Commentary on Romans, Biblical exegesis 1 · Chapter 1 · Section 3 · Subsection 17 – Subsection 21
17. Quest. Of the meaning of these words, Declared to be the Sonne of God in power.
1. Some read, predestinate to be the Sonne of God: which they expound diuersly. 1. Ambrose giueth this sense, he was predestinate, not to be the Sonne of God, for he was from the beginning, sed vt manifestetur, but to be manifested in the flesh. But then had S. Paul spoken very imperfectly and doubtfully, saying onelyonly, predestinate to be the Sonne of God, without any other addition. 2. Augustine ioyneth it with the last clause, by the resurrection of the dead: he was predestinate to be the first and chiefe of those, which should rise from the dead, August. in 1. ad Roman. But by this exposition the order of the words is transposed. 3. Anselmus, and so also Lyranus thus expound, that Christ as the Sonne of God, could not be predestinate, beeing coeternall with his father: sed vnio illa facta est à dei praedestinatione, but that vnion betweene the humane and diuine nature came to passe according to Gods predestination. But this deuise Tolet ouerthroweth by this argument; that it can not be saide, that Christ as man was predestinate to be the Sonne of God: for, when we say Christ, we affirme him to be God: as we can not say, a man is predestinate to hauehave a soule: for he can not be a man without a soule: ad quod aliquid praedestinatur, est extra ipsam, quod praedestinatur, that whereunto any thing is predestinate, is an other thing beside that which is predestinate: Christ then can not be predestinate to be the Sonne of God, because Christ is alwaies the Sonne of God: therefore not Christ, but the humane nature of Christ was predestinate to be vnited to the diuine. 4. Tolet vnderstandeth this predestination, not of the prioritie of time, but of order: that Christ was predestinate, that is, prae omnibus declaratus filius, before all declared to be the Sonne of God, for he onelyonly is the true naturall Sonne of God. But predestination is not taken in that sense: and this beeing admitted, that Christ was preordained to be the Sonne of God, then he was ordained: but that can not be said, seeing he was alwaies the Sonne of God. And all these expositions doe faile in mistaking the Greeke word, which is foreign, not foreign, ordained or defined, not preordained.
2. Origen mistaketh the word predestinate, and therefore readeth simply without the preposition, destinate, or appointed: for praedestinatur, quod non est, destinatur, quod est: that is predestinate which is not, that is destined which is. But Origens distinction holdeth not: for euen Christ, in respect of his office, though not as God, is saide by the Apostle, to be ordained before the foundation of the world. 1. Pet. 1.20.
3. There is then a third exposition, which is best of all: to interpret the word foreign, declared, demonstrated, as Chrysost. Theophyl. Tertullian. advers. Propeam. so also Erasmus, Beza, with most of our new writers: so the word foreign signifieth not onelyonly to decree, define, but to demonstrate, prooue, declare: and this sense is most agreeable to the words following, according to the spirit of sanctification, by the resurrection, &c. that is, in his diuine nature shewing it selfe by Christs raising of himselfe from the dead, he was declared to be the sonne of God.
4. And touching the word foreign, in power, it neither is to be restrained to the miracles and signes, which Christ wrought, as Chrysostome, for that expresseth not the full meaning of the Apostle: nor yet is it to be referred to the word declared, that he was mightily declared, though that be true also, Genevens. but rather vntounto the last words, the Sonne of God: he was declared to be the Sonne of God, omnipotent, of the same power and maiestie with his Father. Beza, Pareus, Gorrham.
18. Quest. Of these words, according to the spirit of sanctification, v. 4.
1. Some doe here vnderstand by the spirit of sanctification, the holy Ghost, the third person in Trinitie: and in this sense it is diuersly applied. 1. Some referre it to the clause before of Christs birth, he was made according to the seede of Dauid after the flesh, &c. by the spirit of sanctification, because he was conceiued by the holy Ghost. gloss. ordinar. 2. Some doe ioyne it with the 1. v. put apart for the Gospel of God, &c. by the spirit of sanctification: but the order of the Apostles words, will admit neither of these interpretations. 3. Chrysostome expoundeth it of the gifts of the spirit, which Christ distributed at the sending of the holy Ghost: so also Tolet vnderstandeth it of the vertue and operation of the spirit, whereby the Apostles wrought wonders and signes. But the phrase will not beare this exposition, which is foreign, according to the spirit, not by the spirit, which are two diuers things, as Beza noteth: if any of these interpretations be receiued, the Apostle would have said, by the spirit, not, according to the spirit. 4. Gorrham sheweth how Christ was declared to be the Sonne of God, by the spirit of sanctification, these 7. waies: 1. because he was conceiued by the holy Ghost, 2. he was replenished with the gifts of the spirit, 3. manifested by the spirit, when it descended vponupon him in the likenes of a doue, 4. he was glorified by the spirit, Ioh. 16.14. 5. he breathed the spirit vponupon his disciples, 6. he sent the holy Ghost vponupon his Apostles, 7. he giueth his spirit to all that beleeue in him: Eph. 1.13. Ye were sealed by the holy spirit of promise.
