In this next stanza of the Pentecost Sequence, we wade into some subtle theological distinctions, so bear with me here! These ancient words shed light on the reality of our creation, our fall from grace, and our redemption in Christ:
Sine tuo numine, Without your divine will (Grace),
nihil est in homine, there is nothing in us,
nihil est innoxium. nothing that is not harmful.
“In the beginning,” at the creation of the world, God made humanity in his image and likeness, and “it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). Clearly, existence itself is a gift of God’s grace. The words of this stanza, therefore, ring true, because without his grace, we would not even exist.
But when something “harmful” enters the picture, the words take on a new meaning. Adam and Eve sinned and passed down the effects of that sin to every one of their descendants (all human beings). Some Christian traditions would say that this Original Sin totally corrupted Adam and Eve and their descendants, so that they would no longer even have the freedom to choose to be saved. The Catholic Church, on the other hand, teaches that the Original Sin deeply wounded Adam and Eve, and that woundedness is passed down. These descendants still possess some of their original goodness: they continue to exist, they can still reason, and they can choose right and wrong, but with the Original Sin, they are separated from God and experience ignorance, suffering, death, and an inclination to sin (See CCC 405).
How then, one may ask, are we saved from this wound?
St. Paul answers, “[Jesus] saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” This “rebirth and renewal” takes away our Original Sin, the state in which every human being is born, and unites us to Jesus Christ as a member of his body and a child of God the Father through adoption into THE Son (cf. Galatians 4:5). This is not something we accomplish, but it is something that by God’s gracious gift, we can choose to accept. We can choose with the help of God’s grace, for example, to “repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15).
It is important to emphasize that this change in us is not just cosmetic. Some Christian traditions hold the teaching that God simply covers up our corrupted humanity with his power and grace. In that mindset, we remain broken and our redemption is something external to us. It is something Jesus does for us, not to us.
From a Catholic perspective, however, a real change takes place in us through the grace of baptism. As one of my seminary professors loved to say, “Grace gets in the nature.” In other words, God heals the wounds of sin from the inside out. The first line of the stanza is key: “Without your grace.” Yes, without the grace we are nothing, but we have the grace. Therefore, by his gracious will, we are something, and at our very core, we truly become “a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
At the same time, redeemed Christians still experience the effects of sin: ignorance, suffering, death, and an inclination to sin. But these effects are not sin – they do not, in themselves, separate us from God. The broken relationship with God is truly healed, and these effects of sin only harm a Christian if because of that inclination to sin he/she chooses to sin and be separated from God again. Thus, the need for the sacrament of Reconciliation.
Through the Blood of the Lamb, which we encounter through the sacraments, our sins are washed, and the Holy Spirit causes this cleansing in us by the gracious will of our Heavenly Father. Praise God for this grace! The Trinity saves us and draws us into the divine love relationship by joining us to the Son, the Word of God. May the Holy Spirit keep us firmly fixed in the love of God. Come Holy Spirit, set us on fire with your love!