7. Both the external (pagan) legislators and the whole human race are aware of this. They (the legislators) oppose only those vices that arise from negligence, but they do not promise to suppress those that are inherited from nature, because this is impossible. Everything that is natural remains unshaken, as I have repeatedly told you in other conversations. Therefore, having abandoned such labors, let us again engage in moral speech, or rather, this is a part of those labors. If we banish vice from ourselves and instill virtue in ourselves, we will clearly teach that vice is not a natural evil, and to those who ask where evil comes from, we can easily stop our mouths, not only by words, but also by deeds, when we appear before them free from their vices, although we have the same nature with them. Let us not look at the fact that virtue is difficult, but at the fact that it is possible to perfect ourselves in it, and if we try, it will be both easy and convenient for us. If you speak to me of the pleasantness of vice, tell me also of its end: for it leads to death, as virtue leads us to life. But it is better, if you will, to consider vice and virtue without reference to their end; We shall see that vice in itself contains great sorrow, and virtue contains pleasure. Tell me, indeed, what is heavier than a bad conscience? What is more beautiful than good hope? For nothing, nothing usually torments and oppresses us so much as the expectation of evil; Nothing supports and almost inspires as much as a good conscience. This can also be learned from the events that are taking place in front of us. Thus those who dwell in prison and expect to be condemned, even if they enjoy innumerable pleasures, live more restlessly than those beggars who walk in the streets, but are not conscious of anything evil in themselves, because the expectation of calamity does not allow them to experience real pleasures. And what can we say about the prisoners? Industrious artisans, who work all day long, are in much better spirits than free and rich people, who are conscious of something bad in themselves. That is why we consider gladiators to be pitiful; Though we see them getting drunk, making merry, and eating in taverns, yet we call them the most miserable, because the bitterness of the expected death is incomparably greater than these pleasures. And if such a life seems pleasant to them, then remember what I have often told you, that it is no wonder that he who lives in vice does not avoid the trouble and torment of vice. But we do not appease them for it, but, on the contrary, we consider them miserable because they are not aware of the calamities in which they are. What, for example, is to be said of adulterers, who, for the sake of trifling pleasure, are subjected to shameful slavery, waste of possessions, and incessant fear, in short, lead the life of Cain, and even more difficult, because they fear the present, tremble at the future, suspect friends and enemies, the knowers and the knowers. Even while they are asleep, they are not freed from this torment, for their unclean conscience creates terrible dreams in them and thus frightens them. But this is not the case with the chaste man: he leads a real life in joy and perfect freedom. Compare, then, the trifling pleasure with the innumerable agitations of these horrors, and the momentary labor of abstinence with the tranquillity of a lifetime, and you will see that the latter is more agreeable than the former. And he who desires to steal and appropriate to himself another's property, tell me, does he not endure innumerable toils, running incessantly, deceiving slaves, freemen, doorkeepers with flattery, frightening, threatening, acting shamelessly, spending nights without sleep, trembling, tormenting, and suspecting everyone? But he is not like that who neglects money. He enjoys full pleasure again, living without fear and in perfect safety. And if anyone considers other types of vice, he will see great confusion everywhere, many pitfalls. But what is most important is that in virtue the beginning is full of labor, and the continuation is pleasant, so that by this the work itself is made easier; In vice it is the other way around, for pleasure is followed by sickness and torment, so that the pleasure itself is lost. Just as he who expects crowns does not feel any real weight, so he who expects punishment after pleasure cannot enjoy pure joy, because fear confuses everything. Or rather, if we examine it more closely, we will find that the wicked, even before the punishment prescribed for evil deeds, have a great torment at the moment when they dare to do evil.

