ACC ~ Romans 8 v2

THE LAW OF THE SPIRIT OF LIFE. ORIGEN: The law of the Spirit of life is the same thing as the law of God. … For to serve the law of God and to be under the law of the Spirit is to serve Christ. To serve Christ is to serve wisdom, which is to serve righteousness, which is to serve truth and all related virtues. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

THE SPIRIT OF LIFE IN JESUS CHRIST. AMBROSIASTER: Paul holds out security for us by the grace of God, so that we should not be tempted by the suggestions of the devil as long as we reject them. … We shall instead be rewarded if we repel the counsels of that sin which remains in us, for it demands great skill to avoid the tricks of the enemy within. “The law of the Spirit of life is the law of faith.” For even the law of Moses is spiritual in that it forbids us to sin, but it is not the law of life. It has no power to pardon those who are guilty of the sins which merit death and thus to bring them back to life. . . .Therefore it is the law in Christ Jesus, that is to say, through faith in Christ, which frees the believer from the law of sin and death. The law of sin, which Paul says dwells in our members, tries to persuade us to sin, but the law of Moses is a law of death, because it puts sinners to death. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

CHRYSOSTOM: “The law of the Spirit of life” is just a way of saying “the Spirit.” For as he calls sin the “law of sin,” so he also calls the Spirit the “law of the Spirit.” But Paul also called the law of Moses “spiritual.” What is the difference? It is great! For the law of Moses was spiritual, but here we are dealing with the law of the Spirit. … The law of Moses was merely given by the Spirit, but this one gives those who receive it a large measure of the Spirit himself. This is why Paul called it the law of life, in opposition to the law of sin, not to the law of Moses. For when he says that it freed him from the law of sin and death, it is not the law of Moses which he has in mind, because he never calls it the law of sin. In any case, how could he have done so since he had called it “just and holy” on so many other occasions, and destructive of sin as well? Rather, the law of sin is the force which wars against the law of the mind. The grace of the Spirit put a stop to that war by slaying sin and making the contest light for us, putting a victor’s crown on our heads at the beginning and then drawing us into the struggle with enough help to win it. Then, as he always does Paul turns from the Spirit to the Son and the Father, showing that we are dependent on the entire Trinity. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 13.

[PSEUDO-]CONSTANTIUS: Those who are in Christ do not serve the lusts of the flesh, and therefore they are not bound to be condemned. THE HOLY LETTER OF ST. PAUL TO THE ROMANS.

PELAGIUS: Note that Paul calls the law “grace.” PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

SET FREE FROM THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH. THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: The apostle says that the resurrection takes place by the working of the Spirit. … Paul calls the Spirit the “Spirit of life” because the Spirit is the firstfruits of the eternal life which we shall then enjoy. The Spirit has been given to us in the hope of immortality, and faith in Christ has permitted us to enjoy him, because he has set us free from death and sin. Clearly Paul is using the things which are to come as evidence for what has been promised to us in Christ. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

LEADING A LIFE OF HOLINESS. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: I think it is necessary for an accurate explanation of the meanings which are found here, to say this: Paul calls the lusts of the flesh which lead us into all kinds of wickedness “the law of sin and death.” So also he calls the spiritual will, that is, the inclination of the mind to do what is right, “the law of the Spirit of life.” … This law has not set us free by itself; rather it has restored us to freedom by the merits of Christ. Just as those who have sinned under the law have necessarily been trapped by the snares of death as well, so it is necessary also that those who are not under the law but who have been set free by Christ should lead lives of holiness and show themselves to be above corruption, because they are no longer under the law of death. EXPLANATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

GENNADIUS OF CONSTANTINOPLE: We have been made heirs of a pain-free and immortal life by the free gift of the Spirit and have all become spiritual, being set free from sin and the death which it causes. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

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