284. Exterior Works and the New Law

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

The Question: Should the New Law Command Exterior Works? #

Initial Objection: The kingdom of God is interior (Luke 17:21; Romans 14:17), so the New Law should command only interior acts, not exterior ones. Further, the New Law is the law of the Spirit and freedom (Romans 8), which suggests no coercion regarding exterior works.

Thomas’s Resolution: While the kingdom of God consists chiefly in interior acts, exterior acts that are repugnant to justice, peace, or spiritual joy are repugnant to the kingdom itself and must be prohibited. The New Law therefore does command and prohibit certain exterior works.

The Two Ways Exterior Works Pertain to Grace #

1. Leading to grace: The sacraments (Baptism, Eucharist, Penance, Confirmation, Matrimony) are exterior sensible things through which grace flows from the incarnate Word. These must be instituted by Christ himself.

2. Flowing from grace: Exterior works that proceed from the interior instinct of grace, such as:

   • Confession of faith (Matthew 10:32)
   • Acts of charity and virtue
   • Works that reflect the theological virtues

The Distinction: Works Necessary vs. Indifferent to Grace #

Some exterior works have necessary agreement or contrariety to faith acting through love, and these are commanded or prohibited (e.g., confession of faith, rejection of faith’s negation).

Other exterior works do not have necessary agreement or contrariety to faith acting through love, and these are left to individual liberty and the discretion of those in authority (e.g., what to eat, how to dress, ceremonial observances not instituted by Christ).

The New Law as the Law of Liberty #

The New Law is called the law of liberty in two ways:

1. Negatively: It does not coerce us regarding things except those which of themselves are either necessary or repugnant to salvation. Many things determined in the Old Law are left undetermined in the New Law.

2. Positively: The precepts and prohibitions make us freely fulfill them insofar as from the inward instinct of grace we fulfill them. True freedom consists in acting from a habit suitable to our nature (per Aristotle, Metaphysics I). Since grace is an inward habit inclining us to good, it enables us to act freely.

Grace as Inward Habit #

Grace is like an inward habit poured into us by the Holy Spirit. Just as a corrupt habit enslaves a man to disordered action, grace liberates us and makes us act freely according to our true nature elevated by grace.

Key Arguments #

Against Commanding Exterior Works (Objections) #

• Kingdom is interior: The kingdom of God does not consist in exterior acts but in interior justice, peace, and spiritual joy (Luke 17:21; Romans 14:17)
• Law of the Spirit means freedom: Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But obligation to exterior works enslaves (Romans 8)
• Old law/New law distinction: The old law concerns the hand (exterior); the new law concerns the soul (interior)
• Freedom and voluntary action: Love and do what you want (Augustine) suggests no coercion

Thomas’s Responses #

• Indirect necessity: Although the kingdom consists chiefly in interior acts, exterior acts that contradict justice, peace, or spiritual joy are repugnant to the kingdom and must be prohibited
• Grace enables true freedom: Freedom is not absence of obligation but acting from a habit suitable to one’s nature. Grace inclines us to act freely in accordance with virtue
• Both soul and hand: The new law restricts the soul from disordered movements, and through this restriction of the soul, certain exterior acts (effects of interior motion) are also restricted
• Authority of Scripture: Matthew 7:24-25 and Ephesians 5:8-10 establish that believers must do works of light and reject works of darkness

On the Sufficiency of the New Law (Objections) #

• Incomplete compared to Old Law: The Old Law determined many ceremonial and judicial things; the New Law seems to leave many things undetermined
• Old Law had sacred things: The Old Law instituted sacred things (temples, vessels); the New Law instituted sacraments but not equivalent sacred things
• Old Law had observances for both ministers and people: The Old Law prescribed observances for priests and people; the New Law seems to lack equivalent precepts for the faithful
• Missing judicial precepts: The Old Law contained judicial precepts; the New Law does not

Thomas’s Response to Sufficiency #

The New Law need only command or prohibit exterior things in two categories:

1. Things that lead into grace: Primarily the sacraments (Baptism, Eucharist, Penance, Confirmation, Matrimony, and the ordering of ministers). These must be instituted by Christ because grace flows through them.

2. Things pertaining to the right use of grace: Specifically, works of charity insofar as they are necessary to virtue. These are the moral precepts, which were also contained in the Old Testament. The New Law therefore does not add new moral precepts beyond what pertains to virtue itself.

