Theodoret of Cyrus

Nicene & Post-Nicene · AD 325–500 · 1,374 passages across 50 books

Commentary

1,221–1,240 of 1,374

For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.

We do not sin from necessity or by compulsion; rather we are overcome by desire and do things which in principle we detest.

Romans 7:16

If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.

Paul says that he learned to hate what he does from the law, and therefore he defends the law and says that it was right.

Romans 7:21

I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.

Paul says that “evil lies close at hand” because our body is mortal and passible, and our soul is sluggish and weak.

Romans 7:22

For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:

The “inmost self” is the mind.

Romans 7:24

O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

Paul calls the body a “body of death” because it has been made subject to death and is therefore mortal. The soul, on the other hand, is immortal.

Romans 8:3

For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

Christ came “in the likeness of sinful flesh” because, although he took on human nature, he did not assume human sinfulness.… For although he had the same nature as we have, he did not have the same outlook or the same thoughts. For although the law could not accomplish its purpose on account of the weakness of those to whom it was given (for they had a mortal and passible nature), the only begotten Word of God broke the power of sin by taking on human flesh and fulfilled all righteousness, not giving in to the temptations of sin in any way.

Romans 8:8

So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

Paul is not telling us to leave the body but to be set free from the wisdom of the flesh. What this means, he tells us in the following verses.

Romans 8:10

And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

Paul makes something which was doubtful clear and demonstrates that he is not attacking the flesh but sin. For he decreed that the body was dead to sin, i.e., that it should not sin. But here he calls the soul spirit, because it has already become spiritual. He commands it to follow after righteousness, whose fruit is the hope of eternal life.

Romans 8:12

Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.

Since we have obtained salvation from Christ the Lord and have received the grace of the Spirit, we are obliged to serve him.

Romans 8:13

For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

Paul does not say that we should mortify the flesh but “the deeds of the flesh,” that is, the wisdom of the flesh, the attacks of the passions. For we have the grace of the Spirit to help us. Eternal life is the fruit of victory.

Romans 8:16

The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

Paul uses the word spirit in two senses. The first is the Spirit of God, the second is our spirit, i.e., through the grace which we have been given.

Romans 8:17

And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

As not every son is an heir of the one who procreated him, St. Paul rightly adds heredity to the adoption of sons. And given that a friend may often receive some inheritance from the Lord, Paul does not omit the word son but even adds that we are “fellow heirs with Christ,” thereby revealing his ineffable love for mankind. For not all those who have been blessed with saving baptism enjoy these good things, but only those who accept the fellowship of the Lord’s sufferings as well.

Romans 8:20

For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,

“Futility” means corruption. Paul teaches this a little further on when he says that the creation itself will be set free from corruption. He also teaches that all the visible creation has been condemned to mortality because the Creator of all things foresaw the sin of Adam and that he would sentence him to death.

Romans 8:26

Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Do not think that you will be set free by things which are harmful. You do not know what is good for you in the way that God does. Therefore, give yourselves to him who holds the key to the universe. For even if you ask nothing but merely groan under the impulse of the grace which dwells in you, he handles your affairs wisely and will ensure that you get what you need.

Romans 8:27

And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

“Spirit” here does not mean the substance of the Spirit but rather the grace which is given to believers. By this grace we are encouraged to struggle, we are inflamed to pray more earnestly, and with ineffable sighings we implore God the Savior. The holy apostle wrote this out of the experience of his own suffering. For he himself had asked to be set free from evils, not once or twice but three times, but he did not get what he asked for. Rather, he heard God say: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” But when he learned this, he willingly embraced the things which he had asked to be set free from and said: “I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

Romans 8:28

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

This is not true of everyone but only of believers. Nor do things simply work together—they work together for good. If someone asks for something which will not contribute to his good, he will not get it, because it is not good for him to get it.

Romans 8:29

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

God did not simply predestine; he predestined those whom he foreknew. Paul says everything precisely and writes “conformed to the image of his Son” and not just “conformed to his Son.” … For our body is not conformed to Christ’s divinity but to his glorified body. It is as a man that Christ is the firstborn; as God he is the only begotten. Nor does Christ as God have brothers. It is as a man that he calls all men his brothers.

Romans 8:30

Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

Those whose intention God foreknew he predestined from the beginning. Those who are predestined, he called, and those who were called, he justified by baptism. Those who were justified, he glorified, calling them children: “To all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God.” Let no one say that God’s foreknowledge was the unilateral cause of these things. For it was not foreknowledge which justified people, but God knew what would happen to them, because he is God.

Romans 8:32

He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

Would God give us the greater thing but not the lesser? Would he sacrifice his Son but withhold his possessions from us? Note too that there is one person of the Son. His human nature was given for us by his divinity.

Romans 9:2

That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.

The construction here is incomplete. Paul should have added that his unceasing anguish was due to the rejection or unbelief of the Jews.

All writers

Who was this?

A theologian of the School of Antioch and bishop of Cyrrhus, he participated in the Christological controversies of the fifth century. He wrote biblical commentaries and polemics against Cyril of Alexandria. His writings were later condemned during the Three Chapters Controversy at the Second Council of Constantinople.

Wikipedia

Works cited

INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS 145
INTERPRETATION OF THE SECOND LETTER TO TIMOTHY 16
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 11 14
INTERPRETATION OF THE FIRST LETTER TO TIMOTHY 14
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 1 13
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 13 10
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 7 10
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 10 9
COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS 1 8
DIALOGUE 2 8
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 2 8
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 4 8

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