Commentary on Romans 7.8–7.11

“And those whom he predestined, these he also called; and those whom he called, these he also justified; and those whom he justified, these he also glorified.” Above he said, “Those whom he foreknew, these he also predestined”; and now he adds, “And those whom he predestined, these he also called; and those whom he called, these he also justified.” And if we understand “foreknew” and “predestined” in the common opinion, it will certainly seem that he who has been justified has been justified because he was called; and he who was called was called because he was predestined; and he who was predestined was predestined because he was foreknown. And again you will understand the contrary: that if someone has not been justified, he has not been justified because he was not called; and he who was not called was not called because he was not predestined; and he who was not predestined was not predestined because he was not foreknown. And see into what an absurd opinion those fall who take the foreknowledge of God only in this sense, as of one who knows beforehand the things that will come afterward. For according to what we set out above, it is found that God did not foreknow those whom … [the scan has lost text here] … it is objected that not all who are called are also justified. For Judas the apostle too was called, but was not justified. And even if someone contends that he was justified by the very fact that he was called, he certainly was not glorified. And those too of whom the Apostle says that they “made shipwreck of the faith” were called, but were not justified. And according to the parables of the Gospel, those to whom the servants had been sent, and who excused themselves, were called, but were not justified; and he who entered the king’s banquet and did not have a wedding garment was called, but was not justified. Since, then, each of these is so, how will the word of the Apostle seem true, which he spoke about foreknowing, or predestining, or calling, or even justifying?

But I think, according to what we set out above about how God knows or foreknows, that we must return to the custom of Scripture, which is accustomed to use a native idiom in this word, that is, in knowing: as when it says, “And Adam knew Eve his wife,” instead of saying that he was joined to his wife. And again of Rebecca it says: “She was a virgin; no man had known her.” And of the sons of Levi it is said, when they were punishing transgressors, that each did not know his father or his mother; in which without doubt it is shown that he did not join his affection and love with father or mother. And you will find many things said in the Scriptures about knowing in this sense; and therefore in the present place too it is clear that the Apostle set down the word “knowing” according to the custom of holy Scripture, to show that those were foreknown by God on whom God, knowing what kind they were, had set his love and affection; according to which this too is written: “The Lord knew those who are his”; whereas certainly, as far as that common knowledge goes, God is ignorant not only of none of those who are his own, but not even of those who stray from him. But he is said to have known his own, that is, to have held them in love and joined them to himself. So, then, “those whom God foreknew, these he also predestined; and those whom he predestined, these he also called; and those whom he called, these he also justified.”

There still remains for us the solution of that question: how those whom he called he also justified, when, according to what we said above, it is clear that many are called but few chosen. But it seems to me that there is a certain difference of calling, according to what we set out in the passage above: that all indeed are called, yet not all are called according to purpose. For those who are called according to the good purpose and good will which they bear toward the worship of God, these are the ones who are said to be called according to purpose, and these are the ones who, being called, are justified. For to their good purpose only the calling was lacking. But those who do not have a good and fixed purpose either toward divine worship or toward good work are called too, lest any excuse be left them, and lest they could plead this very thing when they are judged: “Had we too been called, we could certainly have been justified, and not only justified, but glorified.” Therefore they too are indeed called; but, as if seed were sown on rocky ground, it springs up quickly; but when the sun of tribulations grows hot, because they do not have the deep root of good purpose, they at once wither and perish. And these are the ones of whom the Apostle says that they made shipwreck of the faith. Those whom he called, then, that is, whom he called according to the purpose of the good, these he also justified. And even if “according to purpose” is referred to God, that is, that they are said to be called according to the purpose of God, who knows that there is in them a religious mind and the desire for salvation, this too will not seem contrary to what we have set out.

In this way, then, the cause of our salvation or of our perdition does not lie in the foreknowledge of God; nor will justification depend on the calling alone; nor has being glorified been wholly taken out of our power. For even if we understand foreknowledge in the common sense, something will not come to be because God knows it will be, but because it will be, it is known by God before it comes to be. For even if, for example, we were to imagine that God does not foreknow anything, what is to be would without doubt be as it is: for instance, Judas became a traitor, and the prophets foretold that this would be so. It was not, then, because the prophets foretold it that Judas betrayed; but because he was going to be a traitor, the prophets foretold what he was going to do out of the wickedness of his own purpose; since Judas certainly had it in his power to be like Peter and John, if he had willed; but he chose the desire for money rather than the glory of the apostolic fellowship; and the prophets, foreseeing this future will of his, handed it down in the records of their books. And so that you may know that the cause of each one’s salvation is placed not in the foreknowledge of God but in his own purpose and actions, see Paul, fearing lest perhaps, having preached to others, he himself should be found reprobate, bruising his body and bringing it into subjection.

