Chapter XII: Sins Committed Against God, Against Our Neighbor, and Against Ourselves, § 80.
CHAPTER XII: CONCERNING SINS COMMITTED AGAINST GOD,
AGAINST OUR NEIGHBOR, AND AGAINST OURSELVES
Some sins are committed against God; some, against our neighbor; and some, against ourselves.
§ 80. Now, at last, there follows the seventh division of sins, taken from their objects. Some sins are committed against God; some, against human beings—and that again in two ways: some against ourselves and some against our neighbors. The foundations for this division stand in 1 Sam. 2:25: “If a man sins against a man, the judges pass judgment on this. But if a man sins against God, who will be his intercessor?” Titus 2:12: “In this age let us live soberly” (with respect to ourselves) “and righteously” (with respect to our neighbor) “and godly” (with respect to God). Num. 21:7: “We have sinned against the Lord.” Matt. 18:15: “If your brother sin against you,” etc. James 5:16: “Confess your sins to each other.”
Man is completely bound by a threefold obligation. To God he owes his obedience; to his neighbor, kind treatment; to himself, safekeeping. Thus surely he sins in three ways: against God, against his neighbor, and against himself—this last immediately and directly. For when he sins mediately and consequently against his neighbor, he also sins against God Himself, who has commanded love for the neighbor. For this reason David asserts that he sinned against the Lord through his adultery (2 Sam. 12:13; Ps. 51:[4]). Nevertheless some, not unfittingly, explain it this way: by his sin David gave many people an occasion to blaspheme the name of the Lord (2 Sam. 12:14).
Some sins are committed against the First Table and some against the Second.
§ 81. The eighth class is akin to this division. Some sins are committed against the First Table of the Decalogue and some against the Second Table. The foundation for this division lies in the divine distribution of the Decalogue by which all the Commandments of the moral Law were written onto two different tablets (Exod. 34:1; Deut. 10:1). This distribution is confirmed by Christ (Matt. 22:37–39) and by Paul (Eph. 6:2). In regard to the First Table of the Decalogue, this rule is given: obedience to the First Table trumps obedience to the Second, that is, when both cannot be kept at the same time. Concerning the Second, there is this rule: the commandment regarding loving one’s neighbor is similar to the First. This will be discussed in greater detail in the article On the Law of God [Commonplace XV, § 53].