If faith saves us why keep the commandments.

[Contarini]

If Faith saves us why keep the commandments.

I as a Catholic believe and profess Faith mean’s and defines to abide in Gods Moral Laws.

How can we seperate them .?

I would like to see responses from all, but especially the Eternal Security Believers.

Sara

I do not believe in eternal security, and I believe in “faith alone” only in a highly modified sense. But the answer of pretty much all Protestants to your question would be that if we truly believe in Christ then we will love Him and want to keep His commandments. Indeed, it’s hard for evangelical Protestants not to see your question as reflecting a defective sense of what it means to be a Christian. Why would someone who loved God not want to keep the commandments? Why would a Christian be looking for reasons to displease God? It doesn’t make any sense.

You are probably asking this question out of a misunderstanding of what “faith alone” means. Most Protestants historically (and this includes many–I’d like to think most–modern “eternal security” believers) believe that saving faith necessarily involves love for God and the desire to do His will. Catholics misunderstand this easily (just as Protestants misunderstand many aspects of Catholicism) because classical Protestantism teaches that Christ’s righteousness is imputed to us and hence our behavior doesn’t “count” directly for or against our standing with God. (My own Wesleyan/Methodist tradition does not agree with this, I hasten to add.) But this doesn’t mean that holiness is optional. It simply means that the motivation for it is not supposed to be fear of hell, but rather gratitude for what God has done for us.

It get’s tricky–especially for Calvinists–because of course one of the signs of being a true believer is the desire to please God. So in the end the more reasonable objection to traditional Protestantism isn’t so much that it makes people happy-go-lucky as that it accentuates the very fear that it’s trying to get rid of. Many of the forms of evangelicalism that we see today, which really do seem to say that living a holy life is optional, are actually reacting against more traditional forms of Protestantism which (in their view) fell into “legalism.”

Edwin

 

[Bishopite]

Connie,

Eternal Security Doctrine is based on Faith and works, however, if they omit the works or commandments of God, church, communion, charity, etc, they still believe and profess in assured salvation = guranteed salvation or entrance into Heaven regardless of works or Gods commandments.
**They believe their sins were paid for when Christ died on the cross, past , present and future sins. **

They also profess no sin can take away there ticket to Heaven, since they were choosen by God as his elect and pre-judged as being Saved or grafted. They claim Faith produces works however commandment keeping has nothing to do with Salvation . Its twisted and bizzare which you will see with some of the response if they respond.

Sara

Again, what they mean by “no sin” is no unrepented sin as in those in 1 Cor 6…adulterers, homosexuals, fornicators etc…

And as I said before, any fundamentalist/evangelical that says they are saved even though they don’t keep the commandments is in the MINORITY of them. I was a fundamentalist for 38 years, involved in my Baptist Church, I was Southern Baptist, then Conservative Baptist and I knew my faith.

The committed fundamentalist/evangelical would say that anyone including any other fundamentalist/evangelical who doesn’t go to Church and doesn’t attempt to keep the commandments isn’t following the Bible, which is Gods word and someone who doesn’t have FAITH therefore his works are burned up because his fruits don’t show his faith as James 2 says. And since they don’t do what Jesus Christ says to do in the Scriptures, they obviously don’t have faith in Jesus as their Savior.

The whole idea of Protestants always saying that they can’t keep the commandments means that they can’t ever truly be “COMPLETELY” holy, and that’s because of their position on justification and imputed grace vs Catholic theology which is infused grace, in that God not only declares us holy but makes us holy as we are being sanctified. Unfortunately, most evangelicals don’t know what imputed or infused grace which is rather ironic since they are the ones who always claim Catholics don’t know their faith!

rc

 

[johnshelby]

ok, i was raised Baptist… there are several verses in the bible
that lead to the OSAS belief…

an example of why some believe OSAS… (( Jesus’ words ))
KJV (( my bold emphasis ))
John 3:
14And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
15That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

if the gift of life is given ‘eternally’, how can it be taken back?
something conditional can’t be eternal…

in the Catholic church, we have it easy, we have the CCC to
help us understand things that we aren’t sure of… but, in churches like the Baptist Church, it can vary from congregation to congretation…

 

[heisenburg]

TO OSASers

 While I can understand why that conclusion could be drawn, I have a few questions in regards to that philosiphy. I am not trying to be argumentative, but geneunly asking so please do not take it as such...

while john 3:15 does say “That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”, to me this simply says that as long as we believe in him and what he says, we will have eternal life. I can agree completely with that sentance. But what about the man who turns from god. I see it as saying it is there for you as long as you believe, not beleive once and you will be saved regardless of what you do…

example: A man accepts jesus into his heart and is baptised in a baptist church at the age of say 22. He is on fire for the word and is living the life. As he grows older, life kicks in. He practices less and less, prays less and less, and studies less and less. eventualy, the man falls into a pattern of serious sins like adultry and is never repentent. becuase he accepted christ and was full of the spirit for several years in his youth, when this man dies at the age of 79, unrepentant with venom in his heart, is he allowed in?

