Homilies on Romans, Homily 1

“Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an Apostle, set apart for the Gospel of God, (which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures.)” Moses wrote five books but put his own name on none of them. Neither did those who came after him and compiled the history of later events, nor Matthew, John, Mark, or Luke. But the blessed Paul puts his own name in every one of his Epistles. Why was this? Because the others were writing to people among whom they were present, and identifying themselves would have been unnecessary when they were there in person. But Paul sent his writings from far away, in the form of letters, so adding his name was necessary. If he does not do the same in the Epistle to the Hebrews, this too reflects his own wise judgment. Since they were prejudiced against him, he concealed his name to win their attention, so that hearing it at the outset would not make them completely shut out his message. As for why some Prophets and Solomon put their names on their writings, I leave that for you to investigate later: why some wished to do so and others did not. You must not learn everything from me; you must also make an effort and investigate further yourselves, so that you do not become more dull-witted. “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ.” Why did God change his name, calling the man who was Saul Paul? So that even in this respect he would not fall short of the Apostles, but would also receive the distinction that the chief of the Disciples had (Mark iii. 16), and have a basis for a closer union with them. He calls himself the servant of Christ, but not in just one sense, for there are many kinds of servitude. One comes from Creation, as the words say, “for all are Your servants” (Ps. cxix. 91), and, “Nebuchadnezzar, My servant” (Jer. xxv. 9), for a work is the servant of Him Who made it. Another kind comes from faith, of which it says, “But thanks be to God that you were the servants of sin, but you obeyed from a pure heart that form of teaching delivered to you: then, being set free from sin, you became the servants of righteousness.” (Rom. vi. 17, 18.) Another comes from civil subjection (πολιτείας), as in the words, “Moses my servant is dead” (Jos. i. 2). Indeed, all the Jews were servants, but Moses was one in a special way, because he shone most brightly in the community. Since Paul was a servant in all the forms of this marvelous servitude, he uses this in place of the highest title of honor, saying, “a servant of Jesus Christ.” He presents the Names belonging to the dispensation, moving upward from the lowest. For the Angel came from Heaven with the Name Jesus when He was conceived in the Virgin, and He is called Christ because He was anointed, which itself also belonged to the flesh. With what oil, someone might ask, was He anointed? He was anointed not with oil but with the Spirit. Scripture also calls such people “Christs,” since the Spirit is the chief element in the anointing and the purpose for which the oil is used. Where does it call people “Christs” who have not been anointed with oil? “Do not touch,” it says, “My anointed, and do My prophets no harm” (Ps. cv. 15), though at that time the practice of anointing with oil did not even exist yet. “Called an Apostle.” He calls himself “called” in all his Epistles, showing both his own candor (εὐγνωμοσύνην) and that he did not find this by seeking it himself, but came forward and obeyed when he was called. He also calls the faithful “called to be saints.” But while they had been called to become believers, he had also been entrusted with something different: the Apostleship, something full of countless blessings, greater than all the gifts and encompassing them all. What more needs to be said about it than that Christ entrusted to their hands, when He departed, everything He had been doing while He was present? Paul also proclaims this, speaking of it and exalting the dignity of the Apostles’ office: “We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were appealing through us”; that is, in Christ’s place. “Set apart for the Gospel of God.” (2 Cor. v. 20.) Just as everyone in a household is assigned different work, so in the Church there are different assignments of service. Here he seems to me to suggest that he was appointed not merely by lot, but that he had been ordained to this office long ago, from the very beginning. Jeremiah also says that God spoke about him in this way: “Before you came out of the womb, I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” (Jer. i. 5.) Since Paul was writing to a city full of vanity and puffed up in every way, he uses every means to show that his election came from God. For He Himself called him, and Himself set him apart. Paul does this so that the Epistle will carry authority and be readily accepted. “For the Gospel of God.” So Matthew is not the only Evangelist, nor is Mark, just as Paul was not the only Apostle; they too were Apostles, even if he is especially known by the one title and they by the other. He calls it the Gospel not only because of the good things that have already happened, but also because of those to come. And