More Than Conquerors; Paul’s Great Love for His People (Romans 8:36–9:1)

Rom. 8:36. For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are being counted as sheep to be slaughtered.

So it is written. Consequently, “we are destined to endure evil from everyone” (Holy Chrysostom). This is, of course, heavy in itself; but since it happens to us “for your sake,” O Lord, we endure all this willingly, rejoicing that for your name’s sake we bear shame. “Amid so many great calamities, in the midst of these extraordinarily grievous events, it suffices for us and even more than suffices as a consolation to know the very cause of our labors or, better said, not only to suffice but to abound; for we endure this not for men, not for anything worldly, but for the King of all things” (Holy Chrysostom).

“We are being killed all day long”—every day or the whole day—moment by moment, unceasingly we are being killed. One can die only once; but since danger of death hung over their heads moment by moment and they were joyfully ready for death, it is clear that they moment by moment offered to God the sacrifice of death in their hearts, and this was received as an actual sacrifice of death. “Since it is impossible for them, as men, to undergo countless deaths, he proves that the reward is not diminished at all by this. Though by natural lot a man can die only once, if we wish, God has granted us the possibility to die daily by our will. And from this it is evident that when we depart hence we shall have as many crowns as the number of days we live here, or the number of crowns will be even greater: for in one day one can die once, twice, and many times. He who is ready for this always receives a perfect reward. The Prophet understood this, saying: ‘all day long.’ The Apostle cited his words to excite the hearers more. If those of old, he says, who had as the reward of their labors the earth and what passes with the present life, so disdained the present life, trials, and calamities, what excuse will we have, who have as our reward heaven, the exalted Kingdom, unspeakable blessings, if we lose heart in spirit and do not even reach the measure attained by those of old? Though the Apostle did not say this directly, being satisfied with the testimony alone, he made it clearly understood in the consciences of his hearers” (Holy Chrysostom).

“We are being counted as sheep to be slaughtered.” Sheep to be slaughtered cannot defend themselves, nor does it occur to anyone to intercede for them. Everyone thinks that this is as it should be and that this brings them great honor. Applying this to himself, the Apostle speaks, as it were: we see and know this and take pride in it—not only do we not resist, but we ourselves willingly offer ourselves for slaughter. “He proves that their bodies are a sacrifice—yet they do not fear or are troubled, because their recompense is God himself. Do you see the courage and meekness? As sheep do not resist when they are slaughtered, so also we, says Paul. But since the human mind, even after so many examples, through its weakness could be fearful of many trials, observe how the Apostle again raises, exalts, and ravishes the hearer, saying:” (Holy Chrysostom).

Rom. 8:37. But we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

The Apostle cited the words of the Psalm instead of describing in his own words the sorrowful condition of the Apostles and Christians at that time. Now he adds from himself: “We are more than conquerors in all these things.” None of this shakes our faith and devotion to the Lord: “we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” The victorious power proceeds from love for the Lord. He loved us so much! His love for us kindled in us love for him. Burning with love for him, we remain faithful to him, despite so many deaths threatening us. For “love is as strong as death” (Song 8:6). We have already given ourselves over to death for him once and for all; therefore these pre-death sufferings mean nothing to us—we easily overcome them. We have given ourselves to death for him: “for it seems to us the least fitting that the Master Christ received death for sinners, and we should not with full joy endure slaughter for him” (Blessed Theodoret). From this we draw strength to overcome every trial. “What is marvelous is that we not only conquer, but conquer by means of that which the enemies employed against us; and we do not simply conquer, but are more than conquerors—that is, with complete ease, without labor or sweat. Everywhere we erect monuments of victories over enemies, not only when we actually suffer, but even when we have a mere willingness to do so. And this is quite just, because God fights on our side. Therefore, do not lose faith that we, being subjected to blows, overcome those who beat us, being driven out, hold our persecutors in subjection, and dying, strike the living. If you consider God’s power and love, you will see that there is no obstacle to these miraculous and extraordinary deeds being accomplished and the greatest victory shining forth. The Apostles not only conquered, but astonished with their victories; everyone could see that their struggle was not (only) with deceitful men, but (rather) with that irresistible power. Look, how the Jews, surrounding them, are at a loss and say: ‘What shall we do with these men?’ (Acts 4:16). What is marvelous is that those who had them in their power, who demanded account from them, who had the right to bind them and kill them with the sword are in difficulty and fear being conquered by those whom they hoped to overcome. Neither torturer, nor executioner, nor multitudes of demons, nor the devil himself could overcome them; on the contrary, all themselves are completely conquered and see their schemes turned to their benefit. Therefore Paul said: ‘we are more than conquerors.’ This was a new form of victory—to overcome by means of that through which enemies thought to overcome, and never to be overcome—to go into battle as if already having victory’s triumph in one’s will!” (Holy Chrysostom).

