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160 THE HISTORY OF HERESIES,
having Grace to observe the commandments of the Decalogue.
"
Secondly We answer, that when he said, All these I
tilings
we are not to understand that
have observed from my youth,"
he observed all the Commandments, but only those which Christ
mentioned to him :
" Do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not
steal," c. Even the Gospel itself proves that he was not ardent
in the observance of the precept to love God above all things, for
when Christ told him to leave his wealth and follow him, he
refused to obey, and, therefore, our Lord tacitly reproved him,
" How hardly shall they who have riches enter
when he said :
into the kingdom of God" (ver. 23).
16. They object, fourthly, that St. Paul, while still under the
law, and not having yet received Grace, observed all the law, as
he himself attests :
"
According to the justice that is in the law,
conversing without blame" (Phil, iii, 6). We answer, that the
Apostle, at that time, observed the law externally, but not in
ternally, by loving God above all things, as he himself says :
"For we ourselves, also, were some time unwise, incredulous,
erring, slaves to divers desires and pleasures, living
in malice and
envy, hating one another" (Tit. iii, 3).
17. They object, fifthly, all the precepts of the Decalogue
are either possible or impossible ; if they are possible, we can
observe them by the strength of our free will alone, but if they
are impossible, no one is bound to observe them, for no one is
obliged to do impossibilities. We answer, that all these precepts
are impossible to us without Grace, but are quite possible with
the assistance of Grace. This is the answer of St. Thomas (2) :
"
Illud quod possumus cum auxili Divino, non est nobis omnino
impossibile Unde Hieronymus confitetur, sic nostrum esse
liberum arbitrium, ut dicamus nos semper indigere Dei auxilio."
Therefore, as the observance of the Commandments is quite
possible to us with the assistance of the Divine Grace, we are
bound to observe them. We will answer the other objections
of the Pelagians in the next chapter, the Refutation of the Semi-
Pelagian heresy.
(2) St. Thorn. 1, 2, 9, 109, a. 4, ad. 2.