Confession of His Faith, Chapter 10 · Section 3 · Version 27 – Conclusion 14
TOm. 8. pag. 787. loc. de Justif. fidei [Opera necessaria sunt. 1. Ad Justificationem fidei coram Deo, &c. 2. Necessaria sunt ad Consecutionem vitae aeternae, non tanquam Causae meritoriae, sed tanquam necessariae viae per quas Ordinariè Deus electos suos ad possidendam vitam, &c. Mat. 25. Venite Benedicti, &c. q. d. Opera pietatis quae fecistis Effecerunt, non quidem ut vobis parata sit & donata vita aeterna, &c. sed Effecerunt & Causa fuerunt ut nunc ingrediamini ad possidendum Regnum ante vobis paratum. 3. Necessaria sunt ad Iustificationem Inhaerentem tanquam Causae. Homo enim Iustitia inhaerente Iustificatur ex operibus, id est, sanctificatur, r…novatur, Iustus fit; juxta quem sensum loquuntur Scholastici & ante eos Patres, & ante hos Iohannes Apostolus, Apoc. 22. Qui Iustus est, Justificetur adhuc. 4. Ʋtilia sunt ad Conservandam & augendam fidem; Item ad multa bona tum spiritualia tum Corporalia, tum in hac vitae tum in alia à Deo Promerenda & obtinenda, ut postea dicetur.
Id. ib. pap. 79…. Opera considerantur 1. Ex sua dignitate & merito, &c. 2. Ex Acceptatione Divine bonitatis, sive prout fiunt ab homine Christiano grato Deo & Remissione peccatorum donato, dilectoque in Christo: Et hoc modo Deus Acceptat illa ut Justa, & Imputat ea homini ad justitiam, &c.
VOl. 3. pag. 207. Epist. ad Heidelbergens. [Duplicem etiam Iustitiam nobis sacrae tradunt literae, qua electi gratis à Deo donati Iustificati & Justi esse dicuntur. Ʋnam perfectissimam & numeris omnibus absolutam: alteram imperfectam & in nobis inchoatam, in altero tantùm seculo perficiendam. Ʋnam quae sicut ab operibus nostris non pendet, sic neque per opera perfici potest; alteram, quae, licet ex gratia non autem propter opera donetur, per opera tamen incrementum accipit & perficitur. Ʋnam qua donati ita Coram Deo Justificamur, ut in ipsius Dei conspectu atque Judicio, pro omnino inculpatis atque Iustissimis reputemur. Alteram quae non solum nos coram hominibus Justos reddit, verum etiam gratos nos Deo magis ac magis efficit, & promissiones habet vitae praesent is & futurae. Ʋnam denique extra nos in solo Christo tanquam in capite nostro realiter positum, nobis vero imputatam, eoque nostram per imputationem effectam. Alteram vero in nobis reapse existentem atque inhaerentem.
Et Tom. ult. Thes. de merit. oper. pag. 702. Et si talia sint sanctorum opera, Deus tamen illa si ex fide fiant, & gratissima habet, & multis magnisque praemiis, atque adeo vita aeterna, idque nomine etiam mercedis & Coronae remunerat.
Et Vol. 3. pag. 219. Epist. l. 1. Accidit quod in Scripturis duo tribunalia dantur Deo, viz. Judicii & miserecordiae: in illo ex Lege; in hoc ex Evangelio homines Judicantur.
Vol. 3. Tom. 8. p. 578. Sunt etiam duo actionum fidei genera; Ʋnum in intellectu; alterum in Voluntate. Intellectus lumine fidei donatus res per verbum propositas intelligit, assentit, Credit. Voluntats efficacitate fidei affecta, eas ut Bonas Amat, vult, Amplectitur.] vid. & vol. 1. To. 3. p. 636. & 368.
VVOrks are necessary, 1. To justifie Faith before God, &c. 2. They are necessary to the obtaining eternal Life; not as meritorious causes, but as necessary wayes by which God ordinarily brings his Elect to possess life, &c. Mat. 25, Come ye blessed, &c. The Works of piety, which you have done, did not indeed effect that life eternal was prepared for you, and given, &c. But they did effect and were Causes that you now may enter to possess the Kingdom before prepared for you. 3. They are necessary to Inherent Iustification as Causes. For a man is Iustified by Works with Inherent Righteousness: that is, he is sanctified, renewed, made Righteous: After which sense the Schoolmen speak, and before them the Fathers, and before them the Apostle John, Rev. 22. He that is righteous, let him be justified yet. 4. They are profitable to conserve and increase Faith: also to Promerit of God and obtain many good things both spiritual and corporal, both in this life and in another, as shall be afterwards shewed.
WOrks are considered, 1. In their own dignity and merit: 2. In the Acceptation of Gods goodness, or as they are done by a Christian, pleasing to God, pardoned and beloved in Christ. And in this wise God Accepteth them as Righteous, and Imputeth them to man for righteousness, &c.
THE Scriptures deliver a twofold righteousness, by which the Elect being freely endowed, are said to be righteous and justified: One most perfect and in all points absolute: the other imperfect and begun in us, and to be perfected in another world: One, which as it dependeth not on our Works, so can it not be perfected by our Works: The other, which though it be given of Grace and not for Works, yet is it increased and perfected by Works: One, with which we being endowed, are so justified before God, that in the sight and judgement of God himself we are reputed for altogether blameless & most just: Another, which doth not only make us righteous before men, but also maketh us more and more acceptable to God, and hath the Promise of the life that now is, and that which is to come. To conclude, one without us, really placed in Christ himself only our head, and imputed to us, and so made ours by Imputation: The other really existing and inherent in our selves.]
[Though the Works of the Saints are such, yet if they be done in Faith, God doth both take them as most acceptable, and rewardeth them with many and great Rewards; and so with Life Eternal, and that by the name of Wages, and of a Crown.]
[In Scriptures two Tribunals are ascribed to God: to wit, of judgement, and of mercy. In that, men are judged out of the Law; In this, out of (or by) the Gospel.]
[Also there are two kinds of acts of Faith: One in the understanding, the other in the will. The understanding endowed with the light of Faith, understandeth things propounded by the word, Assenteth, Believeth. The will being affected with the efficacity of Belief, Loveth, Willeth, and embraceth them as good.]
SO that according to Zanchy, Love and Faith is one thing, when Christ is the object; therefore that love is not excluded from Iustification. And often he maketh love to God as our end and chief good to go before Faith in Christ as the way. And he oft saith we are Justified by Inherent Righteousness, and it is imputed to us for Righteousness and gives it the name of a Cause, and saith it doth effect it, that we should enter into heaven: Much more then I have said.