3:25 an expiation: A sacrifice that wipes away sin. • The expression is used multiple times in the Greek OT for the mercy seat, or golden lid that covered the Ark of the Covenant (Ex 25:17; Heb 9:5). The high priest of Israel sprinkled blood on the mercy seat once a year on the Day of Atonement to expiate the sins of the people and restore them to fellowship with Yahweh (Lev 16:1-34). For Paul, the mercy seat typifies Christ as the living seat of God's presence and the place where atonement is made with sacrificial blood (CCC 433). • Christ, who became an expiation by blood, teaches us to follow his example by the mortification of our members (St. Gregory of Nyssa, On Perfection). Back to text.

3:28 justified by faith: Faith is a gift of grace that moves us toward God (Phil 1:29). It leads to justification because it leads to Baptism (6:3-4; 1 Cor 6:11). The object of justifying faith is both personal and propositional: it embraces God as well as the revealed tenets of the gospel. Catholic theology holds that faith does not act alone in this process but reaches out with hope for divine mercy and love for the Lord. Faith manifests itself in the lives of believers through obedience (1:5), love (Gal 5:6), and good works (Eph 2:10). See essay: Faith and Works at Jas 2. works of law: For possible meanings of this, See note on Rom 3:20. • The Council of Trent decreed in 1547 that man, by his own efforts and works, can never merit the initial grace of justification that makes him a child of God and a member of the New Covenant. This grace is an entirely free gift from Jesus Christ conferred in Baptism (Sess. 6, chap. 8) (CCC 1987-2011). Back to text.

3:30 God is one: The monotheistic creed of ancient Israel (Deut 6:4). Paul draws an important lesson from it: because Jews and Gentiles have one and the same God, all are justified in one and the same way, i.e., by faith. Back to text.

4:1-25 Paul expounds the spiritual fatherhood of Abraham. He aims to show from Scripture that faith, not circumcision or observance of the Mosaic Law, makes us children of Abraham. Back to text.

4:1 our forefather: Paul continues to engage his rhetorical Jewish opponent (2:17). Back to text.

4:2 boast: By taking pride in a personal accomplishment. • The one who boasts in his works boasts in himself, but the one who boasts in his faith boasts in God. To observe the laws against stealing and murder is a small thing compared to believing that God can do all things (St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Romans 8). Back to text.

4:3 Abraham believed God: A citation from Gen 15:6. • Abraham takes God at his word when he embraces the promise of descendants, despite the obstacles of childlessness and old age (Gen 15:1-5). The Lord accepts his faith with an acknowledgment of his righteousness. Paul works forward from this passage to demonstrate in Rom 4:9-10 that the narrative sequence of the Abraham story in Genesis holds the key to a right understanding of justification: it shows us that Abraham was righteous by faith long before he was circumcised with the flint knife (Gen 17:24). Paul thus debunks a prevalent Jewish perception that circumcision, and the obligation to keep the Mosaic Law that follows from it, is indispensable for a covenant relationship with God (Acts 15:1-5) (CCC 144-46). Back to text.

4:4 one who works: Justification is a free gift of grace, not a wage that is owed on the principle of justice and fair compensation (6:23; Tit 3:5). reckoned: In secular Greek, the verb iogizomai is a business term for recording credits and debits. It can also be translated "counted". When Paul stresses that righteousness is booked to our credit as a gift, he does not imply that the gift is merely imputed to the believer in an external way. In his mind, the divine record corresponds to reality, that is, we are counted righteous because we are made righteous in Christ (5:19). Back to text.

4:7-8 Paul quotes Ps 32:1-2 to buttress his reading of Gen 15:6, showing again that justification takes place apart from circumcision and observance of the Torah. He is using a Jewish exegetical technique that links passages of Scripture together on the basis of common vocabulary. Note how the excerpts from Genesis and the Psalter both showcase the verb "reckon". • Psalm 32 celebrates divine forgiveness. As Paul points out, the Psalmist does not restrict this blessing to the people of the Mosaic covenant, i.e., to those who are circumcised (4:9) and trace their genealogy back to Abraham (4:12). Forgiveness is an essential part of justification in Pauline theology (Acts 13:38-39). Back to text.

4:11 father of all who believe: The fatherhood of Abraham is defined by imitation rather than generation. To be a part of his family is to share his faith, not necessarily his physical lineage (4:12, 16). without being circumcised: Given Paul's comments about true circumcision in 2:25-29, he is saying that Abraham is the father of true Jews, not all Jews. Jesus makes a similar point in Jn 8:39. Back to text.

4:13 inherit the world: God promised Abraham a worldwide family through his offspring (Gen 22:16-18) several centuries before the Law was given to Israel (Gal 3:17-18). This was the oath of universal blessing he swore when the patriarch was tested and found faithful (Sir 44:21) (CCC 705-6). Back to text.

4:15 the law brings wrath: Violation of the Law brings the curses of the Mosaic covenant upon transgressors (Lev 26:1433; Deut 27:15-26). Back to text.

4:17 I have made you: A citation from Gen 17:5. • The passage shows that God had already made Abraham the father of nations before he gave him the covenant of circumcision (Gen 17:9-14). In Paul's mind, this took place back in Gen 15:5-6, when the patriarch first believed that God would make him a father. It follows that circumcision, which came after his fatherhood was established by faith, cannot be the sign of Abrahamic sonship. calls into existence: Reflects the belief that God created all things out of nothing (2 Mac 7:28) (CCC 296). Back to text.

4:18-24 Paul sees a parallel between Christian faith and Abraham's faith. Abraham believed that God could bring new life (Isaac) from his and Sarah's dying bodies. Christians believe that God brought new life to the crucified body of Jesus by raising him from the dead. Back to text.

