Chapter 1 (55): 1. Here How, By His Death, He Redeemed Us From The Devil And Sin.
78 | THE SENTENCES, BOOK 3
DISTINCTION XIX
Chapter 1 (55)
1. HERE HOW, BY HIS DEATH, HE REDEEMED US FROM THE DEVIL AND SIN.
And so now let us ask how, by his death, we are redeemed from the devil, from sin, and from punishment.—We are freed by Christ's death from the devil and sin because, as the Apostle says, in his blood we are justified; and since we are justified, that is, released from our sins, we are freed from the devil, who kept us in the bonds of our sins.
2. QUESTION. But how are we released from our sins by his death?
—SOLUTION. Because by his death, as the Apostle says, God's charity toward us is commended,' that is, God's charity toward us is revealed as most excellent and commendable, since he handed over his Son to death for the sake of us sinners.' Since token of such great love toward us has been shown, we are moved to, and kindled with, love of God, who has done so much for us; in this way, we are justified, that is, we are released from our sins, and so we are made just. Indeed, Christ's death justifies us, as by it charity is kindled in our hearts.
3. We are also said to be justified by Christ's death in another way, because by faith in his death we are cleansed from sins. Hence the Apostle:
The justice of God is by the faith of Jesus Christ;* and also: Whom God has proposed as a propitiator, through faith in his blood, that is, by faith in his passion, as once those who looked at the bronze serpent hanging from a pole were healed from the bites of serpents.° In the same way, if we look with right faith upon him who hung from a pole for our sake,' we are released from the devil's bonds, that is, from sins. And we are so freed from the devil, that even after this life he cannot find anything to punish in us.—AUGUSTINE. "For by his death, by the one most true sacrifice,
Christ extinguished whatever fault there was, by which the devil held us bound to suffer tortures,"* so that he should no longer overcome us in this life by temptation. For though he still tempts us after Christ's death in the same ways in which he did before, yet he cannot overcome us as he did before. And so Peter, before Christ's death, terrified by the slave-girl's voice, denied him;' after Christ's death, led before kings and governors,
'Rom. 5, 9.
"Cf Rom-5, 8.
*Cf. Rom, 8, 32.
"Romo. 22.
-Rom. 3, 25.
"Cf Nom.21; 9: In. 3714-15) ICT Garon ls 'Augustine, De Trinitate, bk 4 c13 n17.
°Cf. Mk. 14, 66-72; Lk. 22, 56-60.
Distinction XIX | 79 Peter did not yield.'? Why? Because a stronger one, that is, Christ, coming into the house of a strong one, that is, into our hearts, where the devil had an abode, bound the strong one,'' that is, restrained him from the seducing of the faithful, so that seduction should not follow the temptation which is still allowed him.
4. AUGUSTINE, ON THE CHRISTIAN COMBAT. And so in the blood of Christ, who restored what he did not steal,'? we are redeemed from sin, and so also from the devil. For as Augustine says, in him "are vanquished the invisible powers which are inimical to us, as are vanquished our invisible lusts."''—AUGUSTINE, IN THE BOOK ON THE BAPTISM OF CHILDREN.
"Once that blood was shed without fault, the chirographs of all faults are cancelled, by which they who now believe in him were formerly held bound by the devil, hence: Which is shed for many."'*'°
5. AUGUSTINE, IN THE BOOK ON THE BAPTISM OF CHILDREN. And so we
were redeemed by him in whom the prince of this world found nothing.'® Hence Augustine, conveying the cause and manner of our redemption, says: "The devil found nothing in Christ by which he should die, but Christ willed to die for the Father's will; he had no cause for death from sin, but tasted death from obedience and righteousness, and by it delivered us from slavery to the devil."'' "For we had fallen in with the prince of this world, who seduced Adam and turned him into a slave, and had begun to possess us as if we were slaves of his household. But the Redeemer came, and the deceiver was defeated. And what did the Redeemer do to our captor? He set a mouse-trap for him, which was his own cross, and he set his own blood as if bait for him. It was not a debtor's blood that he shed and by which the devil departed from his debtors. Christ shed his own blood so that he might erase our sins. And so the source of our bond to the devil was erased by the blood of the Redeemer, for it was by nothing else than the bonds of our sins that he bound us.'* These were the captives' chains. Christ came and bound the strong one"' by the bonds of his passion; he entered into his house, that is, in those hearts in which the devil had made his abode, and took out his vessels, that is, ourselves, which the devil had filled with his bitterness. But our God took those vessels and made them his own, poured out the bitterness and filled them
MC iMt1 0.018; Act5,.27-29.
Cie Le 222 Met, 12,29. og, ©) 8 OBL ey '3 Augustine, De agone christiano, c2 n2.
Mt. 26, 28.
'S Augustine, De peccatorum meritis seu de baptismo parvulorum, bk 2 c30 n49.
MCT At, La, 30, '7Augustine, De peccatorum meritis seu de baptismo parvulorum, bk 2 c31 n51.
MOTNPIONA 0, 22:2 11. 2, 25-20.
MMt. 12, 29.