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ROM. VII. 14.
"For we know that the Law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold
under sin."
After having said that great evils had taken place, and that sin,
taking occasion by the commandment, had grown stronger, and the
opposite of what the Law mainly aimed at had been the result, and
after having thrown the hearer into a great deal of perplexity, he goes
on next to give the rationale of these events, after first clearing the
Law of any ill suspicion. For lest--upon hearing that it was
through the commandment that sin took that occasion, and that it was
when it came that sin revived, and through it deceived and
killed--any one should suppose the Law to be the source of these
evils, he first sets forth its defence with considerable advantage,
not clearing it from accusation only, but encircling it also with the
utmost praise. And this he lays down, not as granting it for his own
part, but as declaring a universal judgment. "For we know," he
says, "that the Law is spiritual." As if he had said, This is an
allowed thing, and self-evident, that it "is spiritual," so far is
it from being the cause of sin, or to blame for the evils that have
happened. And observe, that he not only clears it of accusation, but
bestows exceeding great praise upon it. For by calling it spiritual,
he shows it to be a teacher of virtue and hostile to vice; for this is
what being spiritual means, leading off from sin of every kind' And
this the Law did do, by frightening, admonishing, chastening,
correcting, recommending every kind of virtue. Whence then, was sin
produced, if the teacher was so admirable? It was from the
listlessness of its disciples. Wherefore he went on to say, "but I
am carnal;" giving us a sketch now of man, as comporting himself in
the Law, and before the Law. "Sold under sin." Because with
death (he means) the throng of passions also came in. For when the
body had become mortal, it was henceforth a necessary thing for it to
receive concupiscence, and anger, and pain, and all the other
passions, which required a great deal of wisdom FilsoFas to prevent
their flooding us, and sinking reason in the depth of sin. For in
themselves they were not sin, but, when their extravagancy was
unbridled, it wrought this effect. Thus (that I may take one of
them and examine it as a specimen) desire is not sin: but when it has
run into extravagance, being not minded to keep within the laws of
marriage, but springing even upon other men's wives; then the thing
henceforward becomes adultery, yet not by reason of the desire, but by
reason of its exorbitancy. And observe the wisdom of Paul. For
after praising the Law, he hastens immediately to the earlier period,
that he may show the state of our race, both then and at the time it
received the Law, and make it plain how necessary the presence of
grace was, a thing he labored on every occasion to prove. For when he
says, "sold under sin," he means it not of those who were under the
Law only, but of those who had lived before the Law also, and of men
from the very first. Next he mentions the way in which they were sold
and made over.
Ver. 15. "For that which I do, I know not."
What does the "I know not" mean?--I am ignorant. And when
could this ever happen? For nobody ever sinned in ignorance. Seest
thou, that if we do not receive his words with the proper caution, and
keep looking to the object of the Apostle, countless incongruities
will follow? For if they sinned through ignorance, then they did not
deserve to be punished. As then he said above, "for without the Law
sin is dead," not meaning that they did not know they were sinning,
but that they knew indeed, but not so distinctly; wherefore they were
punished, but not so severely: and again; "I should not have known
lust;" not meaning an entire ignorance of it, but referring to the
most distinct knowledge of it; and said, that it also "wrought in me
all manner of concupiscence, not meaning to say that the commandment
made the concupiscence, but that sin through the commandment introduces
an intense degree of concupiscence;so here it is not absolute ignorance
that he means by saying, "For what I do, I know not;" since how
then would he have pleasure in the law of God in his inner man? What
then is this, "I know not?" I get dizzy, he means, I feel
carried away, I find a violence done to me, I get tripped up without
knowing how. Just as we often say, Such an one came and carried me
away with him, without my knowing how; when it is not ignorance we
mean as an excuse, but to show a sort of deceit, and circumvention,
and plot. "For what I would, that I do not: but what I hate,
that I do." How then canst thou be said not to know what thou art
doing? For if thou willest the good, and hatest the evil, this
requires a perfect knowledge. Whence it appears that he says, "that
I would not," not as denying free will, or as adducing any
constrained necessity. For if it was not willingly, but by
compulsion, that we sinned, then the punishments that took place
before would not be justifiable. But as in saying "I know not," it
was not ignorance he set before us, but what we have said; so in
adding the "that I would not," it is no necessity he signifies, but
the disapproval he felt of what was done. Since if this was not his
meaning in saying, "That which I would not, that I do:" he would
else have gone on, "But I do what I am compelled and enforced
to." For this is what is opposed to willing and power exousia. But
now he does not say this, but in the place of it he has put the word,
"that I hate," that you might learn how when he says, "that I
would not," he does not deny the power.
Now, what does the "that I would not" mean? It means, what I
praise not, what I do not approve, what I love not. And in
contradistinction to this, he adds what follows; "But what I hate,
that I do."
Ver. 16. "If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto
the Law, that it is good."
You see here, that the understanding is not yet perverted, but keeps
up its own noble character even during the action. For even if it does
pursue vice, still it hates it the while, which would be great
commendation, whether of the natural or the written Law. For that
the Law is good, is (he says) plain, from the fact of my accusing
myself, when I disobey the Law, and hate what has been done. And
yet if the Law was to blame for the sin, how comes it that he felt a
delight in it, yet hated what it orders to be done? For, "I
consent," he says, "unto the Law, that it is good."
Ver 17, 18. "Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin
that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh,
dwelleth no good thing."
On this text, those who find fault with the flesh, and contend it was
no part of God's creation, attack us. What are we to say then?
Just what we did before, when discusssing the Law: that as there he
makes sin answerable for everything so here also. For he does not
say, that the flesh worketh it, but just the contrary, "it is not I
that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me." But if he does say that
"there dwelleth no good thing in it," still this is no charge against
the flesh. For the fact that "no good thing dwelleth in it," does
not show that it is evil itself. Now we admit, that the flesh is not
so great as the soul, and is inferior to it, yet not contrary, or
opposed to it, or evil; but that it is beneath the soul, as a harp
beneath a harper, and as a ship under the pilot.