8. And if you like, let us look at people who seize other people's property and make money by all means. Let us not speak of fears, dangers, trembling, anguish, care, and the like, but let us suppose that this man enriches himself without sorrow, and is perfectly sure of the preservation of what he has. Let us admit all this, although it is impossible. But what kind of pleasure will this person get? The fact that he collected a lot? But this is precisely what prevents him from rejoicing; As long as a person desires something different and more, so long does his torment. All passion is then pleasurable when it stops. When we are thirsty, we come to our senses when we drink as much as we want, and while we are thirsty, even though we have exhausted all the springs, our torment is greater, and even if we have drunk a thousand rivers, our punishment is heavier. In the same way, even if you have acquired everything in the world, if you still feel passion in yourself, then the more you will suffer the more you begin to fulfill your desire. Understand, then, that some pleasure for you is not to gather much, but not to desire to be rich, and if you desire to be rich, you will never cease to suffer. After all, this desire is endless, and the longer the path you have traveled, the more you move away from the end. Is this not strangeness, insanity, utter madness? Let us, therefore, refrain from taking the first step into iniquity, or, rather, let us not touch evil lust at all, and if we do, let us flee at the very beginning, as the Proverb admonishes us, saying of the harlot woman: "Keep thy way farther from her, and do not come near the door of her house" (Prov. 5:8). I say the same thing to you concerning covetousness. Even if you were a little sunk into the sea of this madness, you can hardly get out of it; And just as in a whirlpool, no matter how hard you try, you will not easily overcome (the rush of water), so, and even worse, if you fall into the abyss of this passion, you will destroy yourself with all your possessions. Wherefore, I beseech you, let us beware in the beginning, and avoid the evil of the less, for out of the small is born the greater. Whoever in every sin is accustomed to say, "This is nothing," will gradually destroy everything. It is precisely this habit that says, "This is not yet a problem," which has introduced evil, opened the doors to the robber, and overthrown the walls of cities. In the same way, the most dangerous diseases are intensified in the body, when no attention is paid to the insignificant. If Esau had not sold his birthright, he would not have become unworthy of the blessing; but if he had not made himself unworthy of the blessing; he would not go so far as to desire fratricide. And Cain, if he had not loved the primacy, but yielded it to God, he would not have taken the second place; Then, being in the second place, if he had obeyed the admonition, he would not have committed murder; and again, having committed murder, if he had turned to repentance, and when God called him, if he had not given such a shameless answer, he would not have suffered further misfortunes.

If, however, those who lived before the law have gradually sunk into the very depths of evil because of such negligence, then think that we, who are called to great feats, will endure if we do not pay attention to ourselves with all diligence and do not extinguish the sparks of evil before a whole fire is kindled. For example, do you often break your oath? Do not only refrain from doing so, but also cease to swear, and then the former will become easy, for it is much more difficult for him who swears not to break his oath than not to swear at all. Are you used to insulting, blaming and beating? Make a law for yourself not to be angry or to shout at all; Then the fruit will be uprooted along with the root. Are you lustful and voluptuous? Make it a rule not to look at women, not to go to the theater, not to be curious about other people's beauty. It is much easier not to look at a beautiful woman at first than to see her and feel lust and calm the storm she has caused. After all, podvigs are easier in the beginning, and it is better to say that we do not need to fight if we do not open the doors to the enemy and accept the seed of vice. Wherefore Christ hath ordained the punishment of every one who looks upon a woman shamelessly, that we may be delivered from greater labour; He commands the enemy to be driven out of the house before he has become stronger, when it is easy to drive him out. What is the necessity of taking upon oneself the extra trouble and of fighting with one's opponents, when it is possible to obtain the trophy of victory without a fight, and to delight oneself with a reward before the struggle? Not to look at beautiful women is not so much trouble as to tame oneself by looking at them; It would be better to say that the former cannot be labor at all, but after you look at it, there is great trouble and trouble.

9.

He who has not seen a beautiful face is pure from the lust aroused by it, but he who desires to see it, having perverted the thought and defiled it a thousand times, then only rejects the defilement of lust when he wants to drive it away. That is why Christ, in order that we may not suffer from this, forbids not only murder, but also anger, not only adultery, but also an unclean look, not only perjury, but oaths in general. Even here it does not establish a measure of virtue, but, having legitimized it, it extends further. Having turned away from murder and commanded us to be pure from wrath, he commands us to be ready to endure evil, and to be prepared to endure it, not only to the extent that he who plots against us desires, but also to surpass it to a much greater degree, and to overcome the excesses of his fury by the abundance of our love of wisdom. He did not say, "If any man smite thee on the right cheek, bear it indifferently and be still," but he added that thou shalt offer him the other cheek, saying, "Turn unto him the other also" (Matt. 5:39). This is the brilliant victory, to give him more than he desires, and the limits of his evil desire to surpass in the riches of his long-suffering. In this way you will tame his fury, and from the second act you will receive the reward of the first, and you will tame his anger.

