Faith Grounded Upon the Holy Scriptures Against the New Methodists, Part 3 · Chapter 8
CHAP. VIII. That the Holy Scriptures doth not teach us that works merit eternal life.
1. THat if the good works of the faithful merit not the remiſſion of their ſins, much leſs can they merit eternal life. To prove it is ſo, they heap up divers places of the Scripture which ſhew that God will give eternal life to thoſe who have lived holily, as the following, and other-like places, Rom. 1.6, 7.10.God ſhall render to every one according to his works, viz. to thoſe who with patience and well doing ſeek for glory, honour, and immortality, eternal life: But to thoſe who are given to contentions, and agree not to the truth, but give themſelves to iniquity ſhall be indignation and wrath. Whoſoever ſhall give to drink a Cup of eold water only to one of theſe little ones in the name of a Diſciple, Mat. 10.42.verily I ſay unto you, that he ſhall not loſe his reward. Mat. 25.34.Then ſhall the King ſay to them on his right hand, Come ye bleſſed of my Father, poſſeſs the Kingdom which hath been prepared for you from the foundation of the world, for I was an hungred and you gave me to eat, I was thirſty and you gave me to drink, I was a ſtranger and you took me in, &c. But neither theſe paſſages nor any like to them, *As Mat. 5.12. & 16.27. 2 Cor. 5.10. Heb. 6.10. & 10 25. & 1.26. 2 Tim. 4.8. Apoc. 21.7. & 22 12. Prov. 11.10. Eſa. 3.10.which are found in many places in the Holy Scriptures can prove that is in Queſtion, viz. that the dignity and the excellencie of the works of the faithful are ſuch as are worth eternal life, and that there is a certain proportion and equality between them and the Glory to come, which preciſely requireth that it ſhould be given to them for reward, God being there obliged even by the juſtice of the ſame thing, and conſequently cannot fail of it without violating the Juſtice which is between him and man. This is that which the merit of works ſignifie, which we denie and our Adverſaries maintain. Bell. de Juſtif. l. 5. c. 17 & 18.All that one can lawfully infer from theſe paſſages, is, that God hath promiſed to give eternal life to thoſe who live well and holily; that one day he will accompliſh perfectly this his promiſe; on this condition eternal life is a conſequent, an acknowledgment and a reward of holineſs and good works, which the faithful who labour and perſevere in their vocation may and ought to expect from God. But who doubts of any of theſe truths? all that we ſay is, that we muſt expect this reward only from the Grace of God, who hath promiſed and will give it, becauſe he is moſt good, and not for the value and excellencie of our works, which (how good ſoever they be) are but our duty, with which we acquit our ſelves to God; incapable by conſequence of meriting any thing, it being clear that he who doeth that which he ought, and to whom he is obliged, acquits himſelf only, and doth not merit.
Secondly, They alledge that the Lord ſpeaking of the happy, Luke 20.35.ſaith, That they who ſhall be made worthy to obtain that life and the reſurrection from the dead; Rev. 3.4.and elſewhere, that the faithful of Sardis ſhould walk with him in white clothing, becauſe they are worthy of it; and that St. Paul ſaith, ſpeaking of the Theſſalonians, that they were afflicted to be counted worthy of the Kingdom of God. 2 Theſ. 1.5But I anſwer, that this word worthy, ſignifieth the diſpoſition and convenience of a thing, and not its merit. As when St. John exhorts the Jews to bring forth fruits worthy of repentance, Mat. 3.8.that is to ſay, convenient for the repentance, which it anſwereth, and not which it merits (for this would be ridicule) it is then in this ſcuſe that the truly faithful who live holily and perſevere conſtantly in piety are worthy of the Kingdom and white Veſtments of the Lord, that is to ſay, they have the qualities and conditions which are convenient for them, ſince it is to them who are ſuch, 2 Theſ. 1.6, 7.that God promiſeth theſe things in his Grace.
Thirdly, Moreover they ſay, that this retribution of God is a work of his Juſtice; 'tis a juſt thing before God (ſaith the Apoſtle) That he giveth affliction to thoſe who afflict you, Heb. 6.10.and to you who are afflicted deliverance with us, when the Lord Jeſus ſhall be revealed from Heaven with the Angels of his power: and elſewhere, God is not unjuſt to forget your work and charity which you have ſhewed towards his Name, in as much as you have ministred to the Saints, and do minister: 2 Tim. 4.8. Pſal. 112.9. 2 Cor. 9.9. Mat. 6.1. Dan. 4.24. & 9.16. Ezech. 18.19, 21. in the Verſion of the 70. Deut. 24.3 Eccleſ. 44.10.and again in another place, The Crown of Juſtice is kept for me, which the Lord the righteous Judge ſhall give me at that day, and not to me only, but alſo to all thoſe who love his coming. But I ſay firſt, that this word Juſtice according to the phraſe of the Hebrew Language ſignifieth very often benignity and liberality, and juſt likewiſe, benign and gracious, as in the 112 Pſalm alledged by St. Paul, He hath diſperſed, he hath given to the poor, his righteouſneſs endureth for ever; from whence it comes that Alms which is an act of gratuity and beneficence is called Juſtice in the 6th of St. Matthew. In this ſenſe who ſeeth not that retribution of life eternal to the faithful, is truly an act of the Divine Juſtice, that is to ſay, of his Grace and benignity; that 'tis an Alms which he giveth us. Secondly, I ſay, that it is juſt that God ſhould give life eternal to thoſe who have believed and obeyed, not that they have merited, but becauſe hehath promlſed it. As 'tis alſo a juſtice to keep ones word in accompliſhing that which one hath promiſed, Nohem 9.although one hath promiſed it but upon meer gratuity, without being obliged to it by the merits of him to whom one promiſeth it. In fine, in comparing the cauſe and caſe of the faithful with that of the wicked who afflict them, the one having manifeſtly the right on their ſide, and the other the wrong; it is yet in this reſpect for the Juſtice of God to maintain the one and condemn and puniſh the other. But this is not to ſay, that conſidering throughly the perſons and works of the faithful in themſelves; and without this compariſon, there is nothing in them, which to ſpeak properly merits the Heavenly Glory, with which the Father will one day Crown them gratis, according to the ſaying of the Apoſtle, Rom. 6.23.that life eternal by Jeſus Chriſt our Lord, is a Grace of God. But there is no need to inſiſt much upon this Article, ſince that amongſt our Adverſaries themſelves there are found great and celebrated Authors, who openly reject this Doctrine, being far from pretending that it is in the Scriptures, ſome diſputing that the good works of the faithful are not meritorious, by reaſon of the works themſelves, but only by reaſon of the Promiſe and Divine acceptance, as Scotus and Vaga: Others, that ſuppoſing the Promiſe of God, yet they are not ſuch that the hire is due to them by Juſtice, See Bellar. of Juſtif. l. 5. c, 16.but only by the liberality of God; as Durandus, ſo Cardinal Bellarmin reports it.