And these are not contrary to those who guide and use them, but go
with them entirely, yet are not of the same honor with the artist. As
then a person who says, that the art resides not in the harp or the
ship, but in the pilot or harper, is not finding fault with the
instruments, but pointing out the great difference between them and the
artist; so Paul in saying, that "in my flesh dwelleth no good
thing," is not finding fault with the body, but pointing out the
soul's superiority.. For this it is that has the whole duty or
pilotage put into its hands, and that of playing. And this Paul here
points out, giving the governing power to the soul, and after dividing
man into these two things, the soul and the body, he says, that the
flesh has less of reason, and is destitute of discretion, and ranks
among things to be led, not among things that lead. But the soul has
more wisdom, and can see what is to be done and what not, yet is not
equal to pulling in the horse as it wishes. And this would be a charge
not against the flesh only, but against the soul also, which knows
indeed what it ought to do, but still does not carry out in practice
what seems best to it. "For to will," he says, "is present with
me; but how to perforth that which is good, I find not." Here
again in the words, "I find not," he does not speak of any
ignorance or perplexity, but a kind of thwarting and crafty assault
made by sin, which he therefore points more clearly out in the next
words.
Ver. 19, 20. "For the good that I would I do not: but the
evil which I would not that I do. Now if I do that I would not,
it is no more Ithat do it but sin that dwelleth in me."
Do you see, how he acquits the essence of the soul, as well as the
essence of the flesh, from accusation, and removes it entirely to
sinful actions? For if the soul willeth not the evil, it is cleared:
and if he does not work it himself, the body too is set free, and the
whole may be charged upon the evil moral choice. Now the essence of
the soul and body and of that choice are not the same, for the two
first are God's works, and the other is a motion from ourselves,
towards whatever we please to direct it For willing is indeed natural
emFuton, and is from God:but willing on this wise is our own, and
from our own mind.
Ver. 21. "I find then a law, that when I would do good, evil
is present with me."
What he says is not very clear. What then is it that is said? I
praise the law, he says, in my conscience, and I find it pleads on
my side so far as I am desirous of doing what is right, and that it
invigorates this wish For as I feel a pleasure in it, so does it
yield praise to my decision. Do you see how he shows, that the
knowledge of what is good and what is not such is an original and
fundamental part of our nature, and that the Law of Moses praises
it, and getteth praise from it? For above he did not say so much as
I get taught by the Law, but "I consent to the Law;" nor further
on that I get instructed by it, but "I delight in" it. Now what
is" I delight?" It is, I agree with it as right, as it does with
me when wishing to do what is good. And so the willing what is good
and the not willing what is evil was made a fundamental part of us from
the first. But the Law, when it came, was made at once a stronger
accuser in what was bad, and a greater praiser in what was good. Do
you observe that in every place be bears witness to its having a kind of
intensitiveness and additional advantage, yet nothing further? For
though it praises and I delight in it, and wish what is good the
"evil is" still "present with me," and the agency of it has not
been abolished. And thus the Law, with a man who determines upon
doing anything good, only acts so far as auxiliary to him, as that it
has the same wish as himself. Then since he had stated it
indistinctly, as he goes on he gives a yet more distinct
interpretation, by showing how the evil is present, how too the Law
is a law to such a person only who has a mind to do what is good.
Ver. 22. "For I delight," he says, "in the law of God after
the inward man."
He means, for I knew even before this what was good, but when I
find it set down in writing, I praise it.
Ver. 23. "But I see another law warring against the law of my
mind."
Here again he calls sin a law warring against the other, not in
respect of good order, but from the strict obedience yielded to it by
those who comply with it. As then it gives the name of master kurion
Matt. vi. 24; Luke xvi. 13) to Mammon, and of god
(Phil. iii. 19) to the belly, not because of their intrinsically
deserving it, but because of the extreme obsequiousness of their
subjects so here he calls sin a law, owing to those who are so
obsequious to it, and are afraid to leave it, just as those who have
received the Law dread leaving the Law. This then, he means, is
opposed to the law of nature; for this is what is meant by "the law of
my mind." And he next represents an array and battle, and refers the
whole struggle to the law of nature. For that of Moses was
subsequently added over and above: yet still both the one and the
other, the one as teaching, the other as praising what was right,
wrought no great effects in this battle; so great was the thraldom of
sin, overcoming and getting the upper hand as it did. And this Paul
setting, forth, and showing the decided kata k,s232>atos
victory it had, says, "I see another law warring against the law of
my mind, and bringing me into captivity." He does not use the word
conquering only, but "bringing me into captivity to the law of sin."
He does not say the bent of the flesh, or the nature of the flesh,
but "the law of sin." That is, the thrall, the power. In what
sense then does he say, "Which is in my members?" Now what is
this? Surely it does not make the members to be sin, but makes them
as distinct from sin as possible. For that which is in a thing is
diverse from that wherein it is. As then the commandment also is not
evil, because by it sin took occasion, so neither is the nature of the
flesh, even if sin subdues us by means of it. For in this way the
soul will be evil, and much more so too, since it has authority in
matters of action. But these things are not so, certainly they are
not. Since neither if a tyrant and a robber were to take possession of
a splendid mansion and a king's court, would the circumstance be any
discredit to the house, inasmuch as the entire blame would come on
those who contrived such an act. But the enemies of the truth, along
with their impiety, fall unawares also into great unreasonableness.
For they do not accuse the flesh only, but they also disparage the
Law. And yet if the flesh were evil, the Law would be good. For
it wars against the Law, and opposes it. If, however, the Law be
not good, then the flesh is good. For it wars and fights against it
even by their own account. How come they then to assert that both
belong to the devil, putting things opposed to each other before us?
Do you see, along with their impiety, how great is their
unreasonableness also? But such doctrines as these are not the
Church's, for it is the sin only that she condemns; and both the
Laws which God has given, both that of nature and that of Moses,
she says are hostile to this, and not to the flesh; for the flesh she
denies to be sin, for it is a work of God's, and one very useful too
in order to virtue, if we live soberly.
Ver. 24. "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from
the body of this death?"
