St Paul’s Epistles to the Romans and the Galatians

GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO THE EPISTLES OF ST PAUL

INTRODUCTION TO THE EPISTLES TO THE ROMANS AND THE
GALATIANS
THE EPISTLE OF ST PAUL TO THE ROMANS
THE EPISTLES OF ST PAUL TO THE GALATIANS
FOOTNOTES

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 Introduction to the Epistles of St Paul
THE LIFE OF ST PAUL
THE LIFE OF ST PAUL
SOURCES
HIS YOUTH AND UPBRINGING AS A HELLENISTIC JEW
HIS CONVERSION AND EARLY YEARS AS A CHRISTIAN
THE GREAT MISSIONARY JOURNEYS
FIRST IMPRISONMENT
THE LAST PERIOD OF HIS LIFE
ESTABLISHING DATES IN ST PAUL’S LIFE
THE EPISTLES OF ST PAUL
THE LETTERS TO THE THESSALONIANS
THE “GREAT EPISTLES”
THE CAPTIVITY EPISTLES
THE PASTORAL EPISTLES
EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS
INTRODUCTION TO THE “THEOLOGY” OF ST PAUL
HUMAN LIFE WITHOUT CHRIST
SALVATION IN CHRIST
THE CONVERSION OF MAN
CHRISTIAN LIFE IN CHRIST
THE CHURCH

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SOURCES
We know more about St Paul’s life than about that of any other Apostle —
even St Peter or St John — thanks to the information to be found in his Epistles
and in St Luke’s Acts of the Apostles; yet it is not possible to construct a
complete biography of Paul from these sources, for the simple reason that they
were not written with a biographical or autobiographical purpose in mind.
However, by using the Epistles and Acts we can identify the main features of
his personality — which comes across very directly in the Epistles — and the
general outline of his life (with some gaps) from his youth up to the time he was
martyred.

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HIS YOUTH AND UPBRINGING AS A HELLENISTIC JEW
He was born in Tarsus (cf. Acts 2 1:39; 22:3), the capital of Cilicia, a busy
commercial city and a cultural centre of some prominence. He was brought up
there and returned to the city a number of times even after his conversion to
Christianity (cf. Acts 9:30; 11:25; Gal 1:21). He belonged to the tribe of
Benjamin and was a zealous Pharisee (cf. Phil 3:5; Acts 23:6). In his letters he
calls himself Paul (Paulos), but prior to his conversion he seems to have
preferred to be known as Saul (Shaul): it was quite common for Jews living in
Roman territories to use two names — Latin or Greek, and Hebrew. In Acts he
calls himself Saul up to Acts 13:9; and from then on, Paul. His early education
in Tarsus was along traditional lines, typical of a Jewish boy living in a Greek-
speaking province of the Empire. His letters show him to be utterly at home in
the Greek koiné, the oral and written lingua franca: he has a great mastery of
this language but does not use academic turns of phrase. As a young man he
seems to have been keen on athletics, as suggested by his use of the language
of the Games to illustrate his spiritual teaching. 1 He also acquired a broad
general culture — literary (cf. Acts 17:28) and philosophical 2 — as also
familiarity with the main religions of the pagan world; 3 but places and scenery
and monuments do not seem to have interested him, despite the fact that he
was much travelled.
In addition to this Hellenistic and humanistic training, he also received a
specifically Jewish education, going to Jerusalem when still very young,
probably to be trained as a rabbi; he attended the school of Gamaliel (cf. Acts
22:3), one of the most prominent rabbis of the time and an enthusiastic
Pharisee (cf. Gal 1:14). He probably began to study Hebrew, the religious
language of the Jews, while still in Tarsus, and became steeped in that
language during his period in Jerusalem, as well as mastering the Aramaic
dialect of Palestine (cf. Acts 21:40; 22:2). In line with rabbinical custom, St Paul
learned and worked at a trade: he became a tentmaker 4 (skenopoiós) — a
term which can also cover subordinate jobs, such as harness-making and
canvas-making.
During his rabbinical studies in Jerusalem, probably shortly after the death
of our Lord, we find him a committed persecutor of Christians (cf. Acts 7:58;
8:1; 9:1; 22:20) and the initiator of the spread of that persecution to the Jewish
quarter of Damascus. 5

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HIS CONVERSION AND EARLY YEARS AS A CHRISTIAN
However, as he was approaching that city, armed with the High Priest’s
authority to arrest Christians, the risen Lord appeared to him; this vision, and
the influence of grace, brought about Saul’s conversion; there and then he
realized that he had been completely in the wrong (cf. Acts 9:1-9; 22:5-11; 26:9-
18). This instantaneous conversion (cf. Phil 3:12), which the Apostle later
described as radically changing his life (cf. 1 Tim 1:13), was caused by his
being directly called by Jesus; Paul was taken completely by surprise and was
always convinced that this calling came from God. 6
Immediately after this experience on the road, Saul was brought to
Damascus, where he was spoken to by Ananias, who had received a vision
telling him of Saul’s vocation (cf. Acts 9:10-19). Saul recovered his sight (he
had been blinded by the vision) and was baptized (cf. Acts 9:18-19), and he
immediately set about preaching God’s mercy and bearing witness that Jesus,
who had truly appeared to him on the road to Damascus, was the Messiah and
Son of God (cf. Acts 9:20-22; Gal 1:15-17). A short time after this, Saul
withdrew to Arabia (most likely the south-west of present-day Syria) and later
returned to Damascus (cf. Gal 1:15-17), where he received further instruction in
the Christian faith and again bore witness to the risen Christ. As a result, the
Jews began to persecute him until he eventually had to go into hiding and
escape from the city by night, the disciples letting him down in a basket from a
window in the walls (cf. Acts 9:23-25).
He then made his way to Jerusalem, where, thanks to the good offices of
St Peter and St Barnabas, he was welcomed by the Christian community, who
at first were suspicious of their former persecutor (cf. Gal 1:18; Acts I 19:26-28).
Disputes with Jews once again put his life at risk (cf. Acts 9:29) and his new
Christian brethren brought him to Caesarea, where he took ship for his native
Tarsus (cf. Acts 9:30). From there he went on to other cities in Cilicia and Syria
where he spent four or five years, bearing witness to his Christian faith (cf. Gal
1:21-24) and encouraged all the time by Barnabas (Acts 11:25-26). This period
ended with a further visit by Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem to bring the
Christians of Judea monies collected to relieve their needs (cf. Acts 11:27-30).

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THE GREAT MISSIONARY JOURNEYS
St Luke provides us (in Acts 13:1 - 21:16) with the broad outline of the
years which follow, years of intense missionary work. St Paul’s apostolic base
was Antioch in Syria; he started out from there and gravitated back there,
except after his third and last journey, when he headed for Jerusalem. The last
main stage in his life begins in Jerusalem.
First journey The basic information about this journey is contained in Acts
13:1 - 14:28. By direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Barnabas and Paul set out
to spread the Gospel (cf. Acts 13:1-4), accompanied by John Mark, then a
young man. They preached in a number of cities in Cyprus (cf. Acts 13:4-12)
and then went back to the mainland to visit Pamphylia, Pisidia and Lycaonia (in
the south-west of present-day Turkey); there also they preached in quite a
number of towns and in most cases eventually met with violent opposition from
Jews settled there. In Lystra, after rejecting divine honours, Paul was stoned at
the instigation of Jews who had come from Iconium and Antioch of Pisidia
(where Paul had given a very memorable speech to Jews and converts to
Judaism; cf. Acts 13:16-43). They then made their way back to Syrian Antioch,
and there we witness the first clash with Judaizing Christians, who had come
from Jerusalem and were insisting that Christians of pagan background
observe the Mosaic Law (cf. Acts 15:1-2).
The Antiochene Christians decided to send Paul and Barnabas to
Jerusalem, to consult with the Apostles on the matter (cf. Acts 15:2-3). These,
in what is known as the Council of Jerusalem, determined that Christians were
under no obligation whatever to observe the ritual, disciplinary and other
precepts of the Mosaic Law (cf. Acts 15:4-29).
Second journey Our basic source of information about this journey is Acts
15:36 - 18:22. Paul and Barnabas decided to leave Antioch to visit the churches
founded during their first missionary journey (cf. Acts 15:36), but they fell out
over whether to keep Mark with them (cf. Acts 15:37-39). Barnabas, with Mark,
went off to Cyprus (cf. Acts 15:39), while Paul, with Silas as his assistant,
toured the churches of Syria and Cilicia (cf. Acts 15:40-41). In Lystra they were
joined by Timothy (cf. Acts 16:1-3). They then went on into Phrygia and Galatia,
where they founded new Christian communities (cf. Acts 16:4-8). In Troas Paul
had the vision of the Macedonian in a dream (cf. Acts 16:9-10) and as a result
crossed over into Europe, where the first cities he visited were Neapolis and
Philippi (cf. Acts 16:11-15). At Philippi Paul and Silas were beaten with rods and
imprisoned (cf. Acts 16:16-24) but were then set free through a miracle (cf. Acts
16:25-40). They moved on to Thessalonica (cf. Acts 17:1-9) and Beroea (cf.
Acts 17:10-14). Silas and Timothy stayed on in Beroea (cf. Acts 17:14), while

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Paul, in the company of some recent converts, went on to Athens (cf. Acts
17:15), where he preached to Jews in the synagogue and to pagans in the
Areopagus (cf. Acts 17:16-33). He then moved to Corinth (cf. Acts 18:1), where
he founded a church and spent a year and a half ministering to it, eventually
leaving because of opposition from certain Jews (cf. Acts 18:2-18). He set out
for Antioch, accompanied as far as Ephesus by Aquila and Priscilla, a recently
converted married couple (cf. Acts 18:19-21). At Ephesus he embarked for
Caesarea in Palestine, “went up and greeted the church” (Acts 18:22) — which
must refer to Jerusalem — and then made his way back to Antioch.
Third journey Once again Acts (18:23 - 21:16) is our main source of
information but now, additionally, we can glean a good deal from Paul’s own
letters. After staying for a while in Antioch in Syria, the Apostle visited the
churches in Galatia and Phrygia, “strengthening all the disciples” (Acts 18:23).
He spent three years in Ephesus, during which time he laid the foundations of
that important local church (cf. Acts 19:1-20). From Ephesus the Gospel spread
to Colossae, Laodicea and Hierapolis (cf. Col 1:7; 2:1; 4:13-14), and Paul went
once to Corinth to see to the church there (cf. 2 Cor 12:14; 13:1-2). The riot of
the silversmiths caused him to leave Ephesus, and he then travelled again
through Macedonia and Achaia, accompanied by a number of disciples (cf. Acts
20:1-4).
Embarking at Philippi, he set out for Jerusalem, his last visit there as far
as we can tell. He stopped off in Troas, Mitylene and Samos, and in Miletus (cf.
Acts 20:5-15), where he called a meeting of the elders of Ephesus and gave
them one of his most memorable addresses (cf. Acts 20:17-38). He then went
by boat to Cos, Rhodes and Patara, and from there went directly to Tyre in
Phoenicia, coming in sight of Cyprus and leaving it on his left (cf. Acts 21:1-3).
He stayed in lyre to spend a few days with the disciples of that city, and they
gathered on the beach for prayer (cf. Acts 21:4-5). Once again he took ship,
called in at Ptolemais and finally reached Caesarea, where the disciples
pleaded with him not to go to Jerusalem, because of Agabus’ prophecy that
Paul would be imprisoned (cf. Acts 21:6-14); but the Apostle was determined to
go up to the Holy City, and some disciples went with him (cf. Acts 21:15-16).

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FIRST IMPRISONMENT
The brethren, the elders and St James gave Paul and his companions a
warm welcome. He told them all about the wonders God had been working
among the Gentiles, and about the many people who had joined the Church (cf.
Acts 2 1:17-26). Some Jews in the city then created an uproar over Paul and
would have lynched him had it not been for the intervention of the tribune and
his cohort; Paul was arrested, but the tribune gave him permission to address
the crowd (cf. Acts 2 1:27-40). Paul gave a very moving speech (cf. Acts 22:1-2
1), which was interrupted by shouting (cf. Acts 21:27-40). Unable to discover
what all the row was about, the tribune gave orders for Paul to be cross-
examined by scourging — a frightful Roman form of torture — to make him
confess; but Paul claimed his rights as a Roman citizen and the tribune
withdrew his order (cf. Acts 22:22-29). Once more the tribune tried to discover
the reason for the Jewish opposition to Paul by calling a meeting of the
Sanhedrin and having Paul appear before it; Paul managed himself very well,
but soon after this a plot was made to kill him, from which he was saved by
being sent under heavy guard to Caesarea (cf. Acts 22:30 - 23:32).
There Paul was examined by Antonius Felix, the governor, who kept him
confined for two years under military guard, and shortly after the arrival of a
new governor, Festus, Paul felt obliged to “appeal to Caesar” in order to avoid
being handed over to the Jewish authorities (cf. Acts 23:33 - 25:11). The result
was that he was sent to Rome by sea, in the custody of a centurion (cf. Acts
25:12 - 27:2).
St Luke gives a detailed account of events of this voyage — storm,
shipwreck, and refuge on Malta — and of the rest of the journey to Rome (cf.
Acts 27:3 -28:15). Once Paul reached Rome he was placed under the
supervision of a soldier in a type of house-arrest (cf. Acts 28:16) which allowed
him to receive visitors without restriction (cf. Acts 28:17-28). He spent two years
in this situation, preaching the Gospel unhindered to those who came to see
him (cf. Acts 28:30-31). At this point the narrative of Acts comes to an end.
After these two years, the charges against Paul must have been dropped due
to his accusers failing to appear or to present a written indictment; so that
around the spring of 63 he was set free.

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THE LAST PERIOD OF HIS LIFE
The Acts of the Apostles do not cover the period after Paul’s first
imprisonment in Rome, so the only information we have has to be gleaned from
the Apostle’s own personal letters (1 and 2 Timothy, and Titus) and Certain
references Contained in the traditions preserved in Christian writings (Pope St
Clement’s first epistle, dating from the end of the first century) and the
Muratorian Canon (c. 180).
It is probable that very soon after being set free Paul went ahead with his
long-cherished plan of preaching the Gospel in Spain (cf. Rom 15:24, 28), as
this seems to be confirmed by 1 Clem 5:7, the Muratorian Canon, lines 38-39,
and certain local traditions, such as that of Tarragona. This would have been a
short visit, lasting no more than a year (around 63-64), with him then going
back to Asia Minor. It is not possible to reconstruct these journeys. The only
thing we know is that he did return to Ephesus and from there went into
Macedonia. He also visited Crete (cf. Tit 1:5), Corinth and Miletus (cf. 2 Tim
4:19-20).
It is possible that he was arrested in Troas (cf. 2 Tim 4:13) and underwent
trial at Ephesus (cf. 2 Tim 4:14-18). Around the autumn of 66 he was once
again a prisoner in Rome (cf. 2 Tim 4:9-2 1), from where he did what he could
for the churches (cf. 2 Tim 4:11). He was not to be set free again, but suffered
martyrdom; the tradition is that he was beheaded near Tre Fontane, in Aquae
Salviae, almost certainly in the year 67.

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ESTABLISHING DATES IN ST PAUL’S LIFE
We do know a number of exact or very close dates: St Luke is very helpful
in this regard, and certain episodes in Paul’s life can be connected up with data
available from secular history; there is also the information which can be
extracted from Paul’s own letters. All these sources allow us to establish fairly
accurate dates for other less well-dated events — with a margin for error of not
more than five years. This allows us to suggest the following chronological table
(a hyphen between two dates means the event falls somewhere between the
two; an oblique line indicates that one or other year applies, depending on the
dating system used).
A.D. Event or activity
7-12 Born in Tarsus, Cicilia.
Later than 30 In Jerusalem doing rabbinical studies.
Is called to the Christian faith. Stays in
34/36 Damascus and then withdraws to the
desert of Arabia.
37/39 First visit to the Apostles in Jerusalem.
43-44 In Tarsus.
44/45 In Antioch, Syria.
Spring 45 - Spring 49 First missionary journey.
Council of Jerusalem. The incident at
49-50
Antioch.
End of 49 or beginning of
Second missionary journey.
50, until the autumn of 52
50-52 I and 2 Thessalonians (Corinth).
Spring 53 - spring 58 Third missionary journey.
Autumn 54 - spring 57 In Ephesus.
54 Epistle to the Galatians (Ephesus?).
Spring 57 1 Corinthians (Ephesus).
57 Visits Corinth.
Summer 57 Travels to Macedonia.
Autumn 57 2 Corinthians (Macedonia).
Spring 57-58 Corinth. Epistle to the Romans (Corinth).
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Easter 58 In Philippi.
Pentecost 58 Arrested in Jerusalem.
58-60 Imprisoned in Caesarea.
Autumn 60 - spring 61 Travels by sea to Rome.
Spring 61 - spring 63 First Roman imprisonment.
Epistle to the Philippians (Rome)
62/54-57
(Ephesus?).
Epistles to Philemon and to the Colossians
62
(Rome).
End of 62 or early 63 Epistle to the Ephesians (Rome).
63-64 Travels to Spain (?).
Travels to Asia Minor, Crete and
64-67
Macedonia.
65 1 Timothy. Epistle to Titus (Macedonia).
64-66 Epistle to the Hebrews (Rome?, Athens?).
66-67 2 Timothy (Rome).
Second Roman imprisonment and death by
66-67
martyrdom.

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 THE EPISTLES OF ST PAUL
From the very beginning Christian tradition has recognized St Paul as the
author of fourteen of the twenty-one epistles in the New Testament. This makes
him the most prolific New Testament writer, in terms of number of items,
although St John has the greatest range of type of writing (Gospel, Book of
Revelation and three Epistles), and St Luke, with just two books, his Gospel
and Acts, is first in terms of length.
In the classical world letters took two forms — ordinary “letters” as such,
dealing with family, commercial, administrative and other such matters; and
“epistles” properly so called, a type of treatise or essay on some particular
subject, addressed to some important personage, or some friend or relative. St
Paul’s writings are both epistle and letter: they are letters, because they retain a
familiar tone, with personal greetings, recommendations of people, etc; and
epistles, in that they contain teachings, in a more or less elaborate form. In any
event they are inspired writings, a source of Christian revelation, of permanent
relevance to the Church even though they often deal with matters arising in the
day-to-day affairs of the infant churches.
The order in which St Paul’s epistles are given in most Bibles is quite
artificial. Usually the letters addressed to the various communities are given first
and then those to particular individuals. Within these groups the order tends to
follow the length of the document and the frequency of its use in Christian
writings, with the exception of the Epistle to the Hebrews, which is usually put at
the very end. In other words, the epistles are not arranged in chronological
order; but we will discuss them in that order here, in order to give a better idea
of the way the Apostle’s teaching developed.

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THE LETTERS TO THE THESSALONIANS
All scholars, ancient and modem, are agreed that St Paul’s first two letters
were I and 2 Thessalonians, written in Corinth in the years 50-52. It has been
suggested that possibly, but less probably, the Epistle to the Galatians was
written before these, in which case it should be dated around 49. The two
Letters to the Thessalonians contain St Paul’s teaching on certain matters
raised by the Christians of Thessalonica, who would have been converted to
Christianity only some months earlier, during the first phase of Paul’s second
missionary journey. These matters all have to do with the parousia, or second
coming of Christ, and the resurrection of the dead: the neophytes of
Thessalonica were none too clear on these subjects, which caused them
considerable worry. The Apostle does not know when these events will take
place, because this has not been revealed (cf. Acts 1:6-8; Mt 24:36; Mk 13:32),
and stresses the need to be spiritually vigilant, as our Lord teaches, 7 so that
we be always found ready whenever he does come. A particular difficulty
concerns the “man of lawless ness” (2 Thess 2:3-12), the “Antichrist”; again,
nothing definite is known about when he will appear. The Thessalonians should
not be worried about these matters, nor be wasting their time trying to work out
when they will come to pass; what they should be doing is living holy lives and
taking their everyday work seriously; he even says, “If any one will not work, let
him not eat” (2 Thess 3:10).
The Epistles to the Thessalonians, written some twenty years after the
death of our Lord, are almost certainly the two oldest writings in the New
Testament (which contains St Matthew’s Gospel only in its later, Greek,
redaction); not only do they contain perennial teaching: they tell us about the
hearts and minds of those recently converted first Christians and about their
community, which was one of the very first churches founded by St Paul on the
continent of Europe.

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THE “GREAT EPISTLES”
This is the general description given to Galatians, 1 and 2 Corinthians,
and Romans, all written during the third missionary journey (spring 53 to spring
58). No one now disputes their Pauline authorship. It is quite clear that they are
fully consistent with one another as regards doctrine, style and outlook, and are
stamped with St Paul’s strong personality.
Galatians This is usually dated 54 or 55, during the-Apostle’s long sojourn
in Ephesus. As we have already said, a few scholars do not reject the
possibility of his having written this letter in Antioch in Syria, in the year 49,
shortly before the apostolic Council of Jerusalem. It has also been suggested
that it may have been written as late as 57, on the grounds that the teaching it
contains is similar to that of Romans and that it may even have been a first draft
of Romans.
The main theme of the letter has to do with Christians’ freedom as regards
the observance of the complex prescriptions of the Mosaic Law and the
elaborations of the same in the traditions of the scribes. It all has to do with the
dispute with some Christians of Jewish background who regarded these
observances as necessary for salvation and who were pressurizing the faithful
of Galatia to adhere to this interpretation. St Paul makes it absolutely clear that
Christians are completely free to do whatever they want in this regard; in fact,
five years earlier, at the Council of Jerusalem, he had brought the matter up
and obtained a definitive ruling on it. This dispute with “Judaizers” gives the
Apostle an opportunity to expound the redemptive value of Christ’s Passion:
Christians are inserted into Christ’s salvific action through faith and Baptism,
with absolute independence of the Old Law, which has been superseded in this
new stage of salvation.
Corinthians St Paul wrote his first epistle to the Corinthians in Ephesus in
the spring of 57. The riot of the silversmiths forced him to leave the city in a
hurry, and from Macedonia, in the autumn of the same year, he wrote the
second letter to the Corinthians. At that time, Corinth, located on the isthmus of
the same name, with two ports, one on the Aegean and the other on the lonian
Sea, was one of the foremost commercial cities in the Mediterranean,
frequented by trading ships of all nations. It had a very cosmopolitan
population, with religions of every sort, but was also notorious for its moral
decadence. One of its aberrations had to do with the worship of Aphrodite and
the thousand “priestesses” dedicated to the goddess, who practised so-called
“sacred prostitution”. This and the prevalence of other kinds of immorality must
have meant that the young church in Corinth had to operate in a difficult

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environment but divine Providence showered graces and charisms on that
cosmopolitan church.
The first epistle to the Corinthians is very important from an historical as well as
a doctrinal point of view. One of the first subjects the Apostle takes up is that of
the unity of the Church and of Christians; he does so in the context of certain
divisions which had arisen among those recent converts. He stresses the need
for all to be at one, the danger of letting oneself be led by merely human
preferences, and the obedience the Corinthians owe him as an Apostle and as
their father in faith. He speaks out against certain moral abuses tolerated by the
community — for example, a case of incest, where a man was continuing to live
with his step-mother (not so unusual in that society) — and he explains
marriage and virginity in passages which provide basic Christian principles on
these subjects (chap. 7). A delicate point at this time had to do with whether it
was lawful or not to eat-the meat of animals which had been sacrificed to idols,
which was sold in the market as a matter of course. St Paul recommends to the
Corinthians not to create problems of conscience for themselves, but to make
sure they did not cause scandal (chaps. 8-10). Important subjects dealt with in
the Epistle include the Eucharist — its institution at the Last Supper, the real
presence of Christ in the eucharistic species and rules concerning the
celebration of the Eucharist, as also the fraternal meal or agape which was held
along with it (chap. 11) — and the Resurrection of Christ and of the dead (chap.
15). In discussing these subjects the Apostle gives a series of guidelines about
how to discern and channel the many charisms with which the Holy Spirit — as
we have said — was endowing the church of Corinth.
In the second epistle, in the course of defending his own authority, Paul
delineates the main features of the office of apostle, to which Christ personally
called him, making him one of the Twelve. In these pages he pours out his
heart and shows his love for his children in the faith, his strength of spirit and
his sense of his own responsibility as an Apostle. As we have indicated in the
chronology of his life, it can be taken as certain that he wrote this letter in the
autumn of the year 57, from some city in Macedonia very soon (not much more
than a month) before he actually visited Corinth again, in the winter of 57 to 59.
Romans Both letters to the Corinthians proved very effective; the church
had become spiritually healthy and fervent. All the indications were that the
grace of the Spirit was also working well in the other local churches the Apostle
had founded. In view of this, Paul began to plan an apostolic journey to Spain,
combining this with an extended stay in Rome, where a considerable number of
Christians were now established. Prior to this, however, he wanted to go to
Jerusalem to bring the faithful of Palestine, who were in a very impoverished
state, the proceeds of a considerable collection made on their behalf; this

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palpable sign of the charity of brethren in other countries would be a
consolation to the mother church of Jerusalem. To prepare the ground for his
stay in Rome, Paul now wrote his great Epistle to the Romans, from Corinth, in
the early months of 58. This letter, Paul’s longest, has also been regarded as
his most important. In it he deals with key aspects of the teaching and
redemptive work of Christ, extending and deepening what he had said in
Galatians (which letter, as we have said, may be regarded as a first draft of
Romans).
The letter begins with a long greeting, full of theological interest, and then
proceeds to give a vision of unredeemed mankind, alienated and hostile to God
after the fall of Adam. It surveys the moral degeneration of the Gentiles and the
similar sins of the Jews, concluding that all men are in absolute need of
redemption by Christ, to obtain God’s forgiveness and grace. To understand this
epistle one needs to notice what it says about four key notions — sin, death,
the flesh and the Law. We will examine these in some detail in the section on
“The ‘Theology’ of St Paul” below. Man in his unredeemed state is subject to
these four forces and can be freed from them only by the Redemption wrought
by Christ Jesus: salvation comes only from Christ our Lord, and we appropriate
it by means of faith, which is a free gift from God and not the result of our own
efforts or “works”. Once we do open ourselves to faith, and through Baptism are
inserted into Christ, we can and should do good, that is, practise virtue, through
the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, completing the work of justification effected
by Christ, sanctifying us and making us adoptive sons and daughters of the
Father. And so we change from being enemies of God to being his friends; from
being in a state of unredemption we move into a state of grace, a new level of
creation, shot through with the hope of attaining the glory of the children of God.
In the second part of the epistle St Paul applies this teaching to the way in
which the person who has embraced faith in Christ should live his or her life: he
spells out what faith demands in terms of moral conduct, what “life in the Spirit”
entails, and he gives us practical advice on how to make one’s way in the world,
a world as yet unredeemed, which must be led to salvation.
The Epistle to the Romans marks the high point of God’s revelation given
us in the Apostle’s letters; in his other letters he develops certain aspects of the
theology already sketched out in Romans.

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THE CAPTIVITY EPISTLES
In the late spring of 58 Paul reached Jerusalem. During the feast of
Pentecost he was arrested as a result of the machinations of the Jewish
authorities. He was taken, under heavy armed guard to Caesarea, where he
later appeared before a Roman tribunal — and appealed to Caesar.
Shipwrecked en route to Rome, he eventually arrived there and was held under
house arrest for probably two years, from 61 to the spring of 63, when his case
went by default. During this first Roman captivity he wrote the letter to
Philemon, Colossians, Ephesians and, most likely, Philippians: for this reason
these are usually referred to as “the captivity letters”.
Philemon No one disputes the Pauline authorship of this short letter, sent
to Philemon, a Christian, to have him welcome Onesimus, a former slave of
Philemon’s, who had run away and taken refuge in Rome, where he became a
Christian. Paul feels that the best thing for Onesimus to do is to return to his
master’s house: both are now brothers in the Lord. St Paul does not discuss the
abolition of slavery — which would have been unthinkable in that culture — but
his teaching apropos of this particular case actually undermines the very basis
of the institution of slavery by making it quite clear that all men are radically
equal.
Philippians The subject-matter and thrust of this letter is quite different
from that of Colossians and Ephesians; for this reason, some scholars are of
the view that, although it was written in prison, the imprisonment was not Paul’s
first Roman imprisonment but rather an earlier one, possibly in Ephesus, at
some point during the Apostle’s stay in that city in the period 54-57. Some
scholars argue against a Pauline authorship but they have no solid ground for
doing so. The difference in subject-matter and approach as compared with
Colossians and Ephesians can be explained by the particular circumstances of
the faithful in Philippi: the Christian community in that city was made up mainly
of retired legionaries, who had been assigned lands and employment by a
grateful Empire. Twenty years earlier Philippi had been given the privilege of ius
italicum, with the title Colonia Iulia Augusta Philippensis. Retired army men had
settled there with their families; their military training and experience had bred
in them a sense of discipline, loyalty and dedication. St Paul had great affection
for these people, with their unshakeable faith and their generous response to its
demands (cf. his remarks about their financial contributions: Phil 4:18). The
letter contains a number of terms which have a military ring to them, and its
tone is cheerful and serene, even though it contains references to the
difficulties which imprisonment meant for Paul.

17
 The most important doctrinal passage in the epistle is what is called the
“Christological hymn” (Phil 2:6-11), quite possibly a hymn with which they were
already familiar, transcribed by the Apostle with some little glosses of his own; it
sings of Christ humbling himself by his incarnation, life and death, and then of
how his humanity was exalted in heaven after the Resurrection.
Colossians From earliest times the Pauline authorship of this letter was
acknowledged in the Church, but in the nineteenth century some scholars
began to question this, with respect to the whole letter or parts of it. These
doubts stemmed from the degree to which the teaching in Colossians is more
developed than that in earlier epistles and from the new vocabulary it uses.
However, these objections seem insufficient to reject the traditional attribution of
the entire epistle to Paul.
The Christian community at Colossae had been founded not by Paul but
by his disciple Epaphras, and in fact it was Epaphras who reported to Paul,
around the year 62, when he was under house arrest in Rome, about doctrinal
matters which were by Paul the Colossians. It is now thought that the Christians
at Colossae had been affected by early instances of Persian and
Mesopotamian Gnosticism, imported via Jewish travellers. Gnostic teaching
began to spread in the countries of the Roman Empire around the middle or
early part of the first century A.D., promoted sometimes by certain Jews and
sometimes by people interested in Hellenist philosophy or religion.
The main feature of Gnosticism was its dualistic notion of God, of man
and of the world: two opposite principles, good and evil, spirit and matter,
provided the key to understanding everything. Gnosticism projected itself as the
highest form of Wisdom, superior to all other religions, Christianity included;
these it regarded as providing inadequate explanations, useful only to the
unlearned. At Colossae early Gnostic influences seemingly sought to show the
compatibility of Christianity with Gnosticism: Gnostics regarded Christ, because
he was man, as on a lower level than angelic powers; these were purer, for
being entirely spiritual; Christ would be an aeon, an intermediary between God
(the Spirit) and matter.
Doctrinal confusion of this type led St Paul — inspired by God — to outline
clearly and vigorously certain central points of faith to which the Colossians
should adhere, rejecting these foreign notions. He deals in great depth with
basic aspects of the mystery of Christ’s being (Christology) — his infinite
superiority over all creatures, whether they be called angels or powers or be
given some other name. The Apostle makes some very profound statements,
such as when he says that in Christ “the whole fulness of deity dwells bodily”
(Col 2:9), the doctrinal content of which is equivalent to St John’s “the Word
became flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn 1:14). Thus, what we find in Colossians

18
are new terms which were being used by Hellenist Gnostics, but which Paul
uses for the purposes of argument and with new meanings or shades of
meaning. Essentially what he explores is the truth that Jesus Christ is eternal
God, who on assuming a human nature does not cease to be God; therefore,
he is first among all created beings and is superior to them.
In addition to developing doctrine on this subject, Paul also deals with
moral and disciplinary matters such as the duties of husband and wife and
slave and master, and gives advice about the practice of Christian virtues.
Ephesians Christian tradition has acknowledged St Paul as the author of
the epistle to the Ephesians. However, since the 1860s some biblical scholars
have questioned this attribution, or questioned whether certain parts of the
letter are by Paul. Their arguments are more or less on the same lines as those
used against the Pauline authorship of Colossians. However, there is as yet in
sufficient basis for rejecting the traditional attribution; the doctrinal and literary
characteristics of Ephesians still seem to support the view that Paul was its
author.
Ephesians marks a climax in St Paul’s spiritual and doctrinal discussion of
the mystery of Christ’s nature and personality; the meaning of Redemption; and
the theology of the Church. Definitely written towards the end of the year 62, or
the beginning of 63, this letter is a kind of second version, a very free redaction,
of the letter to the Colossians, written a few months earlier. Ephesians deals
with the same subjects but it deals with them in greater depth, more calmly and
against a broader background. The so-called “Colossae crisis” was also the
external circumstance which led the Apostle to write this other letter, addressed
to the churches located in the western coastal region of Asia Minor, where
Ephesus was the main city. Paul wanted to ensure that the kind of doctrinal
confusion Colossae had experienced would not spread to these churches. The
biblical and extra-biblical data available to us suggest that Paul was taking
issue with Hellenistic Gnostic notions about the material world being ruled by
powers intermediary between God and men, powers which in their different
ways actually intervene in human affairs. Countering these ideas, in the course
of this epistle, and in various ways, he teaches that Christ Jesus is the head of
all creation; he is the absolute Lord of heavenly as well as earthly creatures,
and their Saviour; nothing is outside the scope of his lordship.
Ephesians 1:3-14 is an elaborate hymn or canticle, located as a kind of
overture to the whole epistle, which sings the praises of God’s design to save
mankind through Christ. All created beings, which on account of sin have
become unconnected from one another and from God, are now, through the
Redemption wrought by Christ, once more united to one another and to God,

19
who has established the incarnate Christ, now in glory, as the Head over all
things.
Starting from reflection on communities or local churches, Ephesians
proceeds to explore the very nature of the Church, its unbreakable unity, its
Christ-given mission to be his “body”, his “fulness”, his spotless bride, the
unique instrument devised by him to apply to mankind the salvation he brought
through his Death and Resurrection.
As usual the Apostle draws practical moral and ascetical conclusions from
his theology: all the faithful should be one in charity, for they form “one body”
with Christ, a body whose soul is the Holy Spirit. The duties of spouses, of
parents and children, masters and servants, derive from this fact, for they all
receive the life-giving influence of the Head, Christ Jesus.

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THE PASTORAL EPISTLES
Since the eighteenth century the three letters addressed to Timothy (two
letters) and Titus, prominent disciples and helpers of St Paul, have been given
the general title of “pastoral letters”. The first letter to Timothy must have been
written towards the end of the year 65, possibly from Macedonia. And the letter
to Titus also would have a date and place close to it, possibly also the end of 65
and from Macedonia. St Paul was enjoying freedom at the time of writing these
letters, whereas the second letter to Timothy was written during his last
imprisonment, certainly from Rome and shortly before his martyrdom — which
means it should be dated 66 or 67. The three letters were written to guide and
help these two disciples in their work as Paul’s assistants in the pastoral
government of various churches.
Church tradition has always held that St Paul was the author of these
letters. From the nineteenth century onwards, many rationalist and liberal
Protestant scholars questioned or rejected this attribution, mainly on the
grounds that it is impossible to envisage that the notions of apostolic
succession and tradition, sacred ordination by the laying-on of hands, and
some kind of church hierarchy and discipline, could have emerged as early as
during the Apostle’s lifetime. Such concepts, which appear in the letters,
although in an underdeveloped form, are things which these critics cannot
accept as being articulated at such an early stage of the Church. But in fact, as
the Pontifical Biblical Commission stated, 8 there are no sound arguments
against Pauline authorship of the pastoral epistles: the objections referred to
are based on a priori attitudes as to how and when the Church’s structure took
shape.
St Paul always rejected the oppression implied by slavish, literal fulfilment
of the Mosaic Law and the way the Jews interpreted that law. But this does not
mean that the content of the natural moral law — specified in the Law of Moses
— can ever be superseded or that Christian society and Christian churches can
be anarchic, that is, devoid of any system of government.
Ever since his first letter to the Corinthians in the year 57. St Paul can be
seen to be concerned about ecclesial order and discipline. However, the
hierarchical system of Church government described by St Paul in the pastoral
epistles was still in the process of taking shape: as yet no precise vocabulary
had been devised to designate and distinguish the role and ministry of bishops
and priests, but the letters do reveal a distinction between the order of bishops
and priests and the order of deacons. The differences in terminological
precision noticeable between this group of letters, for example, and the letters
of St Ignatius of Antioch (d. 107) is enormous. Clearly referring to an already

21
existing institution, St Ignatius speaks of residential bishops with monarchical
authority and jurisdiction over priests, who act by authority delegated by the
bishops. Therefore, one must recognize that on this point the pastoral letters
are clearly very early writings and are consistent with the years 65-67, the last
years of Paul’s life.
In these letters Paul’s main concern is the consolidation of those churches
already founded, in the government of which he is being helped by Titus and
Timothy, two very faithful and competent disciples. In them we can notice St
Paul’s typical ability to move directly from deep theological concepts (such as in
1 Tim 3:16; Tit 2:11-14; 3:3-7; 2 Tim 2:8-9) to practical advice, and he has a lot
to say about how Christians should conduct themselves in their various
communities and in civil society and how they should achieve holiness and
attract others to the faith through their example and virtue.

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EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS
This is the only Pauline epistle which carries no opening salutation or
address, although it does include a few words of farewell at the end. From the
beginning of the fourth century onwards all the churches attributed it to St Paul.
Prior to then it was generally accepted in the East as being by St Paul, but in
the West there was much less unanimity. These doubts were based on its
obvious difference in style, syntax and vocabulary from the other letters
attributed to St Paul: Hebrews is written in a very pure, elegant Greek which is
in contrast to the free, vigorous Greek of St Paul. However, its underlying style
and its thought are consistent with what we are used to in St Paul. From very
early on two solutions have been proposed to explain these differences. One is
that this letter, unlike the others, was not dictated by Paul but was composed by
a secretary, obviously a very cultured one, who wrote the epistle in his own
style, using ideas which the Apostle wanted to communicate to his immediate
readership. 9 The other solution is that St Paul dictated the letter in Hebrew or
Aramaic but that this primitive redaction was very soon lost, leaving the Church
with this early, elegant translation into Greek, which version found its way into
the Canon of Scripture; in which case it had the same career as the Gospel of
St Matthew.
The title “to the Hebrews” was added to the epistle later — but still in very
early times, as extant documents show; it is a highly appropriate title. The great
majority of commentators are agreed in seeing the letter as being addressed in
the first instance to a group of Christians of Jewish origin, a group, furthermore,
in which convert priests and Levites of the Temple of Jerusalem were numerous
or at least very influential. After their conversion they would of course have
been excluded from taking part in priestly rites in the Temple and would have
found themselves without any occupation or means of support. At certain times
they may have felt somewhat depressed and have hankered for the splendour
of the liturgical rites of the Temple. St Paul would have written to them to give
them reassurance in the faith, arguing, very much in the rabbinical style, that
the ancient sacrifices of the Temple, and the Temple itself, were no more than a
figure, a foreshadowing, of the unique, true Sacrifice of Christ, the real Temple
and High Priest. These new Christians should base their life on the faith in
Christ to which they have been converted and on the hope that, just as the
ancient people of Israel made their way through the desert, suffering many
setbacks but always helped by God’s power, so these Christians — and all
Christians who would follow them — should make their pilgrim way on earth
until they reach the glory of heaven: this hope should help them sustain
persecution and the loss of their precious position, where they had prestige and
were supported by their fellow Jews.

23
 The Apostle used the situation of these Christians to develop doctrine
about the Priesthood and Sacrifice of Christ, which is what makes this such an
important New Testament text. The epistle was clearly written from Italy (cf. Heb
13:24), probably from Rome, around the year 65.

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 INTRODUCTION TO THE “THEOLOGY” OF ST PAUL
The ordinary Christian reader may experience a certain difficulty in
understanding the letters of St Paul. In fact, the second letter of St Peter
adverts to this: “And count the forbearance of our Lord as salvation. So also our
beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, speaking
of this as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to
understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as
they do the other scriptures” (2 Pet 3:15-16). Our Lord revealed supernatural
truths to the crowds, and even to his disciples, using simple language full of
comparisons and parables taken from ordinary life. Except for a few pages of
the Gospel —mainly in St John — Jesus’ teachings seem to be quite
accessible, at least at first glance; but the Apostle’s letters, which are
addressed to people who have already received initial Christian instruction, very
often use a language which is much more difficult than that of Jesus. For this
reason we here provide a short introduction to the “theology” of St Paul, which
surveys the basic ideas underlying the teaching revealed in St Paul’s letters
and which should help the reader to understand them better.
It should be pointed out that in what follows we are not following a
chronological order (which was the way we introduced the epistles themselves);
instead we are going to look at the legacy of St Paul, ranging back and forth
over the whole corpus of his letters.

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HUMAN LIFE WITHOUT CHRIST
God made Paul see particularly clearly the tragedy of man-without-Christ
— a life in which man was subject to the slaveries of sin, of the flesh and of
death, and, in the case of Jews, slavery to the Law as interpreted by the rabbis
of their time. This situation of unredeemed man applies to everyone who, in any
period of history, whether before or after Christ, does not open his heart to the
freedom which Christ gained for us (cf. Gal 4:31).
1. Sin One basic underlying theme in the revealed teaching of St Paul is
that Christ’s achievement, Christianity, means redemption, liberation from sin.
Sin is a predominant factor in life-without-Christ, in the life of unredeemed man.
For Paul, sin is a palpable fact, which consists, above all, in disobedience, in
rebellion against God’s majesty, against his will, against his moral law; this
rebellion has installed man in a state of enmity towards God — a wretched
situation, leading to eternal death. An examination of the situation of the world
and human history, and contemplation of Sacred Scripture (the Old Testament)
demonstrate that “all [both Gentiles and Jews] have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God” (Rom 3:23). Were it not for the presence of Christ, man would be
submerged in most extreme pessimism, “so that every mouth may be stopped,
and the whole world may be held accountable to God” (Rom 3:19). Paul sees
this so clearly that he presents sin as a force which tyrannizes over man and
has done so ever since the sin of Adam (cf. Rom 5:12, 21).
Of course, Paul’s personalization of sin must not be taken literally as
meaning that sin is a created entity, an evil spirit which exists as a person. What
he means by sin is the situation in which man finds himself and from which he
cannot escape by his own efforts; man, on his own, is unredeemable, impotent
and enslaved; there is no way out for him, despite the fact that he has intellect,
free will and freedom of choice (cf. Rom 7:7-25). This state of sinfulness is
something quite obvious to Paul, and he describes it using all kinds of images
and literary expressions designed to thrust home his point.
2. The flesh In the Old Testament the world “flesh” is used not only to
describe human tissue but man’s entire body and particularly his lower self
including his senses, instincts, emotions, passions etc. — everything which is
material and impermanent as distinct from the higher faculties of the human
spirit. This is the sense given to the word by St Paul also. Following on original
sin, all these lower elements in man are in a state of rebellion; his higher
faculties — intellect and will — no longer wield the authority they should have
over his base instincts etc. This “flesh” has thus become the ally of sin in its war
against the spirit, like a kind of fifth column which sin uses to draw the entire
person in the direction of evil. 10 Sin and flesh are not one and the same thing,

26
11 but sin finds an accomplice in that lower part of man — “the flesh”, in the
broad sense given the word in the Old Testament and in St Paul.
3. Death Sin, with the complicity of the flesh, draws the entire person
towards enmity with God, misfortune, infirmity, and in the last analysis death:
“Therefore as sin came into the world through one man [Adam] and death
through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned…” (Rom
5:12). Death is punishment for sin (cf. Rom 6:23). To summarize: man without
Christ is a slave of sin, betrayed by the flesh and inescapably destined to die,
for “while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law,
were at work in our members to bear fruit for death” (Rom 7:5).
Finally, man’s sin has had dire effects also on the irrational world: “the
creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of him who
subjected it in hope; because the creation itself will be set free from its bondage
to decay [. . .]; the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until
now” (Rom 8:20, 22).
4. The Law In Rom 7:5 we have just seen a fourth element that leads to
sin —the Law. It is the Jews to whom this directly applies, but indirectly it affects
all men. How is it possible for the Law of God to become another ally of sin,
tempting man to commit sinful acts, when that Law is something essentially
good and holy? The answer is that although the Law does point the way to
good, it does not contain the grace man needs to prevent him from doing evil; it
leaves man in his carnal (= “flesh”) state. This happens also with every kind of
law, even with the natural moral law which is impressed on every person’s
conscience (cf. Rom 2:15; 1:21). Every law tells us what is sinful, but that is all
it does (cf. Rom 3:20); and because we are so informed, our violation of law
becomes a formal violation of the will of God.
We should not lose sight of the historical context in which St Paul is
speaking: Jews boasted about their righteousness to Gentiles and even to God;
they thought that they were keeping the Law, whereas in fact all they were
doing was performing certain external actions and rites and their hearts were
devoid of charity and mercy. They considered God, whom they cast in the role
of a mere judge, as duty-bound to recognize and reward the good deeds they
did by their own efforts: they, not God, were their own liberators. Some of the
Christian converts from Judaism had not shed these inherited notions: they
thought the Mosaic Law was what saved them, and they tried to impose this
idea on other Christians of Gentile background and have them, too, conform to
the Law. Paul could see how wrong they were: what they were in effect saying
was that man is made good and righteous by his own efforts, thereby emptying
God’s work of redemption of any real value; they had not understood the basics
of the Christian faith.

27
 St Paul — or, rather, God through St Paul — entered the fray against
these “Judaizers”, and won, thereby liberating the early Church (and later
Christians) from the worst and most persistent kind of error. Christians in every
generation need to remember that they can never be saved by their own efforts;
only the grace merited by Christ can bring us to salvation, and to that grace we
obtain access through faith; only if we appropriate Christ’s redemption can we
perform actions which merit eternal life.
5. Unredeemed mankind St Paul’s teaching is quite clear: man on his
own, without Christ, is radically incapable of breaking out of the terrible situation
into which he fell as a result of original sin. That sin, compounded by personal
sins, holds man in thrall. Sin, dwelling in man’s flesh as in a breeding ground,
tyrannizes over man in his unredeemed state; he is God’s enemy, cut off from
eternal life and condemned to suffering and death. Even the Law — whether it
be the natural moral law or even the divine-positive law promulgated through
Moses — only aggravates the situation, because man cannot live up to it. St
Paul does not deny human freedom; man is endowed with intellect and will; but
he describes in no uncertain terms the situation in which man finds himself
even after receiving the benefit of redemption: “I do not understand my own
actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate” (Rom 7:15).
“So I find it to be a law that when I want to be right, evil lies close at hand. For I
delight in the law of God, in my inmost self, but I see in my members another
law at war with the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin
which dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me
from this body of death?” (Rom 7:21-24).

