1. NOT without reason have you thought fit to enquire into the nature
of the Divine inheritance; and why it should be so highly esteemed that
for its sake many should even offer up their lives. But if you will
consider that even in human affairs the advantage of inheriting worldly
goods gives an additional sanction to the laws of natural affection,
and that even on this account greater respect is shown to parents, for
fear, namely, lest the slighted love of a father may avenge itself by
disinheriting or renouncing the rebellious offspring, you will cease to
wonder why men so greatly desire a Divine inheritance.
Sidenote: Isa. liv. 17.
Sidenote: Gen. xxi. 10.
Sidenote: Gal. iv. 24.
2. Now there is an inheritance offered to all Christians; for Isaiah
thus speaks, _There is an heritage for them that believe on the Lord_,
and this inheritance is hoped for by the promise, not by the Law. This
the history of the Old Testament proves, in the words of Sarah, _Cast
out this bond-woman and her son, for the son of the bond-woman shall
not be heir with my son, even with Isaac_. The son of Sarah was Isaac,
the son of the bond-woman was Ishmael; and these were before the Law,
wherefore the promise was older than the Law. We are after Isaac sons
by the promise, the Jews are the sons of the bond-woman after the flesh.
We have a free mother, which bore not, but afterwards, according to the
promise, brought forth and produced a child; they have Agar for their
mother, _gendering to bondage_. He is free, to whom grace is promised,
he is a slave on whom the yoke of the Law is imposed, wherefore the
promise came to us before the Law came to them, and in the course of
nature liberty is more ancient than bondage. Liberty therefore comes
of the promise, bondage of the Law. But although the promise itself,
as we have said, is before the Law, and by the promise comes liberty,
and in liberty is love, still love is according to the Law, and love
is greater than liberty.
Sidenote: Ps. cxxxiv. 1.
Sidenote: Eph. vi. 6.
Sidenote: 1 Cor. vii. 22.
Sidenote: Gal. v. 1.
3. Are we not then servants? and is it not written, _praise the Lord,
all ye servants_, or how does the Apostle say, _But as the servants of
God, doing the will of God from his heart_? But there is also a free
and voluntary service, whereof the Apostle says, _He that is called,
being free, is Christ’s servant_. And this service is from the heart,
not of necessity. Wherefore we are the servants of our Creator; but
we have a liberty which we have received through the grace of Christ,
born of the promise according to faith. Wherefore, being born of the
freedwoman, let us, signed in the forehead, offer the sacrifice of
liberty as becomes freemen; that we may rejoice and not be confounded,
being signed in the spirit and not in the flesh. For to us it is
rightly said, _Stand fast, and be not entangled again with the yoke
of bondage_. He does not say, Be not slaves, but _Be not entangled
with the yoke of bondage_, for the yoke of bondage is heavier than the
bondage itself.
Sidenote: Gen. xxvii. 39, 40.
4. Isaac also says to his son Esau, when he sought his blessing,
_Behold thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew
of heaven from above; and by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve
thy brother. But the time shall come when thou shalt have the dominion
and shalt break his yoke from off thy neck._ How then is this to be
reconciled, that although he shall break his brother’s yoke from off
his neck he shall still serve, unless we recognize the difference that
there is in servitude? Now in what this difference consists, let the
Scripture itself explain to us. Isaac signifies good, and he is good
to us, for after him we are born into liberty, and he is a good father
to both his sons. His love for them both he proved, in the one case by
affection, in the other by blessing, for he commanded his elder son to
bring him food, that he might receive his blessing; but while he makes
delay and seeks for wild venison from a distance, the younger brother
brings him home-food, from the sheep of the flock.
Sidenote: Gal. iii. 10.
Sidenote: Deut. xxx. 14.
Rom. x. 8.
5. Good food for all is Christ, good food too is faith, sweet food is
mercy, pleasant food is faith. These are the meats whereon are fed the
people of holy Church. Good food too is the Spirit of God, good food
is the remission of sins. But very hard food is the rigour of the Law,
and the terror of punishment; and very coarse food is that observance
of the letter which is preferred to the grace of pardon. The Jews again
are under a curse, we included in a blessing. A ready food too is faith:
_The word is nigh thee, in thy mouth and in thy heart_: the food of the
Law is more tardy. For while waiting for the Law the people fell into
transgression.
Sidenote: Gen. xxvii. 40.
Sidenote: Ib.
6. Thus it was on the son who was diligent and faithful that the father
bestowed his blessing, but he reserved one, for he was a good father,
for his elder son also, in that he made him servant to his brother.
For he did this, not as wishing to subject his family to any unworthy
bondage, but because he who cannot rule and govern himself ought to
serve and be subject to one more prudent; that so he may be governed
by his counsel, and not fall through his own folly, nor stumble from
walking rashly. It is as a blessing then that such a state of service
is given. Moreover it is numbered among blessings, together with the
gift of the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above.
Having said, _By thy sword thou shalt live_, lest he should be harmed
by the confidence arising from strength or power, he added, _and thou
shalt serve thy brother_: that thou mayest thus obtain both the rich
fruits of the flesh, and the dew of Divine grace, and mayest follow him
who is able to direct and govern thee.
Sidenote: Ib.
Sidenote: 1 Cor. ix. 17.
Sidenote: Gal. v. 13.
Sidenote: Ecclus. i. 14.
Sidenote: Gal. v. 14.
Rom. xiii. 8.