Do you notice what a great thraldom that of vice is, in that it
overcomes even a mind that delighted in the Law? For no one can
rejoin, he means, that I hate the Law and abhor it, and so sin
overcomes me. For "I delight in it, and consent to it," and flee
for refuge to it, yet still it had not the power of saving one who had
fled to it. But Christ saved even one that fled from Him. See what
a vast advantage grace has! Yet the Apostle has not stated it thus;
but with a sigh only, and a great lamentation, as if devoid of any to
help him, he points out by his perplexity the might of Christ, and
says, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body
of this death?" The Law has not been able: conscience has proved
unequal to it, though it praised what was good, and did not praise it
only, but even fought against the contrary of it. For by the very
words "warreth against" he shows that he was marshalled against it for
his part. From what quarter then is one to hope for salvation?
Ver. 25. "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Observe how he shows the necessity of having grace present with us,
and that the well-doings heroin belong alike to the Father and the
Son. For if it is the Father Whom he thanketh, still the Son is
the cause of this: thanksgiving. But when you hear him say, "Who
shall deliver me from the body of this death?" do not suppose him to
be accusing the flesh. For he does not say "body of sin," but
"body of death:" that is, the mortal body--that which hath been
overcome by death, not that which gendered death. And this is no
proof of the evil of the flesh, but of the marring ephreias,
thwarting) it has undergone. As if any one who was take captive by
the savages were to be said to belong to the savages, not as being a
savage, but as being detained by them: so the body is said to be of
death, as being held down thereby, not as producing it. Wherefore
also it is not the body that he himself wishes to be delivered from,
but the mortal body, hinting, as I have often said, that from its
becoming subject to suffering, it also became an easy prey to sin.
Why then, it may be said, the thraldom of sin being so great before
the times of grace, were men punished for sinning? Because they had
such commands given them as might even under sin's dominion be
accomplished. For he did not draw them to the highest kind of
conversation, but allowed them to enjoy wealth, and did not forbid
having several wives, and to gratify anger in a just cause, and to
make use of luxury within bounds. (Matt. v. 38.) And so great
was this condescension, that the written Law even required less than
the law of nature. For the law of nature ordered one man to associate
with one woman throughout. And this Christ shows in the words, "He
which made them at the beginning, made them male and female." (ib.
xix. 4.) But the Law of Moses neither forbade the putting away of
one and the taking in of another, nor prohibited the having of two at
once! (ib. v. 31.) And besides this there are also many other
ordinances of the Law, that one might see those who were before its
day fully performing, being instructed by the law of nature. They
therefore who lived under the old dispensation had no hardship done them
by so moderate a system of laws being imposed upon them. But if they
were not, on these terms, able to get the upper hand, the charge is
against their own listlessness. Wherefore Paul gives thanks, because
Christ, without any rigorousness about these things, not only
demanded no account of this moderate amount, but even made us able to
have a greater race set before us. And therefore he says, "I thank
my God through Jesus Christ." And letting the salvation which all
agreed about pass, he goes from the points he had already made good,
to another further point, in which he states that it was not our former
sins only that we were freed from, but we were also made invincible for
the future. For "there is," he says, "now no condemnation to them
which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh." Yet he
did not say it before he had first recalled to mind our former condition
again in the words, "So then with the mind I myself serve the law of
God, but with the flesh the law of sin."
Chap. viii. ver. 1. "There is therefore no condemnation to them
which are in Christ Jesus."
Then as the fact that many fall into sin even after baptism presented a
difficulty antepipten, he consequently hastened to meet it, and says
not merely "to them that are in Christ Jesus," but adds, "who
walk not after the flesh;" so showing that all afterward comes of our
listlessness. For now we have the power of walking not after the
flesh, but then it was a difficult task. Then he gives another proof
of it by the sequel, in the words, Ver. 2. "For the law of the
Spirit of life hath made me free."
It is the Spirit he is here calling the law of the Spirit. For as
he calls sin the law of sin, so he here calls the Spirit the law of
the Spirit. And yet he named that of Moses as such, where he says,
"For we know that the Law is spiritual." What then is the
difference? A great and unbounded one. For that was spiritual, but
this is a law of the Spirit. Now what is the distinction between this
and that? The other was merely given by the Spirit, but this even
furnisheth those that receive it with the Spirit in large measure.
Wherefore also he called it the law of life in contradistinction to
that of sin, not that of Moses. For when he says, It freed me from
the law of sin and death, it is not the law of Moses that he is here
speaking of, since in no case does he style it the law of sin: for how
could he one that he had called "just and holy" so often, and
destructive of sin too? but it is that which warreth against the law of
the mind. For this grievous war did the grace of the Spirit put a
stop to, by slaying sin, and making the contest light to us and
crowning us at the outstart, and then drawing us to the struggle with
abundant help. Next as it is ever his wont to turn from the Spirit to
the Son and the Father, and to reckon all our estate to lean upon the
Trinity? so doth he here also. For after saying, "Who shall
deliver me from the body of this death," he pointed at the Father as
doing this by the Son, then again at the Holy Spirit along with the
Son. "For the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus hath
made me free, he says. Then again, at the Father and the Son;
Ver. 3. "For what the Law could not do,"
he saith, "in that it was weak through the flesh God sending His own
Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in
the flesh."
