The Law and the Spirit

And all. Since being baptized we confess to have died to the world (Ro 6:3) and to separate ourselves from sin and the devil. To live in newness is to begin a certain new and fresh life, having cast off the old, the one in sins; for the rebirth of a certain kind of life and a new citizenship is promised (Ro 6:4).

Those living according to the old man have a body of sin, lying in wait for the devil for ambushes; but those according to the new, our Lord Jesus, a body of righteousness, since they also are members of the Lord (Ro 6:6–7). Surely, the evil one, having been cast out and those willing are being set free, because he was making men sin, having been defeated through Christ and by the cross the flesh of the Word having been crucified; for the one having died according to the word of baptism, died to the world and has been justified and has been removed from punishment, being freed from sin (Ro 6:6-7).

It was not the law that provided the stumbling, the one standing against not sinning, but through forgiving the pleasure by the sufferings (Ro 7:5). So, to provide a pretext for the sufferings was not the purpose of the law, but what was happening was the economy that was to be given theniven then. I say indeed that eating and drinking was active in our members—for desire also moves even in those fasting—but it is not active unto bearing fruit for death. Thus a ministry of death has been written by Moses, since the law was heavy, and what he intended was not accomplished, and what he did not want was not prevented (Ro 7:5).

Not bad, he says, is the law, nor sin, but to make known the sin, while not having the power to turn it away, it provided an opportunity for it (Ro 7:7–8). But why this, he says? Showing the greatness of sin, so that he might demonstrate the excess of grace. Thus, he says, sin was strong, because through the forbidding things it rather prevailed and more strongly exerted itself; just as a flame, having begun, they extinguish whatever it touches, but once it has spread further, they pour more and more extinguishing water, so the law reproved sin, having held it over the whole inhabited world and having watched over all, but it was not able to extinguish it. Because it is not even able to condemn the one who has sinned in ignorance, the law, having been given and having shown the sin, gave power to the sin. But this was not the law's accusation...

Not boundaries, but the indictment of those not guarding it for a short time. Just as sin without law is deadly, so also sin is deadly even when the law is being guarded (Ro+m7,12).

Regarding Romans 7:12, he speaks of the Mosaic law, but of the commandment given to Adam in Paradise, he teaches it as holy as is fitting, just as he teaches it as righteous because it rightly brings a verdict upon transgressors, and as good because it makes life favorable to those guarding it.

Regarding Romans 7:24–25, having perceived with the mind the war occurring through the body against the soul, and through it the man being taken captive, he seeks a refuge of salvation and looks to the one delivering, so that this very body of death might be transformed into a body of life. Then, having found the one delivering and being ready, he sends up to God through Jesus Christ a thanksgiving appropriate to the grace of salvation, through whom it also became possible for him to be delivered from the enemy. He does not say simply or pray merely to be delivered from the body, but from that which has seized the body of death through the sin of death; for he wants his own body to be a body of life, not a body of death nor a body of sin.

Regarding Romans 8:9, the Spirit of Christ spoke the gifts of the new covenant. Regarding Romans 8:15, some say it is a spirit of slavery to the evil one, but it is not; for he calls the law here a spirit of slavery and those under the law slaves; therefore, as if being punished, they were afraid if they stumbled, which is a sign of slavery. But the permission to call the Father 'God' promises the hope of adoption through the purity of life; and it is the same Spirit who worked in both peoples, the spirit of slavery and the spirit of adoption, according to what is advantageous and fitting according to the dignity of both.

Regarding Romans 8:19, it is said that the eagerly awaited expectation is the stretching forth of those who hope, who by chance incline the head and strain the eyes, as if they were about to see the thing expected.

Regarding Romans 8:29, either of the image of the Son, instead of the Holy Spirit; for just as the Son is the unchanging image of the Father, so also the Spirit is the image of the Son. Therefore, all those who, having been made worthy of the Holy Spirit, live spiritually, these are conformed to the Spirit, which is the image of the Son. Regarding Romans 8:34, through these they demonstrate the immeasurable love which Christ has for us.