4:18 So shall your descendants: A citation from Gen 15:5. • God promised Abraham that his descendants would outnumber the stars in the sky. Back to text.

4:19 barrenness: The Greek is literally "death" or "deadness". Back to text.

4:25 raised for our justification: The Resurrection of Christ is more than a miracle and motive for faith. It is a saving event in its own right, since the dying and rising of Jesus together constitute his victory over sin and death (1 Cor 15:17-22). Baptism gives us a share is this double victory, for through it we die to sin and rise to new life with Christ (6:3-4). The death and resurrection of our souls will be followed by the death and resurrection of our bodies (8:10-11) (CCC 654-55). Back to text.

5:1-5 The justified are endowed with theological virtues. By faith, they live in peace with God and have access to his grace; in hope, they long for the glory of God that awaits them; and through love, they show that the charity of the Spirit dwells in their hearts (CCC 1813). Equipped in this way, believers can become more like Christ through endurance and suffering (CCC 618). See note on 1 Cor 13:13. Back to text.

5:8 God shows his love: The dying of Christ shows us the depths of God's unconditional love for the world (1 Jn 3:16). This is all the more remarkable since the world, being "ungodly" (5:6) and "enemies" (5:10), did not deserve it (CCC 603-4). Back to text.

5:10 shall we be saved: Salvation can be described in terms of the past, present, and future. It is past with reference to Baptism, which saves us from the filth of our sins (1 Pet 3:21). It is a present reality when we allow grace to make us steadily more virtuous and holy (1 Cor 1:18). It is a future hope that we will for ever live with the Lord in glory (Heb 9:28) (CCC 169, 1026). Back to text.

5:12-21 Paul compares and contrasts Adam and Christ. They are similar because their actions have had a great impact on the world, but dissimilar because Adam filled the world with misery and Christ redeemed the world from slavery to sin. Paul is stressing that the grace of Christ more than compensates for the damage done by Adam's rebellion (CCC 385, 388). Back to text.

5:12 through one man: Sin invaded the world through Adam, who allowed the temptations of his wife and the devil to overpower his commitment to God (Gen 3:1-7; Wis 2:24). death through sin: God warned Adam that death was the penalty for disobedience (Gen 2:17). His willful defiance in the face of this threat brought about the immediate death of his soul and the eventual death of his body (Gen 3:19). all men sinned: As the father of the human family, Adam turned away from God on our behalf. His rebellion was thus a representative act that not only injured himself, but dragged the entire family of man into suffering and separation from God (CCC 402-5). • The Council of Trent appealed to Rom 5:12 when it defined the doctrine of Original Sin in 1546 (Sess. 5). The doctrine holds that all descendants of Adam are born into the world in a state of spiritual death and in desperate need of salvation. The condition spreads, not by imitation (making the same mistake as Adam), but by propagation (by virtue of our genealogical link with Adam). Back to text.

Word Study

Type (Rom 5:14)

Typos (Gk.): "figure", "example", or "pattern". The word is used twice in Romans and 13 times in the rest of the NT. In general, a type is an impression or stamp made when an instrument strikes an object and leaves a mark that resembles the instrument. The NT uses the term is various ways and contexts. It can describe the nail prints in the hands of Jesus (Jn 20:25), a pattern of catechetical teaching (Rom 6:17), and examples of holiness displayed in the lives of believers (Phil 3:17; 1 Thess 1:7; Tit 2:7). In biblical theology, a type is a person, place, thing, event, or institution in Scripture that points to a future mystery. Romans 5:14 is a classic example: Paul shows that Adam, who shaped the destiny of man for the worst, was a type of Christ, who reverses the tragic effects of sin by his righteousness. Adam thus showed us in advance how the saving work of Jesus, the new Adam, would affect the entire world. Paul likewise interprets the experiences of Israel in the wilderness as warnings or types of the Church's experiences in the world (1 Cor 10:1-6). Peter sees the biblical flood as a prophetic type of Baptism (1 Pet 3:21) (CCC 128-30).

5:14 Yet death reigned: Death was the covenant curse set before Adam (Gen 2:17) and Moses (Deut 30:19). Although no positive law threatening death was issued during the centuries that intervened, men and women continued to suffer and die. This shows that the sin of Adam had a lasting and devastating effect on the world quite apart from the behavior of his first descendants (CCC 396). • Just as all who descend from Adam inherit death, though they do not eat from the tree themselves, so all who are joined to Christ inherit righteousness, though they do nothing to produce it themselves (St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Romans 10). Back to text.

5:19 made righteous: The essence of justification, which takes effect when God imparts the gift of righteousness to the believer (5:17; Phil 3:9). See word study: Justified at 2:13. Back to text.

5:20 to increase the trespass: The Torah aggravated the problem of sin because it defined the boundaries of wrongdoing (7:7) but could not restrain Israel from crossing them (7:12-24). The purpose was to induce Israel to acknowledge its weakness and cry out for divine help. • The Law was given that grace might be sought; grace was given that the Law might be kept (St. Augustine, On the Spirit and the Letter 34). Back to text.

6:1-23 Paul addresses a potential misunderstanding: If our sins let loose a flood of divine grace (5:20), then why not continue in sin to unleash ever more grace? Such logic betrays the very purpose of grace, which is to forgive us of past sins and to assist us in avoiding future ones. For Paul, our liberty in Christ is not a license to sin (Gal 5:13). Back to text.

6:2 By no means!: A strenuous objection voiced often in Romans (3:4, 31; 6:15; 7:7; 9:14; 11:1). died to sin: The baptized are freed from the bondage of guilt and so die to their former life apart from Christ. Back to text.