We have the free will to accept christ, we also have that same free will to turn from christ.

To Follow. How does OSAS hold up to statements like the following?

(forgive me if I cant remember exact verse numbers)

1. The jews where part of the tree of life. However, in there folly, they were cut from this tree and the follwers of christ were grafted in, but we are then warned that if we do not follow his word, we too can be cut from the tree.
2. Paul says we must perservere to the end. If we are saved form the moment of baptism/accepting jesus on, why must we continue to fight to the end?
3. Christ says we msut follow the commandments if we wish to follow him.
4. Christ says that any tree that does not bare good fruit will be cut from the tree and thrown into the fire.
5. The parable of the seed - the seed that does not fall on good soil. It may be egear to follow but falls away as it grows and dies. jesus even says many will accept his word, but over time will loose that joy and fall away
6. Paul even talks about him not even being sure he is saved. If he wasnt sure, hwo can we be
7. The analogy of the race… Many will enter, but only those that practice and work the hardest will win.

While I did not provide the exact verse/chapter, these are very
well know stories and parables. How does OSAS account for the MANY instances where we are told that we must continue on to the last day for us to be saved. That it is not a one time deal.

Please forgive me if I sound rude or argumentative, I am simply curious how these aspects are accounted for in OSAS

In Christ

 

[johnshelby]

i’m Catholic, so i believe you can turn away, and lose your
salvation… so you are casting your pearls before another
believer… lol

but, we were discussing OSAS believers, and why they
believe the way they do… and i simply stated, they believe
eternal means just that, eternal,not conditional… just
as they believe that believers are ‘regenerated’ or ‘reborn’…
and once regenerated or reborn, they can’t be unregenerated
or unreborn…(( my response to this one is always, you can’t
be unreborn, but you can die. then they always say, then it
wasn’t really eternal life, was it? ))

another point they use is…
Romans 8 KJV
32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.
34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 **Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
**

so, if you want to discuss the idea of OSAS, these are some
of the things you are going to see…

 

[catholicboy43]

mathew 19:17 “if you wish to enter life keep the commandments.”

 

[johnshelby]

oh, and on your points… most of the examples you used,
they will say, refer to rejecting Jesus and His teaching…
so, where we would see something that points to works
they see something that points to belief… (( cept for
James, they don’t really have many arguments for that
cept to say as follows ))

OSAS believers believe that you should live a
Christian life… They believe that punishment for sins and
unChristian behavior is given now… not in the afterlife… They
believe that once they die, just as the thief on the cross,
they will be in paradise, that day. That all their debts will
have been paid… so James is refering to the punishment
we will receive before we die, for the sins we commit…

as for the Jews, OSAS believers would say that this verse
is not directed at believers, but non-believers… being a Jew
means they don’t believe in Jesus as the Savior…

the tree… one who doesn’t believe, not one who doesn’t
produce works…

the seed, the seed is the word of God, Jesus’ teaching…
sometimes it falls on good ground, those who believe…
sometimes on bad ground, those who reject. Once it falls
on good ground, the ears of a future believer, then it produces fruit, salvation…

as for Paul’s questioning his own salvation, i’m not sure
which verses that refers to… but, i’m sure if you use
the word ‘belief’ rather than the word ‘works’ when you are
contemplating it, you will get a pretty good idea of their
ideas about the verse…

and remember, these are my own opinions, based on my
time as a Baptist… but, they don’t have a CBC, so these
may not reflect a certain congregation’s beliefs…

 

[Steven_Merten]

Contarini:

I do not believe in eternal security, and I believe in “faith alone” only in a highly modified sense. But the answer of pretty much all Protestants to your question would be that if we truly believe in Christ then we will love Him and want to keep His commandments. Indeed, it’s hard for evangelical Protestants not to see your question as reflecting a defective sense of what it means to be a Christian. Why would someone who loved God not want to keep the commandments? Why would a Christian be looking for reasons to displease God? It doesn’t make any sense.

