IN EPIST. AD GALAT.

And the gifts he has, God placed in him to execute His counsel. For who has first given to Him, and it shall be repaid to him? as the Apostle says elsewhere. Therefore, no one forms himself by his own industry so that he is fit for the least function. Application: Whoever has a better talent, let him not think he has it from himself. It is a talent that you have received. For how does it come to be that you are not without intellect, just as you see many deprived of it? Then, when we arrive at age, it is necessary that God impel us: He offers occasions, etc. Proverbs 8: The Son of God says: "Counsel and wisdom are mine... by me kings reign."

Therefore, let us attribute no glory to ourselves, but to God, the fountain. If even the smallest grace in political affairs ought to be received from God, when we are called to the knowledge of the Gospel, and when we are so united to Christ that we are certain of eternal life, surely this must be the work of Christ alone. Let us see examples and testimonies of Scripture. Joseph (Gen. 37 and 45), was he not destined from the womb so that he might help his parents and brothers? The sale, the Egyptian merchants, everything seems fortuitous: "Nevertheless," he says, "God sent me before you." Then Moses is drawn from the waters so that he might become the leader of the people, and is nourished by the King, Exodus 2.

Thus, the Antichrist nourishes many who were destined from their mother's womb to oppose him with their writings. David, Psalm 22: "Upon You I was cast from the womb; from my mother's womb You have been my God." Psalm 139.

Isaiah 44, 45, and 49: "I named you while you were still in the womb," etc.

Jeremiah 1: "I knew you before I formed you in the womb."