The righteousness of the law is proposed in these terms, — that whosoever shall do it shall li\-e in it; and the purpose is, that when each has discovered his own weakness, he may not by his own strength, nor by the letter of the law (which cannot be done), but by faith, conciliating the Justifier, attain, and do, and live in it.
For the work in which he who does it shall live, is not done except by one who is justified. His justification, however, is obtained by faith; and concerning faith it is written, " Say not in thine heart. Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring down Christ therefrom;) or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is (says he), the word of faith which we preach: That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." " As far as he is saved, so far is he righteous. For by this faith we believe that God will raise even us from the dead, — even now in the spirit, that we may in this present world live soberly, righteously, and godly in the renewal of His grace; and by and by in our flesh, which shall rise again to immortality, which indeed is the reward of the Spirit, who precedes it by a resurrection which is appropriate to Himself,— that is, by justification. "For we are buried with Christ by baptism unto death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." '^ By faith, therefore, in Jesus Christ we obtain salvation, — both in so far as it is begun within us in reality, and in so far as its perfection is waited for in hope; " for whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." '^ " How abundant," says the Psalmist, "is the multitude of Thy goodness, O Lord, which Thou hast laid up for them that fear Thee, and hast perfected for them that hope in Thee!" '+ By the law we fear God; by faidi we hope in God: but from those who fear punishment grace is hidden. And the soul which labours under this fear, since it has not conquered its evil concupiscence, and from which this fear, like a harsh master, has not departed, — let it flee by faith for refuge to the mercy of God, that He may give it what He commands, and may, by inspiring into it the sweetness of His grace through His Holy Spirit, cause the soul to delight more in what He teaches it, than it delights in what opposes His instruction. In this manner it is that the great abundance of His sweet- " Rom. X. 6-9.
'- Rom. vi. 4. '•♦ Ps. xxxi. 19.
io6 [Chap. 52.
ness, — that is, the law of faith, — His love which is in our hearts, and shed abroad, is perfected in them that hope in Him, that good may be wrought by the soul, healed not by the fear of punishment, but by the love of righteousness.
CHAP. 52 [XXX.] — GRACE ESTABLISHES FREE Do we then by grace make void free will? God forbid! Nay, rather we establish free will. For even as the law by faith, so free will by grace, is not made void, but established.' For neither is the law fulfilled except by free will; but b\' the law is the knowledge of sin, by faith the acquisition of grace against sin, by grace the healing of the soul from the disease of sin, by the health of the soul freedom of will, by free will the love of righteousness, by love of righteousness the accomplishment of the law. Accordingly, as the law is not made void, but is established through faith, since faith procures grace whereby the law is fulfilled; so free will is not made void through grace, but is established, since grace cures the will whereby righteousness is freely loved. Now all the stages which I have here connected together in their successive links, have severally their proper voices in the sacred Scriptures. The law says: " Thou shalt not covet." ^ Faith says: "Heal my soul, for I have sinned against Thee." ^ Grace says: " Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee." •♦ Health says: " O Lord my God, I cried unto Thee, and Thou hast healed me." '= Free will says: " I will freely sacrifice unto Thee." ^ Love of righteousness says: " Transgressors told me pleasant tales, but not according to Thy law, O Lord." ^ How is it then that miserable men dare to be proud, either of their free will, before they are freed, or of their own strength, if they have been freed? They do not observe that in the very mention of free will they pronounce the name of liberty. But " where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is hberty."*^ If, therefore, they are the slaves of, sin, why do they boast of free will? For by ' what a man is overcome, to the same is he delivered as a slave.'' But if they have been freed, why do they vaunt themselves as if it were by their own doing, and boast, as if they had not received? Or are they free in such sort tJiat they do not choose to have Him for their Lord who says to them: " Without me ye can do nothing; " '° and " If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed? " " CHAP. 53 [XXXI.] VOLITION AND ABILITY.
Some one will ask whether the faith itself, in * Ex. XX. 17.
