NOTES. Orthodox readings.

Other notes

For Rom 4:2

²For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.

If Abraham was justified not by works, then why did he do works? Does this mean that it is enough to have faith and one need do nothing? To understand Paul's words correctly, one must remember what faith is. If by faith one understands exclusively... Read more

If Abraham was justified not by works, then why did he do works? Does this mean that it is enough to have faith and one need do nothing?

To understand Paul's words correctly, one must remember what faith is. If by faith one understands exclusively a set of theoretical ideas that have no practical outcome, then indeed it is unclear how such faith can justify. But if faith is an inner fire that transforms a person, then works will necessarily become its consequence and manifestation. Works in themselves cannot justify not because they are unnecessary, since their uselessness is nowhere asserted, but because in the sinful world even the motivation for necessary and noble works may turn out to be base, and the works themselves, though they appear useful, may not in fact be so.

The thought that where there is no law, there is no transgression, like many of Paul's words, sounds paradoxical. But if so, why was the law given?

The law was given so that we would better recognize where evil is. The law itself is not primary; a good will to observe it is a consequence of faith. Fulfillment of the commandments of the law flows from trust in God. Formal legalism dries up the living bond with Him. But through faith the observance of the law can be given life.

For Rom 4:1-8

¹What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?

²For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.

³For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

⁴Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.

⁵But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

⁶Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,

⁷Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.

⁸Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

When speaking of faith, we often mean belief in God’s very existence, in His presence in the world. Most people have no difficulty with this. It is rare to meet a genuine atheist... Read more

When speaking of faith, we often mean belief in God’s very existence, in His presence in the world. Most people have no difficulty with this. It is rare to meet a genuine atheist; more often, a person is ready to acknowledge the presence and influence in the world of a Being they are prepared to call God. But this is not what Paul is speaking about. Today’s reading asks us, “Do you believe God? Do you trust Him?” It turns out, then, that our principal task is to believe His words, His action, and His plans, and to trust His will. Having thought about it, we are probably ready to do even this, but afterward we will have to act, trusting Him in everything and carrying out the work appointed for us. Will we manage it this time? Most likely not, and this upsets us and deprives us of hope and joy. Yet the faith that is counted as righteousness, as our principal work, consists precisely in accepting the most astonishing thing about the merciful God: that for Him, our trusting Him, getting up again and again, and trying to act according to His will matters more than the fact that once again we did not succeed.

For Rom 4:1-15

¹What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?

²For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.

³For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

⁴Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.

⁵But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

⁶Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,

⁷Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.

⁸Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

⁹Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness.

¹⁰How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.

¹¹And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also:

¹²And 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.

¹³For 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.

¹⁴For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:

¹⁵Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.

Continuing the theme of the universalism of the Torah, Paul turns to the figure of Abraham. He points... Read more

Continuing the theme of the universalism of the Torah, Paul turns to the figure of Abraham. He points to the fact that Abraham became righteous not as a result of his religiosity, but because he was able to trust God (vv. 1-3). The apostle again points out that trust in God is the basis of righteousness, while works of righteousness are only the consequence of that trust (vv. 4-8). Even such an important religious rite as circumcision turns out for Paul to be only a sign of the relationships that bind the righteous person to God, and in no way their foundation (vv. 9-12). One could say that in these reflections Paul remains a follower of Hillel and of his teacher Gamaliel, for it was Hillel and his followers who always maintained that the basis of righteousness and of spiritual life in general is relationship with God, while all the rest of religious life connected with observing the Torah is only its consequence; without that relationship, it loses all meaning.

But Paul again goes further than both Hillel and Gamaliel. He says: if circumcision is only a sign of belonging to the people of God, given by God to Abraham as a consequence of his righteousness, then righteousness is also possible for the uncircumcised if they are able to trust God in the same way as the circumcised. In this sense Abraham becomes the spiritual father of all the righteous, both the circumcised (Jews) and the uncircumcised (Gentiles) (vv. 11-12).

The apostle by no means thinks there is no difference at all between these two categories of righteous people; he only reminds us that righteousness is one, and if a person, even an uncircumcised person, walks the path of righteousness, then sooner or later he will come to the same place to which the circumcised come by that path. The Torah is not a flying carpet given by God to His people in order to carry them into the Kingdom as if by the wave of a magic wand, sparing them from the path on which righteousness is acquired; it is a guide that helps them stay on the path. To regard the Torah as a privilege is a dangerous error, for if one takes it seriously, it will reveal not the advantages, but the sins, of the one who strives to follow it. Righteousness is greater than the Torah; the righteous person receives from God what was promised to him not because he deserved it, but only by God's mercy. The Torah in itself gives no one any rights (vv. 13-14). If someone decided to boast before God that he knows the Torah better than others, this would quite naturally provoke only God's wrath, for such knowledge would reveal first of all not the righteousness, but the sins, of the one boasting (vv. 14-15).

In this respect it is simpler for a Gentile: he does not claim knowledge of the Torah or the role of its keeper. Knowledge of the Torah in itself does not guarantee righteousness, and therefore on the way to the Kingdom there is no difference before God between Jew and Gentile. But more is required from those to whom the Torah has been given, because they know more about their sins than those who have not heard of the Torah.

For Rom 3:21-31

²¹But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;

²²Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

²³For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

²⁴Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

²⁵Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

²⁶To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

²⁷Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.

²⁸Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

²⁹Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:

³⁰Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.

³¹Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.

God's righteousness has been revealed independently of the Law received by Moses from above. Even after twenty centuries, this thought... Read more

God's righteousness has been revealed independently of the Law received by Moses from above. Even after twenty centuries, this thought is staggering and difficult to grasp; how much harder it must have been for the first recipients of Paul's epistle to digest. Yet the paradox is deepened by the fact that God's righteousness does not abolish the Law, whose testimony, together with that of the prophets, it accepts. A person can receive justification freely through faith, but faith itself is also a gift that surpasses knowledge of the Law. What stands higher does not abolish what falls short of the highest level; rather, one can ascend by the lower steps toward higher summits.

Paul neither separates nor sets against one another the circumcised who live by faith and the uncircumcised who have faith: God justifies both. Faith comes first, not its external expressions, which are important but not of primary importance.