Saint John Chrysostom : HOMILY XIII. 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 selfevident,

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 selfindulgence,

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 laughingstock

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.