The Slavery of Death

by Richard Beck

interpret sarx as a depraved and congenital “sin nature,” the Orthodox see sarx as mortality—our corruptibility and perishability in the face of death. And it’s this vulnerability, Paul explains, that makes us susceptible to sin. The idea here is that we are less wicked than we are weak. As sarx—as mortal animals—we are playthings of the devil, who uses the fear of death to push and pull our survival instincts (our fleshly, sarx-driven passions) to keep us as “slaves to sin.” This explains why Paul, after discussing his struggles with sin at length in Romans 7, goes on to petition, “Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?” Paul’s weakness in the face of sin is attributed to his mortal condition. Sin here is seen as a symptom of death, the underlying disease.