Chapter 23 [XIV.]—How the Decalogue Kills, If Grace Be Not Present.

Although, therefore, the apostle seems to reprove and correct those who were being persuaded to be circumcised, in such terms as to designate by the word “law” circumcision itself and other similar legal observances, which are now rejected as shadows of a future substance by Christians who yet hold what those shadows figuratively promised; he at the same time nevertheless would have it to be clearly understood that the law, by which he says no man is justified, lies not merely in those sacramental institutions which contained promissory figures, but also in those works by which whosoever has done them lives holily, and amongst which occurs this prohibition: “Thou shalt not covet.” Now, to make our statement all the clearer, let us look at the Decalogue itself. It is certain, then, that Moses on the mount received the law, that he might deliver it to the people, written on tables of stone by the finger of God. It is summed up in these ten commandments, in which there is no precept about circumcision, nor anything concerning those animal sacrifices which have ceased to be offered by Christians. Well, now, I should like to be told what there is in these ten commandments, except the observance of the Sabbath, which ought not to be kept by a Christian,—whether it prohibit the making and worshipping of idols and of any other gods than the one true God, or the taking of God’s name in vain; or prescribe honour to parents; or give warning against fornication, murder, theft, false witness, adultery, or coveting other men’s property? Which of these commandments would any one say that the Christian ought not to keep? Is it possible to contend that it is not the law which was written on those two tables that the apostle describes as “the letter that killeth,” but the law of circumcision and the other sacred rites which are now abolished? But then how can we think so, when in the law occurs this precept, “Thou shall not covet,” by which very commandment, notwithstanding its being holy, just, and good, “sin,” says the apostle, “deceived me, and by it slew me?”99    See Rom. vii. 7–12. What else can this be than “the letter” that “killeth”?

Chapter 24.—The Passage in Corinthians.

In the passage where he speaks to the Corinthians about the letter that kills, and the spirit that gives life, he expresses himself more clearly, but he does not mean even there any other “letter” to be understood than the Decalogue itself, which was written on the two tables. For these are His words: “Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart. And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; who hath made us fit, as ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance, which was to be done away; how shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more shall the ministration of righteousness abound in glory.100    2 Cor. iii. 3–9. A good deal might be said about these words; but perhaps we shall have a more fitting opportunity at some future time. At present, however, I beg you to observe how he speaks of the letter that killeth, and contrasts therewith the spirit that giveth life. Now this must certainly be “the ministration of death written and engraven in stones,” and “the ministration of condemnation,” since the law entered that sin might abound.101    Rom. v. 20. But the commandments themselves are so useful and salutary to the doer of them, that no one could have life unless he kept them. Well, then, is it owing to the one precept about the Sabbath-day, which is included in it, that the Decalogue is called “the letter that killeth?” Because, forsooth, every man that still observes that day in its literal appointment is carnally wise, but to be carnally wise is nothing else than death? And must the other nine commandments, which are rightly observed in their literal form, not be regarded as belonging to the law of works by which none is justified, but to the law of faith whereby the just man lives? Who can possibly entertain so absurd an opinion as to suppose that “the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones,” is not said equally of all the ten commandments, but only of the solitary one touching the Sabbath-day? In which class do we place that which is thus spoken of: “The law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression?”102    Rom. iv. 15. and again thus: “Until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law?”103    Rom. v. 13. and also that which we have already so often quoted: “By the law is the knowledge of sin?”104    Rom. iii. 20. and especially the passage in which the apostle has more clearly expressed the question of which we are treating: “I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet?”105    Rom. vii. 7.

Chapter 25.—The Passage in Romans.

Now carefully consider this entire passage, and see whether it says anything about circumcision, or the Sabbath, or anything else pertaining to a foreshadowing sacrament. Does not its whole scope amount to this, that the letter which forbids sin fails to give man life, but rather “killeth,” by increasing concupiscence, and aggravating sinfulness by transgression, unless indeed grace liberates us by the law of faith, which is in Christ Jesus, when His love is “shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given to us?”106    Rom. v. 5. The apostle having used these words: “That we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter,”107    Rom. vii. 6. goes on to inquire, “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay; I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. For I was alive without the law once; but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment deceived me, and by it slew me. Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, worked death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. For we know that the law is spiritual; whereas I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that I do not; but what I hate, that I do. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. But then it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing. To will, indeed, is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would, I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now, if I do that which I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: but I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? The grace of God, through Jesus Christ out Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.” 108    Rom. vii. 7–25.

Chapter 26.—No Fruit Good Except It Grow from the Root of Love.

