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St. Augustine
Enchiridion
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CHAPTER XXXII The End of All the Law


121. All the divine precepts are, therefore, referred back to _love_, of which the apostle says,
"Now the end of the commandment is love, out of a pure heart, and a good conscience and a
faith unfeigned."
259 Thus every commandment harks back to love. For whatever one does
either in fear of punishment or from some carnal impulse, so that it does not measure up to the
standard of love which the Holy Spirit sheds abroad in our hearts - whatever it is, it is not yet
done as it should be, although it may seem to be. Love, in this context, of course includes both
the love of God and the love of our neighbor and, indeed, "on these two commandments hang all
the Law and the Prophets"
260 - and, we may add, the gospel and the apostles, for from
nowhere else comes the voice, "The end of the commandment is love,"
261 and, "God is
love."
262
Therefore, whatsoever things God commands (and one of these is, "Thou shalt not commit
adultery"
263) and whatsoever things are not positively ordered but are strongly advised as
good spiritual counsel (and one of these is, "It is a good thing for a man not to touch a
woman"
264) - all of these imperatives are rightly obeyed only when they are measured by the
standard of our love of God and our love of our neighbor in God [propter Deum]. This applies
both in the present age and in the world to come. Now we love God in faith; then, at sight. For,
though mortal men ourselves, we do not know the hearts of mortal men. But then "the Lord will
illuminate the hidden things in the darkness and will make manifest the cogitations of the heart;
and then shall each one have his praise from God"
265 - for what will be praised and loved in a
neighbor by his neighbor is just that which, lest it remain hidden, God himself will bring to light.
Moreover, passion decreases as love increases
266 until love comes at last to that fullness
which cannot be surpassed, "for greater love than this no one has, that a man lay down his life for
his friends."
267 Who, then, can explain how great the power of love will be, when there will
be no passion [cupiditas] for it to restrain or overcome? For, then, the supreme state of true
health [summa sanitas] will have been reached, when the struggle with death shall be no more.




259 1 Tim. 1:5.



260 Matt. 22:40.



261 1 Tim. 1:5.



262 1 John 4:16.



263 Ex. 20:14; Matt. 5:27; etc.



264 1 Cor. 7:1.



265 1 Cor. 4:5.



266 Minuitur autem cupiditas caritate crescente.



267 John 15:23.




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