Bible Study on Romans Session 13

Saint Paul’s Letter to the Romans;

A Bible Study Based upon the Homilies of St John Chrysostom (SJC)

Study Guide – February 5, 2019 – Romans 6.19-7.13 – Homily 12

Prayer before reading of the Holy Scriptures: Shine within our hearts, loving Master, the pure light of Your divine knowledge, and open the eyes of our minds that we may comprehend the message of Your Gospel. Instill in us also reverence for Your blessed commandments so that, having conquered sinful desires, we may pursue a spiritual life, thinking and doing all those things which are pleasing to You. For You, Christ our God, are the light of our souls and bodies, and to You we give glory, together with Your Father who is without beginning and Your all holy, good and life giving Spirit, always now and forever and to the ages of ages.

Chapter 6, Verses 19-23

  • Paul is speaking “in human terms” to express the limitations of the law. – SJC “Yet men should contribute much more, and more by as much as sanctification is greater and better than the power of lawlessness. But he asks for no more because of your weakness.” (Pg 223 #3)
  • There are two options – lawlessness and righteousness One is filled with misery, while the other is filled with earnestness. SJC “For no one would endure hearing that he does not serve Christ as much as he serves the devil….When you were living in wickedness, impiety, and the worst kind of evil, your obedience to evil was such that no action of yours was in any way good…For you did not divide the manner of your servitude by giving some of it to justice and some of it toi sin,m for you devoted yourselves entirely to wickedness.” (Pg 223 #5-6)
  • Since you have removed sin, you should pursue virtue
  • We should have shame about our former life in sin. SJC “Your slavery was so great that even the recollection of it makes you blush. But if the recollection makes you ashamed, the deed itself must do so all the more. So now you have gained a double profit: you have been freed from this shame, and you have learned in what a state you were.” (Pg 224 #8)
  • Sanctification is the opposite of shame SJC “The fruit of sin and evil was shame, even after sins were forgiven. The fruit of freedom from sin and slavery to God is sanctification. And where we have sanctification, there we have much confidence. The end of sin and evil is death. The end of sanctification is life everlasting.” (Pg 224-225 #10)
  • Some blessings are given now, while others are coming later. Therefore you should serve the blessings. SJC “In the first place, you were set free from wickedness and such evils of which even the recollection brings shame. Second, you have become servants of justice. Third, you have enjoyed sanctification. And fourth, you have attained life, and a life that is not temporary, but everlasting.” (Pg 225 #11)
  • We were set free from sin by grace, not anything we have done. SJC “Paul inserts all these points in his argument because he has already spoken about grace and next he is going to reject the law. To prevent both these topics from making hearers rather listless and indifferent, he inserted the part about strictness of life, because everywhere he strives to rouse his audience to the practice of virtue.” (Pg 225-226 #14)
  • Paul finishes this section by reiterating the danger of turning back.

