Chapter 6. The Glory of Sons

Those whom He foreknew, them He also did predestinate to be con formed to the image of His Son, that He mipht be the firstborn among many brethren. And whom He predestinated, them He also called. And whom He called, them He also justified. And whom He justified, them He also glorified. ROMANS viii. 29, 30.

These words, when read in the light of the Holy Catholic Faith, are as clear as the noonday; but out ot the unity of the Church they have been for ages the centre of a perpetual conflict. They set before us tin steps by which God brings us to justification.

From all eternity there was present to the Divine intelligence a perfect foreknowledge both of the first creation and of the second in all their fullness. God foreknew all men, one by one, for He knows all whom He has made; but the foreknowledge here spoken of is not this, but a special foreknowledge of grace. God has a purpose and work of election through the Incarnation of His Son. Though all men are redeemed by His Precious Blood all are not called to the light of faith. But those whom His intelligence foreknew, His will decreed to be conformed to the image of His Son, that is to the Incarnate Word, Jesus Christ our Lord, that He might be the firstborn of many brethren. The first Adam is the father of the whole race of mankind born in sin and death. The Second Adam is the divine original and the elder Brother of the whole race of mankind born again through grace unto eternal life. And those whom God had so predestinated to grace He has also called — that is, in due time, by the voice of His Spirit, He called them to the knowledge of faith in Jesus Christ; and those whom He called He also justified — that is, He sanctified by His Spirit dwelling in them, whereby they are made just before Him. And those whom He justified He also glorified. Now the word " glorified " does, indeed, also signify to be beatified in heaven; but that is not the special meaning of the word in this place. Its special meaning is, that upon those whom He justified He laid the glory of the adoption to be the sons of God. He bestowed upon them the glory of being the brethren of His Incarnate Son. They, being adopted through grace to be Hia sons, have therefore already, as Saint Peter says, in this world the spirit of glory and of God resting upon them. There is, then, a glory upon the head of every truo Christian, of every living member of Jesus Christ. Even now the first rays of this eternal light are around us. This, then, is the plain meaning of Saint Paul's words in the text¹

Now we have already examined the nature and office of the three theological virtues; that is, of faith, which, as I said, the Council of Trent has declared to be the foundation and the root of our whole justification; secondly, of hope, which springs from faith, and is matured into confidence; and, thirdly, of charity, or the love of God and of our neighbor, which springs from faith and hope. Now all those who are in charity sre justified. Saint John says: " God is charity; and he that abideth in charity abideth in God, and God in him;"* that is, the just soul and God mutually dwell and abide in each other. If these were not the worda of the Holy Ghost, no man would dare to speak them. God dwells in the soul, and because of His indwelling the soul also dwells in God. The soul is encompassed and penetrated by the perfections of God — by His holiness, justice, mercy, charity, by the light of truth, which is a radiance descending from the Divine Wisdom, and by sanctifying grace, which is infused by the Holy Ghost. The soul, then, is enveloped and encompassed in God. Every soul that is in charity, and lives in the love of God, is justified. How can it not be justified if it abide in God and God in it $ And if so, then it is already glorified, for where God is there is His glory.

But this text, as I said, has been the subject of endless controversy. Though I need not dwell upon it, I may at least in outline show what that controversy has been. Now there are two worlds: there is the world of truth and of reality, and there is the world of shadows. The world of truth and reality is the world of faith and grace into which God has called us. The world of shadows is that world of words, figures, metaphors, and abstractions into which the master-builders of error, three hundred years ago, led astray a multi- * 1 St. John vi. 16 hide of the Christian people. I will therefore, first speak, in passing, of these errors or shadows of truth; then I will state what the perfect truth of the faith is. I need not dwell upon the shadows, for in the light of truth all shadows disappear.

