Chapter V.
By what reason does the law not suffice, but grace through the gift of Christ's death is necessary; with whom we also must die, rise, and live?
So, to return to the beginning of this speech, a good mind is one that engages in rational thought and pursues wisdom; however, it struggles greatly with the flesh of death, and often the allure of the flesh overpowers the reason of the mind. And so, the Lord first gave the Law, to which the mind of man submitted and began to serve, in order to be subjugated: but the flesh was not subject; for the wisdom of the flesh is not subjected to the Law and opposes its precepts. For it was not able to follow virtue, being given over to desires and entangled in carnal allurements. Therefore, we must strive to hold on to the grace of God. The mind, therefore, is good if it attends to reason; but it is incomplete unless it has the guidance of Christ. For the Lord Jesus came, who nailed our passions to the cross of his suffering, forgave sins; in his death we have been justified, so that the whole world may be cleansed by his blood. Finally, we have been baptized in his death.
18. Therefore, if in his death our sins are forgiven, then also, the passions of sin in us should die in his death and be held captive by the nails of his cross. If we are dead in his death, why are we again called back to the things of the world as if we are alive? What do we have to do with the elements of this world? What do we have to do with desires? What do we have to do with indulgence and debauchery, to which we have died with Christ? But if we are dead in Christ, we have also risen with Christ; therefore, let us live with Christ; let us seek the things that are above, not the things that are corruptible and earthly. Christ rising from the dead left the old man affixed to the cross, he resurrected the new man. Christ died therefore, so that we might die to sin, and rise to God. Our flesh is dead, why does it revive again to sin? Why does it obey sin again? Why does sin reign again in the dead, when the end of sin is death? We are dead in the flesh, we are renewed in the spirit. Let us walk in the spirit, for we have received the spirit of Christ. But if the Spirit of Christ is in us, then the flesh is dead to us because of sin: but the spirit is alive because of justification.
19. Thus what was impossible to the Law has been fulfilled, if we walk in the spirit, if we bury the passions, if we do not dissolve the cross of this body, if we do not rewrite the certificate of sin that was erased on the cross of Christ, if we do not put on the old garment of the old man that we have taken off. For it is written in the Song of Songs: I have taken off my tunic, how will I put it on? I have washed my feet, how will I defile them? (Song of Songs 5:3) Therefore, if our bodily members have been mortified, why do its vices sprout? Therefore, the Law did not prevail because it did not mortify the flesh; it passed away like a shadow because it did not give color; it also overshadowed us from the sun of righteousness because it accumulated sins. Therefore, it also hindered.