A Treatise of Justification, Book 8 · Chapter 1

A Treatise of Justification · Book 8 · Chapter 1

p. 547CHAP. I. Setting downe the state of the Controversie, and propounding our arguments against the merit of good Workes.

§. I.This controversie in a manner the same with that of the necessity of efficiencie.

THere remaineth the last, though not the least errour of the Papists in this controversie, which is concerning the efficacie of good workes. For the Papists not contented to affirme, that good works doe justifie; doe also teach that at the hands of God they doe merit or deserve the reward of eternall life. And this, in effect, is the same with that, which Bellarmine laboured to prove, when he disputed of the necessity of good workes unto salvation, not onelyonly necessitate praesentiae, as the way to Gods kingdome, which we confesse; but also necessitate efficientiae, as causes thereof. For by the Efficiencie which they ascribe to workes, they meane no other but morall, which is, as they say, by way of meriting. Howbeit the former assertion of the necessity of efficiencie seemeth to containe a further degree of damnable errour; viz. that not onelyonly good workes doe merit or deserve salvation; but also, that none can be saved without their owne merits: for so much is implyed in the terme of the necessity of efficiencie.The state of the controversie.

§. II. But first we are to set downe the state of the controversie, in setting downe whereof the Papists are very sparing, because in this p. 548point they differ much among themselves. But yet in this they do agree,aaConcil. Trident sess. 6. cap. 16 & can. 32. that all the good works of the regenerate are truly meritorious of eternall life. Now for the explacation of the termes: by good works, which they say are meritorious, they meane all such works, as are qualified according to those seven conditions, whichbbDe justif. l. 5. c. 10. Bellarmine requireth. First, that they be material…y good, or good in their kind. Secondly, that they be done in obedience to God. Thirdly, by such as are viatores way-faring men in this life. Fourthly, that they be free, that is, as they expound it, voluntary, proceeding from their freewill. Fifthly, persormed by men who are in the state of grace. Sixthly, having the promise of eternall reward. Seventhly, proceeding from the virtue of Charity.

Secondly, by all such workes they doe not onelyonly meane all joyntly,Quolibet actu charitate informa…o homo beatitudinem meretur. Th. 1.▪ q. 62. art. 5. c. but every one in particular: affirming, omne opus bonum that every good worke proceeding from Charity is meritorious of eternall life. Thirdly, by truely meritorious, the word used by the Councill of Trent, wee understand, that which properly and absolutely and for it selfe de…erveth the reward: thereby excluding first, merita ex congruo, merits of congruity, which indeed doe not deserve, and therefore are not veri nominis merita, truely and properly merits. Notwithstanding Bellarmine and others retaine the name, giving it chiefly to those dispositions and preparations going before justification, according to which grace is given: wherein they have rewarded the old assertion of Pelagius, gratiam secundum merita dari. For if those dispositions be merits, and if according to them grace is given, as the Councill of Trent in plaine termesccSecundum propriam cuiusque dispositionem. sess. 6. cap. 8. defineth, doe they not hold that grace is given to men according to their merits? Secondly, by this phrase truly and properly meritorious, are excluded these workes which ar… said to merit onelyonly, ex pacto, which ever happeneth when there is a great disproportion between the worke and the promised reward. As if a man should for a daies labour, which in commutative justice deserveth but denarium diurnum the day-penny, promise an hundred pound; this reward were due ex pacto, but yet not deserved by the labourer. The halfe of Herods Kingdome was due to the daughter of Her…dias, ex pacto if shee had asked so much, but no way deserved by her. By truely and properly meritorious therefore is meant that, which is condigne merit, or merit of condignity, that which is absolutely meritorious and not onelyonly ex pacto by reason of the promise (which happeneth when there is an equall proportion betweene the worke and the promised reward) sed ratione …peris ipsius, for the workes sake and for the worthinesse thereof.