Do you see that it is always up to us not to tolerate evil, and not from those who do us harm? Or, to put it more correctly, we ourselves have the power not only not to tolerate evil, but even to experience good. And it is especially surprising that if we are vigilant, not only are we not offended, but even from those who offend us, we receive greater benefits than from others. Has anyone insulted you? Thou hast the power to turn this resentment into praise for thyself. If you offend on your part, you will bring shame upon yourself, but if you bless the one who insulted you, you will see that all those present praise you and glorify you. Do you understand how we, if we will, receive favor from those who offend us? The same can be said for money, punches, and everything else. If we repay the opposite for all these things, we will weave ourselves a crown both by what we have done evil and by what we have done good. And whenever someone comes to you and says, 'So-and-so has offended you, and in the presence of all he is always speaking ill of you,' you shall praise the offender in the presence of those who speak; Thus, even if you wish for revenge, you can also be satisfied. All who hear you, though they be very foolish, will praise you, but they will hate your offender as a man who is more fierce than any beast, because he has grieved you, not being in the least offended by you, while you, having suffered evil, have repaid him with good. And in this way you can prove that everything that has been said about you is unfair. Whoever expresses vexation when evil is said of him, proves by his sorrow that he confesses the truth of what has been said about him, and whoever laughs removes all suspicion of himself in those present. See, then, how much good you gain from this: first, you get rid of confusion and anxiety, and secondly, or better, consider it first, if you have sins, you will be cleansed of them, like the publican who magnanimously endured the accusation of the Pharisee. Moreover, by such an exercise you will make your soul wise, you will hear innumerable praises from everyone, and you will destroy all suspicion about yourself about what you have said. But if you want to mark the offender, it will follow in abundance, because God will punish him for what he has said, and before that the punishment and your love of wisdom will be like a cruel blow to him. Nothing ordinarily hurts our offenders so much as to laugh at the wrongs done to us. And just as the love of wisdom turns the very offenses for our good, so the consequence of cowardice is quite the opposite: we shame ourselves, and those present seem guilty of what they have said about us, and we fill our souls with confusion, and we rejoice the enemy, and we grieve God, and we increase the number of our sins. Having pondered all this, let us avoid the abyss of faintheartedness, let us hasten to the harbor of long-suffering, so that here too we may find rest for our souls, as Christ foretold, and attain to future blessings, by the grace and love of mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father and the Holy Spirit be glory, dominion, and honor, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages, Amen.

CONVERSATION 13

"For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold to sin" (7:14).

1. Since (the apostle) said above that the evil was increased, and that the sin became stronger when it met with the commandment, and that the opposite of what the law intended to do, and since he thereby perplexed the hearer, he first freed the law from evil suspicion, and then explains the reason why it happened. In order that any one, hearing that sin was given occasion in the commandment, that when the commandment came, sin was revived, that sin deceived and put to death by the commandment, lest he should think that the law was the cause of all these evils, (the Apostle) first of all sets forth with great boldness the defense of the law, not only absolving it from accusation, but also weaving the greatest praise for it. And this he does not present in such a way that he himself speaks in favor of the law, but as if pronounces a general verdict. "For we know," he says, "that the law is spiritual." By this he seemed to say, "It is universally acknowledged and well known that the law is spiritual, and therefore it must not be allowed to be the cause of sin, and that the guilt of the evils that have occurred should lie upon it." And see how he not only absolves him of the accusation, but also praises him without measure. By calling it spiritual, he shows that the law is the instructor of virtue and the enemy of vice, since to be spiritual is to avert all sins; This is precisely what the law did, frightening, admonishing, punishing, correcting, advising everything concerning virtue. Where, you may ask, did the sin come from, if the teacher was so worthy of wonder? From the negligence of the disciples. Wherefore he added, "But I am of the flesh," representing a man who lived both in the law and before the law. "Sold to sin." After his death, he says, passions flooded in. When the body became mortal, it necessarily took on lust, anger, sickness, and everything else that required a great deal of wisdom, so that the passions that flooded us would not drown our thoughts in the depths of sin. In themselves they were not yet sin, but their unbridled intemperance produced it. Thus, if we take one of the passions as an example, the lust of the flesh is not a sin, but when it fell into immoderation, and not wishing to remain within the bounds of lawful marriage, it began to pounce on other people's wives, then at last it became fornication, not from lust, but from intemperance in it. And notice the wisdom of Paul. Having praised the law, he immediately turned to ancient times, in order to show the condition of the human race at that time (before the law) and after the law was received, to present the necessity of abundant grace, which (the apostle) sought everywhere to reveal. When he says, "Sold to sin," he means not only those who lived under the law, but also those who lived before the law and existed from the beginning of the world. Then he explains the way in which a person is sold and given away. "For I know not," he says, "what I am doing" (v. 15). What does "I don't understand" mean? I don't know. How did this happen? Surely no one has ever sinned in ignorance? Do you see that if we do not choose our words with due care, and do not pay attention to the purpose of the apostle, many inconsistencies will ensue? If people sinned in ignorance, they would not be worthy to be punished. Wherefore, as above (the Apostle) says, "Without the law sin is dead," not only expressing that they then sinned in ignorance, but that they knew, but not so clearly, and therefore were punished, but not so severely, and again, when he said, "He would not have understood his will," he does not express complete ignorance, but points to the clearest knowledge, likewise, saying, "He made every desire in me." He does not mean that the commandment produced lust, but that sin increased lust by means of the commandment, so here, too, when he says, "For I do not understand what I am doing," does not thereby express complete ignorance, for how did he delight (say), "For according to the inward man I find pleasure in the law of God" (7:22)? What does it mean, "I don't understand"? I dwell in darkness, I am carried away, I endure violence, I do not know how I fall into deception, as we usually say, "I do not know how such and such a person came and carried me away," not justifying himself by ignorance, but only pointing out some deception, attack, and intent. "For I do not what I will, but what I hate, I do" (v. 15). How come you don't know what you're doing? If you desire good and hate evil, then this is characteristic of perfect knowledge. From this it is clear that by the words "not what I want" the Apostle does not destroy free will and does not introduce any coercive necessity. For if we do not sin voluntarily, but under compulsion, then again the punishments that were previously inflicted would have no foundation. But just as by the word "I do not understand" (the Apostle) expressed not ignorance, but what we have said above, so, by adding, "not that ... what I want," he signified not necessity, but disapproval of what had been done, because if he did not express this by the words "I do not what I want," then why not add to him: I do what I am forced to do and am subjected to force, for this is precisely the opposite of will and freedom. But (the apostle) did not say so, but instead put "what I hate," so that you would understand that he did not destroy freedom even with the words, "not what I want." So, what does it mean to "not what I want"? That I do not praise, I do not approve, I do not love; In contrast, he added: "... And what I hate, I do. But if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law that it is good" (v. 16).

