Works of Joseph Hall, Section 9
SECTION IX. Concerning Merits.
THe foundation of Popiſh Iuſtification is the freedome of our will; and vponupon the walls of Iuſtification is merit raiſed; wee will hauehave no quarrell about the word.Bucer. cit. à Caſſ. Cypr. l. 3. ep. 20. Pr…. Iud. The holy Fathers of old (as wee all grant) tooke the word in a good ſenſe, which the later Diuines hauehave miſerably corrupted; About the thing it ſelfe, wee muſt ſtriue eternally; we promiſe a reward to good workes, yea an euerlaſting one; It is a true word of the Iewes, He that labours in the Euen, ſhall eat on the Sabbath:Qui laborauit in veſpera, comedet in Sabbatho. Conc. Trident. Orthod. expl. l. 6. Caiet. in Galat. for God hath promiſed it, and will performe; who yet crowneth vsus in mercy and compaſſion, as the Pſalmiſt ſpeaks, not (as the Papiſts) in the rigour of iuſtice, not (as Andradius) according to the due deſert of our worke; By the free gift of God, and not our merits, as Caietan wiſely and worthily; Or (if any man like that word better) God doth it in Iuſtice, but in reſpect of his owne promiſe; not the very dignity of our workes. That a iuſt mans worke in the truth of the thing it ſelfe, is of a value worthy of the reward of heauen (which induſtrious and learned Morton cites out of the Engliſh Profeſſor of Dow…y) and hath a meet proportion, both of equality, and dignity,Weſton. de Tripl. hom. off. l. 2. Vid. proteſt Appeal. lib. 2. c. 11. Tom. 1. in Th. 3. d. 11. to the recompence of eternall life, as Pererius, and that in it ſelfe without any reſpect of the merits, and death of Chriſt, which Suarez, and Bajus, ſhamed not to write, ſeemes iuſtly to vsus little leſſe than blaſphemie.
But (ſay our moderate Papiſts) CHRIST hath merited this merit of ours; neither can any other workes challenge this to themſelues, but thoſe, which are done in GOD, as Andradius ſpeaks; but thoſe, which are dipped and dyed in the bloud of CHRIST, as our later Papiſts elegantly and emphatically ſpeake. But what is this but to coozen the world, and to caſt a miſt before the eyes of the vnskilfull? Our ſinnes are dyed in the bloud of CHRIST, not our merits: Or, if they alſo; Hath CHRIST then deſerued that our workes ſhould bee perfect? How comes it about that the workes of the beſt men are ſo lame, and defectiue? Hath he deſerued that though they bee imperfect, yet they might merit? What iniurie is this to God, what contradiction of termes? Behold now, ſo many Sauiours, as good men: what I doe, is mine, what I merit, is mine, whoſoeuer giues me either to do or to merit: Whoſoeuer rides on a lame horſe, cannot but moue vn-euenly, vneaſily, vncertainly: what inſolent ouer-weeners of their owne workes are theſe Papiſts, which proclaime the actions which proceed from themſelues, worthy of no leſſe than heauen? To whom wee may iuſtly ſay, as Conſtantine ſaid to Aceſius, the Novatian, Set vp ladders, O yee Papiſts, and clime vp to heauen alone.Socr. l. 1. c. 7. Erig… vobis ſcalus, &c. Homo iuſtus … &c. Who can abide that noted ſpeech of Bellarmine, A iuſt man hath by a double title, right to the ſame glory; one, by the merits of CHRIST imparted to him by grace, another, by his owne merits; contrary to that of the Spirit of God; The wages of ſinne is death, but, The gift of God is eternall life: vponupon which words another Cardinall, Caietan, ſpeakes in a holier faſhion, thus; He doth not ſay that the wages of our righteouſneſſe is eternall life: but, The gift of God is eternall life, that wee may vnderſtand, and learne, that we attaine eternall life, not by our owne merits, but by the free gift of God; for which cauſe alſo he addes, By Ieſus Chriſt our Lord: Rom. 6. fin.Behold the merit, behold the righteouſneſſe, whoſe wages is eternall life; but to vsus in reſpect of IESVS CHRIST, it is a free gift: Thus Caietan: Caiet. C…. in. Rom. 6.What could either Luther or Caluin, or any Proteſtant ſay more plainly? How imperfect doth the Scripture eueryevery where proclaime both Gods graces in vsus, and our workes to him? and though the graces of God were abſolutely perfect, yet they are not ours; if our workes were ſo; yet they are formerly due: And if they be due to God, what recompence of tranſcendent glory is due to vsus? Behold, wee are both ſeruants and vnprofitable; Not worthy ſaith God; worthy and more, ſay the Papiſts:Epheſs. 2. By grace yee are ſaued through faith; and that not of your ſelues, ſaith God: By grace indeed, but yet of our ſelues, ſay the Papiſts: What inſolencie is this? Let our Monkes now, goe, and profeſſe wilfull pouertie, whiles Ezekiah did neuer ſo boaſt of his heaps of treaſure, as theſe of their ſpirituall wealth.
Hier. Epitaph. Fabiolae.Hierome ſaid truely; It is more hard to bee ſtripped of our pride, than of our Gold and Iewels; for euen when thoſe outward ornaments are gone, many times theſe inward rags ſwell vp the ſoule. Gregorie Ariminenſis, their old Schoole-man, was aſhamed of this wicked arrogance, and ſo was Durandus and Pighius, and other their Diuines of a more modeſt temper: I would the Ieſuites could hauehave had the grace to hauehave beene no leſſe aſhamed, and the Tridentine Doctors; together with their executioners, the Inquiſitors:Ind. expurg Madriticus p. 149. But, what other men hauehave holily, and truely ſpoken, that they hauehave perfidiouſly wip't out: witneſſe their Index of Madrill, in theſe words: Out of the booke which is intituled, The Order of Baptizing, together with the manner of viſiting the ſicke, Printed at Venice, in the yeere 1575. Let theſe words bee blotted out; Doeſt thou beleeue that not by thine owne merits, but by the vertue and merit of the paſſion of our Lord IESVS CHRIST,Ex eod. litro fol. 34. ad Med. thou ſhalt come to glory? and ſoone after, Doſt thou beleeue that our Lord IESVS CHRIST died for our ſaluation, and that no man can be ſaued by his owne merits, or any other meanes, but onelyonly by the merit of his paſſion? Ywis,Hier. l. de libris Orig. foreign theſe are the Scorpions and Snakes of the ancient Diuines (as Ierome termed the errors of Origen) amongſt which the Reader muſt needs hauehave walked, had not the graue Senate of the Inquiſition wiſely prouided for our ſafetie. What hope is there now of peace? vnleſſe they could be content (which Bellarmine grants to be the ſafeſt way) renouncing the merits of their works, not ſo much for their vncertaintie, as the imperfection of their Iuſtice, and danger of vaine-glory, both to reſolue and teach men to repoſe their whole confidence in the mercy, and bounty of God: which we can at once both wiſh, and not hope for.