ON THE SPIRIT AND THE LETTER.

...said this, that it is possible for God. You may also read Matthew 26 that twelve thousand legions of angels could have fought for Christ so that he would not have to suffer, and yet it did not happen. You may read that it could have been possible for the nations to be wiped out all at once from the land given to the children of Israel; yet God willed it to be done gradually. Six hundred original: "sexcenta"; a common Latin idiom used to signify an indefinitely large number, similar to saying "a thousand other things" other things can occur to us which we admit could have happened or could happen, and yet we cannot provide examples of them actually having been done. Therefore, we should not deny that it is possible for a man to be without sin just because there is no man—except for Him who is not only man but also God—in whom we can demonstrate such perfection to have been achieved.

Chapter II.

Here perhaps you might respond that those things I mentioned—which were not done but could have been—are divine works; whereas for a man to be without sin belongs to the work of the man himself. You might say it is the highest work, by which a full, perfect, and in every way absolute righteousness original: "iustitia"; in this theological context, it refers to a state of being "right" or morally perfect before God is achieved. Therefore, you might argue one should not believe that no one has ever been, is, or will be in this life who has fulfilled this work, if it can indeed be fulfilled by man. But you ought to consider that although it belongs to man to do this, this too is a divine gift; and therefore, you should not doubt that it is a divine work. "For it is God," says the Apostle, "who works in you, both to will and to work for his good Philippians 2 pleasure." Consequently, those who say a man lives this way, or has lived [at some point] without any [sin] at all, are not particularly troublesome; we should simply press them to show it to be so, if they can.