Chapter 9.—Who are the Children of the Old Covenant.

But those belong to the old testament, “which gendereth from Mount Sinai to bondage,” which is Agar, who, when they have received a law which is holy and just and good, think that the letter can suffice them for life; and do not seek the divine mercy, so as they may become doers of the law, but, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and wishing to establish their own righteousness, are not subject to the righteousness of God. Of this kind was that multitude which murmured against God in the wilderness, and made an idol; and that multitude which even in the very land of promise committed fornication after strange gods. But this multitude, even in the old testament itself, was strongly rebuked. They, moreover, whoever they were at that time who followed after those earthly promises alone which God promises there, and who were ignorant of that which those promises signify under the new testament, and who kept God’s commandments with the desire of gaining and with the fear of losing those promises,—certainly did not observe them, but only seemed to themselves to observe. For there was no faith in them that worked by love, but earthly cupidity and carnal fear. But he who thus fulfils the commandments beyond a doubt fulfils them unwillingly, and then does not do them in his heart; for he would rather not do them at all, if in respect of those things which he desires and fears he might be allowed to neglect them with impunity. And thus, in the will itself within him, he is guilty; and it is here that God, who gives the command, looks. Such were the children of the earthly Jerusalem, concerning which the apostle says, “For she is in bondage with her children,”192    Gal. iv. 25.    Gal. ii. 21. and belongs to the old testament “which gendereth to bondage from Mount Sinai, which is Agar.” Of that same kind were they who crucified the Lord, and continued in the same unbelief. Thence there are still their children in the great multitude of the Jews, although now the new testament as it was prophesied is made plain and confirmed by the blood of Christ; and the gospel is made known from the river where He was baptized and began His teachings, even to the ends of the earth. And these Jews, according to the prophecies which they read, are dispersed everywhere over all the earth, that even from their writings may not be wanting a testimony to Christian truth.

9. Ad Testamentum autem vetus, quod est a monte Sina in servitutem generans, quod est Agar, illi pertinent, qui cum acceperint legem sanctam et justam et bonam, putant sibi ad vitam, litteram posse sufficere: et ideo qua fiant factores legis, divinam misericordiam non requirunt; sed ignorantes Dei justitiam, et suam justitiam volentes constituere, justitiae Dei non sunt subjecti (Rom. X, 3). Ex hoc genere fuit illa multitudo, quae adversus Deum in eremo murmuravit, et idolum fecit, et illa quae jam in ipsa terra promissionis fornicata est post deos alienos. Sed haec in ipso quoque vetere Testamento valde reprobata est multitudo. Illi etiam, quicumque ibi erant, sola quae ibi Deus pollicetur terrena promissa sectantes, et quid pro novo Testamento ea ipsa significent ignorantes, eorum adipiscendorum amore et amittendorum timore, Dei praecepta servabant; imo non servabant, sed sibi servare videbantur. Neque enim fides in eis per dilectionem operabatur (Galat. V, 6), sed terrena cupiditas metusque carnalis. Sic autem praecepta qui facit, procul dubio invitus facit; ac per hoc in animo non facit: magis vult enim omnino non facere, si secundum ea quae cupit et metuit, permittatur impune. Ac per hoc in ipsa voluntate intus est reus, ubi ipse qui praecipit inspicit Deus. Tales erant filii terrenae Jerusalem, de qua dicit Apostolus, Servit enim cum filiis suis, pertinens ad Testamentum vetus a monte Sina in servitutem generans, quod est Agar 0594 (Galat. IV, 25, 24). Ex ipso genere fuerunt, qui Dominum crucifixerunt, et in eadem infidelitate manserunt. Inde sunt adhuc etiam filii eorum in ingenti multitudine Judaeorum, quamvis jam novo Testamento, sicut prophetatum est, per Christi sanguinem patefacto atque firmato, et a flumine ubi baptizatus magisteriumque professus est (Matth. III, 16, 17), usque ad terminos terrae Evangelio diffamato. Qui Judaei, secundum prophetias quas legunt, per omnes sunt terras ubique dispersi, ut ex eorum quoque codicibus Christianae non desit testimonium veritati.