[Daniel 5:19] "'He slew whomever he would and smote to death whomever he wished to; those whom he wished he set on high, and brought low whomever he would.'" Thus he sets forth the example of the king's great-grandfather, in order to teach him the justice of God and make it clear that his great-grandson too was to suffer similar treatment because of his pride. Now if Nebuchadnezzar slew whomever he would and smote to death whomever he wished to; if he set on high those whom he would and brought low whomever he wished to, there is certainly no Divine providence or Scriptural injunction behind these honors and slayings, these acts of promotion and humiliation. But rather, such things ensue from the will of the men themselves who do the slaying and promoting to honor, and all the rest. If this be the case, the question arises as to how we are to understand the Scripture: "The heart of a king reposes in the hand of God; He will incline it in whatever direction He wishes" (Proverbs 21:1). Perhaps we might say that every saint is a king, for sin does not reign in his mortal body, and his heart therefore is kept safe, for he is in God's hand (Romans 6:1-23). And whatever has once come into the hand of God the Father, according to the Gospel, no man is able to take it away (John 10:28). And whoever is taken away, it is understood that he never was in God's hand at all.
But to us the apostle says, "Now we know this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.".
For "to bring themselves into captivity "and to slay themselves, putting to death "the old man, who is through lusts corrupt "and raising the new man from death, "from the old conversation "by abandoning the passions, and becoming free of sin, both the Gospel and the apostle enjoin.
This refers not to our body structure but to our moral behavior.… It is not our bodily frame which has been transformed, nor has our flesh endured the cross of Christ. The sinful body is destroyed by amendment of life, not by the destruction of our fleshly substance.
For that must be living after the world, which, as the old man, he declares to be "crucified with Christ," not as a bodily structure, but as moral behaviour.
Besides, if we do not understand it in this sense, it is not our bodily frame which has been transfixed (at all events), nor has our flesh endured the cross of Christ; but the sense is that which he has subjoined, "that the body of sin might be made void, " by an amendment of life, not by a destruction of the substance, as he goes on to say, "that henceforth we should not serve sin; " and that we should believe ourselves to be "dead with Christ," in such a manner as that "we shall also live with Him.
Besides, if we do not understand it in this sense, it is not our bodily frame which has been transfixed (at all events), nor has our flesh endured the cross of Christ; but the sense is that which he has subjoined, "that the body of sin might be made void, " by an amendment of life, not by a destruction of the substance, as he goes on to say, "that henceforth we should not serve sin; " and that we should believe ourselves to be "dead with Christ," in such a manner as that "we shall also live with Him.
I think it should be noticed that when the apostle says something must be destroyed he calls it the body of sin, but when he does not use this expression he refers not to the body of sin but to our own selves, who ought not to be serving sin. He does this to show that if the body of sin were to be destroyed we would not now be serving sin, which however we serve as long as our body is not destroyed and our members on earth are not put to death.…The “sinful body” is our body, for it is written that Adam did not know his wife Eve, nor did he father Cain, until after he had sinned. In the law it is commanded that sacrifices of a pair of turtledoves or two pigeons shall be offered for a newborn child. One of these is a sin offering and the other is a burnt offering. For what sin is this first pigeon offered? How can a newborn child have sinned already? And yet the child has sin, for which the sacrifice is commanded to be offered.… For the same reason the church has received a tradition from the apostles to baptize even infants. For they, to whom the secrets of the divine mysteries had been committed, knew that there are real stains of sin in everyone which must be cleansed by water and the Spirit. It is because of these stains that the body is called a sinful body and not because of sins which the soul in that body may have committed in a previous life, as some who believe in reincarnation like to think.
By these words we are taught that he who is baptized in Christ is baptized in his death and is not only buried with Christ and planted together with him but is first of all crucified with him. Thus we are instructed that, as he who is crucified is separated from the living, so also he who has been crucified with Christ in the likeness of his death is completely set apart from those who live according to the old man.
Paul underlines and repeats a good deal in order to teach the baptized that they must not sin and above all that they must not return to idolatry, which is a very serious crime and the root of all errors, lest they lose the grace which they have received through Christ. He calls our former behavior “our old self” because, just as the man who has a pure life through Christ and faith in him is said to be new, so the same man is said to be old through unbelief and evil deeds. Paul says that these deeds have been crucified, which means that they are dead, that the body of sin (i.e., all our misdeeds) has been destroyed. Paul calls all our sins a body, which he says has been destroyed by a good life and by orthodox belief.
Until this price was paid for all men by the shedding of the Lord’s blood for the forgiveness of all, blood was required of each man who by the law and the customary rite was following the holy precepts of religion. Since the price has been paid for all after Christ the Lord suffered, there is no longer need for the blood of each individual to be shed by circumcision, for in the blood of Christ the circumcision of all has been solemnized, and in his cross we have all been crucified with him and buried together in his tomb and planted together in the likeness of his death that we may no longer be slaves of sin.
