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Serve one another, showing intense affection. For since he removed the yoke of the law, lest they should start away, he places upon them another yoke, that of love, stronger indeed than that one, but much lighter and sweeter. Then showing its accomplishment, he says: For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, in this, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." For since they were turning the law upside down, "if you wish," he says, "to fulfill it, do not be circumcised; for it is not fulfilled in circumcision, but in love." See how he does not forget his own pain, but continually stirs up the source of pain, even when he has passed to moral discourse.

But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. He does not state it positively, lest he should be severe, but while he knows it is happening, he speaks of it with doubt. For he did not say, "Since you bite one another"; and the next part similarly; for neither there again did he state positively, that "You are consumed by one another"; which is the mark of one who is causing fear and providing security, not condemning. And he used words emphatically. For he did not say, "bite," only, which is the mark of one in a temper, but, "and devour," which is the mark of one persisting in wickedness. For the one who bites, fulfilled a passion of anger; but the one who devours provided proof of utter beastliness. He speaks not of bodily bitings and devourings, but of those much more grievous. For he who tastes human flesh has not done such harm as he who fixes his bites into the soul; for as much as the soul is more precious than the body, so much more grievous is its injury. Take care that you are not consumed by one another, he says. For since those who do wrong and plot, as if consuming others, come to this, for this reason he says: "See that the matter does not turn against yourselves." For division and fighting are destructive and consuming both for those who receive it and for those who introduce it, and it eats away everything more than a moth. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

5. Behold, he shows also another way that makes virtue easy, 61.671 and that accomplishes the things spoken of, a way that gives birth to love, and is bound fast by love. For nothing, nothing so makes men loving, as to be spiritual, and nothing so persuades the Spirit to remain with us, as the power of love. Wherefore he says: Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For since he spoke of what causes the disease, he also speaks of the medicine which bestows health. What is this, and what is the power of the good things spoken of, but to live by the Spirit? Wherefore he says: Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, so that you may not do the things that you wish. But here some attack, saying that the Apostle divided man into two, as if introducing him as constructed from opposite substance, and showing there to be a battle of the body against the soul. But this is not so, it is not; for here he calls "flesh," not the body; for if he means this, how does what is said next make sense? "For it desires," he says, "against the Spirit." And yet this is not of things that move, but of things that are moved, not of things that act, but of things that are acted upon; how then does it desire? For desire is not of the flesh, but of the soul. For elsewhere also he says: My soul is full of desire; and what does your soul desire, and I will do it for you, and, Do not walk according to the desire of your soul; and again, Thus my soul longs. How then does Paul say, "The flesh desires against the Spirit"? He is accustomed to call "flesh," not the nature of the body, but the evil choice, as when he says: You are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit; And again, But those who are

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∆ουλεύετε, τὴν ἐπιτεταμένην δηλῶν φιλίαν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τοῦ νόμου τὸν ζυγὸν ἀνεῖλεν, ἵνα μὴ ἀποσκιρτήσωσιν, ἕτερον αὐτοῖς ἐπιτίθησι ζυγὸν τὸν τῆς ἀγάπης, ἰσχυρότερον μὲν ἐκείνου, κουφότερον δὲ καὶ ἡδίω πολλῷ. Εἶτα δεικνὺς αὐτοῦ τὸ κατόρθωμα, φησίν· Ὁ γὰρ πᾶς νόμος ἐν ἑνὶ λόγῳ πληροῦται, ἐν τῷ, Ἀγαπήσεις τὸν πλησίον σου ὡς ἑαυτόν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἄνω καὶ κάτω τὸν νόμον ἔστρεφον, εἰ βούλει αὐτὸν, φησὶ, πληροῦν, μὴ περιτέμνου· οὐ γὰρ ἐν τῇ περιτομῇ, ἀλλ' ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ πληροῦται. Ὅρα τῆς ὀδύνης πῶς οὐκ ἐπιλανθάνεται τῆς ἑαυτοῦ, ἀλλὰ τὸ πονοῦν κινεῖ συνεχῶς, καὶ εἰς τὸν ἠθικὸν ἐξελθὼν λόγον.

