15. Well therefore, my son, have you begun by the Law, and been confirmed in the Gospel, Hab. ii. 4.
Rom. i. 17. from faith to faith, as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
Farewell; love me for I also love you.
LETTER LXXVIII.
IN this letter S. Ambrose shews, that we, like Abraham, are justified by faith, through which we are sons of the freewoman; that circumcision derived all its efficacy from Christ, and was abolished, after He had undergone it in His own person, by Him. Righteousness is therefore only to be looked for from faith, which if it be perfect, is never destitute of charity.
AMBROSE TO HORONTIANUS.
1. IF Gal. iii. 6. Abraham believed God, and it was accounted unto him for righteousness, and that which is accounted for righteousness passes from unbelief to faith, then are we justified by faith, not by the works of the Law. Ib. iv. 22. Now Abraham himself had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac, one of the bondwoman, the other of the freewoman; and it was told him that he should cast out the bondwoman and the son of the bondwoman, for that the son of the bondwoman should not be his heir. We therefore are children not of the bondwoman but of the free woman, in that liberty wherewith Christ has made us free. Hence it follows that they are specially Abraham’s sons, who are so by faith, for the heirs of faith excel heirs by natural birth. Ib. iii. 24. The Law is our schoolmaster, faith is free; let us therefore cast away the works of bondage, let us preserve the grace of liberty, let us leave the shade, and follow the Sun, let us desert Jewish rites.
2. The circumcision of one member is of no avail. For the Apostle says, Ib. v. 2. Behold I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised Christ shall profit you nothing, not because He cannot, but because He judges those unworthy of His benefits who desert His ways.
3. Exod. iv. 25. And Zipporah of old had circumcised her child, and driven off the danger which hung over him; but then Christ profited while perfection was still deferred. While the people of believers were small, the Lord Jesus came, not as small, but as perfect in all things. He was circumcised first, according to the Law, that He might notbreak the Law, afterwards by the Cross, that He might fulfil the Law.Thus that which is in part has ceased, because 1 Cor. xiii. 10. that which is perfect has come; for in Christ the Cross has circumcised not one member only, but the superfluous pleasures of the whole body.
4. But perhaps it may still be asked why He Who had come to declare to us perfect circumcision should choose to be circumcised in part. Concerning this however we need not deliberate long. For if 2 Cor. v. 21. He was made sin that He might expiate our sins, if Gal. iii. 13. He was made a curse for us that He might annul the curses of the Law, for the same reason He was also circumcised for us, that being about to bestow salvation by the Cross, He might abolish the circumcision of the Law.