why does he say that he preaches the Gospel “of God”? For he says, “set apart for the Gospel of God,” although the Father was known even before the Gospels. Yet even if He was known, it was only to the Jews, and not even to all of them as He should have been. For they did not know Him as a Father, and they held many unworthy ideas about Him. That is why Christ also says that “the true worshippers” will come, and that “the Father seeks such people to worship Him.” (John iv. 23.) But afterward He Himself, together with the Son, was revealed to the whole world. Christ also spoke of this beforehand, saying, “that they might know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ Whom You have sent.” (John xvii. 3.) But Paul calls it the “Gospel” of God to encourage the listener from the outset. For he did not come with news to sadden people’s faces, as the prophets did with their accusations, charges, and rebukes, but with good news, the very “Gospel of God”: countless treasures of lasting and unchanging blessings. Ver. 2. “Which He promised beforehand through His Prophets in the Holy Scriptures.” For the Lord, he says, “will give the word to those who proclaim good news with great power” (Ps. lxviii. 12, Sept.); and again, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the Gospel of peace.” (Is. lii. 7; Rom. x. 15.) See how both the very name of the Gospel and its character are set out in the Old Testament. For we proclaim it, he means, not only through words but also through deeds, since it was not human, but divine, beyond words, and surpassing all nature. Since people have also accused it of being something new, He shows that it is older than the Greeks and was described beforehand in the Prophets. And even if He did not give it from the beginning because of those unwilling to receive it, still those who were willing heard it. “Your father Abraham,” He says, “rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” (John viii. 56.) Why, then, does He say, “Many prophets desired to see the things you see, and have not seen them?” (Matt. xiii. 17.) He means that they did not see and hear as you do: the Flesh itself and the very miracles before your eyes. But please consider how very long ago these things were foretold. For when God is about to do great things openly, He announces them long beforehand to train people’s ears to receive them when they come. “In the Holy Scriptures.” Because the Prophets not only spoke but also wrote down what they said. And they not only wrote these things down but also foreshadowed them through actions, as Abraham did when he led Isaac up, and Moses when he lifted up the Serpent, stretched out his hands against Amalek, and offered the Passover Lamb. Ver. 3. “Concerning His Son, Who came from the seed of David according to the flesh.” What are you doing, Paul? After lifting up our souls and raising them so high, after bringing great and inexpressible things before them, speaking of the Gospel—and the Gospel of God at that—and bringing in the chorus of the Prophets and showing them all announcing many years beforehand the things to come, why do you bring us back down to David? Tell me, are you speaking about some man and giving him Jesse’s son as a father? How are these things worthy of what you have just said? Yes, they are entirely worthy. For our discussion, he says, is not about a mere man. That is why I added “according to the flesh,” suggesting that this same Person also has a Generation according to the Spirit. And why did he begin with the former rather than the latter, the higher one? Because that is where Matthew, Luke, and Mark began. Anyone who would lead people by the hand to Heaven must lead them upward from below. The actual dispensation was arranged in the same way. First they saw Him as a man on earth, and then they understood Him to be God. His disciple therefore shaped the path leading there in the same direction that He Himself had laid out in His teaching. That is why the generation according to the flesh comes first in Paul’s wording: not because it came first, but because he intended to lead the listener up from this to the other. Ver. 4. “And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of Holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, even Jesus Christ.” The tightly packed wording has made the meaning unclear, so we need to separate it into its parts. What, then, is he saying? We preach, he says, Him Who came from David. But that is clear. How, then, is it clear that this incarnate “Person” was also the Son of God? First, from the prophets; that is why he says, “Which He had promised beforehand through the Prophets in the Holy Scriptures.” (v. 2.) And this is no weak proof. Next, from the very manner of His Generation, which he expresses by saying, “of the seed of David according to the flesh,” for He broke the rule of nature. Third, from the miracles He performed, which gave powerful proof; this is what “in power” means. Fourth, from the Spirit He gave to those who believe in Him, through Whom He made them all holy; that is why he says, “according to the Spirit of holiness.” For only God could grant such gifts. Fifth, from the Resurrection, for He was