Romans 3:19–26

It is clear that the law censures those who did not believe first of all their leader Moses nor their ancestors the prophets, whom they killed, nor the apostles who were their kinsmen according to the flesh, whose blood they spilled. They were always ungodly and rebellious against God, so as to be condemned by the law whose authority they thought should be despised.Paul says this because with the Jews bound in sin the whole world has become subject to God. For there is no doubt that the pagans were immersed in sins and wickedness and that for that reason the whole world bowed before God in order to obtain forgiveness. The "whole world" means Jews and Gentiles, from whom believers are set apart. Therefore when Paul affirms that the Jews, who had received God's law and to whom the promise had been given, were bound in sin, there is no doubt that all the Gentiles were guilty of death … for all have been found guilty and need the mercy of God, whether they be Jews or Gentiles.

"Now we know that what things soever the Law saith, it saith to them who are under the Law." This then is why, next to Isaiah, who confessedly aimed at them, he brought in David; that he might show that these things also belonged to the same subject. For what need was there, he means, that a prophet who was sent for your correction should accuse other people. For neither was the Law given to any else than you. And for what reason did he not say, we know that what things soever the prophet saith, but what things soever the Law saith? It is because Paul uses to call the whole Old Testament the Law. And in another place he says, "Do ye not hear the Law, that Abraham had two sons?" (Gal. iv. 21, 22.) And here he calls the Psalm the Law when he says, "We know that what things soever the Law saith, it saith to them who are under the Law." Next he shows that neither are these things he said merely for accusation's sake, but that he may again be paving the way for faith. So close is the relationship of the Old Testament with the New, since even the accusations and reproofs were entirely with a view to this, that the door of faith might open brightly upon them that hear it.

Here we must consider carefully what this law is that speaks to those who are under the law. By what it says to them it deprives them of every excuse, so that they can find no hiding place for their sins. It is this which stops every mouth and makes the whole world accountable to God. Now if we want to take this as referring to the law of Moses, which without doubt spoke only to those who had been circumcised from their mother's womb and had learned what the law was, how is it possible that by that law, which applies to only one nation, every mouth should be stopped and the whole world should be held accountable to God? What have the other nations to do with that law, and why does it affect the entire world? And how is it that a knowledge of sin is said to have originated with the law of Moses, when there were many before his time who were well aware of their sins?From this it appears that the apostle Paul is not speaking here about the law of Moses but about the natural law which is written on the hearts of men.… This natural law speaks to all men who are under that law with the sole exception, it seems to me, of those children who are not yet able to distinguish good from evil.… When Paul says "the whole world" he is not talking about trees and rocks and so on but about the rational animal, i.e., the human being. Anything which is not rational is excluded from consideration in this context.

In case the Jews might claim that these verses of the psalm were spoken about the Gentiles, Paul indicates that what has been said in the law has been said to those who are under the law. Of course, it is a question as to who is meant by saying that the fool claims that there is no God. The Jews did not say this in words but in deeds, for they claimed to know God but denied it by their behavior. Paul is not talking to the Gentiles here, because he has already made similar statements about them.

Whose grace, if not of that God from whom also came the law? Unless it be, forsooth, that the Creator intercalated His law for the mere purpose of producing some employment for the grace of a rival god, an enemy to Himself (I had almost said, a god unknown to Him), "that as sin had" in His own dispensation "reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto (eternal) life by Jesus Christ," His own antagonist! For this (I suppose it was, that) the law of the Creator had "concluded all under sin," and had brought in "all the world as guilty (before God)," and had "stopped every mouth," so that none could glory through it, in order that grace might be maintained to the glory of the Christ, not of the Creator, but of Marcion! I may here anticipate a remark about the substance of Christ, in the prospect of a question which will now turn up.

Lest the Jews be able to object: this is not spoken to us, he declares: "the law, if it says anything, speaks to those who are under the law." What need, he says, is there to speak to others, when the law was given to you? By "law" he means the entire Old Testament, and not the law of Moses alone, just as now he called the prophecies of Isaiah and David "law." With the words "every mouth is stopped" he depicts the boasting of the Jews and the unstoppable impulse of their tongue. With these words the prophet bridled it, like a rushing torrent.

Then when he says now we know that what things soever, he explains the text he quoted in three ways: first, by expounding its sense; second, its intention, at that every mouth; third, he gives the reason for his words, at because by the works of the law.

It should be noted that the Jews, against whom the Apostle was speaking, could, to excuse themselves, pervert the sense of the text he cited and claim that it referred to the gentiles, not to the Jews. But the Apostle rejects this, saying: now we know that what things soever the law speaks, it speaks to those who are in the law, i.e., to whom the law is given and who profess the law: when Moses commanded us a law (Deut 33:4). But the gentiles were not under the law; accordingly, the above words pertain to the Jews.

Two objections are raised here. The first is that the above words were not taken from the law but from a psalm. The answer is that the word law is sometimes taken for the entire Old Testament, not for the five books of Moses alone, as in John: it is to fulfill the word that is written in their law: they hated me without cause (John 15:25), which was written in the Old Testament, not in the five books of Moses. This is the way law is taken here. Again, the Old Testament is sometimes divided into three parts, namely, the law, the Psalms, and the prophets, as in Luke: that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled (Luke 24:44). Finally, the entire Old Testament is sometimes divided into two, namely, the law and the prophets, as in Matthew: on these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets (Matt 22:40). In this sense the Psalter is included under the prophets.

The second objection is that in the law, i.e., in the Old Testament, many things are said that pertain to other nations, as is clear in many passages of Isaiah and Jeremiah, where many statements are directed against Babylon and other nations. Therefore, not everything that the law says speaks to those and about those who are under the law. The answer is that whatever it says indeterminately seems to be directed to those to whom the law has been given; but when the Scripture speaks of others it mentions them by name, as when it is written: the burden of Babylon, the burden of Tyre, etc. Furthermore, whatever was said against other nations in the Old Testament was somehow directed to the Jews, inasmuch as ill fortune was foretold for their consolation or fear, just as any preacher should say what pertains to his audience, not what pertains to others: declare to my people their transgressions (Isa 58:1), as if to say: not others' transgressions.

Then when he says that every mouth, he states the intent of the text cited, for Sacred Scripture accuses all of injustice for two reasons. First, to suppress their boasting, by which they considered themselves just, as in Luke: I fast twice a week (Luke 18:12). In regard to this he says, that every mouth may be stopped, which presumptuously ascribes justice to itself: for the mouths of liars will be stopped (Ps 63:11); talk no more so very proudly (1 Sam 2:3). Second, so that recognizing their guilt, they might subject themselves to God as the sick to a physician. Hence he continues: and all the world may be made subject to God, i.e., not only the gentiles but the Jews also, after recognizing their guilt: shall not my soul be subject to God? (Ps 62:1).

