[XXVIII.] Still, since God’s image has not been so completely erased in the soul of man by the stain of earthly affections, as to have left remaining there not even the merest lineaments of it whence it might be justly said that man, even in the ungodliness of his life, does, or appreciates, some things contained in the law; if this is what is meant by the statement that “the Gentiles, which have not the law” (that is, the law of God), “do by nature the things contained in the law,”243    Rom. ii. 14. and that men of this character “are a law to themselves,” and “show the work of the law written in their hearts,”—that is to say, what was impressed on their hearts when they were created in the image of God has not been wholly blotted out:—even in this view of the subject, that wide difference will not be disturbed, which separates the new covenant from the old, and which lies in the fact that by the new covenant the law of God is written in the hearts of believers, whereas in the old it was inscribed on tables of stone. For this writing in the heart is effected by renovation, although it had not been completely blotted out by the old nature. For just as that image of God is renewed in the mind of believers by the new testament, which impiety had not quite abolished (for there had remained undoubtedly that which the soul of man cannot be except it be rational), so also the law of God, which had not been wholly blotted out there by unrighteousness, is certainly written thereon, renewed by grace. Now in the Jews the law which was written on tables could not effect this new inscription, which is justification, but only transgression. For they too were men, and there was inherent in them that power of nature, which enables the rational soul both to perceive and do what is lawful; but the godliness which transfers to another life happy and immortal has “a spotless law, converting souls,”244    Ps. xix. 7. so that by the light thereof they may be renewed, and that be accomplished in them which is written, “There has been manifested over us, O Lord, the light of Thy countenance.”245    Ps. iv. 6. Turned away from which, they have deserved to grow old, whilst they are incapable of renovation except by the grace of Christ,—in other words, without the intercession of the Mediator; there being “one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all.”246    1 Tim. ii. 5, 6. Should those be strangers to His grace of whom we are treating, and who (after the manner of which we have spoken with sufficient fulness already) “do by nature the things contained in the law,”247    Rom. ii. 14. of what use will be their “excusing thoughts” to them “in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men,”248    Rom. ii. 15, 16. unless it be perhaps to procure for them a milder punishment? For as, on the one hand, there are certain venial sins which do not hinder the righteous man from the attainment of eternal life, and which are unavoidable in this life, so, on the other hand, there are some good works which are of no avail to an ungodly man towards the attainment of everlasting life, although it would be very difficult to find the life of any very bad man whatever entirely without them. But inasmuch as in the kingdom of God the saints differ in glory as one star does from another,249    1 Cor. xv. 41. so likewise, in the condemnation of everlasting punishment, it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that other city;250    Luke x. 12. whilst some men will be twofold more the children of hell than others.251    Matt. xxiii. 15. Thus in the judgment of God not even this fact will be without its influence,—that one man will have sinned more, or less, than another, even when both are involved in the ungodliness that is worthy of damnation.

Chapter 49.—The Grace Promised by the Prophet for the New Covenant.

What then could the apostle have meant to imply by,—after checking the boasting of the Jews, by telling them that “not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified,”252    Rom. ii. 13.—immediately afterwards speaking of them “which, having not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law,”253    Rom. ii. 14. if in this description not they are to be understood who belong to the Mediator’s grace, but rather they who, while not worshipping the true God with true godliness, do yet exhibit some good works in the general course of their ungodly lives? Or did the apostle perhaps deem it probable, because he had previously said that “with God there is no respect of persons,”254    Rom. ii. 11. and had afterwards said that “God is not the God of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles,”255    Rom. iii. 29.—that even such scanty little works of the law, as are suggested by nature, were not discovered in such as received not the law, except as the result of the remains of the image of God; which He does not disdain when they believe in Him, with whom there is no respect of persons? But whichever of these views is accepted, it is evident that the grace of God was promised to the new testament even by the prophet, and that this grace was definitively announced to take this shape,—God’s laws were to be written in men’s hearts; and they were to arrive at such a knowledge of God, that they were not each one to teach his neighbour and brother, saying, Know the Lord; for all were to know Him, from the least to the greatest of them.256    Jer. xxxi. 33, 34. This is the gift of the Holy Ghost, by which love is shed abroad in our hearts,257    Rom. v. 5.—not, indeed, any kind of love, but the love of God, “out of a pure heart, and a good conscience, and an unfeigned faith,”258    1 Tim. i. 5. by means of which the just man, while living in this pilgrim state, is led on, after the stages of “the glass,” and “the enigma,” and “what is in part,” to the actual vision, that, face to face, he may know even as he is known.259    1 Cor. xiii. 12. For one thing has he required of the Lord, and that he still seeks after, that he may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of his life, in order to behold the pleasantness of the Lord.260    Ps. xxvii. 4.

CAPUT XXVIII.

