Thomas Aquinas Commentary Romans 6

1. After showing that it is through Christ’s grace that we are freed from the sin of our first parent and from the sin that abounded because of the law, the Apostle now shows that Christ’s grace gives us the power to resist further sin (C. 5, L. 5–6).

   In this regard, he does two things:

   1. He raises a question suggested by the previous discussion.
   2. He answers it, starting with God forbid! For we that are dead.

2. He had said above that where sin abounded, grace did more abound (Romans 5:20). This could be misinterpreted to mean that an increase of sin causes grace to abound all the more. That is why he asks: what shall we say, then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? One would have to say yes if an increase of sin were the cause and not merely the occasion of grace abounding. He had therefore stated above: as we are slandered and as some affirm that we say, let us do evil that there may come good (Romans 3:8). Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive? (Jeremiah 12:1).

3. Then, with the words God forbid, he answers the question.

   1. He states why we should not continue in sin.
   2. He ends with an exhortation, at let not sin therefore reign (Romans 6:12).

   Regarding the first point, he does two things:

   1. He shows why we should not continue in sin.
   2. He shows that we have the power not to continue in sin, at knowing this (Romans 6:6).

   Regarding the first of these, he presents the following argument: If we are dead to sin, we should not live in sin. But we are dead to sin. Therefore, we should not live in sin.

   Therefore, in this regard, he does four things:

   1. He states the conditional proposition.
   2. He proves the antecedent, at know you not.
   3. He concludes the consequent, at that as Christ is risen.
   4. He proves that the consequent necessarily follows, at for if we have been planted.

4. Therefore, he first says, God forbid that we continue in sin that grace may abound, because God has not given anyone permission to sin . And the reasoning is this: for we that are dead to sin, since sin has been put to death in us, how shall we live any longer therein? For it is not the natural order of things to return from death to life: they are dead, they will not live (Isaiah 25:14); I had bathed my feet, how could I soil them? (Song of Solomon 5:3).

5. Then, with the words know you not, he proves the antecedent—namely, that the faithful are dead to sin.

   1. He presents the fact he uses to prove his point.
   2. He proves it, at for we are buried together.

6. Therefore, he first says, know you not, as if to say: What I am about to propose to you is so obvious that you cannot fail to see it—if anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized (1 Corinthians 14:38)—namely, that all we who are baptized in Christ Jesus. This can be interpreted in three ways:

   1. As indicating that baptism was instituted by Jesus Christ: make disciples of all nations, baptizing them (Matthew 28:19).
   2. As indicating that it is conferred in the name of Christ: in the name of Jesus Christ they were baptized (Acts 8:12).
   3. In Christ Jesus, as indicating baptism into some likeness of Christ Jesus: for as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ (Galatians 3:27).

   Are baptized in his death means we are baptized into a likeness of his death, re-presenting in ourselves the very death of Christ: always carrying in the body the death of Jesus (2 Corinthians 4:10); I bear on my body the marks of Jesus (Galatians 6:17). Alternatively, in his death means by virtue of his death: he freed us from our sins by his blood (Revelation 1:5).

   From the side of Christ hanging on the cross, blood and water flowed after his death (John 19:34). Therefore, just as we are configured to his death by having died to sin, so he died to his mortal life, in which there was the likeness of sin, although no sin was actually there. For this reason, all of us who are baptized are dead to sin.

7. Then, with the words for we are buried together, he proves that we are all baptized in conformity with the death of Christ, saying, we are buried together with him by baptism into death. This is as if to say: Burial is only for the dead. Let the dead bury their dead (Matthew 18:22).

   By baptism, however, people are buried with Christ—that is, conformed to his burial. For just as a buried man is put under the earth, so the one being baptized is submerged under water. Hence, there are three immersions in baptism not only to indicate belief in the Trinity but also to represent the three days of Christ’s burial. And just as the three days of burial were one burial, so the triple immersion constitutes one baptism. This is also why solemn baptism is celebrated in the Church on Holy Saturday, when the burial of Christ is commemorated, and on the vigil of Pentecost in honor of the Holy Spirit, from whom the water of baptism derives its power to cleanse: unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven (John 3:5).

