Whether Man Can Merit Everlasting Life Without Grace?
Objection 1: It would seem that man can merit everlasting life
without grace. For Our Lord says (Matt. 19:17): "If thou wilt enter
into life, keep the commandments"; from which it would seem that to
enter into everlasting life rests with man's will. But what rests
with our will, we can do of ourselves. Hence it seems that man can
merit everlasting life of himself.
Obj. 2: Further, eternal life is the wage of reward bestowed by God
on men, according to Matt. 5:12: "Your reward is very great in
heaven." But wage or reward is meted by God to everyone according to
his works, according to Ps. 61:12: "Thou wilt render to every man
according to his works." Hence, since man is master of his works, it
seems that it is within his power to reach everlasting life.
Obj. 3: Further, everlasting life is the last end of human life. Now
every natural thing by its natural endowments can attain its end.
Much more, therefore, may man attain to life everlasting by his
natural endowments, without grace.
_On the contrary,_ The Apostle says (Rom. 6:23): "The grace of God is
life everlasting." And as a gloss says, this is said "that we may
understand that God, of His own mercy, leads us to everlasting life."
_I answer that,_ Acts conducing to an end must be proportioned to the
end. But no act exceeds the proportion of its active principle; and
hence we see in natural things, that nothing can by its operation
bring about an effect which exceeds its active force, but only such
as is proportionate to its power. Now everlasting life is an end
exceeding the proportion of human nature, as is clear from what we
have said above (Q. 5, A. 5). Hence man, by his natural endowments,
cannot produce meritorious works proportionate to everlasting life;
and for this a higher force is needed, viz. the force of grace. And
thus without grace man cannot merit everlasting life; yet he can
perform works conducing to a good which is natural to man, as "to
toil in the fields, to drink, to eat, or to have friends," and the
like, as Augustine says in his third Reply to the Pelagians
[*Hypognosticon iii, among the spurious works of St. Augustine].
Reply Obj. 1: Man, by his will, does works meritorious of everlasting
life; but as Augustine says, in the same book, for this it is
necessary that the will of man should be prepared with grace by God.
Reply Obj. 2: As the gloss upon Rom. 6:23, "The grace of God is life
everlasting," says, "It is certain that everlasting life is meted to
good works; but the works to which it is meted, belong to God's
grace." And it has been said (A. 4), that to fulfil the commandments
of the Law, in their due way, whereby their fulfilment may be
meritorious, requires grace.
Reply Obj. 3: This objection has to do with the natural end of man.
Now human nature, since it is nobler, can be raised by the help of
grace to a higher end, which lower natures can nowise reach; even as
a man who can recover his health by the help of medicines is better
disposed to health than one who can nowise recover it, as the
Philosopher observes (De Coelo ii, 12).
________________________