Again, he seems indeed to be disparaging the Law. But if any one
attends strictly, he even highly praises it, by showing that it
harmonizes with Christ, and gives preference to the same things. For
he does not speak of the badness of the Law, but of "what it could
not do;" and so again, "in that it was weak," not, "in that it
was mischievous, or designing." And even weakness he does not
ascribe to it, but to the flesh, as he says, "in that it was weak
through the flesh," using the word "flesh" here again not for the
essence and subsistency itself, but giving its name to the more carnal
sort of mind. In which way lie acquits both the body and the Law of
any accusation. Yet not in this way only, but by what comes next
also. For supposing the Law to be of the contrary part, how was it
Christ came to its assistance, and fulfilled its requisitions, and
lent it a helping hand by condemning sin in the flesh? For this was
what was lacking, since in the soul the Lord had condemned it long
ago. What then? is it the greater thing that the Law accomplished,
but the less that the Only-Begotten did? Surely not. For it was
God that was the principal doer of that also, in that He gave us the
law of nature, and added the written one to it. Again, there were no
use of the greater, if the lesser had not been supplied. For what
good is it to know what things ought to be done, if a man does not
follow it out? None, for it were but a greater condemnation. And so
He that hath saved the soul it is, Who hath made the flesh also easy
to bridle. For to teach is easy, but to show besides a way in which
these things were easily done, this is the marvel. Now it was for
this that the Only-Begotten came, and did not depart before He had
set us free from this difficulty. But what is greater, is the method
of the victory; for He took none other flesh, but this very one which
was beset with troubles. So it is as if any one were to see in the
street a vile woman of the baser sort being beaten, and were to say he
was her son, when he was the king's, and so to get her free from
those who ill treated her. And this He really did, in that He
confessed that He was the Son of Man, and stood by it (i.e. the
flesh), and condemned the sin. However, He did not endure to smite
it besides; or rather, He smote it with the blow of His death, but
in this very act it was not the smitten flesh which was condemned and
perished, but the sin which had been smiting. And this is the
greatest possible marvel. For if it were not in the flesh that the
victory took place, it would not be so astonishing, since this the
Law also wrought. But the wonder is, that it was with the flesh meta
sarkos that His trophy was raised, and that what had been overthrown
numberless times by sin, did itself get a glorious victory over it.
For behold what strange things there were that took place!
One was, that sin did not conquer the flesh; another, that sin was
conquered, and conquered by it too. For it is not the same thing not
to get conquered, and to conquer that which was continually
overthrowing us. A third is, that it not only conquered it, but even
chastised it. For by not sinning it kept from being conquered, but by
dying also, He overcame and condemned it, having made the flesh,
that before was so readily made a mock of by it, a plain object of fear
to it. In this way then, He at once unnerved its power, and
abolished the death by it introduced. For so long as it took hold of
sinners, it with justice kept pressing to its end. But after finding
a sinless body, when it had given it up to death, it was condemned as
having acted unjustly. Do you observe, how many proofs of victory
there are? The flesh not being conquered by sin, Its even conquering
and condemning it, Its not condemning it barely, but condemning it as
having sinned. For after having convicted it of injustice, he
proceeds to condemn it, and that not by power and might barely, but
even by the rules of justice. For this is what he means by saying,
"for sin condemned sin in the flesh." As if he had said that he had
convicted it of great sin, and then condemned it. So you see it is
sin that getteth condemned everywhere, and not the flesh, for this is
even crowned with honor, and has to give sentence against the other.
But if he does say that it was "in the likeness" of flesh that he
sent the Son, do not therefore suppose that His flesh was of a
different kind. For as he called it "sinful," this was why he put
the word "likeness." For sinful flesh it was not that Christ had,
but like indeed to our sinful flesh, yet sinless, and in nature the
same with us. And so even from this it is plain that by nature the
flesh was not evil. For it was not by taking a different one instead
of the former, nor by changing this same one in substance, that
Christ caused it to regain the victory: but He let it abide in its
own nature, and yet made it bind on the crown of victory over sin, and
then after the victory raised it up, and made it immortal. What
then, it may be said, is this to me, whether it was this flesh that
these things happened in? Nay, it concerns thee very much.
Wherefore also he proceeds:
Ver. 4. "That the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in
us, who walk not after the flesh."
What meaneth this word, righteousness? Why, the end, the scope,
the well-doing. For what was its design, and what did it enjoin?
To be without sin. This then is made good to us katmrqwtai hmin now
through Christ. And the making a stand against it, and the getting
the better of it, came from Him. But it is for us to enjoy the
victory. Then shall we never sin henceforth? We never shall unless
we have become exceedingly relaxed and supine. And this is why he
added, "to them that walk not after the flesh. For lest, after
hearing that Christ hath delivered thee from the war of sin, and that
the requisition dikaiwma of the Law is fulfilled in thee, by sin
having been "condemned in the flesh," thou shouldest break up all thy
defences; therefore, in that place also, after saying, "there is
therefore no condemnation," he added, "to them that walk not after
the flesh;" and here also, "that the requisition of the Law might
be fulfilled in us," he proceeds with the very same thing; or
rather, not with it only, but even with a much stronger thing. For
after saying, "that the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled
in us that walk not after the flesh," he proceeds, "but after the
Spirit."
So showing, that it is not only binding upon us to keep ourselves from
evil deeds, but also to be adorned koman with good. For to give thee
the crown is His; but it is thine to hold it fast when given. For
the righteousness of the Law, that one should not become liable to its
curse, Christ has accomplished for thee. Be not a traitor then to so
great a gift, but keep guarding this goodly treasure. For in this
passage he shows that the Font will not suffice to save us, unless,
after coming from it, we display a life worthy of the Gift. And so
he again advocates the Law in saying what he does. For when we have
once become obedient to Christ, we must use all ways and plans so that
its righteousness, which Christ fulfilled, may abide in us, and not
come to naught.
Ver. 5. "For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of
the flesh."
Yet even this is no disparaging of the flesh. For so long as it keeps
its own place, nothing amiss cometh to pass. But when we let it have
its own will in everything, and it passes over its proper bounds, and
rises up against the soul, then it destroys and corrupts everything,
yet not owing to its own nature, but to its being out of proportion,
and the disorder thereupon ensuing. "But they that are after the
Spirit do mind the things of the Spirit."
Ver. 6. "For to be carnally minded is death." He does not speak
of the nature of the flesh, or the essence of the body, but of being
carnally "minded," which may be set right again, and abolished.
And in saying thus, he does not ascribe to the flesh any reasoning
power of its own. Far from it. But to set forth the grosset motion
of the mind, and giving this a name from the inferior part, and in the
same way as he often is in the habit of calling man in his entireness,
and viewed as possessed of a soul, flesh. "But to be spiritually
minded." Here again he speaks of the spiritual mind, in the same way
as he says further on, "But He that searcheth the hearts knoweth
what is the mind of the spirit" (ver. 27); and he points out many
blessings resulting from this, both in the present life, and in that
which is to come. For as the evils which being carnally minded
introduces, are far outnumbered by those blessings which a spiritual
mind affords. And this he points out in the words "life and peace."