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SALVATION IN CHRIST
The answer to this anguished question is: Christ. “God has done what the
law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: sending his own Son in the likeness
of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh” (Rom 8:3). The
Apostle is constantly making this same point, which is crucial to understanding
the Redemption: Christ — who is God and Man — is man’s Saviour. Paul then
goes onto show the sublime mission of the Church and the dignity of redeemed
man, who is called to be an adoptive son of God, to share in the very holiness
of God in Christ Jesus.
1. The salvific mystery “Paul’s Gospel” (“my Gospel”, as he puts it himself:
cf. Rom 2:16; 16:25) is primarily a salvific or soteriological message, that is, the
revelation and implementation of a plan or design of God to bring salvation to
man. To refer to this plan St Paul uses various short formulae, all very similar —
the mystery of Christ, the mystery of the Gospel, the mystery of God, the
mystery of his will, the mystery of faith, or just “the mystery”.
This theme runs right through Paul’s letters, at times breaking out
exuberantly; as time goes on it develops, achieving its most elaborate
formulation in Ephesians. As far as the origination of this theme is concerned,
we can say it is peculiar to St Paul. The “mystery” is always basically the same
— a divine mission of salvation; embracing all mankind without any
discrimination on the grounds of nation or race; a plan conceived by God from
all eternity, revealed only now (in the apostolic age) but foretold in the Old
Testament; a plan which begins to take effect in this world but which will only be
fully effected in the world to come.
This mystery of salvation as described by St Paul has its roots in the Old
Testament and, especially, in Jesus’ teaching and also in traditional rabbinical
doctrine. This does not mean that St Paul, precisely because of the need to
defend the “Gospel of Christ” initially against Judaizers and later against
Gnostic influences (cf. Colossians), did not probe and formulate in a very vivid,
personal style this “mystery”, this gospel of his (cf. Gal 1:1 1-12).
For Paul this “mystery” derives from and is closely linked to God’s
“Wisdom”. The first text in which he talks about this link is I Cor 1:1 7ff, where
he contrasts the wisdom of the world with the wisdom of God. The Greeks
search eagerly for human wisdom (cf. v. 20), but to God’s mind that is only
foolishness. What Paul is preaching is a wisdom which, in turn, seems
foolishness to Gentiles and is a stumbling-block to Jews — because his wisdom
is “Christ crucified” (v. 23). For us Christ himself stands for wisdom; and also for
justice, holiness and redemption (v. 30). This divine plan of salvation which Paul
preaches is “a secret and hidden wisdom of God” (1 Cor 2:7). The connexion
29
between “mystery” and “wisdom”, so deeply rooted in the best biblical tradition,
is ever-present in some way or other in Paul’s thinking (cf. for example Rom
16:25-26), and becomes most explicit in Colossians and Ephesians. In
Colossians St Paul brings in the fundamental concept of reconciliation, a
reconciliation of all creation, effected in Christ; he cannot get over how
wonderful this is (cf. Col 1:27).
This reconciliation reconciles pagans with God, even if they have not
conformed to the Mosaic Law, and also Jews, whom the Law itself indicted
because they failed to keep it. The Cross of Christ means that the preparatory
stage of the Old Testament is at an end, and the new stage of salvation in
Christ has arrived (cf. Col 2:13-15).
Already in Colossians the notion of “the mystery” associates the Church
with Christ (cf. Col 1:24 - 2:19); the Church is his Body and the instrument he
uses to spread salvation; also, from one point of view, it is salvation, because in
the Church the reconciliation of Jews and Gentiles with each other and with
God is effected (cf. Col 1:21-29).
The revelation of “the mystery” in St Paul’s letters reaches a conceptual
climax in the letter to the Ephesians (cf. for example Eph 1:3-22). In addition to
developing the theology of the Church, Ephesians adds the key theme of
“recapitulation” in Christ as head (caput: cf. Eph 1:10) of a] l creation, heavenly
as well as earthly: he is their source and their head; in Christ the original divine
order of creation shattered by sin, is restored and enhanced. This recapitulation
of all things in Christ is a new focus which Paul gives to salvation. In Ephesians
Paul’s explanations of the divine plan of salvation and all his teaching about
Christ and about the Church are synthesized and perfected.
2. The divinity of Jesus Christ Jesus, then, is the only one capable of
carrying out God’s plan of salvation; he came into the world to do just this.
When St Paul speaks about him, he usually refers to him as “the Lord” or
“Christ”; but no sooner does he begin his first epistle than he explains that the
Christ Jesus who rose from the dead and who redeems us is the Son of God
(cf. 1 Thess 1:10), or, as he will say in a later letter, the Son whom God gave up
for us all (cf. Rom 8:32) and whose death reconciled us with God (cf. Rom
5:10).
In all his epistles it comes across quite clearly that Jesus, whom Paul
preaches, is the Son of God (cf. 2 Cor 1:19). Christ’s divinity and his divine
sonship (a natural as distinct from an adoptive sonship) were revealed to Paul
on the road to Damascus on the day when God with a blinding light made Paul
see his vocation. From that moment on he preached Jesus to be the Son of
God (cf. Acts 9:20).

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 This way of referring to Jesus, although it is not as common as the other
names mentioned — “Christ” and “the Lord” —, clearly shows, by a special
revelation, that the Son is consubstantial with, one in substance with, the
Father. We profess faith in this when we say the Creed, where we affirm that
the Son is “of one Being with the Father”, that is, he is God. St Paul reserves
this name “the Father” to refer to the first person of the Blessed Trinity, and
almost always when he speaks of “God” he is referring to the Father, except in
Rom 9:5 and Tit 2:13. In those two texts he also calls Jesus “God”; but the
divinity of Christ, in St Paul’s teaching, does not rely on these texts alone or any
other particular passage: it is implicit in all Paul’s letters and it was what
nourished his faith long before he wrote the letters, ever since, as we said, he
met God on the Damascus road.
St Paul goes as far as to say that he lives “by faith in the Son of God, who
loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20); he thereby sets an example for
us, for Jesus Christ is “our great God and Saviour. . . Who gave himself for us
to redeem us from all iniquity” (Tit 2:13), and he is “God over all, blessed for
ever” (Rom 9:5).
Jesus is God!, he who exists before all creation, “the first-born of all
creation; for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth. . . all things
were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all
things hold together” (Col 1:15-17), for “in him the whole fulness of deity dwells
bodily” (Col 2:9).
This eternal pre-existence of Christ before being sent into the world,
before the world even existed, is further evidence of the divinity of the Son of
God, who is the Father’s own Son in the proper sense, 12 begotten, not
adopted, who “reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature”
(Heb 1:3), co-eternal with the Father and sent by him, out of love for men, in
order to make us sons of God by being made like God’s natural Son, through
grace.
3. The Son becomes man The mystery of salvation derives entirely from
the mercy of God (cf. Rom 15:8-9; 11:32) and the love of God (cf. Rom 5:8). No
other reason can explain why the only Son of the heavenly Father became
man. The Incarnation demonstrates that man’s salvation did not come from a
benevolent but strange and distant God; it came in a manner most intimate to
man — through the man Jesus, who without ceasing to be God, really took on
human existence, with all its limitations, sin excepted, emptying himself in order
to do so (cf. Phil 2:7). By becoming man the Son entered our unredeemed,
sinful state (cf. 2 Cor 5:21); he voluntarily made himself a sin-offering; he
conquered sin “in his body of flesh” (cf. Rom 8:3; Col 1:22), dressed in the
nature of a slave, humble and obedient unto death (cf. Phil 2:7-8), “born of

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woman, born under the law” (Gal 4:4). Thus, through the Incarnation all the
elements which held man in bondage — sin, the flesh, death and the Law —
were conquered by Christ.
This total victory and liberation was made possible by the fact that Jesus
Christ is both God and man. St Paul’s faith in this dogma is quite unshakeable,
and it is something which he expresses again and again in his letters, but it
would be tedious to cite them here.
4. Theology of the Death of Christ Nor is it possible to quote all the texts
in which Paul refers to the redemptive effects of Christ’s death; we shall just
give some examples of what he says on this matter. Christ has undergone the
punishment which we merited on account of our sins (cf. Rom 4:25; 8:32). We
have been ransomed by the shedding of his blood (cf. 1 Cor 6:20; 7:23; Rom
3:24; Col 1:14); Christ’s death is the greatest proof of God’s love for man (cf.
Rom 5:8); it was an offering pleasing to God (cf. Gal 2:20; 1 Cor 11:25; Eph 5:2,
26); it has assuaged God’s justifiable anger (cf. Rom 3:25). In 2 Cor 5:21 Paul
goes as far as to say, “For our sake he made him [Christ] to be sin who knew no
sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
By taking on human nature Christ became the representative and “head”
of all mankind — the “new Adam”. 13 When Christ dies on the Cross, we all die
with him. “He died for all, that those who live might live no longer for themselves
but for him who for their sake died and was raised” (2 Cor 5:15). Christ’s death
is perfect atonement for sin; but it implies, for that very reason, introduction to a
new life in which the relationships between God and man change radically:
Christ “was put to death for our trespasses and raised for our justification” (Rom
4:25).
5. Theology of the Resurrection of Christ Like the other Apostles St Paul
uses the historical event of the Resurrection of our Lord as the basic proof of
the truth of what Jesus did and of what he said about himself. Those who
denied Christ found themselves bereft of arguments. Those who falsely
accused him at his trial have themselves been accused and found guilty.
St Paul bears witness to the historical fact of the Resurrection of Jesus in
chapter 15 of the first letter to the Corinthians and also asserts there that
Christ’s Resurrection proves our future resurrection to glory. The rite of
immersion in the water of Baptism signifies and effects our dying to sin in
Christ; the rite of coming out of the water of Baptism signifies and effects our
rebirth into the life of grace, and hope in our ultimate glorious resurrection (cf.
Rom 6:5-11).
At Christ’s Resurrection his human nature began to be glorified and
exalted above all created beings: “To this end Christ died and lived again, that

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he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.” 14 The life of the risen
Christ is not the same as the life he gave up on the Cross: he lives as the Son
of God in power (cf. Rom 1:4) — and also as man; Christ’s human nature,
capable of feeling pain, humbled ever since his Incarnation, has moved into a
heavenly mode of existence, where it can no longer experience suffering: there
it is, joined to his divinity. Christ, from his Incarnation onwards but even more on
account of the merits of his Death and Resurrection, stands for all men as their
representative and true head, so complete is his solidarity with mankind. If we
keep this idea of solidarity in mind it will be easier for us to see what Christ’s
Resurrection means for our redemption and justification; this salvific dimension
of the Resurrection is always implicit in the Apostle’s teaching (cf. for example,
the quotation just given from Rom 4:25). Insofar as Christ is the head of those
who believe in him we have already been raised in him in some way — our
hope of resurrection has dawned — and when he rose we rose in him. As head
of the Church Christ’s influence extends over all his members, conveying life to
them (this teaching, begun in Romans, is something Paul goes on to develop in
Colossians and, particularly, Ephesians).
Moreover, through his Spirit the risen Christ is alive in Christians. This life
in the Spirit only comes about after the Resurrection, when Christ sent his Spirit
to those who adhere to him through faith and Baptism. “You are not in the flesh,
you are in the spirit, if the Spirit of God really dwells in you. Any one who does
not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you,
although your bodies are dead because of sin, your spirits are alive because of
righteousness” (Rom 8:9-10).
Note: the term “objective” redemption is often used in Catholic teaching to
describe the redemptive, salvific action of Christ which took place once and for
all during his life on earth, especially through his Passion, Death and
Resurrection.
This dimension of the Redemption is effected in Christ and through Christ
and it focusses on all mankind: Christ is the Saviour of all. However, such is
God’s respect for the dignity of the human person that he leaves full scope for
the exercise of individual freedom: he respects this freedom and seeks man’s
personal, free and therefore meritorious, response. This brings us into the
sphere of what is usually referred to as “subjective” redemption, in other words,
the application of the salvific merits of Christ to the individual human person —
the process of justification and sanctification which takes place within each
individual, after the original salvific action of the Incarnate Son of God which
extends to all without exception. So far in our discussion we have been looking
mainly at objective redemption. Now we move on to the subjective dimension.
St Paul does not make an explicit distinction between the two, but his teaching

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is consistent with this distinction and many of the things he says envisage these
two aspects.

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THE CONVERSION OF MAN
1. The process of justification in the individual person How can man,
dominated as he is by the power of sin, enmeshed in the flesh, destined to
suffer death, how can he share in the salvation achieved by Christ? How can he
move out of this state of unredemption into that of personal redemption? Putting
it another way, how does one move from objective to subjective redemption?
The corpus of St Paul’s letters provides the following answer: God takes
the initiative and “calls” a particular individual by means of Gospel preaching,
which brings with it a “grace”. If a person accepts the word he is being offered,
he makes an “act of faith” with the help of grace and begins to believe — faith is
a form of knowledge — in the saving power of the Death and Resurrection of
Jesus Christ, a power which operates through faith in the message which
preaching brings. The process which normally follows on from this is that the
person desires to be baptized and is baptized: Baptism forgives his sins and
makes him born again to a new life by union with Christ; he becomes a member
of the Church, receives the Holy Spirit and the infused virtues and gifts, and is
adopted as a son of God. This whole process is referred to technically as
“justification”. We shall later examine its final stage, the “sanctification” of the
individual person.
Three parts need to be emphasized particularly. First, the initiative in
justification lies with God: he gives the initial grace, which is not merited by the
person’s previous actions: “Those whom he predestined he also called; and
those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also
glorified” (Rom 8:30).
Second, God desires the salvation of everyone: “This is good, and it is
acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, who desires all men to be saved” (I
Tim 2:3-4).
Third, although initial grace comes from God and plays the main part in
justification, the individual also has a part to play: “But thanks be to God, that
you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the
standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free
from sin, have become slaves of righteousness” (Rom 6:17-18).
2. Faith St Paul speaks so much about faith that his letters provide the
groundwork of Christian teaching on this theological virtue, which is the
beginning of all the other virtues. Firstly, as we have said, he tells us that faith is
a gift from God: “For by grace you have been saved through faith and this is not
your own doing, it is the gift of God”(Eph 2:8). Faith does not come from
evidence intrinsic in things, but from God’s power which accompanies

35
preaching: “Our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in
the Holy Spirit” (1 Thess 1:5). “When I came to you, brethren, I did not come
proclaiming the testimony [or: mystery] of God in lofty words or wisdom. For I
decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified…
My speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in
demonstration of the Spirit and power, that your faith might not rest in the
wisdom of men but in the power of God” (1 Cor 2:1-5).
As regards the person who receives the gift of faith, his or her act in
accepting it is always a free act and therefore a meritorious one: it is an act of
obedience to an influence direct from God or through the Gospel of Jesus
Christ, “through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about
the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations” (Rom
1:5).
3. The content of faith What has this person to believe, this person who
has accepted the gift of faith: in summary, he has to believe in the Gospel (cf.
Rom 1:16-17). And what does this involve? “Now! would remind you, brethren,
in what terms I preached to you the gospel, which you received, in which you
stand, by which you are-saved [. . .]. For I delivered to you as of first importance
what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the
scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in
accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the
twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most
of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep” (1 Cor 15:1-6).
Thus, the person who has accepted the divine gift of faith has to believe
not in a personal theory of Paul or anyone else, but in the teaching taught by
the Twelve, who witnessed the life, death and resurrection of Christ — that is, in
the content of the “articles” of faith which, as we would say now, are summed
up in the Creed, the “symbol” of faith, whose origins go back to the Apostles.
Faith is not an abstract theory about God; it is belief in a God who is active and
all-powerful, a God who saves, who has made himself known through his Son
Jesus Christ, who has redeemed us through his Death and Resurrection and in
whom are fulfilled the ancient promises made to the patriarchs and prophets of
the Old Testament.
This belief in the Christian faith is not the same thing as accepting a piece
of news (current or dated) which one has checked out — as one might the fact
that Julius Caesar conquered Gaul or that a new spaceship has been launched.
No: the Gospel is “Good News” which involves each and every one of us. It is
as we have said, obedience to God’s will. 15 It is also complete trust in God,
who will always be true to his promises (as he has been true to those promises
concerning Christ, and those concerning ourselves, up to this point): “the Lord

36
is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from evil [or: the evil one]” (2
Thess 3:3). “May the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your
spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, and he will do it” (1 Thess 5:23-24).
4. The demands of faith The moral degradation to be seen in the
permissive society of today gives us an indication of the sort of environment in
which the early Christians had to live in the Greco-Roman world; but in many
aspects theirs was a more depraved environment, since in ours Christian moral
principles still exert some influence. In St Paul’s times, when a person —
already an adult — who had received the initial grace of faith decided to step
into the waters of Baptism, he had to abandon not only his old clothes but all his
past life as well, a life typically steeped in sin. When he came up out of the
baptismal waters he really would have been “a new creation” (2 Cor 5:17).
The Apostle gives a pained description of the depraved moral
environment in which those first disciples had to make their way: “For this
reason God gave them UP to dishonourable passions. Their women exchanged
natural relations for unnatural, and the men likewise gave up natural relations
with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing
shameless acts with men and receiving in their own persons the due penalty for
their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them
up to a base mind and to improper conduct. They were filled with all manner of
wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit,
malignity, they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty,
boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless,
ruthless” (Rom 1:26-31).
Much divine grace was needed — and great generosity on the part of
converts — if they were to shed, as they had to, many aspects of their pagan
lifestyle. St Paul had to speak quite bluntly to the Corinthians in this connexion:
“I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with immoral men; not at all
meaning the immoral of this world, or the greedy and robbers, or idolaters,
since then you would need to go out of the world. But rather I wrote to you not
to associate with any one who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of
immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or robber” (1 Cor 5:9-11).
Christian faith, therefore, brings with it certain specific moral demands:
“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Do
not be deceived; neither the immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homo
sexuals, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor robbers will
inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor 6:9-11).
Despite the fact that conversion to Christ involved substantial, difficult
moral demands, the early Christians managed to meet these — partly thanks to
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their personal dispositions, but primarily thanks to the divine life of which they
partook. Using St Paul as a guide we shall now see that spiritual phenomenon
taking place during the first stage of the Church’s history, and how it can be
repeated in later stages — including our own time, which somewhat resembles
that of the early Christians, at least in the sense that it is one which has
regressed towards paganism.

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CHRISTIAN LIFE IN CHRIST
Through St Paul, God shows us the sublimity of the state of redemption
not as something which belongs to a privileged minority but as the normal
situation of every Christian, who is called to achieve a high level of spiritual
maturity. Nowhere does Paul suggest two standards of morality — a lower one
for the mass of the people of God and a higher one for a select few. He held out
the same high ideal, the same spiritual and moral exigencies, to all those early
Christians, even those who had been steeped in paganism: “for once you were
darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light (for the fruit
of light is to be found in all that is good and right and true)” (Eph 5:8-9).
1. Children of God Our Christian faith automatically makes us see
ourselves as children of God. By being in Christ, by adhering to him through
faith, we are made sons and daughters of God: “For those whom he foreknew
[all Christians] he [God] also predestined to be conformed to the image of his
Son, in order that he might be the first-born among many brethren” (Rom 8:29).
This quality of being children of God, although it reaches its perfection only in
heaven, is already something very tangible: our faith should make us almost
feel it: “But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of
woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that
we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent
the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ So through God you
are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then an heir” (Gal 4:4-7).
Christian life in Christ through grace begins at Baptism, whereby we begin
to be “sons of God”, that is, his adoptive children, likened to the natural Son of
God. “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus
were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism
into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father,
we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a
death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his [. .
.]. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him”
(Rom 6:3-5, 8).
St Paul very often points out that the redeemed person’s new kind of life is
life-in-Christ. “Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation.” 16
However, we should note that when he speaks of “my being in Christ” and of
Christ “being in me”, he means the same thing; we can see this in the following
text: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who
lives in me” (Gal 2:19-20). Obviously the Apostle is not saying that once a
person becomes a Christian he has no life of his own: he means that his life is
shaped and inspired by an energy which comes from Christ; Christ is present in

39
the Christian much more positively than the way lovers are in each other’s
thoughts: Christ’s own Spirit — the Holy Spirit — is present in the Christian’s
soul. This presence of the Holy Spirit also plays its part in making the person a
son or daughter of God in Christ: “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are
sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,
but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is
the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and
if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs of Christ, provided we suffer
with him in order that we may also be glorified with him” (Rom 8:14-17).
2. The gift of the Spirit We have seen the way “life-in-Christ” is somewhat
the same thing as being “sons of God”. And also we have seen that this life-in-
Christ involves the Christian soul receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit. This
happens because at Baptism the believer receives, along with grace and the
infused virtues, the Holy Spirit and his gifts: “God’s love has been poured into
our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Rom 5:5). The
Holy Spirit, which the glorified Son sends on his Father’s behalf, abides in the
Christian in grace and cooperates with Christ to make him a new creation, to
give him new-life-in-Christ and to make him become steadily more like Christ.
It is Jesus Christ who, with his Death and glorious Resurrection, has
merited the sending of the Spirit. The Spirit of Jesus, which has been given us,
co operates to make us like unto Christ, so that the Father can recognize in us
the image of his only Son and can adopt us as sons in the Son (cf. Rom 8:29-
30).
3. The value of suffering Earlier, in connexion with the Christian’s divine
sonship, we quoted Rom 8:14-17; the two last verses of that passage link this
sonship with suffering: “It is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that
we are children of God [. . .], fellow heirs of Christ, provided we suffer with him
in order that we may also be glorified with him” (Rom 8:16-17). St Paul is
insistent that this new birth necessarily includes participating in Christ’s
sufferings: “always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of
Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies” (2 Cor 4:10-11).
The presence of pain and suffering in mankind is something self-evident.
In some way they are unavoidable; yet they are particularly present in the life of
the Christian, as they were in the lives of Christ and of the Apostles. However,
suffering acquires a new value in the light of faith in Christ: it is a badge of
honour, a necessary step towards solidarity with Christ, and an indication that a
person already has some degree of union with him: “Henceforth let no man
trouble me; for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus” (Gal 6:17).
Hope of reaching heaven helps the Christian to bear suffering joyfully and
even to desire it: “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting
40
away, our inner nature is being renewed every day. For this slight momentary
affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2
Cor 4:16-17). During his first imprisonment in Rome the Apostle writes: “Now I
rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking
in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, which is the church” (Col 1:24).
What this means is that Christ’s sufferings, his Passion, are in some way
extended in time, until the end of the world, in Christians who suffer in imitation
of Christ and in union with him. Therefore, suffering will continue, it will be like a
pledge of future glory, as long as this world lasts; and yet, paradoxical though it
be, when the Christian suffers for Christ and the Church he or she actually
experiences a deep happiness.
4. The ascetical struggle This brings us to the subject of asceticism. “Do
you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the
prize? So run that you may obtain it. Ever’ athlete exercises self-control in all
things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Well,
I do not run aimlessly, I do not box as one beating the air; but I pommel my
body and subdue it, lest after preaching to others I myself should be
disqualified” (1 Cor 9:24-27).
The Christian, in other words, must not rest on his laurels, content with
faith and the gift of grace. He has an obligation to make these precious gifts
bear fruit: “Working together with him [Christ], then, we entreat you not to
accept the grace of God in vain” (2 Cor 6:1). The Christian still has a long way
to go: the flesh will keep on trying to regain its lost rights; concupiscence still
seethes within him. . . . Therefore, he must be vigilant: “Look carefully then how
you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of the time, because
the days are evil” (Eph 5:15-16).
5. The outcome of love God’s perfect love for us is manifested to us in the
entire life of Christ (cf. Heb 10:5-10), who “loved us and gave himself up for us,
a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Eph 5:2). St Paul has a deep sense of
Christ’s love for us, which led him to give up his life: “the life I now live in the
flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me”
(Gal 2:20); “and so by your knowledge this weak man is destroyed, the brother
for whom Christ died” (1 Cor 8:11). God’s love and Christ’s love are poured into
us by the Holy Spirit: “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the
Holy Spirit who has been given to us”, 17 and the Christian has a duty to
respond (cf. 1 Cor 8:3; Rom 8:28).
In the last analysis, it is our love of God that keeps us true to the demands
of the faith no matter what difficulties we come up against; all the other virtues
and charisms are secondary to charity: “If I speak in the tongues of men and of
angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have
41
prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have
faith, so as to remove mountains, but have no love, I am nothing. If I give away
all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain
nothing” (1 Cor 13:1-3).
Christ’s Cross, however, has two planks — an upright which unites me to God,
and a horizontal which unites me to all other men and women, beginning with
those who share the same faith: “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do
good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith”
(Gal 6:10). The Eucharist is the principal sacrament of love of God and love of
neighbour; through it, by communing with the Body of Christ, we become one
with him and, in him, with our brethren: “The cup of blessing which we bless, is
it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a
participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are
many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread” (1 Cor 10:16-17).
Fraternal charity is not just a matter of feeling well-disposed to people; it
should be something active and have quite practical expressions; consider, for
example, St Paul’s instructions “concerning the contribution for the saints [the
impoverished Christians of Palestine]: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so
you also are to do. On the first day of the week, each of you is to put something
aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that contributions need not be
made when I come” (1 Cor 16:1-2).

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THE CHURCH
Of all the inspired writers of the New Testament, St Paul is the one who
speaks most often about the Church, the one who has gone deepest into its
mystery and best explained it. His insight into the mystery of the Church began
at the very moment of his conversion, when he heard Jesus identifying himself
with Christians: “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4). Paul had
not been conscious of persecuting Christ, whom he regarded as a dead man:
he was persecuting Christians, because they were spreading pernicious ideas.
After this first, direct revelation of Christ, Paul received other revelations and
had other experiences which further developed his understanding of the
mystery of the Church.
Although in his letters of the years 50-60 (1 and 2 Thess, Gal, 1 and 2
Cor, Rom) Paul generally describes as “churches” the Christian communities
located in cities or small regions, he always had a concept of the Church as one
single entity. His understanding of Baptism shows us the deep solidarity it
creates with Christ and with each other (cf. Rom 6:3-5), a solidarity which is
strengthened by the graces and gifts of the Spirit: “For by one Spirit we were all
baptized into one body” (1 Cor 12:13).
1. The unity of the Church Even at the stage when he was writing the first
six letters, Paul had a very clear concept of the unity of the Church (the Church
is one entity) and of its unicity (there is no other church). All Christians make up
a single body, whose life and unity is caused and nourished by sharing in the
eucharistic Body and Blood of Christ: “Because there is one bread, we who are
many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread” (1 Cor 10:17). This is
why Christians cannot be divided into different groups or classes: “I appeal to
you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and
that there be no dissensions among you, but that you be united in the same
mind and the same judgment. For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people
that there is quarrelling among you, my brethren. What I mean is that each of
you says, ‘I belong to Paul’, or ‘I belong to Apollos’, or ‘I belong to Cephas’, or ‘I
belong to Christ’. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you
baptized in the name of Paul?” (1 Cor 1:10-13).
All Christians, whether they be in Rome, Jerusalem, Corinth, Colossae
etc. are brethren, chosen and loved by God, and called to be saints. 18
This sense of the Church’s oneness will deepen for Paul during the years
of his first imprisonment in Rome (61-63 A.D.). From then on he tends to use
the term “Church” to refer to the universal Church into which God has called
Jews and Gentiles, free men and slaves, men and women: “. . . eager to
maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one
43
Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one
Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, who is above all and
through all and in all” (Eph 4:3-6). “For as many of you as were baptized into
Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew or Greek, there is neither slave
nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus”
(Gal 3:27-28).
2. The Church, the people of God In addition to discovering in Paul’s
letters, as features of the Church, its unity and the solidarity of Christians with
Christ and with one another, we also find the key concept of the Church as the
“people of God”. Paul arrived at this concept in the first years after his
conversion: he could see that the Apostles and first Christians in Jerusalem
were acutely conscious of their constituting the true Israel, the Israel promised
to the Patriarchs, that is, the holy, chosen, remnant, spoken of by the prophets,
and now convoked and established by Jesus Christ. In his Church, as in Jesus’
own person, the prophecies of the Old Testament were finding fulfilment. 19 St
Paul stresses the fact that pagans who find faith in Christ enter the Church on
equal terms with converts from Judaism (cf. Rom 11:5, 17-24): “the Gentiles are
fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ
Jesus through the gospel” (Eph 3:6); “for neither circumcision counts for
anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation” (Gal 6:15).
The last times, the éschaton, however long they are to last, have been
inaugurated with the first coming of Christ and will end with his second coming
or Parousia. 20 In the period between these two comings the Gospel will be
preached all over the world and the Church will be growing. This
“eschatological” dimension of the Church means that Christians are
“wayfarers”: the whole Church is, as it were, God’s people on the march,
waiting for the Lord to come (cf. I Cor 16:22), moving onward towards their
heavenly, enduring homeland (cf. Heb 3:5-6; 3:16 - 4:11).
3. The Church, the Body of Christ Note: St Paul provides an actual
theology of “the body”, a theology which gives us the key to understanding the
true meaning of Christian asceticism and which shows how different it is from
any kind of “disincarnated” spirituality, whether of Gnostic, Platonic or other
origin. For St Paul “the flesh” and “the body” are different things: the latter
merits respect, whereas the former, as we said earlier, he sees as the
perishable element in man, the soil on which sin thrives. Hence the Apostle
provides no list of sins of the body, but he does list the sins of the flesh (cf. Gal
5:19ff). However, although the body per se has a certain dignity, the body of the
Christian has an enhanced dignity: it will be changed into a “glorious body” (cf.
Phil 3:21), a “spiritual body” (1 Cor 15:44). For this to happen we must first die
and our body be resurrected.

44
 In his captivity letters St Paul expounds his teaching on the Church in a
more developed form than previously; but this teaching in earlier (the “great”)
epistles and in later epistles is consistent. In the captivity letters the Church is
identified with the “body of Christ”. This is not an absolute identity: Christ and
the Church cannot be exactly the same thing; perhaps the best way to explain it
is to say that the statement “The Church is the body of Christ” can be translated
as follows: “The Church is Christ-in-his- body,” in the same sort of way as a
man’s body is a man-in-his-body: It is this man in concrete, visible form, not just
“part” of this man. 21 The formula “body of Christ” applied to the Church is one
which St Paul uses to emphasize the deeply mysterious relationship that exists
between the Church and Christ, and it represents his attempt to plumb the
deepest level of the Church’s personality. In I Corinthians and Romans the
Apostle begins to formulate this way of understanding the Church, but it is in
Colossians and Ephesians that he really develops it.
In Colossians and Ephesians he does not just describe the Church as the
Body of Christ; he superimposes on this the image of Christ as Head of the
Church:
Christ is distinct from the Church, but the Church is joined to him as to its head
(cf. Eph 1:22ff; Col 1:18). By saying that Christ is the “head” and the Church the
“body”, he is not saying that the head is not “part” of the body; the head is being
distinguished by reason of its special eminence: the head is the most important
part of the body (however, it is incorrect to be speaking here of “parts”). Thus,
the Church in relation to Christ is in a subordinate position (cf. Eph 4:15ff).
Christ, being the head and principle, is as it were the internal motor of the entire
body.
The Christian shares, truly, in the Body of the Lord through eucharistic
Communion. In this way all Christians reinforce their membership of the Body of
Christ (cf. 1 Cor 12:27) and their relationship to one another (cf. Rom 12:5).
This union of each Christian with Christ and with other Christians is a very
intimate one; 22 it goes far beyond mere external association: suffering and joy
are shared; Christians “edify” each other by the practice of charity and the other
virtues: spiritual life flows through the Body in this way. 23
This union with Christ is what rebuilds lost unity at various levels of
creation — the inner unity of the individual, pulled in different directions by his
passions cf. Rom 7: 14ff; 8:2, 9); union in marriage: for the married couple, their
model s Christ’s union with his Church (cf. Eph 5:25-32); unity among mankind:
the Holy Spirit makes people children of the same heavenly Father (cf. Eph
4:6); and very particularly, unity among Christians, who, having one heart and
one soul (cf. Acts 4:32), also praise their Father God with one voice (cf. Rom

45
15:5ff). Finally, this unity is a sign or identifying feature of the one and only
Church, united on earth by the very links which join it to Christ (cf. Eph 4:5).
This view of the unity of Christians and of the unity of the Church as the
Body of Christ does not conflict with diversity of gifts and graces. Each Christian
receives specific graces, which we should faithfully use for the glory of God (cf.
Rom 12:6-8; 1 Pet 4:10-11). In the context of this wealth of gifts, deep unity is
produced; that unity and those gifts all derive from the same source, the Spirit
(cf. 1 Cor 12:4-11).
4. The Church, the way for all men to be saved In the captivity letters, in
line with the teaching first seen in the “great” epistles, St Paul not only declares
:hat Christ, God and Man, is the Saviour of Christians; he also discusses the
salvific role of the Body of Christ. To see this one needs look up a number of
passages, 24 not all of them referring to the Body of Christ in the same sense:
1 or 10:16; 2 Cor 4:10, Col 1:22, 2:17-19, and Eph 2:16 speak of Christ’s
physical body; whereas Eph 4:11-12, 15-16 seems to refer to the Body of the
church, though this distinction may not always be easy to see. The point is that
Christ’s physical body, formed in the virginal womb of Mary, 25 the body which
lied on the Cross and was buried, bore our sins; God has reconciled us in his
body of flesh (cf. Col 1:22); Christ was the true paschal lamb (cf. 1 Cor 5:7) and
through the sacrifice of his body we were sanctified, once and for all (cf. Heb
10:10). This physical body of Christ, united to the godhead of the Word, was,
therefore, the instrument of our salvation.
After its glorification, the physical Body of Christ exists in heaven, but it
also is present on earth in the Eucharist (cf. 1 Cor 11:23ff), at the centre of the
Church. This eucharistic Body of Christ is also the instrument of salvation and
of union of Christians with Christ and with one another. By communion with the
Body of Christ, glorious in heaven and present on earth, the Church, which is
intimately and actually associated with Christ’s Body, to which it is joined and
yet from which it is distinct, is also made the instrument of mankind’s salvation
(cf. Eph 2:14-17; 3:10).
In St Paul’s epistles we can even sense the basis of the Church’s unity as
lying in the Unity of God — and Christian plurality as being rooted in the Trinity
of God (cf. Eph 4:4-6, 11-12, 15-16). Through union with Christ the Head, the
members of the Church are linked to the Second Person of the Trinity, and
through this they share in God’s very nature (cf. 2 Cor 3:18; 2 Pet 1:4). Through
the Son, then, believers attain to union with the Father and with the Holy Spirit,
and are intimately involved in the interior life of the Trinity (cf. Eph 2:18; 4:4-6).
Thus, the Body of Christ is also the universal Church. 26 The unity of and
the distinction between Christ and the Church are explained by Paul in other
ways than in terms of head and body — for example, by the idea of the Church
46
as the Bride of Christ (cf. Eph 5:23-32), where this unity and this distinction are
both asserted, and the Church is seen as Christ’s instrument for applying
salvation to all mankind.

47
Introduction to St Paul’s Epistles to the Galatians and the
Romans
NOTE
THE CONTEXT IN WHICH THE TWO EPISTLES WERE WRITFEN
THE RECIPIENTS
CONTENT AND STRUCTURE OF THE TWO EPISTLES
THE PRESENT TEXT OF ROMANS

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NOTE
In the general introduction to St Paul’s letters we have already looked at
the dating and doctrinal content of Romans and Galatians. Here we shall
concentrate on the context in which these letters were written, to help the
reader understand them better; then we shall go on to examine the structure of
each letter.
In the prologue to his Commentary on St Paul’s Epistles St Thomas
Aquinas very succinctly describes the content of these letters when he says
that all the teaching revealed therein refers to the “grace of Christ”, that is, the
fruits of the Redemption, viewed in three ways — as found in Christ himself (cf.
Hebrews), as distributed hierarchically (cf. the pastoral epistles) and as found in
Christ’s mystical Body, the Church (cf. the other epistles). By saying this,
Aquinas is treating as one single block Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians,
the captivity letters and 1 and 2 Thessalonians. Within this group, Galatians and
Romans are particularly akin, dealing as they do with the same subject, though
from slightly different angles. Both study grace, that is, justification (=
sanctification) effected by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law.
Because they are so similar and complementary we are including Romans and
Galatians in the one volume, with a joint introduction.
We shall first look at the context in which they were written, because this
helps in understanding certain details and nuances of these letters.

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THE CONTEXT IN WHICH THE TWO EPISTLES WERE
WRITTEN
1. Galatians The Letter to the Galatians is the first of the so-called “great”
epistles of the Apostle of the Gentiles. It was very probably written around the
year 54 or 55, although some scholars bring the date forward to 49 and others
put it back to 57. Whatever about the exact date, God inspired Paul to write it
and to do so at a very providential time, because it provides the best
commentary (or, if one prefers, the best introduction) to the decisions of the
Council of Jerusalem (cf. Acts 15:23-29). At that gathering the Apostles, with
the help of the “elders”, or presbyters, of the local church of Jerusalem, and, as
they themselves tell us, in union with the Holy Spirit, decided that Christians of
Gentile origin were under no obligation to conform to Jewish precepts. This was
an exceptionally important development: the Church was coming to realize the
implications of being not a mere part of Judaism but rather a new and different
product of God’s action in history. 1 It was a new expression of God’s
redeeming love which through Christ had been grafted on to the ancient trunk
of the chosen people.
Despite the decision of the council, the subtle yet profound relationship
between the Old and New Covenants was difficult to understand; there was an
obvious continuity between the two, and an obvious discontinuity. This difficulty
was experienced particularly by those Jews who were hidebound by national
and religious traditions, inclined to give more importance to the ancient rites of
Israel than to the freedom won by Christ and to the law of grace. It is quite likely
that some of these “false brethren” (Gal 2:4), as happened prior to the council
of Jerusalem (cf. Acts 15:1, 5), even reached the communities founded by St
Paul (cf. Acts 16:6) in the course of his second missionary journey. We do not
know exactly who they were, or whether they were individuals or small groups
working on their own initiative or part of a wider campaign against Paul; but
certainly they constituted an ever-present threat to him and even pressurized
the Apostles: in Antioch they were responsible for Simon Peter disguising his
“pro-Gentile” conduct (cf. Gal 2:11 -14). The incident in question must have
occurred shortly after the council and prior to Paul’s third missionary journey
(winter 52-53). Peter acted in an ambiguous way, cowed by fear of what
Judaizers might think: when he first arrived in Antioch he had mixed freely with
its many Christians of Gentile background (cf. Acts 11:20-21, 24-26) and
without following the rules of the Mosaic Law. Then, when a number of “James’
men” came to the city, Peter backtracked and ceased to consort with these
Christians, thereby opening the way to divisions in the young church. The
newcomers were probably connected with early Jerusalem converts who had

50
been Pharisees or priests (cf. Acts 6:7; 15:5); and they probably used St
James’ reputation in support of retaining Judaic practices and even requiring
others to do the same, despite the line James himself took at the council of
Jerusalem (cf. Acts 15:19-21; Jas 1:25; 2:12). Paul saw these people as
intruders, “false brethren”, seeking to spy on true believers. It is difficult to work
out from what Paul says whether these Judaizers were arguing that all
Christians had to observe the Mosaic Law 2 or, rather, were saying that it was
desirable or more perfect to do so, which is what some texts seem to say. 3
In spite of the decision of the council of Jerusalem, the Judaizers were
very active in promoting their ideas; we come across them not only in Galatia
but also soon afterwards in Corinth, and later on in Philippi, Colossae. Ephesus
and Crete 4 — a threat to St Paul right to the end of his life (cf. 2 Tim 3:5-6).
Their aggressiveness and the thrust of their ideas led the Apostle, under
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to spell out very clearly the truth about
justification through faith and about Christian freedom. He did all that he could
to counter circumcision (which Judaizers wanted to impose) with the triumph of
Christ’s Cross (cf. Gal 5:2-3; 5:11; 6:12): “For neither circumcision counts for
anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation” (Gal 6:15).
Thanks to a reference which Paul makes (in Gal 4:13) when he reminds
those he is addressing of the time he preached to them “at first” (which implies
that he spent time in Galatia on at least two separate occasions), there is good
reason to believe that the epistle was written during his third apostolic journey,
when, after strengthening the faith of the churches in Galatia and Phrygia (cf.
Acts 18:23) he sojourned for a period — two or three years — in Ephesus (cf.
Acts 19:10; 20:31). And in view of the fact that Paul refers to having been
recently in Galatia (cf. Gal 1:6), there is good reason for thinking that he wrote
this letter around the year 54.
2. Romans The Epistle to the Romans was written in very different
circumstances, which explains the particular tone of this letter. The Judaizers
had not reached as far as Rome, which meant that there was no threat to the
internal unity of the Christian community living in the capital of the Empire. The
only serious problem in the Roman church had to do with a moral and
disciplinary matter connected with clean and unclean food, and fasting
(subjects dealt with in the second half of the letter). Paul’s aim may have been
to cement the bonds of unity between Christians of both backgrounds, Jewish
and Gentile: he reminds them of the common vocation they have received from
God and of how, previously, both of them had been in a state of sin: recognition
of this fact should make them humble and charitable towards one another. As
we have said, there were no pressing problems for Paul to solve at this time;
however, in writing to the Romans Paul is extending his own apostolic horizons

51
and God inspires him to develop the subject already covered in Galatians —
the connexion between justification and the Law; faith and good works; freedom
and sin.
At the time of writing, the Apostle is conscious that his activity in the
eastern regions of the Empire has produced lasting fruit. The Gospel of Christ
has been preached from Jerusalem right to the eastern coast of the Adriatic (cf.
Rom 15:19). Paul has been the principal sower, the layer of foundations; his
disciples and companions will develop his work and make the offering of the
Gentiles an acceptable one, sanctified by the Holy Spirit (cf. Rom 15:16). Paul
feels that there is no further scope for him in those regions (cf. Rom 15:23), and
he is beginning to think about going further a field. First of all he is thinking of
the potential of Rome itself, but there were already small Christian communities
in Mediterranean coastal cities and provinces, and still further away lay the rest
of Italy, and Iberia and Gaul (modern France, Belgium, Switzerland and
Northern Italy).
The Apostle’s heart thrilled at the prospect Rome itself presented for the
spread of the Gospel. Its cosmopolitan population and its position as a political,
commercial and cultural centre meant that its influence extended across the
known world. Only a few miles from Rome lay Ostia, the most important port of
the Mediterranean, with a population of two hundred thousand; Rome itself had
a million: both cities were very large by the standards of the time. Paul had also
heard about there being Christians in the Roman provinces of the Iberian
peninsula, places he was already aware of through the Bible where they were
known by the name of Tarshish. 5 Here also he would have to bring the light
and love of Christ, to dispel the darkness of idolatry, magical cults and primitive
superstitions.
St Paul writes with a certain boldness (cf. Rom 15:15) to those people
who have already been preached to by others (cf. Rom 15:20) — undoubtedly
St Peter and some of the earliest converts. He wants to plan his journey to the
West and would like the Christians of Rome to help him (cf. Rom 15:24),
perhaps by giving him some money and letters of introduction. But what he
especially wants to do is to strengthen their faith (cf. Rom 1:11-12; 15:32), to be
consoled by their fidelity and also to “reap some harvest” among them (cf. Rom
1:13). He feels under an obligation to all — Greeks and barbarians, wise and
foolish: that is why he is so keen to go to Rome (cf. Rom 1:11-15; 15:22-23).
Paul is writing, in all probability, from Corinth. This would explain his
reference to Phoebe and the church at Cenchreae, 6 and why we find among
his fellow workers Erastus (cf. 2 Tim 4:20), and Gaius or Caius, one of the few
Corinthians whom Paul himself baptized (cf. I Cor 1:14). At the end of the letter
we read that the Teacher of the Gentiles is planning to bring up to Jerusalem

52
the monies collected in Macedonia and Achaia (cf. Rom 15:25-26; Acts 19:21; 1
Cor 16:1). This suggests that the letter was written near the end of his third
apostolic journey, probably during the three months he spent in Greece after
the riot in Ephesus and before his dramatic journey to Jerusalem (cf. Acts 20:3):
that would make it the winter of 57-58, very probably 58, just before he took
ship.

53
THE RECIPIENTS
1. The Christians of Galatia Galatia was an inland region of Asia Minor,
occupying the central part of the plateau of Turkey. In the centre of the region
lay Ancyra, present-day Ankara. In St Paul’s time the Roman province of
Galatia also included, to the south, the territory of the ancient country of
Lycaonia, where were located many cities we are familiar with through Acts —
Derbe, Lystra, Iconium and Pisidian Antioch. Galatia was bordered, then, on the
east by Cappodocia, on the north by Bythinia and Paphlagonia (both on the
Black Sea), on the west by Phrygia (where Colossae and Laodicea were
located) and to the south, as we have said, by Lycaonia and Pisidia. The
Galatians were of Celtic stock and were descended from people who had
migrated therein the third century B.C.; many of them were shepherds, honest,
upright people, warm and affectionate. St Paul had made contact with them on
his very first missionary journey, when he evangelized the south of the province.
But his most intensive ministry to them took place during his second journey,
between 49 and 52, possibly because illness forced him to stay there for a
period (cf. Gal 4:13; Acts 16:1-8). The Galatians welcomed him with open arms
— received him “as an angel of God”, as if he were our Lord himself (cf. Gal
4:14); they rejoiced at their good fortune in having Paul with them and showed
him affection in all kinds of ways: as he reminds them, “if possible, you would
have plucked out your eyes and given them to me” (Gal 4:15).
Even though the Apostle has not been in Galatia for some time he still
addresses them with great tenderness: “My little children, with whom I am once
again in travail until Christ be formed in you” (Gal 4:19). He calls them “foolish
Galatians”: they are easily swayed, too ready to listen to new preachers, too
inclined to look for excitement or consolation in religion (cf. Gal 3:1- 4); but he
finds it difficult to reprove them and soon changes his tone, for his spiritual
children make him feel affectionate and understanding (cf. Gal 4:20). The
Apostle had actually been back to Galatia twice in the year 53 or 54 (cf. Acts
18:23), and then, on learning about the threat from the Judaizers, he wrote
them this letter so full of anguish and love.
2. The Christian community in Rome It is estimated that in Nero’s time
Rome had a population of about one million. Obviously, it would have been
made up of all kinds of people; as Seneca put it, “Every sort of person flocks to
the City which offers, at a high price, virtues and vices.” 7 There is every reason
to suppose that Christian converts were to be found there from very early on. In
fact, at Pentecost, the Acts of the Apostles tell us, there were visitors from
Rome in Jerusalem (Acts 2:10), some of whom may well have been baptized
on that day (cf. Acts 2:41). Besides, it is known that the Jewish community in

54
the Eternal City was perhaps as large as 50,000, with thirteen synagogues.
Suetonius, in his Life of Claudius, tells us that during that emperor’s reign there
was such unrest among the Jews “provoked by one Chrestus” that the emperor
had to decree their expulsion: 8 this was what led Aquila and Priscilla to leave
Rome and go to Corinth (cf. Acts 18:2), where they met St Paul (they were
already Christians). Also among the people whom the Apostle greets at the end
of his epistle we find Andronicus and Junias, who “were in Christ before me” (cf.
Rom 16:7) that is, before the year 38.
Although it is more than likely that some members of the Jewish
community in Rome were Christians from very early on, the actual foundation of
the local church at Rome must be attributed to St Peter, who went there shortly
after he escaped miraculously from Herod Agrippa’s prison (cf. Acts 12:17). The
unanimous tradition about St Peter’s stay in Rome is recorded in two main
sources: Eusebius, in his Ecclesiastical History, tells us that Simon Peter
arrived in Rome during the reign of Claudius (41-54); and the Catalogus libri
pontificalis speaks of his preaching there for twenty-five years. From Paul’s
letters we can see that he recognizes the Christians of the City as constituting a
flourishing community whose “faith is proclaimed in all the world” (Rom 1:8), a
community which merits being greeted by “all the churches of Christ” (Rom
16:16) and which has been in existence for some considerable time (cf. Rom
15:22) — all of which confirms what tradition tells us. This explains how, when
Paul, after so many vicissitudes, was eventually able to fulfil his long-felt desire
to visit Rome, 9 the brethren went “as far as the Forum of Appius and Three
Taverns” to meet him (Acts 28:15).
Who were responsible for the establishment of this very important local
church? Was it Jewish Christians or Gentile converts? Probably both. Certainly
there must have been many Jews in the Roman church; otherwise, there would
be no reason for Paul to have so many Jewish references in his letter —
quotations from books of the Old Testament (cf. e.g. Rom 3:10-18), the long
point he makes about the calling of Abraham (cf. chap. 4), his outline of the
history of Israel (cf. chaps. 9-11), the various possible objections he deals with,
10 and, perhaps, his reference to those who are “weak in faith”, who continue to
follow superseded practices (cf. Rom 14:1-6). However, the Gentiles must have
been in the majority, because essentially the letter is addressed to them. To
them specifically the Apostle has been sent (cf. Rom 1:5, 13-14; 15:15-16);
Paul considers himself “under obligation” to them for the sake of the Gospel;
the letter is written to people who have been slaves of sin (cf. Rom 6:17); they
do not belong to Israel according to the flesh; 11 the Apostle is speaking to
them directly (Rom 11:13); they must not feel superior to the Jews (cf. Rom
11:20, 24), but rather revere and adore God’s mercy and justice (cf. Rom 11:22,
28-32).
55
 And, lastly, they are the “strong”: they know that for God there is no such
thing as “unclean” food; all food is good; but they should not “let what is good
[...] be spoken of as evil” (Rom 14:16), that is, they should be careful not to give
scandal.
In that early Christian community in Rome we see at work the universal
ideal of Christianity “Christ became a servant to the circumcised [. . .] in order to
confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles
might glorify God for his mercy” (Rom 15:8-9).