6:4 by baptism into death: Baptism joins us to Christ crucified and risen, so that united with his death, our sins are put to death, and united with his rising, our souls are filled with life (4:25). Paul is alluding to the liturgy of Baptism, where the recipient is submerged in water as a body is buried in a grave, only to rise again to a new life with God (CCC 537, 628, 1214). Back to text.

6:6 our former man: The expression "old man" is used elsewhere in Eph 4:22 and Col 3:9. crucified with him: Paul makes a personal comment to this effect at Gal 2:20. Back to text.

6:7 is freed from sin: Literally, "is justified from sin" (CCC 1990). See word study: Justified at 2:13. Back to text.

6:9 never die again: Because Christ destroyed death by his own death, his risen humanity is for ever victorious over death (CCC 1085). Back to text.

6:12 Let not sin . . . reign: Sin is like a tyrant that orders our members into actions of wickedness. This enemy is to be fought, renounced, and subdued through the Spirit (8:13). Back to text.

6:14 under grace: The new position of the believer, who can master the urges of sin with the assistance of God. This inward strength to suppress our fallen inclinations was a grace not yet available to Israel living under the yoke of the Law (7:18). Back to text.

6:16 obedient slaves: It would be absurd for a slave, recently purchased to serve a new master (righteousness), to continue to serve the old one (sin). The first master leads to destruction and death (6:23), and the new master to sanctification and life (6:22). righteousness: A baptismal gift (5:17) as well as a future hope (Gal 5:5). Paul here refers to the righteous status that comes with the final justification of the saints at the Judgment (2:13). Back to text.

6:17 the standard of teaching: Possibly a baptismal creed recited and accepted by the Romans. Paul smiles at the news of their obedience to this standard (16:19). Back to text.

6:19 speaking in human terms: A mild apology for explaining Christian conversion in terms of commercial slave trading. There are obvious limits to the analogy, but Paul wants to ensure that his teaching is well understood. sanctification: Or, "holiness". It is a gift received in Baptism that gradually increases as the Spirit penetrates our hearts and lives over time (8:13-14). See word study: Sanctified at 1 Cor 6:11. Back to text.

6:23 the wages of sin: Death is the payment for service to sin, but eternal life is the gift that comes through Christ. Back to text.

7:1-6 Paul illustrates Christian freedom in terms of death and remarriage. Just as a woman is freed from the law of marriage when her spouse dies, so believers are freed from the Law of Moses (7:6) when they die to sin in Baptism (6:1-11). So, too, as the widow is free to remarry, the baptized are freed for a new marriage with Christ (7:2-4). Note that Paul is using the marital analogy to make the general point that death liberates us from law. The analogy breaks down when we insist that every detail must correlate with Paul's teaching (e.g., note how the surviving spouse remarries in 7:2-3, but the deceased spouse remarries in 7:4). Back to text.

7:3 called an adulteress: Paul echoes the teaching of Jesus that marriage is lifelong and exclusive (Mk 10:11-12). Remarriage after the death of a spouse is licit (1 Tim 5:14), but remarriage after divorce is forbidden when both spouses are living. For further details, see note on 1 Cor 7:15 and essay: Jesus on Marriage and Divorce at Mt 19. Back to text.

7:4 the body of Christ: The crucified humanity of Jesus. In other contexts, this expression denotes the mystical body of Christ, the Church (12:4-5; 1 Cor 12:12; Col 1:24). bear fruit for God: The goal of our marital union with Christ. In Paul's theology, this fruit is produced in our lives through the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23) (CCC 2074). Back to text.

7:5 living in the flesh: i.e., living by the impulses of our fallen nature. Paul often speaks of "the flesh", not as the body per se, but as the whole range of weaknesses we inherited from Adam, including (1) our corruptible bodies (8:3); (2) our darkened minds (1:21); (3) our inability to obey God without grace (8:7); and (4) our inclinations toward sin (7:25). The desires of the flesh are directly opposed to the will of the Spirit. See note on Gal 5:16-24. our members: Our bodies can be used as instruments either of wickedness or of righteousness (6:13) (CCC 1995). Back to text.

7:6 held us captive: The Mosaic Law imprisoned the people of Israel in condemnation, revealing their sins (3:20) and magnifying their guilt (5:20). Although its written code made clear distinctions between good and evil, it gave them no assistance to obey it through the Spirit (CCC 1963). Back to text.

7:7-25 Paul contemplates the mystery of sin and man's natural inability to resist it. He defends the Law of Moses as innocent and good (7:12), but accuses sin of murder and enslavement (7:11, 23). To dramatize this, he personifies "sin" as a predator lurking in our members who deceives, kills, and wages war on our desire to follow God. Paul is approaching these issues from a Christian perspective, where the experience of grace magnifies the reality of sin. His consciousness of sin was not nearly so acute when he was a Pharisaic Jew (Phil 3:5). • The Law was given neither to create sin nor to remove sin, but merely to make it known. Thus the Law, in giving the soul a sense of guilt rather than innocence, makes it ready to receive grace (St. Augustine, To Simplician on Various Questions 1, 1). Back to text.

7:7 You shall not covet: The preface to the final two LIU commandments of the Decalogue (Ex 20:17). • The laws against coveting another's wife and property show that the Torah censures not just outward acts, but even interior acts hidden in the heart. So not only do the commandments heighten our awareness of sin (3:20), they show that our vulnerability to sin lies deep within. Back to text.

7:9 I was once alive: Paul speaks often in Romans 7 in the first person ("I" or "me"). Scholars ancient and modern have wrestled over the rhetorical implications of this. (1) Paul may be reflecting on his personal history, either as a Jew, confronted with the challenging demands of the Torah, or as a Christian, still fighting the inclination to sin in order to follow the Law. (2) Paul may be looking back on biblical history as sin was first experienced by Adam, who lived in innocence until he transgressed the commandment threatening death (Gen 2:17), or by Israel, who no sooner received the Law of the covenant than broke it (Ex 32:1-28). For the insertion of divine commandments into history at these two junctures, see 5:13-14. (3) Paul may be thinking of human history in general, so that his words describe the universal plight of all men apart from the saving grace of Christ. In the end, the third view is most likely Paul's intended meaning, although allusions at the level of personal and biblical history should not be ruled out. Back to text.

