God, viz. that a divine promise intervenes, by which a reward is promised to such work.

"What does the first condition imply?

"That the work must be free with the liberty of indifference;" (i. e. liberty of doing or not doing a thing;)" and it is an article of faith since the condemnation of the third proposition of Jansenius."

"What does the second condition mean?

"That indifferent works, if such were performed by an individual, are not meritorious.

"What is imported by the third condition?

“That works only morally good, viz.: those which are performed by the powers of nature alone, are not meritorious, although they might be done by a good man: because they do not proceed from grace, of which merit is the effect; neither are they proportionate to supernatural merit, as they are natural.

"What is signified by the fourth condition?

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"That a work ought to be referred to obedience to God: because, otherwise, there would be no reason why a reward should be expected from him, especially according to justice. Observe, that as well good works, which are (performed in obedience) of a precept, as those which are (in pursuance) of counsel, may be meritorious: for, Matt. xix. 17, eternal life is promised to those who keep the commandments :— 'If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments;' and verse 29, the same life is promised to those who keep the Evangelical counsels: Every one that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters,- -for my name's sake, shall receive a hundred fold, and shall possess life everlasting.' Indeed, the endurance of diseases and other afflictions can be meritorious and satisfactory; because that endurance may be freely received by the will out of grace and love.

"Prove the fifth condition, namely, that the person must be a traveller (upon earth.)

"It seems that this cannot be proved from natural reason; but the necessity of this condition appears to proceed from the positive divine decree, manifested to us from Holy Scripture, and the common opinion of the church; thus, it is said, Ecclesiasticus xiv. 17, 'Before thy death, work justice; for in hell there is no finding food;' John ix. 4, Christ says,

'The night cometh, when no man can work:' by night, meaning death: after which he asserts no one can meritoriously work.

"Hence, St. Jerome says, &c. 'The time of sowing is the present life; when this has past, the season of working is gone;' and St. Thomas, &c. It must be said that merit and demerit pertain to the state of life.'

"Infer that the blessed in heaven, souls in purgatory, and the damned in hell, although the latter do not cease to sin, and the former persevere in good works, yet do not any more merit or demerit by them, so that their happiness or damnation might be increased.

"The Lord Christ, although he was perfect, or blessed from the first instant of his conception, was at the same time also a traveller, (upon earth), and so long only he merited. The saints by their prayers obtain blessings for us from God; but they do not properly merit them, not even on the ground of propriety.

"Who is said to be a traveller, or in a state of wayfaring? "He who lives in the body in a mortal condition. Hence, it becomes probable that Enoch and Elias do not in fact merit, because they do not live in a mortal state.

"Prove the sixth condition, that a person ought to be in a state of sanctifying grace.

"It is proved from John xv. 4, As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in me;' also, 1 Cor. xiii. 3. 'If I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, &c., and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.'

"The same can be proved from Council of Trent, Sess. 6. chap. 16, and from the condemnation of the 12th, 13th, 15th, 17th, and 18th of the propositions of Bajus.

"Therefore, the good works of sinners, even proceeding from actual grace, before the application of habitual grace, are not meritorious on the ground of worthiness.

"Does the sinner therefore in vain apply himself to good works?

'By no means for although they are not strictly meritorious, yet if they are performed through the incipient desire of converting himself to God, excited by grace, they are preparatory to grace, and are productive of it.

"Show that the seventh condition is necessary, viz. that a divine promise should intervene.

"It is evident; because unless this promise intervened, there would be no title from which an obligation of justice could originate; as God is the Supreme Lord of all, and thus he might exact all our works by various claims, as due to himself."

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Holy Scripture shows that this promise has been made, James i. 12, 'He shall receive the crown of life, which God has promised to them that love him;' and Heb. x. 36, 'That doing the will of God, ye may receive the promise.' Hence the Council of Trent says, &c., sess. 6, chap. 16.

