Called to Be an Apostle for the Obedience of Faith (Romans 1:3–5)

Rom. 1:3, 4. Concerning His Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God in power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.

This is the subject of the Gospel—both promised and now accomplished in deed—the incarnate only-begotten Son of God! As holy Chrysostom cries out, drawing near to it: “What are you doing, Paul? Where are you drawing our souls, to what heights are you leading us, what lofty and ineffable subjects are you opening to our contemplation?!”

“Concerning His Son.” This word is placed intentionally first, to give the mind advance notice—that when they hear “born of the seed of David,” they should not think that He only then began to exist, but to make clear that He existed beforehand as the Son of God and God Himself, and then was pleased to become the Son of David, hiding the light of His divinity beneath the veil of human nature, though through that veil the greatness of His divinity shone forth, and was recognized and confessed by all. He strengthens this same truth then with the word “according to the flesh.” For by this it is clearly understood that if He is the son of David, it is only in one nature, and that consequently another nature must be confessed in Him, uncreated and preceding His appearance in the world through birth from the seed of David.

“By the mouths of all the Prophets the Father foretold of the Son, who before the ages was born of Him by nature; and was called the Son of David, as having taken up human nature from the seed of David. Therefore, having mentioned David, of necessity the Apostle added: ‘according to the flesh,’ lest they think Him the son of David by nature and the Son of God by grace. For this addition: ‘according to the flesh’ makes it clear that truly He is the Son of God and the Father in His divinity; for we do not find that for those who are nothing more than what appears in them, this “according to the flesh” is added. The blessed evangelist Matthew bears witness to this. For having said: ‘Abraham begot Isaac, and Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah’ (Matt. 1:2) and having set forth the entire genealogy in order, nowhere did he add: ‘according to the flesh.’ For them, being men, such an addition was not fitting. But here, since the God-Word who was incarnate is not man alone, but also the pre-eternal God, the divinely-inspired Apostle, having mentioned the seed of David, of necessity added: ‘according to the flesh,’ thus clearly teaching us in what sense He is the Son of God and in what sense He was called the son of David” (blessed Theodoret). “Thus the Gospel is not about a mere man—for it is about the Son of God, and not about a naked God—for it is about one born of the seed of David according to the flesh—the very same one who was both the Son of God and the son of David. Let Nestorius then be ashamed” (blessed Theophylact). “But why did the Apostle begin with birth according to the flesh? Because so do Matthew, Luke, and Mark begin. And in order to lead anyone to heaven, one must necessarily lead him upward from below. Thus it was in fact. They saw the Son of God first on earth as a man, and then recognized Him as God. And whatever manner of teaching He Himself employed, His disciple likewise paves the way leading to Him. At first he speaks of birth according to the flesh, not because it was first, but in order from it to raise the listeners to that which He is without flesh” (holy Chrysostom).