Further, against those who raise such questions against us, we can also say this: If those whom he foreknew he also predestined, but he did not predestine all, then he did not foreknow all; and according to them there will be some things of which God is ignorant. But if foreknowing is taken according to what we said above, that is, to receive into affection and join to oneself, it will be true that, as he did not predestine all, so he did not foreknow all. For in this way Jesus too is said not to have known sin. Shall we say that Jesus did not know what sin was, that is, that he did not know that murder is a sin, or adultery, or theft, and the like? Or is this what is meant by not knowing sin, that he did not mingle himself with sin, nor did sin cleave to him? So too it is written elsewhere: “He who keeps the commandment will not know an evil word”; that is, he will not receive an evil word, will not believe it, will not hear it gladly, nor let it enter his mind. Those, then, whom in this way God foreknew, these he also predestined; and those whom he predestined, these he also called, with that distinction of calling which we stated; and those whom he called, these he also justified; and those whom he justified, these he also glorified.

Of glorification we can understand in the present age too, according to what the Apostle says: “But we all, with unveiled face beholding the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord.” There is, then, both this glory which each of the justified receives in the present life, and there is that which is hoped for in the future, when this body of our lowliness, which “is sown in dishonor, will rise in glory”; and when, as there is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars, and as star differs from star in glory, so will the resurrection of the dead be.

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare even his own Son, but handed him over for us all, how will he not also with him give us all things?” How God is for us is plain from what he set out above: that is, that the Spirit of God dwells in us, and that the Spirit of Christ, or Christ, is in us, or that the Spirit of him who raised Christ from the dead dwells in us, or that we are led by the Spirit of God, or that we have received the Spirit of adoption, or that we are sons of God and heirs and joint heirs of Christ, or that we receive the firstfruits of the Spirit, or that the Spirit himself intercedes for us with unutterable groanings, or that the whole creation groans together and suffers pain together with us, or that all things work together for good for us who love God, or that we are called according to purpose, and foreknown, and predestined, and justified, and glorified. For, making as it were an epilogue of all these, and repeating them all at once, he says: “What then shall we say to these things?”, that is, to all these things which we have said above: for if God is so for us that he has granted us all these, who will be able to be against us? Not that he says there is no adversary to us at all: otherwise how will what was said by Peter stand: “Your adversary the devil, like a roaring lion, goes about seeking whom he may devour”? But this is what he shows: that, with God acting for us, our adversary is made contemptible and nothing. And David likewise says: “The Lord is my light and my Savior; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the protector of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” He does not, then, say that there is no one whom he fears and who opposes him; but although, he says, “my enemies who afflict me draw near against me to eat my flesh,” yet, with the Lord defending my life, “they have grown weak and fallen.”

He gives the greatest proof of the immense love of God toward us, who loved us so much, he says, that he did not spare even his own Son, but handed him over to suffering for us all. And to bind us with greater wonder he added a word that holds a vast secret, saying that “he did not spare his own Son.” For he had said above that we too who receive the Spirit of adoption are sons of God. Lest, then, under this common name of sons, it should be thought that he handed over one of those who seemed to be adopted as sons, he added “his own Son,” to show him who alone is begotten of God himself by an ineffable birth. For us all, then, he handed him over; not by that handing over of which it is written, “Brother will hand over brother to death, and parents their children”; but he is said to have handed him over by this very thing, that, when he was in the form of God, he allowed him to empty himself and take the form of a servant and come even to the death of the cross; so that in him he might set before all an example of obedience and open the way of resurrection to the dead.

“For all,” then, “he handed him over.” Not only for the saints, not only for the great, but also for the least, and for absolutely all who are in the Church, the Father handed over his own Son; and therefore, if someone harms even one of the least and the weak by striking his weak conscience, he is said to sin against Christ, since he causes the stumbling of a soul for which Christ died. Since, then, the Father handed over the Son for us all, no one at all, not even the least who is in the Church, is to be despised; and therefore the Lord himself said: “If anyone causes one of these least little ones to stumble, it is better for him that a donkey’s millstone be hung about his neck and he be cast into the sea, than that he should cause one of these to stumble.” God, then, who made us precious by pouring out for us the precious blood of his own Son, how will he not with him give us all things? For there is nothing of creation, whether visible or invisible, that can be equaled to the Son: for in no way can the creature be compared with its Creator; and if the Creator himself has been given to us, how will not all creation be given to us with him?

Though this saying can be understood in two ways, that is, that “with him he will give us all things.” For this too may be seen: that if we have Christ in us according as he is the Word and wisdom and truth and righteousness and peace, and all the other things that are written of him, with this fullness of virtues all things will be given us; so that we shall no longer hold one thing out of all creatures, and this small place of earth which we now seem to inhabit, but shall have together with Christ all things whatsoever God created, visible and invisible, hidden and manifest, temporal and eternal. But what he said, “with him he will give us all things,” can also be understood in another way thus: that is, that the whole creation will be given to be enjoyed, to him indeed as heir, but to us as his joint heirs, together with him.

