Homilies on Romans, Homily 17

“Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.” He is now about to rebuke them again, more sharply than before. So he again removes every suspicion of hatred and makes a great effort beforehand to prevent misunderstanding. Do not focus, he says, on the words or the accusations, but recognize that I am not saying this out of hostility. For it is unlikely that the same person would desire their salvation—and not only desire it but even pray for it—and yet also hate them and feel an aversion to them. Here he calls his intense desire and the prayer he offers (εὐδοκίαν) his “heart’s desire.” For what he cares so much about and prays for is not merely that they should be freed from punishment, but that they should also be saved. He shows his goodwill toward them not only by this, but also by what follows. For he presses every opening available to him as far as he can and struggles to find at least the shadow of an excuse for them. But he cannot, because the facts defeat him. Ver. 2. “For I testify about them,” he says, “that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.” Shouldn’t this, then, be a reason to pardon them rather than accuse them? For if they are separated not for human reasons but because of zeal, they deserve pity rather than punishment. But notice how skillfully he speaks in their favor while still exposing their misplaced stubbornness. Ver. 3. “For they are ignorant,” he says, “of God’s righteousness.” Again, the wording would lead toward pardon. But what follows leads to a stronger accusation, one that rules out every defense. “And seeking,” he says, “to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted to the righteousness of God.” He says these things to show that they went wrong out of arrogance and a love of power rather than ignorance, and that they did not even establish this righteousness that comes from the deeds of the Law. (Matt. xxi. 38; John. xii. 19, 42.) For the phrase “seeking to establish” serves to show this. He has not stated it explicitly—he has not said that they fell short of both kinds of righteousness—but he has hinted at it very carefully, with his characteristic wisdom. For if they are still “seeking” to establish that righteousness, it is very clear that they have not yet established it. If they have not submitted to this righteousness, they have fallen short of this one too. He calls it their “own righteousness” either because the Law was no longer in force or because it involved hardship and toil. But he calls the righteousness that comes from faith God’s righteousness, because it comes entirely from grace from above, and because in this case people are justified by God’s gift, not by their labors. But those who always resisted the Holy Spirit and obstinately tried to be justified by the Law did not turn to faith. And because they did not turn to faith or receive the righteousness that follows from it, and could not be justified by the Law either, they were left with no resources at all. Ver. 4. “For Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” See Paul’s judgment. Since he had spoken of two kinds of righteousness, he did not want the Jews who believed to seem to possess one while being excluded from the other, or to be accused of lawlessness. (There was no less reason to be concerned about these people too, since they had only recently come into the faith.) Nor did he want the Jews to go on expecting to achieve it and saying, Though we have not fulfilled it yet, we certainly will. See, then, the position he takes. He shows that there is only one righteousness, that it is summed up in this righteousness of faith, and that whoever has received this one has fulfilled the other as well. But whoever rejects this one falls short of the other too. For if Christ is “the end of the Law,” anyone who does not have Christ does not have that righteousness, even if he seems to have it. But anyone who has Christ has received the whole, even if he has not properly fulfilled the Law. For the goal of medicine is health. So anyone who can restore health has everything, even without medical training; but anyone who does not know how to heal falls short of everything, even if he seems to practice medicine. The same is true of the Law and faith. Whoever has faith also has the goal of the Law, but whoever is without faith is a stranger to both. For what was the purpose of the Law? To make a person righteous. But it did not have the power to do this, because no one fulfilled it. This, then, was the goal of the Law, the goal it looked toward throughout, and the reason for all its parts—its feasts, commandments, sacrifices, and everything else—that a person might be justified. But Christ accomplished this goal more fully through faith. So do not be afraid, he says, that by turning to faith you are breaking the Law. You break it when, for its sake, you refuse to believe in Christ. If you believe in Him, you have fulfilled it too, and much more than it commanded. For you have received a much greater righteousness. Next, since he has made this assertion, he again brings proof from the Scriptures. Ver. 5. “For Moses,” he says, “describes the righteousness that comes from the Law.” He means this: Moses shows us the righteousness that comes from the Law, what it is like and where it comes from. What, then, is it like, and what does it consist of? Fulfilling the commandments. “He (R.T. the man) who does these things,” He says, “will live by (or in) them.” (Lev. xviii. 