Sermon 152

SERMO 152

OF THE FOLLOWING WORDS OF THE APOSTLE (ROM 7; 8:1-4); UP TO:
"God sent His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh," etc.

The difficulty is not in obscure meanings, when the Spirit helps.

Your Charity should remember that I discussed with you a very difficult question from the Epistle of the Apostle Paul, where he says: For I do not do what I want, but what I hate, that I do. Therefore, those who were present, you remember; be attentive now, so that you affirm what you have heard. For the reading that was recited today follows, which the reader began from there: God sent His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh; that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. But the words that were read then, which were not discussed, are these that follow: Therefore I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weakened by the flesh. And it continues with what was read today: God sent his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. The difficulty is not in obscure meanings, when the spirit assists. Therefore, let it assist us with your prayers; because the very desire to understand is a prayer to God. Therefore, you should expect help from Him. For we, like peasants in a field, work outwardly. But if there were no one who worked inwardly, neither would the seed be fixed in the earth, nor would the shoot rise in the field, nor would the stalk be strengthened and reach the beam; nor would branches, nor fruits, nor leaves be born. Therefore, the Apostle himself said, discerning the work of the workers and the Creator: I planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. And he added: Neither the one who plants is anything, nor the one who waters; but God who gives the increase. If God does not inwardly give the increase, this sound to your ears is in vain. But if He gives, what we plant and water is worth something, and our labor is not in vain.

Fight against carnal desires.

I have already told you that the Apostle's statement should be understood in this way: "With my mind I serve the law of God, but with my flesh the law of sin"; so that you permit the flesh nothing more than desires, without which it cannot exist. But if you consent to evil desires and do not fight against them, you will mourn being defeated; and it is to be wished that you mourn, lest you also lose the sense of pain. Therefore, as far as it is in our vows, in our will, in our prayer, when we say: "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil"; we certainly desire that evil desires do not arise from our flesh. But as long as we live here, we cannot achieve this. Therefore he says: "But to complete the good I do not find." What do I find to do? Not to consent to evil desire. I do not find to complete: not to have an evil desire. Therefore, it remains in this struggle, that with the mind not consenting to evil desires, you serve the law of God; but with the flesh desiring, without you consenting, you serve the law of sin. The flesh carries out its desires, do you also carry out yours. Its desires are not oppressed or extinguished by you; yours are not extinguished; so that you labor in the struggle, not be dragged down in defeat.

The evil of concupiscence in the baptized is without guilt.

The Apostle therefore follows and says: Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Even if they have desires of the flesh, to which they do not consent; and if the law in their members resists the law of their mind, and wants to capture the mind; nevertheless, because by the grace of Baptism and the washing of regeneration, even the guilt with which you were born, and whatever you previously consented to as evil desire, or any disgrace, or any crime, or any evil thought, or any evil speech, all are erased in that font, where you entered as a servant, from which you exited free; because therefore these things are so: There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. There is none now, but there was before. From one man all into condemnation. Generation had done this evil, but regeneration has done this good. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. It resides in the members, but it does not make you guilty. You are freed from it; fight freely; but see that you are not overcome, and again become a servant. You labor by fighting, but you will rejoice by triumphing.

The error of the Manichaeans must be avoided.

But I told you, and you should especially remember, lest perhaps because of this struggle, without which a man cannot exist, even he who lives righteously; indeed, he is in it, who lives righteously; for he does not fight but is dragged, who does not live righteously; therefore do not think on account of this that there are two natures from different principles, as the Manicheans foolishly believe, as if flesh is not from God. This is false, both are from God. But human nature has deserved this within itself because of sin. Therefore, it is a weakness; it is healed and it ceases to be. The discord now that is in spirit and flesh, works towards concord; the spirit therefore labors so that the flesh comes into agreement with it. Just as if in one house a man and a wife have a quarrel among themselves; the man should labor for this, that he may subdue the wife. The subdued wife should submit to the husband; with the wife subdued to the husband, peace is made in the house.

Threefold law: the law of sin, the law of faith, the law of deeds.

