Irenaeus of Lyons · a new plain-English translation from the original language
On the deeds of the flesh and of the spirit, and that the washing he speaks of concerns not the body's substance but one's former conduct. He himself also spelled out plainly which deeds he labels carnal, anticipating the slander of the faithless, and clarifying himself so no room for dispute would remain for those who argue against him in bad faith, in that letter addressed to the Galatians, stating thus: 'now the deeds of the flesh lie in plain view, namely these: adultery, fornication, impurity, wantonness, idol-worship, sorcery, quarrels, envyings, fits of rage, rivalries, dissensions, factions, jealousy, drunken bouts, carousing, and matters of this sort, which I warn you of beforehand, just as I warned you previously, that those practicing such things will have no share in God's kingdom' (Gal. 5:19-21). He announces still more openly to his hearers the meaning of 'flesh and blood having no claim on God's reign.' For those who practice such things, genuinely conducting themselves according to the flesh, cannot live unto God. And again he laid out the spiritual deeds that confer life on man, namely the Spirit's grafting-in, stating thus: 'but the Spirit's fruit is love, gladness, peace, patience, generosity, goodness, faithfulness, mildness, mastery of self, purity; against things of this kind there exists no law' (Gal. 5:22-23). He, then, who progresses toward the better and yields the Spirit's fruit is wholly saved through his fellowship with the Spirit; whereas whoever remains among the aforementioned deeds of the flesh, rightly counted carnal since he has not taken on God's Spirit, will be unable to obtain heaven's reign. As the Apostle again attests, writing to the Corinthians: 'do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit God's kingdom? Be not misled: neither the sexually immoral, nor idol-worshippers, nor adulterers, nor the effeminate, nor those who lie with their own sex, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor swindlers will obtain God's kingdom. And such, indeed, some of you once were; but you were cleansed, but you were made holy, but you were made righteous, invoking our Lord Jesus Christ's name and resting on the Spirit belonging to our God' (1 Cor. 6:9-11). He demonstrates with utter clarity by what means man perishes, should he persist living according to the flesh, and by what means, conversely, he is saved. And the elements that bring salvation, he states, are our Lord Jesus Christ's name, together with the Spirit belonging to our God.
Having, then, catalogued the deeds of the flesh that lack the Spirit and lead to death, following on what he had already stated, at the letter's close he declared in summary: 'just as we carried the likeness of the man made of dust, let us likewise carry the likeness of the heavenly man. This I tell you, brothers, that flesh and blood have no claim on God's kingdom' (1 Cor. 15:49-50). Now this phrase, 'just as we carried the likeness of the man made of dust,' echoes that other statement: 'and such, indeed, you once were; but you were cleansed, but you were made holy, but you were made righteous, invoking our Lord Jesus Christ's name and resting on the Spirit belonging to our God.' When, then, did we carry the likeness of the dust-made man? Plainly, while those aforementioned deeds of the flesh were being worked in us. And when, conversely, did we carry the heavenly likeness? Plainly, at the point he describes: 'you were cleansed, trusting in the Lord's name, and taking on his Spirit.' We were cleansed, not with respect to the body's substance, nor to the handiwork's image, but with respect to our former, empty way of living. Concerning the distinction between death and life, the breath of life and the life-giving Spirit, and how that very substance of flesh, once dead, is brought back to life.