2. Do you see that the mind, as long as it is intact, retains its proper nobility? If he indulges in vice, he gives himself up with hatred, which may be the greatest praise of the law, both natural and written. That the law is good, saith the Apostle, is evident from the fact that I accuse myself, transgressing the law, and hating what I have done; And if the law were the author of sin, how could one take pleasure in the law and hate what the law commands? "I agree with the law," says the Apostle, "that it is good, and therefore it is no longer I who do these things, but the sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that no good thing dwelleth in me, that is, in my flesh" (vv. 17, 18). On these words are founded those who rebel against the flesh and exclude it from the number of God's creatures. What can we say to this? The same as what was said not long ago in the discourse on the law, for as there (the apostle) attributes all things to sin, so also here. He did not say that the flesh does this, but quite the opposite: "Wherefore it is no longer I who do these things, but the sin that dwelleth in me." But if he says that the good does not dwell in him, this is not an accusation against the flesh, since the fact that the good does not dwell in the flesh does not prove that the flesh is evil in itself. We agree that the flesh is inferior and deficient to the soul, but not at all opposed to it, not hostile or evil, but as the harp is to the musician, and as the ship is to the helmsman, so the flesh is subordinate to the soul; Both the harp and the ship are not opposed to those who manage and use them, but are in full agreement, though not of the same dignity as the artist. And just as he who says that art is not in the harp or in the ship, but in the helmsman and in the harp, does not demean these objects, but shows the difference between the artist and art, so Paul, who said: "He does not live... in my flesh, the good," did not humiliate the body, but showed the superiority of the soul. After all, it is the soul that is in charge of everything - the art of steering the ship, or playing the harp; Paul shows the same thing here, when he attributes the dominant importance to the soul.

