8. Such soldiers the Apostolic
trumpet enkindles for battle with that sound, “Therefore let
not,” saith he, “sin reign in your mortal body to obey its
lusts; nor yield your members weapons of unrighteousness unto sin;
but yield yourselves unto God, as living in place of dead, and your
members weapons of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not rule
over you. For ye are not under the law, but under Grace.”1830
And in
another place, “Therefore,” saith he, “
brethren, we are
debtors, not to the
flesh, to
live after the
flesh. For if ye shall
live after the
flesh, ye shall
die; but if by the Spirit ye shall
mortify the
deeds of the
flesh, ye shall
live. For as many as are
led by the Spirit of
God, these are sons of
God.”
1831
This
therefore is the
business in
hand, so long as this our
mortal life
under
Grace lasts, that
sin, that is the
lust of
sin, (for this he
in this place calls by the name of
sin,)
reign not in this our
mortal body. But it is then shown to
reign, if obedience be yielded
to its desires. There is therefore in us
lust of
sin, which must
not be
suffered to
reign; there are its desires, which we must not
obey, lest obeying it
reign over us. Wherefore let not
lust usurp
our members, but let Continence claim them for herself; that they
be
weapons of
righteousness unto
God, that they be not
weapons of
unrighteousness unto
sin; for thus
sin shall not rule over us. For
we are not under the Law, which indeed commandeth what is good yet
giveth it not: but we are under Grace, which, making us to love
that which the Law commands, is able to rule over the
free.
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