S Ps. XXX. 2.
which seems to be the beginning either of salvation, or of that series leading to salvation which I have just mentioned, is placed in our power. We shall see more easily, if we first examine with some care what "our power" means. Since, then, there are two things, — will and ability; it follows that not every one that has the will has therefore the ability also, nor has every one that possesses the ability the will also; for as we sometimes will what we cannot do, so also we sometimes can do what we do not will. From the words themselves when sufficiently considered, we shall detect, in the very ring of the terms, the derivation of volition from willingness, and of ability from ableness.'- Therefore, even as the man who wishes has volition, so also the man who can has ability. But in order that a thing may be done by ability, the volition must be present. For no man is usually said to do a thing with ability if he did it unwillingly. Although, at the same time, if we observe more precisely, even what a man is compelled to do unwillingly, he does, if he does it, by his volition J only he is said to be an unwilling agent, or to act against his will, because he would prefer some other thing. He is compelled, indeed, by some unfortunate influence, to do what he does under compulsion, wishing to escape it or to remove it out of his way. For if his volition be so strong that he prefers not doing this to not suffering that, then beyond doubt he resists the compelling influence, and does it not. And accordingly, if he does it, it is not with a full and free will, but yet it is not without will that he does it; and inasmuch as the vohtion is followed by its effect, we cannot say that he lacked the ability to do it. If, indeed, he willed to do it, yielding to compulsion, but could not, although we should allow that a coerced will was present, we should yet say that ability was absent. But when he did not do the thing because he was unwilling, then of course the ability was present, but the volition was absent, since he did it not, by his resistance to the compelling influence. Hence it is that even they who compel, or who persuade, are accustomed to say. Why don't you do what you have in your ability, in order to avoid this evil? While they who are utterly unable to do what they are compelled to do, because they are supposed to be able usually answer by excusing themselves, and say, I would do it if it were in my ability. What then do we ask more, since we call that ability when to the volition is added the faculty of doing? Accordingly, every one is said to have that in his ability which he does if he likes, and does not if he dislikes.
'2 [That is, in the Latin, "voluntas" {choice, mill, 7wlitton) come.s from " velle" (to wish, desire, determine), and " poteslas" power, ability) from " posse " (to be able). — W. j I Chat. 56.]
CHAP. 54. WHETHER FAITH BE IN A MANS OWN POWER.
Attend now to the point which we ha\-e laid down for discussion: whether faith is in our own power? We now speak of that faith wliich we employ when we believe anything, not that which we give when we make a promise; for this too is called faiths We use the word in one sense when we say, " He had no faith in me," and in another sense when we say, " He did not keep faith with me." The one phrase means, " He did not believe what I said; " the other, " He did not do what he promised." According to the faith by which we believe, we are faithful to God; but according to that whereby a thing is brought to pass which is promised, God Himself even is faithful to us; for the apostle declares, " God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able."^ Well, now, the former is the faith about which we inquire. Whether it be in our power? even the faith by which we believe God, or believe on God. For of this it is written, " Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness." ^ And again, " To him that believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." '^ Consider now whether anybody believes, if he be unwilling; or whether he believes not, if he shall have willed it. Such a position, indeed, is absurd (for what is believing but consenting to the truth of what is said? and this consent is certainly voluntary): faith, therefore, is in our own power.
But, as the apostle says: " There is no power but comes from God," s what reason then is there why it may not be said to us even of this; " What hast thou which thou hast not received? " "^ — for it is God who gave us even to believe. Nowhere, however, in Holy Scripture do we find such an assertion as, There is no volition but comes from God. And righdy is it not so written, because it is not true: otherwise God would be the author even of sins (which Heaven forbid!), if there were no volition except what comes from Him • inasmuch as an evil volition alone is already a sin, even if the effect be wanting, — in other words, if it has not ability. But when the evil volition receives ability to accomplish its intention, this proceeds from the judgment of God, with whom there is no unrighteousness. 7 He indeed punishes after this manner; nor is His chastisement unjust because it is secret. The ungodly man, however, is not aware that he is being punished, except ' (That is, in Latin, fait!i ("fides") is both active and passive, and means both trust and iriistwort/iiiuss, both fuitli and faithfulness. This is also true in English, as Augustin's own examples illustrate, — W.]