56
CONTENT AND STRUCTURE OF THE TWO EPISTLES
1. St Paul’s literary style Various collections of letters by important people
or writers have come down to us from classical times: for example, there are
those of Cicero, which give clear insights into the mind of the man and the
turbulent times he lived in; or Pliny the Younger’s letters, a most valuable
source of information on men and affairs in the first and second century A.D.
We also have some letters of Fathers of the Church — Athanasius, Basil,
Gregory Nazianzen, Paulinus of Nola, Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine. .. ; and
indeed some of the oldest documents preserved by immediate post-biblical
Christian traditions are letters — St Clement of Rome’s Epistle to the
Corinthians and the series of Letters written by St Ignatius, bishop of Antioch,
during his long journey to Rome to be put to death for the faith.
All this helps us to understand the kind of letters we meet in the New
Testament — the Pauline epistles and the other seven “catholic” epistles. Even
from a literary point of view the Pauline letters are quite outstanding. The other
inspired letters are short doctrinal essays, sometimes very profound, but they
do not have the vigour and energy of St Paul’s writings. No writer of ancient
times can be compared to him. Leaving other New Testament authors aside,
perhaps only the very earliest Christian writers, such as St Clement and St
Ignatius, can approach the depth, strength, passion and vision of the Apostle of
the Gentiles. But those early writers were in fact disciples of St Paul, dedicated
apprentices of his. Moreover, in addition to the characteristic features of Paul’s
letters, it must also be said that they have all the features of real
correspondence; one realizes immediately that these are not letters written with
a literary purpose, nor are they intellectual reflections cast in letter form (quite a
common practice in all languages), nor elaborations of some earlier text. They
have all the immediacy of things said or dictated on the spot. St Paul links ideas
by association, he goes back a number of times over things he has already
spoken about and keeps repeating ideas which he sees as very important; he
develops his arguments slowly, moving in concentric circles; sometimes he
rises suddenly to dizzy heights, pursuing an insight; on other occasions he
writes straight from the heart and the tone is warm and passionate; he some
times uses irony, reproach and even cutting words if he feels that is what his
readers need.
Paul’s style does not follow any fixed method; but there is a basic order to
it. In each letter there are one or more core themes, to which the Apostle keeps
returning, and these lead him on to other ideas which seem to be incidental.
This explains why we sometimes find unfinished sentences: the writer’s thought
has gone off on a tangent and does not come back, but it is easy to see what

57
he is saying: in fact, these unfinished sentences have a poetry and strength and
vitality of their own.
Still, these epistles largely do keep to the general structure of a traditional
letter. Paul begins with a greeting, which is not a stereotyped form of words but
a vibrant, supernatural recollection. He gives a little news about himself and
sends his best wishes — for peace, grace and divine assistance. He then
moves on to deal with the matter(s) he wants to expound. He reminds his
readers of their duty, in all situations, to be charitable, and, always using new
imagery, he paints an attractive picture of what the Christian life involves — how
magnificent it is, and how demanding it is also. He ends the letter renewing his
good wishes and greetings, and praising God.
2. Galatians The Apostle uses this structure as a framework into which he
builds the particular things he wants to deal with in each letter. In the case of
the Epistle to the Galatians, which was written before that to the Romans, he
starts off with his usual greetings (1:1-5), recalling that he has been chosen not
by men but by God, and immediately making complaint at the inconstancy of
his spiritual children (1:6-10). He is very outspoken and goes as far as to put a
curse on anyone who preaches a gospel other than his. This ends the
introductory part of the letter. It is followed by one of the most historically
interesting texts: in order to defend his right to preach the Gospel, and to argue
the supernatural character of his mission, Paul recalls the main stages in his life
— his vocation (1:11-24), his visit to Jerusalem with Barnabas and Titus,
probably in connexion with the Apostles’ council (2:1-10), and the Antioch
incident (2:11-21).
The doctrinal part of this letter is the first time Paul deals with the key
question in his controversy with the Judaizers — justification through faith in
Jesus Christ and not through adherence to the Law of Moses. In dealing with
this truth he goes right back to God’s promises to Abraham, recalling that the
Patriarch was justified by his faith, recalling too the curse the Law imposed on
transgressors. Justification finds its basis in the promises made to Abraham,
not in the Law promulgated 430 years later: the Law’s function was one of
education, preparing the way for the new Law of freedom preached by Christ
(3:15-29).
To explain what being a Christian means, the Apostle makes two
comparisons — one taken from ordinary life and one from Sacred Scripture.
Christians are sons and daughters of God: before Christ they were like small
children, in need of guardians; now they are mature sons and daughters, heirs,
who can relate to God as to their Father (4:1-11). Or, to put it in biblical terms:
the contrast between slavery and freedom recalls the two sons of Abraham —
Ishmael, the son of Hagar, a slave, and Isaac, the son of Sarah, a free woman.

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Ishmael stands for the Old Testament, Isaac for the New (4:21-31). In between
making these comparisons, St Paul opens his heart to the Galatians, showing
how fatherly are his feelings for them (4:12-20).
After expounding this teaching, the Apostle shows how it applies in
everyday life. This is the moral section of the letter (5:1 - 6:10). He begins by
recalling that the Law of Christ is a law of freedom, whereas the Law of
circumcision involves a whole series of obligations (5:1-12); then he goes on to
develop a very important idea — the opposition between the works of the Spirit,
and the works of the flesh and of sin (5:13-26). He finishes by pointing out that
the key precept in the Law of Christ is charity, and he describes charity by
showing how it expresses itself in the area of brotherhood (6:1-10).
The epistle ends with lines written by St Paul in his own hand, a brief
summary of what he has been saying, and warm words of farewell (6:11-18).
3. Romans The Epistle to the Romans deals with the same subject, but
more extensively and in more depth. It begins with a very long and elaborate
prologue, one of the most moving passages in all the Apostle’s letters. In it he
declares himself to be a servant of Jesus Christ, and, in referring to his mission,
he gives a vivid summary of the process of Redemption (1:1-15). He is writing
this letter to speak about the justification which comes through faith, for “he who
through faith is righteous shall live” (1:16-17).
The dogmatic section of the letter, which takes up over half of the text,
centres on the meaning, content and implications of the justification opened up
to us through Jesus Christ (1:18 - 11:36). He begins by showing the need for
justification (1:18 - 4:25), describing the sinful situation in which all men, without
exception, find themselves — pagans, through their idolatry and perversion
(1:18-32), Jews through their sins and transgressions (2:1-24). Physical
circumcision cannot save anyone: a person must be inwardly circumcised, that
is, be inwardly clean (2:25 - 3:8). In God’s sight all are sinners, whether they be
Jews or Gentiles (3:9-20), and all are in need of the justification which comes
through faith in Christ and which cannot be merited; it is a free gift of God (3:21-
3 1). This first part of the doctrinal section of the letter ends with Paul giving an
example he has already used in Galatians — that of Abraham, to whom God
made promises not because Abraham had adhered to the Law (it had not yet
been promulgated) but because of his faith (4:1-25).
But faith, like justification, is itself a gift from God. No merits of ours can
win it: God gratuitously saves us through Christ. In this second part of his
doctrinal exposition, St Paul explains what the effects of justification are —
liberation from sin, from death (temporal and, above all, eternal death) and from
the Mosaic Law. He shows us how salvation comes through Christ’s self-
sacrifice and how this salvation is applied to us (5:1 - 8:39). By his death Christ
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reconciles us with the Father; his death, therefore, is the ground of our hope
(5:1-11). Oppressed by the sin of Adam, we find in Christ the new Adam, the
new head of the human race; Christ liberates us and gives us back the life
which the first man’s sin took away from us. Where sin increased, grace
abounded all the more (5:12-2 1). This liberation and this new life are
communicated to us through Baptism, which makes us sharers in the Death
and Resurrection of Jesus Christ (6:1-1 1).
The opposition between sin and redemption, between death and life, is
compared with the opposition between enslavement and freedom: Christ has
freed us from original sin and given us the opportunity to set ourselves free
from personal sins so as to freely serve righteousness (16:12-23). What
enslaves man is sin — original sin, in the first place; personal sins, made worse
by knowledge of the Law; and concupiscence, which, though it is not sin,
derives from sin and inclines us to sin. The freedom which Christ gives us is,
therefore, freedom from the Law (7:1- 6) 12 and freedom from concupiscence
(7:7-13). There is a third enemy — the flesh (the soil on which concupiscence
grows), which works against the spirit. There is a law of the flesh
(concupiscence, which inclines one to sin) which goes against grace; this law
needs to be striven against. This interior striving is a normal and necessary part
of the Christian life, because sin constitutes a threat even after we arc justified:
we can see what it did to the first man; it conquered him and held him in thrall
until the coming of Christ (7:14-25). 13
But a Christian’s life is not all one long struggle, nor is justification only a
matter of forgiveness of sins. The most important thing about justification is its
positive aspect — the new life which the Spirit gives us (8:1-13). Through the
action of the Holy Spirit we become true sons and daughters of God (8:14-30)
and are filled with confidence despite any difficulties that may arise. Our hope
has a supernatural basis; our morale is based on awareness that God is our
Father (8:31-39).
With the example of Abraham’s calling and his faith, we come to the end
of the letter’s first series of doctrinal observations about sin, faith, redemption,
and justification through Christ. Paul uses a similar comparison at the end of his
next discussion on the same subject (9:1 - 11:36) — God’s free choice of the
people of Israel. Here Paul is not so much copper-fastening what he has
already said in chapters 5-8, as answering a question which follows on from
that earlier discussion: what do the promises made to the chosen people
mean? The example he uses is God’s free choice of Jacob as heir of the
promise, and the passing over of Esau when he rejects his birthright (9:1-13).
This example reveals the mystery of predestination, which is not in
contradiction with human freedom (9:14-33). Paul also points out that the

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previous chosen people have been unfaithful to their calling and that this
opened the way for God to pour his mercy upon the Gentiles (10:1-21). But not
all Israel will be rejected: a remnant will be saved (11:1-12). The doctrinal part
of Romans ends in fact with reflections on the difference between the new
chosen people and the old (11:13-24); and Paul proclaims that divine Wisdom
has arranged for the conversion of Israel and the bringing together of all the
faithful during the last times (11:25-36).
This revelation about all men becoming one in Christ leads the way to the
morality section of the letter (12:1 - 15:13). As in Galatians, this section deals
with life based on love, but here the scale is worldwide. Love, charity, is, in the
first place, the bond uniting the members of Christ’s Body, the Church (12:1-8).
In Christ we all form a single body, are all members of one body — hence the
need for fraternal charity (12:9-21). This same love guarantees the good order
of society, because social order depends on recognition that all authority comes
from God and must obey him (13:1-7). Therefore, charity is the fulfilling of the
Law (13:8-14).
After giving the general principles governing the Christian life (12:1 -
13:14), St Paul examines one particular area; this leads on to his final
observations (14:1 - 15:13). The particular matter is the distinction between
people who are “strong” and those who are “weak” in faith — those who do not
make distinctions between different kinds of food or days, and others who feel
obliged not to eat the flesh of unclean animals, and to observe Jewish fasts on
certain days of the year. The principle to apply here is that of love and respect
for others: one has to put oneself in one’s neighbour’s shoes (14:1-12), avoid
causing others to stumble (14:13-23) and follow Christ’s example in all things
(15:1-13).
The Letter to the Romans ends with an epilogue, which is longer than
usual (15:14 - 16:27), perhaps because of the importance of the Christian
community living in the capital city of the Empire and also because Paul
describes his future plans in some detail. He explains why he has written to the
Christians of Rome (15:14-21) and what his own plans are (15:22-33), and
ends his letter with a long series of warm greetings and introductions (16:1-24).
His closing words are a splendid paean in praise of God, through Jesus Christ
(16:25-27): he concludes his letter as if it were a prayer, just as he began it in
the name of God and of Jesus Christ.

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THE PRESENT TEXT OF ROMANS
In general, the text of these two letters has been very well preserved —
which indicates the great reverence and respect the churches showed towards
inspired writings attributed to the Apostle of the Gentiles. However, certain
small variations should be remarked upon. They concern mainly the position of
the final doxology (Rom 16:25-27). The letter seems to end as early as 15:33,
with the customary words of farewell: this would explain why a very ancient
papyrus puts the doxology at that point; other manuscripts, however, put it at
the end of chapter 14, and most of these then repeat it at the very end of the
epistle. It is not difficult to suggest an explanation for this. The liturgical reading
of Romans usually omitted chapters 15 and 16 because they contained mainly
“news items”. However, the liturgy did not want to lose the beautiful doxology at
the very end, and so it tagged it on to the text proper, as it were, as an
extension of chapter 14 or chapter 15. Liturgical reading would have influenced
the copying of the manuscripts and thereby given rise to the variations.
Therefore, there seems to be no doubt about the final doxology being by St
Paul and having always occupied the position it now holds at 16:25-27.

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 The Epistle of St Paul to the Romans
[Ch. 1] [Ch. 2] [Ch. 3] [Ch. 4] [Ch. 5] [Ch. 6] [Ch. 7] [Ch. 8] [Ch. 9] [Ch. 10]
[Ch. 11] [Ch. 12] [Ch. 13] [Ch. 14] [Ch. 15] [Ch. 16]

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CHAPTER 1

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 PROLOGUE
Greeting
1 Paul, a servant a of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for
the gospel of God 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the
holy scriptures, 3 the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from
David according to the flesh 4 and designated a2 Son of God in power
according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus
Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to
bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the
nations, 6 including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ:
7 To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your
faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with
my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you always in
my prayers, 10 asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in
coming to you. 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual
gift to strengthen you, 12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each
other’s faith, both yours and mine. 13 I want you to know, brethren, that I have
often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented) in order that I
may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles.
14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and
to the foolish: 15 so I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in
Rome.

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The theme of the epistle
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel: it is the power of God for
salvation to every one who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17
For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is
written, “He who through faith is righteous shall live.” b

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 DOGMATIC SECTION
JUSTIFICATION THROUGH JESUS CHRIST
JUSTIFICATION THROUGH FAITH
The fault and punishment of the Gentiles
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness
and wickedness of men who by their wickedness suppress the truth. 19 For
what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to
them. 20 Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his
eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have
been made. So they are without excuse; 21 for although they knew God they
did not honour him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their
thinking and their senseless minds were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they
became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images
resembling mortal man or birds or animals or reptiles.
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to
the dishonouring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they
exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshipped and served the
creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever! Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonourable passions. Their
women exchanged natural relations for unnatural, 27 and the men likewise
gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one
another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in their own
persons the due penalty for their error.
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up
to a base mind and to improper conduct. 29 They were filled with all manner of
wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit,
malignity, they are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty,
boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless,
heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s decree that those who do such
things deserve to die, they not only do them but approve those who practise
them.

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 CHAPTER 2
The Jews also are guilty
1 Therefore you have no excuse, O man, whoever you are, when you
judge another; for in passing judgment upon him you condemn yourself,
because you, the judge, are doing the very same things. 2 We know that the
judgment of God rightly falls upon those who do such things. 3 Do you
suppose, O man, that when you judge those who do such things and yet do
them yourself, you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you presume
upon the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not
know that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 5 But by your
hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of
wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 For he will render to
every man according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing
seek for glory and honour and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for
those who are factious and do not obey the truth, but obey wickedness, there
will be wrath and fury. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every human
being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10 but glory and honour
and peace for every one who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11
For God shows no partiality.
12 All who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law,
and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not
the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law
who will be justified. 14 When Gentiles who have not the law do by nature what
the law requires, they are a law to them selves, even though they do not have
the law. 15 They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, while
their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or
perhaps excuse them 16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God
judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.
17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely upon the law and boast of your
relation to God 18 and know his will and approve what is excellent, because
you are instructed in the law, 19 and if you are sure that you are a guide to the
blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 a corrector of the foolish, a
teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth
— 21 you then who teach others, will you not teach yourself? While you preach
against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who say that one must not commit
adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23
You who boast in the law, do you dishonour God by breaking the law? 24 For,

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as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because
of you.”

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Real circumcision, a matter of the heart
25 Circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law; but if you break the
law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. 26 So, if a man who is
uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be
regarded as circumcision? 27 Then those who are physically uncircumcised but
keep the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but
break the law. 28 For he is not a real Jew who is one outwardly, nor is true
circumcision something external and physical. 29 He is a Jew who is one
inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart, spiritual and not literal.
His praise is not from men but from God.

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 CHAPTER 3
1 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of
circumcision? 2 Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews are entrusted with
the oracles of God. 3 What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness
nullify the faithfulness of God? 4 By no means! Let God be true though every
mar be false, as it is written,
“That thou mayest be justified in thy words, and prevail when thou art
judged.”
5 But if our wickedness serves to show the justice of God what shall we
say? That God is unjust to inflict wrath or us? (I speak in a human way.) 6 By no
means! For then how could God judge the world? 7 But if through my falsehood
God’s truthfulness abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a
sinner? 8 And why not do evil that good may come? — as some people
slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.

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All are sinners — Jews and Gentiles both
9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? c No, not at all; for I d have
already charged that all men, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of
sin, 10 as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands, no one seeks for
God. 12 All have turned aside, together they have gone wrong; no one does
good, not even one.” 13 “Their throat is an open grave, they use their tongues
to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” 14 “Their mouth is full of
curses and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood, 16 in their paths
are ruin and misery, 17 and the way of peace they do not know.” 18 “There is
no fear of God before their eyes.”
19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are
under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may
be held accountable to God. 20 For no human being will be justified in his sight
by works of the law, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

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Righteousness, a free gift through faith in Christ
21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from law,
although the law and the prophets bear witness to it, 22 the righteousness of
God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction;
23 since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 they are justified
by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, 25
whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith.
This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he
had passed over former sins; 26 it was to prove at the present time that he
himself is righteous and that he justifies him who has faith in Jesus.
27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. On what principle?
On the principle of works? No, but on the principle of faith. 28 For we hold that
a man is justified by faith apart from works of law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews
only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since God is
one; and he will justify the circumcised on the ground of their faith and the
uncircumcised through their faith. 31 Do we then overthrow the law by this
faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

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 CHAPTER 4
The example of Abraham
1 What then shall we say about e Abraham, our forefather according to
the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast
about, but not before God. 3 For what does the scripture say? “Abraham
believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to one who
works, his wages are not reckoned as a gift but as his due. 5 And to one who
does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as
righteousness. 6 So also David pronounces a blessing upon the man to whom
God reckons righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven; and whose sins are
covered; 8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not reckon his sin.”
9 Is this blessing pronounced only upon the circumcised, or also upon the
uncircumcised? We say that faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness.
10 How then was it reckoned to him? Was it before or after he had been
circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 11 He received
circumcision as a sign or seal of the righteousness which he had by faith while
he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who
believe without being circumcised and who thus have righteousness reckoned
to them, 12 and likewise the father of the circumcised who are not merely
circumcised but also follow the example of the faith which our father Abraham
had before he was circumcised.
13 The promise to Abraham and his descendants, that they should inherit
the world, did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.
14 If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the
promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is
no transgression.
16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on
grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants — not only to the adherents of
the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham, for he is the father of
us all, 17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations” — in the
presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls
into existence the things that do not exist. 18 In hope he believed against hope,
that he should become the father of many nations; as he had been told, “So
shall your descendants be.” 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered
his own body, which was as good as dead because he was about a hundred
years old, or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. 20 No
distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in
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his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that God was able to do
what he had promised. 22 That is why his faith was “reckoned to him as
righteousness.” 23 But the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for
his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him
that raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was put to death for our
trespasses and raised for our justification.

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 CHAPTER 5
SALVATION AND THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
Reconciliation through Christ’s sacrifice, the basis of our
hope
1 Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we f have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have obtained access g to
this grace in which we stand, and we h rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory
of God. 3 More than that, web rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering
produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character
produces hope, 5 and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has
been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
6 While we were yet helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 Why, one will hardly die for a righteous man — though perhaps for a good
man one will dare even to die. 8 But God shows his love for us in that while we
were yet sinners Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we are now justified by
his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For,
if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son,
much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 Not
only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through
whom we have now received our reconciliation.

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Adam’s original sin
12 Therefore as sin came into the world through one man and death
through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned — 13 sin
indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where
there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those
whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one
who was to come.
15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one
man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace
of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16 And the free gift is not like
the effect of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass
brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings
justification. 17 If, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that
one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the
free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
18 Then as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one
man’s act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life for all men. 19 For as by
one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man’s obedience
many will be made righteous. 20 Law came in, to increase the trespass; but
where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in
death, grace also might reign through righteousness to eternal life through
Jesus Christ our Lord.

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 CHAPTER 6
Baptism
1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may
abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you
not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized
into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so
that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might
walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly
be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was
crucified with him so that the sinful body might be destroyed, and we might no
longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For he who has died is freed from sin. 8 But if we
have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. 9 For we know
that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has
dominion over him. 10 The death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life
he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin
and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

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Liberation from sin
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey
their passions. 13 Do not yield your members to sin as instruments of
wickedness, but yield yourselves to God as men who have been brought from
death to life, and your members to God as instruments of righteousness. 14 For
sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under
grace.
15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under
grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that if you yield yourselves to any
one as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin,
which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But
thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient
from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18
and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 19 I
am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as
you once yielded your members to impurity and to greater and greater’ iniquity,
so now yield your members to righteousness for sanctification.
20 When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
21 But then what return did you get from the things of which you are now
ashamed? The end of those things is death. 22 But now that you have been set
free from sin and have become slaves of God, the return you get is
sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the
free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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 CHAPTER 7
The Christian is not bound by the Law
1 Do you not know, brethren — for I am speaking to those who know the
law — that the law is binding on a person only during his life? 2 Thus a married
woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives; but if her husband
dies she is discharged from the law concerning the husband. 3 Accordingly, she
will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is
alive. But if her husband dies she is free from that law, and if she marries
another man she is not an adulteress.
4 Likewise, my brethren, you have died to the law through the body of
Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the
dead in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5 While we were living in the flesh,
our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear
fruit for death. 6 But now we are discharged from the law, dead to that which
held us captive, so that we serve not under the old written code but in the new
life of the Spirit.

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The Law and covetousness
7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet, if it had
not been for the law, I should not have known sin. I should not have known
what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, finding
opportunity in the commandment, wrought in me all kinds of covetousness.
Apart from the law sin lies dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when
the commandment came, sin revived and I died; 10 the very commandment
which promised life proved to be death to me. 11 For sin, finding opportunity in
the commandment, deceived me and by it killed me. 12 So the law is holy, and
the commandment is holy and just and good.
13 Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was
sin, working death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown
to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond
measure.

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Interior struggle
14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15 I
do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the
very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good.
17 So then it is no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells within me. 18 For I
know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is
right, but I cannot do it. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not
want is what I do. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it,
but sin which dwells within me.
21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at
hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inmost self, 23 but I see in my
members another law at war with the law of my mind and making me captive to
the law of sin which dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who
will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus
Christ our Lord! So then, I of myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with
my flesh I serve the law of sin.

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 CHAPTER 8
Life in the Spirit
1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ
Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the
law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh,
could not do: sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin. i he
condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the just requirement of the law might
be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the
flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of
the Spirit. 6 To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the
Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it
does not submit to God’s law, indeed it cannot; 8 and those who are in the flesh
cannot please God.
9 But you are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God
really dwells in you. Any one who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not
belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although your bodies are dead because
of sin, your spirits are alive because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who
raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the
dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit who dwells in
you.
12 So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to
the flesh — 13 for if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the
Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live.

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Christians are children of God
14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did
not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the
spirit of sonship. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 it is the Spirit himself bearing
witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs,
heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order
that we may also be glorified with him.
18 I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth
comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits
with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God; 20 for the creation was
subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of him who subjected it in
hope; 21 because the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay
and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 We know that the
whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now; 23 and not only
the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan
inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For
in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes
for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with
patience.
26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how
to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep
for words. 27 And he who searches the hearts of men knows what is the mind
of the Spirit, because j the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of
God.
28 We know that in everything God works for good k with those who love
him, l who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew
he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he
might be the first-born among many brethren. 30 And those whom he
predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and
those whom he justified he also glorified.

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Trust in God
31 What then shall we say to this? If God is for us, who is against us? 32
He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, will he not also
give us all things with him? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect?
It is God who justifies; 34 who is to condemn? Is it Christ Jesus, who died, yes,
who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed
intercedes for us? m 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall
tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or
sword? 36 As it is written,
“For thy sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as
sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who
loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height,
nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the
love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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 CHAPTER 9
GOD’S PLAN FOR THE CHOSEN PEOPLE
The privileges of Israel and God’s fidelity
1 I am speaking the truth in Christ, I am not lying; my conscience bears
me witness to the Holy Spirit, 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish
in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from
Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen by race. 4 They are Israelites,
and to them belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law,
the worship, and the promises; 5 to them belong the patriarchs, and of their
race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed for ever.
n Amen.
6 But it is not as though the word of God had failed. For not all who are
descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7 and not all are children of Abraham
because they are his descendants; but “Through Isaac shall your descendants
he named.” 8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the
children of God, but the children of the promise are reckoned as descendants. 9
For this is what the promise said, “About this time I will return and Sarah shall
have a son.” 10 And not only so, but also when Rebecca had conceived
children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11 though they were not yet born and
had done nothing either good or bad, in order that God’s purpose of election
might continue, not because of works but because of his call, 12 she was told,
“The elder will serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, “Jacob, I loved, but Esau I
hated.”

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Israel’s vocation
14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part’? By no
means! 15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and
I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So it depends not
upon man’s will or exertion, but upon God’s mercy. 17 For the scripture says to
Pharaoh, “I have raised you up for the very purpose of showing my power in
you, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. 18 So then he has
mercy upon whomever he wills, and he hardens the heart of whomever he wills.
19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can
resist his will?” 20 But who are you, a man, to answer back to God? Will what is
moulded say to its moulder, “Why have you made me thus?” 21 Has the potter
no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for beauty and
another for menial use? 22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make
known his power, has endured with much patience the vessels of wrath made
for destruction, 23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for the vessels
of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory, 24 even us whom he has
called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? 25 As indeed he says
in Hosea,
“Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people’, and her who was
not beloved I will call ‘my beloved’.”
26 And in the very place where it was said to them ‘You are not my
people’, they will be called ‘sons of the living God’.”
27 And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the
Sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved;
28 for the Lord will execute his sentence upon the earth with rigour and
dispatch.” 29 And as Isaiah predicted,
“If the Lord of hosts had not left us children, we would have fared like
Sodom and been made like Gomorrah.”
30 What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue
righteousness have attained it, that is, righteousness through faith; 31 but that
Israel who pursued the righteousness which is based on law did not succeed in
fulfilling that law. 32 Why? Because they did not pursue it through faith, but as if
it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, 33 as it
is written,
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone that will make men stumble, a rock
that will make them fall; and he who believes in him will not be put to shame.”

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 CHAPTER 10
Israel’s infidelity
1 Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may
be saved. 2 I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but it is not
enlightened. 3 For, being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God,
and seeking to establish their own, they do not submit to God’s righteous ness.
4 For Christ is the end of the law, that everyone who has faith may be justified.
5 Moses writes that the man who practises the righteous ness which is
based on the law shall live by it. 6 But the righteousness based on faith says,
Do not say in your heart, “Who will ascend into heaven?” (that is, to bring Christ
down) 7 or “Who will descend into the abyss?” (that is, to bring Christ up from
the dead). 8 But what does it say? The word is near you, on your lips and in
your heart (that is, the word of faith which we preach); 9 because, if you
confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God
raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For man believes with his heart
and so is justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is saved. 11 The
scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” 12 For there
is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and
bestows his riches upon all who call upon him. 13 For, “every one who calls
upon the name of the Lord will be saved.”
14 But how are men to call upon him in whom they have not believed?
And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how
are they to hear without a preacher? 15 And how can men preach unless they
are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach good
news!” 16 But they have not all heeded the gospel; for Isaiah says, “Lord, who
has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from what is
heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ.
18 But I ask; have they not heard? Indeed they have; for “Their voice has
gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.”
19 Again I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says, “I will make
you jealous of those who are not a nation; with a foolish nation I will make you
angry.”
20 Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, “I have been found by those who did
not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.” 21 But of
Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and
contrary people.”

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CHAPTER 11

89
Part of Israel will be saved
1 I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! I myself am an
Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God
has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the
scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? 3 “Lord, they
have killed thy prophets, they have demolished thy altars, and I alone am left,
and they seek my life.” 4 But what is God’s reply to him? “I have kept for myself
seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baa!.” 5 So too at the
present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. 6 But if it is by grace, it is no
longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
7 What then? Israel failed to obtain what it sought. The elect obtained it,
but the rest were hardened, 8 as it is written,
“God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that should not see and ears that
should not hear, down to this very day.”
9 And David says, “Let their feast become a snare and a trap, a pitfall and
a retribution for them; 10 let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,
and bend their backs for ever.”
11 So I ask, have they stumbled so as to fall? By no means! But through
their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous.
12 Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means
riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!

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The new chosen people
13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle
to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry 14 in order to make my fellow Jews
jealous, and thus save some of them. 15 For if their rejection means the
reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the
dead? 16 If the dough offered as first fruits is holy, so is the whole lump; and if
the root is holy, so are the branches.
17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive
shoot, were grafted in their place to share the richness o of the olive tree, 18 do
not boast over the branches. If you do boast, remember it is not you that
support the root, but the root that supports you. 19 You will say, “Branches were
broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20 That is true. They were broken off
because of their unbelief, but you stand fast only through faith. So do not
become proud, but stand in awe. 21 For if God did not spare the natural
branches, neither will he spare you. 22 Note then the kindness and the severity
of God: severity towards those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you,
provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise you too will be cut off. 23 And
even the others, if they do not persist in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God
has the power to graft them in again. 24 For if you have been cut from what is
by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive
tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own
olive tree.

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The conversion of the Jews
25 Lest you be wise in your own conceits, I want you to understand this
mystery, brethren: a hardening has come upon part of Israel, until the full
number of the Gentiles come in, 26 and so all Israel will be saved; as it is
written,
“The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from
Jacob”; 27 “and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”
28 As regards the gospel they are enemies of God, for your sake; but as
regards election they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. 29 For the
gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. 30 Just as you were once disobedient
to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, 31 so they
have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also
may p receive mercy. 32 For God has consigned all men to disobedience, that
he may have mercy upon all.
33 O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How
unsearchable are his judgments and how in scrutable his ways!
34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his
counsellor?”
35 “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?”
36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory
for ever. Amen.

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 CHAPTER 12
MORAL SECTION
LIVING IN CHARITY
HOW CHRISTIANS SHOULD CONDUCT THEMSELVES
Solidarity in the mystical Body
1 I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present
your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your
spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world q but be transformed by
the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is
good and acceptable and perfect. r
3 For by the grace given to me I bid every one among you not to think of
himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment,
each according to the measure of faith which God has assigned him. 4 For as
in one body we have many members, and all the members do not have the
same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually
members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given
to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our
serving; he who teaches, in his teaching; 8 he who exhorts, in his exhortation;
he who contributes, in liberality; he who gives aid, with zeal; he who does acts
of mercy, with cheerfulness.

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Charity towards all
9 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; 10 love
one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honour. 11
Never flag in zeal, be aglow with the Spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in your
hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs
of the saints, practise hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15
Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony
with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; s never be
conceited. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in
the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends upon you, live peaceably with
all. ‘9Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it t to the wrath of God; for it
is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 No, “if your
enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink; for by so doing you
will heap burning coals upon his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but
overcome evil with good.

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 CHAPTER 13
Submission to authority
1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no
authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2
Therefore he who resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and
those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good
conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of him who is in authority? Then
do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for
your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in
vain; he is the servant of God to execute his wrath on the wrongdoer. 5
Therefore one must be subject, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the
sake of conscience. 6 For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the
authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay all of them
their dues, taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due,
respect to whom respect is due, honour to whom honour is due.

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Love, the fulfilling of the Law
8 Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his
neighbour has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “You shall not commit
adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any
other commandment, are summed up in this sentence, “You shall love your
neighbour as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore love is
the fulfilling of the law.
11 Besides this you know what hour it is, how it is full time now for you to
wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed;
12 the night is far gone, the day is at hand. Let us then cast off the works of
darkness and put on the armour of light; 13 let us conduct ourselves
becomingly as in the day, not in revelling and drunkenness. not in debauchery
and licentiousness, not in quarrelling and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

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 CHAPTER 14
BEING UNDERSTANDING TOWARDS OTHERS
Seeing things from the other person’s point of view
1 As for the man who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not for disputes
over opinions. 2 One believes he may eat anything, while the weak man eats
only vegetables. 3 Let not him who eats despise him who abstains, and let not
him who abstains pass judgment on him who eats; for God has welcomed him.
4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own
master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Master is able to
make him stand.
5 One man esteems one day as better than another, while another man
esteems all days alike. Let every one be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He
who observes the day, observes it in honour of the Lord. He also who eats, eats
in honour of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God; while he who abstains,
abstains in honour of the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 None of us lives to
himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8 If we live, we live to the Lord, and if
we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are
the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord
both of the dead and of the living.
10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you
despise your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God;
11 for it is written,
“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue
shall give praise u to God.”
12 So each of us shall give account of himself to God.

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Never make others stumble
13 Then let us no more pass judgment on one another, but rather decide
never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. 14 I know
and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but it is
unclean for any one who thinks it unclean. 15 If your brother is being injured by
what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. Do not let what you eat cause
the ruin of one for whom Christ died. 16 So do not let what is good to you be
spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God does not mean food and drink but
righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit; 18 he who thus serves
Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. 19 Let us then pursue what
makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. 20 Do not, for the sake of food,
destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for any one
to make others fall by what he eats; 21 it is right not to eat meat or drink wine or
do anything that makes your brother stumble. v 22 The faith that you have,
keep between yourself and God; happy is he who has no reason to judge
himself for what he approves. 23 But he who has doubts is condemned, if he
eats, because he does not act from faith; for whatever does not proceed from
faith is Sin. w

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 CHAPTER 15
The example of Christ
1 We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to
please ourselves; 2 let each of us please his neighbour for his good, to edify
him. 3 For Christ did not please himself; but, as it is written, “The reproaches of
those who reproached thee fell on me.” 4 For whatever was written in former
days was written for our instruction, that by steadfastness and by the
encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. 5 May the God of
steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one
another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice
glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
7 Welcome one another, therefore, as Christ has welcomed you, for the
glory of God. 8 For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to
show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the
patriarchs, 9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it
is written,
“Therefore I will praise thee among the Gentiles, and sing to thy name”; 10
and again it is said, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people”; 11 and again, “Praise
the Lord, all Gentiles, and let all the peoples praise him”; 12 and further Isaiah
says, “The root of Jesse shall come, he who rises to rule the Gentiles; in him
shall the Gentiles hope.” 13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace
in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

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 EPILOGUE
Paul’s ministry
14 I myself am satisfied about you, my brethren, that you yourselves are
full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another. 15
But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder,
because of the grace given me by God 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to
the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of
the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17 In Christ
Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. 18 For I will not
venture to speak of anything except what Christ has wrought through me to win
obedience from the Gentiles, by word and deed, 19 by the power of signs and
wonders, by the power of the Holy Spirit, so that from Jerusalem and as far
round as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ, 20 thus making it
my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named,
lest I build on another man’s foundation, 21 but as it is written,
“They shall see who have never been told of him, and they shall
understand who have never heard of him.”

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Journeys planned
22 This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to
you. 23 But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and
since I have longed for many years to come to you, 24 I hope to see you in
passing as I go to Spain, and to be sped on my journey there by you, once I
have enjoyed your company for a little. 25 At present, however, I am going to
Jerusalem with aid for the saints. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia have been
pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem;
27 they were pleased to do it, and indeed they are in debt to them, for if the
Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of
service to them in material blessings. 28 When therefore I have completed this,
and have delivered to them what has been raised, x I shall go on by way of you
to Spain; 29 and I know that when I come to you I shall come in the fulness of
the blessing y of Christ.
30 I appeal to you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of
the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, 31
that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for
Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32 so that by God’s will I may come
to you with joy and be refreshed in your company. 33 The God of peace be with
you all. Amen.

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 CHAPTER 16
Greetings and recommendations
1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deaconess of the church at
Cenchreae, 2 that you may receive her in the Lord as befits the saints, and help
her in whatever she may require from you, for she has been a helper of many
and of myself as well.
3 Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, 4 who risked
their necks for my life, to whom not only I but also all the churches of the
Gentiles give thanks; 5 greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved
Epaenetus, who was the first convert in Asia for Christ. 6 Greet Mary, who has
worked hard among you. 7 Greet Andronicus and Junias, my kinsmen and my
fellow prisoners; they are men of note among the apostles, and they were in
Christ before me. 8 Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. 9 Greet Urbanus,
our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys. 10 Greet Apelles, who is
approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus. 11
Greet my kinsman Herodion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family
of Narcissus. 12 Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa.
Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. 13 Greet Rufus,
eminent in the Lord, also his mother and mine. 14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon,
Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brethren who are with them. 15 Greet
Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who
are with them. 16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ
greet you.
17 I appeal to you, brethren, to take note of those who create dissensions
and difficulties, in opposition to the doctrine which you have been taught; avoid
them. 18 For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own
appetites, z and by fair and flattering words they deceive the hearts of the
simple-minded. 19 For while your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice
over you, I would have you wise as to what is good and guileless as to what is
evil; 20 then the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. a
21 Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and
Sosipater, my kinsmen.
22 I Tertius, the writer of this letter, greet you in the Lord.
23 Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus,
the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you. b

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Doxology
25 Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and
the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which
was kept secret for long ages 26 but is now disclosed and through the prophetic
writings is made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal
God, to bring about the obedience of faith — 27 to the only wise God be glory
for evermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

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The Epistles of St Paul to the Galatians
[Ch. 1] [Ch. 2] [Ch. 3] [Ch. 4] [Ch. 5] [Ch. 6]

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 CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Greeting
1 Paul an apostle — not from men nor through man, but through Jesus
Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead — 2 and all the
brethren who are with me,
To the churches of Galatia:
3 Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ,
4 who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age,
according to the will of our God and Father; 5 to whom be the glory for ever and
ever. Amen.

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A warning
6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in
the grace of Christ and turning to a different gospel — 7 not that there is
another gospel, but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the
gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to
you a gospel contrary to that which we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9
As we have said before, so now I say again, If any one is preaching to you a
gospel contrary to that which you received, let him be accursed.
10 Am I now seeking the favour of men, or of God? Or am I trying to
please men? If I were still pleasing men, I should not be a servant A of Christ.

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 PAUL’S PERSONAL APOLOGIA
God’s call
11 For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was
preached by me is not man’s B gospel. 12 For I did not receive it from man, nor
was I taught it, but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ. 13 For you
have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God
violently and tried to destroy it; 14 and I advanced in Judaism beyond many of
my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of
my fathers. 15 But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and had
called me through his grace, 16 was pleased to reveal his Son to c me, in order
that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not confer with flesh and
blood, 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me,
but I went away into Arabia; and again I returned to Damascus.
18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas, and
remained with him fifteen days. 19 But I saw none of the other apostles except
James the Lord’s brother. 20 (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not
lie!) 21 Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22 And I was still not
known by sight to the churches of Christ in Judea; 23 they only heard it said,
“He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to
destroy.” 24 And they glorified God because of me.

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 CHAPTER 2
Visit to Jerusalem
1 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas,
taking Titus along with me. 2 I went up by revelation; and I laid before them (but
privately before those who were of repute) the gospel which I preach among the
Gentiles, lest somehow I should be running or had run in vain. 3 But even Titus,
who was with me, was not compelled to be circumcised, though he was a
Greek. 4 But because of false brethren secretly brought in, who slipped in to
spy out our freedom which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us
into bondage — 5 to them we did not yield submission even for a moment, that
the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. 6 And from those who were
reputed to be something (what they were makes no difference to me; God
shows no partiality) — those, I say, who were of repute added nothing to me; 7
but on the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to
the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the
circumcised 8 (for he who worked through Peter for the mission to the
circumcised worked through me also for the Gentiles), 9 and when they
perceived the grace that was given to me, James and Cephas and John, who
were reputed to be pillars, gave tome and Barnabas the right hand of
fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised; 10
only they would have us re member the poor, which very thing I was eager to
do.

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Peter and Paul at Antioch
11 But when Cephas came to Antioch I opposed him to his face, because
he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he ate with
the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing
the circumcision party. 13 And with him the rest of the Jews acted insincerely,
so that even Barnabas was carried away by their insincerity. 14 But when I saw
that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to
Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a
Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?” 15 We ourselves, who
are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners, 16 yet who know that a man is not
justified d by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we have
believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ, and not by
works of the law, because by works of the law shall no one be justified. 17 But
if, in our endeavour to be justified in Christ, we ourselves were found to be
sinners, is Christ then an agent of sin? Certainly not! 18 But if I build up again
those things which I tore down, then I prove myself a transgressor. 19 For I
through the law died to the law, that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified
with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I
now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave
himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification e were
through the law, then Christ died to no purpose.

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 CHAPTER 3
DOCTRINAL MATTERS
Justification by faith
1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus
Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? 2 Let me ask you only this: Did you
receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so
foolish? Having begun with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh? 4 Did
you experience so many things in vain? — if it really is in vain. 5 Does he who
supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the
law, or by hearing with faith?
6 Thus Abraham “believed God, and it was reckoned to him as
righteousness.” 7 So you see that it is men of faith who are the sons of
Abraham. 8 And the scripture, fore seeing that God would justify the Gentiles by
faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the
nations be blessed.” 9 So then, those who are men of faith are blessed with
Abraham who had faith.
10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written,
“Cursed be every one who does not abide by all things written in the book of the
law, and do them.” 11 Now it is evident that no man is justified before God by
the law; for “He who through faith is righteous shall live”; f 12 but the law does
not rest on faith, for “He who does them shall live by them.” 13 Christ redeemed
us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us — for it is written,
“Cursed be every one who hangs on a tree” — 14 that in Christ Jesus the
blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles, that we might receive the
promise of the Spirit through faith.

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The Law and the promise
15 To give a human example, brethren: no one annuls even a man’s will, g
or adds to it, once it has been ratified. 16 Now the promises were made to
Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to
many; but, referring to one, “And to your offspring,” which is Christ. 17 This is
what I mean: the law, which came four hundred and thirty years afterward, does
not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise
void. 18 For if the inheritance is by the law, it is no longer by promise; but God
gave it to Abraham by a promise.
19 Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions till the
offspring should come to whom the promise had been made; and it was
ordained by angels through an intermediary. 20 Now an intermediary implies
more than one; but God is one.
21 Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not; for if a law
had been given which could make alive, then righteousness would indeed be by
the law. 22 But the scripture consigned all things to sin, that what was promised
to faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
23 Now before faith came, we were confined under the law, kept under
restraint until faith should be revealed. 24 So that the law was our custodian
until Christ came, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has
come, we are no longer under a custodian; 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all
sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ
have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor
free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29
And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to
promise.

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 CHAPTER 4
Divine sonship
1 I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is not better than a slave,
though he is the owner of all the estate; 2 but he is under guardians and
trustees until the date set by the father. 3 So with us; when we were children,
we were slaves to the elemental spirits of the universe. 4 But when the time had
fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to
redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as
sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our
hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So through God you are no longer a slave but
a son, and if a son then an heir.
8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were in bondage to beings
that by nature are no gods; 9 but now that you have come to know God, or
rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and
beggarly elemental spirits, whose slaves you want to be once more? 10 you
observe days, and months and seasons, and years! 11 I am afraid I have
laboured over you in vain.

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A fatherly appeal
12 Brethren, I beseech you, become as I am, for I also have become as
you are. You did me no wrong; 13 you know it was because of a bodily ailment
that I preached the gospel to you at first; 14 and though my condition was a trial
to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God,
as Christ Jesus. 15 What has become of the satisfaction you felt? For I bear
you witness that, if possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given
them to me.
16 Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth? h 17 They
make much of you, but for no good purpose; they want to shut you out, that you
may make much of them. 18 For a good purpose it is always good to be made
much of, and not only when I am present with you. 19 My little children, with
whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you! 20 I could wish to be
present with you now and to change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.

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The two covenants: Hagar and Sarah
21 Tell me, you who desire to be under law, do you not hear the law? 22
For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and one by a free
woman. 23 But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, the son of
the free woman through promise. 24 Now this is an allegory: these women are
two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is
Hagar. 25 Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; i she corresponds to the present
Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is
free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written,
“Rejoice, O barren one that dost not bear; break forth and shout, thou who
art not in travail; for the desolate hath more children than she who hath a
husband.”
28 Now we, j brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise.
29 But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted
him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now. 30 But what does the
scripture say? “Cast out the slave and her son; for the son of the slave shall not
inherit with the son of the free woman.” 31 So, brethren, we are not children of
the slave but of the free woman.

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 CHAPTER 5
EXHORTATION
Christian liberty
1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not
submit again to a yoke of slavery.
2 Now I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of
no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to every man who receives circumcision
that he is bound to keep the whole law. 4 You are severed from Christ, you who
would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through
the Spirit, by faith, we wait for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus
neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is of any avail, but faith working through
love. 7 You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This
persuasion is not from him who called you. 9 A little leaven leavens the whole
lump. 10 I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view than
mine; and he who is troubling you will bear his judgment, whoever he is. 11 But
if I, brethren, still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? In that case
the stumbling block of the cross has been removed. 12 I wish those who
unsettle you would mutilate themselves!

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The fruit of the Spirit and the works of the flesh
13 For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not use your
freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants of one
another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, “You shall love your
neighbour as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another take heed
that you are not consumed by one another.
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh.
17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the
Spirit are against the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you
from doing what you would. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit you are not under
the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are plain: immorality, impurity,
licentiousness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness,
dissension, party spirit, 21 envy, k drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn
you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the
kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, good ness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such
there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the
flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. 26 Let us have no
self-conceit, no provoking of one another, no envy of one another.

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 CHAPTER 6
Fraternal charity
1 Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual
should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Look to yourself, lest you too be
tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. 3 For if
any one thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 But
let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself
alone and not in his neighbour. 5 For each man will have to bear his own load.
6 Let him who is taught the word share all good things with him who
teaches.
7 Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that
he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap
corruption; but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 9
And let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we
do not lose heart. 10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all
men, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

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 CONCLUSION
11 See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. 12 It
is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh that would compel you
to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the
cross of Christ. 13 For even those who receive circumcision do not themselves
keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may glory in
your flesh. 14 But far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ, by which’ the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
15 For neither circumcision counts for any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new
creation. 16 Peace and mercy be upon all who walk by this rule, upon the Israel
of God.
17 Henceforth let no man trouble me; for I bear on my body the marks of
Jesus.
18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brethren. Amen.