Paul never says that they will not be justified before God because they have not kept the law of righteousness in the commandments but because they have refused to believe the sacrament of the mystery of God, which is in Christ. For God has declared that they should be justified by Christ and not by the law, which may justify for a time, but not before God. Therefore those who keep the law are justified in time, not before God, because faith, by which they are justified before God, is not in them. For faith is greater than the law. The law pertains to us but faith pertains to God. The law has a temporary righteousness, but faith has an eternal one. When Paul says "all flesh" he means every human being … but when he says "in the flesh" he means those who are bound by sin. For just as righteousness makes them spiritual, so also sins make them carnal, and they take the name from the deed.By faith the law is abolished, and faith then follows. What then is this law through which he says that sin is made known? Made known how? It is evident that long before Moses the patriarchs were not ignorant of sin. Joseph was thrown into prison, albeit by the wickedness of others, and both the butler and the baker of Pharaoh were in prison because of their sins. In what way then did sin lie dormant? In fact, the law has three aspects to it. The first concerns the mystery of God's divinity. The second is what is fitting according to natural law, which forbids sin. And the third is the deeds of the law, e. g., sabbaths, new moons, circumcision, etc. Here Paul refers to the natural law which was partly reformed and partly confirmed by Moses, which made sin known to all who were bound in wickedness.… The law shows the coming judgment of God and that no sinner will escape punishment, in case someone who has escaped for a time thinks that the law is an illusion. This is what the law shows: that sin will be dealt with by God.

Some think that statements like this are an attack on the law. But they must be read very carefully, so that neither is the law condemned by the apostle nor is free will taken away from man. Therefore, let us distinguish the following four states of human existence: before the law, under the law, under grace and at rest. Before the law we follow the lust of the flesh. Under the law we are dragged along by it. Under grace we neither follow it nor are dragged along by it. At rest there is no lust of the flesh.Prior to being addressed by the law, we do not struggle, because not only do we lust and sin, we even approve of sinning. Under the law we struggle but are defeated. We admit that what we do is evil and that we do not want to do it, but because there is as yet no grace, we are defeated. In this state we discover how far down we lie, and when we want to rise up and yet we fall, we are all the more gravely afflicted. The law is good because it forbids what ought to be forbidden and requires what ought to be required. But when anyone thinks he can fulfill the law in his own strength and not through the grace of his Deliverer, this presumption does him no good but rather harms him so much that he is seized by an even stronger desire to sin and by his sins ends up as a transgressor. So when the man who has fallen realizes that he cannot raise himself, let him cry to his Deliverer for help. Then comes grace, which can pardon previous sins, give aid to the struggling, supplement justice with love and take away fear. When this takes place, although fleshly desires continue to fight against our spirit in this life and try to lead us into sin, yet our spirit does not give in to these desires because it is rooted in the grace and love of God and ceases to sin. For we do not sin by having these perverse desires but by giving in to them. These desires arise from the mortality of the flesh, which we inherit from the first sin of the first man, which is why we are born carnal. Nor will they cease until, by the resurrection of the body, we shall obtain the transformation which has been promised to us. Then we shall be in the fourth state, where there is perfect peace. Perfect peace is the state in which nothing will resist us because we do not resist God. Free will existed perfectly in the first man, but in us, prior to grace, there is no free will which would enable us not to sin but only enough that we do not want to sin. But grace makes it possible not only for us to want to do what is right but actually to do it not in our own strength but by the help of our Deliverer, who at the resurrection will give us that perfect peace which is the consequence of good will.

There is a charity in act, and there is one in affection. And concerning that which is of work, I think the law was given to men and a commandment was formed: for who so possesses it in affection as it is commanded? Therefore the one is commanded for merit, the other is given as a reward. We do not deny that divine grace can grant its beginning indeed, and its progress, to be experienced even in the present life; but its consummation we firmly reserve for future happiness. How then was it right to command what was in no way to be fulfilled? Or if it pleases you more that the commandment was given concerning affectual charity, I do not contend about that, provided that you too agree with me that it could in no way be fulfilled in this life by any man, or could have been. For who would dare arrogate to himself that which Paul himself confesses he has not comprehended? (Phil 3:13.) Nor was the weight of the precept, exceeding the powers of men, hidden from the teacher; but he judged it useful that they be reminded of their own insufficiency from this very thing, and that they might know clearly toward what end of righteousness they ought to strive with their powers. Therefore by commanding impossible things he did not make men transgressors, but humble, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be made subject to God; because by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified before him (Rom 3:19-20). For receiving the commandment, and feeling our transgression, we shall cry out to heaven, and God will have mercy on us: and we shall know in that day, that not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us (Titus 3:5).

How, then, is the law still said to be not good by certain heresies that clamorously appeal to the apostle, who says, "For by the law is the knowledge of sin?" To whom we say, The law did not cause, but showed sin. For, enjoining what is to be done, it reprehended what ought not to be done. And it is the part of the good to teach what is salutary, and to point out what is deleterious; and to counsel the practice of the one, and to command to shun the other. Now the apostle, whom they do not comprehend, said that by the law the knowledge of sin was manifested, not that from it it derived its existence. And how can the law be not good, which trains, which is given as the instructor to Christ, that being corrected by fear, in the way of discipline, in order to the attainment of the perfection which is by Christ?

Well, the body tills the ground, and hastes to it; but the soul is raised to God: trained in the true philosophy, it speeds to its kindred above, turning away from the lusts of the body, and besides these, from toil and fear, although we have shown that patience and fear belong to the good man. For if "by the law is the knowledge of sin," as those allege who disparage the law, and "till the law sin was in the world;" yet "without the law sin was dead," we oppose them. For when you take away the cause of fear, sin, you have taken away fear; and much more, punishment, when you have taken away that which gives rise to lust.

The purpose of the law, says Paul, is to give us a knowledge of sin not only to forbid the doing of things which are inappropriate but also to punish those who do such things.

"For by the Law is the knowledge of sin." He springs upon the Law again, with forbearance however (for what he says is not an accusation of it, but of the listlessness of the Jews). Yet nevertheless he has been earnest here with a view (as he was going to introduce his discourse about faith) to show its utter feebleness. For if thou boastest in the Law, he means, it puts thee to the greater shame: it solemnly parades forth your sins before you. Only he does not word it in this harsh way, but again in a subdued tone; "For by the Law is the knowledge of sin." And so the punishment is greater, but that because of the Jew. For the Law accomplished the disclosure of sin to you, but it was your duty then to flee it. Since then you have not fled you have pulled the punishment more sorely on yourself, and the good deed of the Law has been made to you a supply of greater vengeance. Now then having added to their fear, he next brings in the things of grace, as having brought them to a strong desire of the remission of their sins...