Is it not better to understand the Apostle’s discourse from the words “Who will separate us from God’s love?”—to the end—as speaking specifically of the Apostles? Earlier, in proposing foundations of hope, he had in mind both the Apostles and all believers; but now, when he needed to speak of the condition for the irreversibility of the promises on the part of believers—precisely their faithfulness and love toward God—instead of exhorting them to this, he proposes the example of the Apostles, depicting their firmness in rapturous speech: “Who will separate us?” And the testimony of the Psalm applies more to them as well, as does this: “we are more than conquerors.”

Rom. 8:38–39. I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.

He asked: “Who will separate us from God’s love?” Now he answers: I am persuaded that nothing and no one can separate us from this love. “I am persuaded,” πέπεισμαι—I am persuaded, convinced. Persuasion comes from above, but here we are speaking of the persuasions natural to man as man. From all that has been given to me, what has been with me, what trials I have experienced and what deliverances I have seen, I have come to the conviction that nothing can separate me or those like me from “God’s love”—that is, extinguish in us love for God and turn us to seek something other than what is pleasing to God. He sets forth his own conviction; but recognizing that he is not alone in this, he expresses the unwavering faithfulness of all, like him, inspired by love for God, in order to inspire all Christians in all times to the same love and the same confidence. I am convinced that whoever has once tasted true love for God, nothing can tear him from it; he will not exchange it for anything and will not allow his heart to cleave to anything other than God. By this the Apostle completes the indication of the foundations of hope on man’s side—in unwavering, loving faithfulness to God. He does not give a command, but expresses his inspired zeal; and inspiration naturally carries all who see the inspired along with it.

As for the enumeration of what might draw one away from God’s love, the Apostle had in mind to express only one thought: that no one and nothing can draw away from God him who has loved him—nothing from all that exists and can be imagined, except God. Therefore, one need not dwell on the things indicated by him with special attention. Our interpreters do not even try to define them precisely, but only present the general picture. Thus, Blessed Theodoret writes: “Against God’s love, having set upon the scales all creation together, and adding to what is visible what is intellectual, to present blessings attaching expected and even threatening punishments (for by ‘depth’ I think he means Gehenna, and by ‘height’ the Kingdom), and besides this eternal life and eternal death, and seeing that all this is still insufficient, the Apostle seeks what else to add; not seeing anything else such, he multiplies the creature many times over in his word and sees that all this is not equal to God’s love. I will not agree, he says, as it were, even with the Kingdom of Heaven, and all visible and thinkable, and the same again, taken twice and thrice, to be without love (or instead of love) for God. But if someone should propose to me present and future sorrows, temporary and eternal death and everlasting torment in Gehenna, then with love for God, I would gladly with all readiness prefer this to all that is bright, great, and surpassing all speech, if only by means of the latter I were not deprived of love.”