5.) There is no other way to become righteous under the Law except by fulfilling all of it. But no one has been able to do this, and so this righteousness has failed them. (διαπέπτωκεν). But tell us, Paul, about the other righteousness too, the one that comes from grace. What is it, then, and what does it consist of? Listen to the words in which he clearly outlines it. For after refuting the other, he moves on to this one and says, Ver. 6, 7, 8, 9. “But the righteousness that comes from faith speaks this way: Do not say in your heart, Who will ascend into heaven (that is, to bring Christ down from above): or, Who will descend into the deep? (that is, to bring Christ up again from the dead.) But what does it say? The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that is, the word of faith that we preach. That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” To prevent the Jews from saying, How did those who had not found the lesser righteousness find the greater? he gives an unanswerable reason: this way was easier than the other. For the other requires the fulfillment of everything (for when you do everything, then you will live); but the righteousness that comes from faith does not say this. What does it say? “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Then again, so that we do not seem to make it contemptible by showing it to be easy and cheap, notice how he develops his account of it. For he does not immediately come to the words just quoted. What does he say instead? “But the righteousness that comes from faith speaks this way: Do not say in your heart, Who will go up into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down); or, Who will descend into the deep? (that is, to bring Christ up again from the dead.)” For just as laziness opposes the virtue expressed in works, weakening our efforts and requiring a very watchful soul to resist it, so, when we are called to believe, arguments arise that confuse and devastate most people’s minds, and it takes a soul with some strength to shake them off completely. This is precisely why he brings this before us. And he does here what he did in Abraham’s case. For after showing there that Abraham was justified by faith, so that he would not seem to have won so great a crown merely by chance, as though it were something trivial, he praises the nature of faith by saying, “Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations. And not being weak in faith, he considered his own body now dead, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at God’s promise through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to do” (Rom. iv. 18–21). In this way he showed that strength is needed, and a lofty soul that embraces things beyond expectation and does not stumble over appearances. He does the same here, showing that it requires a wise mind and a great, heavenly (Gr. heaven-reaching) spirit. And he does not merely say, “Do not say,” but, “Do not say in your heart,” that is, do not even think of doubting and saying to yourself, How can this be? You see that this is a chief characteristic of faith: to leave behind the whole order of cause and effect in this lower world, and so seek what is above nature; to cast aside the weakness of calculation, and so accept everything from the Power of God. The Jews, however, did not merely raise this question, but asserted that it was impossible to be justified by faith. But Paul turns even what had happened to a further purpose: by showing that the event was so great that even after it happened it required faith, he could appear to have good reason to award these people a crown. And he uses words found in the Old Testament, always taking care to avoid charges of loving novelty and opposing the Old Testament. For what he says here about faith, Moses says to them about the commandment, showing that they had received a great benefit from God. For there is no need, he means, to say that someone must go up to heaven or cross a great sea and then receive the commandments; God has made things so great and magnificent easily accessible to us. And what does the phrase “The Word is near you” mean? That it is easy. For your salvation is in your mind and on your tongue. There is no long journey to take, no seas to sail across, no mountains to cross to be saved. Even if you do not want to cross your own threshold, you can be saved while sitting at home. For the source of salvation is “in your mouth and in your heart.” Then he makes the word of faith easy from another angle too, saying that “God raised Him from the dead.” Just consider the worthiness of the One who did it, and you will no longer see any difficulty in the deed. That He is Lord, then, is clear from the resurrection. He said this even at the beginning of the Epistle: “Who was declared to be the Son of God with power ... by the resurrection from the dead.” (Rom. i. 4.) And the power of the One who accomplished it has shown even the most unbelieving that the resurrection is easy too. Since, then, this righteousness is greater, and simple and easy to receive, isn’t it a sign of the most extreme contentiousness to abandon what is simple and easy and attempt the impossible? For they could not say they rejected it because it was burdensome. See, then, how he takes away every excuse. What defense do those deserve who choose what is burdensome and impracticable, and pass over what is easy and able to save them and give them what the Law could not give? All this can come only from a contentious spirit in rebellion against God. For the Law is burdensome (ἐπαχθὴς), but