De gratia Redemptoris

This thesis contains three principal affirmations:

1. Justice is not equal in all and is capable of increase: it can and ought to grow.

2. The just man is obliged to observe the law of God: through the observance of the commandments.

3. This is possible for the just man, not indeed by his own natural powers, but only with the help of grace, which nevertheless is denied to no one: with the help of grace he can persevere.

I. Justice is not equal in all, and is capable of increase.

The innovators of the sixteenth century acknowledged only one justice, namely the justice of Christ, which is imputed to men extrinsically; thus all who are just (extrinsically) are just by this same justice of Christ. On this view there can logically scarcely any longer be question of an inequality of justice, nor of its increase. They distinguish sanctification from justification; but this is neither justice nor does it pertain to it¹.

In the fourth century Jovinian denied the inequality of good works and of sins, and the inequality of merit and of heavenly reward.

Against these things, therefore, it is affirmed in the thesis: this internal justice itself, which, as we proved above, is the very internal sanctification and renewal of man, is conferred on adults in a different degree, and this same justice can be increased in them; in other words, sanctifying grace and the infused virtues are not equal in all adult men and can grow in them.

THE DOCUMENTS OF THE CHURCH

CONC. TRIDENTINUM, Cap. 7: Adults receive justice in justification, “each his own, according to the measure which the Holy Spirit divides to each one as he wills, and according to each one's own disposition and cooperation”². But this disposition and cooperation is not equal in all.

Cap. 10: “Thus therefore, justified and made friends and domestics of God³, going from virtue to virtue⁴, they are renewed (as the Apostle says) from day to day⁵, that is, by mortifying the members of their flesh⁶ and presenting them as weapons of justice⁷ unto sanctification through the observance of the commandments of God and of the Church: in that justice itself received through the grace of Christ, faith cooperating by good works⁸, they grow and are more justified, as it is written: He who is just, let him be justified still⁹, and again: Fear not to be justified even unto death¹⁰, and again: You see that by works a man is justified and not by faith only¹¹. But this increase of justice the holy Church asks when she prays: Give us, Lord, an increase of faith, hope and charity”¹².

Can. 24: “If anyone says that the justice received is not preserved and also not increased before God through good works, but that works themselves are only the fruits and signs of justification obtained, and not also the cause of its increase: let him be anathema”¹³

SACRED SCRIPTURE

The Council of Trent adduced several texts: 2 Cor 4, 16: “Although he who is outside, our man, is corrupted: yet he who is within is renewed from day to day”. — Apoc 22, 11: “He who hurts, let him hurt still; and he who is in filth, let him be filthy still; and he who is just, let him be justified (let him do justice) still; and the holy one, let him be sanctified still”. — Eccli 18, 22: “Fear not to be justified even unto death, for the reward of God remains for ever”. In the version of the LXX this verse speaks of fulfilling a vow which someone has made to God. — Iac 2, 24: “You see that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only”. These words, if they are understood with the Council as concerning works done after justification, signify that by such works a man is further justified. Besides, there are wont to be cited by theologians Prov 4, 18; 2 Cor 9, 10; 2 Petr 3, 18.

THE FATHERS

St Jerome, against Jovinian, who among other things had said: ‘Various indeed are the kinds of struggle, but one is the crown of the victors. Between that brother who was always with the father, and him who afterwards was received as a penitent, there is no difference’, says: “He who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly, and he who sows in blessings shall also reap of blessings¹⁴. Certainly both he who sows more and he who sows less are of the right side. And although the seed is of one kind, nevertheless they differ in measure and in number. The same Paul writes to the Ephesians: That there might be made known now to the principalities and powers in the heavens, through the Church, the manifold and various wisdom of God¹⁵. Do you see that in the different companies of the Church the various and manifold wisdom of God is proclaimed? And also in the same epistle: But to every one of us is given grace, according to the measure of the grace of Christ: not that the measure of Christ is different; but so much of his grace is infused as we are able to draw”¹⁶.