' Rom. IX. 14.
j when he unwillingly discovers by an open penalty how much evil he has willingly committed. This is just what the apostle says of certain men: " God hath given them up to the evil , desires of their own hearts,...to do those I things that are not convenient." ^ Accordingly, the Lord also said to Pilate: "Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above." '^ But still, when the ability is given, surely no necessity is imposed. Therefore, although 13avid had received ability to kill Saul, he preferred sparing to striking him.'° Whence we understand that bad men receive ability for the condemnation of their depraved will, while good men receive ability for trying of their good will.
CHAP. 55 [XXXII.] WHAT FAITH IS L.WDABLE.
Since faith, then, is in our power, inasmuch as every one believes when he likes, and, when he believes, believes voluntarily; our next inquiry, which we must conduct with care, is, ^^'hat faith it is which the apostle commends with so much earnestness? For indiscriminate faith is not good. Accordingly we find this caution: " Brethren, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God." " Nor must the clause in commendation of lov'e, that it " believeth all things," '^ be so understood as if we should detract from the love of any one, if he refuses to believe at once what he hears. For the same love admonishes us that we ought not readily to believe anything evil about a brother; and when anything of the kind is said of him, does it not judge it to be more suitable to its character not to believe? Lastly, the same love, "which believeth all things," does not believe every spirit. Accordingly, charity believes all things no doubt, but it believes in God. Observe, it IS not said. Believes in all things. It cannot therefore be doubted that the faith which is commended by the apostle is the faith whereby we believe in God.'^ CHAP. 56. THE FAITH OF THOSE WHO ARE UNDER THE LAW DIFFERENT FROiM THE FAITH OF OTHERS.
But there is yet another distinction to be observed, — since they who are under the law both attempt to work their own righteousness through fear of punishment, and fail to do God's righteousness, because this is accomplished by the lo\e to which only what is lawful is pleasing, and never by the fear which is forced to have in its work the thing which is lawful, although it has something else in its will which would prefer, if it were only possible, that to be lawful 9 John xix. II. " I John iv. I. '■3 Rom. iv. 3.
io8 [Chap. 57.
which is not lawful. These persons also believe in God; for if they had no faith in Him at all, neither would they of course have any dread of the penalty of His law. This, however, is not the faith which the apostle commends. He says: " Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." ' The fear, then, of which we speak is slavish; and therefore, even though there be in it a belief in the Lord, yet righteousness is not loved by it, but condemnation is feared. God's children, however, exclaim, " Abba, Father," — one of which words they of the circumcision utter; the other, they of the uncircumcision, — the Jew first, and then the Greek; ^ since there is " one God, which justifieth the circumcision by faith, and the uncircumcision through faith." ^ When indeed they utter this call, they seek something; and what do they seek, but that which they hunger and thirst after? And what else is this but that which is said of them, " Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled? " 4 Let, then, those who are under the law pass over hither, and become sons instead of slaves; and yet not so as to cease to be slaves, but so as, while they are sons, still to serve their Lord and Father freely. For even this have they received; for the Only-begotten " gave them power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name; " 5 and He advised them to ask, to seek, and to knock, in order to receive, to find, and to have the gate opened to them,'' adding by way of rebuke, the words: " If ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him?"? When, therefore, that strength of sin, the law,^ inflamed the sting of death, even sin, to take occasion and by the commandment work all manner of concupiscence in them,9 of whom were they to ask for the gift of continence but of Him who knows how to give good gifts to His children? Perhaps, however, a man, in his folly, is unaware that no one can be continent except God give him the gift. To know this, indeed, he requires Wisdom herself.'° Why, then, does he not listen to the Spirit of his Father, speaking through Christ's apostle, or even Christ Himself, who says in His gospel, " Seek and ye shall find; " " and who also says to us, speaking by His apostle: " If any one of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given to him. Let him, however, ask in faith, nothing wavering? " '^ This is the faith by which the just man lives; '^ this is the faitl. whereby he believes on Him who justifies the ungodly; '■♦ this is the foith through which boasting is excluded,'5 either by the retreat of that with which we become self-inflated, or by the rising of that with which we glory in the Lord. This, again, is the faith by which we procure that largess of the Spirit, of which it is said: " We indeed through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith." '^ But this admits of the further question, Whether he meant by " the hope of righteousness " that by which righteousness ^ Rom. viii. 15. * Matt. V. 6. 7 Matt. vii. II. *° Wisd. viii. 21.
