Fragments on Romans
Fragmenta in epistulam ad Romanos
Adam and the Law§1
1Having foretold that upon the sin of Adam and upon the decree of death all the rest sinned (Romans 5:12), he confirms that they sinned from what he adds; for until law, sin was in the world. For do not think, he says, that sin was not until the law of Moses, nor was sin imputed to men; for it was indeed imputed, since law also was.
What then law does he show? The natural one, according to which we move, distinguishing the better and the worse, concerning which law he already spoke; for when Gentiles, not having the law, do the things of the law by nature, these, not having the law, are a law to themselves. Thus also before the Mosaic law was the law of nature.
But as being sinners and living as aliens, death reigned from Adam until the setting of the law, and over those not having sinned, nor having transgressed a commandment of God according to Adam, but having violated the law of nature. And 'who is a type of the one to come,' that is, a type of Christ—Adam—is not according to the sin or the righteousness—for contrary to these things he held—but according to the preceding; for just as from Adam death was distributed to all, so from Christ life was distributed to all.
And there is a type also according to another reason; for just as Adam was the head of Eve according to being a man, so also Christ is the head of the church according to which he is proclaimed her bridegroom, as also the apostle says: 'for this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall be joined to his wife' (Gen 2:24). This mystery is great (Eph 5:32), but I speak concerning Christ and the church. This seems to have the opposite to the aforementioned, that death passed to all men (Romans 5:12); for having spoken earlier concerning all, now he speaks concerning many (Rom 5:15).
But it must be known that death passed to all because all have sinned, but it passed to all while searching and testing, seizing not those who sin simply, but those who persist in their own sins, which he makes clear by saying the following: that many were made sinners, through which the unchangeable nature of their wickedness is shown. Thus death passed to all searching, seeing them sin, but it killed not all. Some thought a difference in death was shown by these things, and because death appears bodily for all, and because for many it is accidental.
But none of these things the sequence of the word now demonstrates; for there is no distinction in it, but it proceeds as concerning one universal matter. He strives, however, to show that even if the evil one fashioned the transgression of Adam, discussing for himself the beginning of the kingship over men, the Lord, having granted a greater gift, bestowed grace. Instead of the gift regarding one sin of Adam (Rom 5:16), for it was great and much, surpassing the sins of all through philanthropy (Rom 5:17), which he teaches, leading to: the judgment indeed from one to condemnation, but the gift from many transgressions to righteousness (Rom 5:17).
For he wants to say that Adam's sin was one, but nevertheless, being one from one sin, he condemned the many because of imitating Adam, but the gift of the Lord was not measured against the one sin, but against the many things existing of all. Thus, having freed them from many transgressions, he led them into righteousness; for in this is the abundance of grace, that he not only freed from the transgressions, but also led into righteousness.
Having examined and having stripped bare both the harm through Adam which was pressed upon men and the benefit bestowed by the Lord (Rom 5:18), he proceeds then teaching more decisively, that the transgression of Adam condemned and killed men, but the righteous act gave life. And what is the transgression of Adam? Disobedience. What...
Greek · §1
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The Dominion of Law and Grace§2
2But what is the righteousness of the Lord? It is the obedience which he obeyed to the Father, according to the becoming-man and suffering on behalf of men, just as the apostle says in other places: having been found in form as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, even the death of a cross. Thus, obedience removed the disobedience and, regarding the best thing, it overcame the worst.
Having said so that grace might abound, he showed that even before the law there were transgressions, and men knew they were stumbling (Rom 5:13-14). Not indeed all things which they stumbled in, but he perceived them as stumbles; rather, the law being given, it stripped bare and showed more things to be existing than they used to consider. And accurately he said that which entered in: for between the disobedience of Adam and the arrival of the Savior, the law took a passage into life. And where sin abounded, grace super-abounded (Rom 5:20). Where then did sin abound? Where the law was. And if the law was among the Jews, there also grace super-abounded; for from there came evangelists and apostles and the head of salvation, Christ.
What then shall we say? It says, shall we remain in sin so that grace might abound? (Rom 6:1) May it never be! He safely led to the 'may it never be'; for not those sinning unskillfully are worthy of forgiveness, but those receiving the methods of the devil through laziness and inattentiveness—these are deserving to be pitied by God. Since we died to sin, how shall we live in it any longer? (Rom 6:2) Because being baptized we confess to have died to the world and to separate ourselves from sin and the devil (Rom 6:4).
Precisely the grafted-together has established this; for of those grafted-together, nature often becomes one through adhesion. Thus also those having been sincerely baptized into the death of Christ are united to him through faith (Rom 6:5). If it were possible, he says, for Christ to die for the sinners a second and third time, perhaps it would have been harmless to run back to the old habit of sins, which always had a hope of philanthropy. But if, having died once, he no longer dies, so also we, having been buried with him and having been raised, no longer die to sins (Romans 6:9); for there is no second baptism, nor a second death of Christ, for which reason it is more secure to live. For he who died, died to sin once, that is, on behalf of the...
of the dying of humans; but he who lives, lives to God, that is, to live forever, since he is God. In this way, therefore, you also die to your sins, but live to God, through whom you live (Romans 6:11). Do not let your members be presented as weapons of unrighteousness to sin, instead of you not giving weapons to the evil one and strength by sinning yourselves (Romans 6:11). For sin shall not rule over you; for you are not under law but under grace (Rom 6:14).
What sin shall not rule? The one before baptism, which the grace of Christ forgives. But the law was not able to do this. You are not under law the one who is not able to be saved, but rather one who is being punished (Rom 6:14). I am able, he says, to say something more excellent and greater, worthy of surpassing benefit, but I say this much, being weak in the flesh (Rom 6:19).
