Ambrosiaster — Commentary on Scripture

Romans 13:12

“Night” means the old man, who is renewed through baptism. Paul says that he has passed away like the night and that the day is near, i.e., the sun of righteousness, by whose light the truth appears to us so that we may know what to do. For before we were in the dark, being ignorant of Christ. But when we learned of him the light rose on us and we passed from the false to the true.The “darkness” refers to carnal sins, which are done by worldly enticements.… But to “put on the armor of light” is to do good deeds.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Romans 13:13

It is true that people do not sin in public, so let us behave as if we were constantly in the public eye. For there is nothing more public than the truth.…Crimes are hatched in large supplies of wine, and many kinds of lust are stirred up. Therefore banquets of this kind are to be avoided.… Debauchery is another result of this sort of thing. Paul was right to warn them against quarreling and jealousy, because both of these things lead to enmity.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Romans 13:14

Paul wants everything the law forbids not to be desired, or if it is desired, to be overcome.… To put on Christ means to cut oneself off from every sin and wickedness, so that at the wedding banquet one will not be found without a new garment and be shamefully thrown out into the darkness.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Romans 14:1

As I mentioned in my prologue to the epistle, those who led the Romans to faith had mixed it up with the law because they were Jews, which is why some of them thought that they should not eat meat. But others, who followed Christ apart from the law, thought otherwise, that it was permissible to eat meat, and for this reason there were disputes among them. The apostle tried to solve these disputes by arguing that the person who abstained from eating gained no advantage in the sight of God, nor did the one who ate lose anything thereby. He says that the person who is afraid to eat because the Jews had forbidden it is weak. He wants this person to be left to his own judgment, so as not to be hurt and depart from that love which is a mother of souls.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Romans 14:2

The faithful reader of Scripture will not doubt that everything which is given for human use is fit to be eaten, for it says in Genesis that everything which God created is good. Therefore nothing is to be rejected, for neither Enoch, who was the first to please God, nor Noah, who alone was found righteous at the time of the flood, nor Abraham, who was the friend of God, nor Isaac nor Jacob, both righteous men and friends of God, nor even Lot, nor any other righteous men are said to have abstained from these things.If someone thinks it right to be a vegetarian he is not to be persuaded to eat meat, because if he ignores his own principles and eats with reluctance he will appear to be sinning.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Romans 14:3

What we eat or do not eat is a matter of personal choice and therefore it should not become a matter for argument.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Romans 14:4

The servant is not guilty whether he eats or not, as long as he does what he does in a spirit of devotion.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Romans 14:7

A man would be living for himself if he did not act according to the law. But whoever is controlled by the brake of the law is not living for himself but for God, who gave the law so that it might be possible to live according to his will. Likewise, whoever dies dies to God, for he is the Judge who will either condemn or reward him.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Romans 14:9

The creation was made by Christ the Lord, but because of sin it has become separated from its maker and taken captive. But God the Father sent his Son from heaven to earth to teach his creation what to do in order to escape the hands of its captors, so that his work should not perish. For this reason he allowed himself to be killed by his enemies, so that by going down to hell he could condemn sin, because he was killed as an innocent man, and liberate those whom the devil held there. Therefore, since he showed the way of salvation to the living and offered himself for them and also delivered the dead from hell, he is Lord of both the living and the dead. For he has turned the lost into his servants.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Romans 14:11

For having been killed, the future Judge rose from the dead, and therefore he rightly said: “As I live.” … For not only do I live, but I will come to judge, and my enemies will confess my name and kneel before me, acknowledging that I am God from God.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Romans 14:12

Since we are not going to give account of each other, says Paul, let us not condemn one another over the issues mentioned above.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Romans 14:15

In another epistle Paul says: Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy both one and the other. Since God does not care one way or the other about food, Paul tells us to maintain a spirit of charity, by which God has seen fit to deliver us from sin.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Romans 14:16

Since God’s teaching is good and salutary, it should not be blasphemed, because of something trivial. Yet it is blasphemed when doubts are cast on the goodness of God’s creation.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Romans 14:18

The man who is acceptable to God is approved by men. Why? Because he has accepted the gift through which he appears worthy in the sight of God.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Romans 14:19

Since disapproval leads to discord, Paul teaches us to be peaceful and to avoid arguments over eating or not eating. Instead, he encourages us to follow the way of upbuilding.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Romans 14:20

Man is the work of God by creation, and again by his renewal in regeneration, and food is God’s work as well. But man was not made for food; food was made for man, which is very different!

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Romans 14:21

Although the issue involves only meat, Paul adds drink here as well, in order to nurture those who abstain from both of these things, so that they will not be hurt by those who eat and drink, on the ground that it is lawful to do so. Paul gives them peace of mind by telling them to make their own decision and putting an end to the disagreement through which the dispute had arisen. No one will dispute that either option is legitimate in itself. For the creation was given for voluntary use. There is no necessity imposed on anybody, one way or the other.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Romans 14:22

This means that if you are happy to eat because you know that everything God made is good, there is no need to judge anyone else. Rather, you should be at peace with your brother, for this is what God wants.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Romans 14:23

It is true that if someone thinks it wrong to eat but does so anyway, he is condemned. For he makes himself guilty when he does what he thinks he ought not to.If someone acts against his better judgment in a matter of conscience, then Paul says that it is a sin.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Romans 15:3

In the sixty-eighth Psalm [LXX] the Savior says that he did not come to please himself but God the Father. For because he said: “I did not come down from heaven to do my will but the will of him who sent me,” the Jews objected and put him to death as a sinner. Therefore the psalmist puts himself in Christ’s place and says: “The reproaches of those who reproached thee fell on me.”

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES