»He will put the wretches to a wretched death,« was the reply, »and will entrust the vineyard to other vine-dressers who will render the produce to him at the vintage season.«
What, therefore, will the owner of the vineyard do?« »He will come and put the vine-dressers to death,« they said; »and will give the vineyard to others.«
Then, throwing off all reserve, Paul and Barnabas said, »We were bound to proclaim God's Message to you first. But since you spurn it and judge yourselves to be unworthy of the Life of the Ages–well, we turn to the Gentiles.
I ask, however, »Have they stumbled so as to be finally ruined?« No, indeed; but by their lapse salvation has come to the Gentiles in order to arouse the jealousy of the descendants of Israel;
No, indeed; let us hold God to be true, though every man should prove to be false. As it stands written, »That Thou mayest be shown to be just in the sentence Thou pronouncest, and gain Thy cause when Thou contendest.«
Did then a thing which is good become death to me? No, indeed, but sin did; so that through its bringing about death by means of what was good, it might be seen in its true light as sin, in order that by means of the Commandment the unspeakable sinfulness of sin might be plainly shown.
What follows? Is the Law itself a sinful thing? No, indeed; on the contrary, unless I had been taught by the Law, I should have known nothing of sin as sin. For instance, I should not have known what covetousness is, if the Law had not repeatedly said, »Thou shalt not covet.«
Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them the members of a prostitute? No, indeed.
God, however, is only one. Is the Law then opposed to the promises of God? No, indeed; for if a Law had been given which could have conferred Life, righteousness would certainly have come by the Law.
But as for me, God forbid that I should glory in anything except the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, upon which the world is crucified to me, and I am crucified to the world.