8. Yet it must be noted that while in the physical realm one dies before being buried, in the spiritual order the burial of baptism causes the death of sin, because the Sacraments of the new law bring about what they signify. Therefore, since the burial that occurs through baptism is a sign of the death of sin, it produces that very death in the one being baptized. This is what he means by saying that we are buried . . . into death: so that by receiving in ourselves the sign of Christ’s burial, we might obtain death to sin.

9. Then, with the words that, as Christ, he infers the consequence: that we should not live in sin. To this end, he presents a likeness to the resurrection of Christ, saying that, as Christ is risen from the dead by the glory of the Father—that is, by the Father’s power, through which the Father himself is glorified: let your glory be over all the earth (Psalms 57:5)—so we also may walk in newness of life, meaning we should advance in the spiritual life through good works.

   The life of sin carries with it the weakness of old age because it leads to decay: what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away (Hebrews 8:13); hence it is said: why is it, O Israel, that you are in the land of your enemies . But whatever leads to restoration—that is, to being without sin—is called newness of life: your youth is renewed like the eagle’s (Psalms 103:5); be renewed in the spirit of your minds (Ephesians 4:25).

10. Then, with the words for if we, he shows how the consequence necessarily follows.

    Since Christ arose after he died, it is fitting that those who are conformed to Christ’s death in baptism should also be conformed to his resurrection by leading a blameless life. This is what he says: for if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death. This means that if we are incorporated into his death as a branch is grafted onto a tree, then, as we are united with Christ in his passion, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. This happens so that we might live blamelessly in our present life and attain to a glory similar to his in the future life: he will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body (Philippians 3:21); if we have died with him, we shall also live with him (2 Timothy 2:11).

    Thus, after using our likeness to the death of Christ to prove that we are dead to sin, the Apostle then uses our likeness to the resurrection of Christ to show that we should not live in sin—the very consequence he introduced earlier.

After showing that we should not continue to sin after baptism has made us dead to sin, the Apostle now shows that we have the means to do this.

In this regard, he does two things:

• First, he indicates the benefit we have received.
• Second, he shows the effect of this benefit, with the phrase for he that is dead.

Regarding the first point, he also does two things:

• First, he presents the benefit we obtain.
• Second, he shows the effect of this benefit, with the phrase that the body of sin.

First, therefore, we have said that the baptized should walk in newness of life, that is, by ceasing from sin. To anyone who says this is impossible, the Apostle responds, knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him. The “old man,” or old self, refers to the old condition caused by sin, which is put to death by the cross of Christ.

As stated earlier, a person’s old nature was brought about by sin—in the sense that the goodness of their nature was corrupted by it—and this old nature is predominant as long as they continue in sin. Because what is predominant in a person characterizes the person, it follows that the old nature of sin in someone subject to sin is an apt description of the person themselves. This is why the Apostle speaks of the “old self.”

Now, this old nature of sin can refer to several things: the guilt of sin, the stain of actual sins, the habit of sinning (which creates a kind of compulsion to sin), or even to the fomes, or sinful desire (concupiscence), which derives from the sin of our first parent.

Therefore, our old self is said to be crucified with Christ in that this aforementioned old nature is removed by Christ’s power. This removal can be complete, as the guilt and stain of sin are entirely removed in baptism, or it can be a diminishment of its force—that is, the force of the fomes or of the habit of sinning. As Scripture says, having canceled the bond which stood against us with its legal demands; this he set aside, nailing it to the cross (Colossians 2:14).

Next, with the phrase that the body of sin, the Apostle mentions the twofold effect of this benefit. The first effect is the removal of previous sins, hence he says, that the body of sin may be destroyed. The “body of sin” is the collection of evil deeds, just as a collection of members makes one natural body: his body is like molten shields (Job 41:6).

The second effect is that it enables us to guard against future sins. Therefore, he adds, to the end that we may serve sin no longer. For a person is a slave to sin when they obey its sinful desires by consenting to and committing sin: everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin (John 8:34).

Then, with the phrase for he that is dead, he clarifies what he has said regarding both effects:

• First, concerning the first effect.
• Second, concerning the second effect, with the phrase now, if we be dead.