"For the desire for good," says the Apostle, "is in me, but I do not find it to do it." Again and here, when he says, "I do not find," he does not mean ignorance or doubt, but the attack and intrigues of sin; Expressing this more clearly, he added: "The good which I will, I do not, but the evil which I do not will, I do. But if I do what I do not will, it is no longer I who do it, but the sin that dwells in me" (vv. 19, 20). Do you notice how (the Apostle), having freed both the essence of the soul and the essence of the flesh from accusation, transferred everything to evil activity? If a man does not want evil, then the soul is free, and if he does not do evil, then the body is free: everything depends on the evil will alone. Soul, body, and will are not essentially the same thing, but the former are God's creations, and the latter is a movement born out of ourselves, which we direct where we will. The will in itself is a natural faculty given by God; But the same will is something of our own, and depends on our reason. "Therefore I find the law, that when I will do good, evil is unto me" (v. 21). This is unclear. What does it mean? I praise the law according to my conscience, argues Paul, and when I want to do good, I find in it a protector who exerts my will; As I delight in the law, so he approves of my disposition. Do you see how he proves that the understanding of good and evil was first put into us, and that the law of Moses praises this understanding and is itself praised by it? As he did not say above, "I learn from the law," but, "I agree with the law," so now he does not say, "I am educated by the law," but, "I find pleasure in the law of God." What does it mean to "find pleasure"? I agree with him as a good man, just as he agrees with me who wants to do good. It was given to man from above to desire good and not to desire evil. And the law, when it appeared, became the accuser of many things in evil, and the praiser of great things in good. Do you see that (the apostle) ascribes to the law no more than a certain strengthening and addition? Though the law praises the good, and I am pleased and desire good, yet the evil is still there, and its effect is not destroyed. Thus the law is only an ally to him who intends to do something good, and in so far as he desires it for himself. And since he did not express it clearly, he afterwards reveals and makes it more clear, showing how evil is applied, and how the law assists him who will do good. "For according to the inward man I find pleasure in the law of God" (v. 22). I knew good before the law, saith the Apostle, and having found it represented in the writings, I praise him. "But in my members I see another law, contrary to the law of my mind" (v. 23).

3. Here again the Apostle called sin an anti-war law, not because of its worthiness, but because of the excessive obedience of those who obey it. As he calls Mammon lord and belly god, not on account of their own merit, but on account of the great bondage of their subjects, so here he calls sin a law, because men serve it, and are afraid to forsake it, just as those who have received the law are afraid of not fulfilling the law. And sin, says (the Apostle), is contrary to the law of nature, which is "the law of my mind." And so (the Apostle) depicts the contest and the battle, and lays the whole podvig on the natural law. The law of Moses is given after and as if in addition; Yet both the two laws, the one which taught what was good, and the other which praised it, did nothing great in this struggle: such is the power of sin that conquers and surpasses it. Paul, depicting this, and speaking of defeat according to strength, said, "I see another law that is contrary to the law of my mind, and makes me a captive." He did not simply say, "He who overcomes," but "He who makes me a prisoner of the law of sin." Nor did he say "the attraction of the flesh," or the nature of the flesh, but "the law of sin," that is, power, power. As he says, "which is in my members"? What does that mean? He does not call the members sin, but completely separates them from sin, because there is another thing that abides in something, and another that in which it abides. Just as a commandment is not evil, although sin has received an occasion in it, so the nature of the flesh is not evil, although sin struggles with us through it, because in this case the soul will also be evil, and still more so, in so far as it has power in what it ought to do. But it's not, no! If a tyrant or a robber takes possession of any fine building or royal palace, it cannot be a condemnation to the house, and all the blame falls on those who have committed the evil. This is not understood by the enemies of the truth, who, together with wickedness, fall into utter madness. Not only do they accuse the flesh, but they also slander the law. Though the flesh be evil, yet the law is good, because it fighteth against it, and opposes it. And if the law is not good, then the flesh is good, because according to their opinion it fights with the law and is at enmity with it.

"Poor man I am! Who shall deliver me from this body of death" (v. 24)? Have you noticed what is the power of evil, how it conquers, and how the mind that takes pleasure in the law? No one can say, says the Apostle, that sin makes me its prisoner, because I hate the law and abhor it; on the contrary, I find pleasure in it, I praise it, I have recourse to it, but he has not received the power to save even him who has recourse to it, but Christ has saved him who flees from it. Have you noticed how great is the superiority of grace? But the Apostle did not reveal this, but only, groaning and weeping bitterly, like a man deprived of helpers, proved the power of Christ by his most difficult position, and said: "Poor man I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" The law turned out to be powerless, my conscience insufficient, although I praised the good, not only praised it, but also fought against evil, for (the Apostle), having called sin an antagonist, showed that he himself was arming himself against sin. So, where will the hope of salvation come from? "I thank my God through Jesus Christ our Lord" (v. 25). Do you see how he showed the necessity of the manifestation of grace, and also that it is the common gift of the Father and the Son? Though he gives thanks to the Father, the cause of this thanksgiving is the Son. And when you hear him say, "Who will deliver me from this body of death"? "Don't think he's accusing the flesh. He did not call it the body of sin, but the body of death, that is, the mortal body that was captive to death, and did not bring about death; This is not proof of the depravity of the body, but of the damage to which it has been subjected. As he who is taken captive by barbarians is reckoned to be a barbarian, not because he is a barbarian, but because he is in the power of barbarians, so the body is called the body of death, because it is in the power of death, and not because it produced death. Wherefore he desires to be rid not of the body, but of the mortal body, alluding to what I have often said, that the body, having become accessible to the passion, is therefore easily subject to sin.

