin est illud recte intelligere: omnino hanc efficacem & interiorem affirmationem illuminatio Spiritus sancti ordine naturae, licet tempore sint simul, praecedere oportet. Atqui verum est prius, Joh. 15.v.5. Nihil sine me potestis, & 1. Cor. 12.v.3. Nemo potest Jesum Dominum appellare sine Spiritu sancto. adde Phil. 2.v.13. Act. 16.v.14. Ergo & posterius. VIII. A ratione originis primae. Nam unde sensus Scripturae principium suum habet, inde etiam cognoscitur. Quod enim est causa causae, id etiam est causa causati. Unde Bernhardus sermone ad fratres in monte: Nunquam, inquit, sensum Pauli ingredieris, nisi Pauli spiritum imbiberis. Et priscorum non nemo alius: Nemo Deum invenire potest, nisi prior a Deo inventus sit. Sic Didymus de Spiritu sancto: Nunquam, inquit, accipit quisquam spirituales benedictiones, nisi praecesserit Spiritus sanctus. Atqui sensus Scripturae principium suum habet ab illuminatione Spiritus sancti, 2. Pet. 1. & 2. Tim. 3. ult. Ergo &c.