“Declared to be the Son of God.” Declared—ὡρίσθεντος—determined, defined. Just as when looking at a ruler coming from afar, one first sees in him only the image of a man, and then, when he draws nearer, recognizes him as a nobleman; but when he stands quite close, looking upon him, they exclaim: “the ruler!”—so it was likewise with regard to the Son of God, who took “the form of a slave” for our salvation (Phil. 2:7). At first everyone looked upon Him as a man, the son of the carpenter, save perhaps only she who treasured in her heart all the words spoken about Him, the Lady the Mother of God; but then, when He revealed Himself to the world and began to display the divine power in Himself, all in amazement asked: “Who is this?” (Matt. 8:27), yet recognizing Him only as an extraordinary man: “a great prophet has risen” (Lk. 7:16). By the end of His visible stay on earth they saw that no human greatness could be compared to that which Jesus Christ the Lord of powers displayed in Himself, yet what He truly was remained undefined. The Apostles confessed Him as the Son of God, but this enlightenment of faith did not hold at the height befitting, and the greatness of the Lord was obscured by earthly thoughts. Only after His resurrection and the descent of the Holy Spirit, when in His name they began everywhere to perform through the Holy Spirit by the Apostles and believers wondrous signs, did all understand that He in whose name all this was accomplished is the only-begotten Son of God and God. At last the countenance of the Lord was defined, and all who beheld it in faith cried out with the holy Thomas: “My Lord and my God” (Jn. 20:28). “This is what ‘declared’ means: shown, revealed, confessed by the judgment and verdict of all” (holy Chrysostom). Blessed Theodoret writes: “Until the cross and the passion, not only the other Jews, but even the Apostles themselves were not certain about the Master Christ, that He is God. An obstacle for them in Christ was the human—when they saw that He ate, drank, slept, and was wearied; and miracles did not lead them to conviction of this. Hence, for example, when they saw the miracle on the sea, they said: ‘Who is this man, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?’ (Matt. 8:27). Therefore the Lord said to them: ‘I have many things to say to you, but you are not yet able to bear them: when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth’ (Jn. 16:12, 13). Therefore before the passion the Apostles had such thoughts about Him, but after His resurrection and ascension to heaven, after the descent of the All-holy Spirit and after all kinds of miracles which they accomplished, calling upon the precious name of Christ, all believers came to know that Christ is God and the only-begotten Son of God. Therefore here too the divine Apostle taught that He who was called the Son of David according to the flesh was declared and manifested as the Son of God in power, by which the All-holy Spirit worked, through the resurrection from the dead of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The words: “in power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead” point to the sources from which the faith of believers drew its conviction of the divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ. “In power” points to the wondrous signs which the Lord accomplished by His own, not by grace-given power (Oecumenius), and especially those which were afterwards accomplished by the Apostles and believers in His name: for the latter are more convincing than the former. “According to the Spirit of holiness” points to the renewal of believers by the Holy Spirit with the addition of special gifts of grace. Believers through the mysteries became utterly transformed, filled with a new life which raised them above all around them, both in their manners and in the enlightenment of their mind and in the display of power. All experienced this in themselves and displayed it before all. What proof could be more convincing than this—that He in whom faith gives all this is the Master of all things? “By the resurrection from the dead” points to the resurrection of the Lord by His own power, and indeed so that He saw death no more: death has no dominion over Him. This most convincing proof gained an astonishing force when faith led the believer into the contemplation of the common resurrection of all to be accomplished by the Lord, whose foundation and power He established through His own resurrection: for the Apostles taught that the risen Lord had also raised all.

Holy Chrysostom asks: “By what is it proved that the incarnate (who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh) is the Son of God?” And he answers that—after the aforementioned fulfillment upon Him of all the prophecies and the wondrous, surpassing the order of nature, birth of Him from the Ever-virgin—this is proved “thirdly by the miracles which Christ accomplished, thereby proving an extraordinary power, and this is expressed by the word: ‘in power.’ Fourthly, by the Spirit, whom He gave to those who believed in Him and through whom He made all holy, whence it is said: ‘according to the Spirit of holiness’; for it is the property of God alone to distribute such gifts. Fifthly, by the resurrection of the Lord, because He alone first and only raised Himself; and He Himself calls this a sign, preeminently above all others sufficient to silence even the shameless. For He said: ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up’ (Jn. 2:19). And again: ‘When you lift Me up from the earth, then you will understand that I am’ (Jn. 8:28). And elsewhere: ‘A wicked generation seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah’ (Matt. 12:39)”.

Thus do all our interpreters understand these words.

The words: “Jesus Christ our Lord” stand in the Church Slavonic in dependence on: “the resurrection” like this: “from the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.” But it is better to place them in relation to the word: “His Son,” so that it reads: “His Son, who was born… and declared…” that is—Jesus Christ our Lord. For the Gospel and all the preaching of the Apostles is about Him.