St Augustine: “That similitude (which the Stoics used), in which folly is set down as water and wisdom as air, so that the mind, as it were emerging from the suffocation of folly, suddenly breathes again into wisdom, does not seem to me sufficiently accommodated to the authority of our Scriptures: but rather that one, in which vice or folly is compared to darkness, and virtue or wisdom to light, insofar as these similitudes can be drawn from corporeal things to intelligible things. For it is not as one rising from the waters into the air, when he has passed their surface, is suddenly inspired with as much as suffices; but as one proceeding from darkness into light, he is illuminated by advancing gradually. And until this is most fully accomplished, we yet say that he, as it were going forth from a most hidden cave, is breathed upon by the nearness of the light, the more so the more he approaches the exit: so that what shines in him is indeed from the light toward which he advances; but what is still dark in him is from the darkness whence he goes forth. And so not every living man shall be justified in thy sight¹⁷; and yet the just man lives by faith¹⁸. And the saints are clothed with justice¹⁹, one more, another less: and no one lives here without sin, and this one more, another less; but he is best who has the least”²⁰.

“Since therefore he who is everywhere does not dwell in all; even in those in whom he dwells, he does not dwell equally. For whence is that which Elisha asked, that the Spirit of God which was in Elijah might be in him twofold? And whence are some saints holier than others, unless by having God as their indweller more abundantly?”²¹.

St Prosper: “The man therefore justified, that is, made pious from impious, with no good merit preceding, receives the gift, by which gift he may acquire merit also: so that what has been begun in him through the grace of Christ may be increased also through the industry of free will; the help of God being never removed, without which no one can either profit or remain in good”²².

THE THEOLOGIANS

St Thomas asks: Whether grace is greater in one than in another²³. He proves it from Eph 4, 7: “To every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the donation of Christ: but what is given by measure is not given equally to all; therefore not all have equal grace”. And he explains further: “As has been said above²⁴, a habit can have a twofold magnitude: one on the part of the end or object, according to which one virtue is called nobler than another, inasmuch as it is ordered to a greater good; the other on the part of the subject, which participates more or less in the inherent habit. According to the first magnitude, therefore, sanctifying grace cannot be greater and lesser; because grace according to its own notion unites man to the supreme good, which is God. But on the part of the subject grace can receive more or less; namely according as one is more perfectly illuminated by the light of grace than another. And the reason of this diversity is indeed partly on the part of him who prepares himself for grace; for he who prepares himself more for grace receives more abundant grace. But from this side the first reason of this diversity cannot be taken; because the preparation for grace is not man's, except insofar as his free will is prepared by God. Whence the first cause of this diversity must be taken on the part of God himself, who dispenses the gifts of his grace in different ways, to this end that from different degrees the beauty and perfection of the Church may arise; as he also instituted diverse degrees of things, that the universe might be perfect; whence the Apostle to the Ephesians 4, after he had said: To every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the donation of Christ, having enumerated the different graces, adds: For the consummation of the saints, unto the edifying of the body of Christ”.

As to the fact of the increase of grace, the theologians agree; but as to how the infused habits are increased, there are diverse opinions, for which let those be consulted which are indicated in “De virtutibus theologis”, nr. 637.

II. The justified man is bound to observe the commandments.

In the doctrine of justification by faith alone, according to which the works of man are altogether excluded from the business of justification, it was difficult to assign what good works were for; besides, according to Luther the works even of the just are properly sins, which nevertheless God does not impute to the just. Hence the consequence was easy, that a just man is no longer under any law which would impose obligations on him. Christ has freed us from the law and has brought the liberty of the sons of God, which cannot be combined with servitude under the law. And so in truth, shortly after the new gospel began to be preached, the Protestants had already to dispute among themselves about this matter against certain men who, drawing the consequence indicated above, defended liberty from the observance of the divine law (the antinomian controversies). Melanchthon especially defended the law and some necessity of works against John Agricola; but, as is clear, those works in no way regard justification itself²⁵.

The error that Christians are not obliged to good works had already been proposed before. St James perhaps has such tendencies in view in his epistle²⁶. In the Middle Ages the opinion of the brothers and sisters of the spirit of liberty was held, that perfect men are not bound to good works, which opinion was condemned in the Council of Vienna.

THE DOCUMENTS OF THE CHURCH

CONC. VIENNENSE condemned the errors of the Beghards and Beguines. Err. 2: “That a man ought not to fast or to pray after he has attained such a degree of perfection; because then sensuality is so perfectly subject to the spirit and to reason that a man may freely grant to the body whatever pleases”. — 3: “That those who are in the aforesaid degree of perfection and in the spirit of liberty are not subject to human obedience, nor bound to any precepts of the Church; because (as they assert) where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty”. — 6: “That to exercise oneself in acts of the virtues is the part of an imperfect man, and the perfect soul dismisses the virtues from itself”²⁷.