7:11 deceived: A form of this verb is used in the Greek version of Gen 3:13, where Eve blames the serpent for "beguiling" her into sin. Paul reflects on this tragedy elsewhere in 2 Cor 11:3 and 1 Tim 2:14. Back to text.

7:12 the law is holy: Because it promotes virtue and prohibits vice. It is likewise "the embodiment of knowledge and truth" (2:20); it is "spiritual" (7:14); and it is full of righteous requirements (cf. 8:4). Paul is here asserting the excellence of its moral commandments. Back to text.

7:13 death to me?: The Torah is not a murderer of souls. Sin is the real cause of death (5:12), which used the Law like a sword to kill us for our trespasses. Back to text.

7:15-20 On his own, man is unable to rise above his fallen condition or to close the distance between what he ought to do and what he actually does. This leads to the overwhelming sense of helplessness that Paul verbalizes in these verses (CCC 2542). Back to text.

7:23 the law of sin: Traditionally called concupiscence, which is the inclination of fallen man to misuse his free will in sinful and selfish ways. It manifests itself as an unremitting desire for pleasure, power, and possessions. Even the baptized have to wrestle with this inner force, although Paul insists that the Spirit can give us victory over its unmanageable urges (8:2, 13). So concupiscence remains in the believer, but it need not rule us like a tyrant (6:12-14) (CCC 405, 1426, 2520). Back to text.

7:24 Who will deliver me . . . ?: The desperate cry of humanity apart from Christ. Back to text.

7:25 I serve . . . sin: Insinuates that believers will continue to struggle with sin throughout their lives. There is thus an ongoing need for confession (1 Jn 1:9) and forgiveness (Mt 6:12). Back to text.

8:1-11 Romans 8 unveils the solution to the problem laid out in Romans 7. It is a divine solution orchestrated by the Trinity: The Father sent the Son to redeem the world from sin (8:3) and sent the Spirit to raise the world from death to new life (8:9-13). Back to text.

8:2 law of the Spirit: The power of grace we receive to counteract the downward pull of concupiscence, which Paul calls the "law of sin" (7:23). It is also the positive force of divine love that the Spirit pours into our hearts (5:5) and enables us to fulfill the righteous law of God (8:4; 13:810). Paul mentions the Spirit 18 times in this chapter. • The prophet Ezekiel envisioned Yahweh pouring the Spirit into his people and making them walk in his ways (Ezek 36:27). • The Spirit frees us, not from the Law of Moses, but from the law of sin, and this by slaying sin and helping us in the daily struggle against it (St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Romans 13). Back to text.

8:3 the likeness of sinful flesh: Christ did not become a ' sinner when he became man, but he did assume our mortal condition (Jn 1:14). This enabled him to die and, by this means, to defeat death and the devil for ever (Heb 2:14). for sin: The Greek is identical to a shorthand expression used in the Greek version of Leviticus for a sacrificial sin-offering (Lev 4:24; 6:18; 14:19). If Paul had this in mind, as many hold, he is claiming that Jesus was sent by the Father to be an offering for sin. See note on 2 Cor 5:21. Back to text.

8:4 just requirement: Probably the moral precepts of the Mosaic Law (13:8-10). Elsewhere in Romans this Greek term has the sense of moral decrees or righteous conduct (1:32; 2:26; 5:18). Back to text.

8:5-8 A contrast between two mind-sets, one that is fleshly and centered on self (1:21) and another that is spiritual and focused on God (Col 3:1). Paul implies that the believer will not automatically follow the Spirit but must choose which road he wants to follow in light of their destinations (8:13). Back to text.

8:9 the Spirit of God . . . of Christ: The Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son in eternity as well as in history (Jn 14:26; 15:26). He is therefore identified with both of them (8:14-15; Gal 4:6). Back to text.

8:10 your bodies are dead: i.e., still subject to death and decay. Back to text.

8:11 your mortal bodies also: When God resurrects the bodies of the saints on the Last Day (8:23), he will complete the process of divine adoption that began in Baptism with the infusion of the Spirit into our souls (8:15; Gal 4:4-7; Tit 3:5-7). Back to text.

8:13 you will die: Spiritually, that is, since everyone dies physically regardless of how he lives. The warning is posted for believers, who are "in the Spirit" (8:9) but who can still submit to the flesh. Back to text.

8:14-25 Paul reflects on the sonship of believers in Christ. Though Christ is the eternal Son of God by nature, we share in his life and become adopted sons of God by grace. This takes effect through the Spirit, who is poured into our hearts (5:5) and shows us the way to the Father (8:15) (CCC 1996). • Paul's discussion of sonship and suffering has parallels with the Exodus story. The sonship of believers (8:15) recalls the sonship of Israel (9:4; Ex 4:22; Is 63:8). Calling God our Father (8:15) echoes the title first given to Yahweh at the end of the Exodus journey (Deut 32:6; Is 63:16). Being led by the Spirit out of slavery (8:14-15) calls to mind how Israel was led out of the bondage of Egypt by the pillar of fire (Ex 6:6; 13:21), which biblical tradition sees as an image of the Spirit (Is 63:10-14). Even the groan of the believer, still awaiting the fullness of redemption (8:23), reminds us of Israel groaning in bondage (Ex 2:23-24; 6:5) for the Lord's redemption (Ex 6:6; 15:13). For the Christian, the Exodus has begun but is still in progress, for he is delivered from slavery to sin (6:6-7, 17) but not yet from the slavery of corruption (8:19-23). For Paul's teaching that the Church relives the Exodus experience of Israel, see 1 Cor 10:1-11. Back to text.