§. III. This point is duely to bee observed. For there are some tergiversators,ddMal. the Irish Iesuit. pag. 699. that dare not professedly take upon them the defence of condigne merit, who notwithstanding would seem as stiffe defenders of merits as the best of them. As for that qnestion whether works deserve heaven …x cond…gno or not, and such like, they say they are but schoole points, which not being yet determined by the Church may freely bee disputed of pro & con. Yea, but thus much your Church hath determined, that the faithfull, who are the members of Christ, doe by their p. 549workes truelyeeConc. Trid. s…ss. 6. cap. …6. vitam aeternam verè promeruisse. merit or deserve eternall life, and denounceth a curse against those, who shall deny that a justified man doth by his good workes truelyffCan. 32. verè m…reri vitam aeternam. merit eternall life. But there is nothing which can truly and properly be called merit, but that which is of condignity, and doth for it selfe, and for its owne worth absolutely deserve the reward. That which is said to merit by way of congruity is not truely and properly meritorious, nor that which is said meerely to merit ex pacto, as where is no proportion betweene the merit and the wages. For neither of these doth truely deserve that which it is said to merit. Wherefore the most, and the most learned of the Papists hold, that there is a due proportion betweene the workes of the faithfull proceeding from charity: and the heavenly reward, and that they condignely merit eternall life, not only in respect of Gods promise, but also for the worthinesse of the workes, which are so dignified, they say, by the merit of Christ, that they become truely meritorious, and doe in Iustice, according to their worth, deserve the heavenly reward, even as justly, as the sinnes of the wicked deserve the punishment of hell. In so much that our RhemistsggIn Heb. 10.Heb 10 say, good workes be meritorious, and the very cause of salvation, so farre, that God should be unjust, if he rendred not heaven for the same, unjust (they meane) for not rendring a just and equall reward. Where fore howsoever some like snailes, when they are touched, doe pull in their hornes: yet this undoubtedly is the Tenet of the learned Papists at this day:hhBellarm. de justif. l. 5. c. 17. Opera bona justorum meritoria esse ex condigno, non solum ratione pacti sed etiam ratione operum, that the good workes of the righteous are condignely meritorious, not onelyonly in regard of the covenant, but also in respect of the workes themselves. As for those, who heretofore have denyed the absolute merit of condignity, and have held either merits of congruity onelyonly, or onelyonly ex pacto, they are censured by some of the learnediiVasquez. in prima secundae. q. 114. disp. 214. cap. … among them to have differed from us in words, but in deed to have agreed with us.

But as for us we acknowledge no merits of eternall life, but the merits of Christ onelyonly: and wee doe constantly hold, and confidently professe,Of this se… more in the answere to the challenge made by a Iesuit in Ireland. pag. 520. that no meere man can merit, that is, deserve at the hands of God the reward of eternall life, by any thing, or by all the things which hee can doe or suffer in this world.

§. IV. For the handling of this controversie I will observe this order: first I will propound our arguments and maintaine them, and thenOf the name merit. I will answere the objections of the Papists.

And first, I will speake of the name, and then of the thing: neither of which hath any ground in the Scriptures: and therefore both the name and the thing, of all true Christians, who desire not in matters of such moment as concerne our eternall inheritance, to bee wis… above that which is written are to be rejected. The word mereri properly signifieth to deserve, and meritum desert, or that which deserveth a reward: and that which doth not deserve, is not properly and truely called merit. Now there is neither in the canonicall Scriptures, nor in the Greeke Fathers, any word or phrase truely and properly translated, which being p. 550ascribed to good workes, doth signifie or import the deserving of eternall life at the hands of God. There are words and phrases importing the reward of workes both good and bad; but with this difference, that the eternall reward of good workes, as it was according to the purpose of grace given unto us in Christkk2 Tim 1. 9.2 Tim 1:9 before all secular times, and freely intended and preordained: and according to the Covenant of grace to them for whom Christ hath merited the same, freely promised; so it is freely bestowed as foreign the free gift of God. But the eternall reward of sinne, as it is justly deserved, so it is in justice rendred, as the iust stipend or wages of sinne. Rom. 6. 23. The wages of sinne is death; but eternall life is the free gif… of God.

§. V. The Latine Fathers indeed doe often use the words mereri andThe use of the word in the Latine Fathers in a ge…erall sense, of obtaining, or finding …. meritum both in the better sence, and in the worse, but with this difference, that in the worse sense they use it properly for deserving and desert. For sinnes duely and in justice deserve punishment. But in the better sense, they doe not use the word properly for deserving and desert (which every man knoweth to be the proper signification,) but in other significations, and therefore unproperly, if not foreign.