Εἰ δὲ ἀλλήλους δάκνετε καὶ κατεσθίετε, βλέπετε μὴ ὑπ' ἀλλήλων ἀναλωθῆτε. Οὐκ ἀποφαίνεται, ἵνα μὴ βαρήσῃ, ἀλλ' οἶδε μὲν αὐτὸ γινόμενον, λέγει δὲ αὐτὸ μετὰ ἀμφιβολίας. Οὐ γὰρ εἶπεν, Ἐπειδὴ ἀλλήλους δάκνετε· καὶ τὸ ἑξῆς ὁμοίως· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐκεῖ πάλιν ἀπεφήνατο, ὅτι Ὑπ' ἀλλήλων ἀναλώθητε· ὅπερ ἐστὶ φοβοῦντος καὶ ἀσφαλιζομένου, οὐ καταδικάζοντος. Καὶ ταῖς λέξεσι δὲ ἐμφαντικῶς ἐχρήσατο. Οὐ γὰρ εἶπε, ∆άκνετε, μόνον, ὅπερ ἐστὶ θυμουμένου, ἀλλὰ, Καὶ κατεσθίετε, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἐμμένοντος τῇ πονηρίᾳ. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ δάκνων, ὀργῆς ἐπλήρωσε πάθος· ὁ δὲ κατεσθίων θηριωδίας ἐσχάτης παρέσχεν ἀπόδειξιν. ∆ήγματα δὲ καὶ βρώσεις οὐ τὰς σωματικάς φησιν, ἀλλὰ τὰς πολὺ χαλεπωτέρας. Οὐ γὰρ οὕτως ὁ ἀνθρωπίνης ἀπογευσάμενος σαρκὸς ἔβλαψεν, ὡς ὁ δήγματα εἰς τὴν ψυχὴν πηγνύς· ὅσον γὰρ ψυχὴ τιμιωτέρα σώματος, τοσοῦτον χαλεπωτέρα ἡ ταύτης βλάβη. Βλέπετε μὴ ὑπ' ἀλλήλων ἀναλωθῆτε, φησί. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ οἱ ἀδικοῦντες καὶ ἐπιβουλεύοντες, ὡς ἄλλους ἀναλίσκοντες, ἐπὶ τοῦτο ἔρχονται, διὰ τοῦτό φησι· Σκοπεῖτε μὴ εἰς ὑμᾶς τὸ πρᾶγμα περιτραπῇ. Ἡ γὰρ διάστασις καὶ ἡ μάχη φθοροποιὸν καὶ ἀναλωτικὸν καὶ τῶν δεχομένων αὐτὴν, καὶ τῶν εἰσαγόντων, καὶ σητὸς μᾶλλον ἅπαντα διατρώγει. Λέγω δὲ, πνεύματι περιπατεῖτε, καὶ ἐπιθυμίαν σαρκὸς οὐ μὴ τελέσητε.

εʹ. Ἰδοὺ καὶ ἑτέραν δείκνυσιν ὁδὸν εὔκολον ποιοῦσαν 61.671 τὴν ἀρετὴν, καὶ κατορθοῦσαν τὰ εἰρημένα, ὁδὸν τίκτουσαν ἀγάπην, καὶ σφιγγομένην ὑπὸ τῆς ἀγάπης. Οὐδὲν γὰρ, οὐδὲν οὕτως ἀγαπητικοὺς ποιεῖ, ὡς τὸ πνευματικοὺς εἶναι, καὶ οὐδὲν οὕτω πείθει παραμένειν ἡμῖν τὸ πνεῦμα, ὡς ἡ τῆς ἀγάπης ἰσχύς. ∆ιό φησι· Πνεύματι περιπατεῖτε, καὶ ἐπιθυμίαν σαρκὸς οὐ μὴ τελέσητε. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ εἶπε τὸ ποιοῦν τὴν νόσον, λέγει καὶ τὸ τὴν ὑγείαν χαριζόμενον φάρμακον. Ποῖον δὲ τοῦτό ἐστι, καὶ τίς ἡ δύναμις τῶν εἰρημένων καλῶν, ἢ τὸ πνεύματι ζῇν; ∆ιό φησι· Πνεύματι περιπατεῖτε, καὶ ἐπιθυμίαν σαρκὸς οὐ μὴ τελέσητε. Ἡ γὰρ σὰρξ ἐπιθυμεῖ κατὰ τοῦ πνεύματος, τὸ δὲ πνεῦμα κατὰ τῆς σαρκός· ταῦτα δὲ ἀντίκειται ἀλλήλοις, ἵνα μὴ, ἃ ἂν θέλητε, ταῦτα ποιῆτε. Ἐνταῦθα δὲ ἐπιτίθενταί τινες λέγοντες, ὅτι διεῖλεν εἰς δύο τὸν ἄνθρωπον ὁ Ἀπόστολος, ὥσπερ ἐξ ἐναντίας οὐσίας κατεσκευασμένον εἰσάγων, καὶ μάχην τῷ σώματι πρὸς τὴν ψυχὴν δεικνὺς οὖσαν. Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἔστι ταῦτα, οὐκ ἔστι· σάρκα γὰρ ἐνταῦθα, οὐ τὸ σῶμα καλεῖ· εἰ γὰρ τοῦτό φησι, πῶς ἔχει λόγον τὸ ἑξῆς εἰρημένον; Ἐπιθυμεῖ γὰρ, φησὶ, κατὰ τοῦ πνεύματος. Καὶ μὴν τοῦτο οὐ τῶν κινούντων, ἀλλὰ τῶν κινουμένων ἐστὶν, οὐ τῶν ἐνεργούντων, ἀλλὰ τῶν ἐνεργουμένων· πῶς οὖν ἐπιθυμεῖ; ἡ γὰρ ἐπιθυμία οὐ σαρκὸς, ἀλλὰ ψυχῆς. Καὶ γὰρ ἀλλαχοῦ φησι· Κατεπίθυμός ἐστιν ἡ ψυχή μου· καὶ τί ἐπιθυμεῖ ἡ ψυχή σου, καὶ ποιήσω σοι, Καὶ, Μὴ πορεύου κατὰ τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν τῆς ψυχῆς σου· καὶ πάλιν, Οὕτως ἐπιποθεῖ ἡ ψυχή μου. Πῶς οὖν Παῦλός φησιν, Ἡ σὰρξ ἐπιθυμεῖ κατὰ τοῦ πνεύματος; Οἶδε σάρκα καλεῖν, οὐ τὴν τοῦ σώματος φύσιν, ἀλλὰ τὴν πονηρὰν προαίρεσιν, ὡς ὅταν λέγῃ· Ὑμεῖς οὐκ ἐστὲ ἐν σαρκὶ, ἀλλ' ἐν πνεύματι· Καὶ πάλιν, Οἱ δὲ