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 FOOTNOTES

Introduction to the Epistles of St Paul

THE LIFE OF ST PAUL
SOURCES
HIS YOUTH AND UPBRINGING AS A HELLENISTIC JEW
1 Cf. Rom 9:16; 1 Cor 9:24-27; 2 Cor 4:7-9; Gal 2:2; Eph 4:12-14; Phil 2:16; 1
Tim 4:7; 2 Tim 4:7-8; Heb 2:1-2; Acts 13:25; 20:24; etc.
2 Cf. Rom 1:20-23; 1 Cot 2:2, 11-15; Gal 4:4; Eph 1:23; Col 2:9; 1 Tim 6:4-5;
etc.
3 Cf. Acts 17:17; 1 Cor 6:12; Col 2:8-10: 1 Tim 4:7; 2Tim4:3-4; etc.
4 Cf. Acts 18:3; 20:34; 1 Cor 4:12; 1 Thess 2:9.
5 Cf. Acts 9:1-2; 26:9-11; I Cor 15:9; Gal 1:13-14; 1 Tim 1:13.
HIS CONVERSION AND EARLY YEARS AS A CHRISTIAN
6 Cf. Gal 1:15; Rom 1:1; 1 Cor 1:1; 15:9-10.
THE GREAT MISSIONARY JOURNEYS
FIRST IMPRISONMENT
THE LAST PERIOD OF HIS LIFE
ESTABLISHING DATES IN ST PAUL’S LIFE
THE EPISTLES OF ST PAUL
THE LETTERS TO THE THESSALONIANS
7 Cf. Mt 24:37 - 25:30; Mk 13:33-37; Lk 21:34-36.
THE “GREAT EPISTLES”
THE CAPTIVITY EPISTLES
THE PASTORAL EPISTLES
8 Cf. Reply of 12 June 1913: EB, 407-410; AAS5 (1913) 292-293.
EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS
9 Cf. Pontifical Biblical Commission, Reply of 24 June 1914: EB, 411-413; AAS
6(1914) 417f. The authorship of Hebrews is discussed at somewhat greater
length in The Navarre Bible: Epistle to the Hebrews (forthcoming).

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INTRODUCTION TO THE “THEOLOGY” OF ST PAUL
HUMAN LIFE WITHOUT CHRIST
10 Cf. Gal 5:16-21, 24; Rom 6:19; 7:14-24; 8:3-4; 13:14.
11 Cf. Rom 6:12-14; 12:1; 2 Cor 4:10-11.
SALVATION IN CHRIST
12 Cf. Rom 1:3; 8:3, 32; Gal 4:4; Heb 1:2; 5:8.
13 Cf. 1 Cor l5:20-22; 2 Cor 5:14; Rom 5:14; CoI 1:18.
14 Rom 14:9; cf. I Cor 15:25; Phil 2:9; Eph 1:20.
THE CONVERSION OF MAN
15 Cf. 2 Cor 10:5; Rom 1:5; 6:17; 16:26; etc.
CHRISTIAN LIFE IN CHRIST
16 2 Cor 5:17; cf. 1 Cor 1:30; Rom 6:11; etc
17 Rom 5:5; cf. 2 Cor 13:13; etc. “Love of God” and “love for God” frequently
mean the same thing.
THE CHURCH
18 Cf. 1 Cor 1:2; 16:1-4; 2Cor 8:9; Rom 1:7; 15:26.
19 Cf. 1 Cor 1:2; 16:1; Rom 1:7; 15:26; Col 3:12; etc.
20 Cf,Ga13:24;Co14:5;EphS:16;Rom 11:25; 1 Cor 10:1 1; Rom 8:21; I Thess
4:16; 1 Cor 15:22; 2 Thess 2:8; 1 Cor 15:28.
21 Cf. Rom 1:24; 6:12; 7:24; 8:10ff; 12:1; etc.
22 Cf. 1 Cor 12:12; Rom 12:5; 1 Cor 12:14-26.
23 Cf. Rom 12:3ff; 1 Cor 12:14ff; Eph 4:1ff.
24 1 Cor 10:16; 2 Cor 4:10; Col 1:22; 2.17-19; Eph 2:16; 4:11-12, 15-16; etc
25 Cf. Gal 5:4; Heb 10:5; Lk 1:35, 38; Mt 1:20.
26 Cf. Eph 1:22; 3:10, 21; 5:23-25, 27, 29, 32; Col 1:18, 24.
Introduction to St Paul’s Epistles to the Galatians and the Romans
NOTE
THE CONTEXT IN WHICH THE TWO EPISTLES WERE WRITTEN
1 Cf. Rom 11:16-18: Jesus had already preached this: cf. in 5:39, 45-46: Mt
5:17; 8:11-12; 21:33-43; etc.
2 Cf. Acts 15:5: “But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees
rose up, and said, ‘It is necessary to circumcise them, and to charge them to

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keep the law of Moses’.” Cf. Acts 15:1.
3 Cf., for example, Gal 4:9-10; 5:2; Phil 3:2-4; etc.
4 Cf. 2 Cor 11:21-23; phil 3:18-19; Col 2:8, 16; 1 Tim 1:3, 7; Tit 1:14.
5 St Paul refers on two occasions to a future visit to Spain — in Rom 15:24 and
28. Various Jewish communities are known to have existed in Spain in the first
century A.D. We also know that there were close commercial links between
Spain and Carthage, a city to which Christianity arrived quite early on: Acts 2:10
refers to some of those who heard the Apostles preaching on Pentecost as
coming from Cyrene, that is the province contiguous to Carthage. According to
early geographers, the sea journey from Ostia to Tarragona took three or four
days, and that from Puzzuoli to Cadiz seven days. All this suggests that before
St Paul’s visit there could well have been some pockets of Christianity in
existence. Regarding the name Tarshish (cf. Is 2:16; 23:1; Ezek 27:12; 38:13;
Ps 48:4; 72:10; etc.) it is well known that this was used to refer to the western
limits, from whence came big ships laden with precious and base minerals.
6 Cenchreae was the maritime port of Corinth on the Aegean Sea (cf. Act
18:18). Corinth had another port, Lecheos, on the Ionian Sea.
THE RECIPIENTS
7 Consolatio ad Helviam, 6, 2-3.
8 Life of Claudius, 25.
9 Cf. Rom 1:10, 15; 15:23; Acts 19:21.
10 Cf. Rom 2:17-22; 3:1-5; 61-3; 7:1; etc.
11 Cf. Rom 4:11-12, 9:3ff; 10:1; etc.
CONTENT AND STRUCTURE OF THE TWO EPISTLES
12 Freedom from the Law here means the Christian’s freedom from the ritual
precepts of the Mosaic Law and from the condemnation of sin which the Law
brought with it. Prior to the Redemption, because he found it more difficult to
keep the commandments, man incurred greater condemnation. This freedom
from the Law of Moses does not of course mean that the Christian is not
subject to any law: he has his own law, the Law of Christ (which is based on the
double precept of love), the commandments of the Church, and the precepts of
the natural law. Cf. “Introduction to the ‘Theology’ of St Paul”, p. 31 above.
13 The notions of sin, flesh, death and Law, referred to here, are explored in
more detail in the section called “Introduction to the ‘Theology’ of St Paul” (cf.
pp. 29-32 above). The notion of Redemption is examined later in that section
(Cf. “Note”, p. 36) and that of concupiscence is dealt with in the context of
“flesh” (p. 30).

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THE PRESENT TEXT OF ROMANS
The Epistle of St Paul to the Romans
CHAPTER 1
PROLOGUE
Greeting
1-15 These opening verses of the letter are a combination or greeting,
introduction of the writer and the prologue to the entire text. The passage deals
with themes in no particular order — in line with the style of some other Pauline
letters, especially Romans itself.
Three matters are being covered here — Paul’s introduction of himself,
and his plans to visit Rome (vv. 1, 5, 9-15); who the immediate recipients are
and their particular situation (vv. 6-8, 11, 15); and, finally, Paul’s purpose in
writing to the faithful at Rome (outlined in his greeting — vv. 2-4, 15 and, to a
lesser degree, v. 9).
1-2 The word “gospel”, which St Paul uses very often, here refers to the
purpose of his vocation: he has been designated to preach the Gospel of God.
This is obviously not a reference to the written Gospels; he is speaking of
something complex and profound, already articulated by Christ in his preaching.
Jesus said of himself that he had come to bring Good News (cf. Mt 11:15; Mk
1:14-15; Lk 4:18; etc.), as the prophets had foretold (especially Is 61:1, which
Jesus quoted). “As an evangelizer, Christ first of all proclaims a kingdom, the
Kingdom of God; and this is so important that, by comparison, everything else
becomes ‘the rest’, which is ‘given in addition’ (cf. Mt 6:33).
“As the kernel and centre of this Good News, Christ proclaims salvation,
this great gift of God which is liberation from everything that oppresses man but
which is above all liberation from sin and the Evil One” (Paul VI, Evangelii
nuntiandi, 8 and 9).
When he was about to ascend into heaven, Jesus charged his Apostles to
proclaim the Good News (Mk 16:15; cf. Mt 28:19-20) which was to be “the
source of all saving truth and moral discipline” (Vatican II, Dei Verbum, 7). For
the Apostles this Good News was nothing more or less than Jesus Christ and
his work of salvation. That is why the Gospel (which the Church is given to
hand on to all generations) is centred on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ,
as passed on to us by the Apostles. “The promises of the New Alliance in Jesus
Christ, the teaching of the Lord and the Apostles, the Word of life, the sources
of grace and of God’s loving kindness, the path of salvation — all these things
have been entrusted to her. It is the content of the Gospel, and therefore of
evangelization” (Evangelii nuntiandi, 15). Thus we can say with St Thomas

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Aquinas (cf. Summa theologiae, I-Il, q. 108, a.1; Commentary on Rom. 1, 1)
that the core of the Gospel has to do with uniting men and God, a union which
takes a perfect form in Christ but an imperfect one in us. The superiority of the
Gospel over the Old Law consists in the grace of the Holy Spirit, which Christ
confers on us. Therefore, the Gospel, to which the Apostles dedicated
themselves, is, at one and the same time, a series of truths revealed by our
Lord, the saving power of grace and the Church-in-action.
1 In addressing the Christians at Rome the Apostle uses, of his two names —
Saul and Paul — the one he has used since his first missionary journey (cf.
Acts 13:9), a Roman name indicating his Roman citizenship (cf. Acts 16:37;
22:25-28). It was in fact quite common for Jews to use two names — a national
name, Hebrew or Aramaic, and another name, Greek or Latin, for dealings with
people from other countries in the Empire. We find a number of examples of
this in the New Testament — John-Mark, Symeon-Niger (Acts 13:1), Tabitha-
Dorcas (Acts 9:36), etc.
Paul, who had been born a Roman citizen, was deeply conscious of his
Jewish roots. He was of the tribe of Benjamin (Rom 11:1; Phil 3:5) and bore the
name of one of the most famous members of that tribe — King Saul, son of
Kish (Acts 13:21). He was well able to show his pride in his Jewish descent (cf.
2 Cor 11:22; Gal 1:13-14) yet was ready to become all things to all men in order
to save even some (cf. I Cor 9:22).
St Paul wants to speak about Christ and his saving Gospel, but he cannot
avoid making reference to himself and the mission entrusted to him; this he
does by using three words which are full of meaning: he is a “servant” of Jesus
Christ, called by God to be his “apostle” (envoy), “set apart” or designated by
God to preach the Gospel. These three words tell the whole story of his
vocation, and each of them encapsulates something of the mystery which Paul
will expound in his epistle — the mercy of God, who saves men, justifies them,
sanctifies them and sends them out.
“Servant”: this title, also used by St James (Jas 1:1), St Peter (2 Pet 1:1)
and St Jude (Jud 1), comes from the Old Testament. There the great prophets
and guides of the chosen people described themselves as “servants” of
Yahweh (cf., for example, Samuel: I Sam 3:9f; Abraham: Ps 104:6; David: 2
Sam 24:10; Moses, Aaron, Solomon, etc.), and the entire people of Israel is
called the “servant” of God (Is 49:3); but most prominently there is the Messiah,
the “Servant” of God to the extent of actually giving his life (Is 41:9; 42:1; 49:6;
53:11). In the world of the Hebrew religion “servant of God” is the equivalent of
“worshipper of God”, one who offers religious worship: this notion of servant did
not carry the overtones of inhuman debasement that it had in Greco-Roman

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culture. When St Paul says that he is a “servant” (or “slave”) of Jesus Christ he
is implicitly saying that he renders him religious adoration.
“Apostle”: this word designates preachers of the Gospel, particularly the
twelve chosen disciples of Jesus (cf. Mt 10:2-4 and Mk 3:16-19). It was quite
logically applied to Matthias when he became one of the Twelve (Acts 1:25).
Christ himself designated Paul an apostle when he appeared to him on the road
to Damascus (Acts 26:16-18; Gal 1:15-16), called him to the faith and charged
him with his mission to preach. By describing himself as “called to be an
apostle”, St Paul is saying that he is on an equal footing with the Twelve — for
example, Peter, James and John, whom he calls “pillars” of the Church (Gal
2:9) — since he received his calling from Christ himself, as had been the case
with the other Apostles (cf. Acts 9:3-18), and not from the leaders of the
community of Antioch (Acts 13:2-3).
“Set apart”: this refers to the mission entrusted to St Paul of preaching the
Gospel to the Gentiles. Possibly it also refers to Paul’s place in God’s eternal
plan; in this sense he can say that he was “set apart” ever since he was in his
mother’s womb (Gal 1:15; cf. Jer 1:5; Is 49:1).
St John Chrysostom comments on this verse as follows: “If Paul
constantly recalls his vocation it is in order to show his gratitude. This gift, which
he did not solicit, took him by surprise; he simply obeyed and followed the
divine inspiration. As regards the faithful, they too, as he himself says, have
been called to holiness” (Hom. on Rom, 1).
3-4 Scholars are now confident that in Rom 1:3-4 St Paul is quoting from a
Christological formula or hymn (like that in 1 Tim 3:16 or Phil 2:6-11) —
probably used in the very earliest Christian liturgy. In these two verses St Paul
offers, as it were, a summary of Christology: Jesus Christ, true God and true
Man, is the Son sent by his Father God (v. 3). From all eternity he is God, equal
to the Father, and in the fullness of time he has taken up a human nature which
was initially capable of experiencing pain (v. 3) and was later glorified (v. 4).
The Incarnation did not involve any change, as far as the Word was
concerned, either in his divine nature (which he did not shed and which did not
alter) or in his being a Person distinct from the Father and the Holy Spirit.
However, by the Incarnation he assumed a human nature, being born of a
Virgin (cf. Lk 1:27, 35): and so the Son of God became the Son of David, of the
lineage of David. The phrase “according to the flesh” actually emphasises the
lowliness which the Incarnation implied — fragility, suffering, self-emptying,
humiliation (cf. Jn 1:14 and note; Phil 2:7). During Christ’s life on earth prior to
his Resurrection, although it was united to the Word, his human nature,
especially his body, was not fully glorified. Moreover, although it is true that
during that period of his life he showed his divinity by his miracles (cf. Jn 2:11)
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and by words confirmed by those miracles (cf. Jn 10:37ff), it is also true that his
human nature was to the forefront most of the time. After the Resurrection, his
human body and soul were fully glorified and therefore from then on his divine
nature was the more apparent. This real change which took place in Christ’s
human nature when he rose from the dead, and the fact that his divinity
became more manifest and he was more easily recognized to be God, are
captured in what St Paul says here in v. 4.
The words “according to the Spirit of holiness” can refer both to Christ’s
divine nature (in the same way as “according to the flesh” refers to his human
nature) and to the action of the Holy Spirit, whose effects were more easily
seen after the Resurrection, especially from Pentecost onwards (cf. Jn 7:39 and
note on same).
5 Here St Paul refers to the mission given him by God the Father through Jesus
Christ at the time of his conversion (cf. Acts 9:15) and which he mentions
explicitly in his letter to the Galatians (cf. Gal 2:7). Within the world-wide
mission implied in being an apostle called by Christ himself, St Paul was given
a special mission of his own — to be the Apostle of the Gentiles; he mentions
this mission at the beginning of this letter to show why he should be addressing
the Christians at Rome, a church which he had not founded.
The purpose and effect of the apostolic ministry is to bring about the
“obedience of faith”: when a person believes, he submits his mind and will to
God’s authority, freely accepting the truths which God proposes. Apropos of this
obedience proper to faith the Second Vatican Council says: “The obedience of
faith’ (Rom 16:26; cf. Rom 1:5; 2 Cor 10:5-6) must be given to God as he
reveals himself. By faith man freely commits his entire self to God, making ‘the
full submission of his intellect and will to God who reveals’ (Vatican I, Dei Filius,
chap.3) and willingly assenting to the Revelation given by him. Before this faith
can be exercised, man must have the grace of God to move and assist him; he
must have the interior help of the Holy Spirit, who moves the heart and converts
it to God, who opens the eyes of the mind and ‘makes it easy for all to accept
and believe the truth’ (Second Council of Orange III, De gratia, can. 7; Dei
Filius, ibid.)” (Vatican II, Dei Verbum, 5).
7 “Called to be saints”: literally “called saints”. This is not just a way of
speaking: St Paul really is saying that Christians are “called” in the same kind of
way as the Israelites were so often called through Moses (Num 10:1-4). In the
Christians’ case, the calling is to form the new people of God, one of whose
characteristic features is holiness. Basing itself on this and other Pauline texts,
the Second Vatican Council has this to say: “As Israel according to the flesh
which wandered in the desert was already called the Church of God (cf. 2 Ezra
13:1; cf. Num 20:4; Deut 23:1 if), so too, the new Israel, which advances in this

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present era in search of a future and permanent city (cf. Heb 13:14), is called
also the Church of Christ (cf. Mt. 16:18) [. . .1. The followers of Christ, called by
God not in virtue of their works but by his design and grace, and justified in the
Lord Jesus, have been made sons of God in the baptism of faith and partakers
of the divine nature, and so are truly sanctified” (Lumen gentium, 9 and 40).
This is in fact the basis of the “universal call to holiness”. All Christians, by
virtue of their Baptism, should live in line with what that means: they are called
to be saints and their whole life should be a pursuit of holiness: “In baptism, our
Father God has taken possession of our lives, has made us share in the life of
Christ, and has given us the Holy Spirit” (J. Escrivá, Christ is passing by, 128).
“We are deeply moved, and our hearts profoundly shaken, when we listen
attentively to that cry of St Paul: ‘This is the will of God, your sanctification’ (1
Thess 4:3). Today, once again, I set myself this goal and I also remind you and
all mankind: this is God’s Will for us, that we be saints” (J. Escrivá, Friends of
God, 294).
The formula “grace and peace” seems to be St Paul ‘sown: it is a
combination of the usual Greek greeting at the start of letters and the Hebrew
shalom (peace). The Apostle uses this double greeting very often (cf., for
example, 1 Cor 1:3; 2 Cor 1:2; Gal 1:3; Eph 1:2; etc). It is a Christian greeting,
referring to the gifts the Holy Spirit brings us. Jewish and pagan greetings
wished people material prosperity or good fortune; the Apostle’s are wishes for
something higher — divine benevolence, which comes in the form of the gift of
sanctifying grace, and the virtues and gifts of the Holy Spirit, and interior peace,
which derives from reconciliation with God brought about by Christ. These gifts,
according to the Apostle, come to us from God our Father, and from Jesus
Christ, the Lord, who is equal to the Father. Thus we see Christian life as being
inserted in the intimate life of the Blessed Trinity, for “grace and peace” came
from the goodness and mercy of God, by way of the Incarnation of the Word
and the Redemption wrought by him.
8 After greeting the people he is writing to, St Paul pours out his soul in an act
of thanksgiving to God, as he recalls the fidelity and perseverance of the
Christians at Rome: this is very typical of the Apostle; we find him doing it in
almost all his letters (cf. for example, 1 Cor 1:4-5; Eph 1:15-16; Phil 1:3-4; Col
1:3-4; 1 Thess 1:2; etc.).
Here he gives thanks for the faith of the Roman Christians, that is, for their
loyalty to the faith and for their many converts despite their difficult
circumstances and the immorality that was a feature of Roman society. The
Christians at Rome must have been an example and encouragement to all the
Christian communities in the Empire: the Apostle says that their faith is
“proclaimed”, praised, the world over.

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9 St Paul calls on God as his witness to prove his affection for the faithful at
Rome, and his constant prayer for them. This invocation of God, which is like
taking an oath and is full of religious feeling, is a spontaneous expression of his
love of God. For St Paul God is the One whom he serves as a worshipper (the
Greek word latreuo, translated as ‘serve’, has tones of the adoration that is due
to God) with every fibre of his being. It is as if the Apostle were saying: I give
him my entire life, all my energy, my sweat and blood; I shall serve him to my
last breath, working and striving on his behalf. The sincerity of this total
dedication is expressed in the word “spirit”, as opposed to the “letter” of external
forms or mere ceremonial behaviour (cf. Rom 2:9; 7:6; 2 Cor 3:6) so prevalent
in the Judaism of his time. Some Fathers of the Church see in these words an
allusion to the “new life” of the Christians, who worship God “in spirit and truth”,
as Christ explained to the Samaritan woman (Jn 4:23), and even as implying
the presence of the Holy Spirit. For example, St John Chrysostom comments:
“When Paul says, ‘whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of the Son’, while
pointing to the grace of God he also reveals his humility; the grace of God,
because the Lord entrusted him with an important mission, that of preaching;
his humility, because he attributes all the glory of his success, not to his own
efforts, but to the presence of God” (Hom. on Rom, 2). This connexion between
apostolate and intimacy with God reminds us of a basic aspect of every
Christian’s life: “You have got to be a ‘man of God’, a man of interior life, a man
of prayer and sacrifice. Your apostolate must be the overflow of your life ‘within”
(J. Escrivá, The Way, 961).
13 On St Paul’s desire to extend his apostolate to the western part of the
Roman empire, cf. “Introduction to the Epistles of St Paul”, pp. 17-18 above.
14-15 “To Greeks and to barbarians”: in other words, the entire Gentile world.
“Greek” as opposed to “barbarian” referred to someone who was educated and
who spoke Greek. The Greeks regarded as barbarians everyone who spoke a
language other than Greek (cf. Act 28:2; 1 Cor 14:11): even Romans were
barbarians if they spoke only Latin. The Christian community at Rome would
have had both kinds of Gentiles in it. However, elsewhere in the letters the term
“Greek” includes all Gentiles as distinct from Jews (cf. Rom 1:16; 2:9-10; 10:12;
Acts 11:20). The Gospel is addressed to everyone, irrespective of race, nation
or culture. However, often it is simple, humble people who prove to be most
ready to receive Christ’s message.
The theme of the epistle
16 St Paul continues to speak about the “Gospel”. The proclamation of the
saving power of Christ’s death on the Cross is a stumbling block to the Jews
and foolishness to the Gentiles, whereas a Christian is proud of the Cross and
draws strength from it. When writing to the Romans, the Apostle, who was quite

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familiar with the noise of triumphal marches and the divinization of emperors,
simply says mat "he is not ashamed; he does so to encourage them also not to
be ashamed but, rather, to boast as he did. If today someone approaches you
and asks you, ‘But. . . do you adore a crucified man?’, far from hanging your
head and blushing with confusion, use this reproach as an opportunity to boast
and let your eyes and your face show that you are not ashamed. If they come
back and ask you aloud, ‘What, adore the crucified?’, reply: ‘Yes, I adore him [. .
.]. I adore and boast of a crucified God who, by his Cross, reduced the demons
to silence and did away with all superstition: for me his Cross is the ineffable
trophy of his benevolence and of his love” (St John Chrysostom, Hom. on Rom.
2).
17 The expression “righteousness of God” refers to the state of righteousness
or justice (= justness) in which a person is placed when God gives him grace. It
is called the righteousness of God because man cannot attain it through his
own efforts: it is a free (gratuitous, hence “grace”) gift of God. The fact that
“righteousness” comes from God does not mean that it is something external to
man, for righteousness does not mean merely that we are called “righteous” but
that we really are righteous in God’s eyes. The Magisterium of the Church has
given solemn teaching on this matter in the context of explaining the various
factors which cause man’s justification: “Finally”, says the Council of Trent, “the
only formal cause is ‘justice of God, not the justice by which he is himself just,
but the justice by which he makes us just’ (St Augustine, De Trinitate, XIV, 12,
15), namely, the justice which we have as a gift from him and by which we are
renewed in the spirit of our mind. And not only are we considered just, but we
are truly said to be just, and we are just” (De iustificatione, chap. 7).
“Through faith for faith”: Sacred Scripture tends to use this kind of phrase
to indicate on-going growth in something that is living (cf. Ps 84:8; 2 Cor 2:16;
3:18; Rom 6:19). What is being spoken about here is a steady progression from
the imperfect understanding of divine truths possible in this life to the perfect
understanding that is experienced in heaven. The full meaning of the phrase
can be seen from St Paul’s statement that in the Gospel justice is made
manifest: it begins and is nourished and grows through faith, until the believer
at last attains eternal salvation.
The statement that “he who through faith is righteous shall live” comes
from Hab 2:4; St Paul here applies it to the position of the Christian. What the
prophet meant was that those Jews who kept the Law and trusted in its
promises would not succumb when the Babylonians invaded. St Paul applies
the test to the righteous of the New Testament: if they stay firm in their faith in
the Gospel, they will continue in the life of grace and will attain everlasting
beatitude. The faith of good Israelites was a prefiguring of the faith of good

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Christians. The just man will live by faith, which “faith is the beginning of man’s
salvation, the foundation and source of all justification, ‘without which it is
impossible to please God’ (cf. Heb 11:6) and to be counted as his sons”
(Council of Trent, De iustificatione, chap. 8).
St Paul’s statement can also be understood as meaning that he who
through faith is just will live. This puts the emphasis on the fact that faith is the
beginning of the process of justification, and that a person who is justified will
attain salvation.
DOGMATIC SECTION
JUSTIFICATION THROUGH JESUS CHRIST
JUSTIFICATION THROUGH FAITH
The fault and punishment of the Gentiles
18-32 The Apostle is saying that the righteousness of God (= justness) can only
come about through faith in Jesus Christ — and that neither Jews nor Gentiles
possess this righteousness. He develops this point up as far as 3:20.
In the present passage he describes two stages in the position of the
Gentiles. In the first (vv. 18-23) he points out their blameworthiness, and then in
the second he goes on (vv. 24-32) to speak about the punishment of their sins.
Justice as the righteousness of God refers to God’s action of saving sinful man
by pouring his grace into him; God’s “wrath” is the punishment which the
Almighty inflicts on him who persists in sin. For, as St Thomas says, “Anger and
the like are ascribed to God by an analogy drawn from their effects. Because it
is characteristic of anger that it stimulates men to requite wrong, divine
retribution is analogically termed anger” (Summa theologiae, I, q. 3, a. 2 ad 2).
There is a connexion between faith and righteousness, on the one hand,
and sin and God’s wrath, on the other. This Pauline teaching ties in with the last
thing St John the Baptist is recorded as saying in bearing witness to Christ: “He
who believes in the Son has eternal life; he who does not obey the Son shall
not see life, but the wrath of God rests upon him” (Jn 3:36).
Christian teaching often points out how God’s desire that all sinners be
saved (the “righteousness of God” as instrument of salvation) combines with his
punishment of sin (the “wrath of God”). How perfect justice interfaces with
perfect mercy is ultimately a mystery.
18 “Who by their wickedness suppress the truth”: commenting on these words
St Thomas writes: “Genuine knowledge of God has the effect of inclining a
person to goodness. However, this knowledge of God can be frustrated, as if
enchained, by a person’s attachment to vice” (Commentary on Rom, ad loc.)

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 Clearly St Paul is speaking here of those Gentiles who do know about
God but who fail to appreciate their good fortune; their knowledge of God does
not produce the result which should naturally flow from it — an upright life. We
can see from what Paul says that man is naturally religious. He has a
knowledge of God which is not just theoretical: it has implications for his whole
life because it implies that he is intimately united to God. When a person does
not follow the impulse of his very nature he is guilty of unrighteousness, for he
should render God homage for being his Creator.
“All men, because they are persons, that is, beings endowed with reason
and free will and therefore bearing personal responsibility, are both impelled by
their nature and bound by a moral obligation to seek the truth, especially
religious truth. They are also bound to adhere to the truth once they come to
know it and direct their whole lives in accordance with the demands of truth”
(Vatican II, Dignitatis humanae, 2).
Our dependence on God does not mean that we are less than free; on the
contrary, it is rejection of all religious duties that leads to the shameful slaveries
which Paul now goes on to list, for “religion is the greatest rebellion of a person
who does not want to live like an animal, who is not satisfied and will not rest
until he reaches and comes to know his Creator” (J. Escrivá, Conversations,
73).
19-20 It is possible to know about God without his having to reveal himself in a
supernatural way; we know this from the book of Wisdom (Wis 13:1-9), which
says that pagans, who, led astray by the beauty and power and greatness of
created things, took these things for gods, should have known that all this
perfection etc. came from their Author, for “from the greatness and beauty of
created things comes a corresponding perception of their Creator” (Wis 13:5).
This knowledge of God, which we term “natural”, is not something easy to
attain; but it can be attained and it is the best form of preparation for accepting
supernaturally revealed truths, and for disposing us to honour and worship our
Creator. Moreover, Revelation confirms the certainty which natural knowledge
gives: “The heavens are telling the glory of God”, the Psalmist exclaims, “and
the firmament proclaims his handiwork” (Ps 19:2). St Augustine reminds us that
traces of the Creator are to be found in man, and, as we all know from
experience, we have been made to know and love God and therefore our heart
is restless until it rests in him (cf. Confessions, I, 1, 1).
To sum up, we can say with St Thomas Aquinas that, in the natural order,
man has two ways of discovering the existence of God — one, through reason,
that inner light by means of which a person acquires knowledge; the other,
through certain external pointers to the wisdom of God, that is, created things

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perceivable through the senses: these things are like a book on which are
imprinted traces of God (cf. Commentary on Rom, 1:6).
Whichever of these routes is taken, “God, the origin and end of all things,
can be known with certainty by the natural light of human reason from the
things that he created” (Vatican I, Dei Filius, chap. 2).
Recalling the core of Christian teaching about the nature of man, the
Second Vatican Council states that “sacred Scripture teaches that man was
created ‘in the image of God’ as able to know and love his Creator”, arid that
“the dignity of man rests above all on the fact that he is called to communion
with God. The invitation to converse with God is addressed to man as soon as
he comes into being. For if man exists it is because God has created him
through love, and through love continues to hold him in existence” (Gaudium et
spes, 12 and 19). The human mind, therefore, even when relying on its own
resources can grasp various truths concerning God —- first of all, his existence,
and secondly, certain of his attributes, which St Paul sums up here as his
“invisible nature”, “eternal power” and “deity”. By reflecting on the created world,
we can learn about some of God’s perfections; but, St Thomas Aquinas
comments, only in heaven will we be able to see that these various perfections
are all one with the divine essence. This is why St Paul talks about God’s
“invisible nature”. Contemplation of the works of creation leads us to posit the
presence of an ever-existing Creator, and brings us to discover his “eternal
power”. Finally, the word “deity” implies that God is transcendent: he is the
Cause, superior to all other causes, and in him everything finds its explanation
and ultimate purpose.
The fact that it is possible to know God by the use of natural reason
means that pagans who chose not to worship him were blameworthy. Their
position is comparable to that of contemporary atheists and unbelievers who
deny or doubt the existence of God despite the fact that as human beings they
do know him in some way in the depths of their conscience. The culpability of
pagans as of modern unbelievers (“they are without excuse”) derives from the
fact that they fail to accept that God is knowable through the use of human
reason; they both commit the same fault — that of refusing to render worship to
God.
Of course, to some degree the attitude of atheists can be explained by
historical, environmental, personal and other factors. However, it should not be
forgotten that these do not justify atheism. However, “those who willfully try to
drive God from their heart and to avoid all questions about religion, not
following the biddings of their conscience, are not free from blame” (Vatican II,
Gaudium a spes, 19).

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21-23 The Gentiles knew God but they failed to give him his due — to worship
him in a spirit of adoration and thanksgiving. As a result they fell into polytheism
(belief in a multiplicity of gods) and idolatry, as St Paul vividly describes: they
worshipped images depicting men and women (the Greeks gave their gods
human form) or animals (as was the case in Egyptian and other eastern
religions).
In our own time idolatry does not take that form, but there are practices
which can properly be called idolatrous. Man is naturally religious and if he
does not worship the true God he necessarily has to find other things to take
God’s place. Sometimes it is himself that man makes the object of worship: the
Second Vatican Council points out that “with some people it is their exaggerated
idea of man that causes their faith to languish; they are more prone, it would
seem, to affirm man than to deny God [. . .]. Those who profess this kind of
atheism maintain that freedom consists in this, that man is an end to himself
and the sole maker, with supreme control, of his own history” (Gaudium et spes,
19 and 20). It also happens that people, by becoming enslaved to them, make
gods out of the good things created by God for man’s benefit — money, power,
sensuality.
24-32 The sin of idolatry leads to the kind of moral disorder described by St
Paul: every time man knowingly and willingly tries to marginalize God, that
religious aberration leads to moral disorder not only in the individual but also in
society.
God punishes the sin of idolatry and impiety by withdrawing his graces:
that is what the Apostle means when he says that he “gave them up to the lusts
of their hearts” (v.24), “gave them up to dishonourable passions” (v.26). St John
Chrysostom, explaining these words, says: “The Apostle shows here that
ungodliness brings with it violation and forgetfulness of every law. When Paul
says that God gives them up, this must be understood as meaning that God
leaves them to their own devices. God abandons the evildoer but he does not
impel him towards evil. When the general withdraws in the thick of the battle, he
gives his soldiers up to the enemy, not in the sense of physically shackling them
but because he deprives them of the help of his presence. God acts in the
same way. Rebels against his law, men have turned their back on him; God, his
goodness exhausted, abandons them [. . .]. What else could he do? Use force,
compel them? Those means do not make men virtuous. The only thing he could
do was let them be” (Horn, on Rom, 3).
It may be that God counts on the experience of sin to move people to
repentance. In any event, we should not read into this passage unconcern,
much less injustice, on God’s part: he never abandons people unless they first
abandon him (cf. Council of Trent, De iustificatione, chap. 11).

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25 When describing the blasphemous behaviour of Gentiles who worship
created things rather than the Creator, St Paul cannot but utter an ejaculation,
in a spirit of atonement. This should teach us to do the same whenever we
witness offence being offered to God.
29-31 After describing how men have sinned against the commandments to
love and honour God (vv. 21-23, 25), he now goes on to list the sins that go
against love of neighbour. Love of neighbour derives from love of God,
therefore, if one fails to give God the love that is his due, who is the object of
the first commandment, one ends up offending others, in violation of the second
precept of the Law (cf. Mt 22:34-39; Mk 12:28-31; Lk 10:25-28).
St Paul includes in his list both internal sins or sins of desire (wickedness,
malice, greed, envy) and external sins (murder, strife); and sins of omission
(disloyalty, heartlessness) as well as sins of commission or actually breaking a
commandment (tale-bearing, slander).
St Paul’s mention of sins here and in other epistles (cf. 1 Cor 5:11-13 and
note; I Cor 6:9-10; Gal 5:19:21; Eph 4:31; Col 3:8; 1 Tim 1:9-10 and 2 Tim 3:2-
5) should lead us to examine our conscience to see how far we are living up to
the demands of the Christian life. However, what he says affects not only
Christians: everyone, Christian or not, comes under the natural law, whose
principles are unchanging, for “the moral obligations of the natural law are
based on the very nature of man and of his essential relationships — those
between man and God, between man and man, between husband and wife,
between parents and children; from violation of essential relationships in the
community — in the family, in the Church, in the State — it follows, among other
things, that hatred of God, blasphemy, idolatry, abandonment of the true faith,
denial of the faith, perjury, false witness, murder, calumny, adultery and
fornication, abuse of marriage, solitary sin, robbery [. . .] — are all severely
forbidden by the divine Lawgiver” (Pius XII, Address, 18 April 1952).
32 Particularly serious is the position of those who sin and know that they sin
and yet do not repent but actually keep others from repentance also. “It is
certainly a crime”, St John Chrysostom comments, "to sin against one’s
conscience, but it is an even greater crime to praise the guilty” (Horn, on Rom,
5). This not only clearly goes against the constant teaching of Scripture, that
one should correct an erring person (cf. 2 Sam 12: 1ff; Mt 18:12-17; Gal 6:1ff)
but it implies flagrant cooperation in evil (a sin of false prophets, cf. Jer 23:11-
16; Mt 7:15). This form of cooperation in evil - approval of sin — is sometimes
described as “adulation”. People who are guilty of it, “although they do not
speak evil of their neighbour, nevertheless do him much harm, because, by
praising his sins, they encourage him, for one thing, to persist in his vice” (St
Pius V Catechism, III, 9, 11).

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a Or slave.
a2 Or constituted
b Or The righteous shall live by faith.
CHAPTER 2
The Jews also are guilty
1 The Apostle now addresses the Jews to make them see that, despite their
privileged position, they too are unrighteous. He does this by setting up an
imaginary conversation with a person representing the Jewish people, whose
attitude is like that of those who “trusted in themselves that they were righteous
and despised others” (Lk 18:9). If the pagans, who could only know God
through the use of natural reason, cannot be excused for not worshipping him
and for committing sin, how much more inexcusable is the behaviour of Jews
who, despite receiving supernatural Revelation, commit the very same sins as
those for which they reproach the Gentiles. St Paul’s invective against the Jews
(vv. 17-24) is reminiscent of our Lord’s criticism of the scribes and Pharisees
(cf. Mt 23:13-33).
2-11 These verses contain the following truths: 1) God rewards and punishes,
and therefore there is a close connexion between a person’s behaviour in this
life (meritorious or blameworthy) and what happens to him or her in the next life
(cf. especially vv. 2, 5, 7-10). 2) God is a just and impartial Judge; he does not
look to whether a person is Jew or Gentile but simply to how he lives. 3) The
passage also tells us when this judgment will take place (v. 5, elaborated on by
v. 16).
In the course of speaking about God as rewarding the good, St Paul
describes the glorious state of the blessed in heaven (“eternal life”, “glory”,
“honour”, “peace”: vv. 7, 10) and the fact that it will last for ever (“immortality”: v.
7). He also teaches that in order to attain this state one must persevere in good
works (“patience in well-doing”: v. 7); this echoes what our Lord said: “he who
endures to the end will be saved” (Mt 10:22; cf. 24:13).
Parallel with this, St Paul speaks of how God will punish sinners (“wrath
and fury”: v. 8) and of the unhappy fate of those condemned to hell (“tribulation
and distress”: v. 9).
The meaning of this passage becomes clearer in the light of many other
passages of Sacred Scripture and, also, of the Church’s teaching about the
Judgment and when it will take place. There are two different occasions “when
everyone must appear in the presence of the Lord to render an account of all
his thoughts, words and actions [. . .]. The first takes place when each of us
departs this life; for then he is instantly placed before the judgment seat of God,

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where all that he has ever done shall be subjected to the most rigid scrutiny.
This is called the particular judgment. The second occurs when on the same
day and in the same place all men shall stand together before the tribunal of
their judge, that in the presence and hearing of all human beings of all times
each may know his final doom and sentence” (St Pius V Catechism, I, 8, 3).
12-14 The Jews received the Law from God through Moses; the pagans or
Gentiles, however, only received, through the exercise of reason, the principles
of the natural moral law. By acting in accordance with nature they adhered to
the same moral precepts as God specified more exactly in the ten
Commandments. For pagans, therefore, the natural moral law was “a law to
themselves”, a law applying to them. What God requires of everyone is that he
or she keep the natural moral law, that is, the law that is “written and engraved
in the mind of every man; and this is nothing but our reason, commanding us to
do right and forbidding sin” (Leo XIII, Libertas praestantissimum, 8).
The Church teaches that even though human reason in theory is capable
of grasping the natural law written on our souls by our Creator, many factors
prevent us from obeying that law: our senses, our imagination, and our evil
desires deriving from original sin give rise to difficulties. As a result, people can
easily convince themselves that what they do not want to accept as the right
thing to do is in fact the wrong thing, or at least that the matter is in doubt (cf.
Pius XII, Humani generis, 2).
In order to help man overcome difficulties of this sort and attain a grasp of
the natural law easily, God chose to reveal himself in another, supernatural,
way; this shows that divine revelation of the content of the natural law is morally
necessary (cf. ibid., and Vatican I, Dei Filius, chap. 2). This is why Christians,
who, thanks to the faith and teaching of the Church, have a good grasp of the
natural law, are also best equipped to ensure that “the divine law be impressed
on the affairs of the earthly city” (Vatican II, Gaudium et spes, 43) and to teach
others the way to live in harmony with human nature and thereby attain
salvation.
When he says that the Gentiles keep the law if they follow the dictates of
nature, the Apostle does not mean that supernatural grace is not necessary for
salvation. Human nature has certainly been wounded by original sin, but it is
not completely vitiated, for “the likeness of God impressed upon the human soul
cannot be destroyed by a person’s attachment to earthly things to the point that
it does not retain even the faintest traces of that likeness; and so, it is correct to
say that a sinner, despite the irregularity of his life, is aware of and does keep
some part of the Law” (St Augustine, De spiritu et littera, XXVII, 48).
However, without the help of grace it is impossible to keep all the precepts
of the natural law all the time.
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15 This verse says something which is extremely important. Earlier the Apostle
speaks of the existence of a law, of divine origin; here he adds that it is written
on men’s hearts. The voice of this law, “ever calling him to love and to do what
is good and to avoid evil, tells him inwardly at the right moment: do this, shun
that” (Vatican II, Gaudium et spes, 16). Conscience and law reinforce each
other.
Because of the divine source of this law, a law which conscience applies
in each particular situation, it has been called “the voice of God”; it is at the
secret, intimate core of a person, where he is alone with himself and God. All
through life this voice will be with him; and it will be present when he appears
before God’s judgment seat (cf. Gaudium et spes, 16; Pius XII, Address, 23
March 1952).
As well as listening to the interior voice of divine law, moral conscience
also needs to be instructed by someone endowed with authority, to enable it to
determine how the law must be applied in each case. St Paul provided this
teaching for the first Christians in Rome (Rom 14:17) and Corinth (1 Cor 8) on
moral questions about the use of meat of sacrificed animals. We too need
someone to give us guidelines, for “in order to walk in the right direction when it
is dark, that is, when the Christian is entering the mystery of the Christian life,
he cannot rely on his eyes, he needs a lamp, alight. And this light of Christ does
not distort, does not inhibit or contradict our conscience; on the contrary, it
illuminates it and enables it to follow Christ along the straight road of our
pilgrimage towards that vision which is eternal” (Paul VI, Address, 12 February
1969).
Real circumcision, a matter of the heart
25-29 Through circumcision man became party to the Covenant God made with
Abraham (Gen 17:10-1 1), and heir to the promises. In accordance with that
Alliance, circumcision obliged the Israelite to keep the Mosaic Law, especially
its moral precepts: according to God’s design all the rites and other
requirements of the Old Law were directed to that end. Therefore, the letter of
the Law, and physical circumcision, were important only to the degree that they
helped promote these plans of God. This is why St Paul asserts that the true
circumcision is not a physical thing but what he calls “circumcision of the heart”,
which he also describes as being spiritual rather than literal: the content of the
Law can be practised without one’s having a written law (vv. 14-16), as can
happen in the case of Gentiles, who are physically uncircumcised.
CHAPTER 3
1-8 In this passage St Paul is still replying to objections raised by an imaginary
Jewish questioner. What makes it difficult to follow is the fact that the reply to

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each question gives rise to the next objection.
First (v. 1), the questioner asks, if Jews as well as Gentiles are going to be
rewarded or punished in the light of their deeds, then in what way is the Jew
better off? The Apostle replies that the Jewish people — and they alone —
were given Revelation by God for them to pass it on to other nations. The fact
that some Jews were not faithful to this mission did not mean that God changed
his plans, for it was to the Jewish people as such — and not to each individual
Jew — that he gave this mission. God’s fidelity to his promises is not affected
by the way man responds; in fact human infidelity only serves to highlight God’s
fidelity (vv. 2-4).
The imaginary questioner now goes on to raise a new objection, but he is
oversimplifying things and has a narrow, human outlook; he argues that if
human wickedness does God no harm, but actually highlights his justice, then
God is unjust to punish it (vv. 5 and 7). St Paul counters this with another
question, which he uses to show that his opponent has no case: if it were unjust
for God to punish men’s sins, how could he be the judge of the human race?
This argument carries a lot of weight with a Jew, because, being familiar with
the Old Testament, he knows that God will in fact judge all men (cf. Amos 5:18;
Joel 4: 12ff). Finally, St Paul replies that if his questioner’s false reasoning is
pushed to its logical conclusion one would need to do evil in order to achieve
good. Anyone who says that is clearly wrong.
8 St Paul’s adversaries accuse him of having said that evil had to be committed
for good, that is, God’s truth and justice, to be made manifest. But this is a
misrepresentation, which the Apostle energetically rejects, although he does not
stop here to reply to his accusers. St Paul is not saying that a Christian should
follow evil ways for a good end: that would be to blur the difference between
good and evil, and to argue that the end justifies the means.
Christian moral teaching requires that one do right even if oneself or
others are hurt by that action: the end does not justify the means and an action
can only be fully good when all its elements are good — object, end and
circumstances; and it will be bad if any one of these elements is bad. Therefore,
no morally bad action may be done for any reason, even for an apparently good
reason, or even with a supposedly good intention. If one were to act using
wrong standards, it would mean undermining the laws and mores of society (cf.
St Augustine, Contra mendacium, chaps. 1 and 7).
Faced with people’s constant tendency to justify their actions by appealing
to circumstances, the Magisterium of the Church has reminded us of the basic
principles governing moral behaviour: “God desires us always to have, above
all, an upright intention, but that is not enough. He also requires that the action

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be a good action [. . .]. It is not permissible to do evil in order to achieve a good
end” (Pius XII, Address, 18 April 1952).
All are sinners — Jews and Gentiles both
9-18 The general meaning of this passage is quite clear but some points are
obscure. St Paul provides quotations from Sacred Scripture which prove that
the Jews are blameworthy, so much so that they no longer have any grounds
for personal congratulation, even though they still enjoy the special privileges
with which God endowed their nation.
After a short introduction (v. 9) St Paul goes on to describe the universal
apostacy which the psalmist already spoke about (vv. 10-12). He then lists the
sins against which the prophets fulminated so often (cf. Is 5:8-25; 59:2-8; Jer
8:8; Amos 5:21; Mal 2:8) — sins of word (vv. 13-14) as well as of deed (v. 15).
Finally he spells out the punishment which will be meted out to those guilty of
such sins.
Both the passages in the Old Testament and the use St Paul makes of
them seem to refer not only to the Jews but to a worldwide phenomenon.
10-12 These verses show us the sorry state of affairs resulting from original sin
and from personal sin. In various places in the Old Testament we find this kind
of bitter complaint: man’s wickedness has spread all over the earth, his every
thought is evil (cf. Gen 6:5-7). What is particularly depressing is the
unfaithfulness of the Jewish people, when they abandon the true God and
become idolaters (cf. 1 Kings 19:14, 18), forsake the fountain of living waters
for broken cisterns (cf. Jer 2:13) and fail to repent of their wickedness (cf. Jer
8:6). This does not happen just in one particular epoch: from the time of Noah
— the only just man in a wicked world — up to the present day God has always
been opposed(cf. the lamentations in Ps 12:2; 55:11-12; etc.).
At the same time there have always been faithful servants who “have not
bent the knee to Baal”; these have been the vehicle used for the spreading of
salvation. What then is to be made of St Paul’s assertion that “none is
righteous, not one”? These words should not be taken as referring to absolutely
everyone. We do know that, in addition to the sacred human nature of Jesus,
the Blessed Virgin was exempted from the stain of all sin, even venial sin (cf.
Third Council of Constantinople, De duabus in Christo voluntatibus et
operationibus; Council of Trent, De iustificatione, can. 23), and also that even
before Christ there were just and devout people like Noah, Abraham, Moses
etc., who received divine grace and were enabled to do good works by virtue of
the future merits of Christ.
13-18 God sent the prophets to make the Israelites see that they had sinned
and to have them repent. St Paul is doing the same kind of thing here: he uses

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passages from the Old Testament to stir the consciences of his fellow Jews and
indeed all those who read his letter.
A person’s goodness and holiness does not lie in not knowing about evil
or in adopting an attitude of naive optimism, forgetting that sin is the only evil
really harmful to man and which therefore needs to be countered at every step.
So, when someone’s heart becomes hardened and he has made a private pact
with sin, all that one can do is act the way Christ did: “sometimes in his
preaching all seems very sad, because he is hurt by the evil men do. However,
if we watch him closely, we will note immediately that his anger comes from
love. It is a further invitation for us to leave infidelity and sin behind” (J. Escrivá,
Christ is passing by, 162).
13 “Their throat is an open grave”: a reference to the fact that impious people
speak words which bring death (cf. Jer 5:16) and reflect the filth and corruption
they carry within, for they “are like white-washed tombs, which outwardly
appear beautiful, but within they are full of dead men’s bones and all
uncleanness” (Mt 23:27).
19-20 These verses act as a kind of summary of what the Apostle has been
saying about the position of Jews and Gentiles vis-à-vis the righteousness of
God.
Righteousness, a free gift through faith in Christ
21-22 The doctrinal richness of this text and of the whole passage (vv. 21-26) is
here condensed in a way very typical of St Paul’s style. He explains how
justification operates: God the Father, the source of all good, by his redemptive
decree is the “efficient cause” of our salvation; Jesus Christ, by shedding his
blood on the Cross, merits this salvation for us; faith is the instrument by which
the Redemption becomes effective in the individual person.
The righteousness of God is the action by which God makes people
righteous, or just (cf. St Augustine, De spiritu et littera, IX, 15). This
righteousness was originally proclaimed in the books of the Old Testament —
the Law and the Prophets — but it has now been made manifest in Christ and
in the Gospel. Salvation does not depend on fulfilment of the Mosaic Law, for
that Law is not sufficient to justify anyone: only faith in Jesus Christ can work
salvation. “If anyone says that, without divine grace through Jesus Christ, man
can be justified before God by his own works, whether they were done by his
natural powers or by the light of the teaching of the Law: let him be anathema”
(Council of Trent, De iustificatione, can. 1).
It is not the law, then, which saves, but “faith in Jesus Christ”. This
expression should be interpreted in line with the unanimous and constant
teaching of the Church, which is that “faith is the beginning of human salvation”,

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and a person’s will must cooperate with faith to prepare the ground for the
grace of justification (cf. ibid., chap. 8 and can. 9).
23-26 The Apostle first describes the elements that go to make up the mystery
of faith (vv. 23-25): all men need to be liberated from sin; God the Father has a
redemptive plan, which is carried out by the atoning and bloody sacrifice of
Christ’s death; faith is a necessary condition for sharing in the Redemption
wrought by Christ; the sacrifice of the Cross is part and parcel of the History of
Salvation: before the Incarnation of the Word, God patiently put up with men’s
sins; in the fullness of time he chose — through Christ’s sacrifice — to require
full satisfaction for those sins so that men might be enabled to become truly
righteous in God’s eyes and God’s perfections become more manifest.
“The Cross of Christ, on which the Son, consubstantial with the Father,
renders full justice to God, is also a radical revelation of mercy, that is, of the
love that goes against what constitutes the very root of evil in the history of man
— against sin and death” (John Paul II, Dives in misericordia, 8).
23 “Fall short of the glory of God”: this shows the position man is in when he is
in a state of sin. Because he has not the life of grace in him, he is not properly
orientated towards his supernatural end, is deprived of the right to heaven that
sanctifying grace confers, and consequently does not have these divine
perfections which supernatural life gives him.
24 All have been justified, that is, all have been made “righteous” (cf. 1:17).
This justification is the result of a gratuitous gift of God which St Paul describes
in a way which reinforces his point (“grace”, “as a gift”): this identifies the source
of the gift as God’s loving-kindness and it also shows the new state in which
justification places a person. So important is this statement — that grace is a
gift which God gives without merit on our part — that the Council of Trent, when
using this text from St Paul, made a point of explaining what it meant: that is,
that nothing which precedes justification (whether it be faith, or morals) merits
the grace by which man is justified (cf. Rom 11:16; Council of Trent, De
iustificatione, chap. 8).
This new kind of life, whose motor is grace, requires free and active
cooperation on man’s part; by that cooperation a person in the state of grace
obtains merit through his actions: “For such is God’s goodness to men that he
wills that his gifts be our merits, and that he will grant us an eternal reward for
what he has given us” (Indiculus, chap. 9). The fact that grace is a gratuitous
gift of God does not mean that man does not have an obligation to respond to
it: we are not justified by keeping the Law or by a decision of our free will;
however, justification does not happen without our cooperation; grace
strengthens our will and helps it freely to keep the Law (cf. St Augustine, De
spiritu et littera, IX, 15).
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 Justification by grace is attained “through the redemption which is in Jesus
Christ”. The Council of Trent teaches that when a sinner is justified there is “a
passing from the state in which man is born a son of the first Adam, to the state
of grace and adoption as Sons of God through the second Adam, Jesus Christ
our Saviour” (De iustificatione, chap. 4). This has been made possible because
our Lord saved us by giving himself up as our ransom. The Greek word
translated as “redemption” refers to the ransom money paid to free a person
from slavery. Christ has freed us from the slavery of sin, paying the necessary
ransom (cf. Rom 6:23). By sacrificing himself for us, Christ has become our
master or owner, who mediates between the Father and the whole human race:
“Let us all take refuge in Christ; let us have recourse to God to free us from sin:
let us put ourselves up for sale in order to be redeemed by his blood. For the
Lord says, ‘You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without
money’ (Is 52:3); without spending a penny of your inheritance, for I have paid
on your behalf. This is what the Lord says: He paid the price, not with silver but
with his blood” (St Augustine, In Ioann. Evang., 41, 4).
Our very creation means that we belong totally to God the Father and
therefore also to Christ, insofar as he is God, but “as man, he is also for many
reasons appropriately called ‘Lord’. First, because he is our Redeemer, who
delivered us from sin, he deservedly acquired the power by which he truly is
and is called our Lord” (St Pius V Catechism, I, 3, 11).
And so, through the Incarnation, whose climax was Christ’s redemptive
sacrifice, “God gave human life the dimension that he intended man to have
from his first beginning; he has granted that dimension definitively [. . .] and he
has granted it also with the bounty that enables us, in considering the original
sin and the whole history of the sins of humanity, and in considering the errors
of the human intellect, will and heart, to repeat with amazement the words of
the sacred Liturgy: ‘0 happy fault. . . which gained us so great a Redeemer!”
(John Paul II, Redemptor hominis, 1).
25 The “expiation” was the cover or mercy seat of the Ark, which stood in the
centre of the Holy of Holies in the Temple (cf. Exod 25: 17-22). It was made of
beaten gold and had a cherub at either end, each facing the other. It had two
functions: one was to act as God’s throne (cf. Ps 80:2; 99:1), from which lie
spoke to Moses during the time of the exodus from Egypt (cf. Num 7:89; Exod
37:6); the other was to entreat God to pardon sin through a rite of expiatory
sacrifice on the feast of the Day of Atonement (cf. Lev 16): on that (lay the High
Priest sprinkled the mercy seat with the blood of animals sacrificed as victims,
to obtain forgiveness of sins for priest and people.
St Paul asserts that God has established Jesus as the true expiation, of
which the mercy seat in the Old Testament was merely a figure.

