Catholic Theology Plain Pure Peaceable, Section 10
SECT. V. Merit.
192. The great Controverſie about humane Merits, which hath made …o great a noiſe in the world, is of ſo eaſie ſolution, that I can ſcarce Confeſ. Auguſt. Art. 6. Semper ſentiendum eſt, nos conſequt remiſſionem peccatorum & perſonam pran…nciari Iuſtam id eſt acceptari, gratis propter Chriſtum per fidem; poſtea vero placere etiam obedientiam erga legem, & reputari quandam Juſticiam, & mereri praemia. Et Art. de Bon. operib. [Quanquam hac nova obedientia procul abeſt a perfectione legis, tamen eſt …uſ…i…ia & meretur praemia, ideo quia perſonae reconciliatae s…nt. It a d… operibus judicandum eſt quae ampliſſ…i… la…dibu… or…anda ſunt quod ſint neceſſariá, quod ſint cultus Dei, & Sacrificia ſpiri…alia & mereantur praemia. Ib. Ex…recitatio noſtra & conſervat ea. & meretur incrementum uxta illud Habenti dabitur: & Auguſtinus praeclare dixit, Dilectio …er…ur incrementum dilectionis, cum viz▪ exercetur. Habent enim bon… apera Praemia cum in hac vita, tum poſt hanc vitam in vita aterna……hink but almoſt all ſober underſtanding Chriſtians in the world are …greed in ſence, while they abhor each others opinions as ill expreſſed or miſunderſtood. Diſtinguiſh but, 1. Of Commutative Juſtice, and Diſtributive Governing Juſtice. 2. And of Governing Juſtice according …o Gods ſeveral Laws, of Innocency, Moſaical Works, and of Grace. …. And of Justifying and Meriting ſimply, and comparatively; And the caſe is ſo plain, that few things are more plain to us, that Chriſtians con…rovert, Viz.
1. To dream of meriting from God by any Creature, Man, or Angel, in point of Commutative Juſtice, is blaſphemy and madneſs; that is, That we can give him any thing that ſhall profit him, or which is not abſolutely his own, as a compenſation for what he giveth us. He maketh himſelf a God that aſſerteth this of himſelf. 2. To ſay that any ſince Ad… ſave Chriſt, doth merit of God in point of Governing Juſtice, according to the Law of Innocency, is a falſhood: And he that ſaith, He b… no ſin, is a lyar. 3. To ſay that we can merit pardon, or Juſtification, o… Salvation meerly by obſerving Moſes Law, was the Jews pernicious erro…. 4. To ſay that our faith and performance of the conditions of the new Covenant, doth merit by the retributive Sentence of the old Covenan…; or that it is in whole or part any meritorious Cauſe that God gave the world a Saviour, or that Chriſt freely pardoneth and juſtifieth us all conditionally by the new Covenant, or that it ſuppoſeth not Chriſt's Righ… ouſneſs to be the total ſole meritorious Cauſe of that pardoning Covenant, and all the benefits as thereby conditionally given; All this is groſs contradiction. 5. To deny ſubordinate Comparative Merit, or Rewardabl… neſs, as from Gods Governing diſtributive paternal Juſtice according to the Covenant of Grace, conſiſting in the performance of the condition of that Covenant, and preſuppoſing Chriſts total merits as aforeſaid, i… to ſubvert all Religion and true Morality, and to deny the ſcope of all the Scriptures, and the expreſs aſſertion of an Evangelical worthineſs, which is all that this [Merit] ſignifyeth: To ſay nothing of contradicting Catholick antiquity, and hardening the Papiſts againſt the truth.
193. This Comparative Merit, is but ſuch, as a thankful Child hath towards his Father who giveth him a purſe of Gold on condition th… he put off his hat, and ſay, I thank you, who deſerveth it in Compariſon of his Brother, who diſdainfully or neglectfully refuſeth it. This laſt being abſolutely ſaid to Deſerve to be without it; but the former only comparatively ſaid to deſerve to have it as a free gift.
194. And thoſe that reject the ſaying of ſome Papiſts who in thi… ſence, ſay that Chriſt merited that we might merit, placing our Evangelical merit in a meer ſubordination to Chriſts, do but ſhew what prejudice and partiality can do, and harden thoſe who perceive their errors.
