CHAPTER 5
Lecture 5
18 But if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are: fornication, uncleanness, immodesty, luxury,
20 Idolatry, witchcrafts, enmities, contentions, emulations, wraths, quarrels, dissension, sects,
21 Envies, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like. Of the which I foretell you, as I have foretold to you, that they who do such things shall not obtain the kingdom of God.
After showing that through the spirit we are freed from the desires of the flesh, the Apostle here shows that through it we are released from the bondage of the Law.
First, he mentions a benefit of the spirit;
Secondly, he manifests it by certain effects (v. 19).
He says therefore: I say that if you walk in the spirit, not only will you not carry out the desires of the flesh, but, what is more, if you are led by the spirit (which happens when you do what the spirit suggests, as director and guide, and not what your sense desires urge, you are not under the law : “Thy good spirit shall lead me into the right land,” not by compelling, but by guiding (Ps 142:10).
Jerome infers from these words that after the coming of Christ no one having the Holy Spirit is obliged to observe the Law. But it should be recognized that the saying, if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law, can be referred either to the ceremonial or to the moral precepts of the Law. If it is referred to the ceremonial precepts, then it is one thing to observe the Law and another to be under the Law. For to observe the Law is to carry out the works of the Law without putting any hope in them; but to be under the Law is to put one’s hope in the works of the Law. Now in the early Church there were some just men who observed the Law without being under the Law, inasmuch as they observed the works of the Law; but they were not under the Law in the sense of putting their hope in them. In this way even Christ was under the Law: Made under the law (4:4). Thus Jerome’s opinion is excluded.
But if it is referred to the moral precepts, then to be under the Law can be taken in two ways: either as to its obliging force, and then all the faithful are under the Law, because it was given to all—hence it is said: I have not come to destroy the law but to fulfill it” (Mt 5:17)—or as to its compelling forces, and then the just are not under the Law, because the movements and breathings of the Holy Spirit in them are their inspiration; for charity inclines to the very things that the Law prescribes. Therefore, because the just have an inward law, they willingly do what the Law commands and are not constrained by it. But those who would do evil but are held back by a sense of shame or by fear of the Law are compelled. Accordingly, the just are under the Law as obliging but not as compelling, in which sense the unjust alone are under it: “Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Cor 3:17); “The law,” as compelling, 11 is not made for the just man” (1 Tim 1:9).
Then when he says, the works of the flesh are manifest, he proves what he has said through certain effects.
First, he mentions the works of the flesh which are opposed to the Holy Spirit;
Secondly, he shows how the works of the Spirit are not forbidden by the Law (23b).
As to the first, he does two things:
First, he mentions the works of the flesh that are forbidden by the Law;
Secondly, the works of the Spirit which are not forbidden by it (v. 22).
As to the first, he does two things:
First, he enumerates the works of the flesh;
Secondly, he mentions the harm that follows from them (v. 21).
With respect to the first, two doubts arise. First, as to,the Apostle’s mentioning things that do not pertain to the flesh, but which he says are works of the flesh, such as idolatry, sects, emulations, and the like. I answer that, according to Augustine in The City of God , (Bk. 14), he lives according to the flesh who lives according to himself. Hence flesh is taken here as referring to the whole man. Accordingly, whatever springs from disordered self-love is called a work of the flesh. Or, one should say that a sin can be called “of the flesh” in two ways: namely, with respect to fulfillment, and in this sense only those are sins of the flesh that are fulfilled in the pleasure of the flesh, namely, lust and gluttony; or with respect to their root, and in this sense all sins are called sins of the flesh, inasmuch as the soul is so weighed down by the weakness of the flesh (as is written in Wisdom 9:15) that the enfeebled intellect can be easily misled and hindered from operating perfectly. As a consequence, certain vices follow therefrom, namely, heresies, sects and the like. In this way it is said that the “ fomes ” is the source of all sins.
