There is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
All Commentaries on Romans 8:1 Go To Romans 8
Thomas Aquinas
AD 1274
After showing that we are freed from sin [n. 406] and the Law [n. 518] through Christ’s grace, the Apostle now shows that through the same grace we are freed from damnation. First he shows that through the grace of Christ we are freed from the damnation of guilt; secondly, from the damnation of punishment, there [v.10; n. 628] at And if Christ. In regard to the first he does two things. 296 First, he sets forth his intention; secondly, he proves his proposition, there [v.2; n. 600] at For the law of the spirit of life. 596. In regard to the first he does two things: first, he mentions the benefit which grace confers, drawing his conclusion from the foregoing in this way: The grace of God through Jesus Christ has freed me from the body of this death and in this consists our redemption. Therefore, now that we have been freed through grace, there is no damnation left, because the damnation has been removed both as regards guilt and as regards punishment: "It is he himself who grants peace, who is there who will condemn?" (Job 34:29). Secondly, he shows to whom this benefit is granted and he mentions two conditions required for it. He sets out the first when he says for those who are in Christ Jesus, i.e., incorporated in him by faith and love and the sacrament of faith: "As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ" (Gal 3:27); "As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me" (Jn 15:4). But to those who are not in Christ damnation is due. Hence John (15:6) continues: "If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered together, thrown into the fire and burned." Then he sets out the second condition, saying who do not walk according to the flesh, i.e., do not follow the desires [concupiscentia] of the flesh: "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not make war according to the flesh" (2 Cor 10:3). 597. From these words some want to infer that in unbelievers who are not in Christ Jesus the first movements [of desire] are mortal sins, even though they do not 297 consent to them, and that this is what is meant by walking according to the flesh. For regarding those who do not walk according to the flesh, if the fact that they serve the law of sin in their flesh through the first movements of desire is not damnable for them precisely because they are in Christ Jesus, it follows from the contrary sense, that for those who are not in Christ Jesus [the first movements of desire] are damnable. They also give this argument. They say that an act is necessarily damnable which proceeds from the habit of a damnable sin. But original sin is damnable, because it deprives man of eternal life, and its habit remains in the unbeliever whose original sin has not been remitted. Therefore, any movements of desire that arise from original sin are a mortal sin in their case. 598. First, it is necessary to show that this position is false. For the reason why the first movement [of desire] is not a mortal sin is because it does not reach reason, in which the notion of sin is completed. But this reason is present even in unbelievers; therefore, the first stirrings in unbelievers cannot be mortal sins. Furthermore, in the same type of sin a believer sins more gravely than an unbeliever: "How much more punishment do you think will be deserved by the man who has spurned the Son of God and profaned the blood of the covenant?" (Heb 10:29). Therefore, if the first stirrings in unbelievers were mortal sins, all the more so in believers. 599. Secondly, it is necessary to respond to their reasons. For, first of all, they cannot derive this position from the words of the Apostle. For the Apostle does not say that the only thing not damnable for those who are in Christ Jesus is that in the flesh they serve the law of sin according to the movements of desire, but that there is no 298 condemnation at all for them. But for those who are not in Christ Jesus, this very fact is damnable. Furthermore, if this passage refers to first movements [of desire] experienced by those not in Christ Jesus, such stirrings are damnable according to the condemnation due to original sin, which still remains in them and from which those in Christ Jesus have been freed. But this does not mean that a new condemnation is added on account of such stirrings. Neither does their second argument conclude of necessity to what they intend. For it is not true that any act proceeding from the habit of a damnable sin is itself damnable, but only when it is a act perfected by the consent of reason. For if the habit of adultery is present in a person, the stirring of adulterous desire, which is an imperfect act, is not a mortal sin for that person, but only the perfect motion that exists by the consent