Edwin

Hello Edwin,

Would you say that Protestants just go out and make up their own definition to God’s great commandment to love God? God goes through great lengths in scriptures to define how God’s great commandment to love God is accomplished through obedience to God. Can you show scriptures which define God’s great commandment to love God as something other than obedience?

NAB DEU 5:6

'I, the LORD, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. You shall not have other gods besides me. You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth; you shall not bow down before them or worship them. For I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God, inflicting punishments for their fathers’ wickedness on the children of those who hate me, down to the third and fourth generation but bestowing mercy, down to the thousandth generation, on the children of those who love me and keep my commandments. 'You shall not take the name of the LORD, your God, in vain. For the LORD will not leave unpunished him who takes his name in vain. 'Take care to keep holy the sabbath day as the LORD, your God, commanded you. Six days you may labor and do all your work; but the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD, your God. No work may be done then, whether by you, or your son or daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or *** or any of your beasts, or the alien who lives with you. Your male and female slave should rest as you do. For remember that you too were once slaves in Egypt, and the LORD, your God, brought you from there with his strong hand and outstretched arm. That is why the LORD, your God, has commanded you to observe the sabbath day. 'Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD, your God, has commanded you, that you may have a long life and prosperity in the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you. 'You shall not kill. 'You shall not commit adultery. 'You shall not steal. 'You shall not bear dishonest witness against your neighbor. 'You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. 'You shall not desire your neighbor’s house or field, nor his male or female slave, nor his ox or , nor anything that belongs to him.'NAB DEU 6:1"These then are the commandments, the statutes and decrees which the LORD, your God, has ordered that you be taught to observe* in the land into which you are crossing for conquest, so that you and your son and your grandson may fear the LORD, your God, and keep, throughout the days of your lives, all his statutes and commandments which I enjoin on you, and thus have long life. Hear then, Israel, and be careful to observe them, that you may grow and prosper the more in keeping with the promise of the LORD, the God of your fathers, to give you a land flowing with milk and honey." The great commandment. Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone! Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today. Drill them into your children. Speak of them at home and abroad, whether you are busy or at rest. Bind them at your wrist as a sign and let them be as a pendant on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates.

NAB DEU 30:15 The Choice before Israel.

"Here then, I have today set before you life and prosperity, death and doom. If you obey the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I enjoin on you today, loving him, and walking in his ways, and keeping his commandments, statutes and decrees, you will live

 

[Steven_Merten]

NAB SIR 15:11 Man’s Free Will.

Say not: “It was God’s doing that I fell away”; for what he hates he does not do. Say not: “It was he who set me astray”; for he has no need of wicked man. Abominable wickedness the LORD hates, he does not let it befall those who fear him. When God, in the beginning, created man, he made him subject to his own free choice. If you choose you can keep the commandments; it is loyalty to do his will. There are set before you fire and water; to whichever you choose, stretch forth your hand. Before man are life and death, whichever he chooses shall be given him.

NAB EXO 20:5

“. . . you shall not bow down before them or worship them. For I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God, inflicting punishment for their fathers’ wickedness on the children of those who hate me, down to the third and fourth generation; but bestowing mercy down to the thousandth generation, on the children of those who love me and keep my commandments.”

NAB LUK 10:25

"Teacher, what must I do to inherit everlasting life?" Jesus answered him: "What is written in the law? How do you read it?" He replied:

"You shall love the Lord your God
**with all your heart, **
**with all your soul, **
**with all your strength, **
**and with all your mind; **
and your neighbor as yourself."
Jesus said, “You have answered correctly. Do this and you shall live.”

INT 1JO 5:3

This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.INT JOH 14:15

"If you love me, you will obey what I command." **NAB JOH 15:22 **

“If I had not come to them and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; now, however, their sin cannot be excused. To hate me is to hate my Father. Had I not performed such works among them as no one has ever done before, they would not be guilty of sin; but as it is, they have seen, and they go on hating me and my Father.”

 

[Contarini]

Steven Merten:

Hello Edwin,

Would you say that Protestants just go out and make up their own definition to God’s great commandment to love God? God goes through great lengths in scriptures to define how God’s great commandment to love God is accomplished through obedience to God. Can you show scriptures which define God’s great commandment to love God as something other than obedience?

Well no. Why should I? Do you seriously think that Protestants don’t think loving God involves obedience? Of course they think that (insofar as one can generalize about Protestants–I’ll grant that for every crazy belief at least one Protestant congregation somewhere can be found that teaches it). This just isn’t something to argue about.