8:15 sonship: Or, "adoption", as in 8:23. Our kinship with God by covenant adoption entitles us to an inheritance kept in heaven (8:17; 1 Pet 1:3-4). See word study: Adoption at Gal 4:5. Abba!: Aramaic for "Father!", an intimate term of address that Jesus uses in his own prayer life (Mk 14:36). The Spirit makes the prayer of Jesus the prayer of all God's children as they call to the Father for grace and help in times of need (Gal 4:6) (CCC 2779-82). Back to text.

8:17 fellow heirs with Christ: To suffer with Christ is to share in his inheritance, which Paul understands to be "all things" (8:32; Col 1:16; Heb 1:2). Back to text.

8:18-25 Paul contends, on the basis of cost-benefit analysis, that even our heaviest burdens of suffering are far outweighed by the glory that awaits us (2 Cor 4:17). Though the afflictions of our time on earth are inescapable, the Spirit helps to make them bearable (8:26). Suffering is all part of God's plan to mold us into the image of Christ (8:29). Back to text.

8:21 glorious liberty: God's children and God's creation share the same plight and so yearn for the same destiny of life without corruption (CCC 1042-47). Back to text.

8:22 groaning with labor pains: Paul hears creation crying out like a woman giving birth. The pangs of labor will not subside until the children of God are revealed and the whole material creation is renewed (8:21). See word study: Unite at Eph 1:10. • The earth groans under the curse of Gen 3:17. The passage shows that Adam's trespass had catastrophic consequences not only for himself but for the world in which he lived. Back to text.

8:23 the first fruits: An agricultural term for the initial produce reaped at the beginning of the harvest season. When Paul uses a commercial metaphor for this same idea, he describes the Spirit as a "guarantee" or down payment on the full inheritance we expect to receive in heaven (Eph 1:13-14) (CCC 735). Back to text.

8:24 hope: The earnest desire to share in the glory of God (5:2). Hidden from human eyes, this inheritance is visible only to faith (2 Cor 5:7) and is attained only by love (1 Cor 16:22). The point here is that hope helps us to endure the hardships of life (Rom 8:25) (CCC 1817-20). Back to text.

8:26 the Spirit helps us: When distress makes prayer difficult, the Spirit makes our groaning and sighing (8:23) an impassioned prayer to the Father (CCC 2729-31, 2739). Back to text.

8:27 intercedes for the saints: The same is said of the Son in 8:34. Both the Son and the Spirit request from the Father what we need, not necessarily what we want. The will of God for our life is the determining factor. Back to text.

8:29 predestined: Selected for divine adoption by an eternal decree of God (Eph 1:4). Predestination is a mystery revealed but not fully understood; what we know for certain is that God is free to act as he chooses (Ps 135:6) and man is free to accept or reject his blessings (Rom 2:6-8; Sir 15:11-13). No one is predestined by God for eternal damnation (CCC 1037). See note on Eph 1:5. the first-born: Jesus is the eldest brother in the family of faith. As adopted children, we look up to him as the perfect image of Sonship and the perfect example of filial obedience to the Father (Jn 15:10). See word study: First-born at Heb 1:6. Back to text.

8:32 did not spare: Paul takes this expression from the Greek version of Gen 22:12 to compare the Father's surrender of Christ with Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac. This memorable event, which took place in Moriah (Gen 22:2), prefigures the sacrifice of Jesus in Jerusalem, which is built in part on Mt. Moriah (2 Chron 3:1) (CCC 2572). Back to text.

8:35 Who shall separate . . .?: Paul denies suffering the power to cut us off from Christ. In his mind, only sin can pry us away from his grace (1 Cor 6:9-10; Gal 5:4). See note on 1 Jn 5:16-17. tribulation . . . or sword?: Afflictions commonly linked with the curses that God lets loose upon Israel when they abandon the covenant (Lev 26:21-26; Deut 28:48; Jer 29:18). This background sets the stage for 8:36. Back to text.

8:36 For your sake: A citation from Ps 44:22. • The Psalmist is puzzled that Yahweh permits the righteous of Israel to suffer the curses of exile along with the unrighteous. Covered with shame but convinced of his innocence, he pleads with God for deliverance. For Paul, this is the cry of the believer who lives faithfully in Christ but who bears with Christ the curses of suffering and death that weigh upon the world (Gen 3:17-19; Gal 3:13). As a result, we are not crushed by suffering; rather, we conquer through it in a redemptive way (Rom 8:37; Acts 14:22). Back to text.

8:38-39 A rundown of different forces and dimensions of creation: human existence (death/life), spirits (angels/principalities/powers), time (things present/things to come), and astronomical forces (height/depth). None of these potential threats is an actual threat to those enveloped in God's love. That principalities and powers are classes of angels, see Eph 3:10 and note on Eph 1:10. Back to text.

8:39 nor anything: Not a claim that salvation is absolutely assured for believers, but a claim that salvation cannot be threatened by any cosmic force outside of us. For Paul, the only real threat to salvation is our will, which is free to reject God's love and forfeit eternal life through sin (2:5-10; 6:16; 8:13; 11:2122). See note on Rom 8:35. Back to text.