of reason. Furthermore, an act proceeding from such a habit does not have a new reason for condemnation added to the reason for condemning the habit. Accordingly, the first stirrings in unbelievers, inasmuch as they proceed from original sin, do not receive the condemnation due to mortal sin but only to original sin. 600. Then when he says For the law, he proves what he had said. And first, in regard to the first condition that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus; secondly, in regard to the second condition, i.e., for those who do not walk according to the flesh, there [v. 4b; n. 612] at who walk not according to the flesh. In regard to the first he does two things. First, he presents a proof; 299 secondly, he manifests his presupposition through its cause, there [v. 3; n. 606] at For what was impossible for the Law. 601. In regard to the first he presents this argument. The law of the spirit frees man from sin and death; but the law of the spirit is in Christ Jesus. Therefore, by the fact that one is in Christ Jesus, he is freed from sin and death. That the law of the spirit frees from sin and death he proves thus: The law of the spirit is the cause of life; but sin and death, which is an effect of sin, are excluded by life, for sin itself is spiritual death for the soul. Therefore, the law of the spirit frees man from sin and death. But damnation is only through sin and death. Therefore, nothing of damnation exists in those who are in Christ Jesus. This, therefore, is what he says: The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death. 602. In one way this law can be the Holy Spirit, so that the law of the spirit means the law which is the Spirit. For a law is given in order that through it men may be led to the good; hence, the Philosopher says in Ethics II that the intention of the lawgiver is to make citizens good. Human law does this by merely indicating what ought to be done; but the Holy Spirit dwelling in the mind not only teaches what is to be done by instructing the intellect but also inclines the affection to act aright: "But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things," as to the first, "and suggest to you all things," as to the second, "all that I have said to you" (Jn 14:26). 300 24 This citation from 1John does not precisely match the Vulgate or modern editions. 603. In another way the law of the spirit can be the proper effect of the Holy Spirit, namely, faith working through love. This faith teaches what is to be done: "His anointing teaches you about everything" (1 Jn 2:27) and inclines the affections to act: "The love of Christ controls us" (2 Cor 5:l4). And this law of the spirit is called the new law, which is the Holy Spirit himself or something which the Holy Spirit produces in our hearts: "I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts" (Jer 31:33). But when he spoke about the old law [n. 557] he said only that it is spiritual, i.e., given by the Holy Spirit. 604. And so, considering what has been said, we find four laws mentioned by the Apostle: first, the law of Moses, about which he says: "I delight in the law of God in my inmost self"; secondly, the law of inclination to sin [fomes]: "I see in my members another law"; thirdly, the natural law in one sense of the term, concerning which he adds, "at war with the law of my mind"; fourthly, the new law, when he says: the law of the spirit. 605. He adds, of life, because just as the natural spirit makes the life of nature, so the divine Spirit makes the life of grace: "It is the Spirit that gives life" (Jn 4:63); "The Spirit of life was in the wheels" (Ezek 1:2). He adds, in Christ Jesus, because this Spirit is given only to those who are in Christ Jesus. For just as the natural spirit does not reach a member not connected to the head, so the Holy Spirit does not reach a man not joined to Christ, the head: "By this we know that he abides in us, because he gave us of his own Spirit" (1 Jn 3:24);24 "The Holy Spirit whom God has given those who obey him" (Ac 5:32). 301 This law, I say, since it is in Christ Jesus, has set me free: "If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed" (Jn 8:38). Free from the law of sin, i.e., from the law of evil inclinations [fomes] which inclines to sin. Or from the law of sin, i.e., from consenting to and committing sin, which holds man bound after the manner of a law. For sin is remitted by the Holy Spirit: "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven" (Jn 20:22). And of death, not only spiritual but also bodily, as will be proved below. And this because he is the Spirit of life: "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain that they may live" (Ezek 37:9). 