The question is not whether loving God involves obedience, but what happens when we fall short in obedience (and hence in loving God). That we do fall short (at least in minor ways) is, again, something that all Christians agree on. (The Council of Trent says that venial sins are inevitable.)

Edwin

 

[Bishopite]

Edwin,
You said: “Do you seriously think that Protestants don’t think loving God involves obedience? Of course they think that (insofar as one can generalize about Protestants–I’ll grant that for every crazy belief at least one Protestant congregation somewhere can be found that teaches it). This just isn’t something to argue about.”

As a former Protestant, I’ll agree with you that generally speaking, most do try to obey the commandments and do because of they want to follow Gods word in Scripture which says:
**1 Cor 7:19 **Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but **keeping the commandments of God **is what matters.
**1 John 5:2-3 ** By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And **His commandments are not burdensome.
**

Perhaps the more important question is how much or how far can we sin in order to get into heaven?

The question is not whether loving God involves obedience, but what happens when we fall short in obedience (and hence in loving God). That we do fall short (at least in minor ways) is, again, something that all Christians agree on. (The Council of Trent says that venial sins are inevitable.)

You mentioned “That we do fall short (at least in minor ways)…” and you mention the council of Trent and venial sins and “that venial sins are inevitable.”

And since you affirm that venial sins are inevitable, I’m curious as to whether you would also assert that everyone (or most everyone) dies with those venial sins?

rc

 

[Matt14]

Faith does save, of course:

Eph 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
Eph 2:9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

But not faith alone:

Jam 2:14 What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?

But rather faith and works together save:

Jam 2:22 You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected;

and

Jam 2:24 You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.

There is a difference between the works of the Law, ie seeking to justify oneself by good deeds alone, and the required works (commands) of Christ, under which we now live.

How important did Jesus say such works are to salvation?

Mat 25:31 "But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne.
Mat 25:32 "All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats;
Mat 25:33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.
Mat 25:34 "Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
Mat 25:35 ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;
Mat 25:36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’
Mat 25:37 "Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink?
Mat 25:38 'And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?
Mat 25:39 ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’
Mat 25:40 "The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’
Mat 25:41 "Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;
Mat 25:42 for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink;
Mat 25:43 I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’
Mat 25:44 "Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’
Mat 25:45 "Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’
Mat 25:46 “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

But aren’t these works something we can boast about? We can try, but it has to be done through faith, because:

Heb 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

And in the end:

Luk 17:10 “So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.’”

 

[ChristianWAB]

If Faith saves us why keep the commandments.

I as a Catholic believe and profess Faith mean’s and defines to abide in Gods Moral Laws.

How can we seperate them .?

I would like to see responses from all, but especially the Eternal Security Believers.

Sara

Though too cumbersome to quote here, I’d suggest a careful read of the 6th chapter of Romans, as it specifically addresses the matter of avoiding sin even after being saved by Jesus. Romans 6 gives an excellent explanation of why Christians mustn’t sin. I hope this helps.

 

[E.E.N.S]

ChristianWAB:

Romans 6 gives an excellent explanation of why Christians mustn’t sin.

Commentary on Romans 6 (Douay-Rheims)

Ver. 1. Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? He puts and rejects the same objection as before. (Chap. iii. ver. 7.) And having set forth in the last chapter the grace and advantage by Christ’s coming, he now exhorts them to avoid sinning, and live in the grace of God. (Witham)

Ver. 2. Dead to sin, &c. We are then dead to sin when we neither live in sin by serving it, nor sin lives in us by reigning; in this case, how can we still live in it by yielding to its desires? St. Augustine (chap. vi. de spiritu et litera) thus explains the passage: when grace has caused us to die to sin; if we live again in it, we must be exceedingly ungrateful to grace. (Estius)

Ver. 3. &c. We…are baptized in his death. Greek, unto his death. The apostle here alludes to the manner of administering the sacrament of baptism, which was then done by immersion or by plunging the person baptized under the water, in which he finds a resemblance of Christ’s death and burial under ground, and of his resurrection to an immortal life. So must we after baptism rise to lead a quite different life: having been also, when we were baptized and made Christians, planted as branches ingrafted in Christ, let us endeavour to bring forth the fruits of a virtuous life. (Witham) — Old man…body of sin. Our corrupt state, subject to sin and concupiscence, coming to us from Adam, is called out old man, as our state, reformed in and by Christ, is called the new man. And the vices and sins which then ruled in us, are named the body of sin. (Challoner) — The old and sinful man we must look upon as crucified with him, and the body of sin, or our sinful body, destroyed. We must look upon ourselves as dead to sin, and that we must sin no more, as Christ being once risen, dies no more. (Witham)