The verbe is used by them sometimes, and indeed very often in the generall sense, either of obtayning,llS…apleton▪ in pr…mptuar …eria 5. post passionem Do…ni. Si aliquis veterum vocabulo promerendi usus est (scilicet in illa historia Luk. 7.) non aliter intell…xit, quàm consecutionem de …acto.Luke 7 joyned commonly with the accusative case, or of finding favour to have or to get any thing, joyned with the infinitive, without respect of merit and worth, or relation to wages. Vocabulum merendi saithmmSchol. in hymnum, nocte surgentes. 179. Cassander, the word meriting among the ancient Ecclesiastical writers for the most part signifieth to obtaine or to be made fit to obtaine. The which among others appear…th by that one place of Cyprian. nnEpist. ad Iuba…anum.For where Paul saith, 1 Tim. 1. 13. foreign but I obtained merciemercy, as the vulgarooConsecutus sum. Latine andppAdeptus sum. Erasmus, Cyprian readeth misericordiam merui. And so doth Augustine qqDe Baptismo contra Donatist. l. 4. c. 5.also. Thus you see, how joyned with an a accusative it signifieth to obtaine.

First, So Ambrose,rrSerm. 63. Minus autem mirari debe…us, quòd tantam Ioannes gratiam in nascendo meruerit.

Secondly, Ipsa ssDe fide resurrect.etiam post usum vota fastidio, sunt & quae mereri optavimus, postquam meruimus abdi…amus.

Thirdly, Iniqueus ttDe Cain & Abel.Cain, longaevam d…xit aetatem, duxit uxorem, & …c meruit promissione divina.

Fourthly, …ratiam uuDe dignit. sacerd. cap. 5.…um ordinareris (Episcopus) non suscepisti, quia gratuitò …am non meruisti.

Hierome,**Presat. in Abdinam. Quanto magis eg…—mereri debeo veniam.

1. Aug.xxDe fide & operibus. c. 14. confugerunt ad fidem, qua misericordiam indulgentia mererentur▪

2. Talem yyDe tempore serm. 49.se (Apost.) confitetur fuisse peccatorem, ut omnis peccator propterea dese non desperet, quia Paulus (peccatorum scil. primus) meruit indulgentiam.

Primasius,zzIn Rom. 4.Rom 4 Magna beatitudo est, sine labore legis vel poenitentia, fidem per solam gratiam promereri.

But oyned with an infinitive, it signifieth for the most part to finde favour.

Ambrose,aaLuk. 10. l. 22.Luke 10 O aqu… quae Sacramentum esse Christi meruisti, qu… lavas omn…a, … lavaris.

p. 5511. Aug…stine,bbDe pr…destin. & gratia c. 16. … …vix in illo populo—qui de servitute decem miraculis … ….

2. And in the sam… booke sp…aking of Saint Paul, pr… persecutionibus & … … … meruit app…llari.

3. Of D…vidccDe tempore serm. 58. … saith▪ Qui & R… & Prophet… divin… munere fieri me… ▪

4. And of the wo…anddIbid. which washed ou… Saviours feet with her teares, &c. id… … … quòd …i … fuerunt peccata ….

5. Hae… eeDe …ivit. D. l. 5▪ c. 24.& alia … vitae … vel munera vel solatia, quidam etiam … … accipere ….f In Psal.

6. And in anot…r pl… hee saith, Apostoli à suis civibus occidi meruerunt.

1. Gregory,ggMoral. l. 9. c. 27. Quid? quòd Paul… cum Redemptoris nomen in terra … …, … …erba de coelo meruit audire.

2. But most pregnant to this pu…pose is that speech, which is cited out of him concerning Adams fall, which at this day is chantedhhIn benedictione Cerei. Salmeron in 1 Tim. 1. disp. 3. pag. 421.1 Tim 1 in the Church of Rome.

O felix …ulya quae talem & tantum meruit habere redemptorem▪ O happy fault, which diddest find the favour to have such and so great a redeemer.

§. VI. Sometimes they use th… word in a more speciall sence, andThe use of th… word in a more speciall sense. and that two wayes.