The one is in contraposition to the first--for death is what he says
to be carnally minded is. And the other in contraposition to the
following. For after mentioning peace, he goes on, Ver. 7.
"Because the carnal mind is enmity against God:" and this is worse
than death. Then to show how it is at once death and enmity; "for it
is not subject to the Law of God," he says, "neither indeed can
be." But be not troubled at hearing the "neither indeed can be."
For this difficulty admits of an easy solution. For what he here
names "carnal mindedness" is the reasoning (or "way of thinking,"
loUismon that is earthly, gross, and eager-hearted after the things
of this life and its wicked doings. It is of this he says "neither
yet can" it "be subject" to God. And what hope of salvation is
there left, if it be impossible for one who is bad to become good?
This is not what he says. Else how would Paul have become such as he
was? how would the (penitent) thief, or Manasses, or the
Ninevites or how would David after falling have recovered himself?
How would Peter after the denial have raised himself up? (1 Cor.
v. 5.) How could he that had lived in fornication have been
enlisted among Christ's fold? (2 Cor. ii. 6-11.) How
could the Galatians who had "fallen from grace" (Gal. v. 4),
have attained their former dignity again? What he says then is not
that it is impossible for a man that is wicked to become good, but that
it is impossible for one who continues wicked to be subject to God.
Yet for a man to be changed, and so become good, and subject to
Him, is easy. For he does not say that man cannot be subject to
God, but, wicked doing cannot be good. As if he had said,
fornication cannot be chastity, nor vice virtue. And this it says in
the Gospel also, "A corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit"
(Matt. vii. 18), not to bar the change from virtue to vice, but
to say how incapable continuance in vice is of bringing forth good
fruits. For He does not say that an evil tree cannot become a good
one, but that bring forth good fruit it cannot, while it continues
evil. For that it can be changed, He shows from this passage, and
from another parable, when He introduces the tares as becoming wheat,
on which score also He forbids their being rooted up; "Lest," lie
says, "ye root up also the wheat with them (ib. xiii. 29);that
is, that which will spring Uinesqai 4 Mss. tiktesqai from them.
It is vice then he means by carnal mindedness, and by spiritual
mindedness the grace given, and the working of it discernible in the
right determination of mind, not discussing in any part of this
passage, a substance and an entity, but virtue and vice. For that
which thou hadst no power to do under the Law, now, he means, thou
wilt be able to do, to go on uprightly, and with no intervening fall,
if thou layest hold of the Spirit's aid. For it is not enough not to
walk after the flesh, but we must also go after the Spirit, since
turning away from what is evil will not secure our salvation, but we
must also do what is good. And this will come about, if we give our
souls up to the Spirit, and persuade our flesh to get acquainted with
its proper position, for in this way we shall make it also spiritual;
as also if we be listless we shall make our soul carnal. For since it
was no natural necessity which put the gift into us, but the freedom of
choice placed it in our hands, it rests with thee henceforward whether
this shall be or the other. For He, on His part, has performed
everything. For sin no longer warreth against the law of our mind,
neither doth it lead us away captive as heretofore, for all that state
has been ended and broken up, and the affections cower in fear and
trembling at the grace of the Spirit. But if thou wilt quench the
light, and cast out the holder of the reins, and chase the helmsman
away, then charge the tossing thenceforth upon thyself. For since
virtue hath been now made an easier thing (for which cause also we are
under far stricter obligations of religious living), consider how
men's condition lay when the Law prevailed, and how at present,
since grace hath shone forth. The things which aforetime seemed not
possible to any one, virginity, and contempt of death, and of other
stronger sufferings, are now in full vigor through every part of the
world, and it is not with us alone, but with the Scythians, and
Thracians, and Indians, and Persians, and several other barbarous
nations, that there are companies of virgins, and clans of martyrs,
and congregations of monks, and these now grown even more numerous than
the married, and strictness of fasting, and the utmost renunciation of
property. Now these are things which, with one or two exceptions,
persons who lived under the Law never conceived even in a dream.
Since thou seest then the real state of things voiced with a shriller
note than any trumpet, let not thyself grow soft and treacherous to so
great a grace. Since not even after the faith is it possible for a
listless man to be saved! For the wrestlings are made easy that thou
mayest strive and conquer, nor that thou shouldest sleep, or abuse the
greatness of the grace by making it a reason for listlessness, so
wallowing again in the former mire. And so he goes on to say, Ver.
8. "So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God."
What then? Are we, it will be said, to cut our bodies in pieces to
please God, and to make our escape from the flesh? and would you have
us be homicides, and so lead us to virtue? You see what
inconsistencies are gendered by taking the words literally. For by
"the flesh" in this passage, he does not mean the body, or the
essence of the body, but that life which is fleshly and worldly, and
uses self-indulgence and extravagance to the full, so making the
entire man flesh. For as they that have the wings of the Spirit,
make the body also spiritual, so do they who bound off from this, and
are the slaves of the belly, and of pleasure, make the soul also
flesh, not that they change the essence of it, but that they mar its
noble birth. And this mode of speaking is to be met with in many parts
of the Old Testament also, to signify by flesh the gross and earthly
life, which is entangled in pleasures that are not convenient. For to
Noah He says, "My Spirit shall not always make its abode in these
men, because they are flesh." (Gen. vi. 3 as the LXX. give
it.) And yet Noah was himself also compassed about with flesh. But
this is not the complaint, the being compassed about with the flesh,
for this is so by nature, but the having chosen a carnal life.
Wherefore also Paul saith, "But they that are in the flesh cannot
please God." Then he proceeds:
Ver. 9. "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit."
Here again, he does not mean flesh absolutely, but such sort of
flesh, that which was in a whirl and thraldom of passions. Why then,
it may be said, does he not say so, nor state any difference? It is
to rouse the hearer, and to show that he that liveth aright is not even
in the body. For inasmuch as it was in a manner clear to every one
that the spiritual man was not in sin, he states the greater truth that
it was not in sin alone, that the spiritual man was not, but hot even
in the flesh was he henceforward, having become from that very moment
an Angel, and ascended into heaven, and henceforward barely carrying
the body about. Now if this be thy reason for disparaging the flesh,
because it is by its name that he calls the fleshly life, at this rate
you are also for disparaging the world, because wickedness is often
called after it, as Christ also said to His disciples, "Ye are not
of this world;" and again to His brethren, He says, "The world
cannot hate you, but me it hateth." (John xv. 19, ib. vii.
