Gaius Marius Victorinus
Nicene & Post-Nicene · AD 325–500 · 220 passages across 12 books
Commentary
Galatians 6:10
· 2 passages
As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.
Hence we are to work, and we are to work good and to work it to all so that there is no partiality toward persons. We are to do nothing except do good and good to all. For indeed if love edifies and every person is beloved, then every good that we work we ought to work on behalf of all.… However, he makes the distinction that the good that we work on behalf of all is to be worked most of all on behalf of the household of faith, that is, those who have come to believing trust in Christ and God. He comes to the climax of his argument in urging this. It was particularly germane to the Galatians. For they, by making certain additions to faith from Judaism, were not acting out of faith. They believed that they would gain fruit from works and mere ritual observance. Therefore he adds, “Let us above all do good to the household of faith, because they have adopted faith in the gospel only, that is, in Christ and God.”
He gives the strongest possible imperative to well-doing: time is short. Life is quickly reaching its term. The end of the world is at hand. “As we have opportunity” means either while we have our own life or while there is life in this world.
Galatians 6:14
But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.
When Paul writes that the cross is glory, he means obviously “the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” When in that mystery his body hung from the cross and in it crushed the power of this world, the whole world was crucified through him. In the cross he identified with every person in the world. In doing so, he made everything that he suffered universal, that is, he caused all flesh to be crucified in his death. Therefore I too am fixed to the cross and to the world. I means the one who was living carnally, whose thoughts were of the flesh. Such a one is now “nailed to the world,” that is, the worldly things in him are subjected to death.
Galatians 6:17
From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.
Paul’s point is this: “All that Christ experienced on the cross—the imprint of the nails, the spear thrust in his side, the other marks of the crucifixion—I bear in my own body. I too have suffered. Therefore you too ought to endure much—indeed all—adversity, since you will be with Christ if you suffer with Christ and begin by your own act, in the face of adversaries, to suffer what Christ suffered.” Through these words Paul reveals what he himself was suffering, how much he shared with Christ and what we also ought to suffer if we wish to live in Christ.
Genesis 1:26
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Moses says what was said by God: “Let us make man according to our image and likeness.” God says that. He says “let us make” to a co-operator, necessarily to Christ. And he says “according to the image.” Therefore man is not the image of God, but he is “according to the image.” For Jesus alone is the image of God, but man is “according to the image,” that is, image of the image. But he says “according to our image.” Therefore both Father and Son are one image.
Genesis 2:4-6
These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,
Christ is that spring of which the prophet says, “It irrigates and waters the whole earth.” But Christ irrigates the whole universe, both visible and invisible; with the spring of life he waters the substance of everything that exists. Yet insofar as he is life, he is Christ; insofar as he waters, he is the Holy Spirit; insofar as he is the power of vitality, he is Father and God; but the whole is one God.
Hebrews 1:3
Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
The Greeks call “to be” ousian (substance) or hypostasin; we call it in Latin by one term, substance; and a few Greeks use ousian (substance) and rarely; all use hypostasin (hypostasis). Certainly one differs from the other, but for the moment let us omit this.The divine Scripture has often used hypostasin in Greek, substance in Latin. And it has said of the substance of God in the prophet Jeremiah “that if they had stood in the substance of the Lord they would have seen my word.” But what is it “to stand in the substance”? To know the substance of God, which is “true light,” which is infinite Spirit. If they had known that, they would have known the Logos of the Lord; that is, “they would have seen the word” of the Lord. And shortly after, the same Jeremiah uses the same words. David says, “And my substance is in the lower regions of the earth.” He speaks also of God and says “substance.” And it is clear what this is. The apostle says to the Hebrews, “He who is the character of his substance.” He said that Christ is the character of the substance of God. There are many other example…
The Greeks call “to be” ousian (substance) or hypostasin; we call it in Latin by one term, substance; and a few Greeks use ousian (substance) and rarely; all use hypostasin (hypostasis). Certainly one differs from the other, but for the moment let us omit this.The divine Scripture has often used hypostasin in Greek, substance in Latin. And it has said of the substance of God in the prophet Jeremiah “that if they had stood in the substance of the Lord they would have seen my word.” But what is it “to stand in the substance”? To know the substance of God, which is “true light,” which is infinite Spirit. If they had known that, they would have known the Logos of the Lord; that is, “they would have seen the word” of the Lord. And shortly after, the same Jeremiah uses the same words.
David says, “And my substance is in the lower regions of the earth.” He speaks also of God and says “substance.” And it is clear what this is.
The apostle says to the Hebrews, “He who is the character of his substance.” He said that Christ is the character of the substance of God. There are many other examples. But what is the point of all this? To show that the word substance is in Scripture and is used of the substance of God.
David says, “And my substance is in the lower regions of the earth.” He speaks also of God and says “substance.” And it is clear what this is.
The apostle says to the Hebrews, “He who is the character of his substance.” He said that Christ is the character of the substance of God. There are many other examples. But what is the point of all this? To show that the word substance is in Scripture and is used of the substance of God.
Isaiah 40:5
And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
But when he took on flesh, he took on the universal logos of flesh. For he triumphed over the powers of all flesh in the flesh, and thus he came to the aid of all flesh, as is said in Isaiah, “all flesh will see the salvation of God,” and in the psalms, “All flesh will come to you.”