But when he had said: The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus set you free from the law of sin and death, he set before us to understand these very laws. Look at them and discern; this discernment is necessary for you. The law, he says, of the Spirit of life, behold one law: set you free from the law of sin and death, behold another law. And it follows: For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, behold a third law. Or perhaps this is from the two? Let us inquire and with the Lord's help let us see. What did he say of that good law? The law of the Spirit of life set you free from the law of sin and death. He did not say this one was invalid for accomplishing: The law of the Spirit of life, he says, set you free from the law of sin and death. That good law set you free from this evil law. For what is the evil law? I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. Why then is it also called a law? Quite rightly. For it was very lawful that the man who did not want to obey his Lord, his flesh should not serve him. Your Lord is above you, your flesh below you. Serve the better, that the inferior may serve you. You despised the superior, you are tormented by the inferior. This is therefore the law of sin, it is also of death. For through sin is death. On the day you eat, you will die by death. This law of sin thus drags the spirit and strives to subjugate. But I delight in the law of God according to the inner man. And therefore that battle occurs, and in the conflict it is said: With the mind I serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. The law of the Spirit of life set you free from the law of sin and death. For how did the law of the Spirit of life set you free? First of all, it gave forgiveness of sins. For this is the law, of which it is said to God in the Psalm: And have mercy on me according to your law. The law of mercy, the law of faith, not of works. What then is the law of works? You have already heard of the good law of faith: The law of the Spirit of life set you free from the law of sin and death. You have also heard of the other law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh. This third law therefore, which was named, I don't know what sort of unfulfillment; but the law of the Spirit of life fulfilled it; because it set you free from the law of sin and death. Therefore this law, which was named in third place, is the very Law which was given to the people through Moses on Mount Sinai, it is called the law of works. It knows how to threaten, not how to help; it knows how to command, not how to assist. It is the one that said: You shall not covet. Hence, says the Apostle: I would not have known covetousness, except the law had said: You shall not covet. And what did it benefit me, that the law said: You shall not covet? Sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. I was prohibited from coveting, and I did not fulfill the commands, but was overcome. Before the law I was a sinner; having received the law, I became a transgressor. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me.

The Law of Moses is defended against the Manichaeans.

Therefore, he says, the law indeed is holy. Thus, this law is also good (for the Manicheans criticize it too, just as they do the flesh). The Apostle says about it: "Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good." What then is good, has it become death to me? God forbid! But sin, that it might appear sin, worked death in me through that which is good. These are the words of the Apostle, see and attend. Therefore, the law indeed is holy. What is as holy as: "Thou shalt not covet"? The transgression of the law would not be evil unless the law itself were good. For if it were not good, it would not be evil to transgress an evil thing. Since it is indeed evil to transgress it, therefore it is good. What is as good as: "Thou shalt not covet"? Therefore, the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. How does it satisfy? How does it insist? It cries out as if against slanderers. What do you say, Manichean? Is the law given through Moses evil? They say it is evil: O monstrosities! O impudence! You said once: It is evil; listen to the Apostle saying: "The law indeed is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good." Are you ever silent? What then is good, he says, has it become death to me? God forbid! But sin, that it might appear sin, worked death in me through that which is good. And here: through that which is good; thus he accuses the culprit so as not to retreat from the praise of the law. Through that which is good, he says, worked death in me. Through what good? The commandment. Through what good? The law. How did it work death? That sin might appear; that it might become exceedingly sinful, transgressing through the commandment. Therefore: exceedingly. When he sinned without the commandment, it was less; when he sins through the commandment, it exceeds the measure. For when someone is not forbidden, he thinks he is doing well. Once forbidden, he begins not to want to act; he is overcome, dragged, subjugated; now he has left to invoke grace; because he could not keep the law.

Three laws.

And thus that law, of which it was said: For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death, is the law of faith, the law of the Spirit, the law of grace, the law of mercy. But that law of sin and death is not the law of God, but of sin and death. However, the other about which the Apostle says: The law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good, is the law of God, but the law of deeds, the law of works: the law of works, which orders but does not help; the law which shows you, but does not take away sin. Sin is shown to you by one law, taken away by another. There are two Testaments, the Old and the New. Hear the Apostle saying: Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. These things are an allegory: for these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar, the slave of Sarah who was given to Abraham and bore Ishmael, a slave. Thus, the Old Testament pertains to Hagar, bringing forth into slavery. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. Therefore, the children of grace are children of the free woman; the children of the letter are children of the slave woman. Look for the children of the slave woman: The letter kills. Look for the children of the free woman: But the Spirit gives life. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death, which the law of the letter could not free you from. For what was impossible for the law, in that it was weakened by the flesh. For your flesh rebelled, your flesh subdued you; it heard the law and increased your desire. Therefore, the law of the letter was weakened by the flesh; and thus it was impossible for the law of the letter to free from the law of sin and death.

The flesh of Christ alone is not the flesh of sin.

