The Law of the Spirit of Life
…human mind to endure, while evil is ranged against it. He insisted that the mind of the more upright is at times distressed when it is tyrannized by the passions of the flesh, that it is deeply troubled and ashamed of its weakness; yet it has no means at all of throwing off the burden of the sin it does not want, since pleasure falls upon it so fiercely. That is why it is too weak to resist, receiving no help whatever toward this, at least from the law.
So the inspired Paul speaks the truth when he insists that with the mind he serves the divine law, but with the flesh the law of sin (Romans 7:25); and this, I think, is what he meant when he said, “For willing lies close at hand for me, but accomplishing the good does not” (Romans 7:18). Formerly, then, as I said, so far as the mind and the will within it were concerned, we had the choice to serve the divine law; but the flesh forced us toward sin, raising up its own will in opposition, as it were. So there was, then, condemnation for those who wished to accomplish the good but were not able, because they were tyrannized by the passions; but in Christ what condemned has come to an end, that is, the domination of the fleshly impulses.
“For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:2). To make the ideas in these words perfectly clear, I think it necessary to say this: just as he calls the fleshly way of thinking, which carries us off toward every kind of wickedness, the law of sin and death, so he calls the spiritual will, that is, the mind’s inclination toward the good, the law of the spirit of life. But “the one who sows to the flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, while the one who sows to the spirit will reap eternal life from the spirit” (Galatians 6:8).
So the law of the spirit of life, that is, the will of the mind that carries us toward life, was in us even before, for with the mind we served the law of God; but, as I said, it was sick, powerless to resist, and, overcome by the desires of the flesh, it was condemned by the law. But since it has cast off its sickness and been made strong through Christ — for through him we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13) and have been clothed with “power from on high” (Luke 24:49) — for this reason we have been redeemed and are no longer yoked to evil, but, as I said, we have been called to the dignity of freedom.
So the law of the spirit of life, that is, the will of the mind, which inclines toward doing good and carries us toward life, once it has been enriched with the grace that comes through Christ and set free from its ancient weakness, then, disregarding the evils that come from sin and prevailing over the law of the flesh, “has set me free,” he says (Romans 8:2). Not that it gives the freedom by itself, of course; rather, it has become for us the one who procures the freedom that comes through Christ. And just as those under the law of sin must, by every necessity, also be bound in the snares of death, so those who have come out from sin and been set free through Christ must in turn be beyond death, be seen to be above corruption, and live in holiness.
