Legitimate faith in Scripture needs the Spirit's secret work; John 6, 1 Corinthians 12 and 2, Ephesians 2

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Saving, legitimate faith about Scripture — faith that actually matters for salvation — does not arise without the Holy Spirit slipping into our minds and working there in secret. The Schools therefore name that faith divine and infused. Scripture itself says so again and again.

Christ teaches in John that no one can come to him (believe in him and take his teaching) unless the Father draws that person, and unless that person has heard the Father teaching within. His words: "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. It is written in the Prophets, And they shall all be taught by God. Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me" (John 6).

Paul is just as plain: no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12). On the Gospel mysteries he adds (1 Corinthians 2): "God has revealed them to us by his Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. But we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we may know the things freely given to us by God." Then: "But the natural man does not perceive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned." That is why faith itself is called God's gift (Ephesians 2): "By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God."

Latin

III. Verum ut certam ac legitimam fidem, et quae sit alicujus ad salutem momenti de Scriptura concipiamus, omnino necessarium est ut Spiritus sanctus sese in mentes nostras insinuet, et arcano modo in iis operetur: Unde est quod ejusmodi fidem, Scholae divinam, et infusam vocant. Hoc autem ipsa Scriptura docet multis in locis. Nam apud Johannem Christus Dominus noster affirmat neminem posse ad ipsum venire, id est, in eum credere, et doctrinam ejus amplecti, nisi quem traxerit Pater, et qui Patrem intus docentem non audiverit: Nemo, inquit, potest venire ad me, nisi Pater qui misit me traxerit eum. Scriptum est in Prophetis, Et erunt omnes docti a Deo. Quisquis ergo audivit et didicit a Patre, venit ad me. Joh. cap. 6. Praeterea Paulus, 1 Corinth. 12. disertis verbis affirmat, Neminem posse dicere Jesum Dominum nisi per Spiritum sanctum. Et cap. 2. ejusdem Epistolae, de mysteriis Evangelii loquens, Deus, inquit, nobis ea revelavit per Spiritum suum. Spiritus enim omnia scrutatur, etiam profunda Dei. Nos vero Spiritum mundi non accepimus, sed Spiritum qui est ex Deo, ut sciamus quae a Deo donata sunt nobis. Et paulo post, Animalis autem homo non percipit ea quae sunt Spiritus Dei, stultitia enim ei sunt, et non potest intelligere, quoniam spiritualiter dijudicantur. Atque hinc est quod fides dicitur donum Dei, Eph. 2. Gratia estis salvati per fidem, idque non ex vobis: Dei donum est.

About this text

Louis Le Blanc de Beaulieu - Sedan Theological Theses, newly rendered from the 1675 London Latin. Covers De Theologia through Angelorum & Hominum Sanctorum Cultu Romana I-LXXVII and Pars Secunda (Reformata) I-XL. Not the collected folio.

English follows locked Pitt Latin through Imaginum CLOSED + Sanctorum Cultu Romana CLOSED + Pars Secunda Reformata I-XL. 1675 PDF ~384-390 (book ~370-376); Vision OCR + pdftotext + tess. No modern English. This slice densifies Sanctorum Pars Secunda I-XL. Next: Pars Secunda XLI–fin (~CI). Claim stays claimed (book densify not done).

Catalogue & scope

ESTC R17887; Wing L802. IA bub_gb_eOkHAW4G0-wC (+ EEBO 1675 for gap leaves). Densify through Sanctorum Cultu Romana I-LXXVII + Pars Secunda Reformata I-XL (Pars Secunda not closed; not whole folio).

Witnesses

Copy-text Locked Latin, De Theologia I-XLIII (Pitt 1675) (Latin)
Checked print Internet Archive PDF of the 1675 Pitt folio (Latin)
Checked print pdftotext of De Theologia pages (Latin)
Checked print Internet Archive DjVu OCR of the 1675 Pitt folio (Latin)
Copy-text Locked Latin, De Fide I-XXII (Pitt 1675) (Latin)
Copy-text Locked Latin, De Authoritate Scripturae Pars I I-XLVII + Pars II I-XXXV + Pars III I-VIII (Pitt 1675) (Latin)
Copy-text Locked Latin, De Scripturae plenitudine densify (Pitt 1675) (Latin)

This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Latin on each section (or the Latin source witness link) for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.