There are five great errors which were introduced into the subject of justification some three hundred years ago, and they have continued, and have spread through the minds of Christians, distorting and perverting the whole doctrine of our salvation. The first is this — that by the fall and by original sin the nature of man is essentially changed. It is not changed in its essence. Secondly, that by original sin the free-will oi man is destroyed. Our freedom is not destroyed. Thirdly, that we are justified by the imputation of the righteousness or justice of Jesus Christ. We are not justified by the imputation, but by the communication nd infusion of justice, whereby we are made just. Fourthly, that the disorder and turbulence and ignorance which are in the soul, as the consequence of the fall, are sin before God. These things in the regeneiate are not sin before G-od. They may be the cause of sin and the matter of sin in those who wilfully make them so. The whole nature of sin is taken away in our regeneration, and we are justified, though the three wounds still remain in us. Lastly, it has been taughl that the faith which justifies us contains in itself a certainty of eternal life — not only that certainty of hop of which I shall speak hereafter, but a certainty of faith which can never be lost, and of itself constitutes oui salvation. Now here are five errors which, as I said before, I will not mention again; for when thr Catholic doctrine of justification is stated the shadows vanish away.

What, then, is our justification? It is the infusion and indwelling of justice, whereby the soul is translated from the state of death to the state of life. It is the translation of the sons of Adam to the adoption of the sons of God; or, once more, it is the restoration of the due order between God and man, whereby the intelligence and the will are subjected to God as our last and supreme end for which we were created, and from which, by the fall, we were turned aside.

1. Now, in order to make this more clear, I will first of all show what was the state of original justice, because our justification is our restoration, under a certain reserve and with certain limitations, to that state of original grace from which man by disobedience fell. What, then, is the state of original justice? The Council of Trent, after having weighed long whether to say that man was created in grace, finally determined to say that man was constituted in grace, and for this reason: if man had been created in grace, it might have been possible for some one to conceive that grace was an essential part of human nature, because it was said to be a part of our creation. It is not a part of human nature, nor is it a part of our creation. It is something superadded to it, as we shall present1 v see. And therefore, in saying that man was constituted in grace, the Council of Trent expressly, and with the greatest precision, declares that man was placed in a state or condition higher than his own nature. Now man, in the state of original justice, had three perfections. He had a natural perfection; that is, his humanity was perfect in all that con a etitutes its nature, the soul and the body. The body wai perfect in all that constitutes its symmetry and its life; the soul was perfect in its three powers of intelligence, ind will, and aifection. I do not now dwell upon this, nor will I attempt to say how the intelligence of Adam in the beginning was illuminated, or what truths he knew. It is reasonable to believe that he had an anticipation of many of those supernatural truths which are known to us by faith, that his will was in itself perfect as to the power of originating his own actions, and that, as we shall see hereafter, it was elevated and assisted by the grace of God. His passions and affections were in a state of subordination and tranquility by the control of his reason and his will. Such was the first and natural perfection of the soul and the body. To this was superadded a second perfection, which is supernatural, the gift of the Holy Ghost. This is no part of human nature — no part of creation — f or the Holy Ghost is the uncreated charity of God. Adam, in the beginning, had the gift of the Holy Ghost dwelling in him, and because he had the gift of the Holy Ghost dwelling in him, therefore he was just. The fruit of his justice was sanctity, illumination, and union with God. He was also the son of God. This is the supernatural perfection. But, thirdly, there is a preternatural perfection, which arises from the union of the natural with the supernatural; that is to say, the immortality of the body, and immunity of the soul from the rebellion of the passions. Now the body was free from all disease, and the soul was free from all sorrow, because free from all sin. In original justice, no sorrow, no affliction of any kind, had part in the &»ul cf man. These three perfections constitute original justice.

Original sin consists in the loss of that state; and the definition of sin is simply that it is the privation of grace. Just as blindness is the privation of sight, and darkness is the privation of light, and death is the privation of life, so sin is the privation of grace; and human nature without grace is in the state of sin, which is a state of privation. We are born in original sin, because we are born deprived of grace. If we were born blind and deaf, we should be born into the privation of sight and speech. So they who are born without the Holy Ghost are deprived of spiritual life, because they are without the spiritual grace which is the life of the soul.