2. Origen by the spirit, vnderstandeth the soule and spirit of man: but that manifested Christ to be man, not the Sonne of God.
3. But by the spirit of sanctification, is not here meant the holy spirit, the third person of the Trinitie: but the diuine nature of Christ. And whereas Tolet obiecteth, nec divi…i… in Scriptura vnquam tali voce significatio, that the diuine nature is neuer signified by this manner of speach; it is euident, that where S. Paul saith, 2. Tim. 3.16. iustified in the spirit: and Heb. 9.14, he offered himselfe through the eternall spirit, that the diuine nature is here vnderstood: which is said to sanctifie, because of the effects: by his diuine spirit he sanctifieth his owne bodie foreign, hypostatically: and his mysticall bodie the Church foreign powerfully, or effectually. This to be the meaning, is euident by the opposition, betweene the flesh and the spirit: as he was made according to the flesh, so he was the Sonne of God according to the spirit. Beza, Pareus. And before them Ambrose so expoundeth, which was the Sonne of God, according to the sanctifying spirit: that is, secundum Deum, qui spiritus est, & sine dubio sanctus, according vntounto God, who is a spirit, and without all doubt, holy.
19. Quest. Of those words, by the resurrection of the dead.
1. Because it is said, of the dead, not from the dead, Origen vnderstandeth it of those which were raised with Christ in his resurrection: But his power was more seene in raising himselfe, which neuer any did beside, then in raising others: which euen the Prophets did, though not by the like power.
2. Augustine following the vulgar Latin, which readeth, the dead of Iesus Christ our Lord; applieth it vntounto the faithfull, which are called the dead of the Lord Christ, to distinguish them from the infidels which were dead: in exposition, inchoat. But the words following, of Iesus Christ our Lord, are rather referred to the beginning of the third verse, concerning his Sonne, &c. (and then all the rest followeth, enclosed in a parenthesis, which was made of the seede of Dauid, &c.) euen Iesus Christ our Lord. Chrysostome thus readeth, because Iesus Christ rose from the dead: but the Greeke construction will not beare it, Iesus Christ beeing put in the genitive case, foreign.
3. Tolet interpreteth, post resurrectionem, after the resurrection, when as Christ by the manifold graces of the spirit, declared himselfe to be the Sonne of God: but then it should be foreign, after the resurrection, whereas the words are foreign, by the resurrection.
4. Some by the dead, vnderstand such as were raised by the first resurrection from the dead works of sinne, vntounto newnes of life: Hugo Cardin. but that had not beene so euident a signe of the diuine power.
5. Wherefore, by the resurrection of the dead, the resurrection of Christ from the dead, is signified: for in Scripture the resurrection of the dead, is so taken for the resurrection from the dead, as 1. Cor. 15.42. Hebr. 6.2. Beza, Perexius: and Pareus obserueth well, that the preposition foreign is omitted, because it was vsed before, that it should not be twice repeated: so he saith, foreign, for foreign: by the resurrection of the dead, for from the dead. By this his glorious resurrection Christ manifested himselfe to be God in the flesh: as Ioh. 5.26. As the Father hath life in himselfe, so he hath giuen vntounto the Sonne to hauehave life in himselfe: and againe, Ioh. 9.19. Destroy this Temple, and in three daies I will raise it vp againe. Thus Chrysostome expoundeth this place, ex resurrectione, per quam mortis evici… tyrannidem, by the resurrection, whereby he ouercame the tyrannie of death: likewise Oecumenius vnderstandeth the resurection, qua ipse Dominus Iesus exurrexit, whereby the Lord Iesus himselfe rose againe.
Quest. 20. Of these words, v. 5. By whom we hauehave receiued grace and Apostleship.
1. By whom, that is as Origen, Ambrose, Lyranus expound, per Christum Mediatorem, by Christ the mediator of God and man: and make this the sense, that he was called of God to be an Apostle by the mediation of Christ: But Chrysostome better vnderstandeth Christ here as the principall author of his calling: which is indifferently sometime ascribed vntounto Christ, sometime vntounto the holy Ghost: as Act. 13.2. The holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul. And hereby S. Paul sheweth a difference betweene his calling, and of others, that he was immediately constituted an Apostle by Christ himselfe, and not by men, Beza annot.
