You cannot by any works merit eternal life

John Calvin quotes a prominent Catholic scholar, Bernard, Sermon I in Annunciation (1596):

I believe that the testimony of conscience, which Paul calls the rejoicing of the pious, consists in three things. For it is necessary to believe, first of all, that you cannot have remission of sins but through the mercy of God; secondly, that you cannot have any good work unless he bestow this also; lastly, that you cannot by any works merit eternal life, unless that also be freely given.