Chapter 3. The Adoption of Sons

God would ' have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth.'1 But from all eternity He has predestined not all men, but some only, to come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Whom He foreknew He predestinated;2 whom He predestinated to the means of salvation He called by the word of faith, and justified by water and the Holy Ghost, and glorified with the grace of adoption and the Spirit of the Son. The Council of Trent says that ' faith is the root of our whole justification.'3 In the beginning faith preceded baptism, because adults were baptised; now baptism precedes faith, because in our infancy we are unconscious of our regeneration and adoption as sons of God.

The Council says that the final cause of our justification is the glory of God; the

» 1 Tim.ii.4. » Sess. VI. c. 8.

• Rom. viii. 29, 80.

efficient cause is the mercy of God, who washes, sanctifies, seals, and anoints us with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is also the pledge of our inheritance; the meritorious cause is the Passion of Jesus Christ our Lord; the instrumental cause is baptism, without which none are justified; and the formal cause is the justice of God: not that justice by which He Himself is just, but the justice by which we are made just by sanctification of the Holy Ghost dwelling in us.4

There is, then, a difference between the original justice in which the first Adam was constituted in the beginning, and the justification to which we are restored in the second Adam.

1. The first Adam was, as the Council of Trent says, constituted in grace. It did not say created in grace, lest grace should be thought to be a part essential or integral of human nature. Human nature is perfect in soul and body. Grace is given by the 4 Sees. IV. c. 7.

supernatural presence and indwelling of the Holy Ghost the Sanctifier. It is a superadded perfection. Adam therefore had three distinct perfections: first, the natural perfection of soul and body; secondly, the supernatural perfection of sanctifying grace and the indwelling of the Holy Ghost; and thirdly, the preternatural perfection arising from the union of the natural and supernatural perfection — that is to say, the immortality of the body and the integrity or order and harmony of the soul. All affections and passions were subject to the reason and to the will, illuminated and sanctified by the Holy Ghost. These three perfections constitute original justice. By sin this original justice was lost. The supernatural perfection departed, the preternatural was forfeited; the body became mortal; the soul was wounded with three wounds — that is, with darkness in the intellect, with disorder in the passions, and with instability in the will. This privation of grace is original sin. The penalties remain upon our human nature, which is thereby changed into a worse condition, but the nature of them in body and soul remains essentially the same.

2. By our regeneration we are restored, not to original justice, but to a state of justification. We receive once more the grace of sanctification and the indwelling presence of the Holy Ghost the Sanctifier. And because, through the merits of the In carnate Son, * the Spirit of the Son' is ' sent forth into our hearts,' we are thereby made eons of God, and cry, 'Abba, Father.' Adam was the son of God by creation; so are we: but we are more; we are sons of God by adoption and by union with the Eternal Son, who, as S. Athanasius says, was made the Son of man that we might be made the sons of God. We have still hu man nature in its integrity, but wounded. The penalties of sin remain upon us, but the privation of grace is reversed. We are once more constituted in grace, and adopted to a higher sonship and inheritance as heirs of God 'and joint-heirs with Christ.'4

The instrumental cause of this justification is baptism by water and the Holy Ghost. And the grace of baptism is re generation or a new birth by the infusion of sanctifying grace and the inhabitation of the Sanctifier in our hearts. By this we are justified, the inherited guilt of original sin is absolved, the privation of grace is reversed by the infusion of sanctity and of faith, hope, and charity, with the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost. The body is mortal and the soul is wounded, but there is no sin in these penalties as penalities of the fall. They who are justified are the friends of God and members of His household; and 'though,1 as the Council of Trent says, ' in this mortal life, howsoever holy they be, they may still fall into light and daily faults which are called venial, they do not for that cause cease to be just.'6 'For God never forsakes those who are once justified * Bom. viii. 17. « Sess. VL c. 11.

"by His grace, unless He be first forsaken by them.'7 And if, by mortification of the flesh in body and in mind, and by obedience to the Sanctifier renewing the will, they persevere, God will keep them from evil. The sin that is in them is left for their trial, that they may war against it and win their crown. For this is the crown of justice which, after the conflicts and the course, shall be given by the just Judge to all who love His appearing. ' For it is He Himself, Christ Jesus, who, as the virtues of the Head descend into the members, and as the vine into the branches, pours out continually His influence into those who are justified; and this strength always goes before all their good works, and accom panies and follows them,'8 so that nothing shall ever be wanting to their perseverance. Such is the state of the sons of God, on •whom, as S. John Chrysostom and S. Jerome interpret the word, the glory of the

» Sess. VL c. 11. • Ibid. c. 7.

adoption was bestowed in baptism by the indwelling of the Sanctifier.

0 God the Holy Ghost, by whom the charity of God is given to us that we should be called and be the sons of God, I bless Thee for my predestination, vocation, re generation, and adoption; and I beseech Thee, through the merits of Jesus Christ, to give me the heart of a son — loving, filial, and dutiful; that by the power of Thy grace I may live as a son of God, and be conformed to Jesus in humility; and hav ing this hope in me, I may ' sanctify my self even as He is pure.'

Jesus, have mercy on me.

Holy Mary, pray for me.

IY.