Let us see in what way knowledge of sin comes through the law. It comes insofar as we learn through the law what to do and what not to do, what is sin and what is not sin. It is not, as the heretics claim, that God's law is a bad root or a bad tree through which a knowledge of sin comes. Rather the law is like a medicine through which we perceive the true nature of our disease.… The medicine itself is good, not least because it enables us to isolate the disease and seek to cure it.

By the works of the law Paul means circumcision, the sabbath and the other ceremonies, which had less to do with righteousness than with carnal pleasure. Through the law comes neither forgiveness nor sin itself but rather recognition of sin. Through the law a man realizes what sin is, either because the natural law had been forgotten or because before the written law was given, the lesser sins [i.e., the sins which were more harmful to oneself than others, like lust, drunkenness, etc.] were not recognized as sins.

The Apostle does not mean that they sinned so that their mouths would be stopped; but they were reproved by the prophets so that they would not present their sins as sins of ignorance and boast. And not only the Jews, but "the whole world becomes guilty before God," that is, condemned, lacking boldness, not justified by their own works, but in need of outside help, that is, the grace of Christ. Why then do you, O Jew, boast in the law, when you are equally guilty along with the rest of the world as one not justified by the works of the law?

Then when he says because by the works of the law, he assigns the reason for these words: first, he assigns the reason; second, he explains it, at for by the law.

First, therefore, he says: the reason there is not any man just is that no flesh shall be justified before him, i.e., according to his judgment, by the works of the law; because, as is stated in Galatians: if justification were through the law, then Christ died to no purpose (Gal 2:21), and in Titus: not because of deeds done by us in justice, but in virtue of his own mercy he saved us (Titus 3:5).

However, a work of the law is of two kinds: one is peculiar to the Mosaic law, as the observance of ceremonial precepts; the other is a work of the law of nature, because it pertains to the natural law, as you shall not kill, you shall not steal, etc. Now some take the Apostle's words as referring to the first works, namely, that the ceremonials did not confer the grace through which men are made just. But this does not seem to be the Apostle's intent, for he immediately adds: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But it is clear that sins are made known through prohibitions contained in the moral precepts. Consequently, the Apostle intends to say that by no works of the law, even those commanded by the moral precepts, is man justified in the sense that justice would be caused in him by works, because, as he states below: and if by grace, it is not now by works (Rom 11:6).

Then when he says, for by the law, he proves his statement, namely, that the works of the law do not justify. For the law is given that man might know what to do and what to avoid: he has not dealt thus with any other nation; they do not know his ordinances (Ps 147:20); the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light and the way of life (Prov 6:23). But from the fact that man knows a sin he should avoid as being forbidden, it does not at once follow that he avoids it (because this pertains to the nature of justice), because concupiscence subverts the judgment of reason, when it bears on a particular moral action as performable. Consequently, the law is not enough to make one just; another remedy is needed to suppress concupiscence.

It is clear that the righteousness of God has now appeared apart from the law, but this means apart from the law of the sabbath, the circumcision, the new moon and revenge, not apart from the sacrament of God's divinity, because the righteousness of God is all about God's divinity. For when the law held them guilty, the righteousness of God forgave them and did so apart from the law so that until the law was brought to bear God forgave them their sin. And lest someone think that this was done against the law, Paul added that the righteousness of God had a witness in the Law and the Prophets, which means that the law itself had said that in the future someone would come who would save mankind. But it was not allowed for the law to forgive sin.Therefore, what is called the righteousness of God appears to be mercy because it has its origin in the promise, and when God's promise is fulfilled it is called "the righteousness of God." For it is righteousness when what is promised has been delivered. And when God accepts those who flee to him for refuge, this is called righteousness, because wickedness would not accept such people.

[The righteousness of God] has not been manifested in opposition to the law but as an increase of good and as the free gift of God, so that we may no longer be judged according to human righteousness, which is always under judgment, but that we may be made perfect by the righteousness which comes from God. For this is the righteousness which comes by faith in Christ to all who believe and which dwells in them all.

The righteousness of God is not that by which God is righteous but that with which he clothes man when he justifies the ungodly. To this the Law and the Prophets bear witness.… The righteousness of God is not manifested outside the law, since in that case it could not have been witnessed to in the law. It is a righteousness of God apart from the law because God confers it on the believer through the Spirit of grace without the help of the law.

It is indisputable, then, that the Lord is the Son of the Creator. And if, the Creator above all is confessed to be just, and the Lord to be the Son of the Creator; then the Lord is the Son of Him who is just. Wherefore also Paul says, "But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested;" and again, that you may better conceive of God, "even the righteousness of God by the faith of Jesus Christ upon all that believe; for there is no difference." And, witnessing further to the truth, he adds after a little, "through the forbearance of God, in order to show that He is just, and that Jesus is the justifier of him who is of faith." And that he knows that what is just is good, appears by his saying, "So that the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good," using both names to denote the same power.

But the servants would then have been proved false, and not sent by the Lord, if Christ on His advent, by being found exactly such as He was previously announced, had not fulfilled their words. Wherefore He said, "Think not that I have come to destroy the law or the prophets; I came not to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Until heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall not pass from the law and the prophets till all come to pass." For by His advent He Himself fulfilled all things, and does still fulfil in the Church the new covenant foretold by the law, onwards to the consummation [of all things]. To this effect also Paul, His apostle, says in the Epistle to the Romans, "But now, without the law, has the righteousness of God been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; for the just shall live by faith." But this fact, that the just shall live by faith, had been previously announced by the prophets.

"But now the righteousness of God without the Law is manifested." Here he utters a great thing, and such as needed much proof. For if they that lived in the Law not only did not escape punishment, but were even the more weighed down thereby, how without the Law is it possible not only to escape vengeance, but even to be justified? For he has here set down two high points, the being justified, and the obtaining these blessings, without the Law. And this is why he does not say righteousness simply, but the righteousness of God, so by the worthiness of the Person displaying the greater degree of the grace, and the possibility of the promise. For to Him all things are possible. And he does not say, "was given," but "is manifested," so cutting away the accusation of novelty. For that which is manifested, is so as being old, but concealed. And it is not this only, but the sequel that shows that this is no recent thing. For after saying, "is manifested," he proceeds: "Being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets." Do not be troubled, he means, because it has but now been given, nor be affrighted as though at a thing new and strange. For of old both the Law and the Prophets foretold it.

