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Objection 1: It would seem that man without grace, and by his own
natural powers, can fulfil the commandments of the Law. For the
Apostle says (Rm. 2:14) that "the Gentiles who have not the
law, do by nature those things that are of the Law." Now what a man
does naturally he can do of himself without grace. Hence a man can
fulfil the commandments of the Law without grace.
Objection 2: Further, Jerome says (Expos. Cathol. Fide
[Symboli Explanatio ad Damasum]) that "they are anathema who say
God has laid impossibilities upon man." Now what a man cannot fulfil
by himself is impossible to him. Therefore a man can fulfil all the
commandments of himself.
Objection 3: Further, of all the commandments of the Law, the
greatest is this, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole
heart" (Mt. 27:37). Now man with his natural endowments can
fulfil this command by loving God above all things, as stated above
(Article 3). Therefore man can fulfil all the commandments of the
Law without grace.
On the contrary, Augustine says (De Haeres. lxxxviii) that it is
part of the Pelagian heresy that "they believe that without grace man
can fulfil all the Divine commandments."
I answer that, There are two ways of fulfilling the commandments of
the Law. The first regards the substance of the works, as when a man
does works of justice, fortitude, and of other virtues. And in this
way man in the state of perfect nature could fulfil all the commandments
of the Law; otherwise he would have been unable to sin in that state,
since to sin is nothing else than to transgress the Divine
commandments. But in the state of corrupted nature man cannot fulfil
all the Divine commandments without healing grace. Secondly, the
commandments of the law can be fulfilled, not merely as regards the
substance of the act, but also as regards the mode of acting, i.e.
their being done out of charity. And in this way, neither in the
state of perfect nature, nor in the state of corrupt nature can man
fulfil the commandments of the law without grace. Hence, Augustine
(De Corrupt. et Grat. ii) having stated that "without grace men
can do no good whatever," adds: "Not only do they know by its light
what to do, but by its help they do lovingly what they know." Beyond
this, in both states they need the help of God's motion in order to
fulfil the commandments, as stated above (Articles 2,3).
Reply to Objection 1: As Augustine says (De Spir. et Lit.
xxvii), "do not be disturbed at his saying that they do by nature
those things that are of the Law; for the Spirit of grace works
this, in order to restore in us the image of God, after which we were
naturally made."
Reply to Objection 2: What we can do with the Divine assistance is
not altogether impossible to us; according to the Philosopher
(Ethic. iii, 3): "What we can do through our friends, we can
do, in some sense, by ourselves." Hence Jerome [Symboli
Explanatio ad Damasum] concedes that "our will is in such a way free
that we must confess we still require God's help."
Reply to Objection 3: Man cannot, with his purely natural
endowments, fulfil the precept of the love of God, as stated above
(Article 3).
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