Regarding the first effect, it should be noted that the collection of sins is destroyed when a person’s sins are remitted. The Apostle clarifies how the body of sin is destroyed when he says that the one who is dead to sin through baptism (in which we die with Christ) is justified from sin. This means they are transferred to a state of justice: and such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified (1 Corinthians 6:11).

Therefore, because a person dies to sin through the cross of Christ, they are freed from sin in such a way that the body of sin is destroyed.

Next, with the phrase now, if we be dead, he clarifies the second effect by showing how it conforms a person to the life of Christ. The reasoning is this: one who dies with the dying Christ also lives with the rising Christ.

But Christ rose from the dead in such a way that he will never die again. Therefore, one who has died to sin lives with the risen Christ in such a way that they have the ability never to return to sin.

In this regard, he does three things:

1. He shows the believer’s conformity to the risen Christ.
2. He gives a condition of this life, with the phrase knowing that Christ.
3. He draws the intended conclusion, with the phrase so do you also.

First, therefore, he says, now, if we be dead with Christ—that is, if we are dead to sin by virtue of Christ’s death—we believe that we shall live also together with Christ, that is, in the likeness of his life. We shall live, I say, the life of grace here and the life of glory in the future: when we were dead through sin, he made us alive together with Christ (Ephesians 2:5).

Then, with the word knowing, he describes the condition of the risen Christ’s life:

• First, he states it.
• Second, he proves it, with the phrase for in that he died.

First, therefore, he says we believe this because we know that Christ, rising again from the dead, dies now no more, but will live an everlasting life: I died, and behold I am alive forevermore (Revelation 1:18).

Furthermore, death shall no more have dominion over him. Death does, however, have dominion over humanity: not only when soul and body are separated at death, but also before death, when a person is subject to sickness, hunger, thirst, and other things that lead to death. The life of the risen Christ is free from all these things. Consequently, he is not subject to the dominion of death; rather, he has dominion over death: I have the keys of death and Hades (Revelation 1:18).

Then, with the phrase for in that he died to sin, he proves his statement that the risen Christ will not die again. He proves this in two ways. First, he proves it with a reason based on the death he underwent, saying, for in that he died to sin, he died once.

This must not be taken to mean that he died because of sin he committed or contracted, for sin had no place in him at all: who did no sin (1 Peter 2:22). Rather, he is said to have died to sin in two ways. First, he died to take away sin: for our sake he made him who knew no sin to be sin (2 Corinthians 5:21), that is, a victim for sin. Second, he died to the likeness of sinful flesh—that is, to a suffering and mortal body: God sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh (Romans 8:3).

From both perspectives, it can be concluded that Christ died once because he died to sin. Regarding the first, it is clear that he wiped out all sins through one death: by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified (Hebrews 10:14). Therefore, he does not need to die again for sin: for Christ also died for sins once for all (1 Peter 3:18).

Regarding the second, the same can be concluded. For if Christ endured death so that the likeness of death would disappear from him, his death ought to have been like that of others, who wear the flesh of sin and die only once. Hence, it is said: just as it is appointed for men to die once, so Christ also was offered once to bear the sins of many (Hebrews 9:27).

Second, he shows the same thing by considering the condition of life he obtained by rising. Thus, he says, but in that he lives, he lives unto God, meaning he is conformed to God. For it is said: he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God (2 Corinthians 13:4).

Now, an effect is conformed to its cause. Therefore, the life that the rising Christ acquired is deiform (conformed to God). Just as God’s life is everlasting and without decay—who alone has immortality (1 Timothy 6:16)—so Christ’s life is immortal.

Then, with the phrase so do you also, he reaches the intended conclusion: that we are to be conformed to the life of the risen Christ. This conformity applies both to his death to sin (that is, to the mortal life that has the likeness of sin, never to return to it) and to living a life conformed to God.

Regarding the first aspect, he says, so do you also reckon that you are dead to sin, meaning that you should never return to sin: let not the dead live (Isaiah 26:14).

Regarding the second aspect, he says, but alive unto God. This means living for the honor and in the likeness of God, so that we never die through sin: the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God (Galatians 2:20).