Isaiah 43:10
Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.
If Christ is Son, Christ is certainly after God. But after God there is nothing comparable to him. Christ is therefore not comparable to God; or if he is not after God, certainly he is with God; for in no way can he be before God; therefore he is consubstantial (homoousion) … substance as substance, especially if it is a homogeneous substance that is realized in two or more individuals, which is said to be identical substance, not similar.
Isaiah 45:14
Thus saith the LORD, The labour of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine: they shall come after thee; in chains they shall come over, and they shall fall down unto thee, they shall make supplication unto thee, saying, Surely God is in thee; and there is none else, there is no God.
But consider this also in relation to the homoousion [that the Son is of the same essence as the Father], how the Spirit says to Isaiah, “God is in you, and there is no God outside of you.”
Isaiah 53:8
He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
Those who do not understand the manner of begetting may mislead you when they say, “Who can speak of the birth of the Lord?” First, “who” or still more “no one” does indeed seem to signify men. Only the Holy Spirit can grasp or explain this manner of begetting. That is why we ourselves with the permission of God the Father and of Jesus Christ our Lord have set it forth. Certainly it is not a hopeless enterprise, but we have described it as by a miracle. Next, supposing that the manner of begetting is unknown, we speak of substance when we say that the Father and Son are of the same essence (homoousios).
Jeremiah 23:22
But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.
What if these formulas also are scriptural, and of these two formulas, one is used with such clearness that one knows it has not been invented by me but has already been authorized by sacred Scripture? David, who sings hymns in the book of Psalms, which is called the key of all the mysteries, in the thirty-fifth psalm chants a psalm to God, sings praise to God in this way: “For in you is the source of life. In your light we shall see the light.” Do we think that that is addressed to God or to Christ or to both? Because to both, it is rightly addressed, for in the Father is the Son, and in the Son is the Father. But if it is addressed to God the Father, it will be this: “If they had stood in my substance, they would have also seen my Word.” But if it is addressed to the Son, it will be this: “Whoever has seen me, has seen the Father also.”
Philippians 1:16
The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds:
Some preach Christ “from envy” because of their malice and contentiousness. What they feel is simply envy. They do not preach Christ in a holy and decent manner but merely in order to heap up grief upon me and increase my trial and sorrow. They want to flaunt their delight in my bondage.… Others preach not with the motive of adding further grief to my bonds but to claim the glory of preaching for themselves. Meanwhile the faithful preach Christ “through good will” in sincere belief, not out of envy but because what they believe is good. It is the gospel. So while some are preaching Christ in insolence, to bring punishment and tribulation on me, others are preaching from love. They remain dear to me. They do not insult me because I am in this state for the defense of the gospel.
Philippians 1:18
What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.
The outcome is very welcome to me: They preach about Christ. They speak Christ’s name. They confess that he is God and the Son of God, even if in a different spirit. For by this celebration, exertion and activity, Christ is proclaimed by all. So I too obtain my wish, which is that Christ should be proclaimed. And if that is so, they are wrong to imagine that they have cast me into grief.
Philippians 1:19
For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,
It may seem that he had been rather rash and daring in his willing and joyful acceptance of the fact that Christ was being proclaimed in any fashion, even by the unscrupulous, even through insolence and envy. But in all this he was relying on the assurance and benevolence of God, confident of what will come to be by the grace of Christ through his Spirit.
Philippians 1:20
According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.
“Christ is being magnified in my body, now as always, even when my body, subjected to all punishments, bears them all and preaches Christ unceasingly, not terrified by punishments and not giving way under all the tribulations.” He explains the alternatives before him by adding: “Whether by life or by death: If I overcome my trials by endurance, Christ will be proclaimed. Or if I die under my punishments, he will be proclaimed all the more. All will recognize that I was not terrified by punishments or by death. In the gospel I will either live out my life beyond these punishments or bear these punishments right up to death. In any case I will have persevered in the preaching of the gospel.”
Philippians 1:21
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
It is not death itself that is gain, but to die in Christ. Life is Christ. The one who has hope in him is always alive, both now and forever.… Therefore they achieve nothing, whether they hand me over to death or to tortures in life. Neither alternative harms me. Life under torments is no punishment for me, since Christ is my life. And if they kill me, that too is no punishment for me, since Christ for me is life and to die is gain.
Philippians 1:22
· 2 passages
But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not.
I do not know which to choose. If I should die, death is gain and Christ is life for me, and I come to him indeed when I die here in the flesh. But if I should continue to live here in the flesh, the fruit of my labor will be to proclaim Christ and preach his gospel.
He said above “Christ is life for me,” but it was not clear then what life he meant, whether in the flesh or life after death. So now he adds these words pointing directly to this life in the flesh: “If it is to be life in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me.” “What is this fruit of my labor? My labor is the gospel I preach. Its fruit is to bring many to the hope of life and salvation as they in due course begin to have hope in Christ and put faith in the gospel.”
Philippians 1:25
And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith;
Truly like a father, like a servant of God, he has renounced that one of his two desires which was to be more profitable to himself alone, namely, that he should now depart and be with Christ.… He says “I shall remain,” and he adds the stronger form “I shall continue.” This means: “I shall stay until the completion, that is, the completion of your progress, so that you may obtain grace. Thus when you present your faith, you may receive grace from God.”