On the other hand, they had no power of cleansing from uncleanness of the soul, i.e. from the uncleanness of sin.  The reason of this was that at no time could there be expiation from sin, except through Christ, “Who taketh away the sins [Vulg.:  ‘sin’] of the world” (John 1:29).  And since the mystery of Christ’s Incarnation and Passion had not yet really taken place, those ceremonies of the Old Law could not really contain in themselves a power flowing from Christ already incarnate and crucified, such as the sacraments of the New Law contain.  Consequently they could not cleanse from sin:  thus the Apostle says (Heb. 10:4) that “it is impossible that with the blood of oxen and goats sin should be taken away”; and for this reason he calls them (Gal. 4:9) “weak and needy elements”:  weak indeed, because they cannot take away sin; but this weakness results from their being needy, i.e. from the fact that they do not contain grace within themselves.

However, it was possible at the time of the Law, for the minds of the faithful, to be united by faith to Christ incarnate and crucified; so that they were justified by faith in Christ:  of which faith the observance of these ceremonies was a sort of profession, inasmuch as they foreshadowed Christ.  Hence in the Old Law certain sacrifices were offered up for sins, not as though the sacrifices themselves washed sins away, but because they were professions of faith which cleansed from sin.  In fact, the Law itself implies this in the terms employed:  for it is written (Lev. 4:26; 5:16) that in offering the sacrifice for sin “the priest shall pray for him . . . and it shall be forgiven him,” as though the sin were forgiven, not in virtue of the sacrifices, but through the faith and devotion of those who offered them.  It must be observed, however, that the very fact that the ceremonies of the Old Law washed away uncleanness of the body, was a figure of that expiation from sins which was effected by Christ.

It is therefore evident that under the state of the Old Law the ceremonies had no power of justification.

Reply Obj. 1:  That sanctification of priests and their sons, and of their apparel or of anything else belonging to them, by sprinkling them with blood, had no other effect but to appoint them to the divine worship, and to remove impediments from them, “to the cleansing of the flesh,” as the Apostle states (Heb. 9:13) in token of that sanctification whereby “Jesus” sanctified “the people by His own blood” (Heb. 13:12).  Moreover, the expiation must be understood as referring to the removal of these bodily uncleannesses, not to the forgiveness of sin.  Hence even the sanctuary which could not be the subject of sin is stated to be expiated.

Reply Obj. 2:  The priests pleased God in the ceremonies by their obedience and devotion, and by their faith in the reality foreshadowed; not by reason of the things considered in themselves.