In the 1530s Cranmer came to fully embrace the evangelical movement sweeping England and the European continent, including the Protestant understanding of justification by faith alone apart from works. “The question that would occupy Cranmer for the remainder of his life,” according to theologian Ashley Null, “was how exactly the sacraments of the church fit into this new narrative.”

Perkins passionately believed that Scripture can be best understood and preached from a reference of law & gospel: the law (the Bible’s commandments and imperatives) show us God’s standard for living and our failure to live up to it, and it then leads to our need for a righteousness beyond our own self-righteousness. The gospel is the word of Scripture about God’s solution for human sinfulness: Jesus who lived the life we failed to live in our good efforts, and who died the death that we deserve because of our sin.