A Treatise on the Spirit and the Letter 40
40 How that is to Be the Reward of All; The Apostle Earnestly Defends Grace PL 44, 224
What then is the import of the “All, from the least unto the greatest of them,” but all that belong spiritually to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah,—that is, to the children of Isaac, to the seed of Abraham? For such is the promise, wherein it was said to him, “In Isaac shall thy seed be called; for they which are the children of the flesh are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son. And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac, (for the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of Him that calleth,) it was said unto her, “The elder shall serve the younger.” This is the house of Israel, or rather the house of Judah, on account of Christ, who came of the tribe of Judah. This is the house of the children of promise,—not by reason of their own merits, but of the kindness of God. For God promises what He Himself performs: He does not Himself promise, and another perform; which would no longer be promising, but prophesying. Hence it is “not of works, but of Him that calleth,” lest the result should be their own, not God’s; lest the reward should be ascribed not to His grace, but to their due; and so grace should be no longer grace which was so earnestly defended and maintained by him who, though the least of the apostles, laboured more abundantly than all the rest,—yet not himself, but the grace of God that was with him. “They shall all know me,” He says,—“All,” the house of Israel and house of Judah. “All,” however, “are not Israel which are of Israel,” but they only to whom it is said in “the psalm concerning the morning aid” (that is, concerning the new refreshing light, meaning that of the new testament), “All ye the seed of Jacob, glorify Him; and fear Him, all ye the seed of Israel.” All the seed, without exception, even the entire seed of the promise and of the called, but only of those who are the called according to His purpose. “For whom He did predestinate, them He also called; and whom He called, them He also justified; and whom He justified, them He also glorified.” “Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed: not to that only which is of the law,”—that is, which comes from the Old Testament into the New,—“but to that also which is of faith,” which was indeed prior to the law, even “the faith of Abraham,”—meaning those who imitate the faith of Abraham,—“who is the father of us all; as it is written, I have made thee the father of many nations.” Now all these predestinated, called, justified, glorified ones, shall know God by the grace of the new testament, from the least to the greatest of them.
Quid ergo est, omnes a minore usque ad majorem eorum; nisi, omnes pertinentes spiritualiter ad domum Israel, et ad domum Juda, hoc est, ad filios Isaac, ad semen Abrahae? Ipsa est enim promissio, qua ei dictum est, In Isaac vocabitur tibi semen. Non enim qui filii carnis, hi filii Dei; sed filii promissionis deputantur in semen. Promissionis autem verbum hoc est: Ad hoc tempus veniam, et erit Sarae filius. Non solum autem, sed et Rebecca ex uno concubitu habens Isaac patris nostri. De nondum enim natis, neque qui aliquid operati fuerant boni aut mali, ut secundum electionem propositum Dei maneret, non ex operibus, sed ex vocante dictum est ei, quia major serviet minori . Haec est domus Israel, vel domus Juda propter Christum, qui venit ex tribu Juda. Domus filiorum promissionis haec est, non operum propriorum, sed beneficii Dei. Hoc enim Deus promittit, quod ipse facit: non enim ipse promittit et alius facit, quod jam non est promittere, sed praedicere. Ideo non ex operibus, sed ex vocante: ne ipsorum sit, non Dei; ne merces non imputetur secundum gratiam, sed secundum debitum , atque ita gratia jam non sit gratia, cujus vehemens defensor est atque assertor minimus Apostolorum, qui plus omnibus illis laboravit, non ipse autem, sed gratia Dei cum illo . Omnes enim, inquit, agnoscent me: Omnes, domus Israel et domus Juda. Neque enim omnes qui ex Israel, hi sunt Israel: sed omnes quibus dicitur in Psalmo pro susceptione matutina, hoc est, pro luce nova, Testamenti scilicet Novi, Universum semen Jacob, magnificate eum; timeat eum omne semen Israel . Universum omnino semen, prorsus omne semen promissorum atque vocatorum, sed eorum qui secundum propositum vocati sunt. Quos enim praedestinavit, illos et vocavit, quos autem vocavit, illos et justificavit; quos autem justificavit, illos et glorificavit . Ideo ex fide, ut secundum gratiam firma sit promissio omni semini, non ei tantum quod ex lege est, id est, quod ex Vetere Testamento venit ad Novum; sed et ei quod ex fide est, non sibi praemissa lege. Ex fide autem Abraham, id est, imitatores fidei Abraham: qui est pater omnium nostrum, sicut scriptum est, Quia patrem multarum gentium posui te . Omnes ergo hi praedestinati, vocati, justificati, glorificati cognoscent Deum gratia Testamenti Novi, a minore usque ad majorem eorum.