Rom. 1:5, 6. Through whom we have received grace and apostolic authority to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles, for the sake of His name, among whom you also are called as belonging to Jesus Christ.

He has already said that he was called and chosen; now he points out that this was accomplished not by mere verbal appointment, as among men, but rather by the bestowal of powers above human nature, the gift of an almighty grace which cannot be resisted even by those who oppose the truth. The Lord has clothed us, he says, in grace, but not so that we alone would enjoy it, but so that we should go out and make others partakers of it. Therefore this grace is a special grace. Grace all believers receive, but to us an apostolic grace has been given, by which we are clothed in power from on high—to bring all peoples under the obedience of faith.

“Observe the gratitude of a servant of Christ in the apostleship; he wishes to ascribe nothing to himself but ascribes all to the Lord. Not by our efforts and labors have we achieved being Apostles, but have received grace; and apostleship is a gift from on high” (holy Chrysostom). “It is a work of the higher order and divine providence for our race” (holy Damascene). Therefore “grace and apostleship” is the same as grace toward apostleship (Oecumenius) or apostolic grace.

We, he says, “have received.” Who is this “we”? At first glance, it seems holy Paul speaks of himself alone; but one may think that he speaks on behalf of all the Apostles and depicts the force and significance of the apostolic rank in general. Or, while having need to speak of himself alone, he expressed himself in such a way as to give the thought of all the Apostles as well, as if to say: as they did, so I do, or I as they did. For as the Lord said to them: “Go and teach all nations” (Matt. 28:19), so also to him: “Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles” (Acts 22:21). Blessed Theodoret writes: “He Himself (the Lord Jesus Christ) appointed us preachers, entrusting to us the salvation of all peoples and giving grace suitable to this preaching, so that those who receive the preaching may also obey us and believe the word.”

“To bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles.” “Obedience,” so that all might hear of faith and, having heard, obey faith or believe. Holy Paul wanted to express in a single word that the mission of the Apostles was to carry the name of the Lord throughout all the world, but not merely so that all might hear of Him, but so that they might submit to Him as well—so that among all peoples there might be truly those who believed in Him and genuinely served Him according to faith. The word went forth from the mouths of the Apostles; along with the word came grace and subdued the hearts of the elect to faith. Holy Chrysostom says: “The success of preaching depended not on the Apostles, but on the grace that preceded them (and accompanied them). Although it was their work to go and preach, yet God Himself produced the conviction, acting in the Apostles. And so blessed Luke said: ‘opened her heart’ (Acts 16:14).” And therefore the submission to faith should be reckoned a work of God’s power, for the preaching was accompanied by signs. They assured that the preaching was a work accomplished by God’s will, and therefore required submission to what was preached, despite its incomprehensibility. “Power from on high is a witness to the truth of the teaching, so that on account of it what appeared incredible in the preaching might be accepted without dispute through faith” (Ambrosiaster).

If apostolic preaching is to the obedience of faith, then before it one must lay down the weapons of reason and present one’s soul as a clean tablet for the unhindered imprinting upon it of the truths of faith. The Apostles received it without reasoning and transmit it as they received it; and those listening to their word must receive it without cleverness. Holy Chrysostom says: “He did not say: for investigation and proof, but: to the obedience. We are sent, he says, not to conduct logical arguments, but to transmit what has been entrusted to us. When the Master speaks anything, those listening should only receive His words, not questioning or reinterpreting them themselves. And the Apostles were sent so that they might retell what they heard, adding nothing from themselves, so that we too might believe in it.”