Those who sin are being provisioned by the devil in this way: selling up self-control and buying intemperance, selling kindness and seizing coarseness. Those, therefore, having become the own property as it were of sin, submit themselves to death; for the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23). Or perhaps he says this, that the things being provisioned from the enemy are the things of death (Rom 6:23).
From this he constructs, that while the law was prevailing before Christ, it was not permitted for another to be bound, that is, to be bound to grace; but when the law has ceased and in a way has died, it is possible for the remnant to be joined to the heavenly Bridegroom (Rom 7:1–3). For he places both the law and Christ in the domain of a man; the one for the church, since just as the man is head of the woman, so Christ is of the church, and the law once of the assembly (Rom 7:1–3). The law, he says, rules over the man for as long as he lives. Who lives? The law. And just as it discourses about a man and his cohabitant, so it is about him (Rom 7:1–3).
For when we were in the flesh, he says, instead of being in the law; for those in law were giving indulgence to the flesh (Rom 7:5). He spoke accurately, 'through the law', not 'from the law'; for the law did not provide for sinning, even though it commanded not to sin (Rom 7:7). He said therefore 'through the law', because by forgiving, it gave indulgence to the passions as a pretext, so that the law was constructing not what it wanted, but what it did not want (Rom 7:7). But the sin, he says, I did not know except through law (Rom 7:7). He did not say 'but the sin not'...
Greek · §2
The Greek is on each section page: §2
The Law as a Discernment of Sin§3
3"I did not do it except through the law," he said, but he did not know, so that the law is the cause not of doing, but of discerning sin. Therefore the law is a pedagogue, not permitting through ignorance a fall into the nature of the irrational. However, that must be sought: how having said this here, he did not know the sin except through the law, while in other places he shows that we have within ourselves the faculty of discernment, in which he says: for when the nations, not having the law, do by nature the things of the law, these, not having the law, are a law to themselves. Through these things he establishes that even without law, the necessary things were being observed. But let it be considered, that even if they were, it was not all things. In this same way even now there are some things among other nations that are lived as good and lawful, among others as lawless and ill-treated. Therefore the giving of the law is necessary, defining for us both the practical things and the non-practical, and dividing for us and illuminating the life of the righteous.
It seems the devil says "sin" (Rom 7:8). Just as the Scripture calls the Savior "life" and calls him the cause of life and righteousness, so also he calls the opposite power, through its own energy, sometimes sin, sometimes falsehood, sometimes death; so also having said the following: "sin lived," he names the devil sin. Taking its starting point through the commandment. How then did the devil take a starting point through the commandment? Because having made the commands of the law like a certain material for his own art, he turned the man toward the opposite of the commandments. And it is clear that through himself the apostle indicates the common man.
He says, "But when the commandment came, sin lived, and I died" (Rom 7:9–11). If it lived, it is clear that, having died, it lived again. When then did it live? When having received the commandment, Adam was deceived by the perilous transgression and the devil accused him. Likewise when also it was Cain—for he himself sinned in knowledge, having been commanded not to murder his brother—was it through "you sinned"? Be silent. Since therefore there was neither a commandment nor a law in between, sin was dead through the ignorance of those sinning; for the most part they were ignorant while stumbling, so that they were not even judged by the conscience.
What then is the result of these things? It is not that the law was given to prevent sin, but rather that those about to do right were being disciplined. Yet it is absurd for the slothful and pleasure-loving to undermine the hypothesis of salvation which belongs to the diligent and earnest.
Regarding Romans 7:13, he says the law is an indictment of the devil's wickedness; but he said the law was good. Thus the evil one appears to be a skilled evil-doer when, through the good which was given, he has brought death to those receiving the good law. Regarding 'sin is sinful', he says; now it has most clearly shown that he was calling the devil sin, and now has named him a sinner; for the one who makes sin is a sinner.
Regarding Romans 7:14, 'likewise it is said the law is spiritual'; for the commandments contained therein, having been kept, made the man spiritual, or also because, he says, it was legislated by the energy of the Holy Spirit, so that those obeying it might be able to be receptive to the Holy Spirit, having been purified by the pedagogy of the law. Regarding 'having been enslaved by sin'; not having been enslaved by anyone else, but he himself is reproaching himself for the commandments.
Regarding Romans 7:15, he says, 'not that I am unaware that sin is sin, but instead I do not perceive how I do it and how I am being stolen away,' such as often, judging I would prevail, I was defeated by myself. It is necessary, however, to know that he is not accusing himself, but is inscribing the common condition of men within himself, declining to place the burden on another; for he shows that we desire virtue, but are defeated by pleasure, all of us who are under law, but certainly not those who are under grace, who even outside of sin have become righteous through grace. Regarding Romans 7:21, 'I find the law, there remains the thing that is difficult to do right'; for he says that from which things, even when willing to do something good, I am not able, but I am turned toward the worse. 'I find the law difficult to do right, desiring to do the good'; for the evils, being more ready, lie before me for the doing. And through this 'lie before,' he shows that it is not toilsome to pursue evil. Regarding Romans 7:22–23, he describes the common man in these things; for the common man is one who sees the necessary things with the mind but does not always do right, whereas the one having believed into Christ does the things with the mind through the assistance of the Spirit; therefore such a one is also called spiritual. And he shows that...
Greek · §3
The Greek is on each section page: §3
The Law of Sin vs. the Law of the Spirit§4
4Just as the devil acts against the law of God, persuading men to do the opposite of what God has commanded (Rom 7:23). For the law of sin, he says very guardedly, is in the members, showing that the soul is not pleased with the sufferings of the body, even though it is often dragged down together with it.
It must be noted that this is not simply from this body, but from the death of the body; for it does not pray to be released from the body, but from the death that holds the body through sin (Rom 7:24). He remains, exposing the old man's warfare against himself, not being at peace with the soul of the body. He argues these things in order to demonstrate the achievements of the Savior's arrival and the union and peace of soul and body that has come through the rebirth of the washing. Thus he brought together what he intended, and came to what he was preparing, saying: 'Therefore there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus' (Rom 7:25–8:1).
