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State of the question. At the beginning of this first article St.
Thomas presents three difficulties. It seems that Christ's passion
was not the meritorious cause of our salvation: (1) because
suffering, as such, is not meritorious; (2) He did not even merit
our salvation as an interior offering of Himself, because Christ from
the beginning of His conception, merited for us in fact by merit that
is of infinite value. Therefore it would be superfluous for Him to
merit again what He had already merited; (3) because charity is the
foundation of merit, and this charity did not increase in Christ by
His passion. Therefore He did not merit our salvation more by His
passion than He had merited it before.
Reply. Nevertheless the answer is that Christ by His passion
merited salvation for all His members.
This conclusion is of faith, for the Council of Trent says: "Our
Lord Jesus Christ,[1824] when we were enemies, for the
exceeding charity whereby He loved us,[1825] merited
justification for us by His most holy passion on the wood of the
cross."[1826] The Council also says: "If anyone shall say
that men are justified without Christ's justice, whereby He merited
for us; let him be anathema."[1827]
Scriptural proof. St. Paul says: "For as by the disobedience of
one man, many were made sinners; so also by the obedience of one,
many shall be made just."[1828] In other words, just as by
Adam's demerit we lost grace, so by the merit of Christ's grace we
receive grace. Again he says: "Being justified freely by His grace
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."[1829] In
another epistle, he says: "God hath predestinated us unto the
adoption of children through Jesus Christ... unto the praise of the
glory of His grace, in which He hath graced us in His beloved Son,
in whom we have redemption through His blood, the remission of sins
according to the richness of His grace."[1830] Jesus Himself
said: "The Son of man must be lifted up, that whosoever believeth
in Him may not perish, but may have life everlasting."[1831]
By His passion He merited exaltation for Himself,[1832] and
for us sanctification, for Jesus said: "And for them do I sanctify
[or sacrifice] Myself, that they also may be sanctified in
truth."[1833]
Theological proof. St. Thomas gives the fundamental argument as
follows: Grace was given to Christ, not only as an individual, but
inasmuch as He is the head of the Church, and therefore Christ's
works are referred to Himself and to His members, just as the works
of another man in a state of grace are referred to himself. But it is
evident that whoever suffers for justice' sake, provided he is in the
state of grace, merits his salvation thereby. Consequently Christ by
His passion merited not only His exaltation but also salvation for all
His members.
We are concerned here with condign merit, whereby Christ the head,
by His theandric supernatural love that is of infinite value, merited
for us in justice, the supernatural goods lost by sin, namely, grace
and eternal life, as explained above.[1834] All the conditions
required for merit are eminently verified in this great act of charity,
namely, grace and eternal life; for Christ was still a wayfarer, and
God by appointing Him mediator and Head, had ordained His works for
the salvation of His members.
Reply to first objection. Christ's suffering was meritorious not
inasmuch as it was suffering, but inasmuch as Christ bore it
willingly.
Reply to second objection. "From the beginning of His conception
Christ merited our eternal salvation; but on our side there were some
obstacles, whereby we were hindered from securing the effect of His
preceding merits." Thus the souls of the just were awaiting Him in
limbo,[1835] for by His descent into limbo He delivered the
holy fathers detained there. As St. Thomas says: "The holy
fathers while yet living were delivered from original as well as actual
sin through faith in Christ; also from the penalty of actual sins;
but not from the penalty of original sin, whereby they were excluded
from glory since the price of man's redemption was not yet
paid."[1836] Farther on, St. Thomas remarks: "Original
sin spread in this way, that at first the person infected the nature,
and afterward the nature infected the person. Whereas Christ in
reverse order at first repairs what regards the person and afterward
will simultaneously repair what pertains to the nature in all
men.... But the penalties of the present life, such as death,
hunger, and thirst, will not be taken away until the ultimate
restoration of nature through the glorious resurrection."[1837]
Reply to third objection. "Christ's passion has a special effect,
which His preceding merits did not possess, not on account of greater
charity, but because of the nature of the work, which was suitable for
such an effect."[1838] This means that the other preceding
merits of Christ had indeed already a personal and infinite value, but
the merits of the Passion had a greater objective value on account of
the dignity of the object itself most arduous, namely, the sacrifice
on the cross or the supreme holocaust. Right from the beginning,
Christ offered up to His Father all His future merits, even those
of the Passion, for St. Paul says: "When He cometh into the
world, He saith, ... "Behold I come.,"[1839]
Christ's oblation and merit continued throughout His life until He
completed the work of redemption, by saying: "It is
consummated."[1840]
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