"Obj. Many illiterate persons are ignorant of that promise, but yet they do not therefore cease to merit; therefore, &c.

"I deny the inference; because it is not necessary that all the faithful should explicitly know that promise; but it is sufficient for some that they implicitly know it in this, that they believe God to be the dispenser of the reward of eternal glory.

"Are, therefore, any works meritorious on the ground of worthiness?

"I answer with St. Thomas, &c., Every human action which proceeds from free will, moved not only by actual grace, but also instructed by sanctifying grace, if it may be referred to God, is worthily meritorious; and thus not only acts of charity but also of temperance, justice, and every virtue, are meritorious of eternal life, and though merit primarily pertains to charity, as St. Thomas says, yet it pertains secondarily also to other virtues, inasmuch as their acts are enjoined or taught by charity.

"What conditions are requisite to merit on the ground of propriety and by a person in a state of probation?

"These, that the work be free, good, performed through actual grace, and for the purpose of obedience towards God; yet a state of grace is not required, nor a divine promise."

The doctrine of merit as taught in the standards of the Romish church is so directly at variance with the letter and spirit of the Bible that it refutes itself, when simply contrasted with the plain testimony of Scripture, which is, never

theless, summoned as a witness in its favour. If we are “saved by grace,” as Paul declares, then we cannot be saved by merit. The texts which have been adduced in the preceding translation of the two leading chapters on merit, as heretical objections, cannot be invalidated by the flimsy, though occasionally plausible arguments which are offered in reply. It is not worth while to examine them all in detail, as the general principles which controvert them, have been mentioned in the preceding chapter, in defence of Justification by faith; but we will briefly instance one or two. When the following passage is stated in full, the answer which Peter Dens gives to it, will appear even still more feeble than in its present form. "Doth the master thank his servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say we are unprofitable servants, we have done that which was our duty to do." If we were to exhibit angelic obedience to every command of God, if we had never sinned even in thought, we could claim no reward on this account-we should have done no more than our duty, and should simply have paid a just debt. But who is there that has not offended in many things? And if the least offence is a transgression of a law which is holy, just, and good-if every sin is committed against a God whose perfections are infinite, and whose wrath is revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness, how can we lay claim to merit, when if saved from death and hell, it must be alone through the exercise of sovereign grace and mercy?

In Rom. vi. 23, which our theologian professes to quote thus, "the grace of God (is) everlasting life,” we read these words: "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God (is) eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord." Here the apostle evidently wishes to contrast "the wages of sin" with "the gift of God."

The sinner merits death worthily, but the believer receives eternal life as a "gift." And lest any one should suppose it to be given (to the saint) as a mark of approbation on account of his good works, Paul adds, "through Jesus Christ our Lord." Not only so, but the believer cannot do a good work without grace; this the church of Rome admits, and yet in the very face of this concession, she denounces the heretics who "babble" against the condign merits of the saints!

CHAPTER XII.

TREATISE CONCERNING THEOLOGICAL VIRTUES. Concerning the Virtue of Faith. (No. 8.)

"THERE are three theological virtues which the apostle mentions, I Cor. xiii. 13, saying-Now there remain faith, hope, charity, these three.

"These virtues are called theological, commonly divine, (in Dutch, Goddelyke Deugden; in French, Vertus Théolo gales), principally because they treat immediately about God, or because they have God for their formal and material primary object: farther, because these virtues are made known by revelation alone in the sacred Scripture, and thus were first discovered by Christian theologians, who investigate matters of revelation."

"The word faith is variously received.

"Sometimes it is taken for fidelity in promises, as Rom. iii. 3, 'Shall their unbelief make the faith of God of none effect?'

"2. It is taken for the promises themselves and for a vow; as 1 Tim. v. 12, it is said, concerning certain widows, 'They have made void their first faith.'

"3. It sometimes denotes conscience; as Rom. xiv. 23. 'All that is not of faith is sin.' In this sense also, any one is called a possessor of good or bad faith.