Of Free Justification by Christ, Book 1 · Part 32
Concerning the Vertue and Efficacy of Divine Grace, a more enlarged dispute against the Adversaries; Answering their Objections.
BUT Those Men will deny that they detract any thing Osor. lib. 6. p. 151.from the Grace of God, yea, they say that this is the common Sin of the Lutherans, not theirs, because all that they drive at is to maintain the mercy of God and to celebrate it with due praises: Why so I pray? for what, say they? Do not the Pious Works of the Saints please God? Well, and what next? Should not the same Works having proceeded from God himself the Author, be referred to his bounty and mercy Why not?
Now then Catholick Reader, receive a conclusion, Roman Catholick …enough? as I suppose. Therefore he … detracts from good works wrought by Christ, … from the Grace and Mercy of God: Well said, but pray who detracts from those? Who denies good Works, which Christ living and dwelling in us Works, to be good Works? Does any Man take away due praise and dignity from those? Now Hosius talks, Osorius pleads, Andradius crys out, that the Lutherans do it eagerly. Why so, I beseech you? Because they do not attribute unto the performance of good Works, the Salvation that is due to them, but translate it to Faith only.
What then, such as do not attribute Salvation to good Works, should they be therefore supposed to attribute nothing to Works, or to cast reproach upon the grace of God? On the contrary, they that detract the promise of Eternal Life from the Christian Faith, Shall they be accounted Friends to Grace?
By the same reason we may turn Light into Darkness, and Darkness into Light: Let Christ remain in his Sepulcher, let Moses rise again to be Iudge of the Living and the Dead. But now what Arguments do they rely upon in disputing thus? Because, say they, Works of Righteousness flow from the Fountain of Divine Grace. But what? Is not Faith in Christ the Mediatour as singular a gift of God; and does it not proceed from the Election of Divine Grace? But now let us hear an Argument more than Catholick.
Argument.
Ma. We are justified by the A pseudosyllogism.Grace of God only.
Mi. Our good Works have their rise from the Grace of God only.
Con. Therefore all our Iustification An Answer to the Argument.consists in good Works.
The deceit of this Paralogism must be drawn forth: And again the word Grace must be explained: Which is Pardoning Grace, or Grace of Remission.taken one way in the major and another way in the minor; for there it is taken for mercy, and the free good will of God, whereby he hath redeemed us freely, whereby he loves us in Christ Iesus, and forgives us our Sins, and whereby also he imparts his Spirit and Life Eternal to us. And this is peculiarly called Grace of forgiveness, of which the writings of the Apostles speak aloud in many places. It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, Rom. 9. 6, 4. Coloss. 1. Rom. 3.but of God that sheweth mercy: And again: Sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye are not under the Law but under Grace. And what the same Apostle cites out of a Psalm: Blessed are they whose Iniquities are forgiven, and whose Sins are covered, &c.
And also that which elsewhere he testified very evidently: They are justified freely by his Grace; moreover that none should be uncertain, what is understood by the word Grace, presently subjoining, and as it were explaining himself, he infers next: By the Redemption which is in Christ Iesus. But what other thing does this adding of Redemption signifie, but the Remission Renewing Grace.of all Sins? That this may be the Argument: We are justified by that Grace, whereby we are redeemed. But Grace by renewing us doth not redeem us. Therefore we are not justified by Grace renewing us.
I come now to the minor, in which the word grace is taken otherways than in the major. For there it is put for remission or redemption, here for renovation: That is, for the effectual energy Grace is divided into Two parts.of the Divine Inspiration; in communicating Gifts and Endowments, wherewith he afterwards adorns those whom first he hath justified: Whence arises a twofold manner of distinguishing Grace, according to the twofold diversity of effects on this side, and on that side, of which one consists in the remission of evil Works, the other in the operation of good Works. And that is called pardoning Grace, and this is called renewing Grace: From the one whereof proceeds the Salvation and the Iustification of the Ungodly, and from the other come the good Works of the Godly; and yet those are not full, nor perfect.
Therefore, I answer the Argument proposed, which hath more The Syllogism is redundant with four Termini.errours than one. Moreover it is made up of mere particulars: Also in the minor contrary to the manner of Disputants, the case is changed, whereas the same case should be kept that goes before in the major, and the minor should follow thus: But our good Works are by the grace of God only; or at least, in the major the same case of the minor should have been kept, after this manner: Our Iustification arises twice from the grace of God. Therefore all our Iustification flows from good Works. So that the true nature of this Pseudosyllogism, belongs not to the first, but the second figure simply concluding both affirmatively and also most Aparalogism in the second figure concluding affirmatively.absurdly, just as if a Man should argue thus: Our corporeal Nature was made of the slime of the Earth: Earthen-Pots are made of the slime of the Earth, therefore our corporeal Nature was made of Earthen-Pots. What need is there of words? Whatsoever way these Men form their Argument, or reform it, they shall never be able to prove, that the works of the Law, whether such as we our selves have wrought, or such as the Divine Grace works in us, do contain in themselves any cause of Salvation. For what manner of consequence is this? Because habitual influences of Works, which make us acceptable to God, proceed no otherways but from cooperating Grace: Therefore Faith without inherent Righteousness doth not justifie, neither doth Salvation consist of any other thing A twofold sort of Works Rom. 14.but good Works. But because there is a twofold sort of Works, one of those which go before Faith, another of those which follow Faith, I would know of which of those rwo parts they understand it. If of the preoedent they will not deny those to be Sins: For that which is not of Faith is of Sin: But if they understand it of Works subsequent to Faith, they will say that those are either perfect or imperfect. If perfect, and of such a sort, that they answer the things commanded in the Law, not only according to the substance, but also according to the manner of doing. To what purpose then is that daily saying of the Church made mention of: Forgive us our debts? Or what will they answer to Augustine, who evidently confutes Aug. of Nature and Grace. The reparation of the Grace of Christ, though it is begun in respect of the mind, it is not yet perfected in respect of the Flesh: Which shall be in the Countrey where Man shall not only be able to persevere, but shall not be able to Sin.what they maintain?
On the contrary, if they are Imperfect, Languid, and Lame, upon what account will they make us acceptable to God the Iudge, which are of themselves defective,. and besprinkled with faults, and spots, and need another Grace, by the commendation whereof they may be pleasing An Argument from like Comparison.to God? What if that infinite and Eternal purity, for the most part in the Levitical Sacrifices did not endure whatever seemed any way defective, or deformed, or defiled with the least pollu on, and which was not exquisitely entire and blameless in all respects; if so great integrity of all parts was Levit. 22. Deut. 15.required in the Levites and Priests, that it was not lawful to suffer any one to enter into the holy place of the Sanctuary, who was wounded in any member of his body, or deformed in any part, or had a Wen: Do you think that you can endure the presence of the most holy God with that half-torn and ragged Imperfection? Wherefore seeing it must needs be perfect and unblameable upon all accounts, which by Iustification indemnifies and frees us from all sin before the dreadful Tribunal of most perfect Righteousness; surely no man can believe that it consists in our works, but only in the works of the Son of God; not those which his habitual grace works in us, but those which he himself hath both graciously undertaken to do for us, and also, having undertaken them, hath performed them to the full.