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by commanding more things to one who is unwilling to obey anything, he increases the transgression. For this reason he did not say, The passions of sins which are *by* the law, but, which are *through* the law, and he did not add, which are, but simply, *through* the law, that is, which are made manifest or known through the law. Then, that he might not even accuse the flesh, he did not say, which our members wrought, but which *were wrought* in our members; showing that the origin of the evil was from another source, from the thoughts that wrought, not from the members that were wrought upon. For the soul held the place of a craftsman, and the nature of the flesh that of a cithara, sounding just as the craftsman compelled it. Therefore we must attribute the discordant melody not to this, but to that which is before this. But now, he says, we are delivered from the law. Do you see how again here he spares both the flesh and the law? For he did not say, that the law was made void, nor that the flesh was made void, but that *we* were made void. And how were we made void? By the old man, who was held by sin, having died and been buried; for this he showed by saying, Having died to that wherein we were held. As if he had said, The bond, by which we were held, has been killed and broken, so that the one holding holds nothing anymore, that is, sin. But do not fall away nor become more slothful; for you were made void so as to serve again, but not in the same way, but *That we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter*. But what is it that he says? For it is necessary to reveal it now, so that, when we come upon the passage, we may not be disturbed. For when, he says, Adam sinned, and his body became mortal and subject to passions, and received many natural defects, the horse also became heavier and harder to manage; 60.499 but Christ, having come, made it lighter for us through baptism, rousing it with the wing of the Spirit. 4. For this very reason, the same contests are not set before the ancients and us, since the race was not so easy then. Therefore he himself demands that we be pure not only from murder, as the ancients were, but also from anger; nor from adultery, but he commands to be freed also from a licentious gaze; nor from perjury, but also to be without swearing at all, and he commands us to love our enemies as well as our friends; and in all other things he made the race-courses longer, and even if we do not obey, he has threatened hell, showing that the things sought are not a matter of the ambition of the contenders, like virginity and poverty, but that they must by all means be accomplished. For they are among the necessary and urgent things, and he who does not do them pays the ultimate penalty. For this reason he said: *Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter into the kingdom of heaven*. But he who does not see the kingdom will certainly fall