301. Justification of the Impious: Grace, Faith, and Free Will
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Lecture Notes
Main Topics #
The Four Components of Justification #
Justification of the impious consists of four simultaneous elements:
- Infusion of Justifying Grace - God pours in a habitual gift of grace that transforms the soul
- Motion of Free Will Toward God - The will is moved to accept grace and convert to God through faith
- Motion of Free Will Against Sin - The will must actively detest sin, not merely cease sinning
- Remission of Guilt - The effect and consummation wherein sin is no longer imputed
Grace and the Remission of Guilt #
The first objection claims that guilt can be removed without grace being infused, since one can be removed from one contrary without being led to another (just as guilt can be absent without grace being present, as in the state of innocent childhood).
Aquinas’s Response: After sin, more is required than mere cessation of offense. God’s benevolence (love) must repair the offense. Divine love does not consist only in an act of God’s will but implies a real effect of grace in the soul. Just as a person cannot be removed from hatred without being led into love through some special benevolence, so too remission of sin requires an infusion of grace that signifies God’s love toward the sinner.
A second objection argues that remission of guilt consists merely in God not imputing sin (as Psalm 31 states: “Blessed is the man to whom God does not impute sin”), so grace is unnecessary.
Aquinas’s Response: The love of God is not only an act of God’s will but implies a certain effect of grace. God’s non-imputation of sin to a person produces a real effect in that person—a transformation of the soul through grace.
The Motion of Free Will #
The objection from baptism of infants and the insane claims that justification occurs without motion of free will, since little children are baptized and sometimes even unconscious persons receive grace.
Aquinas’s Response:
- Those without the use of free will (infants, the congenitally insane) are moved by God through infusion of grace alone, without needing the motion of free will
- This occurs through the sacrament (not without it) because original sin—which they did not contract through their own will—is remitted through spiritual regeneration from Christ
- However, those who once had the use of free will but later lost it (through sleep, sickness, or temporary insanity) do not achieve justifying grace through baptism unless they had previously intended to receive it when they possessed free will
The objection from Solomon receiving wisdom in sleep claims that grace can be given without motion of free will, just as wisdom was given to Solomon without his conscious deliberation.
Aquinas’s Response:
- Solomon did not merit wisdom in sleep but received it on account of his preceding desire
- The sleep involved was not natural sleep but the sleep of prophecy, in which the intellect retains some act
- More importantly, there is a distinction between receiving wisdom (which perfects the intellect and precedes the will) and receiving justifying grace (which directly orders man to the good that is the object of the will). Wisdom can be given without complete motion of free will, but justifying grace cannot
The objection from conservation of grace argues that since grace is both produced and conserved by the same cause (God), and conservation does not require motion of the soul, production of grace need not require it either.
Aquinas’s Response: There is a crucial distinction. The infusion of justifying grace involves a changeover (transmutatio) of the soul—a real transformation. Therefore it requires a motion proper to the soul, namely the motion of free will according to its own mode. Conservation of grace, by contrast, has no changeover; it requires only the continuation of God’s influx without requiring motion in the power of the soul.
The Role of Faith #
The objection claims that motion of faith is not uniquely required because fear, humility, mercy, and charity also remit sins (citing Ecclesiasticus 1 on fear, Luke 7 on charity, James 4 on humility, and Proverbs 15 on mercy).
Aquinas’s Response:
- The motion of faith is not perfect unless it be informed by charity
- These virtues work together simultaneously (simul) in the justification of the impious
- Free will is moved to God in order to be subject to Him, and with this motion runs together the act of filial fear and the act of humility
- Multiple acts of diverse virtues can occur simultaneously when ordered to one another within a single act of free will
- Mercy operates against sin either by way of satisfaction (and thus follows justification) or by way of preparation (and thus can precede justification)
The objection from natural knowledge of God claims that since man can know God through natural reason and through the gift of wisdom, the act of faith is not required for justification.
Aquinas’s Response: Through natural knowledge, one does not know God insofar as He is the object of justification and the cause of justification—the gift of wisdom presupposes the knowledge of faith as having been established above.
The objection from multiple articles of faith argues that if faith is required for justification, one would need to think about all the articles of faith simultaneously, which is impossible because such thinking (cogitatio) requires a long time.
Aquinas’s Response: What is required is not explicit thought about all articles but belief that God exists and is the redeemer through the mystery of Christ. One must believe God is the object of the attitude and the cause of justification, with other articles contained implicitly.