First, for imp…tration and obtayning by request. And thus the Fathers say▪ that men ha…e me…ited remission of sinne, justification and reconciliation wit… God, which the Papists themselves doe confesse cannot be merited, Se… … ipsa remissio … saith Augustine, iiEpist. 105. ad Sixtum.sine aliquo merit… est, si fides … impetrat. Where, to merit is to impetrate, and to impe… is to …rit: but not in the proper sence of deserving. For betweene impetrati…g and meriting in the proper sence there is great difference, as you … before out of Thomas Aquinas and Bellarmine himselfe. Thus Orig… kkIn Levit. hom. 3.… pecca…um, remissionem peccati meretur Hierome,llAdvers. Pelag. l. 2. 285. qui peccat… … …, merentur humilitate clementiam salvat…ris. Of … that notorious sinner, Augustine saith,mmDe tempor… serm. 5…. tha… when he humbled … before God, ita gratiam Dei …btinuit, ut mereretur i…ter Dei a…icos post…dum numer ari.

Sometim… it signifieth to doe good workes, either with relation to the reward, or without. The former, is, as I suppose, …he most that can bee truely gathered out of the Fathers as seeming to favour the popish sence, And yet even so it signifieth but to do… rewardeable workes, or to doe such workes by Gods grace as he hath promised graciously to reward.

But in the proper sense of deserving Bellarmine was not able, as after wee shall see, when we… come to his restimonies out of the Fathers, to produce any one testimony out of any one of them, testifying, that the good workes of the faithfull in and for themselves deserve eternall life, or that they are truely that is, condignely, and absolutely meritorious of salvation.

p. 552§. VII. So much of the Verbe mereri, to …. The Noúne meritum, or name merit taken in the better part, if referred to God, it signifieth his beneficia; if to men, our officia. For those actions which the Grecians call foreign, and the Authours of the Latine tounge officia, the Latine Father… commonly call merit…, m…ing also officia or good workes: and that either simply and without relation to reward (which sense is most usuall) or implying relation to reward. I am not ignorant saith Vega nnDe justif. l. 8. cop. 8.that the name merit is used of the Fathers where is ooUbi est nulla ratio meriti.no respect of merit, either of congruity, or of condignity. And as for Augustine, he is won… saith Bellarmine ppDe …ratia & lib arb. l. 1. c. 14. §. …anc esse.meritum appellare quemlibet bonum actum &c. to call merit any good act in regard where of wee receive some other thing. Where it is used as the relative of reward, it signifieth no more but a rewardeable work, or a worke which God is pleased to reward. But wee must remember withall, that Gods reward of eternall life is his free gift, and not deserved by us; freely intended unto us in our election, freely promised unto us, as the inheritance purchased by Christ; freely given unto us as the gracious reward of our obedience, by which hee doth most graciously crowne his gifts, and not our merits in us, as I have shewed before at large.

§. VIII. Now as touching the thing it selfe: Merit is best definedOf the thing it selfe, what merit is. to be a good worke deserving the reward of eternall life. Some define it to be a worke, to which that reward is due. But that definition is too large, unlesse it bee added, that to it the reward is d…e absolutely for the workes sake. For the reward may be due …ither by dese…, or by promise or covenant onelyonly, as namely where there is a great disproportion between the worke and the promised reward. But that properly is not merited, which is due onelyonly by promise, and is not deserved: when an hundred pounds is promised for a dayes labour in the Vineyard where in commutative justice, the day-peny onelyonly were sufficient; the reward indeed is due, when the labour is ended, in regard of the promise; but yet it is not deserved by the labourer. Whatsoever the daughter of Herodias had lawfully asked of Her…d, though it had beene to the halfe of his kingdome, it had beene due to her by promise, but not deserved by her, for there was no proportion between her worke, or play rather, and his promised reward. No more is there, or rather not so much, betweene the b…st workes of the faithfull, and the eternall reward.

§. IX. Now I proceed to our arguments proving that the goodArguments against merits workes of the faithfull are not truely meritorious of eternall life. My proofes shall bee either demonstrative reasons drawne from the very nature and conditions of merit, or authorities of holy Scripture, or testimonies of the Fathers.

Unto merit, so properly called, divers conditions are required, in respect of those relations which are considerable in merits; And those are either. p. 553betweene the

Parties, viz.

who would merit▪

of whom he would merit.

things

Meriting, which is the merit i… selfe,

Merited, which is the reward.

The Parties are God and man. But man cannot merit of God, for these reasons.

First, because betweene God and man there is no proportion qqViguerius.Deus & homo distant in i…finitum, for God is infi…ite, man compared to God is as nothing, Esai. 40. 17. One man indeed by doing good offices may merit of another. But no man, that is but a man can deserve any good thing at the hands of God. Our goodnesse doth no… reach unto him, Psal…. 16. 2.