We have just said that in the above verses Paul was speaking about the natural law and not about the law of Moses, but now it appears that there can be no doubt that he is referring to the law of Moses, by which the righteousness of God is made manifest through faith in Christ Jesus in all who believe, whether they are Jews or Gentiles, and who are justified not by works but by the grace of God, who has redeemed them in Jesus Christ. Does this mean that our interpretation of the foregoing was mistaken?…Just as there is nothing in this verse which makes it possible for us to argue that it is talking about the natural law and not about the law of Moses, so there is nothing in the preceding verses to indicate that they are talking about the law of Moses and not about the natural law. Thus we would argue that just as the foregoing cannot be used to interpret what we now have before us, so neither should our interpretation of it be altered simply because what follows cannot be read in the same way. Does this mean that the apostle has contradicted himself? There are plenty of people who would like to think so!… But we shall try to show how this passage does not go against our interpretation of the foregoing one. We have often said, and have expounded this most clearly in the preface, that the apostle mentions many different kinds of law in this epistle, and only the most attentive reader will be able to detect when he is shifting from one to another.… The law of nature was able to explain the nature of sin and give us some knowledge of it, but the righteousness of God is above and beyond this, and the human mind is unable to attain it by its natural senses.… For this the law of Moses was required, to teach us what God's righteousness is. Do not be surprised that the word law is used here in two different senses!… Moreover, there is a way to tell which meaning of the word law is intended. The Greek language uses articles in front of proper names. Thus when the law of Moses is intended, the article is used, but when the natural law is meant, the article is omitted.

The righteousness which has been given to us freely by God, not acquired by our effort, has been made plain without the written law, and having been hidden in the law has been revealed with greater clarity by the examples of Christ, which are more obvious. The law and the prophets foretold that this righteousness would come in the last times, or perhaps this means that they both bore witness to the recognition of sin.

It was once the law; now it is "the righteousness of God which is by the faith of (Jesus) Christ." What means this distinction? Has your god been subserving the interests of the Creator's dispensation, by affording time to Him and to His law? Is the "Now" in the hands of Him to whom belonged the "Then"? Surely, then, the law was His, whose is now the righteousness of God.

If you, O Jew, boast in the law, then know that it serves as the cause of greater punishment for you. For through it you learned of sin, and whoever sins with awareness faces greater punishment. But this happened through your own negligence, for you did not flee from sin once it became known to you, and therefore you brought greater punishment upon yourself. How then will you be freed from this punishment? If you accept the righteousness of God, independent of the law. For God justifies us even if we have no works, because God is almighty. He expressed it beautifully: "has been manifested," in order to show that the righteousness of God existed before, but was hidden. And with the words "to which the law and the prophets bear witness," he also shows that it is not something new, but that both the law of Moses and the prophets spoke of it, and therefore it is worthy of acceptance; for although it is independent of the law, it is nevertheless in complete agreement with the law in its aim of justifying us.

After showing that Jews and gentiles are equal as far as the state of previous guilt is concerned, the Apostle now shows that they are also equal as far as the state of subsequent grace is concerned. In regard to this he does three things: first, he states his teaching; second, he explains something he had presupposed, at or is he the God of the Jews only? (Rom 3:29). Third, he answers an objection, at do we then destroy the law? (Rom 3:31). In regard to the first he does three things: first, he states his teaching; second, he manifests it, at for there is no distinction; third, he draws the intended conclusion, at where is then your boasting? (Rom 3:27). In regard to the first he does three things: first, he states the relation between justice and the law; second, he gives the cause of justice, at even the justice of God; third, he shows that such justice is available to all, at unto all.

First, he sets down a twofold comparison or relation of justice to the law. The first is that it is not caused by the law. This is what he says: It has been stated that in times past God's justice could not exist in virtue of the works of the law, either because the just one himself fulfills the promises about men's justification: for I say that Christ was minister of the circumcision for the truth of God (Rom 15:8). Or, rather, God's justice, by which a person is justified by God, of which it says below: not knowing the justice of God (Rom 10:3). This justice of God, I say, is now, i.e., in the time of grace, made manifest by the teachings of Christ, by his miracles, as well as by the evidence of the fact, inasmuch as it is evident that many have been divinely made just. And this without the law, i.e., without the law causing justice: you are severed from Christ, you who had been justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace (Gal 5:4); soon my salvation will come, and my justice will be revealed (Isa 56:1).

But lest anyone suppose that this justice is contrary to the law, second, he sets down another relation of justice to the law when he says: being witnessed by the law and the prophets. The law bears witness to Christ's justice by foretelling and prefiguring it: if you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote of me (John 5:46); and also by its effect, for, since it could not justify, it bore witness that justice was to be sought elsewhere. The prophets bore witness by foretelling it: to him all the prophets bear witness (Acts 10:43).

What else comes through faith in Jesus Christ except the righteousness of God which is the revelation of Christ? For it is by faith in the revelation of Jesus Christ that the gift long ago promised by God is acknowledged and received.

How could Paul have promised glory, honor and peace to the good works of Gentiles apart from the grace of the gospel? Because there otherwise is no acceptance of persons with God. And because it is not the hearers but the doers of the law who are justified, he argues that all, whether Jew or Gentile, shall alike have salvation in the gospel.

Paul says "for all" meaning first the Jews, in that it was from among them that salvation first arose, and then the Gentiles, in that from the Jews grace had abounded even to them so that now both share in it together. This grace is not given in general but only to those "who believe," but it is common to all these without distinction.

After saying, "the righteousness of God," he adds straightway, "by faith unto all and upon all that believe." Here again the Jew is alarmed by his not having anything better than the rest, and being numbered with the whole world. Now that he may not feel this, he again lowers him with fear by adding, "For there is no difference, for all have sinned." For tell me not that it is such and such a Greek, such and such a Scythian, such and such a Thracian, for all are in the same plight. For even if you have received the Law, one thing alone is there which you have learnt from the Law-to know sin, not to flee from it. Next, that they may say, "even if we have sinned, still it is not in the same way that they did," he added, "and have come short of the glory of God." So that even if you have not done the same sins as others, still you are alike bereft of the glory, since you belong to those who have offended, and he that hath offended belongeth not to such as are glorified, but to such as are put to shame. Yet, be not afraid: for the reason of my saying this was not that I might thrust you into despair, but that I might show the love of the Lord toward man.

