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Objection 1: It would seem that man can merit everlasting life
without grace. For Our Lord says (Mt. 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.
Objection 2: Further, eternal life is the wage of reward bestowed
by God on men, according to Mt. 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.
Objection 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 (Rm. 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 (Question 5, Article 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].
Reply to Objection 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 to Objection 2: As the gloss upon Rm. 6:23, "The
grace of God is life everlasting," says, "It is certain that
everlasting life is meter to good works; but the works to which it is
meted, belong to God's grace." And it has been said (Article
4), that to fulfil the commandments of the Law, in their due way,
whereby their fulfilment may be meritorious, requires grace.
Reply to Objection 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).
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