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Origen of Alexandria

Ante-Nicene · to AD 325 · 2,651 passages across 61 books

Commentary

2,381–2,400 of 2,651
Romans 3:26

To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

God allowed all this so that afterward, that is to say in our time, he might show forth his righteousness. For at the end of the age, in the most recent times, God has manifested his righteousness and given Christ to be our redemption. He has made him our propitiator. If he had sent him as the propitiator at some earlier time, there would have been fewer people whose sins needed propitiating than there are now. For God is just, and therefore he could not justify the unjust. Therefore he required the intervention of a propitiator, so that by having faith in him those who could not be justified by their own works might be justified. These are the presuppositions on which the apostle’s exposition here is based.Paul was right to add “at the present time,” because at the moment God’s righteousness is revealed for our justification. But when the day of judgment comes, it will be revealed for retribution.
Romans 3:28

Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

It remains for us who are trying to affirm everything the apostle says, and to do so in the proper order, to inquire who is justified by faith alone, apart from works. If an example is required, I think it must suffice to mention the thief on the cross, who asked Christ to save him and was told: “Truly, this day you will be with me in paradise.” … A man is justified by faith. The works of the law can make no contribution to this. Where there is no faith which might justify the believer, even if there are works of the law these are not based on the foundation of faith. Even if they are good in themselves they cannot justify the one who does them, because faith is lacking, and faith is the mark of those who are justified by God.
Romans 3:29

Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:

Here Paul gives a short sharp answer to those who would say that there is one God for the Jews and another for the Gentiles, i.e., one God of the law and another of the gospel.
Romans 3:30

Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.

Not only does Paul say that there is only one God for both Jews and Gentiles, but he adds that this God is the one who justifies the circumcised on the ground of their faith and the uncircumcised through their faith.… Neither the circumcision nor the uncircumcision enjoys any advantage in this.
Romans 3:31

Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.

Whoever does not believe in Christ, of whom Moses wrote in the law, destroys the law. But whoever believes in Christ, of whom Moses wrote, confirms the law through faith, because he believes in Christ.The Lord himself said: “I have not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it.” None of the saints nor even the Lord himself has destroyed the law. Rather its glory, which is temporal and transient, has been destroyed and replaced by a glory which is eternal and permanent.
Romans 4:2

For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.

This is a rhetorical argument, which goes like this: Someone who is justified by works has nothing to boast of before God. But Abraham did have something to glory in before God. Therefore he was justified by faith and not by works.In this whole passage it seems that the apostle wants to show that there are two justifications, one by works and the other by faith. He says that justification by works has its glory but only in and of itself, not before God. Justification by faith, on the other hand, has glory before God, who sees our hearts and knows those who believe in secret and those who do not believe. Thus it is right to say that it has glory only before God, who sees the hidden power of faith. But the one who looks for justification by works may expect honor mainly from other persons who see and approve of them. Let no one think that someone who has faith enough to be justified and to have glory before God can at the same time have unrighteousness dwelling in him as well. For faith cannot coexist with unbelief, nor can righteousness with wickedness, just as light and darkness cann…
This is a rhetorical argument, which goes like this: Someone who is justified by works has nothing to boast of before God. But Abraham did have something to glory in before God. Therefore he was justified by faith and not by works.In this whole passage it seems that the apostle wants to show that there are two justifications, one by works and the other by faith. He says that justification by works has its glory but only in and of itself, not before God. Justification by faith, on the other hand, has glory before God, who sees our hearts and knows those who believe in secret and those who do not believe. Thus it is right to say that it has glory only before God, who sees the hidden power of faith. But the one who looks for justification by works may expect honor mainly from other persons who see and approve of them.
Let no one think that someone who has faith enough to be justified and to have glory before God can at the same time have unrighteousness dwelling in him as well. For faith cannot coexist with unbelief, nor can righteousness with wickedness, just as light and darkness cannot live together.
Romans 4:3

For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

Was Abraham justified just because he had the faith to believe that he would be given a son? Or was it also because of all the other things which he had believed previously?… Before this point, Abraham had believed in part but not perfectly. Now, however, all the parts of his earlier faith are gathered together to make a perfect whole, by which he is justified.
Romans 4:4

Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.