Finally, he adds, in Christ Jesus our Lord. This can be understood in two ways: first, as meaning through Jesus Christ, through whom we die to sin and live to God. Or second, it can mean being incorporated into Christ Jesus, so that by his death we may die to sin and by his resurrection live to God: he made us alive together with Christ, by whose grace you have been saved through Christ (Ephesians 2:5).

1. After showing that we should not remain in sin and that we have the capacity for this, the Apostle concludes with a moral exhortation.

   Concerning this, he does three things:

   1. He proposes an admonition.
   2. He assigns a reason for it, at the words, for sin shall not have dominion over you.
   3. He raises and solves a question, at the words, What then? Shall we sin.

   In regard to the first point, he does two things:

   1. He proposes the admonition.
   2. He clarifies it, at the words, so as to obey.

2. First, therefore, he says: we have said that our old self was crucified once, so that the body of sin might be destroyed. This means that the power of sin has been so weakened that it cannot rule us. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body any longer.

   He does not say, “let sin not be in your mortal body,” because as long as our body is mortal—that is, bound to the necessity of death—it is not possible for sin not to be in our body, meaning the inclination to sin. But since we have been freed from the kingdom of sin by God, we must struggle so that sin does not recover the dominion it has lost in our body. This is what he says: let not sin reign in your mortal body. This is something we must be on guard against as long as we wear this mortal body: the corruptible body is a load upon the soul .

3. Then, when he says, so as to obey, he clarifies this admonition.

   It should be noted that sin reigns in a person in two ways.

   1. First, sin reigns through the internal consent of the mind. To remove this, he says, so as to obey its lusts. For it is by obeying the passions of sin with our minds that sin reigns in us: do not go after your lusts .

   2. Second, sin reigns in us through the performance of the sinful act. To exclude this, he adds, neither yield your members to sin as instruments of iniquity, that is, as instruments for committing sin. For when a person commits sin through his members, he yields to sin. In this way, he seems to fight to restore sin’s dominion, which grows in us through the habit of sinning: they went down to hell with their weapons (Ezekiel 32:27).

4. Then, when he says, but yield yourselves to God, he urges them to the opposite, namely, to yield themselves to God.

   He addresses this first with regard to the internal faculties, saying, but yield yourselves to God by submitting your mind to God: and now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways (Deuteronomy 10:12). You should do this as those who are alive from the dead, that is, as those led from the death of sin to the life of grace. Hence, it is fitting that since he died for all, those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised (2 Corinthians 5:15).

   Second, he addresses this with respect to outward actions; hence he says to yield your members... to God as instruments of justice with which to fight against God’s enemies: put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil (Ephesians 6:11).

5. Then, when he says, for sin shall not have dominion over you, he gives the reason for this admonition.

   Someone might excuse himself by alleging that sin’s dominion is an obstacle to obeying the admonition. But the Apostle excludes this, saying, for sin will not have dominion over you, provided you begin to resist sin and yield yourself to God: draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Resist the devil and he will flee from you (James 4:8). It is as if to say: you can follow my admonition, because you will not find sin dominating and holding you. For we have been freed by Christ, as John says: if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed (John 8:36).

6. Then he clarifies what he had said, saying, for you are not under the law, but under grace.

   Here it should be noted that he is not speaking of the law only in regard to its ceremonial precepts, but also its moral precepts. For a person is said to be "under the law" in two ways.

   In one way, a person is under the law by being voluntarily subject to its observance. Even Christ was under the law in this way, according to Galatians: born under the law (Galatians 4:4), because he observed the law—not only the moral but also the ceremonial precepts. The faithful in Christ are under the law in this way with respect to the moral precepts, but not the ceremonial ones.

   In another way, a person is said to be under the law as if compelled by it. In this sense, one is under the law when he does not obey it voluntarily from love but is compelled by fear. Such a person lacks grace, which, if it were present, would incline the will to observe the law and fulfill its moral precepts from a motive of love. Therefore, as long as one is under the law in such a way that he does not fulfill it voluntarily, sin has dominion over him. As a result, such a person’s will is inclined to choose what is contrary to the law. But through grace, this dominion is removed. Consequently, a person observes the law not as one existing under the law but as one who is free: we are not children of the slave but of the free woman, by the freedom with which Christ has set us free (Galatians 4:31).

