Question 9. Doth not God then do injustice to man, by requiring from him, in his law, that which he cannot perform?

Augustine says: “Lord, give what thou dost command, and command what thou wilt, and thou shalt not command in vain.”

Augustine says: “Lord, give what thou dost command, and command what thou wilt, and thou shalt not command in vain.”

1–3 You were dead in your transgressions is again a Jewish way of speech; its force is nicely illustrated by a midrash (Jewish commentary) on Ec. 9:5 which speaks of ‘the wicked who even in their lifetime are called dead’. Those bound in sin are doomed to death, and so already belong to its realm; the very thing they think of as ‘life’ is but a foretaste of death, because it is without God (cf. Jn. 5:24; 1 Jn. 3:14 and IQH 11:10–14). While Paul elsewhere teaches that this state of affairs is the result of sin, that is not the point here; rather the state in your transgressions and sins is what characterized their former existence. These things were the corrupt fruit of their ‘death’. In v 2 Paul attributes this life marked by sins chiefly to two related factors—the influence of this world (i.e. the present fallen creation and the forces it generates in society, seen as standing in rebellion against God and in contrast to the ‘new age’ or ‘new creation’ awaited), and the influence of Satan, described here as the ruler of the kingdom of the air. The air denoted the lower heavens, closest to the earth, and was often thought to be the abode of the evil spiritual beings. The idea of Satan being at work in those who are disobedient is found elsewhere in Jewish literature. For example in The Ascension of Isaiah he is said to have ‘rejoiced in Jerusalem because of Manasseh and strengthened him in his leading to apostasy and in the lawlessness which was spread abroad in Jerusalem’ (2:2–4; cf. 2 Ki. 21; 2 Ch. 33). This could all sound like a determinism to evil for which we are not responsible, but v 3 puts the blame equally fairly on our own rebellious nature with its corrupt desires and thinking. All this made us what Paul calls ‘children of wrath’ (NRSV correctly); that is, those condemned to suffer God’s holy anger directed against sin.

Question 10. Will God suffer such disobedience and rebellion to go unpunished?

Question 11. But is not God also merciful?

Answer. God is indeed merciful, but also just; therefore his justice requires that sin, which is committed against the most high majesty of God, be also punished with extreme, that is, with everlasting punishment, both of body and soul.

The reason which makes this form of punishment necessary is evident from this: that sin which is committed against God, who is infinitely good, demands an infinite punishment and satisfaction, which could not be rendered by the afflictions which are incident merely to this life. This would not satisfy the infinite and eternal justice of God.