108. In the flood, too, in Noah’s time
all flesh died, though just Noah was preserved together with his
family. Gen. vii. 23. Is not a man consumed when all
that is mortal is cut off from life? The outer man is destroyed,
but the inner is renewed. Not in baptism alone but also in
repentance does this destruction of the flesh tend to the growth of the
spirit, as we are taught on the Apostle’s authority, when holy
Paul says: “I have judged as though I were present him that
hath so done this deed, to deliver him unto Satan for the destruction
of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of our Lord Jesus
Christ.” 1 Cor. v. 3, 5.