II. Three principles of salvation; grace as free favor, not infused habit
II. The principles of human salvation are the grace of paternal mercy, of fraternal redemption, and of Gods heavenly calling.
Since our salvation and Gods friendship are wholly desperate whether we turn to ourselves or to all or any other creatures — because Gods justice, whose precept we violated, cannot otherwise be satisfied — the first principle of this friendship and of our salvation is truly Gods grace. By this we do not mean that general beneficence of God by which all created things are conserved and governed; for that would stand even if the human had never been received into grace. We mean rather the acts of divine benevolence and philanthropy by which God pitied the fallen human race when He saw it wholly sunk in eternal ruin and unable to be freed from it unless He Himself came to its aid (Ephesians 1:5; 2:4; Titus 3:4).
First, therefore, when the divine writings say we have been saved by grace, by grace is to be understood nothing but Gods mercy and free favor toward us. And so the Papists sense must be rejected, who here interpret grace as an infused quality or habit — whether the habit of charity or another distinct from charity. This grace itself was given us in Christ before the ages of the world (2 Timothy 1:9). Nor is it to be doubted that God foresaw the humans fall before all times, even though it happened in time, and so foresaw the miseries and punishments in which the human race was to be entangled; and second, that just as God pitied humans in time, so by the very foresight of those miseries He pitied from eternity and decreed when He would help.
Yet since God is not only good but also just and constant in His words, it cannot be that He fail to exact the severest punishment for sins, and what He Himself pronounced must most certainly be fulfilled: in whatever day you eat the forbidden fruit, you shall die the death. Therefore it is most necessary to hold that Gods decree to free humans was made according to His mercy in such a way that His truth and justice were in no way violated. From this we gather that the principle of our salvation is truly an admirable tempering of divine mercy and justice, unsearchable to human reason — so that justice is satisfied, and yet mercy also has its place to help the wretched.
Latin
II. Sunt autem principia salutis humanae gratia tum paternae miserationis, tum fraternae redemtionis, tum supernae Dei vocationis. Cum salus nostra & Dei amicitia prorsus sit desperata sive nos convertamus ad nos ipsos, sive ad alias creaturas cunctas aut singulas, propterea quod iustitia Dei, cuius praeceptum violavimus, sic nullo modo possit fieri satis: primum profecto huius amicitiae salutisque nostrae principium est gratia Dei, qua non significamus generalem illam Dei beneficentiam, per quam res omnes creatae conservantur & gubernantur. Haec enim sibi nihilominus constaret, etiamsi homo in gratiam receptus nunquam fuisset. Intelligimus vero per eam actus divinae benevolentiae & philanthropiae, qua Deus humani generis lapsi misertus est, quando vidit id totum aeterno exitio immergi, neque ullo pacto ex eo liberari posse, nisi ipse succurreret, Eph. 1:5; 2:4; Tit. 3:4. Unde primo manifestum est, cum divinae literae dicunt, gratia nos salvos factos esse, per gratiam non intelligendam esse nisi misericordiam Dei & gratuitum erga nos favorem. Ideoque & repudiandam esse Pontificiorum acceptionem, qui gratiam hic interpretantur infusam qualitatem aut habitum quendam, sive is sit habitus charitatis, aut alius a charitate distinctus. Haec autem gratia ipsa data nobis fuit in Christo ante tempora secularia, 2 Tim. 1:9. Neque in dubium vocandum est, quin Deus lapsum hominis, etiamsi in tempore contigerit, tamen ante omnia tempora praesciverit, adeoque miserias & poenas, quibus genus humanum implicandum erat, praeviderit; secundò, quin etiam quemadmodum Deus hominum in tempore misertus est, ita quoque eo ipso, quo miserias praevidit, ab aeterno misertus fuerit, & quando subvenire vellet, decreverit. Verum enimvero, cum Deus non solum bonus sit, verum etiam iustus & constans in dictis suis, non potest fieri, quin pro peccatis poenam exigat severissimam, certissimeque impleri debeat quod ipse pronunciaverat: quocunque die comederis fructum vetitum, morte morieris. Quapropter necessarium est quam maxime, ut statuamus, a Deo secundum suam quidem misericordiam sic decretum de hominibus liberandis factum esse, ne tamen veritas & iustitia eius ullo modo violaretur. Ex quo colligimus, salutis nostrae principium revera esse admirandam humanaeque rationi impervestigabilem misericordiae & iustitiae divinae temperationem, ut videlicet huic ita satis fiat, quo tamen illi quoque suus sit locus ad succurrendum miseris.