Whether in the justification of the ungodly sins are truly destroyed and taken away, and not only covered?

I say: In the justification of a sinner his sins are not only covered, or not imputed, but are truly remitted, blotted out and taken away. This is against the Lutherans and Calvinists.

It is proved 1° in the most formal terms of Scripture. Psal. L, 3: Blot out my iniquity. And 11: Blot out all my iniquities. Isa., XLIII, 25: I am he that blots out thy iniquities for my sake. Osee, XIV, 3: Take away all iniquity. Michaeae, VII, 18: What God is like to thee, who takes away iniquity? Joann., I, 29: Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sin of the world.

It is proved 2° by other terms of Scripture. Man is inwardly stained and defiled by sin, as we said of sins, and all agree. But, according to Scripture, man in his justification is cleansed, washed, purged and sanctified from his sins. Psal. L, 9: Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Ezech., XXXVI, 25: I will pour upon you clean water, and you shall be cleansed from all your filthiness. I Joann., I, 7: The blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. But if sins be only covered, it is said falsely that man is cleansed, washed, purged from them, etc.

For who would say that a man stained with filth is clean and washed, because he covers the filth with a cloak?

[It is proved 3° from the council of Trent, session V, canon 5, where it is said: « If anyone denies that by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ which is conferred in baptism the guilt of original sin is remitted; or even asserts that the whole of that which has the true and proper nature of sin is not taken away, but says that it is only erased or not imputed; let him be anathema. » And in session VI, chapter 7, it is taught that « justification is not only the remission of sins, but also the sanctification and renewal of the interior man through the voluntary reception of grace and gifts: whence man becomes just from unjust, and friend from enemy. » Moreover this renewal of the interior man cannot consist in the fact that sin is only erased and not imputed, because then sin would truly remain in the soul, which would not be renewed from within, and man would not be truly just, but would be held as just only extrinsically, nor could he become the friend of God.]

It is proved 4° from Augustine. The holy Doctor, lib. I ad Bonif. contra duas epist. Pelag., c. 13, n. 26, answering the Pelagians who said that Catholics teach baptism does not take away crimes but erases them, and their roots remain, replies: « We say that baptism gives the pardon of all sins and takes away crimes, not erases them. » And Enarrat. II in Psal. XXXI, n. 9, expounding those words: Blessed are they whose iniquities are remitted, and whose sins are covered, on which the heretics chiefly rely, says: « Do not so understand what he said: « sins are covered, » as if they were there and alive. » Ibid. n. 12: « Let God cover the wounds; do not you. For if you wish to cover it out of shame, the physician will not cure it. Let the physician cover and cure; for the plaster covers. Under the physician's covering the wound is healed; under the covering of the wounded man the wound is concealed. » Therefore thus, according to Augustine, God covers wounds, that by covering he may heal them, like a physician who covers a wound with a plaster and heals it. Which is plainly decisive against the heretics. See other Fathers, if you please, in Bellarmine, lib. II de Justif., c. 8.

It is proved 5° from absurdities. If in the justification of the impious sins remain and are only covered, and not blotted out and destroyed, it follows 1° that man will be at once just and unjust: just, because he is justified; unjust, because he remains in sin, which is essentially injustice. 2° It follows that God loves sinners as his friends, and in order to eternal beatitude, against that word of Sap., XIV, 9: To God the wicked and his wickedness are hateful.