Jackson on Article XIII: Of Works before Justification
Bernard C. Jackson, 1900
Commentaries on Article XIII: Rogers (1607)Ellis (1660)Burnet (1699)Beveridge (d. 1708)Welchman (1713)Practical Exposition (1716)Veneer (1725)Madan (1772)Hey (1796)Tomline (1799)Wilson (1821)Jones (1849)Trollope (1850)Browne (1850)Forbes (1867)Boultbee (1871)Maclear & Williams (1895)Green (1896)Gibson (1896)Jackson (1900)Bicknell (1919) · Article 13: text, context and Study
Article XIII. Of Works before Justification
Works done before the grace of Christ, and the Inspiration of his Spirit, are not pleasant to God, forasmuch as they spring not of faith in Jesus Christ, neither do they make men meet to receive grace, or (as the School-authors say) deserve grace of congruity: yea rather, for that they are not done as God hath willed and commanded them to be done, we doubt not but they have the nature of sin.
Text: Book of Common Prayer (1662)
Cleaned OCR; [...] marks passages cut for illegibility. See the scan. Text: The Thirty-nine Articles: a short exposition, by Bernard C. Jackson (London: Church Book Room, 1900). Short notes on each Article. Cleaned OCR from the Internet Archive scan; passages too garbled to recover are marked [...]. Public domain.
The title as it stands might convey a wrong impression. It is due to the fact that in an early draft this Article began with the words: ‘‘ Works that are done before justification.’’ So the title
_must be interpreted by the words of the Article as they now stand: ‘“‘ Works done before the grace of Christ and the inspiration of his Spirit.”’
The Article is not, of course, directed against such works as those ‘of Cornelius (Acts x., 4) or of heathen persons who act righteously by the light of nature (Rom. ii., 14-16). For evidently the grace of God works in such persons. What the Article has in view is the teaching of “‘ the School-authors.’’ These Medieval Theologians recognised two forms of merit:—(1) merit ob- tamed ‘‘ de congruo,’’ i.e., by the congruity of man’s unaided efforts with God? s will, and (2) merit obtained ‘‘ de condigno,’’ i.e., by works done with God’s aid. The former were supposed to constitute a claim on God’s mercy, the latter on his justice. Article XII. denied the latter
‘ «claim; this denies the former.
With the words “ they have the nature (rationem) of sin,’’ compare the words of Rom. xiv., a ‘* whatsoever is not of faith is sin.’
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