Whether new commandments have been given in the New Testament.
Whether new commandments have been given in the New Testament.
§ 61. (III) Bellarmine finally comes to the third part, namely, the laws and commandments in the Old Testament, some of which were ceremonial, some judicial, and some moral. He says:
In the New Testament, in place of the Mosaic ceremonies, which were nearly innumerable, Christ established sacraments, very few in number, with which He bound together the society of His new people. Augustine (Letter 118): “Christ did not abolish the judicial laws in the Gospel but left their keeping to those who administered the state in various places, that they might judge their institution according to the diversity of things, persons, and times.” The Law and the Gospel have almost the same moral laws, which are eternal; but, in this area, the Gospel is superior to the Law because the Gospel demands a behavior of Christians which is more serious, behavior which was not demanded of the Jews in the Law because of their weakness, as is clear from the bill of divorce and polygamy. Some things also stand in the Law that are quite obscure which are given more expressly in the Gospel.
Thus he concludes: “The Gospel has not everything but almost everything which has to do with behavior in common with the Law.” To this end he begins an analysis of the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount [Matthew 5–7], which he says is contrasted to the corruptions of the Pharisees rather than to the moral Law. Nevertheless he further says that Christ added some counsels of perfection to the Law.
We respond. (1) We, too, teach that the ceremonial and judicial laws of Moses were abrogated in the New Testament.
(2) We say that the moral laws in the Law and the Gospel—that is, in the Old and New Testaments—are not almost the same but are exactly the same. For whatever doctrine of works He sets forth, explains, and urges in the Old as well as in the New Testament pertains to the Law.
(3) The bill of divorce and polygamy will be discussed in the treatise On Marriage [Commonplace XXVIII, §§ 202–26, 564–65, 595–96]. In abrogating the bill of divorce and polygamy in the New Testament, Christ does not promulgate new laws but calls us back to the original institution of marriage.
(4) If the word “Gospel” is understood in its proper meaning for the preaching of grace and the free promise of the forgiveness of sins for Christ’s sake, then it is deceitful to say that the Gospel has the same moral laws as Moses. For if this is understood in such a way that the Gospel requires good works for the very act of justification and for this purpose urges the reborn to new obedience to earn eternal life, it is false. But if it is understood in the sense that the benefit of the Gospel is not only forgiveness of sins but also a renewal through which the Holy Spirit begins to wash away the remnants of sin and to conform us to the divine Law, it is true.
(5) A solid and accurate explanation of the Lord’s sermon which He delivered at the beginning of His preaching ministry is provided by Dr. Chemnitz in his golden Evangelicae historiae harmonia, to which we send the reader. Meanwhile, we greatly commend what Bellarmine acknowledges, that Christ’s sermon stands in contrast not to the moral Law but to pharisaical corruptions. In this respect he departs not only from many of the fathers but also from the Scholastics and from very many Papist writers; and, if he were to do this in other controversies and prefer the heavenly truth as it is revealed in Scripture over against human authority, he would do well.
(6) Regarding the counsels of perfection: there will be a place for discussing them later [§§ 82–104].