For having shown that those under the law, as they live according to the flesh, are under sin and condemnation, he led to the conclusion that those under Christ are not under condemnation, because they do not walk according to the flesh. He spoke of the law of the spirit, contrasting it with the law of the letter (Rom 8:2), instead of the life-giving grace from Christ. For that which was impossible for the law, in which it was weak through the flesh (Rom 8:3–4), it was not the law, he says, that commanded the impossible, but the flesh was unable to fulfill the legal requirement because of the hindering evil, which Christ condemned through his own flesh.
God, he says, having sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. When the apostle turns toward the Lord's flesh—truly being flesh, from which he was born and was raised and lived his life—he clearly brings the flesh into the conversation, as he also leads the reader there: he condemned sin in the flesh, and writing to Timothy: 'God was manifested in the flesh' (1 Tim 3:16). But when he turns toward the sinless, pure, and holy aspect of the flesh, he calls it a likeness of flesh, not because he was differing from nature, but because it was like the fleshly sin.
He says that God sent his Son not in the likeness of an angel or of any such power, but in the likeness of flesh, so that flesh, having been defeated over Adam, might conquer the evil one in the Lord's person. He says that the Lord was sent because of the prevailing sin of men; for this is the 'concerning sin' instead of 'because of sin', and the 'and' passes over. He says that the requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, just as he intended to fulfill the requirement of the law, but it was weak because it allowed them to live in luxury. What then continues? That it would not have been received unless it were descending with them in their weakness. What then did it profit to descend with them, if not to justify? That it called back the mind having fallen into an insensibility of ignorance. To those who do not walk according to the flesh, he says, instead of 'according to the law'; for the law had carnal observations, and the allowing of luxury was also carnal.
Regarding Romans 8:9, he says, 'You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit', instead of 'You are not in carnal desires, but live in the Spirit'. If the Spirit of God dwells in you, it stirred them up to keep the mind awake and not to lie back, as if they had achieved perfection, having brought forth the word saying, 'If the Spirit of God dwells in you'. For for them to look haughty and be puffed up as if they already possessed the Spirit of God would have been harmful and sufficient to cut off their zeal.
Regarding Romans 8:11, having foretold the Spirit of Christ, he says again that the Spirit of him who raised Christ dwells in you. Having brought the Spirit back from Christ to the Father, he is clearly teaching nothing else but that the Spirit is also from the Son and is not foreign to the Father's divinity, and to those who have one energy, with these also the essence is co-existing with the Father.
Consequently, he says that when the Holy Spirit has come to dwell and sin has been put to death, he says that prizes follow those who struggle, the first and greatest of which was the resurrection from the dead. Regarding Romans 8:15, 'The law he called a spirit of slavery and slaves are those under the law'; for to be commanded by the law and the commandment and to fear a threatened punishment is a sign of slavery, but the permission to call Father God because of the purity of life promises the hope of adoption. Whether a spirit of slavery was given or of adoption, the same Spirit is upon both.
Greek · §4
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Divine Reward and the Groaning of Creation§5
5Having worked according to what is beneficial and fitting for each of the two peoples according to the value of both. He showed through this that the soul also is called spirit when it is spiritual, and the gift of the Spirit is spirit. This is therefore what he says elsewhere: for what we ought to pray we do not know, but the Spirit itself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings (Rom 8:26). And this indeed requires interpretation; and there is such a gift of prayer, which is upon the apostles.
Since many times we also ask for things not beneficial, therefore someone standing upon the apostles, the one having the gift of prayer upon the people, asked God for the beneficial things, using inexpressible groanings, in order that he might draw all toward reverence and fear. And this is what he says elsewhere: each of you has a psalm, has a prayer. So surely both to sing was a gift and to pray was a gift. And it testifies with our spirit, because the one having the gift prayed in the Spirit on behalf of the whole people, while praying, said, 'Our Father in the heavens' (Matt 6:9). Therefore, he says, the Spirit of prayer testifies with our spirit which we have through baptism, that we are children of God; for the Spirit cries out this: it is the gift of prayer, 'Abba the Father.'
If we suffer, he says, so that we may also be glorified with him (Rom 8:17-18). To suffer does not mean to be physically joined or to be mixed with the one who has suffered, according to the logic of habit; for Christ did not suffer anything against his will, nor did he grow weak, desiring to defend those who grieved. What then is to suffer with Christ? To choose the same sufferings, to endure what Christ endured, who, representing the truth, was suffering under the Jews. If we endure being persecuted in the same manner, not being dishonored or being distressed, if we are ready for death for the sake of piety, sympathizing with him, we shall be glorified in becoming children of God and co-heirs of Christ. And since he said the...
That suffering for Christ becomes a cause for us to be glorified with him, and it seemed that such toil was a wage and not a gift of grace, even though the greatest gift is the amnesty granted to those who have overcome sins. Correcting this, he brought forward that the fruit of the citizenship from God is not measured to us according to an analogy of toils, but is manifold and far exceeds the value of those who have labored; for God, being both good and just, preserves the just regarding those who sin, giving to the sinner only what the hypothesis of the sins requires, but the good is shown regarding those who are upright, not only giving to them according to their merit, but also exceeding the analogy of their lives with gifts.
He says that we shall be in such a state of God's good gifts, so that the hope and expectation of creation awaits the revelation of the sons of God (Rom 8:19), as if their hidden blessedness were to be revealed a little later. The written things give an intention to the many, as if the seen creation is animated and the world has some kind of rational perception. For if it groans and sighs and awaits the revelation, it is clear, he says, that it also perceives and is moved by thought. But it is not so; rather, he speaks of a creation now, not of soulless matter, but of the standing powers that God has established to pervade the creation according to the will of the Creator, according to what is written: when the Most High divided the nations, as he scattered the sons of Adam, he set the boundaries of nations according to the number of the angels of God (Deut 32:8). Thus also, regarding the blessing of cold and heat and again hail and snow and the like, it should be understood as being through the powers standing over these; for one is not exhorted to praise God through unfeeling matter. Just as 'let all the earth worship you and sing to you' (Psalm 66:4) and 'as the Lord has reigned, let the earth rejoice' (1 Chronicles 16:31), the people on the earth...