“Among all the Gentiles.” Such is the calling of the apostleship—to carry the preaching of the Gospel to all peoples. Did they carry it? Throughout their lives the Apostles did nothing but carry the word of the Gospel, and they carried it everywhere they could reach, or as far as their lives permitted them to reach. But even after their death their preaching does not cease, through their writings and through the oral word of their successors. Holy Chrysostom says: “What is this? Did Paul really preach to all nations? From the Epistle to the Romans it is evident that he preached to many: for he went through all the lands, from Jerusalem to Illyricum, and from there again reached the utmost bounds of the earth; yet even if he was not among all peoples, what he said is not at all false. Because he speaks not of himself alone, but of the twelve Apostles and of all who preached the word with them. Meanwhile, it cannot be disputed that what is said applies also to Paul alone, if one considers Paul’s zeal and the fact that after his death he does not cease to preach in all the world. Do not fail to notice how much Paul exalts the gift of apostleship, shows its greatness and its superior excellence above the Old Testament. The promises of the Old Testament extended to one nation; but apostleship drew to itself both land and sea.”

“For the sake of His name.” This expression is all-encompassing. It means: by His name, and in His name or for His glory, and relying on His name, and concerning Him, and to Him. For in the faith of Christ all comes forth from the Lord and all returns to Him and stands on Him. Holy Chrysostom says: “‘for the sake of His name’ means that we should not inquire into His essence, but believe in His name. For this name accomplished miracles. ‘In the name of Jesus Christ,’ says Peter, ‘rise up and walk’ (Acts 3:6). It itself demands faith: and all this cannot be grasped by reason.” Oecumenius adds: “Faith was in His name. For they did not see Him Himself, but believed on the basis of the Gospel concerning His name alone. Truly full of grace was the apostleship of the disciples, when they persuaded peoples to believe and submit to Christ, being themselves unlearned, simple fishermen.”

“Among whom you also are called.” If speaking earlier of apostleship saying “we have received grace” and so forth, holy Paul understood himself alone, then with the words “among whom you also are called” he says: and you belong to my sphere of work, and in you must I exercise my apostolic office, bringing you under the obedience of faith and confirming you in it. Theodoret writes: “And you are among these peoples whose salvation has been entrusted to me. For do not think that I am claiming what is not mine and seizing fields entrusted to others. The Master appointed me a preacher to all peoples.”

If in the earlier part he spoke in general of apostleship, here he makes clear: and you are not forgotten by God, and He had you in His providential purpose—to bring you under the obedience of faith through the apostolic word, which has already reached you. By this he both encourages and gladdens them, and yet humbles them. Therefore holy Chrysostom says: “Do not fail to notice how far Paul’s soul is from all flattery. In addressing the Romans, who were as it were the head of the whole world, he gives them no advantage over other peoples. Although the Romans then ruled and dominated; yet Paul does not say that they had any more spiritual gifts. But as we preach to all peoples, he writes, so also to you, putting them on the same level as Scythians and Thracians. And if he did not mean this, the words would be superfluous: ‘among whom you also are called.’ He does this in order to destroy their arrogance, to humble the pride of the mind and teach them not to exalt themselves above others. For this he added the words: ‘among whom you also are called as belonging to Jesus Christ,’ that is, with whom you are also called. He did not say that Christ called others with you, but says that He called you with others. For if in Christ Jesus there is neither slave nor free, and much more neither king nor commoner, then you too are called, and did not come of yourselves.”

“Called as belonging to Jesus Christ,” in Greek—of Jesus Christ. The thought is the same: the Lord Jesus Christ called you to Himself through the Gospel that has reached you; and you have become the called of Christ. As if the Apostle wished by this word, after the humbling phrase preceding it, to raise them up somewhat, while giving them to understand that there is no room for pride here. If to be called by a king merely for conversation is great and honorable: how much greater and more honorable to be called to the Lord not merely to see Him and hear Him, but to be united with Him and in Him with God the Father by the grace of the Holy Spirit? Thus he raises them up and brings them as it were to his level; yet at the same time he does not draw them away from humble thoughts of themselves; for he says: “called,” not that they came and entered of themselves, and—the called is still only one who is designated. A calling to greatness is not an occasion for pride, but a summons to labor with all one’s might, so as to prove oneself worthy of the calling.