An Antidote Against Popery, Appendix · Chapter 7
CHAPT. VII. Of Glorification, And whether good works doe merite the same, as the Romanistes affirme, adducing for them these places following.
MATTH. 5.12. Rejoyce and bee glad, See Rives 2. v. p. 505.for great is your reward in Heaven.
Answere. Wee denye not, but that to GOD'S servants, who eyther suffer for righteousnesse, (whereof our SAVIOVR speaketh) or doe good workes, a reward is promised: but the question is, from whence they hauehave this reward? to wit, whether from GOD'S justice due vntounto them for the condignitie of their workes or sufferinges, as the Romanistes holde, and which this Text never will proue? or from His owne merciemercy, as a recompence freelie bestowed out of His gracious bountie onelie, as the Scripture clearlie doeth everie where proclayme?†Hosea 10.12 Psal. 62.12 Rom. 6.23. Which recompence in holie writ is therefore called a rewarde, with this adjection,*Colos. 3.24. of inheritance, to showe that It commeth to vsus rather, as from a mercifull Father, who freelie hath adopted vsus thereto, than from an addebted Master, from whom wee may justlie crane the same, as the merite of our Service. And this distinction of a reward by Grace, and of debt, the Apostle clearlie setteth downe, ROM. 4.4,
Aug. prefat. in enarrationem Psalmi 31 Ferus in Math 20. et Rom. 2.6.Therefore, sayeth Augustine, What meaneth this then, that our reward is called GRACE? But if it bee GRACE, it is freelie given, and what is freelie given, is without deserving.
In lyke-manner, (sayeth their owne Ferus,) if at anie tyme thou heare that a Reward is promised, knowe, that it not due vntounto thee for anie other cause, than the promise of GOD, Hee hath freelie promised, and freelie giveth it: Therefore, if thou wouldest keepe the louelove and favour of GOD, (sayeth hee) make no mention at all of anie merites of thine: for indeede farre more justlie than PAVLL to PHILEMON, verso 19. may the LORD say to anie of vsus, Thou …owest thy selfe to mee.
ROM. 2.6. Who shall render to everie one according to his workes. Heere (saye they) the reward hath relation to the works: theerfore they merite.
Answere. I will onelie satisfie them with the cleare wordes of one of their greatest Popes,Greg. in Psal. 7 paenit. in verba fac auditam, &c. Gregorie the Great, who sayeth, If this felicitie of the Saynctes, bee MercieMercy, and not acquired by merites, where is that which is written, Who shall render to everie one according to his workes? If it bee rendred then according to workes, how shall it bee esteemed MercieMercy? But (sayeth hee) it is one thing to render according to ones workes, and another thing to render for the workes themselues: for in that it is sayde, according to his workes, the qualitie of the workes is vnderstood, that whose workes are seene to bee good, his reward shall bee also Glorious: (as whose workes are evill, his reward shall bee contrarie.) But as to that eternall Lyfe which wee hauehave of GOD, and with GOD, no labour can bee equalled, (sayeth hee) no workes can bee compared.
Therefore, (sayeth their late Ferus, Ferus in Rom. 6.) looke that heere thou lift not vp thy crest, and extoll thy workes more than thou ought, and begin to tell of thy Merites, (as Hypocrites doe) as if they would make GOD a debter to thee for thy workes, seeing it is certayne that our workes are defectiue, both in number, weyght, and measure; and if they were weyghed in the LORD'S Ballance, would bee found too light. All therefore that this word (ACCORDING,) doeth import in relation to good workes, is, that their doing is a requisite cond…tion, without anie sort of meriting, in which sense Bellarmine himselfe clearlie acknowledgeth, that the word (ACCORDING) may bee taken, Libr. 1. de justif. Cap. 21. §. Si loquitur.
2. THESS. 1.5. That yee may bee counted worthie of the Kingdome of GOD. There is (saye they) expresse mention of the merite of condignitie, as also Revel, 3.4.