Greek · §5
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Adoption and the Divine Decree§6
6He speaks of men, and wine shall mourn and the vine shall mourn; he speaks of the standing ones as vinedressers. Even so now he speaks of the creation, the powers standing over it, as unspiritual matter and as created things themselves, just as the adornment of a man and the smile of teeth and the step of a foot announce things concerning him.
Regarding the inferior nature being enslaved to the evil one and being plotted against by him, many times according to the forbearance of God, so that famines and plagues and diseases and wars and other corruptions are prepared by him; for it is also likely that the evil one has a place among those living ungodly, as if to trample upon his own, and he harms the elements concerning them through their own sins. When these things happen, the powers placed upon the order of creation groan and suffer birth-pangs and await the freedom of man, by which even the creation shall be set free from the authority of the devil (Rom 8:21). Therefore, this which happens to the rational powers, he has set aside for unspiritual matter, as we say now: the house is in an uproar, the city is indignant, the land is enraged, with the rulers and the patrol-men of the governed and patrolling places often signaling.
And by another account, the creation expects to be set free from the slavery of corruption, since, having heard the arrangement of the devil, it is worshipped by his fellow-slaves; for they revered and worshipped the creation instead of the Creator. Thus, enjoying the honor of the master's false hearing, the happening bears down heavily and it suffers and is grieved toward the vain worship of these men and desires the deliverance of these.
He says, however, that she neither willingly nor by her own impulse submitted to the devil from the beginning, but she submitted through the forbearance of God, and she submitted in hope of what is to come. In what hope? This one: that even the creation itself shall be set free. And when shall she be set free? Into the time of the freedom of the righteous; therefore, it is fitting that the expectation of creation awaits the revelation of the children of God. He says, not only does creation groan and suffer birth-pangs, awaiting freedom through the Spirit (Rom 8:22-23), but also we, although we have already received the firstfruits of the Spirit and have been tested by its goodness, even if we do not yet have the perfection of the...
We have received a promise, which is the adoption through the redemption of the body. Even in these things, the word does not deny the power of its own accord; for first it said that God foreknows, then that he predestines (Rom 8:29–30). And foreknowledge is clearly not a necessity of the impulse or the intention of those being lived. It would be clearer if we opened up what was said here, starting from the last things toward the first.
Whom then did God glorify here? Those whom he justified. And whom did he predestine? Those whom he foreknew, those being called according to purpose, that is, those being worthy to be called and to be conformed to Christ through their own purpose. He brings forward the great proof of the love of God, having shown through his deeds that all things work together for our good through the love of God toward us, namely, those whom he found to be called according to purpose, which he demonstrated in not sparing the only-begotten (Rom 8:31–32); for what, if even death did not overpower the Savior, since even upon the Lord he cast down his soul and received it again? But nevertheless it must be observed that Christ subjected himself to sufferings for the sake of humans, fulfilling both his own and the will of the Father. Therefore, since God is managing all things for our sake, who will hinder? Who is so strong as to obstruct the gifts of God toward us? For it is fitting that he who did not spare the Son for our sake will manage all other things for our sake and will add grace to the good things.
He is certainly persuaded by the oath provided, the word; for having said beforehand that there is nothing that will be able to separate him from the love of Christ, he brings forward that it is defeated only by his kinship (Rom 9:1–5). He says, therefore, that for the sake of the Jews he would have gladly offered both body and soul, so that those from whom they have fallen might again recall the same things, having believed into Christ. For what of the good things belonged not to the Jews, in whom now the Gentiles glory? The adoption, the glory, the covenants, the promises, the service, the God-beloved fathers, and the greatest: of which Christ is the one according to the flesh. From them, he says, is Christ; but he is God not only of them, but is God commonly upon all. From all these things the Jews have fallen, but so that they might recover these things, he says, he would have gladly become a curse for them from Christ. And the curse is the...
Greek · §6
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Election according to purpose§7
7It shows something belonging to another, since that which is set aside by the setter is belonging to another. And he shows how necessary his disposition is concerning them, so that no one might take the reproaches against them as an argument for turning away.
Since the things promised to the Israelites were transferred as if to the Gentiles (Rom 9:6-9), which was an accusation against God as if he were falsifying the promises, he shows the truthfulness of God, demonstrating that the Scripture did not signify the Israelites according to the flesh, but those showing through piety that they are worthy to be called Israelites and children of Abraham; for in Isaac, he says, you shall be called seed, and the things following. In Isaac, not through Isaac, which, explaining, he says: that is, not these children of the flesh are these children of God, but the children of the promise are reckoned as seed. But he wishes to say that not those from the flesh of Abraham, these are children of God, but children those from the promise, such as the pious and the righteous, whom God promised as sons to Abraham according to foreknowledge, since Isaac, having come to be from the promise, was shown to be righteous; for he foreknew and promised him righteous; for God would not be permitted to grant an impious son. Thus also he promised Abraham to be a father of nations, foreknowing the piety of the nations that were to come. Therefore he said: in Isaac you shall be called seed, that is, through the promise according to the pattern of Isaac, who was righteous and a pattern of the righteous. And the entire structure of the text is that the promise of God is according to foreknowledge, and the promise is according to the judgment of righteousness, and just as regarding Isaac, so also regarding the Gentiles.