7. _But it shall come to pass, when thou shalt have broken his yoke
from off thy neck_, that thou shalt have the reward of thy willing
servitude, and not undergo the evils of a compulsory bondage. For that
kind of bondage is dishonourable which is the result of necessity, that
is honourable which is offered by piety. Hence the Apostle says, _For
if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward, but if against my will,
a dispensation is committed unto me_. Better then is it to reap a
reward, than to obey a dispensation. Wherefore let us not be restrained
by the yoke of bondage, but let us serve in the spirit of charity,
for the Apostle says, _By love serve one another_. The fear of the
Law becomes the love of the Gospel. Again, _To fear the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom_, but the fulness of the Law is charity. And the
Law itself says, _For all the Law is fulfilled in one word, even in
this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself_.
8. This therefore is what we asserted, for although bondage is by the
Law, liberty is by the Law also, for charity belongs to liberty, fear
to bondage. There is therefore both a charity of the Law, and a service
of charity, but the Law is the forerunner of charity, the charity of
the Gospel is the free giver of a pious service.
Sidenote: Gal. iii. 24.
Sidenote: Wisd. iv. 9.
Sidenote: Gal. iii. 23.
Sidenote: Rom. i. 17.
9. The Law then is not superfluous; for like a schoolmaster, it attends
upon the weak; and by weakness I mean weakness of character not of body;
for they are infants who know not how to declare the word of God, who
receive not His works. For if _an unspotted life is old age_, a life
full of stains is the time of youth. The Law then, that is, Νόμος, was
our schoolmaster, until faith came. _We were kept_, it is said, _under
the Law, as being weak, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards
be revealed_. But afterwards faith came; he does not say the Gospel,
but faith, for that only is faith which is in the Gospel. For although
the _righteousness of God is revealed therein_ which is _from faith to
faith_, still this of the Law is faith indeed when it attains to the
fulness thereof. Rightly therefore is this faith spoken of as single
and alone; because without it the former is not faith, and in it alone
it has its confirmation. Finally, when this faith came, fulness and
the adoption of sons came with it, infirmity ceased, infancy was at an
end, we grew into a perfect man, we put on Christ. How then can any one
be weak or childish, in whom Christ is the power of God? Thus we have
arrived at perfection, and have been instructed in its precepts.
Sidenote: S. John v. 30.
Sidenote: Ib. 45.
Sidenote: Ib. 31.
10. You heard read to-day, _Of Mine own Self I can do nothing, as
I hear, I judge_. You heard read, _I accuse you not, I judge not_.
I accuse you not, _it is Moses that accuseth you, in whom ye trust_.
You heard read, _If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true_.
Thus I have learnt what kind of judge, what kind of witness I ought
to be. For it is not as being weak that He says, _Of Mine own self I
can do nothing_, he rather is weak who so understands it. The Father
does nothing without the Son, for between them there is a community
of operation and an unity of power; but in this place He speaks as
Judge, that we men may learn that, when we judge, we ought to form our
sentence equitably and not according to our mere will and power.
11. When a criminal is set before him proved guilty and convicted of
crime, who does not frame for himself pleas of defence, but prays for
pardon, and prostrates himself at the knees of his judge, the judge
answers him, Of myself I can do nothing, it is my justice not my power
which I exercise in judgment. It is not I but your own deeds that judge
you, they accuse, and they condemn you. The Laws are your tribunal,
and I as judge do not alter but keep the Laws. Of myself I originate
nothing, but the judicial sentence against you proceeds from yourself.
I judge as I hear, not as I will, and my judgment is true because I
consult what is agreeable to equity not to my own will.
Sidenote: S. John v. 30.
Sidenote: Ib. xix. 10.
Sidenote: Ib. v. 30.
Sidenote: Prov. xxvii. 2.
12. Let us next consider what is the Divine rule of judgment. The Lord
of heaven and earth and the Judge of all says, _of Mine own self I can
do nothing, as I hear I judge_; and man says to his Lord, _Knowest Thou
not that I have power to crucify Thee, and have power to release Thee?_
But why is not the Lord able? Because, He says, _My judgment is just,
because I seek not Mine own will, but the will of the Father Who hath
sent Me_, that is, not the will of man, whom ye see, not the will
of man, whom ye only judge as man, not the will of the flesh, (for
_the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak_,) but the Divine will,
which is the Origin of law, and the Rule of judgment. So likewise that
witness is true, who bears witness not to himself but to another, for
it is written, _Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth_.
Sidenote: Ezek. xviii. 23.
13. In a mystical sense it is well said to the Jews: I judge you not,
that is, I, the universal Saviour, I, who am the Remission of sins,
judge you not, for ye have not received Me. I judge you not, I freely
pardon you. I, who by My Blood redeem sinners, judge you not. I judge
you not, for I would not the death but the life of a sinner. I judge
you not, for I condemn not but justify those who confess their sins.
Moses accuses you, he in whom you trust convicts you. He can accuse
you, he cannot judge you, this is reserved to his Creator. He then in
whom ye trust accuses you, He in Whom ye would not trust absolves you.
14. O great folly of the Jews! Rightly are they accused of their
crimes, for they have chosen one who accuses them, and have rejected
a merciful Judge; and therefore they are without absolution, but not
without punishment.
Sidenote: Hab. ii. 4.
Rom. i. 17.
15. Well therefore, my son, have you begun by the Law, and been
confirmed in the Gospel, _from faith to faith, as it is written, The
just shall live by faith_.
Farewell; love me for I also love you.