218 The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan
[ 213 ] a professor in the University of Paris, and a sincere and zealous papist. In his researches into ancient literature his attention was directed to the Bible, and he introduced its study among his students.
Lefevre was an enthusiastic adorer of the saints, and he had undertaken to prepare a history of the saints and martyrs, as given in the legends of the church. This was a work which involved great labor; but he had already made considerable progress in it, when, thinking that he might obtain useful assistance from the Bible, he began its study with this object. Here indeed he found saints brought to view, but not such as figured in the Roman calendar. A flood of divine light broke in upon his mind. In amazement and disgust he turned away from his self-appointed task, and devoted himself to the word of God. The precious truths which he there discovered, he soon began to teach.
In 1512, before either Luther or Zwingle had begun the work of reform, Lefevre wrote:“ It is God who gives us, by faith, that righteousness which by grace alone justifies to eternal life.” 314 Dwelling upon the mysteries of redemption, he exclaimed,“ Oh, the unspeakable greatness of that exchange,— the Sinless One is condemned, and he who is guilty goes free; the Blessing bears the curse, and the cursed is brought into blessing; the Life dies, and the dead live; the Glory is whelmed in darkness, and he who knew nothing but confusion of face is clothed with glory.” 315
And while teaching that the glory of salvation belongs solely to God, he also declared that the duty of obedience belongs to man.“ If thou art a member of Christ ' s church,” he said,“ thou art a member of His body; if thou art of His body, then thou art full of the divine nature.... Oh, if men could but enter into the understanding of this privilege, how purely, chastely, and holily would they live, and how contemptible, when compared with
314 Wylie, b. 13, ch. 1. 315 D ' Aubigné, b. 12, ch. 2( London ed.).