22 WORKS OF ST. CHRYSOSTOM. [CHAPTER II. How, in what way nas it so taught? Moses says, speaking of Christ, " The Lord God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee of thy brethren, like unto me ; unto Him shall ye hearken." (Deut. xviii: 15.) There fore they who do not obey Him, transgress the Law. Again, the expression, " I through the Law died unto the Law," may be understood in another sense : the Law commands all its precepts to be performed, and punishes the transgressor; therefore we are all dead to it, for no man has fulfilled it. Here observe, how guardedly he assails it; .he says not, " the Law is dead to me; " but, " I am dead to the Law; " the meaning of which is, that, as it is impossible for a dead corpse to obey the com mands of the Law, so also is it for me who have perished by its curse, for by its word am I slain. Let it not therefore lay commands on the dead, dead by its own act, dead not in body only, but in soul, which has involved the death of the body. This he shows in what follows : Ver. 19, 20. "That I might live untoGod, 1 1 have been crucified with Christ." Having said, " I am dead," lest it should be objected, how then dost thou live? he adds the cause of his living, and shows that when alive the Law slew him, but that when dead Christ through death restored him to life. He shows the wonder to be twofold ; that by Christ both the dead was begotten into life, and that by means of death. He here means the immortal life, for this is the meaning of the words, "That I might live unto God I am crucified with Christ." l How, it is asked, can a man now living and breathing have been crucified ? That Christ hath been crucified is manifest, but how canst thou have been crucified, and yet live? He explains it thus; Ver. 20. "Yet2 1 live ; and yet no longer I, but Christ liveth in me." In these words, "Iam crucified with Christ," he alludesto Baptism,3 and in the words "never theless I live, yet not I," our subsequent man ner of life whereby our members are mortified. By saying "Christ liveth in me," he means nothing is done by me, which Christ disap proves ; for as by death he signifies not what is commonly understood, but a death to sin ; so by life, he signifies a deliveryfrom sin. For aman cannot live to God, otherwise than by dying to 1 [ " That I might live unto God " is not to be joined to " I have been crucified with Christ " as Chrysostom, for it belongs to thecom pleteness of the thought introduced byyap ver. 19. Meyer. G. A. ]3 [This is the rendering of the Rev. Ver. though the AmericanCommittee has, " And it is no longer I that live ; " and correctly so. For as Dr. Schaff says, The reading of the Rev. Ver. (and the Author. Ver. too) conveysa beautiful and true idea, but itis gram matically incorrect, sincetheoriginal has no "nevertheless" and no "yet." Pop. Com. on Gal. and Companion to the Greek Testai- titent, p. 453. G. A.]3 [Chrysostom held baptismal regeneration. G. A.] sin ; and as Christ suffered bodily death, so does Paul a death to sin. " Mortify," says he " your memberswhich are upon the earth ; for nication, uncleanness, passion;" (Col. iii : 5.) and again, " our old man was crucified, "(Rom. vi : 6.) which took place in the Bath.3 After which, if thou remainest dead to sin, thou liv- est to God, but if thou let it live again, thou art the ruin of thy new life. This however did not Paul, but continued wholly dead ; if then, he says, I live to God a life other than that in the Law, and am dead to the Law, I cannot possibly keep any part of the Law. Consider how perfect was his walk, and thou wilt be transported with admiration of this blessed soul. He says not, "I live," but, "Christ liveth in me; " who is bold enough to utter such words ? Paul indeed, who had harnessed himself to Christ s yoke, and cast away all worldly things, and was paying universal obedience to His will, says not, "I live to Christ," but what is far higher, " Christ liveth in me." As sin, when it has the mastery, is itself the vital prin ciple, and leads the soul whither it will, so, when it is slain and the will of Christ obeyed, this life is no longer earthly, but Christ liveth, that is, works, has mastery within us. His say ing, "I am crucified with Him" " I no longer live," but "am dead," seeming incredible to many, he adds, Ver. 20. " And that life which I now live in the flesh, I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God." The foregoing, says he, relates to our spirit ual life, but this life of sense too, if considered, will be found owing to my faith in Christ. For as regards the former Dispensation and Law, I had incurred the severest punishment, and had long ago perished, " for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." (Rom. iii: 23.) And we, who lay under sentence, have been liberated by Christ, for all of us are dead, if not in fact, at least by sentence ; and He has delivered us from the expected blow. When the Law had accused, and God condemned us, Christ came, and by giving Himself up to death, rescued us allfromdeath. So that the lifewhich I now live in the flesh, I live in faith." Had not this been, nothing could have averted a de struction as general as that which took place at the flood, but His advent arrested the wrath of God, and caused us to live by faith. That such is his meaning appears from what follows. After saying, that "the life which I now live in the flesh, I live in faith," he adds, Ver. 20. "In the Son ofGod, Who loved me, and gave Himself up for me." How is this, O Paul ! why dost thou appro priate a general benefit, and make thine own what was done for the whole world s sake ? for