195. Some man may think that the high things required in the Goſpel, ſelf-denyal, forſaking all, running, ſtriving, working, loving, overcoming, Whether faith be not the meer Acceptance of a free gift according to its Nature? Againſt Merit, read of Papiſts Waldenſ. de Sacram. tit. 1. Gregor. Armin. 1. d. 17. q. 1. a. 2. Durand. 1. d. 27. q. 2. Marſil. 2. d. 27. Brugerſ. in Pſal. 35. Eckins in Centur. de Praedeſt. Et inquit Fr. a Sancta Clara Deus, Nat. Grat. p. 138. tribuitur etiam Cuſano, nec longe differt Stapletonus noſtras Leg. & Suarez in 3. p. Tho. Diſp. 10. Sect. 7. q. 3. See the Thomiſts ſence of Merit, in Lud. Carbo Tho. Compend. 1. 2. q. 23. art. 4. p. 240.&c. are more than the meer Receiving of a free Gift. But, 1. If it were ſo, yet our firſt faith would be no more, by which we are Juſtified from all the ſins of our unregeneracy. 2. But upon conſideration, it will all appear to be no more materially: For, 1. When we ſay that it is the Receiving of the free Gift, we muſt mean According to the Nature and to the uſe of that Gift. As if you be required to take food, the meaning is, to Eat it, and not to throw it away: If you be required to take ſuch a man to be your King, your Maſter, your Tutor, your Husband, your Phyſician, &c. the meaning is, As ſuch, to the uſe of his proper office. And ſo Accept of God as God, that is, our Abſolute Owner, Ruler, and End, and Chriſt as our Saviour, Prophet, Prieſt and King, and the Holy Ghoſt as our Sanctifyer to Illuminate, quicken and renew us, is the ſu… of all the Poſitives of the Goſpel. 2. For this very Acceptance of them in this Nature, and to this Uſe, includeth the uſing of them after accordingly: And if we do not ſo uſe them, we thereby reject them, and loſe our own benefit of them; as he that eateth not his meat, refuſeth and loſeth it; and he that weareth not his Cloaths; and he that learneth not of his Teacher. 3. And then Self-denyal, and forſaking contraries, and reſiſting impediments, is but the ſame motus ut a termino a quo; And he that refuſeth to come out of his Priſon and Chains, refuſeth his Liberty; and he refuſeth the Gold, that will not caſt away his handful of dirt to take it. So that really all is but a Thankful Accepting of the mercy of the new Covenant according to its nature and uſe as it is offered.
196. It is a great queſtion whether a man may Truſt to his own Faith, Of Truſting in our own faith, repentance, holineſs, &c.Repentance or Holineſs. But ſome men ſtill trouble the world with unexplained words, where no ſober men differ. No wiſe man can dream that we may Trust to theſe for more than their proper part; as that we may Truſt them to do any thing proper to God, to Chriſt, to the Spirit, to the Promiſe, &c. And to uſe the phraſe of Truſting to our own faith or Holineſs when it ſoundeth abſolutely, or may tempt the hearers to think that they may Truſt them for Gods part, or Chriſt's part, and Of which ſee more in my Life of Faith. Tollit gratia Meri…um: non quod omnino nihil agamus, ſed quia non ſatisfacimus legi, & procul abſumus a perfectione. Melancth. in Loc. Com. de lib. arb. c. 7.not only for their own, is a dangerous deceiving courſe. But that really they may be Truſted for their own part, and muſt be ſo, no ſober perſon will deny: For ſo to believe, obey, pray to God, &c. and not to Truſt to them in their place; that is, not to think that we ſhall be ever the better for them, is unbelief and indeed diſtruſting God, and ſaying, It is in vain to ſerve him, and what profit is it that we call upon him? And ſuch diffidence and deſpair will end all endeavours: Let every man prove Gal. 6.his own work, and ſo ſhall he have rejoycing in himſelf and not in another. This is our Rejoycing the teſtimony of our Conſciences that in ſimplicity 2 Cor. 1. 12.and Godly ſincerity we have had our Converſation in the world. If we are Juſtified by faith, we may Truſt to be Juſtifyed by it. But the rare uſe of ſuch a phraſe in Scripture, and the danger of it, muſt make us never uſe it without need. (As if we were diſputing whether the Popiſh or Proteſtant Religion be that which a man may truſt for his Salvation) or the like. And when ever it's uſed, it implyeth our Truſt in God and our Saviour only for their part.
197. To conclude this great point of Imputed and Inherent Righteouſneſs, The laſt objection of the miſtakers of Imputation. To ſave me that much labour of citations, I deſire the Reader to ſee in Guil. Forbes. Conſider. Pacific. the Conceſſions of Vega, Pighius, Stapleton, and other Papiſts about Imputation of Chriſt's Righteouſneſs, as granting us all that Proteſtants mean (as Bellarmine expreſly doth) as Davenant, Nigrinus, Joh. Crocius, and many others have obſerved.it may be objected, that The ſame man may well be judged a Sinner deſerving hell, never fulfilling the Law, nor ſatisfying Juſtice, nor deſerving Heaven, in himſelf; that is, in his Natural perſon, and yet be Judged one that never ſinned, but fulfilled the Law, is perfectly holy and righteous, and merited Heaven in his Legal or Civil perſon, in and by Chriſt; To which I anſwer, One man is but one, and hath but one perſon. But if you take the word [Perſon] equivocally, as ſignifying another that is made like him in ſome reſpects, or that hath his Nature, or doth ſomewhat in his ſtead and for his benefit, as a ſecond perſon, ſay ſo, and we will ſtrive with no man about words: If you will ſay we are now on earth in our Natural perſons, and are in Heaven in Chriſt; or that we are Redeemed in our Natural perſons, but Redeemed our ſelves in Chriſt; or that you are ſick in your Natural perſon, and well in your perſon in Chriſt, &c. I like not your language; but there are ſcarce any words ſo bad, which a man may not put a good ſence on. But we would be underſtood, and plainly ask, whether Chriſt was properly every ſinners or believers perſon in Law-ſence, ſo that ipſo facto God accounteth us to have been habitually and actively perfect in Him, and to have merited and ſatisfied in him? If ſo, the Law can look on one man but as one: And he that paid a debt by his Servant or any other as his Legal perſon, cannot be required to do it again in his Natural perſon, unleſs you will ſay that God loveth our Legal perſon, and will ſave it, and may hate our Natural perſon and damn it. The Scripture uſeth no ſuch contradictory ſubtleties as theſe.