7. This grace, which makes people freely obey the law, was not conferred by the sacraments of the old law; rather, Christ’s sacraments conferred it. Consequently, those who submitted themselves to the ceremonies of the law were not, in terms of the power of those sacraments, under grace but under the law, unless they obtained grace through faith.

   But a person who submits to Christ’s sacraments obtains grace from His power, so as not to be under the law but under grace, unless they enslave themselves to sin through their own fault.

8. Then, when he says, What then?, he raises a question in response to what he has said.

   Concerning this, he does three things:

   1. He raises the question.
   2. He answers it, with the words, God forbid! Do you not know.
   3. He shows how unfitting it would be to misinterpret his statement, with the words, but thanks be to God.

9. Regarding the first point, it should be noted that his statement could be falsely interpreted to mean that Christ’s faithful are not under the law in the sense of being obligated to obey its moral precepts. If this were true, it would follow that Christ’s faithful could lawfully commit sin and act against the moral precepts.

   Therefore, in this context he raises the question: What then? Shall we sin—that is, shall we act against the moral precepts—because, as has been said, we are not under the law, but under grace? The Apostle rejects this interpretation in Galatians: for you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh (Galatians 5:13).

10. In the same way, he answers here, God forbid that we should sin because we have been set free from the law. For if we were to sin, we would once again be reduced to the slavery of sin.

    Hence, he continues, Do you not know that to whomever you yield yourselves as servants to obey, you are servants of the one you obey? For obedience is a debt that slaves owe their masters: slaves, be obedient to your earthly masters (Ephesians 6:5). Therefore, when someone obeys another, he admits by his obedience that he is that person's slave.

    But different masters are obeyed for different rewards. The one who obeys sin is led to death through the slavery of sin. This is what he means by, whether of sin unto death—that is, you are its slaves by obeying it, leading to the eternal damnation of the one who does so. Concerning this death it is said: he who conquers shall not be hurt by the second death (Revelation 2:11). But the one who obeys God is made a slave of this obedience, because through the habit of obeying, the mind is inclined more and more to obedience and as a result achieves holiness. Therefore, he says, or of obedience unto justice, meaning obedience to the divine precepts, which leads to justice: the doers of the law will be justified (Romans 2:13).

    Sin and obedience are fittingly presented as opposites because, as Ambrose says, sin is a transgression of the divine law and a disobedience against the heavenly commands.

11. Then, when he says, but thanks be to God, he shows the folly of obeying sin and thereby returning to its slavery. He does this in two ways:

    1. First, by considering the benefit we have received. If someone is freed from slavery by another’s grace, it is unfitting to freely subject oneself to slavery again. Therefore, since we have been freed from sin by the grace of God, it is unfitting to willingly return to the slavery of sin.
    2. Second, by considering the state into which we were led after being freed from sin, namely, that we are slaves to justice. It is not lawful for a slave to subject himself to the dominion of an opposing master; therefore, if we have been made slaves of justice, it is not lawful to return to the slavery of sin.

12. The Apostle touches on both of these considerations when he says: I thank God, and you should also thank God, that you were the servants of sin, because he who commits sin is a slave to sin (John 8:34), but you have obeyed from the heart. This obedience is through believing, as in for obedience to the faith among all nations (Romans 1:5), and this not as if compelled, but from the heart, for with the heart one believes for justice (Romans 10:10).

    You have obeyed that form of doctrine to which you were delivered, that is, the doctrine of the Catholic faith: follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me (2 Timothy 1:13). "To which you were delivered" means you gave yourselves entirely: but first they gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God (2 Corinthians 8:5).

    And by this, being then freed from sin, it is not fitting to desert justice: you were bought with a price (1 Corinthians 7:23) and are not your own.

1. After showing with a reason based on God’s grace that we should not continue in sin but should serve God, the Apostle shows the same thing with a reason based on the condition of our former life.