9:1-11:36 The middle section of Romans turns from the salvation of the world in general (chaps. 1-8) to the salvation of Israel in particular (chaps. 9-11). Faced with a theological and pastoral conundrum, Paul takes the opportunity to explain how God's election of Israel in the past is perfectly consistent with Israel's widespread rejection of the gospel in the present. His discussion is difficult to follow because the argument winds through a dense forest of echoes, allusions, and citations from the OT. In general, Paul follows the story line of Israel's history set forth in the Bible: he starts with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (9:6-13), moves through the Exodus (9:14-18), looks at the Exile (9:25-29), draws on passages about the time of restoration (10:1-21), and ends with a vision of Jacob-Israel saved in the New Covenant (11:26-27). Nearly a third of all Paul's references to the Hebrew Scriptures in the entire collection of his writings are packed into these three chapters. Back to text.

9:1 I am not lying: An adamant plea of innocence. It may suggest Paul was accused of indifference toward Israel. He uses the same expression to clear away suspicions and rumors in 2 Cor 11:31 and Gal 1:20. Back to text.

9:3 accursed and cut off: Paul almost wishes he could be set apart for destruction and severed from Christ if it would bring Israel salvation. See word study: Accursed at Gal 1:8. • Moses voiced a similar sentiment at a similar time of national apostasy (Ex 32:32), when nearly all Israel fell from grace at the golden calf rebellion (Ex 32:1-6). Back to text.

9:4-5 An inventory of Israel's covenant blessings. These are tokens of God's irrevocable commitment to the people of Israel (11:29) that gave them an "advantage" over other nations (3:12), drawing them closer to God, ordering their worship, and showing them the way of righteousness. Their crowning gift is the Messiah, who came many centuries after the initial endowments had been given through Moses and the patriarchs. Back to text.

9:5 Christ, who is God: The punctuation of this verse is debated. When a comma is placed between "Christ" and "God", the two are identified and the divinity of Jesus is asserted. When a period is used instead, the two are distinguished and God the Father is extolled by the final blessing. Both renderings are consistent with Pauline theology. Back to text.

9:6 not all . . . belong to Israel: The thesis statement of Rom 9-11, that elect Israel, as a remnant chosen by grace, has always been a subset of ethnic Israel (11:6-7). Back to text.

9:7-13 Paul shows that a pattern of divine selection and L exclusion was already at work before the founding of Israel as a nation. • From Gen 21:12 and 18:10 he shows that God made a distinction between the biological sons of Abraham, choosing Isaac over Ishmael to be the channel of his covenant blessings (9:7, 9). Then from Gen 25:23 and Mal 1:2-3 he shows that God made a distinction between the biological sons of Isaac, choosing Jacob over Esau to be a channel of covenant blessings (Rom 9:12-13). The point is that natural and biological descent from the patriarchs is not a guarantee of divine blessing, because everything depends on the grace of God's call (9:11; Lk 3:8; Jn 8:33-39). Back to text.

9:8 children of the flesh . . . the promise: The distinction applies to the sons of Abraham and Isaac. Ishmael and Esau are sons by the flesh but excluded from the covenant plan of God, while Isaac and Jacob are sons called by the Lord to carry his promises forward. Back to text.

9:11 his call: Or, "the One who calls". That God advances his plan of election through his call is a theme that was introduced in the Genesis quote in 9:7 ("named" is literally "called") and runs throughout the chapter (9:24-26). Back to text.

9:13 Esau I hated: A Semitic expression that means God loved Esau less than Jacob. It neither asserts nor implies that God predestined him for punishment or damnation. Back to text.

9:14-18 Paul denies that divine election amounts to divine injustice. • From Ex 33:19 he shows that God's justice is matched by an abundance of mercy (Rom 9:15), as seen when he robed the children of Israel in mercy right after they abandoned him for the golden calf (Ex 32:1-6). From Ex 9:16 he shows that the hardness of Pharaoh during the Exodus was part of his plan to reveal his power to the world (Rom 9:17). In effect, Paul is defending God's freedom to be patient and merciful toward sinners, not his freedom to punish sinners. Back to text.

9:18 he has mercy . . . he hardens: The pattern of God's dealings with Israel (9:15) and Pharaoh (9:17) during the Exodus is a pattern repeated in Paul's day, when a remnant of Israel is shown mercy (9:23-24) and the rest remains hardened (11:7, 25). Divine hardening does not cause a person to sin but is a disciplinary measure for those like Pharaoh who are already stubbornly resisting God (Ex 7:14; 8:15). Back to text.

9:21 the potter: Illustrates the sovereign freedom of God. • Paul is alluding to Is 29:16, although the same imagery is used elsewhere in the OT (Sir 33:13; Is 45:9; Jer 18:1-11). In Isaiah, Israel is the earthenware vessel that complains to the Lord and dares to question the wisdom of his ways. Rebuked for this audacity, it is reminded that God is the Maker of all things and stands accountable to no one. Back to text.

9:22 made for destruction: The Greek can mean that the vessels of wrath have prepared themselves for doom by rejecting the gospel. Paul is not saying that God has predestined the unbelievers of Israel for damnation; otherwise he would not be praying (10:1) and working (11:14) for their salvation (CCC 1037). Back to text.

9:25-29 Citations from Hosea and Isaiah support the assertion in 9:24 that Gentiles and a remnant of Jews constitute the "vessels of mercy" (9:23). • Hosea foretells the restoration of Israel to full covenant sonship after centuries of exile have dissolved the northern tribes into the nations and reduced them to the status of Gentiles (Hos 2:23 in 9:25 and Hos 1:10 in 9:26). Isaiah depicts Yahweh saving a remnant of Israel even as he punishes the rest of the nation for their transgressions. In context, the Isaian passages speak of a remnant saved from the northern and southern tribes of Israel respectively (Is 10:22 in 9:27-28 and Is 1:9 in 9:29). See word study: Remnant at Rom 11:5. Back to text.

9:32 through faith: The hardened part of Israel (11:7) pursues, not the wrong object (righteousness), but the right object in the wrong way (by works/without faith). The Law was intended to lead them to their Messiah (10:4). Back to text.