This refers to the faith by which one believes in Jesus Christ. In this there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile.

This is true, he says, that is, the justification by which God justified us, descends upon all through faith. When we bring faith, we are all justified, both Jews and Gentiles. "For there is no distinction." The Jew is not preferred over the Gentile because he received the law.

Then he assigns the cause of this justice, and says the justice of God is through the faith of Christ Jesus, i.e., which he delivered: looking to Jesus the perfecter of our faith (Heb 12:2); or which is held concerning him: for if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved (Rom 10:9).

God's justice is said to exist through faith in Christ Jesus, not as though by faith we merit being justified, as if faith exists from ourselves and through it we merit God's justice, as the Pelagians assert; but because in the very justification, by which we are made just by God, the first motion of the mind toward God is through faith: whoever would draw near to God must believe (Heb 11:6). Hence faith, as the first part of justice, is given to us by God: by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing; for it is the gift of God (Eph 2:8).

But this faith, out of which justice exists, is not the unformed faith about which James says, faith without works is dead (Jas 2:26), but it is faith formed by charity: for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails any thing without faith (Gal 5:6), through which Christ dwells in us. That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith (Eph 3:17), which does not happen without charity: he who abides in love abides in God and God in him (1 John 4:16). This is the faith about which it is said, he cleansed their hearts by faith (Acts 15:9), a cleansing that does not occur without charity: love covers all offenses (Prov 10:12).

And lest anyone suppose that only the Jews are made just through this faith, third, he shows that this justice is common, when he adds unto all. In other words, this justice is in the heart, not in fleshly observances, about which Hebrews says that carnal observances were directed to the justification of the flesh, being regulations for the body and imposed until the time of reformation (Heb 9:10). And upon all, because it transcends human power and merit: not that we are sufficient of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us (2 Cor 3:5). He adds, who believe in him, which refers to the living faith, by which man is justified, as has been said.

Then when he says for there is no distinction, he manifests what he had said: first, in regard to the common availability of justice; second, as to its cause, at being justified freely; third, as to its manifestation, at to the showing of his justice.

This includes both Jews and Greeks. For all here includes even the saints in order to show that nobody can keep the law without faith. For the law was given in such a way that faith was also embedded in it. This faith looked toward a future salvation. Thus the death of Christ benefits everyone, because it has here in this world taught what is to be believed and observed, and in the future it will deliver everyone from hell.

Since the Fall no organization or way of life whatever has a natural tendency to go right. In the Middle Ages some people thought that if only they entered a religious order they would find themselves automatically becoming holy and happy: the whole native literature of the period echoes with the exposure of that fatal error. In the nineteenth century some people thought that monogamous family life would automatically make them holy and happy; the savage antidomestic literature of modern times—the Samuel Butlers, the Gosses, the Shaws—delivered the answer. In both cases the "debunkers" may have been wrong about principles and may have forgotten the maxim abusus non tollit usum: but in both cases they were pretty right about matter of fact. Both family life and monastic life were often detestable, and it should be noticed that the serious defenders of both are well aware of the dangers and free of the sentimental illusion. The author of the Imitation of Christ knows (no one better) how easily monastic life goes wrong. Charlotte M. Yonge makes it abundantly clear that domesticity is no passport to heaven on earth but an arduous vocation—a sea full of hidden rocks and perilous ice shores only to be navigated by one who uses a celestial chart. That is the first point on which we must be absolutely clear. The family, like the nation, can be offered to God, can be converted and redeemed, and will then become the channel of particular blessings and graces. But, like everything else that is human, it needs redemption. Unredeemed, it will produce only particular temptations, corruptions, and miseries. Charity begins at home: so does un-charity.

What assurance have we that our masters will or can keep the promise which induced us to sell ourselves? Let us not be deceived by phrases about 'Man taking charge of his own destiny'. All that can really happen is that some men will take charge of the destiny of the others. They will be simply men; none perfect; some greedy, cruel and dishonest. The more completely we are planned the more powerful they will be. Have we discovered some new reason why, this time, power should not corrupt as it has done before?

This sin has been described by Saint Augustine as the result of Pride, of the movement whereby a creature (that is, an essentially dependent being whose principle of existence lies not in itself but in another) tries to set up on its own, to exist for itself. Such a sin requires no complex social conditions, no extended experience, no great intellectual development. From the moment a creature becomes aware of God as God and of itself as self, the terrible alternative of choosing God or self for the centre is opened to it. This sin is committed daily by young children and ignorant peasants as well as by sophisticated persons, by solitaries no less than by those who live in society: it is the fall in every individual life, and in each day of each individual life, the basic sin behind all particular sins: at this very moment you and I are either committing it, or about to commit it, or repenting it.

The moralities accepted among men may differ--though not, at bottom, so widely as is often claimed--but they all agree in prescribing a behaviour which their adherents fail to practise. All men alike stand condemned, not by alien codes of ethics, but by their own, and all men therefore are conscious of guilt.

We must guard against the feeling that there is "safety in numbers". It is natural to feel that if all men are as bad as the Christians say, then badness must be very excusable. If all the boys plough in the examination, surely the papers must have been too hard? And so the masters at that school feel till they learn that there are other schools where ninety per cent. of the boys passed on the same papers. Then they begin to suspect that the fault did not lie with the examiners.

None of us are really keeping the Law of Nature. If there are any exceptions among you, I apologise to them. They had much better read some other book, for nothing I am going to say concerns them. And now, turning to the ordinary human beings who are left: I hope you will not misunderstand what I am going to say. I am not preaching, and Heaven knows I do not pretend to be better than anyone else. I am only trying to call attention to a fact; the fact that this year, or this month, or, more likely, this very day, we have failed to practise ourselves the kind of behaviour we expect from other people.

These, then, are the two points I wanted to make. First, that human beings, all over the earth, have this curious idea that they ought to behave in a certain way, and cannot really get rid of it. Secondly, that they do not in fact behave in that way. They know the Law of Nature; they break it. These two facts are the foundation of all clear thinking about ourselves and the universe we live in.

And he cannot get into the right relation until he has discovered the fact of our bankruptcy. When I say 'discovered', I mean really discovered: not simply said it parrot-fashion. Of course, any child, if given a certain kind of religious education, will soon learn to say that we have nothing to offer to God that is not already His own and that we find ourselves failing to offer even that without keeping something back. But I am talking of really discovering this: really finding out by experience that it is true.

For the apostle says: "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, `I say, 'at this time His righteousness, that He might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus."