7.) And the soul too Paul must afterwards be calling estranged from
God, since to those that live in error, he gives the name of men of
the soul (1 Cor. ii. 14, yukikos A. V. natural). But this
is not so, indeed it is not so. For we are not to look to the bare
words, but always to the sentiment of the speaker, and so come to a
perfectly distinct knowledge of what is said. For some things are
good, some bad, and some indifferent. Thus the soul and the flesh
belong to things indifferent, since each may become either the one or
the other. But the spirit belongs to things good, and at no thee
becometh any other thing. Again, the mind of the flesh, that is,
ill-doing, belongs to things always bad. "For it is not subject to
the law of God." If then thou yieldest thy soul and body to the
better, thou wilt have become of its part. If on the other hand thou
yield to the worse, then art thou made a partaker of the ruin therein,
not owing to the nature of the soul and the flesh, but owing to that
judgment which has the power of choosing either. And to show that
these things are so, and that the words do not disparage the flesh,
let us take up the phrase itself again, and sift it more thoroughly.
"But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit," he says. What
then? were they not in the flesh, and did they go about without any
bodies? What sense would this be? You see that it is the carnal life
that he intimates. And why did he not say, But ye are not in sin?
It is that you may come to know that Christ hath not extinguished the
tyranny of sin only, but hath even made the flesh to weigh us down
less, and to be more spiritual, not by changing its nature, but
rather by giving it wings. For as when fire cometh in company with
iron, the iron also becomes fire, though abiding in its own nature
still; thus with them that believe, and have the Spirit, the flesh
henceforth goeth over into that manner of working, and becometh wholly
spiritual, crucified in all parts, and flying with the same wings as
the soul, such as was the body of him who here speaks. Wherefore all
self-indulgence and pleasure he made scorn of, and found his
self-indulgence in hunger, and stripes, and prisons, and did not
even feel pain in undergoing them. (2 Cor. xi.) And it was to
show this that he said, "For our light affliction, which is but for
a moment," etc. (ib. iv. 17.) Sowell had he tutored even the
flesh to be in harmony with the spirit. "If so be that the Spirit of
God dwell in you" eiper He often uses this "if so be," not to
express any doubt, but even when he is quite persuaded of the thing,
and instead of "since," as when he says, "If it is a righteous
thing," for "seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense
tribulation to them that trouble you." (2 Thess. i. 6.)
Again, "Have ye suffered so many things in vain, if it be yet in
vain?" (Gal. iii. 4.)
"Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ." He does not say,
if ye have not, but he brings forward the distressing word, as applied
to other persons. "He is none of His." he says.
Ver. 10. "And if Christ be in you."
Again, what is good he applies to them, and the distressing part was
short and parenthetic. And that which is an object of desire, is on
either side of it, and put at length too, so as to throw the other
into shade. Now this he says, not as affirming that the Spirit is
Christ, far from it, but to show that he who hath the Spirit not
only is called Christ's, but even hath Christ Himself. For it
cannot but be that where the Spirit is, there Christ is also. For
wheresoever one Person of the Trinity is, there the whole Trinity is
present. For It is undivided in Itself, and hath a most entire
Oneness. What then, it may be said, will happen, if Christ be in
us? "The body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life
because of righteousness." You see the great evils that come of not
having the Holy Spirit death, enmity against God, inability to
satisfy His laws, not being Christ's as we should be the want of
His indwelling. Consider now also what great blessings come of having
the Spirit. Being Christ's, having Christ himself, vying with
the Angels (for this is what mortifying the flesh is), and living an
immortal life, holding henceforward the earnests of the Resurrection,
running with ease the race of virtue. For he does not say so little as
that the body is henceforward inactive for sin, but that it is even
dead, so magnifying the ease of the race. For such an one without
troubles and labors gains the crown. Then afterward for this reason he
adds also, "to sin," that you may see that it is the viciousness,
not the essence of the body, that He hath abolished at once. For if
the latter had been done, many things even of a kind to be beneficial
to the soul would have been abolished also. This however is not what
he says, but while it is vet alive and abiding, he contends, it is
dead. For this is the sign of our having the Son, of the Spirit
being in us, that our bodies should be in no respect different from
those that lie on the bier with respect to the working of sin (so the
Mss. Say. "of the body." The preceding words are slightly
corrupt.) But be not affrighted at hearing of mortifying. For in it
you have what is really life, with no death to succeed it: and such is
that of the Spirit. It yieldeth not to death any more, but weareth
out death and consumeth it, and that which it receiveth, it keepeth it
immortal. And this is why after saying "the body is dead," he does
not say, "but the Spirit 'liveth,'" but, "is life," to point
out that He (the Spirit) had the power of giving this to others
also. Then again to brace up his hearer, he tells him the cause of
the Life, and the proof of it. Now this is righteousness; for where
there is no sin, death is not to be seen either; but where death is
not to be seen, life is indissoluble.
Ver. 11. "But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from
the dead dwell in you, He that raised up our Lord shall also quicken
your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you."
Again, he touches the point of the Resurrection, since this was the
most encouraging hope to the hearer, and gave him a security from what
had happened unto Christ. Now be not thou afraid because thou art
compassed about with a dead body. Let it have the Spirit, and it
shall assuredly rise again. What then, shall the bodies which have
not the Spirit not rise? How then must "all stand before the
judgment-seat of Christ?" (Rom. xiv. 10) or how will the
account of hell be trustworthy? For if they that have not the Spirit
rise not, there will not be a hell at all. What then is it which is
said? All shall rise, yet not all to life, but some to punishment
and some to life. (John v.
29.) This is why he did not say, shall raise up, but shall
quicken. (Dan. xii.
