Augustine On faith and works



Augustine  On faith and works.

Translated by Gregory J. Lombardo. Ancient Christian Writers. (Newman Press: NJ) 1988.

Intro by translator

The error he is trying to refute is faith alone (Which means an understanding of certain dogmatic truths) without the giving up of sins.  As many as possible should be baptized.

1. Evil in the Church>Correct the evil doers if we can.  If we can't tolerate them for the sake of peace.  Just because there are sinners in the Church doesn't mean we are lax in discipline.

2. Baptism- only happens if the person is already living a life that the Church approves of.

3. Faith and Works>  Again "faith alone" is defined as people who live evil lives but  are saved through baptism and sacraments.  The Translator says that \ the two great heresies of this generation are  Pelagianism and  Faith  alone.  

Note on Translator:  Very anti-reformed quote, "he rejects the sola fides, the fides mortua, since it was also rejected by Paul.

------------------------------------

Chapter 1

.1.  The issue is whether or not people should conform morally to the will of God before or after Baptism.  The opposing party qoutes 1 Cor. 3.11 that they may still be saved as through fire. ( Interesting that modern people use this verse out of context as well.  Think D.A. Carson's point on this.)

2. The reason why this came up was over divorce and remarriage  The Church wouldn't let remarried people into the Church because there was never a point when those couples relationships became okay.  They were in a constant state of adultery.  So they started with this case and moved outward to all people who were in sin.

Chapter 2

3.  Augustine uses Moses, Phineas, and Paul as examples of how to keep the purity of the Church.  He encourages Church discipline.  Moses killed some who mingled with foreigners.  Paul was patient with some false brothers, but overall he handed people over to Satan so that they can learn.  He clarifies that it is not remove from ourselves and individual/ personal ways, but it is corporate removal. (In light of this if we are to practice Church discipline then why would we allow those people in the Church to begin with?)

Chapter 3

4.  Augustine notes there is a balance that needs to be maintained between tolerance and discipline.  In which both are governed by love.  Exp:  Judas was allowed fellowship although he was develish. But Church discipline is serious.  Whatever we loose on earth is loosed in heaven.  We basically follow the same ideas of Church discipline that they do.   One big thing for him was impure relationships.

Chapter 4

5.  Augustine endorses the middle path.  He uses the trinity as an example.   He is both one God but Three Persons.   We can’t isolate one of theses statements from the other. Likewise we can’t absolutize any one passage.  We have to consider scripture in tension where the True Path is in the middle of two poles.   This is so true even today.  When a relative truth becomes an absolute truth then everything is wrong. (Futato).  Another interesting example, food unclean=legalism and all things are clean= drunkenness. We need both

6. Church discipline falls into this category.  On one hand, there were the Donatist who wanted to kick everyone out.  But on the other hand you have Augustine's current opponents who want no discipline because they say that since there is both good and evil in the Church lets just let them be in grace.  They the think that the Church should only say what should or should not be done, but not really care about what goes on in their lives.

Chapter 5

7. In regards to Church discipline the two tensions are Peace and Purity.  We can't purify if it costs the peace (or unity) of the Church.  We have to tolerate sin if division is at hand.  But we cant have peace at the cost of impurity.  While maintaining peace we must excercise discipline in order keep the Church from corruption.    (I personally think we sacrifice both today.).  Augustine says true doctrine is in the tension.

Chapter 6

8.   He then returns to the theme of Baptism.  Apparently, catachumens went through fasting, abstinence and prayer before becoming baptized.  If a catachumen were to refuse even this then they wouldn't be permitted.  How much more should an adulter be let in who isn't willing to give up his sin.

9. Augustine has a high view of baptism.  He wants people to understand how good the Christian life is before they enter the Church so that they have zeal for the Truth of God.  If entrance is too easy then they won't appreciate the treasure of Jesus of the Church.   (We need a bigger understanding of Catechism and Baptism.  It will be healthy for the Church.)  This is in oppostion to post baptism training.

Chapter 7

10.  He gives a test case.  If a virgin marries a man in good faith.  Then finds out that he is an adulterer, she needs to return him to his owner.  We can't have false pity.    Augustine makes a profound statement.  "Marriage is not only a contract but it is also a Sacrament within the Church."  He then notes that if people refuse to give up their ways then why should they be admitted baptism and the Lord's table.  It is the reverse of Church discipline.  On top of this, his opponents are making adultery a light sin.

11.  Essentially the oppositions argument is that the apostles taught faith doctrines to catuchumens and then morals to the baptized believers.  This isn't true though because the epistles teach both.  Faith first and then morals second because we can't be morally good with out it being in faith to God.   Or unto Him.   Both of them were taught to the Church.

Chapter 8

12.  Peter responded to,"What shall we do?"   "Repent and be baptized."  In that order.  

13.    They respond that they need to only repent of the unbelief in Christ.  But, Augustine says that part of repentance as Peter petitioned is being saved from this wicked world.  This is moral teaching.  Part of Paul's gospel was taking of the Old self and putting on the new self.   His gospel included moral change.

