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Daybreak in France
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righteousness which by grace alone justifies to eternal life.
And
while teaching that the glory of salvation belongs solely to God, he
also declared that the duty of obedience belongs to man.
Some among Lefevre’s students listened eagerly to his words
and long after the teacher’s voice was silenced, continued to declare
the truth. Such was William Farel. The son of pious parents and a
devoted Romanist, he burned with zeal to destroy all who should
dare to oppose the church. “I would gnash my teeth like a furious
wolf,” he afterward said, “when I heard anyone speaking against
the pope.” But adoration of the saints, worshiping at the altars, and
adorning with gifts the holy shrines could not bring peace of soul.
Conviction of sin fastened upon him, which all acts of penance failed
to banish. He listened to Lefevre’s words: “Salvation is of grace.”
“It is the cross of Christ alone that openeth the gates of heaven, and
shutteth the gates of hell.
By a conversion like that of Paul, Farel turned from the bondage
of tradition to the liberty of the sons of God. “Instead of the murder-
ous heart of a ravening wolf,” he came back, he says, “quietly like a
meek and harmless lamb, having his heart entirely withdrawn from
the pope, and given to Jesus Christ.
While Lefevre spread the light among students, Farel went forth
to declare the truth in public. A dignitary of the church, the bishop of
Meaux, soon united with them. Other teachers joined in proclaiming
the gospel, and it won adherents from the homes of artisans and
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peasants to the palace of the king. The sister of Francis I accepted
the reformed faith. With high hopes the Reformers looked forward
to the time when France should be won to the gospel.
French New Testament
But their hopes were not to be realized. Trial and persecution
awaited the disciples of Christ. However, a time of peace intervened,
that they might gain strength to meet the tempest; and the Reforma-
tion made rapid progress. Lefevre undertook the translation of the
New Testament; and at the very time when Luther’s German Bible
1
Wylie, bk. 13, ch. 1.
2
Ibid., bk. 13, ch. 2.
3
D’Aubigne, bk. 12, ch. 3.