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 No angel or man could ever atone for the immense evil that sin is — an
offence to the infinite majesty of God. The Blessed Trinity decided “that the Son
of God, whose power is infinite, clothed in the weakness of our flesh, should
remove the infinite weight of sin and reconcile us to God in his Blood” (St Pius
V Catechism, I, 3, 3).
This expiatory sacrifice, prefigured in the bloody sacrificial rites of the Old
Testament (cf. Lev 16:1 ff), was announced by John the Baptist when he
pointed to Jesus as the Lamb of God (cf. Jn 1:29 and note); and Jesus himself
referred to the sacrifice of the Cross when he said that the Son of man had
come “to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mt 20:28).
This sacrifice is renewed daily in the Holy Mass, one of the purposes of
which is atonement, as the Liturgy itself states: “Lord, may this sacrifice once
offered on the cross to take away the sins of the world now free us from our
sins” (Roman Missal, Feast of the Triumph of the Cross, prayer over the gifts).
26 In the time prior to Christ’s coming the sins of mankind remained unatoned
for: neither the rites designed by man to placate God’s anger, nor those
established by God himself in the Old Law, were in any way equal to atoning for
the offence offered to God by sin. Therefore, the just of the Old Testament were
really justified by virtue of their faith in the future Messiah, a faith which
expressed itself in observance of the rites established by God.
During all this period the Lord kept deferring punishment (“passing over
former sins”). This time of “God’s forbearance” lasted until the messianic era,
“the present time”, that is, the period between the first and second comings of
Christ. On the righteousness of God and God as the Justifier of man, see note
on Rom 1:17.
27-31 These words are addressed to the same imaginary interlocutor as
appeared at the beginning of the chapter. Although he is Lord of all nations,
God showed special preference for the people of Israel. Relying on this, the
Jews wrongly thought that only they could attain blessedness because only
they enjoyed God’s favour. This led them to look down on other peoples. After
the coming of Christ, they no longer have any basis for this pride: St John
Chrysostom explains that it had simply become outdated, superseded (cf. Hom.
on Rom, 7), for God had set up a single way of salvation for all men — the
“principle of faith” which the Apostle refers to. This new way means that Jews
must forget their ancient pride and become humble, for God has opened the
gates of salvation to all mankind.
Consequently, no one — not even the Jew — is justified by works of the
Law. What justifies a person is faith: not faith alone, as Luther wrongly argued,
but the faith which works through charity (cf. Gal 5:6); faith which is not pre

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sumptuous self-confidence in one’s own merits, but a firm and ready
acceptance of all that God has revealed, faith which moves one to place one’s
hope in Christ’s merits and to repent of one’s sins. Therefore it will be “by faith”
— not by circumcision — that the Jews will be justified, and it will be “through
their faith” that the uncircumcised will attain salvation. From this it might appear
as though the Law had been revoked; but that is not the case: faith ratifies the
Law, gives it its true meaning and raises it to perfection. For, through being a
preparation for the Gospel, the Mosaic Law receives from Christ the fulness it
was lacking: the precept of charity reveals the meaning which God gave the law
but which lay hidden until Christ made it manifest, for “love is the fulfilling of the
law” (Rom 13:10). St Paul in a way summarizes all this teaching in v. 28, which
is the key statement in the passage.
c Or at any disadvantage?
d Greek we.
CHAPTER 4
The example of Abraham
1-25 Here St Paul finishes the exposition which began in. 1: 18: righteousness
or justification comes neither through nature nor through the Law, but through
faith — which is described as “the righteousness of faith”.
The Apostle quotes Scripture to support what he says, putting before us
the example of Abraham, who was not justified by works of the Law, but rather
by faith (vv. 1-8), as it says in Gen 15:6 and as David confirms in the psalms (cf.
vv. 6-8).
The Apostle also stresses (vv. 9-12) that Abraham’s righteousness was
not the result of circumcision, because it happened prior to circumcision (Gen
17). Therefore, according to God’s plan circumcision was only an external sign
of justification, not its cause.
He then goes on (vv. 13-17a) to explore the relationship between the
focus of Abraham’s faith — namely, the promise which God made him that he
would be the father of many nations and that in his descendants all the nations
of the earth would be blessed (cf. Gen 12:1-3; 15:5-6) — and works of the Law,
actions done in obedience to the Law; by doing so he shows that the promise
God makes is completely gratuitous, completely God’s initiative. He concludes
(17b-22) by praising the great faith of the Father of all believers, who put his
trust in a promise which from the human point of view seemed impossible to
fulfil.
Abraham’s faith is a model for Christians. The promise made to him is
fulfilled in us when we believe in Christ, who died and arose for our sakes (vv.

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22-25).
3 The words of Gen 15:5-6 which God addresses to Abraham (“Look towards
heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them [...]. So shall
your descendants be”) provide the answer to a question implicit in the
preceding verses of the letter and are also an introduction to the account of
Abraham’s life of faith which follows. There is indeed good reason to ask what
was the meaning of the Patriarch’s life, and what was it that was “reckoned to
him” who is the father of the chosen people in the flesh and in faith, when he
obeyed God’s call. The “boast” of Abraham, who stands out above all
generations of the people of Israel (cf. Sir 44:19; Jn 8:33, 39, 53), is not mere
human pride: he can boast “before God” (cf. v. 2). When the Patriarch, already
an old man, saw himself close to death and without offspring (cf. Gen 15:2-3),
Yahweh told him to look up and count the stars, if he could, and then made a
solemn promise that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars. At
that moment Abraham “believed the Lord” and God reckoned it to him “as
righteousness” (Gen 15:6): he rewarded Abraham’s faith by granting him
righteousness or justification.
This “reckoning” casts God in the role of a Master who notes credits and
debits in a ledger, the credits and debits being the merits and demerits of his
servants. However, in the case of Abraham, God, in the merit column, noted not
his works but his faith, which is why this faith was reckoned to him as
righteousness: righteousness was like a payment owed to him on account of
faith. The gratuitous character of righteousness or justification is in fact
emphasized here, because in Abraham’s case faith was reckoned as
righteousness entirely due to God’s grace and favour. The entire story of
Abraham, especially the episode where God makes him the promise, is an
example of how God goes about things: he draws the human soul out of its
state of ignorance, and then leads it on towards faith and moves it to accept a
supernatural mission of unimagined scope. “Scripture tells us again and again
that God is not a respecter of persons. When he invites a soul to live a life fully
in accordance with the faith, he does not set store by merits of fortune, nobility,
blood or learning. God’s call precedes all merits. . . . Vocation comes first, God
loves us before we even know how to go toward him, and he places in us the
love with which we can respond to his call. God’s fatherly goodness comes out
to meet us” (J. Escrivá, Christ is passing by, 33).
5 The act of faith is the first step towards obtaining justification (= salvation).
The Magisterium of the Church teaches that, usually, those who are making
their way towards faith predispose themselves in this sense: moved and helped
by divine grace they freely direct themselves towards God because they believe
in the truth of Revelation and, above all, believe that God, in his grace, justifies

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the sinner “through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus” (Rom 3:24). This
first act of faith moves the person to recognize and repent of his sins; to put his
trust in God’s mercy and to love him above all things; and to desire the
sacraments and resolve to live a holy life (cf. Council of Trent, De iustificatione,
chap. 6). God reckons this faith “as righteousness”, that is to say, as something
which deserves to be rewarded. It is not, therefore, good works that lead to
justification; rather, justification renders works good and meritorious of eternal
life. Faith opens up for us whole new perspectives.
9-12 God prescribed circumcision as the seal of his Covenant with Abraham
and his descendants: “And God said to Abraham, ‘As for you, you shall keep
my covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.
This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your
descendants after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall
be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the
covenant between me and you” (Gen 17:9-11).
Circumcision acquires a very special significance in the chosen people,
although other ancient peoples and modern societies also follow this practice.
And it symbolized the purification and justification which Christian Baptism
would effect in the fulness of time.
13-14 God made this promise to Abraham about his having countless
descendants (cf. Gen 15:5-6) centuries before the Mosaic Law was given to the
people of Israel through Moses. Therefore, the promise made to Abraham was
not linked to the Law but rather to the Patriarch’s faith. That is why the heirs of
the promise are those who follow the faith of Abraham.
15 The Old Law, giving man a more exact knowledge of the natural law, without
giving him special help (grace) to keep the law, “brings [God’s] wrath”: sin is
committed when one simply breaks the natural law, but it takes on the character
of “transgression” because one is flying in the face of an explicit law of God.
24-25 The faith of which St Paul is speaking includes among its basic truths the
redemptive Death of Christ and his Resurrection, two events which are
indissolubly linked, two ways in which God’s justice and mercy are manifested.
e ancient authorities read was gained by.
CHAPTER 5
SALVATION AND THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
Reconciliation through Christ’s sacrifice, the basis of our hope
1-5 In this very moving passage God helps us see “the divine interlacing of the
three theological virtues which form the backing upon which the true life of
every Christian man or woman has to be woven” (J. Escrivá, Friends of God,

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205). Faith, hope and charity act in us in turn, causing us to grow in the life of
grace. Thus, faith leads us to know and be sure of the things we hope for (cf.
Heb 11:1); hope ensures that we shall attain them, and enlivens our love of
God; charity, for its part, gives us energy to practise the other two theological
virtues. The definitive outcome of this growth in love, faith and hope is the
everlasting peace that is of the essence of eternal life.
As long as we are in this present life we do have peace to some degree —
but with tribulation. Therefore, the peace attainable in this life does not consist
in the contentment of someone who wants to have no problems, but rather in
the resoluteness full of hope (“character”) of someone who manages to rise
above suffering and stays faithful through endurance. Suffering is necessary for
us, because it is the normal way to grow in virtue (cf. Jas 1:2-4; 1 Pet 1:5-7);
that is why it is providential (cf. Phil 1:19; Col 1:24) and leads to joy and
happiness (1 Thess 1:6).
“A person who hopes for something and strives eagerly to attain it is ready
to endure all kinds of difficulty and distress. Thus, for example, a sick person, if
he is eager to be healthy, is happy to take the bitter medicine which will cure
him. Therefore, one sign of the ardent hope that is ours thanks to Christ is that
we glory not only in the hope of future glory, but also in the afflictions which we
suffer in order to attain it” (St Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Romans, ad
loc.).
A person who lives by faith, hope and charity realizes that suffering is not
something meaningless but rather is designed by God for our perfecting.
Perfection consists “in the bringing of our wills so closely into conformity with
the will of God that, as soon as we realize he wills anything, we desire it
ourselves with all our might, and take the bitter with the sweet, knowing that to
be His Majesty’s will [. . .]. If our love is perfect, it has this quality of leading us
to forget our own pleasure in order to please him whom we love. And that is
indeed what happens” (St Teresa of Avila, Book of Foundations, chap. 5).
5 The love which St Paul speaks of here is, at one and the same time, God’s
love for us — manifested in his sending the Holy Spirit — and the love which
God places in our soul to enable us to love him. The Second Council of
Orange, quoting St Augustine, explains this as follows: “To love God is entirely
a gift of God. He, without being loved, loves us and enabled us to love him. We
were loved when we were still displeasing to him, so that we might be given
something whereby we might please him. So it is that the Spirit of the Father
and the Son, whom we love with the Father and the Son, pours charity into our
hearts” (Second Council of Orange, De gratia, can. 25; cf. St Augustine, In
Ioann. Evang., 102, 5).

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6-11 The friendship which reigned in paradise between God and man was
followed by the enmity created by Adam’s sin. By promising a future redeemer,
God once more offered mankind his friendship. The scale of God’s love for us
can be seen in the “reconciliation” which the Apostle speaks about, which took
place on the Cross, when Christ did away with this enmity, making our peace
with God and reconciling us to him (cf. Eph 2:15-16).
The petition in the Our Father, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive
those that trespass against us”, is an invitation to imitate the way God treats us,
because by loving our enemies “there shines forth in us some likeness to God
our Father, who, by the death of his Son, ransomed from everlasting perdition
and reconciled to himself the human race, which before was most unfriendly
and hostile to him” (St Pius V Catechism, IV, 14, 19).
Adam’s original sin
12-21 Four important teachings are discernible in this passage: 1) Adam’s sin
and its consequences, which include, particularly, death (vv. 12-14); 2) the
contrast between the effects of original sin and those of the Redemption
wrought by Christ (vv. 15-19); 3) the role of the Law of Moses in relation to sin
(especially vv. 13, 20), anticipating what is explained more elaborately in
chapter 7; 4) the final victory of the reign of grace (vv. 20-21). These teachings
are closely connected by one single idea: only Jesus Christ can justify us and
bring us to salvation. The Apostle refers to Adam as a “type of the one who was
to come”, that is, Jesus, the Messiah, who is the true head of the human race;
and he also stresses that Christ, by his obedience and submission to the
Father’s will, counters the disobedience and rebellion of Adam, restoring to us
— superabundantly — the happiness and eternal life which we lost through the
sin of our first parents.
Here we can see the clash of the two kingdoms — the kingdom of sin and
death and the kingdom of righteousness and grace. These two kingdoms were
established, the first by Adam and the second by Christ, and spread to all
mankind.
Because the superabundance of Christ’s grace is the more important
factor, Adam’s sin is referred to in no great detail. St Paul takes it as something
everyone is familiar with. All Christians have read about or been told about the
account of the fall in Genesis (Gen 3) and they are familiar with many passages
in Sacred Scripture which confirm and explain something which is self-evident
— that all men are mortal and that the human race is subject to a whole series
of afflictions (cf. Sir 25:33; Wis 2:23-24; Ps 51:7; Job 14:4; Gen 8:21; etc.).
12-14 This passage can be elaborated on as follows: just as sin entered the
world through the action of a single individual man, so righteousness is attained

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for us by one man — Jesus Christ. Adam, the first man, is a type of the “new
Adam”: Adam contained within himself all mankind, his offspring; the “new
Adam” is “the first-born of all creation” and “the head of the body, the church”
(Col 1:15, 18) because he is the redeeming Word Incarnate. To Adam we are
linked by flesh and blood, to Christ by faith and the sacraments.
When, in his infinite goodness, he raised Adam to share in the divine life,
God also decreed that our first parent would pass on to us his human nature
and with it all the various gifts that perfected it and the grace that sanctified it.
But Adam committed a sin by breaking God’s commandment and as a result he
immediately lost the holiness and righteousness in which he had been installed,
and because of this disloyalty he incurred God’s wrath and indignation and, as
a consequence, death — as God had warned him. By becoming mortal and
falling under the power of the devil, Adam “was changed for the worse”, in both
body and soul (cf. Council of Trent, De peccato originali, can. 1). From then on
Adam and his descendants pass on a human nature deprived of supernatural
gifts, and men are in a state of enmity with God, which means that they cannot
attain eternal beatitude.
The fact of original sin is a truth of faith. This has been stated once again
solemnly by Paul VI: “We believe that in Adam all have sinned. From this it
follows that, on account of the original offence committed by him, human
nature, which is common to all men, is reduced to that condition in which it must
suffer the consequences of that fall [. . .1. Consequently, fallen human nature is
deprived of the economy of grace which it formerly enjoyed. It is wounded in its
natural powers and subjected to the dominion of death which is transmitted to
all men. It is in this sense that every man is born in sin. We hold, therefore, in
accordance with the Council of Trent, that original sin is transmitted along with
human nature, not by imitation but by propagation, and is, therefore, incurred by
each person individually” (Creed of the People of God, 16).
Our own experience bears out what divine Revelation tells us: when we
examine our conscience we realize that we have this inclination towards evil
and we are conscious of being enmeshed in evils which cannot have their
source in our holy Creator (cf. Vatican II, Gaudium et spes, 13). The obvious
presence of evil in the world and in ourselves convinces us of the profound truth
contained in Revelation and moves us to fight against sin.
“So much wretchedness! So many offences! Mine, yours, those of all
mankind…
“Et in peccatis concepit me mater mea! In sin did my mother conceive me!
(Ps 51:5). I, like all men, came into the world stained with the guilt of our first
parents. And then . . . my own sins: rebellions, thought about, desired,
committed....
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 “To purify us of this rottenness, Jesus chose to humble himself and take
on the form of a slave (cf. Phil 2:7), becoming incarnate in the spotless womb of
our Lady, his Mother, who is also your Mother and mine. He spent thirty years in
obscurity, working like everyone else, at Joseph’s side. He preached. He
worked miracles… And we repaid him with a cross.
“Do you need more motives for contrition?” (J. Escrivá, The Way of the
Cross, IV, 2).
13-14 Both the commandment imposed by God on Adam, and the Mosaic Law,
threatened the transgressor with death; but the same cannot be said of the
period between Adam and Moses. In that period also people did sin against the
natural law written on every person’s heart (cf. 2:12ff). However, their sins “were
not like the transgression of Adam”, because the natural law did not explicitly
bind under pain of death. If, nevertheless, they in fact had to die, this proves,
the Apostle concludes, that death is due not to personal sins but to original sin.
It is also proved, the Fathers of the Church usually add, by the fact that some
people die before reaching the use of reason, that is, before they are capable of
sinning.
Death is a consequence of original sin, because that sin brought with it the
loss of the “preternatural” gift of immortality (cf. Gen 2:17; 3:19). Adam incurred
this loss when, through a personal act of his, he broke an explicit, specific
command of God. Later, under the Mosaic Law, there were also certain
precepts which involved the death penalty if broken (cf., for example, Exod 21:1
2ff; Lev 24:16). In the period from Adam to Moses there was no law which
stated: If you sin, you shall die. However, people in that period were all subject
to death, even those who committed no sin “like the transgression of Adam”,
that is, what is termed “actual sin”.
Therefore, death is due to a sin — original sin — which attaches to each
man, woman and child, yet which is not an “actual sin”. This original sin is the
cause of death, and the fact that everyone dies is the proof that everyone is
affected by original sin. The Second Vatican Council sums up this teaching as
follows: “The Church, taught by divine Revelation, declares that God has
created man in view of a blessed destiny that lies beyond the limits of his sad
state on earth. Moreover, the Christian faith teaches that 5odily death, from
which man would have been immune had he not sinned (cf. Wis 1:13; 2:23-24;
Rom 5:21; 6:23; Jas 1:15), will be overcome when that wholeness which he lost
through his own fault will be given once again to him by the almighty and
merciful Saviour. For God has called man, and still calls him, to cleave with all
his being to him in sharing for ever a life that is divine and free from all decay”
(Gaudium et spes,
f Other ancient authorities read let us.
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g Other ancient authorities add by faith.
h Or let us
CHAPTER 6
Baptism
1-11 The universal dominion of sin, which began with the sin of Adam, is not the
only event to be reckoned with. When sin reached its full extent, the grace
brought by Jesus Christ came in superabundance. Through Baptism this grace
reaches each of us and frees us from the control of sin. When we receive this
sacrament we die: that is to say, our blameworthiness is destroyed, we
renounce sin once and for all, and are born again into a new life.
“The Lord”, St Ambrose tells the newly baptized, “who wanted his
benefactions to endure, the serpent’s plans to be turned to naught, and the
harm done to be put right, delivered a sentence on mankind: ‘You are dust, and
to dust you shall return’ (Gen 3:19), and made man subject to death [...]. The
remedy was given him: man would die and rise again [...]. You ask me how? [..
.] Pay attention. So that in this world too the devil’s snare would be broken, a
rite was instituted whereby man would die, being alive, and rise again, being
alive [...]. Through immersion in water the sentence is blotted out: ‘You are dust,
and to dust you shall return” (De Sacramentis, II, 6).
This passage of the epistle, which reveals the key truths concerning
Baptism, also reminds us of the profound meaning of this rite which Christ
established, its spiritual effects in Christians and its far-reaching effects with
respect to the Christian life. Thus, we can apply to Baptism what St Thomas
Aquinas says about all the sacraments: “Three aspects of sanctification may be
considered — its very cause, which is Christ’s Passion; its form, which is grace
and the virtues; and its ultimate end, which is eternal life. And all these are
signified by the sacraments. Consequently, a sacrament is a sign which is both
a reminder of the past, that is, of the Passion of Christ, and an indication of
what is effected in us by Christ’s Passion, and a foretelling and pledge of future
glory” (Summa theologiae, III, q. 60, a. 3).
In the specific case of Baptism, the various things which the sacrament
implies carry a special nuance — a new birth which presupposes a symbolic
death. It reproduces in us not only the Passion, Death and burial of Christ,
symbolized by immersion in water (vv. 3-4, 6) but also new life, the life of grace
which pours into the soul, enabling the person to share in the Resurrection of
Christ (vv. 4-5). This sharing in Christ’s Resurrection to immortal life is a kind of
seed which will ultimately produce the glorious resurrection of our bodies.

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 The baptized person is, therefore, someone newly created, someone born
into a new life, someone who has moved out of darkness into light. The white
garment used at Baptism symbolizes innocence and grace; the burning candle,
the light of Christ — two symbols the Church uses in the baptismal liturgy to
signify what is happening.
Thus, in Baptism, God “removes every trace of sin, whether original or
personal” (The Rite of Baptism, Introduction, 5) and also remits the penalties
that these sins incur. On being baptized in the name of the three divine
Persons, the Christian is shown God the Father’s love for him (a love he has
not merited), is given a share in the paschal mystery of the Son, and to him is
communicated new life in the Spirit (cf. Instruction on Infant Baptism, 20
October 1980, 9). Baptism, which is also described as “the door of the spiritual
life”, unites a person to Christ and to the Church by means of grace, which
makes us children of God and heirs to heaven. Finally, in addition to the infused
virtues and supernatural gifts, the person is given “the graces necessary to live
in a Christian way, and on his soul is impressed the sacramental character
which makes him a Christian for evermore” (St Pius X Catechism, 250).
Baptism, which confers a “character”, that is, a kind of seal confirming our
Christian calling, gives us a share in Christ’s priesthood and makes us capable
of receiving the other sacraments.
4 It is easier to grasp the symbolism of burial and resurrection if one
remembers that in earlier times, and particularly in the apostolic period, Baptism
was usually administered by immersion in water — in some cases by total
immersion, up to three times, with one Person of the Blessed Trinity being
invoked each time. “They asked you, ‘Do you believe in God the Father
almighty?’ You said, ‘I believe’, and you were immersed, that is, you were
buried. Again they asked you, ‘Do you believe in our Lord Jesus Christ and in
his Cross?’ You said, ‘I believe’, and you were again immersed. This time you
have been buried with Christ, and he who is buried with Christ rises with Christ.
For a third time you were asked, ‘Do you believe in the Holy Spirit?’ You said, ‘I
believe’, and for a third time you were immersed, so that by this three-fold
confession you might be loosed of your many attachments to your past life” (St
Ambrose, De sacramentis, II, 7).
Today Baptism is normally administered by pouring water over the head
— a method also used in apostolic times and which gradually came into general
use because it was found more convenient.
5 Just as the ingraft and the plant form a single thing and make a single
principle of life, Christians by being grafted onto or incorporated into Christ
through Baptism form one single thing with him and begin to draw on his divine
life. We are also “united with him in a death like his”: Christ suffered physical
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death; we, in Baptism, die spiritually to the life of sin. St John Chrysostom
explains this as follows: “Baptism is for us what the Cross and burial were for
Christ; but with this difference: the Saviour died physically, he was physically
buried, whereas we ought to die spiritually. That is why the Apostle does not
say we are ‘united with him in his death’, but ‘in a death like his” (Hom. on Rom,
10).
9-10 Jesus Christ chose to bear all the consequences of sin, even though he
was sinless. His voluntary Death on the Cross and his glorious Resurrection
broke the bonds of death, for himself and for all his own. Death no longer shall
have dominion: “[Christ died] that through death he might destroy him who has
the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of
death were subject to lifelong bondage” (Heb 2:14-15). And as a con sequence
he won, for his own human nature and for us, a new life.
In all those who have been baptized these same events in Christ’s life are
in some way reproduced. “Our past sins have been wiped out by the action of
grace. Now, so as to stay dead to sin after Baptism, personal effort is called for,
although God’s grace continues to be with us, providing us with great help”
(Chrysostom, Hom. on Rom, 11). This personal effort might be encapsulated in
a resolution: “May we never die through sin; may our spiritual resurrection be
eternal” (J. Escrivá, Holy Rosary, first glorious mystery).
12-13 Our body, while forming one substance with our soul, is also an
instrument (like a pen in the hand of a writer) which can be used either to do
works of justice and piety or to enter into combat against the spirit. True, it is a
“mortal body”, but, St John Chrysostom comments, “It is not in any sense an
evil thing, because it can be a weapon of holiness and righteousness […]. Our
body stands between vice and virtue. It is a weapon we can freely put to one
use or the other. The soldier who fights to defend his country uses the same
weapons as the criminal who makes an attempt on the life of his fellow citizens
[...].And so the body can be an instrument of good or evil depending on what
the soul chooses: it is not naturally disposed to either course” (Horn, on Rom,
11).
CHAPTER 7
The Christian is not bound by the Law
1-4 St John Chrysostom says that the comparison which St Paul makes here
shows great respect for the Mosaic Law: “Paul speaks of the Law as a
husband, and of the faithful as a wife. But his conclusion is not consistent with
what he said earlier, because he should go on to conclude: the Law will rule you
no more, because the Law is dead. However, [. . .] in order not to provoke the
Jews he simply says, ‘You have died to the Law” (Hom. on Rom, 12). Prior to

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the Resurrection, St Paul and those he is addressing were subject to the Law
(represented by the husband). Once they have been given a share in the death
of Christ, through Baptism (cf. 6:3-4), they are “dead”, and therefore they are
free of the Law — free, however, to do good, to yield the fruit of a holy life, that
is, to “bear fruit” for God, by being united to Christ.
4 In his epistles St Paul describes the Church as a “body” and even goes as far
as to call it “the body of Christ”, to explain the profound relationship between
the Church and Christ and also the mutual dependence of Christians. On this
concept of the Church as “body of Christ”, cf. “Introduction to the ‘Theology’ of
St Paul”, above, pp. 44-6.
5 In this as in other Pauline texts, the term “flesh” refers to human weakness
and therefore to man’s condition after original sin, the origin of his
concupiscence, that is, the disordered passions which encourage him to sin (cf.
“Introduction to the ‘Theology’ of St Paul”, p. 30).
6 The grace of Christ liberates man from the tyranny of sin. After Adam’s
original sin, no one, without grace, could avoid sin completely. With the help of
grace a person can aspire to serve God of his own free will, not out of fear of
punishment but out of filial love (cf. 2 Cor 3:6), not because of the threats
Contained in the Old Testament but with the new energy bestowed by divine
filiation. This is the freedom of spirit which Christians practise: they do what
God wants because they too want it: “We [. . .] hold that man’s will is helped by
God to act correctly in many ways, because man, in addition to having been
created with free will and having doctrine which teaches him how he ought to
live, has also been given the Holy Spirit. The Spirit inspires his soul with love for
highest and immutable Good, that is God, [. . .] so that with this grace, which is
as it were a pledge of the future free gift, he might be stirred to unite himself to
his Creator and have a burning desire to share in the true light. And so he will
receive his fulfilment from him who gave him his life” (St Augustine, De spiritu et
littera, III, 5).
The Law and covetousness
7-13 The newness of the Christian life contrasts with the letter of the Law of
Moses. The Law brought on death (v. 5), even though it was not in itself bad (cf.
Rom 3:20; 4:15; 5:13, 20). The Apostle mentions two other factors along with
the Law — sin and man himself. He shows how these interconnect: the “Law” is
the Law of Moses, although it can also refer to the commandment God gave
our first parents (v. 11); “sin” is presented as a seducer (v. 11), opposed to God
(v. 13), and it can also mean Adam’s original sin and all that flowed from it,
especially covetousness — evil desires, or concupiscence (vv. 7-8); the “I” in vv.
7-13 can be taken as meaning Paul himself before his conversion, or mankind
in general before the Redemption, or Jews subject to the Mosaic Law.
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 The Law is not bad; on the contrary, it is holy, just and good (cf. v. 12). It
is, St John Chrysostom suggests, like a doctor who forbids a sick person to eat
something harmful: if despite this the sick person eats it, it is not the doctor who
is to be blamed (cf. Hom. on Rom, 12). The Law is good because it is a gift
from God, it is directed towards him, it reveals the right order established by
divine wisdom, it prohibits all evils, it helps man to see where his duty lies and,
above all, it prepares the way for the coming of the Redeemer (Rom 3: 1 9f
5:20; Gal 3:19,24). However, the Law is not enough: it does not equip a person
to conquer sin. This inadequacy of the Law paradoxically shows up its value: it
leads us to have recourse to Christ’s grace and supernatural resources.
In this connexion the Fathers of the Church insist that the Law only brings
on sin by making people realize the gravity of their actions, thereby increasing
their guilt. “Before the Law”, St John Chrysostom comments, “sinners well knew
that they were sinning; but after the Law they know it much better [ . .]. Thus,
one is much more at fault when one sins not only against the light of reason,
but also against that light and against the Law, which adds a still greater clarity
to the light of reason” (Hom. on Rom, 12). But this should riot make us feel
pessimistic. In spite of everything the consciousness of the evil of sin which the
Law provides leads us to seek the grace of God. “By this promise, that is,
through the help of divine grace”, St Augustine says, “the Law is perfectly
obeyed [. . .]. The Law was given so that grace might be sought; and grace was
given so that the Law might be obeyed” (De spiritu et littera, XIX, 34).
11 After our first parents’ transgression of the precept, God asks, first Adam and
then Eve, why they committed it. Eve replies: “The serpent beguiled me, and I
ate” (Gen 3:13). This original sin involved deception on the devil’s part: he
made evil — disobedience and pride — take the appearance of good: “You will
not die. For God knows that when you eat of it [the forbidden fruit] your eyes will
he opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Gen 3:4-5).
“Satan”, John Paul II comments, “promises man divine omnipotence and
omniscience, that is, absolute self-sufficiency and independence. But man is
not man except insofar as he can ‘choose’ God, in whose likeness he has been
created. However, the first Adam chooses himself instead of God; he yields to
temptation and finds himself wretched, fragile, weak, ‘naked’, ‘the slave of sin’
(cf. in 8:34)” (Homily, 8 March 1981).
“In original sin and in every sin man refuses to recognize the gift and the
Love which God offers him in Creation. Refusing to recognize, in his heart, the
deepest meaning of this gift, that is, of the love which is the specific agent of
Creation and of the original Covenant (cf. Gen 3:5), man turns his back on God-
Love, on the ‘Father’. In a certain sense he casts him out of his heart. By so
doing he separates his heart and almost cuts it off from everything that comes

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from the Father, and is left with what comes from the world” (John Paul II,
General audience, 30 April 1980).
Reflection on the terrible consequences of sin helps us appreciate, by
contrast, the infinite mercy of God, which is manifested in Christ. Man can “be
like God” only if he is born of God as a son in the Only-begotten Son.
Interior struggle
14-25 As can be seen from the use of the present tense, the “I” in vv. 14-25 is
no longer Paul before his conversion, but rather after it: and it also stands for all
mankind redeemed by Christ’s grace. Here we have a vivid description of the
interior struggle which everyone experiences, Christians included. These words
are in line with something we are all well aware of: in our bodies there is a
“law”, an inclination, which fights against the law of our spirit (cf. v. 23), that is,
against the spiritual good which God’s grace causes us to desire. The very
expression “the law of sin which dwells in my members” emphasizes how
strenuously our senses, appetites and passions try to reject the dictates of the
spirit however, the spirit can gain the upper hand. The Church’s teaching is that
Baptism does not take away a person’s inclination to sin (fomes peccati),
concupiscence: he or she still experiences a strong desire for earthly or sensual
pleasure. “Since it [concupiscence] is left to provide a trial, it has no power to
injure those who do not consent and who, by the grace of Christ Jesus,
manfully resist” (Council of Trent, De peccato originali, can. 5).
The Jews were able to keep the Law of Moses only through the help of
divine grace granted them in anticipation of the merits of Christ. Without grace
they were like slaves, “sold under sin” (v. 14). After Christ, a person who rejects
the Redemption is in a similar position, for “in the state of corrupt nature man
needs grace to heal his nature and enable him to avoid sin entirely. In this
present life this healing is brought about in his mind [the spiritual part of man]:
the carnal appetite is not completely healed. Hence the Apostle (Rom 7:25)
says of the person healed by grace, ‘I serve the law of God with my mind, but
with my flesh I serve the law of sin’. In this state a person can avoid mortal sin
[...] but he cannot avoid all venial sin, due to the corruption of his sensual
appetite” (St Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae, I-Il, q. 109, a. 8).
Hence our need for God’s help if we are to persevere in virtue; hence also
our need to make a genuine personal effort to be faithful. The St Pius V
Catechism, when dealing with the fact that even after Baptism man is subject to
various disabilities, including concupiscence, explains that God has willed that
death and suffering, which originate in sin, remain part of our lot, thereby
enabling us to attain mystical and real union with Christ, who chose to undergo
suffering and death; and, likewise, we still have concupiscence, and experience
bodily weakness etc. “that in them we may have the seed and material of virtue
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from which we shall hereafter receive a more abundant harvest of glory and
more ample rewards” (II, 2, 48). “Infelix ego homo!, quis me liberabit de corpore
mortis huius? Unhappy man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of
death?’ The cry is Saint Paul’s — Courage: he too had to fight” (J. Escrivá, The
Way, 138).
14 After original sin, man was subject to his passions and exposed to the
continuous assault of concupiscence — “sold under sin”. Healed by Christ’s
grace in Baptism, he is free of this slavery, but not totally so: there is still this
inclination to sin, and his enslavement grows the more he sins. On the other
hand, if he responds to grace, he becomes ever more free. “Just think: the
Almighty, who through his Providence rules the whole universe, does not want
the forced service of slaves; he prefers to have children who are free. Although
we are born proni ad peccatum, inclined to sin, due to the fall of our first
parents, he has placed in the soul of each and every one of us a spark of
infinite intelligence, an attraction towards the good, a yearning for everlasting
peace. And he brings us to understand that we will attain truth, happiness and
freedom if we strive to make this seed of eternal life grow in our hearts” (J.
Escrivá, Friends of God, 33).
CHAPTER 8
Life in the Spirit
1-13 After original sin man is pulled in two different directions: either he seeks
God above all things and contends, with God’s grace, against the inclinations of
his own concupiscence; or else he lets himself be overwhelmed by the
disordered passions of the flesh. The former lifestyle is “life in the Spirit”, the
latter, life “according to the flesh”. “There are only two possible ways of living on
this earth: either we live a supernatural life, or we live an animal life” (J. Escrivá,
Friends of God, 200).
Sanctifying grace is the source of life “according to the Spirit”. It is not a
matter of simply being in the state of grace or of performing a number of regular
pious practices. Life according to the Spirit — spiritual or supernatural life —
means a living-according-to-God which influences everything a Christian does:
he is constantly trying to bring his thoughts, yearnings, desires and actions into
line with what God is asking of him; in everything he does he tries to follow the
inspirations of the Holy Spirit.
Life according to the flesh, on the other hand, has its source in the triple
concupiscence which is a consequence of original sin — “all that is in the world,
the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life” (1 Jn 2:16). In
this present life it is not possible to kill concupiscence at its root: it is forever
producing new growths. The Christian is freed from original sin through Baptism

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(chap. 6); the coming of Christ has set aside the ritualistic precepts of the
Mosaic Law (chap. 7); but his life in Jesus Christ is threatened by
concupiscence even after Baptism, which places him under the Law of the
Spirit. “We need to submit to the spirit, to wholeheartedly commit ourselves and
strive to keep the flesh in its place. By so doing our flesh will become spiritual
again. Otherwise, if we give in to the easy life, this will lower our soul to the
level of the flesh and make it carnal again” (St John Chrysostom, Hom. on
Rom, 13).
3 Man was unable to free himself from sin through his own efforts or even with
the help of the Old Law. But what is impossible for man is possible for God.
God in fact freed man from sin by sending his own Son, who became man and
conquered sin through his death. If we unite ourselves to the merits of Christ
and obtain a share in his Resurrection, we too can overcome sin.
By assuming human nature the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity
chose to take on the likeness of sinful flesh, but not sin itself. He could have
assumed a glorious body, but “since man has three states — namely,
innocence, sin, and glory — Christ assumed from the state of glory the beatific
vision; from the state of innocence, freedom from sin; and from the state of sin,
the necessity of being subject to the penalties of this life” (St Thomas Aquinas,
Summa theologiae, III, q. 13, a. 3, ad 2). These disabilities — hunger, fatigue,
suffering and especially death — are what constitutes “sinful flesh”. By making
himself subject to them Christ became like us, thereby making it easier for us to
know him and assuring us that he will not abandon us even when we
experience these limitations.
10-11 Once he is justified the Christian lives in the grace of God and confidently
hopes in his future resurrection; Christ himself lives in him (cf. Gal 2:20; 1 Cor
15:20-23). However, he is not spared the experience of death, a consequence
of original sin (cf. Rom 5:12; 6:23). Along with suffering, concupiscence and
other limitations, death is still a factor after baptism; it is something which
motivates us to struggle and makes us to be like Christ. Almost all
commentators interpret the expression “your bodies are dead because of sin”
as referring to the fact that, due to sin, the human body is destined to die. So
sure is this prospect of death that the Apostle sees the body as “already dead”.
St John Chrysostom makes an acute observation: if Christ is living in the
Christian, then the divine Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity, is also present in
him. If this divine Spirit is absent, then indeed death reigns supreme, and with it
the wrath of God, rejection of his laws, separation from Christ, and expulsion of
our Guest. And he adds: “But when one has the Spirit within, what can be
lacking? With the Spirit one belongs to Christ, one possesses him, one vies for
honour with the angels. With the Spirit, the flesh is crucified, one tastes the

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delight of an immortal life, one has a pledge of future resurrection and
advances rapidly on the path of virtue. This is what Paul calls putting the flesh
to death” (Horn, on Rom, 13).
Christians are children of God
14-30 The life of a Christian is sharing in the life of Christ, God’s only Son. By
becoming, through adoption, true children of God we have, so to speak, a right
to share also in Christ’s inheritance — eternal life in heaven (vv. 14-18). This
divine life in us, begun in Baptism through rebirth in the Holy Spirit, will grow
under the guidance of this Spirit, who makes us ever more like Christ (vv. 14,
26-27). So, our adoption as sons is already a fact — we already have the first-
fruits of the Spirit (v. 23) — but only at the end of time, when our body rises in
glory, will our redemption reach its climax (vv. 23-25). Meanwhile we are in a
waiting situation — not free from suffering (v. 18), groans (v. 23) and weakness
(v. 26) — a situation characterised by a certain tension between what we
already possess and are, and what we yearn for. This yearning is something
which all creation experiences; by God’s will, its destiny is intimately linked to
our own, and it too awaits its transformation at the end of the world (vv. 19-22).
All this is happening in accordance with a plan which God has, a plan
established from all eternity which is unfolding in the course of time under the
firm guidance of divine Providence (vv. 28-30).
14-15 Monsignor Escrivá taught thousands of people about this awareness of
divine filiation which is such an important part of the Christian vocation. Here is
what he says, for example, in The Way, 267: “We’ve got to be convinced that
God is always near us. We live as though he were far away, in the heavens
high above, and we forget that he is also continually by our side.
“He is there like a loving Father. He loves each of us more than all the
mothers in the world can love their children — helping us, inspiring us,
blessing... and forgiving.
“How often we have misbehaved and then cleared the frowns from our
parents’ brows, telling them: I won’t do it any more! — That same day, perhaps,
we fall again. . . — And our father, with feigned harshness in his voice and
serious face, reprimands us while in his heart he is moved, realizing our
weakness and thinking: poor child, how hard he tries to behave well!
“We’ve got to be filled, to be imbued with the idea that our Father, and
very much our Father, is God who is both near us and in heaven.”
This awareness of God as Father was something which the first
chancellor of the University of Navarre experienced with special intensity one
day in 1931: “They were difficult times, from a human point of view, but even so
I was quite sure of the impossible — this impossibility which you can now see

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as an accomplished fact. I felt God acting within me with overriding force, filling
my heart and bringing to my lips this tender invocation — Abba! Pater! I was out
in the street, in a tram: being out in the street is no hindrance for our
contemplative dialogue; for us, the hustle and bustle of the world is a place for
prayer” (S. Bernal, Monsignor Josemariá Escrivá de Balaguer, p. 214).
18 “Who is there then”, St Cyprian comments, “who will not strive to attain so
great a glory, by making himself God’s friend, to rejoice immediately with Christ,
to receive the divine rewards after the pains and sufferings of this life? If it is
glorious for soldiers of this world to return to their fatherland victorious after
defeating the enemy, how much greater and more pleasing glory will there not
be, once the devil is overcome, to return victorious to heaven [...]; to bear with
one the trophies of victory [. . .]; to sit at God’s side when he comes to judge, to
be a co-heir with Christ, to be made equal to the angels and to enjoy with the
Patriarchs, with the Apostles and with the Prophets the possession of the
Kingdom of heaven [. . .]. A spirit secure in these supernatural thoughts stays
strong and firm, and is unmoved by the attacks of demons and the threats of
this world, a spirit strengthened by a solid and confident faith in the future [. . .].
It leaves here with dignity and confidence, rejoicing in one moment to close its
eyes which looked on men and the world, and to see God and Christ! [...].These
are the thoughts the mind should have, this is how it ought to reflect, night and
day. If persecution finds God’s soldier prepared in this manner, there will be no
power capable of overcoming a spirit so equipped for the struggle” (Epist. ad
Fortunatum, 13).
19-21 To make his point more vividly St Paul, in a metaphor, depicts the whole
of creation, the material universe, as a living person, groaning in pain
impatiently waiting for a future event, raising its head, straining to see some
thing appear on the horizon.
The material world is indeed, through God’s design, linked to man and his
destiny. “Sacred Scripture teaches that man was created ‘in the image of God,’
as able to know and love his Creator, and as set by him over all earthly
creatures that he might rule them, and make use of them, while glorifying God”
(Vatican II, Gaudium et spes, 12). The futility to which creation is subject is not
so much corruption and death as the disorder resulting from sin. According to
God’s plan material things should be resources which enable man to attain the
ultimate goal of his existence. By using them in a disordered way, disconnecting
them from God, man turns them into instruments of sin, which therefore are
subject to the consequences of sin.
“Are we of the twentieth century not convinced of the overpoweringly
eloquent words of the Apostle of the Gentiles concerning the ‘creation (that) has
been groaning in travail together until now’ and ‘waits with eager longing for the