Key Arguments #
Against the Sufficiency of Guilt’s Removal Without Grace #
- Objection: Guilt and grace are contraries; innocence (which has neither) is a middle state, so guilt can be removed without grace being added
- Response: After sin, remission requires more than mere absence of offense; it requires God’s benevolence (grace) repairing the relationship and producing a real effect in the soul
Against the Necessity of Free Will’s Motion #
- Objection: Infants, the insane, and even those in unconscious states (like Augustine’s friend in fever) are justified without motion of free will
- Response: Those without free will use are moved by infusion of grace alone; those who had free will must have previously intended the sacrament when conscious
Against Instantaneous Justification and Free Will’s Motion #
- The lecture references the principle that God moves all things according to their nature
- Since man’s nature is to be a free agent, God must move the human soul through the motion of free will
- This motion is instantaneous (subito), not successive like bodily motion
Important Definitions #
Justification (Justificatio Impii) #
The movement of the human mind from the state of guilt to the state of justice, accomplished by God moving man to justice while respecting human free will. It consists of four simultaneous components: infusion of grace, motion of will to God, motion of will against sin, and remission of guilt.
Grace (Gratia) #
In this context, justifying grace (gratia justificans)—a habitual gift that God pours into the soul as a real effect of His love, transforming the soul and making it acceptable to God. It is distinct from merely external imputation.
Motion (Motio) #
In the context of free will, not physical motion but emotional/volitional movement: detestation (receding from sin) and desire/conversion (acceding to God). These occur instantaneously, not successively.
Changeover (Transmutatio) #
A real transformation of the soul occurring in the infusion of grace, requiring motion of the human soul appropriate to its nature (free will). Distinguished from conservation of grace, which has no changeover.
Faith (Fides) #
The first motion toward God in justification; the intellectual assent to truth, particularly belief that God exists and is the redeemer through Christ. Must be informed by charity to be perfect.
Detestation (Detestatio) #
The active turning away from sin as an offense against God; not merely cessation of sinning but an act of the will moved by God.
Examples & Illustrations #
Bodily Motion Analogy #
To travel from one’s house to the monastery, one simultaneously recedes from the house while acceding to the monastery. Similarly, in justification, detestation of sin (receding) and conversion to God (acceding) are one motion viewed from two perspectives.
Contraries and Innocence #
A child who has not yet reached the age of reason is in a state of innocence, having neither grace nor guilt. This middle state shows that absence of guilt does not require presence of grace in the innocent, but after sin, remission requires grace to repair the offense.
Solomon’s Dream #
Solomon received wisdom while sleeping, but this was preceded by his preceding desire and occurred in the sleep of prophecy (not natural sleep), showing that the reception of wisdom differs from the reception of justifying grace, which directly moves the will.
The Unconscious Person in Fever #
Augustine describes a person in lethal fever who was baptized while unconscious and received grace. Aquinas explains this was possible because the person’s sin (original sin) did not come through their will, just as regeneration through baptism comes spiritually through Christ without requiring conscious will-motion in the unconscious state.
Multiple Virtues in One Act #
Just as subject and predicate are known together in understanding a statement, and just as one’s motions when traveling involve both receding from one place and acceding to another, the act of free will in justification can simultaneously involve faith, hope, charity, fear, and humility—ordered to one another within the single motion toward God.
Notable Quotes #
“Man, by sinning, offends God… But the offense is not remitted to someone, except through this, that the soul of the one offended is put in peace with the one offending.”
“The motion of faith is not perfect unless it be informed by charity.”
“It is possible among men to happen that one man neither loves another, nor hates him. But if he offends him, that he dismisses this offense cannot happen without some special benevolence.”
“By his being generated from the Father as his son, he [Christ] has seen something from the thing itself. And insofar as he’s the Word that proceeds from the thinker, then he’s learning from the mind of the Father.”
Questions Addressed #
Is grace required for remission of guilt? #
Answer: Yes. Although innocence involves neither grace nor guilt, after sin remission requires an infusion of grace that manifests God’s benevolence repairing the offense and transforming the soul.
Is motion of free will necessary for justification? #
Answer: For those with the use of free will, yes. God moves all things according to their nature; since human nature is free, God must move the human soul through the motion of free will. Those without free will (infants, the congenitally insane) receive grace through infusion alone, but those who had free will must have intended the sacrament when conscious.
Is the motion of free will instantaneous or successive? #
Answer: Instantaneous (subito). The consent of free will is indivisible. Deliberation may precede justification successively, but justification itself occurs all at once, like illumination entering a room instantaneously even though preparation (the sun’s rising) takes time.
Can multiple acts occur simultaneously in justification? #
Answer: Yes, when ordered to one another. Detestation of sin and conversion to God, faith and charity, fear and humility—all occur together in the single act of free will, just as subject and predicate are known together in a statement.
What faith is required for justification? #
Answer: Not explicit knowledge of all articles of faith, but belief that God exists and is the redeemer through the mystery of Christ. This fundamental faith contains other articles implicitly.