Rom 7:18

“On this account, therefore, the Lord Himself, who is Emmanuel from the Virgin, is the sign of our salvation, since it was the Lord Himself who saved them, because they could not be saved by their own instrumentality; and, therefore, when Paul sets forth human infirmity, he says: "For I know that there dwelleth in my flesh no good thing," showing that the "good thing" of our salvation is not from us, but from God. And again: "Wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Then he introduces the Deliverer, [saying, ] "The grace of Jesus Christ our Lord." And Isaiah declares this also, [when he says: ] "Be ye strengthened, ye hands that hang down, and ye feeble knees; be ye encouraged, ye feeble-minded; be comforted, fear not: behold, our God has given judgment with retribution, and shall recompense: He will come Himself, and will save us." Here we see, that not by ourselves, but by the help of God, we must be saved.”

“The parable of the two sons also: those who are sent into the vineyard, of whom one indeed opposed his father, but afterwards repented, when repentance profited him nothing; the other, however, promised to go, at once assuring his father, but he did not go (for "every man is a liar;" "to will is present with him, but he finds not means to perform"),-[this parable, I say], points out one and the same Father.”

“I Fully confess unto the Lord God that it has been rash enough, if not even impudent, in me to have dared compose a treatise on Patience, for practising which I am all unfit, being a man of no goodness; whereas it were becoming that such as have addressed themselves to the demonstration and commendation of some particular thing, should themselves first be conspicuous in the practice of that thing, and should regulate the constancy of their commonishing by the authority of their personal conduct, for fear their words blush at the deficiency of their deeds.”

“"For as ye have tendered your members to servile impurity and iniquity, so too now tender them servants to righteousness unto holiness." For even if he has affirmed that "good dwelleth not in his flesh," yet (he means) according to "the law of the letter," in which he "was: "but according to "the law of the Spirit," to which he annexes us, he frees us from the "infirmity of the flesh.”

“What then do those babble who arm themselves against the flesh and exclude it from the number of God's creations? They object: the apostle says, "there dwells not in me, that is, in my flesh, anything good." Listen in what sense he said this. Man consists of two parts: the soul and the flesh; of these, the first, that is, the soul, rules over everything, while the flesh is a servant. Therefore the expression "there dwells not in my flesh anything good" means: it does not lie in the power of the flesh, but in the power of the soul; whatever the soul chooses, the flesh does. It is just as if someone were to say that harmonious sound is not in the harp but in the harpist — he does not disparage the harp, but shows the superiority of the musician over the instrument. By the words "I do not find" he indicated the assault and scheming of sin; for he removes the blame both from the essence of the soul and from the essence of the flesh, and ascribes everything to vicious activity and will.”

“Then he proves that sin dwelling in man does the evil which man commits, when he says, for I know: first, he presents the middle term proving the proposition; second, he explains the middle term, at for to will. First, therefore, he proves that sin dwelling in man does the evil which man commits. This proof is clear when the words are referred to a man in the state of grace, who has been freed from sin by the grace of Christ (Rom 6:22). Therefore, as to a person in whom Christ's grace does not dwell, he has not yet been freed from sin. But the grace of Christ does not dwell in the flesh, but in the mind; hence it is stated below that if Christ is in us, the body is indeed dead because of sin, but the spirit lives because of justice (Rom 8:10). Therefore, sin, which the desire of the flesh works, still rules in the flesh. For he takes flesh here to include the sensitive powers. For the flesh is thus distinguished against the spirit and fights it, inasmuch as the sensitive appetite tends to the contrary of what reason seeks, as it says in Galatians: the desires of the flesh are against the spirit (Gal 5:17). He says, therefore: we have said that in me, even though healed by grace, sin works; but this must be understood of me according to the flesh along with the sensitive appetite. For I know through reason and experience that the good, namely, of grace by which I have been reformed, does not dwell in me. But lest this be understood to include reason according to the manner explained above, he adds: that is to say, in my flesh. For in me, i.e., in my heart, this good does dwell, for it says in Ephesians: that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith (Eph 3:17). This makes it clear that this passage does not favor the Manicheans who want the flesh not to be good according to its nature and, consequently, not a good creature of God, whereas it is written: everything created by God is good (1 Tim 4:4). For the Apostle is not discussing a good of nature but the good of grace, by which we are freed from sin. If this passage referred to man existing under sin, it would be superfluous to add, that is to say, in my flesh, because in a sinner the good of grace does not dwell either in regard to the flesh or the mind. A forced interpretation would explain this passage by saying that sin, which is the privation of grace, is somehow derived from the flesh to the mind. Then he clarifies what he had said, when he says for to will: first, from man's capabilities; second, from his action which proves his capability, at for the good which I will. Man's capability is described first in regard to willing, which seems to be in man's power; hence he says, for to will is present with me, i.e., is close to me, as though existing beneath my power. For nothing is so much within man's power as his will, as Augustine says. Second, he describes man's capability, or rather his difficulty in achieving an effect, when he says, but to accomplish good, I cannot find, i.e., I do not find it within my power, as it says in Proverbs: it is the part of man to prepare the soul (Prov 16:1); the heart of a man disposes his way, but the Lord directs his steps (Prov 1:9). This passage of Paul seems to favor the Pelagians who said that the start of a good work is from us, inasmuch as we will the good. And this is what the Apostle seems to say: but to accomplish good, I cannot find. However, he rejects this interpretation in Philippians: but God is at work in you both to will and to do (Phil 2:13). Therefore, the fact that for to will is present with me, once I have been healed by grace, is due to the work of divine grace, through which I not only will the good but also do some good, because I resist concupiscence and, led by the spirit, act against it; but I do not find it within my power to accomplish that good so as to exclude concupiscence entirely. This indicates that the good of grace does not reside in the flesh, because if it did, then just as I have the faculty of willing the good because of grace dwelling in the mind, so I would have the faculty of accomplishing the good in virtue of grace residing in the flesh. But if it be referred to man existing under sin, then it could be explained so that to will is taken for an incomplete act of willing, which from the impulse of nature is good in some who sin. But to will is present to man, i.e., it lies next to man, as though it is weak, unless grace bestows to the will the ability for perfection.”

“Paul does not say that the flesh is evil, as some think, but that what dwells in the flesh is not good, i.e., sin. How does sin dwell in the flesh when it is not a substance but the perversion of what is good? Since the body of the first man was corrupted by sin and became dissolvable, this same corruption of sin remains in the body because of the state of transgression, retaining the strength of the divine judgment given in Adam, which is the sign of the devil, at whose prompting Adam sinned. Because of this sin is said to dwell in the flesh, to which the devil comes as if to his own kingdom. For the flesh is sinful and sin remains in it in order to deceive man by evil temptations, so that man will not do what the law commands.Man can agree that what the law commands is good; he can say that it naturally pleases him and that he wants to do it. But in spite of all that, the power and the strength to carry out his wishes is lacking because he is so oppressed by the power of sin that he cannot go where he wants nor can he make contrary decisions, because another power is in control of him. For man is burdened by his habit of sinning and succumbs to sin more readily than to the law, which he knows teaches what is good. For if he wants to do what is good, habit backed by the enemy prevents him.”