Part IV (Tertia Pars) Part 35 (1/2)
THIRD ARTICLE [III, Q. 19, Art. 3]
Whether the Human Action of Christ Could Be Meritorious to Him?
Objection 1: It would seem that the human action of Christ could not be meritorious to Him. For before His death Christ was a comprehensor even as He is now. But comprehensors do not merit: because the charity of the comprehensor belongs to the reward of beat.i.tude, since fruition depends upon it. Hence it does not seem to be the principle of merit, since merit and reward are not the same. Therefore Christ before His pa.s.sion did not merit, even as He does not merit now.
Obj. 2: Further, no one merits what is due to him. But because Christ is the Son of G.o.d by nature, the eternal inheritance is due to Him, which other men merit by their works. And hence Christ Who, from the beginning, was the Word of G.o.d, could not merit anything for Himself.
Obj. 3: Further, whoever has the principle does not properly merit what flows from its possession. But Christ has the glory of the soul, whence, in the natural course, flowed the glory of the body, as Augustine says (Ep. ad Dios cxviii); though by a dispensation it was brought about that in Christ the glory of the soul should not overflow to the body. Hence Christ did not merit the glory of the body.
Obj. 4: Further, the manifestation of Christ's excellence is a good, not of Christ Himself, but of those who know Him. Hence it is promised as a reward to such as love Christ that He will be manifested to them, according to John 14:21: ”He that loveth Me, shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him and will manifest Myself to him.” Therefore Christ did not merit the manifestation of His greatness.
_On the contrary,_ The Apostle says (Phil. 2:8, 9): ”Becoming obedient unto death ... For which cause G.o.d also hath exalted Him.”
Therefore by obeying He merited His exaltation and thus He merited something for Himself.
_I answer that,_ To have any good thing of oneself is more excellent than to have it from another, for ”what is of itself a cause is always more excellent than what is a cause through another,” as is said _Phys._ viii, 5. Now a thing is said to have, of itself, that of which it is to some extent the cause. But of whatever good we possess the first cause by authority is G.o.d; and in this way no creature has any good of itself, according to 1 Cor. 4:7: ”What hast thou that thou hast not received?” Nevertheless, in a secondary manner anyone may be a cause, to himself, of having certain good things, inasmuch as he cooperates with G.o.d in the matter, and thus whoever has anything by his own merit has it, in a manner, of himself. Hence it is better to have a thing by merit than without merit.
Now since all perfection and greatness must be attributed to Christ, consequently He must have by merit what others have by merit; unless it be of such a nature that its want would detract from Christ's dignity and perfection more than would accrue to Him by merit. Hence He merited neither grace nor knowledge nor the beat.i.tude of His soul, nor the G.o.dhead, because, since merit regards only what is not yet possessed, it would be necessary that Christ should have been without these at some time; and to be without them would have diminished Christ's dignity more than His merit would have increased it. But the glory of the body, and the like, are less than the dignity of meriting, which pertains to the virtue of charity. Hence we must say that Christ had, by merit, the glory of His body and whatever pertained to His outward excellence, as His Ascension, veneration, and the rest. And thus it is clear that He could merit for Himself.
Reply Obj. 1: Fruition, which is an act of charity, pertains to the glory of the soul, which Christ did not merit. Hence if He merited by charity, it does not follow that the merit and the reward are the same. Nor did He merit by charity inasmuch as it was the charity of a comprehensor, but inasmuch as it was that of a wayfarer. For He was at once a wayfarer and a comprehensor, as was said above (Q. 15, A.
10). And therefore, since He is no longer a wayfarer, He is not in the state of meriting.
Reply Obj. 2: Because by nature Christ is G.o.d and the Son of G.o.d, the Divine glory and the lords.h.i.+p of all things are due to Him, as to the first and supreme Lord. Nevertheless a glory is due to Him as a beatified man; and this He has partly without merit, and partly with merit, as is clear from what has been said.
Reply Obj. 3: It is by Divine appointment that there is an overflow of glory from the soul to the body, in keeping with human merit; so that as man merits by the act of the soul which he performs in the body, so he may be rewarded by the glory of the soul overflowing to the body. And hence not only the glory of the soul, but also the glory of the body falls under merit, according to Rom. 8:11: ”He ... shall quicken also our [Vulg.: 'your'] mortal bodies, because of His Spirit that dwelleth in us [Vulg.: 'you'].” And thus it could fall under Christ's merit.
Reply Obj. 4: The manifestation of Christ's excellence is His good as regards the being which it has in the knowledge of others; although in regard to the being which they have in themselves it chiefly belongs to the good of those who know Him. Yet even this is referred to Christ inasmuch as they are His members.
_______________________
FOURTH ARTICLE [III, Q. 19, Art. 4]
Whether Christ Could Merit for Others?
Objection 1: It would seem that Christ could not merit for others.
For it is written (Ezech. 18:4): ”The soul that sinneth, the same shall die.” Hence, for a like reason, the soul that meriteth, the same shall be recompensed. Therefore it is not possible that Christ merited for others.
Obj. 2: Further, of the fulness of Christ's grace we all receive, as is written John 1:16. Now other men having Christ's grace cannot merit for others. For it is written (Ezech. 14:20) that if ”Noe and Daniel and Job be in the city [Vulg.: 'the midst thereof'] ... they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; but they shall only deliver their own souls by their justice.” Hence Christ could not merit anything for us.
Obj. 3: Further, the ”reward” that we merit is due ”according to justice [Vulg.: 'debt'] and not according to grace,” as is clear from Rom. 4:4. Therefore if Christ merited our salvation it follows that our salvation is not by G.o.d's grace but by justice, and that He acts unjustly with those whom He does not save, since Christ's merit extends to all.
_On the contrary,_ It is written (Rom. 5:18): ”As by the offense of one, unto all men to condemnation; so also by the justice of one, unto all men to justification of life.” But Adam's demerits reached to the condemnation of others. Much more, therefore, does the merit of Christ reach others.
_I answer that,_ As stated above (Q. 8, AA. 1, 5), grace was in Christ not merely as in an individual, but also as in the Head of the whole Church, to Whom all are united, as members to a head, who const.i.tute one mystical person. And hence it is that Christ's merit extends to others inasmuch as they are His members; even as in a man the action of the head reaches in a manner to all his members, since it perceives not merely for itself alone, but for all the members.
Reply Obj. 1: The sin of an individual harms himself alone; but the sin of Adam, who was appointed by G.o.d to be the principle of the whole nature, is transmitted to others by carnal propagation. So, too, the merit of Christ, Who has been appointed by G.o.d to be the head of all men in regard to grace, extends to all His members.
Reply Obj. 2: Others receive of Christ's fulness not indeed the fount of grace, but some particular grace. And hence it need not be that men merit for others, as Christ did.
Reply Obj. 3: As the sin of Adam reaches others only by carnal generation, so, too, the merit of Christ reaches others only by spiritual regeneration, which takes place in baptism; wherein we are incorporated with Christ, according to Gal. 3:27, ”As many of you as have been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ”; and it is by grace that it is granted to man to be incorporated with Christ. And thus man's salvation is from grace.
_______________________