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revealing of the sons of God’, the creation that ‘was subjected to futility’? Does
not the previously unknown immense progress — which has taken place
especially in the course of this century — in the field of man’s dominion over the
world itself reveal — to a previously unknown degree — that manifold
subjection ‘to futility’? [. . .] The world of the previously unattained conquests of
science and technology — is it not also the world ‘groaning in travail’ that ‘waits
with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God’?” (John Paul II,
Redemptor hominis, 8).
Re-establishment of the order willed by God, bringing the whole world to
fulfil its true purpose, is the particular mission of the Holy Spirit, the Giver of
Life, the true Lord of history: “The arm of the Lord has not been shortened.’ God
is no less powerful today than he was in other times; his love for man is no less
true. Our faith teaches us that all creation, the movement of the earth and the
other heavenly bodies, the good actions of creatures and all the good that has
been achieved in history, in short everything, comes from God and is directed
toward him.
“The action of the Holy Spirit may pass unnoticed because God does not
reveal to us his plans, and because man’s sin obscures the divine gifts. But
faith tells us that God is always acting. He has created us and maintains us in
existence, and he is leading all creation by his grace towards the glorious
freedom of the children of God” (J. Escrivá, Christ is passing by, 130).
28 Awareness of God as Father helps us see all the events of our life as
orchestrated by the lovable Will of God. Our Father gives us what is best for us
and expects us to discover his paternal love in adverse as well as in favourable
events. “Notice”, St Bernard points out, “that he does not say that things suit our
whims but that they work for our good. They serve not caprice but usefulness;
not pleasure but salvation; not what we desire but what is good for us. In that
sense everything works for our good, even death itself, even sin [...]. Is it not
the case that sins do good to him who on their account becomes more humble,
more fervent, more solicitous, more on guard, more prudent?” (De fallacia et
brevitate vitae, 6). If we have this optimistic, hopeful attitude, we will overcome
every difficulty we meet; “The whole world seems to be coming down on top of
you. Whichever way you turn you find no way out. This time, it is impossible to
overcome the difficulties.
“But, have you again forgotten that God is your Father’? — all-powerful,
infinitely wise, full of mercy. He would never send you anything evil. That thing
that is worrying you is good for you, even though those earthbound eyes of
yours may not be able to see it now.
“Omnia in bonum! Lord, once again and always, may your most wise Will
be done!” (J. Escrivá, The Way of the Cross, IX, 4).
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29 Christ is called the “first-born” for many reasons. He is “the first-born of all
creation” (Col 1:15) because he is eternally begotten and because “all things
were made through him” (Jn 1:3). He is also the new Adam and therefore the
head of the human race in the work of redemption (cf. I Cor 15:22, 45). He is
“the first-born from the dead” (cf. Cot 1:18; Rev 1:5) and therefore is the head of
all those who have reached heaven and all who are awaiting their future
resurrection (1 Cor 15:20, 23). Finally, he is the “first-born among many
brethren” because, in the order of grace, he gives us a share in his divine
sonship: by means of habitual grace — “sanctifying” grace — we become
children of God and brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ. “For, just as God
chose to communicate to others his natural goodness, giving them a share in
that goodness, so that he might be not only good but also the author of good
things; so the Son of God chose to communicate to others a sonship like his
own, so that he might be not only a son, but the first-born of many sons” (St
Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Rom, ad loc.).
This remarkable fact is what leads the Christian to imitate Christ: our
divine sonship moves us to reflect the words and gestures of his Only-begotten
Son.
“Lord, help me decide to tear off, through penance, this pitiful mask I have
fashioned with my wretched doings.... Then, and only then, by following the
path of contemplation and atonement, will my life begin to copy faithfully the
features of your life. We will find ourselves becoming more and more like you.
“We will be other Christs, Christ himself, ipse Christus” (J. Escrivá, The
Way of the Cross, VI).
Trust in God
31-39 The elect will emerge unscathed and victorious from all attacks, dangers
and sufferings and will do so not through their own efforts but by virtue of the
all-powerful aid of him who has loved them from all eternity and who did not
hesitate to have his own Son die for their salvation. It is true that as long as we
are on this earth we cannot attain salvation, but we are assured that we will
attain it precisely because God will not withhold all the graces we need to
obtain this happy outcome: all that is needed is that we desire to receive this
divine help. Nothing that happens to us can separate us from the Lord — not
fear of death or love of life, not the bad angels or devils, not the princes or the
powers of this world, nor the sufferings we undergo or which threaten us nor the
worst that might befall us. “Paul himself”, St John Chrysostom reminds us, “had
to contend with numerous enemies. The barbarians attacked him; his
custodians laid traps for him; even the faithful, sometimes in great numbers,
rose against him; yet Paul always came out victorious. We should not forget

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that the Christian who is faithful to the laws of his God will defeat both men and
Satan himself’ (Hom. on Rom, 15).
This is the attitude which enables us to live as children of God, who fear
neither life nor death: “Our Lord wants us to be in the world and to love the
world but without being worldly. Our Lord wants us to remain in this world —
which is now so mixed up and where the clamour of lust and disobedience and
purposeless rebellion can be heard — to teach people to live with joy [. . .].
Don’t be afraid of the paganised world: our Lord has in fact chosen us to be
leaven, salt and light in this world. Don’t be worried. The world won’t harm you
unless you want it to. No enemy of our soul can do anything if we don’t consent.
And we won’t consent, with the grace of God and the protection of our Mother
in heaven” (S. Bernal, Monsignor Josemariá Escrivá de Balaguer, p. 213).
31 This exclamation of the Apostle vividly reveals the full extent of the love of
God the Father, who not only listens to our prayers but anticipates our needs.
God is with us, he is always by our side. This is a cry expressing confidence
and optimism, despite our personal wretchedness; it is firmly based on our
sense of divine sonship. “Clothed in grace, we can cross mountains (cf. Ps
103:10), and climb the hill of our Christian duty, without halting on the way. If we
use these resources with a firm purpose and beg our Lord to grant us an ever
increasing hope, we shall possess the infectious joy of those who know they
are children of God: ‘If God is for us, who is against us?’ (Rom 8:3 1) Let us be
optimists. Moved by the power of hope, we shall fight to wipe away the trail of
filth and slime left by the sowers of hatred. We shall find a new joyful
perspective to the world, seeing that it has sprung forth beautiful and fair from
the hands of God. We shall give it back to him with that same beauty” (J.
Escrivá, Friends of God, 219).
38-39 “Angels”, “principalities”: names of different angelic hierarchies (cf. Eph
1:21; 3:10); also a possible reference to fallen angels, demons (cf. I Cor 15:24;
Eph 6:12). “Powers” can mean the same as “angels” and “principalities”.
“Height” and “depth” may refer to cosmic forces which, in the culture of
that time, were thought to have some influence over the lives of men.
By listing these powerful superior forces (real or imaginary) St Paul is
making the point that nothing and nobody, no created thing, is stronger than
God’s love for us.
i Or and as a sin offering.
j Or that.
k Other authorities read in everything he works for good, or everything works for
good.

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l Greek God.
m Or It is Christ Jesus ... for us.
CHAPTER 9
GOD’S PLAN FOR THE CHOSEN PEOPLE
The privileges of Israel and God’s fidelity
Chaps. 9-11 In these chapters — as we indicate in the title given to this section
of the letter — St Paul deals with “God’s plan for the chosen people.” The
Apostle explains that Israel, as a people, in general has failed to accept the
Gospel despite the fact that God’s promises of salvation were made to the Jews
in the first instance.
3 There is an apparent contradiction between what is said here — “I could wish
that I myself was accursed and cut off from Christ’ — and what is said earlier
(cf. 8:3 1ff) about nothing being able to separate us from the love of Christ. The
two ideas in fact complement one another. God’s love moves us to love others
so intensely that we are ready to suffer anything if it means the conversion of
others to God. Paul is not referring to permanent separation from God, that is,
eternal damnation, but to being ready to renounce any material or spiritual
favour God might grant us. This means that we should be ready to bear public
opprobrium and be taken for evildoers, as Jesus was. Some writers have
interpreted the verse as meaning that the Apostle is even ready to renounce
eternal happiness, but obviously what we have here is typical oriental
exaggeration, rather like what Moses said when he interceded with God on
behalf of those Israelites who had fallen into idolatry: “[If thou wilt not forgive
their sin] blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written” (Ex
32:32). Both Moses and Paul know that God loves them and protects them and
that the vision of God necessarily involves the indescribable happiness of
heaven, but they want to make it plain that they put the salvation of the chosen
people ahead of their own personal advantage.
4-6 The Israelites are the descendants of Jacob, to whom God gave the name
Israel (cf. Gen 32:29). The fact that they are children of Israel is the basis of the
privileges which God bestows on them in the course of Salvation History —
firstly, their status as the people of God, chosen as the adoptive Sons of
Yahweh (cf. Ex 4:22; Deut 7:6); also their being given the “glory” of God who
dwelt in their midst (cf. Ex 25:8; Deut 4:7; Jn 1:14); their good fortune in being
able to offer worship proper to the one true God, and in receiving from him the
Law of Moses, which spelt out the principles of the natural moral law and
revealed other aspects of God’s will; and, finally, their being the recipients of oft-
repeated messianic promises.

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 The remarkable honour bestowed on the chosen people is to be seen
most clearly in the fact that God himself chose to assume a human nature
which had all the characteristics of the Israelite race. Jesus Christ, as true man,
is an Israelite “according to the flesh”, and he is true God because he is “God
above all, blessed for ever.”
Similar statements made in other epistles of St Paul about the mystery of
the Incarnation manifest Christ’s two natures and one Person (cf. Rom 1:3-4;
Phil 2:6-7; Col 2:9; Tit 2:13-14).
In the present passage, this statement appears in the form of a “doxology”
or paean of praise to God, one of the most solemn ways in which Yahweh is
exalted in the Old Testament (cf. Ps 41:14; 72:19; 106:48; Neh 9:5; Dan 2:20;
etc.). By calling Jesus Christ “God, blessed for ever” his divinity is being
declared in a most explicit manner.
10-13 Contrary to expectations and without reference to the law of primo
geniture which applied in the time of the Patriarchs, God selected not Esau, the
first-born, but his twin brother Jacob to be the heir of the promise made to
Abraham and his descendants; what the Lord told their mother Rebecca — “the
elder shall serve the younger” (Gen 25:23) — came about when Isaac blessed
Jacob and made him master of his brother (cf. Gen 27:29). This election, made
before the twins were born, demonstrates that the Patriarch’s calling was
entirely independent of anything Jacob might do to deserve it. According to the
prophet Malachi (Mal 1:2-3) the fact that God gave preference to the second
son should always serve as a reminder to the Jews (descendants of the same
Jacob) that their calling to be the chosen people was a sign of Yahweh’s love of
predilection: “I have loved Jacob but I have hated Esau”; this should lead them
to be grateful to God.
These examples taken from Sacred History help the Apostle explain to the
Jews why they should not be surprised to see the Gentiles being called to the
faith.
Commenting on this passage, St Thomas Aquinas points out the
difference between the way we love and the way God loves: “Man’s will is
moved to love by the attraction of the good he finds in the thing loved; that is
why he chooses it in preference to something else [. . .]. God’s will, on the other
hand, is the cause of every good to be found in a created thing [. . .]. Hence
God does not love a person because he finds in him something which leads
him to choose that person: he chooses him rather than others because he loves
him” (Commentary on Rom, ad loc).
Our Lord showed the Apostles the gratuitous nature of vocation when he
told them, “You did not choose me, but I chose you” (Jn 15:16).

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 In fact, the example of Jacob, the calling of the Apostles, St Paul’s own
vocation and that of so many others in the course of history show that God is
pleased to select precisely those whom men might consider least suitable: “You
realize you are weak. And so indeed you are. In spite of that — rather, just
because of that — God has chosen you.
“He always uses inadequate instruments, so that the ‘work’ will be seen to
he his. Of you, he only asks docility” (J. Escrivá, The Way, 475).
13 The expression “I have hated Esau” must be interpreted in the light of the
constant teaching of Sacred Scripture: God loves everything that exists and
does not hate anyone or anything he has made (cf. Wis 11:24). Therefore, God
also loves Esau; but if we compare this love and his very special love for Jacob,
the former looks like hatred. This is a very common Semitic way of speaking;
our Lord uses it sometimes — for example, when he compares the love he is
owed with the love one owes one’s parents (cf. Mt 10:37 and Lk 14:26).
Israel’s vocation
14-33 The selection of the people of Israel in preference to all other nations, the
hardening of Pharaoh’s heart and the punishment meted out to him, individual
salvation or rejection as indicated by the vessel of clay: these are all examples
which point to the profound mystery of predestination. Our faith teaches us that
God, who is almighty and all-knowing, not only knows all future events but by
his infallible will arranges them to achieve his design: divine Wisdom, Sacred
Scripture tells us, “reaches mightily from one end of the earth to the other, and
she orders all things well” (Wis 8:1).
God ordains from all eternity that rational creatures shall attain eternal
bliss with the help of grace and with their own free cooperation. The essence of
the mystery of predestination lies in the fact that our limited minds cannot fully
understand how the inevitability of the success of God’s plan fits in with human
freedom. Human freedom must play its part “because the beverage of man’s
salvation certainly contains the power to benefit all, but if one does not drink it,
one is not healed” (Council of Quierzy, A.D. 853, Doctrina de libero arbitrio
hominis et praedestinatione, chap. 4). Nor is it possible for us to understand the
mystery of how God can allow some people to be rejected despite his desire
that all should be saved.
Because we are free agents, we might think that salvation or repudiation
is entirely dependent on ourselves; on the other hand, if God’s will really is
infallible, then salvation or rejection seems to depend entirely on his choice. In
the process of dealing with these two erroneous positions, the Church has, over
the centuries, spelt out its teaching in greater detail. Against those who over
emphasize the part played by human freedom, the Magisterium has stated that

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“the free will of man was made so weak and unsteady through the sin of the
first man that, after the Fall, no one could love God as was required, or believe
in God, or perform good works for God unless the grace of divine mercy
anticipated him” (Second Council of Orange, De gratia, conclusion). Quoting St
Augustine, that Council went on to say that when men freely follow the will of
God, even when they do what they do voluntarily, their will nevertheless is the
will of Him who is disposing and ordaining what they desire (cf. ibid., can. 23; In
Joann. Evang., 19, 19). To put it more graphically: loving God is a gift of God.

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 “Almighty God desires that all men without exception be saved (cf. 1 Tim
2:4), though not all may be saved. That some are saved is due to the gift given
by Him who saves; that some perish, however, is because they deserved to
perish” (Council of Quierzy, Doctrina de libero arbitrio . . . , chap. 3). Elsewhere
the Magisterium teaches: “We confidently believe that the elect are predestined
to life and the reprobate to death; but in this election of those to be saved, the
mercy of God is prior to merit; whereas in those who will perish, the punishment
they deserve [for their sins] precedes the just judgment of God…. But that some
are predestined to evil by God, that is, as if they could do nothing else, not only
do we not believe, but if there are any who do hold that opinion, we, with the
Council of Orange, heartily shun them” (Third Council of Valence, De
praedestinatione, can. 3).
The mystery of predestination reveals three very encouraging truths.
Firstly, the absolute freedom and generosity of God in granting us his grace
without any merit on our part: all men are sinners against him (cf. 3:9ff), yet out
of his goodness and mercy he offers them his love and justifies them (vv. 15-
16). Secondly, God’s salvific will extends to all mankind: “he desires all men to
be saved” (1 Tim 2:4), and Christ, sent by the Father to effect our Redemption,
died on the Cross for all mankind. Thirdly, God, in the work of our salvation,
counts on our free cooperation and inspires us, through his grace, to cooperate.
This means that man can always resist the grace God gives him. The work of
our redemption, therefore, is a continuous interplay between divine grace,
which takes the initiative, and man’s response, with man’s free decision being
prepared by God. See also note on v. 18 below.
Therefore, we have no reason to fear God: he is a Father who has no
desire to reject his children. St Augustine, after exploring this mystery, ends with
an exhortation to hope and to prayer: “You, therefore, ought to hope that this
same perseverance in obedience will come to you from the Father of lights (cf.
Jas 1:17), from whom comes every good endowment and every perfect gift,
and you should ask for this in your prayers each day, and when doing so you
should be confident that you are not far from the predestination of his people,
for he it is who enables you to do as you are doing” (De dono perseverantiae,
22,62).
18 In freely distributing his grace unequally among men, God desires this
variety to contribute to the beauty and perfection of creation. This unequal
distribution of grace also includes the gift of final perseverance, which is not
something to which man has a right: God gives it to whomever he chooses.
However, God grants everyone the grace of conversion and repentance and
opens to all the gates of salvation; if a person in the exercise of his freedom
rejects these gifts, God respects this human decision.

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 Only in the sense that he allows it to happen can one say that God is the
cause of resistance to grace; strictly speaking, the sinner is entirely responsible
for his hardness of heart. St Thomas Aquinas uses this comparison to explain
the matter: “Although the sun, for its part, enlightens all bodies, if it encounters
an obstacle in a body it leaves the body in darkness, as happens to a house
whose window-shutters are closed. Clearly, the sun is not the cause of the
house being darkened, since it does not act of its own accord in failing to light
up the interior of the house; the cause of the darkness is the person who closed
the shutters. So God chooses not to give [the light of] grace to those who put an
obstacle in its way” (Summa theologiae, I-LI, q. 79, a. 3).
The coincidence in God of infinite justice and infinite mercy is another
unfathomable mystery. All that we really need to remember is that God always
offers man the opportunity to change and repent. The Church invites us,
therefore, not to close our heart to God’s invitations: “O that today you would
hearken to his voice! Harden not your hearts” (Ps 95:8).
20-23 This image of the potter making vessels for different uses is to be found
in a number of places in Sacred Scripture. Every Jew was very familiar with it.
In the Prophets it refers to God’s power over human events: the potter is God
and the vessel the chosen people (cf. Is 29:16; 45:9; Jer 18:6ff). In the Wisdom
Books the same idea is applied to the individual Israelite, who is subject to God
in the same way as clay is to the hands of the potter, because “all men are from
the ground, and Adam was created of the dust. In the fullness of his knowledge
the Lord distinguished them and appointed their different ways [. . .]. As clay in
the hand of the potter — for all his ways are as he pleases — so men are in the
hand of him who made them, to give them as he decides” (Sir 33:10-13; cf. Wis
15:7). One cannot call God to account for his actions; his Will far exceeds
man’s capacity to grasp it. However, this does not mean that our personal
freedom and responsibility are thereby lessened. We can rely on God not willing
anything but our good.
Referring to the metaphor of the potter, St John Chrysostom comments:
“By saying this the Apostle does not mean to deny free will: he simply wants to
show that we need to be very obedient to God. As regards asking God to
explain his actions, we should be like clay: we should not ask questions or even
form them in our mind; instead we should have the pliability of clay which yields
to the potter’s touch and becomes what he wants it to become [. . .]. Worship
God and be as docile as clay [. . .]. God never does anything blindly or in an
arbitrary way, but you may not be able to discover the hidden and wise purpose
of his actions” (Hom. on Rom, 16).
30-33 The true Israel is not in fact those descended from Abraham “according
to the flesh” (cf. Rom 9:7), who seek to justify themselves through works rather

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than through faith; the true Israel is the “remnant” of which the prophets spoke,
that portion of Israel which, following Abraham’s example, lives by faith, and
those Gentiles who — like the “remnant” of Israel — accept the Gospel of Jesus
Christ. Thus, the Church, made up of one portion of Israel and another of
Gentiles, is the true Israel, which from the time of Christ onwards is constituted
not by links of human descent but by spiritual ties.
n Or Christ God who is over all be blessed for ever.
CHAPTER 10
Israel’s infidelity
6-8 St Paul here quotes and applies some words from Deuteronomy: “This
commandment,” Moses tells the people of Israel, “which I command you this
day is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you
should say, ‘Who will go up for us to heaven, and bring it to us, that we may
hear it and do it? [. . .] Who will go over the sea for us, and bring it to us, that
we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and
in your heart, so that you can do it” (Deut 30:11.14). The law which God handed
to Moses, then, clearly revealed his will and made it much easier to fulfil. By the
Incarnation, the Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us and showed us
the way to God. For the Christian the life and teaching of the Word made flesh
are divine precepts and commandments. Through his Incarnation Jesus Christ
brought us grace and truth; by rising from the dead he conquered death; and by
ascending into heaven and, with the Father, sending the Holy Spirit, he
perfected his work of redemption.
9 At least from the third century B.C. we have documentary evidence that, out
of respect, the Jews did not utter the name “Yahweh” but generally referred to
God instead as “Lord”. The first Christians, by giving Christ the title of “Lord”,
were making a profession of faith in the divinity of Jesus.
10 To make the act of faith, human free will must necessarily be involved, as St
Thomas explains when commenting on this passage: “He very rightly says that
man believes with his heart. Because everything else to do with external
worship of God, man can do it against his will, but he cannot believe if he does
not want to believe. So, the mind of a believer is not obliged to adhere to the
truth by rational necessity, as is the case with human knowledge: it is moved by
the will” (Commentary on Rom, ad loc.)
However, in order to live by faith, in addition to internal assent external
profession of faith is required; man is made up of body and soul and therefore
he tends by nature to express his inner convictions externally; when the honour
of God or the good of one’s neighbour requires it, one even has an obligation to
profess one’s faith externally. For example, in the case of persecution we are

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obliged to profess our faith, even at the risk of life, if, on being interrogated
about our beliefs, our silence would lead people to suppose that we did not
believe or that we did not hold our faith to be the true faith and our bad example
would cause others to fall away from the faith. However, external profession is
an obligation not only in extreme situations of that kind. In all situations — be
they ordinary or exceptional — God will always help us to confess our faith
boldly (cf. Mt 10:32-33; Lk 12:8).
14-21 To sum up what the Apostle is saying: the Jews have no excuse for not
invoking Christ as Lord, for if they do not believe in him it is due to their
rebelliousness, for the Good News has indeed been preached to them.
14-17 The Church’s work of evangelization is aimed at eliciting faith, moving
people to conversion and reception of its sacraments, in fulfilment of the Lord’s
commandment, “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to the whole of
creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not
believe will be condemned” (Mk 16:15-16). The Acts of the Apostles give us a
great deal of information about this first period of evangelization, which was
marked by many miracles worked by the Apostles through the power Jesus
gave them.
On the very day of Pentecost we can already see how vibrant was St
Peter’s preaching and the miracles which accompanied it: “The men and
women who have come to the city from all parts of the world listen with
amazement [. . .]. These wonders, which take place before their very eyes, lead
them to listen to the preaching of the Apostles. The Holy Spirit himself, who is
acting through our Lord’s disciples, moves the hearts of their listeners and leads
them to the faith” (J. Escrivá, Christ is passing by, 127). It is God himself who
works these miracles through the Apostles; it is he who, through the preaching
of Peter and the Eleven, is revealing the mysteries; and, finally, it is he who is
moving the hearts of the people. This triple divine action leads to the hearers’
act of faith. “Two things are required for faith”, says St Thomas. “First, the
things which are of faith have to be proposed [. . .]; second, the assent of the
believer to the things which are proposed to him” (Summa theologiae, Il-Il, q. 6,
a. 1, c).
He goes on to say later that, as regards the first of these two things, faith
comes from God, who reveals truths either directly, as in the case of the
Apostles and the Prophets, or else indirectly through preachers of the faith sent
by Him (cf. Rom 10:15). Speaking of the second, he says that in the individual’s
assent to the truths of faith factors come into play which are external to the
person — for example, miracles, and preaching which expounds the truth of
faith. But none of these factors is sufficient: even though they witness the same
miracle or hear the same preaching, some believe and others do not. There

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must therefore be something which moves the person interiorly; although the
person’s free will must play a part, it cannot account for the act of faith, because
that act is a supernatural one; therefore, it must be that God moves the will
interiorly, by means of grace (cf. Summa theologiae, ibid.).
Following Jesus’ example, “every catechist must constantly endeavour to
transmit by his teaching and behaviour the teaching and life of Jesus [. . .].
Every catechist should be able to apply to himself the mysterious words of
Jesus: ‘My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me’ (in 7:16)” (John Paul II,
Catechesi tradendae, 6).
Good example is not enough: apostolic action, through the spoken word,
is called for. We have a mission to speak in God’s name: his disciples “should
everywhere on earth bear witness and give an answer to everyone who asks a
reason for the hope of an eternal life which is theirs” (Vatican II, Lumen
gentium, 10).
This was what the first Christians did. “Whenever we read the Acts of the
Apostles, we are moved by the audacity, the confidence in their mission and the
sacrificing joy of the disciples of Christ. They do not ask for multitudes. Even
though the multitudes come, they address themselves to each particular soul,
to each person, one by one. Philip, to the Ethiopian (cf. Acts 8:24-40); Peter, to
the centurion Cornelius (cf. Acts 10:1- 48); Paul, to Sergius Paulus (cf. Acts
13:6-12)” (J. Escrivá, Homily entitled “Loyalty to the Church”).
Those who accept the Gospel message feel drawn towards it when those
who proclaim it also bear witness to it. “It is therefore primarily by her conduct
and by her life that the Church will evangelize the world [...]. This law once laid
down by the Apostle Paul maintains its full force today. Preaching, the verbal
proclamation of a message, is indeed always indispensable [. . .]. The word
remains ever relevant, especially when it is the bearer of the power of God (cf.
1 Cor 2:1-5)” (Paul VI, Evangelii nuntiandi, 41-42).
20-21 Even one’s capacity to respond to divine grace is itself a free gift of God.
As the Magisterium teaches: “If anyone says that the grace of God can be
conferred through human invocation, and that it is not grace that prompts us to
pray, he contradicts the prophet Isaiah or the Apostle who says the same thing:
‘I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those
who did not ask for me’ (Rom 10:20; cf. Is 65:1)” (Second Council of Orange,
De gratia, can. 3).
We find the source of God’s mercy in his love for mankind, a love vividly
described in the parable of the prodigal son. “We read, in fact, that when the
father saw the prodigal son returning home ‘he had compassion, ran to meet
him, threw his arms around his neck and kissed him’ [. . .]. One can therefore

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say that the love for the son, the love that springs from the very essence of
fatherhood, in a way obliges the father to be concerned about his son’s dignity.
This concern is the measure of his love [. . .]. This love is able to reach down to
every prodigal son, to every human misery, and especially to every form of
moral misery, to sin” (John Paul II, Dives in misericordia, 6).
CHAPTER 11
Part of Israel will be saved
2-5 When Israel fell into idolatry, God raised up the prophet Elijah, who
confronted the king with the sins of the people, who were worshipping idols and
listening to false prophets (cf. 1 Kings 19:9-18). The king, instead of listening to
Elijah, persecuted him; he had to flee to Mount Horeb. There he complained to
God about Israel, and God in reply told him that he would punish them: the
sons of Israel would die by the sword, but not all of them. God would preserve
seven thousand of them, who had remained faithful to him. St Paul recalls this
episode as an example of God intervening in Salvation History through men he
has specially chosen. Even in times when sinfulness was rampant the Lord kept
certain individuals faithful; these acted as his instruments to revive and extend
people’s grasp of true teaching and love of his laws, and to render due worship
to the Creator: for example, he chose Noah and his family when the world was
full of wickedness (Gen 6:5-8), and Abraham, when men had forgotten the true
God (Josh 24:2ff), and he did the same when the people of Israel fell into
idolatry.
The Prophets describe those who stay faithful to Yahweh as “the remnant
of Israel”, or words to that effect (cf. Jer 3:14; Ezek 9:8; Amos 3:12; Is 4:2-3;
Mic 4:7; Zeph 2:7,9), and prophesy that this “remnant” will be found, first,
among those deported to Babylonia, later among the repatriated exiles and,
finally, after the exile, among the servants of God, after the still unfaithful people
are decimated and purified.
The same thing is happening, St Paul explains, now that the Gospel is
being preached. The people of Israel in general are not accepting it and are not
becoming part of the Church; only a small number of Jews have believed, and
these are the “remnant” of Israel, chosen by God so that in them the promises
might be kept. The conversion of Paul himself is an example and an earnest of
this return of the people of Israel to their God, in line with the invitation that
Hosea addressed to them: “Return, 0 Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have
stumbled because of your iniquity” (Hos 14:2).
Throughout the history of the Church lapses of this type have occurred,
with a consequent breakdown in morality. Whenever this happens, those
Christians who stay true to the faith may, like Elijah, feel inclined to despair; but

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they should react with a realistic and vigilant optimism and not indulge in
useless lamentation. In the presence of God, they should reflect on the fact that
God actually wants to use them and their holy lives to turn the situation around:
“A secret, an open secret: these world crises are sanctity crises. God wants a
handful of men ‘of his own’ in every human activity. And then... ‘pax Christi in
regno Christi — the peace of Christ in the kingdom of Christ” (J. Escrivá, The
Way, 301).
The new chosen people
16-24 “The Church is a cultivated field, the tillage of God. On that land the
ancient olive tree grows whose holy roots were the prophets and in which the
reconciliation of Jews and Gentiles has been brought about and will be brought
about again (cf. Rom 11:13-26)” (Vatican II, Lumen gentium, 6).
The good olive tree represents the faithful of the Old Testament, and in its
turn the new Israel of God, the Church. The natural branches which remain are
those Jews who have been converted to Christianity; the broken-off branches
are the unbelieving Jews who have rejected Christ; the branches from the wild
tree, grafted on to the cultivated tree, are the Gentiles who have come to take
the place of the Jews unfaithful to grace, thereby sharing in the same faith as
the Patriarchs and Prophets and in the promised blessings.
This comparison does not fit in with what normally happens in gardening,
where it is usually the branch of a good tree that is grafted onto a wild one. St
Paul intentionally ignores this, in order to stress that God acts as he so pleases
to effect his design.
God wants to have a fully developed tree; he wants his house to be filled
(cf. Lk 14:23). And so the place left vacant by the Jews has been filled by the
Gentiles, for the house does not belong to the Israelites — although they were
the first to live in it — but to God, who had planned that the Jewish people
would invite the Gentiles to fill his house. “This teaching”. St John Chrysostom
comments, “is not just from Paul’s lips, for it is given us by our Lord Jesus
Christ’s parables in the Gospel: a king is celebrating the wedding of his son; the
guests refuse his invitation to the banquet, and then the ruler calls in everyone
from the cross-roads to take their place. A man has a vineyard and he lets it out
to some husbandmen; they kill his son and heir and the vineyard is given to
others [...]. From these examples it is plain to see that the natural order of
things demanded that the Jews should be the first to enter the Church and that
the Gentiles should come after them” (Hom. on Rom, 19).
The comparison has a two-fold purpose: on the one hand, to check
boasting by Christians of Gentile background, for if the natural, selected
branches have been cutoff, this can much more easily happen with those which

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are mere grafts; on the other hand, Paul wants to raise the Jews’ spirits and
encourage them to/ hope: the branches of the wild olive have been successfully
grafted on against nature, so it will be much easier for the natural branches to
be reunited with the source from which they come.
All these who have been baptized should feel humble and grateful for their
Christian calling; they have no reason for resentment or presumption.
“That is how we too should act if we desire to be saved and to keep the
grace of God until we die, placing all our trust in him alone [. . .]. The demon
tempts us now to presumption, now to despair; when he assures us that we
have no reason to fear falls, that is when we must fear, for if the Lord should
cease even for an instant to aid us with his grace, that is when we would be
lost. And when he tempts us to despair, we must, looking up to God, say: ‘In
thee, 0 Lord, do I seek refuge; let me never be put to shame’ (Ps 31:2), or be
deprived of your grace. These acts of self-distrust and of trust in God we should
be making until the very last moment of our life, forever praying the Lord to give
us holy humility” (St Alphonsus Mary Liguori, The love of Jesus Christ reduced
to practice, chap. 9).
The conversion of the Jews
25-32 We all yearn for the fulfilment of these words — threatening yet consoling
— which Christ addressed to the scribes and Pharisees: “For I tell you, you will
not see me again, until you say ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the
Lord” (Mt 23:39). “Together with the prophets and the Apostle, the Church
awaits the day, known to God alone, when all peoples will call on God with one
voice and ‘serve him with one accord’ (Zeph 3:9)” (Vatican II, Nostra aetate, 4).
The conversion of the Jews is a secret — a mystery, the text says (v. 25) —
hidden in the future, which will come about when the Incarnation of the Word
achieves its ultimate purpose.
This conversion will follow on that of the Gentiles, which will be as it were
a prelude to it. Jesus has foretold that “Jerusalem will be trodden down by the
Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (Lk 21:24; cf. note on
same), which in some way suggests that the Jews will be converted at the end
of time.
However, when the Church in its preaching touches on the main signs of
the end of the world, it only refers to the proclamation of the Gospel throughout
the world, to apostacy and to the Antichrist, but it has nothing to say about the
conversion of the Jews (cf. St Pius V Catechism, 1, 8, 7). What the Church
does do, and what we should do, is to pray the Lord to listen to its prayers “that
the people you first made your own may arrive at the fulness of redemption”
(Roman Missal, Good Friday Liturgy, prayer of the faithful).

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29 God never goes back on anything he promises; therefore he continues to
call the Jews to enter the chosen people. He does not take account of their
disobedience or their sins: he will love them with an everlasting love, as he
promised the patriarchs and in line with the merits accruing to them for their
fidelity (cf. Rom 9:4-5). It is this very immutability of God’s love that makes it
possible for “all Israel” (v. 26) to be saved. God’s calling, which is eternal,
cannot cease; but we for our part can reject his call. The immutability of God’s
plan is reassuring to us: it means that even if we abandon him at any point, we
can always return to our earlier fidelity: he is still there, waiting for us.
33-36 God’s admirable goodness, to both Jews and Gentiles, permitting them to
disobey and then taking pity on them in their wretchedness, causes the Apostle
to pour out his heart in words reminiscent of the Book of Isaiah: “For my
thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your
ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (55:8-9). The designs of divine
Providence may disconcert us, may be difficult to understand; but if we
remember how great God is — he is beyond our comprehension — and how
God’s power and faithfulness overcome any obstacle man may place in God’s
way, we will realize that the very things which seem to frustrate his plans
actually serve to forward them.
The correct attitude of man to the designs of God is one of humility. This
will lead him to realize that the mysteries of God, which are intrinsically clear,
seem obscure to us, simply because our mind’s capacity is limited. Therefore,
as Fray Luis de Granada reminds us, we must avoid saying that “something
cannot be because we cannot understand it [. . .], for what is more in conformity
with reason than to think in the highest way of him who is the All-High and to
attribute to him the highest and best nature that our mind can conceive? [...] So
it is that our failure to understand the sublimity of this mystery has a trace and
scent of something divine, because, as we said, God being infinite must
necessarily be beyond our comprehension” (Introducción al simbolo de la fe,
part IV).
o Other ancient authorities read rich root.
p Other ancient authorities and now.
CHAPTER 12
MORAL SECTION
LIVING IN CHARITY
HOW CHRISTIANS SHOULD CONDUCT THEMSELVES
Solidarity in the mystical Body

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Chapters 12-15 These four chapters are what we might call the moral section
of the Epistle to the Romans. On this, cf. pp. 50-1 above.
1 In the New Testament Christians are clearly called to offer sacrifices to God
— no longer sacrifices of animals, as in the Old Law, but offerings of
themselves. This new kind of worship must take a spiritual form, as Jesus told
the Samaritan woman, rather than a purely material form: it must be something
living, holy, not merely external and formal, and pleasing to God (cf. Jn 4:23). “It
is by the apostolic preaching of the Gospel that the people of God is called
together and gathered so that all who belong to this people, sanctified as they
are by the Holy Spirit, may offer themselves ‘a living sacrifice, holy and
acceptable to God’ (Rom 12:1)” (Vatican II, Preshyterorum ordinis, 2).
The basis of this priestly meaning of Christian life is to be found in the
sacrament which makes us members of Christ’s body: “Through Baptism all of
us have been made priests of our lives, ‘to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable
to God through Jesus Christ’ (1 Pet 2:5). Everything we do can be an
expression of our obedience to God’s will and so perpetuate the mission of the
God-man” (J. Escrivá, Christ is passing by, 96).
Every day the Christian can and should offer himself along with Christ in
the Holy Mass: “If the oblation whereby the faithful in this Sacrifice offer the
divine victim to the heavenly Father is to produce its full effect [...] they must
also offer themselves as victim, desiring intensely to make themselves as like
as possible to Jesus Christ who suffered so much, and offering themselves as a
spiritual victim with and through the High Priest himself’ (Pius XII, Mediator Dei,
25). From this it follows that the whole Christian life and the struggle which it
implies are imbued with deep priestly significance: “If I renounce everything I
possess, if I carry the cross and follow Christ, I have offered a holocaust on the
altar of God, or if I burn up my body in the fire of charity [...] I have offered a
holocaust on the altar of God [. . .]; if I mortify my body and abstain from all
concupiscence, if the world is crucified unto me and not me unto the world, then
I have offered a holocaust on the altar of God and I am become a priest of my
own sacrifice” (Origen, In Lev. Hom., 9, 9).
4-5 The variety which is to be found in every well-organized social structure is
also, by God’s will, a feature of the Church. This variety reflects the differing
needs of the Christian community, which is not an amorphous grouping of
people, each working separately for personal salvation, but an organized body.
In that body each member has a defined role and functions for the benefit of all,
while at the same time seeking personal spiritual advancement. This variety is,
moreover, consistent with and conducive to the carrying out of God’s desire to
sanctify and save men, not one by one, as if they were unconnected to each
other, but rather constituting a people which is established and governed on the

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basis of this wonderful variety. This distinction was established by God in order
to build up the Church. Therefore, for example, pastors and people are of
mutual supernatural help to one another (cf. Vatican II, Lumen gentium, 9 and
32).
Each of us should feel called on to invigorate — through personal effort,
virtue — the entire Mystical Body of Christ (cf. “Introduction to the ‘Theology’ of
St Paul “,pp.44-6 above). It is inaccurate, therefore, to make a distinction
between “personal virtues” and “social virtues”.
“No virtue worthy of its name can foster selfishness. Every virtue
necessarily works to the good both of our own soul and to the good of those
around us [.. .1. Ties of solidarity should bind us all and, besides, in the order of
grace we are united by the supernatural links of the Communion of Saints” (J.
Escrivá, Friends of God, 76).
6-8 “Gifts”: also called charisms, these are special, transitory, divine graces,
granted not so much for the personal benefit of the recipient as for the general
good of the Church. This term (charism), we might note, was introduced into the
New Testament by St Paul.
Charity towards all
9-21 “After speaking about those gifts which are not common to all, the Apostle
now teaches that charity is common to all” (St Thomas, Commentary on Rom,
ad loc.). True charity takes different forms depending on the needs and capacity
of each person; it always involves seeking good and avoiding evil (v.9); it has to
be exercised with those who are already Christians (vv. 10-16) and those who
are not (vv. 17-21); indeed, the charity shown to the latter is instrumental in
bringing them closer to the faith. However, it is not always possible to do to
others all the good we would wish: we have limited resources, more pressing
duties; there are problems of physical distance, etc. Only God, who is infinitely
perfect and almighty, can do good to everyone all the time; this does not mean
that he always gives everyone the same gifts: to some he gives more, to others
less, according to the designs of his Wisdom.
Even bearing in mind our own limitations, our love for others should affect
everything we do, everything we think and say. Obviously, one of the first
consequences of charity is never to judge anyone, or speak badly about
anyone, or scandalize them by what we say or do. Moreover, we should
perform positive acts of this virtue; it would be impossible to give a complete list
of the ways of being charitable but they certainly include, Fray Luis de Granada
says, “among other things, these six — loving, counselling, assisting, suffering,
forgiving and edifying. These are so closely connected to charity that the more
one does them the more charity one has, and the less, less [. . .]. For, according

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to this order a person can check to see what he has and what he does not have
as far as the perfection of that virtue is concerned. For we can say that he who
loves is on the first step; he who loves and counsels, on the second; he who
assists, on the third; he who suffers on the fourth; he who forgives and suffers,
on the fifth; and he who builds on all this with his words and his good life, as is
the task of perfect and apostolic men, on the highest step of all” (Guide to
Sinners, I, II, chap. 16).
12 The love of God makes us joyful, strong and persevering. Therefore “one
accepts tribulation with joy and hope, because one knows that what is promised
in exchange is something much better” (Pseudo-Ambrose, Comm. in Epist. ad
Rom, ad loc.)
This setting gives us every opportunity to derive supernatural benefit from
suffering, which is quite a normal part of the Christian life: “A whole programme
for a good course in the ‘subject’ of suffering is given to us by the Apostle: spe
gaudentes — rejoicing in hope, in tribulatione patientes — patient in troubles,
orationi instantes — persevering in prayer” (J. Escrivá, The Way, 209).
Joy in the midst of difficulties is in fact one of the clearest signs that love
of God is influencing everything we do, for, as St Augustine comments, “where
one loves, either one does not feel the difficulty or else one loves the very
difficulty [. . .]. The tasks of those who love are never laborious” (De bono
viduitatis, 21, 26).
13 “For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God
whom he has not seen” (1 Jn 4:20). Similarly, it can be said that Christians, that
is “servants of the Lord”, unless they serve their brethren whom they see before
them, cannot serve God either. Serving God, in other words, ultimately means
alleviating “the needs of the saints” and offering hospitality to strangers, after
the example of the patriarchs Abraham and Lot (Gen 18:2-5; 19:2-3; cf. Heb
13:2).
21 As long as we live on this earth we will often experience the presence of evil
— in the world around us, and in ourselves. Our first reaction can sometimes be
like that of our Lord’s disciples when the Samaritans refused to receive Christ:
“Lord, do you want us to bid fire come down from heaven and consume them?”
(Lk 9:54). But Jesus invites them to be gentle. “We have to understand
everyone; we must live peacably with everyone; we must forgive everyone. We
shall not call injustice justice; we shall not say that an offence against God is
not an offence against God, or that evil is good. When confronted by evil we
shall not reply with another evil, but rather with sound doctrine and good actions
— drowning evil in an abundance of good (cf. Rom 12:2 1). That is how Christ
will reign in our souls and in the souls of the people around us” (J. Escrivá,
Christ is passing by, 182).
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q Greek age.
r Or what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
s Or yourselves to humble tasks.
t Greek give place
CHAPTER 13
Submission to authority
1-7 Jesus himself declared in the presence of Pilate that all authority comes
from God (Jn 19:11; cf. Prov 8:15-16; Wis 6:3). God, being the author of the
social order, created man as needing to live and develop within a community,
thereby enabling him to fulfil his purpose as perfectly and quickly as possible. “It
is clear”, Vatican II says, “that the political community and public authority are
based on human nature, and therefore that they need belong to an order
established by God; nevertheless, the choice of the political regime and the
appointment of rulers are left to the free decisions of the citizens” (Gaudium et
spes, 74).
Precisely because of its divine origin, civil authority — when it seeks the
common good and is exercised within the limits of the moral order — should be
obeyed in conscience. Failure to obey it is a transgression of the fourth
commandment of the Decalogue, for, as St Thomas explains, “natural
generation is not the only grounds for calling a person ‘father’. There are all
kinds of reasons why some should be given this title, and each of these kinds of
fatherhood deserves corresponding respect [...]. Kings and princes are called
fathers because they should look after the welfare of their people. Them also
we honour with our obedience. And we do so not only out of fear but out of
love; not only for reasons of human convenience but because our conscience
tells us to act in this way. The reason for this is based on the fact, as the
Apostle says in this passage (Rom 13:1), that all authority comes from God;
therefore, one must give every one what is his due” (On the two
commandments of love and the ten commandments of the Law, IV). Among the
things owed to authority are: honour, respect, reverential fear, and the payment
of taxes to contribute to the support of services which allow citizens to live in
peace and security, which protect them from violence and civil disorder, and
which guarantee them a more civilized lifestyle.
From the very beginning Christians have striven to fulfil their social
obligations even if they are the victims of persecution (cf. Leo XIII, Quod
apostolici; Diuturnum illud; Immortale Dei). A moving example of the heroism of
the early Christians in practising these virtues is given us by St Justin Martyr,
around the middle of the second century (First Apology, 17). And Tertullian, who

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so vehemently criticized the pagan world, wrote that the faithful, in their
assemblies, prayed for the emperor, his ministers and officials, and for temporal
well-being and peace (cf. Apologeticum, 39, 1ff). By acting in this way
Christians are keeping our Lord’s commandment to “render to Caesar the
things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Mt 22:21).
Love, the fulfilling of the Law
8-10 To enable him to keep the Commandments of God perfectly, man receives
the interior influence of love of God and love of neighbour. For when love
motivates us we readily give what is due — and more besides — to him whom
we love. In his public preaching St John of Avila used to say, “Those of you who
are unlettered should not think that this means you cannot enter paradise; study
these two commandments, and when you have fulfilled them, realize that you
have done everything laid down in the Law and the Prophets, and everything
taught by the Gospel and by the Apostles and whatever you are admonished to
do by all the countless books that have been written, for the Lord has sent his
word to us in (this) manifold form (cf. Rom 9:28)” (Sermons, twelfth Sunday
after Pentecost).
The relationship between the virtues of charity and justice is similar to that
between love and the commandments of the Law. “Be convinced that justice
alone is never enough to solve the great problems of mankind [. . .]. Charity
must penetrate and accompany justice because it sweetens and deifies every
thing: ‘God is love’ (1 Jn 4:16). Our motive in everything we do should be the
Love of God, which makes it easier for us to love our neighbour and which
purifies and raises all earthly loves on to a higher level [...]. Charity, which is like
a generous overflowing of justice, demands first of all the fulfilment of one’s
duty. The way to start is to be just; the next step is to do what is most equitable .
. .; but in order to love, great refinement is required, and much thoughtfulness,
and respect, and kindliness” (J. Escrivá, Friends of God, 172-3).
11-14 The Church uses this inspired text in the liturgy of Advent to help us
prepare for the coming of the Lord. Christ came into the world by his
Incarnation; he also comes to souls through grace; and at the end of time he
will come as Judge. Rising like the sun, he dispelled the darkness when
became into the world, and he continues to dispel whatever darkness remains
in souls the more he obtains mastery over the hearts of men.
The Christian needs to make an effort to stay awake: “There is a kind of
sleep proper to the soul, and another proper to the body,” St Augustine tells us.
“The sleep of the soul consists in forgetting about God [. . .], whereas the soul
who has stayed awake knows who its maker is [. . .]. But, just as he who sleeps
[...]’ although the sun has already risen and the day is already hot, thinks it is
still night, because he is not awake to see the new-born day, so there are some
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people who, even though Christ is here and the truth is being preached, are still
asleep as far as their soul is concerned [. . .]. Your life, your behaviour, should
be awake in Christ so that others — sleepy pagans — can see it and the sound
of your watchfulness cause them to getup and throw off their sleepiness and
begin to say with you in Christ: 0 God, my God, since dawn I have kept watch
for you” (Enarrationes in Psalmos, 62, 4).
13-14 Souls who have become members of the Church through Baptism are
always in need of conversion to a new life. Sometimes God uses Sacred
Scripture to awaken people from their spiritual lethargy. In fact, he used these
particular words of Scripture to move the heart of St Augustine and have him
take the last step towards casting off the attachments of the flesh. “I felt myself
still enslaved by my iniquities, and therefore did I groan to myself, How long?
How long must I continue saying Tomorrow, tomorrow? Why not now? Why not,
at one instant, make an end of all uncleanness?’ [...j And behold I heard a
voice, like that of a child in the house next door, repeating in a sing-song tone,
‘Take up and read. Take up and read’ [...}. I rose up [. . .] and returned to where
I had left the book of the Apostle; I took it quickly into my hand, opened it and
read in silence the first passage on which my eye happened to fall.” Having
transcribed the verses we are now commenting, Augustine continues: “I read
no further, nor was there any need to; for with the end of this sentence, as by a
clear and constant light infused into my heart, the darkness of all former doubts
was immediately driven away” (Confessions, VII, 12, 28-29).
14 All Christians “put on” Christ in Baptism (cf. Gal 3:27). Starting with this initial
configuration to Christ, they are steadily transformed into him by frequent
reception of the sacraments, particularly the sacrament of Penance. “Induimini
Dominum lesum Christum. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ’, says St Paul to the
Romans. It is in the Sacrament of Penance that you and I put on Jesus Christ
and his merits” (J. Escrivá, The Way, 310).
CHAPTER 14
BEING UNDERSTANDING TOWARDS OTHERS
Seeing things from the other person’s point of view
1-3 In the Roman church there were some Christians who were influenced by
Judaism to abstain from the types of food forbidden by the Old Law. Others,
however, who were “strong” in the faith, knew that Christ had freed them from
Mosaic observances such as avoidance of certain kinds of food, and from
keeping to the Jewish calendar — sabbaths, full moons and other festivals. This
second group were confirmed in their practice by the decrees of the Council of
Jerusalem (cf. Acts 15:28-29). They regarded the others, who were fewer in
number, as “weak” because they were tied down by the Mosaic precepts; they

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fasted on certain days, abstained from meat, did not drink wine, etc. (cf. Col
2:16, 20-22).
In themselves there was nothing wrong with those practices; for example,
Eusebius the historian (Ecclesiastical History, 23, 5) tells us that James the
Less, the bishop of Jerusalem, himself abstained from wine, spirits and meat,
as a personal mortification (cf. also the rules for Nazirites: Lk 1:15). However,
the “weak” were scandalized by the freedom of spirit of the others, and
regarded them as sinners. And the “strong”, for their part, looked down on the
“weak” and did not mind causing them scandal. Both sets of Christians were
sinning against charity. St Paul addresses them both in a fatherly way, exhorting
the weak not to falsely judge the strong, and appealing to the strong not to
despise the weak. In theory, the strong had right on their side, but in practice
the main thing was not to give scandal (cf. v. 21 and I Cor 8:7-13).
4-12 These ideas and counsels addressed to the faithful at Rome provide the
basis of the motto traditional in the Church, “Unity in essentials, freedom in
doubtful matters, and in all things charity” (cf. John XXIII, Ad Petri Cathedram;
Vatican II, Unitatis redintegratio, 4). They mark the limits within which Christians
should exercise their freedom — at one extreme, what is laid down by lawful
authority; at the other, the need to practise charity towards all. The freedom of
the “strong” ends where the demands of charity begin: therefore, they should
not scandalize the weak; and the mistake the weak make is to regard as
obligatory something which is not, something a person can do or not as he
pleases.
Love for freedom, properly understood, is never a danger to the faith; “The
only freedom that can assail the faith is a misinterpreted freedom, an aimless
freedom, one without objective principles, one that is lawless and irresponsible.
In a word, licence [. . .]. This is why it is inaccurate to speak of ‘freedom of
conscience’, thereby implying that it may be morally right for someone to reject
God [. . .]. I defend with all my strength ‘freedom of consciences’ (Leo XIII, Enc.
Libertas praestantissimum), which means that no one can licitly prevent a man
from worshipping God” (J. Escrivá, Friends of God, 32).
Freedom is “an exceptional sign of the image of God in man. For God willed
that man should ‘be left in the hand of his own counsel’ (Sir 15:14) so that he
might of his own accord seek his Creator and freely attain his full and blessed
perfection by cleaving to him. Man’s dignity therefore requires him to act out of
conscious and free choice, as moved and drawn in a personal way from within,
and not by blind impulses in himself or by mere external constraint” (Vatican II,
Gaudium et spes, 17). Therefore, the exercise of freedom consists in obeying a
well formed conscience and thereby, with the help of grace, attaining one’s last
end and the means necessary thereto. In fact, man will be judged on his

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obedience or disobedience to the law written on his heart. “Conscience is man’s
most secret core, and his sanctuary. There he is alone with God” (ibid., 160. Its
dictates must always be obeyed, even if they be mistaken, and others should
always respect a person’s conscience, for only God can read and judge the
human heart, and he forbids us to judge the inner blameworthiness of others
(cf. ibid., 28).
“The just man, when he finds no way to excuse the action or the intention
of someone whom he otherwise knows to be honest, not only does not judge
him but rejects the very idea of doing so and leaves judgment to God. Our Lord
on the Cross, not being able fully to excuse the sin of his crucifiers, at least
lessened their malice saying that they did not know what they were doing.
When we cannot excuse someone of sin, let us have pity on him, and try to find
grounds for excusing him, such as ignorance or weakness” (St Francis de
Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life, III, chap. 28).
7-9 We do not own ourselves, we are not our own masters. God, One and
Three, has created us, and Jesus Christ has freed us from sin by redeeming us
with his Blood. Therefore, he is our lord, and we his servants, committed to him
body and soul. Just as the slave is not his own master, but he himself and all he
does redounds to the benefit of his master, everything we are and everything
we have are geared, in the last analysis, not to our own use and benefit: we
have to live and die for the glory of God. He is lord of our life and of our death.
Commenting on these words St Gregory the Great says: “The saints, therefore,
do not live and do not die for themselves. They do not live for themselves,
because in all that they do they strive for spiritual gain: by praying, preaching
and persevering in good works, they seek the increase of the citizens of the
heavenly fatherland. Nor do they die for themselves because men see them
glorifying God by their death, hastening to reach him through death” (In
Ezechielem homiliae, II, 10).
Never make others stumble
13-21 In everything we do we have an obligation to avoid causing others to
stumble, causing scandal to others. However, this does not mean that we
should omit to do what God commands, or act against our conscience. Jesus
Christ preached the teaching his Father entrusted to him, even though this
caused certain Pharisees to be scandalized (cf. Mt 15:14). Theirs was false
scandal, which involves raising objections in order not to accept the truth a
phenomenon which also occurs frequently today. Genuine scandal can arise in
connexion with actions which are in themselves morally indifferent but which
can shock and even scandalize others, due to their spiritual immaturity or to
their particular frame of mind: this was the context in which Jesus told St Peter
to pay the half-shekel tax in order not to give offence (cf. Mt 17:27).

