The Catholic Doctrine of Merit: Calvin's "Impurity and Dirt" Objection

A common Calvinist objection to the Catholic doctrine of merit is that our good works are always finite and human. They cannot possibly have supernatural merit in God’s eyes. They simply cannot be meritorious with respect to the infinite value of eternal life. Something of finite value cannot merit something of infinite value. Furthermore, according to Sacred Scripture, “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment” (Isaiah 64:6). Now, that which is polluted does not have merit in God’s eyes; hence, our good works have no merit. As John Calvin taught,

Those who, as in the presence of God, inquire seriously into the true standard of righteousness, will certainly find that all the works of men, if estimated by their own worth, are nothing but vileness and pollution, that what is commonly deemed justice is with God mere iniquity; what is deemed integrity is pollution; what [is] deemed glory is ignominy (Institutes of the Christian Religion III, 12, 4).

What righteousness then can men obtain by their works? First, I say, that the best thing which can be produced by them is always tainted and corrupted by the impurity of the flesh, and has, as it were, some mixture of dross in it. Let the holy servant of God, I say, select from the whole course of his life the action which he deems most excellent, and let him ponder it in all its parts; he will doubtless find in it something that savors of the rottenness of the flesh, since our alacrity in well-doing is never what it ought to be, but our course is always retarded by much weakness. Although we see that the stains by which the works of the righteous are blemished, are by no means unapparent, still, granting that they are the minutest possible, will they give no offense to the eye of God, before which even the stars are not clean? We thus see, that even saints cannot perform one work which, if judged on its own merits, is not deserving of condemnation (ibid. III, 14, 9).

Thus, even the regenerated, though their wills are given an inclination toward good by the grace of God (cf. ibid. II, 3, 8), still sin in all of their works when they are judged by their own merits. Even our good works, after regeneration, are good only because of God’s contribution through grace. The only contribution we make is evil and defect. Consequently, all our good works have the taint of sin. But, if we are regenerated, God no longer imputes such sin to us. As Calvin teaches:

When it is said that God purifies his Church, so as to be “holy and without blemish,” (Eph. 5:26, 27), that he promises this cleansing by means of baptism, and performs it in his elect, I understand that reference is made to the guilt rather than to the matter of sin. In regenerating his people God indeed accomplishes this much for them; he destroys the dominion of sin, by supplying the agency of the Spirit, which enables them to come off victorious from the contest. Sin, however, though it ceases to reign, ceases not to dwell in them. Accordingly, though we say that the old man is crucified, and the law of sin is abolished in the children of God (Rom. 6:6), the remains of sin survive, not to have dominion, but to humble them under a consciousness of their infirmity. We admit that these remains, just as if they had no existence, are not imputed, but we, at the same time, contend that it is owing to the mercy of God that the saints are not charged with the guilt which would otherwise make them sinners before God (ibid. III, 3, 11).

In response, it is true that, intrinsically, our good works are finite and human and are not meritorious with respect to the infinite value of eternal life. As St. Thomas Aquinas teaches, “[E]verlasting life is an end exceeding the proportion of human nature…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” (Summa Theologica I-II, 109, 5). But as Robert C. Koons explains, “God rewards our good works without any reference to their intrinsic value, but for Christ’s sake, in accordance with his own grace” (A Lutheran’s Case for Roman Catholicism, pg. 50). It is because our good works are performed under the impulse of God’s grace and in Christ’s name that they have merit (cf. Matthew 10:42, Mark 9:41, Council of Trent: Decree on Justification, Ch. XVI). Furthermore, the meritoriousness of our good works flows from God’s free promise to reward them. As Ludwig Ott explains, “Merit is dependent on the free ordinance of God to reward with everlasting bliss the good works performed by His grace. On account of the infinite distance between Creator and creature, man cannot of himself make God his debtor, if God does not do so by His own free ordinance. That God has made such an ordinance, is clear from His promise of eternal reward” (Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, pg. 287). The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches similarly (CCC 2007-2008). St. Thomas Aquinas further elaborates on this as follows:

[J]ustice is a kind of equality…and hence justice is simply between those that are simply equal; but where there is no absolute equality between them, neither is there absolute justice, but there may be a certain manner of justice…[H]ence where there is justice simply, there is the character of merit and reward simply. But where there is no simple right, but only relative, there is no character of merit simply, but only relatively…[as when] the child merits something from his father and the slave from his lord.

Now it is clear that between God and man there is the greatest inequality: for they are infinitely apart, and all man’s good is from God. Hence there can be no justice of absolute equality between man and God, but only of a certain proportion, inasmuch as both operate after their own manner. Now the manner and measure of human virtue is in man from God. Hence man’s merit with God only exists on the presupposition of the Divine ordination, so that man obtains from God, as a reward of his operation, what God gave him the power of operation for, even as natural things by their proper movements and operations obtain that to which they were ordained by God; differently, indeed, since the rational creature moves itself to act by its free-will, hence its action has the character of merit, which is not so in other creatures (Summa Theologica I-II, 114, 1; cf. Iustitia Dei: A History of the Christian Doctrine of Justification, pg. 162-163).

