and 20), where the Council particularly mentions the just and the perfect, since it lays down a doctrine specifically in opposition to heretics. But it does not omit the general doctrine, for it makes this statement: ‘Moreover, no one, howsoever truly he may have been justified, should consider himself free from the obligation to observe the commandments.’ If, then, no one is exempted from that obligation, all men in this world are certainly subject to laws.
The truth of this conclusion may be proved inductively, as follows: from the beginning of their creation men were subject to natural law and, furthermore, Adam and Eve were subject to a prohibition against eating of the tree of knowledge, even though they were just and in a state of innocence. Moreover, it is manifest that, after the fall, and before the advent of Christ, the Jews were under the written law and the rest of mankind, under natural law (to omit human laws for the time being from our discussion). Such is the explicit teaching of Paul (Romans, Chaps. i and ii), who shows that the Jews as well as the Gentiles were transgressors of the law; the former, of the written law, and the latter, of the natural law, which they manifested as being written in their hearts whenever they observed any part of it. And these laws were not less binding upon the just than upon the unjust, since they were laid down for all without distinction.
[print edition page 146]
Moreover, the natural law is binding essentially and intrinsically, both before and after the states of justice or injustice; but the written law had its inception among the just, inasmuch as it was given to the whole of that faithful people, which included Moses, Aaron, and many other just persons, while the law of circumcision had even before that time been given to Abraham, who was just.
4. Subsequently to the advent of Christ, however, there have been no just persons outside of the Church; and therefore, with regard to the men who are entirely outside of it, we can only say that the unbelieving Gentiles are bound by that same natural law, since no dispensation [therefrom] has been granted to them, nor has any grace been imparted to them. Furthermore, it is certain that they are bound to accept the faith and the law of Christ, as He Himself testifies, when He says (Matthew, Chap. xxviii [, vv. 19, 20]): ‘Going [therefore], teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.’
As to the Jews, it is also manifest that they are bound by natural law, and subject to the same precept as the Gentiles with respect to receiving baptism and accepting the faith and the law of Christ; a fact which Mark made sufficiently clear, saying (Mark, Chap. xvi [, vv. 15, 16]): ‘preach the Gospel to every creature.… he that believeth not’ (that is to say, believeth not with a living faith that works through charity)9 ‘shall be condemned.’ Furthermore, those Jews, although they are no longer bound in actual fact by the written law, since it has been abrogated, nevertheless sin through a faulty conscience when they fail to observe it; for Paul (Galatians, Chap. v [, v. 3]) testifies,10 ‘to every man circumcising himself, that he is a debtor to do the whole law’.
5. Wicked Christians are bound by the law of the Gospel. I come now to the Church of Christ, to which the words of the heretics especially refer, and in that body, I distinguish the wicked from the good, or just.
[print edition page 147]
As to the wicked, it is manifest that they are bound by the law, seeing that they are wicked for this very reason, namely, that they fail to observe the law. The heretics will perhaps assert that these persons are sinners, not for the simple reason that they fail to observe the commandments, but because they thus fail while they are without faith; that is to say, because they have not a firm faith, while acting contrary to the law, that such evil works are not imputed to them and do not cause them to lose the goodwill and favour of God in which they consider that their justness rests. But this error may easily be refuted by means of the words of Christ, Who, in the sentence of condemnation of the bad Christians (Matthew, Chap. xxv [, vv. 41 et seq.]), condemns them, not because they have not believed, nor because while disobeying the precepts, they have lacked faith in the non-imputation [of sin against them], but simply because they have not performed the works of mercy and because, accordingly, they have failed to observe the law of mercy and charity. This point has been discussed by Augustine, in the works (De Fide et Operibus, Chap. xv and De Octo Dulcitii Quaestionibus, Chap. [Qu.] i) in which he amasses a number of other Scriptural passages as testimony confirming the position in question. At present, however, it is not necessary to dwell at length upon this phase of the subject, either; for with respect to these baptized evildoers, also, the heretics do not deny that such persons are subject to the law, but [merely] err in their mode of explanation, a matter of which we shall treat presently, and more fully, in the treatises on Grace and Faith.11
6. It remains, then, to speak of the just among the faithful. Some of these persons may be baptized only in desire and may be said to be of the Church in this sense, that is, by merit, though they are not so numbered; whereas others are baptized persons in actual fact and are numbered among the living members of the Church.
With regard to the first group, it is clear that they are bound at least by the law of baptism, over and above the obligations imposed by natural law and by faith, hope, charity, and penitence. However, we shall demonstrate later,12 and in the proper contexts, that even just persons who have been
[print edition page 148]
baptized are bound by human laws, both civil and ecclesiastical, and also by the positive divine law laid down by Christ.
Accordingly, we undertake at this point to prove [the existence of a similar obligation] in regard to divine, moral, or natural law.
The first proof is as follows: the law is so essential, so necessary in its very nature, that it cannot be abolished, as we shall demonstrate in the following book.
7. Secondly, Christ did not abolish the law, but on the contrary confirmed it, at the very beginning of His preaching (Matthew, Chap. v), where He clarified it and purged it of the corruptions of the Pharisees and the imperfections of the Mosaic law, and, having added counsels and means for the observance of the law, perfected and in a certain sense enriched it. Moreover, it is certain that all these teachings were laid down by Our Lord for His future Church, for the just as well as for the unjust, since He says [ibid., vv. 20 et seq.] to all: ‘[…] Unless your justice abound more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven’, and so forth. Especially should one reflect upon the words [ibid., Chap. vii, v. 13], ‘Enter ye in at the narrow gate […]’. For He most clearly speaks of the observance of His commandments as ‘the narrow gate’, commandments which He declares to be included in the principle, ‘[…] whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do you also to them’ [ibid., v. 12]; and He teaches that this principle pertains to the Gospel and relates to all who profess the Gospel.
8. Thirdly, all that Christ taught on the night of His Supper, with regard to the observance of precepts and particularly of charity, has a special pertinence in relation to just persons who have been baptized. For the Apostles were just and had been baptized, and to them He said (John, Chap. xiv [, v. 15]): ‘If you love me, keep my commandments’; again [v. 21], ‘He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them; he it is that loveth me’; yet again [v. 23], ‘If any one love me, he will keep my word’ and [v. 24], ‘He that loveth me not, keepeth not my words’; and also, in Chapter xv [, v. 9], ‘Abide in my love’, and in a subsequent verse [14:] ‘You are my friends, if you do the things that I command you.’ These conditions have the force of a threat, and indicate the necessity for observing the commandments in order that charity may be preserved; and therefore, the just are bound to
[print edition page 149]
such observance, and without it they will not preserve [their] justness. An infinite number of similar passages from the Scriptures might be adduced, but there is no need to dwell upon a matter that is clear and evident by the light of natural reason—in so far, at least, as moral precepts are concerned.
9. The fundamental arguments of the heretics are refuted. The basic position of the heretics involves a number of errors, of which we cannot treat at this point, but which are to be discussed in various parts of this work. For in the first place, their assertion that the divine commandments