5. The internal processes (motus interni) under which sanctification takes place.
Through faith in Christ, that is, in the forgiveness of sins for Christ's sake, without works of the law, a new man (καινός άνϑρωπος, Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10; ό εσωϑεν άνϑρωπος [“the inward man,”], 2 Cor. 4:16) has come into existence. This new man wills only what God wills, Rom. 7:22: συνήδομαι τφ νόμω τοϋ ϑεοΰ κατά τον εσω άνϑρωπον [“I delight in the Law of God after the inward man.”]. The Christian is therefore perfectly holy, νεκρός τfj αμαρτία and ζών τώ ϑεώ [“dead unto sin, but alive unto God”], Rom. 6:1-11, inasmuch as he is new man or born again. But in the Christian, throughout life here on earth, the old sinful nature or man still remains (παλαιός άνϑρωπος, Eph. 4:22; ό εξω άνϑρωπος [“our outward man”], 2 Cor. 4:16; το σώμα τής αμαρτίας, Rom. 6:6; ή σάρξ [“my flesh”], Rom. 7:18). This old man is and remains devoted to sin, Rom. 7:18: ουκ οΐκέϊ εν έμοί, τοϋτ' εστιν εν τή σαρκί μου, αγαϑόν, and contends against the new man, Gal. 5:17: ή σάρξ επιϑυμεί κατά τοϋ πνεύματος [“The flesh lusteth against the Spirit”]. In this state of affairs sanctification always takes place only in such a way that the Christian, in so far as he is a new man, struggles against himself, in so far as he is still an old man, and the new man with his good will and deeds prevails over the evil will and deeds of the old man. According to the Scriptures, therefore, sanctification has a negative and a positive side. According to the negative side, it consists in putting off the old man; according to the positive side, it consists in putting on the new man.49) This is the struggle of the spirit against the flesh.
With regard to the struggle of the spirit against the flesh, several remarks are in order: 1. This struggle is not
48) Cf. Calov on this passage
49) Eph. 4:22-24: άποθέσϑαι τον παλαιόν άνϑρωπον — και ενδνοαοϑαι τον καινόν άνϑρωπον.
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a sign that the Christians have fallen from grace, as they probably think in the temptation, but on the contrary a sign of the state of grace. Only where the struggle has ceased, and the flesh has come to dominion, has the fall from grace occurred. ¶ 2. Since the old man of Christians also remains, that is, no more pious than the flesh of unbelievers, Christians, on the one hand, should not be so surprised that the lusts of complete unbelief and the grossest sins are still stirring in them (Rom. 7:18; 1 Thess. 4:3-6), on the other hand keep in mind that the fight of the spirit against the flesh cannot consist in improvement, education or cultivation, but always only in a crucifixion and killing of the flesh or the old man.50) To this treatment of the old man are the admonitions of Scripture: Rom. 8:13: τάς πράξεις τον σώματος ϑανατονν; Gal. 5:24 : την σάρκα ατάνρονν συν τοίς παϑήμασιν και τάΐς έπιϑνμίαις ["They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts”]; Col. 3:5: νεκροί)ν τά μέλη τά επί τής γης, πορνείαν, ακαϑαρσίαν κτλ ["Mortify your members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, etc.”]; 1 Cor. 9:27: νπωπιάζειν το σώμα και δονλαγωγεϊν ["I keep under my body and bring it into subjection”]; Matt. 18:8-9, χέϊρα και πόδα σκανδαλίζοντας εκκόπτειν ["If thy hand or tiiy foot offend thee, cut them off. . . . If thine eye offend thee, pluck it out.”], ¶ 3. The struggle of the spirit against the flesh is difficult and painful, as can be seen from the scriptural expressions "to kill," "to crucify," "to cut off hand and foot," and from the fact that the flesh, which is thus to be treated, does not lead a special existence, but still clings to its own self (Heb. 12:1). It is comforting in the difficult and painful struggle, as Luther often reminds us, that also the "great saints", especially also the high apostle Paul, felt the heaviness and the painfulness of this struggle, as is evident from the lamentation Rom. 7:24: ταλαίπωρος εγώ άνϑρωπος [Ό wretched man that I am!”].51) ¶ (4.) Scripture assures us that Christians will emerge victorious from this struggle if they abide in grace and God's Word, and thereby yield to the Holy Spirit
50) Meyer remarks on 2 Cor. 7:1, "Never, therefore, is it demanded that the σάρξ be or become holy."
51) Luther IX, 1292: "No one among you who suffers and is tempted bodily or spiritually, even in the highest and most terrible way, should think that he suffers something special, new and strange, or as if no one before or beside him had felt and endured such severe and terrible affliction; no, it is not you alone. Your brethren who live before you and with you have experienced the same and even greater and more severe things."
