CHAPTER 2
Lecture 4
15 We by nature are Jews; and not of the Gentiles, sinners.
16 But knowing that man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, we also believe in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law; because by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.
Having manifested the truth of the apostolic doctrine preached by him because of the authority of the other apostles, he.now shows the same thing from their manner of life and example. About this he does two things:
First, he proves his proposition from the manner of life of the apostles;
Secondly, he raises an objection posed by his adversaries (v. 17).
As to the first he does three things:
First, he sets forth the status of the apostles;
Secondly, their manner of life (v. 16);
Thirdly, the intended conclusion: (v. 16): because by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.
The status of the apostles and even of Paul is that according to natural origin they were bom Jews. That is why he says, We , namely, I and the other apostles, are by nature, i.e. by natural origin, Jews, not proselytes: “They are Hebrews: so am I” (2 Cor 11:22). And this is a great compliment, because, as it is said: “Salvation is of the Jews” (Jn 4:22). And not of the Gentiles, sinners, i.e., we are not sinners as are the Gentiles, idolatrous and unclean.
But against this can be set the word of 1 John (1:8): “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves.” Therefore, the Jews were sinners. I answer that it is one thing to sin and another to be a sinner. For the first names an act, but the second a readiness or habit of sinning. Hence Scripture is wont to call the impious and those loaded down with the heavy burden of sin, sinners. The Jews therefore, being haughty on account of the Law, and as it were, restrained from sin by it, called the Gentiles sinners, living as they were without the Laws’ restraint and being prone to sin: “Be no more carried about with every wind of doctrine” (Eph 4:14). When, therefore, the Apostle says, not of the Gentiles, sinners, he means we are not of that number of sinners that exist among the Gentiles.
Then when he says, But knowing that man is not justified by the works ... he sets forth the apostles’ manner of life, which consists not in the works of the Law but in the faith of Christ. About this he does two things:
First, he gives the reason for the apostles’ manner of life;
Secondly, he sets forth their manner of life (v. 16): we also believe in Christ Jesus.
Therefore the apostolic life rested on the faith of Christ and not on the works of the Law. The reason for this is that although we were Jews by nature and were nourished in the works of the Law, yet knowing for certain that man is not justified by the works of the law, i.e., through the works of the Law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, for that reason we have left the Law and are living according to the precepts of the faith: “For we account a man to be justified by faith, without the works of the Law” (Rom 3:28); “For there is no other name under heaven given to men whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
However, it is said in Romans (2:13): “For not the hearers of the law are just before God; but the doers of the law shall be justified.” Therefore, it seems that a man would be justified by the works of the Law. I answer that “to be justified” can be taken in two senses, namely, doing what is just, and being made just. But no one is made just save by God through grace. It should be known, therefore, that some works of the Law were moral and some ceremonial. The moral, although they were contained in the Law, could not, strictly speaking, be called “works of the Law,” for man is induced to them by natural instinct and by the natural law. But the ceremonial works are properly called the “works of the Law.” Therefore, to that extent is man justified by the moral laws—so far as the execution of justice is concerned—and also by the ceremonial laws that pertain to the sacraments, as their observance is a work of obedience. And this is the way it is taken in the word of the Apostle to the Romans (2:13).
But with respect to being made just by the works of the Law, a man does not seem to be justified by them, because the sacraments of the Old Law did not confer grace. How turn you again to the weak and needy elements? i.e., that neither confer grace nor contain grace in themselves. The sacraments of the New Law however, although they are material elements, are not needy elements; hence they can justify. Again, if there were any in the Old Law who were just, they were not made just by the works of the Law but only by the faith of Christ “Whom God hath proposed to be a propitiation through faith,” as is said in Romans (3:25). Hence the sacraments of the Old Law were certain protestations of the faith of Christ, just as our sacraments are, but not in the same way, because those sacraments were configured to the grace of Christ as to something that lay in the future; our sacraments, however, testify as things containing a grace that is present. Therefore, he says significantly, that it is not by the works of the law that we are justified, but by the faith of Christ, because, although some who observed the works of the Law in times past were made just, nevertheless, this was effected only by the faith of Jesus Christ.
From this knowledge which the apostles had, namely, that justification is not by the works of the Law but by the faith of Christ, he concludes to their manner of life, in which they chose the faith of Christ and gave up the works of the Law. Hence he adds, we also believe in Christ Jesus , because as is said in Acts (4:12): “There is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved.” Therefore he continued, that we may be justified by the faith of Christ. “Being justified, therefore, by faith, let us have peace with God” (Rom 5:1). But lest anyone suppose that the works of the Law along with the faith of Christ justify, he adds, and not by the works of the law: “For we account a man to be justified by faith, without the works of the Law” (Rom 3:28).
From this he derives his main proposition, saying that if the apostles, who are Jews by nature, do not seek to be justified by the works of the Law but by faith, then by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified, i.e., no man whatsoever can be justified by the works of the Law. For “flesh” is taken here to stand for “Man,” i.e., the part for the whole, as does “All flesh shall see the salvation of the Lord” (Is 40:5). Then by saying, because by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified, he concludes, as it were, a fortiori . For it seems more natural or reasonable for the Jews, more than anyone else, to be justified by the works of the Law rather than by faith. But this is not the case Therefore...