Answere. First, (sayeth Cardinall Cajetane) the Apostle sayeth not, That yee may bee worthie, In 2. Thess. 1.(for the sufferinges of this tyme, are not worthie of that Kingdome) but that yee may bee esteemed, or accounted, worthie. Therefore sayeth Augustine, Aug. in Psal. 83. e… 109.What-so-ever GOD hath promised. Hee hath promised to them that were vnworthie, that it might not bee promised as wages for workes; but beeing GRACE, it might according to its name, bee graciouslie and freelie given or bestowed.
Next, They ought to distinguish betweene the worthinesse of the person, where-of both the places speake, and betweene the dignitie of the workes, whereof there is no mention, and is our onelie Question▪ Now the dignitie of the persons, proceedeth not from the dignitie of their workes, but from GOD'S meere favour, where-by Hee hath graciouslic, without anie merite of theirs, accepted th…m in CHRIST, as sonnes, as wee see, IOHN 12. And this distinction Bellarmine himselfe setteth downe, Libr. 5. de justif. Cap. 17. §. respondent.
MATTH. 20.8. Call the labourers, and giuegive them their hyre. Heere (say they) eternall lyfe is called AN HYRE, which is due to the worker, for the workes sake.
Aunswere. First, Parabolicall Argumemtes conclude nothing in doctrines of fayth, as hath beene formerlie acknowledged by our Adversaries themselues. For so sayeth Fenerdantius, In Parables the rule of Trueth is not to bee found, but in plaine Scriptures. In Iren. Libr. 2. Cap. 46.
Next, Cardinall Cajetane showeth, that CHRIST'S scope is onelie to showe, that GOD calleth some at the last houre; that none may despare of a sinners conversion, so long as this lyfe endureth, and the meanes of grace: and this which is promised by GOD, as a just hyre, is aboue the condignitie of our workes, (sayeth hee:) for the verie sufferinges of this tyme, are not worthie of that Glorie to come. Yea, the felicitie of the Saynctes,Greg. in Psal. 7 poenit. (sayeth Gregorie) is meere merciemercy, and not acquired by merites.
2. TIM. 4.8. Hencefoorth is layde vp for mee a crowne of Righteousnesse, which the LORD the just judge shall giuegive mee at that day. Heere (say they) a crowne to bee given for Righteousnesse, by GOD, as a just Iudge, rewarding PAVL'S merites.
Aunswere. Wee grant, that in respect GOD hath tyed Himselfe by His Promise,Iames 1.12. to rewarde the godlie lyfe of His own Chosen with Glorie, that in this sense, it proveth in a sort to bee an Act of Iustice, and therefore the Apostle attributeth it to Iustice,1 Iohn … 9. tho originallie it come from meere merciemercy: even as in forgiving our sinnes, (which in it selfe all men know to bee an Act of MercieMercy,) hee is sayde to bee faythfull and just; to wit, in regard of the faythfull performance of His gracious promise, made to all true penitents so to doe.Sedulius in Rom. 3. Therefore (sayeth Sedulius,) it is called the justice of GOD, which is seene to bee MercieMercy, because it hath its Originall from His Promise: and when this promise of GOD is performed, it is called IVSTICE.Bern. l. de gra. e… Libr. Arb. So lykewyse (sayth Bernard) there is a crowne of Righteousnesse which PAVL'L expected; but of the Righteousnesse of GOD, not his owne. For it is just, that GOD should pay that which Hee oweth; and hee oweth what hee promised, (sayeth hee.) And thus did all the Auncients with a full consent teach) (sayeth their owne Cassander) that the hope both of pardon, and of eternall lyfe,Cassand. cōsult. art. 6. was onelie to bee placed in the onelie merciemercy of GOD, and merite of CHRIST.
MATTH. 25.34. Come yee blessed of My Father, for when I was hungrie yee gaue mee meate, &c. Heere (saye they) the worde (for) showeth that their workes was the cause that merited their Salvation, as the workes of the wicked are the cause that meriteth their damnation.
