Even Vázquez differs from the Protestants on what the grace of Christ is
Thesis L. Indeed it follows easily from what has been said that Gabriel Vázquez himself, who admits that no morally good work can be done without the grace of Christ, still differs a great deal from the Protestants here. By the grace of Christ he means certain helps of the natural order that can come even to unbelievers who remain unbelievers. Consequently he teaches, with a great many theologians of the Roman School, that any unbeliever at all can do some truly morally good works by means of such helps.
The Protestants, however, mean by the grace of Christ only the grace that begins with faith in Christ, a faith that is living and effective. So they deny that any unbeliever, that is, anyone not filled with true faith in Christ, can do any work that is truly good and good before God and that lacks the character of sin, however upright and praiseworthy it may look to men.
Latin
L. Imo facile ex dictis colligitur, ipsum Gabrielem Vasquez, qui sine gratia Christi nullum opus moraliter bonum perfici posse fatetur, a Protestantibus tamen in eo multum dissentire; quia per gratiam Christi intelligit auxilia quaedam ordinis naturalis, quae infidelibus ipsis, qui tales manent, possunt obtingere. Ac consequenter docet cum plurimis Scholae Romanae Theologis, infideles quoscunque posse, mediantibus auxiliis talibus, opera quaedam vere moraliter bona facere. Protestantes vero per Christi gratiam intelligunt eam solam quae incipit a fide in Christum, eaque viva atque efficaci; ac proinde negant infideles omnes, id est, quicunque non sunt vera fide in Christum imbuti, posse facere ullum opus vere & coram Deo bonum, quodque non habeat peccati rationem, etsi hominum oculis honestum & laudabile videatur.