2.) And this is a greater thing than resurrection, and is given to
the just only. And the cause of this honor be adds in the words,
"By His Spirit: that dwelleth in you." And so if while here thou
drive away the grace of the Spirit, and do not depart with it still
safe, thou wilt assuredly perish, though thou dost rise again. For
as He will not endure then, if he see His Spirit shining in thee,
to give thee up to punishment, so neither will He allow them, if He
see It quenched, to bring thee into the Bride-chamber, even as He
admitted not those virgins. (Matt. xxv. 12.)
Suffer not thy body then to live in this world, that it may live
then! Make it die, that it die not. For if it keep living, it will
not live: but if it die, then shall it live. And this is the case
with resurrection in general. For it must die first and be buried,
and then become immortal. But this has been done in the Font. It
has therefore had first its crucifixion and burial, and then been
raised. This has also happened with the Lord's Body. For that
also was crucified and buried (7 Mss. died) and rose again. This
then let us too be doing: let us keep continually mortifying it in its
works. I do not mean in its substance--far be it from me--but in
its inclinations towards evil doings. For this is a life too, or
rather this only is life, undergoing nothing that is common to man,
nor being a slave to pleasures. For he who has set himself under the
rule of these, has no power even to live through the low spirits, the
fears, and the dangers, and the countless throng of ills, that rise
from them. For if death must be expected, he hath died, before
death, of fear. And if it be disease he dreads, or affront, or
poverty, or any of the other ills one cannot anticipate, he is ruined
and hath perished. What then can be more miserable than a life of this
sort? But far otherwise is he that liveth to the Spirit, for he
stands at once above fears and grief and dangers and every kind of
change: and that not by undergoing no such thing, but, what is much
greater, by thinking scorn of them when they assail him. And how is
this to be? It will be if the Spirit dwell in us continually. For
he does not speak of any short stay made thereby, but of a continual
indwelling. Hence he does not say "the Spirit which" dwelt, but
"which dwelleth in us," so pointing to a continual abiding. He then
is most truly alive, who is dead to this life. Hence he says, "The
Spirit is life because of righteousness." And to make the thing
clearer, let me bring before you two men, one who is given up to
extravagances and pleasures, and the deceitfulness of this life; and
the other made dead to all these; and let us see which is more really
the living one. For let one of these two be very rich and much looked
up to, keeping parasites and flatterers, and let us suppose him to
spend the whole day upon this, in revelling and drunkenness: and let
the other live in poverty, and fasting, and hard fare, and strict
rules FilosoFia, and at evening partake of necessary food only; or
if you will let him even pass two or three days without food. Which
then of these two think we (3 Mss. you) is most really alive? Men
in general will, I know, reckon the former so, the man that takes
his pleasure (Sav. skrtpnta, Mss. truFpnta and squanders his
goods. But we reckon the man that enjoys the moderate fare. Now then
since it is still a subject of contest and opposition let us go into the
houses of them both, and just at the very thee too when in your
judgment the rich man is living in truest sense, in the very season of
self-indulgence, and when we have got in, let us look and see the
real condition of each of these men. For it is from the actions that
it appears which is alive and which dead. Shall we not find the one
among his books, or in prayer and fasting, or some other necessary
duty, awake and sober, and conversing with God? but the other we
shall see stupid in drunkenness, and in no better condition than a dead
man. And if we wait till the evening, we shall see this death coming
upon him more and more, and then sleep again succeeding to that: but
the other we shall see even in the night keeping from wine and sleep.
Which then shall We pronounce to be most alive, the man that lies in
a state of insensibility, and is an open laughing-stock to everybody?
or the man that is active, and conversing with God? For if you go up
to the one, and tell him some thing he ought to know, you will not
hear him say a word, any more than a dead man. But the latter,
whether you choose to be in his company at night or by day, you will
see to be an angel rather than a man, and will hear him speak wisdom
about things in Heaven. Do you see how one of them is alive above all
men living, and the other in a more pitiable plight even than the
dead? And even if he have a mind to stir he sees one thing instead of
another and is like people that are mad, or rather is in a worse plight
even than they. For if any one were to do them any harm, we should at
once feel pity for the sufferer, and rebuke the doer of the wrong.
But this man, if we were to see a person trample on him, we should
not only be disinclined to pity, but should even give judgment against
him, now that he was fallen. And will you tell me this is life, and
not a harder lot than deaths unnumbered? So you see the
self-indulgent man is not only dead, but worse than dead, and more
miserable than a man possessed. For the one is the object of pity,
the other of hatred. And the one has allowance made him, the other
suffers punishment for his madness. But if externally he is so
ridiculous, as having his saliva tainted, and his breath stinking of
wine, just consider what case his wretched soul, inhumed as it were in
a grave, in such a body as this, is probably in. For one may look
upon this as much the same as if one were to permit a damsel, comely,
chaste, free-born, of good family, and handsome, to be trampled
on, and every way insulted by a serving woman, that was savage, and
disgustful, and impure; drunkenness being something of this sort.
And who, being in his senses, would not choose to die a thousand
deaths, rather than live a single day in this way? For even if at
daylight he were to get up, and seem to be sober from that revelling
(or absurd show, kwmwdias, 1 Ms. kwmou of his, still even then it
is not the clear brightness of temperance which he enjoys, since the
cloud from the storm of drunkenness still is hanging before his eyes.
And even if we were to grant him the clearness of sobriety, what were
he the better? For this soberness would be of no service to him,
except to let him see his accusers. For when he is in the midst of his
unseemly deeds, he is so far a gainer in not perceiving those that
laugh at him. But when it is day he loses this comfort even, and
while his servants are murmuring, and his wife is ashamed, and his
friends accuse him, and his enemies make sport of him, he knows it
too. What can be more miserable than a life like this, to be laughed
at all day by everybody, and when it is evening to do the same unseemly
things afresh. But what if you would let me put the covetous before
you? For this is another, and even a worse intoxication. But if it
be an intoxication, then it must be a worse death by far than the
former, since the intoxication is more grievous. And indeed it is not
so sad to be drunk with wine as with covetousness. For in the former
case, the penalty ends with the sufferings (several Ms.