“Who will bring a charge against the elect of God? It is God who justifies; who is it that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died, yes rather, who rose again, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.” It seems to me that when he says, “Who will bring a charge against the elect of God?” he speaks of the devil. For no one is so elect and so great that he would not dare to accuse him, except him alone who did no sin, who also said: “Now the prince of this world comes, and in me he finds nothing.” But although he puts forth the wickedness of his purpose, when God justifies and blots out the iniquity of his elect like a cloud and their sins like a mist, and whitens them from their former trespasses like snow and makes them white like wool, what will the accuser accomplish? And since Christ died for them, or rather rose from the dead, and stands at the right hand of the Father and intercedes for them, who will be able to condemn them? Above, he says, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with unutterable groanings; here Christ Jesus, who died and rose again, himself intercedes for us. God, who handed over his own Son for us, himself justifies the elect: who will there be any longer who dares to condemn?

But look more carefully at how the Apostle nowhere in his words departs from his inborn caution. He did not say, “Who will bring a charge against the called?” but “against the elect.” For unless you have been elected, unless you have shown yourself approved to God in all things, you will have an accuser. For if your case is bad, if your crime binds you, what will an advocate profit you, even if it is Jesus who intercedes? For Jesus is the truth: the truth, then, cannot deceive on your behalf. In this the advocate will help you: that you are not entangled in the accuser’s slanders, that past sins, which have been blotted out through baptism, are not imputed to you. But if after this you sin again, and do not wash these away with any tears of repentance, you will give your accuser matter for charging you; and although Jesus intercedes for us, yet Jesus cannot say that darkness is light, nor bitter sweet. If, then, you wish to prevail when you are judged, do what is written of the righteous man: “Order your words in judgment; prepare your works for the end; remember your last things, and you will never sin”; lest there befall you what is written of someone: “When he is judged, let him go out condemned.” But see how you hear that Jesus intercedes for us. For he is the one of whom it is also written elsewhere that the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son; and as he is both victim and priest, and he is both in the form of a servant and in the form of God, so he is both advocate and judge.

“Who then will separate us from the love of God? Tribulation? or distress? or persecution? or famine? or nakedness? or peril? or the sword? (As it is written: For your sake we are put to death all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.) But in all these we overcome through him who loved us.” For all these things, he says, which we have enumerated above, that is, that we are no longer in the flesh but in the spirit; and that the Spirit of God dwells in us; and that Christ is in us, through whom the body indeed is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of justification; and that we are no longer debtors to the flesh, to live according to the flesh, because by the spirit we have put to death the deeds of the flesh; and that through the Spirit of adoption we have been made sons of God, and if sons, also heirs of God and joint heirs of Christ; and that the whole creation groans together and suffers pain together with us, awaiting the revelation of the sons of God; and that for us who love God all things work together for good; and that he foreknew and predestined us to be conformed to the image of his Son, we who have been called according to purpose: since for all these benefits, he says, which we have obtained, we are fixed and rooted in the love of God, who will be able to separate us from it?

If tribulation comes, we shall say to God: “In tribulation you have enlarged me.” If there is the distress of the world, coming also from the necessity of the body, … the breadth of the wisdom and knowledge of God … [the scan has lost text here] … if I suffer, and confess my Christ before men, I am sure that he too will confess me before his Father who is in heaven. If famine comes, it cannot trouble me: for I have the bread of life which came down from heaven and refreshes hungry souls; nor can this bread ever fail, for it is perfect and eternal. Nakedness does not confound me: for I have put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and I hope to be clothed over with our dwelling which is from heaven; for this mortal must put on immortality, and this corruptible put on incorruption. Peril I will not fear: “for the Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? and the Lord is the defender of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?” The earthly sword cannot terrify me: for I have with me a stronger sword, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; and with me is the living and effective word of God, which is more piercing than any two-edged sword. If, then, the sword of the world comes upon my neck, it wins me greater love toward God. For I shall say to him, as it is written: “For your sake we are put to death all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.” For it is not enough for me to die for Christ, or to be tortured, for one hour, but all the day long, that is, the whole time of my life. For if I spend my whole life in persecutions and perils, I shall say that the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come, which will be revealed in us. For the time of this life is short, and slight that which we spend in persecutions; but eternal and everlasting is that which we await in glory. And therefore, he says, “in all these we overcome,” not by our own strength, “but through him who loved us.” For while we hang upon his love, we do not receive the sense of pain. For his love, with which he loved us and snatched our affection to himself, makes us not feel the torture and pain of the body. Therefore in all these we overcome. Something of this kind the Bride too says to the Word in the Song: “I am wounded,” she says, “by love.” In this way, then, our soul too, having received from Christ the wound of love, even if it hands over the body to the sword, will not feel the wounds of the flesh because of the wound of love.