into hell. For this reason Paul also said: *For sin shall not have dominion over you: for you are not under the law, but under grace*; and here again: *That we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter*. For it is not a letter that condemns, that is, the old law, but a spirit that helps. For this reason, among the ancients if anyone appeared practicing virginity, it was very astonishing; but now the practice has been sown everywhere in the world; and then few men with difficulty looked down on death, but now in villages and cities there are countless hosts of martyrs, composed not only of men, but also of women. Then, since he said these things, he resolves another objection that arises, establishing what he wants in the resolution. Wherefore he does not introduce the resolution directly, but out of a contradiction, so that by the necessity of the resolution he may get an occasion to say what he wants, and make the accusation less offensive. For since he said, *In newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter*, he added: *What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid.* For before this he had said, that *the passions of sins which were by the law, did work in our members*; and, *Sin shall not have dominion over you: for you are not under the law, but under grace*; and that, *For where no law is, there is no transgression*; and, The Law

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τῷ μηδὲν πείθεσθαι βουλομένῳ πλείονα ἐπιτάττων, πλεονάζει τὸ παράπτωμα. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο οὐκ εἶπε, Τὰ παθήματα τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν τὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ νόμου γινόμενα, ἀλλὰ, Τὰ διὰ τοῦ νόμου, καὶ οὐ προσέθηκε, Γινόμενα, ἀλλ' ἁπλῶς, ∆ιὰ τοῦ νόμου, τουτέστι, τὰ διὰ τοῦ νόμου φαινόμενα ἢ γνωριζόμενα. Εἶτα, ἵνα μηδὲ τῆς σαρκὸς κατηγορήσῃ, οὐκ εἶπεν, Ἃ ἐνήργει τὰ μέλη, ἀλλ' ἃ Ἐνηργεῖτο ἐν τοῖς μέλεσιν ἡμῶν· δεικνὺς ἑτέρωθεν οὖσαν τῆς πονηρίας τὴν ἀρχὴν, ἀπὸ τῶν ἐνεργούντων λογισμῶν, οὐκ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐνεργουμένων μελῶν. Ἡ μὲν γὰρ ψυχὴ τεχνίτου τάξιν ἐπεῖχε, κιθάρας δὲ τῆς σαρκὸς ἡ φύσις, οὕτως ἠχοῦσα, ὡς ἠνάγκαζεν ὁ τεχνίτης. Οὐκοῦν οὐ ταύτῃ τὸ ἀπηχὲς μέλος, ἀλλ' ἐκείνῃ πρὸ ταύτης λογιστέον ἡμῖν. Νῦν δὲ, φησὶ, κατηργήθημεν ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου. Ὁρᾷς πῶς πάλιν ἐνταῦθα τῆς σαρκὸς καὶ τοῦ νόμου φείδεται; Οὐ γὰρ εἶπεν, ὅτι Κατηργήθη ὁ νόμος, οὐδ' ὅτι Κατηργήθη ἡ σὰρξ, ἀλλ' ὅτι Κατηργήθημεν ἡμεῖς. Καὶ πῶς ἡμεῖς κατηργήθημεν; Τοῦ κατεχομένου παρὰ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἀνθρώπου παλαιοῦ ἀποθανόντος καὶ ταφέντος· τοῦτο γὰρ ἐδήλωσεν εἰπών· Ἀποθανόντες ἐν ᾧ κατειχόμεθα. Ὡσανεὶ ἔλεγεν, Ὁδεσμὸς, δι' οὗ κατεχόμεθα, ἐνεκρώθη καὶ διεῤῥύη, ὥστε τὸν κατέχοντα μηδὲν κατέχειν λοιπὸν, τουτέστι, τὴν ἁμαρτίαν. Ἀλλὰ μὴ ἀναπέσῃς μηδὲ ῥᾳθυμότερος γένῃ· κατηργήθης γὰρ ὥστε δουλεύειν πάλιν, ἀλλ' οὐχ ὁμοίως, ἀλλ' Ὥστε δουλεύειν ἡμᾶς ἐν