First, therefore, through the teaching of Christ, liberation is promised and shown to come about in this order: first, liberation is promised: second, the promise is belittled by the Jews: third, it is shown to be necessary for them.
46. (Vers. 31.). Liberation is therefore promised to those who remain in the teaching of Christ; therefore he says: Jesus therefore said to those who believed in him; and because, frightened by the threat, they believed, they are enticed by the promise to persevere: whence he says: If you remain in my word: below in the fifteenth chapter: "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in me"; not like those of whom it is said in Luke chapter eight: "They believe for a time and in the time of temptation fall away"; these do not bring forth fruit: but you, if you remain, will truly be my disciples.
47. (Vers. 32.). And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. He states three things that make a person upright. The first is rectitude of affection, and this is indicated in the discipleship of Christ: the second, rectitude of intellect, and this in the knowledge of truth: the third, rectitude of effect, through liberation from guilt, and this is indicated in the liberation by truth. Or: you will be disciples on the way through imitation: you will know the truth in the beatification of the soul: and by the truth you will be freed from all corruption in the happy union of soul and body: Romans chapter eight: "Creation itself will be freed from the servitude of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God".
48. (Vers. 33.). They answered him. Here the second point is touched upon, namely how the promised liberation is belittled by the Jews, because they considered themselves free; whence they boast of their freedom and do not care about liberation. Therefore they say to him: We are the seed of Abraham and have never served anyone: and thus we are free by nature: how do you say: You shall be made free, as if we were not now free? They called themselves free because they were born from Abraham through Isaac, who was the son of the free woman, according to what is said in Galatians chapter four: "Cast out the handmaid and her son"; this was said concerning Hagar: "for the son of the handmaid shall not be heir with the son of the free woman," and it is drawn from Genesis chapter twenty-one.
49. (Verse 34.). Jesus answered them. Here the third point is touched upon, because the necessity of liberation is shown: and he shows that they are slaves, and that they have need of liberation and how they are liberated.
Therefore, that they are slaves spiritually, he shows by this reasoning: He who commits sin is a slave of sin: but you commit sin: therefore you are slaves of sin. The minor premise of this reasoning he leaves unspoken, because he expresses it below, and the conclusion he leaves unspoken; but he proposes the major premise saying: Amen, amen I say to you: He who commits sin is a slave of sin. This the blessed Peter proves in the second chapter of his second Canonical letter: "By whom a man is overcome, of the same also he is the slave." This is the worst servitude: whence Augustine says: "O miserable servitude! A slave of a man, sometimes wearied by the harsh commands of his master, finds rest by fleeing: but the slave of sin, where does he flee? He drags with him his evil conscience, wherever he goes; because, wherever he goes, he does not depart from himself." Thus it is clear that they are slaves: and from this he proves that they need liberation, by this reasoning: he who does not remain in the house forever needs to be freed by him who remains, and through him can be freed: but the slave does not remain, while the Son remains: therefore the slave needs and can be freed through the Son. But you are slaves, as was said above: "if therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed." Of the first reasoning he sets forth the minor proposition, when he says:
50. (Verse 35.). The slave does not remain in the house forever; the Son remains forever. Augustine explains: He who is a slave of sin does not remain in the house forever, that is, finally, although he may belong to the present Church as regards number. Such slaves, even if they are in the house with the good, nevertheless do not have the wedding garment: therefore they are cast out, according to that passage in Matthew twenty-two: "Friend, how did you come in here, not having a wedding garment?" And afterward it is added: "Cast him into the outer darkness."
51. (Verse 36.). If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed, that Son, I say, alone is free, because he alone is without sin: whence in the Psalm: "I have become as a man without help, free among the dead." And the reason is given below in the fourteenth chapter: "The prince of this world comes and has nothing in me." This free Son, in order to free us, was made as it were a slave for us: Philippians two: "He humbled himself, taking the form of a slave," etc. He therefore freed us by redeeming us; Isaiah fifty-two: "You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money"; because, as is said in First Peter one, "you were redeemed not with corruptible gold or silver, but with the precious blood of Christ Jesus, as of a lamb unspotted and undefiled." Not, I say, that we should again be slaves, but free; whence Galatians five: "You, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not make liberty an occasion for the flesh, but by the charity of the spirit serve one another."
Questions.
52. Question I. But here one inquires about what they say: We are the seed of Abraham, and we have never served anyone.
On the contrary: 1. They served the Egyptians; whence Deuteronomy six: The Lord led you out of the house of servitude.
2. Likewise, they served Nebuchadnezzar in the Babylonian captivity for seventy years.
If you say that they were speaking of themselves, not of their fathers, it is objected: because even then they were paying tribute to the Romans; whence they asked in Matthew twenty-two: Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not?
To this there is one response, that they lied, as they often used to do, and they had forgotten the benefits of God; whence Augustine: "O inflated skin! This is not greatness, but swelling. How did you speak the truth? Joseph was sold, the prophets were led into captivity, the people served in Egypt in mud and brick, you yourselves were also paying tributes."
It is answered otherwise, that they understood this with respect to the custom which they had among themselves by precept of the Law: Leviticus twenty-five: Let your male and female slaves be from the nations that are around you.
Or it should be said otherwise, that there is servitude of condition by origin, just as the son of a slave is a slave, and thus they understood, and these are called slaves by body; and there is servitude of oppression through dominion, and they did not understand concerning this.
53. Question II. But it is asked: since the sinner does everything he wants, but the just man does not, how is the sinner called a slave?
It must be said that the sinner is rightly called a slave of sin, because it is a great servitude to follow an evil will; and on account of the servile conditions which are found in the sinner, on account of which he is rightly called a slave.
For a slave is base, and so is a sinner:
3 Kings one: I and my son Solomon shall be offenders, that is, base.
He feeds on base things, and so does the sinner; Luke fifteen, the prodigal son desired to fill his belly with the husks of the swine. He does base work, and so does the sinner: Exodus one: They were oppressed with the hard labors of mud and brick and with every manner of service.
He is treated basely, and so is the sinner: Jeremiah sixteen: You shall serve foreign gods, who will not give you rest.
He is estranged from profit: Hosea eight: The standing stalk is not in it; the bud shall yield no flour, and if it should yield, strangers shall eat it.
He is estranged from his Lord's secret, and so is the sinner: below, chapter fifteen: I will no longer call you servants, but friends, because all things whatsoever I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. He does not reveal to sinners, because they are in darkness.
He is estranged from the intimacy of honor: Romans eight: You have not received the spirit of servitude again in fear.