Ignorance of the justice of God 1 BRETHREN, the will of my heart, indeed, and my prayer to God, is for them unto salvation. 2 For I bear them witness, that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For they, not knowing the justice of God, and seeking to establish their own, have not submitted themselves to the justice of God. 4 For the end of the law is Christ, unto justice to every one that believes.
This justice comes through faith 5 For Moses wrote, that the justice which is of the law, the man that shall do it, shall live by it. (Lev 18:5) 6 But the justice which is of faith, speaks thus: Say not in your heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? that is, to bring Christ down; (Dt 9:4) 7 Or who shall descend into the deep? that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead. 8 But what says the scripture? The word is near you, even in your mouth, and in your heart. (Dt 30:12-14) This is the word of faith, which we preach. 9 For if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised him up from the dead, you shall be saved. 10 For, with the heart, we believe unto justice; but, with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture says: Whosoever believes in him, shall not be confounded. (Is 28:16) 12 For there is no distinction of the Jew and the Greek: for the same is Lord over all, rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved. (Joel 2:32)
Refusal to believe the gospel 14 How then shall they call on him, in whom they have not believed? Or how shall they believe him, of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear, without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they be sent, as it is written: How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, of them that bring glad tidings of good things! (Is 52:7) 16 But all do not obey the gospel. For Isaiah says: Lord, who has believed our report? (Is 53:1) 17 Faith then comes by hearing; and hearing by the word of Christ. 18 But I say: Have they not heard? Yes, verily, their sound has gone forth into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the whole world. (Ps 19:4) 19 But I say: Has not Israel known? First, Moses says: I will provoke you to jealousy by that which is not a nation; by a foolish nation I will anger you. (Dt 32:21) 20 But Isaiah is bold, and says: I was found by them that did not seek me: I appeared openly to them that asked not after me. (Is 65:1) 21 But to Israel he says: All the day long have I spread my hands to a people that believes not, and contradicts me. (Is 65:2)
Commentary on Romans 10
10:1 This makes it clear that we should pray for unbelievers that they may be saved, because faith is a gift from God. (St. Thomas Aquinas)
10:2 The apostle expresses sympathy with the ignorance of such people. They do these things, which they believe to be pleasing to God, with great fervor and longing, but because they are deceived in this zeal or eagerness of mind their intention is erroneous, nor is the eye of their heart single, so as to see clearly, that is, to preserve itself from error. (Peter Abelard Ethics 12) For if it is not of man that they are separated, but through zeal, they deserved to be pitied rather than punished. But observe how resourceful he favors them in the word, and yet shows their unseasonable bullheadedness. (St. John Chrysostom)
10:3 That is, they refused to be subject to Christ through faith in whom men are made just by God. (St. Thomas Aquinas) their own: he calls it their own righteousness, either because the Law was no longer of force, or because it was one of trouble and toil. (St. John Chrysostom)
10:4 the end of the law is Christ: Faith in Christ is not opposed to the Law, after all, that guided us to Christ; so the one who believes in Christ the Lord fulfills the purpose of the Law. (Theodoret of Cyrus)
10:5 Paul says this because the righteousness of the Law of Moses did not make people guilty as long as they kept it, that is, they lived by keeping the law, because they were debtors. (Ambrosiaster)
10:7 descend into the deep: Which in its literal meaning, refers to fetching the law, but in the mystical meaning is explained by the Apostle to mean, “to bring up Christ again from the dead.” that is, it is not necessary to descend into the bowels of the earth to know and firmly believe that Christ descended there, who is the object of our faith. These words, as mystically explained by the Apostle, have reference to the leading principal mysteries of Christian faith. (Bishop John McEvilly)
10:8 According to the Gloss, the word near should be understood with reference to usefulness, as we say something is "near" us when it is expedient or useful to us. (St. Thomas Aquinas)
10:9 For, if it is an inconsistency to pretend to religion outwardly, while we neglect it inwardly, it is also an inconsistency, surely, to neglect it outwardly while we pretend to it inwardly. It is wrong, surely, to believe and not to profess; wrong to put our light under a bushel. St. Paul says expressly, "If you shall confess with your mouth..." Belief is not enough; we must confess. Nor must we confess with our mouth only; but by word and by deed, by speech and by silence, by doing and by not doing, by walk and conversation, when in company and when alone, in time and in place, when we labor and when we rest, when we lie down and when we rise up, in youth and in age, in life and in death,—and, in like manner, in the world and in Church. (Cardinal John Henry Newman Sermon 21)
10:10 heart unto justice: believing gives salvation because it gives justice, which is the cause of salvation; in other words, a person is justified through the faith of his heart, that is, from being ungodly he becomes godly. (Interlinear Gloss) |
confession: To confess means to say what is in the heart; otherwise it is speaking but not confessing. (Glossa Ordinaria) in the mouth: that is, after faith of the heart, otherwise it is of no benefit. (Interlinear Gloss) salvation: that is, to reach eternal salvation. (St. Thomas Aquinas)
10:12 Jew and the Greek: Since you have been baptized in Christ, the rite from which you came to Christ, whether it was the Jewish or the Greek, is no ground for saying that anyone occupies a less honorable place in the faith. (St. Thomas Aquinas Com Gal 3:28)
10:13 This is done by calling on Him through love and devout worship. (St. Thomas Aquinas)
10:14-15 how then shall they call on him: This is an objection raised by the Jews about the Gentiles, that they could not call upon God. without a preacher: Because the prophets were never sent to the Gentiles. (Pelagius) Unless they be sent: Here is an evident proof against all new teachers, who have all usurped to themselves the ministry without any lawful mission, derived by succession from the apostles, to whom Christ said, John 20:21, As my Father has sent me, I also send you. (Bishop Richard Challoner) beautiful are the feet: Meaning the apostles whose feet the Lord washed, that they are clean and fair for preaching and to run though the world, quickly filling the globe with the doctrine of Christ. (St. Jerome Com Is 52:7)
10:16 For while hearing comes from grace, there is also another grace necessary to move the heart. (Interlinear Gloss)
10:17 Faith comes by hearing: While God teaches inwardly, the preacher proclaims outwardly. by the word of God: That is, through the grace of Christ, who sends us teachers of the evangelical word. For unless something Is spoken, it cannot be heard or believed. (Glossa Ordinaria)
10:18 has gone out to all the earth: that is, the voice of the apostles whose fame has reached every land, both of Jews and of Gentiles. (St. Thomas Aquinas)
10:19 For it was not the greatness of the honor alone that was enough to throw them upon jealousy, but the fact too that a nation had come to enjoy these things which was of so little account that it could hardly be considered a nation at all. For I will provoke you to jealousy, by them which are no nation, and by a foolish nation will I anger you. For what more foolish than the Greeks? Or what of less account? See how by every means God had given from of old indications and clear signs of these times, in order to remove their blindness. For it was not any little corner in which the thing was done, but in land, and in sea, and in every quarter of the globe. And they saw those in the enjoyment of countless blessings now, who had formerly been objects of their contempt. (St. John Chrysostom)
10:20-21 It is the nations who did not have a prophet sent to them who recognized their maker and benefactor, whereas those who received all sorts of care gained no profit but continued in their sinful habits. The phrase “all day long I have held out my hands” refers to the care for them that he gave for all that time, but the saving suffering of the cross in which Christ stretched out his hands is also alluded to here. (Theodoret of Cyrus Com Is 65:1-2) |
Catechism Cross-references
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