CONC. TRID. sess. 6 cap. 11: “But no one, however much justified, ought to think himself free from the observance of the commandments... For those who are sons of God love Christ: but those who love him (as he himself testifies) keep his words, which indeed with divine help they can perform... And so no one ought to flatter himself on faith alone, thinking that by faith alone he is made an heir and will obtain the inheritance, even if he does not suffer with Christ, that he may also be glorified with him²⁸. For Christ himself also (as the Apostle says), although he was the Son of God, learned obedience from the things which he suffered, and being made perfect he became to all who obey him the cause of eternal salvation²⁹. Therefore the Apostle himself admonishes the justified, saying: Do you not know that those who run in the stadium all indeed run, but one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain. I therefore so run, not as it were uncertainly; so I fight, not as one beating the air, but I chastise my body and bring it into subjection, lest perhaps when I have preached to others I myself should become a castaway³⁰. Likewise the prince of the Apostles Peter: Be diligent, that by good works you may make your calling and election sure; for doing these things you shall not sin at any time”³¹. — Can. 19: “If anyone says that nothing is commanded in the Gospel besides faith, that the rest are indifferent, neither commanded nor forbidden, but free, or that the ten commandments do not pertain to Christians: let him be anathema”. — Can. 20: “If anyone says that a justified man, and however perfect, is not bound to the observance of the commandments of God and of the Church, but only to believe, as though the Gospel were a bare and absolute promise of eternal life, without the condition of observing the commandments: let him be anathema”. — Can. 21: “If anyone says that Christ Jesus was given by God to men as a redeemer in whom they may trust, and not also as a legislator whom they should obey: let him be anathema”³².

SACRED SCRIPTURE

Christ sets forth his law in the Sermon on the Mount, Matth 5-7. — 7, 21: “Not every one who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven”. Cf. 7, 24. — Matth 19, 17: “But if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments”. — Io 13, 34: “A new commandment I give to you: that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another”. — Io 14, 15: “If you love me: keep my commandments”. Cf. 14, 21. 23; 15, 10. 12. 14. — Matth 28, 18 ss.: “All power is given to me in heaven and in earth; going therefore teach all nations, baptizing them... teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you”.

Rom 7, 6: “But now we are delivered from the law of death, wherein we were held, so that we serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter”. Cf. 8, 12 ss. — The Apostle is “in the law of Christ”, 1 Cor 9, 21. — Gal 5, 13 s.: “For you, brethren, have been called unto liberty: only give not liberty as an occasion to the flesh, but by the charity of the Spirit serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself”. — Gal 6, 2: “Bear ye one another's burdens, and so you shall fulfil the law of Christ”.

Iac 1, 22: “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves”. — Iac 1, 25: “But he who has looked into the perfect law of liberty, and has continued in it, being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed”. — Iac 2, 8 ss.: “If then you fulfil the royal law according to the Scriptures: thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, you do well... But whoever shall keep the whole law, and offend in one point, is become guilty of all... So speak ye, and so do, as being to be judged by the law of liberty... What shall it profit, my brethren, if a man say he has faith, but has not works? Shall faith be able to save him?” — Faith without works is dead (2, 20. 26). — Cf. the texts cited by the Council of Trent, Rom 8, 17; Hebr 5, 8 s.; 1 Cor 9, 24 ss.; 2 Petr 1, 10.

If it is said that Christ is the end of the law (Rom 10, 4), or that the law is no longer (Gal 3, 25; 4, 5), or that the faithful are not under the law (Rom 6, 14), under servitude (Gal 5, 1. 13), it appears from the context that the discourse is about the old law, which has indeed been abrogated; but the sense is not that the just are in no way under any law, nor that they ought not to observe the divine commandments.

In a matter so clear there is no need to bring forward texts of the holy Fathers. In all times there are found exhortations to a good Christian life, as necessary for all Christians.

III. The just man, with the special help of grace, can persevere in justice.

In this part the thesis asks by what means it is possible for a just man to observe all the commandments of God.

“The just man” is understood of all the just.

