[XXV.] Yet, notwithstanding this, although not even the law which Moses gave was able to liberate any man from the dominion of death, there were even then, too, at the time of the law, men of God who were not living under the terror and conviction and punishment of the law, but under the delight and healing and liberation of grace. Some there were who said, “I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me;”185    Ps. li. 5. and, “There is no rest in my bones, by reason of my sins;”186    Ps. xxxviii. 3. and, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit in my inward parts;”187    Ps. li. 10. and, “Stablish me with Thy directing Spirit;”188    Ps. li. 12. and, “Take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.”189    Ps. li. 11. There were some, again, who said: “I believed, therefore have I spoken.”190    Ps. cxvi. 10. For they too were cleansed with the self-same faith with which we ourselves are. Whence the apostle also says: “We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believe, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak.”191    2 Cor. iv. 13. Out of very faith was it said, “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel,”192    Isa. vii. 14. “which is, being interpreted, God with us.”193    Matt. i. 23. Out of very faith too was it said concerning Him: “As a bridegroom He cometh out of His chamber; as a giant did He exult to run His course. His going forth is from the extremity of heaven, and His circuit runs to the other end of heaven; and no one is hidden from His heat.”194    Ps. xix. 5, 6. Out of very faith, again, was it said to Him: “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of Thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows.”195    Ps. xlv. 6, 7. By the self-same Spirit of faith were all these things foreseen by them as to happen, whereby they are believed by us as having happened. They, indeed, who were able in faithful love to foretell these things to us were not themselves partakers of them. The Apostle Peter says, “Why tempt ye God to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.”196    Acts xv. 10, 11. Now on what principle does he make this statement, if it be not because even they were saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and not the law of Moses, from which comes not the cure, but only the knowledge of sin?197    Rom. iii. 20. Now, however, the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets.198    Rom. iii. 21. If, therefore, it is now manifested, it even then existed, but it was hidden. This concealment was symbolized by the veil of the temple. When Christ was dying, this veil was rent asunder,199    Matt. xxvii. 51. to signify the full revelation of Him. Even of old, therefore there existed amongst the people of God this grace of the one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; but like the rain in the fleece which God sets apart for His inheritance,200    Ps. lxviii. 9. not of debt, but of His own will, it was latently present, but is now patently visible amongst all nations as its “floor,” the fleece being dry,—in other words, the Jewish people having become reprobate.201    Judg. vi. 36–40.

CAPUT XXV.

Quamvis ergo nec lex per Moysen data potuerit a quoquam homine regnum mortis auferre; erant tamen et legis tempore homines Dei, non sub lege terrente, convincente, puniente, sed sub gratia delectante, sanante, liberante. Erant qui dicerent, Ego in iniquitatibus conceptus sum, et in peccatis mater mea me in utero aluit; et, Non est pax in ossibus meis a facie peccatorum meorum (Psal. XXXVII, 4); et, Cor mundum crea in me, Deus, et spiritum rectum innova in visceribus meis; et, Spiritu principali confirma me; et, Spiritum sanctum tuum ne auferas a me (Psal. L, 7, 12, 14, 13). Erant qui dicerent, Credidi, propter quod locutus sum (Psal. CXV, 1). Eadem quippe et ipsi mundabantur fide, qua et nos. Unde et Apostolus dicit, Habentes autem eumdem spiritum fidei, secundum quod scriptum est, Credidi, propter quod locutus sum; et nos credimus, propter quod et loquimur (II Cor. IV, 13). Ex ipsa fide dicebatur, Ecce virgo in utero accipiet, et pariet filium; et vocabunt nomen ejus Emmanuel, quod est interpretatum, Nobiscum Deus (Isai. VII, 14, et Matth. I, 23). Ex ipsa fide de ipso dicebatur, Et ipse tanquam sponsus procedens de thalamo suo: exsultavit ut gigas ad currendam viam; a summo coeli egressio ejus, et occursus ejus usque ad summum coeli; et non est qui se abscondat a calore ejus (Psal. XVIII, 6, 7). Ex fide ipsa ipsi dicebatur, Thronus tuus, Deus, in saeculum saeculi, virga directionis, virga regni tui: dilexisti justitiam, et odisti iniquitatem, propterea unxit te, Deus, Deus tuus oleo exsultationis prae participibus tuis (Psal. XLIV, 7, 8). Eodem spiritu fidei ab illis haec futura videbantur, quo a nobis facta creduntur. Neque 0400 enim qui nobis ista fideli dilectione prophetare potuerunt, eorum ipsi participes non fuerunt. Et unde est quod dicit apostolus Petrus, Quid tentatis Deum, imponere jugum supra collum discipulorum, quod neque patres nostri, neque nos potuimus portare; sed per gratiam Domini Jesu credimus salvi fieri, quemadmodum et illi (Act. XV, 10, 11): nisi quia et illi per gratiam Domini Jesu Christi salvi facti sunt, non per legem Moysi, per quam non sanatio, sed cognitio est facta peccati? Nunc autem sine lege justitia Dei manifestata est, testificata per Legem et Prophetas (Rom. III, 20, 21). Si ergo nunc manifestata est, etiam tunc erat, sed occulta. Cujus occultationem significabat templi velum, quod est ad ejus significandam revelationem Christo moriente conscissum (Matth. XXVII, 51). Et tunc ergo ista gratia unius mediatoris Dei et hominum hominis Christi Jesu, erat in populo Dei: sed tanquam in vellere pluvia, quam non debitam, sed voluntariam segregat Deus haereditati suae (Psal. LXVII, 10), inerat latens; nunc autem velut siccato illo vellere, hoc est, Judaico populo reprobato, in omnibus gentibus tanquam in area cernitur patens (Judic. VI, 36-40).