VeR. 23.] SERMONS UPON ROMANS VI. 371
(2.) As they are the final issue of men's several ways ; the one as well as the other is the fruit of men's foregoing course here upon earth. Sin is punished by death, and holiness rewarded by eternal life : Gal. vi. 8, ' For he that soweth to the flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption ; but he that soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.'
(3.) They agree in this, that both are equally certain, for they depend upon God's unalterable truth ; he will punish the disobedient as surely as he doth reward the godly. We must not fancy a God all mercy and sweetness ; he is a God of salvation, but ' he will wound the head of his enemies, and the hairy scalp of such an one as goeth on still in his trespasses,' Ps. Ixviii. 21. The same truth aud veracity of God that (;ontirmeth his promises doth also infer the certainty of his threaten- ings : Ps. xi. 6, 7, ' Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and a horrible tempest ; this shall be the portion of their cup. For the righteous God loveth righteousness, his countenance doth behold the upright.' God is a perfect judge, aud will take order in due time with the wicked who break his laws, and will not make use of his mercy ; their destruction shall be terrible, irresistible, and remediless : but his upright servants shall certainly reap the fruits of his love and their own obedience.
[2.] Wherein they disagree. The text telleth you the one is wages, and the other a gift. God doth not punish men beyond their deserts, that is justice ; but he doth reward men above their deserts, that is grace; therefore he varieth the word concerning sin, it is 6\frQ)via wages, which alludeth either to the hire due to the labourer, or the pay due to the soldier. Both are a just debt, the labourer is worthy of his hire, when his work is ended he receives his wages ; and soldiers at the end of their service get their pay. But of the other he saith, ' It is the gift of God.' Sin deserveth hell, and therefore death is called wages ; but if eternal life might in any sort be deserved or merited, the apostle would not have changed his word, as he expressly doth ; he doth not say eternal life is oyjrcovia, the wages, nay, he doth not say fMLa-6o<;, the reward, which sometimes expresseth the recom- pence of the faithful : as Heb. xi. 26, ' Having respect to the recom- pence of reward ; ' but because reward doth not always signify a reward of free bounty, he doth not use that word either ; yea neither doth he use the word bojpov, which properly signifies a gift, because one kind- ness doth deserve another ; but it is %a/3tcr/ia, a gracious gift. The Vulgate renders it Gratia Dei. Xdpts, grace, signifieth the free favour of God, 'xapLCTixa the impression or effect of it upon us. This is a word inconsistent with all conceit of merit. But what is the reason of this difference, that the one should be wages, the other a gracious gift ?
[1.] Our evil works are our own, wholly evil, therefore merit death, as work doth wages; but the good we do is neither ours, nor is it jierfect, and is done by them that have a demerit upon them, that have deserved the contrary by reason of sin, and might look for punishment rather than reward.
[2.] There is this difference between sin and obedience, that the hoinousness of sin is always aggravated and heightened by the proper-
372 SERMONS UPON ROMANS VI. [SeR. XXIV.
tion of its object ; as to strike an officer is more than to strike a private person, a judge more than an ordinary officer, a king most of all. Thence it comes to pass, that a sin committed Jigainst God deserveth an infinite punishment, because the majesty of God is despised. But on the other side, the greater God is, and the more glorious, the greater obligation lieth upon us to love him and serve liim ; so that the good we do for his sake being the more due, God is not bound by any right of justice, from the merit of the action itself, to reward it, for here the greatness of the object lesseneth the merit and value of the action ; for whatever the creature is, it oweth itself wholly to God, who gave us our being, and still preserveth it ; so that we cannot lay any obligation upon him : Luke xvii. 10, '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.' Punishment is naturally due to evil-doers ; but God is not by natural justice bound to reward us, but only inclined to do so by his own goodness, and bound to do so by his free promise and covenant. Aristotle telleth us children cannot merit of their parents. All the kindness and duty they perform to them is but a just recom- })ence to them from whom they have received their being and education. Much less can we merit aught of God ; it is his mere grace and supereminent goodness that appointed such a reward to us ; that grace which first accepted us with all our faults doth still crown us, and bestow glory and honour upon us.