“To persevere” is to remain in the state of divine sonship, in the state of grace; and since grace, as will be shown later, is lost by every mortal sin, it is the same as not to commit mortal sin.

“Can”: the question is only of the power of persevering, from which is well to be distinguished actual final perseverance, the gift of perseverance, of which in thesis 14. It is affirmed therefore that any just man has the physical and the moral power to avoid sin.

“With the help of grace”: grace is required, without it it is impossible. Since to persevere is in practice the same as not to succumb to temptation, not to sin, the sense of this part is: not even the just man can avoid mortal sins without the help of grace, and this is not understood of any brief time, but “for long”, as was said in thesis 11 of sinners; in like manner also are the impotence of man and the necessity and the nature of the help to be conceived.

“With special help”, that is, besides sanctifying grace and the infused virtues, another help of grace is still required. For even after justification there remains in man rebellious concupiscence, he himself still remains in the world and can still be tempted by the devil; hence the same difficulties also occur to him, of which there was discourse in thesis 11, and to overcome them he needs this special help. It is therefore a medicinal help against moral infirmity, and it is to be understood in the same way as the healing help of which in thesis 11, that is, it consists in the illumination of the intellect and the inspiration of the will. It is easily understood that helps are given to the just by which they can overcome temptations and observe the commandments not only honestly but salutarily, since they must thus grow in justice; the help conferred on them is therefore supernatural not only as to mode but entitatively. But in this part of the thesis grace is considered first of all insofar as it is healing.

This part therefore contains two assertions: 1) the just need grace in order to persevere; 2) all the just can persevere, they have the necessary grace.

Hence also a double class of those who are against this part:

1. Against that “with special help” are those who affirm that man without grace can keep the divine law and persevere in grace: the Pelagians, according to whom divine help is only for being able more easily³³.

2. Against “can” are those who indeed concede that grace is necessary, but deny that it is given by God to all the just: Baius (cf. condemned proposition 54: “This definitive sentence, that God has commanded man nothing impossible, is falsely attributed to Augustine, since it is Pelagius's”)³⁴; Jansenius³⁵, whose opinion was condemned as heretical by Innocent X³⁶.

Insofar as in this part the necessity of healing grace is affirmed, the qualification is the same as in thesis 11³⁷; insofar as it is said that all the just have sufficient help, whence it is possible for all to persevere in grace, the doctrine is of faith defined.

THE DOCUMENTS OF THE CHURCH

1. They need special help: INDICULUS, cap. 3³⁸, ARAUS. can. 10³⁹; ibidem in the conclusion: “This also we believe according to the catholic faith, that after the grace received through baptism all the baptized, with Christ helping and cooperating, can and ought to fulfil the things which pertain to the salvation of the soul, if they will labour faithfully”⁴⁰.

CONC. TRID. sess. 6 cap. 13⁴¹; can. 22: “If anyone says that a justified man can persevere in the justice received without the special help of God, or that with it he cannot: let him be anathema”⁴².

2. With divine help it is possible for all: CONC. ARAUSICANUM, the text just cited. CONC. TRIDENTINUM, cap. 11: “No one (ought) to use that rash voice, forbidden by the Fathers under anathema, that the commandments of God are impossible for a justified man to observe. For God does not command impossible things, but by commanding he admonishes both to do what you can and to ask what you cannot⁴³, and he helps you that you may be able; whose commandments are not heavy⁴⁴, whose yoke is sweet and burden light⁴⁵. For those who are sons of God love Christ; but those who love him (as he himself testifies) keep his words⁴⁶, which indeed with divine help they can perform... Whence it comes about that the just themselves ought to feel themselves the more bound to walk in the way of justice, the more they are now freed from sin, but made servants of God⁴⁷, living soberly and justly and piously⁴⁸, can profit through Christ Jesus, through whom they have had access into this grace⁴⁹. For God does not desert those once justified by his grace, unless he is first deserted by them”⁵⁰. — Cap. 15, treating of lethal sins, says: “from which with the help of divine grace they can abstain”⁵¹.

Can. 18: “If anyone says that the commandments of God are impossible to observe even for a justified man and one constituted under grace: let him be anathema”⁵², Can. 22 see above pag. 245.

Pius V condemned proposition 54 of Baius⁵³.

