How is it that our good Works merit nothing, seeing God promiseth that he will give a Reward for them both in this Life, and in the Life to come?
That Reward is not given of merit, but of Grace.
Proofs
- That Reward is not given of merit, (Luke 17:10)
- but of Grace.
Related questions
- #HC63But do our good works earn nothing, even though God promises to reward them in this life and the next? (Heidelberg Catechism)This reward is not earned ; it is a gift of grace.
- #GC124But can we say from this that a Christian man is justified by works after God has called him, or that through them he merits the love of God, and so obtains eternal life? (Genevan Catechism)No. On the contrary, it is said that no man living will be justified in His sight (Ps 143:2). Therefore we have to pray that He will not enter into judgment with us, nor call us to account.
- #GC125You do not mean therefore that the good works of believers are useless? (Genevan Catechism)No. For God promises to reward them fully, both in this world and in Paradise. But this comes from His gratuitous love toward us: moreover He buries all our faults, so as never to remember them.
- #GC121But after God has once received us, are the works which we do by His grace, not pleasing to Him? (Genevan Catechism)Yes, they are, in that He generously accepts them, not however in virtue of their own worthiness.
- #GC122How is that Are they not accepted as worthy, seeing that they proceed from the Holy Spirit? (Genevan Catechism)No. For there is always some weakness in them, the weakness of our flesh, through which they are defiled.
- #GC123By what means, the, are they made acceptable? (Genevan Catechism)It is by faith. That is to say, that a person is assured in his conscience that God will not examine him harshly, but covering his defects and impurities by the purity of Jesus Christ, He will regard...