Views During The Time of the Reformation (13): Views on the Church: The Formal Principle: The Reformation Versus False Mysticism.

4.  The doctrine of the merit of good works as taught by Romanists is another most prolific error. They hold that works done after regeneration have real merit (meritum condigni), and that they are the ground of the sinner's justification before God. They hold that a man may do more than the law requires of him, and perform works of supererogation, and thus obtain more merit than is neces­sary for his own salvation and beatification. That this super­fluous merit goes into the treasury of the...