77

we shall be of the resurrection. And he did not say, We have become, but We shall be, showing again by this word that resurrection which has not yet happened, but is to come. Then, wishing to make the statement credible, he shows another resurrection which took place here before that one, so that from the present one you may also believe in the one to come. For having said, that we shall be planted together of the resurrection, he added: Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed; setting forth at once both a cause and a proof of the resurrection to come. And he did not say, He has been crucified, but, He was crucified with, bringing baptism close to the cross. For which reason he also said above, We have been planted together in the likeness of his death, that the body of sin might be destroyed, not calling this body so, but all wickedness. For just as he calls the entire badness the old man, so also he calls the body of that man the badness composed of the various parts of wickedness. And that what was said is not a conjecture, hear this very thing from Paul who explained it in what follows. For having said, That the body of sin might be destroyed, he added: That we should no longer be slaves to sin. For in this way I want it to be dead, not so that it should be annihilated and die, but so that it should not sin. And going on he makes it still clearer: For he who has died, he says, has been justified from sin. He says this about every man, that just as he who has died is henceforth freed from sinning, lying dead, so too is he who has come up from baptism; for since he died once there, he must remain forever dead to sin. 2. If, therefore, you died in baptism, remain dead; for each person who has died can no longer sin; but if you sin, you corrupt the gift of God. Having required of us, therefore, so much philosophy, he quickly brought on the crown, saying: Now if we died with Christ. And yet this, before the crown, is the greatest crown, to have fellowship with the Master; but still I give you another prize, he says. What is this? Eternal life. For we believe, he says, that we shall also live with him. And from where is this clear? Knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. And consider again his contentiousness, and how he constructs this from its opposites. For since it was likely that some would be disturbed by the cross and the death, he shows that for this very reason one should henceforth be of good courage. For do not, because he died once, he says, think him to be mortal; for on this very account he remains immortal; for his death has become the death of death; and because he died, for this reason he does not die; for that death he died unto sin. What is, unto sin? That is, he was not liable to it, but for our sin. For in order to destroy it, and to cut its sinews and all its power, for this reason he died. Do you see how he has frightened us? For if he does not die a second time, neither is there a second washing; and if there is not a second washing, neither should you be prone to sin. For he says all these things, taking a stand against that, Let us do evil, that good may come, 60.486 and that, Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound. Therefore, destroying such a notion root and branch, he lays down all these things. But in that he lives, he lives unto God, he says; that is, indestructibly, so as no longer to be held by death. For if he also died the former death not being liable, but because of the sin of others, much more now will he not die, having destroyed it. Which he also said in the Epistle to the Hebrews: For once, he says, at the end of the ages he has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once, so also Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, without sin, to those who are eagerly waiting for him for salvation. And he shows both the strength of the life according to God, and the power of sin; of the life according to God

