The practical divinity of the papists discovered to be destructive of Christianity and mens…

Sect. 2. Secondly, for actual love, how can they account the acts of it needful, when they make the habits or principle from whence the acts must flow, to be unnecessary? But let us view their Doctrine about this more distinctly. The acts of love are either more foreign and remote, which they call Imperate: or native and proper which they call Elicit acts.

Sect. 2. Secondly, for actual love, how can they account the acts of it needful, when they make the habits or principle from whence the acts must flow, to be unnecessary? But let us view their Doctrine about this more distinctly. The acts of love are either more forrain and remote, which they call Imperate: or native and proper which they call Elicite acts.

For the former, all acts of Religion and Righteousness, that they may be truly Christians such as the Gospel requires in order to Salvation; that they may have a real tincture of Divine and supernatural goodness, and be advanced above the pitch, at which Heathen, or graceless persons may arrive: they must proceed from love to God, and be ordered and directed by it. This they sometimes not only confess, but assert. And yet notwithstanding they teach, ^(*)that it is ⟨p. 90⟩not needful to perform any such acts, or to observe any commands of God out of love to him. ⁽ⁱ⁾The commands of God, saith de Graffijs, doe not oblige us to perform them in love, he clears his meaning by an instance. For he sins not, nor is punished of God, who gives due honour to his Parents; although he have not the habit of piety (and so though he do it not out of such a principal) much less (adds he) doth the Church oblige any one to observe the command in love ^(k)for if the end of the precept be love saith Canus, we are not forthwith bound to observe all the commands out of love. The reason is premised, for in the opinion of Aquinas and the most grave Authors, we are not bound to observe the end or intention of the Law-giver (i. e. of Christ) but the means which the Law prescribes in order to it. Soto discourseth this at large, and concludes.