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WHEREFORE it lies today in our own power whether we choose to live
under the grace of the gospel or under the terrors of the law: for each man
must incline to one side or the other in accordance with the character of
his actions, for either the grace of Christ welcomes those who go beyond
the law, or else the law keeps its hold over the weaker ones as those who
are its debtors and within its clutches. For one who is guilty as regards
the precepts of the law will never be able to attain to the perfection of
the gospel, even though he idly boasts that he is a Christian and freed by
the Lord's grace: for we must not only regard as still under the law the
man who refuses to fulfil what the law enjoins, but the man as well who is
satisfied with the mere observance of what the law commands, and who never
brings forth fruits worthy of his vocation and the grace of Christ, where
it is not said: "Thou shalt offer to the Lord thy God thy tithes and
firstfruits;" but: "Go and sell all that thou hast and give to the poor,
and come follow Me;" where, owing to the grandeur of perfection, to the
request of the disciple there is not granted even the very short space of
an hour in which to bury his father, as the offices of human charity are
outweighed by the virtue of Divine love.
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