It is a scriptural idiom from the Hebrew, that is, from its own interpretation, to say one thing as surpassing, and to set another thing as more primary and inversely. And the use of these is much not only upon the old but also upon the new covenant; for the apostle, for the demonstration of the same matter being before him, having remembered both Esau and Jacob (Rom 9:11), says thus: lest indeed, before they were born or had done anything good or evil, so that the intention of God according to election might remain, instead of 'the election according to the intention of those'—for God did not elect one and reject the other according to their own intention—but according to...
Regarding the other's purpose, He performed the election: the one He loved because of his own virtue, and the other He hated because of the badness of his disposition, from which it is clear that the apostle speaks of an election according to purpose and not a purpose according to election.
What then shall we say? Is there injustice with God? (Rom 9:14) May it never be! For He says to Moses: I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion (Rom 9:15). Therefore, it is not of the one willing nor of the one running, but of the God showing mercy (Rom 9:16). Since before the birth of Esau and Jacob, it appears that God loved the one and hated the other (Rom 9:13)—and this seemed to be an injustice to those who do not consider the justice of God according to foreknowledge (Rom 9:18)—he teaches not merely to fall to the example, since many and other such things concerning God are said in the Scriptures having a deeper intellect. Behold, for God says to Moses: I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion (Rom 9:15). Therefore, according to you, it is not of the one willing nor of the one running, but of the God showing mercy (Rom 9:16). And the one striving is abundant (Rom 9:17). But it is not so; for God is not unrighteous so as not to give to each according to his merit (Romans 9:14). Therefore he says, he says, not all but the worthy (Rom 9:11). And again the Scripture says to Pharaoh: For this very purpose I raised you up, so that I might show my power in you, and so that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth (Exod 9:16). Is not then Pharaoh not to blame, but the one raising him up for the showing of his own power? But even this is not so; for he would not have raised him, even though through him he was admonishing the others, if he had not foreseen him being stubbornly diseased. And if nothing is against us as it seems, he says, O man, but in God are all things, and the hardening of Pharaoh and the showing mercy to another, you would followingly say: What is still being blamed? For who has opposed his will? For if he himself performs all things through us, we are nothing in authority over what we do. But indeed, O man, who are you, the one answering back to God? Does not the thing formed say to the one who formed it: Why did you make me thus? (Rom 9:19-20). Correcting all the preceding, he reproves indeed as if you were boldly searching out the will of God, but he also shows the insignificance of human nature, taking the clay of the potter as a fitting image.
Greek · §7
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Divine Sovereignty and the Apostolic Law§8
8For what does he say, why does he question the Creator? The potter knows how to use the clay and what kind of vessels are to be made for dishonor and what kind for honor. But the clay, being clay, must not judge the art of the Creator; for even if you seem to have rational perception, O man, you are left so far removed from the economy and art of God as to be an unfeeling clay to the potter's will.
Therefore, do not dare to accuse God, nor suppose that he happens to show mercy to one and harden the other, but rather that according to the power of foreknowledge he bestows upon each according to his worth. Thus, it is not the one foreknowing who is the cause, but those who are foreknown, upon which it is for them to be evil or not. For he teaches that this is in us, through others; for speaking of vessels of gold, silver, and earthenware, he says: if anyone cleanses himself, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified. So we provide the cause, but God bestows according to worth.
Therefore, if God manages something according to foreknowledge, whether he raised up Pharaoh or hated Esau and loved Jacob, let no one suppose because of these things that nothing is upon us, but rather that our autonomy is being cut away. Some have spoken this, not as a reproach, but to say: 'Nevertheless, O man, who are you to answer back to God?' For they say it is absurd to have sought such great questions, unsettling the listener's mind without resolving any of them, but only rebuking those who seek to simply flee from the things sought, while also appearing to strip us of autonomy by the image of the potter, as if the potter fashions the vessels as he wills, while the rest remains as it has become from the beginning. They say these things unworthy of the apostolic grace and teaching.
The word is not spoken as a reproach, but the mind holds it thus: if from which, he says, he raised up Pharaoh and hated Esau and loved Jacob, and before their birth gave all things in the will of God, and nothing is upon us, then in short: who are you, O man, and how do you answer back to God? And how do you have the authority to speak and to accuse him as if he reproaches us unjustly, saying, 'Why is he still reproaching?' For against his will, who...
Has he risen? How then do you charge God, if nothing lies in our power as you say? For if nothing is up to us, neither is it in your power to complain or to answer back to God. 'Not the things of the potter,' he says, 'the vessels, since they lack sensation; they complain against the maker even if they become dishonorable, or even if they become honorable according to the maker's power' (Rom 9:21). But you complain, so you have sensation and power, as having a will that is free. And he who has the power to complain, it is evident that he is also master of himself in all other things, to say and to do what he wills. For he is not a master of himself only in complaining to God, but in other things he is deprived of mastery.
This saying came into effect through the blessed apostles, who, having written the great cycle of the old law, were leading the nations into a short path of citizenship, writing as it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us, to impose no more burden upon you than these necessary things: to abstain from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, from sexual immorality, and from things strangled (Acts 15:28-29). For having observed many things regarding these, they prepared a way of life easy for righteousness, which also the divine apostle teaches, saying: having abolished the law of commandments in dogmas, and having again wiped out the handwriting of what is against us by the dogmas (Eph 2:15). Since the law commanded many things concerning foods, the apostles only commanded to keep away from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and instead of keeping circumcision, they opposed keeping away from sexual immorality; for circumcision, even though it was a sign and a reminder of the faith of Abraham, was also given as an evident symbol of temperance, showing how one must cut away unchastity.
Since it has been said in the things before, that the nation of the Jews is cast off by the part that prevails, while the nations are contending for the status of adoption, it follows by seeking the cause for which those practicing in the law have fallen away, while those who have grasped the law were justified (Rom 9:29-31). He then concludes by explaining that the Jews fell away from running toward faith just as the nations did; for they desired to be justified by works of law, not believing in the law which invited them.