grace is easy. However much they argue, the Law does not save; Grace gives both the righteousness that comes from itself and the righteousness that comes from the Law. What plea, then, can rescue them, when they insist on opposing this but cling to the other to no purpose at all? Then, because he has made a strong assertion, he again confirms it from Scripture. Ver. 11–13. “For the Scripture says,” he continues, “Whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek; for the same Lord over all is rich toward all who call on Him. For whoever calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved.” You see how he brings forward witnesses both to faith and to the confession of it. For the words “Everyone who believes” point to faith, while the words “Whoever calls on” express confession. Then again, to proclaim that grace is for everyone and to bring down their boasting, he briefly reminds them here of what he had previously demonstrated at length, showing again that there is no difference between the Jew and the uncircumcised. “For there is,” he says, “no difference between the Jew and the Greek.” And what he said about the Father when arguing this point, he now says about the Son. For just as he said before in making this assertion, “Is He the God of the Jews only? Isn’t He also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, since there is one God” (Rom. iii. 29, 30), so he says here too, “For the same Lord over all is rich toward all (and upon all).” (Rom. iii. 22.) You see how he presents Him as intensely desiring our salvation, since He even counts this as riches for Himself. So even now they should not despair or imagine that they cannot be pardoned if they repent. For He who considers saving us riches for Himself will not cease to be rich. Indeed, this too is riches: that the gift is poured out on everyone. For what distressed them most was that they, who had enjoyed a privilege above the whole world, should now be brought down from these thrones through faith and be no better off than others. So he constantly brings in the Prophets as foretelling that the others would have equal honor with them. “For whoever,” he says, “believes in Him will not be put to shame” (Is. xxviii. 16); and, “Whoever calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved.” (Joel ii. 32.) And “whoever” appears in every case so that they can have nothing to say in reply. But nothing is worse than vanity. For this, this above all, brought about their ruin. That is why Christ also said to them, “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from God alone?” (John v. 44.) Along with ruin, this exposes people to much ridicule, and before their punishment in the next world it involves them in countless evils in this one. And, if you wish, so that you may understand this clearly, let us leave aside for now the heavens it shuts us out of and the hell it thrusts us into, and examine the whole matter as it lies before us here. What could be more wasteful than this? What could be more disgraceful or more offensive? That this disease is wasteful is clear from those who spend money to no purpose at all on theaters, horse races, and other such pointless expenses; and from those who build fine, expensive houses and furnish everything with useless extravagance, a subject I must not go into in this discourse. But anyone can see that a person suffering from this disease must be extravagant, spendthrift, grasping, and greedy. For to feed the beast, he reaches into other people’s property. And why do I speak of property? This fire devours not only money but souls too, and it brings death not only here but also in the life to come. For vanity is the mother of hell, and greatly feeds that fire and the venomous worm. You can see that it has power even over the dead. And what could be worse than this? Death puts an end to the other passions, but this one shows its strength even after death and tries to display its nature even in the dead body. For when people give orders on their deathbeds to have fine monuments built for them that will consume their entire estates, and take care beforehand to spend lavishly on their funerals, while during their lives they insult the poor who come to them for a penny and a single loaf, but after death give the worm a rich banquet, why look for any more extreme slavery to this disease? Illicit loves also arise from this evil. For many have been drawn into adultery not by a woman’s beauty or the desire to sleep with her, but by the wish to boast, “I have conquered such and such a woman.” And why should I mention the other evils that spring from this? For I would rather be the slave of ten thousand savages for a long time (3 mss. διηνεκὥς) than vanity’s slave even once. Even they do not impose such commands on their captives as this vice lays on its followers. For it says, Be everyone’s slave, whether that person is above you or below you. Despise your soul, neglect virtue, laugh at freedom, sacrifice your salvation, and if you do anything good, do it not to please God but to display it to the crowd, so that through these very things you may even lose your crown. And if you give to the poor or fast, endure the pains, but take care to lose the gain. What could be crueler than these commands? From this comes the rule of envy; from this, arrogance; from this, greed, the mother of evils. For the swarm of household servants, the black servants in gold uniforms, the hangers-on, the flatterers, the silver-decorated chariots, and the other absurdities greater than these