That it is impossible to attain to God the Father, except by His Son Jesus Christ. In the Gospel: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one cometh to the Father but by me." Also in the same place: "I am the door: by me if any man shall enter in, he shall be saved." Also in the same place: "Many prophets and righteous men have desired to see the things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them." Also in the same place: "He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life: he that is not obedient in word to the Son hath not life; but the wrath of God shall abide upon him." Also Paul to the Ephesians: "And when He had come, He preached peace to you, to those which are afar off, and peace to those which are near, because through Him we both have access in one Spirit unto the Father." Also to the Romans: "For all have sinned, and fail of the glory of God; but they are justified by His gift and grace, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus." Also in the Epistle of Peter the apostle: "Christ hath died once for our sins, the just for the unjust, that He might present us to God." Also in the same place: "For in this also was it preached to them that are dead, that they might be raised again." Also in the Epistle of John: "Whosoever denieth the Son, the same also hath not the Father. He that confesseth the Son, hath both the Son and the Father."

Men thought mankind wicked because they felt wicked themselves. If a man feels wicked, I cannot see why he should suddenly feel good because somebody tells him that his ancestors once had tails. Man's primary purity and innocence may have dropped off with his tail, for all anybody knows. The only thing we all know about that primary purity and innocence is that we have not got it.

Carlyle said that men were mostly fools. Christianity, with a surer and more reverent realism, says that they are all fools. This doctrine is sometimes called the doctrine of original sin. It may also be described as the doctrine of the equality of men. But the essential point of it is merely this, that whatever primary and far-reaching moral dangers affect any man, affect all men. All men can be criminals, if tempted; all men can be heroes, if inspired.

My religion says nothing about such planes except that all men are on one plane and that by no means a high one. There are saints indeed in my religion: but a saint only means a man who really knows he is a sinner.

It was for this reason, too, that the Lord descended into the regions beneath the earth, preaching His advent there also, and [declaring] the remission of sins received by those who believe in Him. Now all those believed in Him who had hope towards Him, that is, those who proclaimed His advent, and submitted to His dispensations, the righteous men, the prophets, and the patriarchs, to whom He remitted sins in the same way as He did to us, which sins we should not lay to their charge, if we would not despise the grace of God. For as these men did not impute unto us (the Gentiles) our transgressions, which we wrought before Christ was manifested among us, so also it is not right that we should lay blame upon those who sinned before Christ's coming. For "all men come short of the glory of God," and are not justified of themselves, but by the advent of the Lord,-they who earnestly direct their eyes towards His light. And it is for our instruction that their actions have been committed to writing, that we might know, in the first place, that our God and theirs is one, and that sins do not please Him although committed by men of renown; and in the second place, that we should keep from wickedness. For if these men of old time, who preceded us in the gifts [bestowed upon them], and for whom the Son of God had not yet suffered, when they committed any sin and served fleshly lusts, were rendered objects of such disgrace, what shall the men of the present day suffer, who have despised the Lord's coming, and become the slaves of their own lusts? And truly the death of the Lord became [the means of] healing and remission of sins to the former, but Christ shall not die again in behalf of those who now commit sin, for death shall no more have dominion over Him; but the Son shall come in the glory of the Father, requiring from His stewards and dispensers the money which He had entrusted to them, with usury; and from those to whom He had given most shall He demand most. We ought not, therefore, as that presbyter remarks, to be puffed up, nor be severe upon those of old time, but ought ourselves to fear, lest perchance, after [we have come to] the knowledge of Christ, if we do things displeasing to God, we obtain no further forgiveness of sins, but be shut out from His kingdom. And therefore it was that Paul said, "For if [God] spared not the natural branches, [take heed] lest He also spare not thee, who, when thou wert a wild olive tree, wert grafted into the fatness of the olive tree, and wert made a partaker of its fatness."

We ought not, therefore, as that presbyter remarks, to be puffed up, nor be severe upon those of old time, but ought ourselves to fear, lest perchance, after [we have come to] the knowledge of Christ, if we do things displeasing to God, we obtain no further forgiveness of sins, but be shut out from His kingdom.

All sinners need the glory of God because they do not have their own.

Paul shows that nature has failed the Gentiles and that both nature and the law have failed the Jews, before going on to mention the grace of the gospel and saying: "What do we have by grace which is special and superior? Faith, made effective by the righteousness of Christ." … Paul does not say that all have broken the law but that all have sinned in a general sense. Now the one who is lacking something tries to make up his deficiency. The Jews had the law, but they were lacking the fullness of grace.

For he too sinned, since from the law he learned only how to recognize sin, not how to avoid it. Even if he did not sin in the same way as the Gentile, he is equally deprived of glory, because he offended God, and the offender reaps the fruit not of glory, but of disgrace.

First, therefore, he says: it has been stated that the justice of God is in all and above all who believe in Christ. For in this matter there is no distinction between Jew and gentile: in Christ Jesus there is not gentile and Jew (Col 3:11), namely who has some distinction, as though the Jew does not need to be made just by God as the gentile does. For all have sinned, as has been shown above: all we like sheep have gone astray (Isa 53:6) and for this reason need the glory of God, i.e., the justification that redounds to God's glory. Furthermore, man should not ascribe this glory to himself: not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory (Ps 115:1); give glory to God (Ps 66:2).

They are justified freely because they have not done anything nor given anything in return, but by faith alone they have been made holy by the gift of God. Paul testifies that the grace of God is in Christ, because we have been redeemed by Christ according to the will of God so that once set free we may be justified, as he says to the Galatians: "Christ redeemed us by offering himself for us." For he achieved this despite the fierce attacks of the devil, who was outwitted. For the devil received Christ (in hell) thinking that he could hold him there, but because he could not withstand his power he lost not only Christ but all those whom he held at the same time.

Since from the beginning Christ was most holy, he could not advance in holiness for himself. He merited, however, for us, who by his merit are justified through grace, advance in justice, and are crowned with eternal glory.

And through this, all our merits are rooted in the merit of Christ, whether satisfactory for punishment or meritorious of eternal life, because we are worthy neither to be absolved from offense against the highest good, nor to gain the immensity of the eternal reward, which is God, except through the merit of the God-man.

"Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness." See by how many proofs he makes good what was said. First, from the worthiness of the person, for it is not a man who doeth these things, that He should be too weak for it, but God all-powerful. For it is to God, he says, that the righteousness belongs. Again, from the Law and the Prophets. For you need not be afraid at hearing the "without the Law," inasmuch as the Law itself approves this. Thirdly, from the sacrifices under the old dispensation. For it was on this ground that he said, "In His blood," to call to their minds those sheep and calves. For if the sacrifices of things without reason, he means, cleared from sin, much more would this blood. And he does not say barely "redemption," but "entire redemption," to show that we should come no more into such slavery. And for this same reason he calls it a propitiation, to show that if the type had such force, much more would the reality display the same. But to show again that it was no novel thing or recent, he says, "fore-ordained;" and by saying God "fore-ordained," and showing that the good deed is the Father's, he showeth it to be the Son's also. For the Father "fore-ordained," but Christ in His own blood wrought the whole aright.