Secondly, because God is the absolute Lord, of all his creatures, to whom they owe themselves, and what…oever they can doe, though no reward were to be expected. In so much that not Adam in Paradise, nor the Angells in Heaven, nor Christ himselfe, if hee had beene but a man, could have mer…ed any good thing at the hands of God. God deserveth of all men more than they are able to render, and the better they are, the more they are beholding to him. He is thy Creator …aith rrDe quadruplici debit….Bernard, thou his creature: thou the …ervant, Hee the Lord: He the Potter, thou that which the Potter frameth. Tot…m ergo q…des … …, … q…o t…tum habes. Thou doest therfore owe to him, all that thou ar…, from whom thou hast all. Although, faith he, ssSerm, de verbis Origeni….a man may perhaps seeme to render more to his neighbour than hee oweth: yet never any man re…dreth to God all that hee oweth. Aristotle said well, ttEthic. l. 8. c. 14.that to God and ou… Parents wee cannot render, as they deserve of us, especially to God. For as Pereri…s, a learned Iesuire saith, uuIn Gen. 6. 5. disput. 5.Gen 6:5Besides the deb…s or duties of thankef…lnesse, which none can sufficiently render unto God; those debts also, which by Gods Commandements we are bound to discharge, no man perfectly dischargeth. Wee therefore being no way able to render what is due to God; but on the contrary by our …innes making our …elves debtours to him, owing unto him deserved punishment; is it any lesse, than antichristian insolencie, or rather blasph…my, for …infull men to professe themselves a…le to merit any good thing at the hands of God, and to make him their debtour? Neither can I …ufficiently wonder, how men, whose conscience, (if it be not cauterized) doth tell them that they sinne daily against God, and by sinne provoke his judgements; can speake or thinke of meriting any thing injustice at the hand of God, but punishment. For as **In Psal. 94.Ps 94Augustine faith, Si Deus velle… pr… meritis agere, non inveniret …isi quos dam…aret. i. If God would deale according to merits, he should finde none but whom he should condemne.

§. X. If it be said, that the Lord by promising any thing makethWhether God by his promise maketh himself a debtour. himselfe a debtour for the performance of it. I answer first, with Augustine, p. 554xxDe verbis Apost. serm. 16.he is become a debtour, not by receiving any thing of us, but by promising what hee pleased, and therefore no debtour to us. For God is not debtour to any, not so much as by covenant; for hee covenanteth Non de debit… sed de gratui… ▪ not for rendring a due debt, but for freely bestowing his owne free gift, nor according to debt,Rom. 4. 4.Rom 4:4 but according to grace. To whom …hen should he be a debtour by his promise?

I answer, in the second place withyy1 a. 2 ae. q. 114. ad 3 um. Thomas: that the Lord, who is faithfull and just in performing his promises, maketh himselfe a debtor, not to us, but to himselfe for the gracious performance of his free and undeserved reward, which hee had freely and graciously promised. Thirdly, with Bonavent…re, he hath made himself a debtor, not to men, to whom he could owe nothing; but to himselfe, that he might bee faithfull in his promises. For if God be a debtour to man, then Debet dare ei vitam aeternam, then hee ought to give him eternall life. But Hoc verbum debet vene…m h…bet, saith thezzLib. 1. dist. 43. dub. 3. Master of the sentences, therefore saith hee, Ratio debiti, secundùm quod obligationem dicit, propriè in Deo non cadi….

Some famous Writers (saith Cassa…der) among whom isaaEpist. 119. pag. 1110. Durandu…, deny that God by his promise is bound to us.

Fourthly, Gods fidelity and justice in giving, the reward according to his promise, that is to say, freely, doth not argue our merit, but Gods trueth, who …annot lie nor deny himselfe.

Fifthly, that reward which is due onelyonly ratione pacti, is not deserved …x ratione operis; and that which is rendred,bbDurand. Non redditur ex debito operis, sed ex promissione. And therefore as it was freely promised, so it is freely and undeservedly given.

§. XI▪ Secondly, in the party that is to merit, it is requisite, thatThe party meriting. he should be his owne man, a…d not the other parties man of whom he would merit. For if he be his …ond-servant, all that hee can doe is duety, not merit. Nay, as hee is not his owne man, but his Lords: so his workes are not his owne and for his owne advantage, but for his Master. Et quicquid suo labore acquirit, saith Bellarmine, Domino suo acquirit, non sibi, and whatsoever he getteth by his labour, he getteth it for his Lord, not for himselfe. But wee are all the serv…nts of the Lord, not onelyonly by right of creation, but also of redemption, in regard whereof wee are not our owne men, but his that bought us. 1 Cor. 6. 19, 20.