are maintained neither for pleasure nor out of necessity, but for sheer vanity. Yes, someone will say, anyone can see that this affliction is evil; but what you should tell us is how to keep entirely free of it. Well then, first, if you convince yourself that this disease is destructive, you will have made a very good start toward correcting it. For a sick person quickly sends for the doctor once he realizes that he is sick. But if you are looking for another way to escape it as well, look continually to God and be content with glory from Him. And if you find the passion tempting you and urging you to tell your fellow servants about your good deeds, remember next that telling them gains you nothing. Put out the absurd desire and say to your soul, Look, you have been bursting for so long to tell of your own good deeds, and you did not have the courage to keep them to yourself, but blurted them out to everyone. What good have you gained from this? None at all, but utter loss and the forfeiture of everything you gathered with so much labor. Besides this, consider something else too: most people’s judgment is distorted, and not only distorted, but so quick to wither away. For even if they admire you for the moment, once the occasion has passed they will forget it all. They will have taken away the crown God gave you without being able to secure their own for you. Yet even if their crown lasted, exchanging the one for the other would be a most miserable thing. But when even this one has disappeared, what defense can we make for betraying the lasting crown for the passing one, for losing such blessings for the sake of a few people’s approval? Indeed, even if those praising us were numerous, we would still deserve pity for this, and all the more as their numbers grew. But if what I have said surprises you, hear Christ pronounce this judgment: “Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you.” (Luke vi. 26.) And that is surely how it should be. For if in every craft you look to its practitioners (δημιουργους) to judge it, how can you entrust the assessment of virtue to the crowd rather than, above all, to Him Who knows it more surely than anyone and is best able to applaud and crown it? Let us, then, write this saying on our walls, our doors, and our minds, and keep saying to ourselves, “Woe to us when everyone speaks well of us.” For even those who speak this way later slander a person as vain, hungry for honor, and eager for their approval. But God does not do this. When He sees you desiring the glory that comes from Him, then He will praise you most, admire (θαυμάσεται om. in most mss.) you, and proclaim you the victor. A person does not act this way. Instead, when he finds you behaving like a slave rather than a free person, he often gratifies you with empty words of false praise, snatches away your true reward, and makes you more servile than a purchased slave. For people get those slaves to obey by giving orders, but you make yourself a slave even without orders. You do not even wait to hear something from them; if you merely know how you can please them, you do everything without their command. What hell, then, would we not deserve for giving wicked people pleasure and eagerly serving them before they give orders, while refusing to listen to God even when He commands and urges us every day? And yet, if you crave glory and praise, avoid the praise that comes from people, and then you will attain glory. Turn away from flattering words, and then you will receive countless praises from both God and people. For no one receives so much glory from us as the person who looks down on glory, or so much praise and admiration as the person who scorns the pursuit of admiration and praise. And if we act this way, how much more will the God of the universe? And when He glorifies and praises you, who could more justly be called blessed? For the difference between glory from above and human glory is greater than the difference between glory and disgrace. Or rather, it is much greater—indeed, infinitely greater. For if human glory, even without comparison to anything else, is shameful and ugly, just consider how shameful it will prove to be when we examine it beside the other! For just as a prostitute stands in her place and hires herself out to anyone, so do the slaves of vanity. Or rather, they are more shameful than she is. For women of that kind often treat their admirers with scorn. But you prostitute yourself to everyone, whether runaway slaves, thieves, or pickpockets (for these and people like them make up the theater audiences that applaud you). Those you consider worthless as individuals you honor as a crowd more than your own salvation, showing yourself less worthy of honor than any of them. For how can you be anything but less worthy when you need other people’s approval and imagine that you are not enough on your own unless you receive glory from others? Besides what I have said, don’t you see that, because you attract attention and everyone knows you, you will have countless accusers if you commit a fault, whereas if you are unknown you will remain safe? Yes, someone may say, but then if I do well I will have countless admirers. Now the frightening thing is that the disease of vanity harms you not only when you sin but even when you do right: in the former case it brings thousands down, and in the latter it robs you entirely of your reward. To be in love with glory even in worldly matters is a sad thing, full of every kind of disgrace. But when you are in the same condition even in spiritual matters, what excuse remains for you, when you are unwilling to give God even as much honor as you yourself receive from your servants? For even the slave “looks to the eyes of his master” (Ps. cxxiii. 