9:33 Behold, I am laying: A quotation from Is 28:16 with an excerpt from Is 8:14 spliced into the middle. • The passages are linked together by the common image of a stone, which is symbolic for the royal Messiah in Jewish tradition (Targum Isaiah). Stumbling over the stone dramatizes the folly of unbelief (11:20; 1 Cor 1:23). Paul believes that many in Israel have tripped but have not completely fallen (11:11). He is hopeful that some will regain their balance and come to faith in Jesus (11:23). Back to text.

10:1-4 Instead of condemning and abandoning his kinsmen, Paul is pained at the unbelief of Israel (9:2) and prays intensely for its salvation. A former Pharisee, he is well acquainted with unenlightened zeal for the ancestral traditions of Judaism (Gal 1:14; Phil 3:6) (CCC 579). Back to text.

10:3 righteousness: A distinction is made between righteousness that comes from the Mosaic Law (Deut 6:25) and righteousness that comes from the Messiah (Rom 5:17; Phil 3:9). The former is real but radically deficient; the latter alone gives us entrance into the messianic kingdom (Mt 5:20). Back to text.

10:4 the end: The Greek can mean "termination" or "goal". The latter sense is more probable, for Jesus came to fulfill the Law rather than to abolish it (Mt 5:17) (CCC 1953). • Christ is the end that completes, not the end that destroys, for the details of the Law were shadows that prefigured his coming (St. Augustine, Against the Adversary of the Law and the Prophets 2, 26-27). Back to text.

10:5 shall live by it: An excerpt from Lev 18:5. • Israel is urged to follow the Torah and shun the ways of the Egyptians and the Canaanites. Adherence to the Law would have brought life, but Israel needed to learn that obedience was humanly impossible without the grace and help of God that come through faith. See note on Rom 5:20. Back to text.

10:6-8 An interpretive paraphrase of Deut 30:12-14. • Moses contends that Israel could not escape responsibility for obeying the word of God, as though the Torah were somewhere beyond its reach. In the spirit of Moses, Paul insists that Israel cannot escape responsibility for obeying the word of the gospel, as though it were forced to look high and low for Christ. On the contrary, Israel cannot plead ignorance because the gospel has come to its doorstep through the Scriptures and the missionary efforts of the Church (10:17-19). Back to text.

10:10 his heart . . . his lips: Paul connects these with the inward conviction (heart) and outward confession (lips) of faith in Jesus. The images are drawn from the Deuteronomy quote in 10:8. Back to text.

10:11 No one who believes: A reference to Is 28:16, already quoted in Rom 9:33. Back to text.

10:12 no distinction: All nations are saved together in Christ just as all nations sinned together before his coming (3:9, 2223). Back to text.

10:13 every one who calls: A quotation from Joel 2:32. • The prophet envisions a time of judgment and salvation in the messianic age, with the Spirit pouring down on all flesh and a remnant of Israel being saved. This text was the springboard of Peter's inaugural sermon in Acts, where calling on "the name" of the Lord was linked with Baptism (Acts 2:21, 38) (CCC 432, 449, 2666). See note on Acts 2:17-21. Back to text.

10:14-17 Paul stresses the need to spread the gospel. Unless missionaries are sent and Christ is proclaimed, the world cannot call upon its Savior (CCC 875). • Paul twice excerpts from Isaiah, who foresees both the evangelization of Israel (10:15; Is 52:7) and its tragic rejection of a suffering Messiah (10:16; Is 53:1) (CCC 601). Aware that some in Israel have accepted the message, Paul is careful to say that not all have embraced the gospel (10:16). Back to text.

10:18 Their voice: A quotation from Ps 19:4. • The Psalmist describes how the heavens proclaim the glory of God throughout the world. Paul borrows this image to explain how the gospel has sounded across the earth, telling the dispersed of Israel that the Messiah has come (Col 1:5-6). Back to text.

10:19 I will make you jealous: A quotation from Deut 32:21. • Deuteronomy 32 is a prophetic song that foresees the rebellion and restoration of Israel long after the Exodus. This will involve the salvation of a foolish nation (Gentiles), an event that will anger some in Israel but will make others jealous of their blessings, stirring them to emulate their faith (11:11, 14). Back to text.

Word Study

Remnant (Rom 11:5)

Leimma (Gk.): a "portion" or "remainder". The biblical concept of a "remnant" refers to the survivors of God's people who escape conquest, catastrophe, and divine chastisement. The Greek OT uses similar terms in contexts where God's judgment on his people stops short of total annihilation. Thus Noah's family was the surviving remnant after the flood (Sir 44:17), and Jacob and his sons were the few who escaped a severe famine (Gen 45:7). When the kingdom of Israel was divided, the remnant came to mean, first, the remainder of the northern Israelites who were spared from Assyrian destruction in 722 B.C. (Is 10:20-22; Jer 31:7; Amos 3:12). It was later applied to the survivors of the Southern Kingdom of Judah who escaped death during the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. (Ezra 9:8; Jer 40:11; Hag 1:12). Several prophets looked forward to God restoring the remnant of Israel and Judah who were scattered across the world, reuniting them as his people (Is 11:11; Jer 50:20; Zech 8:12-13).

10:20-21 A final demonstration that unbelieving Israel is guilty of willful defiance. • Paul examines two sequential verses from Isaiah, applying the first to the Gentiles (10:20; Is 65:1) and the second to wayward Israel (10:21; Is 65:2). The contrast is stark: the nations are responding enthusiastically to the gospel without having sought it, whereas Israel remains unresponsive despite the Lord's persistent pleas for faith. Back to text.