The second doubt is that, since the Apostle says that they who do such things shall not obtain the kingdom of God, whereas no one is excluded from the kingdom of God except for mortal sin, it follows that all the sins enumerated are mortal sins. But the contrary seems to be the case, because in this list he enumerates many that are not mortal sins, such as contention, emulation, and the like. I answer that all the sins listed here are mortal one way or another: some are so according to their genus, as murder, fornication, idolatry, and the like; but others are mortal with respect to fulfillment, as anger, whose fulfillment consists in harm to neighbor. Hence if one consents to that harm, there is mortal sin. In like manner, eating is directed to the pleasure of food, but if one places his end in such pleasures, he sins mortally; accordingly, he does not say “eating” but revellings. And the same must be said of the others that are like this
Thirdly, there is a doubt about the order followed in this list. However, it should be recognized that when the Apostle varies his enumeration of various vices in various texts, it is not his intention to enumerate all the vices in perfect order and according to the rules of the art, but only those in which the persons to whom he is writing abound and in which they are excessive. Therefore in these lists one should look not for completeness but for the cause of the variation.
Having settled these doubts, we should next observe that the Apostle lists certain vices of the flesh that concern things not necessary to life and others that concern things necessary to life. As to the first, he mentions certain vices that a man commits against himself; then those that are against God; finally, those that are against the neighbor.
Against the self are four. These he mentions first, because they obviously spring from the flesh. Two of these pertain to the carnal act of lust, namely, fornication, when an unmarried man becomes one with an unmarried woman with respect to the natural use of lust. The other is uncleanness as to a use which is contrary to nature—“No fornicator or unclean... hath inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God” (Eph 5:5); “They have not done penance for the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness that they have committed” (2 Cor 12:21). The other two are ordained to the aforesaid acts: one is performed outwardly, as touches, looks, kisses and the like; as to these he says, immodesty : “Who despairing, have given themselves up to immodesty unto the working of all uncleanness” (Eph 4:19). The other inwardly, namely, unclean thoughts; as to this he says, luxury : “When they have grown wanton in Christ, they will marry” (1 Tim 5:11).
Against God he lists two: one of these is that whereby divine worship is hindered by the enemies of God; as to this he says, idolatry : “Neither become ye idolaters as some of them” (1 Cor 10:7); “For the worship of abominable idols is the cause and beginning and end of all evil” (Wis 14:27). The other is that in which a pact is struck with demons; as to this he says, witchcrafts , which are performed through magical arts, and are called in Latin veneficia, from venom, because they result in great harm to man: I would not that you should be made partakers with devils” (1 Cor 10:20); “Without are dogs and sorcerers” (Rev 22:15).
Against one’s neighbor he enumerates nine, the first of which is enmity and the last murder , because from the former, one comes to the latter. The first, therefore, is animosity in the heart, which is hatred toward one’s neighbor: “And a man’s enemies shall be they of his own household” (Mt 10:36); hence he says enmities : from which arise verbal disputes. And so he says, contentions, which are attacks on the truth with the confidence of shouting: “It is an honor for a man to separate himself from quarrels” (Prov 20:3).
The second is emulation, which consists in contending with another to obtain a same thing; hence he says, emulations , which arise from contention. The third arises when one is hindered by someone else who is tending to a same thing, so that on this account anger arises against him. Hence he says, wraths : “The anger of men worketh not the justice of God” (Jam 1:20); “Let not the sun go down on your anger” (Eph 4:26).
The fourth is when anger of spirit leads to blows; and with respect to this he says, quarrels : “Hatred stirs up strifes” (Prov 10:12). The fifth, namely, dissensions , arise from quarrels: if they concern human matters they are called dissensions: for example, when factions arise in the Church—“Mark them who make dissensions and offences contrary to the doctrine which you have learned, and avoid them” (Rom 16:17) —if they concern divine matters, they are called sects , i.e., heresies: “They shall bring in sects of perdition, and deny the Lord who bought them,” and “They fear not to bring in sects, blaspheming” (2 Pet. 2:1, 10). From these envy follows, when those they vie with prosper: “Envy slayeth the little one” (Job 5:2). And from these follow murders in heart and deed: “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer” (I Jn 3:15).
Finally, of vices that pertain to the ordering of the necessaries of life he mentions two: one concerns drink; hence hesays, drunkenness, i.e., continual: “Take heed lest perhaps your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness and the -cares of this life” (Lk 21:34). The other concerns food, touching which he says, revellings : “Not in rioting and drunkenness” (Rom 13:13).