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Faith vs Law§9
9Regarding the tendency to oppose faith against the law. They did not recognize, he says, that through the law God promised faith, and faith is not contrary to the law as being testified by it (Rom 10:1–3). Therefore, the righteousness of God is Christ and the faith in him, but the righteousness of the Jews is the political constitution of the law. Thus, the Jews, not knowing Christ and setting up the political constitution of the law, appropriately fell away from salvation; for they are saved, those making progress through the faith of Christ. For faith, being a disposition of the soul, is appropriately preferred over the deeds of the flesh, to which it was necessary for the Jews to come, having placed the law as an end.
The one having fulfilled the law, he says, will alone enjoy the good things promised through the law, that is, a land flowing with milk and honey (Rom 10:4–5). The word teaches those believing not to take up any doubt, neither concerning the descent of the Lord from heaven to us, nor concerning the resurrection of the dead and the ascent into heaven (Rom 10:6–10).
He has necessarily set forth those calling upon him; for God does not arbitrarily give grace, and he does not refuse to provide even so much as to those willing to ask and entreat the Benefactor (Rom 10:11–13). In order that no one might say that many do not call upon the Lord Jesus not through unbelief and ignorance, but through simple lack of knowledge, he shows through the following: that God even provided a way around their ignorance, having sent evangelists and preachers, exhorting and calling toward the request for the gift. Therefore, he brought forward the following.
It seems that through the falling away of the hands, the people calls to himself by stretching out the hands toward them, and through the same, he shows the form of the cross (Rom 10:21).
Having again feared that the abundance of the rejection of the Jews might produce a sect of disobedience, the apostle speaks of a small remnant of the election and of those who believed together with them (Romans 11:5). For he had previously said: 'For not all those who are of Israel are Israel, these are Israel' (Romans 9:6), and he noted that there were some being saved, even if not all (Romans 11:5); and again: 'whom he called not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles' (Romans 9:24).
For a testimony of the remnant, he takes up the matters concerning Elijah, from which he shows him acknowledging that God was saving his people not in a great multitude, but in seventy thousand men (Romans 11:4); a remnant which indeed, in likeness, also went forth regarding the Savior, having received the promise by grace alone. For it has already been foretold that faith ended the law, while grace prevailed over works (Rom 11:6). For he says: 'if it is by grace, it is no longer by works'; for grace reveals the philanthropy of the One who bestows, while works demand rewards according to the merit of the works (Rom 11:6).
What then? he asks, what Israel seeks, it did not attain, but the election attained it; while the rest were hardened (Rom 11:7). All, he says, those of Israel were hardened except for the election; therefore they did not attain what they were seeking (Rom 11:7). And what were they seeking? The promise of becoming sons and heirs of the world (Rom 11:7).
It is the custom of Scripture to refer matters concerning the forgiveness of God happening to men to the One who forgives (Rom 11:8). And God forgives according to each person's impulse to move toward what He wills, so that they might not seem to seize freedom by force. For he says such a thing: a spirit of stupor toward godliness He gave to them, but neither do they see nor do they hear. How then could they be saved, as he says elsewhere: 'I testify to them that they have zeal for God, but not according to knowledge' (Romans 10:2)? Like those who, having unyieldingly sinned during the Flood, and those who, having similarly transgressed according to Sodom, fell so as to fall once and for all and not to be turned back, but to be utterly corrupted by destruction—what then? Did the Jews not also fall in this way, so as to fall upon the [...]?
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Divine Permission and the Gifts of Grace§10
10To perish and not be saved anymore? May it not be so, he says. For their transgression has a double economy; for the Gentiles have been made equal participants, and they themselves, having become jealous because of this, will turn back. Since before the law they deviated, and having received the law they were more burdened than they were benefited, and they were neither persuaded by threats nor by exhortations, but always remained disobedient; the Savior came to another economy, and the Gentiles are being saved through their transgression, so that even through the jealousy of the Gentiles they might be saved.
If the Jews did not keep the law, the arrival of Christ through grace was necessary (Rom 11:12); therefore our Lord, by grace, is forgiving transgressions. But not all Jews received Christ nor the grace from him, but the remnant; and the others, as if striving to never be saved, pushed the grace onto the Gentiles. And through their transgression they bestowed riches upon the world, that is, the multitude of the saving ones. If God enriched the Gentiles who turned back, how could there not be something greater and a most perfect wealth for the world, if the Jews, having recognized their lack, were given the fullness, so that both the Gentiles and the Jews might run together toward perfect piety? For it is the custom of the apostle to speak of the system that is filled with piety and knowledge of God.
The patriarchs, the lawgiver, and the prophets are indeed the firstfruits and the root; but the whole Jewish nation is the bud and the branches (Rom 11:16). What is this, and thus all Israel will be saved (Rom 11:25-26)? Just as we say that the whole world and all the Gentiles are being saved because there are those approaching by faith from everywhere and from all the Gentiles, so also all Israel will be saved; 'all' does not mean everyone indiscriminately, but either those being overtaken by Elijah or those scattered throughout the whole world who are about to approach by faith.
What is called such a thing is this (Rom 11:30-32): if the former disobedience did not hinder the faith of the Gentiles, then neither for the Jews is the power of exclusion from repentance being shut away regarding the future. And the 'so that they also might be shown mercy' does not indicate that they sinned for this reason in order to be shown mercy as you are, but that even those sinning are worthy to be shown mercy as...
