Popery Another Gospel

by Rev John Willison, Dundee

(Continued from page 84)

“But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you, than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed, or be under an anathema,” Gal. 1: 8.

I still proceed in my argument to prove the Romish religion another gospel than that of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ninth Argument.

That religion which makes nature vainly proud, in allowing a man to glory in human works and merits, in puffing him up with a vain conceit of perfection here, and of his ability to do more than God hath required, and even to merit salvation for others, as well as for himself, that religion is another gospel than Christ’s, and falls under the anathema of the text: but Popery is such a religion; therefore, &c.

The Christian religion, or gospel of Christ, is a self-denying and creature-humbling way of saving sinners; allowing no place for human merit, or for our glorying in anything, but in our Lord Jesus only, and the free mercy of God in him. Besides what I said before on this head, Arg. 7. concerning justification, I shall here adduce some of the arguments brought by the Spirit of God against the Popish doctrine of merit either for ourselves or for others.

1. The Holy Spirit asserts, that God cannot be made a debtor to man, as the Popish doctrine would make him; for saith he, to him that worketh or meriteth, the reward is not reckoned of grace, but of debt, Rom. 4: 4. But it is absurd to think it can be of debt, for a man cannot be profitable to God, Job 22: 2. This our Lord confirms, Luke 17: 10, “When ye shall have done all these things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants; we have done that which was our duty to do.” Now, how can any man merit by doing what was his bounden duty to do? Papists would do well to consider three things about the best human works. 1. We do only what we were bound to do. 2. What good we do we receive grace from God to do it. 3. The reward which God bestows, infinitely exceeds the worth of our doings. Which three things cut off all pretence of merit in us.

2. The Spirit of God teacheth us, that no man in this life can attain to absolute perfection in keeping God’s law, or perfect freedom from sin; and that the best of men fall short of their duty in many things, being only renewed in part, and having the remains of corruption in them, which fight against the spiritual and renewed part: and all this the best saints acknowledge, and mournfully complain of their imperfections; see Eccl. 7: 2; 1 John 1: 8; Jam. 2: 3; Rom. 3: 23; 7: 18, &c.; Gal. 5: 17; Job 19: 2, 3. And hence it is, that our best performances are imperfect and defiled with sin, and all our righteousness as filthy rags, Isa. 64: 6. And how can such works as these merit eternal life? nay, seeing the divine law requires a perfect righteousness, and denounces a curse against every breach or defect, surely our polluted performances can merit nothing from God but a curse. No man but Jesus Christ, our infinitely perfect Surety, could perform the perfect meritorious righteousness, which the law required from us.

3. The Spirit of God intimates to us, that, seeing the covenant of works was broken by our first parents, none of their posterity can have salvation by it; and that God hath revealed another way to justify and save sinners, to wit, freely, by grace, through the redemption of Christ, and by faith in him: and therefore eternal life is now the free gift of God to men through Jesus Christ, who satisfied the law for us; so that no flesh, in this fallen state, can look for justification by the deeds of the law, or his own doings; see, for all this, Psal. 130: 3; 143: 2; Eph. 2: 5, 8; Rom. 3: 20, 24; 6: 23; Gal. 2: 16.

4. The Spirit of God, in order to cut off all dependence on our own works or merits, teacheth us, that justification is only to be had by faith, in opposition to justification by works; in regard faith is the mean or instrument whereby we lay hold upon our Surety’s righteousness, and get it imputed to us for our justification before God: and, upon this account, it is called the righteousness of God by faith; and Christ, who performed it, is called the Lord our righteousness, and is said to be made of God unto us righteousness; see Rom. 5: 1; Gal. 2: 16; Phil. 3: 9; Jer. 23: 6; 1 Cor. 1: 30.

5. The Spirit of God teacheth us, that the great scope and design of the gospel-way, contrived by God for saving sinners since the fall, is to exalt and glorify the free grace of God through Jesus Christ, and to humble man before God, and exclude all boasting in himself. But the Popish doctrine of merit impiously derogates from God’s free grace, and Christ’s perfect righteousness and merit; and so would rob God of his glory in the salvation of sinners, and give ground to men to glory in themselves; which is evidently another gospel, and a way that is both contradictory to God’s word, and destructive to men’s souls; see Rom. 3: 24, 27, 28; Eph. 1: 6; 2: 8, 9; 1 Cor. 1: 29; Tit. 3: 5.

The Papists maintain, that men by their good works, and satisfactory deeds, may not only attain to perfection in this life, and merit heaven for themselves; but they may supererogate, that is, they may do more than what is required of them, and so have superfluous merits and satisfactions to spare to such as need them. But the scripture-arguments before adduced against human merits, quite overturn all the Popish works of supererogation, for, if a man cannot merit for himself, he can far less merit for others. The best saints in scripture acknowledge the defects and short-comings of their best duties, and, after all they have done, that they are unprofitable servants, and have nothing to plead before God but the greatness of his mercies, and that their sufferings here are not worthy to be compared to the glory that is to be revealed, see Luke 17: 10; Jam. 3: 2; Neh. 13: 22; Rom. 8: 18. Now, if our doings or sufferings here be not worthy to be compared to the glory of heaven, how can any man have worth, merit, or satisfactions to transfer to others? Instead of trusting to such imaginary helps from others, the Spirit of God requires every man to prove his own work, and then he shall have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another; for every man shall bear his own burden. And he tells us, that every one of us shall give an account of himself to God; Gal. 6: 4, 5; Rom. 14: 12. So that, at the great day, no man can answer for nor benefit another by his merits: for the wisest virgins will have no oil to spare, to supply others, at that time, Mat. 25: 9. But pray, what is the need of men’s having recourse to the merits of creatures to help them, when there is an infinite sufficiency in the merits and sufferings of Christ to supply and save all that come to him? Surely this must be nothing but a device of Satan or antichrist, to throw disgrace and contempt upon Christ’s satisfaction and sacrifice.