Popery Anatomized, Section 17
SECTION XVII. Concerning Merit of Good Works.
M. Gilbert Brown.
ELeventhly, our doctrine is, that a man in the eſtat of grace, doing good works, merits or deſerves a reward, which is the doctrine of the Prophets, Chriſt, and his Apoſtles, as may be perceived in theſe places, and many the like.aGen. 15.1. 2. Kings 15.7. Eccleſ. 16.15. and 10.31. Pſal. 118.112. Prov. 11.18. Sap. 5.16. and …10.17. Iſai. 3.10. Jer. 31.16. Fear not Abraham, ſaith God, I am thy protector, and thy exceeding great reward. In another place, Therefore be ye of comfort, and let not your hands be diſſolved, there ſhal be a reward for your work. And in the Book Eccleſiaſticus, All mercy ſhal make place to every one, according to the merit of his works. With many more in the Old Teſtament, then I am able to let down here. But ſome of them I have noted. And our Savior ſaith,bMatth. 5.12. John 5.29. Matth. 10.42. and 16.1. and 16.27. and 25.34. and 20. Mark 9.41. Luke 6.35. Rejoyce and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. And again, They that have done good things, ſhal come forth to the reſurrection of life: but they that have done evil, to the reſurrection of judgement. And whoſoever ſhal give drink to one of theſe little ones one cup of cold water only, in the name of a diſciple, truly I ſay unto you, he ſhal not loſe his reward. Andc1. Cor. 3.8.14. and 9.17.18. Eph. 6.8. S Paul ſaith, Every one ſhal receive his own reward, according to his labor. Andd2. John 8. Rev. 22.12. S John ſaith, Look to your ſelves, that ye loſe not the things which ye have wrought, but that ye may receive a full reward. And in his Revelation, Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to render to every man according to his works. With many more the like in the Word of God. What can our new men ſay againſt this doctrine of Chriſt, his Apoſtles and Prophets, ſeeing that there is no reward without merit, becauſe merces and meritum, have relation together? For there is no reward promiſed in the Word of God, but for doing and working. And albeit God hath promiſed to reward all our good deeds, yet this promiſe is not without a cauſe; that is, to them that will labor and work, and to do according to his will. For he hath promiſed no reward to them that will not work, but to ſuch as deſerves the ſame by their doings, as I have noted before in the book called Eccleſiaſticus, the 16. chapter.
Maiſter John Welſch his Reply.
As for your doctrine of merits of works, wherein you ſay, That a man in the estat of grace doth merit eternal life and glory, and that as well in reſpect of the work it ſelf, as of the covenant and promiſe made unto it. So Bellarmin lib. 5. de juſtific. cap. 17. yea, that the works are in vertue equal, and of as great valor as the reward of eternal life is, ſo that there is an equal proportion between the works and eternal life. And there are ſome of your Church, and thoſe of the learned among you, who have gone further, and affirm, That the good works of the righteous merits life eternal, in reſpect of the worthineſs and excellency of the work it ſelf, ſuppoſe the Lord had never made a promiſe or covenant, as Cajetanus a Cardinal, and Dominicus à Soto, as Bellarmin reports of them, lib. 5. de justif. cap. 19. And M. Reynold ſaith, pag. 105. That good works and evil are laid in different ballance: that good works are the cauſe of heaven, as evil works are the cauſe of hell. And Andreas Vega ſaith, in 5 quaeſt. de juſtific. That the reward of glory ſhal not be greater then our good works have deſerved. What blaſphemy is this your doctrine? And ſurely if in any one point of your doctrine you ſhow your ſelves to be men, who not only knows not the holineſs of God, the unſpeakableneſs of that other life, the perfection and infinit vertue of Chriſts merits, the perfection of his Law, and mans infirmity and weakneſs; eſpecially you manifeſt it in this point: For if ye knew any of theſe things, ye would never profeſs ſuch damnable doctrine: For that our works may merit eternal life (as ye ſay) and that not only in reſpect of the covenant, but in reſpect of the work it ſelf, there are five things required. 1. That the work be perfect according to that meaſure of perfection which the Law of God requires, and the whole Law muſt be fulfilled, and that perfectly and continually. 