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 The situation dealt with in this passage is another example of the second
kind of scandal. Although not distinguishing certain foods as unclean was
lawful, some people might have seen that approach as wrong. In such cases it
is, of course, not enough not to do evil: one must avoid even giving the
appearance of doing evil: “I don’t doubt your good intentions. I know that you
act in the presence of God. But (and there is a ‘but’), your actions are witnessed
or may be witnessed by men who judge by human standards... And you must
give them good example” (J. Escrivá, The Way, 275).
There is, as we have said, no obligation to avoid giving scandal where that
is due to malice on the part of the observer — so-called pharisaical scandal.
22-23 When declaring all food to be clean, Jesus pointed out that “the things
which come out of a man are what defile him” (Mk 7:15; cf. Mt 15:16-20). The
Apostle will apply this teaching of Christ to the flesh of animals sacrificed to
idols and to Jewish practices (cf. 1 Cor 8:8; Tit 1:15). Here specifically he says
that “nothing is unclean in itself” (v. 14) and that “everything is indeed clean” (v.
20). Therefore, what the “strong” are doing is in principle morally neutral.
However, it can become something bad if it causes brethren to fall (cf. vv. 20-
21; 1 Cor 8:9-13), for the moral value of an action is determined also, though
not principally, by the intention of the doer and by the circumstances of the
situation.
Sometimes it can happen that a person is unaware that he is doing
something wrong and in fact, acting in good faith, thinks he is doing something
good. This is an instance of conscience being “certain” but not “right”, because
the dictate of conscience is not in line with the objective moral order. In
connexion with this, the text says that “whatever does not proceed from faith is
sin”: here, “faith” refers to the certain conviction of the judgment of conscience
which dictates that something is to be done or to be avoided.
Although conscience is what provides the immediate criterion for action,
this does not mean that conscience is to be given total sway. Firstly, because, if
it is wrong in what it directs, the person must first insofar as possible ensure
that it accords with the truth and then embark on the right line of conduct; and,
secondly, because one has an obligation to discover what God’s will is and do
it. “To man in his ignorance and weakness, the Divine Saviour has brought his
truth and his grace — the former to show him the way that will take him to his
goal, the latter to give him the strength to reach that goal. What this means in
practice is that one should accept the will and commandments of Christ and
bring one’s life into line with them — that is, all the internal and external acts
involved in human decisions” (Pius XII, Address, 23 March 1952).
u Or confess

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v authorities add or be upset or be weakened.
w Other authorities some ancient, here Ch 16:25-27.
CHAPTER 15
The example of Christ
1-3 The rule which should govern Christian behaviour is that of mutual love.
This love — charity —. draws its inspiration from our Lord’s own words, “A new
commandment I give you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you,
that you also love one another” (Jn 13:34; cf. note on Jn 13:34-35). Jesus set
himself as the example we should follow: we should love each other as he
loved us (cf. Jn 15:12-13; 1 Jn 3:16; 4:11; Eph 5:1-2); that is, even to the extent
of giving our life through self-denial (Jn 15:13; 1 Jn 3:16; Rom 5:8). St Paul lays
much stress on our Lord’s abnegation: he bore our sins in his body and by his
wounds we have been healed (cf. I Pet 2:24; Is 53:5-6); his sufferings were
foretold in the Old Testament: “Zeal for thy house has consumed me, and the
insults of those who insult thee have fallen on me [. . .]. They gave me poison
for food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink” (Ps 69:9, 21; cf. Jn
2:17; Mt 27:34, 48).
This means that our charity should be inspired by Christ’s own sentiments:
“Turn your gaze constantly to Jesus who, without ceasing to be God, humbled
himself and took the nature of a slave (cf. Phil 2:6-7), in order to serve us. Only
by following in his direction will we find ideals that are worthwhile. Love seeks
union, identification with the beloved. United to Christ, we shall be drawn to
imitate his life of dedication, his unlimited love and his sacrifice unto death.
Christ brings us face to face with the ultimate choice: either we spend our life in
selfish isolation, or we devote ourselves and all our energies to the service of
others” (J. Escrivá, Friends of God, 236).
4 The excellence of Scripture and its sacred character derive from the fact that
God is its author. This means that there is a consistency and unity running right
through Sacred Scripture, a coherence which integrates both Testaments, Old
and New: the Old Testament contains — prophetically and by way of
prefigurement — what happens in the New; and in the New the prophecy and
prefigurement of the Old are fulfilled. Since Scripture is the word of God, it is of
the highest order: “All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching,
for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God
may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim 3:16). This strength
and authority of Scripture is useful not only for instruction in the faith but also for
enlivening our hope and consoling us in every kind of trial, interior and exterior:
the examples which we find in Scripture encourage us to be patient and also
spur us on to fight. By reflecting on those examples we become convinced that

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if God asks sacrifice of “his own”, he does so because he has a greater reward
in store for them.
These truths led the Second Vatican Council to teach that in “the sacred
books the Father who is in heaven comes lovingly to meet his children, and
talks with them. And such is the force and power of the word of God that it can
serve the Church as her support and vigour, and the children of the Church as
strength for their faith, food for the soul, and a pure and lasting fount of spiritual
life” (Dei Verbum, 21).
8-13 “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken first to you.
Since you thrust it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life,
behold, we turn to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us” (Acts
13:46-47): this is what Paul and Barnabas said to Jews who opposed their
preaching. Christ himself said that he had been sent only to seek out the lost
sheep of the house of Israel, and that was the scope of the Apostles’ first
mission (cf. Mt 15:24; 10:5). However, God’s plans never discriminated in
favour of the Jews: they, once converted, were to preach the Good News to the
Gentiles. After the Resurrection, Jesus sent his disciples to all nations (cf. Mt
28; 18ff). Those who proclaimed the Gospel were Jews who had accepted
Christ, and they addressed their preaching first to Jews and then to Gentiles.
This present passage refers to the fulfilment of God’s designs through
Christ. By becoming man God made good his promises to the Jews, kept faith
with them. By the entry of the Gentiles into the Church his mercy towards all
men is revealed, for his blessings are thereby extended to those who do not
belong to Israel according to the flesh. Our Lord explained this very graphically
in the parable of the two sons (Mt 21:28-32). He first calls the older son (the
Gentiles), who refuses to obey him and afterwards repents and accepts his
father’s invitation and goes to work in the vineyard. The younger son (most of
the Jewish people), on the other hand, seems to be ready to do his father’s
bidding but in fact does not. Many Jews were so hard of heart that not even the
repentance and conversion of the Gentiles moved them to repent.
EPILOGUE
Paul’s ministry
Journeys planned
16 Christ “became a servant to the circumcised” (v. 8), that is, he directed his
teaching to the Jews, proclaimed to them the Gospel of the Kingdom, in order
to lead them to salvation. St Paul, within the context of the universal mission
entrusted to the Apostles, was chosen to proclaim the Gospel of Christ to the
Gentiles (cf. Rom 1:5). As well as preaching the Good News, the Apostle’s

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mission included a strictly priestly commitment, which consisted in sanctifying
the Gentiles in order to make them an offering pleasing to God (cf. Eph 3:6-9).
Previously only the Jewish people could be considered a holy people, a
priestly people (cf. Ex 19:5-6). With the coming of Christ, the Gentiles also have
become an “acceptable offering, sanctified by the Holy Spirit”. All Christians
who are part of this “offering of the Gentiles” should take to heart what St
Augustine says: “You contain within you what you should offer. Draw from your
heart, as from a treasure chest, the incense of praise; offer from the treasury of
your conscience the sacrifice of faith. And with charity set fire to everything you
offer. For within you are these offerings which you should sacrifice in praise of
God” (Enarrationes in Psalmos, 55, 19). In other words, consciousness of being
called to share in Christ’s priesthood should help us to offer God our whole life:
“Let the faithful, then, learn to appreciate the dignity to which they have been
raised by the Sacrament of Baptism [...] and let them not forget to offer
themselves and their anxieties, their sorrows, their troubles, their miseries and
their needs, in union with their divine Head crucified” (Pius XII, Mediator Del,
25).
x Greek sealed to them this fruit.
y Other ancient authorities insert of the gospel.
CHAPTER 16
Greetings and recommendations
1-16 This long series of affectionate greetings which the Apostle sends the
Romans shows that the early Christians formed one great family, in which each
saw the rest as brothers and sisters (cf. Acts 15:23; Rom 1:13; 1 Cor 1:10; Jas
1:2; 2 Pet 1:10; 1 Jn 3:13; etc.). As we can see from the names given here, this
family contained people from many different parts of the Empire -- Greeks:
Andronicus, Olympas, Asyncritus, Hermes; people from Asia Minor or the
Hellenic world: Epaenetus, Persis, Patrobas; Latins: Junias, Ampliatus, Prisca,
Julia, Urbanus; Jews: Herodion, Mary, Tryphaena, Tryphosa, etc. It also
included people of all types of social background; most of the people mentioned
probably were of humble condition or slaves or freed men, as can be deduced
from texts on funeral slabs; but there were others who had social positions of
some importance, like Prisca, who was a member of a noble Roman family,
Aristobulus and Narcissus, who belonged to a “a family”, that is, a household
with many servants, Erastus, etc.
They all felt united by a bond of charity and a common calling to holiness,
as can be seen from references to “the saints” (cf. Rom 1:7; 1 Cor 1:2, Heb
13:24; Jude 3; etc.). They were not perfect; we are well aware that they had
their limitations (cf. the moral irregularities mentioned in chapter 13, and the

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disagreements between the “strong” and the “weak” in chapter 14); but their
desire for sanctity and their charity inspired them to serve one another and to
put themselves and their possessions at the disposal of the Church. Their
commitment was such that they managed to spread their influence in a pagan
world and light it up with the light of salvation. They were families “who lived in
union with Christ and who made him known to others. Small Christian
communities which were centres for the spreading of the Gospel and its
message. Families no different from other families of those times, but living with
a new spirit, which spread to all those who were in contact with them. This is
what the first Christians were, and this is what we have to be — sowers of
peace and joy, the peace and joy that Jesus has brought to us” (J. Escrivá,
Christ is passing by, 30).
1-2 Phoebe was probably the bearer of this letter. She came from Cenchreae,
the eastern port of Corinth. Paul refers to her being a ministra ecclesiae, a
minister or servant of the church at Cenchreae, perhaps because she helped
with the assistance given to the poor and needy and may have had an auxiliary
role in the baptism of women. Pliny the Younger, in his letter to the emperor
Trajan, makes reference to two such women who helped in the Christian
community (Letter 10, 96).
4 Prisca and Aquila were a well-known married couple, as we can see from
other passages in the New Testament (cf. Acts 18:2, 18; 1 Cor 16:19; 2 Tim
4:19). They probably came to the Apostle’s aid in Ephesus at the time of the riot
of the silversmiths (cf. Acts 19:23-40). Prisca or Priscilla, it has been suggested,
was connected with a Roman family of senatorial rank, the Pudentes.
According to an early tradition, St Paul stayed as a guest in their house in
Rome.
5 Epaenetus was the “first-fruit” of Asia, that is, the first to be baptized in that
eastern province of the Empire.
13 St Paul remembers Rufus with special affection, calling Rufus’ mother his
own, such is his love and veneration for her. h is possible that Rufus was one of
the sons of Simon of Cyrene (cf. Mk 15:21).
17-18 This is a reference to Judaizing preachers, like those with whom St Paul
had difficulties in many churches in the East (cf. 2 Cor 11:13-15; Gal 1:6-7; Phil
3:18-19). They sought to maintain the distinction between clean and unclean
food, and insisted on circumcision and the observance of Mosaic precepts. This
is why he says they serve not Christ but their own appetites, that is, food. They
used to worm their way into Christian communities by projecting themselves as
very religious people and by preaching what they argued was a more perfect
lifestyle (cf. 2 Cor 11:21-23; Gal 2:4; 3:1; Phil 3:2-3).

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20 One of the effects of the Redemption wrought by Christ is victory over the
devil. This had been foretold at the very beginning of the History of Salvation,
when it was prophesied that the Messiah would crush the head of the serpent
(cf. Gen 3:15). Those who, by being one with Christ, share in his power, also
triumph over the snares of the devil.
It is true, of course, that the devil is powerful and that he never ceases to
search for those whom he might devour (cf. 1 Pet 5:8); but we should always
remember that he can only operate within the limits imposed on him by God.
Furthermore, since we can count on the Lord’s help, we should never be afraid
of the devil: God is stronger than he is. Until this conviction becomes clearly
rooted in us, we can feel threatened by the devil, but this conviction, once we
have it, makes us feel quite safe. St Teresa of Avila gives us the benefit of her
own experience in this regard: “I was left with a mastery over the demons, given
me by the Master of all, which means I gave them no more importance than
flies. They seem such cowards to me: as soon as they see that you give them
little importance, they become powerless [. . .]. I do not understand these fears:
Demon! demon! What we should be doing is saying: God! God!, and make
them tremble. Yes, we should realize that they cannot even stir unless God
allow it” (Life, 25).
23 Gaius, one of the very few Christians of Corinth whom St Paul himself
baptized (cf. 1 Cor 1:14), had made his house available to the Apostle and let it
be used for church assembly.
Doxology
25-27 Unlike other letters, this one ends with an elaborate poem of praise, or
doxology, addressed through Jesus Christ, to God almighty and wise.
z Greek their own belly (Phil 3:19).
a Or Slave
b Greek according to man.
The Epistles of St Paul to the Galatians
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Greeting
1-5 The epistle’s opening salutation indicates the two main themes of the letter
— St Paul’s credentials, his apostolic authority (v. 1), dealt with in chapters 1-2,
and the effectiveness of the Redemption of mankind achieved by Jesus Christ
(v. 4), which is explored in the rest of the letter.

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 By beginning his letter as he does, the Apostle takes issue immediately
with the errors being spread by Judaizers — who were denying his authority
and were maintaining the need for circumcision and the other Mosaic
observances.
1 St Paul begins this letter by recalling that it was God himself who made him
an Apostle. True, unlike the Twelve, he had not been called by our Lord during
his public life; he recognizes this: “Last of all, as to one untimely born, he
appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an
apostle” (1 Cor 15:8-9). That is why he stresses that his calling is a gift
bestowed without merit — and the fruits of his apostolate are also due to God:
“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in
vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but
the grace of God which is in me” (1 Cor 15:10; cf. I Cor 9:1-2; Gal 2:8). As St
Augustine observes, Paul’s late arrival on the scene was made up for by the
fact that it was the glorified Christ himself who called him and therefore the
authority of Paul’s witness is on a par with that of the Twelve (cf. Exp. in Gal, 2).
The basis of Paul’s apostolic authority, therefore, is the vocation he
received directly from Jesus Christ (cf. Acts 9:1-18). This shows that he is an
apostle “not from men nor through man” but “through Jesus Christ.” By joining
so closely, in the same phrase, the name of Christ and that of God the Father,
the Apostle is defending his authority as being based on the will of Jesus Christ
—as was the case with the Twelve — and on God the Father’s salvific plans.
2 On who the Galatians were, and the particular circumstances of the church of
Galatia, see “Introduction to St Paul’s Epistles to the Galatians and the
Romans”, above, p. 52.
3 On the gifts of grace and peace, cf. note on Rom 1:7.
4 Christ’s redemptive death is the efficient cause of atonement for our sins and,
therefore, is what frees us from “the present evil age”. This phase refers — as it
does often in St John’s Gospel — to sin and other forces opposed to God which
are at work in history and which are manifest to us. Man is rescued from them
by the redemptive action of Christ. The world in itself was created as something
good, but its original goodness became tarnished, and, to the extent that it
reflects the perverse will of man, it is an occasion of sin. Through Revelation
there “has been revealed in a new and more wonderful way the fundamental
truth concerning creation to which the Book of Genesis gives witness when it
repeats several times: ‘God saw that it was good’ (cf. Gen 1) [. . .]. In Jesus
Christ the visible world which God created for man (cf. Gen 1:26-30) — the
world that, when sin entered, ‘was subjected to futility’ (Rom 8:20) — recovers
again its original link with the divine source of Wisdom and Love (cf. Rom 8:19-

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22; Vatican II, Gaudium et spes, 2 and 13)” (John Paul II, Red emptor hominis,
8). Man then begins to glimpse the things of heaven.
To use St Jerome’s comparison, man is like the fish, which is caught on
the hook of the divine fisherman and drawn up to the word of God out of the
abyss of this world. “But what happens in nature does not happen here: fish die
when they are taken out of the sea, whereas the Apostles drew us out of the
sea of this world; they fished us, in order to bring the dead to life [. . .]. We have
begun to see the sun, to see the true light, and we are stirred with pure joy in
the intimacy of our soul” (Hom. to neophytes on Ps 41). In this light man can
look optimistically on the world which Christ has redeemed; he can discern its
good aspects, can see it as something which can be sanctified and which can
contribute to his own sanctification. “A Christian has to be ready, at all times, to
sanctify society from within. He is fully present in the world, but without
belonging to the world, when it denies God and opposes his lovable will of
salvation, not because of its nature, but because of sin” (J. Escrivá, Christ is
passing by, 125).
A warning
6-9 The Galatians had suddenly begun to go off course, for no sooner had St
Paul preached to them during his second visit, than enemies of his appeared on
the scene seeking to undermine his authority and had won over the Galatians,
especially on the matter of circumcision.
In view of this, the Apostle clearly and forcefully spells out to the Galatians
that there is only one Gospel, only one way to attain salvation. “These people”,
St Jerome explains, “wanted to change the Gospel, to twist it; but that is
something they cannot succeed in doing, for this Gospel is such that it cannot
be true if it is tampered with” (Comm. in Gal, 1, 7).
The content of Revelation — the deposit of faith — cannot be interfered
with. The Apostles, as their very title implies, were sent to pass on, in all its
integrity, what had been entrusted to them (cf. 1 Cor 11:23). That is why St Paul
tells his assistants in the government of the Church, Titus and Timothy, to guard
very carefully the truths he has taught them (cf. 1 Tim 6:20; 2 Tim 1:14; Tit 1:9;
2:1; etc.).
St Paul is extremely insistent on the need to protect the deposit of faith,
and he reacts very forcefully against those who seek to adulterate it, as we can
see in this present text. Any attempt to replace the true Gospel of Jesus Christ
with a different teaching does indeed warrant the severe judgment which the
Apostle here delivers in God’s name. In the same way, “the Church which
received the office of safeguarding the deposit of faith along with the apostolic
duty of teaching, likewise possesses the right and duty of proscribing [. . .]

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opinions that are known to be opposed to the doctrine of the faith” (Vatican I,
Dei Filius, chap. 4).
There is, then, no “new Christianity” waiting to be discovered. “The
Christian economy, therefore, since it is the new and definitive covenant, will
never pass away; and no new public revelation is to be expected before the
glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Vatican II, Dei Verbum, 5).
10 One of the accusations directed against St Paul was that, in order to make it
easier for people to become Christians, he tried to win them over by not
requiring Gentiles to undergo circumcision. In fact the Apostle’s only aim was to
serve Christ; for him, as St John Chrysostom put it, “to love Christ was life, the
world, heaven, present well-being, the kingdom, the promise, immeasurable
good; outside of this he did not concern himself with classifying things as
sorrowful or joyful, nor did he regard anything that one might have in this world
as disagreeable or pleasant” (Second Hom. in praise of St Paul).
St Paul can assert that he did not mind if there were people who did not
understand him or even rejected his teaching. He had plenty of experience of
opposition to the demands of the Gospel; and this never led him to play down
the reality of the Cross in order to make more acceptable the truth he was
proclaiming. In addition to lack of response from Gentiles, his faithfulness to
Christ had also earned him enmity and persecution from Jews (cf. Acts 13:50).
We can learn a great deal from Paul to help us not to be cowed by “what
people may think”. Although Christian living does sometimes clash with the
environment around us, we should not desist from trying to be faithful to the
demands of the Gospel. “Therefore, when in our own life or in that of others we
notice something that is not going well, something that requires the spiritual and
human help which, as children of God, we can and ought to provide, then a
clear sign of prudence is to apply the appropriate remedy by going to the root of
the trouble, resolutely, lovingly and sincerely. There is no room here for
inhibitions, for it is a great mistake to think that problems can be solved by
inaction or procrastination” (J. Escrivá, Friends of God 157).
St Teresa, for her part, writes: “We are trying to attain union with God. We
want to follow the counsels of Christ, on whom were showered insults and false
witness. Are we, then, really so anxious to keep intact our own reputation and
credit? We cannot do so and yet attain to union, for the two ways diverge” (Life,
chap. 31). If we are truly to serve God we must be ready to face indifference
and misunderstanding whenever it may arise. “You must indeed have purified
your intention well when you said: From this moment on I renounce all human
gratitude and reward” (J. Escrivá, The Way, 789).
PAUL’S PERSONAL APOLOGIA

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God’s call
11-12 “What shall I do, Lord?” (Acts 22:10), Paul asked at the moment of his
conversion. Jesus replied, “Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be
told all that is appointed for you to do” (ibid.). The former persecutor, now under
the influence of grace, will receive instruction and Baptism through the ordinary
course of divine Providence — from a man, Ananias. Thereby Jesus led him to
humility, obedience and abandonment. The Gospel which St Paul preached
was identical with that preached by the other Apostles, and already had the
character of "traditional" in the nascent Church (cf. 1 Cor 15:3; Gal 2:2). This is
compatible with Paul’s claim — made in this passage — that his Gospel does
not come from any man but through a revelation from Jesus Christ. Firstly,
because on seeing the risen Christ he was given supernatural light to
understand that Jesus was not only the Messiah but also the Son of God; and
also because this first revelation was followed by many others to which he
refers in his epistles (cf. I Cor 11:23; 13:3-8 and especially 2 Cor 12:1-4).
St Paul’s was a unique case, because normally a person came to know
the Gospel of Christ by receiving it or learning it from those who had seen
Christ during his life on earth and listened to his teachings. This was what
happened in St Luke’s case, for example (cf. Lk 1:2). St Paul still felt the need
to go to Jerusalem to hear the Apostles’ preaching (cf. below 1:16-18),
especially that of St Peter.
13-14 The Acts of the Apostles tell us about Paul’s religious zeal; a Pharisee,
he had studied under Gamaliel (cf. Acts 22:3; Phil 3:5) and had consented to
and been present at the martyrdom of Stephen (cf. Acts 7:58; 8:1). Saul had
stood out as a persecutor of Christians, so keen was he to seek them out and
imprison them, even going beyond Judea to do so (cf. Acts 9:1-2). Clearly he
had been a man convinced of his Jewish faith, a zealous keeper of the Law,
and proud to be a Jew (cf. Rom 11:1; 2 Cor 11:22). Such was the fear the early
Christians had of him that they could not bring themselves to believe in his
conversion (cf. Acts 9:26). However, this same fervour and passion, to use St
Augustine’s comparison (cf. Contra Faustum, XXII, 70) was like a dense jungle
— a serious obstacle, and yet an indication of immensely fertile soil. Our Lord
sowed the seed of the Gospel in that soil and it produced a very rich crop.
Everyone, no matter how irregular his life may have been, can produce
good results like this — with the help of grace, which does not displace nature
but heals and purifies it, and then raises and perfects it: “Courage! You. . . can!
Don’t you see what God’s grace did with sleepy-headed Peter, the coward who
had denied him …, and with Paul, his fierce and relentless persecutor?” (J.
Escrivá, The Way, 483).

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15-16 More than once in Scripture we read about God choosing certain people
for special missions even when they were still in their mother’s womb (cf. Jer
1:5; Is 49:1-5; Lk 1:15; etc.). This emphasizes the fact that God makes a
gratuitous choice: there is no question of the person’s previous merits
contributing to God’s decision. Vocation is a supernatural divine gift, which God
has planned from all eternity. When God made his will known on the road to
Damascus (cf. Acts 9:3-6), St Paul “did not confer with flesh and blood”, that is,
did not seek advice from anyone, because he was absolutely sure that God
himself had called him. Nor did he consent to the prudence of the flesh, seeking
to “play safe”: his self-surrender was immediate, total and unconditional. When
the Apostles heard Jesus inviting them to follow him, they “immediately left their
nets” (Mt 4:20, 22; Mk 1:18) and followed the Master, leaving everything behind
(cf. Lk 5:11). We see the same thing happening in Saul’s case: he responds
immediately. If he makes his way to Ananias, he does so on the explicit
instructions of Jesus — in order to receive instruction and Baptism and to
discover what his mission is to be (Acts 9:15-16).
God’s call, therefore, should receive an immediate response. “Consider
the faith and obedience of the Apostles”, St John Chrysostom says. “They are
in the midst of their work (and you know how attractive fishing is!). When they
hear his command, they do not vacillate or lose any time: they do not say, ‘Let’s
go home and say goodbye to our parents.’ No, they leave everything and follow
him [. . .]. That is the kind of obedience Christ asks of us — not to delay even a
minute, no matter how important the things that might keep us” (Hom. on St
Matthew, 14, 2). And St Cyril of Alexandria comments: “For Jesus also said, ‘No
one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of
God’, and he looked beck who asked permission to return home and speak to
his parents. But we see that the holy Apostles did not act in that way; rather,
they followed Jesus, immediately leaving the boat and their parents behind.
Paul also acted immediately. He ‘did not confer with flesh and blood’. That is
how those who want to follow Christ must act” (Commentarium in Lucam, 9).
A person has a duty to follow Christ even if his relatives are opposed to
his doing so or want him to delay making a final decision, perhaps because
they feel that would be the more (humanly) prudent course: “A person should
honour his parents, but God he should obey. We should love the one who has
begotten us, but the first place should be given to him who created us”, St
Augustine says, not mincing words (Sermon 100).
Even if we are unsure as to whether we are strong enough to persevere,
this should not delay us or concern us: it should simply lead us to pray
confidently for God’s help, because, as Vatican II teaches, when God calls a
person, he “must reply without taking counsel with flesh and blood and must

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give himself fully to the work of the Gospel. However, such an answer can only
be given with the encouragement and help of the Holy Spirit [. . .]. Therefore, he
must be prepared to remain faithful to his vocation for life, to renounce himself
and everything that up to this he possessed as his own, and to make himself ‘all
things to all men’ (1 Cor 9:22)” (Ad gentes, 24).
17-20 After a period of time devoted to penance and prayer, St Paul made his
way to Jerusalem (cf. Acts 9:26-30) to see Cephas, that is, Peter. His stay of
two weeks is an important indication of Paul’s recognition of and veneration for
Peter, chosen as he had been as the foundation stone of the Church.
In subsequent generations, right down the centuries, Christians have
shown their love for Peter and his successors, travelling to Rome often at great
personal effort and sometimes, even, risk. “Catholic, apostolic, Roman! I want
you to be very Roman. And to be anxious to make your ‘path to Rome’, videre
Petrum — to see Peter” (J. Escrivá, The Way, 520). Solidarity with and
veneration for the Pope is, then, a clear, practical sign of good Christian spirit.
“James the Lord’s brother” (cf. notes on Mt 12:46-47 and 13:55) is, most
commentators think, James the Less (cf. Mk 15:40), also called the son of
Alphaeus (cf. Lk 6:15) and author of the letter which bears his name (cf. Jas
1:1).
c Greek in.
CHAPTER 2
1-10 St Paul had ended his first apostolic journey by returning to Antioch in
Syria, from where he had set out. We know that the Christian community in that
city, which was an important crossroads of race and culture, had developed as
a providential result of the dispersal of Jerusalem Christians following on
Stephen’s matryrdom (cf. Acts 11:19-26). Some of these refugees had brought
the new faith to Antioch but had confined themselves to preaching and
converting Jews. Later, through the activity of other Christians, Jews of the
Diaspora, that is, domiciled outside Palestine, and pagans also began to adopt
the new religion. Barnabas had been commissioned by the Jerusalem church to
organize the young Christian community in Antioch (cf. Acts 11:19-24). He later
chose Paul, who had been living quietly in Tarsus, to act as his assistant (cf.
Acts 11:25-26).
The disciples in Antioch, where the name “Christians” was first used to
describe them, belonged to the whole gamut of social and ethnic backgrounds,
as we can see from the short list of “prophets and teachers” of the church at
Antioch (cf. Acts 13:1-3): some were of African origin, like Symeon “who was
called Niger”; others came from the western Mediterranean, like Lucius of
Cyrene; Manaen was from the household of Herod the tetrarch; and there were

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Jews from communities outside Palestine — for example, Barnabas and Saul
themselves.
Among these different types, we find some Christians of Jewish
background who felt that pagan converts to Christianity should observe the
prescriptions of the Mosaic Law (including the detailed precepts which Jewish
tradition kept adding to that Law); these guardians of the gate of entry into the
chosen people were requiring that pagan converts be circumcised, as all Jews
were.
When these “Judaizers” from Jerusalem (cf. Acts 15:1) asserted that
circumcision was necessary for salvation, they were raising an issue which
went much deeper than simply conforming to the Law of Moses: was the
Redemption wrought by Christ enough, of itself, for attaining salvation, or was it
still necessary for people to become part of the people of Israel, conforming to
all its ritual requirements?
Clearly, this question was a source of considerable division. Acts 15:2
refers to its causing “no small dissension”. The present passage of Galatians
shows that Paul, receiving a revelation from God, decided to grasp the nettle by
stating unequivocally that Christ’s redemption — on its own, and alone —
brings salvation. In other words, circumcision was not necessary, nor did the
elaborate ritual regulations of Judaism apply to Christians. In Jerusalem Paul
expounded “the Gospel” he had been proclaiming to the Gentiles. He was
accompanied by Barnabas, and by a young disciple, Titus, the son of pagan
parents, quite possibly baptized by Paul himself (cf. Tit 1:4, where he calls him
his “true child”), who would later became one of his most faithful co-workers.
1 Between his conversion and the date of his letter, St Paul had visited
Jerusalem three times (cf. Acts 9:26; 11:29-30; 15:1-6). Of these three journeys
he here mentions only two, omitting the time he and Barnabas went there (cf.
Acts 11:29-30), because that visit was not particularly significant.
The Judaizers’ demands were inadmissible and clearly dangerous. That
was why Paul and Barnabas had opposed them openly at Antioch, and in fact it
was their failure to achieve unity and peace on this point that had led them to
go up to the Holy City to obtain a decision from the Apostles themselves and
the priests living in Jerusalem.
3-5 These “false brethren” were certain Christians of Jewish background who
saw circumcision and the other observances which had grown up around the
Law as necessary for Gentile as well as Jewish converts. St Paul saw the
theories and practice of these “false brethren” as a very serious error in faith
and as an equally serious danger to Christian living: acceptance of their
position amounted to conditioning the redemptive value of Christ’s Life, Death

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and Resurrection. Although the Judaizers did not realize it, their doctrines
meant that people were in the same position now as they had been prior to the
Redemption. They were arguing that, to become a Christian, a person first had
to adopt the Jewish religion and keep all its observances: they thereby failed to
grasp that Jesus Christ had set us free also from the slavery which the Old Law
brought with it. Therefore, in this passage St Paul reminds the Galatians that
there can be no compromise with these “false brethren” and that his own
position is the correct one: there was no question of having Titus circumcised,
when this whole question was put to the Apostles in Jerusalem.
6-9 The phrase “those who were reputed to be something” may seem
somewhat sarcastic, but in the context it is evident that St Paul totally accepts
the authority he refers to. It is as if he were saying: All authority comes from
God, and if he chooses to put certain people, in positions of authority, he does
so without “partiality”. Human prestige, the apparent qualities of those in
authority, carry no weight with him: they are to be obeyed simply because God
has given them positions of authority.
Those who were in charge, the “pillars” of the Church, saw Paul’s mission
as a further expression of God’s mercy. Just as Peter had been chosen to
preach mainly to the Jews, so Paul had been designated to evangelize mainly
the Gentiles.
This distinction does not mean that St Peter and St Paul had mutually
exclusive areas of preaching. The fact is that they both could and did preach to
pagans and Jews indiscriminately. The decision made here refers to the primary
mission of each at the time.
6 “Added nothing to me”: “imposed” no particular prescription or obligation; this
can be read as meaning: those in authority did not impose any obligation on me
or in any way require me to modify my teaching or policy.
10 The Acts of the Apostles show us how concerned the early Church was
about looking after the material needs of its members. We can see this, for
example, when it tells us about “serving tables”, which refers to the work of
giving help to the needy: this began to take up more and more time, with the
result that the seven deacons were appointed to allow the Apostles to
concentrate on their own specific work — prayer and the ministry of the word or
preaching (cf. Acts 6:1-6).
St Paul was faithful to this charge about not forgetting the poor, as we can
see from many references in his letters to collections for the poor (cf. I Cor
16:1-3; 2 Cor 8:1-15; 9:15; etc.). Indeed, one of the reasons for his last visit to
Jerusalem was to hand over the monies collected in the Christian communities
of Greece and Asia Minor.

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Peter and Paul at Antioch
11-14 In his dealing with Jews, St Paul sometimes gave way in secondary
matters, provided that this did not take from the essence of the Gospel: he had
Timothy, whose mother was Jewish, circumcised “because of the Jews that
were in those places” (Acts 16:3), and he himself kept to Jewish practices in
order to allay suspicion and jealousy (cf. Acts 21:22-26). Similarly, he
recommends patience and certain understanding towards those “weak” in the
faith, that is, Christians of Jewish origin who held on to some Jewish
observances connected with fast days, clean and unclean food and abstinence
from the flesh of animals sacrificed to idols (cf. Rom 14:2-6; 1 Cor 10:23-30).
But on the key issue of Christians’ freedom from the Mosaic Law, the Apostle
was always firm and unambiguous, relying on the decisions of the Council of
Jerusalem.
Paul’s correction of Peter did not go against the latter’s authority. On the
contrary, if it had been just anyone, the Teacher of the Gentiles might have let
the matter pass; but because it was Cephas, that is, the “rock” of the Church,
he had to take action in order to avoid the impression being given that
Christians of Gentile origin were obliged to adopt a Jewish lifestyle.
Far from undermining the holiness and unity of the Church, this episode
demonstrated the great spiritual solidarity among the Apostles, St Paul’s regard
for the visible head of the Church, and Peter’s humility in correcting his
behaviour. St Augustine comments: “He who was rebuked was worthier of
admiration and more difficult to imitate than he who made the rebuke [. . .]. This
episode serves as a fine example of humility, the greatest of Christian
teachings, because it is through humility that charity is maintained” (Exp. in Gal,
15).
12 When he speaks of these Judaizers as coming “from James”, this does not
mean that they had been sent by that Apostle. It is, rather, a reference to their
coming from Jerusalem, where, after the persecution organized by Herod
Agrippa and the forced flight of St Peter (cf. Acts 12-17), St James the Less
remained as bishop. But what is probable is that these Christians, who had not
given up the Mosaic Law and Jewish observances, made use of that Apostle’s
name: as “the brother of the Lord”, he enjoyed universal veneration and
respect.
15 St Peter, St Paul and the other Apostles were of Jewish race and therefore
belonged to the holy people of God. In spite of this, they held that salvation was
not attainable through observance of the Mosaic Law “because by works of the
law shall no one be justified” (v. 16; cf. Rom 3:21-26).