Thus Holy Chrysostom says: “Lofty are these words: but we do not grasp them because we do not have such love. The meaning of his words is this: Why speak of present calamities, inseparable from this life? If you point me to future states and powers, that too seems little to me compared with Christ’s love. If someone threatened me with future endless death to separate me from Christ, or promised me endless life for this, I would not consent. Will you point me to angels, to all heavenly powers, to all that exists, to all that is to come? In comparison with Christ’s love all is little to me, all that is on earth, all that is in heaven, all that is under the earth, all that is above the heavens. But as if this were not enough to express the strong love that possessed the Apostle, he presents something else, equal to what went before, and says: ‘nor any other creature.’ This means: if there were another creature, both visible as the first and understood by mind, even then nothing would draw me from this love. The Apostle expressed himself thus not because angels or other heavenly powers actually did draw him from Christ, but only to present in the highest degree the attachment he had to Christ. He loved Christ not for what belongs to Christ; on the contrary, he loved everything of Christ for Christ himself, directed his gaze only to him, and had one fear alone—to fall away from this love. To fall away from Christ’s love was more terrible to him than Gehenna itself, just as to remain in this love was more desirable than the Kingdom.”

5) The unbelief of the Jews in the face of Christianity (Rom. 9:1–11:36)

The essence of Christianity with all its beneficial effects on fallen humanity has been explained. One could conclude the theoretical part of the teaching here and turn to the rules of life. But in the Apostle Paul, who was such a zealot of the faith of the patriarchs, convinced of its divine origin, Judaism always stood before his mind in the face of Christianity and posed the question: what then of it, which received its beginning from God, with such promises to our fathers and to us? In his own conscience, the Apostle carried a reconciling solution to this question in the conviction that Christianity too is from God and is introduced by God’s all-working precisely in order to replace Judaism, which has already fulfilled its temporary purpose—a conviction instilled in his mind and heart in such a living and active way as the repeated appearances of Christ the Lord himself and the extraordinary gifts received by him in faith in him. Thus, within himself, he always had, as a counterpoise to his former convictions when they came to mind, these new and living convictions. But even when he explained to others the matter of the arrangement of our salvation, he was not stingy in sharing with them these new convictions, knowing for certain how much it smoothed the path to faith in the Lord and how powerfully it bound them to faith and kept them in it. This is why reminders of this are found in almost every one of his Epistles, whenever the course of discourse provided an occasion. He does the same here—and all the more so here, because at the beginning of the Epistle he had already proved that for both Jew and Gentile salvation is one—in faith in Christ the Lord—and that the purpose of the Epistle is a comprehensive depiction of the power and significance of Christianity. This depiction would be incomplete if the Apostle did not touch on Judaism and thus show believing Jews what answer to give to unbelievers when they bring up the divine promises given to them. Blessed Theodoret writes: “The divine Apostle clearly proved that the incarnation of God and our Saviour is necessary and furnishes believers with unspeakable blessings. But since the Jews, bringing up the promises given by God, attempted to show on their part that the Apostle’s preaching is contrary to these promises, as being proposed contrary to God’s promise even to Gentiles, he of necessity sets forth their objections and most wisely resolves them, conveniently using both testimonies of Scripture and ancient examples.”

However, in turning to Judaism, the Apostle here considers not so much its very essence as that particular circumstance that there are unbelieving Jews. He touched on the essence of Judaism in the preceding chapters, proving that it must yield to Christianity; now, not letting this out of sight, he rather resolves the following questions: b) if the promises concerning the election of the Jewish people are immutable, how is it that there are now unbelieving Jews and, consequently, rejected ones? c) from what did this happen, who is to blame? Having given proper answers to this—namely that the promise was given not to all, but only to the worthy, and that those not partaking of the promise now do not partake by their own fault—the Apostle finally: d) proposes certain consolations to the Jew in this regard. In approaching the resolution of these questions, in which it was impossible not to mention the rejection of unbelieving Jews, the Apostle first: a) prefixes an assurance of his excessive love for his people, so that they might see that he speaks thus not from ill-will toward them, but only because thus it truly is and because God has so commanded. To this assurance he naturally came after ecstatic contemplation of what Christians shall finally be, and after expressing the hope that this shall certainly be their inalienable possession. Love for his people spoke to him: you hope for such a high thing—but what of your brethren according to the flesh? He answers: nothing would he desire more than that they too be deemed worthy of the same, and he would even be willing to sacrifice all this for them.

a) Assurance of Holy Paul concerning his excessive love for his people (Rom. 9:1–5)

Rom. 9:1. I am telling the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience confirms it by the Holy Spirit.