2. The works muſt not be debt; that is, ſuch works as we are bound before to do: For the paying of that duty which we ow already, cannot merit properly a reward: For will you ſay, that for the paying of that which you ow already, you deſerve a reward? 3. There muſt be a proportion and equality between the work wrought, and the reward it ſelf: For if the work be leſs, and the reward greater, then that which is more then the work, is not of merit, but of liberality. 4. The perſons to whom the work is done; muſt be obliged and bound by right to render and recompenſe the worker for the worthineſs of the work, ſo that he is not juſt if he do it not. And laſt of all, the work muſt be our own, and not anothers, and the power our own whereby it is done, and not anothers, ere we can be ſaid properly to merit by the ſame. But all theſe conditions will fail in our works; therefore they cannot be meritorious of eternal life. For as to the firſt, the Prophet ſaith, That all our righteouſneſs is as a menstrous cloth. And James ſaith, We all offend in many things; and none there is that have contained in doing all things written in the Law in that perfection which it craves of us, as hath been proved before: therefore our works cannot be meritorious of eternal life. And as to the ſecond, all that we can do, or is able to do, we are bound to do it already, by the vertue of our creation and redemption, and his other bleſſings already beſtowed; yea, they oblige us to more then we are ever able to pay, according to that ſaying of our Savior, Luke 17.10. Even ſo ye, when ye have done all that is commanded you, ſay, We are unprofitable ſervants, becauſe we have done that which was our duty to do. Since therefore it is duty, it cannot be meritorious of eternal life. And as to the third, there is no proportion between eternal life and our works, the reward by infinit degrees ſurpaſſing the work: and therefore the Apoſtle ſaith, The afflictions of this life are not worthy of the glory which ſhal be revealed, Rom. 8 18. Everlaſting life being only the juſt reward of the ſufferings of the Son of God. Bernard ſaith, What are all our merits to ſo great a glory, ſerm. 1. de annum. And Athanaſius ſaith, in vita Antonij, Not ſuppoſe we would renounce the whole world, yet are we not able to do any thing worthy of theſe heavenly habitations. As to the fourth, the Lord is debtor to no creature: For as the Apoſtle ſaith, Who hath given him firſt, and he ſhal be recompenſed? Rom. 11.35. The Lord is all-ſufficient in himſelf, and ſo needs none of your labors, and ſo our works cannot oblige him. And therefore Augustin ſaith, ſerm. 16. de verbis Apostoli: God is made a debter unto us, not by receiving any thing from our hands, but becauſe it pleaſed him to promiſe. And to the laſt, the Apoſtle ſaith, What haſt thou that thou didſt not receive? now if thou didſt receive it, why doſt thou glory as if thou hadſt not received it? 1. Cor. 4.7. Seeing therefore all our works are imperfect, and ſeeing we are not able to fulfill the Law, and ſeeing all that we can do, is but our duty, and there is no proportion betwixt eternal life and our works, and that the Lord is debtor to no man, and all our ability of doing is from the Lord only; therefore our works cannot be meritorious of eternal life. Hear further what the Fathers ſay in this point. Auguſtin ſaith, in manuali, c. 22. All my hope is in the death of my Lord: his death is my merit, my refuge, ſalvation, life and reſurrection: my merit is the compaſſion of the Lord, I ſhal not be void of a merit, ſo long as the Lord of mercies ſhal not want. Origen who lived two hundred years before him, ſaith, in Epiſt. ad Rom. cap. 4. lib. 4. I ſcarcely believe that there can be any work which may of due demand the reward of God, forſomuch as even the ſame that we can do, think, or ſpeak, we do it by his gift or bounty. Then how can he ow us any thing, whoſe grace did preveen us. And he ſaith afterward, That the Apoſtle aſſigns eternal life to grace only. Ambroſe ſaith, de bono mor. cap. 1. Everlaſting life is forgiveneſs of ſins, ſo then it is not merit. Jerome ſaith, adverſus Pelag. That before God, no man is just; therefore no man can merit. And again he ſaith, The only perfection of man is, if they know themſelves to be imperfect: and our juſtice conſiſteth not of our own merit, but of Gods mercy. I omit the reſt for …ortneſs.