Other determinations (ceremonial arrangements, sacred things, judicial matters, specific rules for ministers or people) are left to human judgment. These determinations do not fall under the precepts of the New Law because they are not necessary to interior grace in which the law consists.

Important Definitions #

Sacraments #

Exterior sensible signs instituted by Christ through which grace is given. The principal sacraments mentioned are Baptism (beginning of the sacraments), Eucharist (end of all sacraments), and Penance. Unlike ceremonial things, sacraments actually confer grace flowing from the incarnate Word.

Freedom (Libertas) #

According to Aristotle (Metaphysics I), the free person is one who is his own cause (causa sui). A man acts freely when he acts from himself—that is, from a habit or disposition that inclines him according to his nature. When a habit is repugnant to nature, a man acts according to corruption, not freedom. Grace, as an inward habit suitable to human nature elevated by grace, enables true freedom.

Necessary vs. Indifferent Exterior Works #

• Necessary to grace: Works that have intrinsic relation to faith acting through love (e.g., confession of faith, reception of sacraments)
• Indifferent to grace: Works that can be done or omitted without affecting the interior grace and charity (e.g., eating fish or meat, specific ceremonial observances)

Interior Acts #

The movements of the will, intention, affection, and judgment. The New Law commands and prohibits interior acts such as anger, lust, pride, and false judgment—the roots from which exterior sins proceed.

Examples & Illustrations #

The Objection from Luke 17:21 #

The kingdom of God is within you (interior), not in food and drink or exterior observances. The response: while the kingdom consists chiefly in interior justice and peace, exterior acts repugnant to these must necessarily be prohibited.

Romans 14:17 Example #

The kingdom is not food and drink but justice, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. This shows indifferent matters (food, drink) are left to liberty, while things affecting justice and peace are determined.

Freedom and the Spirit #

Romans 8: Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. The lecture clarifies that true liberty comes from being inclined by an inward habit of grace to act according to virtue, not from absence of all precepts.

Augustine’s “Love and do what you want” #

Understand as: if you have interior charity (the inward instinct of grace), then your exterior actions will naturally flow from that interior disposition. The precepts of the New Law are understood in light of interior grace.

Sacramental Authority #

Christ instituted the sacraments (Baptism, Eucharist, etc.) because grace flows through them. In contrast, sacred things (temple, altar, vessels) receive their dignity from the Church and from indulgences granted by the Church, not from inherent conferral of grace.

The Case of the Apostles #

Matthew 10:9-10 commands the apostles not to carry gold, silver, or extra garments. This can be understood either as: (1) a concession rather than a precept (they could provide for themselves through those who received their preaching), or (2) a temporal statute appropriate only to that period before the Passion, when the disciples needed special care as “little ones” under Christ. Once the Passion occurred and the perfect liberty of the Spirit was achieved, such specific determinations were removed (Luke 22:35-36).

The Two Sacraments First Mentioned #

Baptism (sacrament of beginning) and Eucharist (sacrament of fulfillment/sustenance) are mentioned first among the sacraments instituted by the New Law, reflecting their primacy.

Questions Addressed #

1. Should the New Law command or prohibit exterior works? #

Answer: Yes, but only those exterior works that either (a) lead into grace (the sacraments) or (b) pertain necessarily to the right use of grace (moral acts flowing from virtue). Other exterior works are left to human liberty and judgment.

2. Does the New Law sufficiently order exterior acts? #

Answer: Yes. It determines what is necessary for obtaining grace (sacraments) and for using grace rightly (moral precepts pertaining to virtue). The determination of ceremonial matters, sacred things, and judicial arrangements is left to human authority (bishops, temporal rulers) and is not part of the precepts of the New Law proper.

3. Why are some things left to human judgment? #

Answer: Because these determinations do not pertain to the necessity of interior grace, in which the law chiefly consists. The New Law leaves such matters to those in authority (spiritual or temporal) to determine according to circumstances and the common good.

4. How is the New Law a law of liberty? #

Answer: In two ways: (1) negatively, it does not coerce regarding things except those necessary or repugnant to salvation; (2) positively, it makes us freely fulfill precepts through the inward instinct of grace, which inclines us as a habit suitable to our elevated nature.