And therefore a servant when hee hath done his duety, deserveth not so much as thankes of his Lord, Luke 17. 9, 10. Even so, when we have done all that is commanded (which wee are never able to doe, but our Saviour speaketh by way of supposition) wee must confesse that wee are unprofitable servants, we have done but what our duety was to doe, and indeed not so much.The thing meriting first▪ must be our owne.

§. XII. Thirdly, the thing by which a man should merit, ought to bee thus qualified. First, that which meriteth, quatenus meretur it must be our owne, and from our selves, and not his, nor from him of p. 555whom wee would merit. But all our good workes as they are good, and …, as the Papists hold them, and all those virtues and graces which we have with their uses, are not our owne, as from our selves; but they are the free giftscc1 Cor. 15. 10. Esay 26. 12.1 Cor 15:10Isa 26:12 and graces of God.

Moritò debetur merces, to merit, wages is due, saith ddDe justif. lib. 5. cap. 10. § te…iò.Bellarmine, Debitum autem non oritur, nisi ex …o quòd unus dat alteri, quod su…m era…. Nam si rem non suam, sed alienam daret, nihil ei deberetu…. Now debt arise…h not, but from this, that one man giveth to another that which is his owne, for if he should give any thing which is not his owne, but the other mans, nothing should be due unto him.

Origen, eeIn Rom. 4.Rom 4Vix mihi suadeo ullum opus esse posse, quod ex debito remunerationem Dei dep…scat: cum etiam hoc ipsum, quod agere aliquid possumus, vel cogitare, vel proloqui, ipsius dono & largitione faciamus. I can hardly perswade my selfe that there can bee any workes which can require as debt a reward from God, seeing also even this that wee can doe or thinke or speake any thing, we doe it by his gift and bounty.

Dona Dei non merentur apud Deum, Gods gifts doe not merit of God. By them perhaps we may merit of others; but not of him who gave them, for it is against sense that the doer, should by the gift received from the doner, merit of him. All the good that a man hath is from God, ffVigner. cap. 9. §. 3. v. 1.and by consequent God cannot owe any thing to man. Gods gifts are his merits of us, not ours of him. It is strange that by his gifts hee should bee obliged to give more. As if by the receit or use of an hundred pounds we should merit a thousand.

Non talia sunt hominum merita, saith ggDe annunciat. s…rm. 1.Bernard, ut propter …a vita …erna debeatur ex jure—Nam merita omnia Dei dona sunt, & it a homo magis propter ipsa D…o debi…or est, quàm Deus homini. hhQuaest. 135. foreignAnastatius Scinaita: for when we shall offer all the good things whatsoever we have, he doth not owe to us a reward, for all are his. But no man receiving his owne things, is a debtor to give a reward to them, who offer unto him the same.

Whereunto I will adde that of iiEt illud quod sumus, & qu…d hab…mus, sive sunt boni actus, sive boni habitu…, seu us…s: totum est in nobis ex liberali…ate divina, gratis dan…e & conservante. Et quia ex dono gratuito nullus obligatur ad dandum ampli…s, sed potius recipie…s magis obligatur danti. Id…ò ex bonis habitibus & ex bonis actibus, seu usibus nobis à Deo dat is, Deus non obligatur nobis ex aliqu… debito justiti… ad ali quid amplius dandum; ita quòd si non dederit sit injustus, sed potiùs nos sumus Deo obligati. Et sentire vel dicere opp…situm est temerarium, seu blaspemum. I… 2 dist. 27. qu. 2. §. 13. & 14.Durandus, both that which w…e are and that also which we have, whether they be good acts, or good habits or uses: all is in us from the liberality of God, freely giving and conserving. And because by a free gift none is bound to give more; but the receiver rather is more bound to the giver: wherefore by the good habits, good acts and uses given unto …s of God, God is not obliged to us out of any debt of justice to give more; as if he did not give, he should be unjust; but we rather are obliged to God. And it is a rash or blasphemous thing to thinke or speake the contrary.