Faith relies on the grace of the justifier. Works rely on the justice of the rewarder. When I consider the greatness of Paul’s speech, by which he says that the worker receives what is due to him, I can hardly persuade myself that there is any deed which could claim a reward from God as its due.… Therefore, it seems that Paul is really referring here to evil deeds, of which Scripture frequently says that they get their due reward.
Romans 4:5

But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

Faith, which believes in the justifier, is the beginning of justification before God. And this faith, when it is justified, is like a root in the soil of the soul, which the rain has watered, so that as it begins to grow by the law of God, branches appear, which bring forth fruit. The root of righteousness does not spring from works; rather, the fruit of works grows from the root of righteousness, viz., by that root of righteousness by which God brings righteousness to the one whom he has accepted apart from works.
Romans 4:8

Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

Note the order here. First comes the forgiveness of iniquity, then the covering of sin, then the non-imputation of the sin to the sinner. This is the order: First, the beginning of the soul’s conversion is the renunciation of evil. Second, the soul begins to do good works, which eventually become more numerous than the evil deeds which preceded them, and in this sense those sins may be said to be covered over. Finally, the soul reaches maturity. Every trace of sin is uprooted from it so that not even the smallest trace of wickedness remains The height of perfect blessedness is promised. The Lord will not impute any sin to the soul.Wickedness is different from sin in that it applies to things which are done without the law. In Greek the word for this is anomía, meaning something which is done without the law. Sin, on the other hand, refers to something which is done against the dictates of conscience and nature.
Romans 4:9

Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness.

If Abraham was justified by faith before he was circumcised, then it is possible for anyone who believes in God to be justified by faith, even if uncircumcised.
Romans 4:10

How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.

Romans 4:12

And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.

After believing, Abraham received circumcision as a sign of the faith which he already had … which is how he can also be the father of those who are circumcised, provided that they share the same faith which he had while he was still uncircumcised.
Romans 4:13

For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

Long before Moses ever existed, the Lord appeared to Abraham and said: “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse; and by you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
Romans 4:14

For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:

Paul says that the promise given to Abraham that he should inherit the world did not come from the law but by faith, which was reckoned to him as righteousness. It doubtless follows that everyone who hopes that God’s righteousness will be imputed to him hopes for this by faith and not by the law.
Romans 4:15

Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.

Paul says that the law brings wrath in order to underline his point, [made in the previous verse,] that it is not the pathway to the inheritance of the promise.The law which brings transgression cannot be the law of Moses, because there was plenty of transgression before that came into force. Rather, it is the law which dwells in our members and leads us into sin. This is the same law which the apostle says brings wrath. For without a doubt it brings wrath when it leads its captive into sin. But where the law of sin does not obtain, then of course there is no transgression.
Romans 4:16

Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,

It might appear from this that faith is not a free gift of God but that it must first be offered to him by man in order for grace to be given in return. But consider what the apostle teaches about this elsewhere. For when he lists the gifts of the Spirit, which he says are given to believers according to the measure of faith, there among the rest he asserts that the gift of faith is also given. Therefore faith is given by grace.…If the promise rested on works, it would not be guaranteed. But now it is guaranteed because it rests on grace, not on works. I think this can be understood to mean that the things of the law are external to us, but the things of grace are internal … and therefore they have a firmer foundation.
Romans 4:17

(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.

The dead here are those whose souls have sinned, for Scripture says: “The soul that sins will die.” For just as the senses perish in our mortal body so that the body can no longer hear, smell, taste or touch, so also the spiritual senses perish in the soul so that it cannot see God or hear his Word, or sense the sweet odor of Christ, or taste the good Word of God, or handle the word of life. People like that must be said to be dead. This is what we were like when Christ came, but he has given us life by his grace.
Romans 4:18

Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.

As always, when the apostle Paul talks about faith, he adds hope as well, and rightly so, for hope and faith are inseparable.… Just as Abraham believed against hope, so all believers do the same, for we all believe in the resurrection of the dead and the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven. These appear to go against hope as far as human nature is concerned, but when we take the power of God into consideration, there is no problem.
Romans 4:19

And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb:

This may be understood literally or figuratively. In the literal sense, Abraham did not put his trust in his hundred-year-old body, which was obviously incapable of doing what God had promised him, but rather he trusted in God, the Almighty One who could perform what he had promised even when the laws of human fertility no longer functioned.… Figuratively, however, it may be understood in the light of what Paul says elsewhere: “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you.” It would be absurd to suggest that what Paul had in this respect was somehow lacking to Abraham. For Abraham also had put his earthly members to death, being neither excited by luxury nor inflamed by lust.… Sarah likewise did not suffer from lust or the desires of the flesh.… When they heard what God had promised them, they did not consider their own benefit.… All these things that would make them rich they regarded as worthless in order that they might win Christ, whose coming they foresaw.

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