hopes, or that whereby righteousness is itself hoped for? For the just man, who lives by faith, hopes undoubtedly for eternal life; and the faith likewise, which hungers and thirsts for righteousness, makes progress therein by the renewal of the inward man day by day,'? and hopes to be satiated therewith in that eternal life, where shall be realized that which is said of God by the psalm: " Who satisfieth thy desire with good things." "^ This, moreover, is the faith whereby they are saved to whom it is said: " By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." '^ This, in short, is the faith which works not by fear, but by love;-° not by dreading punishment, but by loving righteousness. Whence, therefore, arises this love, — that is to say, this charity, — by which faith works, if not from the source whence faith itself obtained it? For it would not be within us, to what extent soever it is in us, if it were not diffused in our hearts by the Holy Ghost who is given to us.^' Now " ^/le love of God'''' is said to be shed abroad in our hearts, not because He loves us, but because He makes us lovers of Himself; just as "the righteousness of God'''^-is used in the sense of our being made righteous by His gift; and "///<? salvation of the Lord,''' ^^ in that we are saved by Him; and '^ the faith of Jesus Christ," ^^ because He makes us believers in Him. This is that righteousness of God, which He not only teaches us by the precept of His law, but also bestows upon us by the gift of His Spirit.
CHAP. 5 7 [XXXIII.] WHENCE COMES THE WILL TO BELIEVE?
But it remains for us briefly to inquire. Whether the will by which we believe be itself the gift of God, or whether it arise from that free will which is naturally implanted in us? If we say that it is not the gift of God, we must '5 Rom. ill. 27.
•s Ps. ciii. 5.
2' Rom. V. 5.
24 Gal. ii. 16.
Chap. 59.]
then incur the fear of supposing that we have discovered some answer to the apostle's reproachful appeal: " What hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now, if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it? " ' — even some such an answer as this: ' See, we have the will to believe, which we did not receive. See in what we glory, — even in what we did not receive! ' If, however, we were to say that this kind of will is nothing but the gift of God, we should then have to fear lest unbelieving and ungodly men might not unreasonably seem to have some fiir excuse for their unbelief, in the fact that God has refused to give them this will. « Now this that the apostle says, " It is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of His own good pleasure," ^ belongs already to that grace which faith secures, in order that good works may be within the reach of man, — even the good works which faith achieves through the love which is shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost which is given to us. If we believe that we may attain this grace (and of course believe voluntarily), then the question arises, whence we have this will? — if from nature, why it is not at everybody's command, since the same God made all men? if from God's gift, then again, why is not the gift open to all, since " He will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth? " ^ CHAP. 58. THE FREE WILL OF MAN IS AN INTER- MEDLATE POWER.