Ver. 7. He that is dead is justified from sin.[1] Some translate, is freed from sin: this is true; but perhaps it is better to retain the word justified, which is observed to be a law-word used in courts of justice, where to be justified is to be acquitted, so that a man cannot be questioned again on that account; and so are sinners, when their sins are forgiven. (Witham)

Ver. 10. For in that he died to sin. But the sense must be for sins, or to destroy other men’s sins, he himself being incapable of sinning. (Witham)

Ver. 12. Let not sin, therefore, reign, &c. He compares sin and justice to two kings, or generals, under one of which every man fights in this world. Sin is the tyrant, under which fight the wicked, and make their minds and their members the instruments, or arms of iniquity to sin, when they follow and yield to their disorderly lusts. But he exhorts them to live so as to make the powers of their souls, and their *members, instruments *or arms of justice to God, to fight under God, their lawful king, and under the banner of his justice. (Witham)

Ver. 14. *You are not under the law *of Moses, as some of you were before: but now you are all under grace, or the law of grace, where you may find pardon for your sins. But take care not to abuse this grace of pardon offered you, nor multiply your sins, and defer your conversion, as some may do, by presuming, that after all, by the merits of Christ, you can find pardon. This, says Tertullian, is the greatest ingratitude, to continue wicked, because God is good. Reflect that you make yourselves servants of him whom you obey. By yielding to your passions, you become slaves to sin. If you keep your obedience to the law of Christ, and to his doctrines, the form of which you have delivered to you by the gospel, you are the happy servants of justice, and the servants of God, who is justice itself. (Witham)

 

[E.E.N.S]

(commentary on Romans 6 continued…)

Ver. 17. Thanks be to God, &c. He thanks God, not because they had been in sin, but because after having been so long under the slavery of sin, they had now been converted from their heart, and with their whole strength gave themselves to that form of doctrine to which they had been conducted by the gospel. He returns God thanks for their obedience to the faith, because this obedience of the human will is the work and gift of God, that so no one may glory in his sight. (Ephesians ii.) (Estius)

Ver. 19. I speak a human thing,[2] or I am proposing to you what is according to human strength and ability assisted by the grace of God, with a due regard to the weakness and infirmity of your flesh. The sense, according to St. Chrysostom is this, that the apostle having told them they must be dead to sin, lead a new life, &c. he now encourages them to it, by telling them, that what is required of them is not above their human strength, as it is assisted by those graces which God offers them, and which they have received. Where we may observe that these words, I speak of a human thing, are not the same, nor to be taken in the same sense, as chap. iii. 6. when he said, I speak after a human way, or I speak like men. (Witham) — What I ask of you Christian Romans, is, that you so earnestly labour for your sanctification as to improve daily in virtue, as formerly you plunged every day deeper and deeper into vice. (Menochius)

Ver. 20-22. You were free from justice; that is, says St. Chrysostom, you lived as no ways subject to justice, nor obedient to the law and precepts of God: an unhappy freedom, a miserable liberty, worse than the greatest slavery, the end of which is death, eternal death: of which sins with great reason you are now ashamed, when you are become the servants of God, and obedient to him, for which you will receive the fruit and reward of everlasting life in heaven. (Witham)

Ver. 23. For the wages, which the tyrant sin gives to his soldiers and slaves, is eternal death; but the wages, the pay, the reward, which God gives to those that fight under him, is everlasting life; which, though a reward of our past labours, as it is often called in the Scriptures, is still a grace,[3] or free gift; because if our works are good, or deserve a reward in heaven, it is God’s grace that makes them deserve it. For, as St. Augustine says, when God crowns our works, he crowns his own gifts. (Witham)

---

[1] Ver. 7. Is justified from sin, justificatus est a peccato; Greek: dedikaiotai apo tes amartias. Dikaioo est vocabulum, forense. See Corn. a Lapide, Estius, &c.

[2] Ver. 19. Humanum dico, Greek: anthropinon lego; chap. iii. 6. Secundum hominem, Greek: kat anthropon. See St. Chrysostom, hom. xii.

[3] Ver. 23. Gratia Dei, vita æterna; that is, in construction, vita æterna, est gratia Dei.