It is evident, then, that the oldness of the letter, in the absence of the newness of the spirit, instead of freeing us from sin, rather makes us guilty by the knowledge of sin. Whence it is written in another part of Scripture, “He that increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow,”109    Eccles. i. 18.—not that the law is itself evil, but because the commandment has its good in the demonstration of the letter, not in the assistance of the spirit; and if this commandment is kept from the fear of punishment and not from the love of righteousness, it is servilely kept, not freely, and therefore it is not kept at all. For no fruit is good which does not grow from the root of love. If, however, that faith be present which worketh by love,110    Gal. v. 6. then one begins to delight in the law of God after the inward man,111    Rom. vii. 22. and this delight is the gift of the spirit, not of the letter; even though there is another law in our members still warring against the law of the mind, until the old state is changed, and passes into that newness which increases from day to day in the inward man, whilst the grace of God is liberating us from the body of this death through Jesus Christ our Lord.

CAPUT XIV.

23. Decalogus quoque occidit, nisi adsit gratia. Quamvis itaque, illos quibus circumcisio persuadebatur, ita corripere atque corrigere videatur Apostolus, ut legis nomine eamdem circumcisionem appellet, caeterasque ejusmodi legis observationes, quas tanquam umbras futuri jam nunc respuunt Christiani, id tenentes quod per illas umbras figurate promittebatur: tamen legem ex qua neminem dicit justificari, non tantum in illis sacramentis quae habuerunt promissivas figuras, verum etiam in illis operibus vult intelligi, quae quisquis fecerit, juste vivit: ubi est et illud, Non concupisces. Atque ut hoc quod dicimus fiat planius, ipsum Decalogum videamus. Certe enim legem Moyses ministrandam populo accepit in monte, scriptam in lapideis tabulis digito Dei: haec decem praeceptis constringitur (Exod. XXXI, 18; Deut. IX, 10, et Exod. XX), ubi nihil de circumcisione mandatum est, nihil de victimis pecorum, quae nunc a Christianis non immolantur. In illis igitur decem praeceptis, excepta sabbati observatione, dicatur mihi quid non sit observandum a christiano, sive de non faciendis colendisque idolis aliisque ullis diis praeter unum verum Deum, sive de non accipiendo nomine Dei in vanum, sive de honore parentibus deferendo, sive de cavendis fornicationibus, homicidiis, furtis, falsis testimoniis, adulteriis, re aliena concupiscenda . Quid horum quisquam dixerit christianum non debere servare? An forte non istam legem quae in illis duabus tabulis scripta est, litteram occidentem appellat Apostolus, sed illam circumcisionis aliorumque veterum jamque abolitorum sacramentorum? Sed quomodo putabimus, cum in ea sit, Non concupisces: per quod mandatum, quamvis sanctum et justum et bonum, fefellit me, inquit, peccatum, et per illud occidit? Quid enim aliud est, Littera occidit?

24. Quamvis evidentius eo ipso loco ad Corinthios, ubi ait, Littera occidit, spiritus autem vivificat; non aliam velit intelligi litteram, quam ipsum Decalogum in illis duabus tabulis scriptum. Sic enim dicit: «Quoniam estis epistola Christi ministrata per nos, scripta non atramento, sed spiritu Dei vivi; non in tabulis lapideis, sed in tabulis cordis carnalibus. Confidentiam autem talem habemus per Christum ad Deum, non quia idonei simus cogitare aliquid a nobis quasi ex nobismetipsis; sed sufficientia nostra ex Deo est, qui idoneos nos fecit ministros Novi Testamenti, non litterae, sed spiritus . Littera enim occidit, spiritus autem vivificat. Si autem ministratio mortis in litteris figurata in lapidibus fuit in gloria, ita ut non possent intendere filii Israel in faciem Moysi, propter gloriam vultus ejus quae evacuatur; quare non magis ministratio 0216 spiritus erit in gloria? Si enim ministratio damnationis gloria est , multo magis abundabit ministerium justitiae in gloria» (II Cor. III, 2-9). Dici de his verbis multa possunt , sed postea fortasse opportunius. Nunc autem adverte quam dicat litteram quae occidit, cui velut e contrario vivificantem spiritum ingerit. Ea certe est ministratio mortis in litteris figurata lapideis, et ministratio damnationis; quia lex subintravit, ut abundaret delictum. Porro autem praecepta ipsa tam sunt utilia facienti atque salubria, ut nisi quis ea fecerit, vitam habere non possit. An vero propter unum praeceptum quod ibi de sabbato est positum, dictus est Decalogus littera occidens, quoniam quisquis illum diem nunc usque observat sicut littera sonat, carnaliter sapit; sapere autem secundum carnem mors est (Rom. VIII, 6); et illa novem praecepta quae sic recte observantur ut scripta sunt, non ad legem operum ex qua nemo justificatur, sed ad legem fidei ex qua justus vivit, pertinere putanda sunt? Quis tam absurde sentiat, ministrationem mortis in litteris figuratam lapideis, non dici ex omnibus decem praeceptis, sed ex uno solo quod ad sabbatum pertinet? Ubi ergo ponimus, Lex iram operatur; ubi enim non est lex, nec praevaricatio (Id. IV, 15): et, Usque ad legem peccatum in mundo fuit; peccatum autem non deputabatur, cum lex non esset (Id. V, 13): et illud quod jam toties commemoravimus, Per legem cognitio peccati (Id. III, 20): maximeque illud ubi evidentius expressit unde agitur, Concupiscentiam nesciebam, nisi lex diceret, Non concupisces?