Chapter 9

14.  They bring up that Phillip was baptized only on the Confession that Jesus was the Son of God.  Augustine consistantly reitereates that this was for the sake of brevity.  The whole counsel of God is more then this.  What about the Holy Spirit, or the Father, or anything else.  Does not the Gospel include more then this one statement.  Obviously.  Here is a good quote, " This is to preach Christ: to not only say what one must believe about Christ but also how one must live who wishes to be joined to the body of Christ."  We can't preach Christ the head, with out preaching Christ the body.

Chapter 10

15.  He then goes into what it means when Paul said I only knew among you Christ crucified.  This was quoted by the opponents saying that this is what was preached first and then after Paul preached morals.  Augustine has a much bigger picture then just the crucification and he notes that is because Paul did.   Paul taught the Ressurection, that the old man has died so that he shouldn't serve sin, that with Christ we were crucified to the world.  Paul didn't only teach this.   In the cross we also find moral teaching.  If are lives are formed by the cross then they are lives that put to death the sin of the world.  Crucified to the world is crucified to every evil desire.

16. They also divorce the two greatest commandments.  Love God is for the the unbaptized.  Love neighbor is for the baptized.  This is clearly wrong because you can't do one without the other.

Chapter 11

17.  Their best argument so far is that the Israelites received the law after the baptism of the Red Sea.     Augustine delieverers a crucial blow to this argument because leaving Egypt is seen as renouncing of sin.  How can one be baptized if he refuses to leave Egypt.  Its ludicrous. 

Chapter 12

18.   If you were to plug in such as idolatry to their scriptural arguments then you would have to let them into the Church through baptism.  But certainly this wouldn't happen.  He couldn't even become a catuchumen.

Chapter 13

19.  John the baptist taught the repentance from sins before the baptism of Christ.  When asked what shall we do? He didn't say believe be baptized and then I will give you moral instruction.

20. Morals and faith mutually connected.  He gives the story of Jesus and the rich young ruler as an example.  Both commands are love God and Love neighbor are both connected.  We are saved by faith, we can't enter the Church if we are unrepentant of sin.

Chapter 14

21.  Essentially the law showed us that we are equal coming into the Church.  No man is better then the next.  It nullifies it and shows we were saved completely by Grace.  "The works of the Law are meritorious not before but after justification."  Next read on The Letter and the Spirit.

22.  Augustine shows how works fit into his eschatology.  Because there are going to be new heavens and a new earth we should live in that reality not in the current one.  We need to live as if now was heaven and perfection has come, even though it hasn't really come.  He quotes 2 Peter 3.11-18.

23.  He then goes into how faith without works is dead.  (At this point I think he equating faith and belief.  Maybe he thinks belief with out works is dead?)

24.  He goes into 1 Cor 3.11-15 again.  His opponents use it to show that belief is enough because sinners will be purified by fire.  Good works equal gold.  Bad works equal hay.

25.  Augustine then states that there view has low expectations, settling for foundations when they should care about the houses.  He then goes on to set up a brilliant argument.  If this passage is true then all the other ones are false, such as "Do not err, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor covetous....."  and "works of the flesh are manifest, which are fornicators...." Both of these passages can't be true.  One must be interpreted wrong.    There are tons of other passages he suggest that shows the importance of good works in salvation.  (Is the opponents view the beginning of the doctrine of limbo?)

26. He then states that this can't be the case but that we either have to get a better understanding or just know that this is hard and mysterious saying of Paul.  They are not an open contradiction of each other.  Augustine seems to be talking about people who consistantly sin and don't want to change their ways.  Not just a saint that commits a sin.  There is a difference.

Chapter 16

27.  Augustine stays humble and wants someone smarter than him explain what the above passage means.  Just as long as it doesn't contradict the other ones he clearly understands.   He then attempts to exegete it himself.  He constantly makes notice that this is what he "thinks" it means by God's grace.   The foundation is Christ, but it involves the love of Christ. w/ Charity.  The stones and gold are works on top of the faith in Christ.  Now some one who loves something more then Christ doesn't have the foundation of Christ.  So if someone isn't willing to give up adultery and they love that more then they never really had the foundation to begin with.   (Carson has a good exegesis of this text). (This makes sense though, it is more of heart issue for him.  You can't keep idolatry and say you have Christ as your foundation.)

28.  He gives the example of a Christian Man and a heathen wife.   It is not okay to leave the wife unless she leaves him first because he is a Christian.  Or she tries to force him to be worldly.  But if he loves Christ but stays with his wife because he loves her  because of her carnality then there is problem.   This is a grey situation to him.

29.  You can;t have the foundation and love fornication.

30.  When Christ dealt with the Canaanite woman she accepted the Gospel and then healed her of her sin.  The adversaries are proposing a gospel without healing.

