Translated by Claude.
Rom 5:12 Therefore, just as this passage seems defective in its literal sense unless we try in some way to connect it with what comes before or after, so perhaps it may be joined to what precedes, as if we were to say: "The reconciliation, I say, which we receive through Christ, and therefore — that is, on account of what was said above — namely, because he died for us; just as, on the contrary, we incurred condemnation through Adam." And this is what he adds: "Just as through one man" — namely Adam — "sin entered" — because by sinning first he opened the way for sin — "into this world" — that is, into this earthly part of the world in which men dwell, not indeed men of a kind who had already sinned before — "and through sin, death" — namely of the body. And so, beginning from Adam, both death and sin — at least original sin — passed through into all men through that one man, Adam, in whom all the rest sinned, that is, incurred the punishment of sin.
The passage may also perhaps begin with "therefore" and direct its construction much later toward what follows, namely: "so also through the righteousness of one man it came to all men," etc. As if it were said: "because we have received reconciliation through Christ, so also through the righteousness of one — understand: the justification of life — it came to all men, just as through one man sin entered into this world," etc. The other things interspersed keep the passage in suspense.
Rom 4:13 "For until the Law" — I rightly say it passed through to all — for even those who lived before the Law were not immune from sin. Concerning them it seems rather to be said: "Although no written transgression yet made them guilty — until the Law" — that is, during all that time before the Law was given through Moses — "sin was in the world, though it was not imputed" — that is, argued against or punished by any law among men — since the written law did not yet exist, but only the natural law, by which they had some measure of discernment between good and evil, and through which they could know sin. It may also be said that sin before the Law was not imputed by men — that is, it was unknown to all, or known to few, what sin was, before the Law expressly forbade concupiscence and taught that sin consists more in the heart than in the deed. This the Apostle openly teaches in what follows when he says: "Is the Law sin? By no means! But I would not have known sin except through the Law. For I would not have known covetousness" (Rom. 7:7). Therefore sin was not imputed — whether original or personal — that is, it was not recognized by men, until the Law declared it so. For even the sin of the first parents consisted in concupiscence, as it is written: "The woman saw that the tree was good for food, and pleasing to the eyes, and delightful to look upon, and she took of its fruit and ate" (Gen. 3:6).
Rom 5:14 And although sin before the Law was, as said, not imputed by men, it was nonetheless imputed by God even then, since on account of it he inflicted the punishment of bodily death on all — indicating to us by this that we must take the greatest care above all to avoid our own personal sins, since we were suffering this punishment on account of another's sin. And this is what is meant by: "But death reigned" — namely bodily death — that is, it held quiet dominion — "even before the Law" — that is, from Adam until Moses — "even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam's transgression" — that is, over infants and all innocents. For Adam is the type of the one to come — that is, the likeness of the new Adam, namely Christ, who was to come after him. "Adam," as a common name, applies to both man and woman. Therefore when one speaks of the "new Adam," it is as if one said "new man," who is utterly contrary to the old man in his obedience.
The Apostle himself reveals the likeness between Adam and Christ, showing that Christ is the father of all spiritual children just as Adam is of all carnal ones — that is, that Christ presides over all to beget them in God just as Adam begets for the world; and that Christ is the author of life and rest just as Adam is of death and punishment. This likeness of Adam and Christ may also be extended to what the same Apostle says elsewhere, understanding: "This is a great mystery — I speak concerning Christ and the Church" (Eph. 5:32). But for the literal text the said likeness suffices, which he pursues with respect to carnal and spiritual generation.
Rom 5:15 "But the gift is not like the trespass." That is, what is transmitted to their respective descendants is not equal; for more is transmitted through Christ to posterity for salvation than through Adam for condemnation, and rightly so, because it was more fitting to divine justice or mercy that through Christ he should benefit more than Adam harmed — that is, that through Christ more good should come than through Adam evil. For God is far more inclined to bestow good than to inflict evil. And this is what he adds: "For if through the trespass of one" — namely Adam — "many died" — that is, were condemned, as are unbaptized infants who are lost — "much more has the grace of God and the gift in the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many" — not just one man — so that it may be understood absolutely, not comparatively — "for the gift of God and the grace through that man Jesus Christ" — that is, through the gifts of God conferred on that man, from whose fullness we have all received, who by his merits obtained for us whatever we have — "abounded," and not as through one man, namely Adam, as we said above, one sin, the original, passed to all; but similarly one gift passed through one man, namely Christ — nay, many gifts to many people.
Rom 5:16 And this is what the Apostle had already summed up in the preceding verse, but repeated in order to prove it, saying: "For judgment from one sin of Adam is unto condemnation" of his descendants — that is, it consigns them to eternal punishment. "But the grace of God," that is, the gift of remission, from many transgressions — both original and personal — forgiven through Christ, "is unto justification" — that is, to absolution from punishments. It therefore appears that more has been given to us by Christ for salvation than by Adam for condemnation, since Adam brought one sin into the world — that is, the punishment of original sin alone — but Christ brought the remission of that sin and all others besides. And rightly so, because it was fitting that so many and so great goods of the latter should more than outweigh the one sin of the former — which was not great in comparison with others.
Hence Jerome, writing to the daughter of Mauritius, diminishing even this sin, says: "Adam was more to be pardoned, who was still new and was not being held back by the example of anyone who had sinned before him and died for his sin. But for you, after so many examples, after the Law, after the prophets, after the Gospels, after the apostles — if you should wish to sin — I do not know how pardon could be granted."