So putting together both the cause and the demonstration of the Resurrection which is to come. And he does not say is crucified, but is crucified with Him, so bringing baptism near to the Cross. And on this score also it was that he said above, "We have been planted together in the likeness of His Death that the body of sin might be destroyed," not giving that name to this body of ours, but to all iniquity. For as he calls the whole sum of wickedness the old man, thus again the wickedness which is made up of the different parts of iniquity he calls the body of that man. And that what I am saying is not mere guesswork, hearken to Paul's own interpretation of this very thing in what comes next. For after saying, "that the body of sin might be destroyed," he adds, "that henceforth we should not serve sin." For the way in which I would have it dead is not so that you should be destroyed and die, but so that you sin not. And as he goes on he makes this still clearer.
Paul does not say that we have been crucified but that we have been crucified “with him,” thus linking baptism with the cross.… You are dead not in the sense that you have been obliterated but in the sense that now you can live without sin. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 11.CHRYSOSTOM:Get for yourself none of the things that are on earth, and do not be active in the affairs of the present life. For your life is hidden now and unseen by those who do not believe, but the time will come when it will be seen. But now is not your time. Since you have died once for all, refuse to mind the things that are on earth. The greatness of your virtue is seen especially when you have prevailed over the arrogance of the flesh and act toward the good things of the world just as if you were dead to this life.
Through baptism you who have been made a member of Christ’s body were crucified with Christ. He hangs his innocent body so that you may have the power to restrain your guilty body from sin. Similarly, Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in the wilderness68 so that every form of wickedness might be torn down, because each vice is a member of the body of sin. Christ was not crucified in part but in whole. Or perhaps we should read this as meaning that our body should be torn away from slavery to sin and that what used to be the property of transgression should now become the property of righteousness, for “everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.”
This refers to Deuteronomy [21:23]: “Cursed be every man hanged from a tree.” For as the crucifixion of the old man is symbolized in the cross of the Lord, so the rebirth of the new man is signified in the resurrection. It is clear that according to Paul we are in the place of the old man who is accursed. No one doubts that it was because of him that the Lord was called “sin,” because “he bore our sins” and “he was made sin for us,” and “by sin he condemned sin.”
Perhaps some people will think that “the body of sin” is meant to refer to our earthly flesh, which has been joined to the soul as a kind of punishment, in that the soul sinned before bodies were created. Some people think and talk like this, but as it is a pagan idea we must reject it as being incompatible with the truth. Therefore, Paul says that our earthly body is the body of sin and our old man, because it has inherited the necessity of corruption from the old Adam.… Moreover, because of its weakness it has contracted a love for wickedness, and thus sin appears in the flesh as a congenital defect.We were crucified with Christ at the moment when his flesh was crucified, because it somehow included universal human nature in itself, just as universal human nature contracted the sickness of the curse in Adam at the same time that he incurred the curse.
The “old man” does not refer to our nature but to our evil mind. It is this which has been put to death in baptism, so that the body would not continue to serve sin.
After showing that we should not continue to sin after baptism has made us dead to sin [n. 470], the Apostle now shows that we have the means to do this. Concerning this he does two things. First, he indicates the benefit we have received; secondly, the effect of this benefit [v. 7; n. 482]. Concerning this he does two things. First he sets out the benefit we obtain; Second, the effect of this benefit [v. 6b; n. 481]. 479. First, therefore: We have said that the baptized should walk in newness of life. To anyone who says that this is impossible he responds that we know our old self, i.e., the oldness caused by sin, was crucified with him, i.e., put to death by the Cross of Christ. For as was stated above, man’s oldness was brought about by sin -- in the sense that the goodness of his nature was corrupted by sin -- and is predominant as long as he continues in sin. But because what is predominant in a man characterizes the man himself, it follows that the oldness of sin in a man subject to sin is an apt description of the man himself. That is why he says the old self. 244 480. Now the oldness of sin can refer to the guilt of sin or to the stain of actual sins or even to the habit of sinning, which engenders a sort of compulsion to sin, or even to the "fomes" deriving from the sin of the first parent. Thus, therefore, our old self is said to be crucified together with Christ, inasmuch as the aforesaid oldness is removed by the power of Christ; either because it has been entirely removed, as the guilt and stain of sin are entirely removed in baptism, or because its force has been diminished, i.e., the force of the "fomes" or even of the custom of sinning: "Having canceled the bond which stood against us with its legal demands; this he set aside, nailing it to the cross" (Col 2:14). 