Gaius Marius Victorinus — Commentary on Scripture

Ephesians 6:19

Isn’t this wonderful? From those whom he himself has just now admonished, those whom he has instructed, to whom he has preached the gospel, he now asks for help. He is asking them for their prayers. He goes on to explain what he is asking them to pray for: “that utterance may be given to me.” His prayer is definite and specific, that a particular profit may accrue.

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 2.6.18-19

Ephesians 6:20

Boldly means “so that I may not fail to accomplish it fully and that my chains may not so work on my mind as to prevent my accomplishing it, the task of expounding the mystery, as I ought.”

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 2.6.20

Ephesians 6:21

Note that Tychicus is described not as a minister to Paul but as a minister in the Lord with regard to the gospel and the mystery.

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 2.6.21

Ephesians 6:22

Tychicus is sent to give the Ephesians instructions not on his own accord. Rather he was sent by Paul for this purpose. Such was Paul’s concern for them and his desire that they should be well informed.

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 2.6.22

Ephesians 6:23

The last part of the letter is a petition. His prayer and desire is for peace to the brethren, also love and then faith. For above he has already noted that there was discord among them. Now he adds thanks to those who display faith and who love our Lord Jesus Christ. Thus all is concluded with peace against discord, love eliciting concord and faith in God.

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 2.6.23-24

Ephesians 6:24

He adds “with love undying,” or in imperishability. For his prayers are not only for the present life but for the coming one as well, which is contained in the hope and promise of Christ.

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 2.6.23-24

Exodus 33:20

No one sees the power itself alone, for “no one has ever seen God.” And since power is life in repose and knowledge in repose but life and knowledge are actions, if someone were to see God he must die, because the life and knowledge of God remain in themselves and are not in act. But every act is exterior. Indeed, for us to live is to live externally [in a body]; to see God is therefore a death. “No one,” says the Scripture, “has ever seen God and lived.” Indeed, like is seen by like. External life therefore must be forgotten, knowledge must be forgotten, if we wish to see God, and this for us is death.

AGAINST ARIUS 3.3.1

Galatians 1:1

His reason for saying “through Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead” is that what God does he does through Christ. And so that people would not say, “How did you learn from Christ?” since Paul had not previously been a follower of Christ and Christ was dead, he said that God raised Christ from the dead. By this he implies that it is Christ himself, who taught him, who has been raised from the dead—raised, that is, by the power of God the Father.

EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 1.1.1

Galatians 1:2

Whereas he was accustomed to call himself simply Paul the apostle to the Romans and Corinthians, in order to startle the Galatians and reprove them for a grave error he has joined with himself all the brothers who were with him, saying that they themselves were writing to the Galatians, making them feel the shame of thinking contrary to everyone, so as to give more weight to his own injunctions and the gospel that he preaches.

EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 1.1.1

Galatians 1:11

Possibly because the Savior himself is not a man [merely], as some think. Nor because he is sent in the form of a man is he therefore a man but God in a mystery taking flesh to overcome the flesh.… If “from a man” means one thing, “after the manner of man” will mean another. And again if “I did not receive from a man” is one thing. “not after the manner of man” will be another. Therefore “after the manner of man” can be understood to mean “so that you may understand in a corporeal manner,” seeing that the argument received is that “which I did not receive from man.”

EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 1.1.11

Galatians 1:13

The point of telling this about himself is to show that he did not learn from a man or through man but from God and Jesus Christ. The aim of this is to prevent the Galatians from entertaining another opinion or supposing that anything needs to be added to the gospel.

EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 1.1.13-14

Galatians 1:15

The God who caused me to be born, who separated me from my mother’s womb, also called me through his grace. For no one knows God except one who has been called.

EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 1.1.15-16

Galatians 1:18

For if the foundation of the church was laid in Peter, to whom all was revealed, as the gospel says, Paul knew that he ought to see Peter. When he speaks of seeing Peter, it is as one to whom Christ had committed so much authority, not as one from whom he was to learn anything.… “How,” [he implies], “could I learn this great knowledge of God from Peter in such a short time?”

EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 1.1.18

Galatians 1:21

What does he prove by all this? That his gospel had persuaded everyone, even in his absence.

EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 1.1.21-22

Galatians 1:24

By “glorified God in me” he means they called him great. For what is so magnificent as to have your own opinion turned around and receive the one whom you previously assailed? This being so, you also should follow nothing else than the gospel preached to you by the one who is a miracle among the Gentiles, because he preaches the faith of Christ.

EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 1.1.24

Galatians 2:1

These men he had as witnesses, through whom he proved that his gospel was given to him through revelation, seeing that he said “Barnabas went up with me,” and he also took Titus, whose faith and gospel were approved by everyone.

EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 1.2.1

Galatians 2:2

That is, those through whom the commandments and gospel of God were being handed down, such as apostles and the rest. “To these men,” he says, “I privately explained my gospel, which I preach among the Gentiles, so that if there was anything that they were handing on otherwise, they could correct it or could emend anything that I myself was handing on otherwise. This therefore was the cause of my going up to Jerusalem, and for this reason it was revealed to me that I should go up, so that it might be more readily known that my gospel to the Gentiles and their gospel to the Jews were the same.” Now the purpose of his expounding it privately was that shame might be taken from among them, and they might communicate to one another the mysteries that they knew. Since they all shared one opinion and one gospel, what was it that he labored to persuade them of? That they should not add anything new or join anything to it. That is the cause of the present sin of the Galatians in following Judaism and the practice of circumcision, the sabbath and other things.

EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 1.2.2

Galatians 2:2

“So that I should not run or have run in vain.” That is [he says], “lest I should fail to preach a full gospel. For if I have preached anything less, I have run in vain or I now run in vain.”

EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 1.2.2

Galatians 2:6

[He means] those who have sprung from those same pseudoapostles but nonetheless “are something,” that is, have undergone change and now follow the gospel. Even if they have sprung from these phonies they are now whole, for that is what it is truly to be something. “It is nothing to me,” he says, “what kind of people they were before, at some past time.” And he adds the reason: God shows no partiality but looks at one’s mental attitude and faith. Whether one be Greek or Jew, whether one was anything, is not what God accepts, but what one is and whether one has received faith and the gospel.

EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 1.2.6

Galatians 2:9

That is, those who supported the church were like pillars supporting roofs and other things. “These men, then,” he says, “being of such quality and so great, gave me their right hands, that is, joined in friendship, peace and steadfastness and declared that they had only one gospel. In view of this accord, Galatians, you are sinning and follow neither my gospel nor that of Peter, James and John, who are the pillars of the church, when you add things that are not approved by any of them.”

EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 1.2.7-9