If it be said, that by the good use of Gods gifts wee may deserve greater: I answere, that as the good gift it selfe, so the good use of it is also the free gift of God; which if God reward, hee doth not reward our merits, but crowne his owne gifts, as A…gustine oftenSecondly, that which doth merit must be free and not due. speaketh.

§. XIII. Secondly, that which meriteth is free not onelyonly from p. 556the necessity of coaction (which condition the Papists acknowledge) but also of duety: for Quod est debitum non est meritum, that which is du…ty is not merit. In rendring that which is due, wee may satisfie perhaps our debt, but not merit reward. This is a certaine trueth, if the worke bee due, the reward is not due ratione operis for the workes sake. kk…lictov. in Canonem missae.Quid meriti apud Deum poterimus obtrudere, qui debemus omnia? How can wee plead merit before God who owe him all things? Of that which we doe owe we are not owners, the money which is owed is Aes alienum nihil propriè nostrum est, nisi quod pro arbitrio possumus facere vel omittere, saith llDe justif. lib. 5. cap. 10.Bellarmine: Nothing is properly our owne, but that which we can upon free choise doe or omit.

All the good things which wee can doe are due from us to God, Luk. 17. 10. So that if we should doe all that is commanded, we were but unprofitable servants, because we have but done that which was our duety to doe. But indeed wee doe not, nor cannot performe all that is due, so farre are we from merit.

Againe, there is no good thing which wee can doe, but it is commanded of God, and therefore due. Not to doe it is a sinne; to doe it, is not merit but duety.

Saint mmDe quadruplici debito.Bernard doth demonstrate for many causes, that all our good workes are due unto God, saith nnDe justif. lib. 5. cap. 14. §. tertiò.Bellarmin…, so that he may exact them all; though he would give no reward.

O if thou didst know, saith ooJbid.Bernard, how many things and to how many thou doest owe, thou shouldst see how they are nothing which thou doest, and how not to bee reckoned among the least in comparison of thy debts.

All that thou art, thou owest to him, from whom thou hast all.

And after, who then will grumble any more, saying, Wee labour too much, wee fast too much, wee watch too much, when hee is not able to answere the thousand, yea not the least part of his debts.

Object. But it will be said, Doth not he well that payeth his debt? Answ. In not paying it hee should sinne, but in paying hee satisfieth onelyonly his debt, he doth not merit a new reward.

§. XIV. Thirdly, that worke which meriteth must bee pure andThat worke which meriteth should be pure and perfect. perfect, and not stained with any corruptions and imperfections: for otherwise it will not so much as satisfie our debt, but rather make us obnoxious unto punishment, every defect and imperfection being a sinne: and much lesse will it merit at the hands of God eternall life. But all our best obedience is unperfect and stained with the flesh, as I have heretofore proved at large, all our righteousnesses being as polluted cloutes. ppMoral. lib. 9. cap. 2.Gregory saith, Omne virtutis nostrae meritum esse vitium.

Object. 1. Yea, but the imperfection is taken away by the bloud of Christ.

Answ. Where is remission of sinne, there can bee no merit of condignity.

p. 557Object. 2. Veniall sinnes may stand with perfect righteousnesse.

Answ. True, in respect of imputed righteousnesse, by which sinnes are made veniall; but in regard of inherent righteousnesse, it is absurd. Fourthly, that which meriteth is more than is due, for Debitum non est meritum, for debt is not merit; but all that we can performe is lesse than that which is due.

§. XV. The thing that we are to merit, that is to say, the reward: first, it must bee proportionable to the merit. For justice standeth in equality.

But betweene the best works or sufferings of this life, yea, martyrdome it selfe, and eternall life, there is no proportion. For the one is finite, the other infinite; as being the everlasting fruition of God the infinite and chiefe good. Wherefore qqSerm. 1. in annunciat.Bernard, Quid sunt, saith he, omnia merita ad tantam gloriam? What are all merits to so great glory? And rrIn Psal. 93.Ps 93Augustin, How great labor is that rest worthy of, which hath no end. If you will make a true comparison, and judge truely, Eternall rest is rightly bought with eternall labour: for eternall ss…n Psal. 36. Conc. 2.Ps 36rest eternall labor should have been undertaken. Thou who art to receive eternall happinesse, thou oughtest to beare eternall sufferings.—Though our labour and tribulations were for a thousand yeares, weigh a thousand yeares with eternity. Why doest thou weigh that which is infinite, with a thing that is finite, be it never so great.

ttEuseb. Emiss. ad Monach. serm. 3.Non valent vitae praesentis obsequia aeternae vit… gaudiis comparari.

uu…ulgent. ad Mon. Lib. 1.Tantum ubi gratiae divinae retributionis exuberat, ut incomparabiliter & ineffabiliter …mne meritum q…vis bon… & ex Deo datae humanae voluntatis & operationis excedat.