Let US then, first of all, lay down this proposition, and see whether it satisfies the question before us: that free will, naturally assigned by i the Creator to our rational soul, is such a neutral ■* 1 power, as can either incline towards faith, or turn j towards unbelief. Consequently a man cannot be ] said to have even that will with which he believes [ in God, without having received it; since this rises at the call of God out of the free will, which he received naturally when he was created. | God no doubt wishes all men to be saved ' and | to come into the knowledge of the truth; but ' yet not so as to take away from them free [ will, for the good or the evil use of which they \ may be most righteously judged. This being j the case, unbelievers indeed do contrary to the will of God when they do not believe His gos- ' pel; nevertheless they do not therefore overcome His will, but rob their own selves of the great, nay, the very greatest, good, and implicate themselves in penalties of punishment, destined to experience the power of Him in punishments whose mercy in His gifts they despised. Thus God's will is for ever invincible; ' I Cor. IV. 7.
* [" Meiiia vis," a " midway power," as Dr. Bright transl.ites it; i.e., it IS indifferent in itself, and neither good nor bad, but may be useii for either. — W.]
but it would be vanquished, unless it devised what to do with such as despised it, or if these despises could in any way escape from the retribution which He has appointed for such as they. Suppose a master, for example, who should say to his servants, I wish you to labour in my vineyard, and, after your work is done, to feast and take your rest; but who, at the same time, should require any who refused to work to grind in the mill ever after. Whoever neglected such a command would evidently act contrary to the master's will; but he would do more than that, — he would vanquish that will, if he also escaped the mill. This, however, cannot possibly happen under the government of God. Whence it is written, "God hath spoken once," — that is, irrevocably, — although the passage may refer also to His one only Word. 5 He then adds what it is which He had irrevocably uttered, saying: "Twice have I heard this, that power belongeth unto God. Also unto Thee, 0 Lord, doth mercy belong: because Thou wilt render to every man according to his work." ^ He therefore will be guilty unto condemnation under God's power, who shall think too contemptuously of His mercy to believe in Him. But whosoever shall put his trust in Him, and yield himself up to Him, for the forgiveness of all his sins, for the cure of all his corruption, and for the kindling and illumination of his soul by His warmth and light, shall have good works by his grace; and by them 7 he shall be even in his body redeemed from the corruption of death, crowned, satisfied with blessings, — not temporal, but eternal, — above what we can ask or understand.
CH.AP. 59. MERCY AND PITY IN THE JUDGMENT This is the order observed in the psalm, where it is said: " Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His recompenses; who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender mercy; who satisfieth thy desire with good things." ^ And lest by any chance these great blessings should be despaired of under the deformity of our old, that is, mortal condition, the Psalmist at once says, " Thy youth shall be renewed like the eagle's;'"> as much as to say, All that you have heard belongs to the new man and to the new covenant. Now let us consider together briefly these things, and with delight contemplate the praise of mercy, that is, of the grace of God. " Bless the Lord, O my soul," he says, " and forget not all His recompenses." Obser\-e, he does not say blessings, but recompenses; '° be- 5 Ps. ctii. 2-5. 9 Ps, ciii. 5.
'° Non tributiones, sed retributiones.
7 Ex quibus.
I lO [Chap. 6o.
cause He recompenses evil with good. " Who forgiveth all tliine iniquities:" this is done in the sacrament of baptism. " Who healeth all thy diseases: " this is effected by the believer in the present life, while the flesh so lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, that we do not the things we would; ' whilst also another law in our members wars against the law of our mind; ^ whilst to will is present indeed to us, but not how to perform that which is good.-' These are the diseases of a man's old nature, which, however, if we only advance with persevering purpose, are healed by the growth of the new nature day by day, by the faith which operates through love.-» " Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; " this will take place at the resurrection of the dead in the last day. " Wlio crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender mercy; " this shall be accomplished in the day of judgment; for when the righteous King shall sit upon His throne to render to every man according to his works, who shall then boast of having a pure heart? or who shall glory of being clean from sin? It was therefore necessary to mention God's loving-kindness and tender mercy there, where one might expect debts to be demanded and deserts recompensed so strictly as to leave no room for mercy. He crowns, therefore, with loving-kindness and tender mercy; but even sd according to works. For he shall be separated to the right hand, to whom it is