And you too. Just as God handed them over to sufferings of dishonor and God blinded the minds of the unbelievers, we do not receive the word as if God were doing evil, but as one permitting men to do what they want through the freedom of self-determination; so also now, what God shut all up to unbelief must be understood: that He allowed those wishing to disobey to continue disobeying, permitting through the whole man to do what he wants with what he has under his own power. Thus God shut all up to unbelief, that is, He continued to permit disobedience, not so that He might condemn those remaining in sins, but so that, perceiving through time those things of which they sin, and having recognized and turned back, He might have mercy on them. Or perhaps what He shut up to unbelief is instead of Him reproving the disobedient, and just as He closed off from them all defense, so that they might sense that they are saved not from works, but from the philanthropy and mercy of God (Romans 11:32).
Lest anyone might think the word of the exhortation to be human, He showed that it is through grace, and He says and teaches. Since therefore arrogance, in which the Romans are most strongly held, is a most terrible disease, it is proposed to them to be moderate toward the best state of humility, following the teaching of the Spirit. He who, knowing the arrogance of the disciples' human nature, washed their feet, was training them to be humble, lest, having partaken of grace and performed signs, they be puffed up by grace and fall from the gift (Rom 12:3).
To each, He says, as God distributed a measure of faith, instead of saying as each He measured grace according to his faith (Rom 12:3). Whether prophecy, He says, according to the proportion of faith (Rom 12:6-8). This has been stated incompletely; for it is lacking in the saying 'whether prophecy' that we show the grace in prophecy so that it may be such: having diverse gifts, whether prophecy, whether service, whether teaching. Those having prophecy, we show the grace in prophecy; those having service, in service; those having teaching, in teaching; and each in the ministry in which he is entrusted. Prophecy, then, is previously the revelation of unseen things, whether of those coming, or of the old, or of the present things.
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Definitions of Ministry and Divine Wrath§11
11Prophecy is also called when someone interprets the things of the prophet. Ministry is the service toward the preaching of the gospel. Teaching is the guidance of practices which those already believing in Christ are taught. Exhortation is the urge through which we call those still in ignorance to the faith of Christ, not yet setting before them the goal of the lifestyle, but casting into them the desire that they will enjoy eternal goods having believed in Christ.
Regarding the participation in the remembrance of the saints (Rom 12:13), he says, that which is ready for the mind is to understand the honor of the saints and to fulfill their remembrance according to the day of their perfection. And it is also possible to say that those adhering to virtue most appropriately participate in the memories of the saints, which is to remember them and to have their life as a model of lifestyle.
Regarding 'if possible, having said the impossible, he had endured' (Rom 12:18), for if we were to flee even other avoidances, but the institution of piety draws hatred upon us from the ungodly. Regarding 'he names as wrath the punishment from God' (Rom 12:19), he speaks not as a passion happening to God, but because men would not easily perceive vengeance happening from God, not having heard the common name of wrath; for since men turn toward those sinning against them in anger and wrath, the Scripture sets these things aside for God, so that it is possible for the many to hear and to understand. He therefore says, 'do not permit vengeance to yourselves,' but give place and yield the vengeance to the wrath of God, which is appointed to avenge the wronged.
Regarding 'the apostle says, having aimed at the wrath of the one wronged: for in doing this you will heap coals of fire on his head' (Rom 12:20-21), he says this. For he does not introduce these things as a teacher of evils—may it never be!—but by skill and wisdom he restrains and moderates the intensity of the one being enraged.
For it is a great thing indeed not to do wrong, but it is greater to not defend oneself against having been wronged, but rather to quench a boiling anger in the manner of forbearance; and the law, by granting retaliation to those wronged, appears more gentle than mere authority; but to do good to those who have done wrong, this even surpasses the law and philosophy. Therefore, so that he might overcome the anger from having been wronged and, instead of defending himself, prepare to do good, he gives hope by showing what terrible things are happening to those who have done wrong as a result of his goodness.
Regarding Romans 13:1, since many various authorities and established rulers exist among men, adding to the surpassing royal authorities, he showed: for kings come to rule not without the economy and will of God, as the Proverbs teach. Through me, he says, kings rule, and the potentates write out justice. And the rule of the Romans has happened by exception from God's economy; for since the Savior was about to appear to men, God, beforehand a little, offered the Roman rule for his own service, through which he established our life more peacefully than other men. Having freed them from wars against one another, he gave such leisure for the knowledge of himself: come, for he says, and see the works of God which he set as wonders upon the earth, opposing wars even to the ends of the earth. And he leads on: relax and know that I am God.
Therefore, God having removed the continuous wars and having given fellowship to both cities and nations through the proclamation of the godly commonwealth, the apostle saw the economy of God regarding the kingdoms and advised that they be subjected to the authorities; for since God has ordered them, not obeying is impious and, in the present life, it is dangerous to have folly. Romans 13:2: But those who resist, he says, shall receive judgment upon themselves, that is, those not obeying the king receive judgment and a tribunal.
Romans 13:5: It is necessary, he says, to obey the authorities not only because of the anger of the rulers, but also because of conscience, which is the reasonable thing regarding the matter. Or he even says this: you do not wish to be judged because of God, but those from without suspect that you are doing something evil to yourself and that your conscience has been struck. Romans 13:6: Taxes, he says, test the submission; it is therefore worthy to be subject to the kings, being ministers of God and persevering in the service of his will. Romans 13:11: Fulfill, he says, the work of love.
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The Urgency of Good Works§12
12Knowing that the time is pressing and that virtue is required, those who formerly were ignorant of the truth and were passing through the night and darkness of error were appropriately like those sleeping in the inaction of good works; but those who have now been enlightened by the memory of the Savior and have come into the day owe it to themselves to rise from the laziness of sleep and to lay hold of good works.
For our salvation is now nearer to us than when we first believed, that is, when we knew those works which are most profitable; it has become easier for us to be saved than when we were being catechized on the word of faith, for we did not at once possess belief in Christ and the precise grasp of what must be practiced, nor was it previously manifest to us which deeds we should abstain from and which deeds were fitting to adopt (Romans 13:11).