   In regard to this, he does three things:

   1. He describes the terms in which he will present his teaching.

   2. He presents the teaching, at for as you have yielded.

   3. He gives the reason for the teaching, at for when you were the servants.

2. First, therefore, he says: I have advised that you yield yourselves to God. I speak to you a human thing, that is, as suited to human weakness. For “man” is sometimes so presented in Scripture as to signify a weakness of the human condition: I am a weak man, and of a short time, and falling short of the understanding of judgment and laws ; since there are jealousy and strife among you, are you not carnal and walking as mere men? (1 Corinthians 3:3).

   He assigns the cause when he adds, because of the infirmity; for it is to the mature that the more perfect precepts are given: wisdom, however, we speak among those who are mature (1 Corinthians 2:6); solid food is for the mature (Hebrews 5:14). Lighter precepts are given to weaker men: as to little ones in Christ, I fed you with milk, not with solid food (1 Corinthians 3:1); you have become such as have need of milk and not of solid food (Hebrews 5:12).

   But this weakness comes not from the spirit but from the flesh, because the corruptible body is a load on the soul ; hence, he adds: of your flesh: the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41).

3. Then when he says, for as you have yielded, he presents the teaching he called human, in which he teaches that the body must be yielded to the slavery of justice in the same measure as we yielded it to the slavery of sin. This is what he says: for as you have yielded your members to serve, namely, by doing evil works, uncleanness and iniquity born in the heart. Here uncleanness refers to sins of the flesh—but immorality and every uncleanness, let it not even be named among you (Ephesians 5:3)—and iniquity to spiritual sins, particularly those that harm one’s neighbor: he plots iniquity while on his bed (Psalms 36:4). With these sins having been born in the heart, the members serve unto iniquity, that is, for the work of committing iniquity. Here the Psalmist uses iniquity to mean uncleanness and iniquity, for all sin is iniquity (1 John 3:4). And this is true insofar as it is discordant with the justice of the divine law.

   So now, set free from sin, yield your members, namely, by performing good works, to serve justice proposed to us in the divine law. And this is unto sanctification, that is, for the performance and increase of holiness: let the holy still be holy (Revelation 22:11).

   He calls this human, because right reason demands that a person serve justice more than he previously served sin: for as it was your mind to go astray from God; so when you return again, you shall seek him ten times as much .

4. Then he assigns the reason for this teaching, saying, for when you were the servants.

   In regard to this he does two things:

   1. He presents a reason for the teaching.

   2. He proves something he had presupposed, at for the wages of sin is death.

   The reason behind the above teaching is that the state of grace is preferable to the state of sin. For if more benefits accrue to us from the state of justice than from sin, we should be more eager to serve justice than we were to serve sin.

   First, therefore, he describes the state of sin; second, the state of justice, at but now being made free.

   In regard to the first he does three things:

   1. He describes the condition of the sinner.

   2. He describes the effect of sin, at what fruit therefore.

   3. He describes its end, at for the end of them is death.

5. In regard to the first point, it should be considered that man is by nature free because of his reason and will, which cannot be forced but can be inclined by certain things. Therefore, in regard to the freedom of the will, man is always free from compulsion, although he is not free from inclinations.

   For the free judgment is sometimes inclined to the good through the habit of grace or justice; and then it is in slavery to justice but free from sin. But sometimes the free judgment is inclined to evil through the habit of sin; and then it is in slavery to sin and free from justice. Now, slavery to sin consists in being drawn to consent to sin against the judgment of reason: everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin (John 8:34).

   In regard to this he says, for when you were the servants of sin. Freedom from justice, on the other hand, implies that a man rushes headlong into sin without the restraint of justice; in regard to this he says, you were free men to justice. This happens especially in those who sin deliberately. For those who sin out of weakness or passion are restrained by some bridle of justice, so that they do not seem to be freed from justice altogether: long ago you broke your yoke and burst your bonds; and you said, ‘I will not serve’ (Jeremiah 2:20); a vain man is lifted up into pride, and thinks himself born free like a wild ass’ colt (Job 11:12).

