From the Summa Theologica.
Whether we were delivered from sin through Christ's
Passion?
Objection 1. It would seem that we were not
delivered from sin through Christ's Passion. For to deliver from sin belongs to
God alone, according to Isaiah 43:25: "I am He who blot out your
iniquities for My own sake." But Christ did not suffer as God, but as man.
Therefore Christ's Passion did not free us from sin.
Objection 2. Further, what is corporeal does
not act upon what is spiritual. But Christ's Passion is corporeal, whereas sin
exists in the soul, which is a spiritual creature. Therefore Christ's Passion
could not cleanse us from sin.
Objection 3. Further, one cannot be purged
from a sin not yet committed, but which shall be committed hereafter. Since,
then, many sins have been committed since Christ's death, and are being
committed daily, it seems that we were not delivered from sin by Christ's
death.
Objection 4. Further, given an efficient
cause, nothing else is required for producing the effect. But other things
besides are required for the forgiveness of sins, such as baptism and penance.
Consequently it seems that Christ's Passion is not the sufficient cause of the
forgiveness of sins.
Objection 5. Further, it is written (Proverbs
10:12): "Charity covereth all sins"; and (Proverbs 15:27): "By
mercy and faith, sins are purged away." But there are many other things of
which we have faith, and which excite charity. Therefore Christ's Passion is
not the proper cause of the forgiveness of sins.
On the contrary, It is written (Apocalypse 1:5):
"He loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood."
I answer that, Christ's Passion is the proper
cause of the forgiveness of sins in three ways. First of all, by way of
exciting our charity, because, as the Apostle says (Romans 5:8): "God
commendeth His charity towards us: because when as yet we were sinners,
according to the time, Christ died for us." But it is by charity that we
procure pardon of our sins, according to Luke 7:47: "Many sins are
forgiven her because she hath loved much." Secondly, Christ's Passion
causes forgiveness of sins by way of redemption. For since He is our head,
then, by the Passion which He endured from love and obedience, He delivered us
as His members from our sins, as by the price of His Passion: in the same way
as if a man by the good industry of his hands were to redeem himself from a sin
committed with his feet. For, just as the natural body is one though made up of
diverse members, so the whole Church, Christ's mystic body, is reckoned as one
person with its head, which is Christ. Thirdly, by way of efficiency, inasmuch
as Christ's flesh, wherein He endured the Passion, is the instrument of the
Godhead, so that His sufferings and actions operate with Divine power for
expelling sin.
Reply to Objection
1. Although
Christ did not suffer as God, nevertheless His flesh is the instrument of the
Godhead; and hence it is that His Passion has a kind of Divine Power of casting
out sin, as was said above.
Reply to Objection
2. Although
Christ's Passion is corporeal, still it derives a kind of spiritual energy from
the Godhead, to which the flesh is united as an instrument: and according to
this power Christ's Passion is the cause of the forgiveness of sins.
Reply to Objection
3. Christ by His
Passion delivered us from our sins causally--that is, by setting up the cause
of our deliverance, from which cause all sins whatsoever, past, present, or to
come, could be forgiven: just as if a doctor were to prepare a medicine by
which all sicknesses can be cured even in future.
Reply to Objection
4. As stated
above, since Christ's Passion preceded, as a kind of universal cause of the
forgiveness of sins, it needs to be applied to each individual for the
cleansing of personal sins. Now this is done by baptism and penance and the
other sacraments, which derive their power from Christ's Passion, as shall be
shown later (62, 5).
Reply to Objection
5. Christ's
Passion is applied to us even through faith, that we may share in its fruits,
according to Romans 3:25: "Whom God hath proposed to be a propitiation,
through faith in His blood." But the faith through which we are cleansed
from sin is not "lifeless faith," which can exist even with sin, but
"faith living" through charity; that thus Christ's Passion may be
applied to us, not only as to our minds, but also as to our hearts. And even in
this way sins are forgiven through the power of the Passion of Christ.
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