Redemption is the word used for what is given to enemies in order to ransom captives and restore them to their liberty. Therefore human beings were held in captivity by their enemies until the coming of the Son of God, who became for us not only the wisdom of God, and righteousness and sanctification, but also redemption. He gave himself as our redemption, that is, he surrendered himself to our enemies and poured out his blood on those who were thirsting for it. In this way redemption was obtained for believers.

We have been justified without the works of the law, through baptism. In this way God has freely forgiven our sins even though we are undeserving. Christ has redeemed us with the blood of his death.… For we were all condemned to death, to which Christ handed himself over, though he had no need to, in order to redeem us by his blood.… Note also that Christ did not merely buy us but bought us "back," because we were once his by nature, even though we were separated from him by our sins. If we stop sinning, our redemption will indeed be profitable for us.

Grace is the glory of God, not the merit of him who has been freed.

But do not despair. All are justified freely by the grace of God, and this grace comes through redemption, that is, through the complete liberation accomplished by Christ, for He justified us by giving Himself as a ransom for us.

Consequently, because all have sinned and cannot of themselves be justified, they need some other cause to make them just. This cause he indicates when he continues, being justified. First, he shows that such justification exists without the law, i.e., that it does not come from the works of the law, when he says being justified freely, i.e., without the merit of previous works: you were sold for nothing and you shall be redeemed without money (Isa 52:3). And this is by his grace, namely, God's, to whom glory is due on this account: by the grace of God I am what I am (1 Cor 15:10).

Second, he shows what is the cause of justification. First, he discloses the cause itself, when he says, through the redemption. For as it is said: everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin (John 8:34). From this slavery a man is redeemed, if he makes satisfaction for sin. For example, if a man owes a king a fine for some guilty action, the one who paid the fine would be said to have redeemed him from the debt. Now, this debt involved the whole human race, which was infected by the sin of the first parent. Hence no other person could satisfy for the sin of the entire human race except Christ alone, who was immune from all sin. Hence he adds, that is in Christ Jesus. As if to say: in no other could there be redemption: not with perishable things, such as silver and gold (1 Pet 1:18).

Paul says this, because in Christ God put forward, i.e., appointed, himself as a future expiation for the human race if they believed. This expiation was by his blood. We have been set free by his death so that God might reveal him and condemn death by his passion. This was in order to make his promise clear, by which he set us free from sin as he had promised before. And when he fulfilled this promise he showed himself to be righteous.God knew the purpose of his lovingkindness, by which he determined to come to the rescue of sinners, both those living on earth and those who were held bound in hell. He waited a very long time for both. He nullified the sentence by which it seemed just that everyone should be condemned in order to show us that long ago he had decided to liberate the human race, as he promised through Jeremiah the prophet, saying: "I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more." And in case it might be thought that this promise was for the Jews only, he said through Isaiah: "My house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples."26 For although the promise was made to the Jews, God knew in advance that the ungodly Jews would reject his gift. Therefore he promised that he would allow the Gentiles to share in his grace. In view of this the ungodly negligence of the Jews was thwarted.

In the inner place was set the Ark of the Propitiation, which was concealed behind the veil, and was not seen by any one. The Propitiatory was a type of the Lord Christ according to the flesh, as saith the Apostle: Whom God set forth to be a propitiation by his blood; and again the high priest was himself a type of the Lord Christ, according to the Apostle: For, saith he, just as the high priest once a year entereth into the inner Tabernacle, so Christ, having come a high priest of the good things to come through his own blood, entered in once for all into the Holy place, having obtained eternal redemption, as methinks I have frequently mentioned.

Christ, being an "expiation by his blood," teaches each one thinking of this to become himself a propitiation, sanctifying his soul by the mortification of his members.

Although the holy apostle teaches many wonderful things about our Lord Jesus Christ which are said mysteriously about him, in this passage he has given special prominence to something which, I think, is not readily found in other parts of Scripture. For having just said that Christ gave himself as a redemption for the entire human race so that he might ransom those who were held captive by sin … now he adds something even more sublime, saying that God put him forward "as an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith." This means that by the sacrifice of Christ's body God has made expiation on behalf of men and by this has shown his righteousness, in that he forgave their previous sins, which they had committed in the service of the worst possible tyrants. God endured this and allowed these things to happen.

God has set forth Christ in public so that anyone who wants to be redeemed may draw near to him. Christ performs the work of expiation for all who believe that they need to be set free by his blood. Christ died for our former sins in order to reverse God's judgment, by which he had finally determined to punish us for them.

The mercy seat was gold-plated and placed on top of the ark. On each side was the figure of a cherub. When the high priest approached it, the holy kindness of God was revealed.The apostle teaches us that Christ is the true mercy seat, of which the one in the Old Testament was but a type. The name applies to Christ in his humanity, not in his divinity. For as God Christ responded to the expiation made at the mercy seat. It is as man that he receives this label, just as elsewhere he is called a sheep, a lamb, sin and a curse. Furthermore, the ancient mercy seat was bloodless because it was inanimate. It could only receive the drops of blood pouring from the sacrificial victims. But the Lord Christ is both God and the mercy seat, both the priest and the lamb, and he performed the work of our salvation by his blood, demanding only faith from us.

He mentioned purification (the propitiatory sacrifice) and blood in order to convince the Jew that forgiveness and justification are accomplished through Christ. If, he reasons, you believed that sins were absolved by the blood of sheep, then all the more are they absolved by the Blood of Christ, and if the legal purification, being a type of Christ, had such power, then the truth itself has far greater power. The "purification" (mercy seat) was the cover of the ark, adorned with cherubim placed on both sides of it. It pointed to human nature, which was the covering of the Divinity, concealing Him, yet was glorified by the angelic powers that serve it on account of its union with God the Word. He said "set forth" in order to show that redemption by the Blood of Christ was foreordained from of old for the healing of paralysis, that is, the deadening from sins committed before, during the time of God's forbearance. For although we enjoyed much goodness, we nevertheless became like the paralyzed and the dead.