77

ἀναστάσεως ἐσόμεθα. Καὶ οὐκ εἶπε, Γεγόναμεν, ἀλλ' Ἐσόμεθα, καὶ τούτῳ πάλιν δηλῶν τῷ ῥήματι ἐκείνην τὴν οὐδέπω γεγενημένην ἀνάστασιν, ἀλλὰ μέλλουσαν. Εἶτα βουλόμενος ἀξιόπιστον ποιῆσαι τὸν λόγον, δείκνυσιν ἑτέραν ἀνάστασιν ἐνταῦθα γενομένην πρὸ ἐκείνης, ἵνα ἀπὸ τῆς παρούσης καὶ τῇ μελλούσῃ πιστεύσῃς. Εἰπὼν γὰρ, ὅτι σύμφυτοι ἐσόμεθα τῆς ἀναστάσεως, ἐπήγαγε· Τοῦτο γινώσκοντες, ὅτι ὁ παλαιὸς ἡμῶν ἄνθρωπος συνεσταυρώθη, ἵνα καταργηθῇ τὸ σῶμα τῆς ἁμαρτίας· ὁμοῦ καὶ αἰτίαν καὶ ἀπόδειξιν τῆς μελλούσης τιθεὶς ἀναστάσεως. Καὶ οὐκ εἶπεν, Ἐσταύρωται, ἀλλὰ, Συνεσταύρωται, ἐγγὺς ἄγων τὸ βάπτισμα τῷ σταυρῷ. ∆ιὸ καὶ ἀνωτέρω ἔλεγε, Σύμφυτοι τῷ ὁμοιώματι τοῦ θανάτου αὐτοῦ γεγόναμεν, ἵνα καταργηθῇ τὸ σῶμα τῆς ἁμαρτίας, οὐ τὸ σῶμα τοῦτο οὕτω καλῶν, ἀλλὰ τὴν πονηρίαν ἅπασαν. Ὥσπερ γὰρ παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον λέγει τὴν ὁλόκληρον κακίαν, οὕτω καὶ σῶμα τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐκείνου τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν διαφόρων μερῶν πονηρίας συγκειμένην πάλιν κακίαν. Καὶ ὅτι οὐ στοχασμὸς τὸ εἰρημένον, ἀπὸ τοῦ Παύλου τοῦτο αὐτὸ διὰ τῶν ἑξῆς ἑρμηνεύσαντος ἄκουσον. Εἰπὼν γὰρ, Ἵνα καταργηθῇ τὸ σῶμα τῆς ἁμαρτίας, ἐπήγαγε· Τοῦ μηκέτι δουλεύειν ἡμᾶς τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ. Ταύτῃ γὰρ αὐτὸ εἶναι βούλομαι νεκρὸν, οὐχ ὥστε ἀφανισθῆναι καὶ ἀποθανεῖν, ἀλλ' ὥστε μὴ ἁμαρτάνειν. Καὶ προϊὼν ἔτι σαφέστερον αὐτὸ ποιεῖ· Ὁ γὰρ ἀποθανὼν, φησὶ, δεδικαίωται ἀπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας. Περὶ παντὸς ἀνθρώπου τοῦτό φησιν, ὅτι ὥσπερ ὁ ἀποθανὼν ἀπήλλακται τὸ λοιπὸν τοῦ ἁμαρτάνειν, νεκρὸς κείμενος, οὕτω καὶ ὁ ἀναβὰς ἀπὸ τοῦ βαπτίσματος· ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἅπαξ ἀπέθανεν ἐκεῖ, νεκρὸν δεῖ μένειν διαπαντὸς τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ. βʹ. Εἰ τοίνυν ἀπέθανες ἐν τῷ βαπτίσματι, μένε νεκρός· καὶ γὰρ ἕκαστος ἀποθανὼν, οὐκέτι ἁμαρτάνειν δύναιτ' ἄν· εἰ δὲ ἁμαρτάνεις, λυμαίνῃ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν δωρεάν. Ἀπαιτήσας τοίνυν τοσαύτην ἡμᾶς φιλοσοφίαν, καὶ τὸν στέφανον ταχέως ἐπήγαγε, λέγων· Εἰ δὲ ἀπεθάνομεν σὺν Χριστῷ. Καίτοι καὶ τοῦτο πρὸ τοῦ στεφάνου μέγιστος στέφανος, τὸ κοινωνῆσαι τῷ ∆εσπότῃ· πλὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ ἕτερον δίδωμί σοι, φησὶν, ἔπαθλον. Ποῖον δὴ τοῦτο; Τὴν αἰώνιον ζωήν. Πιστεύομεν γὰρ, φησὶν, ὅτι καὶ συζήσομεν αὐτῷ. Καὶ πόθεν τοῦτο δῆλον; Εἰδότες, ὅτι Χριστὸς ἐγερθεὶς ἐκ νεκρῶν, οὐκέτι ἀποθνήσκει. Καὶ σκόπει πάλιν αὐτοῦ τὴν φιλονεικίαν, καὶ πῶς ἀπὸ τῶν ἐναντίων αὐτὸ κατασκευάζει. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ εἰκὸς ἦν τινας θορυβεῖσθαι διὰ τὸν σταυρὸν καὶ τὸν θάνατον, δείκνυσιν ὅτι δι' αὐτὸ μὲν οὖν τοῦτο χρὴ θαῤῥεῖν λοιπόν. Μὴ γὰρ, ἐπειδὴ ἅπαξ ἀπέθανε, φησὶ, νομίσῃς αὐτὸν θνητὸν εἶναι· καὶ γὰρ διὰ τοῦτο αὐτὸ ἀθάνατος μένει· θανάτου γὰρ θάνατος ὁ θάνατος αὐτοῦ γέγονε· καὶ ἐπειδὴ ἀπέθανε, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἀποθνήσκει· καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνον τὸν θάνατον Τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ ἀπέθανε. Τί ἐστι, Τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ; Τουτέστιν, οὐδὲ ἐκείνῳ ὑπεύθυνος ἦν, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τὴν ἡμετέραν. Ἵνα γὰρ αὐτὴν ἀνέλῃ, καὶ ἐκκόψῃ τὰ νεῦρα αὐτῆς καὶ τὴν δύναμιν ἅπασαν, διὰ τοῦτο ἀπέθανεν. Εἶδες πῶς ἐφόβησεν; Εἰ γὰρ οὐκ ἀποθνήσκει δεύτερον, οὐδὲ λουτρόν ἐστι δεύτερον· εἰ δὲ λουτρὸν οὐκ ἔστι δεύτερον, μηδὲ σὺ πρὸς ἁμαρτίαν ἐπιῤῥεπῶς ἔχε. Ταῦτα γὰρ πάντα λέγει, πρὸς ἐκεῖνο ἱστάμενος τὸ, Ποιήσωμεν τὰ κακὰ, ἵνα ἔλθῃ τὰ ἀγαθὰ, 60.486 καὶ τὸ, Ἐπιμενοῦμεν τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ, ἵνα ἡ χάρις πλεονάσῃ. Πρόῤῥιζον τοίνυν τὴν τοιαύτην ὑπόληψιν ἀναιρῶν, ἅπαντα ταῦτα τίθησιν. Ὃ δὲ ζῇ, τῷ Θεῷ ζῇ, φησί· τουτέστιν ἀκαταλύτως, ὡς μηκέτι κρατεῖσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ θανάτου. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ τὸν πρότερον θάνατον οὐχ ὑπεύθυνος ὢν ἀπέθανεν, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν ἑτέρων ἁμαρτίαν· πολλῷ μᾶλλον νῦν οὐκ ἀποθανεῖται, καταλύσας αὐτήν. Ὃ καὶ ἐν τῇ πρὸς Ἑβραίους ἔλεγεν· Ἅπαξ γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐπὶ συντελείᾳ τῶν αἰώνων εἰς ἀθέτησιν ἁμαρτίας διὰ τῆς θυσίας αὐτοῦ πεφανέρωται. Καὶ καθόσον ἀπόκειται τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἅπαξ ἀποθανεῖν, οὕτω καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς ἅπαξ προσενεχθεὶς εἰς τὸ πολλῶν ἀνενεγκεῖν ἁμαρτίας, ἐκ δευτέρου χωρὶς ἁμαρτίας, ὀφθήσεται τοῖς αὐτὸν ἀπεκδεχομένοις εἰς σωτηρίαν. ∆είκνυσι δὲ καὶ τῆς κατὰ Θεὸν ζωῆς τὴν ἰσχὺν, καὶ τῆς ἁμαρτίας τὴν δύναμιν· τῆς μὲν κατὰ Θεὸν