Chapter 17

31.  Augustine states that the purpose of guarding baptism isn't to keep people from being with Christ.  Or to keep people from believing in Christ, but it is show people that they do not really want Christ.  They love their sin more then Him.  They are the ones admiting that they do not want Him.  Still, even with this guarding people still slip through.  They renounce sin with their lips but not with their hearts.  These are the tares among the wheat.  This is where discipline comes in. 

32.  He then uses the Talent and the wicked servant parable.  He says that these servants are the clergy.   If they care about building the Kingdom of Christ then they will care about the sin of their flock.  Whats best for the flock is for them not to sin and not to love sin.  This is how he increases his talents.

Chapter 18

33.  He then delves into Church history.  There practice has never been heard of.  But even if there case has happened, then a person is still not saved unless he repents of his sin.

Chapter 19

34.  Interestingly enough, he confronts the idea of alms giving for the sake of forgiveness of sins.  This parallels the indulgences of the reformation quite nicely.  On top of this he defends a little more why adultery can never be accepted.  This sin seems to be the specific one he is arguing against and his opponents are arguing for.  Especially in the context of marriage and remarriage.

35.  He goes into Church history again by citing St. Cyprian and how it seems as if the Church has digressed since then.  He then admits that there is a certain gray area when it comes to determining what is adultery or not.   But most cases are clear and illicit.

Chapter 20

36.  This whole chapter is short but good.

If we are not to give the sinner a false security, or even an authorization to commit sin, this then, in accordance with true and sound doctrine, is the procedure we must follow in our instructions, namely, that all who are to be baptixed are to believe in  God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as is prescribed in the Creed; that they are to do penance for their sins; and that they are not to doubt that all their past sins will be forgiven them when they receive baptism.  They must be told that this forgiveness is not a license to commit sin, but a release from sin; that it is a remission of sin, not a permission to sin.  Then it can be truly said tof them, in a spiritual sense; "You are made whole, sin no more."..... How can the opponents say this.  For if adultery is not a disease, and a serious and fatal disease, then I do not know what it is.

Chapter 21

37.    They object by talking about Peter and the three thousand converts.  Certainly some of those were adulterers.  Augustine replies that for the sake of brevity we can't know their sins.  We just know that Peter prescribed the repentance from them.

38.  They say the Israelites are punished because they didn't believe in Christ.  Augustine states that they are right but the Israelites are also punished because they killed him and committed other sins along with that.

39.  Our freeing from the law, in Augustine's view, is  a freeing from obedience due to fear to a obedience due to love.

Chapter 22

40.  It is impossible to say we know God and not keep His commandments. (1 John and John Frame Lordship Knowledge)

41. We have a mediator who has forgiven our sins, and we have a God who helps not commit sin.  But if we hate sin but sin then we have a mediator.  But if we cherish sin more then anything then what makes us think we have a mediator.

Chapter 23

42.  John 5.28> Some will rise to life but others will rise to judgement.

43.  The Spirit is important to Augustine because through it we obey God and please Him.  The judgment of those with the law and without law only differ in degree not kind.  Both eternal.

44. Augustine states that the theme of Romans is that both the Jews and Gentiles need the Grace of God equally.  Therefore both of them outside of Christ are judged.  Both without the Spirit are judged.

Chapter 24

45.  The opponents themselves confuse law and faith.  They think the law equals faith but that is absurd.  But Jesus is the Lord of Justice so if we have faith in Him then that would entail that we are people of Justice.  Again inseperable.

Chapter 25

46.  Disobedient people/Christians are called different things by the different NT authors.  Peter- fountains without water, Jude-clouds without rain, James- their faith is dead.

47. To Augustine, we should not tell Christians that are deep sin that they will be saved but only through fire.  Or in other words, they will be saved but they will receeve a small punishment.  But rather, if they are unrepentant then they will recieve a greater punishment then if they had never believed in the first place.  (Pratt> covenant curses.)

Chapter 26

48.  Augustine exhorts people not to tell people they are definitely saved if they are baptized.  We must hold on to these two truths, that a Christian's life should harmonize with the sacred character of of the sacrament of Baptism and that eternal life should not be promised to anyone who is either not baptized or not leading a good life.    We know that there are times in life for Church discipline because Jesus and Paul command it.  But in the same breath we are never completely free from sin because Jesus tells to ask for forgiveness every day in the Lord's prayer.  Again, we live in this unresolved tension.

Chapter 27

49.  Summary>  Question 1> Should we allow people who are willingly sinning into the Church through baptism?  No, because although wicked men exist within the Church, it doesn't mean we don't prevent more of that from happening.  On top this we should practice discipline on those who are in the Church.  Question 2>  Should the order be 1. Teach faith, 2. Baptize, 3. Teach Morals?  No, we need to teach Jesus is both Lord and Saviour from the beginning.  Question 3>  Lastly, are people continually love their sin saved but only through fire?  No, they receive even greater judgment if they have been baptized.

Last quote, pretty funny, how the book ends: " If there is any saying of our opponents which we may have omitted in this discussion, it is either because we did not think that it pertained to the discussion, or thought that it was so easy to refute that anyone could refute it."

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download