2. By grace and Apostleship. 1. Theodoret vnderstandeth two distinct things, by grace the gifts of the holy Ghost, wherewith he was furnished, and by Apostleship, his vocation it selfe: so also Lyranus, concedens dignitatem apostolicam, simul dat gratiam ad exequendum, graunting vntounto him the Apostolike dignitie, he also giueth grace to execute it. 2. Origen interpreteth grace to be the fruit of patience, whereby he indured so many labours in the Gospel. 3. Ambrose taketh it to be the grace of remission of sinnes, common withall other faithfull, so also Gorrham. 4. some vnderstand gratiam conuersionis, the grace of his conuersion, Tolet. Pareus. 5. Gryneus of the gift, in fructu Evangelizandi, of preaching the gospel with profit and good successe. 6. But hereby better is vnderstood, the grace of his Apostleship: as S. Paul himselfe expoundeth, Ephes. 3.8. Euen vntounto me the least of all Saints, is this grace giuen, that I should preach anong the Gentiles, &c. Beza. so also Chrysostome and Oecumenius vnderstand it of his Apostleship, which he receiued not by his merits or worthinesse, but by the grace of God: as he saith, 1. Cor. 15.8. I am the least of all the Apostles, which am not worthie to be called an Apostle, &c. but by the grace of God, I am that I am, Gualter. And though it be said grace and Apostleship: yet it followeth not, as Tolet obiecteth, that they should be two distinct things but the particle foreign, and, is put by way of exposition, grace, that is Apostleship, Beza. or foreign, Apostolatus, the grace or gift of the Apostleship, Faius. and so it is taken pr… Apostolatu gratis collati, for his Apostleship freely bestowed or conferred, Hyperius.
3. In his name, or for his name. 1. Ambrose expoundeth it, vice eius, in his stead: as the Apostle saith, 2. Cor. 5.20. We are embassabours for Christ: so also Pareus. 2. Chrysostome readeth de nomine eius, of his name, that is, that they might beleeue in his name, and so Hyperius taketh it for the matter of his preaching, that he should publish the benefits receiued by Christ: and therefore Act. 9.15. Christ saith to Ananias, He is a chosen vessel to beare my name among the Gentiles, Beza. Faius. 3. But it rather sheweth the ende of S. Pauls preaching: for his name, that is, pro Christi gloria, to set forth the glorie and praise of Christ, Gualter. Lyranus. yet both these last interpretations may well stand together.
Quest. 21. Of the persons, whom the Apostle saluteth, to all you that be at Rome, &c.
There are three parts of this salutation: he describeth them 1. by the place, to all at Rome. 2. by the cause and fountaine of their vocation and calling: beloued of God. 3. the end, called to be Saints, that they should be holy: he writeth not generally to all at Rome, but with a restraint, he writeth fidelibus, non alijs, to the faithfull, not to any other, Gorrham, and writeth vntounto all the faithfull, without any respect of persons, siue essent ex primatibus, & consulibus, whether they were of the chiefe men or consuls, or priuate and poore men, Chrysost. and he writeth not onelyonly to those which were Romanes by nation, but euen vntounto the strangers at Rome also which were conuerted to the faith, so that they are deceiued, which thinke that this epistle was written in the Romane tongue, because it is written to the Romanes: there were Grecians, and of other nations at Rome, in so much that Iuvenal calleth it Graecam vrbem, a Greeke citie, because of the abundance of strangers there, Erasmus.
2. Beloued of God. 1. because God loued vsus before any merits of ours, gloss. ordinar. 2. there is a twofold louelove of God, vna predestinationis, one of predestination, as it is said, Iacob hauehave I loued, Esau hauehave I hated: alia presentis iustificationis, another of present iustification: as it is also said in the Prouerbs, c. 8.17. I louelove them, that louelove me: of the former the Apostle speaketh in this place, Hugo Cardin. delectis per praedestinationem, beloued in Gods predestination, Gorrham. 3. herein Gods louelove is vnlike vntounto mans: for man loueth vponupon some cause, or desert going before: but God loued vsus without any desert of ours, Tolet. so then the word foreign, beloued, is here taken passiuely, not actiuely, not for the louers of God, but for them which are beloued of God, Aretius.
3. Called Saints. 1. Chrysostome here noteth, that thrice S. Paul hath vsed this word, called, of himselfe, v. 1. and t…ice of the Romanes, v. 6.7. which he doth not superfluously, but volent illis, beneficij admouere, willing to put thē in mind of the benefit, that they should ascribe all to the calling of God: and that S. Paul beeing called writeth to those that are called, he prepareth them to heare him: seeing he was ab eodem vocatus, called by the same, by whom they were called, Aretius. 2. they are called Saints, that is, called, … sint sancti, to be Saints, Tolet. and hereby the Apostle maketh a difference betweene their former state wherein they liued, which was vnholy and impure, and the condition to the which they were now called to be holy, Aretius: and hereby is taken away the difference betweene the Iewes and the Gentiles, that the Iewes should not exalt themselues a… the onelyonly holy people: but the Gentiles also were called to the same glorious condition of holinesse, Erasm. here the name of Saints, non perfectionem denotat, doth not note a perfection, but signifieth him which was consecrate vntounto God, Gualter. he is counted holy, qui affectu tenet sanctitatem, which retaineth holinesse in his affection, though he hauehave some imperfections: And though there might be some hypocrites and carnall professors among them, yet respicit ad meliorem par…em, he hath respect to the better part of the Church. Aretius.