Answere. First, the word (for) signifieth not ever the cause of a thing, but the evidence there-of, as where it is sayd in the evening, To morrow it will bee fayre Weather, for the Skie is red, MATTH. 16.2. The rednesse of the Skye, beeing an evidence that it will bee so, but not the cause of beeing so: but suppone, that it import a Casualitie, yet the same is Morall onelie and Instrumentall, beeing the meanes appoynted by GOD, wherevnto of His free merciemercy in CHRIST, Hee hath promised a reward: but from a word of Casualitie in the generall, to inferre a meritorious Casualitie and Efficiencie in particular, the Argument holdeth not.
2. COR. 4.17. Our light afflictions, which are for a moment, causeth our workes to vsus a farre more exceeding and eternall weyght of Glorie. Heere (say they) the Sayncts sufferings are expresslie called causes of their glorie.
Answere. To this the solution of the former ARGVMENT giveth satisfaction, as also the inequalitie of these afflictions, compared with the farre more exceeding and eternall weyght of glorie, agreeing with that ROM. 8.18. overthroweth clearlie the merite of condignitie.
Both with the wicked, then, and the Godlie, Hee is to deale, according to the qualitie of their works, good or evill; but not with His owne Elect, for the merite of their workes, as with the wicked: Therefore Hee is brought in, saying to the godlie, Inherite the kingdome prepared for you, before the foundation of the World: verse 24: And therefore not obtained by the merite of their workes. Whereby wee may see the dissimilitude, betweene the workes of the godlie and the wicked: that the one (as Bernard sayeth) is the way to Glorie, not the cause of it: but the other, (to wit, the workes of the wicked) are both the way to punishment, and the meritorious cause of it. Neyther is this vnaccustomeable in Scripture, to oppose or compare things in some respects, which holdeth not in all, as the wicked are rewarded according to their workes which they doe of themselues: and yet no Romanist will say, that even so the godlie are rewarded, according to their workes, which they in lyke manner doe of themselues, but which flow from grace: and one evill worke is sufficient to condemne, but not so is one good worke sufficient to saue.
Last of all, they say, that CHRIST hath merited this to vsus, that wee our selues might merite eternall lyfe, and that our workes are meritorious, in so farre as they are dipped, or dyed in His blood, wherefrae they receaue that efficacie of meriting, and so our meriting doeth nowayes derogate from CHRIST.
Aunswere. This is to make CHRIST, the generall and remote cause onelie, but our selues and out workes to bee the nearer cause, which properlie and immediatelie produceth the effect of our salvation. Whereas to merite the same, is a personall action of the Sonne of GOD, our head onelie, and incommunicable to His members: in respect that the nature of meriting, consisteth in the infinite vertue of the person who doeth merite, and which must bee correspondent to that infinite weyght of glorie which is merited. There-fore seeing no simple creature can bee capable of that infinite vertue, it followeth, that CHRIST onelie is the sole, immediate and neare cause of meriting glorie vntounto vsus, who fullie hath satisfied, and merited vntounto vsus, what-so-ever is necessarie vntounto our Salvation.
Whence lyke-wyse it should followe, (according to Romish doctrine) that our salvation ought rather to be ascrybed to vsus & our merites, than to CHRIST'S: because the effect is ascrybed to the nearest and immediate cause, rather than to the generall and remote: which absurde were impious.
Gal. 2.21.Lyke-wyse the Apostle should hauehave sayde in vayne, If righteousnesse were by the Law, then CHRIST died in vayne: because according to the doctrine of Romanistes, it might bee answered, that CHRIST died for this verie ende, that righteousnesse might bee by the Lawe: that is, that by our workes, wee may merite eternall lyfe; and which vertue of meriting, Hee hath acquired vntounto vsus by His death: but indeede the Apostles were ignorant, of anie such fruit of CHRIST death at all, and therefore did teach,Isai 1.18. Revel 7.14 that CHRIST'S blood doeth wash vsus from our sinnes, and make our garments white which are dipped therein: but never that our works were dipped therein, to take on such a colour as merite.