| II Timothy 4:8
| For the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of justice, which the Lord, the just judge, will render to me on that day: and not to me only, but to them also who love his coming. Make haste to come to me quickly.
| A crown of justice, which the Lord, the just judge, will render to me. These words confirm the Catholic doctrine, that good works performed with the assistance of God's grace, deserve and are meritorious of a reward in heaven: it is what is signified, 1. by a crown of justice, 2. from a just judge, 3. which he will render or give as a reward. Yet we own with St. Augustine that we have no merit, but what is also a gift of God from his grace and mercy, and grounded on his promises. (Witham) --- "A crown of justice," which the Protestants translate, of righteousness; but let us see how the learned St. Augustine, 1400 years ago, expounds the apostle's meaning: "How should he repay as a just judge, unless he had first given as a merciful Father?" (De grat. et lib. arb. ch. VI.) See Hebrews 6:10. God is not unjust, that he should forget your works; this the Protestants change into, God is not unrighteous.
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