“For the law’s inability, in that it was weak through the flesh” (Romans 8:3). Admirable indeed is the…
Greek
ἀνθρώπου διάνοιαν, ἀντεξάγοντος αὐτῇ τοῦ κακοῦ· διισχυρίζετο δὲ ὡς ἀσχάλλει μὲν ἔσθ' ὅτε τῶν ἐπιεικεστέρων ὁ νοῦς τοῖς τῆς σαρκὸς πάθεσι τυραννούμενος, ἀλύει δὲ σφόδρα καὶ ἀσθενῶν αἰσχύνεται· τὸ γεμὴν ἀποφορτίσασθαι τὴν ἀβούλητον ἁμαρτίαν οὐδαμόθεν ἔχει, δεινῶς κατεμπιπτούσης τῆς ἡδονῆς. ταύτῃτοι καὶ ἀσθενεῖ πρὸς ἀντίστασιν, οὐδὲν τὸ παράπαν διά γε τοῦ νόμου πρὸς τοῦτο ἐπικουρούμενος. ἀληθεύει δὴ οὖν ὁ θεσπέσιος Παῦλος εἰ τῷ μὲν νοῒ δουλεύειν τῷ θείῳ διισχυρίσαιτο νόμῳ, τῇ δὲ σαρκὶ νόμῳ ἁμαρτίας· καὶ τοῦτο οἶμαί ἐστιν ὅπερ ἔφη "Τὸ γὰρ "θέλειν παράκειταί μοι, τὸ δὲ κατεργάζεσθαι τὸ καλὸν οὔ." 210 πάλαι μὲν οὖν, ὡς ἔφην, ἐνυπῆρχεν ἡμῖν τό γε ἧκον εἰς νοῦν καὶ τὴν ἐν αὐτῷ θέλησιν, τὸ ἑλέσθαι τῷ θείῳ δουλεύειν νόμῳ, κατεβιάζετο δὲ πρὸς ἁμαρτίαν ἡ σὰρξ τὸ οἰκεῖον ὥσπερ ἀντανιστᾶσα θέλημα. ἦν οὖν ἄρα κατάκριμα τοῖς ἐθέλουσι μὲν ἀποπεραίνειν τὸ ἀγαθὸν, οὐ μὴν ἔτι καὶ δυναμένοις διὰ τὸ τυραννεῖσθαι τοῖς πάθεσιν· ἀλλ' ἐν Χριστῷ πέπαυται τὸ κατακρίνον, τουτέστιν ἡ τῶν σαρκικῶν κινημάτων πλεονεξία. Ὁ γὰρ νόμος τοῦ πνεύματος τῆς ζωῆς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ. Ἀναγκαῖον δὲ οἶμαι πρὸς ἀκριβῆ διασάφησιν τῶν ἐν τούτοις ἐννοιῶν ἐκεῖνο εἰπεῖν· ὥσπερ γὰρ ἁμαρτίας καὶ θανάτου νόμον τὸ σαρκικὸν ὀνομάζει φρόνημα, πρὸς πᾶν εἶδος φαυλότητος ἀποφέρον ἡμᾶς, οὕτω καὶ νόμον πνεύματος ζωῆς τὸ θέλημα τὸ πνευματικὸν, τουτέστι τὴν εἴς γε τὸ ἀγαθὸν τῆς διανοίας ῥοπήν· ἀλλ' "ὁ μὲν σπείρων εἰς τὴν σάρκα ἐκ τῆς "σαρκὸς θερίσει φθοράν· ὁ δὲ σπείρων εἰς τὸ πνεῦμα ἐκ "τοῦ πνεύματος θερίσει ζωὴν αἰώνιον." οὐκοῦν ὁ μὲν νόμος τοῦ πνεύματος τῆς ζωῆς, τουτέστι τὸ θέλημα τοῦ νοῦ τὸ ἀποφέρον εἰς ζωὴν, ἦν μὲν ἐν ἡμῖν καὶ πάλαι· ἐδουλεύομεν γὰρ τῷ νοῒ νόμῳ Θεοῦ· ἀλλ' ἠῤῥώστησεν, ὡς ἔφην, τὸ ἀδρανὲς εἰς ἀντίστασιν, καὶ ταῖς τῆς σαρκὸς ἐπιθυμίαις ἡττώμενος κατεκρίνετο τῷ νόμῳ. ἐπειδὴ δὲ τὸ νοσεῖν ἀποβαλὼν, ἐῤῥώσθη διὰ Χριστοῦ· κατεσφραγίσμεθα γὰρ δι' αὐτοῦ τῷ Ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, καὶ τὴν "ἐξ ὕψους δύναμιν" ἠμφιέσμεθα, ταύτῃτοι καὶ λελυτρώμεθα, καὶ ὑπεζεύγμεθα μὲν οὐκ ἔτι τῷ κακῷ· κεκλήμεθα δὲ, ὡς ἔφην, εἰς ἐλεύθερον ἀξίωμα. οὐκοῦν ὁ νόμος τοῦ πνεύματος τῆς ζωῆς, τουτέστι τὸ θέλημα τοῦ νοῦ, τὸ νενευκὸς εἰς ἀγαθουργίαν καὶ εἰς ζωὴν ἀποφέρον, ὅτε τὴν διὰ Χριστοῦ πεπλούτηκε χάριν, καὶ τῆς ἀρχαίας ἀσθενείας 211 ἀπήλλακται, τότε τῶν ἐξ ἁμαρτίας ἀλογήσας κακῶν καὶ τοῦ τῆς σαρκὸς κατευμεγεθήσας νόμου, ἠλευθέρωσέ με, φησί· καὶ οὐκ αὐτός που πάντως τὴν ἐλευθερίαν διδοὺς, γεγονὼς δὲ μᾶλλον ἡμῖν ἐλευθερίας πρόξενος τῆς διὰ Χριστοῦ. ὥσπερ δὲ τοὺς ὑπὸ νόμον ὄντας τὸν τῆς ἁμαρτίας πᾶσά πως ἀνάγκη καὶ τοῖς τοῦ θανάτου καταδεσμεῖσθαι βρόχοις, οὕτω τοὺς ἔξω γεγονότας αὐτῆς, ἠλευθερωμένους τε διὰ Χριστοῦ, δεῖ δὴ πάλιν ἔξω τε εἶναι θανάτου, καὶ ἀμείνους ὁρᾶσθαι φθορᾶς, καὶ ζῆν ἐν ἁγιασμῷ. Τὸ γὰρ ἀδύνατον τοῦ νόμου ἐν ᾧ ἠσθένει διὰ τῆς σαρκός. Ἀξιάγαστος μὲν ὁ