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16 “All that shadowy observance”, St Augustine comments, “had to cease in an
unnoticed way, gradually, as the pace grew of the wholesome preaching of the
grace of Christ [. . .]’ during the lifetime of that generation of Jews who had
experienced the physical presence of our Lord and had lived through the
apostolic times. This sufficed to make it clear that those practices were not to
be deemed hateful or idolatrous. But neither were they to be kept up any longer
than that, in case people might hold them to be necessary, as if salvation came
from them or could not be obtained without them” (Letter 82, 11, 15).
We might say that there are three periods in observance of the
prescriptions of the Law. In the first period, prior to Christ’s Passion, the
precepts of the Law were “alive”, that is, it was obligatory to keep them. A
second period was between the Passion and the spread of apostolic preaching:
the Law’s precepts were already “dead”, no longer obligatory, but they were not
“lethal”: Jewish converts could keep them provided that they did not rely on
them, for Christ was already the basis of their hope. In the third stage, in which
we find ourselves, observance of Jewish precepts as a means of salvation
amounts to denying the redemptive power of Christ and therefore they could be
termed “lethal” (cf. St Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Gal, ad loc.).
St Augustine uses a very interesting comparison: with the arrival of faith in
Christ the old “sacraments” of the Law come to resemble the dead — who merit
respect and honour. They should be interred with all the necessary ritual,
religiously, reverently. They should not be thrown out, to be devoured by
predators. But if a Christian now wants to keep them in force “disturbing the
ashes which lie at rest, he would not be a pious son or a relative who keeps
vigil at the grave, but an impious profaner of tombs” (Letter 82, ibid.).
17-18 In order to lay even more stress on the fact that justification comes only
through faith in Jesus Christ and not through adherence to the Law, St Paul
poses a false objection, which he immediately refutes. He is saying in effect:
If we Christians of Jewish background, convinced that only faith in Christ
can justify us, are not keeping the Mosaic Law, it might be argued that we now
find ourselves in the same situation as sinful Gentiles. And that would mean
that faith in Christ had led us into sin. In which case we might ask: Is Christ then
an agent of sin? The Apostle energetically rejects this absurd line of reasoning.
If we were to return to observance of the Mosaic Law — St Paul argues — we
would be saying that our abandonment of the Law to embrace faith in Christ
has made sinners of us, and that Christ would have been the cause, the agent,
of sin.
19-20 Through the sacrament of Baptism we have been united to Christ in a
union which far exceeds mere solidarity of feeling: we have been crucified with
him, dying with him to sin, so as to rise reborn into a new life (cf. note on Rom
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6:3-8). This new life requires us to live in a new, supernatural way, which with
the help of grace gradually becomes stronger and stronger and acts to perfect
man’s behaviour: he is no longer living on a purely natural level. “That is why a
Christian should live as Christ lived, making the affections of Christ his own, so
that he can exclaim with St Paul: ‘It is now no longer I who live, but Christ lives
in me’ [. . .], to such an extent that each Christian is not simply alter Christus:
another Christ, but ipse Christus: Christ himself!” (J. Escrivá, Christ is passing
by, 103 and 104).
The life in Christ which the Apostle is speaking about here is not a matter
of feelings: it is something real which grace brings about: “Paul’s soul was in
between God and his body: his body was alive, and moved, thanks to the action
of Paul’s soul; but his soul drew its life from Christ’s action. Therefore, in
referring to the life of the flesh, which he was living, St Paul speaks of ‘the life I
now live in the flesh’; but as far as his relationship with God was concerned,
Christ it was who was living in Paul, and therefore he says, ‘I live by faith in the
Son of God’: it is he who lives in me and makes me act” (St Thomas Aquinas,
Commentary on Gal, ad loc.). This is why the Apostle goes as far as to say
elsewhere, “to me to live is Christ” (Phil 1:2 1).
All this is a consequence of Christ’s love: he freely gave himself up to
death out of love for each and every one of us. We, like St Paul, can come to
appreciate, through faith, that Christ’s Passion affects us personally. From this
faith will arise that love which “has the power to effect union [...], which inspires
those who love to leave where they are, and which does not allow them to stay
the way they are, but rather transforms them into the object of their love”
(Pseudo-Dionysius, De divinis nominibis, 4). People who are very keen on
academic pursuits or on hunting often refer to these things as being “their life”.
Similarly, if someone pursues only his own interest, he is living for himself. If, on
the contrary, he seeks the good of others, we say that he “lives for others”.
Therefore, if we love Jesus and are united to him, we will live “for” him, “by”
him, “through” him. “Do you love the earth?”, St Augustine exclaims. “You will
be earth. Do you love God? What am I to say? That you will be God? I almost
don’t dare to say it, but Scripture says it, ‘You are gods, sons of the Most High’
(Ps 82:6)” (In Epist. Ioann. ad Parthos, II, 14).
This profound truth should move us to devote ourselves to an asceticism
motivated by love: “Let us hasten, therefore, full of spirit, to the fight, fixing our
gaze on the crucified Jesus, who from the Cross offers us his help and
promises us victory and laurels. If we happened to stumble in the past, it was
because we did not keep before our eyes the wounds and disgrace which our
Redeemer suffered and because we did not seek his help. For the future, let us
not cease to keep before our eyes him who suffered on our account and who is

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ever-ready to come to our aid [. . .]; if we do so, we shall surely emerge
victorious over our enemies” (St Alphonsus Mary Liguori, The love of Jesus
Christ reduced to practice, 3).
d Or reckoned righteous; and so elsewhere.
e Or righteousness.
CHAPTER 3
DOCTRINAL MATTERS
Justification by faith
1-14 It is his love for the Galatians, rather than indignation at their behaviour,
that causes the Apostle to call them “foolish”. His love causes him suffering
because they have forgotten that only Jesus, and not the Law, brings salvation.
The Galatians should know very well that they received justification without
even having heard mention of the Law, for the Holy Spirit came upon them prior
to the arrival of the people from Jerusalem (vv. 1-5). All they have to do is
remember the charisms which they received — the “so many things”, the
“miracles”, which are manifestations of the Spirit (cf. 1 Cor 12-14).
Besides, there is the example of Abraham (vv. 6-9; cf. Rom 4). The Lord
promised him that his descendants would be blessed; he established a
covenant with him and justified him not by the works of the Law, which had not
yet been promulgated, but through his faith. In the same way, all who have
believed and who will in the future believe in God as Abraham did will be his
true descendants and will also receive God’s blessing.
Finally, the Mosaic Law, far from bringing salvation, is rather a cause of
spiritual death, insofar as every precept involves a penalty if it is not obeyed (vv.
10-14; cf. Rom 7:7-12). Our Lord freed us from the curse of the Law by
voluntarily taking on himself the punishment merited by man’s sin (cf. Is 53:4;
Mt 8:17; Rom 3:21-26; 5:6-10). By reverting and submitting to the Law they
would in effect be saying that our Redeemer’s sacrifice was unnecessary and
ineffective.
1 St Paul boasted that he preached Christ crucified, even though he fully
realized that it was a stumbling-block to Jews and folly to pagans (cf. I Cor
1:23). The mystery of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ was in fact
the very essence of the Apostles’ teaching (cf. Acts 2:22-24; 3:13-15; etc.), for it
was these mysteries that contained all hope of eternal life and salvation. That is
why Paul adds that, for believers, Christ crucified, far from being folly, is the
power of God and the wisdom of God (cf. I Cor 1:24).
Paul had probably described our Lord’s Sacrifice with such force and
effect that it had been deeply engraved in their memory — and now these

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Judaizers, these deceivers, were hypnotizing the naive Galatians and causing
them to lose sight of Christ: they had switched their attention from Christ on the
Cross to the actions of the interlopers.
St Paul’s warning is an invitation to fix one’s gaze once more on that sign
which, as it were, sums up all Christianity — the image of Christ on the Cross,
which ever since apostolic times presides over altars and altarpieces, and
places of work and leisure.
2-5 St Paul reminds the Galatians that in Baptism they received the Holy Spirit
and his gifts. Since their Baptism, and not prior to it, they had experienced the
action of the Spirit who, although he is in all ages a source of joy in the Church,
was even more evident in the apostolic age in which the Galatians were living.
So, how did this life of the Spirit reach the Galatians — through faith in Christ
and through Baptism, or through the works of the Law? The Apostle poses the
question without providing an answer, surely because it is obvious that it came
through Christ. The Mosaic Law played no part at all. How, then, can they be so
foolish as to change the Gospel which Paul had preached to them?
6-9 The Apostle recalls the figure of Abraham in order to show that man’s
justification is not the result of the material works prescribed by the Mosaic Law,
but rather the result of faith in God’s word. According to Gen 15:6, when God
promised Abraham that he would have a son even though he was already an
old man and his wife Sarah was barren, Abraham immediately took God at his
word. It was this faith that justified Abraham: God had not yet established
circumcision or given the Law. Therefore, St Paul argues, “it is men of faith who
are the sons of Abraham”.
God had given the Patriarch a promise whose implications were universal:
“In you shall all the nations be blessed.” That promise is now being kept
through the entry of the Gentiles, through faith, into the new people of God.
Abraham is in effect the father of those who believe, for in him all those who
would believe in Jesus Christ were already blessed.
In the same way as he justified Abrahram, God justifies every man —
through faith (cf. Gen 15:6; Rom 4:2ff; Jas 2:21ff). Thus, people do not become
sons of the Kingdom simply because they are descendants of Abraham
according to the flesh: no, they must become like him by being men of faith like
him. Therefore, man’s greatness in God’s eyes is not a matter of blood or
descent, as the Jews believed, but of divine grace, which makes us children of
the blessing, children of God (cf. in 1:12-13).
God grants the gift of justification by faith to all who believe in his word, as
Abraham did. The true imitators of Abraham, St John of Avila says, are “those
who believe with loving faith, with firm and constant faith, who are so well

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grounded in faith that nothing, no adversity, no temptation, no ill-treatment can
disconsole them or dismay them” (Lecciones sobre Gal, ad loc.).
10-12 In what is called the Council of Jerusalem, St Peter had said, “Why do
you make trial of God by putting a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which
neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?” (Acts 15:10): the Jews
could not, despite their efforts, keep the Mosaic Law — the Law which they
thought justified them in God’s sight. Therefore, those who place their hope of
salvation in the Law are subject to the curse which the Law itself places on
those who infringe it: “Cursed be he who does not confirm the words of the Law
by doing them” (Deut 27:26).
The curse of the Law falls on anyone who fails to keep it, given that every
commandment involves a penalty for its transgressor. That is why the Apostle
argues that those who rely only on the Law are subject to the risk of being
cursed, of being punished — “are under a curse”. He then goes on to recall
once more the passage in Habakkuk which says that “the righteous shall live by
his faith” (2:4; cf. note on Rom 1:17). If the righteous or justified man lives by
faith, the Apostle concludes, he does not live by the Law, for the Law does not
call for faith but for fulfilment of its precepts.
13-14 Christ, who was innocent, wished to offer the Father perfect atonement
and thereby blot out our sin. To this end he voluntarily turned upon himself the
curse which the Law laid on its transgressors. He bore the curse of the Law on
our behalf and thereby set us free from the curse. What was for our Lord
punishment was for men salvation. As St Jerome puts it, “the injury suffered by
the Lord is our glory. He died so that we might live; he descended into hell so
that we might ascend into heaven. He became folly so that we might be
reaffirmed in wisdom. He emptied himself of the fulness and form of God, taking
the form of a slave, so that this divine fulness might dwell in us and we might be
changed from slaves into lords. He was nailed on the Cross so that the sin
committed at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil might be blotted out,
once he was hung on the tree of the Cross” (Comm. in Gal, ad loc.).
With our Lord’s death, the world’s redemption is achieved, God’s promise
is fulfilled and the blessing he gave to Abraham multiplies his posterity, making
them more numerous than the stars of heaven or the sand of the seashore (cf.
Gen 15:5-6; 22:17).
The Law and the promise
15-29 God is merciful and faithful; he keeps the promises he makes. His will is
as fixed and unalterable as that contained in a last will and testament.
Therefore the promise which he made to Abraham could not have been
revoked by the Mosaic Law, which was promulgated much later (cf. Rom 4:13-

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17). What then is the function of the Law, if everything is due to the promise?
Firstly, the Law was given in order to punish transgressions committed prior to
the coming of Christ (v. 19a). This does not go against the promise of salvation
made to Abraham; on the contrary, by identifying what is sin, the Law is at the
same time showing that sin can and must be redeemed. Secondly (vv. 23-25),
God gave the Law in order to protect and guide men towards Christ, in the
same kind of way as, in the Greco-Roman world in which St Paul lived, the tutor
(“custodian” v. 24) was a servant whose task it was to look after the children
and bring them to school; but once they reached their majority, the tutor had no
further role.
With the coming of the Redemption wrought by Christ (v. 26b), man
attains his majority and with it his freedom. Through faith in Christ and through
Baptism he becomes a son of God and puts on Christ (v. 27). From this
moment onwards all differences between men disappear (v. 28): all become
descendants of Abraham and sharers in the promises made to him.
15-18 In communicating his Revelation God speaks through men and uses
images and examples taken from ordinary life in order to make more intelligible
what he wants to reveal about himself; these examples are helps, but they are
only analogies and bring us only a certain distance. Here God’s promise is
compared to someone’s last will and testament, in order to convey the idea that
God does not change his mind. Scripture often speaks about God making a
“covenant” or “pact” with men (for example, Gen 9:8f; Ex 24:3ff; etc.). Here it is
described in more detail, as a legally ratified will, a will so sacred that the things
promised in it cannot be added to or subtracted from. No one has the right to
change them in any way whatsoever. Therefore, the Law does not condition nor
can it alter the promises “previously ratified”.
The simile of the will also contains the notion of the absolute freedom of
the testator, in this case God, who has taken the initiative and freely decided to
save man through Christ — called here “the offspring of Abraham”. In Gen 12:7
this offspring has a plural, collective meaning; but St Paul interprets it in an
individual sense. In fact there is no contradiction, given that Christ is the Head
of the Church and forms one single Body with it (cf. 1 Cor 12:12; Col 1:18). That
is why St lrenaeus says that the Church is the offspring of Abraham (cf. Against
heresies, 32, 2), and St Augustine adds that by presenting Christ as the
offspring of Abraham, all Christians are being included in him (cf. Exp. in Gal,
ad loc.).
19-20 With the coming of Christ, God has fulfilled his promise to Abraham. This
is a much more important event than the giving of the Law to Moses on Mount
Sinai, as can be seen from the form in which the promise was made and the
way the Law was delivered: according to Jewish traditions, the Law was

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promulgated on Mount Sinai through angels (cf. Acts 7:53). These traditions
thus emphasized two significant things — the sacred and sublime character of
the Law, and the transcendence of God, who had made his will known, not
directly but through angels. The promise, on the other hand had been made
already by God to Abraham — which puts it on a higher level than the Law.
Also, the Law had been delivered in the context of a covenant in which there
were two parties — God and the chosen people. Hence the need for a mediator
— Moses (cf. Deut 5:5); whereas the promise is not dependent on the will of the
two parties: it issues from one only — from the merciful will of God, who makes
the promise to Abraham and fulfils it in a totally gratuitous manner through
Jesus Christ — another indication that the promise is superior to the Law.
21-25 “But the scripture consigned all things to sin”: it is not easy to understand
this phrase but its meaning becomes clearer in the context of the whole
passage: God reveals that all men are under the power of sin, Jews as well as
Gentiles, despite the Jews having received the Law (cf. Rom 3:10-18). The
reason this is so is, again, the inability of the Law to confer justification; the Law
had no power to free us from the devil, sin or death. But now, in the fulness of
time, God’s purpose in giving the Law is made manifest — namely, to protect
and guide mankind during its minority, rather as a governess or tutor looks after
a child until he has grown up. The tutor keeps an eye on the child: the child
cannot do whatever he likes but must be guided by his teacher. And so it is with
mankind: it was a minor, of whom the Law was the custodian, so to speak; but
when the fulness of time came God sent his son Jesus Christ, who set us free
from sin, from death and from the Law itself, our tutor. That is why the Apostle
says, “Now that faith has come, we are no longer under a custodian.” This faith
is the new life which has taken over from the harsh discipline of the Law.
To us, centuries later, these arguments and teachings of St Paul’s may
seem irrelevant. We need to put ourselves in the position of a Jew of his time —
a zealous upholder of the Law, and yet unable to cope with the sheer weight of
all its precepts and accretions — who, now that he has converted to faith in
Christ, has a real sense of liberation: he has been freed from all his old
shackles and is now eager to show his former Jewish brothers that they too can
attain the same freedom in Christ Jesus.
24 The Law, like the whole of the Old Testament, had this function in relation to
the New — to prepare the way for its promulgation. Everything in the books of
the Old Testament refers directly or indirectly to our Lord Jesus Christ and his
work of redemption: the two Testaments are intimately connected, as Tradition
teaches and the Second Vatican Council reminds us: “God, the inspirer and
author of the books of both Testaments, in his wisdom has so brought it about
that the New should be hidden in the Old and that the Old should be made

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manifest in the New. For, although Christ founded the New Covenant in his
blood (cf. Lk 22:20; 1 Cor 11:25), still the books of the Old Testament, all of
them caught up into the Gospel message, attain and show forth their full
meaning in the New Testament (cf. Mt 5:17; Lk 24:27; Rom 16:25-26; 2 Cor
3:14-16) and, in their turn, shed light on it and explain it” (Dei Verbum, 16).
27 St John of Avila, commenting on this passage, says, “The Holy Spirit was
not content with saying that we are bathed and anointed: here he says that we
are clothed, and the clothing we are given is not just something beautiful and
costly: it is Jesus Christ himself, who is the sum total of all beauty, all value, all
richness, etc. What he means is that the beauty of Jesus Christ, his justice, his
grace, his riches, his splendour, shine out from us with the splendour of the sun
and is reflected as in the purest of minors” (Lecciones sobre Gal, ad loc.).
St Paul uses this metaphor of our being decked out in Christ in many
other passages (cf. Rom 13:14; 1 Cor 15:43; Eph 4:24; 6:11; Col 3:10; etc.) to
describe the intimate union between the baptized person and Christ, a union so
intense that the Christian can be said to be “another Christ”.
28 In the order of nature, it may be said, all men are radically equal: as
descendants of Adam, we are born in the image and likeness of God (cf. Gen
1:26-27). The different functions which people have in the life of society do not
alter this basic, natural equality. From this point of view there is no real
difference, nor should there be, between one person and another, no difference
even between man and woman: both are made in the image and likeness of
God.
In the order of grace, which the Redemption inaugurates, this essential,
original equality was restored by Christ, who became man and died on the
Cross to save all. John Paul II points out that this true meaning of the dignity of
man is enhanced by the Redemption: “In the mystery of the Redemption man
becomes newly ‘expressed’ and, in a way, is newly created. He is newly
created! ‘There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is
neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus’ (Gal 3:28). The
man who wishes to understand himself thoroughly — and not just in
accordance with immediate, partial, often superficial, and even illusory
standards and measures of his being — must with his unrest, uncertainty and
even his weakness and sinfulness, with his life and death, draw near to Christ.
He must, so to speak, enter into him with all his own self, he must ‘appropriate’
and assimilate the whole of the reality of the Incarnation and Redemption in
order to find himself’ (Redemptor hominis, 10).
From this radical equality of all men is derived that universal fraternity
which should govern human relations: “Our Lord has come to bring peace,
good news and life to all. Not only to the rich, nor only to the poor. Not only to
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the wise, nor only to the simple. To everyone. To the brethen, for brothers we
are, children of the same Father, God. So there is only one race, the race of the
children of God. There is only one colour, the colour of the children of God. And
there is only one language, the language which speaks to the heart and to the
mind, without the noise of words, making us know God and love one another”
(J. Escrivá, Christ is passing by, 106).
f Or the righteous shall live by faith.
g Or covenant (as in verse 17)
CHAPTER 4
Divine sonship
1-11 St Paul here gives a summary of human history from the point of view of
the salvation which God offers men. As a consequence of Adam’s sin man was
in a state of sin, a slave of the devil. This long period of darkness caused by sin
was lit by God’s aboriginal promise of a Redeemer (cf. Gen 3:15), but it was a
period in which God’s justice was meting out to man the punishment due to sin
(cf. Gen 6-7; 19:1-29; etc.). However, the Lord’s mercy never faltered; his
abiding love prevented him from wiping out the human race despite its evildoing
(cf. Gen 9:9-11; Hos 11:8; etc.). Often, and in many different ways, he sought
man out and spoke to him to show him the way of salvation. We might say that
God did everything he could to help man. Finally, “when the time had fully
come”, God decided to bring to an end this period of tutelage; as the supreme
expression of his love he sent his Only-begotten Son, who became man in
order to end mankind’s alienation from God. “Jesus Christ, the Word made
Flesh, sent as ‘a man among men’ (Letter to Diognetus, 7, 4), ‘speaks the
words of God’ (Jn 3:34), and accomplishes the saving work which the Father
gave him to do (cf. Jn 5:36; 17:4) [. . .] (and) completed and perfected
Revelation and confirmed it with divine guarantees [. . .]. He revealed that God
was with us, to deliver us from the darkness of sin and death, and to raise us up
to eternal life” (Vatican II, Dei Verbum, 4).
The original text (v. 4) says literally that he “was made from woman”: St
Paul, who so often speaks of Jesus’ divinity, here emphasizes that he was truly
man: Jesus did, not suddenly appear on earth in a kind of heavenly apparition;
he really became man in the way he did, taking on human nature in the pure
womb of a woman. This distinguishes his eternal generation (his divine
condition, his pre-existence as the Word) from his birth in time: Jesus, as God,
is mysteriously begotten, not made, by the Father from all eternity; as man,
however, he is born, “was made”, of the Virgin Mary.
St Gregory Nazianzen comments on this by saying that “the Son of God in
person, he who exists from all eternity, he who is invisible, incomprehensible,

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incorporeal, light from light, source of life and immortality, expression of the
supreme archetype, immutable seal, most faithful image, term and measure of
the Father: he it is who comes to the aid of his image; out of love for man he
became man, out of love for my soul he unites himself to an intellectual soul, to
purify those like unto whom he has become, taking on human nature — except
for sin; conceived by the Virgin, whose body and soul the Holy Spirit had earlier
purified” (Sermon 45, 9).
Thus, the Blessed Virgin Mary, by becoming the Mother of Jesus Christ,
who is God, is truly the Mother of God, as the Council of Ephesus later defined:
“If anyone does not profess that Emmanuel is truly God and that the Holy Virgin
is, therefore, Mother of God (for she gave birth in the flesh to the Word of God
made flesh): let him be anathema” (Dz-Sch, 252).
This mystery has been beautifully described by Monsignor Escrivá in
these terms: “When the Blessed Virgin said Yes, freely, to the plans revealed to
her by the Creator, the divine Word assumed a human nature — a rational soul
and a body, which was formed in the pure womb of Mary. The divine nature and
the human were united in a single Person — Jesus Christ, true God and,
thenceforth, true Man; the only-begotten and eternal Son of the Father and,
from that moment on, as Man, the true Son of Mary. This is why our Lady is the
Mother of the Incarnate Word, the second Person of the Blessed Trinity who
has united our human nature to himself for ever, without any confusion of the
two natures. The greatest praise we can give to the Blessed Virgin is to address
her loud and clear by the name that expresses her very highest dignity —
Mother of God” (Friends of God, 274).
3 “The elemental spirits of the universe”: this refers, firstly, to the rites and
practices of pagan religions and, more specifically, to idolatrous concepts and
superstitions which saw the stars and occult forces as custodians of the
universe and of human history. Also, by including himself among the slaves of
these elements St Paul seems to be referring to certain ritual precepts of the
Mosaic religion. In both cases, the “elemental spirits” subjected man to a
slavery of observance of “days, and months, and seasons, and years” (Gal
4:10; cf. Rom 14:5; Col 2:16).
The Gentiles superstitiously sought to placate the gods and the powers of
nature. The Jews, on the other hand, observed an explicit precept of God, but
this was now no longer in force. The Galatians had lived as slaves to these
“elemental spirits” until “when the time had fully come” they were liberated by
Christ, in the same kind of way as a child, once he has reached maturity, finds
himself free from tutors and custodians.
6 Abba is an Aramaic word which has come down to us with its translation
“Father” As can be deduced from Mt 14:36 (cf. note on Lk 11:1), this is the
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same word as our Lord used in his personal prayer. However, it is not a word
ever used by Jews to address God, probably because it contains the kind of
trust and tenderness that small children have in their dealings with their father.
Jesus, however, did not hesitate to use it and to encourage his followers to use
it. In this way he invites us to relate to God with the trust and tenderness of a
child towards its father — as well he might, because by redeeming us Christ not
only freed us from the yoke of the Law but enabled us to have a new
relationship to God, to be God’s sons and daughters. St Paul echoes this
teaching (cf. also Rom 8:16-17) and attributes to the Holy Spirit that movement
in man’s heart which impels him to cry out, full of love and hope, “Abba! Father!”
This all means that “if we have a constant relationship with the Holy Spirit,
we shall become spiritual ourselves, we shall realize that we are Christ’s
brothers and children of God, and we shall not hesitate to call upon our Father
[...]. Words cannot go so far as the heart, which is moved by God’s goodness.
He says to us, ‘You are my son.’ Not a stranger, not a well-treated servant, not
a friend — that would be a lot already. A son! He gives us free access to treat
him as sons, with a son’s piety and I would even say with the boldness and
daring of a son whose Father cannot deny him anything” (J. Escrivá, Christ is
passing by, 136 and 185).
In this verse we can see the roles of the three divine Persons in man’s
supernatural life. The Father sends the Holy Spirit, here called “the Spirit of his
Son”, to help us activate our gift of divine sonship.
8-10 St Paul reminds his readers of the sad situation they were in when they
did not know God and adored false gods. They were at the mercy of their
passions, slaves of sin (cf. Rom 1:18-33; Eph 2:11-12; 4:17ff). Now that they do
know God they cannot but love him: it is not possible to know Supreme
Goodness and not love him with one’s whole soul. The Apostle corrects himself,
pointing out that in fact it is not they who have come to know God, but God who
has recognized them; even then, with the initiative coming entirely from God,
knowing is also the same as loving. That is, God has loved us. See also note
on Gal 4:3.
10 St Paul reproaches the Galatians for continuing to keep these observances
which no longer apply (cf. note on Gal 4:3).
From antiquity God chose to establish, through a revealed precept, a rule
of the natural and moral order, by specifying days to be consecrated to divine
worship. In addition to the sabbath he instituted other festivals, to
commemorate mercies and wonders he had worked for his people (cf. Lev 23;
Num 28 and 29).

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 Just as the New Testament revelation is more perfect than the Old, so the
form of worship — both private and public — laid down by Christ is on a much
higher level. The rites laid down in connexion with the third commandment of
the Mosaic Law must give way to those established by the Gospel, which has a
new form of worship and special festivals of its own. Thus, “by a tradition
handed down from the Apostles, which took its origin from the very day of
Christ’s Resurrection, the Church celebrates the paschal mystery every seventh
day, which day is appropriately called the Lord’s Day or Sunday. For on this day
Christ’s faithful are bound to come together into one place. They should listen
to the word of God and take part in the Eucharist, thus calling to mind the
Passion, Resurrection and glory of the Lord Jesus, and giving thanks to God
who has begotten them anew ‘through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the
dead [. . .1 into a living hope’ (1 Pet 1:3). The Lord’s Day is the original feast
day, and it should be proposed to the faithful and taught to them so that it may
become in fact a day of joy and of freedom from work” (Vatican II,
Sacrosanctum Concilium, 106).
The obligation attaching to Sunday rest and attendance at Mass on
Sundays and other holydays is contained in the Code of Canon Law (can.
1246-1248). This is a Church law which specifies the natural law concerning
worship of God and the divine-positive law on the sanctification of feast-days.
These regulations are made by the Church, which is entrusted with the deposit
of Christ’s teaching and which, being a fully-fledged society, is endowed with
the authority to make laws for the benefit of its subjects.
The Church also has made regulations about days of penance on which
the faithful should practise the virtue of penance through fasting and abstinence
from meat or alternatively by doing certain works of charity and devotion laid
down by Church authorities (cf. ibid., can. 1249-1253). Cf. note on Gal 4:3.
A fatherly appeal
12 Paul reminds the Galatians of the time he spent among them preaching the
Gospel. His tone becomes more tender at this point. They know that he left the
way of the works of the Law once he met the Gospel. For doing so he was
persecuted and harassed by his former co-religionists. Paul had lived among
the Galatians, trying his best not to be different from them (unless it meant
going against the Gospel). He has a perfect right to say that he became as they
were, so much so that the Jews regarded him as a renegade, an unclean
Gentile.
Paul gave up his previous Jewish observances: the Galatians, also, if they
are to follow the Gospel, should give up their old pagan practices (the “days
and months, and seasons, and years”: v. 10). Paul can see that it would be
dangerous for the integrity of the Christian religion if the Galatians were to
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revert to observing those pagan practices: and it would also be dangerous if
they now started, as apparently they had, to adopt Jewish practices. They must
stop this completely. To explain what he means, he gives them a simple rule,
one they can easily apply — to follow his example. He has already explained
his teaching to them: now he provides a living example of how that teaching
works in practice.
19 St Paul speaks full of affection: they are running the risk of cutting
themselves off from faith in Christ, which he had brought to them; and this
makes him feel birth-pains all over again, because he has to start to re-confirm
their faith. He cannot go in person, because he is too far away. So he is
speaking to them from his heart, like a mother or father: he will continue to
suffer, because they need to hear the Gospel again “until Christ be formed” in
them, just as a child takes shape in its mother’s womb.
Jesus taught us to call no one on earth our Father but God our Lord (cf.
Mt 23:9), because only from God the Father does all fatherhood in heaven and
on earth take its origin (cf. Eph 3:15). Obviously we cannot interpret our Lord’s
words as meaning that we are forbidden to describe our mother and father by
these terms.
Similarly, the Church sees as fathers those who give us life in the faith,
through preaching and Baptism (cf. St Pius V Catechism, III, 5, 8). It is to that
kind of spiritual fatherhood St Paul refers here, and elsewhere (cf. I Cor 4:15).
“It is good to give glory to God, without seeking foretastes (wife, children,
honours. . .) of that glory, which we will enjoy fully with him in the next Life.
“Besides, he is generous. He returns a hundredfold: and he does so even
in children. Many give them up for the sake of his glory, and they have
thousands of children of their spirit. Children, as we are children of our Father
who is in heaven” (J. Escrivá, The Way, 779).
The Church teaches that the Virgin Mary is the Mother of all Christians (cf.
Vatican II, Lumen gentium, 61). She is an example we should all follow: “May
the soul of Mary be in each of you, to praise the Lord; may the Spirit of Mary be
in each of you, to rejoice in God,” St Ambrose writes. And this Father of the
Church goes on in a vein which may at first seem rather daring, but which has a
clear spiritual meaning for the life of the Christian. “According to the flesh there
is only one Mother of Christ; according to faith, Christ is the fruit of all of us”
(Expositio Evangelii sec. Lucam, II, 26).
“If we become identified with Mary and imitate her virtues, we shall be
able to bring Christ to life, through grace, in the souls of many who will in turn
become identified with him through the action of the Holy Spirit. If we imitate
Mary, we shall share in some way in her spiritual motherhood. And all this

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silently, like our Lady; without being noticed, almost without words, through the
true and genuine witness of our lives as Christians, and the generosity of
ceaselessly repeating her fiat — Let it be done unto me — which we renew as
an intimate link between ourselves and God” (J. Escrivá, Friends of God, 281).
The two covenants: Hagar and Sarah
21-31 The entire Old Testament narrative contains lessons for Christians. The
Apostle says as much when he declares that these things have a symbolic
meaning and “were written down for your instruction, upon whom the end of the
ages has come” (1 Cor 10:11). However, certain episodes and people have
particular significance, and this passage cites one (cf. Gen chaps. 16, 17 and
21). Abraham had been given a promise by God that he would have a son (Gen
15:4) by his wife Sarah (cf. Gen 17:19). However, both of them were quite old,
and Sarah, besides, was barren; so, in keeping with the ancestral customs of
the tribe, Sarah made Abraham take Hagar, her slave-girl, and Hagar had a
son, Ishmael. However, God told Abraham that this son was not the son of the
promise (cf. Gen 17:19). The promise was fulfilled sometime later when,
through a miracle of God, Sarah gave birth to a son. St Paul speaks to us about
the allegorical meaning of this episode: two women — Sarah, Abraham’s wife
and the mother of Isaac, and Hagar, her slave and the mother of Ishmael —
stand for two stages in Salvation History. Hagar symbolizes the stage of the Old
Covenant made on Mount Sinai, while Sarah represents the New Covenant,
sealed forever by the blood of Christ, the covenant which frees us from the
yoke of the Law and from sin.
Paul’s conclusion from this is that Christians are brothers of Isaac, born of
the free woman, and therefore they are heirs of the promise made to Abraham
and his descendants.
24-26 The sacred writer wants to stress that if one continues to be subject to
the Mosaic Law it is equivalent to remaining a slave, to being a son of Hagar.
People in that position constitute the present Jerusalem, who is “in slavery with
her children”. Against this there is the heavenly Jerusalem, a metaphor also
used in the Apocalypse to describe the Church triumphant in glory (cf. Rev
21:2, 10). This metaphor also conveys the idea of the transcendent,
supernatural character of the Church.
Undoubtedly St Paul’s Jewish contemporaries would have regarded this
comparison of Jerusalem with Hagar as virtually blasphemous. However, we do
know that the rabbis of his time did make a distinction between the earthly
Jerusalem and the heavenly Jerusalem, the former being only a pale shadow of
the latter. The Apostle uses these teachings, which can be deduced from
Sacred Scripture, to explain that those who believe in Christ are the true
descendants — spiritual descendants — of the lawful wife, Sarah, who
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prefigures the heavenly Jerusalem; whereas those who do not believe in Christ,
although they belong racially to the people of Israel, are no longer true
descendants of the lawful wife, but rather are children of Hagar.
St Paul then makes a play on words, in typical rabbinal style: since Hagar
is one of the names of the mountainous region of Sinai, to which, according to
the geographical notions of the time, Mount Sion also belongs (Sion being the
hill on which Jerusalem is built), this earthly Jerusalem is connected with Hagar,
the slave, to whom the divine promise was not made. This whole passage,
while we may find it very odd, does reveal St Paul’s earlier training as a rabbi, a
training which divine Providence uses to show us the inner meaning of one of
the most important episodes in Old Testament history.
29 A rabbinical tradition, recounted in the Talmud (Sota, 6, 6), glossed the
passage of Gen 21:9, in which we are told that Ishmael was playing with Isaac,
as meaning that Ishmael felt a certain animosity towards Isaac and was ill-
treating him during play. According to this Jewish tradition, and in the light of
Ishmael symbolizing the Jews and Isaac the Christians, St Paul points out that,
in the same way as then, the children born according to the flesh (the Jews) are
persecuting those born according to the Spirit (the Christians); and, similarly,
those who have been set free from the Law through Christ’s death are suffering
oppression from those who remain subject to the Law, that is, those Judaizers
who are bent on imposing the yoke of the Mosaic Law on Christians of pagan
background.
h Or by dealing truly with you
i Other ancient authorities read For Sinai is a mountain in Arabia.
j Other ancient authorities read you.
CHAPTER 5
EXHORTATION
Christian liberty
1-3 The Law of Moses, which was divinely revealed, was something good; it
suited the circumstances of the time. Christ came to bring this Law to perfection
(cf. notes on Mt 5:17-19 and Gal 5:14-15). All the elaborate legal and ritual
prescriptions in the Mosaic Law were laid down by God for a specific stage in
Salvation History, that is, the stage which ended with the coming of Christ.
Christians are under no obligation to follow the letter of that Law (cf. St Thomas
Aquinas, Summa theologiae, I-II, q.108, a.3 ad 3).
Although in this letter to the Galatians the Apostle is emphasizing, as we
have seen, freedom from the Law of Moses, obviously this liberation cannot be
entirely disconnected from freedom in general. If someone submits to

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circumcision after being baptized, it amounts to subjecting oneself to a series of
practices which have now no value and to depriving oneself of the fruits of
Christ’s Redemption. In other words, subjection to the Law brings with it a loss
of freedom in general. Paul is using the full might of his apostolic authority when
he says, “If you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you.”
Christ’s Redemption alone is effective; it has no need of the rites of the Old
Testament.
4-5 There is now not just a clear distinction but actual opposition between
following Christ and the observance of the Law, with the result that if anyone
tries to live by the Law only he is cutting himself off from Christ. Baptism is the
sacrament whereby we are inserted into Jesus Christ, becoming members of
his Body and branches of the vine (cf. Jn 15:5). If we cut ourselves off from
Christ, the true vine and source of life, we cannot bear fruit. Nor can we do so
by going back and submitting to the Old Law, for that Law is now out of date
and no longer operates.
On the other hand, if we remain in the grace which Christ has won for us,
we shall produce the “hope of righteousness”, which is not simply what we have
now — the life of grace — but its perfect fulfilment in eternal life: this is really
what we “wait” for, what we yearn for.
6 In the stage of Salvation History which begins with Christ, the fact that a
person is Jewish or Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, counts for nothing
as far as salvation is concerned. What does matter is truly believing that only
Christ Jesus can save us: true faith, genuine faith, moves us to love Christ and,
as a consequence of this, to love everyone without exception. The faith to
which St Paul is referring can be described, as the Apostle St James implies
(Jas 2:17), as “living faith”, that is, faith which is translated into a profound
conviction which motivates us to love: this is “faith working through love”.
St Paul is obviously speaking about the supernatural virtue of faith in its
proper sense, that is, “living faith”. In the Christian tradition, stemming from St
James, “dead faith” is a caricature of faith which is incapable of expressing itself
in words.
The Magisterium of the Church teaches that “faith, unless it be joined to
hope and charity, neither makes us one with Christ nor loving members of his
Body. That is why it is rightly said that ‘faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead’
(Jas 2:17) and idle, and that ‘in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor
uncircumcision is of any avail, but faith working through love’ (Gal 5:6; 6:15)”
(Council of Trent, De iustificatione, chap. 7).
Therefore, a person who has faith but does not live in the grace of God is
really a kind of dead person: charity is as it were the soul of all the virtues, it is

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what gives them life: “it must be remembered that if someone had all the gifts of
the Holy Spirit with the exception of the first gift, charity, he could not be
supernaturally alive [...]. He would be like a dead body: however much he deck
himself out in gold and precious stones, he continues to be a dead body” (St
Thomas, On the two commandments. . ., intro. 3).
Our Lord said that his disciples would be recognized by their charity (cf. Jn
13:35), because faith begets hope, and hope leads on to love. “When one asks
if someone is good,” St Augustine says, “one does not check to see what he
believes or what he hopes for, but what it is he loves. For someone who loves
rightly certainly also believes and hopes rightly; but he who does not love
believes in vain, even if what he believes in is true [. . .]. Therefore, this is the
faith in Christ, which the Apostle extols — ‘faith which works through love”
(Enchiridion, chap. 117).
9 This sentence, a kind of adage, indicates that a few people can corrupt all the
rest, which was what was happening with these false preachers who were
leading the Galatians astray. But it can be applied also in a positive sense, as
we know from the parable of the leaven which leavens all the dough (cf. Mt
13:33 and par.): that is, a handful of apostles of Christ can lead crowds of
people in the right direction.
“It is true; we are few, in comparison with the rest of mankind, and of
ourselves we are worth nothing. But our Master’s affirmation resounds with full
authority: Christians are the light, the salt, the leaven of the world and ‘a little
leaven leavens the whole lump’ (Gal 5:9). [. . .] Jesus has redeemed us all, and
he wishes to make use of a few of us, despite our personal nothingness, to
make his salvation known to all” (J. Escrivá, Friends of God, 9).
11-12 St Paul now answers one of the calumnies which the Judaizers were
using in their case against him. They said he was two-faced on the matter of
circumcision: in Judea, they said, he was preaching that it was obligatory, in
order to ingratiate himself with the Jews; whereas among the Gentiles — the
Galatians, for instance — he was saying that it was not necessary.
Moreover, since circumcision was only a sign or symbol of the Old
Covenant, it was designed to disappear once that Covenant ended. Now that
the Redemption has come about and a New Covenant is in place, circumcision
no longer has any meaning: it is simply a physical incision. Commenting on this
passage, St Thomas interprets it as high sarcasm: “If they are so keen on
circumcision, then let them not just circumcise themselves, but also castrate
themselves” (Commentary on Gal. ad loc.). Actually, in those times, fanatical
worshippers of Cybele did castrate themselves in honour of that goddess.
The fruit of the Spirit and the works of the flesh

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14-15 To prepare the way for the coming of the Redeemer, God revealed to the
chosen people the fundamental principles of the natural law, because, as a
result of original sin and personal sins, mankind’s knowledge of these principles
had been obscured and weakened. The ten commandments which he revealed
to Moses (Ex 20:1-21; Deut 5:6-22) traced out very clearly the way to follow to
please God and be saved (cf. Lev 18:5; Neh 9:29; etc.).
When the Saviour came, the Decalogue continued in force, because it
was part of the natural law. Indeed, Christ reinforced it and showed that the key
to and essence of the ten commandments is Love — love of God, which
necessarily brings with it love of neighbour (cf. notes on Mt 22:34-40 and Jn
13:34-35).
“It might also be asked”, St Augustine comments, “why the Apostle here
speaks only of love of neighbour, saying that this way the whole Law is fulfilled
[...], when in fact charity is perfect only if one practises the two precepts of love
of God and love of neighbour [. . .]. But who can love his neighbour, that is, all
men, as himself, if he does not love God, since it is only by God’s precept and
gift that one can love one’s neighbour? So, since neither precept can be kept
unless the other be kept, it is enough to mention one of them” (Exp. in Gal, 45).
See also the note on Rom 13:8-10.
17-21 The fall of Adam and Eve left us with a tendency to seek created things
for our own pleasure, instead of using them to lead us to God. The desires of
the flesh make their appearance, urges which are at odds with God and with all
that is noble in our personality. But when grace enters our soul and justifies us,
we share in the fruits of the Redemption wrought by Christ and we are enabled
to conquer our concupiscence and life according to the flesh.
The vices referred to in vv. 19-21 have their roots in something much
deeper — life “of the flesh”. And, St Augustine asserts, “it is said that someone
lives according to the flesh when he lives for himself. Therefore, in this case, by
‘flesh’ is meant the whole person. For everything which stems from a
disordered love of oneself is called work of the flesh” (The City of God, 14, 2).
This is why we find included in the “works of the flesh” not only sins of
impurity (v. 19) and faults of temperance (v. 21) but also sins against the virtues
of religion and fraternal charity (v. 20).
“Significantly, when speaking of ‘the works of the flesh’ Paul mentions not
only ‘immorality [fornication], impurity, licentiousness [. . .]’ drunkenness,
carousing’ — all of which objectively speaking are connected with the flesh; he
also names other sins which we do not usually put in the ‘carnal’ or ‘sexual’
category — ‘idolatry, sorcery , enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, envy’ [. . .]. All

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these sins are the outcome of ‘life according to the flesh’, which is the opposite
to ‘life according to the spirit” (John Paul II, Address, 7 January 1981).
Therefore, as the Apostle says, anyone who in one way or other
obstinately persists in his sin will not be able to enter the Kingdom of heaven
(cf. I Cor 6:9-10; Eph 5:5).
22-25 When someone lets himself be led by his instincts he is said to be
leading an “animal life”; whereas, if he acts as his reason advises, he is leading
a rational, human, life. Similarly, when one allows the Holy Spirit to act, one’s
life becomes life according to the Spirit — a supernatural life, a life which is no
longer simply human but divine. This is what happens when a person is in the
state of grace and is mindful of the treasure he bears within.
“Alone! You are not alone. We are keeping you close company from afar.
Besides . . . , the Holy Spirit, living in your soul in grace — God with you — is
giving a supernatural tone to all your thoughts, desires and actions” (J. Escrivá,
The Way, 273).
The soul then becomes a good tree which is known by its fruits. Its actions
reveal the presence of the Paraclete, and because of the spiritual delight they
give the soul, these actions are called fruits of the Holy Spirit (cf. St Thomas
Aquinas, Summa theologiae, I-I!, q. 70, a. 1).
“Those blessed fruits enumerated by the Apostle (Gal 5:22) the Spirit
produces and shows forth in the just, even in this mortal life — fruits replete
with all sweetness and joy. Such must, indeed, be from the Spirit ‘who in the
Trinity is the love of the Father and the Son, filling all creatures with
immeasurable sweetness’ (St Augustine, De Trinitate, 6, 9)” (Leo XIII, Divinum
illud munus, 12).
k Other ancient authorities add murder.
CHAPTER 6
Fraternal charity
1-2 By loving others one keeps the Law of Christ. Earlier on the Apostle said
that “the whole law is fulfilled in one word, ‘You shall love your neighbour as
yourself” (5:14). This doctrine is to be found in many places in the New
Testament (cf. Mt 22:40; Rom 13:8-10; Col 3:14; etc.), because mutual love is
the “New Commandment” of Christ (cf. Jn 13:34). “The Messiah’s words are
quite clear. He stresses, once and for all, ‘by this you will be known, by the love
you have for one another!’ This is why I feel I must remind people constantly
about these words of our Lord. St Paul adds, ‘Bear one another’s burdens; and
so fulfil the law of Christ’ (Gal 6:2) [. . .]. And yet you have so many brothers,
your friends about you, who are overworked! Help them unobtrusively, with

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kindness, with a smile on your lips, in such a way that it will be practically
impossible for them to notice what you are doing for them. Thus they will not
even be able to express their gratitude, because the discreet refinement of your
charity will have made your help pass undetected” (J. Escrivá, Friends of God,
44).
A first logical consequence of love for others is that fraternal correction,
which a Christian offers another, gently and humbly, seeking only his brother or
sister’s good, and conscious at the same time of his own weakness and
personal shortcomings. “We should never, take issue with another’s sin”, St
Augustine comments, “without first examining our own c9nscience by inner
questioning and by then replying, before God, without ambiguity, that we are
acting out of love” (Exp. in Gal, 57).
The other expression of charity which this passage draws to our attention
is that of bearing the burdens of others, while not neglecting our own.
3-5 Because they subjected themselves to Jewish legal prescriptions some
Galatians considered themselves better than the rest. This is reminiscent of the
boastfulness of the Pharisee who stood in the Temple praying and thanking
God for all his qualities (cf. Lk 18:11). As our Lord says, that foolish man left the
Temple as he entered it — his soul stained by pride and estranged from the
love of God, who rejoices in those who are humble and rewards them with his
grace (cf. Lk 1:51-53).
Like the Pharisee, the Judaizers’ pride stemmed from lack of self-
knowledge. Hence the Apostle’s exhortation to everyone to examine himself
sincerely, in the sight of God, who sees everything. “Man on his own”, St John
of Avila teaches, “is nothing but vanity, and if he be anything more than that, it is
because the Lord God makes him so” (Audi, filia, Il, 66). St Augustine exclaims,
“No good man can boast in your presence, nor is any living man justified; for if
there be any good in him, small or great, it is by your grace” (Sermon 99, 6).
Self-knowledge leads us, therefore, to humility, to distrusting ourselves
and abandoning ourselves totally in God’s hands: he can do everything. St Paul
recommends that we examine our conscience, in order to discover what really
motivates our actions and our moods. “Self-knowledge leads us by the hand, as
it were, to humility” (J. Escrivá, The Way, 609).
6 Our Lord instructed his Apostles to give without pay what they had received
without charge (Mt 10:8); but he also said that a worker deserves his food (Mt
10:10), that is, that the preachers of the Gospel have a right to live by that work.
We find the same idea in the life and teachings of St Paul. For, although he
normally supported himself by working (cf. Acts 18:3; I Thess 2:6-9; 2 Cor 11:7-
15), sometimes he did accept material help (cf. Phil 4:10-20). In the present

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passage he expounds a general rule, making it quite clear that a disciple should
share what he has with his teacher. “If we have sown spiritual good among you,
is it too much if we reap your material benefits? […] Nevertheless, we have not
made use of that right” (1 Cor 9:11-12).
In the teaching of the Second Vatican Council the Church reminds us of
this: “Completely devoted as they are to the service of God in the fulfilment of
the office entrusted to them, priests are entitled to receive a just remuneration.
For ‘the labourer deserves his wages’ (Lk 10:7) and ‘the Lord commanded that
those who proclaim the Gospel should get their living by the Gospel’ (1 Cor
9:14). For this reason, insofar as provision is not made from some other source
for the just remuneration of priests, the faithful are bound by a real obligation of
seeing to it that the necessary provision for a decent and fitting livelihood is
made available to priests” (Presbytero rum ordinis, 20).
7-10 There are some who live as if the Lord were not going to ask them to
render an account some day — as if they could deceive God. St Paul’s words
contain a truth which the Church also reminds us about (cf. Dz-Sch, 1000-1001,
1304, 1488): when death comes the time for meriting is over. That is why the
Apostle stresses the need to strive actively to behave in an upright way, “for
whatever a man sows, that he will also reap”.
The simile of sowing, which is often to be found in the Bible, is rich in
content (cf. Ps 107:37; 126:5; Prov 6:19; 22:8; Hos 8:7; 10:12; Jer 12:13; Mt
13:27; 25:24-26; Jn 4:37; 1 Cor 9:11; Jas 5:7; etc.). St John of Avila,
commenting on this passage, says: “He had said that to do good was to sow;
and when one sows, at first there is nothing but loss: the sower divests himself
of what he has for the sake of what he hopes to gain. He is referring to the
same metaphor, and says that we should not grow weary, we should not give
up doing good, we should put our hope in God” (Lecciones sobre Gal, ad loc.)
CONCLUSION
11 Here, as on other occasions and at greater length (cf. I Cor 16:21; Col 4:18;
2 Thess 3:17; Philem 19), St Paul refers to some words written in his own hand.
We know that, in line with the custom of his time, the Apostle did not actually
write his letters himself, but instead usually used a scribe. For example, in Rom
16:22 the scribe sends a personal greeting of his own to the people Paul is
addressing. St Peter used this same method for his first letter, in which we are
actually told the scribe’s name, Silvanus (cf. I Pet 5:12).
14 Those who had been circumcised — both Gentiles and Jews — used to
boast about bearing on their body the sign of the Old Covenant, circumcision.
St Paul points out to them that to his mind there is only one ground for boasting
— the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the New Covenant has been

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sealed and the Redemption brought about and which therefore has come to be
the sign of the Christian. This was the core of his preaching — the power and
the wisdom of God (cf. 1 Cor 1:23-24). The Apostle’s assertion has been
echoed by Christians down the ages and has inspired pages of singular piety.
For example, here is something from an Easter homily (preacher unknown) of
the second century: “When I am overtaken by fear of God, the Cross is my
protection; when I stumble, it is my help and my support; when I engage in
combat, my prize; when I conquer, my crown. The Cross is for me a narrow
path, a narrow way — Jacob’s ladder, which angels ascend and descend, at the
top of which the Lord is to be found.”
From the Holy Cross our salvation comes, for it was there that Jesus died
for our sins. St John Chrysostom, therefore, praises it: “The Cross is the sign of
victory displayed to fend off demons, the sword to use against sin, the sword
with which Christ ran the serpent through; the Cross is the will of the Father, the
glory of his Only Son, the joy of the Holy Spirit, the ornament of the angels, the
assurance of the Church; it is what Paul glories in, it protects the saints and
lights up the whole universe” (De coemeterio et de cruce, 2).
For his part St Anselm is so moved that he exclaims: “O Cross, chosen
and designed to do such ineffable good: you are praised and exalted not so
much by the minds and tongues of men, or even angels, as by the works that
have been done thanks to you. O Cross, in whom and by whom salvation and
life have come to me, in whom and by whom all good things come to me: God
would not have me glory unless it be in you (cf. Gal 6:14)” (Prayers and
Meditations, 4).
In the Cross, therefore, every Christian should be able to find support and
strength for his daily life: “When you see a poor wooden Cross, alone, uncared-
for, and of no value... and without its Crucified, don’t forget that that Cross is
your Cross: the Cross of each day, the hidden Cross, without splendour or
consolation . . . , the Cross which is waiting the Crucified it lacks: and that
Crucified must be you” (J. Escrivá, The Way, 178).
15 The expression “new creation” is full of theological content. It points to the
fact that supernatural grace operates at a much higher level than any mere
human action: just as God in creating the world made everything out of nothing,
so too grace is granted without there being any previous merits. The phrase
also indicates that, in regard to salvation, the only thing which matters as far as
God is concerned is grace: just as things exist because they have been
created, so man exists on the supernatural plane because he has been
“created again”. Finally, “new creation” gives us a glimpse into the mystery of
grace: thus, when we were originally created we were given existence, and a
nature, and certain faculties: in a similar way, on being created anew we are

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made to share in God’s nature, we are given a new nature (super-nature) and a
whole supernatural biology (the infused virtues and gifts of the Holy Spirit).
The nature which God gave man through creation was damaged by the
sin of Adam, becoming thereby an “old creation”, the old man. Our new life or
new creation is in brilliant contrast with the dark background of sin and death
caused by that original fall. “We have been created,” St Thomas comments,
“and we have received our natural being through Adam; but that creature grew
old, and died, and therefore the Lord, by constituting us in the state of grace,
worked a kind of new creation, ‘that we should be a kind of first fruits of his
creatures’ (Jas 1:18). And he adds ‘new’ because we are renewed by him,
given a new life; and by the Holy Spirit also. ‘When thou sendest forth thy Spirit,
they are created, and thou renewest the face of the earth (Ps 104:30): and by
the Cross of Christ [. . .]. Thus, by means of the new creation, that is, through
faith in Christ and through the love of God, which has been poured into our
hearts, we are renewed and we are united to Christ” (Commentary on Gal, ad
loc.).
We find this parallelism between creation and the new creation (re-
creation) in a number of places in the New Testament. The new life which is
attained through union with Christ is called a “new creation” (cf. 2 Cor 5:17).
This new creation is the new man, who is born not of blood nor of the will of the
flesh nor of the will of man, but of God (cf. in 1:12-13), man raised up to the
supernatural state of grace, created in Christ (cf. Eph 2:10, 15) for a life of
righteousness and holiness (cf. Rom 6:4; Col 3:9-10), man, God’s adoptive son
and heir (cf. Rom 8:16), in whom Christ’s own life is definitively manifested (cf.
Gal 2:20).
17 A reference to the sign or brand put on livestock to show which herd it
belongs to. In ancient times slaves were also branded — to show which family
they belonged to — as were the adherents of some religions. St Paul alludes to
these customs by declaring that he is metaphorically a servant of Christ.

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