Second, he shows whence this redemption has efficacy, when he says whom God has proposed to be a propitiation. For Christ's satisfaction was efficacious for justifying and redeeming by the fact that God had assigned him to this in his plan, which he designates when he says whom God has proposed to be a propitiation: according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will (Eph 1:11). Or proposed, that is, he put forward for all, because the human race had no way of making satisfaction unless God himself gave them a redeemer and satisfier: he sent redemption to his people (Ps 111:9). And so, while making satisfaction, he redeems us from the debt of sin and obtains pardon for our sins, which the Psalmist begged: be propitious to our sins (Ps 79:9); and this is why he calls him a propitiation: propitiation (1 John 2:2). As a figure of this it was commanded in Exodus that a propitiatory, i.e., Christ, be placed on the ark, i.e., the Church (Exod 25:17).

Third, he indicates how the effect of redemption reached us, when he says, through faith in his blood, i.e., faith concerning his blood poured out for us. For in order to satisfy for us, it was fitting that he undergo the penalty of death for us, a penalty man had incurred by sin, as indicated in Genesis, in the day that you eat of it you shall die (Gen 2:17). Hence 1 Peter states, for Christ also died for sins once for all (1 Pet 3:18). This death of Christ is applied to us through faith, by which we believe that the world has been redeemed by his death: I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Gal 2:20). For even among men payment made by one man does not benefit another, unless he considers it valid. And so it is clear how there is justification through faith in Jesus Christ, as has been stated above.

But because he had stated above that God's justice is manifested now, he considers this manifestation. First, he touches on the manner of this manifestation, saying to the showing. As if to say: I say that we are justified by the redemption of Christ and by faith in his blood, to the showing of his justice, i.e., to the end that God might show his justice, and this for the remission of former sins. For in remitting former sins, which the law could not remit or men by their own power sufficiently guard against, God showed that the justice by which they are made just by God is necessary for men. But only through the blood of Christ could sins both present and past be remitted, because the power of Christ's blood works through man's faith, which the men who lived before his passion had, just as we have: since we have the same spirit of faith . . . we too believe (2 Cor 14:13). Hence another way of reading it is: for the remission of the sins of those men who preceded the passion of Christ: he will tread our iniquities under foot and he will cast all our sins into the depth of the sea (Mic 7:19).

The present time means our time, in which God has given what long before he had promised to give at the time at which he gave it. Paul has rightly said that God gave what he promised in order to be revealed as righteous. For he had promised that he would justify those who believe in Christ, as he says in Habakkuk: "The righteous will live by faith in me." Whoever has faith in God and Christ is righteous.

"To declare His righteousness." What is declaring of righteousness? Like the declaring of His riches, not only for Him to be rich Himself, but also to make others rich, or of life, not only that He is Himself living, but also that He makes the dead to live; and of His power, not only that He is Himself powerful, but also that He makes the feeble powerful. So also is the declaring of His righteousness not only that He is Himself righteous, but that He doth also make them that are filled with the putrefying sores of sin suddenly righteous. And it is to explain this, viz. what is "declaring," that he has added, "That He might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." Doubt not then: for it is not of works, but of faith: and shun not the righteousness of God, for it is a blessing in two ways; because it is easy, and also open to all men. And be not abashed and shamefaced. For if He Himself openly declareth Himself to do so, and He, so to say, findeth a delight and a pride therein, how comest thou to be dejected and to hide thy face at what thy Master glorieth in?

God allowed all this so that afterward, that is to say in our time, he might show forth his righteousness. For at the end of the age, in the most recent times, God has manifested his righteousness and given Christ to be our redemption. He has made him our propitiator. If he had sent him as the propitiator at some earlier time, there would have been fewer people whose sins needed propitiating than there are now. For God is just, and therefore he could not justify the unjust. Therefore he required the intervention of a propitiator, so that by having faith in him those who could not be justified by their own works might be justified. These are the presuppositions on which the apostle's exposition here is based.Paul was right to add "at the present time," because at the moment God's righteousness is revealed for our justification. But when the day of judgment comes, it will be revealed for retribution.

Paul wants to show that God had waited for sinners to reform themselves but that they had abused his patience and gone on to greater sins. The believer in Jesus is the only one who has been found righteous, and God has justified him not by works but by faith.

'" Such and so great futilities of theirs wherewith they flatter God and pander to themselves, effeminating rather than invigorating discipline, with how cogent and contrary (arguments) are we for our part able to rebut,-(arguments) which set before us warningly the "severity" of God, and provoke our own constancy? Because, albeit God is by nature good, still He is "just" too.

And this happened "to demonstrate the righteousness" of God, so that not only would God Himself appear righteous, but that He might also raise and justify others who had died in sin, just as the manifestation of wealth consists not only in being rich oneself, but also in being able to make others rich. Therefore, do not be ashamed of being justified in this way. If God claims this work as His own, that is, He exalts and boasts in it, as the One who justifies us "at the present time," that is, when sin had reached its utmost limit and when we were deemed paralyzed and dead, then what is there for you, O Jew, to be ashamed of in such glory of God?

Second, he shows the time of its manifestation, when he adds: through the forbearance of God, for the showing of his justice in this time. As if to say: former sins before the passion of Christ were through the forbearance of God as, so to speak, under a certain divine support, because he neither damned believers and penitents for them nor completely absolved them, in the sense that, the sins notwithstanding, they might enter into glory.

Or, according to another reading, it can mean that the saintly fathers themselves were in God's forbearance, because they were detained in limbo, not suffering sensible pain but waiting to enter into glory through the passion of Christ: wait for the forbearance of God (Sir 2:3). For this purpose, I say, previous sins and the ancient fathers were through the forbearance of God, namely for the showing of his justice in this time, i.e., that in this time of grace he might manifest his justice perfectly by granting full remission of sins: now is the acceptable time; now is the day of salvation (2 Cor 6:2). And this is what he had said above, namely that God's justice is now manifest.

Up to this present time former sins had been in the forbearance of God, in order to convince man of his lack of knowledge, since in the time of the law of nature man fell into errors and base sins; and of his lack of power, since after the written law, which gave knowledge of sin, man still sinned through weakness.

Third, he shows that by remitting sins God's justice is shown, whether it be taken as the justice of God by which he himself is just or as the justice by which he justifies others. Hence he continues: that he himself may be just, i.e., that by remitting sins God may appear to be just in himself, both because he remitted sins as he had promised and because it belongs to God's justice to destroy sins by leading men back to his justice: the Lord is righteous, he loves just deeds (Ps 11:7). And also the justifier of him who is of the faith of Jesus Christ, i.e., who approaches God through faith in Jesus Christ: whoever would draw near to God must believe (Heb 11:6).