"sufferer,") and results in insensibility, and the drunkard's own
ruin. But in this case the mischief passes on to thousands of souls,
and kindles wars of sundry kinds upon all sides. Come then and let us
put this beside the other, and let us see what are the points they have
in common, and in what again this is worse than it, and let us make a
comparison of drunkards to-day. For with that blissful man, who
liveth to the Spirit, let them not be put at all in comparison, but
only tried by one another. And again, let us bring the money-table
before you, laden as it is with blood. What then have they in
common, and in what are they like each other? It is in the very
nature of the disease. For the species of drunkenness is different,
as one comes of wine, the other of money, but its way of affecting
them is similar, both being alike possessed with an exorbitant desire.
For he who is drunken with wine, the more glasses he has drunk off,
the more he longs for; and he that is in love with money, the more he
compasses, the more he kindles the flame of desire, and the more
importunate he renders his thirst. In this point then they resemble
each other. But in another the covetous man has the advantage (in a
bad sense). Now what is this? Why that the other's affection is a
natural one. For the wine is hot, and adds to one's natural
drought, and so makes drunkards thirsty. But what is there to make
the other man always keep desiring more? how comes it that when he is
increased in riches, then he is in the veriest poverty? This
complaint then is a perplexing one, and has more of paradox about it.
But if you please, we will take a view of them after the drunkenness
also. Or rather, there is no such thing as ever seeing the covetous
man after his drunkenness, so continual a state of intoxication is he
in Let us then view them both in the state of drunkenness, and let us
get a distinct notion which is the most ridiculous, and let us again
figure to ourselves a correct sketch of them. We shall see then the
man who dotes with his wine at eventide with his eves open, seeing no
one, but moving about at mere haphazard, and stumbling against such as
fall in his way, and spewing: and convulsed, and exposing his
nakedness m an unseemly manner. (See Habak. ii. 16.) And if
his wife be there, or his daughter, or his maid-servant, or anybody
else, they will laugh at him heartily. And now let us bring before
you the covetous man. Here what happens is not deserving of laughter
only, but even of a curse, and exceeding wrath, and thunderbolts
without number. At present however let us look at the ridiculous
part, for this man as well as the other has an ignorance of all,
whether friend or foe. And like him too, though his eyes are open,
he is blinded. And as the former takes all he sees for wine, so does
this man take all for money. And his spewing is even more disgusting.
For it is not food that he vomits, but words of abuse, of insolence,
of war, of death, that draws upon his own head lightnings without
number from above. And as the body of the drunkard is livid and
dissolving, so also is the other's soul. Or rather, even his body
is not free from this disorder, but it is taken even worse, care
eating it away worse than wine does (as do anger too and want of
sleep), and by degrees exhausting it entirely. And he that is seized
with illness from wine, after the night is over may get sober. But
this person is always drunken day and night, watching or sleeping, so
paying a severer penalty for it than any prisoner, or person at work in
the mines, or suffering any punishment more grievous than this, if
such there be. Is it then life pray, and not death? or rather, is
it not a fate more wretched than any death? For death gives the body
rest, and sets it free from ridicule, as well as disgrace and sins:
but these drunken fits plunge it into all these, stopping up the ears,
dulling the eyesight, keeping down the understanding in great
darkness. For it will not bear the mention of anything but interest,
and interest upon interest, and shameful gains, and odious
traffickings, and ungentlemanly and slavelike trans actions, barking
like a dog at everybody, and hating everybody, averse to everybody,
at war with everybody, without any reason for it, rising up against
the poor, grudging at the rich, and civil to nobody. And if he have
a wife, or Children, or friends, if he may not use them all towards
getting gain, these are to him more his enemies than natural enemies.
What then can be worse than madness of this sort, and what more
wretched? when a man is preparing rocks for his own self on every
side, and shoals, and precipices, and gulfs, and pits without
number, while he has but one body, and is the slave of one belly.
And if any thrust thee into a state office, thou wilt be a runaway,
through fear of expense. Yet to thyself thou art laying up countless
charges far more distressing than those, enlisting thyself for services
not only more expensive, but also more dangerous, to be done for
mammon, and not paying this tyrant a money contribution only, nor of
bodily labor, torture to the soul, and grief, but even of thy blood
itself, that thou mayest have some addition to thy property (miserable
and sorrow-stricken man!) out of this barbarous slavery. Do you not
see those who are taken day by day to the grave, how they are carried
to tombs naked and destitute of all things, unable to take with them
aught that is in the house, but bearing what clothes they have about
them to the worm? Consider these day by day, and perchance the malady
will abate, unless you mean even by such an occasion to be still more
mad at the expensiveness of the funeral rites--for the malady is
importunate, the disease terrible! This then is why we address you
upon this subject at every meeting, and constantly foment your
hearing, that at all events by your growing accustomed to such
thoughts, some good many come. But be not contentious, for it is not
only at the Day to come. but even before it, that this manifold
malady brings with it sundry punishments. For if I were to tell you
of those who pass their days in chains, or of one nailed to a lingering
disease, or of one struggling with famine, or of any other thing
whatsoever, I could point out no one who suffers so much as they do
who love money. For what severer evil can befall one, than being
hated by all men, than hating all men, than not having kindly feeling
towards any, than being never satisfied, than being in a continual
thirst, than struggling with a perpetual hunger, and that a more
distressing one than what all men esteem such? than having pains day by
day, than being never sober, than being continually in worries and
harasses?
For all these things, and more than these, are what the covetous set
their shoulder to; in the midst of their gaining having no perception
of pleasure, though scraping to themselves from all men, because of
their desiring more.
But in the case of their incurring a loss, if it be but of a
farthing, they think they have suffered most grievously, and have been
cast out of life itself. What language then can put these evils before
you? And if their fate here be such, consider also what comes after
this life, the being cast out of the kingdom, the pain that comes from
hell, the perpetual chains, the outer darkness, the venomous worm,
the gnashing of teeth, the affliction, the sore straitening, the
rivers of fire, the furnaces that never get quenched. And gathering
all these together, and weighing them against the pleasure of money,
tear up now this disease root and branch, that so receiving the true
riches, and being set free from this grievous poverty, thou mayest
obtain the present blessings, and those to come, by the grace and love
toward man, etc.
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