Imago Dei non omnino deleta in infidelibus. Peccata venialia. Verumtamen quia non usque adeo in anima humana imago Dei terrenorum affectuum labe detrita est, ut nulla in ea velut lineamenta extrema remanserint, unde merito dici possit etiam in ipsa impietate vitae suae facere aliqua legis vel sapere; si hoc est quod dictum est, quia Gentes quae legem non habent, hoc est, legem Dei, naturaliter quae legis sunt faciunt, et quia hujusmodi homines ipsi sibi sunt lex, et scriptum opus legis habent in cordibus suis, id est, non omni modo deletum est, quod ibi per imaginem Dei cum crearentur impressum est: etiam sic illa differentia non perturbabitur, qua distat a Vetere Testamentum Novum, eo quod per Novum scribitur lex Dei in corde fidelium, quae per Vetus in tabulis scripta est. Hoc enim illic scribitur per renovationem, quod non omni modo deletum est per vetustatem. Nam sicut ipsa imago Dei renovatur in mente credentium per Testamentum Novum, quam non penitus impietas aboleverat; nam remanserat utique id quod anima hominis nisi rationalis esse non potest: ita etiam ibi lex Dei non ex omni parte deleta per injustitiam, profecto scribitur renovata per gratiam. Nec istam inscriptionem, quae justificatio est, poterat efficere in Judaeis lex in tabulis scripta, sed solum praevaricationem. Nam et ipsi homines erant, et vis illa naturae inerat eis, qua legitimum aliquid anima rationalis et sentit et facit: sed pietas quae in aliam vitam transfert beatam et aeternam, legem habet immaculatam, convertentem animas (Psal. XVIII, 8), ut ex illo lumine renoventur, fiatque in eis, Signatum est super nos lumen vultus tui, Domine (Psal. IV, 7). Unde aversi obsolescere meruerunt: renovari autem nisi gratia christiana, hoc est, nisi Mediatoris intercessione non possunt. Unus enim Deus, unus et mediator Dei et hominum homo Christus Jesus, qui dedit semetipsum redemptionem pro omnibus. A cujus gratia si alieni sunt illi de quibus agimus, qui secundum illum modum de quo superius satis diximus, naturaliter quae legis sunt faciunt; quid eis proderunt excusantes cogitationes, in die qua judicabit Deus occulta hominum (Rom. II, 14-16), nisi forte ut mitius puniantur? Sicut enim non impediunt a vita aeterna justum quaedam peccata venialia, sine quibus haec vita non ducitur: sic ad salutem aeternam nihil prosunt impio aliqua bona opera, sine quibus difficillime vita cujuslibet pessimi hominis invenitur. Verumtamen sicut in regno Dei velut stella ab stella in gloria differunt sancti (I Cor. XV, 41); sic et in damnatione poenae sempiternae tolerabilius erit Sodomae quam alteri civitati (Luc. X, 12), et erunt quidam duplo amplius quibusdam gehennae filii (Matth. XXIII, 15): ita nec illud in judicio Dei 0231 vacabit, quod in ipsa impietate damnabili magis alius alio minusve peccaverit.

49. Quid ergo hinc Apostolus efficere voluit, quod jactantiam cohibens Judaeorum, cum dixisset, Non auditores legis justi sunt apud Deum, sed factores legis justificabuntur; continuo subjecit de his, qui legem non habentes, naturaliter quae legis sunt faciunt: si non illi sunt intelligendi, qui pertinent ad gratiam Mediatoris, sed illi potius, qui cum Deum verum vera pietate non colant, habent tamen quaedam opera bona in vita impia? An forte hoc ipso probandum credidit, quod supra dixerat, quia non est personarum acceptio apud Deum; et quod postea dixit, quia non Judaeorum est Deus tantum, sed et Gentium (Rom. III, 29): quod quantulacumque legis opera naturaliter insita non invenirentur in eis, qui legem non acceperunt, nisi ex reliquiis imaginis Dei; quam non contemnit, cum in eum credunt, apud quem non est acceptio personarum? Sed quodlibet horum accipiatur, constat gratiam Dei promissam esse Testamento Novo etiam per Prophetam: eamdemque gratiam in eo definitam, ut scribantur leges Dei in cordibus hominum, perveniantque ad eam cognitionem Dei, ubi non docebit unusquisque civem suum vel fratrem suum, dicens, Cognosce Deum; quia omnes cognoscent eum a minore usque ad majorem eorum. Hoc donum Spiritus sancti est, quo diffunditur charitas in cordibus nostris: charitas non quaelibet, sed charitas Dei de corde puro et conscientia bona et fide non ficta (I Tim. I, 5), ex qua justus in hac peregrinatione vivens, ad speciem quoque perducitur post speculum et aenigma , et quidquid erat ex parte, ut facie ad faciem cognoscat, sicut et cognitus est (I Cor. XIII, 12). Unam enim petiit a Domino, et hanc requirit, ut inhabitet in domo Domini per omnes dies vitae suae, ad hoc ut contempletur delectationem Domini (Psal. XXVI, 4).