Such a solemn assurance! “He brings three witnesses—Christ, his own conscience, and the Holy Spirit—so that they would believe what he was about to say, for he had something very important and great to say” (Oecumenius, Blessed Theophylact). “Intending to touch on what many will find it hard to believe, the Apostle testifies beforehand that what he intends to say is immutable truth. This is how anyone ordinarily proceeds who intends to speak of something that many find incredible, and yet he himself is firmly convinced” (Holy Chrysostom). But to what precisely is such an assurance directed? Immediately following comes the expression of the Apostle’s great sorrow and unceasing pain in his heart over the rejection of the Jews from the gracious Kingdom because of their unbelief in the promised and already revealed Saviour, by which his great love for his brethren was expressed. Therefore, one can suppose that he is directly assuring in this love. Such assurance of love was fitting for the Apostle Paul: for the Jews thought that he had stopped loving them and their faith. Thus, if even the Apostle spoke of ordinary love, it would have been fitting for him to preface such an assurance. But when he expresses such an extraordinarily strong love that he would be willing to be cut off from Christ himself for the beloved, then such assurance was absolutely necessary. Believers from among the Jews could have believed on a simple word; but the Apostle, setting forth the full teaching of Christianity, had in view not just believers, but also unbelievers, for the overcoming of whose prejudices it was necessary to show both an expression of extraordinary love and a great testimony to it. Thus, the Apostle assures directly in his love by such witnesses. But since the very assurance of love was needed in order to smooth the path to faith in what he was about to say about unbelieving Jews, there is no doubt that these assuring witnesses extend their power to this latter as well. All our interpreters understand these witnesses in this fuller sense. Blessed Theophylact writes that since in what follows the Apostle intends to show why not all believed—in that not all who are of Abraham are Abraham’s seed—in order that “no one should think that he speaks in great disturbance of spirit (in irritation against the Jews), he removes such suspicion by expressing that he loves them very much.”

Are the witnesses adduced reliable? To testify in the name of Christ the Saviour and by the Holy Spirit clearly had power. For it was known to all that for the Apostle Paul it was “to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21); it was also known to all that his confession was that everything he does, he himself does not do, but the grace of the Spirit dwelling in him does it; he would never agree to insult it by a lie. But is there power in testimony from conscience? In the person of the Apostle, there is. A sinful conscience may limp sometimes for the sake of apparent advantage, sometimes from the pressure of threatening evils. But a conscience torn from the bonds of passions by the Holy Spirit does not bow before these idols. That this was so with the Apostle, his whole life testifies. But even before his conversion, conscience showed forth its full power in him. If he was zealous for Judaism, it was because he believed in conscience that truth was in it. Then, when such a conviction, on immovable grounds, passed over to Christianity, he, drawn by the power of that same conscience, devoted himself entirely to Christ the Lord, bringing him in sacrifice all that was dear to him as a Jew. After this, nothing could shake his conscience: thousands of deaths threatened him, and he remained firmly faithful to that in which his conscience assured him by the Holy Spirit. In a person with such a conscience one could without hesitation rely on the fact that he did not lie. Ambrosiaster expresses the power of the proposed witnesses thus: “Since above the Apostle spoke apparently against the Jews who hoped to be justified by the law, he now shows strong love and goodwill toward them, assuring that he speaks from sincere conscience, in Christ Jesus and in the Holy Spirit, so that, ceasing to see him as their enemy, they might give full faith to his words. He sets Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit as witnesses because from them nothing is hidden, and their testimony cannot fail to be received after they have so many times already given testimony for him, working signs through him.”