481. Then (v. 6b) he mentions the twofold effect of this benefit, the first of which is the removal of previous sins. Hence he says: that the body of sin may be destroyed. The body of sin is the assemblage of evil deeds, just as the assemblage of members makes one natural body: "His body is like molten shields." (Jb 41:6). The second effect is that it makes us beware of future sins; hence, he adds: and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For a man is a slave of sin, when he obeys the attraction of sin by consenting to and doing the sin: Everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin" (Jn 8:34). 482. Then (v. 7) he clarifies what he had said: first, in regard to the first effect; secondly, in regard to the second [v. 8; n. 484]. 483. In regard to the first it should be noted that the assemblage of sins is destroyed when a man has his sins remitted. So he clarifies how the body of sin is 245 destroyed when he says he who has died to sin through baptism, in which we die together with Christ, is freed from sin, i.e., transferred to the state of righteousness: "And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified" (1 Cor 6:11). Therefore, because man dies to sin through the cross of Christ, he is freed from sin in such away that the body of sin destroyed. 484. Then (v. 8) he clarifies the second effect by showing how it conforms one to the life of Christ. The reasoning is this: One who dies with the dying Christ also lives with the rising Christ. But Christ rose from the dead, never to die again. Therefore, one who has died to sin lives with the risen Christ in such a way that he has the faculty of never returning to sin. 485. In regard to this he does three things: first, he shows the believer’s conformity to the risen Christ; secondly, a condition of this life [n. 487]; thirdly, he draws the conclusion [v. 11; n. 491]. 486. First, therefore, he says: But if we have died with Christ, i.e., if we are dead to sin by virtue of Christ’s death, we believe that we shall also live with him, i.e., in the likeness of his life. We shall live, I say, the life of grace here and the life of glory in the future: "When we were dead through sin, he made us alive together with Christ" (Eph 2:5). 487. Then (v. 9) he describes the condition of life of the risen Christ: first, he states it; 246 secondly, he proves it [v. 10; n. 489]. 488. First, therefore, he says: We believe this, I say, because we know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again, but will live an everlasting life: "I died, and behold I am alive for evermore" (Rev 1:18). What is more, death no longer has dominion over him, but it does over man: not only when his soul and body are separated when he dies, but also before he dies, when he is subject to sickness, hunger, thirst and such things as lead to death. From all these things the life of the risen Christ is free. Consequently, he is not subject to the dominion of death; rather, he has dominion over death: "I have the keys of Death and Hades" (Revs 1:18). 489. Then (v. 10) he proves his statement, namely, that the risen Christ will not die again. And he proves this in two ways [n. 490]. First he proves it with a reason based on the death he underwent, saying: The death he died, he died to sin, once for all. This must not be taken to mean that he died to sin he committed or contracted, because sin had no place whatever in him: "Who did no sin" (1 Pt 2:22). But he is said to have died to sin in two ways: in one way, because he died to take away sin: "For our sake he made him who knew no sin to be sin" (2 Cor 5:21), i.e., a victim for sin. In another way, because he died to the likeness of sinful flesh, i.e., to a suffering and mortal body: "God sent his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh" (Rom 8:3). In both ways it can be concluded that Christ died once, from the fact that he died to sin. In regard to the first it is clear that he wiped out all sins through one death: "By a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified" (Heb 10:14). 247 Therefore, he does not need to die again for sin: "For Christ also died for sins once for all" (1 Pt 3:18). In regard to the second the same can be concluded. For if Christ endured death in order that the likeness of death disappear from him, his death ought to have been like that of others, who wear the flesh of sin and die but once. Hence, it says in Heb (9:27): "Just as it is appointed for men to die once, so Christ also offered once to bear the sins of many." 490. Secondly, he shows the same thing by considering the condition of life he obtained by rising. Hence he says: But the life he lives he lives to God, i.e., conformed to God. For it says in 2 Cor (13:4): "He was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God." Now the effect is conformed to the cause. Hence, the life which the rising Christ acquired is deiform. Therefore, just as God’s life is everlasting and without decay: "Who alone has immortality" (1 *** 6:16), so Christ’s life is immortal. 491. Then (v. 11) he reaches the intended conclusion that we be conformed to the life of the risen Christ both with respect to its death to sin, i.e., to the mortal life which has the likeness of sin, never to return to it, and with respect to living conformed to God. In regard to the first he says: So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin, i.e., as never to return to sin: "Let not the dead live" (Is 26:14). In regard to the second he says: and alive to God, i.e., to the honor and in the likeness of God, that we never die through sin: "The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God" (Gal 2:20). So he adds, in Christ Jesus, i.e., through Jesus Christ, through whom we die to sin and live to God; or in Christ Jesus, i.e., as incorporated into Christ Jesus, that by his 248 death we may die to sin and by his resurrection live to God: "He made us alive together with Christ, by whose grace you have been saved through Christ" (Eph 2:5).
[AD 420] Jerome on Romans 6:1-23