Under the covenant of works, God graciously promised to re- ward the obedience of Adam with eternal life. This was a reward, however, not of merit, but of free grace and promise. Every- thing under that constitution depended upon the standing of the person before God. As long as Adam continued without sin, his services were accepted and rewarded according to promise. But from the moment he forfeited the promise, and lost his standing before God, no work of his, no matter of what character, could merit any thing at the hand of God.
21. How can it be proved that our good works, even after the restoration of our person to God's favor by justification, do not merit heaven ?
1st. Justification proceeds upon the infinite merits of Christ, and on that foundation rests our title to the favor of God and all the infinite consequences thereof. Christ's merit, lying at the foundation and embracing all, excludes the possibility of our meriting any thing. 2d. The law demands perfect obedience, Rom. iii., 23 ; Gal. v., 3. 3d. We are saved by grace, not by works, Eph. ii., 8, 9. 4th. All good dispositions are graces or gifts of God, 1 Cor. xv., 10 ; Phil, ii., 13 ; 1 Thess. ii., 13. 5th. Eternal life itself is declared to be the gift of God, 1 John v., 11.
22. What do the Scriptures teach concerning the good works of believers, and the rewards promised to them ?
Both the work and its reward are branches from the same gra- cious root. The covenant of grace provides alike for the infusion of grace in the heart, the exercise of this grace in the life, and the rewards of that grace so exercised. It is all of grace, grace for grace, grace added to grace, presented to us in this form of a re- ward : — 1st. That it may act upon us as a rational motive to dili- gent obedience. 2d. To mark that the gift of heaven and eternal blessedness is an act of strict legal justice (1.) in respect to the perfect merits of Christ, (2.) in respect to God's faithful adherence to his own free promise, 1 John i., 9. 3d. To indicate that the heavenly reward stands in a certain gracious proportion to the
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PERFECTIONISM.
grace given in the obedience on earth ; (1.) because God so wills it; Matt, xvi., 27 ; 1 Cor. iii., 8 ; (2.) because the grace given on earth prepares the soul to receive the grace given in heaven, 2 Cor. iv., 17.
IS PERFECT SANCTIFICATION
Christ in this life ?
ATTAINABLE BY BELIEVERS IN
23. What, in general terms, is perfectionism ?
The various theories of perfectionism all agree in maintain- ing that it is possible for a child of God in this world to be- come, 1st, perfectly free from sin, 2d, conformed to the law under which they now live. They differ very variously among them- selves, however, 1st, as to what sin is ; 2d, as to what law we are now obliged to fulfill ; 3d, as to the means whereby this perfec- tion may be attained, whether by nature or by grace.
24. How does the Pelagian theory of the nature of man and of grace lead to perfectionism ?
Pelagians maintain, 1st, as to man's nature, that it was not radically corrupted by the fall, and that every man possesses suf- ficient power to fulfill all the duties required of him, since God can not in justice demand that which man has not full power to do. 2d. As to God's grace, that it is nothing more than the fav- orable constitution of our own minds, and the influence exerted on them by the truth he has revealed to us, and the propi- tious circumstances in which he has placed us. Thus, in the Christian church, and with the Christian revelation, men are, in fact, placed in the most propitious circumstances possible to per- suade them to perform their duties. It follows from this system directly that every one who wishes may certainly attain perfec- tion by using his natural powers and advantages of position with sufficient care. — Wigger's Historical view of Augustinianism and Pelagianism, quoted by Dr. G. Peck.
25. What, according to the Pelagian theory, is the nature of the sin from which man may be perfectly free ; wliat the law tvhich he may perfectly fulfill, and what are the means by which this 'perfection may be attained ?
They deny original and inherent corruption of nature, and
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hold that sin is only voluntary transgression of known law, from which any man may abstain if he will.