Chapter 7, Verses 1-6

  • SJC “If the law has no dominion, much less does sin.” (Pg 226 #16)
  • Paul states the obvious to build common ground with his listeners.
  • Translation point: SJC “Paul did not say ‘over a male’ or ‘over a female,’ but ‘over a man (ανθρώπου),’ which is the name common to either person.” (Pg 226 #18)
  • Paul makes a parallel between husband and wives to law and believer. “When the death of one or the other partner has occurred, it grants the same freedom…Where now are those false accusations against the law? Let them listen to Paul and hear how, even when he finds it necessary, he does not destroy the dignity of the law, but has great things to say about its power. While it is still in effect, the Jew is bound to it, and they who transgress it and reject it while it is still alive bear the name of adulterers. But if they let go of it once it has died, that is no cause for wonder. For in human affairs, one who does this is subject to no accusation.” (Pg 227 #20)
  • Death frees us from the law. SJC “If you are dead, you are no longer subject to the law. For is after her husband has died the wife is not subject to him, all the more is she freed from him when she herself has died. Do you see Paul’s wisdom and how the purpose of the law is that we be divorced from it and married to another? For Paul says that there is nothing to prevent marriage to a second husband after the first husband has died.” (Pg 228 #22)
  • There is total freedom because it was death of The Master.
  • We belong to Christ, whether we want it or not. SJC “Next, to prevent them from saying, ‘What about this? Suppose we do not wish to consort with a second husband. For the law does not make an adulteress of the widow who lives in a second marriage, nor does it force her to do so.’ to prevent them from saying this, Paul shows that, from what has already been done for us, we are obliged to choose this second marriage. He sets this forth more clearly in other Letters, where, for example, he says, ‘You are not your own.’ and ‘You have been bought at a great price,’ and ‘Do not become the slaves of men,’ and again, ‘One man died for all, kn order that they who are alive may live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them.’ And so Paul was alluding to such statements when he says here ‘through His body.’” (Pg 229 #25)
  • In our prior life we bore fruit (death) for sin, in our new life we bear bear fruit (life) for God.
  • The body and soul cooperate. SJC “For the soul plays the part of a musician, while our flesh plays the part of the lyre, which gives forth the sounds that the musician forces it to echo. Therefore we must impute the blame for the discordant strains to the musician and not to the lyre.” (Pg 230 #28)
  • We have new expectations from God because our life is easier after baptism. Since it is easier, we risk a higher penalty. SJC “What Paul means  is that when Adam sinned and his body became subject to suffering and death, he received many physical defects. The horse became less active and less obedient to the rein. But after Christ came, He made the body more nimble for us through baptism, because He roused it by the wings of the Spirit. On this account, the racecourses laid out for us and for those men of old are not the same. In those olden days the race was not as easy as it is now. Because our course is an easier one, Christ demands not only that we be free from murders, as was demanded of the men of old, but we must also be free from anger. Nor did Christ command us only to be free from acts of adultery, but even from adultery of the eyes. Furthermore, we are commanded not only to not swear false oaths, but even [to not swear] true ones.” (Pg 230-231 #30-31)
  • Historical reference which show great dedication of believers: SJC “For it is not the letter, that is, the old law, that condemns, but it is the Spirit that is helping us. This is why among the ancients, if someone was seen practicing virginity, it was a matter of great amazement, but now the practice has spread all over the world. And in those days, some few men despised death, and did so with great difficulty; but now, both in villages and cities, countless hosts of martyrs, both men and women, are eager to lay down their lives.” (Pg 231 #33)

Chapter 7, Verses 7-13

  • Again, Paul praises the law to avoid the scandal of speaking against the law. This builds credibility with his audience. SJC “By way of an objection, he has set down what the law is not. By removing this objection, he is winning the favor of the Jews, and now he may persuade them to accept the lesser alternative. And what is that lesser alternative? ‘I did not know sin except through the law. For I would not have known what evil desire was unless the law had said, ‘Thou shalt not covet.’” (Pg 232-233 #39)
  • The law failed not through its own fault, but for our lack of judgment.
    • SJC “It is not the fault of the physician, but of the patient, it the patient puts his medicine to a bad use. God did not give the law to rouse your evil desire, but to quench it, even if the opposite resulted. But the law is not to blame for this; rather, we should blame ourselves.” (Pg 233 #41)
    • SJC “For sin produced this blame even if it did so through the law. But this was not the purpose of the law; rather, the law intended the opposite. And so sin became violent and stronger. But again, this was not the fault of the law. Rather, it was the fault of the arrogance and senseless obstinacy of those who sinned.” (Pg 235 #48)
  • At least knowing about sin should cause us to stop. SJC “After the law came, even if they reaped no other benefit, they had precise knowledge of this very fact, namely, that they were sinning. This would be no small help for freeing themselves from wickedness.” (Pg 236 #51)
  • Which law is Paul speaking about? SJC “Some people say Paul’s statements here do not speak of the law of Moses. Some say he is speaking of the natural law, others of the commandment given in paradise. But everywhere Paul’s objective is to abrogate the law of Moses, whereas he never has a word to say against the other laws….Hence it is clear that Paul is discussing the Mosaic law abovem, as well as afterward, and in all other passages.” (Pg 236-237 #54-57)
  • Grace has preeminence over the law. SJC “For you must not look to this namely, that those who received the law became worse. Consider, rather, the other side, namely, that the law not only had no desire to make evil go to greater lengths, but that it was even eager to cut out the evil that existed before. If it lacked the strength to do this, give it a prize for good intentions.” (Pg 238 #61)