Now to your teſtimonies, and reaſon to prove your merit of works, which you ſhamefuly abuſe, bringing forth Scripture to cloke your damnable doctrine: unto the which I anſwer ſhortly. That there is a reward laid up with God for the works of every one, be they good, be they evil, and according to their works ſhal they be tryed, and every man ſhal be judged and recompenſed accordingly, as the Scripture plainly teſtifieth. But that this reward of eternal life promiſed, is of debt, and not of grace, and that our works are the meritorious cauſe of the ſame, that the Scripture never affirms. For the Lord freely and of his meer grace crowneth his own works in us: and that not for the excellency of the work it ſelf, but of mercy freely for his Chriſts ſake, as both I have proved, and the Fathers have teſtified. So theſe Scriptures ſerve you to no purpoſe. For the controverſie betwixt us, is not whither there is a reward promiſed, and whither it ſhal be rendred accordingly to the ſame, for that we grant: but whither this reward is of merit or of grace. The Apoſtle ſaith plainly in the 6 of the Romans, The wages of ſin is death: but everlaſting life is the free gift of God. And in the 8 of the Romans, it is called, an inheritance. Now if it be heritage to them that are in Chriſt, and they heirs of it through him, then it is not their merit. As for the 16. of Eccleſiaſticus, it is Apocrypha, and the text hath not that word merit, as the old Interpreter whom ye follow tranſlates it, but according to his work. As for the 118. Pſalm, and the 16 of Matthew, ye are over ſeen in the quoting of them, for they have no ſuch thing. As for your reaſon, that a reward hath ever a relation to a merit, that is falſe. For the Apoſtle in the 4. of the Romans, ſpeaks of a reward that is imputed freely, not to him who worketh, but to him that believeth in him, who juſtifieth the ungodly, verſ 5. And in this ſenſe the reward of eternal life promiſed and fulfilled in his Saints, is taken in the Scriptures. And whereas you ſay, that there is no reward promiſed but to doing and working: that is falſe alſo, for there is a reward of eternal life promiſed to the believer, verſ. 5. And as for the promiſes of reward made to good works, it is true, it is made to them, but not as though our works were meritorious cauſes of that reward, but only that they are effects to teſtifie of our faith in the merit of Jeſus Chriſt, in whom only the promiſes are made to us and our works, and for whoſe ſake only they are fulfilled in his Saints. For theſe cauſes therefore is the promiſe of reward made unto works; firſt, becauſe all men by nature are hypocrits, and boaſts of a vain pretence of faith, unto whom James ſaith, Show me thy faith by thy works, James 2.18. to take away therefore this vail of hypocriſie from hypocrits, the promiſes are made to works. 2. The promiſe is made to works to ſtir us up to the doing of them: for we would be faint in doing good, if we knew not that the Lord would reward them. It is true he hath promiſed no reward to them who work not, becauſe they in whom Chriſt dwels, they are not only juſtified, but alſo ſanctified, and bring forth the fruit of their ſanctification. And this for the ninth point of your doctrine, which is ſo damnable, that both it derogats from the merit of Chriſt, and makes men to take away their confidence from Gods only mercy and free grace: and ſwells them up with a vain confidence of themſelves, and binds as it were, their hearts and mouthes, that they cannot with all their heart render the whole praiſe of their ſalvation to Gods only free grace.