Another important point to understand is that our good works are united with the work of Christ who lives in us (cf. Galatians 2:20). Thus, Christ, through grace, is active in each of our good works. Christ is the vine, and we are the branches. Without Him, we can do nothing (cf. John 15:5). Since Christ’s works cannot fail to have merit, therefore, it follows that our good works cannot fail to have merit. As Koons puts it, “[W]e are justified by Christ as the one who brings forth good works in us as his fruit” (A Lutheran’s Case for Roman Catholicism, pg. 37). St. Thomas Aquinas teaches, “Man’s meritorious work can be considered in two ways:—first, as it proceeds from free-will; secondly as it proceeds from the grace of the Holy Ghost. If it is considered as regards the substance of the work, and inasmuch as it springs from free-will, there can be no [merit] because of the very great inequality…If, however, we speak of a meritorious work, inasmuch as it proceeds from the Holy Ghost moving us to life everlasting, it is meritorious of life everlasting” (Summa Theologica I-II, 114, 3).

These teachings are in accord with Sacred Scripture: “O Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us, thou hast wrought for us all our works” (Isaiah 26:12). “[W]ork out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for God is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13). “Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in you that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ” (Hebrews 13:20-21).

With respect to the Scripture passage cited by the objector, it is true that our own works performed by our own efforts without being elevated by supernatural grace have no supernatural merit in God’s eyes. They are, therefore, indeed, “like a polluted garment.” Calvin’s teaching holds true in this case. But once we are justified and infused with the theological virtue of charity which has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit (cf. Romans 5:5), then our good works, wrought by God’s grace, do have supernatural merit. Calvin’s teaching is false in this case. The passage in Isaiah should therefore be understood to mean that works performed without supernatural love and outside of the state of grace are useless. This is right in line with the teaching of St. Paul: “If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:3). In the same vein, the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, “The charity of Christ is the source in us of all our merits before God. Grace, by uniting us to Christ in active love, ensures the supernatural quality of our acts and consequently their merit before God and before men” (CCC 2011, emphasis in original). Similarly, the Council of Trent teaches, “If anyone shall say, that man may be justified before God by his own works, whether done through the strength of human nature, or through the teaching of the law, without the divine grace through Jesus Christ; let him be anathema” (On Justification, Canon I).

This interpretation of Isaiah is also suggested by the fact that Isaiah says that “We have all become like one who is unclean,” which suggests that the reason our works are polluted is because, in a state of sin, we are polluted. As St. Thomas Aquinas teaches, “[S]ince sin is an offense against God, excluding us from eternal life…, no one existing in a state of mortal sin can merit…unless first he be reconciled to God, through his sin being forgiven, which is brought about by grace” (Summa Theologica I-II, 114, 2). And as St. Paul teaches, “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, indeed it cannot; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:7-8). But when we are justified, God’s grace makes us a new creation (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 6:15). We are washed, sanctified, and justified (cf. 1 Corinthians 6:11). We are regenerated and renewed (cf. Titus 3:5-7). When in a state of grace, therefore, we are no longer unclean; consequently, our good works are similarly no longer polluted and can therefore be meritorious. As St. Paul continues, “But you are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God really dwells in you” (Romans 8:9). The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is what gives our good works supernatural merit.

Another argument for the conclusion that our good works performed in the state of grace are not seen as polluted in God’s eyes is as follows:

1. By grace, our good works are pleasing to God (cf. Hebrews 13:20-21).
2. Polluted works are not pleasing to God.
3. Therefore, by grace, our good works are not polluted.

One last argument is as follows:

1. We are created in Christ Jesus for good works (cf. Ephesians 2:10).
2. Nothing for which we are created in Christ Jesus is polluted.
3. Therefore, our good works are not polluted.

These arguments demonstrate that Calvin’s teaching, that even those who are justified and regenerated (the saints) sin in everything they do (cf. Institutes III, 3, 11), is false. The Council of Trent, therefore, rightly and explicitly condemns this teaching:

If anyone shall say, that, in every good work, the just sins venially at least, or, which is still more intolerable, mortally, and therefore deserves eternal punishments; and that it is only for this cause he is not damned, because God does not impute those works unto damnation; let him be anathema (On Justification, Canon XXV).

Overall, therefore, the objection presently under consideration fails. Our works may be impurity and dirt, but God’s works within us are not. And such works proceed entirely from God as primary cause and entirely from us as secondary cause (cf. Philippians 2:12-13).