Night and darkness are called ignorance, which he says we were running through until we were made known to the practices (Rom 13:12), but day and light are the precise knowledge of pious truth. But the Savior, having said, 'Until it is day, work the works of light; night comes when no one is able to work' (John 9:4), urged the conduct in this life as providing us the time for works, but referred to the night as the things to come and the eternal, as when it is no longer possible to do anything, but as being in darkness in inaction, having lost the time for works.
Instead of merely imitating him in what you do, 'put on the Lord Jesus Christ,' he says, and show him through you in how you live (Rom 13:14). How then would anyone imitate Christ? He showed this by saying, 'Do not provide for the flesh for the sake of lusts'; for he who is occupied with the flesh and fulfilling the pleasures of the flesh certainly neglects the soul. 'Who are you, you who judge another's household?' (Rom 14:4). The household of Christ, which Christ received, is a stranger to the law. Who then are you, judging from the law the one who is a stranger to the law? Now he speaks concerning fasting (Rom 14:6); he says that both the one fasting, consuming the day in thinking and seeking divine things for the Lord, and the one thinking on the Lord, does this by having his hopes upon him.
Likewise, he who wastes the day not on thinking but on the enjoyment of filth—and this one does not think toward the Lord, as his laziness and his laxity toward God become—this one is not even cast away; for he does not do this by abandoning or denying the Master, but by being bold in the philanthropy of God in whatever things he may be lazy or think to be lax. So, let him who eats give thanks to the Lord for those things of which he enjoys, and let him who does not eat glorify God rightly for the self-control which he has, strengthening him. Even if someone eats according to God, or fasts according to God, he will do well.
For this, he says, Christ both died and rose and lived, so that he might rule both the dead and the living (Rom 14:7–9). What then? Was Christ not Lord of all before the passion? But he was. What then is the surplus from the humanization? Because in truth and by nature he was Master of the one who made the things made, but to the turning away of the ungodly he was not. Regarding those who worship the creation rather than the Creator, he was not considered to be ruling, but the things worshiped by them; so that his incarnate presence brought those who were with him and those who will be with him under the lordship of God, but his presence remaining until death, showing the economy by the departure of those who perished in ignorance of salvation, and he broke through the bonds of death, and became the firstfruits of the resurrection.
I know and am persuaded, he says, that nothing is common through himself, that is, nothing is common and unclean through the faith received toward Christ Jesus (Rom 14:14). It is good, he says, not to eat meat, if your brother is scandalized by this, thinking you to be a slave to the stomach (Rom 14:21). And from the opposite again: if not eating meat, you might seem to abstain from unclean things, eat so that you may not be found a stumbling block to others (Rom 14:21).
He who does not judge himself; this is the one touching the filth with faith, whom he also blesses as faithful, but the one having a soul irregular concerning faith and not being bold in himself but wavering, if he eats, he is condemned (Rom 14:22–23). So it is better for such a one to abstain, so that he may not strike his own conscience. He wishes to say that our Lord and Savior did not please himself, but incarnated so that he might have compassion on weak men and through the incarnate economy bring them to a firm godliness (Rom 15:3).
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The Jews' rejection and Christ's service§13
13He will establish their knowledge and their unbelief will be set right; for such are most especially the Jews, as if fleeing to other gods as an insult to God, and as if insulting God as not willing or not able to help, they ran to gods, trusting more in the help from others. For indeed they compelled Aaron to make gods for themselves which would go before them, as an insult and a reproach to God. Therefore, as concerning the person of Christ toward the Father, the psalm is said, saying: 'the insults of those insulting you have fallen upon me' (Psalm 69:9). From the presence of Christ, neither did the Jews still worship idols, and the nations were turned toward piety. The Lord has become a servant of the promise and of the philanthropy of God (Rom 15:8). For he fulfilled the promise, having become from the seed of Abraham and subsequently receiving circumcision according to the race. But he showed mercy and philanthropy through the...
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The Call of the Nations§14
14Regarding the calling of the nations: for they were not called because of their own righteousness, but because of the philanthropy of the one calling.
He says, 'And thus, striving for honor, to preach the gospel not where Christ has been named, so that I might not build upon a foundation of another' (Rom 15), not as one avoiding the fellowship of the other apostles, but as one greedy and unjust, judging the works of others, to seize glory for himself.
He says, 'But I want you to be wise toward the good, and innocent toward the evil' (Rom 16:19); this is to use prudence so as not to be wronged by others, and innocence so as not to plot against others.
And the Lord also commanded this, saying: 'Become prudent as serpents and innocent as doves' (Matt 10:16). For indeed innocence and simplicity without prudence is foolishness, but prudence by itself [...]
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The Hidden Mystery and the Law§15
15When integrity is approaching, one falls into wickedness.
In the ancient times, when error was trading in life and idolatry was prevailing, men did not even have the knowledge of the Pantokrator God; so much did they lack knowing our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 16:25–27).
But Moses the lawgiver and the prophets, having been prepared to teach the truth—manifestly to the Jews, but according to the dispensation to the Gentiles—for this reason, according to the providence of God, many became captives and lived among the nations so that they might instruct them by their dwelling together with them. The prophets, having been prepared to preach the Pantokrator God, the matter concerning the Only-begotten was still in a secret state, more mysterious by them [...]
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The Proclamation of Christ's Knowledge§16
16It is being handed down, and is almost known by them alone. Since at one time the nations were instructed through the mingling with the Jews to know the God over all, so also our Savior Jesus Christ, having come to dwell in the flesh among the world, sends his own disciples as his heralds of the knowledge.
While it was being obscured in the times, it is to be preached in the last times, who also, wandering everywhere, were announcing Christ God, begotten of God without beginning and without time, testifying at the same time by the holy and illuminating Spirit, that he completes the consubstantial Trinity, providing it from the Father through the Son unto men. Having been struck by the wisdom of his dispensation, he sends back the glory which is owed to God.
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