the first and the only One to raise Himself. He Himself also said that this, above all, was a miracle powerful enough to silence even those who behaved shamelessly. For He says, “Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John ii. 19.); and, “When you have lifted” Me “up from the earth, then you will know that I am He” (ib. viii. 28); and again, This “generation seeks a sign; and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” (Matt. xii. 39.) What, then, does being “declared” mean? Being shown, revealed, judged, and acknowledged by everyone’s conviction and verdict: by the Prophets, by the marvelous Birth according to the Flesh, by the power in the miracles, by the Spirit through Whom He gave sanctification, and by the Resurrection through which He ended the tyranny of death. Ver. 5. “Through Whom we have received grace and Apostleship for obedience to the faith.” See the servant’s candor. He wants nothing to be his own, but everything to belong to his Master. And indeed, it was the Spirit Who gave this. That is why He says, “I have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth” (John xvi. 12); and again, “Set apart Paul and Barnabas for Me.” (Acts xiii. 2.) And in the Epistle to the Corinthians, Paul says that “to one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge” (1 Cor. xii. 8, 11), and that It distributes everything as It wills. And in addressing the Milesians, he says, “Over whom the Holy Spirit has made you shepherds and overseers.” (Acts xx. 28.) You see, he calls the things of the Spirit the Son’s, and the things of the Son the Spirit’s. “Grace and Apostleship”: that is, we did not become Apostles through our own achievement. We were not assigned this dignity because we had worked and labored hard; instead, we received grace, and the successful result is part of the heavenly gift. “For obedience to the faith.” So it was not the Apostles who achieved it, but grace that prepared the way before them. Their part was to travel and preach, but persuading people was the work of God, Who worked in them. As Luke also says, “He opened their heart” (Acts xvi. 14); and again, Those to whom it was granted to hear the word of God. “To obedience,” he says, not to questioning and a display (κατασκευὴν) of argument, but “to obedience.” For we were sent, he means, not to argue, but to deliver what had been entrusted to our hands. When the Master declares something, those who hear should not pick over and pry into what they are told, but simply receive it. This is why the Apostles were sent: to speak what they had heard, not to add anything of their own, and so that we, for our part, should believe. Believe what? “Concerning His Name.” We are not to pry into the essence, but to believe in the Name, for it was this that also worked the miracles. For it says, “in the Name of Jesus Christ, rise up and walk.” (Acts iii. 6.) This too requires faith, and no one can grasp any of these things by reasoning (λογισμᾥ καταλαβεἵν). “Among all nations, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ.” What? Did Paul preach to all the nations, then? That he traveled the whole distance from Jerusalem to Illyricum, and from there went out again to the very ends of the earth, is clear from what he writes to the Romans. But even if he did not reach them all, what he says is still not false, for he is speaking not only about himself but about the twelve Apostles and everyone who proclaimed the word after them. And in another sense, even if the phrase refers to himself, no one should find fault with it, considering his eagerness and how, even after death, he never stops preaching in every part of the world. Consider how he exalts the gift and shows that it is great and far higher than what came before, since the old things were confined to one nation, while this gift drew sea and land to itself. Notice too how free Paul’s mind is from all flattery. When speaking with the Romans, who sat, as it were, on a kind of summit of the whole world, he gives them no more than the other nations. Nor does he say that, because they then held power and ruled, they also had any advantage in spiritual things. Instead, he means, just as we preach to all the nations, so we preach to you, counting them together with Scythians and Thracians. For if he did not wish to show this, saying “Among whom you also are” would be unnecessary. He does this to bring down their pride (κενὥν τὸ φύσημα), to lay low the swelling vanity of their minds, and to teach them to honor others equally with themselves. And so he goes on to speak about this very point. Ver. 6. “Among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ.” That is, you too are among them. He does not say that he called the others along with you, but you along with the others. For if in Christ Jesus there is neither slave nor free, still less is there king or private citizen. For you too were called and did not come to faith on your own. Ver. 7. “To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.” See how constantly he uses the word “called,” saying, “called to be an Apostle; among whom you also are called; to all who are in Rome, called.” He does this not to multiply words