also devote his time, his talents, his whole fortune to the service of his country. Thus also, according to Romanists, men may not only do all that the law of God requires of men as men, but they may also through love, far exceed its demands. This Mohler rep- resents a& a great superiority of Romish ethics over the Protestant system. The latter, according to him, limits man's obligations to his legal liabilities, to what in justice may be exacted from him on pain of punishment. Whereas the former rises to the higher sphere of love, and represents the believer cordially and freely ren- dering unto God what in strict justice could not be demanded of him. " It is the nature of love, which stands far, even immeas- urably higher than the demands of the law, never to be satisfied with its manifestation, and to become more and more sensitive, so that believers, who are animated with this love, often appear to men who stand on a lower level as fanatics or lunatics." x But what if the law itself is love ? What if the law demands all that love can render ? What if the love which the law requires of every rational creature calls for the devotion of the whole soul, with all its powers to God as a living sacrifice ? It is only by making sin to be no sin ; by teaching men that they are perfect when even their own hearts condemn them ; it is only by lowering the demands of the law which, being founded on the nature of God, of necessity requires perfect conformity to the divine image, that any man in this life can pretend to be perfect, or be so in- sane as to imagine that he can go beyond the demands of the law and perform works of supererogation.
Precepts and Counsels.
The distinction which Romanists make between precepts and counsels, rests upon the same low view of the divine law. By pre- cepts are meant the specific commands of the law which bind all men, the observance of which secures a reward, and non-observ- ance a penalty. Whereas counsels are not commands ; they do not bind the conscience of any man, but are recommendations of things peculiarly acceptable to God, compliance with which mer- its a much higher reward than the mere observance of precepts. There are many such counsels in the Bible, the most important of which are said to be celibacy, monastic obedience, and poverty.2 No man is bound to remain unmarried, but if he voluntarily de- termines to do so for the glory of God, that is a great virtue. No
* Mohler, Symbolik, 6th edit. Mainz, 1843, p. 216.
2 Bellarmiii, De Membris Ecclesim Militantis, lib. n. de Monachis, cap. 7, 8; Disputa- tiones, edit. Paris, 1608, vol. ii. pp. 363—365.
236 PART in. Ch. XVHL — SANCTIFICATION.
one is bound to renounce the acquisition of property, but if he voluntarily embraces a life of absolute poverty, it is a great merit. Our Lord, however, demands everything. He saith, " He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me : and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me." " He that findeth his life, shall lose it : and he that losethtis life for my sake, shall find it." (Matt. x. 37, 39.) " If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." (Luke xiv. 26.) The law of Christ demands entire devotion to Him. If his service re- quires that a man should remain unmarried, he is bound to live a life of celibacy ; if it requires that he should give up all his prop- erty and take up his cross, and follow Christ, he is bound to do so ; if it requires him to lay down his life for Christ's sake, he is bound to lay it down. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Nothing can go beyond this. There can be no sacrifice and no service which a man can make or render, which duty, or the law of Christ, does not de- mand when such sacrifice or service becomes necessary as the proof or fruit of love to Christ. There is no room, therefore, for this distinction between counsels and precepts, between what the law demands and what love is willing to render. And therefore the doctrine of works of supererogation is thoroughly anti-Chris- tian.
The Sense in which the Fruits of the Spirit in Believers are called Good.
3. Although no work even of the true people of God, while they continue in this world, is absolutely perfect, nevertheless those inward exercises and outward acts which are the fruits of the Spirit are properly designated good, and are so called in Scripture. Acts ix. 36, it was said of Dorcas that she " was full of good works." Ephesians ii. 10, believers are said to be " created in Christ Jesus unto good works." 2 Timothy iii. 17, teaches that the man of God should be " thoroughly furnished unto all good works." Titus ii. 14, Christ gave Himself for 'us that He might " purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." There is no contradiction in pronouncing the same work good and bad, because these terms are relative, and the re- lations intended may be different. Feeding the poor, viewed in relation to the nature of the act, is a good work. Viewed in re-