Romanos 4
Origen of Alexandria · Comentário Patrístico (catena)
Romanos 4:2
This is a rhetorical argument, which goes like this: Someone who is justified by works has nothing to boast of before God. But Abraham did have something to glory in before God. Therefore he was justified by faith and not by works.In this whole passage it seems that the apostle wants to show that there are two justifications, one by works and the other by faith. He says that justification by works has its glory but only in and of itself, not before God. Justification by faith, on the other hand, has glory before God, who sees our hearts and knows those who believe in secret and those who do not believe. Thus it is right to say that it has glory only before God, who sees the hidden power of faith. But the one who looks for justification by works may expect honor mainly from other persons who see and approve of them. Let no one think that someone who has faith enough to be justified and to have glory before God can at the same time have unrighteousness dwelling in him as well. For faith cannot coexist with unbelief, nor can righteousness with wickedness, just as light and darkness cannot live together. — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS
Romanos 4:3
Was Abraham justified just because he had the faith to believe that he would be given a son? Or was it also because of all the other things which he had believed previously?… Before this point, Abraham had believed in part but not perfectly. Now, however, all the parts of his earlier faith are gathered together to make a perfect whole, by which he is justified. — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS
Romanos 4:4
Faith relies on the grace of the justifier. Works rely on the justice of the rewarder. When I consider the greatness of Paul's speech, by which he says that the worker receives what is due to him, I can hardly persuade myself that there is any deed which could claim a reward from God as its due.… Therefore, it seems that Paul is really referring here to evil deeds, of which Scripture frequently says that they get their due reward. — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS
Romanos 4:5
Faith, which believes in the justifier, is the beginning of justification before God. And this faith, when it is justified, is like a root in the soil of the soul, which the rain has watered, so that as it begins to grow by the law of God, branches appear, which bring forth fruit. The root of righteousness does not spring from works; rather, the fruit of works grows from the root of righteousness, viz., by that root of righteousness by which God brings righteousness to the one whom he has accepted apart from works. — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS
Romanos 4:8
Note the order here. First comes the forgiveness of iniquity, then the covering of sin, then the non-imputation of the sin to the sinner. This is the order: First, the beginning of the soul's conversion is the renunciation of evil. Second, the soul begins to do good works, which eventually become more numerous than the evil deeds which preceded them, and in this sense those sins may be said to be covered over. Finally, the soul reaches maturity. Every trace of sin is uprooted from it so that not even the smallest trace of wickedness remains The height of perfect blessedness is promised. The Lord will not impute any sin to the soul.Wickedness is different from sin in that it applies to things which are done without the law. In Greek the word for this is anomía, meaning something which is done without the law. Sin, on the other hand, refers to something which is done against the dictates of conscience and nature. — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS
Romanos 4:9
If Abraham was justified by faith before he was circumcised, then it is possible for anyone who believes in God to be justified by faith, even if uncircumcised. — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS
Romanos 4:10
In that Abraham was justified while he was still uncircumcised, it is obvious that he is the head and father of all uncircumcised believers. — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS
Romanos 4:12
After believing, Abraham received circumcision as a sign of the faith which he already had … which is how he can also be the father of those who are circumcised, provided that they share the same faith which he had while he was still uncircumcised. — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS
Romanos 4:13
Long before Moses ever existed, the Lord appeared to Abraham and said: "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse; and by you all the families of the earth will be blessed." — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS
Romanos 4:14
Paul says that the promise given to Abraham that he should inherit the world did not come from the law but by faith, which was reckoned to him as righteousness. It doubtless follows that everyone who hopes that God's righteousness will be imputed to him hopes for this by faith and not by the law. — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS
Romanos 4:15
Paul says that the law brings wrath in order to underline his point, [made in the previous verse,] that it is not the pathway to the inheritance of the promise.The law which brings transgression cannot be the law of Moses, because there was plenty of transgression before that came into force. Rather, it is the law which dwells in our members and leads us into sin. This is the same law which the apostle says brings wrath. For without a doubt it brings wrath when it leads its captive into sin. But where the law of sin does not obtain, then of course there is no transgression. — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS
Romanos 4:16
It might appear from this that faith is not a free gift of God but that it must first be offered to him by man in order for grace to be given in return. But consider what the apostle teaches about this elsewhere. For when he lists the gifts of the Spirit, which he says are given to believers according to the measure of faith, there among the rest he asserts that the gift of faith is also given. Therefore faith is given by grace.…If the promise rested on works, it would not be guaranteed. But now it is guaranteed because it rests on grace, not on works. I think this can be understood to mean that the things of the law are external to us, but the things of grace are internal … and therefore they have a firmer foundation. — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS
Romanos 4:17
The dead here are those whose souls have sinned, for Scripture says: "The soul that sins will die." For just as the senses perish in our mortal body so that the body can no longer hear, smell, taste or touch, so also the spiritual senses perish in the soul so that it cannot see God or hear his Word, or sense the sweet odor of Christ, or taste the good Word of God, or handle the word of life. People like that must be said to be dead. This is what we were like when Christ came, but he has given us life by his grace. — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS
Romanos 4:18
As always, when the apostle Paul talks about faith, he adds hope as well, and rightly so, for hope and faith are inseparable.… Just as Abraham believed against hope, so all believers do the same, for we all believe in the resurrection of the dead and the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven. These appear to go against hope as far as human nature is concerned, but when we take the power of God into consideration, there is no problem. — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS
Romanos 4:19
This may be understood literally or figuratively. In the literal sense, Abraham did not put his trust in his hundred-year-old body, which was obviously incapable of doing what God had promised him, but rather he trusted in God, the Almighty One who could perform what he had promised even when the laws of human fertility no longer functioned.… Figuratively, however, it may be understood in the light of what Paul says elsewhere: "Put to death therefore what is earthly in you." It would be absurd to suggest that what Paul had in this respect was somehow lacking to Abraham. For Abraham also had put his earthly members to death, being neither excited by luxury nor inflamed by lust.… Sarah likewise did not suffer from lust or the desires of the flesh.… When they heard what God had promised them, they did not consider their own benefit.… All these things that would make them rich they regarded as worthless in order that they might win Christ, whose coming they foresaw. — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS
Romanos 4:24
Note that Paul does not speak of those who believe that God is supreme, or of those who believe that he made heaven and earth, or of those who believe that he made the angels and the other hosts of the heavenly glory. Rather, he speaks of those who believe in the God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Did Abraham believe in this God even before he had raised Jesus?… Abraham's faith contained within it the form and image of this great mystery. For when he was ordered to sacrifice his only son, he believed that God could raise him up from the dead. Moreover, he did not believe this of Isaac only but also of his seed, which is Christ. — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS
Romanos 4:25
Paul says this in order to show that we ought to hate and reject the things for which Christ died. For if we believe that he was sacrificed for our sins, how can we not consider every sin to be alien and hostile to us, considering that our Lord was handed over to death because of it?…If we have risen together with Christ, who is our justification, and we now walk in newness of life and live according to righteousness, then Christ has risen for the purpose of our justification. But if we have not yet cast off the old man with all his works but instead live in unrighteousness, I dare to suggest that Christ has not yet risen for our justification, nor has he been sacrificed for our sins. — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS