M.  But God doth allure us to good doing with certain rewards, both in this life and in the life to come, and doth covenant with us as it were for certain wages.

      S.  ^aThat reward, as I have said, is not given to works for their worthiness, and rendered to them as recompence for deservings, but by the bountifulness of God is freely bestowed upon us without deserving.  And justification God doth give us as a gift of his own dear love toward us, and of his liberality ^bthrough Christ.  When I speak of God’s gift and liberality, I mean it ^cfree and bountiful, without any our desert or merit: that it be God’s mere and sincere liberality, which he applieth to our salvation only whom he loveth and which trust in him, not hired or procured for wages, as it were a merchandise of his commodities and benefits used by him for some profit to himself, requiring again of us some recompence or price, which once to think were to abate both the liberality and majesty of God.

      M.  Whereas then God doth by faith both give us justification, and by the same faith alloweth and accepteth our works, tell me, dost thou think that this faith is a quality of nature, or the gift of God?

      S.  Faith is the gift ^dof God, and a singular and excellent gift.  For both our wits are too gross ^eand dull to conceive and understand the wisdom of God, whose fountains are opened by faith, and our hearts are more apt either ^fto distrust, or to wrongful and corrupt trust in ourselves, or in other creatures, than to true trust in God.  But God, instructing us with his word and ^glightening our minds with his Holy Spirit, maketh us apt to learn those things that otherwise would be far from entering into the dull capacity of our wits; and sealing the promises of salvation in our souls, he so informeth us that we are most surely persuaded of the truth of them.  These things the apostles understanding, do pray to the Lord to ^hincrease their faith.