καινότητι πνεύματος, καὶ οὐ παλαιότητι γράμματος. Τί δέ ἐστιν, ὅ φησιν; ἀναγκαῖον γὰρ αὐτὸ ἤδη ἐκκαλύψαι, ἵν', ὅταν εἰς τὸ χωρίον ἐμπέσωμεν, μὴ θορυβώμεθα. Ὅτε γὰρ, φησὶν, ἥμαρτεν ὁ Ἀδὰμ, καὶ τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ γέγονε θνητὸν καὶ παθητὸν, καὶ πολλὰ ἐλαττώματα ἐδέξατο φυσικὰ, καὶ βαρύτερος καὶ δυσήνιος ὁ ἵππος κατέστη· 60.499 ἀλλ' ὁ Χριστὸς ἐλθὼν, διὰ τοῦ βαπτίσματος κουφότερον ἡμῖν αὐτὸ ἐποίησεν τῷ πτερῷ διεγείρων τοῦ Πνεύματος. δʹ. ∆ιὰ δὴ τοῦτο οὐδὲ τὰ αὐτὰ κεῖται τοῖς παλαιοῖς καὶ ἡμῖν σκάμματα, ἐπειδὴ οὐδὲ οὕτω τότε εὔκολος ὁ δρόμος ἦν. ∆ιὸ καὶ αὐτὸς οὐχὶ φόνων ἀπαιτεῖ καθαροὺς εἶναι μόνον, ὥσπερ τοὺς ἀρχαίους, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὀργῆς· οὐδὲ μοιχείας, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀκολάστου ὄψεως ἀπηλλάχθαι κελεύει· οὐδὲ ἐπιορκίας, ἀλλὰ καὶ εὐορκίας ἐκτὸς εἶναι, καὶ μετὰ τῶν φίλων καὶ τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ἀγαπᾷν ἐπιτάττει· καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἄλλοις δὲ ἅπασι μακροτέρους ἐποίησε τοὺς διαύλους, κἂν μὴ πειθώμεθα, καὶ γέενναν ἠπείλησε, δεικνὺς ὅτι οὐ τῆς φιλοτιμίας τῶν ἀγωνιζομένων τὰ ζητούμενα, ὥσπερ ἡ παρθενία καὶ ἡ ἀκτημοσύνη, ἀλλὰ πάντως αὐτὰ ἀνυσθῆναι δεῖ. Καὶ γὰρ τῶν ἀναγκαίων ἐστὶ καὶ κατεπειγόντων, καὶ ὁ μὴ ποιήσας τὴν ἐσχάτην δίδωσι δίκην. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἔλεγεν· Ἐὰν μὴ περισσεύσῃ ἡ δικαιοσύνη ὑμῶν πλέον τῶν Γραμματέων καὶ Φαρισαίων, οὐ μὴ εἰσέλθητε εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν. Ὁ δὲ τὴν βασιλείαν οὐχ ὁρῶν, εἰς γέενναν πεσεῖται πάντως. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ ὁ Παῦλος ἔλεγεν· Ἁμαρτία γὰρ ὑμῶν οὐ κυριεύσει· οὐ γάρ ἐστε ὑπὸ νόμον, ἀλλ' ὑπὸ χάριν· καὶ ἐνταῦθα πάλιν· Ὥστε δουλεύειν ἡμᾶς ἐν καινότητι πνεύματος, καὶ οὐ παλαιότητι γράμματος. Οὐ γάρ ἐστι γράμμα καταδικάζον, τουτέστιν, ὁ νόμος ὁ παλαιὸς, ἀλλὰ πνεῦμα βοηθοῦν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἐπὶ μὲν τῶν παλαιῶν εἴ πού τις ἐφάνη παρθενίαν ἀσκῶν, σφόδρα ἔκπληκτον ἦν· νῦν δὲ πανταχοῦ τῆς οἰκουμένης τὸ πρᾶγμα ἔσπαρται· καὶ θανάτου τότε μὲν ὀλίγοι μόλις ὑπερεῖδον ἄνδρες, νυνὶ δὲ καὶ ἐν κώμαις καὶ πόλεσι δῆμοι μαρτύρων ἄπειροι, οὐκ ἐξ ἀνδρῶν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐκ γυναικῶν συνεστηκότες. Εἶτα ἐπειδὴ ταῦτα εἶπεν, ἀντίθεσιν πάλιν ἀνακύπτουσαν λύει, ἐν τῇ λύσει κατασκευάζων ὃ βούλεται. ∆ιόπερ οὐδὲ προηγουμένως εἰσάγει τὴν λύσιν, ἀλλ' ἐξ ἀντιλογίας, ἵνα τῇ ἀνάγκῃ τῆς λύσεως ἀφορμὴν εἰς τὸ εἰπεῖν ἃ βούλεται λάβῃ, καὶ ἀνεπαχθέστερον ποιήσῃ τὴν κατηγορίαν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ εἶπεν, Ἐν καινότητι πνεύματος, καὶ οὐ παλαιότητι γράμματος, ἐπήγαγε· Τί οὖν ἐροῦμεν; ὁ νόμος ἁμαρτία; Μὴ γένοιτο. Καὶ γὰρ πρὸ τούτου ἦν εἰρηκὼς, ὅτι Τὰ παθήματα τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν τὰ διὰ τοῦ νόμου ἐνηργεῖτο ἐν τοῖς μέλεσιν ἡμῶν· καὶ, Ἁμαρτία ὑμῶν οὐ κυριεύσει· οὐ γάρ ἐστε ὑπὸ νόμον, ἀλλ' ὑπὸ χάριν· καὶ ὅτι, Οὗ γὰρ οὐκ ἔστι νόμος, οὐδὲ παράβασις· καὶ, Νόμος