25. Quem totum locum attende, et vide utrum quidquam propter circumcisionem vel sabbatum, vel quid aliud umbratilis sacramenti, ac non totum propter hoc dicat, quod littera prohibens peccatum non vivificat hominem, sed potius occidit, augendo concupiscentiam, et iniquitatem praevaricatione cumulando, nisi liberet gratia per legem fidei quae est in Christo Jesu, cum diffunditur charitas in cordibus nostris per Spiritum sanctum qui datus est nobis (Id. V, 5). Cum enim dixisset, «Ut serviamus in novitate spiritus, et non in vetustate litterae: Quid ergo dicemus,» inquit? «Lex peccatum est? Absit: sed peccatum non cognovi, nisi per legem. Nam concupiscentiam nesciebam, nisi lex diceret, Non concupisces. Occasione autem accepta, peccatum per mandatum operatum est in me omnem concupiscentiam. Sine lege enim peccatum mortuum erat. Ego autem vivebam aliquando sine lege, adveniente autem mandato peccatum revixit. Ego autem mortuus sum, et inventum est mihi mandatum quod erat in vitam, hoc esse in mortem. Peccatum enim occasione accepta per mandatum fefellit me, et per illud occidit. Itaque lex quidem sancta, et mandatum sanctum, et justum, et bonum. Quod ergo bonum est, factum est mihi mors ? Absit. Sed peccatum ut 0217 appareat peccatum, per bonum mihi operatum est mortem, ut fiat super modum peccans peccatum per mandatum. Scimus enim quia lex spiritualis est; ego autem carnalis sum, venumdatus sub peccato. Quod enim operor, ignoro; non enim quod volo, hoc ago; sed quod odi, illud facio. Si autem quod nolo, hoc facio; consentio legi, quoniam bona. Nunc autem non jam ego operor illud, sed quod habitat in me peccatum. Scio enim quia non habitat in me, hoc est in carne mea, bonum. Velle enim adjacet mihi, perficere autem bonum non. Non enim quod volo facio bonum; sed quod nolo malum, hoc ago. Si autem quod nolo ego hoc facio, jam non ego operor illud, sed quod habitat in me peccatum. Invenio ergo legem volenti mihi facere bonum, quoniam mihi malum adjacet . Condelector enim legi Dei secundum interiorem hominem: video autem aliam legem in membris meis repugnantem legi mentis meae, et captivantem me in lege peccati , quae est in membris meis. Miser ego homo, quis me liberabit de corpore mortis hujus? Gratia Dei per Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum. Igitur ego ipse mente servio legi Dei, carne autem legi peccati (Rom. VII, 6-25).

26. Apparet igitur litterae vetustatem, si desit novitas spiritus, reos facere potius cognitione peccati, quam liberare a peccato. Unde et alibi scriptum est, Qui apponit scientiam, apponit et dolorem (Eccle. I, 18): non quia ipsa lex malum est, sed quia mandatum bonum habet in littera demonstrante, non in adjuvante spiritu: quod mandatum si fit timore poenae, non amore justitiae, serviliter fit, non liberaliter, et ideo nec fit. Non enim fructus est bonus, qui de charitatis radice non surgit. Porro autem si adsit fides quae per dilectionem operatur (Galat. V, 6), incipit condelectari legi Dei secundum interiorem hominem, quae delectatio non litterae, sed spiritus donum est; etiamsi alia lex in membris adhuc repugnat legi mentis, donec in novitatem, quae de die in diem in interiore homine augetur, tota vetustas mutata pertranseat, liberante nos de corpore mortis hujus gratia Dei per Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum.