Chapter 14.—The Testimonies of Scripture in Favour of Grace.

For that very pride has so stopped the ears of their heart that they do not hear, “For what hast thou that thou hast not received?”288    1 Cor. iv. 7. They do not hear, “Without me ye can do nothing;”289    John xv. 5. they do not hear, “Love is of God;”290    1 John iv. 7. they do not hear, “God hath dealt the measure of faith;”291    Rom. xii. 3. they do not hear, “The Spirit breatheth where it will,”292    John iii. 8. and, “They who are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God;”293    Rom. viii. 14. they do not hear, “No one can come unto me, unless it were given him of my Father;”294    John vi. 65. they do not hear what Esdras writes, “Blessed is the Lord of our fathers, who hath put into the heart of the king to glorify His house which is in Jerusalem;”295    1 Esdras viii. 25. they do not hear what the Lord says by Jeremiah, “And I will put my fear into their heart, that they depart not from me; and I will visit them to make them good;”296    Jer. xxxii. 40, 41. and specially that word by Ezekiel the prophet, where God fully shows that He is induced by no good deservings of men to make them good, that is, obedient to His commands, but rather that He repays to them good for evil, by doing this for His own sake, and not for theirs. For He says, “These things saith the Lord God: I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine own holy name’s sake, which has been profaned among the nations, whither ye have gone in there; and I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord, saith Adonai the Lord, when I shall be sanctified among you before their eyes. And I will take you from among the nations, and gather you together out of all lands, and will bring you into your own land. And I will sprinkle upon you clean water, and ye shall be cleansed from all your filthiness, and I will cleanse you. And I will give unto you a new heart, and a new spirit will I put within you: and the stony heart shall be taken away out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and will cause you to walk in my righteousness, and to observe my judgments, and do them.”297    Ezek. xxxvi. 22 ff. And after a few words, by the same prophet He says, “Not for your sakes do I do this, saith the Lord God; it shall be known unto you: be ye confounded and blush for your ways, O house of Israel. These things saith the Lord God: In the day in which I shall cleanse you from all your iniquities, and shall ordain cities, and the wilderness shall be built, and the desolated land shall be tilled, whereas it was desolated before the eyes of every passer by. And they shall say, This land that was desolated has become as a garden of pleasure; and the wasted and desolated and ruined cities have settled down fortified. And whatever nations have been left round about you shall know that I the Lord have built the ruined places, I have planted the desolated places: I the Lord have spoken, and have done it. Thus saith the Lord: I will yet for this inquire of the house of Israel, that I may do it for them; I will multiply them men like sheep, as holy sheep, as the sheep of Jerusalem in the days of her feast; so shall be those desolated cities full of men as sheep: and they shall know that I am the Lord.”298    Ezek. xxxvi. 32 ff.

14. Ita namque illis tumor ipse aures cordis obstruxit, ut non audiant, Quid enim habes quod non accepisti (I Cor. IV, 7)? non audiant, Sine me nihil potestis facere (Joan. XV, 5): non audiant, Charitas ex Deo est (I Joan. IV, 7): non audiant, Deus partitus est mensuram fidei (Rom. XII, 3): non audiant, Spiritus ubi vult spirat (Joan. III, 8); et, Qui spiritu Dei aguntur, hi filii sunt Dei (Rom. VIII, 14): non audiant, Nemo potest venire ad me, nisi fuerit ei datum a Patre meo (Joan. VI, 66): non audiant quod Esdras scribit, Benedictus est Dominus patrum nostrorum, qui hoc dedit in cor regis, clarificare domum suam, quae est in Jerusalem (III Esdr. VIII, 28): non audiant quod per Jeremiam dicit Dominus, Et timorem meum dabo in cor eorum, ut a me non recedant, et visitabo eos, ut bonos eos faciam (Jerem. XXXII, 40 et 41): maximeque illud per Ezechielem prophetam, ubi prorsus Deus ostendit nullis se hominum bonis meritis provocari, ut eos bonos faciat, id est, obedientes mandatis suis; sed potius haec eis se retribuere bona pro malis, propter se ipsum hoc faciendo, non propter illos. Ait enim: Haec dicit Dominus Deus, Ego facio, non propter vos, domus Israel , sed propter nomen meum sanctum, quod 0619 profanastis in gentibus, quo intrastis illuc; et sanctificabo nomen meum magnum, quod profanatum est in gentibus, et profanastis in medio eorum: et scient gentes quia ego sum Dominus, dicit Adonai Dominus, cum sanctificatus fuero in vobis ante oculos eorum, et accipiam vos de gentibus, et congregabo vos ex omnibus terris, et inducam vos in terram vestram; et aspergam super vos aquam mundam, et mundabimini ab omnibus immunditiis vestris, et mundabo vos; et dabo vobis cor novum, et spiritum novum dabo in vobis; et auferetur cor lapideum de carne vestra, et dabo vobis cor carneum; et spiritum meum dabo in vobis, et faciam ut in justificationibus meis ambuletis, et judicia mea observetis et faciatis. Et post aliquanta per eumdem ipsum prophetam: Non propter vos, inquit, ego facio, dicit Dominus Deus; notum erit vobis: confundimini, et erubescite de viis vestris, domus Israel. Haec dicit Dominus Deus: In die quo mundabo vos ab omnibus iniquitatibus vestris, et constituam civitates, et aedificabuntur deserta, et terra exterminata operabitur , pro eo quod exterminata est ante oculos omnis praetereuntis. Et dicent: Terra illa exterminata, facta est sicut hortus voluptatis, et civitates desertae et exterminatae et effossae, munitae sederunt. Et scient gentes quaecumque relictae fuerint in circuitu vestro, quia ego Dominus aedificavi destructas, plantavi exterminatas. Ego Dominus locutus sum, et feci. Haec dicit Dominus: Adhuc hoc inquiram domui Israel ut faciam eis; multiplicabo eos sicut oves homines, sicut oves sanctas, sicut oves Jerusalem in diebus festis ejus: sic erunt civitates illae desolatae, plenae ovium hominum, et scient quia ego Dominus (Ezech. XXXVI, 22-38).