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the opportunity to become and remain effective in them with His divine power. This includes scriptural statements such as 2 Cor. 12:10: "When I am weak, then I am strong"; Luke 18:27: "What is impossible with men is possible with God"; the whole passage 2 Cor. 4:7 ff. about the treasure in frail vessels, "so that the abundant power may be of God and not of us"; but the divine power becomes effective through the Word of God; Eph. 6:17: "Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God"; Jn. 15:7: "If my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you"; Rom. 8:37: "In all these things we greatly overcome" (νπερνικώμεν, we are victorious, win a shining victory) "for the sake of him that loved us." The apostle describes the victorious course in detail 2 Cor. 4:8 ff. Paul uses puns in the description, some of which are difficult to render in the translation: Έν παντϊ ΰλιβόμενοι, άλλ ον στενοχωρονμενοι, άπορονμενοι, άλλ' ονκ εξαπορονμενοι, διωκόμενοι, άλλ' ονκ εγκαταλειπό μενοι, καταβαλλόμενοι, άλλ' ονκ άπολλνμενοι, πάντοτε την νέκρωοιν τον Ίησον εν τώ σώματι περιφέροντες, ΐνα και ή ζωή τον Ίησον εν τω οώματι ημών φανερωϋή, άει γάρ ημείς οι ζώντες εις ϑάνατον παραδιδόμε & αα διά Ίησονν, ΐνα και ή ζωή τον Ίησον φανερωϋή εν τή ϑνητή σαρκι ημών. ["We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.”] Luther writes on 1 Pet. 6:9 (St. L. IX, 1108) about the use of the Word of God in the struggle of the Spirit against the flesh: "Be sober and watchful, but to this end that the body may be sent" (Luther often speaks of how the body is to be treated in the struggle of the Spirit against the flesh, but he does not overestimate this paedagogia externa). "But with this the devil is not yet slain; it is only for this reason that you give the body the less cause to sin. The right sword is that you are strong and firm in faith. If you take hold of the Word of God in your heart and hold fast to it with faith, the devil cannot win but must flee. So if you can say, "This is what my God has said, I will stand up," you will see that he will soon go away; for then all unwillingness, evil desire, anger, avarice, melancholy and doubt will go away. But the devil is crafty and does not like to let you do this, and he reaches out to take the sword out of your hand; when he makes you lazy, so that the body becomes clumsy and inclined to evil, he soon snatches the sword out of your hand.
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He did the same to Eve; she had the Word of God; if she had held on to it, she would not have fallen. But when the devil saw that she held the word so loosely, he tore it out of her heart, so that she let it go; and so he had won. (2 Cor. 11:3; Gen. 3:4, 13.) So St. Peter has instructed us enough on how to argue with the devil. It does not cost much running to and fro, nor any work that you can do, but no more than that you hang on the word by faith. When he comes and wants to drive you into a melancholy because of sin, just take hold of the word of God that promises forgiveness of sins, and ponder on it, and he will soon let go." ¶ 5. An important rule of battle is to immediately oppose the evil act of the flesh that is stirring up with the corresponding good act, for example, the praise of God to the murmuring against God, and the thoughts of God as revealed in the Scriptures to one's own and other men's thoughts and judgments on points of doctrine and life.52) Here again it must be remembered how important it is for the Christian not only to deal constantly with God's Word, but also to memorize as many passages of Scripture as possible, so that he can immediately counter the attacks of the flesh, the world and the devil, when and where they occur, with the Scriptural Word that belongs to the matter. Christ teaches us this victorious way of fighting by his own example Matt. 4:1-11.
52) How true this is is certainly learned by experience. One should not wait with the praise of God until one feels the desire to do so in the heart, but one should catch the words "Now give thanks to God" in the midst of the discontent, and grumbling will disappear. If death seems so terrible to us, scriptural words such as: "This very day you will be with me in paradise" correct the terrible picture. If in a certain affliction we think we have sufficient cause for quite deep and lasting sadness, words like, "Rejoice in the Lord always (πάντοτε)!" help. Also dangerous is the thought that temptation is too heavy and that we must perish in it. This erroneous notion is banished, e.g., by 1 Cor. 10:13: "God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above your ability." As far as doctrines in particular are concerned, even Luther confesses: "I have often not been able to solve the devil's argument." (IX, 1339.) But the error became powerless and gave way, as the mist gives way to the sun, as soon as the Holy Spirit reminded him of the words of Scripture dealing with the doctrines under dispute. "The word they shall let stand." Cf. Luther's mighty exposition on the ability not only of teachers but of all Christians to reject all error as soon as they place themselves on God's Word without gloss. (On 1 Pet. 3:15. St. L. IX, 1235 ff.)
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