Life Application – Cast out Wickedness; Bring in Virtue

  • Don’t pay attention to the work needed – “So let us not look at how much labor is involved in seeking virtue, but rather look to the possibility that our search will succeed. But if we are earnest in our search, the labor will be light and easy.” (Pg 239, #64)
  • There is more pain in wickedness than virtue – “For we shall see that wickedness has much pain attached to it, but virtue brings much pleasure. Tell me this. What is more painful than a bad conscience? And what brings more pleasure than a good hope? For there is nothing, absolutely nothing, that is likely to cut us so deeply or to press so hard upon us as the expectation of evil. And there is nothing that raises us up and all but gives us wings as much as a good conscience does.” (Pg. 239-240 #65)
  • Wickedness brings evil into every part of life – “What do you say about adulterers who,…when they fall asleep, they are not free from struggles, because their bad conscience shapes for them dreams filled with many terrors to frighten them. But this is not so with the man who is chaste and sober. he spends this life in great tranquility and freedom. So then, compare the many surging waves of those fears, which come from a moment of pleasure, wit the peace and tranquility of an entire life that was lived with the brief labor of self-control and continence. Then you will see that the peaceful life or purity was more pleasurable than the turbulent life of sin.” (Pg 240-241 #68-69)
  • With virtue pleasure comes after labor – “In the case of virtue, the laborious parts come first and after that comes the pleasure, so that in this way the toilsome parts become easier. But in the case of the evil things, the order is reversed. After the pleasure come the pain and the punishments, so that in this way pleasure disappears. Just as the man who is expecting a crown of victory in the games has no perception of the present burdens, so he who is expecting punishments after the pleasure cannot reap the fruit of pure joy, because his fear of what will come upsets everything and puts him in a state of confusion. Rather, if one should examine the matter carefully, even before the punishment that follows these actions, he would find that at the very moment he ventures to do the wicked deed, he experiences much pain.” (Pg. 241 #71)
  • If you are not satisfied, you will never be satisfied – “When we are thirsty, we refresh ourselves by drinking as much as we wish. But as long as we are still thirsty, the torture of our thirst grows greater, even if we drain every springs to its dregs. The pangs of our punishment are more severe even if we drain ten thousand rivers. If you acquire everything in the world but still want more, you are making your punishment more severe because you have tasted of more numerous possessions.” (Pg. 242 #73)
  • Avoid even the littlest sins – “Let us keep away from this first root of evil. let us hot even touch this lustful desire. If we have put our hand to it, let us leap back from this first touch. …For if you step little by little into the sea of that madness and fall, you will not easily be able to stand up and get out of it. Suppose you fell into a whirlpool;. Even if you struggle times beyond counting, you will not easily escape its vortex. So will it be after you have fallen into this far worse abyss of covetousness. You will destroy yourself and all your possessions. Therefore, I urge you, let us be on our guard against the step and flee from little evils.” (Pg 242 #75-76)
  • Indifference brings greater pain – “If those who lived before the law was given fell into the very depth of wickedness little by little because of their indifference, consider what we will suffer. Surely we are called to greater trials if we do not pay strict attention to ourselves or anticipate the sparks of evil deeds, and if we do not quench them before the pile is kindled into flame. Let me give you an example. Are youa man who constantly swears false oaths? You must not only stop swearing falsely, but you just stop swearing any oath. Then you will have no further trouble. It is far more difficult for a man who swears oaths to void perjury than for a man who swears no oaths at all.” (Pg 243 #78)
  • Build virtue by increasing self-control – “To keep us from suffering these experiences, Christ forbids not only murder but anger as well; He forbids not only adultery, but even a lustful look; He forbids not only swearing falsely, but all swearing whatsoever. Nor does He make the measure of virtue stop here. After He set down these laws, He went to something that is still greater. For after He prohibited us from committing murders and ordered us to keep from anger, He bade us to be ready to suffer evil. For he told us not only to be prepared to suffer as much evil as the plotting of our enemy might wish, but go further and to overcome his excessive madness by the abundance of our Christian virtue and way of life.” (Pg. 244 #82)
  • Much good comes from virtue – “Consider how many good things you get from this. First, you free yourself from tumult and trouble. Second – rather, put this in first place – if you have sinned, you will strip those sins away, just as the publican did by listening humbly to the Pharisee’s accusations. In addition to these, you will make your soul heroic by this practice, and you will enjoy praises from all. But if you wish to take vengeance on that man, this too will follow in full measure, both when God punishes him for things he said, and before that punishment, because your Christian way of life has become a timely blow to him.” (Pg 246 #88)

Send-Off – Find rest for your soul!“Let us avoid the abyss of meanness of spirit and hurry to the harbor of patient endurance. Let us do this so that we may ‘find rest for our souls,’ as Christ has also declared.” (Pg 246 #90)