INNOCENT X condemned as heretical the proposition of Jansenius: “Some commandments of God are impossible to just men who will and strive according to the present powers which they have: there is also wanting to them the grace by which they may become possible”⁵⁴.

Pius XI applies this doctrine in the encyclical “Casti connubii”: “Care must altogether be taken lest the baleful conditions of external things give occasion to a much more baleful error. For no difficulties can arise which can derogate from the obligation of the commandments of God, which forbid acts evil by their interior nature; but in all circumstances of things spouses can always, strengthened by the grace of God, faithfully discharge their duty and preserve chastity in marriage undefiled by this foul stain; for the truth of the Christian faith stands, expressed by the teaching of the Tridentine synod: No one is to use that rash⁵⁵... And the same doctrine has again and solemnly been commanded by the Church and confirmed in the condemnation of the Jansenist heresy, which against the goodness of God had dared to blaspheme thus: Some commandments of God...”⁵⁶.

SACRED SCRIPTURE

1. They need special help: Eph 6, 10 ss.; 1 Petr 5, 8; Matth 6, 13; 26, 41. These texts, already adduced in the former thesis, are universal; indeed in Eph, 1 Petr, Matth 26 the discourse is directly about those who are already converted. They therefore must still fight for their salvation (cf. 1 Cor 9, 26; 1 Tim 6, 12; 2 Tim 2, 3), in which fight without divine help they will not overcome; but the help is such as they ought to ask for; therefore it is not those gifts which the just have already received.

2. With divine help it is possible for all: 1 Cor 10, 13: In the example of the Israelites the Apostle shows that the faithful, from the fact that they have received great goods from God, specifically on account of the baptism received and the eucharistic supper, are not yet secure from some future fall; the Israelites also received many goods from God, had been baptized with a kind of baptism, had eaten spiritual food and drunk spiritual drink, and yet they sinned and were gravely punished by God. These things, says the Apostle, “were written for our correction, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore he who thinks himself to stand, let him take heed lest he fall. Let no temptation take hold of you (it has taken hold, namely, up to now) but such as is human (adapted to human powers, not exceeding your powers); but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able, but will make also with temptation issue (a prosperous outcome), that you may be able to bear (to endure)”.

Nay, for those who follow Christ it is not so difficult to observe the commandments: Matth 11, 30: “For my yoke is sweet and my burden light”. — 1 Io 5, 3: “For this is the charity of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not heavy. For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world: and this is the victory which overcomes the world, our faith”. — Hence Christians are admonished to perseverance: Io 15, 4: “remain in me”; v. 9: “remain in my love”. — 1 Cor 9, 24: “So run that you may obtain (that you may obtain the prize)”. — 2 Petr 1, 10: “Wherefore, brethren, labour the more, that by good works you may make sure your calling and election: for doing these things, you shall not sin at any time”. — Apoc 2, 10: “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life”. — Apoc 3, 11: “Hold fast that which thou hast, that no man take thy crown”.

THE FATHERS

1. They need special help: St Augustine: “But God himself, when through the mediator of God and men, the man Jesus Christ⁵⁷, he spiritually heals the sick man or gives life to the dead, that is, justifies the impious, and when he has brought him to perfect health, that is, to perfect life and justice, he does not desert him if he is not deserted, so that one may live always piously and justly. For as the eye of the body, even when most fully sound, cannot see unless it is aided by the brightness of light: so also a man, even when most perfectly justified, cannot live rightly unless he is aided from on high by the eternal light of justice”⁵⁸.

St Leo the Great: “Let not human obedience withdraw itself from the grace of God, nor fail from that good without which it cannot be good; and if it experiences anything impossible or arduous in the effects of the commandments, let it not remain in itself, but run back to him who commands, who for this reason gives the precept, that he may stir up desire and supply help, as the prophet says: Cast thy thought upon God, and he will nourish thee⁵⁹. Or does anyone perchance pride himself so insolently, and presume that he is so unharmed, so immaculate, that he now needs no renovation? That persuasion is altogether deceived, and whoever amid the temptations of this life believes himself immune from every wound grows old in excessive vanity”⁶⁰.

2. With divine help it is possible for all: St John Chrysostom: “It is not lawful to say: I cannot; for that is to accuse the creator. For if he made us weak and then commands, the accusation is his. How then, he says, do many not have the power? Because they do not will. How is it that they do not will? From sloth; for if they willed, they would altogether be able... For we have God cooperating and working with us; let us only choose, let us only come to the matter as to a work, let us only be solicitous, let us only apply the mind, and all things follow”⁶¹.