4. But if this was the power of sin before grace, why, you ask, were sinners punished? Because they were given such commands that could be fulfilled even during the reign of sin. The law did not require of them a high degree of perfection in life, but allowed them to enjoy their possessions, did not forbid them to have many wives, to indulge in anger with righteousness, and to enjoy moderate pleasure; So much indulgence was given to them, that the written law required less than the natural law commanded. Although the law of nature has always enjoined one man to marry one woman, as Christ clearly testified when He said, "He who created male and female in the beginning created them" (Matt. 19:4), yet the law of Moses, just as it did not forbid divorcing one woman from marrying another, so it did not forbid having two wives together. Moreover, it may be seen that those who lived before this law, being governed by one natural law, fulfilled another more than those who lived under the law. Thus, those who lived in the Old Testament did not suffer any loss when such moderate legislation was introduced among them. If, however, they could not remain victorious, it is their own negligence that is to blame. That is why Paul gives thanks that Christ did not put us to any test, and not only did not require an account of our deeds, but made us capable of great work. Wherefore he says, "I thank my God through Jesus Christ," and to say nothing of salvation as a matter which, according to what has been proved above, is universally acknowledged, passes on to another very important one, and reveals that we have not only been freed from former sins, but have also become invincible to sin for the time to come. "Therefore there is now," he says, "no condemnation to those who in Christ Jesus do not live according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit" (8:1). But he did not say this before he mentioned the former state. Having said first, "Therefore I serve the law of God with my mind, and the law of sin in the flesh" (7:25), he added, "Therefore now there is no condemnation to those who live in Christ Jesus." And since his words were contradicted by the fact that many sin even after baptism, he hastens to this also, and not only says, "who live in Christ Jesus," but adds, "not according to the flesh," which shows that everything comes from our negligence, since now it is possible to walk not according to the flesh, but then (before Christ) it was difficult. Then he reveals the same thing in a different way, saying, "For the law of the Spirit of life which is in Christ Jesus has set me free" (8:2). By the name of the law of the Spirit (the Apostle) here means the Spirit, just as sin has called the law of sin, so the Spirit is called the law of the spirit. But he also called the law of Moses spiritual, saying, "For we know that the law is spiritual." So, what's the difference? Big and endless. This is the law of the Spirit, and this is the law of the Spirit. What is the difference between one and the other? By the fact that the one was only given by the Spirit, and the other, who received him abundantly, gave the Spirit. Wherefore he also called it the law of life, as opposed to the law of sin, and not the law of Moses. When he says, "He has delivered me from the law of sin and death," he does not mean the law of Moses, since he nowhere calls it a law of sin (and how could he call it a law that he has repeatedly called righteous and holy, the destroyer of sin?), but he means a law that is opposed to the law of the mind. This cruel struggle was stopped by the grace of the Spirit, which mortified sin and made the struggle easy for us, first crowning us, and then, with great help, drawing us to podvig. And as (the Apostle) always does, passing from the Son to the Spirit, and from the Spirit to the Son and the Father, imputing all our things to the Trinity, so he does here; saying, "Who will deliver me from this body of death"? showed that the Father does this through the Son; then again he attributes it to the Holy Ghost with the Son, when he says, "The law of the Spirit of life which is in Christ Jesus has set me free"; then again attributes to the Father and the Son. "As the law," he says, "weak in the flesh, was powerless, so God sent his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh for sin, and condemned sin in the flesh" (v. 3). Again he seems to condemn the law, but on careful attention it is revealed that he praises it very much, proving that the law agrees with Christ, and enjoins the same thing. For he did not say, "Evil of the law," but "He was powerless," and again, "As a law, weakened," and not, "In it, he did evil or malicious." He ascribes weakness not to the law, but to the flesh, saying, "As a law weakened by the flesh." And here again he does not call the very essence and foundation of the flesh, but the wisdom of the flesh, wherefore it frees both the body and the law from accusation, and not only by this, but also by the following words.