606. Then when he says For what was impossible, he manifests what he had said, namely, that the law of life, which is in Christ Jesus, frees man from sin; for it will be proved later that it frees from death. He proves this by an argument taken from the resurrection of Christ. In regard to this he mentions three things. First, the need for the Incarnation [n. 611]; secondly, the mode of the Incarnation, there [v. 3b; n. 607] at God, sending his own son; thirdly, the fruit of the Incarnation, there [v. 3c; n. 609] at and of sin. To make the explanation easier we shall take the second point first, then the third, and finally the first, in this way. 607. I am correct in saying that the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus frees from sin, for God, the Father, sending his own Son, i.e., his own consubstantial and co-eternal Son: "He said to me, ‘You are my son; this day I have begotten you’" (Ps 2:7) -- sending, i.e., not creating or making him but as already existing he sent him: "Afterward 302 25 The Hebrew text says only "I have walked," but the Vulgate rendering, ingressus sum, carries the note of entrance. he sent his son to them" (Mt 21:37). He sent him not to exist where he previously did not exist, because as it says in John 1(:10), "He was in the world," but to exist in a way in which he did not exist in the world, i.e., visibly by means of the flesh he assumed; hence in the same passage (John 1:14): "And the Word became flesh.....and we have beheld his glory"; "Afterwards he appeared upon earth" (Bar 3:37). 608. Therefore he adds in the likeness of sinful flesh. This should not be taken to mean that he did not have true flesh but only the likeness of flesh, as though it were imaginary, as the Manicheans say, since the Lord himself says: "A spirit has not flesh and bones as you see that I have" (Lk 24:40). Hence, he does not merely say in the likeness of flesh, but in the likeness of sinful flesh. For he did not have sinful flesh, i.e., conceived with sin, because his flesh was conceived by the Holy Spirit who takes away sin: "That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit" (Mt 1:20). Hence Ps 25(:11) says, "I have entered in my innocence,"25 namely entered into the world. But he had the likeness of sinful flesh, i.e., he was like sinful flesh in the fact that he was able to suffer. For man’s flesh before sin was not subject to suffering: "Therefore, he had to be made like his brethren, so that he might be made merciful" (Heb 2:17). 609. Then he mentions the two effects of the Incarnation, the first of which is removal of sin, which he sets out when he says and of sin has condemned sin in the flesh. This can be read: of sin [de peccato], i.e., for the sin [pro peccato] committed against the flesh of Christ by his executioners at the devil’s instigation, he condemned, i.e., destroyed, sin; because since the devil conspired to deliver over to death an innocent 303 person over whom he had no rights, it was just that he lose his power. Therefore, by his passion and death he is said to have destroyed sin: "He disarmed," namely, on the cross, "the principalities and powers, triumphing over them in him" (Col 2:15). But it is better to say that he condemned sin in the flesh, i.e., weakened the inclination to sin [fomes] in our flesh, of sin, i.e., through the power of his passion and death, which is called sin on account of its likeness to sin or because through it he was made a victim for sin. For in sacred scripture such a victim is called sin: "They feed on the sin of my people" (Hos 4:8). Hence it says in 2 Cor 5(:21), "Him who did not know sin for our sake God made to be sin," i.e., a victim for sin. And so by satisfying for our sin, he took away the sins of the world: "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (Jn 1:29). 610. He sets out the second effect when he says that the justification of the law, i.e., the justice which the Law promised and which some hoped to obtain from the Law, might be fulfilled, i.e., made perfect, in us, who exist in Christ Jesus: "The Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained the righteousness which is through faith" (Rom 9:30); and in 2 Cor 5(:21) after saying, "Him who did not know sin for our sake he made to be sin," he adds, "so that in him we might be made the justice of God." 611. The only way this could be done was through Christ. Therefore, he prefaced this passage by saying that he was able to condemn sin in the flesh and to enact justification, which the law could not do: "For the law made nothing perfect" (Heb 7:19). Now the reason why the Law could not do this was not due to a shortcoming in the Law, but because it was weakened by the flesh, i.e., because of a weakness of the flesh, a weakness which was in man due to the corruption of inclination [fomes], with the 304 result that in spite of the Law man was overcome by sinful desire [concupiscentia]: "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Mt 26:41). "I am speaking in natural terms on account of the weakness of the flesh" (Rom 6:19). From this it is clear that it was necessary for Christ to be incarnated; for it says in Gal 2(:21), "If justification were through the law, then Christ died gratis," i.e., for no reason. Therefore it was necessary that Christ be incarnated, because the Law could not justify. 