St Augustine: “If therefore we wish to stir up and inflame to right living the minds of Christians that are cold and slothful by Christian exhortations, let us first exhort them to the faith, by which they become Christians and are subjected to his name, without which they cannot be saved. But if they are already Christians and neglect to live rightly, let them be struck with terrors, and raised up by the praises of rewards: in such a way, indeed, that we remember to exhort them not only to good actions but also to pious prayers, and to instruct them with this sound doctrine, that they may both give thanks thence, when they have begun to live well, for that they have done something without difficulty; and where they feel some difficulty, may they persist in obtaining facility from the Lord by most faithful and most persevering prayers and by works prompt in mercy. But thus profiting, where and when they may be perfected in most full justice, I do not greatly care: but whenever and wherever they shall have been perfected, I confirm that they can be perfected only by the grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Indeed when they have clearly known that they have no sin, let them not say they have sin, lest the truth not be in them; as the truth is not in those who, when they have it, say that they do not have it.

But the commandments are very good, if we use them lawfully⁶², For by this very thing that it is most firmly believed that God, just and good, could not have commanded impossible things, we are admonished both what we should do in easy things and what we should ask in difficult ones. For all things are made easy to charity: to which alone the burden of Christ is light⁶³, or that alone is the burden which is light. According to this it was said: And his commandments are not heavy⁶⁴, so that he to whom they are heavy should consider that it could not have been said divinely, they are not heavy, unless because there can be an affection of the heart to which they are not heavy, and should ask for what he lacks, that he may fulfil what is commanded. And what is said to Israel in Deuteronomy, if it is understood piously, holily, spiritually, signifies this same thing: because indeed when the Apostle had recalled this testimony: The word is near thee, in thy mouth and in thy heart... this is, he says, the word of faith which we preach⁶⁵. Everyone therefore being converted, as is there commanded, to the Lord his God with his whole heart and with his whole soul, will not have the commandment of God heavy. For how is it heavy, since it is a commandment of love? For either a man does not love, and therefore it is heavy; or he loves, and it cannot be heavy. But he loves, if, as Israel is there admonished, he has been converted to the Lord his God with his whole heart and with his whole soul. A new commandment, he says, I give you, that you love one another⁶⁶; and: He who loves his neighbour has fulfilled the law; and: The fulfilling of the law is charity⁶⁷. According to this that also was said: If they had walked in good paths, they would surely have found the paths of justice easy⁶⁸. How then is it said: For the words of thy lips I have kept hard ways⁶⁹, unless because both are true? They are hard to those who fear, light to those who love”⁷⁰.

THE THEOLOGIANS

St Thomas 1, 2 q. 109 a. 9 asks: “Whether he who has already obtained grace can by himself work good and avoid sin without the help of grace”, and he answers: “Man needs the help of God for right living in two ways: in one way indeed as regards some habitual gift, by which human nature corrupted is healed and even, healed, is elevated to work works meritorious of eternal life, which exceed the proportion of nature; in another way man needs the help of grace, that he be moved by God to act. As regards therefore the first mode of help, a man existing in grace does not need another help of grace, as it were some other infused habit; he needs nevertheless the help of grace according to the other mode, namely that he be moved by God to act rightly. And this for two reasons: first indeed on a general ground, because, as was said above, no created thing can proceed into any act whatever except by the power of divine motion; secondly on a special ground, because of the condition of the state of human nature, which indeed, although it is healed by grace as to the mind, nevertheless there remains in it corruption and infection as to the flesh, by which it serves the law of sin, as is said in Rom 7; there remains also a certain obscurity of ignorance in the intellect, according to which, as is also said in Rom 8: We know not what we should pray for as we ought. For on account of the various outcomes of things, and because we do not perfectly know even ourselves, we cannot fully know what is expedient for us, according to that of Sap 9: The thoughts of mortals are timid, and our providences uncertain; and therefore it is necessary for us that we be directed and protected by God, who knows all things and can do all things. And on this account it also befits those reborn as sons of God through grace to say: And lead us not into temptation; and: Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven, and the rest which are contained in the Lord's Prayer pertaining to this”.