unnecessarily, but to remind them of the blessing. Since the believers likely included some consuls (ὑπάτων; Ben. consulares) and rulers as well as poor and ordinary people, he sets aside differences of rank and addresses them all by one title. But if, in the more necessary and spiritual things, everything is offered in common to slaves and free alike—for example, God’s love, the calling, the Gospel, adoption, grace, peace, sanctification, and everything else—how could it be anything but utter foolishness to divide, over earthly things, those whom God has joined together and given equal honor in the greater things? For this reason, I believe, this blessed Apostle removes this harmful disease from the very outset and leads them to the mother of blessings, humility. This made servants better, since they learned that their servitude would do them no harm as long as they had true freedom. This would incline masters to be gentle, since they were taught that being free gave them no advantage unless they put the blessings of faith first. And so that you can see he was not doing this to create confusion by throwing everything into disorder, but still recognized the best distinction, he did not write simply to everyone in Rome, but added the qualification “beloved of God.” For this is the best distinction, and it shows where sanctification came from. Where, then, did sanctification come from? From Love. For after saying “beloved,” he continues, “called to be saints,” showing that love is the fountain from which all blessings flow. And he calls all the faithful saints. “Grace to you and peace.” What a greeting, bringing us countless blessings! Christ also commanded the Apostles to use this as their first word when entering houses. (Luke x. 5.) That is why Paul too begins everywhere with grace and peace. For the war Christ ended was no small one, but one that took many forms, was of every kind, and had lasted a long time (τοικίλον καὶ ταντοδαπὸν). And He ended it through His grace, not through our labors. Since love brought us grace, and grace brought us peace, Paul puts them in their proper order in his greeting and prays that they may remain forever unshaken, so that no other war may be fanned into flame again. He asks Him Who gave these things to keep them firmly established, saying, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Notice here that “from” applies equally to the Son and the Father, and that this is equivalent to “of whom.” For he did not say, Grace to you and peace from God the Father, “through” our Lord Jesus Christ, but “from God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.” What a wonder! How powerful God’s love is! We who were enemies and disgraced have suddenly become saints and sons. For when he calls Him Father, he shows that they are sons; and when he says sons, he has revealed the whole treasury of blessings. Let us then keep living in a way worthy of the gift, and persevere in peace and holiness. Other honors last only a while, end with this present life, and can be bought with money (which is why someone might say they are not honors at all, but merely names of honors, drawing their power from being dressed in fine clothing and from the servility of attendants). But this gift of sanctification and adoption, because it has been given by God, is not cut short even by death. It makes people stand out even here and goes with us on our journey to the life to come. For anyone who continues in adoption and carefully guards his holiness is far more radiant and happy than even someone who wears the crown itself and the purple. He enjoys abundant peace in this present life, is nourished by good hopes, has no grounds for anxiety or turmoil, and enjoys constant pleasure. For what ordinarily produces good spirits and joy is not great power, abundant wealth, the splendor of authority, bodily strength, a lavish table, fine clothes, or anything else within human reach, but spiritual progress and a good conscience alone. Anyone whose conscience is clean, even if he is dressed in rags and struggling with famine, is in better spirits than those who live in such luxury. Likewise, anyone conscious of wicked deeds, even if he gathers everyone’s possessions for himself, is the most miserable of all people. This is why Paul, living in constant hunger and nakedness and being whipped every day, was joyful and lived more happily than the emperors of that time. But Ahab, though a king indulging in lavish luxury, when he committed that one sin, groaned and was dejected, and his face fell both before the sin and after it. If, then, we wish to enjoy pleasure, let us above all else avoid wickedness and pursue virtue, since by the very nature of things we cannot share in pleasure on any other terms, even if we were seated on the king’s throne itself. That is why Paul also says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace.” (Gal. v. 22.) Let us keep growing this fruit in ourselves, so that we may experience joy here and obtain the kingdom to come, by the grace and love for humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom and with Whom glory be to the Father and to the Holy Spirit, now and always, forever and ever. Amen.