11:1 rejected his people?: A question emphatically denied. For Paul, the faithlessness of Israel does not cancel the faithfulness of God, who refuses to abandon his people (1 Sam 12:22; Ps 94:14). Paul is living proof of this as an Israelite who has experienced the grace and mercy of Christ. Back to text.

11:2-4 Scripture shows that God preserves a remnant of Israel even when most of the nation goes astray. • This was the case in Elijah's day, when nearly all of the Northern Kingdom of Israel abandoned Yahweh for the idolatrous cult of Baal (1 Kings 16:30-32). The prophet despaired that he alone was left, but the Lord had preserved a remnant of believers 7,000 strong that escaped his notice. Back to text.

11:8-10 Paul summons the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms to witness against hardened Israel. • Moses describes how Yahweh withheld the gifts of spiritual understanding (eyes and ears) from the wilderness generation of Israel because of its faithlessness, thanklessness, and idolatry (11:8; Deut 29:4). The same scenario was repeated in Isaiah's day when the Lord disciplined Israel with a spirit of stupor, making it numb and unresponsive to his warnings and causing it to stagger around in spiritual darkness (11:8; Is 29:10). David invoked such a curse on his enemies in Israel for their injustices (11:9; Ps 69:22-23). Back to text.

11:11 to make Israel jealous: The stumbling of Israel is temporary for itself and beneficial for the Gentiles. Until Israel regains its footing, a window has been opened for gathering other peoples and nations into the Church (11:17-24). Back to text.

11:13 to you Gentiles: Paul addresses his Gentile readers directly, cautioning them against pride. Some Gentile converts looked disdainfully upon Israel, as though they had replaced the covenant people in the messianic age. Paul not only rejects this (11:1); he warns that Gentiles, too, can be rejected as easily as they have been accepted. They should rather marvel that God has given them a share in Israel's spiritual blessings (15:27). Pagan anti-Semitism was pervasive in Roman antiquity. Back to text.

11:14 my fellow Jews: Literally, "my flesh". Paul is thinking of Israelites related to him by race (9:3-4). Back to text.

11:15 life from the dead?: Like the OT prophets, Paul envisions the spiritual recovery of Israel as a national resurrection (Is 26:19; Ezek 37:1-12; Hos 6:2). Back to text.

11:16 first fruits: The initial meal offering made to the Lord from each year's grain harvest (Num 15:17-21). the root: Anticipates the olive tree metaphor that follows in 11:17-24. The first fruits and the root probably symbolize the patriarchs, who are the founding ancestors of Israel (9:5) and for whose sake Israel is a people beloved by God (11:28). Others interpret the images as references to Christ (15:12; 1 Cor 15:23) or to Jewish Christians (Rom 16:5; 1 Cor 16:15). Back to text.

11:17-24 Paul pictures the messianic people as an olive tree that is partly natural (believing Israel), partly engrafted (believing Gentiles), and partly dismembered (unbelieving Israel). The horticultural procedure of grafting wild shoots onto a cultivated trunk was meant to reinvigorate an old, exhausted tree that was yielding less and less fruit each season. The analogy shows that Israel is not being demoted from its favored-nation status so much as the Gentiles are being promoted to share in its blessings (15:27). • The picture of Israel as an olive tree comes from Jer 11:16-17. Back to text.

11:20 because of their unbelief: Just as Gentiles are grafted into the covenant through faith, so fallen-away Israelites will be regrafted onto the tree through belief in Jesus Christ. Back to text.

11:22 the kindness and the severity of God: God's justice and mercy are held in delicate balance: he neither withholds forgiveness from the contrite heart nor overlooks the hardness of an impenitent heart. Back to text.

11:25 mystery: The plan of worldwide salvation hidden in the Scriptures (16:25-26) but now made known through the Spirit (Eph 3:4-6). part of Israel: Those in Israel who are unresponsive to the gospel (11:7). Only some in Israel are hardened in this way, since a remnant of ethnic Israelites has come to believe in Jesus as the Messiah (11:5). Paul himself is among this believing remnant (11:1). the full number of the Gentiles: The many people and nations of the world who will come to faith in Christ. Paul played a monumental role in launching the Church's pursuit of this missionary goal (1:5; 11:13). It is not specified when the conversion of the Gentiles will reach the point of fullness determined by God (CCC 674). Back to text.

11:26 and so: The Greek can mean "and in this way" (modal) or "and then" (temporal). all Israel: The entire tribal family of Israel. The point is not that every individual Israelite will be saved, but that a collective group representing all twelve tribes will be saved (Rev 7:1-8). See essay: The Salvation of All Israel at Rom 12. it is written: Paul combines citations from Is 59:20--21 and Is 27:9. • Isaiah envisions the restoration of Jacob-Israel from exile and sin. Yahweh's new covenant will bring his people a new abundance of mercy and forgiveness (11:27; Jer 31:31-34). The expression from Zion is worded differently in Is 59:20 ("to Zion") and may be taken from Is 2:3, which foresees the word of the Lord going out to the nations from Jerusalem (15:19; Lk 24:47). Back to text.

11:28 enemies: Temporarily, until their salvation (11:26). beloved: God will never revoke his promises to Israel on account of the patriarchs (9:5) but loves his people with an "everlasting love" (Jer 31:3). Back to text.

11:32 all men to disobedience: God allows all to sin that all might taste salvation (3:9, 23). His saving plan moves forward despite man's rebellion. Back to text.

11:33-36 Paul's concluding doxology extols the infinite wisdom of God. Overwhelmed and amazed, he gasps at the unsearchable and inscrutable plan of God to save the world in Christ. • Citations from Is 40:13 (in 11:34) and Job 41:11 (in 11:35) portray God's designs as beyond our comprehension and his greatness as independent of any need or earthly gift. Back to text.

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