6. Yet it should be noted that this state involves true slavery and only apparent freedom.

   For since a person should act according to reason, he is truly a slave when he is led away from what is reasonable by something alien. Furthermore, if he is not restrained by the yoke of reason from following concupiscence, he is free only in the opinion of those who suppose that the highest good is to follow one’s concupiscence.

7. Then when he says, what fruit therefore, he shows the effect of sin.

   One effect he excludes, namely, a fruitful return, when he says, what fruit therefore had you, that is, when you were committing those sins. For the works of sin are unfruitful, because they do not help a person obtain happiness: their works are unprofitable works (Isaiah 59:6); woe to you that devise that which is unprofitable and work evil in your beds (Micah 2:1).

   The effect he mentions is confusion, saying, in those things, namely, the sins, of which you are now, in the state of repentance, ashamed because of their baseness. After you instructed me, I struck my thigh; I was confounded and ashamed (Jeremiah 31:19). You shall be ashamed of the gardens (Isaiah 1:29), namely, of the pleasure you had chosen.

8. Then he mentions the end of sin, saying, for the end of them, namely of sins, is death.

   This of course is not the objective in the mind of the sinner, because he does not intend to incur death by sin. Nevertheless, it is the end of those sins, because by their very nature they bring temporal death. For when the soul separates God from itself, it deserves to have its body separated from it. Sins also bring eternal death, because when one wills to be separated from God for a time, he deserves to be separated from him forever; and this is eternal death: they who do such things are worthy of death (Romans 1:32).

9. Then when he says, but now, he describes the state of justice.

   1. He describes a condition of this state.

   2. He describes the effect, at you have your fruit.

   3. He describes the end, at and the end life.

10. In regard to the first point, it should be noted that just as when one is by sin inclined to evil, he is free from justice, so when one is by the habit of justice and grace inclined to good, he is free from sin, so that he is not overcome by it to the point of consenting to it. Hence he says: but now in the state of justice, being made free from sin: if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed (John 8:36).

    On the other hand, just as in the state of sin one is a slave of sin which he obeys, so in the state of justice one is a slave of God and obeys him willingly: serve the Lord with gladness (Psalms 100:2). And this is what he adds: and become servants to God: O Lord, I am your servant (Psalms 116:16).

    But this is true freedom and the best form of slavery, because by justice a person is inclined to what is proper to him and is turned from what is proper to concupiscence, which is distinctively bestial.

11. Then when he says, you have your fruit, he mentions the effect of justice, saying, you have your fruit unto sanctification, that is, the fruit of sanctity by good works is your return, in that these please you in a spiritual and holy way: my flowers are the fruit of honor and riches ; but the fruit of the Spirit is joy, peace (Galatians 5:22).

12. After that he mentions the end, saying, and you have the end, life everlasting, which is the goal of just men who do all their works for the sake of obtaining eternal life: seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you (Matthew 6:33). It is also the end of the works themselves which merit eternal life, since they are done out of obedience to God and in imitation of God: my sheep hear my voice, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life (John 10:27).

13. Then when he says, for the wages of sin, he clarifies what he had said about the ends of evil and of good.

    First, in regard to evil he says: we have stated that the end of sins is death: for the wages of sin is death. Wages, or stipends, were the salaries paid to soldiers. These were paid in money. Therefore, because by sinning one makes war by using his members as arms for sin, death is said to be the wages of sin, that is, the return paid to those who serve it.

    Death, therefore, is the return which pays those who are its slaves. It is not the end they seek but the end paid to them: on the wicked he will rain coals of fire and brimstone; a scorching wind will be the portion of their cup (Psalms 11:6).

14. In regard to the good he says, but the grace of God, life everlasting.

    For since he had said that just men have eternal life, which it is certain cannot be had except through grace, then the very fact that we do what is good and that our works are worthy of eternal life is the result of God’s grace: he bestows grace and glory (Psalms 84:11).

    Thus, therefore, if our works are considered in themselves and as coming from our free will, they do not merit eternal life condignly, but only as coming from the grace of the Holy Spirit. Thus it is said: the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life (John 4:14).

    And this is in Christ Jesus our Lord, that is, through Christ or insofar as we exist in him through faith and love: every one who sees the Son and believes in him has eternal life (John 6:40).

Chapter 7