Now from this you may see that the doctrines which tell you that original sin is an infection, or taint, or corruption of our nature, simply mean this, that when the grace of the Holy Ghost is lost, the soul falls into a darkness which is ignorance, into a weakness which comes from that darkness, and therefore into disorder; the intelligence is darkened, the will is weakened, and the heart is turbulent, by reason of our losing the grace and indwelling of the Holy Ghost, by Whom the soul was prevented, sustained, and sanctified.

Our justification, then, is a restoration to that supernatural state of grace in which man was constituted in the beginning; and I say to a supernatural state of grace, because we are not yet restored to the natural and preternatural perfections above described. We are still subject to ignorance, weakness, disorder: we are not immortal in the body, nor in perfect subordination to grace in the soul. Nevertheless, by he sanct fying presence of the Holy Ghost dwelling in us we were made the sons of God, and they who are made the sons of God are justified. We therefore are put back again into the state of grace from which Adam fell, but neither the natural nor the preternatural perfections are restored. There is still death of the body, and diseases which are the forerunners of death. There is still sorrow in the mind, for sorrow came with sin into the world. More than this, there is ignorance in the intelligence, weakness in the will, turbulence in the affections; and these affections become passions, and the word " passion," which simply signifies a state of suffering, has become an evil word, because the turbulence and the disorder of the human soul are evil.

2. You will see, then, that we are justified, not by the imputation of the righteousness of Jesus Christ, but by the imparting, and infusion, and indwelling of the gift of justice by the operation of the Holy Ghost. Our justification is not a shadow, but a reality; and those who teach the doctrine of justification by imputation have simply confounded the language of Christian men. There are three words which are sacred in the Theology of the Church — absolution, sanctification, justification. No man is justified but he who is at the same time absolved and sanctified; for when God absolves He infuses sanctifying grace.

Such, then, is the gift of justification. It is the Holy Ghost dwelling in the soul, and restoring us to scnship and to friendship with God. The Council of Trent says, that in those that are born again " there is nothing that God bates."* Understand the meiaiiiig of these words. We are all conscious of the effects of the fall. We have ignorance in our understanding, we have all manner of rebellions in our will, and we have also turbulence in our passions. We have an inward conflict and an inward warfare, which Saint Paul describes in the very chapter before that from which I have taken the text: " In ine [that is, in my flesh] dwelleth no good thing; for to will is present with me, but to accomplish that which is good I find not. For the good which I will I do not; but the evil which I will riot that I do.... Wretched man that I arn, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"f We have upon us the effects of the fall and the penalties of sin. They are the occasions of sin, and the fuel of temptation. It is they that are for ever raising against us a constant warfare. Nevertheless, they that are most sorely tempted are not sinful before God unless they consent to it. They who resist temptation, though they walk in the midst of a fire, are not guilty so long as they do not yield. It is only by consenting to a temptation that temptation becomes sin, and our personal act. God sees no sin except in a will which consents to evil. And in those who are justified this warfare is not sin. It is the occasion of greater grace, and of manifold acts of fidelity, and of the love of God, and of perseverance, and is a pledge of a greater reward hereafter. If at any time those that are justified do, for a while or in any way, consent to evil, it is immediately followed by contrition, and the sorrow of contrition blots out and puts away the partial, transient, and mo-

*"In renatis eaim nihil odit Deus." Cuncil. Trid. Seas v. D« Pecc. Orig. 5. f Rom. vii. 18, 19, 24

THE GLORY OF bONS.

inentary acts in which they wavered against the will of God. They abide still in the state of justification, of friendship, and of peace with God. God is their Father and their friend; and persevering in that grace, they will be surely saved. Even in this life they are in a gtate of salvation; and if they shall persevere by fidelity on their part, they will surely receive the gift of perseverance, which God on His part always bestows on all who are faithful to Him. Such, then, is the doctrine of our justification.

I will end with a few practical words.

