Theological Theses · §2677 · Louis Le Blanc de Beaulieu

Without such grace no one could be saved

Thesis VII. Certainly, if God did not give people a grace by which they could offer his commandments true and sincere obedience, none of them could be saved, or have good grounds for trusting that God will show him the kindness and mercy he offers and grants us in Christ. God promises to deal mercifully and kindly only with those who keep his covenant and carry out his commandments.

So Psalm 103: 'The Lord's mercy is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness reaches their children's children, those who keep his covenant and remember his commandments so as to do them.' Ezekiel 18 agrees: 'If the wicked man repents of all the sins he has committed, keeps all my precepts and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die. I will not remember any of the wrongs he has done; he will live by the righteousness he has practised.'

Latin

VII. Et certe, nisi Deus talem hominibus gratiam largiretur per quam possent verum & sincerum divinis mandatis obsequium praebere, nullus eorum salvus esse posset, & legitime confidere Deum erga ipsum usurum beneficentia & misericordia illa, quam nobis in Christo offert & exhibet. Nec enim Deus cum aliis misericorditer & benigne acturum sese pollicetur, quam cum iis qui foedus ejus servant, & mandata illius faciunt. Ut videre est, Psal. 103. Misericordia autem Domini ab aeterno & usque in aeternum super timentes eum: & justitia ejus in filios filiorum. His qui servant testamentum ejus, & memores sunt mandatorum ipsius ad faciendum ea. Quibus congruit illud quod legitur apud Ezechielem, cap. 18. Si autem impius egerit poenitentiam ab omnibus peccatis suis quae operatus est, & custodierit omnia praecepta mea, & fecerit judicium & justitiam: vita vivet & non morietur. Omnium iniquitatum ejus, quas operatus est non recordabor: in justitia sua quam operatus est vivet.

Report a mistake in this passage