Rom 5:17 So interpret it thus: since through the trespass of one, namely Adam, and through one trespass, death — even of the soul — reigned and quietly took possession of his posterity, how much more fittingly and justly through one Jesus Christ — perfect in the fullness of all good things — do his spiritual descendants, receiving an abundance of divine grace, that is, many goods granted to them beyond their merits — goods both of gift and of righteousness — reign in life, namely eternal life, obtaining life as a kingdom, not as an unstable consulship.
Do not be surprised that the Apostle repeats this argument so often, since his chief aim is to commend Christ above all, and he wishes to establish by solid reasoning that in Christ there is more ground for confidence than in Adam for fear. In order to commit this firmly to memory, he repeats it often.
Rom 5:18 "Therefore, just as through one" — since through Adam we incurred condemnation and through Christ we obtain justification, that is, remission — "therefore through one" that very thing is brought about; and this is: "just as through the trespass of one" — understand: it works "unto condemnation" so that they are liable even on that account to eternal death — "in all men" — both those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam's transgression, as he mentioned above, and others; or both those who lived before the Law and others, as he also mentioned above — "so also through the righteousness of one" it works "unto the justification of life" — that is, unto the remission of sins which confers eternal life — "in all men" likewise — not indeed in each individual, but in both the defined classes of mankind. For that the Apostle does not speak of each individual is immediately suggested by what follows, where only "many" are named, not "all."
And plainly the Apostle makes clear how he said above that the first Adam is the type, that is, the likeness, of the second, namely Christ — in this namely: that just as Adam transmits what is his own to his posterity, that is, sin, so Christ likewise transmits what is his own to his own, namely the grace of justification, in the manner in which sinners were said to be in Adam.
Rom 5:19 "For as through disobedience and through obedience" — and this is what: "just as, etc." Through Adam's sin, he says, "many" — not all — were made sinners, that is, delivered over to eternal punishment. For leaving aside the man Christ, always immune from every sin, there are many in whom original sin has already been forgiven through the sacraments of the Church, and who afterwards are condemned for their own personal sins — whom he does not improperly constitute as those condemned without the sacrament alone, but they are themselves the cause of their own condemnation, because it is no longer the sin of Adam that is seen to be punished in them — since it has already been forgiven them — but only their own personal sins.
Although some, following the Lord's parable of the two servants, wish to hold that even forgiven sins return in the condemned and ungrateful, and are joined to the punishment, so that what has already received pardon is punished again — yet this the Apostle plainly contradicts in what follows, saying that "the gifts and calling of God are without repentance" (Rom. 11:29). Concerning this we shall treat more carefully in its proper place.
We may also say that those who are to be saved are not constituted sinners in Adam in the determined sense — that is, subjected to eternal death — but only those condemned without the sacrament.
"Through the obedience of one" — who was "obedient even unto death" — "the many shall be made righteous" — that is, fully exempt from all sin even by name. Note that regarding Adam he says "they were made" but regarding Christ "they shall be made." The condemnation transmitted to us from Adam is, so to speak, present and determined through the punishment that belongs to it. But that justification through Christ is, as it were, still future, since it is hidden — and especially because Christians who are in this world are still subject to suffering. Hence the Apostle John says: "We are children of God, and it has not yet appeared what we shall be. We know that when he appears, we shall be like him" (1 John 3:2). And Paul himself says: "Our life is hidden with Christ in God" (Col. 3:3).
It should not be passed over negligently that in this passage the Apostle so often repeats what he says about sin and grace transmitted through Adam and Christ, and that he establishes by what seems like necessary reasoning and evident justice that more good things must be given through Christ than evil came through Adam — as if Christ were more capable of helping than Adam of harming, which is plain. But from this, if I am not mistaken, the Apostle has left us to understand that God also devised in the Incarnation of his Son that not only mercy but also justice might thereby come to the aid of sinners, and that his justice — which was impeded by our sins — might be satisfied. For when God made his Son man, he placed him under the Law which he had already given as common to all men. It was necessary therefore that that man, by divine command, should love his neighbor as himself and exercise in us the grace of his love — both by instructing us and by praying on our behalf. Under divine command, therefore, he was constrained to pray for us and especially for those who clung to him in love, and in the Gospel he very frequently intercedes with the Father on behalf of his own. His supreme justice required that in nothing should his prayer meet with refusal — he whom the divinity united to him permitted to will or do nothing except what was fitting.
This the Apostle carefully indicated in two other places, writing of him to the Galatians: "Made of a woman, made under the Law, that he might redeem those who were under the Law" (Gal. 4:4–5); and to the Hebrews: "Who in the days of his earthly life, offering up prayers and supplications to him who was able to save him from death, with a loud cry and tears, was heard because of his reverence" (Heb. 5:7). Made man, therefore, he is bound by the very law of love of neighbor to redeem those who were under the Law and could not be saved through the Law, and to supply from his own merits what was lacking in ours. And as he stood out as singular in holiness, so he should become singular in usefulness in the salvation of others as well. Otherwise, what great thing would his holiness merit, if it sufficed only for his own salvation and not for that of others? Adam by obeying would have saved himself — which every one of the saints also obtains through the grace of God. The divine grace ought to have accomplished much more in that one singular just man. Nor are the riches of the Almighty truly rich if they are not sufficient to enrich others.
CONTINUE
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