2), the hired worker to the employer who will pay his wages, and the disciple to his teacher. But you do just the opposite. You have abandoned the God who hired you, your own Master, and look to your fellow servants, even though you know that God remembers your good deeds after this life, while people remember them only for the moment. And when you have spectators gathered in Heaven, you gather spectators on earth. The wrestler wants to be honored where he competes; but you, though your wrestling takes place above, are anxious to win a crown below. What could be worse than madness like this? But let us also look, if you wish, at the crowns. One is made of arrogance, another of envy toward someone else, a third of pretense and flattery, another of wealth, and another of slavish compliance. Just as children at play put grass crowns on one another and often laugh behind the crowned child’s back, so those who praise you now often joke among themselves about putting grass on us. If only it were merely grass! But as it is, the crown is loaded with evil and ruins all our good deeds. Consider its worthlessness, then, and flee the harm it brings. How many people would you like to praise you? A hundred? Or twice, three times, or four times as many? Or rather, if you like, make it ten or twenty times as many: let two or four thousand applaud you, or even ten thousand if you wish. Still, they are no better than so many jackdaws cawing overhead. Or rather, compared with the assembly of angels, they will seem more worthless than worms, and their approval less substantial than a cobweb, smoke, or a dream. Listen, then, to Paul, who understood these things thoroughly. So far from seeking them, he even rejects them in these words: “But may I never boast except in the cross of Christ.” (Gal. vi. 14.) Aspire to this glory yourself, so that you do not provoke the Master, because by pursuing human glory you insult God as well as yourself. For even if you were a painter and had a pupil who failed to show you his work but publicly displayed his painting to just anyone who happened to see it, you would not take it calmly. But if this would be an insult even among your fellow servants, how much more when it concerns the Master! And if you want to learn on other grounds to scorn this pursuit, set your mind on higher things, laugh at appearances, increase your love of real glory, fill yourself with a spiritual disposition, and say to your soul as Paul did, “Don’t you know that we will judge angels?” (1 Cor. vi. 3) Having stirred it up with this, go on to rebuke it and say, You who judge angels, will you let yourself be judged by the dregs of humanity and be praised alongside dancers, mimes, gladiators, and chariot drivers? For these are the people who pursue applause of this kind. But spread your wings high above their noise and imitate that citizen of the wilderness, John. Learn how he rose above concern for the crowd and did not turn to look at flatterers. When he saw all the inhabitants of Palestine pouring out around him, marveling and astonished at him, he was not puffed up by such honor. Instead, he stood against them, and, addressing his great crowd as though speaking to a single young man, he rebuked them this way: “You serpents, you brood of vipers!” (Matt. iii. 7.) Yet they had gathered for his sake and left the cities to see that holy man, and still none of this weakened his resolve. For he was far above glory and free from all vanity. So too Stephen, when he saw the same people again, now furious with him rather than honoring him, and grinding their teeth, rose above their anger and said, “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart.” (Acts vii. 51.) So too Elijah, in the presence of those armies, the king, and all the people, said, “How long will you limp on both your hips?” (1 Kings xviii. 21, LXX. true sense of “halt.”) But we flatter everyone and court everyone, buying their honor with this slavish compliance. That is why everything is turned upside down, the work of Christianity is betrayed for this favor, and everything is neglected for the sake of popular opinion. Let us, then, banish this passion, and then we will rightly understand freedom, the harbor, and the calm. For the vain person is always like people in a storm, trembling, afraid, and serving a thousand masters. But whoever is free from this slavery is like people in a harbor, enjoying unspoiled freedom. The vain person is not like this: he has as many masters as acquaintances, and is forced to be a slave to them all. How, then, can we escape this harsh bondage? By falling in love with another glory, the glory that is real. For just as people in love are drawn away from their first love by the sight of someone more beautiful, so those who court the glory that comes from us humans can be drawn away from it by glory from heaven, if it shines on them. Let us, then, look toward this glory and come to know it thoroughly, so that, admiring its beauty, we may shun the ugliness of the other and enjoy great pleasure by continually possessing this one. May we all attain it through the grace and love for humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ. With Him, may the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, receive glory, power, and honor, now and always, forever and ever. Amen.