Irenaeus — Commentary on Scripture

Romans 11:26

And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:

And Paul likewise declares, "And so all Israel shall be saved; "

Romans 11:32

For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

T to the disobedience of men; and set forth why it is that one and the same God has made some things temporal and some eternal, some heavenly and others earthly; and understand for what reason God, though invisible, manifested Himself to the prophets not under one form, but differently to different individuals; and show why it was that more covenants than one were given to mankind; and teach what was the special character of each of these covenants; and search out for what reason "God.
And therefore Paul declares, "For God hath concluded all in unbelief, that He may have mercy upon all; "

Romans 11:33

O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

For in reference to these points, and others of a like nature, the apostle exclaims: "Oh! the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God; how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!"

Romans 11:34

For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?

For no other being had the power of revealing to us the things of the Father, except His own proper Word. For what other person "knew the mind of the Lord "or who else "has become His counsellor? "

Romans 11:36

For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

They moreover affirm that the Saviour is shown to be derived from all the Aeons, and to be in Himself everything by the following passage: "Every male that openeth the womb." For He, being everything, opened the womb of the enthymesis of the suffering Aeon, when it had been expelled from the Pleroma. This they also style the second Ogdoad, of which we shall speak presently. And they state that it was clearly on this account that Paul said, "And He Himself is all things;" and again, "All things are to Him, and of Him are all things;" and further, "In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead;" and yet again, "All things are gathered together by God in Christ."

Romans 12:1

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Then again, Paul exhorts us "to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."

Romans 12:3

For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

For this cause also the apostle says, "Be not wise beyond what it is fitting to be wise, but be wise prudently"

Romans 12:16

Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.

As also the apostle taught, saying, "Minding not high things, but consenting to things of low estate; "

Romans 13:1

Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

For this cause pay ye tribute also; for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.".
Paul the apostle also says upon this same subject: "Be ye subject to all the higher powers; for there is no power but of God: now those which are have been ordained of God."

Romans 13:4

For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.

And again, in reference to them he says, "For he beareth not the sword in vain; for he is the minister of God, the avenger for wrath to him who does evil."

Romans 13:6

For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.

Now, that he spake these words, not in regard to angelical powers, nor of invisible rulers-as some venture to expound the passage-but of those of actual human authorities,

Romans 13:8

Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.

The apostle, foreseeing the wicked speeches of unbelievers, has particularized the works which he terms carnal; and he explains himself, lest any room for doubt be left to those who do dishonestly pervert his meaning. Thus does he point out to his hearers in a more explicit manner what it is he means when he declares, "Flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God." For they who do these things, since they do indeed walk after the flesh, have not the power of living unto God. And, "Those who are in the flesh cannot please God:" not repudiating the substance of the flesh, but showing that into it the Spirit must be infused.

Romans 13:10

Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

But if He had descended from another Father, He never would have made use of the first and greatest commandment of the law; but He would undoubtedly have endeavoured by all means to bring down a greater one than this from the perfect Father, so as not to make use of that which had been given by the God of the law. And Paul in like manner declares, "Love is the fulfilling of the law: "

Romans 14:9

For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.

And he renders the reason why the Son of God did these things, saying, "For to this end Christ both lived, and died, and revived, that He might rule over the living and the dead."

Titus 3:10

A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject;

But as many as separate from the Church, and give heed to such old wives' fables as these, are truly self-condemned; and these men Paul commands us, "after a first and second admonition, to avoid.".
"Such was the horror which the apostles and their disciples had against holding even verbal communication with any corrupters of the truth; as Paul also says, "A man that is an heretic, after the first and second admonition, reject; knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself."

Zechariah 7:10

And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.

And Zechariah also, among the twelve prophets, pointing out to the people the will of God, says, “These things does the Lord omnipotent declare: ‘Execute true judgment, and show mercy and compassion each one to his brother. And oppress not the widow, and the orphan, and the proselyte and the poor; and let none imagine evil against your brother in his heart.’ ” And again, he says, “ ‘These are the words which you shall utter. Speak the truth every man to his neighbor, and execute peaceful judgment in your gates, and let none of you imagine evil in your heart against his brother, and you shall not love false swearing, for all these things I hate,’ says the Lord almighty.” Moreover, David also says in like manner: “What man is there who desires life and would long to see good days? Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips that they speak not guile. Shun evil and do good: seek peace, and pursue it.”

Zechariah 9:9

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

A spiritual disciple of this sort truly receiving the spirit of God, who was from the beginning, in all the dispensations of God, present with humankind, and announced things future, revealed things present, and narrated things past—[such a person] does indeed “judge all men but is himself judged by no man.” For he judges the Gentiles, “who serve the creature more than the Creator,” and who with a reprobate mind spend all their labor on vanity. And he also judges the Jews, who do not accept the word of liberty nor are willing to go forth free, although they have a deliverer present [with them]. But they pretend, at a time unsuitable [for such conduct], to serve, [with observances] beyond [those required by] the law, God who stands in need of nothing. And [they] do not recognize the advent of Christ, which he accomplished for the salvation of humanity. Nor are [they] willing to understand that all the prophets announced his two advents: the one, indeed, in which he became a man subject to stripes, and knowing what it is to bear infirmity, and sat upon the foal of an ass, and was the s…

A spiritual disciple of this sort truly receiving the spirit of God, who was from the beginning, in all the dispensations of God, present with humankind, and announced things future, revealed things present, and narrated things past—[such a person] does indeed “judge all men but is himself judged by no man.” For he judges the Gentiles, “who serve the creature more than the Creator,” and who with a reprobate mind spend all their labor on vanity. And he also judges the Jews, who do not accept the word of liberty nor are willing to go forth free, although they have a deliverer present [with them]. But they pretend, at a time unsuitable [for such conduct], to serve, [with observances] beyond [those required by] the law, God who stands in need of nothing. And [they] do not recognize the advent of Christ, which he accomplished for the salvation of humanity. Nor are [they] willing to understand that all the prophets announced his two advents: the one, indeed, in which he became a man subject to stripes, and knowing what it is to bear infirmity, and sat upon the foal of an ass, and was the stone rejected by the builders, and was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and by the stretching forth of his hands destroyed Amalek. … He gathered from the ends of the earth into his father’s fold the children who were scattered abroad. … [He] remembered his own dead ones who had formerly fallen asleep and came down to them that he might deliver them. But [in the second advent] he will come on the clouds, bringing on the day which burns as a furnace, and striking the earth with the word of his mouth, and judging the impious with the breath of his lips. Having a fan in his hands, he cleanses his floor, and gathering the wheat indeed into his barn, he burns the chaff with unquenchable fire.