d enmity
against the Law; and presently human nature flees before God and is
incensed at God's judgment. It begins to question the equity of his
dealings, to ask if he is a just God. Influenced by such thoughts, it
falls ever deeper into doubt, it murmurs and chafes, until finally,
unless the Gospel comes to the rescue, it utterly despairs, as did
Judas, and Saul, and perhaps pass out of this life with God and
creation. This is what Paul means when he says (Rom 7, 8-9) that the
Law works sin in the heart of man, and sin works death, or kills.

27. You see, then, why the Law is called "the letter": though noble
doctrine, it remains on the surface; it does not enter the heart as a
vital force which begets obedience. Such is the baseness of human
nature, it will not and cannot conform to the Law; and so corrupt is
mankind, there is no individual who does not violate all God's
commandments in spite of daily hearing the preached Word and having
held up to view God's wrath and eternal condemnation. Indeed, the
harder pressed man is, the more furiously he storms against the Law.

28. The substance of the matter is this: When all the commandments
have been put together, when their message receives every particle of
praise to which it is entitled, it is still a mere letter. That is,
teaching not put into practice. By "letter" is signified all manner
of law, doctrine and message, which goes no farther than the oral or
written word, which consists only of the powerless letter. To
illustrate: A law promulgated by a prince or the authorities of a
city, if not enforced, remains merely an open letter, which makes a
demand indeed, but ineffectually. Similarly, God's Law, although a
teaching of supreme authority and the eternal will of God, must
suffer itself to become a mere empty letter or husk. Without a
quickening heart, and devoid of fruit, the Law is powerless to effect
life and salvation. It may well be called a veritable table of
omissions (Lass-tafel); that is, it is a written enumeration, not of
duties performed but of duties cast aside. In the languages of the
world, it is a royal edict which remains unobserved and unperformed.
In this light St. Augustine understood the Law. He says, commenting
on Psalm 17, "What is Law without grace but a letter without spirit?"
Human nature, without the aid of Christ and his grace, cannot keep
it.

29. Again, Paul in terming the Gospel a "ministration of the spirit"
would call attention