In which Augustine argues against such as say that in the present life there are, have been, and will be, men who have absolutely no sin at all. He lays down four propositions on this head: and teaches, first, that a man might possibly live in the present life without sin, by the grace of God and his own free will; he next shows that nevertheless in fact there is no man who lives quite free from sin in this life; thirdly, he sets forth the reason of this — because there is no man who exactly confines his wishes within the limits of the just requirement of each case, which just requirement he either fails to perceive, or is unwilling to carry out in practice; in the fourth place, he proves that there is not, nor has been, nor ever will be, a human being — except the one mediator, Christ — who is free from all sin.
Chapter 1 [I.]— What Has Thus Far Been Dwelt On; And What is to Be Treated in This Book.
We have, my dearest Marcellinus, discussed at sufficient length, I think, in the former book the baptism of infants — how that it is given to them not only for entrance into the kingdom of God, but also for attaining salvation and eternal life, which none can have without the kingdom of God, or without that union with the Saviour Christ, wherein He has redeemed us by His blood. I undertake in the present book to discuss and explain the question, Whether there lives in this world, or has yet lived, or ever will live, any one without any sin whatever, except the one Mediator between God and man, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all; — with as much care and ability as He may Himself vouchsafe to me. And should there occasionally arise in this discussion, either inevitably or casually from the argument, any question about the baptism or the sin of infants, I must neither be surprised nor must I shrink from giving the best answer I can, at such emergencies, to whatever point challenges my attention.
Chapter 2 [II.]— Some Persons Attribute Too Much to the Freedom of Man’s Will; Ignorance and Infirmity.
A solution is extremely necessary of this question about a human life unassailed by any deception or preoccupation of sin, in consequence even of our daily prayers. For there are some persons who presume so much upon the free determination of the human will, as to suppose that it need not sin, and that we require no divine assistance — attributing to our nature, once for all, this determination of free will. An inevitable consequence of this is, that we ought not to pray not to enter into temptation, — that is, not to be overcome of temptation, either when it deceives and surprises us in our ignorance, or when it presses and importunes us in our weakness. Now how hurtful, and how pernicious and contrary to our salvation in Christ, and how violently adverse to the religion itself in which we are instructed, and to the piety whereby we worship God, it cannot but be for us not to beseech the Lord for the attainment of such a benefit, but be rather led to think that petition of the Lord’s Prayer, Lead us not into temptation, a vain and useless insertion — it is beyond my ability to express in words.
Chapter 3 [III.]— In What Way God Commands Nothing Impossible. Works of Mercy, Means of Wiping Out Sins.
Now these people imagine that they are acute (as if none among us knew it) when they say, that if we have not the will, we commit no sin; nor would God command man to do what was impossible for human volition. But they do not see, that in order to overcome certain things, which are the objects either of an evil desire or an ill-conceived fear, men need the strenuous efforts, and sometimes even all the energies, of the will; and that we should only imperfectly employ these in every instance, He foresaw who willed so true an utterance to be spoken by the prophet: In Your sight shall no man living be justified. The Lord, therefore, foreseeing that such would be our character, was pleased to provide and endow with efficacious virtue certain healthful remedies against the guilt and bonds even of sins committed after baptism — for instance, the works of mercy — as when he says: Forgive, and you shall be forgiven; give, and it shall be given unto you. For who could quit this life with any hope of obtaining eternal salvation, with that sentence impending: Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all, if there did not soon after follow: So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty: for he shall have judgment without mercy that has showed no mercy; and mercy rejoices against judgment?