1. First of all, it is certain, with the certainty of faith, that all baptized infants have been justified. It is as certain that we were justified as that we were born into the world, and that for this reason. We all as infants were born again in Baptism; unless, indeed, I speak to some who, through the negligence of parents, may have been defrauded of their Christian inheritance. You have all, then, been baptized, and, if so, you have all been born again, you have received the gift of the Holy Ghost; and when y^u were regenerated you were justified, you were placed again in a state of justice before God. Every one of you has received the gift of sanctifying grace; you have been made children of God and heirs of His Kingdom. This is as certain as the earth under oar feet. But I do not say, nor can I say, it is certain with the certainty of faith that you are justified now, for that depends upon your fidelity to grace, of which I cannot be certain. If you have per-Bevered in that state of justification, you have in your Baptism every one of you been <l washed, and sanctified, and justified in the name of our Lord Jesus, and by the

Spirit of our Q xl."* And if you have again fallen, then in the Sacrament of Penance the Precious Blood haa come down on you once more, and has washed away every sin committed since your regeneration. You have been once more restored to a state of justification: unless, indeed, you have put a bar in the way of grace — and there is no bar that can hinder it except mortal sin. You have, moreover, eaten and drunk the Precious Body Mid Blood of Jesus Christ. It is not more certain that you have eaten the food of the body that perishes, than that at the altar you have received the Flesh and Blood of the Son of God from His own hands. How is it possible, then, that you should not be justified, or that you should be unconscious of the great dignity of the state in which you are? How is it possible that we can be conscious of our name and state in this worldly life, and of all things that are about us, and yet that we should be unconscious of our state of grace before God; that we should be conscious of having hands and feet, and eyes and ears, and should live in all the activity of our natural life, and yet be as unconscious as if we were in a swoon or a sleep — many of us, if not most — of our supernatural life, with all its faculties, instincts, intuitions, and of the presence of the Holy Ghost Who dwells in us? We are unconscious of the circulation of our blood; we are unconscious of the indwelling of the soul in the body; but this is only a faint sample of our unconsciousness of the perpetual operations of grace which flow from the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in our soul.

2. It is certain, then, with the certainty of faith — for God has revealed it to us — that Baptism gives regenera- * 1 Cor. vi. 11.

tiou, that the Sacrament of Penance gives abs>luticn, and that the Sacrament of the Altar gives the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. These are reve"aled truths, certain with the certainty of faith. Ft is certain that we were justified in Baptism, because as infants we put no bar to grace. But I said we are not certain with the certainty of faith that we are in a state of justification now. The Holy Scripture says that "there are wise men and there are jur.t men; and their works are in the hands of the Lord, and no man knoweth whether he be worthy of love or hatred."* We know so little of the holiness of God, and we know so little of our own sinfulness, we are such partial judges of our state, that many a man pronounces an absolution on himself when, in the sight of God, he is spotted with sins from the crown of hia head to the sole of his foot. How, then, can we be certain that we are in a state of justification at this time? Not by the certainty of faith, but by the certainty of hope, for we have no revelation of it. But we have the certainty of hope, the certainty of confidence, which springs from hope, from the knowledge of the character of God, and from the experience of His love to us. From that hope and confidence we may judge of our own state; whether or no we are still in the grace of justification. If, then, you can say to yourself, "I am not conscious of any thought, or word, or deed in my life wilfully indulged against the law of God," then you may have this hope. But Saint Paul has said: " I know nothing against myself; yet I am not thereby justified ' — he mistrusted his knowledge of himself — " but He that)u?\tifietli me is the Lord."! His only hope was in the * Ecclesiastes ix. 1; i Cor. iv. 4.

f the Sacred Heart of Jesus. If you are conscious, then, that you are striving to enter in at the strait gate, that you are not looking back, but, like the Apostle, you are saying: " Not as though I had already attained or were already perfect.... But one thing I do; forgetting the things that are behind, and stretching forth to these that are before, I press on to the mark, to the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus:"* if you are conscious that you are doing your utmost, and that you would rather lay down your life than knowingly and wilfully break the law of God, then, trusting in God, you may take the consolation of hope; you may believe with a confidence founded upon this knowledge of yourself, and much more of your experience of the character and the love of God, that you are still for-given in His sight. And, in order to assure ourselves of this, let us take care to keep our hearts in union with God.