612. Then when he says who walk not according to the flesh, he proves his point in regard to the second condition and shows that in order to avoid condemnation it is necessary that one not walk according to the flesh. In regard to this he does three things. First, he states his proposition; secondly, he proves it, there [v. 5; n. 614] at For those who are according to the flesh; thirdly, he clarifies something he had presupposed in the proof, there [v. 7; n. 619] at Because the wisdom of the flesh. 613. First, therefore, he says: We have stated that the justification of the Law is fulfilled in us who not only are in Christ Jesus but also walk not according to the flesh but according to the spirit, i.e., who do not follow the desires [concupiscentias] of the flesh but the prompting of the Spirit: "walk by the Spirit" (Gal 5:16). 614. Then when he says For those who [walk] according to the flesh, he proves what he had said. 305 And he brings in two syllogisms. One is on the side of the flesh, and runs like this: All who follow the prudence of the flesh are brought to death; but those who walk according to the flesh follow the prudence of the flesh. Therefore, all who walk according to the flesh are brought to death. He sets out the other syllogism on the side of the spirit, and it runs like this: All who follow the prudence of the spirit obtain life and peace; but those who walk according to the spirit follow the prudence of the spirit. Therefore, all who walk according to the spirit obtain life and peace. And so it is clear that those who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit, are freed from the law of sin and death. 615. First, therefore, he states the minor of the first syllogism, saying: For those who are according to the flesh, that is, who obey the flesh as though subject to it, "such men serve not the Lord but their own belly" (Rom 16:18). Savor [sapiunt] the things of the flesh—as if to say: they have the wisdom [sapientia] of the flesh. For to savor the things of the flesh is to approve and judge as good that which is according to the flesh: "You savor not the things of God but of men" (Mt 16:23); "They are skilled in doing evil" (Jer 4:22). 616. Secondly, he states the minor of the second syllogism, saying: but those who are according to the spirit, i.e., who follow the Holy Spirit and are led according to him, in accord with Gal 5(:18), "If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law," sense the things of the spirit, i.e., have a right sense in spiritual matters: "Think [sentite] concerning the Lord with uprightness" (Wis 1:1). 306 The reason for these facts, as the Philosopher says in Ethics III, is that as a person is, so the end seems to him. Hence a person whose soul is invested with a good habit or a bad habit, judges about his goal according to the demands of that habit. 617. Thirdly, he states the major of the first syllogism, saying: for the prudence of the flesh is death. To understand this it should be noted that prudence is right reason concerning the doable, as the Philosopher says in Ethics IV. But right reason concerning things to be done presupposes one thing and does three things. For it presupposes a goal which functions as a principle in human actions, just as the speculative reason presupposes principles from which it proceeds to demonstration. But right reason concerning the doable does three things: first, it plans correctly; secondly, judges correctly about plans; thirdly, it correctly and firmly commands what was planned. Hence, for prudence of the flesh it is required that a person presuppose as his goal a pleasure of the flesh and that he plan and judge and command what leads to this end. That is why such prudence is death, i.e., the cause of eternal death: "He who sows in the flesh will from the flesh reap corruption" (Gal 6:8). 618. Fourthly, he states the major of the second syllogism, saying: but the prudence of the spirit is life and peace. Now according to what has just been said, there is prudence of the spirit when someone, presupposing a spiritual good as the goal, plans and judges and commands the things which are suitably ordered to that goal. Hence such prudence is life, i.e., the cause of grace and glory: "He who sows in the spirit will from the spirit reap eternal life" (Gal 6:8); and it is peace, i.e., the cause of peace, for peace is caused by the Holy Spirit: 307 "Great peace have those who love thy law" (Ps 119:165); "The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace...." (Gal 5:22).
