Sin, the Law, and the Victory
“But the sting of death,” he says, “is sin, and the power of sin is the Law” (1 Corinthians 15:56). For the one who holds the sting of death, that is, Satan (Hebrews 2:14), strikes like a scorpion. And he strikes in no other way than through sin. But the Savior has granted us “to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy” (Luke 10:19).
For the sting of death has been destroyed, since sin has been taken away and no longer has the Law as its power. For the Law condemns those who sin; that is why the inspired Paul says that the Law is the power of sin. But this too has been undone in Christ: for sin will not be master over us, because we are not under the Law but under grace (Romans 6:14); and apart from the Law sin is dead (Romans 7:8).
Who, then, supplies us with all these things? Who is the dispenser of righteousness, the giver of freedom, the spring and cause of every good? We shall learn it from the blessed Paul, who says, “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57).
Greek
Πλὴν τὸ κέντρον τοῦ θανάτου φησὶν ἡ ἁμαρτία, ἡ δὲ δύναμις τῆς ἁμαρτίας ὁ νόμος· πλήττει μὲν γὰρ οἷά τις σκορπίος ὁ 318 τὸ κέντρον ἔχων τοῦ θανάτου, τουτέστιν ὁ σατανᾶς. πλήττει δὲ οὐχ ἑτέρως, πλὴν ὅτι διὰ τῆς ἁμαρτίας· ἀλλ' ἔδωκεν ἡμῖν ὁ Σωτὴρ "ἐπάνω ὄφεων καὶ σκορπίων πατεῖν καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσαν "τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ ἐχθροῦ." κατηφάνισται γὰρ τοῦ θανάτου τὸ κέντρον, ἐξῃρημένης τῆς ἁμαρτίας καὶ οὐκ ἔτι δύναμιν ἐχούσης τὸν νόμον· κατακρίνει γὰρ ὁ νόμος τοὺς ἁμαρτάνοντας· τοιγάρτοι φησὶν ὁ θεσπέσιος Παῦλος δύναμιν εἶναι τῆς ἁμαρτίας τὸν νόμον· λέλυται δὲ καὶ τοῦτο ἐν Χριστῷ· ἁμαρτία γὰρ ἡμῶν οὐ κυριεύσει, ὅτι οὐκ ἐσμὲν ὑπὸ νόμον, ἀλλ' ὑπὸ χάριν· 28 χωρὶς δὲ νόμου, ἁμαρτία νεκρά. τίς οὖν ὁ πάντων τούτων ἡμῖν χορηγὸς, τῆς δικαιοσύνης ὁ πρύτανις, τῆς ἐλευθερίας ὁ δοτὴρ, καὶ παντὸς ἀγαθοῦ πηγὴ καὶ πρόφασις, εἰσόμεθα λέγοντος τοῦ μακαρίου Παύλου Τῷ δὲ Θεῷ χάρις τῷ διδόντι ἡμῖν τὸ νῖκος διὰ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. 29