s if a man by the good industry of his
hands were to redeem himself from a sin committed with his feet. For,
just as the natural body is one though made up of diverse members, so
the whole Church, Christ's mystic body, is reckoned as one person
with its head, which is Christ. Thirdly, by way of efficiency,
inasmuch as Christ's flesh, wherein He endured the Passion, is the
instrument of the Godhead, so that His sufferings and actions operate
with Divine power for expelling sin.

Reply Obj. 1: Although Christ did not suffer as God, nevertheless His
flesh is the instrument of the Godhead; and hence it is that His
Passion has a kind of Divine Power of casting out sin, as was said
above.

Reply Obj. 2: Although Christ's Passion is corporeal, still it
derives a kind of spiritual energy from the Godhead, to which the
flesh is united as an instrument: and according to this power
Christ's Passion is the cause of the forgiveness of sins.

Reply Obj. 3: Christ by His Passion delivered us from our sins
causally--that is, by setting up the cause of our deliverance, from
which cause all sins whatsoever, past, present, or to come, could be
forgiven: just as if a doctor were to prepare a medicine by which all
sicknesses can be cured even in future.

Reply Obj. 4: As stated above, since Christ's Passion preceded, as a
kind of universal cause of the forgiveness of sins, it needs to be
applied to each individual for the cleansing of personal sins. Now
this is done by baptism and penance and the other sacraments, which
derive their power from Christ's Passion, as shall be shown later (Q.
62, A. 5).

Reply Obj. 5: Christ's Passion is applied to us even through faith,
that we may share in its fruits, according to Rom. 3:25: "Whom God
hath proposed to be a propitiation, through faith in His blood." But
the faith through which we are cleansed from sin is not _lifeless
faith,_ which can exist even with sin, but _faith living_ through
charity; that thus Christ's Passion may be applied to us, not only as
to our minds, but also as to our hearts. And even in this way sins
are forgiven through the power of the Passion of Christ.
_______________________

SECOND ARTICLE [III, Q. 49, Art. 2]

Whether We Were Delivered from the Devil's Power Through Christ's
Passion?

Objection 1: It would seem that we were not delivered from the power
of the devil through Christ's Passion. For he has no power over
others, who can do nothing to them without