Secondly, it should bee due upon just desert, and not bee given of grace, Rom. 4. 4.

The day-peny given to the worke of one houre is from bounty. Matth. 20. 15.

But eternall life is given freely by Gods grace, Rom. 6. 23.

Of the wicked, **In Mat. 25. 46. Homil. 79▪Matt 25:46Chrysostome saith, foreign, these are justly punished: but of the godly, foreign ▪ and they are crowned according to grace. foreign. For although they should performe ten thousand workes, it is the **So the word foreign is sometimes used by approved Authours, as Dem…stbenes, Plutarch, Gregory, Nazianzen, in which sence foreign sometime signifieth foreign id munificientia & liberalitate riclare▪ cere.munificence of grace that for such small and vile workes such an heaven and kingdome, and so great an honour should be given them.

Thirdly, the rule by which rewardis rendred to condigne merits, is not meere grace but justice, and that either commutativè, whichSee Hener. Stephani Thesaurum. Tom. 3. Col. 1559. A & H ex Dudaeo. standeth in equality, or distributivè, which respecteth dignity: the former▪ observing an arithmeticall; the other, a geometricall proportion. But neither is their equality betweene …he merit and the reward:The rule, a… cording to which the reward is rendred neither are the things which wee doe or suffer condigne, or any way comparable to the glory that shall bee revealed. But the reward of eternall life is given of meere grace in respect of us, Rom. 6. 23. According to the good pleasure of God, Luke 12. 32. Who p. 558crowne…h us with mercies, Psal. 103. 4. For by grace we are saved and not by workes, Ephes. 2. 8, 9. Now we must remember, that that grace is not grace any way, which is not gracious every way. xxAugust. contr. Pelag. & Coelest. l. 2. c. 24.Non enim gratia Dei gratia erit ullo modo, nisi fuerit gratuita omni modo.

§. XVI. These conditions of merit, whereof none agreeth to our workes, as I have shewed, all of them are found in Christs meritorious obedience both active and passive. The three first, because our Saviour was and is both God and man. The fourth with all the foure branches thereof: for first, it was his owne and from himselfe. Mereri …jus est, saith Hilarie yyDe Trin. l. 11.qui sibi ipse meriti acquirendi author existat. For although what he had, he had from God, yet he had his power of meriting not from an externall principle, but from himselfe as being God, not by grace, but by nature and by generation. Secondly, it was libera & non debita, free and not of duety because he is God. Esa. 53. 7. Oblatus est quia ipse voluit, Ioh. 10. 17, 18. Thirdly, it was most perfect: absolute. The seventh, because it was more than hee did owe. The eighth because his merits are of infinite valew, and therefore condigne to the glorie which shall be revealed. Insomuch that Pope Clement, whom Bellarmine zzDe justif. l. 5. c. 12. §. secunda. ex epist. decret. Clem. 6. q…ae incipit, u…igenitusdoth follow, did not sticke to say, guttam unam sanguinis Christi propter infinitam personae dignitatem, ad totius mundi redemptionem sufficere p…tuisse. The ninth, because by his sufferings the justice of God is fully satisfied, and by his obedience heaven is al-sufficiently merited for us, even according to the rule of justice.

But not one of the nine conditions agreeth to the obedience and sufferings of any mortall man. Therefore not the obedience of any meere man is truely and properly meritorious, but onelyonly the obedience of Christ: to whom alone merit is properly to be ascribed.

To these reasons we may adde all those arguments which I produced, either to prove, that we are not justified by any righteousnesse inherent; or that we are not justified nor saved by works: which arguments for number were many, and for strength impregnable; but especially those which did prove, either that all our obedience is defective and stayned with the flesh, or that wee are not able perfectly to fulfill the Law of God. For if our obedience be unperfect and defective, then is it farre from meriting any thing, but punishment. And if wee bee not able to …lfill the Law, then are wee in our selves subject to the Curse of the Law, so farre are wee from meriting heaven by our owne obedience.