gods Munificence. 3 4 -! eternal, for it never had a beginning : yet when all things decreed are fulfilled, it Ihalt have an end. Thirdly, whichbath a beginning,butnever fhall haveend,and fo the life ofGods Saints had a beginning,as all created things have,but it (1ìa11 never have an end; and this eternal life, it iscalled here, Thegifi of God throaghlefafhriff our Lord. Becaufe we cannot deferve it , but it is given , and bellowed on us freely for Chrifi. So thanthe point ofobfervation from the latter part of the words is this ; that, Our falvation it it thefree gift ofGod,given us only for the merits ofChrifl. 'Donn Salvation the For obferve I befeech you the Apofties words, whenhe had faid,Thewages offin G`oa gift of is death, he dothnot add, and fay, but the wages ofrzghteoufneft is eternal life, but he calls that thegift ofGod. To make us underftand, faith pámafcene, that God brings us to eternal life meetly for his own mercy, not for our merits, or elfe fore, ly the Apoflle would have made the latter part of the fentence, anfwerable to the former. . Buthere perhaps fome may ask why eternal life shouldnot be the wages ofrighte- .uefi. oufnefs, as well asdeath the wages offin ? I anfwer, becaufe there is not the faine reafonbetween fin and righteoufitefs. e.4rtfw. Forfirfl,fin is our own,it merits it; but righteoufnefs isnone ofour own,it is the holyGhofts and it is due toGod. Thenagain fin is perfe&ly evil, and fo it deferves death; but ourrighteoufnefs in- herent is not perfe&ly good, it is impeded in thislife, andnothing that is imper. fedly good canmerit (as wages) eternal life : therefore the Apoftlemakes fucha manifeft difference between them, he calls death, the wages of(in, but eternal life, thegift ofGod, it is the freegift ofGod through Chrift. Indeed eternal life fome,- times,many times in Scripture is called a reward. But there is a reward ofmercy as well as of juftice. NayGod isPaid fometimes to reward his children in juftice. How is that Though the rewardcome originiallyfrommercy,yet accidentally it comes tobe juftice,thus,becaufe Godhathtied himfelf by promife to reward, now promife is debt from a jute man. Thus the Lordmaybe counted a debtor. How ? faith SaintAufiin, as a promifer, ifhehad not promifed eternal life, otherwifeheowes eílufiinh, us nothingat all, much lefs eternallifewhich is fogreat a thing. Yet it maybe doubted, how eternallife is thefree gift. ofGod, feeino it is given 2ef?. for, the merits ofChrift, as it is here exprefh the giftofGod through lefaúChrif6our Lord, that is, for the merits ofChrift ; now a man that gives a thing upon merit,he gives it not freely. Ianfweritisfree inrefpe&ofus; whatfoe,er Chrift bath done we didnot merit Anfw. If it be replied, Chrifts merits are madeours, and wemerit in him,and fo it can- not be free. I anfwer, thisreafonwereofforce -ifweourfelvescouldpróçurethe merits ofChrift for us,but that wecould not do,but that alto was offree gift,(ob.3. 7oh -1. Godfo loved the worldthat he gave his only begotten Son, that be thatbelieves inhim fhoaldnotperifh: hegave him freely, offreegift; ,fo that though eternal life be due tous by the merits ofChrft, yet it is thefree giftofGod. I will fiend no longer in proving the truth of thello&rine. I come to theapplicationand ufe, to conclude with the time. Firft, it.ferves to confute ouradverfaries of the Church of Rome in the point of Vfe s. merit. They look for heaven and eternal life as wages, we fee the Apoftle teach- Confutation eth us otherwife, that eternal life is not given in that manner, but anothermanner ofinedt. of way ; Itis not given as wages, it is thefreegift ofGod. And inRom. 8. he faith, Rom, S. that the fufferings of this life is not worthy of theglory that /hall be revealed: all our fufferings, all our works they arenot worthy of the gloryofGod, wecannotpro. perly merit them. Thiswas the confeantDo&rineofthe primitiveChurch : that a good life when we are juftified, and an eternal life when we are glorified; they all grant that all that isgood in us is the giftofGood;that eternallife is not a retribution to
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