3. The bond of our union with God is the love of God above all tilings. He that dwelleth in charity dwelleth in God, arid God in him. Here is the link of gold which binds the soul to God. Keep that link fast, and do not be afraid when the consciousness of your past cdns and of your many temptations seem to come down upon you and to overwhelm you as a flood. In those darkest times, be sure that if you love God you are still united with Him. It is not when we walk in the brightness of the noonday only that we are united with Him. The purest union with God is when we walk wiUi Him in the darkness, without consolation and wit'jfit joy; having no other guide; our hand in * Ph.l. iii. 12-14

His hand; going on like children, not knowing whither but obeying the inspirations of God to do or not to dc as He wills; out in the bleak cold sky, with no joy in our prayers and no rest of heart, in constant inward fears, with temptations all around, but always faithful to the guidance of the Spirit of God. "Whosoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." * There are two axioms in the Kingdom of God which shall never fail: no penitent soul can perish, and no soul that loves God can be lost.

Lastly, therefore, let us make sure of our love to God; and how are we to do so? By love to our neighbor. " If any man shall say, I love God, and hateth his neighbor, he is a liar; for if he love not his brother whom he seeth, how can he love God Whom he seeth not? "f Again, the Holy Ghost says by the Apostle: " We know that we have passed from death into life, because we love the brethren.":£ It is the sign and seal of God, attesting His divine work in our translation from the state of death to the state of life, from the state of the sons of Cain, who hate their brethren, to the state of the sons of God, who love their neighbor. Let us, then, love our neighbor in all the kinds and works of charity, even in the least unnoticed actions; and not only in actions, but in our words — in words of kindness, of gentleness, of good will; and not only in our words, but in our thoughts, not harboring in our hearts anything that is not loving, compassionate, and tender towards other men — even to the unworthy, even to the fallen, even to the repulsive and the ungrateful. Bear the same hearts towards youi neighbor which you • Row. viii. 14. f 1 S. John iv. 90. Ib. Hi. 14.

desiro your neighbor to bear towards you. Keep all your severities for yourselves. No man loves his neighbor aright who is not severe to himself. The man who looks lightly on his own faults, and with facility absolves himself, is a scribe and a pharisee. He will hardly escape the fault of judging the conduct of his neighbor with severity. The more severe we are to our own faults, the more gentle and equitable we shall be to the faults of others; the more indulgent we are to ourselves, the sharper and the less just we shall be to other men. Therefore, dear brethren, be conscious of your own dignity and be conscious of the dignity of others. You are the sons of the Great King, and your neighbors are likewise the Great King's sons. Honor one another; live in charity. Let your life be as heirs together of the Kingdom of God. From all eternity God foreknew you, and in due time God called you by the Holy Ghost; and when He called you He justified you, and when He justified you He put upon you the glory of His children and the heirship of His Kingdom. " Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on you, that you should be called, and should be " — not by name and imputation only, but by infusion and reality — " the sons of God." Therefore the world knoweth you not, because it knew Him not; and f you are true followers of Jesus Christ, it will mis* understand and reject you. u Kow are we the sons of God, and it doth riot yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him " — conformed to Him Who is the first-born among the sons of God, begotten of the substance of the Father before all worlds, and man of the substance of His

Mother born in the world. Such is our predestination; " and every man that hath this hope in him sanctifietb himself, even as He also is holy."*

• 1 a John UL 141

Footnotes

1. " He glorified by gifts of grace and the adoption." St. Chry soetoia in Rom. Hom. xv. torn. ix. p. 595, ed. Ben. Paris, 1731 '' That they might be glorified by the endowment of graces." a Jerome in Bom. viii. 30, torn. v. p. 953, ed. Ben. Paris, 1706. ↩