God sent His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh; not in sinful flesh. Indeed in the flesh, but not in sinful flesh. Therefore, the flesh of all other men is sinful flesh; His alone is not sinful flesh; because His mother did not conceive Him in concupiscence, but in grace; nonetheless having the likeness of sinful flesh; whence He could also be nourished, hunger, thirst, sleep, become weary, and die. In the likeness of sinful flesh, God sent His Son.

Of sin in Christ, how sin was condemned.

And concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh. What sin? Which sin? He condemned sin concerning sin in the flesh; so that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us. Now that righteousness of the law may be fulfilled in us; now that righteousness which is commanded, may be fulfilled in us through the Spirit who helps; that is, the law of the letter may be fulfilled in us through the spirit of life: Who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. Concerning what sin, then, did the Lord, which sin did he condemn? I see, I indeed see what sin he condemned, I clearly see: Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sin of the world. What sin? All sin, all our sin he condemned. But concerning what sin? He himself had no sin; it was said of him: Who did no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth. None at all, neither by drawing nor by adding; he had no sin, neither of origin, nor of his own iniquity. His origin the virgin shows; his holy conversation indeed shows well enough that he did nothing for which he was worthy of death. Therefore he says: Behold the prince of this world comes (signifying the devil), and he will find nothing in me. He will not find why the prince of death may kill me. And why then do you die? But so that all may know that I do the will of my Father, let us go hence. And he went to the passion of death, a voluntary death, not of necessity, but of choice. I have the power to lay down my life, and I have the power to take it again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down, and I take it again. If you wonder at the power, understand the majesty. As God speaks, Christ speaks.

An opinion of certain people about the passage of the Apostle.

About what sin, therefore, did He condemn sin? Some have understood and reached a reasonable interpretation. However, they could not fully grasp what the Apostle said, as it seems to me. Nevertheless, they did not say something bad; I will tell you this first, and then what seems to me and what the divine Scripture itself shows to be the truest. When they were troubled: About what sin did He condemn sin? Did He have sin? They said this: He condemned sin by sin, by a sin not His own; however, He condemned sin by sin. If therefore not by His own, by whose? By the sin of Judas, by the sin of the Jews. For from where did He shed blood for the remission of sins? Because He was crucified by the Jews. By whom surrendered? By Judas. The Jews killed Him, Judas surrendered Him. Did they do well, or did they sin? They sinned. Behold, from what sin He condemned sin. It was well said and truly said because through the sin of the Jews, Christ condemned all sin, because as they persecuted, He shed blood, by which He erased all sin. However, elsewhere see what the Apostle says: For Christ, he says, we serve as ambassadors, as though God were exhorting through us; we beseech you for Christ, that is, as though Christ beseeches you, for Him we beseech you, be reconciled to God. And it follows: He who knew no sin, God made Him to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Can the sin of Judas, the sin of the Jews, the sin of any other man be understood here; when you hear: He who knew no sin, God made Him to be sin for us? Who? Whom? God made Christ, God made Christ to be sin for us. He did not say: He made Him a sinner for us; but, He made Him to be sin. If it is blasphemy to say that Christ sinned, who could endure Christ being sin? And yet we cannot contradict the Apostle. We cannot say to him: What is this that you speak? For if we say this to the Apostle, we say it to Christ Himself. For he says elsewhere: Or do you want to receive proof that Christ speaks in me?

The truer interpretation of the Apostle. How Christ was made sin.

What then is it? Let your Love pay attention to the great and profound mystery. You will be happy if you love understanding, and arrive at the beloved. Completely, completely our Lord Christ, our Savior Jesus, our Redeemer, was made sin, so that we might be the righteousness of God in him. How? Listen to the law. Those who know, understand what I say; and those who do not know, let them read or listen. In the law, even the sacrifices which were offered for sins were called sins. You have, when the victim for the sin was brought, the law says: Let the priests lay their hands upon the sin; that is, upon the victim for the sin. And what is other than Christ the sacrifice for sin? Just as Christ, he says, loved you, and gave himself up for you, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. Behold from which sin he condemned sin; from the sacrifice which he became for sins, from there he condemned sin. This is the Law of the spirit of life, which has set you free from the law of sin and death. Because that other law, the law of the letter, the law that commands, is indeed good; The commandment is holy, and righteous, and good; but it was weakened through the flesh; and what it commanded could not be fulfilled in us. Therefore, another law, as I began to say, shows you sin, another removes it; the law of the letter shows sin, the law of grace removes sin.