The life and work of St. Paul

RPISTLE TO THB ROMANS, AND THEOLOGY OF ST. PAUL. 489
"What?" one may ask, "did that which is good become death to me?" Nay,
but sin by meant of that which was good effected my death, because by means of th
commandment sin's exceeding sinfulness was dragged into recognition. How came
this P It came out of the struggle of the higher and the lower elements of our being ;
out of the contest between my fleshen and servile nature l and the Law*-* spirituality
of origin, the result of which is that I am two men in one, and live two lives in
one, not doing wh&t I desire, and doing what I detest. In me that is, in my flesh
dwelleth no good thing ; but I am not my flesh. I identify my own individuality
with that higher nature which wills what is noble, but is too often defeated by the
indwelling impulses of sin. 2 My true self, my inward man, 8 delights in the law of
God; but my spirit, my intellect and my reason are in constant warfare with
another law a sensual impulse of my fleshy nature which often reduces me into
the bondage of its prison-house. Wretched duality of condition which makes my
life a constant inconsistency ! Wretched enchainment of a healthy, living organism
to a decaying corpse ! Who shall rescue me from these struggles of a disintegrated
individuality ?
" "
Thanks to God through Jesus Christ our Lord ! It is a sign of the intensity
of feeling with which he is writing that he characteristically omits to mention the
very thing for which he thanks God. But the words " through Jesus Christ our
Lord " sufficiently show that his gratitude is kindled by the conviction that the deliverance
is possible that the deliverance has been achieved. 4
I, my very self the
human being within me* serve with my mind the law of God. Through my
weakness, my inconsistency, my imperfect faith, my imperfect union with Christ, I
still serve with my flesh the law of sin 6 but that servitude is ;
largely weakened, is
practically broken. There is no condemnation for those who by personal union
with Christ 7 live in accordance with the Spirit. Sin is slavery and death the
;
Spirit is freedom and life. The Law was rendered impotent by the flesh, but God,
by sending His own Son in the form of sinful flesh 8 and as a 9
sin-offering, con-
1 vii. 14. vapiuvot, "fleshen," carneua; voftuiAt, " fleshly, " carnalis. The former is
here the true reading, and involves (of course) less subjection to the flesh than the latter.
2 The most commonly-quoted of the classic parallels is Ovid's "Video meliora proboque,
Deteriora sequor " (Met. vii. 19). The nearest is 5 fv fie\c (6 ifi.apTa.inav) ov irocet *ol
3 tut 0\. irotet. Au'o -yap w$ x<